50 States and Madison Rally! Travel Blog #20

Normally, March is by far my least favorite month of the year. Back when we lived full-time in Michigan, it was always cold and miserable just when you were dying for some warmth and sunshine. Now, I love March! This year it has been especially great so far and it's only bound to get better! So what have we been up to in our latest traveling adventures? Keep reading to find out!

West Monroe, Louisiana

A few weeks ago, we stopped at our 50th state!! We had realized that we only had around 8 states left and that I was going to graduate in the spring, so we decided to work hard to check off our remaining states while we were still traveling as a family! We flew to Alaska, and then to Hawaii a few months later last fall. Finally only one state remained.... Louisiana! None of us are super sure how we had missed it before!

So off to Louisiana we went, specifically to West Monroe: home of the famous Robertson family! As big Duck Dynasty fans, we checked out Duck Commander Warehouse and stayed in Logtown Plantation: the AirBnB owned by Jase and Missy Robertson.

Seaside, Florida

After Louisiana, we spent a lovely few days in Seaside, FL. The best word I can think of to describe Seaside with is perfection. It was so beautiful and tastefully arranged. The whole town was color coordinated and neat; it was unreal how perfect it all was. We loved getting a chance to visit after hearing so many great things about it from our friends!

Fort Myers Beach

My best friend also travels with her family. As we were in Florida for so long, we got the chance to stop by and visit with her family before taking her along with us on a trip to see my Papa. He has been fixing his house and community nonstop since Hurricane Ian came through Fort Myers Beach. We all loved relaxing and spending time together in the Sunshine State!

Madison Rally

How do we have friends on the road? That's a question we get all the time. One of our biggest answers to that question is with Fulltime Families. FTF is a travel organization that arranges events for other families who travel and homeschool to meet up! Many of the other families live in RVs, so the events are held for weeks at a time in campgrounds. We were a little unsure of what it would be like when we went to our first rally, but we were so pleasantly surprised. We met other families who were so likeminded and also pursuing similar unique and fulfilling lifestyles. Now we go out of our way to include several FTF events every year! Our community is so strong and caring; we absolutely love it!!

Rallies are like 3 or 4 months of friendship and activities all jammed into just a week or two. The three week event in Madison consisted of meeting up with old friends, making new ones, participating in sports camp, doing tons of activities, playing competitive games, baking, having movie nights, leading Bible study (see the video below!), forming worship bands, dancing, just spending time with our friends, and so much more. 3 weeks in Florida with a community of like-minded kind people and good friends? No wonder we had such an amazing time!!

and MORE!

It was so hard to leave all of our friends and say goodbye, but we're going to see them all again in just a few short weeks at this year's teen rally! Until then, we've got a packed schedule starting with flying to IRELAND tomorrow! Stay tuned for upcoming adventures!

Comment below, which of these places have you been to before?