{"id":1768,"date":"2018-01-13T23:58:50","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T23:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/?p=1768"},"modified":"2018-04-14T00:00:28","modified_gmt":"2018-04-14T00:00:28","slug":"the-maiden-voyage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/13\/the-maiden-voyage\/","title":{"rendered":"The Maiden Voyage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finally! We were able to give the new fifth wheel a trial run!<\/p>\n

\"\"

Lake Somerville is beautiful at night.<\/p><\/div>\n

Because it coincided with Keali\u2019s birthday, the kids each invited a friend to go with us, and we hit the road. Destination: Lake Somerville. For those who didn\u2019t know, we used to have a ranch that overlooked Somerville. We also still have a dear friend who has a ranch with loads of animals right around the corner. Picking Somerville was an easy choice because of the close proximity to Houston, but also because it was easy in terms of activities, places to go, etc, and allowed us to focus on the actual RV part of the trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The views were amazing! We basically had the whole park to ourselves. (I\u2019m still surprised there weren\u2019t more winter-Texans anywhere to be found.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We spent a couple of days hanging out at JP\u2019s ranch, while the kids ran around all day and drove the ATV. The evenings were filled with bonfires, running around, and hiking along the lake\u2019s beach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Everyone had a great time. We were also pleasantly surprised at how much space there was in the RV. I guess living out of a suitcase for nine months provides some decent preparation in that department.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Gracie was a big fan of the new lifestyle.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once we made it back home, we had a little birthday cake celebration for Keali\u2019s 11th birthday. The maiden voyage was written off as successful.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Keali turned 11!<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finally! We were able to give the new fifth wheel a trial run! Because it coincided with Keali\u2019s birthday, the kids each invited a friend to go with us, and we hit the road. Destination: Lake Somerville. For those who didn\u2019t know, we used to have a ranch that overlooked Somerville. We also still have…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[96,49,39,24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lake-somerville","8":"category-micha","9":"category-texas","10":"category-united-states","11":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/7099FE21-F875-426F-83A2-D18935498F82.jpeg?fit=2048%2C1536","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8k10v-sw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1987,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/26\/hoover-dam-and-lake-mead\/","url_meta":{"origin":1768,"position":0},"title":"Hoover Dam and Lake Mead","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"April 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"After the awesome week of camping, we headed to Hoover Dam. 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Because we were after the snow but before the off-road trails opened for the summer, we were told by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crater Lake National Park"","block_context":{"text":"Crater Lake National Park","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/united-states\/oregon\/crater-lake-national-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/D20512CF-D2AC-41CF-B1C3-D52FE7DA5D92.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/D20512CF-D2AC-41CF-B1C3-D52FE7DA5D92.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/D20512CF-D2AC-41CF-B1C3-D52FE7DA5D92.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/D20512CF-D2AC-41CF-B1C3-D52FE7DA5D92.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/D20512CF-D2AC-41CF-B1C3-D52FE7DA5D92.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1589,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/30\/laguna-de-apoyo\/","url_meta":{"origin":1768,"position":3},"title":"Laguna de Apoyo","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"September 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After a week in Granada, we drove to Lake Apoyo to spend about five days. \"Laguna de Apoyo\" is a crater lake that is over 575 feet deep. It has six endemic species of fish (cichlids), and because of the minerals of the volcano, is believed to have healing powers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Central America"","block_context":{"text":"Central America","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/central-america\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/P9280144.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/P9280144.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/P9280144.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/P9280144.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/P9280144.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1680,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/16\/cleveland-ohio-for-a-visit\/","url_meta":{"origin":1768,"position":4},"title":"Cleveland, Ohio for a Visit","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We were chased out of Nicaragua with a week and a half to kill before our next scheduled destination. Because a friend had raved about Ohio (and we had only been when Scott was there for a month long trial), we decided to check out Cleveland. We landed and walked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cleveland"","block_context":{"text":"Cleveland","link":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/category\/united-states\/ohio\/cleveland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/78E91B8E-58BD-4180-8444-1055B0358ABD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/78E91B8E-58BD-4180-8444-1055B0358ABD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/78E91B8E-58BD-4180-8444-1055B0358ABD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/78E91B8E-58BD-4180-8444-1055B0358ABD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/78E91B8E-58BD-4180-8444-1055B0358ABD.jpeg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2224,"url":"http:\/\/passportsnothallpasses.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/18\/wining-it-through-oregon\/","url_meta":{"origin":1768,"position":5},"title":"Wining It Through Oregon","author":"Micha Hooper","date":"June 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We left Crater Lake largely because it was so cold. 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