legend : (black – charley), (pink – kari)
Welcome to the wonderful world of epoch48. Since you have arrived here, you must be wondering what we are up to. The reality is we are still figuring it out, so check back often. But for now, this is the idea.
Let’s start with epoch. According to google, an epoch is, “the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of someone or something.” And that is true for us as well. Our epoch begins with a fond wave to the past, and ends back where we started. Possibly unemployed, but that’s what makes it interesting – right? The middle is where the 48 (and fun) comes in.
Because you are likely a brilliant individual, you probably figured out the 48 part. It represents the lower 48 states here in our amazing country, the United States of America. The pieces that bring it all together are “Gipzee”, our new to us, 40 foot 5th wheel RV and “Zeke”, our new to us Ford F450. Put the two together, and add in close to 100 RV parks and you have the beginnings of epoch48. But what about the most important part you ask?
Our clan is obviously the most important part here. We are a family of 4. With a pug. A Mom, Dad, Daughter and Son (arranged by age 😉 ). To my (Kari’s) dismay, we will be leaving our 21 chickens at home in the care of a wonderful family and I will scoop them up the moment we return home! I tried sneaking my baby Oli (part easter egger, part australorpe bantam chicken) into our trip, but hubby wouldn’t have it. Sigh. We will be embarking on a one year journey with Zeke pulling us along, throughout the lower 48. We will spend 1 week in each state, visiting the state capitol building and at least one of the most beautiful locations of each state. Don’t you fret, our kids will not be denied a proper education on this trip. They will be using an amazing curriculum to feed their hungry brains. As the parents, our goal is to not use our brains. For a year. Actually 18 months, starting now. We know this will be an amazing experience for all of us, which is fine and good, but what about others?
Our family founded a non-profit a couple of years ago (nakedhands.org), because we love helping people. All kinds of people. To date, that would include Emergency Room staff, teachers – twice, police officers, fire fighters, security staff, road stripers and the homeless. Soon, we will have also loved on families staying in the Ronald McDonald Houses here in our home state of Colorado. Because we don’t want to go through withdrawal, we have a plan to keep on lovin’ people trhoughout epoch48.
In each state, when possible, we will be serving at a local rescue mission for a portion of a day. We are so fortunate to be able to take a trip like this, but we fully understand that there millions of people who don’t have a place to lay their heads. While we are pulling a 40′ home on wheels across the country, many don’t even a full stomach. Even though we know that the few dollars we spent on Gipzee could not possibly end homelessness, we do know that there are ways to help. So we will volunteer. And we will smile. And love on people.
Lastly, you may be wondering why the heck we are blogging about this. Shouldn’t personal things be personal? Who would really care about this anyway? We think the same thing, so not all of our posts will be public. And we aren’t trying to build a following. Some posts will be just for family and friends. Others only for the folks along for the trip. But we do hope, that by making some of this public, maybe we can inspire other families to do something crazy together. The build a bond. To spend time with each other in unusual ways. We consider that another way to help others along our journey. The end game is to turn the blog into a book, to ensure we never forget what we believe will be unforgettable.
So… As of right now, that gives you an idea of what epoch48 is for us. If you’d like to understand a bit more about WHY we are doing this, you can keep on reading. Mom has put her thoughts on WHY, here. Dad has done the same, here.
We invite you to check back often. Sign up for updates. Maybe this will inspire you to step out and live life a little differently. We are all over social media, facebook, instagram, twitter, youtube, snapchat. The list may grow. But this is a good start.
Our prayer, again, is that somehow we inspire you to find your own epoch. Our journeys are all time constrained, and we only get one. Without being completely irresponsible, we are stepping out to create a potentially infamous chapter in the story of our journey – what if you did the same?
Much love, SCKIZ (Scout, Charley, Kari and Izabella)