School on the go

What better way to educate your child about the world than to take a year off and travel through the United States and then head Down Under.

That is what Mike and Dorrie Williams did with their son Gregory in 2009 and part of 2010, after selling their Paradise home and embarking on a unique road trip.

The couple biked across the Transamerica Trail on a three-rider bicycle with then 8-year-old Greg in the back.

They traveled from Oregon to Idaho and moved through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Kentucky and ended the U.S. portion of the trip in Virginia.

In early 2010, the Williams family flew to New Zealand and Australia for several months — traveling by car or caravan to different destinations.

The family now lives in Orland and Gregory wrote a poem about New Zealand he entered in the 2011 Glenn County Young Writers Festival in February that earned him first place along with a journal entry about the Australian trip.

He is now a fifth-grader at Capay Elementary School and earned straight "As" on his most recent report card — prompting his mother to say last week, "I guess It didn't hurt him to take a year off."

Dorrie Williams is a credentialed teacher who home-schooled her son while they were on their trips.

"Dorrie and I cycled cross country in 1994. It was a life-changing experience for us — interacting with people along the way. We wanted to do something special with Gregory," Mike Williams said.

The couple's first thought was to do a bike tour of Europe, but the economics of it made that unfeasible at the time, he said.

So when Dorrie Williams was laid off from her school district, they decided to sell their home, cars and furniture and go on this adventure.

Mike Williams is a handyman who does a variety of work for clients in Chico, and has resumed that work since coming to Orland last fall.

Dorrie Williams is not teaching this year, but she is writing a book about their adventures.

While on the bike tour, the family visited sites of Indian wars as well as the flora and fauna along the way — ending up on Route 66, the Oregon Trail, the Santa Fe Trail and other well-known routes, the Williams said.

The U.S. trip lasted four months from July 20 to Dec. 1, 2009 — beginning in Baker City, Oregon and ending in Yorktown, Virginia — for a total of 136 days and 3,689 miles.

Along the way, the family camped out with a tent and gear towed in a little trailer behind the bicycle or stayed with different cycling hosts they contacted through an Internet biking site.

Weather ranged from very hot to quite cold as they started in 110-degree heat and finished with 12 feet of snow on the ground in Virginia.

The couple admitted the first two weeks on the road were hard as they got used to the bike and the hills, but they got acclimated in time.

A highlight of the U.S. trip was a stop at the St. Louis Arch and the City Museum downtown with its mirror room and other attractions, Greg said.

After spending Christmas and New Year's with family in North Carolina, the Williams went for 48 days to the south island of New Zealand.

"It is an incredible place to visit," Dorrie Williams said.

They stayed with local families with arrangements made through the internet — sharing meals and cultures.

The couple had visited both islands of New Zealand in 1995.

They recalled a tsunami scare around the time one hit Chile in 2010. The threat was on New Zealand as well — prompting the Williams to make a hasty retreat from their beach campsite at 4:30 a.m. But the danger never became too severe.

Blue penguins and other wildlife were found in New Zealand along with snow capped mountains, rocky beaches and plenty of sheep.

From there, they went to Australia for three months, touring the east coast from Sydney to Brisbane and Cairns and Townsville.

Of course, exotic animals like kangaroos, platypuses, parrots, dolphins and more awaited the Americans — all of which were big hits with Greg, who said he loves animals.

Huge expanses of beaches, blue seas and friendly residents also were found there.

"Australians seem so laid back," Williams said. "Nothing phases them. They are always in a good mood and seem casual and easy going."

He added people who think they can see Australia in just two weeks are fooling themselves because there is so much to visit.

"We weren't in a hurry," said Williams, adding staying with people who lived there kept the pace leisurely. "It is not the destination but the journey."

The couple said they would do it again "in a heartbeat."

But they admit it is scary for a lot of people to sell most of their possessions and travel.

Yet, Dorrie Williams described it as a "freeing" feeling not being encumbered by things left behind.

"There were no cars or insurance to pay," she said. "We didn't have to worry about what the tenants were doing to our house. All we had to worry about was where we were going to sleep and where we were going to eat.