Trial Run

 Becky and I had a trial run with the trailer, and only 3 kids - while the bigger three were at their most recent summer camp. (LightHouse Church in Midlothian Texas. It's where so Stephen (Tommy) and his beautiful wife Ruby attend. Tyrel, Nickole, and Kimber got to go. Dan was, once again, the Camp Medic.

While the kids camped, Becky and I learned about setting up the trailer without seasoned help. We decided that a "pre-flight checklist" was a good idea. There are so many little steps to be done in setting up (and breaking down) camp. I hope we have another opportunity to do this before The Big Trip.
Our plans are to camp along the way. Sightseeing, hikes, and a few base camps with day trips.

While we were together, we figured out an itinerary for the first few weeks of the trip. We're sure it will need tweaked as we travel. First of all, we defined what we wanted to gain from the trip.

 It's primarily a cross country sightseeing trip. That will involve traveling almost daily. We planned the drives to be under 6 hours per day, with several days less time than that, and so far, only one long day across a stretch of desert. There will be a lot of circling around, because there just ISN'T a simple, straightforward route to see all the sights we want to see!

We have made our plan starting from dropping Daniel off to start his ride.
I am a list person. I love logistics.
Our planning phase is taking quite a bit into consideration.
Ruby wants to go with us until a specific date, then fly home. Getting her ticket in advance will cost less, but involve some finer tuning of plans up to that point.
Figuring out where to stay, and what we can do/ see while on a fairly tight schedule is still in the works.

Yes, we plan to blog... maybe even You Tube video as often as we can. But... for our protection, only a few family members will know exactly where we are headed next. And the blogs/ videos will be delayed in publishing by a few days.

We have lists of set-up & breakdown of camp. I need to transfer those onto chore cards... many hands make light work! We will cross-train on as many jobs as we can, but not everyone is capable of doing every job. Everyone is capable of doing SOME job.
We have a list of meals we can make, and grocery checklists to go with each meal. (We don't want to get camp set up 20 miles from town and discover we missed a primary ingredient for a meal!)
Some of the meals are what we called "planned overs" when my kids were growing up. Deliberately cooking extras to serve at another meal. (Beans from one meal go into burritos at another. Grilled chicken today has enough left to add to a salad tomorrow.)

Our Trial Run gave me a better idea of the space we have available and the best ways to use that space.
Ideas for adding storage or managing the clutter that comes with so many people traveling together.
We intend to do some modified homeschooling on the road. That's a bit more to carry and store, but will keep the kids on track academically, and stave off boredom. We learned that we really do need some boredom busters when we are stuck in place. (I kept five kids in a campground that was 105* outside, no playground, no beach or pool. When it got hot, we had to stay inside... and I didn't have little kid games or books, no toys. This was a lesson learned!)
The four oldest girls are all American Heritage Girls. They can be earning several badges on this trip.

I'm considering making a new, trip specific blog. If I do, You will be the first to know. (all four or five of you who read my blog now!)