First Trip Out for 2013: Silver Falls, Entiat

 

May 17, 2013

 

For our first trip out in the RV this year we were quite ambitious.  6 days in the forest with no hook-ups isn’t exactly a test run, but I guess we are beginning to have some faith in our trusty old RV.  For this trip it was just me and the two smallest munchkins, another display of confidence in our camping equipment and abilities. 

 

Emma and Jonathan at bottom of creek that
comes out of Silver Falls

All disclaimers aside, we are having a great trip.  The academic focus of this excursion is trees and leaves.  The kiddos are learning to follow a dichotomy key to find the species of trees based on their leaves.  They also learned that in the confer family of trees only three types of leaves (needles, scale-like and awl) exist.  Our various hikes easily led to finding examples of each for their collections.  

 

The campground at Silver Falls is gorgeous this time of year.   It is not one of my favorites later in the season because it gets crowded, but for an early season expedition it is just perfect.  The river is running swiftly so we looked for and found a site that had a small inlet where the water was safe and quiet. 

 

 

A note to self here: Campsite number two is just the right size for the motorhome and has great water access.

 

 

Emma has decided to make a digital display of the flora and fauna she discovers this year. She is at this very minute baiting and stalking a chipmunk in order to capture him with her camera.

When her get her blog up and running I will let you know so you can check it out. 

Welcome

WELCOME

May 2013

It seems that my family and friends are having some difficulty keeping track of where the kids and I are during the summer. So, I've decided to start this blog in order to let everyone know where we are and what we are doing. I am also thinking that if I have a half decent record of our road school comings and goings I will some day be able to label all the pictures we take. (Or at least label the boxes and digital folders they are stored in). Perhaps there are a few of you out there who will be interested in reading about our journeys.

 

I guess I will begin by introducing the cast in this traveling troupe. I am Michele. Mom, home-school teacher, driver, gardener, goat herder and now a beginner blogger. Because dad works a lot of hours at a very demanding job we are often on the road without him. He prefers to save much of his time off for hunting trips. No thanks!

Whale Watching on a Road School Adventure

The munchkins are six, ten and sixteen (not so munchkin in the case of the oldest). boy, girl, boy. "Little Guy", is Jonathan. Emma is the "Girl in the Middle," and ...hmmm.... working on a nice nickname for the sixteen year old hormone over loaded teenage boy. (Daniel) Let me know if you have any suggestions!

 

 

The munchkins and I have this dream of traveling all the way around the perimeter of the USA. We would love to spend a whole school year on the road. Ahhhh... dream big, right! So many obstacles stand between us hitting the road on THAT trip, but we haven't let them slow us down when it comes to shorter and more seasonal wanderings.

 

We are getting ready to head out on our first short journey this week. We are headed to the mountains nearby where we can complete our leaf and tree identification study. The munchkins are so excited for travel season to begin they have been sleeping in RV for the last week.

 

If you have stopped by the read this blog, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you. Anyone else out there spicing up their home school by adding more than a fair share of travel? Tell us about your journey!