June 2020, we started our adventure across the country. Originally, our intended route was planned around cycling events. We wanted our journey to be a way to promote our business. We had about ten cycling events lined up across the country to be vendors at. COVID-19 made it that all of our events were cancelled. Our plans changed. All of a sudden we didn't have anywhere we had to be.
We spent weeks in the northeast. We spent time soaking in the sun on the Atlantic coast at Myrtle Beach, Assateague Isand and down in Florida. We raced BMX in Pennsyvania, Conneticut, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. We even stayed a few tracks.
We explored many natural areas. We camped in state forests and parks throughout Pennsylvania and New York. We slept in Bass Pro Shop and Cracker Barrel parking lots so we could spend day after day at the beach in Florida.
We observed bears in Pennsylvania and New York. In Virginia and West Virginia we saw snakes we never would have encourntered out west. We hiked in the mangroves and coastal forest. We learned about the cicadas lifecycle in South Carolina We encountered manatees, sand dollars, tortoises and jelly fish in Florida.
Our children grew. We all learned new skills. Daphney started walking. April learned to pedal her bike in a dry lake bed. Skoolie life is not easy but worth the effort.
We took three months off from skoolie life in NW Arkansas. This place is one of a kind with hundreds of miles of singletrack. It's also on the High Country Route and Big Sugar gravel courses. We were thankful for our time in Arkansas. We are grateful for the relationships we began with business's like Buddy Pegs, Bentonville Bicycle Company, and Mojo Cycling.
Arkansas was never meant to be the end of our journey, we had intended on ending in the west. The house we rented had several issues. When cold weather arrived roads were ice coated and travel was limited and our pipes froze. The winter was very different from what we experienced in Idaho. It was not a winter we enjoyed.
March 1st we moved back in the bus. We had an extra passenger as we moved west. Mazie came into our life in February. She's full of energy and loves everyone she meets.
We were in Arizona after just a week on the road. We stayed outside of Phoenix, then Ehrenberg, and on the Colorado River. From there we headed to California. I began applying for jobs in Arizona and California as we moved West. We had decided when we left Arkansas that I would start looking for a job in teaching or conservation.
After a couple weeks in Joshua Tree and hanging out along the Salton Sea we moved north. We spent a week on Cuddeback Lake, and a week in Lone Pine. In Lone Pine, I started getting calls to interview for teaching jobs in Northern California. We went to Bodega for a few days. We celebrated Bryon's birthday with chowder and crab watching boats in the bay.
Then we headed north. I did a Zoom interview for a job in a farming community off the 101 from our Harvest Host in Ukiah. We went to Klamath and I interviewed for a few other positions in NorCal. We explored the lush Redwood ecosystem. It was beautiful but colder than we liked.
I am thankful that Bryon was willing to make this loop through Northern California as I looked for a teaching job. We are fortunate our business can be based almost anywhere.
After visiting a few areas that interested us, I accepted a job teaching second grade next fall. It's in a small community at the edge of the Medocino National Forest. We felt that this area is unique. It's small enough the school actually has rentals for teachers.
We have a couple of months until we move to our new home. In that time we are going to be campground hosts. I will teach summer school for a few weeks in Humbolt County as Bryon continues to fill the continous flow of bag orders. We have bags headed to Wayne's Ski Cycle next month in Iowa. We also have a custom set of bags headed to Italy.
We are greatful for those we spent time with during our journey. We are thankful for time we spent at BMX tracks out east and in Florida. We are thankful for public lands. State forests, national forest and BLM land served as our home much of this last year. Bentonville allowed us to grow our business. We are thankful for the people that helped us get settled there and gave us tips for exploring the trails.
We have a few months left in Lucky 13. We hope to find land to build a homestead on as we get settled in California. We look forward to growing our family and own food in this new place. We are also excited to continue our explorations of the Mendocino National Forest by bike.
