Anchorage and a visit home to CA

Remember that time @perkymog almost crushed our Sequoia? Not really. Oksana's perfect signals guided them right into their tight spot to join our camp of four Airstreams! #anchorage #airstreamtoalaska

Wall of Aluminum. #airstream #myrivetedlife #liveriveted #airstreamtoalaska @malimish_airstream @upintheairstream @asolojourner

Okay, we have a plan for August, September and October that will have us in Boston in time for the kids to do Halloween with their cousins. Tomorrow, we fly back to the Bay Area for two weeks to see family and friends, but we'll be back on the 25th of July to head down to Homer and to SalmonFest. From August 1st, we essentially start heading east, taking about three weeks to enjoy the drive back out to Watson Lake where we intersected the Alaska Highway 6 weeks ago. From there (see link to map and calendar in right column of blog), we wind down through Jasper and Banff, cross into the U.S., and head to Glacier, Bozeman, Yellowstone and the Tetons before turning left. We'll hit Badlands, the grassland preserves, and Mt. Rushmore, stop in at the Mothership (Airstream Factory) in Jackson Center and then beeline it for Boston. From Watson Lake, it'll be 4,500 miles in 68 days, averaging a drive of 132 miles every other day. Of course, we'll string some together, eat up miles on others and stretch out when want. Have a look at the link to the route and calendar in the right column of the blog (link in profile), and let us know if we're coming through your town or might cross paths on the road! #rvlife #lifeontheroad #fulltimefamilies #familytravel

So long @asolojourner, @van_tramp, @angrehm, @malimish_airstream and @perkymog. We'll see you all again somewhere down the road! #threeairstreamsintherearview #andalittleredbus #andabigorangeunimogoutofthepic

Looking around the circle last night at a moose-load of travel experiences. @angrehm, Jason "Bodeswell.com" Rehm, @malimish_marlene, @malimish_dan, @perkymog, @asolojourner, @van_tramp, "Moose" and @advodna_ann (who's face is not usually quite that distorted). #airstream #lifeontheroad #fulltimetravel #yesifoundanapptopanapanorama

12 hours down and about 4 more to go in a travel day that will reverse what it took us 4 1/2 months to drive. Excited to see friends and family for a two week visit. #anchoragetosanfrancisco #butourtrailerwillbewaitingforusinalaska #familytravel

Okay, so we're out of the Airstream for the next two weeks, but somehow I think we'll manage to have some fun anyway. #foundsomethingelsefuntotow

This #tinyhouse will work well as our home for the next four or five nights as we help my brother put on a music festival in the Mendocino Redwoods for 700 of his (and our!) closest friends. #soldoutunfortunately

Mae has no problems hanging out in front of silver trailers, this time @rfwagner and @byalix's #CampInn teardrop.

@advodna_ann and Wynne rocking out to @austin_zimmerman13's set on the main stage as Mae looks on. It's nice when a music festival and a family reunion are pretty much the same thing. #redwoodramble

#festivalnatural #hulahoop #hulahoop #redwoodramble - posted by advodna_dave on July 17, 2015 at 05:48PM

It's hard to be productive when the baby keeps hogging the walkie talkie. #shecantwalkieORtalkie #redwoodramble

We're all pretty beat after helping my brother put on an incredible music festival this weekend. After being on the road for 7 months, seeing so many friends, musicians and my entire family in one place (particularly this place) was pretty awesome. We're excited to get back to the trailer and Alaska next weekend but are already counting on being back here again this time next year! #redwoodramble

Is it just me or are some of the things this toy at Grandma's house says not entirely appropriate for children? (needs volume) #swearbear

I somehow missed that I'd passed 2,000 followers sometime in the last few days. My guess is that that's not because of completely immature posts like my last one or even because of pics from music festivals but more 'cause of pictures of Airstreams in cool places, often with cute babies in front of them. So to say a big THANKS to all of you (Russian teens who just want to chat included) for following, I'll post this one that's squarely in my wheelhouse from the awesome little town of Hope, Alaska a couple weeks ago. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #airstreamwithkids

Watched Wynne put on a puppet show in grandma's driveway, dropped off six empty kegs from the festival at @IronSpringsBrewery, drove the incredibly scenic back way from Fairfax to Petaluma, met with my financial planner, swung by the large animal vet to pick up pig tranquilizers, stood staring at the piles of stuff in our garage that despite our best efforts at purging we convinced ourselves we still needed, trimmed #PetuniaThePig's toenails with tin snips and shaped 'em with the Dremel as @l3bc held her in a firm but loving embrace, drove by the local Moose Lodge in Petaluma even though my "home lodge" is in Anchorage Alaska, and now about to do a cameo at the regularly scheduled "Dad's Night" which I've missed for the last 7 months. Life is weird right now. #butawesome #potbelliedpig #manipiggy

Not 15 seconds after I took this, she slipped on one of the stumps and got a nasty scrape down the front of her shin, made all the worse by the fact that the ruffle skirt and pants she's wearing are a bit short since we'd actually pulled them out of our storage for her one year old sister to wear until she found them and insisted. Otherwise, a productive morning of appointments, a meetup with an overlanding friend to talk thru his planned truck bed sleeping platform, a trip out to the Bay Area Discovery Museum located at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge and catching up with old friends over dinner. These days remind us of how much we love the Bay Area. #butstillarentreadytosettledown #itsnotyouitsus #canwestillhangout? #maybewejustneedalittlespace

Another quick flashback to a great weekend at the Redwood Ramble. For some reason, Mae loves this balancing trick (my biceps not so much). #redwoodramble #dancingbaby #levitatinglittleones

Being back at the #Farmlet feels a bit like a rollercoaster ride. On one hand, it's beautiful and bucolic. Wynne ran around and explored with her two friends who are living there while we travel, I tackled the big Suffolk sheep so the shearer could do his work and we all ate fresh lettuce and veggies out of the garden. But on the other hand, it reminds me of how many moving parts it feels like there are to keep it all maintained and flourishing. Weeds want to grow, animals want to eat other animals, roots want to crack concrete, irrigation hoses want to burst from the pressure, and I find myself wanting, in vain, to try to control it all. And then I think of the flow of the road. Our minds and destinations can change with our whim. Challenges arise like puzzles but ultimately, we determine the solutions. If we want more of something, we seek it out and stay, less and we move on to visit more places and people we might not otherwise experience. Again, we're stuck with the feeling that there's no one black and white answer for us. It's shades of gray. But for now, we're about ready to get rolling again.

As we approached the pasture gate, Petunia, the 12 year old potbellied pig who's lived on the property since she was a piglet and was actually written into the purchase agreement, clumsily turned her body towards us and grunted as she lumbered to meet us. Without hesitation, I swung Mae down off my hip and stood her up next to her pet pig so I could "get the shot." She looked at me like I was insane and telegraphed the impending breakdown with a slow lip quiver. I swooped her up, suddenly remembering that she hadn't been back on the Farmlet since she was 5 months old (she hasn't lived in the house since she was 6 weeks!) and had no recollection of this gray grunting beast covered with bristly black hair. I guess Wynne will always be our farm baby and Mae our trailer baby. But just to confuse ourselves later, we took the obligatory shot of her on the vintage John Deere pedal tractor. #childhoodunplugged #johndeere #tractor

Air travel is brutal, especially with a one year old. Wynne's quite happy to watch her iPad the entire time, but Mae won't nap and wants to move pretty much anytime the drink carts are in the aisle or the fasten seat belt sign is on. Still, she managed to flash enough dimple around that everyone (even the woman who we'd convinced to give up her window seat to take my middle two rows up) seemed willing to overlook the blood curdling screams during take off and landing as she refused to nurse to relieve the ear pressure. I don't particularly like being trapped in a seat (without something like driving to keep me occupied) either. Although, when I got up to use the bathroom, as much for the walk as for the need, I thought it was pretty funny that I actually thought to myself, "Wow! This bathroom is roomy compared to the trailer." I'll admit, I almost lost it when hearing about a three hour delay in Seattle, but managed to recover after realizing that a couple hours playing in the Rubberized Germ Exchange Chamber that is the SeaTac children's play area, would probably tire them out for the next leg. After finally landing in Anchorage, grabbing some takeout from a restaurant in the terminal, bailing the truck out of long term parking, and retrieving Gorilla from her pet sitter, we returned to find the trailer just as we'd left it in a friend's driveway. Anticipating the state we'd be in upon returning, we'd done all the dishes and put everything away before locking up. And while we'd pretty much cleaned out the fridge, we had had the forethought to leave ourselves a well-deserved treat of chocolate and IPA. Tomorrow, south towards Homer! #airstream #airstreamwithkids #travelwithkids #airstreamtoalaska