Kindred Spirits

One of our favorite things about life on the road is the people we meet along the way. And Las Vegas was no exception.

The reason we were in Vegas was to install a veggie oil system in "Benny the Brave". An added bonus was that we REALLY liked Benny's owners :) We had so much fun with Justin, Tara (AKA The Organic Sister), and Zeb...and we had lots of time to get to know them better.

It turns out that Matt and Justin have very much the same personalities (laid back, fixers)...and Tara and I do as well (type A, planners). Justin is a finish carpenter by trade and Tara is a fabulous photographer and has dreads! Let's just say we were never lacking in things to talk about! We made a great team. And even though Zeb is older than Bella, they had fun hanging out as well.

They are a fellow unschooling family...and we were so inspired by watching how they live that out in daily life. Both Justin and Tara are passionate about "life learning" and it's contagious when you're around them. Tara's blog has so much information and is a really fun read...be sure to add it to your blog list if it's not there already!

Good times at California Pizza Kitchen...

Sara and Tara spent many days at the park with the kids and friends...

Zeb teaching Bella a new game...

Matt and Justin workin' hard on the veg system...

Enjoying friends at the going away party...

Two families on the road! We have plans already to meet up again somewhere down the road...we'll be counting the days!

Benny the Brave is lookin' good...be sure to go to the gallery and watch the video below to see the renovations!

Here is a little interview and tour of the RV that I did with Justin and Tara...

Come check out more photos of their new home and their party in this photo gallery.
All photos available for comment on Flickr here.

Learning on the Road

We love learning...but we don't sit down and "do school" every day. We prefer to learn through life experience and by pursuing the things that Bella is passionate about...which is referred to as "unschooling" (more info here and here). Here are just a few of the new things we learned while we were in Las Vegas!

Springs Preserve
There were so many people telling us to go check this out, that we just had to go! The Springs Preserve is a 180 acre natural habitat right in the middle of the city. According to their website, "...the Preserve features museums, galleries, outdoor events, colorful botanical gardens and an interpretive trail system through a scenic wetland habitat". It was basically a HUGE science museum and outdoor trail system with hands-on exhibits, and a great art museum. They are very focused on sustainability...and had many opportunities to learn about living green. I wish we would have had more time to explore it all! We needed several days there to take it all in.

Hoover Dam
We were especially excited to go see the Hoover Dam and the new by-pass bridge...and it was only 45 minutes away! We packed a picnic lunch and headed to Boulder City. It was a beautifully sunny day, and we enjoyed walking the dam and learning more about the amazing men that built it. We were bummed that the museum on site was $8 per person...but we ended up finding a great little museum in the Boulder City Hotel for just $4 for everyone!

Chinese New Year
Bella has dreamed of China for as long as I can remember. When she was younger, she used to have her own gibberish language that she called "Chinese". She would also tell us that she had a sister in China...and made up elaborate stories about this sister. So we were super excited to hear about the Chinese New Year celebration in Las Vegas' Chinatown! We were able to find some books at the library to learn a little more about the event's history before we went.

The celebration was on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and it was packed! We enjoyed the dancing, the noodles, and the beautiful dresses! We bought some pretty chopsticks to remember our time there.

When we got home, we read one of our favorite books, Hungry Planet. We learned more about what they eat in China...and that night we made rice and veggies with tofu. Bella made sure that our bowls were set up EXACTLY like the photos in the book!

Lied Discovery Children's Museum
This museum was only 1 mile from our campground! We were thrilled to find out that the "passport membership" we have through Bozeman's science museum covered this one as well (free admission!). It's a great program if you travel full time...you can get into MANY zoos, museums, and more for free! Bella begged to go back here over and over. Her favorite thing was the miniature airport security check point. She must have taken her shoes off and walked through the scanner 5 times in a row. She also loved the grocery store. Daddy really liked the bubbles!

Photos from Las Vegas here.
Photos are available for comment on Flickr.

Life Learners

When we were on our way to Las Vegas, I got a text from Tara saying that there was an unschooling playgroup on the day that we were arriving and if I wanted, I could go "hang out with the hippies". You know I was all over that!

We arrived at the park and Bella was immediately off introducing herself...totally in her element. I settled into the mama circle and started a journey of friendship with some amazing women. I thought that we might be around for 1 more playgroup, but We ended up being in town for FOUR playgroups! It started to feel like we LIVED in Vegas :) One week, the park we were at had a really great farmer's market...such fun!

It was so great to have a something to do each week with the same people...I strive to create a sense of rhythm on the road for Bella and that made it easy!

We will miss our new friends, but we look forward to keeping in touch...

Photos from Las Vegas here.
Photos are available for comment on Flickr.