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3 Months in Baja: Bahía de los Ángeles to Guerrero Negro

This is the story of all Amy’s dreams coming true.

Ok—again, not all of them, and not just mine either. A whole literal boatful of people’s dreams came true in this portion of the trip! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We left Bahía de los Ángeles via the long, bumpy dirt road that for a long portion of the drive follows the route that the Baja 1000 drivers take. We had full-blown off-road-racing fever, so it seemed like a great idea the moment we had it.

We had conquered the jarring Mex 5 and felt confident about our ability to manage this stretch of road. Our friends from Bahía had assured us that it wasn’t too much worse than the Mex 5, and as long as we were fully supplied we should be fine. The only difference between the two drives was the amount of road between towns.

So in order to continue having stories to tell, the Turtle decided to wait until we were just far enough away from Bahía that going back wasn’t an option, and that’s when it began leaking fuel. I had been smelling gas for a while, but it was just faint enough that we thought it could be burn-off or something non-troubling. But soon the smell was overwhelming and it was necessary to stop and have a look.

After a few minutes diagnosing the problem, Andy began unloading his tools.

From underneath the Turtle Andy explained to me that the fuel pump was leaking, squirting fuel out all over the undercarriage. We had a long distance to go until the next gas station, so losing any amount of fuel was a problem. He continued poking around while I took the pets out for a walk along the Bahia 1000 track.

When we came back to check on him, I noticed Andy had been digging around his storage space under the bench seats inside. I asked him how everything was going, and he asked me if I remembered what we’d purchased at the Auto Zone a week ago in San Felipe. Because we’d looked up and memorized the words “bomba de combustible” especially for that visit to Auto Zone, I also of course remembered what they meant.

Fuel pump! Andy had just bought a spare. He’s a real wizard, that one.

So despite the fact that we would have been in a real jam out there in the desert alone on a dirt track nobody uses, in about an hour we were back on the road! I love how he’s able to turn disaster into mere inconvenience with a wave of his wrench. I never take for granted Andy’s mechanic skills and his Eagle Scout level of preparedness. We’re able to take risks and see portions of the world that few others get to see because we’re not as worried about being totally stranded (see: Dalton Highway). He’s the best!

We continued on, driving through stunning desert landscapes, surrounded by cacti of all shapes and sizes.

Our unplanned stop to replace the bomba de combustible meant we were in a race against the sun to reach our boondocking site before dark. As we wound around the curves leading up to San Rafael, we were slowed down further by this hilarious herd of cows who were apparently doing a slapstick bit for our enjoyment and exasperation. They could easily have exited the road on either side, but trotted ahead of us for about a mile, weaving back and forth and giving us annoyed looks over their shoulders as they went. And stopped. And then went again.

We made it to our site just as darkness swallowed up the roads, and went in to fix up some fancy clams we’d brought with us from the beach of La Gringa.

Since we almost never drive at night we were curious to see what our new front yard would look like in the morning.

It was awesome! We were the only humans as far as the eye could see, on a low bluff overlooking our private beach.

The animals were safe to roam freely, so while they did I happily took lots of photos of them. The beach looks really good on these two.

I took Scout down to the beac to play in the surf and read for a while. He just kept digging his face in my bag for the frisbee so I didn’t get much reading done, but when you’re on a private beach there’s really no wrong way to spend the day.

We stayed a few days before getting back on the bumpy road that would reconnect us with the Mex 1. Where it connects, we’d originally planned on heading south and visiting Guerrero Negro in a month or two on our way back up north, but as we drove and I read about the whale watching season, we thought we’d go right away in order to hit peak whale season.

This road was another long stretch of slow going, surrounded by every flavor of cactus.

It was so beautiful that we didn’t mind it too much, until we’d reached hour seven and our brains couldn’t take the jolting back and forth for one more actual minute. The only vehicle we’d seen on the road in days was a truck hauling eight cows and traveling at about 80kph as they passed us. This isn’t a road for the faint of heart.

I began researching places to boondock for the night. iOverlander works offline, which was a lifesaver throughout our entire time in Baja! I saw a little ranch up ahead called Rancho Piedra Blanca that has room for campers for about $10 a night, and even had snacks and showers.

We sat on the porch and chatted with the caretaker in Spanish until bedtime. It was a lovely relaxing evening, watching the sun set and enjoying the pace of life out in the middle of nowhere. We discussed life in Baja, family and travel in as many words as I could recall, we learned that the cows who had passed us in a blur had been on their way to Rancho Piedra Blanca and were now residents, and I fell deeply in love with this tiny lady:

The next day we steeled ourselves for more bumps and after many more hours we saw pavement and cheered! We turned right on the Mex 1 to go just a bit out of our way up north to Guerrero Negro and after driving through the entire town we decided the best spot to camp for the night would be an RV park. Two nights in a row paying for camping! What are we, the Rockefellers? Is that a reference the kids are using these days?

We sat on the patio and I began researching Guerrero Negro’s famous whale watching opportunities in earnest.

Here’s what I learned: half an hour south of the town is the Ojo de Liebre Lagoon, which is a popular calving spot for grey whales traveling their 6,000 mile journey from the Bering Sea. From January through April they come by the thousands to this lagoon, which is warm and protected from predators. The mothers feel so protected there that they seek out and enjoy the company of humans, and are even known to push their babies up to the surface with their noses to show them off and let them be petted. The height of the season is late January through late March, so our early February timing couldn’t have been better.

We met two awesome couples on the patio at El Malarrimo and spent a few hours hanging out over some beers and sharing stories. Marcus and Doria were planning to take a tour from Guerrero Negro the following day on a large tour boat with many passengers, and we met when I told them they might consider another tour. I’d just read on a website (because we got a wifi signal there!) that there are tours you can take on smaller 10-passenger panga boats that get you much closer to the whales, but I wasn’t sure where to go. As fate would have it, Di and CR had just taken a tour a day or two ago and they highly recommended that we drive the half hour south to a camp spot on the beach at Ojo de Liebre instead. They said the tour boats out of Guerrero Negro weren’t authorized to travel in the portion of the lagoon where there are the most whales, and because the boats are larger you don’t get a chance to touch them either. And I needed to touch a whale (now that I knew that was an option). They gave us directions and we started getting super excited.

The next day we ran around Guerrero Negro, eating as many tacos as we could manage.

With hard work and dedication, Andy was able to reach a daily total of seven tacos, giving rise to our new expression, “It really was a Seven Taco Day.” This can be used in any application as an equivalent to “best day ever.” And the tacos adobadas at Señor Taco were in the Top Three Tacos we had on the entire peninsula, so that was icing on the cake. The taco cake.

Later that day we followed Di and CR’s directions down to a campsite right by the lagoon, with huge round palapas at each site that basically doubled our living space. Fancy!

We walked down to the restaurant at the entrance for dinner and big icy margaritas with Marcus and Doria and a handful of other travelers who were all going out to see the whales the next day as well.

When we woke up the next day, it was pretty overcast and chilly. We optimistically mused that since it was only 7 a.m. maybe it would burn off, but the impression we got from the staff on the patio as we drank our coffee and watched the sky told us that what we were seeing is what we’d get. Oh well, we were going to see whales!

Marcus and Doria were as excited as we were.

We sped out to open water on our little 10-person panga boat and breathlessly watched the horizon for spouts.

It only took about 10 minutes before we saw not only spouts in the distance, but the whales themselves, and close up!

When we first began seeing the whales, a little girl on our tour was pointing each one out, saying, “There’s one!” “There’s another one!” until after a while we were seeing fifteen at a time, and she turned from the bow, threw out her arms and happily shouted, “We’re surrounded by whales!” It became the group’s catchphrase for the next few days.

It was a fun tour, but we all suspected that the overcast weather may have had something to do with how mellow the whales were. We decided not to be terribly disappointed since we just had a miraculous day seeing grey whales from 10 feet away, and we reminisced with Marcus and Doria at their palapa as the boys fixed a broken oil pan (not the Turtle’s injury, for once!).

Scout was no help at all, and silently criticized Marcus and Andy for misusing their frisbee time by working on the Golf.

Gracie oversaw the project from on high.

We considered the tour company’s policy of giving a discounted rate for a second day out on the boat, dropping the price from $45 to $20 if you wanted to go out again. We decided we couldn’t pass it up, and made plans with our new friends Ransom and Casey to meet up for coffee early the next day to try to get on the same boat.

The next day was absolutely perfect. It was warm and sunny, and we were able to get all our friends in one boat. Everyone felt positive about our chances to get closer to a whale on this gorgeous day.

Though the tour began at the same time as the previous day, it was clear that the whales were feeling much friskier; they were swimming right up next to the boat in no time!

I didn’t take many photos because I wanted to be present and experience the trip firsthand, but I did take some videos at chin level while I watched so I could relive it later.

It was a magical and deeply moving experience. These magnificent creatures were both enormous and gentle, and it was clear that they really did want to interact and play with us. The “little” 1,000 lb. babies followed their mothers right up to our boat, and flipped around onto their backs as they passed underneath us!

We watched these videos again after the tour, and Andy commented that I was grinning as widely as I had been when I witnessed it in real life. And now as I uploaded these I just realized I’m doing it again! It was a life-changing experience.

And then I GOT TO PET A WHALE!

I actually got a little teary-eyed afterward and had to sit back for a moment to take it all in. It’s hard to explain, but I felt tremendously close to nature and a part of another world that seemed so remote just an hour before. What’s another word for magic? Because I want to keep using that word as I describe the experience. I got to pet a whale!!!!

Almost everyone on our boat got to touch one at least once, which is why we looked like this on the way back:

What a day.

We got back to our mansion after a big celebration lunch at the restaurant patio just as the coastal clouds were beginning to roll in.

Luckily our suite had walls all around, so while the wind picked up and the rain began, we were all very cozy as we read books and watched the birds flying over the water in the distance.

Before we went to Baja, I didn’t know that one of my biggest dreams would be getting to pet a whale. Rarely do we get to realize a dream exists while it’s happening, and I’m so grateful I got to experience it. When we talk about our best days in Baja, this one always tops the list.

It really was a Seven Taco Day!!!

3 Months in Baja: A Photo Snapshot

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while since our last blog post, and we’ve been busy since our adventures at RTR in Arizona last January!

We’ve spent the last three months in Baja, making our way slowly to the farthest point at Los Cabos and then back up again, doing exhaustive research on where to find the best tacos on the peninsula. (We have the reports and will be happy to share our findings at your request.)

During our travels I tried a handful times to upload pictures to the blog, but the internet down there was virtually nonexistent so a photo could take around 40 minutes to upload and we’d get impatient and put the computer aside and head to the beach. We quickly fell into the rhythms of an outdoor lifestyle without the trappings of technology, and enjoyed the absence of the distraction.

I have so much I want to share about our adventures in Baja, but for the time being I thought I’d post a whole bunch of photos—in mostly chronological order—to give a general sense of the trip. It was an experience of a lifetime, and I can’t wait to fill you in!

So there you have it! Three months of fun, lots of sunshine, a thousand seaside frisbee sessions and maybe 500 tacos later, we’re back in the U.S. and ready for whatever the road brings our way.

(Hopefully more tacos.)

Andy Wears Shorts in the Snow: Christmas In South Dakota

Happy New Year, everyone! Woo hoo!

2016 was a super exciting year in the Turtle, and the coming year should be equally full of challenges, victories, and vistas (and frisbee sessions for Scouty).

Before I get into our plans for the upcoming months, let’s catch up with some photos of what we’ve been up to since we left Yellowstone National Park last month! Since that very chilly week living in single-digit temps, we’ve learned a bunch about what we needed to do in order to better winterize the Turtle. So before we left Montana, we headed back to Mom’s house in Bozeman and got busy buttoning everything up with layers of insulation over the windows, extra curtains to divide the colder cab and loft from the warmer living portions of the Turtle, and some modifications under the hood.

Naturally Andy was in charge of the under-the-hood tasks, and he spent the week in Mom’s garage finalizing work on the second alternator. With that new addition we can charge our house batteries while we drive, as the solar panels aren’t getting a lot of sun in these winter months. Not surprisingly, this guy took the opportunity for a wiring project and really brought it to the next level. Give an engineer an electrical mission, and he’ll buy all the toggle switches Home Depot has in stock and create a panel worthy of the dashboard of a UFO. I still need to take a photo of the installed panel, but the process picture gives you a pretty good idea of the extent to which this guy takes on a project!

Meanwhile, in between my winterizing duties, I got an extra week to hang out with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephews. We crafted, played video games, and I took on a request for a Photoshop job: Clive wanted to see himself in his “boat” on the water. . . “with a beard!” Turns out that kid could totally pull off a beard.

Even Gracie appreciates how awesome these kids are.

The snow continued during our stay, much to Scout’s delight. This border collie LOVES snow! He leaps through the drifts with abandon, and runs back and forth between us, trying to encourage us to run along with him.

Gracie, on the other hand, finds the warmest covered spot and settles in.

After getting used to living as locals, it was hard to leave all my favorite people. It was such a treat that we were able to spend so much time with them though. In the Pre-Turtle days, we were typically limited to a week each year at most for visiting family. So I can’t get too greedy when I just got to hang around for a whole couple of months!

Once the improvements were complete, and I felt confident that the kids were ready to love The Legend of Zelda without further encouragement from their auntie, we left Bozeman. After a quick stop in Billings to see Blake, Martha, Harper, and Grant, we then made our way toward South Dakota. We drove by Little Bighorn Battlefield right before it closed for the day, and took a brief walk through the grounds as the chilly winter sun set.

Then with the heater on full blast, we moved on to Gillette, WY for the night where I got so unbelievably sick. (I’ll only include this because I promised in a previous post that I wouldn’t overlook the portions of full-time vandwelling that are challenging, and this was just AWFUL.) I’ve gotten sick a few times since we moved into the Turtle, but they were mostly mild illnesses that were inconvenient but tolerable. I’ve never gotten violently ill while living in the Turtle until that night in Gillette, and it definitely was more challenging than getting sick in a house.

I thought I had food poisoning, as I got sick so abruptly, but in retrospect I think it was likely a severe flu. I was vomiting so much all night (essentially into a pit toilet) that I got massively dehydrated, and unfortunately since we were in freezing temperatures our water tank had frozen and cracked and we had been carrying water around in jugs. As luck would have it we were low on water that night, so I was rationing water and sucking on ice cubes and trying not to step on Andy on the pull-out couch as I got up every 20 minutes to vomit. And the next day we had to move along, so I was sleeping fitfully on a bed rocking and bumping at 65 mph on the freeway. Glamorous!

So, there you go. Full-time vandwelling is not all roses. But for the record, I’m not trading it for anything!

At any rate, while I was in my sicky fog Andy got us to Spearfish in time for Christmas with his family. Much to Scout’s delight, the ground was covered in snow, with a whole bunch more in the forecast.

And much to Andy’s delight, there were plans to assemble a Lego train which would travel around the Christmas tree! I’m not sure how many total man hours were spent around the table between Will, Ellie, Andy and myself, but Andy outshone us all with his dedication to the cause, as well as his impressive Lego skills.

Between the four of us we created quite a spectacular Christmas train, if I do say so myself.

Ellie and I worked on Rudolph’s Christmas Car which led the way, and created bunches of Lego presents. Will put together the engine, the middle cars, the flatbeds, and made a magnificent cubist Christmas tree. Andy made a tippable car that he’d originally intended for imaginary molten metal, but that Ellie and I filled with our gifts instead. He also made a caboose equipped with a crane to hoist and deliver the packages, and it really works, and it’s awesome.

Each day we were surprised by the dramatic change in weather. One day: blizzard. (Andy wore shorts all day.)

The next day: sun.

The next day: more snow.

The next day: more sun!

Snow.

Sun.

You get the idea.

Highlights of our time in South Dakota also included:

Testing out the newly-wired Hella lights. . .

Learning about the difficulties of dumping tanks in winter when all the RV sites for miles around are closed for the season. . . (For those interested parties, it includes making friends with the on-site owner of a closed RV site and graciously being given permission to use the facilities if you can find it and not break anything, digging through the snow until you find the port, boiling hot water, filling a container with hot water, pouring it over the frozen cap until you can open it, taking a photo while your significant other waits for your assistance.)

Being co-planner for a stuffed animal beach wedding. . .

Waiting to see how Andy will alter the “LOVE” Valentine’s decorations his sister put on the mantle. . .

Towing stranded passengers out of a snow drift. . .

Finding Gracie tucked into cozy spots on the coldest days. . .

Scout just driving around town. . .

And knowing Christmas is officially over when you see the Christmas tree ablaze.

Coming up: We’re done with snow and are going to Mexico!

P.S. If you enjoy following along with our blog, don’t forget to click the “Follow” button, and you’ll get an email whenever we post! 🙂

Sleepin’ On The Streets: A Beginner’s Guide To Boondocking

One of my favorite Andy quotes happened outside the Baghdad Theater in Portland a few summers ago, when we still lived in a house.

We were sitting on the patio after a matinee, drinking a beer and talking about how excited we were to begin our upcoming vandwelling life. I said something about wishing we lived in the Turtle already, and how much fun it would be if we could just walk a block down Hawthorne and be “home.” Andy beamed and said, “Isn’t it exciting? By this time next year we’ll be living the dream: sleeping on the street with our half-wild dog and our garbage cat.”

It’s become our motto.

On that note, I recently realized that I’ve neglected to discuss a topic that is super fun and potentially useful to other wanderers, so. . . let’s talk about boondocking!

A place we lived for a night in Corvallis, Oregon

One of our favorite things about full-time vandwelling is the freedom we have to roam around without worrying about where we’ll stop for the night, allowing ourselves to really live in the moment. We have the ability to go where our interests blow us without worrying about planning around a place to sleep. At this point we’re a year into off-grid Turtle Life and feel completely comfortable and confident pulling over and finding places to stay overnight, but when we started out it was pretty daunting and we spent a lot more money staying in RV parks and camp sites when we didn’t need to. I know we still have lots to learn, but I’m here to share what we wish we would have known a year ago!

*An important note here is that the type of boondocking I’m referring to is not a long-term off-grid stay in the woods. I’m talking about the type of boondocking common with full-timers, which is traveling down the road and stopping for the night as we pass through an area, waking up, packing up, and continuing along our travels. Once we get into long-term boondocking, we begin talking about on-board fuel supply, second alternators, etc. and that’s a whole different conversation.

Some BLM Land near Jewel Cave National Monument, in South Dakota

It’s so liberating to realize how easy it is to get around when your house is on your back and you can just stop wherever you want! But you do need to get equipped first.

Let’s start off with the things we’ve determined necessary for comfortable boondocking:

Heat supply: Diesel or propane
- We’ve got a propane heater wired into the Turtle which is wonderful, and effective in heating up our small space quickly. Diesel works great too.
Power supply: Either a generator or solar panels and batteries
- Andy will write a technical post on this one at some point. Lots to say here! We’ve got solar panels and three batteries that, with regular sun, will keep us charged indefinitely. This includes our computers, interior lights, etc.
Water storage
- The Turtle has a water tank plumbed to the sink and bathroom, but when we bought it the water pump wasn’t working, and we lived happily with refillable water jugs for a good long time.
“Some sort of bathroom” is how Andy worded it. . . 🙂
- If you have a bathroom in your vehicle it’s pretty magical! If you don’t, you can get away with boondocking at rest areas, and using the facilities at the big box stores that let you stay overnight, and of course there’s always the great outdoors. (Andy suggests empty jugs, but he also lived way out in the bush in Kenya for a number of years, so. . .) But if you’re deciding between two vehicles and one has a bathroom, I recommend the one with the loo. It just frees up loads more off-grid options.
Food storage and preparation
- This can be a simple plan, but it’s worth adding to the list. Keep some food with you and have a way to prepare it. You know, like life.

Breakfast in Garnet Ghost Town Parking Lot

Now let’s talk about where you can stay:

Wherever you want!
Just kidding; there are restrictions. But fewer than you might think.

As I mentioned, when we started full-timing we weren’t sure how the boondocking was going to work out. Most of the literature we read about full-timing was written by and for an audience who planned on spending most of their time in RV parks. We enjoy when we stay in parks very much, but we’ve primarily got our sights set on simplifying and being independently mobile. Also, there were a few books we read in which the author was paranoid about getting harassed by the police for staying somewhere overnight, and at first we thought it was something to hide and be nervous about. (It’s not.) So it took us a while to find what worked best for us, and what we discovered is that there are loads of legal options!

Public land somewhere between Bozeman and Missoula, Montana

The sunset at that spot, later that evening. . . a pretty nice backyard

Here are the things we’ve learned about where it’s legal to stay overnight:

Most states that we’ve researched allow for overnight parking unless otherwise posted, usually for 10-12 hours max. And where it’s not allowed, it’s very clearly posted. And where it is legal, you can usually find signs stating the rules.
This includes parking in towns, because in the states we’ve visited at least, it’s only illegal to “live” in a vehicle on the road for more than 72 hours. It will likely vary from state to state, but we’ve never had any trouble just staying overnight in an area that didn’t have posted parking restrictions.
Lots of spots that allow overnight parking will post “No Camping,” which we have learned means that you can’t have a camp fire, put chairs outside, extend any slide-outs, or roll down your awnings. Basically you can’t do anything but park, which is all we need! I always thought it meant no overnighting of any kind, but you can stay there as long as you don’t start setting up your living room outside your vehicle.
Rest stops are actually places to stop and rest! We see lots of other RV’s and vans parked overnight at rest stops now that we’re paying attention, and the nice thing is that they’re usually well-lit, have bathrooms and potable water, and often have nice spots to walk the dog (and if you’re us, the cat). It had honestly never occurred to me that you could spend the night at a rest stop, because I’d never needed to. But there you go!
We’ve enjoyed very much the realization that you can stay at scenic viewpoints and historic pull-outs along the interstate. Again, each state determines how long you can stay, but in our experience it’s always a night’s sleep worth—around 10-12 hours or so. We’ve woken up to gorgeous views of towering rocks and rivers in the middle of mountain ranges that we would have just blasted through. A lovely and novel spot to drink coffee while the dog does his morning business.
BLM land is available for dispersed camping, and has been a favorite of ours. According to their website, “camping on public lands away from developed recreation facilities is referred to as ‘dispersed camping.’ These sites are widely dispersed, undeveloped, and are generally not signed as campsites.” You can stay for up to 14 days, have camp fires as long as you monitor them closely, and it’s a great spot for the pets to run and play.
As many of you know, lots of big box stores and travel plazas allow for overnight parking. We haven’t done that as much, because we love grass and so far there has been a lot of grassy spots available to us. But it’s an option, and a nice one if you need to grab supplies too.
At first we thought when parking in town we’d be happiest parking somewhere quiet without night traffic, like by a park or school, but then decided that a van parked overnight by a school could attract negative attention. After a fair number of trials, we’ve found that we’re most comfortable parking on—or on a side street of—the main drag of smaller towns. There’s not much night traffic typically, and it doesn’t look as sketchy to the neighbors if a vehicle is parked overnight on the road under street lights as it would in front of their house. Even though it’s legal to park in neighborhoods, we like to make sure that we’re not imposing on anyone either. Not to mention if we’re near any night life, we can explore town, hang out at the local spots, and then just walk 10 steps home without designating a driver. Safety first, guys.
There are bunches of resources for people like us, to help avoid the sometimes-annoying driving around looking for the ideal spot. The ones we like best are:
- Overnightrvparking.com: Our first favorite, and the one that got our boondocking education started. It shows on a map where there are free places to park for the night so you can plan ahead. It tells you if it’s a rest stop, scenic viewpoint, etc. and what facilities are available at that spot. This site is user-driven, but the administrator evaluates all submissions and posts whether or not the spots are legal and safe. It was just $25 for the year, and right away we got well over our money’s worth for it!
- Allstays.com: We love this one because it lists everything. As their website states, it shows “Over 29,000 Campgrounds: Independent, KOA, National/State Forest, State Parks, Public Lands, Army Corps, National Park, Military, County and City Parks, Casinos.” It tells you if it’s free or has a fee, how much it costs, and what amenities are available. The app also lets you see where there are dump sites, propane, potable water, and other resources. It’s a must-have.
- iOverlander: Much like Allstays it’s got everything, but includes a lot of information about places to stay outside the United States and additionally shows points of customs and immigration.

That time we lived on a lake

The very best part of an off-grid traveling life is that we get to try out being locals in towns all over the states, every day! We’ve really enjoyed the simplicity and flexibility it affords us, not to mention how inexpensive it is to visit new places. We can wake up in a city one day and in the woods the next. I can’t believe I waited this long to figure out that this was possible.

A lot of people are curious to know if we feel anxious about boondocking, especially in towns or populated areas. At first, yes, we were very aware of the fact that we were on a street and in an unfamiliar town. We took a very long time to find a spot, and when we found one we were careful to stay quiet and keep a low profile. After we understood the rules, though, and got a feel for what worked best for us, that completely dissolved. Now what’s remarkable is that we’re so used to it that when we close the door, we’re just home. We watch movies, listen to music, have friends over when we’re in town, and pop right out the back door in the morning to walk to a coffee shop or let the dog out. It’s so exciting to wake up in your own house, cuddled up to your person and your pets in your own warm bed, and in those first few seconds not to remember where you live!

Cooke City, Montana. . . The morning we woke up to the roar of a town full of snowmobiles!

Every day really is a new adventure. And we’re ready to see what tomorrow will bring!

Leaving Bozeman Harbor

We’re back on the road! It’s super, super exciting. When you’ve spent a year roaming and adventuring and then suddenly sit still for a while, the call of the road is stroooong. But even though we were looking forward to moving on down the road, we got a lot of valuable things accomplished in Bozeman Harbor, mostly lots of family time, and it was two months very well-spent.

We originally posted up for a bit to do some Turtle work before winter hits, and after a year of being in the Turtle, we finally finished the bathroom! Andy really killed it on the vanity and faux toilet tank. The “tank” is actually storage (our favorite word these days), but he even made a little flusher you can pull, whose only practical function is to be charming. Andy always goes the extra mile!

You could say it’s come a long way from when we first bought the Turtle. . .

I’d like to make it clear here that it didn’t look like the above photo while we’ve been living in it. . . That’s a BEFORE “before” photo. 🙂 We got a good amount of progress done before we hit the road, but as you can see in the photos below, the vanity was still completely inefficient for storage and took up a ton of room in the small space. And we still had that sink in there, which we didn’t find useful since there’s a kitchen sink three steps from this one, and we’d rather have the storage! But with all the work we had to do in the rest of the Turtle before hitting the road, this portion of the renovation was put on the back burner.

But now it’s done! And we loved our extended stay in Bozeman. We parked the Turtle at my Mom’s house, and while Andy reveled in his huge garage/shop space and engineered all kinds of new fancy Turtle improvements, I got to spend lots of quality time with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephews. I had the best time getting to be a local for a while, and my love tank is filled to the brim. 🙂

We even had a pasta party night, where we made homemade 4-cheese ravioli, sausage ravioli and fettuccini, and three kinds of sauces. If you’re thinking about inviting me to a party, I can promise I’ll come if it’s this kind of party.

We had a fulfilling and productive stay in Bozeman, and I was only able to leave knowing that we’d be back for one more short stint since I have to return on the 8th to ~~walk the green mile~~ go to a dentist appointment. In the meantime, let’s go to Yellowstone National Park!

A Year of Vandwelling!

Guess what?

This Halloween marked our one year anniversary of being full-time vandwellers! It hardly seems possible that 12 whole months ago we were starting off with no idea what we were doing, not to mention where we’d be a year later. (Spoiler: It’s not as far away as we thought we’d be!)

It has been an incredible year—the best of my life so far—and we have loads of lessons to show for it. We get a lot of questions about the less glamorous side of our lives on the road, and sometimes while writing about our days I forget to include both the highs and the lows of the vandwelling lifestyle. I know it’s interesting to read about the difficult aspects, because I love reading about the obstacles other full-timers face too, but it’s never my first instinct to complain about the rough bits when we’re enjoying our dream life! But life is still life, and it’s not always perfect. And the people want to know the dirt!

So in honor of our one-year Turtleversary, here’s a list of both the easy and fun aspects of Turtle Life, and the stuff we didn’t realize was going to be hard.

THE EASY:

Freedom & Adventure
- Let’s be honest; this is the whole reason we hatched this plan in the first place! We were tired of working for an income that just went to pay rent and bills in our house in Portland that we loved but didn’t get to enjoy as much as we’d have liked, since we were always at work! Andy was working days and I was working evenings and nights, and in the slivers of time we did have together, all we wanted to do was get out, go camping, float the river, and explore the outdoors. We had the desire for adventure, but no freedom to truly embrace it. Now we go wherever we want as our whims dictate, and every day is an adventure. It’s delicious.
Seeing Friends and Family
- This has been an incredible side effect to our new life. In the last year, we’ve been around for more birthdays, moving days, celebration days, and regular days in the lives of our families and good friends than in the last 5 years combined!
Getting to Know Each Other
- I don’t care how long you’ve been with someone, when you move into a 100 square foot box with them full-time, you get to know them on a whole new level! And seriously you guys, this has been so much fun. (We’ll get to the “Time Alone” portion on the next list shortly, so you can take this all at face value, knowing I’m not trying to convince you that it’s all roses.)
- But if you like your significant other, then this can be the adult equivalent of your 3rd grade best friend! All your shared experiences are new to both of you, and the world is your playground to explore together. You learn so much about each other as you try new things, learn how to compromise when there are unlimited options, and create new stories and inside jokes that are just yours. These days, our conversations are less about the day-to-day experiences we’ve had, and more about ideas, dreams and plans. Now we craft our days together, and the best-friend-ness that develops is super duper fun.
Getting to Know Ourselves
- I only realized how significant this one was after writing the last paragraph, so I added it in. This lifestyle is so outside the norm that as we learn more about each other and our surroundings, we are also reassessing who we are and discovering more about ourselves. We’ve had more time to try out new ideas and challenge ourselves and to be creative, and being outdoors is a great place to let your mind wander and see where it takes you.
The Stuff We Get To See!
- This one seems obvious, since we’re always moving and seeing new things. And as we anticipated, it’s been awesome! What’s surprised us about this, though, is that so much of what delights us lies in between the highlight reels of our travels. We meet incredible and intriguing people, we stumble across charming small-town spots, we pull off the road to let the dog out and find such a gorgeous chunk of public land that we decide to stay for the night and end up watching a storm roll in as we drink a beer under the awning, cuddled up under blankets in our camp chairs watching the animals run around together. Our happiest memories include both the destinations and the journey. We’ve got stories, you guys. 🙂
Our Time Is Valuable
- What I’ve really appreciated in this last year is the ability to determine how I spend the majority of my time, since we’re no longer going through the motions 40 or more hours a week. Andy’s favorite thing these days is to take on a project and make it absolutely perfect. Instead of just wiring the solar up for functionality, he gets to think it through from start to finish and has the time to make it not only functional but attractive. He adds that it’s also really fun that when you do have projects, it’s a lot easier to do a more detailed and professional job because everything is so much smaller. (Right now he’s building a new vanity in the bathroom, and it’s a much smaller project than a full-size bathroom vanity! So he can put a lot of care into it.) We get to nurture our hobbies while discovering new ones! The funny thing is how we still don’t have time to get everything done. . . some things don’t change no matter where you live.
Learning New Things
- Since we’re only a year into this life, we still have a bunch to learn. Slowly but surely we’re adding to our “life education,” both practical and just for fun. We’re learning more about the Turtle, about the U.S., about sweet hot-dog stick carving techniques, Andy’s learning to make fishing lures, I’m learning about edible wild plants, we’re learning to identify bird calls, I’m brushing up on my Spanish, and we now know all the state nicknames, just to name a few new skills. That last one is mostly worthless, but interesting to know that Arkansas is The Natural State, for example. The more you know, right?
Our Animals Are So Happy
- You’ve seen the pictures. They’re living the life! We’ve fielded some concerns about whether or not the animals are happy in such a small space, especially since we have a curious, active cat and the “Energetic Border Collie” poster-boy. And I agree that if we spent most of our time indoors, they’d go bonkers. Luckily, in Turtle life we spend a tiny fraction of our days indoors and are mostly busy playing outside! Nothing but mountains to climb, fields to race through, trees to climb, friends to meet, things to sniff, and rivers to swim in or sit cautiously by, depending on which animal we’re talking about on that one. When we worked full-time, the animals were home alone for multiple hours, whereas now they’re with us nearly all the time and are enjoying the open door policy giving them access to their enormous back yard.
Amazon Delivers
- We once ordered an inverter for the Turtle at a tent camping site near Wheeler, Oregon, and two days later the UPS truck came bumping down the dirt road with our package. We still crack up about it! We’re generally always able to get what we need, even without a permanent mailing address! Amazon rocks, and makes all our projects possible, even fairly of the grid.
Simplicity
- When we decide that we’ve done all we wanted to do and seen all we wanted to see, eventually we’ll settle down somewhere. (Luckily we’re test driving cities ahead of time, so we’ll know right away where that somewhere will be!) And when we do, I know the biggest take-away for me will be the joy of simplicity that we’ve discovered in this process.
- We didn’t have much of a choice regarding how much “stuff” we could bring with us, and we decided right away that we didn’t want a huge storage unit full of miscellaneous junk waiting for us to deal with after our travels. So we sold and got rid of just about everything that we had stored up in our house. All that stuff we’d been carrying around for years and years and hauled in boxes from one house to the next, finding places to store in the house, and digging through when we were looking for something. The process was intense and looooong, but now that we’ve pared down to the barest of essentials, I can’t imagine going back to the piles of stuff. Right now, we know where everything is, and all our belongings are essential and valuable to us. It’s liberating, and I wish I had done it years ago.

THE HARD:

The Mess
- We didn’t see this one coming. It’s not something many people talk about in blogs, or share in the beautifully-staged Instagram shots of feet poking out the back doors of spotless van interiors. But I’m here to tell you that full-time vandwelling is messy! I just asked Andy what his first line item would be on this list, and after thinking for a minute he said “Well, it is quite a bit messier than we’d anticipated. . . ” Yep. We have to stay on top of clean-up nonstop, or we’d go nuts. Neither of us is fussy about cleanliness, but we certainly appreciate a tidy home. And since our space is so small, even a little clutter can feel oppressive, and a muddy dog can wreak havoc on every square inch of furniture in three happy bounds through the door. I vacuum or sweep at least twice a day, and we’re on constant pet hair duty. Happily, we’ve established systems that work for us to combat the mess over this last year, but for a while it seemed like we’d never stop cleaning. I mean, we never will, but we’re used to it now. 🙂
Laundry, Showers, Dishes
- After the mess comes the clean-up, and this part is a challenge as well. The chores that we used to do at home without a thought must now be thoughtfully planned out well in advance, and they can dictate a whole day. The Turtle had a built-in shower when we bought it, but it was in the tiny bathroom and—aside from moisture damage issues—the awkwardness of showering while hovering over a toilet gave us the heebie-jeebies. Not to mention that since we have limited water on board, both showering and washing dishes can deplete our resources in a flash. And you know we’ve got no laundry room! So this aspect of our lives that used to be so simple is now quite a time consuming ordeal. When the weather is nice, we’re fine to bathe and wash clothes in the lake, but during colder weather we’ve had to coordinate our trips into town with visits to public pools, gyms, and laundromats. We discovered far too long into Turtle-life that many towns have free RV dumps that also supply potable water, so that’s been a lifesaver for washing dishes. Just wash and refill!
Working Remotely
- It definitely has been a challenge to balance the off-grid life with being places we get wi-fi. Of course if we had our way, we’d just stay off grid for months at a time and become the postmodern Swiss Family Robinson. We’re fortunate to work in fields where we can work on the road, and the income is helping prolong our travels, but if we’re talking about unforeseen obstacles this definitely is on the list.
Boondocking
- I’m way overdue for a full blog post on this topic. There is so much to say about boondocking! We feel much more prepared and comfortable living off the grid these days, but this first year has been a real crash course and it was challenging at times to figure it all out. We didn’t find a ton of information on it that applied to our specific situation, so we’ve really just been learning on the job. We originally pictured boondocking by rivers and tucked into trees somewhere, which is definitely part of it, but not always the case! We’ve stayed in parking lots, rest stops, on the side of the road in the middle of town, at scenic overlooks off the freeway, in public parks. . . you name it. This was hard at first because we always want to be parked legally and safely, and it took us a while to figure out how to find those places, especially without having to drive around for an hour or two looking for a place that suited us. This aspect is easy and awesome now, and it’s one of my favorite parts of Turtle life—not knowing where we’re going to sleep from one day to the next! But it definitely falls into the “Hard” list for how long it took us to nail it.
Alone Time
- Remember that time I talked about how much fun it is getting to know each other? Well the other side of the best friend coin is trying to find time for yourself. It can be difficult to admit to your buddy that you need a break from their face! After we moved in, because everything was so new and we were busy learning the ropes together, it took a long time to even get to the point where living in a van was regular life and we started wanting some time to ourselves. But it happens. When the weather is nice, it’s easy to split up and do our own thing outside, walking the dog, collecting firewood, going fishing. But when we’re stuck in the Turtle for long periods of time, we’ve learned to not take it personally when the other person just decides to put in headphones.
Being In Other People’s Space
- We really love that when visiting our friends and family, we’re able to “live next door” to them, as opposed to staying in their home and making them feel obligated to entertain. We love how much time we’re getting to spend with our people! The challenging part with the time we spend in people’s towns is that we’re living our daily life but also in visiting mode, and even though we have our own house and space, we’re still living on someone else’s schedule. And while the time together a treat and loads of fun, sometimes we visit people back to back to back, and it’s hard to explain to the friend at the end of the party train that while I’m excited to spend time together, I’ve been visiting for weeks straight with no personal time and I really just want to watch Project Runway on my couch with my pets for a bit.
- P.S. This must be said. Just because we come out of the Turtle at noon, doesn’t mean we slept until noon! We sometimes get raised eyebrows for our “late start to the day.” Never in my old life would I wake up and race right over to a friend’s house first thing. We’re still in our house, and like to make coffee and hang out together and cuddle the animals and get ready and finish the chapter in the book that we fell asleep reading the night before. Yes, we like to sleep in. No, not until noon. Just to clarify. 😉
Pets’ Limitations
- Despite the fact that Gracie and Scout are living their dream life, there are, of course, complications involved in traveling with your pets. There are some places we go that aren’t as pet friendly, such as the National Parks where they have to stay on their leashes and don’t get as much exercise. When we’re at less pet-friendly spots, such as friend’s houses or areas outdoors where we have safety concerns, they get a little stir crazy because they’ve gotten so used to having the run of the place, and don’t understand why we’re closing the door on them. If anyone speaks cat, please tell me the translation for “Stop yowling and clawing at the door! There are coyotes howling in the distance and I don’t care how high you climbed that tree yesterday, you’re not tougher than a coyote, dummy!” We’d appreciate it.
People’s Expectations
- It never occurred to me how much we’d have to explain our lifestyle until we were living it! Full-time vandwelling is very polarizing. I told Andy while we were building the Turtle that the best part about making such a quirky vehicle is that it will more quickly make apparent the people we have the most in common with. And that’s been 100% true; we make friends on the road just getting out of the Turtle. People who appreciate what we’ve made always turn out to be people we’d love to spend time with, and often they have their own adventure-mobiles that we can check out and be excited about too.
- Our supporters are the strong majority, however there are also a handful of people who can’t wrap their heads around it and have bunches of questions for us. We love answering questions, because we know it’s an uncommon lifestyle choice and hard to comprehend, but we’ve found we have to address many of the same questions from people who aren’t so sure about our decision and who are unwilling to alter their preconceptions about the right way to live. Here’s a short list of answers to these questions.
  - The Turtle is a conversion van, and we live in the Turtle.
  - Yes, we have a house. The Turtle is our house.
  - No, we don’t have a back-up house somewhere. Do you?
  - Yes, it’s a small space. We love living in our simple, cozy little space.
  - No, we don’t wish we lived in a bigger space. We gave up a bigger space for this.
  - Yes, when we’re done with Turtle living we will eventually live in a house again.
  - No, we don’t have plans for where we’ll live after this is all over.
  - No, we don’t know when that will be.
  - No, we’re definitely not ready to come back to regular life yet.
  - No, we don’t want to rent your cousin’s guest house.
  - Yes, I do appreciate your concern. But we have a house. The Turtle is our house.
Finding Time, At Times
- There are a few things that don’t change, no matter what lifestyle you’re working with. They always come as a surprise to me, because it seems like a huge shift in environment would bring a huge shift in lots of other areas of life too.
- One that hasn’t changed is that there’s just never enough time! Between getting improvements on the Turtle done, Andy’s work, my freelancing work, writing blog posts, cleaning, cooking, travel time, planning upcoming travels, cleaning, staying in touch with friends, grooming the animals, exploring the surroundings, and cleaning, it’s hard to establish a routine. Additionally, these things also have to be coordinated with the weather, access to tools, the time between destinations, and availability of stores or facilities from place to place. We’re still working on finding the balance between work and play, just as we always were when we lived in Portland.
Missing Friends
- ACK, this one is tricky! It’s funny because we’re getting to spend so much more time with our friends and family who are all spread out, but we miss our Portland friends SO much! We had a great bunch of strange and awesome people there, and it’s hard to be away from all the fun we had. Two of my sisters live right outside Portland too, so I’m also mourning the loss of sister and auntie time. Every choice comes with some sort of sacrifice, and we are regularly aware of how much we miss everyone.
- It’s also worth noting that the more we see of our long-distance friends and reconnect, the more we miss them as the Turtle pulls away. So there’s that too.

Last but not least, we have an honorable mention! A list item that belonged in both lists:

Breaking Down
- Con: The Turtle was made in 1985, so it’s no spring chicken. It has loads of quirks and issues, and we frequently break down. Sometimes it’s while we’re traveling down a snowy highway and we have to coast across 70 mph traffic to get to the only available pull-off before we roll to a complete stop, white-knuckled on the steering wheel. Sometimes it’s in front of our friends’ house, and we have to impose ourselves upon their lives for extra days (that one was actually a pro for us but you see what I’m getting at). Sometimes we pull off I90 to see why we’re losing power and there are burning flamedrops falling from under the hood, or “little hot spots” as Andy refers to them. All those hypothetical scenarios aside, though it’s annoying, it comes with one awesome. . .
- Pro: If we are ever stranded somewhere, we’re stranded in our house! It’s like being snowed in. We don’t go anywhere for a bit, but we’ve got food and heat, our bed and blankets, and wine and games. So it’s not the panic that usually comes with breaking down. We make a lot of jokes about our house breaking down. 🙂

Well, there you have it! We’re still learning as we go, and finding new positive and negative aspects to Turtle life all the time. I’ll be sure to mention both sides in future blog posts. That is, if I can find the time. . .

Watching the Seasons Change in Missoula, MT

Is it really October already? At the end of the month, it will have been a year since we moved in to the Turtle! It’s fun to look back on the last year, and how we’ve spent our time quite differently than we’d expected. We make a lot of jokes about how it took us a year to make it from Oregon to Montana! Turtle time a real thing, guys.

We’d originally planned to divide our time fairly equally between the outdoors and visiting long-distance friends we didn’t get to see enough when we lived in Portland. Little did we know that the year would be quite so filled with people time! It’s been great getting to see people we’ve been missing, catching up with family and being around for significant life moments, and spending that quality time leisurely instead of smashing it all into a weekend. And then in a hilarious twist, after the year away from Portland while we caught up with old friends, we were missing our Portland friends Jason and Kelly so we planned a meet-up in Missoula!

For me, it was a super-fun collision of two worlds. I lived in Missoula for a number of years and have incredibly fond feelings for that charming little town. So it was a total blast to have Andy and our friends come and play with me in my old stomping ground! When we arrived in town we wasted no time getting to the river, and discovered that since the last time I was in Missoula, they put a dog park right on the Clark Fork river! So the dogs can all run freely together, and swim and drink as needed, right in the middle of town. Plus it’s called Bark Park, so bonus points for charm.

We got there in time for some glorious sunny days, so we spent as much time as possible on patios. Jason only ordered drinks in novelty glasses, as far as you can tell from this picture.

Missoula is small and super walkable, so we wandered around from place to place all day and into the evenings. And to add to the list of reasons I love Missoula, someone had put two pianos on the street that remained the entire time we were there, so Andy played them every single time we passed them! It set such a whimsical mood to hear piano music drifting throughout the streets downtown, some people playing difficult pieces beautifully and surprising their friends, others laughing while they tried to remember how “Heart and Soul” went. (Andy was the former.)

One of my favorite days was spent at my very favorite spot: Red Rocks! It’s a short walk from Whittaker Bridge, just east of Missoula, and has a nice beach, a beautiful view, and slow spots where you can swim or wade, depending on the time of year.

We relaxed in the sun and played Ladderball (or Montana Golf, or Snakes, depending on whose side you want to take in the discussion of the correct name of the game.) I hiked up to the top of Red Rocks and snapped a few quick photos as close to the edge as I dared.

We had a beautiful sunset on our way out, and to top it all off, while we were there, I found punctuation rocks! I mean, that comma, right? So the day was a resounding success. 🙂

It was great getting to see Kelly and Jason again, and to finally meet Brendan!

Jason had to get back to Portland, so we dropped him off at the airport (right on time, and he did not miss his flight. . . is how we will remember the day’s events in the future), and the remaining four of us drove south past Lolo to a nice camp site for a few days. Initially it was clear and warm, and we soaked up the last of the summer sun by the river.

Andy decided he wanted to cut his hair short, so Kelly and I gave him a picnic table haircut! Having your hair cut fireside is another perk of the Turtle life. So is getting your picture taken at an unfortunate middle phase of that haircut.

At one point, the weather remembered it was supposed to be Fall. Fortunately, we’re all hardy campers and had a great time despite the wind and rain. We cozied up next to the fire, had slow-cooked bacon and huckleberry pancakes, hunted for firewood by the river, played more Ladderball, and sat around the fire some more.

It happened in an instant but we realized, as the dogs peeked out at us from the wind-squashed tent and the leaves swirled around our rainy picnic table. . . fall was upon us! We were sorry to leave when the time came, but the weather made it easier to admit that being indoors sounded cozy!

I left Missoula with Kelly and Brendan and we drove to Portland while Andy stayed in the Turtle at the camp site to finish out the work week. I spent a week in Portland, hanging out with friends and my sisters, nieces, and nephews.

The week flew by, and in a flash it was time to go. I road-tripped with my brother-in-law back to Bozeman, where we met up with Andy at my Mom’s house. Since we arrived we’ve had lots more quality time with her, my other sister, and my other nieces and nephews! There’s a lot of us. Which means we require a lot of time to catch up! It’s been such a treat to see everyone on a more regular basis, being around for birthdays, learning to snap, and loose teeth, and we’re especially savoring it because we realize that we’re not going to spend every year the way we’ve done it this time—hopping from town to town hanging out with all our buddies.

It’s been so much fun to make this year a people year, but as we approach our year Turtle-versary we realize we also need to focus on the other reason we chose this lifestyle, which is getting outside and playing hard! We’re going to have to break the news to Gracie, who is thoroughly enjoying the comforts of Mom’s house. . .

But we’ll use Clive’s pop-up illustration of him and me roasting hot dogs over the fire as inspiration to get back outside!

In the meantime, we’re using our time and resources at “Bozeman Harbor” to get the Turtle in top shape before we get into the snow. As I sit bundled up indoors with a nice cup of coffee, I’m thinking this will be a good time for reflection as we approach a year of being full-time vandwellers. So look forward to posts where I dish the details of Turtle life—the good, the bad, and the breaking-down-by-the-side-of-the-road.

Happy Fall, everyone! 🙂

The Story of Gracie the Camping Cat

We get a lot of questions about Gracie. A lot!

I agree that it’s bizarre for a cat to be roaming freely in camp sites. Some people think she’s super rad and hilarious, which is true. Some people think it’s crazy that we brought her along on our travels. Some people can’t believe she’s actually a happy camper. And some people just like to look at cute pictures of cats. So I thought it would be fun to tell the story of how Gracie came to be a camping cat, and to talk about what a blast she’s having! I think once you get to know her better, taking her on this adventure will seem like the obvious choice. 🙂

About six years ago, I went to adopt a cat at the Oregon Humane Society. For whatever reason I really had my heart set on an adult male, preferably orange. As I walked up to the building, I saw a tiny little grey and white kitten staring out the window of the Cattery (I did not make that name up). She wasn’t looking at any of the people walking by, just staring outside with those big green eyes. I remember thinking how adorable she was, but I really didn’t want a kitten – I rented and it seemed too risky to box train and worry about new kitten behaviors.

I asked to hold a 2-year-old orange male named Garfield, but he was visiting with someone else. So while I waited I figured it would just be fun to hold a kitten, and they handed me the little window kitty, Henrietta. (I know, who is in charge of naming cats at that place, right?) She was freaked out and ran under the bench and didn’t come out for over five minutes before I finally lured her out. I held her close to me and she instantly started licking my cheeks and nose and purring like crazy! I was done for. Well played, Henrietta.

I found out while signing the adoption paperwork that she was 6 months old and had been brought in with a litter of kittens who had been born outside to two barn cats. The barn cats’ owner said they’d fed the kittens and even left a litter box outside, so she was already box trained and personable. Which was a relief, considering the aforementioned rental issues that I’d tossed right in the garbage when that kitten kissed my nose.

My plan was to keep the newly-named Gracie indoors, especially since I lived on the corner of two main streets in Portland. Her plan was to return to the wild at all costs. While she and I bonded and she loved to snuggle and play, she also spent a fair amount of time plotting her escape to the great outdoors. Screens were destroyed whenever windows were opened, and a complicated system was put in place for leaving and returning through the front door. She was a happy little kitty and she was very lovey with me, but it was obvious she still just wanted to go play outside, where she’d spent all her life up to that point.

After a while I moved to another house, this time in a quiet neighborhood. Gracie hadn’t relented on her mission to Shawshank herself out of the house, so I began trying her outside in the fenced back yard. She was awesome! She’d often break out of the fenced area, but never went far. She’d usually just go to the boat parked next door and sun bathe on the bow. I practiced calling her back in, usually with treats involved, and she’d always return to the front door, where I’d let her back in. To get in the back yard, I taught her to climb a ladder to hop back over the fence, and she took to it instantly. She’s so strange. It’s her best feature.

The longer she and I were a team, the better she got at listening to directions and trusting me. She grew into an affectionate, interactive, adventurous, chatty cat who purrs loudly, plays hard and eats like a wolf. She also has a knack for getting into trouble, but so sweetly and honestly it’s laughable. Andy says that if he didn’t know Gracie, and couldn’t see her antics with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe pictures of her weren’t staged! She’s just a riot.

Andy isn’t a cat person, and even he admits that Gracie is the coolest. I call her the Gateway Cat, because she truly has convinced anti-cat people to reconsider their position. Some have even adopted cats. That’s my girl!

We also call her the Anti-Project, because she has a knack for sensing when a project is being executed and expertly interferes. Just try to start that project, and then: Enter Gracie.

It’s a gift, really.

Try to measure some fabric:

Try to recycle paper trimmings in paper bags:

Try to take a profile picture for your school portfolio:

Try to print a document:

Try to change the bobbin:

Try to pick huckleberries:

Try to fill boxes for the move:

Try to enjoy some cheese and crackers during a movie:

Try to put away groceries:

You get the idea.

And you can see what an independent little monkey she is! So when we decided to take on the Turtle lifestyle, I had no doubt that she’d adapt flawlessly to a changing venue. We started her out with a harness and leash, and gradually began giving her a little more freedom when we were in safe, secluded spots. We discovered that she’s very careful in new environments, and when she gets scared, she always runs home and hides under the Turtle. If she’s out of sight, when I call her name she always meows back from her hiding spot! When called again she comes running back. She needs the freedom of the outdoors, but she loves us best and knows she’s part of our team, so we know she’ll always stick close.

So close, in fact, that when we go for short walks she comes along with us! She stays right near us, chirping and chatting down the road. When we reach our destination, she sunbathes and crawls into our laps, or pounces on bugs and climbs trees. We always put her inside if we’re going too far for her to join, and never take her on busy roads, but if we’re walking around a campground or up a trail, she can generally be spotted at our heels or at the edge of the path leaping through bushes.

This lifestyle is perfectly suited for our wild girl! Before, when we both worked full time, she’d be home alone for eight hours a day. She’d roam around the back yard and in the neighborhood, but she’s so social that she prefers people around to interact with and needed lots of attention when we’d get home. Our friend John—who lived behind us— told us that one warm day when he was cleaning house with the door open, he walked into his living room to find Gracie sitting in the middle of the room! And that wouldn’t be the last time she dropped by to visit John unannounced. She likes to be around her people.

Now we’re with her nearly all the time, and she gets a new back yard to explore and play in every week! She is very happy and safe. Yes, indoor-only cats have fewer risks, but this girl was going to play outside with or without our consent! So we compromise, and she stays close to us, and we give her plenty of options for safe outdoor spots to explore.

And now that she has freedom, she’s very happy when it’s time to stay indoors. She’s a real cuddler, and if you sit still for more than 30 seconds, she’ll usually end up in your lap, or sneak up on you and lick your cheeks while she purrs loudly in your ear. If I’m trying to read and she’s feeling sweet, she’ll hold my chin between her paws so I can’t turn away while she licks my face!

She’s the happiest she’s ever been, and loves to meet new friends on the road. If you see us camped out somewhere, stop by to visit Gracie the Camping Cat!

And if she’s not home, just check the nearest trail. . .

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