Wandering Wahls

Dropping off the RV was bittersweet for us – we were leaving our home of 18 months and a pretty significant period of our lives. Many memories passed by as we turned over the keys and drove past the RV for the last time – all the places, new and old friends, relatives, adventures, education and new discoveries of our country’s natural beauty came to us as we shared favorite stories of the trip. The folks at Steinbring Motors made it easier with their Midwest hospitality and friendliness over the 2 nights we stayed there prepping the RV for it’s handover – if you need an RV, go to Steinbring.

Directly after Garfield, MN we headed toward De Smet, SD to the Laura Ingalls’ homestead. My daughter has read all of the “Little House on the Prairie” books and she wanted to see Laura’s home from age 13 through marriage. Plus, having traveled the prairie in our Wahlstar RV, we felt a kinship with her and our own “Little RV on the Prairie” adventures.

Admittedly, the site wasn’t on my top 25 list, but pleasing my daughter was. In the end, this visit ranked up with other stops! The homestead wasn’t a homage to the books and Laura (though you can pick up at the gift shop any title you’re missing), but was a fantastic hands-on educational site about families homesteading in the prairies.

No glass-enclosed displays here – instead the family that runs, and now owns, the old Ingall’s homestead site have set the place up so that people can touch, climb, and experience the realities of everyday life of the late 1800s – from grinding corn, to making dolls and rope, to lessons in the one-room schoolhouse, to riding a pony and carriage.

We even stayed in an authentic shepherd’s covered wagon for the night (comfortable I might add). If you’re still thinking of where to stop this summer for a family trip, I strongly recommend this spot. From here, you could make it down to the Homestead National Park in Nebraska for another great spot about our country’s homesteading past.

Well, it’s back to the car and a cramped road trip home – we need to buy our new, used, smaller RV version soon.

Our Air Force days led us to a variety of school experiences for our kids. In Japan, they went to a Japanese Montessori pre-school. The teachers spoke very little English, but they loved our children anyway. The kids traded PB&J sandwiches for rice balls and fish…and loved it! In Germany we elected to put them in the local village elementary school. Talk about learning a language by immersion! In 6 months they were fluent in German, and translating for us (which came in quite handy).

So after retirement, when we set out on our year long RV trip across America, we ventured in to the world of home schooling (or “road schooling”). We were blessed to have several friends who home school, and gave us so much great advice. The best advice given was not to worry—that even if we didn’t teach them anything formally, they would be better off having had this experience. We diligently kept up with daily math and writing, but we really let the trip direct the rest. They studied US history based on what region or state we were in. They learned science hands on at National Parks, science centers, and on our morning bird walks.

So now as we “settle down”, the kids are fully immersed in their public school– and loving it! We decided on a charter school, K-8 so that all three kids would be in the same school. They have proudly shared our adventure with their classmates. The teachers embraced the kids mid-year, and they quickly caught up with subjects that they were behind in. (Mainly grammar—oops!) They are already involved in book clubs, sports teams, and scouts. They’ve all been invited to birthday parties—a keen indicator of settling in socially.

I think military kids have an exceptional skill at adapting to their new school and environment. Somewhere in their little brains they must remember eating sushi for lunch and singing Momotaro. Perhaps that’s why all this change is no big deal for them.

One of the goals for our blog entries for MOAA is to include different perspectives on  our experience. We’ve heard from Mary Claire, the active duty family member, and me (the spousal unit – I will not refer to myself as “DS”). What have been missing is our kids’ perspectives. In that regard, I thought I would submit today my daughter’s thoughts on the 16 month RV trip across the U.S. – specifically about what one part of the trip stood out in her mind. For me its whoopee pies. For Anna though, not surprisingly, it was our visits to the 60+ National Parks and the impression they made on her.

As background, Anna is 11 years old and in the 5th grade. These thoughts and words are hers alone – and I am proud to say that her mom and dad DID NOT write this for her.

Tom

National Parks are important to me first of all because they all feature wonderful wildlife which cannot be found in many other places (zoos do not really count because the animals cannot be called “wild” life). The wildlife varies from the many bats in Carlsbad Caverns National Park to colorful fish in Biscayne National Park. Second, National Parks let me get away from people, and give me peace and quiet.

I consider myself very lucky to have seen about 60 National Parks in the last 16 months. I never realized all the natural beauty in the USA before we took our cross-country trip in our RV. Starting in California we saw Joshua Tree National Park. There we were lucky enough to see a tarantula. Unfortunately, we missed the National Parks around Oregon and Washington, but we did see the wonders of Yellowstone National Park (in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming). With bears, wolves, and geysers, Yellowstone is one of my favorite National Parks. Theodore Roosevelt National Park treated us to bison in our campground; prairie dogs in Prairie Dog Towns; and, wonderful hiking trails. Mount Rushmore National Memorial taught us about the presidents. I can’t list all of the National Parks but some special ones were Everglades National Park in Florida (alligators in every swamp), Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado (Mountain Goats if you’re lucky enough), and Carlsbad Cavers National Park in New Mexico (stalagmites and stalactites in the beautiful caves). My brothers and I also got Junior Ranger badges or patches in every National Park we visited. We prefer the patches over the badges.

Traveling the country really inspired me to try to help protect the National Parks. Protecting National Parks does not always involve hard tasks. Some rules like “don’t bust the crust,” “leave no trace,” “stay on the trail,” and “don’t feed the wildlife” can actually help a lot.

“Don’t bust the crust” means not to step on Biological soil crust. This crust is actually alive! Biological soil crust can be found in Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.

“Leave no trace” means to not litter, not to take anything, or just not to change the natural habitat. The only thing you can take is pictures and memories.

“Stay on the trail” means, well, to stay on the trail. Why the National Park Service wants you to do that is because if you step off trail you may step on plants that are growing there. Only one person stepping off trail may not do anything alone, but if one person does it then other people are bound to do the same. Soon everyone will be destroying plants, and animal’s habitat, all because of a few (maybe even one) people off the trail.

“Don’t feed the wildlife” also means what it says. Why the National Park Service wants you to follow this rule is because when wild animals are fed they forget to feed themselves because they depend on people too much. Also they (mostly larger animals like bears) can become aggressive and attack humans for their food. Sometimes the animal has to be put down because they are too dangerous. The saying “a fed bear is a dead bear” comes from that fact.

An idea that may help protect National Parks could be that school field trips be held at National parks and the schools could raise money to help the National Parks.

In conclusion, America is very lucky to have these fabulous National Parks. I hope that people will keep helping and Protecting National Parks so that I can take my grandchildren there some day.

At my last entry I whined a bit about feeling “lost” after retirement. Thanks to my wonderful AF friends, I had replies that confirmed this was not at all unusual. My amazing husband also gives me unending support. So I am now feeling that it’s OK to take some time for myself. One thing that’s been great is going to the gym at the Air Force Academy every day. Wow, I never had time to do that while on active duty. I even get a personalized strength-training lesson with the exercise physiologist from the HAWC. She was explaining the machine to work on the “latissimus dorsi”, and the other retiree with me happily shouted, “Oh, you mean the bra overhang.” We had a good laugh, and I wondered why the girl in her 20’s didn’t get it.

I’ve also taken the time to go to daily mass. (It’s Lent after all.) When I was active duty I barely had time to run in for ashes on Ash Wednesday. I feel so lucky and blessed to have this time to devote to my spiritual growth, and improve my physical health as well.

Mostly I am embracing the importance of being home with my children. I love picking them up from school and hearing all about their day. I have signed up for PTO activities and started volunteering in the lunchroom. (Now that’s a great way to spy on your 7th grader, much to his dismay!) I even have dinner cooked for Tom when he comes home from work. After all, that was HIS job for 12 years. As soon as we move in to our house, I might even have warm cookies waiting for the kids.

Now how is that for transitioning?

I realize this story is a little dated, but please bear with me. For Halloween, we were in Phoenix to see my family and old friends (from the civilian side). The stay was fun and it was great to catch up with my brother, his family, and my dad for a few days.

Additionally though, our children got a taste of American culture – literally, since it was Halloween. Our friends have three children the same ages as ours; so Sam and Anna traipsed around the local neighborhood and Joe went to a Halloween party with our friend’s oldest boy. All three kids were pretty excited by the events – and the collection of treats (those that their dad did not confiscate).

Joe and Anna also went to school with our friend’s children for a day. They were only supposed to stay for a half a day, but when I arrived to pick them up the two wanted to stay at school. Now, how come we can’t get that attitude at their “road” school?

Phoenix might not be a place on our list of consideration; but, other than the heat, it was a nice RV stop. Plus, the kids had great fun and it was nice to have them see an American school. Tomorrow, Sam gets his turn. We’re in Cayucos, CA visiting my wife’s brother, and Sam will spend a day at school with his cousin.

Before

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-fter!

From Teddy Roosevelt National Park, we were headed westward. So we decided, “what the heck, it has been a year since we were in Yellowstone, lets go back!” Returning here was sort of monumental for us. Last October, we really were novices with this whole RV-trip. I’d make mistakes and not know until someone honked, or a fellow RVer pointed out the mistake – now I make the same mistakes and find them myself. Boy, I’ve come a long way.

Also, one year ago, we were just learning to appreciate the beauty of America, wildlife, and nature. Our visit to Yellowstone at that time was the kids’ first Jr. Ranger patch (they are now up to 50+). Our visit opened our eyes to our country’s natural beauty, the treasure that our National Parks are, and how the National Park system could become a major part of our kids’ “road-school” curriculum. So, we celebrated our one-year anniversary of the “Wahls Across America” trip with a second visit to Yellowstone.

We saw parts of the park we missed last year. We were also better prepared this time with our Alpen Spotting Scope, which we pulled out when we saw wildlife off of the road, and sturdier hiking shoes (a major improvement). Our early morning wildlife drives this time were rewarded with bald eagles (mom, dad, and juvenile – our kids identified the distinctions), wolves (and pups), elk, bison, moose, and a black bear! Check out the rest of the photos on our Web site.

Smarter than your average bear

We also made a trip into the Grand Tetons National Park. This park was stunning with its views of the mountains that rose up directly from the earth – there was no gradual elevation, just the mountains rising to the skies.

From amber waves of grain to purple mountains majesty!

I was going to write about my son spending a day in a Catholic school with his friend. Instead, I thought I’d let Joe tell you:

In the RV, I naturally am homeschooled, but yesterday I went to my friend Kyle’s Catholic school in Huntsville, Ala. It was a very interesting experience, because I have gone to German and Japanese schools — but never an American school.

One thing that was different between American and German/Japanese schools was the cafeteria. In the foreign schools, we never ate lunch in school. In Germany, our school started at 8 a.m. and ended at 1 p.m. so we could eat lunch at home (Germans eat a big breakfast and lunch instead of dinner).

Another thing I noticed was Kyle’s school hours were from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. with no recess. We had two recesses at the German school. I really don’t remember very much from my Japanese school, because I was 3 to 5 years old when I went there. So I can’t tell you many differences besides the fact that we had to brush our teeth during school hours.

I also noticed that in my friend’s school we walked to different classrooms for different subjects. In the German schools we always had the same classroom and teacher for all the subjects (which included German, English, French, art, music, physical education, math, and science).

A funny thing happened to me as a result of miscommunication. Kyle had told everyone that my family was Air Force, which is true, but then someone asked me “how can you be in the Air Force at the age of 12?” I then answered that my mom was in the Air Force. Also, during school hours, being a guest, I had to where a sticker on my shirt that said my age, name, and date. So while I was walking around, everyone would look down at my chest to read my name.

I enjoyed my American school experience a lot.

Cheers,

Joe

After experiencing Memphis crime close up and personal, it was interesting to hear the replies from locals who we talked to about our window-shattering experience. In general, their reaction was a “that’s downtown for you” type of response. For instance, at the window repair shop, both receptionists said that we don’t want to choose Memphis as a place to live — it was too dangerous. Thanks for the tip! They also said GPS units were a popular item to steal and they’re found for sale quite often at flea markets. We didn’t have time to wait for one, so we’ll have to go to Best Buy instead.

On with the Memphis adventure though — we had the window repaired and headed first to the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is located at the hotel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. The exterior has been retained, as has King’s room. The museum also includes a walk through the building across the street from where James Earl Ray shot King. Guests can walk through the room and also read King and Ray’s timeline. I never realized Ray was caught in London on his way to Brussels. Overall, this is a fantastic museum about civil rights and the events leading up to King’s assassination.

Next up was Graceland — Elvis’ home (or, as my son Joe thought, Elton John’s home). What a sight — green shag carpet on the walls, ashtrays as furniture, and fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches (we skipped these). It is interesting to see what a change Elvis made, both physically and musically, from the early, skinny guy shaking his hips, to the movie star, to the seasoned singer still in black leather, to the sad end. The tour was pretty interesting, even the walk through Elvis’ planes. Civil Rights and Graceland, that’s Memphis in a nutshell.

Check out our photos.

We made it to Huntsville, Ala., and Redstone Arsenal. The Famcamp was full, so we stayed at the RV park at the Space and Missile Museum. Huntsville is where the U.S. brought German rocket experts after World War II, and it was here they developed the Saturn V to lift the Apollo missions into space. The museum is one of the best we’ve seen (in our opinion, certainly much better than Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., which was a bit disappointing).

Here, the museum has an actual Saturn V — all 36 stories of it — that we could walk under. The museum had great information on the different Apollo flights and a lot of fascinating exhibits from space and rocket programs. Particularly interesting was the historical information on the scientists during and after World War II and how they ended up in Huntsville. One further item of note at the museum was the knowledge of the employees — all had a wealth of information about the exhibits and were able to answer our questions (yes, the next space shuttle astronauts will be drinking their own urine — purified, of course).

My wife had to be away for the week because her sister had knee surgery. However, we managed. I was able to fit in a trip to Ivy Green, the home of Helen Keller. This stop was educational and enjoyable — those two don’t always go together but they did so at Ivy Green. The museum hostess was a wonderful Alabaman (a Daughter of the Confederacy member) and gave us a personal tour of the home. The story of Helen Keller and being able to see her home was a wonderful experience. If you’re in northern Alabama, Ivy Green is worth a visit.

After Huntsville, the kids and I were off to Nashville, Tenn., where Mary Claire was returning. The drive was a bit nerve-racking, because I had to make sure I covered everything Mary Claire normally took care of. But, the kids were helpful, and the RV drove well. No hoses pulled off of their base, waste hatches were left open, or kids left behind — well, I better go count them actually.

After our journey to Philadelphia, Miss., we drove to Selma, Ala., and drove the National Historic Trail to Montgomery that Martin Luther King Jr. followed. This was such a fascinating journey, through old downtown and across the Pettis Bridge — the spot where the first attempt to march was stopped by the town sheriff and state troopers. Halfway along the drive is a National Park Interpretive Center that was fantastic in their presentation of the times and the march. The Ranger gave our kids a special tour and explained the whats and the whys about the time. Our kids did the junior ranger program and got their badges. I truly think Joe and Anna had an eye-opening experience about this part of America’s history. This national park was a good complement to the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park that introduced the kids to jazz and its relation to the plight of African-Americans in the late 1800s.

We spent the night at the Montgomery AFB Famcamp. After, we headed north to see our friends, Brad and Susan Sturgis — Air Force friends stationed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. We became friends with them at Nellis AFB, Nev. Then, after separate tours, we met up again when we were stationed in Washington, D.C. Now, four years later, we’re getting together again. This trip sure has its benefits.