How is it already February?

True confession. It's been almost 4 months since our last blog post.

That's way too long! Let's get back into it. Where did we leave off?

After Liberty Lake, WA we ventured to Portland to connect with Carter on his very first work trip (that's a cool parenting moment). While he was in town we also had dinner and drinks with Chad's uncles Bill and Ryan. We took the suggestion of another RV couple we met and went to kann restaurant. It features Haitian food, so we all got to try flavors we hadn't experienced before. It was delightful.

Mount St. Helen's

After Portland we headed back up into Washington to Silverlake and Bothell, respectively. As we were nearing Silverlake, we started seeing signs referencing Mount St. Helen's, so we made a point of checking that historic site out while we were there.

Sleeping Bear Dunes - Empire, MI

At the end of September I got the chance to visit my two sisters! My sister, Sherene, flew from Minneapolis and I flew from Portland, and we converged at Janene's house in Traverse City, MI. Janene's husband, Rob, likes to cook/grill/garden and her daughters both like to bake, so we definitely 'did not suffer' as my dad would say.

We enjoyed a few days together where we ate, drank, hiked, and caught up with each other. It was great. Oh, and I got to get some puppy love from their dog, Flynn, which is the best.

Here's your cue to connect with some family or friends ASAP. It's good for your soul.

Chad and I relived what college life is like. We've still got it.

In October we stopped for a couple of weeks in Ogden/Salt Lake City to celebrate Parent's Weekend at the University of Utah with Chloe. We parked our rig at the KOA just outside of downtown Salt Lake City. Who knew that was there? It was actually nicer and quieter than we expected. Chloe's sorority Pi Beta Phi put on a few events and Carter came down for the day.

It basically was a chance to act like college students across generations.

With winter weather on the horizon, we left SLC to make our way south.

As you may recall, we raved about a certain RV resort in Gold Canyon, AZ that we stayed at for about 6 weeks last winter (Canyon Vistas/Superstition Views RV Resort). We got our reservation set up for a few months this time, with the idea we might want to purchase a property on-site this winter. Within a few days of arriving, we found a place! It is a one bedroom, one bathroom casita with a full hook-up pad next to it for our RV. It took us awhile to get acclimated to the house portion of our setup; since it came furnished, we have been making a few changes here and there to the furnishings, etc. that came with the house to make it more "our own" versus feeling like you are staying at a VRBO!

Our parking spot for the winter (or whenever we want): Canyon Vistas/Superstition Views RV Resort Gold Canyon, AZ - we also made a change to our tow vehicle last fall

In December, we flew back to spend the holidays with the kids in Utah. We got a week together and it was so nice. Part of our gift-giving was to thrift something for each other, so we all shopped in a local thrift/antique store together while trying to keep what we picked out for each other a secret. It was a fun day. We snuggled on the couch together and watched some holiday movies and I baked about every treat imaginable from our faves. Shoutout to Matt and Michel that shipped us some Chocolate Stars for our Peanut Butter Blossoms - you just can't find those outside of the midwest! Carter bought a tree, hung up outside lights, and dug out our paired-down holiday bin of decorations and put them to good use! It was a perfect blend of family time and relaxation. There was no snow in Utah for the holidays, but we got in some ice skating while we were back.

Open skate at the Olympic Oval - Kearns, Utah

And January is already behind us! We had a couple of travel things pop up - Chad was in SLC for a work trip and got to sneak in dinner with the kids while he was back. I had a one-day quick trip to Minnesota for my aunt's funeral, which is the worst way to catch up with a bunch of people, but I'm grateful I was able to, just the same.

Our nephew, Elliott and hisMatt (to differentiate from his Dad, Matt), were in AZ for a few days, so we enjoyed a hike and a couple meals together while they were down to visit Grandma and Grandpa Fritz.

We are enjoying activities around our AZ community: karaoke is twice a month here, so you know I'm all over that; there's been a few street dances; we went to a comedian that was part of the Cal-Am concert series; music on the patio happens 3x a week, so you can enjoy live music all season - we usually hit Friday afternoons on the patio. I picked up a TRX exercise class - I'm finding muscles that I didn't know existed each week!

Chad's parents are also about 30-40 minutes from us (they rent a place for a few months each winter), along with a couple of Chad's aunts and uncles that winter here, so we've gotten together with them several times and we will some more!

So, the dilemma has been "What do we call ourselves now?" Are we still on the road full time? Are we hybrid? What lifestyle is this? We've decided to continue using the phrase that we are full time mobile and we winter in Arizona.

That's our story and we're sticking to it.

If you want to escape winter wherever you are, give us a ring. We have an extra bedroom now, not just a pull out couch in our RV! You can sprawl out in our 781 square feet of Arizona living, our outdoor patio space, or our roof top deck. It's not too shabby.

View of Superstition Mountain from our rooftop

As always, we hope to see you on the road.