Our Maiden Voyage - The Begining Of Living Full-Time On The Road Ep. 1

We had dreamed about embarking on an epic road trip together as a family for as long as we could remember. So in 2015 when my dad sold his shares in his family's business to pursue his dream of becoming a professional speaker, we decided to first buy a small motorhome and hit the road together. The motorhome wouldn't be ready until late November so we flew out to Vancouver BC, rented a van, and embarked on the first leg of what we now call the epic family road trip. Though documenting our adventures through video was not at the top of our minds at the time, we still did take quite a few photos which I still think captured the beauty and wonderment of the first leg of our journey. After a few days exploring the beautiful city of Vancouver, we crossed the border into Washington state and headed south to Oregon. Mom was born and raised in the beautiful state of Oregon. We headed straight to Salem to visit with our family there. Next we drove out to the coast. Dad rented a house right on the ocean for a few nights so we could experience the majesty of the great pacific and play on the beach. We then drove three hours to the central region of the state where we rented a house in the beautiful mountain town of Sisters, Oregon. As we arrived we were greeted with a breathtaking sunset and the full moon rising above the three sisters of the Cascade mountain range. One morning we got up at 5 a.m and headed to the South Sister trailhead. Our plan was to hike all the way up to the summit at 10,358 feet. After an exhausting but exhilarating day of hiking we made it all the way to the summit and back. What an epic day. Once we returned home we realized how much we enjoyed road tripping. Dad had a conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the far east coast of Canada and we decided to head out that way. Normally dad would fly on his own but this time the RV was ready to go and we all jumped in for our maiden voyage. What an exciting time it was as we began to experience brand new places in our beautiful little home on wheels. First stop was for Thanksgiving with family in Ohio before heading east to the historic battle site of Gettysburg. We are in Pennsylvania heading over to Gettysburg on our way to Halifax for my conference. We stopped in Gettysburg where the big civil war battle took place. 2,000 men died right here. They charged through this forest out into the open field. The confederate army of 7,000 men came up against the union infantry. 3,200 strong and 2,000 people lost their lives right here in this place. It's pretty hallowed ground, pretty amazing. I like how they preserved the area and set up a lot of different memorials. Very interesting and I'm glad we have the chance to come here and experience some of this history right where it happened. Peace eternal. What do you think of this Pete? It's amazing. First state New York just past Albany heading out to Vermont. We'll see if the mountain is open up at Killington, Vermont. We're headed that way. On our way to Halifax, Nova Scotia for my CAPS, Canadian Association of Professional Speakers conference. So we're doing a cross country or cross northeast tour. We started in Toronto, went down to Urbana, Ohio for Thanksgiving. Then we went on to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and spent a day there touring around the site of the civil war. That was a really interesting, that was just amazing. We expected to spend an hour or so and ended up pretty much spending all day just because there's so much history there and we'd actually like to go back and get a guided tour someday. Beautiful scenery here in upstate New York. Big lakes and rivers. The hills have been amazing and we're getting up into Vermont where the mountains are even taller. The kids are doing school work in the back. They're logged into their classes, eating breakfast and we're having a good time. We're learning a lot about motor homing. We just filled up with propane so now we know how to do that and we're sleeping at night and so far we've been staying in service, what do they call them, service plazas where trucks stops and everything. You can just park there and spend the night. It's been good. So kids are at school, me and Carol are driving and we're on our way. We'll talk to you soon. Wilmington Peak is the second tallest mountain in Vermont standing at 4,235 feet. Located on the mountain is Killington Ski Resort nicknamed the Beast of the East. The sun is just getting up. It is a beautiful chilly morning here in Killington, Vermont and we are the first ones on the slopes. There's not that much snow but they do have 21 runs open and they're making snow like crazy this morning as you can see back there. It's perfect snow making weather. We're the first ones here. We're bright and early. We're getting ready to hit the slopes. We've got our snowboards inside. Though it was still very early in the snowboard season, we still had great snow conditions for most of the day and incredible views from the top of the mountain. Back at the motor home. Got the Jeep making some tea and soup. Conditions are okay for opening day but it started raining part way through so we're just warming up, drying up. We then continue north to the great state of Maine. Good morning. Here we are in Maine at the Atlantic Ocean behind me. Absolutely beautiful. Nice to be here. We're headed up the coast to Halifax for my conference. Grab a Starbucks though and just stop in here for a minute to enjoy the sound of the waves. That's cool. Think there's any oyster in there? Clam? Looks like someone opened it. Yeah. Or a bird probably. Yeah we found out where the birds were. Fine. We eventually crossed back into Canada and headed from New Brunswick to Halifax, Nova Scotia. While dad was at his conference, we explored the historic city of Halifax. We spent some time at Citadel Hill National Historic Site and enjoyed beautiful views of the city and the harbor below. Although we were beginning to really enjoy the road trip lifestyle, we still couldn't imagine a Christmas away from home so we headed back to Ontario for Christmas. As we celebrated Christmas at home, we began to make plans for our next road trip. Everyone agreed that heading south to Florida away from the cold and snow would be a fun and exciting adventure. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode of the Epic Family Road Trip. Stay tuned for next week as we pack up the motorhome and head south all the way to Key West, Florida.