50 States of Adventures

HEY READERS!! I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!!!  What do you want Wednesday is a way that you can ask me whatever you want and get answers! I'll read through everything asked from last thursday until this Wednesday night, and answer each question this Thursday!! Post your questions in the comments below and I'll answer you! I cant wait to hear from you! Don't be shy! I am open book, so... What do you want to know???

Here's your Q&A this week! Glad you made it home! How long will you be there? -Heather Thank you for your question! We will be home for about 3 weeks. After that we have a meet up with about 10 other Fulltime Families in Oregon. Hi Madison! I'd love to know what place(s) you most look forward to seeing on your travels and why you are excited about them. Also, of the places you have visited, what place(s) surprised you in some way and why.  I am very excited to go to Alaska. I am a landscape photographer. I can't wait to capture the raw beauty of Alaska's scenery. The Grand Canyon was the most surprising place I have been to. It was so much larger than I imagined. The colors were breathtaking! I would love to go back sometime and hike down into the canyon.

Today we completed a 7000 mile loop of the US since the last time we were home. For the first time, we are bringing home friends! Three other Full time families will be staying at local RV parks! I'm very excited to get to show them my "life before the RV." But this blog is about my adventures. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Let me tell you something, every moving day is an adventure! Last night we boondocked at a Walmart. When I woke up this morning, the whole trailer was very quiet... too quiet. Normally I hear the electric heaters, or the dehumidifier, but both were silent. I also noted how dark the trailer was. (We have a few nightlights throughout the trailer so we can see if we get up during the night.) Then it dawned on me! I bet the generator is out of fuel! I got up just as my dad was going outside to refill it. I fully expected power in about 30 seconds. It didn't come. My dad came back and said something was wrong with the generator. He believes its a bad...

Once a week I will post a reminder that Wednesday is coming (the end of Wednesday is the cutoff each week) so if you have any questions, now's the time to get them in!! HEY READERS!! I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!!!  What do you want Wednesday is a way that you can ask me whatever you want and get answers! I'll read through everything asked from last thursday until this Wednesday night, and answer each question this Thursday!! Post your questions in the comments below and I'll answer you! I cant wait to hear from you! Don't be shy! I am open book, so... What do you want to know???

Seattle is a fun tourist town! We go every March for business. This year we only stayed for a weekend. I'll explain why in a minute. We stayed at a KOA that had a view of Mt. Rainier. Mount Rainier is off to the left out of frame.  When we came through Seattle last year we stayed at the same KOA, and had much more time for tourist attractions. We did the space needle. (Of course we did the Space needle, you can't go to Seattle and not visit the Space needle!!) We ate dinner at the top, it was the fanciest dinner I have ever had!! We also explored Pikes place. Our wheels? The Semi. You haven't lived until you have driven a semi through Pikes Place!! The first Starbucks was smaller than I imagined. The line was out the door and down the block just like everyone says! This year we only stayed for the weekend because were going home for a few weeks!!! The best part? Three other Full time Families will be coming with us to hang out and see our hometown! I can't wait to ...

(Real quick, I have a funny story to tell y'all. This was meant to be posted about a week ago, but I forgot to click publish!! Better late than never though... I hope you enjoy!) Monroe is a beautiful Washington town. We recently completed a 6 day stay at their local thousand trails. It was beautiful! The RV park and neighboring areas had rushing rivers, tall mountains, and lush vegetation. The park was located in the mountains surrounded by horse properties! I soaked in the sight of beautiful show horses grazing at the side of the road. It was amazing! It was cold in the morning and night, and rained 80% of the time. (I mean this is Washington after all, that's only to be expected) We were accompanied at the RV park by our friends who full time as well. We loved doing potluck dinners together! Their daughter and I both have a knack for shooting pool. Most Thousand Trails have pool tables, and this one did. We spent a good chunk of time playing 8 ball. One of the days I...

Today is tell it to you Thursday! Yesterday wrapped up what do you want Wednesday. I only got a few questions this time, but that's ok, this is a new idea I am trying out. How is a dogs life on the road? -Nicole Dear Nicole, Thank you for your question! A dog's life on the road has its pros and cons. Since we no longer have a yard to let them off leash in, they have to be walked 4 to 5 times a day. That is their favorite part of the day. They love going on adventures throughout the RV parks, sniffing everything. The sleeping arangments are nice. Each dogs has their own bed in our living room. Both dogs ride in the truck with us on travel days. With our slides in, there would be no room for to ride in the fifth wheel. Not to mention it would be dangerous and illegal. I'm not sure if they understand what were doing, but I do know that their just happy to be with us. Hi Madison. I am a friend of your grandfather, Steve. When did you leave California and how long have you ...

HEY READERS!! I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!!!  What do you want Wednesday is a way that you can ask me whatever you want and get answers! I'll read through everything asked from now until Wednesday and answer each question on Thursday!! Post your questions in the comments below and I'll answer you! I cant wait to hear from you! Don't be shy! I am open book, so... What do you want to know???

Hunter (on left with tux) and Zoe (on right) sitting in front of the RV Christmas tree  Traveling is very exciting, but its 10 times more so when you have two 75 lb. dogs in the trailer with you! We have two yellow labs living in the trailer with us named Zoe and Hunter. They are not related, but are the best of friends! They each have their own personalities that crack me up. Dogs are awesome! Found this Santa hat and just had to take a goofy picture with it! Hunter is our inspiration story. He was a rescue, we believe he's about 8. Hunter is blind. He has a genetic condition that breeders are supposed to screen for. (We believe he came from a back yard breeder and that's why it slipped through the cracks) He was born with perfect vision, which he kept until about age 2. Then gradually over a year he lost it completely. When we got him 5 years ago he had 10% vision left which is now long gone. Hunter won't let that stop him though! He is always ready for adventur...

   This was at the base of the mountain, so the weather was clear. This was near the summit, lots of snow! Today we drove west through the mountains in Montana, on our way to western Washington. All my thoughts faded to silence at the feet of the breathtaking mountains. They were beyond beautiful! There was snow all over the ground around the roads, and higher up the mountains. The roads were surrounded in trees dusted with snow like powdered sugar. When the sun came out from behind the clouds, it reflected off the mountain tops. The snowflakes sparkled like diamonds! I'm awestruck at the beauty of God's creation. The drive through the mountains was a little more exciting than I anticipated. Beside the beautiful scenery, we were faced with snow, rain and a rock slide! The snow built up on our windshield and froze to ice, but melted soon after. We drove past a rock slide on the road, it consumed a whole lane! Rock Slide!! When we were down the other side of...

One if the reasons I was hesitant to leave home and travel was because I would miss my friends. I felt that if I moved into an RV that I was basically submitting myself to be friendless. I did it anyway. I had to trust that God would provide for my longing for community. We are part of a group of families who also travle called Fulltime Families. Fulltime families hosts rallies all over the country a few times a year. My parents told me one day that there was going to be a rally near us. They said we were going to go to meet other families that travel. Excitedly they said that there were many teens among these families and I would be able to make friends. To be honest I was not very happy. I had gotten used to never seeing anyone my age and had forgotten how to act "cool" around teens. I was afraid of being the "new kid" and did not want to be judged. I could not have been more wrong! The first day of the rally I met 2 girls who had no problem being super friendly...

Meet Tiny!! What on Earth are you doing??? and Why would you want to do that?? are two questions I get asked more then I can count. So I'm going to give you a behind the scenes tour of my wonderful traveling life... My name is Madison Sloan. I live in a 400 sq. ft. fifth wheel with my parents, brother, and 2 dogs. We only have one bathroom. (I know scary right!?!?) My bedroom is smaller than a residential bathroom and I don't have a closet! The only car we have is our tow vehicle, a 12' 6" tall white Volvo semi truck, who has taken on the name "Tiny". (Shown above) For those of you who were wondering, going to Costco is no easy endeavor! But lets rewind a bit. Just 2 years ago, I had a routine. Wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, do chores, sleep, repeat. Every. Single. Day. All I knew was my little corner of the world, and I still can barely believe how amazing and beautiful our country is. I was a robot, doing the same things on a loop. I ne...