Elk Grove to Simi Valley

I could have written more while we were at Rick and Kathy’s, but the stress of change is beginning to effect me and I don’t want to do anything. We had a great time in Elk Grove and Lodi visiting friends and family. Rick and Kathy fed us and took care of us the whole time we were at their home, it was like our home. It was hard to leave and we did leave later than expected, Wednesday (3-14-07) at about 1:00PM. We didn’t want to spend another whole day in the van, but we did want to get down to Ojai, so we drove the rest of the day arriving at the campground at 9:38PM. We pulled into the first pull-through site and went to sleep. In the morning we moved to a site further from the road and there were no other campers anywhere nearby. There was a creek and boulders and we even found a little single-track to ride. Greg went exploring on his bike while I was getting breakfast together, then Otto and I checked it out further after breakfast and Greg went back with Louis after that. We had a good day at camp, the kids played outside, although there was some complaining about the many small flies constantly in our faces, and after dinner we learned how to play Skip-Bo. Friday morning we got around as early as we could, maybe 7:30, and left camp by 8:30. Simi Valley was our next stop and unfortunately our directions were not as clear as they could have been and we spent an awful hour trying to find our campground, making two u-turns with our trailer and finally buying a map for $6 to find the road we needed. Next time we will be better prepared. We still made it to camp in time to set up before Keith came to pick up Greg and take him for a ride on some of the trails here. As usual you can check Greg’s MTB blog for his take on that and my Ramblings for my thoughts of late.

Greg and Marla Ride Alone

Kathy gave us another great day. She came home early from work on Friday and let Greg and I go riding while she and Rick stayed with the kids. Thursday Greg took Otto back to the trails he had ridden on Monday in Fairfield and Friday he took me. We know it will be rare for the two of us to ride together on this trip, one of us will need to be with the kids, so it was a special treat. The day had not started out well. During the night Rick and Kathy's cars were broken into and Greg's new cell phone, which he had unintentionally left in their car was stolen. We had just bought 1000 minutes, too. T-Mobile told us that we could transfer those minutes onto a new phone, which is a great relief and we will get one soon. Thankfully we bought the least expensive phones available.

I think it was after 11:00 before we finally got on the road, but it was a cooler and overcast day so we had no concerns of it getting too warm. The Rockville Hills trails are only about 70 miles away, and freeway miles, which go quickly. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot and we saw a few people riding, but usually going a different direction or from a distance. The landscape was so completely different from the trails I have ridden in Oregon and Washington. No close trees, green grassy meadows. It was dry, but moist in some areas, perfect. Large rocks firmly embedded in the path creating obstacles I had seen before in pictures, but never tried to ride on myself. Some I rode, some I walked. Having not been on singletrack trails for...8 months I knew it was important not to have any big crashes. I was on my new Haro, first trail ride with a full suspension bike and it was a good thing because my manauvering abilities were extremely rusty. I often saw a line to ride, but didn't make it that way, so I plowed through wherever. And, my legs were stronger than my lungs, but not by much. I hope to ride often enough on this trip to improve my endurance. I'm sure I will. Greg wants me to improve, as much as I do so that I can enjoy the long trails as he does.

Someplace Fun 3/6/2007

Kathy treated us to an afternoon at Someplace Fun. Only about 10 miles away, it is a large space with huge inflatable slides, scooters in little race tracks, video games, air hockey, and a big carousel, basketball hoops for all sizes, etc. The kids had a great time. I don't think Henry did anything except video games. Otto probably did the largest variety because he was the perfect size and age. Olivia was too little for many things and she was worn out by the time we left; just climbing those slides was a challenge for her. My cousin Pam and her daughter Jill met us there and Solomon and Olivia has an especially good time playing with her. We look forward to seeing her again while we are here. We all went to bed early, especially for not having to get up in the morning. I suspect I am still recovering from the stress of getting ready to leave and Greg from his Monday ride, though he said he wasn't sore at all. He is struggling with allergies. I should have posted our fun at the park on Monday on this site, but it is on my rambling page (see link), there is a great video there of Olivia going down a slide.

Starting Out 3/3/2007

The journey has begun. We spent last week moving out of Chris and Stacy's and into the trailer. In actuality we lived with Jim and Charissa again, only it must have been much worse for them. Charissa took care of the kids and the meals, I think everyday, while Greg and I ran errands, packed, cleaned, etc. trying to get ready to leave. We pressed their friendship in a big way and can never repay their graciousness and generosity. (I'm sorry Charissa, I inadvertently stole your laundry basket.)

Greg's dad came out on Saturday to help us get packed up and on our way. He had been out several times before helping us with repairs and showing us things we didn't know. We pulled out onto the road about 5:30 PM, a little later than we expected, but we wanted to get going. After spending a little time at Greg's dad's with his sister and her family we headed south at 9:30, a much later start than expected. It was wonderful, however, and when we wanted to stop and sleep, around the Jefferson area, we did. We slept in our own beds. We got up when we wanted to and kept heading down the road.

We were planning on heading over to the coast because the weather was keeping the mountain passes on I-5 in dangerous condition. But, the weather was beautiful and when we got to the turn off we decided to call about the road conditions and they were great. We came straight down I-5 with bare dry roads all the way. It is a lot slower pulling the trailer, but why do we need to hurry? We arrived at my brother Rick's home at 9:30 PM.

Rick and Kathy are warm and welcoming. We expected to sleep in the trailer, and they wouldn't have minded, but they set up space for us in the house and welcomed us in. Their house is so comfortable it seemed impossible to refuse and the kids are thrilled with the big boxes of Legos to play with, the many books and toys. The weather is a little overcast, but warm and dry. The trees are blooming... Greg went on a ride this morning, but you can read about that on his MTB blog.

11/1/2006 to 3/1/2007

When we moved in with the Swansons we began attending a home church with them. It was there that we met Chris and Stacy. Shortly afterwards Chris had to move to Utah (they thought for only a short time) for work. When they discovered the work was going to last much longer than expected they decided Stacy and their two kids should move there, too, until his work allowed him to come back to the area. Stacy called me to see if we would house sit.

Wow! How can we question God’s sovereignty? We have met very few, if any people that have needed someone to house sit for four months. And as we had always hoped to leave around the first of the year. It seems ordained. They are planning to be gone into February and we will likely be needing that much time before being ready to go.

Speaking of being ready to go, we have a 15 passenger van and a 1997 Skyline Nomad trailer. I am doing some cleaning and sprucing and we have too many things we still need to purchase before we leave, but every step gets us a little bit closer.

It is nice to have our own space again, but it is hard to be spread out over a larger area. I just don’t want to keep up this much space anymore. It is good to want those things you will soon have and we will soon have much less space. We will see how long my feelings last.

6/28/2006 to 11/1/2006

It is hard to conceive of a family willing to give up half of their house, much of their privacy and control just because they see the opportunity to be of service to friends, expecting nothing in return. Jim and Charissa moved their kids (2 boys from one bedroom, 2 girls from the other), all the kid’s toys and furniture, into their upstairs family room and master bedroom (a few things went to the attic). They moved everything out of the downstairs bathroom drawers and cupboards. And we moved in.

They did everything to make us feel welcome and desired us to feel like it was our home. And although we heard them say that they enjoyed us being there, we had difficulty believing them. We more than doubled their household! We knew we were guests, but always they treated us as though they would love our living with them always.
For the kids it was like summer camp the whole time. The nine of them just fit around the table and that is where they ate. The adults sat nearby on the living room furniture. The amount of food to feed that crowd of 11 or 13 every meal was a real education for Charissa and me. It took several weeks for us to figure out how much to make so that everyone got enough. Every meal was a lot of work. When we moved in we had intended to buy and convert a bus. After a month the bus was bought and we had many difficult moments and decisions with it, deciding at last to sell it and look for a travel trailer. Jim and Charissa were patient with all our struggles, never knowing how long we would be invading their space, never pressuring us in our decisions.
Charissa is such a good friend, the best I’ve known. Living with her was a blessing I will never forget. I’m sure many were concerned about its effecting our friendship, and not every moment was easy, but nothing could reduce my love for her and her family. We will always be grateful for the opportunity they gave us to follow a different trail.

The Big Idea

It was spring or summer of 2004 when I, Marla, began to pray that God would give Greg a vision for our family. We were living what seemed a typical life: decent home in a decent neighborhood, maybe a few more kids than most and home schooled. Greg went to work every morning to a job he disliked to pay the bills and came home to find there was just enough time to see the family or go for a ride before trying to get enough sleep and start again the next day. Greg wanted to do more, and so did I. Life is so short and the kids grow up so fast. So I began to pray for more for us.

Maybe a week later Greg came home and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could travel around the country and ride trails in lots of different states?” “Yeah,” I replied, trying to sound like it could ever be possible. I didn’t expect it would ever get mentioned again. But, the next day when Greg came home, “Did you think any more about us traveling around the country?” Wow, I thought, he was serious. “No, but I will,” was my answer.

We wondered if we could rent the house out for enough money to pay the mortgage and support our travel, but it didn’t look like it. We began to think about selling the house, but that was a lot of security of which to let go. Still it seemed to be our only option. This is where our dear and generous friends, Jim and Charissa, come into the story. They offered to let us live on their property, even in their home while we prepared to leave. So the house went on the market early June 2006 and we had a full price offer in two days. In less than a month we were moving into two bedrooms and a 10x10 storage unit.