Having competed our Quest for the continuous 48 States in New England, we still need to make it back home… or at least take our home to where we will park for a while. We are returning to Florida and will work-camp (get a parking spot for work/volunteer time on the property) while we figure our return to professional work. We have called this trip our “first retirement” but it has more been a sabbatical, studying and researching how to grow this Carpenter’s family through this season of wood turning to shape each of into a more functional part of His purpose.

Thanks to a referral from Vince’s college roommate Tim, we are headed to Lake Aurora Christian Camp in Lake Wales for the winter. We will need some supplemental income beyond our volunteer hours for the parking spot but the Lord has provided faithfully throughout this journey so we will plan for His provision and keep our feet moving toward a return to professional work. We plan to arrive before Thanksgiving.

We still have some educational and behavioral issues that partially motivated this last 13 months of Road Warrior Home School. The Carpenter’s wood turning has been uncomfortable but as these blocks of wood have turned calendar pages it is clear there is purpose to the shape we are each turning into. Still unsure what that is final shape will be but definitely a good deal of sawdust and wood chips around our feet. We are in a different and optimistically better place.

With the immediate next steps in focus, discerning the intermediate direction is complicated x 3 and may/will require some abstract math, Cirque du Soleil act and some serious 🙏 Main goal is to plug back into a community and invest in relationship building and share the testimony of what God has been doing in our family. For now we continue south and carry our pattern epic experiences and reuniting with family and friends that have helped carry us along the road in their prayers. We’re also going slower and using the time to recover in the Carolinas. Life on the road has been uniquely tiring so it’s good to slow the pace a bit.

Our first epic moment is getting Jayden to NYC, since he missed this leg of the Fall ‘24 trip. NYC was one of Jayden’s top “want to see” for this trip so Mom and Jayden get a day in The Big Apple and capped it off with a Broadway show!

Jayden might be under dressed for Time Square?

Pizza shop? Yeah this is not the typical NYC pizza shop. John’s Pizzeria of Time Square has a grand presentation and the pie wasn’t too bad either.

Jayden at the Broadway show of Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

Jayden got to meet a number of the cast and got a pic with Louis McCartney the actor portraying the young Henry Creel, aka Vecna.

While Jayden and Mom explored NYC, Dad and the other boys got parked in the rolling hills of NW New Jersey. Yes that’s rolling hills of NJ, something that reminded us of the Garden State’s nickname. Our friend Sharon, who we saw on our first pass through NJ, joined for a visit at the RV and offered some added insights to her home state’s beauty 😊 Reunions with our PBA friends has been a highlight of this trip and Sharon is an extra special part of that team.

A smidge over an hour from one of the busiest metro beehives in the world, NJ transforms into rocky hills and forest as you head west into the Poconos on I80. The Delaware River cuts through the mountains at the Delaware Gap and you are immediately transported to a very different NJ. While beautiful, it’s also a bit concerning as we passed no less than 16 deer 🦌 dead along the road and a few still considering their chances 🤔 Good to plan on daytime driving through this stretch and we enjoyed the foliage through PA-MD-WV and into VA for some Cracker Barrel boon-docking.

Peyton is training his bike to stand up and sit… :)

Virginia is for Lovers… never knew of this award winning tagline for Virginia.

Into NC to visit with family and friends in Charlotte for a bit as well as celebrate some costumed candy collecting, do some climbing and zip lines at National White Water Center and our DillerTime Queen’s birthday! Then off to western SC to connect with some friends and get caught up on some homeschool work. Transitioning into slow down mode has us shifting from Adventure Curriculum to “reflective scaffolding” to reinforce the boys’ last year of leaning.

NY-NJ-PA-WV-MD-VA-NC-SC-GA: The after party parade of states 🥳 🎉 🎈

Massachusetts-Rhode Island-Connecticut: Beantown, Basketball, more family’s and friends in our 48th State!