More Time For Us
“If we only had more time” is a familiar phrase to most of us. It doesn’t seem to matter in what regard, we’re always wishing we had more. Time is a funny thing. You can’t buy it, find it, or make it. We can, however, make More Time for Us. Welcome to our journey.
With the start of public and private schools all over the country, we thought we’d take the opportunity to share what learning looks like for Liam and Ella this year while we’re nomadic.
Liam and Ella are studying 6th and 5th grade materials respectively while traveling with us. We started slowly, in early August, with purposefully tasking the kids with age-appropriate learning. People have asked us what we’re using for curriculum/learning materials. This is not a quick answer! 🙂 We are using Life of Fred and Saxon books for math, and are using some materials online from Khan Academy in order to ensure the kids meet Common Core math standards. We are also using some grammar workbooks, which the kids don’t love, but help them learn tough grammar concepts. Do you know what the plural of oasis is (without looking it up)? Neither did we as parents! A learning moment for all of us right there!
Sometimes, the longest hikes can leave you with memories you will never forget. Recently in our travels, we stayed with my dad’s old buddy Pete, who is now a Yellowstone Park Ranger.
Since Pete was letting us stay with him, he suggested that we go up to Observation Peak, and spend the night. We set off on Thursday afternoon and began the 5.6-mile hike.
After a few miles of walking through trees, and tall grass, we took a break and filtered some water at a creek. After making it past meadows, lakes, and over large hills, we reached the peak. We got to the top and set up camp. Ella and I, climbed on rocks, as the adults set out air mats, and cots. We ate dinner in the light of an oil lamp, which consisted of a meal of Mountain House (dehydrated food) lasagna, and pad thai. After dinner, we brushed our teeth and looked out at a huge lightning storm on the horizon. We looked up and saw the stars, shining clearly in the black night. Then we curled up in our sleeping bags, for a good night’s rest.
Breakfast greeted us with granola, and biscuits and gravy. (Mountain House of course.) We left the peak the way we found it, chopping wood for the next fire, erasing any trace of coming, and packing up our trash. Then, we started the long walk back home. The downhill was really hard on our hips, mine, especially because I didn’t have a proper backpacking backpack. We took a few breaks, every once and a while shouting, “Hey bear!” just in case. At the junction, we took the Dunraven Road Trail and made it back home for a relaxing evening. Overall, the hike was really nice but harder for me and Ella, though the view was amazing and worth all the hard work.
