Effervescence

Evelyn and her friend, Everett, facing off with the geese at Prado

When we were staying at Prado, back in California, our second week into being a Fulltime Family, we met the first of many nice people we'd meet in a campground. One of those people, Vivien, said something over wine one evening that stuck with me: People are at their best when they're camping. She's right. People aren't grumpy, aren't bogged down by the daily grind when they're camping. They're happy to be where they are and happy to meet other happy people. I wanted to dedicate an entry to some of the people we've met along the way, so far, many of whom we were fortunate enough to meet thanks to our little social butterfly, Evelyn.

 

That first two week stay at Prado is the first reservation I attribute as our family officially doing this thing. We no longer had a home to return to. I was less than a month away from giving birth to Kailyn, and it was 104 degrees every day. We did our laundry in the two cobweb covered machines in the Prado campground and we were thankful for it.

 

Evelyn with Everett

One day, Evelyn spotted a little boy playing by himself in the open space near his campsite, which neighbored ours. She asked if she could go meet him and ran in his direction with Heidi in tow. She wound up sneaking up on him and inadvertently scaring him, but he thought it was funny. From that point on, they were virtually inseparable. His name was Everett and he was 11, but he treated her, a 4 year old, as his equal and playmate. They rode bikes, played ball, swung from a rope in a tree, and honked at the flock of resident geese together. He gave Evelyn a Pokemon card to remember him by. Over the weekend while we were there, the campground filled with other campers ("Weekenders"). There were lots of kids riding their bikes around those days. One little boy Everett's age asked him if he'd like to ride with him. When Everett replied that he would but wanted Evelyn to come too, the other boy said, "No, we don't want a little kid hanging around!" to which Everett replied, "Well, then I don't want to ride with you." It's enough to bring tears to my eyes just reflecting on now!

 

Because Evelyn had made a friend, that meant we did, too. I approached his campsite as soon as it was evident Evelyn and he were going to be playing together and met his grandparents, Larry and Vivien. Larry was a "retired biker", covered in faded blue tattoos and one newer tattoo of flames in vibrant orange and red on his shoulder. His wife, Vivien, had vivid orange hair and was sweet as a peach. They were both local residents from the Chino area and had raised Everett most of his young life. As a result, he was well-mannered and courteous, just as were they. One morning when I had slept in and not answered the door when Everett came looking for Evelyn, Larry grew worried. He wondered if I needed help and was prepared to help me should I have gone into labor. He was visibly relieved to see me emerge healthy-looking and still very pregnant later that day.

 

We still had Fifi, the cat, with us at this point. We were having a hard time of it and she was escaping a lot-- she had taken to slipping out past our feet no matter how quickly we came or went through the door. One day, we spotted a new motor home had parked across the road from Larry and Vivien. Near their steps was a small black cat. "Fifi!" Our eyes all went wide. Upon closer inspection, we realized this cat was all black and was missing the white patches Fifi sported. This cat belonged to the new motor home. Another camping cat!

 

Brent ventured over to meet the camping cat couple to learn how they made it work. He soon met Rob and Ronnie, an 80-something couple from Prescott, Arizona. This was their third camping cat and though it weighed only about 7 lbs, had stared down bobcats in their back yard and always kept a close proximity to their RV when they were out traveling. As Rob said, cats learn where safety is and they stay close by. Well, that wasn't the case with Fifi, but it worked for them! After chatting with Brent a bit, Brent shared what we had done and were doing-- sold everything and were living in the RV. Rob told him that he just had to meet the woman that went for this crazy idea and invited himself over for a visit, promising to bring a cheap bottle of red wine. So, as night settled in, so did we settle around our picnic table with a $10 bottle of wine and stories to share. We made friends and were given their number and urged to call them if we wound up in Prescott. They welcomed us to stay on their property if we ever did.

 

Since those first days at Prado, Evelyn has made countless friends, both young and old. It is she who usually draws us toward new acquaintances. There is something magical about her. I know I'm her mom and I'm a little too close to be objective (a phrase I love that I'm borrowing from another of Evelyn's friends, the Marshal of Dodge City), but she positively sparkles. Her welcoming personality draws attention and turns heads the second we walk into a room and she has people smiling before she's even met them. I can't write about our experience traveling without singing her praises.

 

Everywhere we stay, Evelyn turns on her sonar for KIDS: "Are there kids here?" "*Gasp*! I hear kids!" "Look Mom, new best friends!" It's like containing the lid on a shaken soda bottle when we pile out of the truck after arriving somewhere she has spotted kids. She positively jumps up and down in place knowing there are kids around and there is no doubt in her mind she'll play with them.

 

Evelyn has spotted kids. This is her waiting patiently
for them to finish breakfast so she can meet them.

When we stayed for the evening at Green River State Park Campground in Green River, Utah, a family arrived late in the evening after we had gone in for bed. Evelyn and I took a walk in the morning and she spotted bicycles and heard little voices. "Mom, KIDS!!!", she exclaimed. I told her we needed to wait until they were done eating breakfast and she proceeded to stare at them as they ate before I'd allow her to go make friends. Finally, they were finished and she started yelling and waving, "Hi-iiii!!" She got one little girl's attention and they were soon riding Evelyn's bike and

Evelyn making friends by offering her bike to ride

scooter and collecting leaves all around the campground.

 

This friend's name was Emma, and she would become Evelyn's pen pal. Evelyn and Emma played the morning away with Emma's older sister, Becca. Their family was friendly and affable. All the kids (two girls and an older brother) all attend home school in Utah. They love to meet new friends. Before we left, Emma gave Evelyn a plastic lunch box toy and Evelyn, in turn, gifted her a little Goofy figurine. It was an emotional farewell; it was as if they'd been friends forever.

 



Evelyn with Miranda in Colorado

Later on down the road at Bear Creek Campground in Colorado, Evelyn made another friend, Miranda. Miranda was 6 and she and Evelyn were practically separated at birth in the way they played together. Miranda's camp was across from us-- about four sites over and across the campground road. Our next door neighbor, a retired man and his wife who lived a few miles away and were taking their trailer out for its virgin run, commented that they were birds of  a feather and it looked like they'd been friends forever. This was a near tearful departure when the time came to say good bye, but Miranda gifted Evelyn a yellow hair bow that she had adorned in rainbow felt marker scribbles and Evelyn gave her several colored Mardi Gras beads from her dress-up chest in return.

 



Playing in a covered wagon with new friends
in Williams, AZ

When we were in Williams, Arizona, Evelyn met another family of home school children from Missouri, who were traveling through to California for work. She played the morning away with them and gave hugs when it was time for them to leave. She was busy at work making friends in Williams, once again, even as we were in the truck about to pull out of our campsite. She waved at a man standing nearby and started talking to him through her window and we wound up climbing back out of the truck so she could run around with his grand-daughters and play Hide and Seek. They were from Florida and were traveling like we were, just to see the country. Before we left, the two girls gave Evelyn a pink My Little Pony and a necklace.

 

Sandie gave Evelyn several unique rocks
to add to her collection

Evelyn's friendships span the generations, as well. In fact, she is best loved by retired couples we have met along the way. When we stayed at Karchner Caverns in Arizona, Evelyn played the evening away with a group of kids camping with their family nearby. In turn, she made the acquaintance of a retired couple from Wisconsin who were traveling with their English Setter, Angel. Gil and Sandie were kind, warm, and welcoming. They loved Evelyn and listened as she cheerfully told them stories about her life and her dog and her travels. It came up that Evelyn collects rocks. Sandie is an avid rock collector, as well. She brought out her collection and told Evelyn about specific rocks-- what they were called and where she had found them. Evelyn listened intently and even ran back to me to tell me all about the Thunder Rock and the geode and pointed out details about them that she had just learned from Sandie. Gil, sitting across from me, looked at me with wide eyes and a smile: "She remembered all of that? From just now? And she got it all right!"

 

Sandie gifted Evelyn that Thunder Rock and geode and on our way out even gave her two more beautiful, smooth, red rocks laced with marble markings. Gil, in chatting with Brent, marveled over Evelyn.  "Has she always been so...." He trailed off looking for the right word, "effervescent?" He smiled and looked over at Evelyn to watch her in action, a warm expression of appreciation on his face.

Shooting the breeze with a clerk from Dodge City

 When we were in Dodge City, we visited the museum there, where visitors can visit a reconstructed Front Street and step back in time. We bellied up to the bar at the Longbranch Saloon, and Evelyn charmed some of the people working there, as well. She talked with one barkeep inside and chatted with another outside for a good half hour (she's just reminded me his name was Chip!). Later that day, we were sitting near the end of Front Street on a bench in front of the Blacksmith shop and a man with a barbell mustache appeared from behind the "Employees Only" gate carrying a hammer. He saw Evelyn and she said, "Hi" and he started up a conversation with her. She charmed him so that he told her special stories of why there

With the Marshal of Dodge City
on his "day off"

are no trees in Kansas. He told her that the bison were like the Indians' Walmart. They needed the bison in order to survive. They knew that the bison would move on from their land if there were no rich pastures, so each winter, the Native Americans would burn their dry pastures to fertilize them for the Spring. The bison always returned to literally greener pastures because of this, but the bison had a habit of knocking down trees while roaming for food. Between the fires burning trees and bison knocking them down, there were hardly any trees to be found in Kansas.

 



He also introduced her to Miss Kitty, the resident cat at the Dodge City museum. She had wandered in all skinny and sickly and staff took care of her. She roams around but was rather shy. Evelyn really wanted to pet her but the cat wouldn't come near, so her new friend positioned himself next to Evelyn and  let the cat come to him so Evelyn could at least get a bit closer. The man introduced himself as the Marshal of Dodge City, though he was "off duty" that day. He handed Evelyn a Dodge City badge to pin on her shirt as a special gift for a special girl.

 

 

Sharing a huge, spontaneous hug with Papa Butch

In Oklahoma, we visited my dad and step mom, Linda. Evelyn had visited with them once before, but she was just shy of two years old and I couldn't be sure how much she would remember them. In typical Evelyn fashion, all family is close to her heart and she didn't hesitate to share huge hugs and to talk with everyone as if she'd known them her whole life. She gave Papa Butch a huge hug and spent some very special time with Grandma Linda. She was excited to spend the night with new cousins she had never met, Madeline and Reese, and one she'd met when she was two, Haley. She practically leapt into the car with Grandma Linda to go to Madeline's basketball game without even so much as waving goodbye to me!  She showed Linda her charm that day as well as to some other parents sitting in the bleachers, chatting it up with her sweet little voice the whole time. 

With Grandma Linda in Oklahoma and
zipping around the property on Thanksgiving with cousins

 We just left Quartzite, Arizona, where we stayed the night in the RV Park where Brent's aunt Bonnie lives. We spent last night learning to pan for gold. She and her husband Bill live there but they own claims an hour or so outside of town, where they spend their time looking for gold and enjoying every second. We got a hands on lesson in prospecting from both Bonnie and Bill. Bonnie taught Evelyn how to scoop the pay dirt (I spent 41 years not thinking about where that term came from!) into the pans and then use the water to swirl and sift for gold. Bill later showed us how to use the dry washer to sort the dirt for gold before panning. It was an amazing experience, but what was most amazing to me was Evelyn's magic at work again.



Sharing a great time with Aunt Bonnie

 

When we pulled up in Quartzite and Aunt Bonnie stepped out of her car in a dirt lot near a gas station where she was meeting us to lead us to her RV park, Evelyn didn't hesitate. Though she has only met Bonnie once before, a good year and several months ago, she ran right up and hugged her and started chattering away. To Evelyn, everyone is a potential friend and if someone is family, there are no bounds for affection. Back at the RV park, Evelyn continued to impress Bonnie and Evelyn hung out and played with Bonnie as if she'd  known her her entire life. She had Bonnie making up and singing songs about the desert sands blowing in the wind at her request and Bonnie even sat in the dirt and played cars with Evelyn. Bonnie was in awe of Evelyn's cordial personality and was just smiling about how Evelyn runs up and gives each new friend a big hug as if they are the most special person in the world.

 

Evelyn showing the blue lace
agate she was given from
Cat and Leo in Quartzite

On cue, some neighbors in the RV park that Evelyn had met the evening before had just stepped out of their camp. Bonnie and I watched as Evelyn spotted them and across the way to give them big hugs just because. Leo, a career Army man and Vietnam veteran and Cat, a retired firefighter whose retinas were damaged through her career, were coming out to say goodbye as we were hitched up and ready to leave for California. Leo, who spends his winter doing leatherwork and cutting rock in the area, had selected a special stone for Evelyn: blue lace agate. He cut her a slab of it the size of her entire hand that looked like the waves crashing into a sandy shore. He presented it to her for her rock collection and Cat thanked her for being such a special little friend. Evelyn handed them a piece of white quartz in return, all on her own. They tried to hand it back while thanking her but said they couldn't take it. She handed it back and closed Cat's hand around it: "No, you take it. I want you to have a pretty rock, too."

 

Cat brought tears to my eyes. She softly voiced her admiration for Evelyn after Evelyn had frolicked away. She said, "She is such a joy. She is such a special little girl."

 

With friends she made at a Christmas tree farm
after meeting Santa and one of his reindeer

We are told quite often how amazing our little girl is. I know it well and I honestly feel she will change the world. She will affect people's lives. She has befriended people and impressed adults for years now. Cat commented today that Evelyn very obviously has a high IQ. She told me how wonderfully I am doing to have raised a person like her; that it is so rare these days to find a child who brings out such good in other people. I've heard from many over the years that she will be a diplomat someday-- that she could be President-- that she will help people and change minds someday. As her mother, it touches me to the core. I know it is all true and it brings tears to my eyes to see her in action. She is kind, she is caring, she is empathetic, she is compassionate. She shares, she welcomes, she smiles. She has been brightening the faces of strangers since she was in her infant carrier and she shines only more brightly as she gets older.

 

Effervescence

Place after place, person after person, she sees the best in people and makes friendships. I worry that this lifestyle isn't good for her. She can't make friends that will remain in her life on a day to day basis. Home is somewhere different each week or even day. She doesn't have routine or consistency. What she does have, though, is a spirit of adventure most children will never have. She possesses the openness for new friendship and seeks out connections with others. She welcomes new experiences and sees neighboring campers as potential new friends. She has touched hearts and made impressions on people from all over our country and that is truly priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

Day to Day Details

Out exploring with the whole family

Sometimes when I sit down to write an entry I forget the basics. When I talk to someone about our experiences, they ask questions that it feels like I would have entered in an entry somewhere but haven't. I get to where I'm so busy trying to cover the new things we're seeing that I forget to describe the basics-- our day to day life and how we make it work. How we are doing, not just what we're seeing.  So, here it is: our day to day, our life on the road.

 

Traveling in the Truck

Just one of the ways Evelyn keeps busy in the car.

Right now, for example, I'm sitting where I always sit while traveling-- in the rear passenger seat, the most uncomfortable seat in the truck with the exception of maybe Heidi's designated spot under the rear seat beneath Evelyn, but since that's been her choice to sit there, I'll assume there's some degree of comfort there. My hips and lower back are punished more for each hour I sit here and I can be seen slowly oozing out the door each time we stop to stretch our legs, hobbling like an old lady for five minutes until my joints loosen up. Kailyn sits in the middle back seat in her car seat, sleeping for most of our time in the car. When she's not asleep, she enjoys peering up at me and smiling. Evelyn sits behind Daddy. She has a habit of choosing all kind of odds and ends to take in the car with us for each journey, so her seat and the floorboard beneath her are cluttered with an assortments of broken crayons, stuffed animals, workbooks, sippy cups, rubber bands, popsicle sticks, stickers, and whatever other bits and pieces she collected to journey with her for the day. Brent is forever the driver, bless his soul. Not only this, but he's taken on the role of navigator as well and has the tablet at his ready to consult a map and scout out the next stop when needed. It turns out I'm pretty terrible at this, so though it would make sense that I take on that job, he is much, much better at it. To his right sits our co-pilot, Emmy. Below her on the front floorboard is Gretchen, sleeping in her very own dog bed that never leaves the truck.

 

I pack a bag we've named "Evelyn's On-the-Go Bag" and try to keep it fresh with new things to do: sight word books, modeling clay, beginners cross-stitch, coloring books, and markers. Atop that sits the diaper bag and I've only recently realized I could bring the laptop in the car with me to make best use of road time (like today). When Evelyn isn't asking endless questions and narrating what she sees out the window, I can write or edit pictures or work. On rare occasions, like the present, she sleeps, and I can actually concentrate on what I'm working on.

 

We spend an awful lot of time in the truck. You would think so, right, with traveling great distances towing the trailer. But, when we get to a new place, we don't usually just hang out at the trailer. We get out and see stuff. Back into the truck we go!

 

The Dogs

There is always the question of what to do with the dogs. We have the three dogs: a pit bull and two small dogs (Emmy, Heidi, and Gretchen). They are incredibly adaptable and are happy to just be part of the family, but we still feel bad they spend so much time indoors and cooped up. Here's the thing, though. When we've arrived somewhere after 3-4 hours of travel (about our limit), we let the dogs out thinking they'll run amok and kiss the ground. What do they do? They go up the stairs to the trailer and press their noses to the door waiting for us to open it. Then, they run inside to their beds and lay down like they're relieved to get some rest. Yup, that's their life! And they're Ok with it! Don't get me wrong. We have them outside whenever and however often we can.

 

We prefer finding campgrounds to stay in over RV parks, where there is less restriction on dogs and more room between campers so as not to bother people. We don't even leash them when we have a mostly empty campground to ourselves. They run around a bit and then plop themselves near the trailer in the sun somewhere and just kind of hang out... when they're not pressing their noses to the door to be let back in again.

 

Dogs Playing at El Reno Campground

 

The times I miss having a backyard where I could just let the dogs out to play where there is  a fence is when we want to go somewhere. We never leave the house without first asking out loud, "Do we take the dogs?" It's not necessarily easier to leave the dogs at home when we go somewhere. Though they know they're not supposed to, they climb up on the furniture when we're gone. I've found warm spots on the top of the couch when we return where someone had been snuggled up in our absence. Our table is also riddled with scratches and claw marks where dogs have been up sniffing around or peering out the windows while we were out. Really, they have destroyed our table. I can't blame them for getting up on the couch or the table: those are the only vantage points for seeing out the windows. Of course they'd want to see where we went, whether we're coming back, or what's going on outside while we're gone. Still, the result is a routine drill now where we borrow tables and chairs from Evelyn's room and take out all the baby swings, bouncy seats, and rockers and splay them out over the couches and chairs. We put down all the blinds so there will be no windows available out of which to stare. Of course, when we get home there is the whole routine drill of putting all these things back and rearranging our living room again for living.

 

In Jerome after getting scolded by an officer about

leaving them in the truck.

The dogs go with us anywhere we'll be gone for more than a few hours, for the most part. In the warmer months, this often meant leaving them in the car with the air running and the doors

Some cafes in Manitou Springs actually
invited the dogs inside!

locked. It's not ideal, but it was our best option. When we were in Jerome, AZ for the day, Brent left them in the car with the windows down. We worried there was too much foot traffic to walk them around with us and couldn't take them to the restaurant where we'd be going for lunch. After lunch, Brent returned to the truck to get them to find an officer aiming a thermal reader into the truck and taking a temperature. He threatened to write us a ticket for leaving dogs in the car (it was 80 degrees with a cool cross breeze cutting through the car). It was kind of ironic since we have actually called the police over people leaving their dogs in sealed up cars in the heat; this situation hardly compared to those situations. Since then, though, we just walk them with us for outings for the most part. Heck, when we were in Manitou Springs, CO they were actually even welcome inside the cafe where we had lunch. They are great dogs and they don't bark at other dogs or people. We're lucky to call them our family and they are really good at this living on the road stuff.

The Cat

So, what happened to our cat? Fifi spent the first month and half with us in the trailer while we were moving between campgrounds in California. The problem was that she wanted to be outside more than she wanted to be with us. She would wait to streak out the door whenever we went in or out and if you've ever navigated RV steps you know it's a task that requires conscious attention without obstacles in the way, so a black cat bolting out the door between your legs while taking a step out is not optimal. We were bopping her or spraying her several times an hour to prevent her

Fifi hanging out with Evelyn in the play loft

escape, making her all the more nuts to get out.

 

I did try a leash and harness. I tied her to the steps outside and she would hang out with the dogs for a half hour before she got tangled or frustrated at not being able to roam away at her leisure. It turns out the leash was really more of a tease than anything. It gave her a taste of what she couldn't have and her attempts at escape only intensified. If the plastic door that gives access to the handle on the screen was open, she'd jump through the opening and out to freedom.

 

Fifi on her leash outside with the rest of the pack.

We tried letting her roam. Why not? She wants out so badly? Let her sniff around. She knows where safety is, right? We began letting her sniff around while we kept an eye on her. She got an insane amount of joy out of digging for gophers and pooping in the dirt. She did Ok at first, even climbed a few small nearby trees. But then she started sneaking off and expanding her perimeter. She wouldn't appear when we called her to return. Brent and Evelyn spent one night at Jurupa traipsing through a dozen other people's sites aiming flashlights under trailers and motor homes and calling for her while she played a cat and mouse game with them (still unclear who was the mouse in this situation!). Here we were staying in places where packs of coyotes came into camp at night and hollered their otherworldly yips into the night air. It woke me out of sleep most nights in a week. Fifi simply could not be outside after dark. Yet, she streaked past us half a dozen times into the dark of evening.

  

Fifi even got to go out for bike cruises.

One night, Brent spent the hour between 11:00pm and 12am scouring the nearby fields for Fifi at Prado, armed only with a flashlight and Emmy at his side. Twice, he followed black cat-looking animals slinking through the grass calling out her name only to discover each was a skunk when within sight. He gave up that night, only to return to a smug looking Fifi sitting on the trailer steps when he returned to camp.

 

Another night, I awoke to something throwing itself against the side of the trailer at 3am. I turned on the outside lights to find Fifi sitting on the steps, banging on the door to be let in. I hadn't even known she'd escaped and no one had remembered to do a head count before we retired for the night.

 

Eventually, I wised up and put a glow stick on her collar before dark. We'd be able to see her after dark whether we'd let her out or she'd let herself out. One night at Jurupa, it had gotten dark and I could see Fifi's hovering glow-stick near some distant bushes. I sent Evelyn and her friend to go retrieve her, but they took about ten steps and said, "She's with another cat!" A strong flashlight beam revealed she was sitting face to face with a skunk. We watched, mouths agape, while Fifi slowly backed herself into the bushes behind her in "You don't see me" fashion. The skunk almost plausibly shrugged in apathy and waddled off the other direction.

 

All this was prior to Kailyn's birth. I knew that with a baby around we'd be even less focused on making sure the cat was safe and with her constant pushing on the boundaries of safety, it was clear this wouldn't work. Would it be better to explain to Evelyn that the cat had a new home with a friend or to explain that we had to pack up and leave though the cat wasn't with us? So much could happen on the road. What if we were in Colorado somewhere and she disappeared into the night never to return? What could we assume? Is she hurt or was she carried off by something? Or is she hiding in the nearby bushes and just won't come when we call her? Well, the thought of losing the cat on the road was far worse than that of finding her a new home, so she is living life like a queen with a friend, now.

 

Laundry

Evelyn pulling the laundry
wagon to Grandma and Grandpa's
house in Oklahoma to pick
up our laundry.

Pets aside, we are asked how we take care of things like laundry quite often. Though there is a spot for a washer and dryer in our rig, there are many disadvantages to actually installing and using those appliances in an RV. For one, only one load can be run through at a time. That is, one of the machines in always empty. A washed load goes into the dryer without another load going into the washer. They work more slowly than normal machines so it takes all day to do one small load. Plus, they use a lot of water and they fill the waste tanks with a lot of water. The worst part for me was that their existence would mean giving up the entire closet shelf space in our bedroom. So, we seek out places with laundry facilities. If we can run three loads at a time, we're done in a couple hours. Most RV parks have laundry facilities or are near one. We seek out regional or state campgrounds, though, and find that most of them have laundry facilities, as well. Loads are anywhere from $1-$1.50 per load/per machine, so we could spend an average of $12-$18 every week and a half or so on laundry. The state of the laundry facilities is always an exciting gamble. We stayed in an RV park last night where the laundry smelled, as Brent put so eloquently, "like fart."

Our folding wagon has been a gift with many purposes, but its main purpose is laundry. I can be seen hauling that thing with heaps of laundry to wherever the nearest machines may be. Of course, it's nice when we stay with family and can bring loads over for washing while we visit, like we did in Colorado and Oklahoma!

 

TV and Internet

What about internet or television? I need internet for my job, so that was a priority. We have a jetpack with mobile hotspot that has done us very well so far. We also increased our data on our phones to 20GB between our devices, just in case. Though we don't rely on television and haven't had cable for years now, we do like to sit down for a movie every now and then, especially when we've been traveling all day and just want to kick back and snuggle. We brought our Roku and connect it to the jetpack or to the park's WiFi when their signal is good enough to do so. We still don't use it much but got great use of it when Evelyn was sick in Kansas and we ordered her to stay in our bed and watch TV all day. I also wait until we're on free WiFi at a park somewhere to upload pictures or blog entries to save our data.

 

Sleeping Arrangements and Living Spaces

Evelyn's room

When we chose our trailer, we chose a floor plan that had plenty of space for Evelyn to feel at home. Our mid-bunk room is her room, but the top bunk is intended for Kailyn when we get around to building it into a safe and functional crib. As it is, the top bunk stores Kailyn's swing, bouncy seat, and rock n play.

Evelyn's bed is the lower bunk, but it wasn't always a full time bed. The trailer came with a couch there, but we tore that out and stuck it in storage. Brent built a platform there and we folded a 4 inch memory foam queen mattress topper in half as a very comfy mattress for Evelyn. She chose rainbow bedding and decorated her walls with Paw Patrol decals. I hung a rainbow strand of lights on the wall inside her bed area as a fun night light. There are under-bed storage bins on wheels underneath that hold crafts, games, and dress up clothes that she can access herself. She has her own closet and drawers and TV, though we don't utilize it very often. We also brought her small table and chair set from home and set that up in her room. While in transit, they store perfectly upside-down on her bed. Her wall is decorated with Kailyn's and her name, some decals, and lots of Evelyn's favorite art pieces.

 

Most of the time, Evelyn sleeps in her bed without fuss, and she is happy to have Heidi curled up either at the foot of her bed or under her covers with her. Daddy reads to Evelyn every night, taking over the job formerly mine as I tend to the baby at bedtime.

 

Kailyn sleeps with me. Nowadays, that means she is in the bed in the front bedroom with me. She

Kailyn sleeps with me, but sometimes I'm
lucky enough to cuddle with both my
girls at bedtime.

has some sinus issues that act up only at night and I feel safest when she's right next to me so I can help her if she seems to be having problems breathing. There really isn't room to set up her rock n play in the front bedroom, and she's outgrown it anyway, so as far as she's concerned, my bed is her bed for now. We usually sleep with a diffuser running frankincense and lemon next to us.

 

Brent sleeps wherever he can, acting and sleeping wherever he is needed or finds himself. Most of the time, he's on the couch. I've slept there many times and it's actually pretty comfy. We don't bother folding it out into a bed; it's actually not really comfortable as a bed and who wants to transform one more thing when all is ready for living again?  He has also spent many nights on the floor of Evelyn's room simply because she asks him to, so I've come out for a drink at night to find his legs and feet sticking out of her room and into the kitchen.

 

We've tried a few times to fit all four of us into the queen bed in the bedroom, but usually someone gives up fighting for space and retreats to the couch at some point in the night.

 

There have only been a handful of times that Brent and I have been the sole occupants of our queen bed, and even then it hasn't lasted but for a few hours. We expected as much. I'd love to say it will get better, but it would take some serious changes of circumstance for that to happen.

 

Where do we stay?

I think the coolest thing about our trip has been that we've planned out very few of our destinations. We've stumbled across things to see and places to stay for the most part, but wherever we are or are going, we need a place to park and sleep for the night. Our rig relies on having hookups, mainly because the refrigerator needs battery power to run and doesn't run on propane. Brent has done an impressive amount of research and then work to keep us operational, though. We have five solar panels mounted on the roof that he installed himself. He also increased our battery life by adding four batteries on top of what was included when we bought the trailer.

 

RV parks are the easiest thing to aim for since they provide hookups, usually full. Once you get out of California, they are easy to find and nearly always have an opening for one night or more. They are pricey, though-- anywhere from $32-$50 a night. They can run more than that in places like

A typical, well-groomed and maintained RV park.
This was where we stayed in St. George.

Sedona, but we don't even bother calling those types of "RV Resorts". RV parks offer hookups and level parking, but they also have limited living space, and sites are usually packed side by side. In an RV park in Flagstaff, our awning was only inches from touching the fifth wheel next door, as one example. Also, RV parks often have restrictions on pets or types of pets. Since we're traveling with a pit bull, we are nearly guaranteed discrimination at RV parks. We've only run into problems with her on board in two parks, so far, but it's always a consideration. What's more, lots of RV parks like to charge extra for kids or pets, so we could pay $3-$5 more per night per extra body!

 

Our preference, by far, is state parks or regional parks. Campsites are spaced farther apart, most have full if not partial hookups, they are far more affordable, and they don't have restrictions on 

Our one night way at Green River State Park in Utah. Lots
of room in each site and there were only five other campers
in the park.
'

kids or pets. Once outside of California, we have found state and regional parks wide open. In several of the state or regional parks we've stayed, we've been one of only 1-6 other campers in the entire campground! Plus, the views are much, much better.

 

Monahans Sandhills State Park, TX where we
were the only camper in sight after about 9am.

We are also always willing to stay in designated forestry or BLM land for free. Termed "dispersed camping", there are fire roads and open spaces where people are more than welcome to park and camp any time for no cost at all. Coming from California, where you just don't see that kind of thing without fee, it was surprising to me at first to notice all the places where a sole motor home or trailer would be camped 200 feet off a highway throughout Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. We camped in a dispersed area outside of Sedona and it was one of our best experiences yet! Eventually, though, we do have to find a place with hookups so we can dump and refill as needed.

Close-Knit Living

I'm not going to lie, living so close together with no breaks from each other is challenging. No one goes away to work or school and we have only the one car, so nothing is a mystery or private and no one gets down time away from the rest of the family. We've developed a few pet peeves with each other. Brent is always miffed that I buy things for the house and is bothered that we're acquiring more stuff. I'm irked by the fact that he so often crams things in odd places where they don't belong and doesn't put things back where he got them. We both lose our patience with Evelyn's lack of control over the loud volume of her voice and the fact that she doesn't finish anything she starts unless it's a cookie or treat. Getting ready to leave the house is the most frustrating of all processes and we never leave a place by check-out time. Folding up the house and getting into the car will be the ruin of our family if anything is.

 

We do a lot of checking ourselves, apologizing, and taking deep breaths to get back in balance. Getting out for fresh air and playing with Evelyn or the dogs is always a good rejuvenation when we start to get cabin fever. Luckily, there is always something new to do and see with this lifestyle, even if it's shopping at the nearest Walmart or Ross.

 

 

How is Kailyn doing?

Kailyn hanging out with big sister
in the play loft

Finally, there is the matter of traveling and living in an RV with an infant. Learning we were having a baby nearly halted our plans to travel a year ago as we were moving forward with our plan, but the thing is, babies are adaptable and it's better to travel with a baby who only needs mommy and a safe place to be for the first year than it would be with an older baby.

 

She has gotten used to being in the car seat, and the only place she had trouble with our travels was in the high altitudes of the Rockies through Colorado. Though she travels well, I feel pretty guilty for her spending so much time in her car seat. I set her up on her activity mat on the floor of the trailer to give her a chance to stretch out and explore her capabilities. We also travel with a portable swing that folds for storage and a bouncy seat. She really doesn't like either of them very much. Neither is better than being carried around by mommy, so she's become my little side kick and I do nearly everything with one hand, holding her in the other arm. She just wants attention and doesn't care much for toys, so she doesn't like being left sitting on her own. I can't blame her, what with being around her entire family all the time. She's a lucky baby for that, and it's what she's used to now.

 

Hanging out in the trailer

Baby wearing near Sedona

I also have several baby carriers to wear her when we're on the go. She prefers the Moby, for now, though it's quickly losing its appeal since she is beginning to prefer seeing where she's going and fusses unless I carry her in the crook of my arm facing her forward.

 

I've nursed all over parts of the country and in some interesting places: on rides at Disneyland, 4 feet from 1000 foot canyon wall drops, while posing for pictures during sight-seeing excursions. We stop often for pit stops because Kailyn is hungry, so the going is slow for us, but it gives the dogs lots of chances to stretch their legs on pullouts off the highway.

 

Here's Kailyn on her activity mat in the trailer:

Kailyn on her activity mat

In short, Kailyn is doing well. The hardest thing is knowing she is missing out on getting to know friends and family back home.

 

On that note, we are on the road back to California for the holidays and we can't wait. We're traversing Texas now by way of the 10 freeway and anticipate being home in about five days' time.

 

We can't wait to see all the people we've been missing!

 

 

 

Scenic Highways: Canyons, Crests, Rivers, and Rockies

Arrival at Eagle River, CO

Our trek from the St. George, Utah area to Colorado was an adventure in itself. We had been enjoying our improvisational route through the month of October and suddenly ran out of time to get to Littleton, Colorado, where Brent's cousin hosts a Halloween party every year. We were determined to make it there by the 28th, but leaving central Utah and heading over the Rockies in Colorado was a route that would take four days of solid travel. We passed some incredible stuff on the way but could only afford to stay a single night wherever we wound up after a day of travel. I regret that we didn't budget our time better, but the views were amazing.

 

When I last wrote, we 'd been in St. George, Utah for five days. We enjoyed ourselves so much there that we lost track of time and when it came time to move on, we HAD to get moving to make it to the Halloween party a whole state away. We left St. George on Monday, October 24 and had a reservation at Bear Creek Campground in Lakewood, Colorado for Friday, October 28-- the day before the party. We had over 600 miles to cover in three days of driving. We would drive as far as we could each day and stay wherever we found ourselves for one night each along the way.

 

We split town in St. George around noon on the 24th. We try, we really do, to leave before check-out, especially with so much ground to cover, but it is so, so hard for some reason! We figured we would just drive as far as we could and knew that there were at least dozens of free BLM campsites we could park in for the evening wherever along the route we wound up at nightfall. When we left town, it started raining. It was so exciting-- lightning and thunder!-- and a break from the 85 degree heat we'd been having in St. George. We stopped at Home Depot and Camping World on the way out of town, as well, thinking we'd finally bite the bullet on buying the Honda generator Brent has had his eye on. With weather turning darker and colder, our solar panels wouldn't keep our batteries charged as well and we figured the investment would quickly pay itself off after a few more boon-docking excursions. We chickened out of the investment and left town sans generator and even later into the day.

 

First sight of snow and I'm in flip flops.

Change of plans. Let's see something before we leave Utah. We had passed on seeing Zion in favor of lounging around the RV park and its pool so we decided we'd see Bryce Canyon on the way out. We'd stay in the campground in Bryce National Park. We traveled Highway 20 out of the St. George area and our scenery quickly changed. From warm, red rock desert to massive green colored rocks rising out of forest, we suddenly couldn't tell rock from trees. It was still raining and we watched the temperature drop as we climbed higher into the deep, gray clouds. Patches of snow appeared on the side of the road and in the colder, shaded areas between adjacent trees. It was 45 degrees outside. I glanced down at my flip flops and shorts, perfect attire for a rainy St. George morning, and could do nothing more than giggle. Oh jeez.

 

We entered the Dixie National Forest and the Bryce Canyon area-- hooray! There were no more sightings of snow patches, but it was still chilly. The scenery quickly changed once we turned a corner. From behind the massive black and green rock mountains appeared red hoodoos-- a real life Thunder Mountain scene-scape right beside the road. We practically screeched to a stop to pull over and take pictures. I swear the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness would be rocketing toward us from around a towering stack of red rock any moment! 

A Real Life Thunder Mountain!

 


Aim for the middle!

When we continued our way along the highway, we slowed down to view a warning: "13'6" Tunnel Ahead". Um... how tall is our rig again? We pulled over and Brent climbed up top with a tape measure. I stood at the ground and pulled the metal L-bracket to touch the asphalt. With a tape measure (the only one handy) reaching only 12 feet, Brent had to do the old finger to the 12-foot point and then raise the tape measure up from there for the remaining height. His estimate: "Well, I'm getting maybe 13'2", and that's considering the tape measure is arched a little bit." Um, Ok... that's reassuring, right??

 

We steadied ourselves ahead and there it was--the tunnel. It was an arch in the red rock and we were to drive through it. It looked low. Oh my... We proceeded slowly and aimed ourselves for its highest point, which straddled the yellow dotted line between our lane and oncoming traffic. Our biggest concern was the AC unit, which creates our apex above the bedroom at the front end. We braced ourselves for screeching, crashing, banging... nothing. Gasp! We had made it! We darted back into our own lane just as two oncoming cars were turning the corner from the other direction. They honked their horns angrily and fists cursed at us from the windows. Do they have any idea what we'd been through?? Oh, to be a belligerent little Honda Civic with no fear of losing a chunk of rooftop to the landscape! Thinking we'd seen the worse, we breathed again and exchanged relieved giggles only to turn a corner and discover another low arch!

 

We made it through without losing so much as an antenna, I'm happy to report. It was getting dark, though, and we needed a place to park for the night. We passed through the gates of Bryce Canyon National Park well after the sun had set and found the campground we had seen on our campground apps: Sunset Campground, appropriately enough. Brent put on his long sleeve and hopped out to read the signs at the self-check board. The campground was closing for the season the next morning; campers were asked to vacate the premises by 8am. At the cost of $35/night with no hook-ups, having to vacate in a little more than 12 hours, and having had no sunlight with which to charge our solar panels enough to keep the heater running through the night, we decided... Eeeh, no. We backtracked in the oncoming darkness to a nearby RV park and paid an astronomical amount for our hookups for the evening but we did see a buck standing in the shrubs nearby by the light of our headlights and the rain stopped just in time for us to set up without getting soaked.

 

The next morning, we actually got out at a decent time and parked our RV in a nearby parking lot where the Bryce Canyon Shuttles sleep for the night. It was large and vacant and we got the approval of attendants, so we were good to drop the RV and head into the National Park.

 

We parked and made the small hike up to the ridge, where we discovered a landscape of another planet. Thousands of fortresses of rock poked straight up out of the ground in colors ranging from

Us at Bryce Canyon

powder white to rust orange. Like castles built for another people, hoodoos towered their way from the ground throughout the entire canyon. Otherworldly and spectacular, the sight was unexpected and awe inspiring. It makes one wonder why this happens in this one place only and so suddenly, when on the other side of the hills at the far side of the canyon, the landscape returns to meadow and forest with no sign that something so stupendous lives right next door. How amazing is our planet that it creates these marvels and pushes them right up out of the ground in isolated locations?

 



Kailyn's sneaking in a little lunch while we continue
to capture the moment.

We took a lot of pictures, and Kailyn was a trooper. She cried through a lot of our pictures because, though cozied up in her wrap carrier, there was a cool breeze brushing past and she was not entirely accustomed to the sensation. She wore a little crochet hat, but with this too being a new sensation, she was not happy. A few parties passed by and marveled at the little one, smiling that this was the youngest baby they had seen at Bryce Canyon and did she know how lucky she was to be sightseeing so early in life? I smiled back and rocked her, waiting for a moment to finagle the wrap enough to give her what she wanted: milk. This definitely made her happy, but now here I was trying to conceal bare breast while taking pictures and smiling and other visitors who wanted to ooh and aah at the little baby. C'est la vie! We have more than a few pictures at Bryce Canyon where I'm concealing a nursing baby!

With the morning moving into mid-day and a lot of ground to cover, we made our way back to the car for what would be a long day's journey to who-knows-where. With destination of Colorado in mind, there was still a lot of Utah to drive through and we were sad to miss it. Brent plotted a route for us-- Scenic Highway 12--which was the slower but more appealing route. It was the route that had gotten us to Bryce Canyon and we had only to continue its path to see more of Utah and less highway.

 

Highway 12 led us through Bryce Valley and Henrieville. Fall colors with huge rock face backdrops

 were simply stunning. Farmhouses and barns glided by outside our windows, field peppered with cows and horses. The rocks walls surrounding us were a spectrum of colors: white, gray, black, pink, peach, brown, sand. A rainbow of earth dropped at the base of a deep blue sky and fields of rolling green grass is a beauty of nature. We passed through fields backed by rock walls until we reached Escalante. We approached signs that promised of petrified forests and ancient cave dwellings an easy hike way, but the sun was dipping toward the horizon and we needed to set up camp.

Some of what we were passing from the highway

We found a small RV park in Escalante with no phone signal and terrible internet connection and parked for the night. Evelyn tromped around outside with her little shovel, digging an eight inch wide and two inch deep hole in the red earth. She lined it with gravel and told us our fire pit was ready. What a little helper! We dined on salad and mac and cheese and retired for the night with sights of an early morning and a day full of travel ahead.

 

We awoke to the sunrise setting the massive rock mountain that marks the end of the Grand Staircase aglow in a block of warm orange. A chilly dawn turned to a promise of another warm day as we cleaned up and folded in our slides. We got a fairly early start (for us) and were back out on Highway 12 before 10 am.

 

October 26 on Highway 12... this was one of my favorite drives yet. We climbed and dipped, pushing our poor truck to the limit. It roared its way along and pulled our heavy home behind it along curves

 and hills better suited to a small and sensible sedan. We crawled through the bottoms of deep canyons. Soft rock walls around us, painted in red and green, curved over and around creeks and rivers. We turned a canyon wall to discover a coffee shop, of all things. When we read the sign, "Kiva Koffee House", I thought it was the name of a sight to see from a view point. It was, however, and actual coffee shop off the side of this winding highway in the middle of seemingly nowhere (it always makes me wonder where people live who operate these kinds of places!), with simply breathtaking views. The canyon dipped deeper into a tree filled gorge beyond and a river could be heard though not seen traveling there in its path. The canyon continued on, completely covered in Fall-colored trees, its walls rising up in an orange and rust colored backdrop. Brent had navigated the truck and trailer up the little road leading to the Koffee House only to discover there was nowhere to turn around, so we carefully backed our way out on to the highway again in a fortunate absence of other vehicles. I snapped some pictures of our massive trailer dwarfed by the rock walls around it before jogging back to my door to hop back inside.

 

 

 

The Calf Creek area was beautiful. We drove next to a river, momentarily driving the bottom of the gorge. We could look up to see hundreds of feet of red, orange, and peach rock face billowing straight up to the flatland above, having the appearance of liquid that had hardened in its place and left soft, pillowy looking rock in its place. Lush green brush and trees mingled with red, orange, and yellow leaved trees. We passed RV parks nestled in the canyon right next to the river, but signs warned that rigs over 25 feet were not recommended.

 

We climbed and climbed and twisted and turned, tiptoeing along highway edges from which I could peer straight down hundreds of feet down canyon walls only feet away from the asphalt's edge. We reached a high point of 8500 feet and found ourselves overlooking endless spans of canyon-scarred rock-- deep and impressive ancient merging of rivers that created massive grooves in the earth in Y formations. We were looking down and out over an expanse of land that rivaled the Grand Canyon in its spectacle but possessed no more label on the map than "National Forest". We continued on and only miles away we would find ourselves in completely different landscape. Once again, we were surrounded by farmland and sprawling pasture. Signs warning us to watch for open range cattle appeared on the roadsides and endless pine trees laid out before and around us.

 

Three ancient rivers can be seen connecting here!
Look closely at the meeting of each gorge.

 

We continued on into higher ground, where rolling hills appeared soft to the touch with thousands and thousands of bare, white birch trees on both sides of the bending highway.  The hillsides were

Rolling hills of wintry birch trees

frosted and cottony, and as we climbed we could look back and see the point where pine became birch. We reached a summit of 9600 feet. We must be crazy to be making this drive with our poor truck, lugging this gigantic trailer behind! We turned another bend over the ridge to find the scarlet dorsal fin of Capital Reef breeching the surface deep in the valley below. We stopped at a view point overlook and let the dogs out only to quickly put the little ones back in the truck to the screeching of hawks overhead!

Evelyn with Capital Reef rising out of the landscape
behind her

 




There is something so enriching about getting out of the car after traveling and talking with others. Everyone is on their own journey yet united in our paths crossing however briefly. A couple pulled up behind us in their motor home. We learned that they were from  Florida and had traveled much of what we had seen as well. Everyone on the road is happy and friendly. How could they not be? Everyone is at their best when they're traveling, aren't they? We took pictures of each other in front of the view and said our farewells, knowing that night was approaching and we would need to find somewhere to park again for the night.

 

We descended the highway from the summit, closing our drive through the valleys and canyons with final encounter with cows, this time meeting free range cows face to face. We slowed as we turned close corners in canyons, sharing the tight road space with cattle who scaled small walls to escape our path. They watched us with wide eyes under long eyelashes, and we smiled back from only feet away as we rolled past.

 

The canyons of Utah were behind us, but the rocky mountains of Colorado were soon ahead.

 

We stayed our last night in Utah at Green River State Campground, where we were one of only about 6 campers and enjoyed the open space. We enjoyed a campfire that night and awoke to a



Evelyn making friends with Emma, her new pen-pal.

golden sunrise sparkling through the yellow leaves left in the trees around us. Evelyn and I walked the dogs to the river, trespassing onto the neighboring golf course to snap some pictures of the river with train bridge crossing over. When we got back to camp, Evelyn spotted some kids and spent the morning with today's "best friends", riding scooters and collecting leaves. I talked with the girls' mom and learned that all three of her kids attend online school in Utah! Brent talked to the girls' father and grandfather only to learn that they would be riding their ATVs from the campground that day onto trails where dinosaur bones can be spotted jutting from the rock! Evelyn's new friends' grandfather writes a riding feature for the local paper. Brent seriously considered staying for the day and renting a Razor to tag along with them, but we had ground to cover and a date for a party to meet, so we exchanged numbers and went on our way.

 

The flatter lands of Green River turns to rocky hill again and before long we found ourselves on Highway 70, the mountain highway with a sense of humor. I thought I'd seen towering rock face to this point, but nothing compared to the soaring gray rock walls of the Rockies. I had to push  my face to the window to see the tops of the gorge walls next to us. We followed the rushing river that had carved these walls and climbed and climbed. The truck growled its way up the steep ascent at a roaring 35 MPH. I chanted "I think I can, I think I can" and found myself grasping the seat in front of me with white knuckles. Poor truck!! We passed quaint mountain town we wished we had time to visit. Glenwood Springs looked especially inviting, built into the mountainside around the highway and sprawling into the valleys running perpendicular to it. It was clearly a village whose roots were planted in mining, and historical buildings had been repurposed for modern tourism, yet I spied a Target from our view on the highway and thought this might be the perfect blend of old character and new amenity to be enjoyed. We thought the same thing too  late and were soon too far past Glenwood Springs to turn around and stay for the night.

We traveled another 20 miles or so to Gypsum, where we found an off-highway RV park near the Eagle River to plant ourselves for the night. We took the RV park owner's advice and had dinner at the bowling alley in Eagle, Colorado, another mountain town whose roots were planted in mining. The lanes were downstairs, underneath the rest of the strip mall above. The lanes were split into a

Dinner at the bowling alley-- not too shabby!

"T": twelve lanes were laid out to the left of the stairway entrance and twelve lanes to the right. The restaurant was right between the two sets of lanes at the crossing of the "T". We had nachos, salad, and grilled cheese sandwiches and watched the locals bowl and laugh to upbeat music. Brent and Evelyn played air hockey. Soon Evelyn was ready to curl up in her bowling alley restaurant and we retired back at the trailer, looking forward to our last single night on the road.

 

In the morning, I walked the dogs to the nearby river and Gretchen trembled and shook in the 40

A brisk, lovely morning alongside the Eagle River

degree chill of the morning. I stretched and breathed in deep, filling my lungs with brisk mountain air. The sun was just sending its morning glow from beyond the other side of the mountain tops.

 

The drive on our final stretch of the I-70 was the most punishing on the truck but rewarding for us. The truck groaned and roared and we passed the famous ski resort town of Vail. We marveled at the city block expanses of hotels and resorts and gaped at the steep and plentiful trails of ski runs that still sat naked in wait of their first snow of the season. We reached the highest point our truck has carried us yet, 10,600 feet, The Vail Summit. The rest was downhill, for the most part, and we passed gold mining ruins and mines still in operation. Some old wooden mining building and rigs looked like they were crumbling from the hill

Some of the runs awaiting the season at Vail, CO

on which they were perched; others were newly refreshed and adorned with signs welcoming tourists to visit here, where the Gold Rush began-- Idaho Springs and Argo. I wish we could have, but our deadline had arrived and by that night we would be camped on the other side of these mountains.




Some of the views along Hwy 70 through the Rockies:

 

Highway 70 neared an end, but not before it jovially warned us: "Truckers, don't be fooled! Four more miles of steep grades and sharp curves!" and "Truckers, you are not down yet! 1 1/2 more miles of steep grade!" What a friendly highway... with more runaway truck ramps and warnings to check brakes than I've seen in my entire 40 years of California driving experience.

 

Before we knew it and before my white knuckles had time to fill with blood again, we were out of the mountains and flat land lay  out ahead of us. Just like that. We passed Thunder Valley race track and were there-- at Bear Creek Campground. We had made it through canyons and mountains, had passed quaint towns and mountain villages, and were here... in flat, dry prairie. I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed! It wasn't what I'd envisioned! My long sleeves and jeans were nagging at me in the sun-glazed 78 degree weather. Flies buzzed around us as we set up. What had happened to the charm of the mountains? The friendliness and splendor of Utah? It was all literally behind us, and here we were in what felt essentially like home and not in that good sense. We did, however, enjoy spending time with family while in the Littleton area. A Halloween party, pumpkin carving, and trick-or-treating with family was well worth the journey. Still, by the time we got to our destination, we had this sinking feeling that we knew we couldn't ask the truck to take us back to most of those places-- we had asked enough of our old pal in making it through those climbs even once. We had missed our chance.

 

This is the good and bad of traveling. We learned we need to plan better, whenever possible. We also learned that while it is uplifting to have deadlines and goals, the restriction they place on the spirit of whim is a very real thing. It felt, to us, the honeymoon period with our Great Adventure had somehow ended. The lifestyle would be setting in while we were in Colorado. While there are great things to see and new things to do, and while everything is new and exciting in its own way, we couldn't help but feel that we had somehow unknowingly passed the adventurous "beginning" and were now settling into "real life" on the road.

 

 

 

Farewell, honeymoon phase!
With pit stops like this one, though, I welcome our new reality!