About
“I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question.” ~Harun Yahya
I began asking myself that question and realized we had no really good reason not to travel more. Our family has always enjoyed taking vacations, but even more importantly, we’ve looked for ways to make adventures out of the smallest of getaways, whether it be a day at the creek or a visit to a local park. See the wonder around you, near and far.
My husband and I are both school teachers, so we have time off each summer. We decided to start taking advantage of that time off before our children get involved in their own summer activities or leave for college.
This blog is about our grand adventures as we haul Birdy across the US…and any small experiences we turn into adventures.
Who are we?
Our family lives in a small town in southwest Missouri. I’m an elementary librarian, and my husband teaches gifted students in our school district. Our oldest son enjoys photography and technology. We love that he is excited about our travels. He is 17 years old, so we know our time for extended summer vacations is brief. Our younger son enjoys video games, video games, and more video games. He judges campgrounds entirely by their WiFi capabilities. His dream vacation would be staying in a hotel with a pool and super high-speed Internet.
Who is Birdy?
In the summer of 2014, we bought a little travel trailer–a 2012 Jayco Swift 184BH. We decided to christen it Birdy as a symbol of travel and a play on the Jayco Blue Jay. The blog is named Travels with Birdy as an homage to John Steinbeck’s book Travels with Charley, which details a real-life road trip across the United States he took with his dog Charley.
In 2019, we upgrade to a new travel trailer…Birdy 2.0. We picked a Jayco 244BHS because it provided much more floor space, while staying under 30′ in length.
Grand Journeys
We’ve completed our second cross-country road trip during the summer of 2016. We called this trip #BirdyNPS100 in honor of the centennial of the National Parks Service. We visited the first national monument and the first national park during this journey, which I’ll be sharing more about in upcoming blog posts.
In 2015, we did our first epic cross-country adventure, a trip we christened Birdy Goes West (our official hash tag for our Instagram photos of the journey). Our ultimate destination was Yosemite National Park, but we enjoyed extended stops in Santa Fe, Sedona, Sequoia, and San Francisco–it was a very alliterative trip!
Find Me Elsewhere
I also have written blog posts for other leaders in the RV industry, including Jayco and Good Sam. I’ve also appeared on The RV Atlas and Campground of the Week podcasts.
Links to more of my posts can be found on my Other Writings page, and links to my podcast appearances can be found on my Podcast Appearances page.
I’m available for sponsored content and freelance writing or photography.
“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
Thank you for traveling with us!
Kerri Cox
Hey guys!! Thanks for liking our page on Facebook! 🙂 It’s awesome to “meet” you and I look forward to tracking your photos and blog! 🙂 We liked you on FB too!
Thank you! I added your blog to my feed and will look forward to hearing about your adventures going full time! I’ll also read up on your past adventures once we hit the road and have some time. We are in frantic packing mode now!
Hi! I love your pictures and follow you on Instagram.
Ok, if you get all the way to SF, here are things I suggest:
Lands End, of course. At least an hour before sunset. There is a cave down by the ruins, and lovely views of Golden Gate Bridge a.ong the cliffs.
If you follow the paths along the cliffs, to the right of the parking lot by the visitors center, eventually you will come to a large stair down. Take it. Then you’ll come to a second set of stairs. Take those too. Then, you’ll come to a fork. To the left is yet another set of stairs that lead to the beach. But right will be a path that takes you to the labyrinth. It winds back up to the base of the first steps again, and is amazing. Plus also, sometimes you can see Dolphins.
Also, check out Stow Lake, in Golden Gate Park.
And if you have time, wander through Stern Grove.
Ok, also, hit the Marin Headlands, also around sunset, on the other side of Golden Gate Bridge, to the left. Maybe search GPS for Rodeo Beach, Marin.
The Academy of Sciences museum. In golden gate park, is expensive, but worth it. Also near there is the Japanese tea garden. I love that most on rainy days.
Im also going to throw a shout out to these awesome cafes and bakeries. Promenade cafe (if you come here in the mornings between 8 and 9, look for me, I have long bright red hair and sit in the middle section), bazaar cafe, Java bound cafe, and Devils teeth bakery. Hope you all have a wonderful trip!
Heather, thank you! I love your Instagram, too.
Thank you for the insider tips for SF! We will definitely check those places out. We like to do some touristy places, but it’s nice to get to those off-the-beaten path kinds of places. I had been wondering especially about the beaches. Thank you, thank you!! It’s fun to make this connection. Hit me up for tips if you ever make it to southwest Missouri (ha!).
Kerri
Thank you , again, for the many great tips. I just finishing writing about our visit to the labyrinth and mentioned that an Instagram friend had given us the tip. Love social media for making those connections! I wish we had been able to see more of your lovely city. Three days simply wasn’t enough time!
I am really loving your blog and instagram pics! The life and fun you share, keep it up. Our short windows of opportunity with the various stages of our children’s young lives, needs to be embraced and enjoyed. In the moment! X
Thank you so much, Jane! I checked out your feed, and it’s fun to see RV travels from across the world. I definitely agree about embracing this time in our boys’ lives. I wish we had a pause button for life! Happy travels to you!