You may recognize her as Blair Warner from the 80s sitcom “The Facts of Life”. But this homeschooling mother of three has become one of our culture’s finest advocates for the family since her prep school student days. Lisa and her husband Steve are now spending one year pursuing their family dream of driving across the country with their three children: Tucker (age 11), Haven (age 9) and Clancy (age 8). Their full load also includes a motorhome which has the family van hitched to the back of it. They will continue to homeschool their children on the road as they encounter adventures throughout America. Lisa joined us in Crosswalk.com Chat, click here to read the transcript.
June 1 - Getting Ready
“Today was our first day in our beautiful, new Allegro Bus RV. And what a day it has been! …
Steve takes his place behind the wheel and I headed back to the minivan to follow him. I try to close the door on the motorhome but it wouldn’t shut. We get Handyman Tim on the job, who moments earlier had installed our under-the-counter coffee pot, commenting, “In an RV, there is no such thing as a five minute job.” How true those words turned out to be…
After an entire afternoon of waiting for various repairs and the installation of a “doohickey” so they could tow the van behind the motorhome, Lisa and Steve really need to pick up the kids.
Steve and I take a deep breath and decide that one of the first things we will need to learn this year is to slow everything down a notch or two or we will spend the entire year frustrated.
When they finally get going ...
Steve climbs into his captain’s chair… I buckle up extra tightly as we cut the corner a bit too sharply and the van drives on the sidewalk a ways before joining us on the road. Steve is stressed and I am scared, so we pray. I’m glad we did because about a mile down the road Steve informs me that driving this rig while pulling a dinghy is a whole lot harder than he expected. He admits that it takes longer to brake, longer to accelerate and it’s going to take longer to get to (the kids) than we planned. What else is new? There is a definite theme happening here and I attempt to bargain with God that I already get the point, so He can go ahead and let up a bit so that we can get there before the daycare closes.
Steve is doing a fabulous job driving but I can’t help myself, I duck my head every time we go under an overpass, I scoot over to the edge of my chair when we pass a car and I step on my passenger-side brake at the slightest hint of a red taillight. I know it is my imagination and not Steve’s crazy driving. I also know that I am driving Steve crazy. I realize this because he turns up the smooth jazz so loud we can’t talk.
July 16 - Bon Voyage!
Entertainment Tonight showed up at the house at 8:00 A.M. to film our departure. Can you believe that the crew walked into the RV and I was in my bathrobe! They filmed a family interview, a tour of the Allegro Bus and the last shot of the morning was of us pulling away from the house with fifty or so of our loving friends and neighbors waving us goodbye. It was all very exciting and emotional.
