ByFaithFullTime

  “We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”  ~ Mother Teresa ~ Our visit to Grand Teton National Park was almost postponed due to our need to be back in the Springs for appointments; thank goodness we left the Getaway event earlier and made the time to stop over!! So. Worth. It. Instead of making a trip through Yellowstone again, we drove south from Island Park and ran parallel to the backside of the Teton range until we could head over the pass and down into Jackson. What a pretty town, surrounded by so much natural beauty!! Not to knock Wyoming, but who knew?! The drive up along Hwy 89 toward Moose was fantastic, and the Tetons really are just like a picture you only see in a calendar or magazine spread. Autumn was a perfect time to visit as well, with ...

  One thing I wanted when we first started out was something to look forward to; a time where we would have a set place to be and a break from all the travel planning and water-rationing. I happened to catch an email from Lippert (a company that makes many of the components on our RV) that mentioned “Yellowstone” and “Getaway,” so I looked into it. We were late to the game, but were able to register in time and add it to the calendar as the place we would plan to end up about a month after our family gathering in Seattle. I thought it would be good to mingle with other RVers with more experience than us - and enjoy a few unique activities and catered meals while we were at it - especially since it was in an area we had planned to visit around that time anyway. We arrived at the hosting campground to find that we had an awesome spot on the end of a row, right across from the playground and very near the laundry/showers. We had an extra day to kill before the festivities began, so we...

  Have you ever noticed something in your surroundings that could easily be passed over as insignificant, but somehow means a great deal to you in the moment? Like a flower in a thorn bush, or a familiar shape in the clouds - something slightly out of place, enough to catch your attention or even speak directly to your heart? I’ve perceived a great deal of these lately, and have come to regard them as “sweet nothings” from my Heavenly Father.  From all of the (literally sweet) natural things we’ve come across - blackberries in Oregon, wild peas in Washington, huckleberries and mint leaves in Montana, pine nuts in Utah and dates in California - to the wonderful and surprising finds for the kids, like a play museum on a covered bridge market and an enormous playground in Auburn, AL (when our morale needed serious boosting), it has been evident to me that God cares about the little things and enjoys giving good gifts to his children. Whether it’s something for our enjoyment and e...

  If you just want a visual tour of our rig, watch the video above! The information I share below is extra :) Choosing Our Rig: If any of you have ever shopped around for an RV before, you know it can be an ordeal. Our search started out as a “just for fun, let’s see what’s out there.” We had never camped in one before and didn’t have any idea what we were looking for. We spent our first few weeks just visiting different dealerships and researching floor plans online, and Justin even took a trip up to the Denver Convention Center for an RV trade show.  Our search started with “bumper pulls” since that seemed the logical choice given our current fleet of vehicles. We soon realized, however, that it wasn’t going to work for our family as a full time option (not enough storage space, a low ceiling height and not enough space in general for the towing weight we were limited to).  We then transitioned to fifth wheel RVs after deciding that we didn’t want to “drive” our rig and...

  On our second day in Glacier, we drove the full Going to the Sun Road and boy was it spectacular! It passes Lake McDonald with mountain peaks in the distance, along a river and pretty woods and up a narrow, winding road through tunnels and past glorious views of every kind. It was a little nerve-racking being on the steep-edge side in a truck that was a little big for the road, but still so worth it. We saw several waterfalls, a long weeping wall, an actual glacier and the beautiful Saint Mary Lake. It was there that we stopped for a 4-mile round-trip hike with the kids out  St. Mary Falls and Virginia Falls. We spotted some mountain goats off on a distant hill and soaked up the crystal clear pools along the trail. The falls were great (St. Mary’s was gushing and Virginia was picturesque) and the kids were nice and worn out by the time we got back to the truck. We finished driving the road to the other side (East Entrance) and by that time it was mid-afternoon and we ha...

  When we were first starting out on our full-time adventure, we had a couple recent graduates from the local university "produce" a short, pilot documentary of our new endeavors. One student did the filming and another, the editing. They did a pretty great job capturing the essence of what #ByFaith is about, and explaining more of the reason behind why we decided to call it that.  Now, I do have to set something straight: in the video, we say that we have 5 kids, but our blog bio only mentions 4. The oldest - our "5th" - is my bonus daughter (Justin's daughter), whom we only get to see for about a month out of the year. We were happy that she was able to join us for this shoot, but normally, she is not able to travel with us.  Also, I know the film is a bit long compared to our other clips (nearly 11 minutes). But please, watch to the end!! It gets a little dull in the middle but I just love the way they wrapped it up. Shout out to Silas and Scotty for a job we...

  “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”  ~ Psalms 16:11 ~ Once our solar was up and running again, we hit the highway and found a perfect waterfront spot near a boat ramp on Lake Pend Orielle in Idaho. And when I say waterfront, I really mean it was right there: just a few steps from our front door, with an unobstructed picturesque view out our dining room window with no one else in sight (the beauty of being able to travel on a Tuesday). We stayed 3 nights and wished only that we had had an inflatable boat or double kayak or something to take out on the beautifully clear water.  A venture out one day to the town of Sandpoint led us to a sweet surprise: a super-fun and fully enclosed Cedar Street Bridge and Public Market with a free children’s play area/museum for the kids! They really enjoyed it, and we grabbed a few pieces of terribly overpriced goodies from the candy store on the ...

  We have 8 solar panels and two lithium batteries (1600W with 400Ah) to help power our rig, as well as a Victron ‘smart’ solar charger to connect to our smart shunt and read our intake and output of power. During daylight, our panels collect the solar energy and re-charge our batteries, which power our lights, outlets and refrigerator, etc. - pretty basic. Using power at night drains our batteries, usually anywhere from 15-30%, or even more if we run something like a space heater. With full sunlight the next day, at that rate, we can be recharged by late morning or early afternoon no problem. And repeat.  In the previous post about our trek through Washington state, I made mention of our issues with the ‘solar system.’ Upon our midday arrival at the Fishtrap Recreation Area outside Spokane, WA, Justin noticed our intake of power was at zero, though we parked in a sunny spot with no obstructions. He spent the next several hours troubleshooting the issue, looking for loose or b...