Plan B

When we realized that we were not going to be able to take off on our cross country Road Trip to Rapha the first week of September as we had originally hoped….we switched to plan B…taking short local road trips during the week…close enough to be in town on Monday mornings & Fridays to jump through all the foster system hoops & meetings but begin the journey to healing by focusing on these precious children and our family bonding.

Week #2 (after our first mini trip to Vandenberg Space Force)

We began on September 6 – September 10 with a very close trip…not even leaving our own city. (although the kids thought we were far away) We stayed out at an RV Park at Buckley Cove in Stockton right on the Delta. It was a bonus to be in town as it was also Rosh Hashannah so we got to have family come over to the RV park & celebrate with us!

There were so many great moments and lots of learning in many levels.

Biggest take aways:

1. Lots of opportunity to be mindful and improve body awareness. In a travel trailer you have to step softly, not jump out of bed, be gentle (like a baby) because trailers are not solid foundations like homes, keep your body movements small and speak softly during quiet hours and even use inside voices outside because their are close neighbors & little sound insulation. All of these are and will be great disciplines for all the kids and provide great practice in body & mind awareness for those with trauma. They should be experts by next summer with all the practice. 😊
2. Fishing! Dan had purchased all the kids fishing poles and you would not believe the excitement they had to fish. They got up early everyday and spent a large part of the day fishing. We also had incredible neighbors who spent lots of time teaching them and were great mentors. They also learned that the most important thing to successful fishing is patience. So we had many fabulous talks about how patience is a key character quality to have in all areas of life. Fishing and the patience needed is sure to be a valuable life lesson on our road trip.
3. Adventures abound. Even in our own hometown we discovered amazing hidden trails, beautiful nature, spectacular sunsets, a rare thunderstorm and large vessels that travel here through the Delta from the Pacific ocean.