From the BlackBerry.. There is a great line at the end of "Finding Nemo". We know all the lines in that movie, having seen it 6532555 times on this 4500 mile life journey that finds us at LeighAnn's sisters house in Novato, CA, just north of San Francisco. The line is at the very end, after Nemo finds his dad, and the other fish escape and get to the harbor, albeit in plastic bags in water. The blowfish, voiced by Brad Garrett, simply says, "Now What??" That's where we are right now. Here we are, made it to the west coast, went to the Pacific Ocean today, saw the palm trees, drove the freeways...NOW WHAT??Do we have a concrete plan? To be honest. No. Does that make us panic from time to time?? Yup. Where do we go? Will we find jobs? So many questions, not a ton of cash. It has been hard to transition from field trip across the USA to reality. Where will we settle? LeighAnn would like to keep going, so she is trying to figure out ways to stay "cellular" make some money while on the road..like articles, selling things, work camping. While I am looking for more "landline" opportunities, and places on the Pacific coast to settle down. The boys are doing good with their studies, LeighAnn's sister is a teacher and set Zack up very well. Reilly is schooling online, and I'll tell ya, that is going to take off one of these days. You will hear more about online High School. So now, the heavy lifting begins..so, if you know someone who would be interested in articles from LeighAnn. Let us know. And if you have some job leads or housing leads from San Francisco to San Diego, we are listening. We will be more diligent in blogging, and please keep commenting, they mean so much to us!! On to Southern California!!!

Greetings for California!!! We are at a rest stop on the 15 Freeway..We will be a campground and blog more later!

Welcome to Las Vegas!! We are spending another night here, and LeighAnn and I are realizing how much we love the Western U.S. Palm Trees, 102 degrees at 4PM west coast time (football at 10AM..that's Ralphie and Reilly talking) just knowing the day is going to be beautiful makes you want to get up and start the day!!Now, to recap last night, our first experience on the Las Vegas strip...Our day was probably the most stressful ever! Maybe it was the adjustment to the heat, which we have adjusted, the whole trip catching up to us, halfway expected money issues and realizing we are 2500 miles away...we were just bitchy. And a phone call from uncooperative parents, whilst standing literally on the rim of the Grand Canyon, taking in its majestic splendor, and having a moment of family bonding that I wanted to share probably started this chain of events. Everyone was fighting, it was becoming the day we questioned what we were doing.Then, we made a left turn on Flamingo and went to the Las Vegas strip, fighting the entire way down Flamingo.As we approached Las Vegas Blvd., things changed quickly.Zachary quickly noticed there were a lot of half dressed women on billboards, and proceeded to show us where the Palms Casino was, that's the one with the Playboy bunnies on it. And who knew he knew who Hef is!! That broke the ice with all of us, and we were back on track, and realized we were really on the Vegas strip!!!Fast forward here we drove up and down the strip for a bit, then parked at the New York, New York casino and got out of the minivan.. That's where LeighAnn's jaw dropped. LeighAnn has never been anywhere like Vegas, I have been to AC and have seen gambling so I thought I knew what to expect. We were all blown away.We only had 20 bucks in Magic Money (LeighAnn will tell you the Magic Money story in a later blog) and decided we were going to go to the Paris Casino (Zack's choice) and NY NY (Leigh's I choice). The slots and roller coaster ride Leigh and Reilly took were fun, the walk on the strip was interesting.This town is a 24 hour party. Dressed up, not dressed up, it's awesome. Drinking on the streets, smoking inside buildings..its out of control!!And then..there were trading cards...As we walked from casino to casino, babies in tow (they LOVED the lights), we noticed bonding in a way we have NEVER seen..and were looking down, and not looking at the lights of the strip. LeighAnn caught that and wondered why.She found out.She looked down and scattered among the sidewalk, an interesting game of 52 pick up. Since hookers are legal in Nevada, there are many many vendors standing along the Boulevard with cards that advertise the women for sale. LeighAnn tells me (cause I was looking the lights) prices range from $39-$179, and the $179 girls have no hidden fees. Well 2 teenagers think this is the best thing ever. Let me say, we we're not the only parents with their kids out, this place is packed!!! The boys tried, and failed, because LeighAnn is their Mom, to start a new card collection. LeighAnn and I had great laugh watching our sons try to scoop down nonchantaly and grab these cards, and the innocent giggles were wonderful. The boys bonded over hookers. The boys implored us to stay another night, and thanks to our angel Justine, we are, and heading back to the strip!! Peace from Las Vegas (and were down $20)LeighAnn and Ralphie SuburbanGypsys!! PS..updating from my BlackBerry, sorry for the syntax

Quick hello from Kingman, AZ. The Grand Canyon was too awesome for words. And tomorrow, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas!! We had a wonderful day today, and there is an In and Out Burger here! Good Times..and Good Night from the west.

So I wanted to share a little bit of "homelife" for us. In particular, the childproofing situation. As we all know we have two very active toddlers. Oden is amazing at getting into things, I am always trying to one up him and find great satisifaction when I do. To the point of giddiness. What we have adapted so far. First was the bedroom situation, the toddlers share our bedroom which has a queen size bed. I had my brother in law build on "extensions" which add about 20 inches onto each side. They still fall asleep in our bed but then we move them to theirs and they stay pretty much, it has been a huge advantage. They still like laying on our faces tho best, oh well, we get a couple hours sleep with them in there little caccoons. 
Bathroom, they LOVE to open the door and go in and mess with all the products we have lieing around, due to not enough space in the cupboard. They are obsessed with getting in there. So finally I came up with the idea of taking the pole to the vacuum and extending it to the point that it jams from the bathroom door into the shower space (which is now a shelving unit) therefore preventing the door opening. It really is ingenius except the fact the poll is at about 5 ft and everyone continues to walk into it. Yes I have heard my boys curse over this, Im getting used to it now.
Dinette table, which holds the tv and computer when were hooked up at a campground. This was a challenge. Finally I came up with the idea to take an extension gate ( the kind that is criss cross) and drill holes on both sides to attach. This should have been simple but ofcourse NOTHING is simple with us, so it didnt quite stretch across so I had to remove the plastic extenders that prevent strangulation for a child and then it fit. I know, not the safest thing but neither is toddlers destroying pc an tv amongst this group.
Zachs bedroom, and we do call it his bedroom, we actually say upstairs, which I think is hysterical, because we all do it and we all know what were talking about, ( by the way our bedroom is downstairs, go figure) So Oden and Edie can climb, well anything, and they go up there. And that is where we put any thing really precious or dangerous for them. Well that isnt working. They get up there quick! Now we have another extendable gate stretched across. The problem is even though its painful they use the spaces for there feet. Still working on this one.
Drivers seat, babies love horns, we now know this and so does everyone in every campground we have been to. We have it covered now by yet ANOTHER gate, but they always seem to get one blast in as we pull in and set up at rapid speed.
Duct tape, this is truely my lifesaver, I have said it before and will again, If i had to have one thing in an emergency it would be it. I use it to waterproof leaks, childproof drawers, doors, light fixtures, outlets, oven, faucets, window screens, I have used it as a bandaid, book binder, crafting, and more. It is my life line and always will be, I should do commercials for it.
Hmmm, thats about it, and even with that all they have broken my couch, blinds, bedroom door (cloth), dvd player, all over head lights,
but NOT our spirits. We will persevere. Leighann

Hey friends!! It's 9:45 in Flagstaff, AZ..and we are in the Pacific time zone! That's makes LeighAnn and I very happy. We are East Coast to the core, but our passion for the American West really got fired up when we saw the sign for 40 West..Los Angeles!!! We realized and are thrilled we are out in the west!! We met out here in San Diego, and we are close to California!! For us, that is awesome!!! Tomorrow, its off to the Grand Canyon, and we will use our camera, not just phone pics, and have them up soon!! We hope life will throw us a bone when we land in Southern California, we have butterflies that we are really going to be there soon!! Keep the comments coming, as they keep us going. And a thank you to our Angel, Justine. We are lucky to have her, and for those of you who read this and know her, understand what we mean. They don't come much better than her, and know Leigh misses you very much!! Here's hoping I don't fall in the Grand Canyon!!

Hello everyone!! Still in Santa Fe thru Labor Day. Sorry it's been a few days since we blogged, we have one monitor that is used for everything, and I am blogging from the Crackberry, so pardon the misspells. Seems when I spell check, it wipes out the blog. Go figure. We are well into our third week of traveling, exploring and looking for a new life in this land of oppurtunity, although I wish the radio oppurtunities were better!! I miss being on the radio so much, but would not trade this experience with my awesome family for anything!! As you know, we have had our share of incidients and problems..we have shared them all with you, the dog, the trailer, money, you name it. But I must say, I am so proud of my family. My sons have their moments, but they are turning out to be fine teenagers (Zachy turned 13 today) and fine young men. Being uprooted from a life you enjoy, espicially when you had nothing to do with it, is hard for sure. They have handled most challenges with grace, and a sense of humor. We thought Portsmouth, NH would be one of the final stops on the radio wagon train. As you know, I was wrong in that deduction. And now we are 2000 miles from there, and these young men of mine are rockstars!! Reilly is such a help, we are so proud of him!! And Zachary handles what is thrown at him very well!! Good boys. Our little angels, Emily, and Oden have been stuck in this box too, and for adventerous 2 year olds, travel real well. They have many moments as toddlers do, but they have a great life with a family that loves them so much!! And my rock, my wife LeighAnn is just the best. She always wanted to do this, not this way. Being forced into a life change, and hitting the road because we have to. This should be done when there is money and time to burn..not because there is not many options. I can be a hard person to deal with, yet she smiles every day and has an answer when I do not. And thank God she can fix things. I can't wait to get back to the place we met, San Diego, CA and look at her and remember the night we met. We always hope for good things to happen, and we are doing just that. We have each other, and family and friends who love us no matter what, so we will always be just fine. However, a great job in San Diego would be okey dokey!!! Hahahahaha!! Time for tacos (Zack's b'day dinner) and Ice Cream and cake. BTW, if you have any questions for us about the trip, we would love to answer them...just comment and we will!! Annnddd..email The Today show www.todayshow.com and figure8films.tv and let them know what a great story we are!! Love And Miss You All!! The Marino's....SuburbanGypsys!!

Hello from Santa Fe, New Mexico!!  We have parked the RV for a few days thru the Labor Day weekend, and to celebrate LeighAnn's birthday (the 4th) and Zachary's birthday (the 5th).  We are staying at Rancho de Santa Fe Campground, and it is a great place!! Nice staff, good location, and lots to do. And, @TodayShow is following us on twitter, so feel free to email them and tell them how great we are!! www.todayshow.com

Boys and toddlers are doing well...we have traveled over 3,000 miles so far, and the shores of the Pacific await!!

And now...drum roll please...

The Top 10 Things We Have Learned So far...

10. Bottle your water!! Different states water means toddlers have baaad poopies.

9. Remember what the Rig (RV) can and cannot do. It can provide comfort for the family. It cannot, while towing a car, make it through a drive thru, a tight Wal-Mart parking lot, and a few gas stations across the Einsenhower Interstate system.

8. Always have dvd's, player charged, mad libs, snacks, for those long desert highways, cows get boring.

7.fly swatters are necessary after Pennsylvania

6. Toddler girls can scream so loud, your eardrums will vibrate and you will wish for death.

5. Toothbrushes on the floor of the bathroom only really need a quick rinse in bottled water.

4. Men don't always have mechanical knowledge that we hope for, sometimes the woman, well always the woman, will need to intercede.

3. Children raised in New England do not understand Cactus, pulling out barbs is not fun at 9 pm in a quiet campground.

2. Prayer, calling your best friend, and a strong drink is your best medicine after a long, stressful day.

1. Learning CPR is essential  in life, learning to do it on humans AND animals is even better.

Hello everyone...finally blogging from a PC!!  We are at a very nice campground in Santa Fe, New Mexico, way up in the mountains.  LeighAnn and I want to say thanks for following the blog of our journey.  And the comments mean so much to all of us!! 

So far, we have put 3,000 miles on the RV during this trip.

And I have aged 10 years..(kidding)

Just got told I am needed outside..we are actually having a campfire dinner...

More later, we promise!!!!

Which will be....

Our Top 10 List of things we have learned on the road...(this is FUNNY!!)

Hello from the Marino's!! We are in Denver, CO at the end of ANOTHER interesting day! Things started out OK, we stayed last night at a Wal-Mart..well, wait, let me go back to Friday night for a spell, as they say here. We stopped at Wal-Mart number 1, which was shady and crappy parking. So we proceed to WM number 2 in Westminster, CO, outside of Denver and it was lovely. We enjoyed a lovely dinner of Chicken, Ziti and Broccoli, then got KICKED OUT by the cops, seems there is a law that in Westminster where there is no overnight parking, so back to Denver and WM number 3 which was just fine. After a good nights sleep and a yummy McDonalds coffee and breakfast..we head out to Cherry Creek state park, and that's where the fun begins. As we leave the parking lot, I GET STUCK AGAIN!! So we have to drop the minivan off the tow dolly on a one way street, people are backing up again, but unlike the last time, all remains civil. We get the van off, and move on to the park, which is full. So that was a short stay. Now we find a campground, or here in the west, park your RV next to 2456985 other ones, kinda like a Brooklyn rowhouse. The day gets better from here. The boys and I spent the day at the Denver Zoo, and it was awesome!!! We had a great day, then we went around downtown Denver. This is a city we could actually live in, it's really nice. We went to Coors Field, where the Rockies play. Invesco Field, where the Broncos play, and other places around Denver. Real nice place. Like I said, we could live here, so if anyone knows anyone here, let us know. Radio is OK here actually, my friend ran a station here, and man it sounds great!! It's KS-107.5 and its good!! 95.7 The Party is good too, and so is the station called Alice 105.9. Like I said..cool here! Now we are back at the campground, and we might stay here a few more days. We might try to scalp our way into the Broncos game, and the Mets are coming to town Tuesday!! So who knows!!! As I finish this, Zack has just noticed LeighAnn wearing a nightgown as she was doing dishes. Well, in his words, he is now scarred, scarred, scarred that he saw his Mom in a clingy nightgown. Well, it seems it was an eventful day, what will tomorrow bring..check back!! And keep the comments coming, we love them! Good Night from Denver!!