Two-year-Nomadiversary!

We are enjoying the trips down memory lane, remembering so many of the places we've seen over the last two years. We decided to try to choose two favorites each, and this is what the list looks like:

Abe: Mount Rushmore SD and Washington DC

 

Kel: New England (mainly the cemeteries in NH and MA but also the coast of Maine (Belfast, Bar Harbor & Acadia) and all the leaves everywhere in Autumn... Don't make me choose!) and Lincoln's New Salem IL (historical site)

 

Rhanna: Charleston SC and Williamsburg VA (Kel chooses these too, but Rhanna got to go first when we made the list 😜)

 

Thane: Rocky Mountain National Park CO and Shenandoah Caverns VA

 

Emrys: Mount Rushmore and Indiana (the playground at the campground, in particular, which had a wooden ship to climb on)

Gwynnie: Bend OR and Salt Lake City UT (mainly she liked the Spring weather, which was ideal for spending all day outside)

 

After much deliberation, dilemma, and debate, we want to amend these memories to our Favorites list:

-Yellowstone WY (this last visit, I think our favorite moment was listening to a man spontaneously sing America the Beautiful while walking around the Grand Prismatic Spring. Just wow.)

-Jackson WY and the Tetons (loveable town and stunning scenery)

-Mount Baker WA in North Cascades NP (an under-visited NP due to its remoteness, but wow, it's impressive.)

 

-Hurricane Ridge WA in Olympic NP (coming around the last bend in the road and seeing the mountains come into such a majestic view made us all gasp and clutch our chests in surprise - truly an astonishing sight!)

-Avenue of the Giants CA (jaw-dropping, everyone go there)

 

-Thor's Well OR (picturesque and unique!)

-Caw Caw Swamp SC (blackest swamp water ever, and so quiet! Just a stunning new type of beauty for us)

-The Angel Oak SC (seriously large and ancient tree, awe-inspiring)

-Cape Cod MA (The cemeteries!! The history!! The cemeteries!!)

 

-Learning to speak Gullah at Pin Point Heritage Museum SC

 

-The staircase in Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield IL (the whole neighborhood is amazing)

 

-Seeing the Space Shuttle and the Enola Gay in DC was very moving

The field where the Battle of Bull Run occurred was spooky and emotional and definitely haunted.

-Running through the drenchiest downpour imaginable in the Olympic rainforest was memorable and hilarious

 

-A similar rainy run in Key Largo FL was also hilarious.

 

-Running for safety during a tornado warning with sirens blaring and crazy winds and flooding rain was less hilarious but still memorable. (Savannah GA)

We also ended up making a list of animals we've enjoyed seeing; it's a super short list compared to the actual amount of animals we've seen, but still fun to write down and remember:

Bighorn Sheep and Elk in RMNP
Black Bears in Shenandoah NP (tiny compared to the bears we know in the Sierras!)
Alligators in the Everglades FL
Trumpeter Swans in Yellowstone (lots of other animals there too, but the swans were exciting, as was Em's first close-up bison)
Moose in the Tetons (it was far away but still exciting)
Beaver in IN
Pronghorns everywhere
Armadillo in FL (alive! Lots of dead ones in TX)
Porcupine somewhere (we can't remember where we were! Lol)
All kinds of lizards and tropical birds in crazy FL
Prairie dogs in WY (adorbs!)

First Quarter Catch-Up

It's the beginning of April and we haven't shared a darn thing for 2015 yet. It's just fortunate for us that we aren't trying to make a living as bloggers, lol.

The quick recap of our first quarter (I haven't even made collages yet, so just a few catch-up pics)!

January 2015:

Made it to Georgia!

Visited with family on St. Simon's Island

Climbed a lighthouse!

Visited with a good friend in Florida! (Hi, Raeanne!)

Took the kids to Epcot

Went to Wizarding World

And of course to Magic Kingdom

Farther south, visited more good friends! (Hi, Maggy!)

What joy!! (Rhanna and dear friends Mica and Angelica)

Saw a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral!

Put our toes in the Atlantic. Cocoa Beach was firm enough for Em's walker!

After such an exhausting January, we headed to Charleston, our new beloved East-Coast-Home-Base
for some R&R. Most of us also got sick, so we had to rest anyway. :/

Thane got to hold a baby alligator at the SEWE event.

We saw endangered Red Wolves!

Spent far too little time walking the streets of downtown historic Charleston.

Rhanna and Abe got to see Ingrid Michaelson in concert, which they both enjoyed immensely.

Which quickly took us into March:

We found ourselves back at Fort Frederica on St. Simon's Island. Love it there.

Such a cool, interactive Junior Ranger program there.

Went bowling with the cousins, which was super fun.

We got to go to cousin Mark's basketball game to be his personal cheering section!

Fort King George is where we spent Abe's birthday.

It was a lovely day.

More fun with the cousins!

Rhanna and Kel went to visit the small historic town of Midway, which was a treat.

Easy to geek out there.

I posted some bloggy-type commentary and more photos about our trip to the Golden Isles here:  http://www.nomaderwherewego.com/ode-to-a-sand-gnat/

Check out these classic Georgia shrimpboats!!

Just before leaving Georgia, the girls visited the Lady of Belle Point - another treat.

Hard to believe, but we were back in Charleston, which was then blooming! DIVINE!

We spent a day at the Center for Birds of Prey where they have demonstrations and many amazing birds from all over the world, which was fantastic. We learned a lot!

Our next stop was Wilmington, NC, where we had beautiful weather and made new friends.

Thane started learning to cook this month. He knows how to cook and bake a lot of things already, but he's expanding his repertoire.

Rhanna started embellishing her jeans with hundreds of embroidered flowers.

Apparently Gwynnie planned to drive us to the Outer Banks. ;)

Made it to Roanoke! Learning about the Lost Colony and visiting the site of the mystery was wonderful.

And Rhanna got to commune with her favorite monarch in a room built of authentic 16th-century wooden panels.

The Outer Banks are quite lovely, and we even have a cemetery in our front yard here!

And that finished up March! We have a couple more things to see here on the Outer Banks, and then we'll be heading north to Colonial Williamsburg where we can really get our Geeks on. :D We've been on the road for ten months now, and WOW, what an adventure it's been! Such a blessing to be experiencing this all together.