For I’m goin’ to Alabama…

Written in little moments catching my breath between unpacking and packing again. Pictures from our family camping trip this past week…

Today we pack the bus.

It’s a different sort of packing than usual. Most times you carefully calculate what you will and will not need for a week’s stay away from home. 3-4 outfits, some pre-prepared meals frozen in a cooler so you don’t have to eat on the road the whole time, a good book to read, and you’re set.

But I am basically MOVING to Alabama for the next few months. I kinda have to take a modified version of my entire household.

• I’m taking many of my kitchen appliances so I can continue to cook all our food from scratch: Vitamix Blender, Tortilla Press, Crock-pot. (wish I could take my griddle!)
• I’m bringing along many of the foods I don’t want to have to source away from home–Hard and Soft spring wheat berries, sucanat, rolled oats, unbleached and un-bromated flour, local honey, and as much raw milk and farm fresh eggs as I can fit in the bus fridge. 🙂
• To cut down on the amount of individual spices I have to bring, I’m making up some big batches of  Taco Seasoning, Fajita mix, and Ranch Dressing mix today. (recipes in my book!)
• I’m also taking a kombucha mushroom, and my water kefir and milk kefir grains to make cool, nourishing summer drinks while we’re away.
• I’m bringing more than simply a few good novels to read–I’ve packed summer school activities and books for the kids, as well as Michael Hyatt’s book “Platform” (my textbook for the summer). Also several of the non-fiction books that have been on my to-read list (The Circle Maker, Becoming the Woman of His Dreams).
• I’m even taking some crafting stuff, because I know I’ll go crazy if I can’t make something pretty occasionally: scrapbooking supplies and fabric I’m slowly cutting into pieces for a quilt.

Although this kind of packing seems overwhelming, I gained some perspective this week with the book I brought along on the family camping trip.

(This is why one should read books–they give fresh perspective!)

I finally sat down to read the classic American novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”. As I read of the Joad family’s forced migration from Alabama to California during the Dustbowl, I realized how much I have to be grateful for. It only took them one day to pack for their trip, because they could only take what would fit in the back of their modified jalopy (they’d have been able to pull out within a few hours, but they had to slaughter two pigs first so they had food on the road).

My decisions of what to take and what to leave behind on this adventure are based more on my desires than on survival or necessity. I’m not saying a forever goodbye to everything I’ve ever been familiar with, and I’ll have a house to come back to after our sojourn.

It’s certainly helped my attitude as I face the task of packing up our household for a short term stint in the Deep South. We are so blessed.

Those of you following my new facebook page (where I’m able to post from my phone when I don’t have internet) are aware that we had quite the memorable family camping trip. 17 of us enjoyed a week together, sharing marshmallows, memories, and…germs…9 of us got some kind of bug during the week. My kids shared Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, I have a head cold, and Jesse’s got a bad case of poison ivy. We are now home for two days before we head south, and so appreciate all your prayers for our safety and health. We are feeling better, and the kids are excited about the next adventure. Claire asks me 3 times a day, “Are we goin’ ta Alabana?”

Next time you hear from me, it will be from the sunny, sweltering South. So long!

Where are your travels taking you this summer? What’s your favorite destination?