Laura's 13th Birthday Party

My daughter Laura turned 13 on Friday. We took her and six of her friends camping in the new 5th wheel trailer to LL Stub Stewart State Park on Friday night. Stub Stewart is one of Oregon's newest state campgrounds, located just 30 minutes from town on the way to Vernonia. They have great hiking and biking trails, and the facilities are excellent. We had two campsites for Friday night -- one for the girls in the 5th wheel, and one for Teressa, Brian, Tyler (a friend of Brian's) and me in our old RV.

After getting the vehicles leveled and hooked up for the night, Brian started a fire for roasting hot dogs while I worked on baking a triple chocolate cake in the Dutch Oven. The cake was a special request from Laura, as we have done this a couple of years in a row in Montana for Teressa's birthday. I had lots of help from the girls mixing the batter and frosting the cake when it was done. Below is a picture of Laura blowing out the candles at the end of the evening. There wasn't a crumb left when the kids were done devouring the cake.

The girls stayed up till midnight in the trailer telling jokes and stories. They thought it was very cool to have their own "house" for the evening. After all the chocolate and sugar drinks, Teressa and I were glad they were in their own house too! ;-)

The next morning we got up and took a hike after breakfast. Stub Stewart State Park is on the Banks - Vernonia bike trail, a 20 mile dedicated paved bike path between the two cities. We hiked down to the bike path, along it for half a mile, and then back up in the woods along a stream to the horse camp at the top of the hill. We met several horses along the way. There is something magical about young girls and horses, as this picture shows.


When we got back to RVs the kids all played ultimate Frisbee while we broke camp. Overall it was a great weekend. Several of the girls said it was the best birthday party they had ever attended. And best of all, the trailer is still in one piece and we now have a long list of things to do to get it ready for the cross country trip.

The Planning Begins

It all started with the movie "Lost in America" roughly 15 years ago. My wife and I thought it would be cool to travel the US in an RV and truly experience American history and culture. As the kids were born (Brian in 1992 and Laura in 1995) we passed that same dream on to the younger generation. The plan grew every year -- let's visit all 48 states and all the national parks!

The final decision point came earlier this year when my son said "Dad, we really won't ever take this trip, will we?" Nothing like a challenge from the kids to spur one to action. So here we go.

Tomorrow is my last day of work at Webridge/Click Commerce/ITW. I founded the company over eleven years ago with sixteen friends. We have weathered the ups and downs of the dot com era and have created a truly special organization in Portland. Now after 27 years of working in high tech, it is time for a change.

We purchased a used GMC truck and a Cougar 5th wheel trailer for the trip. Here is a picture from our maiden voyage this spring in Oregon to test everything out. We have two months to rent the house, sell some cars, put most of our belongings in storage, and get the kids through the current school year.

Our plan is to hit the road the first of July. We hope to visit all 48 states, most of the national parks, and as many historical and cultural areas as we can squeeze in. We will be home-schooling the kids using on-line college courses. We are also planning to write and publish several books about our adventures (we have to find some way to pay for all this). It will truly be the experience of a lifetime.

And so it begins...