This week, Lowina held my hand while I tried to convince myself to walk onto a suspension bridge above a waterfall. A few days later, I was inside the camper in a nor’easter, juggling work, homeschool, and two restless kids, questioning just about every decision that had gotten us there.

Somewhere in between, we crossed back into the U.S., drove through unbelievable fall colors, and celebrated 12 years of marriage. So, it's safe to say that September apparently had a few more things to say before it let us go.

Thirteen steps count 🇨🇦

Our last couple of days in Canada had a little bit of everything. Thursday was mostly homeschool, work, and a Home Depot run for the remaining pieces of our camper projects. We’re still working on the fireplace and door trim, with glass doors on the eventually list. They had some of what we needed, which feels about right for how these projects go.

Friday, we finished lessons and headed out for one last afternoon of exploring. First up: washing the truck, which desperately needed it. The guy next to us took one look and said, “It’s a bus.” Fair... Then came our most expensive gas fill-up yet. Send help. And funds.

At Montmorency Falls, the girls walked into the visitor center, looked outside, and immediately spotted the main attraction: a playground. With a waterfall behind it, yes. But mostly, a playground.

We let them play before heading closer to the falls to feel the mist, then drove to the upper viewing area. That’s where things got a little less comfortable for me. The high boardwalk was already testing my nerves, and then there was the suspension bridge across the top of the falls.

Lowina held my hand and reminded me, “Just try once, if you don’t like it you don’t have to go again.” Nothing quite like having your own parenting advice handed back to you when you’re standing somewhere you would very much prefer not to be.

I made it about 13 steps onto that bridge before turning around. Teaching your kids to be brave apparently means you have to try too. Even if your version of brave is only 13 steps.

There was another playground at the top, so naturally we stopped again. Canada, thank you for understanding the assignment when it comes to traveling with kids!

From there, we headed to Île d’Orléans, sampled black currant goodies at Cassis Monna & Filles, and finished with dinner at Goéliche in Sainte-Pétronille and a beautiful sunset. On the drive back, we got one last view of Québec City with the sunset behind it.

A pretty lovely goodbye to Canada until next year.

Fall colors, a border crossing & instant best friends 🍁

The girls have been asking for Nelson to sleep with them. Usually, we let him fall asleep in their room and then bring him out before we go to bed so he doesn’t wake them in the morning.

Friday night, we forgot that second part. Nelson made sure we all got an early start on Saturday. The girls went to the playground while we packed up, made another friend of course, and then we were off toward Maine.

Our border crossing was easy. The guard was friendly, asked a few questions about our full-time travel life, and sent us on our way. Our bathroom timing was less successful again. We made it less than five minutes into the United States before pulling over for an urgent pee break.

Then we drove down Route 201, listening to old 2000's music, looking for moose unsuccessfully, and watching the trees turn into the most incredible mix of red, orange, yellow, and lime green against the pines.

John said, “I’ve seen fall foliage before but this is something else.” And it really was.

We made a Walmart stop for Ellie’s Halloween costume so she could dress as Chloe Charming from Descendants alongside her sister. She was so excited. Apparently, arriving at a new campground in costume is also an excellent friendship strategy.

Within minutes of getting to our campground, the girls had their costumes on and had joined forces with the three kids next door. There was hand-holding. There was yelling “ninja kids.” There was absolutely no awkward getting-to-know-you period.

This was our first stay using our new Thousand Trails membership. We decided to invest knowing we’d use it in Florida and out in the Pacific Northwest, then I went back through our route to see which other stays we could switch. Our Acadia stop was one of them.

John settled in outside to watch Penn State while the girls played. And yes, we have a working TV again. The thrift store TV had a very short life with us before dying and requiring a replacement. Rest in peace to that little bargain.

Once the girls were asleep, John came out with the weather update: another storm was headed our way. A nor’easter this time. September really committed to the storm theme...

Twelve years, brunch & a quieter kind of celebration

Sunday was our 12th wedding anniversary. We stopped at the Acadia visitor center, then headed into Bar Harbor to explore, shop, and celebrate with a late brunch at Blaze.

Afterward, we took a little drive through Acadia, passed the entrance to Cadillac Mountain, checked out how busy things were around Jordan Pond, and enjoyed a first look around before heading back for a lazy evening & movie night.

Twelve years of marriage, two (almost three!) girls, three dogs, two cats, and now a home we tow from place to place. Plenty to celebrate, even with a fairly low-key day.

The rainy days that did not go according to plan

Monday was rough. The nor’easter arrived, and I had convinced myself that a rainy day would be the perfect opportunity to get fully caught up on work. We weren’t going out exploring, so surely we could settle in and get things done.

John took the truck in for service that morning. The plan was to drop it off and take a shuttle or Uber back. There were no Ubers... The shuttle didn’t show... What was supposed to take an hour at most turned into four hours of him sitting there until the truck was finished.

Meanwhile, I was in the camper trying to manage meetings and client requests, jump into homeschool lessons, keep two busy kids occupied, and keep everyone reasonably sane. Including myself. I did not succeed at that last part.

Cold, rainy weather plus work, solo parenting, and teaching in a small space was more than I had in me that day. The girls hadn’t been sleeping well. Everyone was tired. I was overwhelmed, and it had me questioning everything.

I don’t have a cute version of that story. Some days this life feels really hard, and Monday was one of them. Thankfully, the girls were asleep by 6 p.m., and I finally got a little actual catching up done that evening.

Tuesday started cold, rainy, and cranky, too. Then a message came through in my South Africa moms’ chat asking whether we’d really been home for four years already. One of the moms was remembering our journey back then, before they went to meet their son.

It made me stop. Four years. So much life between then and now. I thought about how far we’ve come as a family. The hard conversations, the “why me?” and “why us?” questions, the visible and invisible differences in our family and the way we do life.

There is a bigger reason and purpose behind so much of this, even when I’m too deep in a hard afternoon to see much beyond the next thing someone needs from me. That message didn’t change the weather or finish my work. But it gave me just a little perspective I badly needed.

Popovers & a mountaintop music video

By Wednesday, we needed to get out. After homeschool and work in the morning, we headed through Bar Harbor and into Acadia for a drive around Park Loop Road.

We skipped Sand Beach because crowds plus our big ass truck are not always a combination worth pursuing, but made plenty of other stops. We chased patches of red and orange in the trees, looked for shells at Otter Cove for an art project, spotted a huge seagull hanging out at Thunder Hole, and looked for otters at Otter Point.

We’d packed dinner to eat around sunset, but everyone was getting cranky before we made it that far. So we changed plans and stopped at Jordan Pond House for appetizers. Excellent decision.

Our waitress kept us laughing, and another waitress told Lowina her hair was “on fleek,” which absolutely made her day. Then we saw a neighboring table’s popover dessert. Obviously, we needed that.

Two actually, because the girls can never agree on an ice cream flavor. Lowina happily devoured hers, while Ellie could barely be convinced to eat one bite of ice cream. Yes, ice cream. Come on, child.

Afterward, we drove up Cadillac Mountain for our “sunset.” The sky didn’t put on much of a color show, but we walked around, took in the view, and watched the cruise ship we’d seen docked earlier head off toward its next destination.

Ashlee | Family Travel Advisor

The girls picked the song, and honestly, they nailed it. 😂 A classic by ciara when the sunset is more clouds than colors over Bar Harbor, Maine from the top of Cadillac Mountain in acadianps . Naturally, the best next option of what to do is have the whole family film a music video. Highly recommend doing ridiculous things together in beautiful places. These are the travel memories I want to keep. 🤍 I can’t pick the song or convince your husband to dance in the music video like mine, but I can help make the trip happen. 😂✈️ DM me “TRAVEL” and let’s start planning.

♬ original sound - Ashlee | Family Travel Advisor

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Then the girls requested a music video to “Level Up.” We even got Dad to participate.

And somehow, after the week we’d had, that became my favorite sunset of the trip. The view was beautiful, the girls were having fun, and all four of us were being silly together on top of a mountain.

I couldn't be more thankful that September ended there vs. the days before.

September, you were a lot

We've officially wrapped up our second month on the road. Our route took us through New York, over to Vermont, up through Canada to Rougemont and Québec City, and finally back into the U.S. to Maine. There were trolls at The Wild Center, farm days and horseback riding, new friends, Québec City exploring, and our first taste of fall on the road.

When we looked back at our family favorites, mine was finally getting to explore Québec City and Acadia. John loved getting a behind-the-scenes look at farm life. Lowina’s favorite was playing with her friends, and Ellie’s was seeing the trolls. A full month in every sense.

We also passed a personal milestone: 63 days living in the camper. Before this, our longest stretch was 42 days during last year’s cross-country trip. We’re well beyond that now, still figuring out how to make room for all the things from work to school and exploring to just being a family.

I loved having time this month to let the girls play longer, help with farm work, and explore without rushing through every stop. I’m still figuring out how to protect that time while running two businesses. This week made it pretty clear that I don’t have the balance mastered.

But I’m grateful for the month we had and very ready for a fresh one. Today starts a new month, and I’m hoping it brings a little extra breathing room and some better weather would also be appreciated.

For now, I’m carrying that memory of the four of us dancing on Cadillac Mountain into October. After a helluva week, that was a good place to start again.

Thanks for riding along with us this week, and for letting our travels inspire your own. Your next adventure is closer than you think.🤍

Until the next stop,

Ashlee & the Wagners