Today we discovered that our wheels can still go round-and-round.

We said goodbye to Livingston this morning and are back in Aggieland for Wyatt’s upcoming vet appointment at Texas A&M on Wednesday. He will have an ultrasound, and it’s going to show us if the heavy antibiotic routine he’s been on since Thanksgiving is actually working. Please keep your paws and fingers crossed for us!

In the meantime, meet one very awesome full-timing family that we got to know at Rainbow’s End: The Carltons, aka Carl and Mary and their kids Grace, Annalea and Sylar.

Meet the Travelling Awesome

This debt-free family of five hit the road in September 2011, when Carl took a job working on rigs in the oil and natural gas industry. Although he often works as many as 30 days in a row in remote drilling locations, in return he often receives an equal amount of days off which allows the entire family to see the country. His job sites change frequently, which means that the kids are able to experience the best of America as they travel from California to Florida and everywhere in-between.

When Carl gets assigned to a new drilling location, Mary and the kids relocate to a new campground that’s convenient to an airport so Carl can fly in and visit during his breaks. The kids pack up their belongings, and Mary fearlessly hauls their 32′ trailer to the next park.

If this story sounds familiar that’s because it is; Escapees was founded by a family who hit the road in the exact same way.

When Escapees founders Joe and Kay Peterson started full-timing in the early 1970s with two of their children, they were breaking new ground as a road tripping family. Back then, few parents would dare to hit the road with kids.

Today’s new generation of families are as courageous as ever. The Carltons have created an incredible lifestyle for themselves, but it hasn’t always been this way: Hurricane Katrina swept away everything they owned in 2005 and they were burdened by serious debt afterward. But thanks to Dave Ramesy’s Financial Peace University, Carl and Mary are thriving now as a debt-free family, and changing their kid’s destiny forever.

Since embarking on this non-traditional lifestyle, the Carltons have learned a lot about the world, but mostly they’ve discovered that being a family doesn’t require a lot of crap stuffed into a sticks-and-bricks house. To this adventurous bunch, home and family happens anywhere you park it.

You can read about the Carlton’s adventures at The Travelling Awesome’s Blog

Thinking of Full-Timing with Kids?

If your dream is to full-time with your family now, check out this great book by Full Time Families founder Kimberly Travaglino, “How to Hit the Road: Making Your Family’s Full Time RV Dreams a Reality.†This terrific book explains how to start making your family’s RV dreams happen. Read more in our How to Hit the Road book review.