We're so excited to have Ellie, our youngest child, back with us for another episode!

If you remember, the last time we heard from her was WAY back in Episode 3: OreGONE. Emotions were raw back then, and she was dealing with something neither of our other two children had to face--she'd never come back to her childhood home, because her parents were leaving Los Angeles, too.

Fortunately, Ellie had an action-packed Fall and she's here to update us on all of the adjustments she had to make in college, what it's like being a D1 athlete and, most of all, how she's feeling now about our decision to travel and find a new hometown.

We gave up our house keys and hit the road for NorCal, only to be faced with a parking lot on the 5 Freeway, a dog whose bathroom angst disrupted all of us and our youngest daughter’s 12-hour cry session over saying goodbye to LA. From Santa Rosa to The Oregon Coast, we’ve yet to feel the euphoria of a road trip.

It’s official. We’ve closed escrow and are renting our own house. Our pod is too small. The rental van is tied up in red tape. Our Air BnB has fallen through. We’ve only have a few weeks to pack up 20 years and 5 people and it’s already off the rails.