New in Elkhart, Indiana. Home to the RV Industry

Elkhart, Indiana

In January 2018, the Blackburn family officially moved to Elkhart, Indiana. After years of driving cross-country to visit my family, God dramatically opened the door for us to live here.

We moved into a cute little yellow farmhouse just south of downtown Bristol for three months. It needed some TLC, but we got it cleaned up and all the utilities turned on.

Little yellow farmhouse 

In April, we purchased a 1960s red-brick ranch and settled down in our new home. Within the last year, we found a home church. Joined a homeschool coop. And participated in several family events, thus cementing the best reason for being here. Family.

1960s red brick house

We also joined a robotics program and the younger two kids started up in a technical school –Elkhart Area Career Center. Liam is learning all about industrial automation and engineering. And Kyla excels in the Commercial Photography program.

This will be their second year doing robotics and the career center. Both of them finished their core academics and are now on a trajectory toward their future careers.

The kids with best friends at our new church

My oldest daughter, Jessica, opted to return to Colorado to be a camp counselor after graduating a year early. She interned at Camp Idrahaje for the last year and will be finishing up her incredible experience this month.

As for our RV adventures, we put them on hold. Like everything else in life, there is a time and a season. We plan to continue traveling in a couple years, but need time to stabilize and root.

There was a thing I had been missing, but I couldn’t describe. A restlessness. I think part of that contributed to my constant need to find “home.” Once we moved here, that restlessness left. I love being close to my family and can’t imagine ever living anywhere else.

Life isn’t perfect and we still have ups and downs. But my husband absolutely adores being home. And I adore having him home. Our relationship with God is stronger and we are closer than ever.

Overall, I would say if I had to do this journey again; I wouldn’t change a thing. Because it led us to where we are now.

Happy. Healthy. Rooted in community.

My sister and my mom. My best friends in the world.

Flying Saucer RV Park in Englewood, CO

There is a little place tucked along Bear Creek and the Platte River and squeezed in between Riverpoint shopping center and Hampden Ave in Englewood, CO called the Flying Saucer RV park. This seemingly innocuous RV park has been in existence since the 1950s (as a mobile home park) and converted to an RV park sometime in the late 80s.

Flying Saucer RV Park in Englewood, CO

We came to stay here in December 2016, as a semi-permanent landing pad. Our current RV is a 2012 5th Wheel Wildcat bunkhouse with an extra bathroom.

This is very similar to our layout, except the master bathroom is on the opposite side and the bed is angled. 

We've been in it for the last year, having spent last summer on a farm (more to come) and visiting family the rest of the time. Jessica turned 16 last September and got her driver's license . She works at Chick-fil-a and keeps her calendar filled with plenty of social events.

The cousins love hanging out!

Liam will be 15 in October. He relishes the fact that he's taller than me and frequently steps in to reach those out-of-reach objects! He is my right hand when it comes to fixing stuff around the RV. Like when we replaced the thermostat in the heater and switched out our hot water heater and did maintenance on the air conditioner. Whew!

Kyla turned 13 in December. She is most like me and LOVES good books. I often find her immersed in a page-turner and have a hard time pulling her out to do school and chores. Again. Just like me at that age.

We've spent many days this summer hanging out in hammocks and tubing down Clear Creek in Golden. One of our favorite things to do to beat the heat. Bear Valley Church has been our church home for the past few years. The kids attend every event they can and God's immersed us in an amazing community of believers. I even volunteer as a barista once a month at our most excellent coffee bar, making lattes and designer coffees.

Life continues to be an adventure full of laughter and tears. But in everything, God is faithful.

Family is a rich tapestry

During my side-of-the-road wait for our tow truck driver and my attempts to compose shaking hands and a pounding heart, my father calls to remind me to wish him a happy birthday...  He was at my sister's house enjoying his favorite meal: home-made mac-n-cheese, just like mom used to make, and Rocky Road ice cream.

Leaving DIA

He decided that he missed my kids terribly and wanted to fly them out to Indiana unaccompanied, for the summer.  This took a little bit of digesting, but I knew that God's timing is always perfect and that the kids would have an amazing summer.

So, on the Fourth of July, they flew alone, all by themselves, without any adults.  It was challenging at first to let them go.  But I trusted my family to be at the other end.

Arriving in Chicago with my Dad to greet them!

The kids got there just fine and my parents met them at the gate.

They've been gone a week and settled into a routine.  I receive phone calls and facetime calls almost every day.  My sister wrapped them into her schedule.  They do devotionals and chores in the morning.  Then school.  Then free time.

I realized that this summer is God's gift to all our family.  To my husband and I, because we haven't been alone like this for over thirteen years.  Our relationship has blossomed and rekindled romance to a whole new level...  Plus, his new job is taking a lot of creative energy and time.  And my camp hosting job requires more of me than I'm used to giving to people outside my family.  And I don't have to worry about them. 

My parents and siblings get to meet my children.  Get to know them in a way that is impossible when I'm around.  For the cousins, because it brings them closer together.  More like siblings.  And for my children, they are experiencing the rich tapestry that is family.  That is grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  It truly takes a village to raise children.  And for years to come, they will cherish the time they spend together.

Cousins!

Bristol, Indiana

All the cousins together for the very first time...

Fall has arrived in glorious multi-hued colors.  The poison ivy sticks out like a red sore thumb.  As we wind through the back country roads in Bristol, Indiana, you can see thick clumps of it crawling up the side of oaks and maple.  The corn stocks behind my sister’s house have turned that rustic harvest decoration color.    All day, the kids run back and forth between the house, the fort and the trampoline.  Outside the dining room window, I can see the big blue tarp they threw across the top to act as a roof. 

This morning, I walked quietly down to the ponds and sat on the half rotted dock watching steam curl up from the swimming pond half covered in lily pads.  The sunlight filtered through the feathered Cyprus and maple, creating a mock halo around the algae infested fishing pond.  Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot movement.  A mother whitetail deer and her two half grown fawns stepping daintily out of the brush, nibbling on leaves and grass; though she saw me and flicked her tail uncertainly. 

What is it that I admire about this place?  The peaceful serenity and the extreme privacy.  I think it is that and the lush, green trees that arch overhead, creating a cool oasis. 

Crazy cousins

My mom kept her fifth wheel parked here over the summer, flitting back and forth between business in California and visiting her grandkids in Indiana.  The lure of all her children and grandchildren in one place was too much to resist.  Thankfully, she is coming in the middle of October with Bill. She’s leaving the Mojave Desert and picking him up in Denver.  Then, they’ll come out together –he is catching a ride and she is gaining a driving partner. 

This time of rest is good for me.  A chance to breath and rejuvenate.

We are in Bristol, Indiana, visiting my sister on her ten-acre farm.  So peaceful and tranquil.  My kids love it and don’t want to leave.  My niece, Zoe, is three months younger than my son, Liam (almost 11), and my nephew, Judah, is a week younger than Kyla, 9.  My brother lives about a half hour away and occasionally brings his two young boys over to play.  Sometimes, my dad, who also lives about 30 minutes away, comes over after work.  It is nice to have most of my family close by during our visit.  

Birthday girl (13th birthday) with Papa Scott

Zoe driving the golf cart

Jessica driving golf cart

House-less; not homeless...

There are upsides and downsides to living in an RV. Besides the obvious lack of space and privacy and ability to stock up on groceries when they are on sale, there are...shall I say..."legal challenges.”
Such as:

Easy answer unless you live in an RV.

Time to vote? Oh, yes. You can't use your mailing address as a legal residence, but we can use the temporary space that we occupy (Clear Creek RV park in the winter/Jefferson County Fairgrounds in the summer).

The most recent challenge is...school.

My husband and I agreed that the kids should get more online schooling and with my oldest going into 7th grade, we decided to try the online public school route. It sounded like a good idea. All the materials we needed for free. Outside motivation for deadlines and still able to enjoy traipsing about the country...

Step #1:

Verify your residence. Where do you reside? What is the place that you and your family occupy on a daily basis?

Ok. I am optimistic by nature, but this first step proved to be a doozy that I can't overcome. They accept utility bills, but not cell phone bills or tax returns. What about the fact that I pay state taxes, including school taxes. I own a home in Colorado, but I rent it out. I could use the property tax statement to show proof of residency, but I don't live there. I wanted to be up front and honest with the admissions folks for both K12 and Connections Academy, so as to not cause problems later on.

They could do a shipping addendum which would route all materials to the UPS store that we use as our contact address for mailing purposes. But to prove that I "reside" in Colorado (besides paying state taxes, registering my vehicle (which cost $1200 --yowza), and having a Colorado drivers license isn't good enough.), is beyond my current capabilities.

I could get funding. Only if I pretend to be homeless. But I'm house-less, not homeless...

Second problem: Testing. They require our physical presence between February and April. Who knows exactly when. It depends on the teacher you are assigned, which you won't know until you sign up and are part way through the year. We have to ask permission in order to travel extensively...

That ain't happening. I don't need to ask "Mother, may I?" to do what I want to do.
So, public online schools are out for us. They are good schools that offer a valuable service. But not for my family.

And to be perfectly frank, I'm relieved. I prefer homeschooling anyway and am excited about the wonderful opportunities for science and history learning on the road. We'll see what lies ahead for this roadschooling family!

No Fear

     "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (1 Timothy 1:7)

     So here is our house. Months after we finished the interior and put it up on the market.  Long after we were supposed to be gone.  With no furniture in the house except camp chairs and cots for the kids (we kept our master bedroom furniture).  Trying to be faithful to the Father every step of our journey.

     Purging, packing, and planning --the theme of my life since September 2010, when I felt God prompting me to prepare for moving. 

     While I stayed in Indiana enjoying a respite, my DH stayed here trying to sell the house.  We had plenty of lookers, but no buyers.

     Then Bill flew out to Indiana around the middle of August and we took our time coming back to Colorado.  I dreaded returning.  After all my hard work and effort.  All the hours poured into paring down our furniture, getting rid of everything except the bare necessities.  It all seemed wasted.

      We decided to list the house on the MLS using a flat-fee service, in which a Realtor posts our information for a flat fee.  We could afford $400 out of pocket versus $5000.  Through August, September, and now October, our house has been listed on the MLS.  With only two phone calls.  How depressing.  There were times I wanted to throw in the towel.  Just refill the house with furniture and stick it out.  But every time I went back to God, he made it abundantly clear that Keenesburg wasn't in our future.

     What to do?  Well, since the real estate market is soft and the rental market is strong... we decided to become landlords and rent out the house.  After much prayer and deliberation, I crafted an ad and posted it on craigslist.  Within an hour, I had two phone calls and an email.  Within four days, I had countless phone calls and emails.

     Apparently, this was the right door.  So currently, we are screening potential tenants.  Is it nerve-wracking? Oh, yea.  Am I sure I want to be a landlord?  No.  But do I feel this was the right decision?  Absolutely.

     What did I gain from the trip to Indiana and several "wasted" months of trying to sell the house?

     My husband.

     Being in Colorado by himself made him realize what was most important: his family.  Within a couple weeks of our return, he assumed the finances and started paying the bills; for the first time in our 16 1/2 years of marriage.  He scaled back his outside commitments, re focused his passion and energy toward our financial future and began including the family in all his hobbies.

     As hard as it has been to wait on the Lord and wonder at what was happening, I look back over the summer and realize that God had a plan which didn't include selling the house.  It was a means to his end.  But he has opened the door for us to leave via turning the house into a rental.

     Financially, this makes sense for our family.  We don't lose the money and time we invested and learn a whole lot about being prudent.  As nerve-wracking as looking for the right tenant is, I have absolute peace about God's plan for our future.  No fear.

   Next post:  About our fun journey traveling from Indiana to Colorado!

Arriving at the sanctuary

 As I pulled the rig into Sarah's driveway, I felt a sense of relief -as if my long journey had come to an end.  Not just the driving-for-three-days straight one; but months of preparing our house to sell and my own internal struggle of faith.

Every morning, as I stepped out of the RV, a lush green landscape fed my soul. Living on the eastern plains in Colorado is like living in the desert. (I should know because I grew up in Arizona).  It was a sight for sore eyes.

All day long, every day, for two months, my kids played with their cousins.  Outside, they had a trampoline to jump on, a swimming pool, a two-story fort, loads of trees and a creek that ran through the back of the property.  

And on really hot days, we would go cool off in the creek.  At some point, we started bathing down there.

 The water was clear and the temperature just right. So much fun!

You are doing what?!?

We waited a good month before telling our family about the move.  I wanted to have the RV stabilized and be in the process of preparing the house before mentioning it.  Perhaps it was my way of putting off the inevitable emotional feedback and God kept telling me, “Sooner rather than later!” 

                My sister and I are very close, so she knew from the get-go what we were doing.  She is very supportive and bolstered my courage to tell my parents.  Although I knew they would be supportive no matter what –there would still be concern for our well-being.  I waded through the conversations and followed them up with a long email detailing our plans and ideas.  My brother and the rest of the extended family were very supportive as well (to my immense relief). 

                We weighed the consequences and impact this decision would have on the family long before we moved on it.  We prayed for a long time and sought the Lord’s guidance.  I think God was ready for us to go long before we were.  So this is a decision made in faith. 

                Then it was time to break the news to his family. They were resistant to the idea, but this is our decision to make.  And like my grandpa-in-law said, “My happiness doesn’t reside in someone else's head!”

                We are thrilled at the new adventure awaiting our family and the possibilities it can bring!