Our Wandering Family

15/05/2024

The days are long but the years are short.

I still look at each one of these big kids and see the tiny little one that used to climb into my lap, be my little shadow and see me as the center of their entire world. It’s not like that much anymore, and I known that’s a good thing, even if it makes me a little sad. The more independence they exert the more confirmation Jason and I receive. We’ve done what was best for them. We are helping them find their voice and the confidence to start spreading their wings, to prep for flight. I just hope they always know they’ve got a place with me if they ever need to rest those wings for a spell. ❤️

13/05/2024

Throwback over on our day job channel to the days of traveling in our Pioneer and camping on the beach in Corpus Christi. 😍 Would you take an RV on the beach?

Have you ever camped right on the beach? This was us back in Feb of 2021 camping on Mustang Island State Park in Corpus Christi, Texas. We had the best time and there wasn’t a single solar panel or lithium battery on this rig! There’s a lot to be aware of when beach camping with an RV so make sure you know before you go, especially when it comes to the tide. If you want to hear more about our experience (and a what not to do or two), dive into the podcast archives and listen to episode 184 “Lessons Learned Beach Camping”. You can find the show on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music or you can watch it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CGn0v28f8aQ?si=oN78WSMLe8N8zlO0

RV Miles is your home for the latest in RV and outdoor news, podcasts that entertain and celebrate the RV life, and tips that help you get the most out of RVing. Follow Jason and Abby here and across social media to be a part of the conversation.

12/05/2024

Summer vibes in the QC are in full swing and nothing says warmer days like baseball. One of the things I have really appreciated about our new hometown is the attempt to make local activities financially accessible to all. For instance, the offer $2 GA tickets to all Tuesday games along with $2 hotdogs and sodas. As a family of five, sporting events can get really expensive and to be able to come to such a cool ballpark and purchase tickets for only $10! That’s huge! Not to mention how gorgeous the stadium looks as night falls along the Mississippi River. I couldn’t stop snapping photos. 😍 We will definitely be staples at ballgames this year!

What are other budget friendly activities you would recommend to a family visiting the QC?

Play ball! ⚾️🏟️🧢

20/04/2024

Pre concert fun! We took a stroll from the hotel (which was right across the street from the arena) and got to see just a little of on foot. In all our years of travel we’ve never been to Des Moines and I have a feeling we’ve been missing out on a pretty cool Midwestern city. Now that we are only 2.5 hours away, think we need to take a nice long weekend and explore. Have you been to Des Moines? What would you recommend for a family with older kids who love good food, museums, and finding hidden gems?

I feel so fortunate to have had this time with Jack and Henry to road trip to see AJR. Look forward to bringing Jason and Ethan back here and exploring more of Des Moines.

19/04/2024

IT’S PATIO SEASON! 🌞 I love a good beer on a patio with the sun shinning all around. Everyone is always is good spirits when the sun is out and last weekend we ended up having an impromptu about town sort of day. We started off with one errand and ended up spending most of the morning and early afternoon bouncing from one place to another and that meant we finally got to check out Couldn’t have picked a better day. The cold beer and cider was delicious and the sunny patio views of the Mississippi River made everything feel so calm and chill. First time at Stompbox, not the last. That Hefeweizen was on point. Next time we’ll come thirsty and hungry. 🍕

I’m really starting to like this new hometown of mine. Lots of great gems peppered throughout the community. Can’t wait to find my next patio spot. Any suggestions?

17/04/2024

What’s the secret to knowing you just had the best date night at an amazing restaurant? When you get home and realize you stopped taking pictures of your night out because everything was so perfect and you were living in the moment and just forgot. 💕

As people who work in the world of travel, it’s rare we just stop and be fully in the moment, and while I wish I could show you a photo of the best salmon I’ve ever had, the happy looks on our faces as we tuck into some seriously good cocktails will have to do.

, thank you for such a lovely night. Your unbelievably good potato salad has now ruined all other potato salads and I ain’t even mad about it.

What makes for a good night out for you?

13/04/2024

Starting our Saturday off with a stop at (one of our favorite coffee shops in the QC), and bonus! Our coffee came with a side of live piano music. He was so talented too!

Drip coffee for Jason and a cold brew for me. Spring is here and it’s great to be out and about.

What’s your go-to coffee order?

12/04/2024

Quickly becoming one of our favorite places for an business meeting. 😂 is a great way to discover a new local eatery but it’s also a great time to celebrate some of your favs, which is what we did by popping into .
Jason was a big fan of the Brown Butter Old Fashioned (new to the spring cocktail menu), in fact he drank a decent amount before I could snap a photo. 🥃
Food wise, I could eat the chicken n’ dumplings every day and the DLux grilled cheese with the tomato soup dipping sauce is so dang good. I’m such a sucker for grilled cheese and tomato soup and this just takes it next level. First time trying the cheese grits, won’t be the last.

If you find yourself in our neck of the woods, stop by Me and Billy. Everyone is so nice, and Billy even made the rounds stopping at all the tables to check in on everyone and chat. Now that is Midwestern hospitality at its finest.

What is it about a restaurant that makes you want to return?

11/04/2024

Alaska memories! Look at these gorgeous Alaska Huskies! Last summer we spent 6 weeks RVing around Alaska and while in Seward we took a trip to meet the amazing dogs at . This generational Iditarod racing family has@created an incredible place for the public to come and learn about and interact with their race winning dogs.

From riding out with a team and a musher to learning about all that goes into safely competiting in the Iditarod to spending time with both adult huskies and puppies, this was such a fun afternoon. Look at how charismatic these dogs are!

We’ve had a lot of adventures traveling around North America, and our time in Seward and meeting these incredible dogs ranks pretty high on our list of experiences.

Have you been to Alaska? What was your favorite part?

You can hear all about our time in Seward, including this afternoon and an 8.5 hour boat ride to see whales, puffin and so much more on episode 314 of the RV Miles Podcast. Comment “Alaska” and I’ll DM you a link to watch the show.

10/04/2024

How do you kick off your first restaurant week in the Quad Cities? Why, with perfect cocktails, beautifully paired wines, amazing bread service (I love a bread service. It’s such a simple thing but done right it can be a highlight), made from scratch and cooked to order entrees, and cheesecake that tried to steal the show, that’s how.

Thanks for a delightful night and an extra thanks to Andrew our server. He’s a gem. This was our first visit, won’t be our last.

We are really enjoying the food scene in the QC. It’s not at all what I expected it to be and I’m glad it’s proving me wrong. If more local, where should we go next?

Have you checked out restaurant week here in the QC or in your area. It’s a great way to support local and find a new favorite place.

Our Wandering Family is all about wandering local through our Midwestern hometown of the Quad Cities and beyond. After seven years as full-time RVers, we’re putting down roots and trying a new adventure while still growing our business. We’re glad you’re here!

08/04/2024

It wasn’t a total eclipse but we’ll take 99.1% with no travel needed. Beautiful afternoon hanging out by the Mississippi River and our studio in .

And just like when we experienced a total eclipse in 2017, the kids needed milk shakes. Who can argue with that?

Where did you or will you be enjoying the eclipse today?

06/04/2024

Our quest to make all the recipes in the cookbook continues. Last night it was all about the Dole Whip. We made a big batch of traditional Dole Whip for the kids and then boozed ours up with some really delicious spiced rum. So smooth. We’ll definitely be making this again and maybe next time we’ll experiment with other versions of this Disney Parks staple. Any suggestions?

✨We spent 7 years traveling the country full-time in our RV and now we are putting down roots in the . From the best local food, to attractions we are all about discovering our new community while learning to balance our love for RVing and still getting out there and exploring North America. Come join us!✨

03/04/2024

Sometimes the only way to get through a snowy Wednesday in April is to draw a mustache on your face.

02/04/2024

Here’s something fun we did last week over at the day job. Very glad to be a part of the Quad Cities community.

RV Miles

02/04/2024

After living in an RV and traveling for for 7 years, it’s nice to be reunited with old friends I just didn’t have space for. Tiny living is awesome, but so are my , especially when it has been raining almost non-stop for 24 hours. Welcome back from storage, my friends. You look just as good as when I purchased you 12 years ago. ❤️ what’s the oldest piece of clothing you own?

27/03/2024

There is just something about a good cocktail and a bartender with just the right touch. Lovely drinks, dinner and vibe at Sunday night.

Jason had the Black Lilac with Templeton Rye and I had the French 75 that leaned into the tart and not the sweet.

23/03/2024

One of the surprising activities we’ve discovered since moving to the Quad Cities is indoor football. Have you ever caught a game? It’s amazing how passionate the fans are about their team, just how much personal interaction there is with the players during the game and how invested you become so quickly.

Last night we headed over to the Vibrant Arena to watch our hometown IFL Quad City Steamwheelers open the season with a win in OT and it was so much fun! After the game, we were all invited down on the field to toss around a ball, meet the players and celebrate!

Couple the win with a pre-game Chicago style pizza from Tony's Chicago Style Pizzeria and you’ve got a pretty solid Friday night on your hands.

Congrats to the Steamwheelers on their win! We’ll see ya at the next home game!

22/03/2024

Here’s what’s happening over at our day job this week. Before we decided to stop traveling full-time and put down some roots, we took one last epic road trip all the way from Baja to Alaska. This episode is the second to last on that journey. What a wild ride it was!

This week on the podcast, we recap our time in Homer Alaska, our second-to-last RV destination on our epic 2023 Baja to Alaska adventure. Plus, we've got the...

26/02/2024

Continuing to get to know our hometown and learn more about how we can support local organizations has been my favorite part of putting down roots here in the . Over the weekend we joined the for their yearly gala event and we had such a lovely time. We even got to see the unveiling of an incredibly special piece of art the museum recently discovered in its archives. A magic mirror! Amazing.

Looking forward to many more events like this as we continue to settle in to our new hometown.

Have you ever attended a gala evening for a local organization?

17/02/2024

We reached this milestone on YouTube yesterday for our business RV Miles. We’ve worked hard over the last eight years to build something that reflects our goals and this was pretty cool.

15/02/2024

17 years ago a very nervous guy asked a very nervous girl to marry him and she said yes.

17 years of writing our own story. This morning we dropped kids off with the grandparents, spent time in two airports, and on two planes flying from the QC to Seattle for work. It’s been a long day and while it looked a lot different than 17 years ago, it was still a great because it’s exactly where I dreamed we’d be all those years ago. Just as in love, raising a family and building a business together. Happy Valentine’s Day.

10/02/2024

Do you have a game book? We started our game book tradition back in 2022 while we were still full-time RV travelers. Every game we’ve played since then has been added/recorded in this book. We add the date and location of each game as a way to remember all the incredible fun we’ve had all over North America.

These days it’s mostly Milan, IL entries, but the joy of having a record of fun times spent together remains.

This is just a basic blank journal that we decorated with stickers from our travels. It’s one of the more special record keeping items I have from our time on the road. ❤️

06/02/2024

If you’ve ever wondered what we do for a living, and how we managed to travel full-time for 7 years, check out RV Miles - we founded this online multi-media outdoor business in 2017 and have been working hard over the years to grow it into something much bigger than just us.

06/02/2024

It’s not the biggest kitchen, nor is it necessarily my style (looking at you floors), but having lived in multiple rental apartments and multiple RVs, this is by far one of the better laid out spaces, and the first time as an adult I’ve had a kitchen with a dishwasher. 🎉

I’m learning a lot about what I do and do not need in a kitchen so when the time comes to design my own, I’ll know exactly what I want (again, floors, gotta go, along with your buddy electric stove and oven).

What is something about your kitchen you love? What is something you would change?

22/01/2024

Tell me you’re a former full-time RVing family without telling me you’re a former full-time RVing family. 🤣

But seriously, this indoor s’mores maker from Sharper Image was a pretty cool Christmas gift. The temperature here has been so cold, negative temp highs, snow, and no one wants to go anywhere when it’s this cold. We are tucked in and making the indoors a fun place to be. Highly recommend. It definitely beats the microwave s’mores we’ve been known to do in the past.

What are you doing to make the most of this wild cold weather?

15/01/2024

Disney World really is the most magical place on earth, especially when you are there with your Disney framily (friends who become family). It was a whirlwind four days but here’s what worked for us:

Hotel: Yacht Club Resort - Epcot was our main focus and the Boardwalk area is the perfect jumping off point for an amazing day at Epcot.

Restaurants We Recommend on the Dining Plan:
Cape May Cafe
Biergarten Restaurant
‘OHana
Tusker House

Quick Service we recommend on the Dining Plan:
Sleepy Hollow in MK
Columbia Harbor House in MK
Boardwalk Deli at Boardwalk area
Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie in Epcot
Rose and Crown in Epcot

We purchased the After Hours event at MK which meant we had the park almost totally to ourselves from 10 PM - 1 AM along with unlimited Mickey Bars, popcorn and drinks. We rode all the rides twice and WALKED ON to Tron, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, and more. This is worth the ticket price. We were able to enter at 7 PM and by 10 PM the park was empty except for other After Hours guests. The amount of magic that happened that night was amazing.

Also, we only purchased Genie+ for Animal Kingdom. During our Epcot day and second MK day we went with the flow and that was great. Not being tied down to Genie+ took so much stress out of the days.

Finally, friends, especially friends who make matching shirts for the trip. We went with our dear friends Walter and Eug, and met up with amazing RVers on Friday. Being in the Disney bubble with Disney people is double the Disney magic. We are so thankful these awesome humans could spend time with us.

What tips do you have for a magical Disney trip? I’d love to know!

09/01/2024

I totally forgot! 🤦‍♀️ We took this soup over to my in-laws and got so wrapped up in the football game that I forgot to take a picture of the completed recipe. You’ll have to take our word for it that this soup was very pretty and very tasty.

Recipe #2 of 101 complete. Loaded Baked Potato Soup from Carnation Café on Main Street, USA. This soup is no longer served at Carnation, but is still a Disney favorite. Our only note is we’d dial back the cream next time and increase the stock. It was very creamy!

Are you cooking through a cookbook for 2024? How’s it going?

06/01/2024

Yosemite forever. ❤️ Have you been? We barely scratched the surface when we visited in April 2023. As we plan our trip west this summer, I’m already thinking about new destinations versus places we’d love to revisit. I can’t wait.

Wandering near and far as we transition from seven years as full-time RVers to putting down roots in the Midwest.

03/01/2024

#1 in the books. The first of 101 recipes was cooked and enjoyed. If you saw my previous post, you know this year, Jason and I are cooking through The Official DisneyParks Cookbook and for 1/1/24 we started off with the OG - Walt’s Chili.

Three out of five Eppersons ate the chili and all liked it. Are you doing a cookbook or cooking challenge this year?