Author Archives: Herzogherd

We had quite a chili morning, so Stephen started a fire in our stove to warm our tent. I just love this little wood burning stove! It’s amazing how warm this tent can get!

Then he and I took the little ones for a drive, an exploration around the mountain while the rest made breakfast. I always enjoy doing things with ALL the kids, and then doing something with just a few at a time is always so special. We met up with some of the older, middle, and younger kids who were on a big exploration! They were gone about 3-4 hours and had a blast! They walked probly about 5 miles round trip.

We enjoyed the rest of the day by going into town for a little bit to pick up a few necessities. Came back home and sat around camp keeping busy with school, playing, cooking and fellowship.

The next day we enjoyed another fire, breakfast in the nice warm tent and then a nice drive for the day. Stephen had a map of the forest service roads and wanted to see some more of the area. We headed out after lunch and just expected to be gone for an hour. It was kinda funny, because we ended up driving 4 hours before it was all said and done! Elaina made the comment that if we started out at home, we could have made it all the way to San Antonio! We had a good laugh.

Once we got back it was almost 8 I think. We made supper in the dark and had a new experience of the interesting day under our belts! What memories we make! The drive was beautiful with the aspen trees turning. The road was more of a 4×4 trail which made for SLOW driving. Martin and Stephen did a good job maneuvering over the rough roads.

We found a mud hole on our excursion and of course had to drive through it…backwards…and not once but twice!

Well, we learned this area requires a fee… we purpose to camp for free as much as possible to make this kind of trip doable. So we enjoyed a drive, supper and then next morning we and packed up and ended up moving a few hours farther north to a different dispersed camping area.

We were saddened by the recent fire that devastated stated 3,500 acres in that area. We saw them replanting with seed. They used a helicopter carrying big bags and dispensing the seed in a variety of areas.

The new place we went turned out to be really nice! It was different tearing down so late in the day and only driving an hour or 2. I love making each of our new spots home. It’s always an adventure! Each one has different pros and cons and learning to adapt is necessary to make it enjoyable.

I’m so blessed to live this life. We love experiencing all this together. The kids are such a blessing and we love each of them so very much! My life is so full 💕

We kinda tried to sleep…didn’t have much success, but around 6 we got out of the vehicles and started our day. This has been such a favorite spot for our family. The valley with flat ground, a beautiful clean running creek, the gorgeous variety of trees…everything seems so perfect. We just love it here!

We love our tents! They make camping so homey. We just enjoyed our day of rest today after the long haul yesterday!

Well, stephens phone which had the alarm set, died throughout the night. So we didn’t get up till 4:55. Our goal was to leave at 5 and that wasn’t happening. But, we kicked it into high gear and left by 5:30 which isn’t bad at all!

Some of the sunrise pictures are so beautiful. Seeing some of the mountains still dark, but other parts where the sun has hit, a nice golden color.

We stopped in Marble Canyon and got coffee. This was a special place to Martin because of LaVoy Finicum’s book. He mentions marble canyon and the bridge that we got to go walk on. He was pretty excited.

We drove a little on Route 66. It was fun to see some of the cute ways they dressed it up.

We stopped off at the painted dessert and petrified forest and saw a beautiful Adobe home that was turned into a motel and is now just a museum. Pretty neat to see new construction and how well it was preserved.

We made it to New Mexico! There was some rain in the vicinity and we saw the most beautiful rainbow! We saw the whole thing! What a rare sight! How special! We then headed to one of our all time favorite places, LaJunta canyon near Mora, NM. We have been there 3 times over the years and just love it there! Unfortunately, we didn’t make it til almost midnight. It was such a long day!

This truly tested our metal. We need times of testing in life, but when you are actually going through them, it is hard to see things clearly. We are thankful for Gods grace and for all the kids patience as we ended up just camping out in our vehicle for the night.

Stephen and I started our day on a date! There is a nearby lodge and they have a restaurant! We had such a lovely morning getting to spend this special time together. Just he and I and Eliza. The mornings are cool and a light jacket is nice. We got biscuits and gravy and banana pancakes! So fun to just stop for a few minutes and enjoy each other.

After their breakfast at camp, the kids piled in the excursion and met us up there when we finished. Wow! What a packed vehicle! Kinda like a clown car where they just keep coming out and coming out.

We had a nice drive to the Grand Canyon and took a few trails to see some beautiful views! It is amazing how huge it is! Very awe inspiring. The older kids want to come back and do the rim to rim hike. It is 23.5 miles and best done overnight so as to avoid the hot temps during the day. Maybe some day they can come back and do it!

We have enjoyed visiting with lots of different folks along our trip. We pray we can be a witness of God’s love. The Lord has given us all so much in this life to enjoy but the 2 things that are eternal are the word of God and the souls of men. So along our trip our prayer is to share Jesus’ love with them.

We had a picnic lunch. Some of the older kids took a 4 mile hike while Stephen and I stayed back and played with the little ones. Then we went to a visitors center and lodge. We really have enjoyed our time here.

After getting back to camp, we had supper and started packing down to the minimum necessities so as to make tomorrow morning easier to get up and get an early start! Next stop, “Undie Creek” (I’ll explain more later about how the make came about)

We took some forest service roads and did a few hours of driving around today. So many beautiful things to see. I feel honored to get to be here and see all these beautiful places we have seen on our trip. God’s might and power are magnificent and you can see his majesty all throughout creation.

Earlier this morning we all went to a nearby campground and took showers. We did it in shifts so as not to overwhelm the place. While us girls were there, a lady who was a tour guide for a local cycling outfit was emptying her coolers and blessed us with another few days worth of food! We were in awe of God’s timing and the huge blessing it was for us! Just last night we were reading about God’s provision in the book I’m reading to the family, and to see Him love us and provide for our needs was amazing to be a recipient of that. I should have gotten a picture of the bounty, but it was a lot, and we feel so loved by the Lord. I told the lady of the book we are reading and thanked her for being an instrument of the Lord and blessing us so much!

Today was a nice stay at home day. We enjoyed our nice secluded spot. Stephen took the kids and did some driving practice on the forest service roads and through the mud and up and down hills. They had a blast.

The kids pulled out some school to work on for a little bit. Bella and Lydia are my meal helpers and they stayed on top of making food all day. We sat around the fire. Martin did some target practicing. They invented a new game…pinecone war. And war it was! They all had scratches and dings on their face and arms. It was intense, but they seemed to love it because they played round after round.

Then we finished the day continuing reading the book I’m reading to the family, God’s Smuggler. Bella recently purchased it and read it herself and really enjoyed it. It’s so heavy at times understanding the reality of how things were for folks during the first and second world wars.

We picked up from our outdoor sleeping spot in Nevada and headed east. We stopped in Cedar City, Utah and got groceries and fuel.

The theme song on our trip is “I’ve been everywhere, man” and boy have we ever! One of the cities mentioned in the song is Cedar City and now we have been there!

We so enjoy the beautiful scenery as we drive across the country. Each place has a different beauty all its own. Sometimes when you drive by so fast you miss things. So we always enjoy our stops and try to soak up all the pretty little things (tiny flowers) as well as the grand very noticeable things (rock formations/mountains). The weather is just beautiful. The highs have been anywhere from the 70’s to 80’s with lows in the 40’s to 50’s. Very beautiful for camping!

One thing that has been pretty special is driving through the far north side of Arizona. It’s special because it’s where LaVoy Finicum wrote about in his book, Only By Blood and Suffering. It has been a family favorite and to drive through the places he talks about is so exciting. He is quite a patriot and we are thankful for his teachings and sacrifice for freedom.

We were able to make it to the north side of the Grand Canyon, find a place, set up camp, and make supper all just before dark. Well, I guess we ended up eating in the dark, but that’s ok. I love how everyone pitches in and makes it home at each new spot.

This is the first place we have been able to have a campfire and now it feels like we are camping! Stephen even pulled out the little wood burning stove for our little cabin. It’s so romantic. I LOVE having a fire. It warm my heart as much as my body.

Today I’m just going to share videos of how our day went.

We had a wonderful time sleeping outside under the stars. They were just beautiful!

Nice easy morning hanging around camp. Martin and Marilla are doing a great job with the meals these past few days. So grateful for such good helpers to just take charge and get things done! I can barely remember what it was like just a few short years ago when we had 7 children and our oldest was only 7 and it felt like I was doing everything. We are reaping the blessing of all the training we did. They are truly a blessing to Stephen and I.

We’ve got kids training for the 5k at family camp next month. That has been good for all of us to get that blood flowing. It’s funny to me how our bodies age. In my mind I still think I’m 22 or something, but there is absolutely no way I can do what I used to. I see plenty of elderly people that have one of 2 outcomes. Some are overweight with ailments. And others are fit and heathy. I so desire to be the latter. So, that means exercise, good diet, heathy train of thought etc.

We are staying near a lodge. This one was built in 2016, but 15 miles down the road there is one that was built in 1921, so just over 100 years old. A lady we met recommended we go check out the tavern there…so, we did! We got a few appetizers, to share, played some pool and had a nice experience!

Then on our way back we saw a few cowboys herding their cows in before the winter. So neat to see how they manage up in the mountains. So excited to see where the Lord leads us in that direction!

My little boys wanted to take a walk with me today and I just didn’t make time to do it until tonight. But I didn’t want the day to end without walking for a few minutes with them. Sweet memories.

Martin made a huge batch of protein breakfast balls for tomorrow morning. We will be leaving early in the morning and having a breakfast ready to go is quite helpful.

Today is our 18 and 1/2 year anniversary. We are like that, in that we celebrate our half years. One piece of advice given to us on our wedding day by a dear friend was to always try and out love the other. We have enjoyed that challenge and always seek out opportunities to love on each other. Celebrating the half years has been so fun for us. Stephen bought me a little pair of pine cone earrings as a gift yesterday at Yosemite to remember our 18 and 1/2 years. The fact that they are pinecones is special to me too because that’s kinda been my souvenir as we go to these different camping spots. Each kind of pine tree and each kind of pine cone are so different and it’s so fun to collect them.

I love Stephen so much and it’s a joy doing life with him. We have been through so much as a couple and it’s just a huge testament of the Lord’s redemption. He has healed and been so faithful to love us and guide us. My heart is full as I look back over the last 18 and 1/2 years and see the Lords work in each of us and for the many blessings we have enjoyed. So much to be thankful for!

Today we headed to Yosemite national park. We found out that this is one of the 4 busiest parks of the whole national park system…wow. We drove in and around until we found 2 parking spots, pulled over for picnic lunch, plotted out a hike and took off.

The falls was very sparse. Evidently spring is the best time to go as the snow is melting off. It was still beautiful to see that and El Capitan.

We enjoyed the morning of setting up a little bit more of our camp to make it home for a few days, Stephen told stories, kids played, and went on adventures. We have no reception so it’s very remote.

We set up the joolca, played airsoft, rode scooters, took bike rides, walked, and just had a really nice day of being home.

Stephen and I got away for a few minutes and found reception up by a nearby lodge. It’s really pretty up there!

My supper helpers, Martin and Marilla made a delicious chicken, veggie and rice supper. The 4 big kids went on a bike ride. Martin crashed but praise the Lord came out without anything more than a scratch.

We woke up to an amazing thunderstorm rolling in. It was so special to catch this video!

Seeing the giant sequoias has been so sweet. It has been a rainy day which has given us the opportunity to see these beauties in a different atmosphere. We have had sun and very comfortable temps these past few days, so getting to experience rain and overcast is really kinda neat.

One thing I learned about the sequoias was that it is necessary for them to go through fire in order to have prepared ground for them to germinate. Kinda reminds me of our life…it is necessary to go through the fires of life to make us stronger and grow. It may hurt, and the scars may run deep, but our Father sees beauty in ashes. And it always deepens my relationship with Him.

After we got back, we decided to pack up and head to our next destination. Everyone pitched in and we got packed down and loaded in under an hour! That was record time for us!

The trailer tire needs to be fixed, so that’s our top priority. We prayed and asked for direction, and the Lord laid our our path and we got it fixed! We grabbed a few more groceries and headed to the Yosemite area in a nearby national forest. The kids and Stephen set up basic camp for the night. Tomorrow we will get more established and make it home.

What a nice morning. Beautiful sunrise, cup of coffee, happy kids playing, nice weather…! Everything is so beautiful up here. Stephen has been wanting to go to the Sierra Nevada’s for years, so getting to come here is really a dream come true.

Stephen plotted out our day, and we headed to Kings Canyon visitor center and Grant grove in the national forest. We did a little shopping, sent some letters to family and friends back home and then took a nice walk through the Grant grove of sequoias. They are beautiful trees. Not quite what I was expecting, but beautiful nonetheless. They are very thick and dense and have short stubby branches only at the top. Lots have fire scars but still seem to be living well.

We got to walk through one of the downed sequoias too! How cool!

On our drive over, through, around, back and down, we drove along side the king river. We took the opportunity to do a little head washing and freshen up. What memories!

Then we drove by Hume Lake. We were told to check out their burgers….so, we did! We split some burgers, fries and shakes. What a treat! Then they played a family game of volleyball. The view was beautiful, the food was very tasty and we enjoyed the stop very much!

Kings canyon was just beautiful! We had a very nice day enjoying God’s beautiful creation and each other’s company. We are so happy to be seeing and experiencing all these beautiful places.

What a day today has been! We started out bright and early from the beach and headed into San Fran. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge (which is actually red) and found a place along the river to get coffee and walk around for a bit. We got a few and shared with everyone. We had such a good time getting to enjoy the morning by watching others enjoy their morning too. Walking dogs, exercising, heading to work…such a variety of people with varying intensities is interesting to observe. Most folks are friendly. Stephen gave the kids a history lesson on San Francisco and the prison, Alcatraz. We then watched a few videos in it as we headed out of town.

As we drove through San Francisco, we wanted to hit some of the steep hills. I honestly don’t know what grade the ones we went on were, although I learned some of the steepest ones are a 40% grade! That’s crazy! We got to drive by the famous block that has 8 hairpin turns in 1 block. It’s on Lombard street. We didn’t attempt to drive down it, but got a picture as we drove by.

Stephen does amazing at driving. I guess all the years in the fire department driving the different apparatus has played a part. He is so confident, yet just cautious enough to give us a good time and still be safe. And this is applicable throughout our thousands of miles of driving through any terrain.

Overall, I’m glad we drove through and had quite a fun experience!

Then we had to head through the central portion of CA going east to get towards the sequoias…one small problem…the tire on the suburban just got tired of keeping up. Stephen and Martin have been airing it up at our stops, but we needed to take the opportunity to get it replaced since it just wasn’t keeping up.

Some of the kids played at a park while a few others helped me do laundry in town while Stephen got 2 new tires put on the back of the suburban! Whew! Nice to have that done!

We drove through a heat wave as we headed to the sequoias. The temps were about 105ish for most of the time. Once we made it to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada’s, it started to cool down one degree at a time as we climbed up the mountains.

We found us a nice spot and started to set up camp. Wouldn’t you know, now the trailer tire decided it was done too. Stephen and some of the kids got the spare put on for the time being.

The rest of the evening we enjoyed our time of family fellowship, playing, enjoying the moon, having supper and then getting some sleep.

I do love singing with my family. Years ago I remember asking the Lord what to do about music lessons. He gently reminded me I have a piano and we all have a voice. So I’ve taught some of them how to play and just let them take off on that. And then taught them how to harmonize and have just loved getting to hear all the voices young and old. I’m one blessed mama!

Well, here we are for part 2 of this blogging adventure! This will pick up right where the last blog left off. The previous address is herzogherd.family.blog