scout

The Road to Alaska – Part 5: Yukon! Valdez! Gracie Cleans Her Tail!

Everything you’ve heard about the drive to Alaska is true.

Ok, wait.

I guess I don’t know what you’ve heard about the drive to Alaska. Let’s go with this instead: if you’ve heard that the drive to Alaska is mile after mile of astonishingly beautiful scenery that seems too enormous and perfect to exist in real life, then what you’ve heard is true.

Especially once you hit Yukon. I have so many photos of this drive that I promise you’re hoping I never show up at your house for a slide show. Because it would take longer to show you all the gorgeous scenery and tell the stories than it took to drive through it. But here are a few of my favorites.

Right??

If you make the drive, be sure to multiply your estimated drive time by 2 to account for all the stoping and staring you’ll be doing.

The beauty didn’t stop once we hit Alaska, of course. We went to Valdez, where we’d been told the best fishing awaited us. You’ll just have to believe me when I tell you that I caught a fish on my very first cast, and then caught two more before Andy had even finished attaching his lure! (In all fairness, he’d gallantly put mine on first, which is why I was fishing already. But it just goes to show you how good the fishing is in Valdez!) We estimate that we caught 25 fish—dollys and humpys. We kept two to bring with us and released the rest, not because we didn’t want them, but we just didn’t have any room left in the fridge after all the fish we caught in Haines. A fine problem to have, it’s true.

From Valdez, we took a very early ferry over to Whittier. As we drank our coffee and admired the ocean, the fog made the horizon completely disappear, which was lovely.

As the sun rose, a chubby little porcupine came out of the bushes and delighted everyone in the ferry line.

The Valdez-Whittier trip is about 4.5 hours, and so beautiful that even though it got chilly we stayed posted up on the deck under our blankets for most of the ride.

Once we arrived in Whittier, we drove straight on to Anchorage. We had so much fun visiting friends while we were there that I’ll make a separate post to cover all those adventures.

For now, I’ll make the title of the post accurate with the following pictures of Gracie cleaning her tail.

The Road to Alaska – Part 3: New Aiyansh, Stewart, & Hyder

Holy cow, you guys.

We knew before we began the drive through Canada to Alaska that it was going to be beautiful, but somehow we weren’t even prepared for how majestic this part of the world is!

Every new place we go, we just look at each other, wide-eyed, and laugh out loud in amazement that we’re getting to see all this.

One of my favorite spots yet was the next stop on our map after leaving Stewart. New Aiyansh, BC and the other neighboring villages of Nisga’a are so beautiful that I can’t possibly do it any justice with words. And believe me when I say that I’ve been trying! Even when we were there, both of us were more quiet than usual.

A volcano eruption in the 18th century left the area covered in lava rock, which now is blanketed in dozens of different varieties of moss, ferns and little succulents. And the pools of water scattered around the lava fields are a perfectly clear aquamarine color that felt like something out of a fairy tale.

The Drowned Forest was a favorite stop for me.

A neighboring village has a bouncy suspension bridge spanning the Nass River, so we crossed it and I quickly admired the view as I hurried to the other side. Andy, of course, loved it!

Vetter Falls was a rainforest wonderland, and we walked out as far as we could to see if we could spot the “phantom fish”—steelhead that get trapped at the falls and develop snake-like bodies with large heads—but they lived up to their name.

Andy tried very, very hard though. So you have to give him credit.

We stayed the night at a lake near Cranberry Junction, which had a name but will now just be known as “mosquito lake” in our memory. It was a gorgeous spot for a feeding frenzy though!

Although staying indoors to escape mosquitos has its advantages.

The next day, we drove to Stewart, BC, which took us five times as long as it would have had we not stopped every half mile to marvel at the mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls.

Right next door to Stewart is a little town called Hyder. . . Alaska! They’re minutes away from one another, and have a very similar vibe; they’re just separated by a border agent on the BC side.

A local tradition is to get “hyderized” at the Glacier Inn, so we did. A bracing shot of Everclear later, we had our official cards!

The next day, one of the locals we’d met found us and invited us out for a day of fishing on their boat! We had a phenomenal time, especially considering the weather was clear and sunny so we could venture out on the speed boat to explore, fish and pick wild blueberries.

There were other perks as well:

It was such a treat and we’re so grateful we got to join! Thanks again, Kim and David!

After we left the dock that evening, we drove up to the Salmon Glacier, the fifth largest glacier in Canada. Because the sun doesn’t set until 11 p.m. around here this time of year, we had plenty of time to drive up and stop for photos along the way.

We found a great lookout to stop for the night, and watched the sun set behind the mountains.

The view from our front yard when we woke up the next day was pretty incredible!

We even had friendly neighbors!

Scout and I took a little walk while Andy made coffee.

I love our morning coffee views these days.

We drove back down the mountain to Stewart, where we got our fishing licenses and headed out to the dock to see if we could catch a few crabs. We had great luck catching crabs, but for a little while it seemed like the only crabs in the water were females! We met a local who was also crabbing from the dock and enjoyed hanging out with him while we all released the ladies back into the ocean. By the time he had to go he’d caught a number of prawns, which he gifted to us. We were totally thrilled. I’ve never had fresh prawns before, so it was generous and very much appreciated! Thanks again, Tim! 🙂

Well, I have more tales to tell and I’m not nearly caught up all the way yet, but I just looked at the time and it’s almost grizzly bear feeding time here in Haines, and we want to see more bears!

Yes, I said more! Spoiler alert:

A Busy Few Weeks: The VLA, ABQ, Boise, The Bisti Badlands, Four Corners, & Mesa Verde NP

Our current location is generally a mystery to anyone trying to keep track of us—including us—mostly due to the fact that we’re so busy having fun that I forget how long it’s been since I last updated the blog or Instagram! I promise that by the end of the next post both you and I will be completely caught up.

As I type this, I’m sitting at an adorable cafe and sweets shop in a town that, I announced immediately before consulting anyone else in the Turtle, we will one day live, even if just for a season. This place is a dream. But we’ll get to that next time. We have so much to cover right now!

We left our last story outside the Very Large Array near Socorro, NM, having a delicious evening treat of a pie sampler from Pie Town. We found a great pull-out to stay the night just a few minutes from the VLA. That night before bed, we watched Contact with a view of the VLA right outside our window! It was awesome. In the movie, the VLA plays a prominent role in Jodie Foster’s research and makes a really dramatic background. And it’s just as impressive in person.

The VLA is an astronomical radio observatory made up of 27 antennas that are each 82′ in diameter. They’ve helped with the investigation of black holes, quasars, pulsars, planets, and loads more. It’s astonishing to see them up close.

(Not quite sure what I was up to in this photo, but it’s the only one I’ve got, so you’re stuck with my unexplainable dance number.)

After getting our science on, we made our way back to Albuquerque where I had a flight to catch in a few days to Boise to visit my girlfriends Beth and Lexie.

But first, Andy and I had a mission: to get poolside as soon as possible. I’m not sure how we got the idea in our heads, but suddenly we couldn’t live without a swim. So we headed to the only RV park in Albuquerque that had their pool open before Memorial Day—American RV Park.

We came for the pool and stayed for the lovely park, yummy continental breakfast, clean showers and laundromat, and beyond-friendly staff. We really did stay another day. It’s a great park that I can’t recommend highly enough! We realized that it had been over a year since we had stayed in an RV park, which was fun because we’ve really gotten the hang of boondocking and have saved lots of money by not going to parks unless we need to take advantage of their amenities. Turtle power!

We stayed two nights, and the next day I left this guy:

To hang out with these guys:

It was a bunch of fun. We painted the town red, and even got dressed up to go watch the Kentucky Derby.

After a whirlwind few days, I was back in Albuquerque and the four of us were back on the road. Andy and I went to a fantastic mining museum in Grants called the New Mexico Mining Museum, which has a replica uranium mine underground. The man at the front desk had worked in mining for about 35 years, and had worked his way up from the bottom to be the head of his mine and even got an award for safety, with the longest time without a death in the mine or serious injuries. He had lots of information, was adorable, and gave me a goldstone to remember the mine by.

Outside of Grants, we stayed at the Joe Skeen campground near El Malpais.

I was happy to be reunited with this guy:

And this guy:

We drove to the Bisti Badlands wilderness, where you can stay overnight in the parking area for free! It was especially appreciated that we got to stay after we climbed for hours over the crazy hills that changed in appearance every few minutes. It felt like a walking tour of 10 different planets.

It was a hot day, and when we got back to the parking lot, we relaxed in our chairs and read books with Scout and Gracie. Gracie has become a real champ with her harness and leash these days. I think she’s figured out that sometimes it’s her only ticket outside, so she wears it without any problem, and even comes to my feet meowing when she hears me get it out.

The next day we made it to Four Corners with beautiful skies above us.

Then we drove on toward Mesa Verde National Park. The landscape on the way to the park was a destination unto itself. I swear this is not a painting.

In the last year, we’ve been to two other cliff dwellings sites: Bandelier NM and Gila Cliff Dwellings NM. We really enjoyed both, but agreed once we made it to Mesa Verde that this is our favorite site so far.

In the park are 600 beautifully preserved cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people, many of which you can tour or see clearly from various vistas. Depending on the site, the tours are just $5 or $10 each, which gets you 1-2 hours of information and a walk right through the dwellings. You can see petroglyphs and pictographs, the different styles of construction each group used, and the actual tools they used to grind corn and make food. And the views are so vast and unreal that we both said more than once that we’d pay just to hike the trails on the mesa! There are also self-guided tours you can take, so we did all of those too.

Our second day there, as we parked at Balcony House for our tour we noticed another van that could be the Turtle’s long-lost cousin, so we parked by it as we often do when we see a van we like. After traveling around for the last year and a half, we’ve found that we can usually tell by someone’s van if they are kindred spirits, and our track record is pretty good so far. This time was no exception! We ran into Gary and Kiki as we returned from our tour, and found out that they’re just starting out on their full-time vandwelling adventure (though they’ve already been on many, many adventures of other sorts). We’d all already purchased tickets for the same tour the following day, so we got to hang out even more during the Long House tour.

We super enjoyed getting to know you guys, and I’m certain that our paths will cross down the road. (When they do, we’ll let you know what Turtle theme song we came up with; hopefully one as cool as Birdy’s.) You guys were a pleasure to hang out with. Stay in touch! 🙂

After the tour, we did a quick 6-mile loop on top of the mesa to check out the other cliff dwelling overlooks.

We would have loved to stay and visit (both the park and the new friends) longer, but the storm clouds were rolling in and the skies were getting darker. Our first rule of overlanding is “Never Drive at Night”, which is comparable to driving in terrible weather, so we hit the road to make it to Durango, CO to find a spot before the weather hit.

We hung out in Durango for the evening, a town that I already loved and knew Andy would too. The weather was unfortunate, with frigid winds and constant cloud cover, but we had a great time anyway. If you can involve pizza in the plans, Andy is a happy camper.

If you can also include a free trip to the coolest railroad museum ever, Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum, he will be even happier.

And if you really want to make his day, cap it all off with a little performance testing at the highest altitudes the Turtle has ever attempted. . .

Which, unbeknownst to us, was the next leg of the trip. And one that would bring us to where I sit now, in my new very favorite town of all time! But that’s up next.

A Good Place to Crash—Outside Roswell, NM

We’re back in New Mexico and we couldn’t be happier about it! We never imagined we’d stay in a single state for multiple months during our travels, but we can’t seem to rush through anything here. We always plan a general outline of our route a few weeks out and estimate how much time we’ll spend in each spot, but it’s always subject to change and sometimes we trip over a great spot and end up staying much longer than anticipated. The reasons for the extension vary each time, but more often than not it’s because we find a great quiet spot where the weather is clear and we can get some work done on the Turtle!

Considering how limited our storage capabilities are, we keep a surprising amount of project materials on hand in case we find a good spot to do a little maintenance and housekeeping. Of course this was Andy’s idea, and the additional paint, brushes, wood, and tools for which he prioritized space has made Turtle life much more comfortable and manageable. It helps that he’s a wizard with problem solving, woodworking, electric jobs, and wordplay. (That last one has less to do with this topic, but it’s worth noting.) Anyway, we’ve got a pretty customized Turtle these days!

We never know when the work space is going to present itself. Thanks to our arsenal of travel apps, we can tell if a spot seems to be a good place to stay the night, but we can never know exactly what we’re going to get when it comes to the view, the size of the site, the crowds, etc. So we left stormy Lake Meredith on our way to sunny Roswell, NM thinking we’d just travel through Roswell on our way to some great National Parks.

First we stopped in Borger, TX and this happened:

Don’t worry; he’s fine.

After we got him back on his feet, we stopped in Portales, NM to catch up on some computer work, journaling, and letter-writing at the Roosevelt Brewery, where we happened upon some new friends who are also really into the vandwelling lifestyle and have some plans of their own on the horizon. It’s so much fun to meet people who understand the impulse to make life simpler and more fulfilling and adventurous by traveling full time in a tiny house on wheels. So we decided to stick around and spend the evening with them, and had a great time. It was so much fun meeting you, David and Robyn! And thanks for the stickers; we really wanted Roosevelt for the brewery sticker book. You guys are the best! Keep in touch! 🙂

The next morning we were ahead of schedule daylight-wise, since we hadn’t anticipated a stop in Portales, and we were super close to our next stop in Roswell. But since I’d bookmarked an interesting OHV site (Off-Highway Vehicle) for the previous night, we thought we’d just swing by as we drove past to see what it was like.

Aaaaaaand, we loved it.

It was like being on a Star Trek set.

And because this spot is made for toy-haulers, each of the sites is huge, and even has a covered picnic table, grill, garbage, and bathrooms. Not to mention a great view.

The weather was perfect, the space was ample, and the nightly fee was minimal, so we decided to settle in for a bit. Because when you live in a Turtle, there’s always a project waiting to be done!

So while the animals enjoyed their enormous new back yard, Andy and I got to work.

Jobs that needed to be done included:

(Andy’s notes)

– Toilet started running continuously. We got a new valve for $45 in Amarillo, TX, and installed it here. Needed to remove the toilet, remove old parts, install the new parts (took the time to thoroughly clean the toilet), and then reinstall it.

– Rotated the tires. Kept them all on the same side, and moved front to inner rear, inner rear to outer rear, and outer rear to front. We had a slow valve stem leak some time ago, and when we did, I rotated the spare into the front at that time.

– With the tires off, took time to clean the rims and brakes, and inspect the brakes with the wheels off.

– Made, painted and installed the Nalgene holder for behind the stove.

– Installed the D-ring recovery points onto the rear bumper where it is welded to the frame.

– Installed an ammo box under the spare tire in the back. They make a nice waterproof container, and inside I have replacement ignition parts and other electrical parts we what to have on hand and keep dry.

Some notes: We travel with all our tools, including a 50-ton bottle jack and two 3-ton jack stands. cordless drill and jigsaw (that charges from the solar). They came in useful here!

Gracie helped.

When the weekend arrived, we decided to leave the spot available for the real OHV riders and see if we could find some aliens in Roswell.

We saw a bunch, but sadly none of them took us with them for a universe tour. Which worked out for us, because a couple of other strange creatures were waiting for us to take them back to our desert landscape for a few more days of work—and even more play—before hitting the road again for further adventure on planet Earth.

The galaxy can wait for now.

A Month-Long Detour: Oklahoma City, OK

In our last post, I alluded to a detour we were embarking upon to visit some friends in OKC. I couldn’t have imagined that when I finally had time to write about it, we’d have also moved the party to Texas and extended the trip by two weeks! But with old friends, it’s hard not to want the good times to keep rolling, and by the end of it both Beth and I were convinced that we’d talked the other into prolonging the fun. So it was a win-win.

A quick history: Beth and I were randomly-assigned roommates our freshman year of college at University of Montana in Missoula. Because all of our pictures are in storage right now, the best I can give you is this little gem that I found slipped between the pages of a sketch book while organizing the Turtle one day. Please note the high-res quality of a photo taken on a first generation web cam and printed on a 90’s era printer. Also, that we were as cheesy then as we are now.

After moving into that tiny shoebox together, Beth and I gradually became friends, cracked each other up, invented games, stayed up until the sun came up, moved to Juneau, and caused some trouble together in the years to follow. Now, just a few short years later (Right? That’s what it’s been, right?) we still see each other every year, but still that’s not enough. So when Beth pointed out to me that we were only 7 hours from Oklahoma City, much closer than I’d realized, we put a pin in the New Mexico plans and turned that steering wheel east to go hang out with her and her family for a week or two.

Needless to say, we had all the fun. Unfortunately Beth and Johnny still had to do real life in the meantime, so we hung out with them while we could and then explored the city on our own while they worked.

Highlights of the trip included:

The Thunder game! They were playing the Portland Trailblazers, coincidentally. So after living over a decade in Portland, I saw my second Blazers game in OKC. I’m a baseball fan, all right? 😉

The Horse Thief show at the newly-renovated and super-cool Tower Theater.

Taking Scout to the field near their house to play frisbee in the middle of the city.

Taking our picture in front of the wall of their building, which Beth says everybody does, so we had to do it too. We like to fit in with the locals. 🙂

Playing with Asher, then continuing to play with his toys long after he lost interest.

Beth’s top-tier crown-making skills.

Going to the Oklahoma City bombing memorial and museum. (If you’re in town, GO to this remarkably well-curated museum, but be prepared to be emotionally fried afterward. It was extremely moving and we were spent by the time we left.)

Exploring Brick Town, Deep Deuce, Midtown, the Plaza District, and Automobile Alley on our bikes. Again, we like to feel like locals so I’m showing off our OKC knowledge here.

Riding our bikes by the baseball field and seeing that there was a free high school baseball game going on! We’d admired the stadium from outside a few days prior, so we were thrilled to get to see it inside.

Taking a walking tour of all of Beth and Johnny’s favorite spots with their friends Mike and Sandy (taking the pictures).

Watching Andy reach peak stress levels playing PacMan.

This.

We had SO MUCH FUN. Beth and Johnny were great hosts, and great sports. 🙂 Oklahoma City has changed a lot since the last time I visited about 5 years ago. We were going nonstop and still didn’t see everything!

One weekend, we decided to go camping at a wildlife refuge a few hours outside of town. We saw bison and wild turkeys.

Scout and Gracie had to be leashed, but were just happy to be outside smelling all those great animal smells.

Gracie’s a pro at tangling that leash up.

One day it was so windy that we drove into a little town nearby to go get huge hamburgers at a place that Beth and Johnny often frequent when they’re in the area, and still don’t know whether they love the spot or despise it. On this trip, we all agreed it was awesome, but we could also see that it had the potential to swing wildly from charming to exasperating.

Beth and I attempted a Boxcar Children photo.

Here is Asher’s recreation of the trip, including the Turtle, him in his tent, the fire, and the lines on the top left show the howling of the coyotes we heard in the distance. It’s perfect.

When our planned two weeks were up, we still weren’t ready to stop having fun. So we decided to get a week’s head start on Beth and Johnny while they worked through the week, and then we’d all meet up at Lake Meredith, north of Amarillo. It’s a free NPS site with lots of fishing, boat and swimming access, plus spectacular views of the lake from the camp sites perched on top of the cliffs.

The first night, Andy and I stayed on the Cedar Canyon beach.

The next day, we scouted out the myriad sites surrounding the lake. Many of them have bathrooms, potable water, and even hot clean showers. We still can’t believe this place is free! It’s better maintained than some sites where we’ve paid to stay.

We decided on a site at the Sanford-Yake campground.

Because we had no neighbors and the sites were so far apart, the animals got some freedom. Scout still loves his stuffed worm, so thank you again Eric and Willow! 🙂

Beth and Johnny arrived a few days later, and we continued the fun! We had a few gorgeous days and a few windy/chilly days.

There aren’t enough superlatives to express how much fun it was to spend so much time with Beth and her family, for the boys to get to know each other better, and to create new memories and inside jokes like we did in the old days.

After they left, I sat by the fire for a little bit and tried not to mourn too hard.

We went back down to the beach to lift our spirits, and the weather was so perfect we both got a little bit tan. Scout swam while Gracie watched Scout swim, perplexed.

We had another fire that evening and cooked up some hot dogs, knowing that the forecast was going to change drastically the next day!

Aaaaaaaaand, it did. We woke up to blasting wind rocking the Turtle and rain pounding the roof. When I opened the door to let Scout out, he jumped down into a river rushing under us!

After all the fun we had over the last month, we decided that we were ok with a stormy day and that it would actually be quite cozy to cuddle up in the turtle, have some coffee, read some books, write this post. . .

But first, we had to take advantage of the rainfall and give the Turtle a bath! (When you live on the road, you’ve got to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.)

Albuquerque to the Ojito Wilderness, New Mexico

Before a month ago, neither of us had ever been to New Mexico, and both of us were super excited to explore the state. It certainly never disappointed! (Except Taos; that city didn’t live up to the hype at all.) We loved Santa Fe and Diablo Canyon, and next on the list was a night in Albuquerque on the way to the Ojito Wilderness.

We went to Old Town in Albuquerque and walked around the shops, had tacos for lunch, chatted with some charming locals, and visited the historic church in the middle of Old Town.

While we were in one of the touristy shops, I noticed a whole wall full of Breaking Bad paraphernalia. We remembered that the show was set in Albuquerque, and as we walked through Old Town, I saw a flier for a Breaking Bad tour that takes you to a dozen or so places from the show. Andy wasn’t a fan of the series, so he watched me curiously as I frantically found a post from Lonely Planet with a map of a do-it-yourself Breaking Bad tour and ran for the Turtle.

I didn’t want to take over Andy’s day with my Breaking Bad fandom, so I picked a few of the locations I most wanted to see, and luckily (for Andy) they happened to be fairly close to one another.

First, we went to the park where Mike always went with his granddaughter.

And of course we had to go to Walt and Skyler’s house, which has been painted and gated.

And the A1A Car Wash!

In the far end of the car wash parking lot, we ran into a familiar-looking RV. It’s not the same one, but close, and we guessed that it’s part of the $75 tour we saw advertised, which was arriving at the car wash as we were pulling out.

We also ran by Gus’ Laundromat, but the sun had almost set so we just looked and then went and grabbed a beer at the Red Door Brewery, just a few doors down.

The next day, we got supplies and drove to the Ojito Wilderness, about 45 minutes outside of Albuquerque.

It’s a gorgeous desert spot on BLM land just west of San Ysidro. Lots of people go there to ride bikes on the White Mesa Bike Trails outside of the wilderness area, and to shoot guns various places just inside the entrance.

We kept driving in until we got to the Hoodoo trailhead, on the west side of the wilderness, where we made camp—a.k.a. parked the Turtle and opened the door.

Ojito is a great spot because you have access to over 11,000 acres of wilderness! You have to park on the edge of the actual wilderness area, but it’s all BLM land so you can hike in and camp anywhere you like. There are two marked hiking trails that get you out into the wilderness, or you can just blaze your own trail. We did both, and loved both equally.

The rocks and formations out there are diverse and lovely. There is an abundance of sandstone, gypsum, quartz, volcanic rock, and even fossils, which of course you can’t take but are really fun to find!

I’m beginning to suspect that the desert is Andy’s natural habitat.

Gracie loves it because she gets to run and roll in the dirt all day, nap in the sun when we leave for hikes, and ever since she learned to climb the ladder at Diablo Canyon, she’s made the top of the Turtle her personal patio.

Check out this enormous sliced cucumber rock!

Both animals were so happy here that they were even more sweet with each other than usual. This is what I woke up to on my stomach one morning:

Gracie was so pleased that we finally found sunshine that she did her best to soak it all up, and I think she succeeded.

On our last day there, we got a day without wind, which was exciting because the previous two days we were hit so hard that Gracie and I opted to stay inside and read all day! We celebrated the sunny day by taking our favorite four-hour hike for a final picnic and rock-collecting mission.

We left this idyllic site only because we saw rain in the forecast, and the dirt roads would be nearly impossible to drive on for a Turtle if we were caught in wet weather! So we began our journey south to Roswell, not knowing that halfway there we’d decide to make a last-minute detour to Oklahoma City to see our friends Beth and Jonathan!

Which is why as I write this, we are in Elk City, Oklahoma. We found a great free spot for RV’s just south of town on a lake, and it even has water, electric, and lot of nice red dirt for Gracie to roll in! So everyone’s happy.

Two Weeks in Diablo Canyon, New Mexico

One of our favorite places to “live” is on BLM land, and if they didn’t have a rule that you can only stay a maximum of 14 days, we would likely still be in Diablo Canyon right now.

We were looking for some sunshine, and we got it! This spot is great. It has four primitive camp sites, which is our favorite since we come equipped with everything we need, and we get far fewer neighbors.

We did see loads of people, though, as it’s a really popular spot for climbers. The edge of the canyon is a really clean vertical, and we saw climbers up there every day.

The weather was warm and sunny, and we all got to do our favorite things outside.

Andy got to work on the Turtle.

Scout got to go for 3-hour walks and hikes almost every day.

Gracie got to roll in the dirt, climb things, and explore outside. She just learned how to climb the ladder to get on top of the Turtle, and now we’ve gotten used to hearing the thumping of paws on the roof!

And I was in rock-collecting heaven. Everywhere we walked there was an endless array of beautiful rocks, and my pockets were constantly full. I couldn’t help it!

Over the course of our time there, we hiked to the top of the canyon, around the opposite edge of it and up and over, and all the way through to the Rio Grande.

We played all day, and earned our naps.

After a day of exploring, we were happy to put our feet up and watch the desert sunsets, around the fire or under the awning wrapped in blankets.

We also met our neighbors, full-time travelers Eric and his darling dog Willow, and spent some time with them swapping travel stories. They’ve been all around, and also blog about their time on the road here. Go say hello! 🙂

They even gifted a squeaky stuffed worm to Scout, which he loves and has been dropped into our lap many, many, many times. Thanks guys!

On our last day there, we woke up to a bizarre surprise:

Snow!

We thought that was pretty well timed, since we’d reached our 14-day limit! So we traveled back into Santa Fe to plan our next desert destination.

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! 🙂

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! 🙂

A Very Montana Summer

Greetings from Montana!

It’s been a while since we checked in here, and today is a great day to update the blog as it’s stormy and raining outside here in Seeley Lake. Andy is busy working, and I’m doing my best to keep Gracie from trying to curl up on top of my keyboard as I type this. If any portion of this blog isn’t up to standards, you can take it up with her.

We’ve traveled a fair distance (by Turtle standards anyway) since our last post in South Dakota! We made it to Billings after a quick overnight in Gillette, and headed to Riverfront Park right when we got into town so Scout could catch some sticks in the Yellowstone River.

Then we went to Scheels to ride the ferris wheel! If you’re ever passing through Billings, be sure to check out this perplexing sporting goods store. It’s a mix of an outdoor store and a carnival, and just hilariously bizarre. We rode the 3-story ferris wheel, saw animatronic presidents, got our pictures taken with some wild animals, and also got our fishing licenses.

Then we spent a few days with our friend Grant, who I went to high school with, and who is staying in Billings for the summer. We went to Alive After 5, rode our bikes all around town, and sat on the patio at Thirsty Street for a beer. Check out this place for sure; not a lot of places in downtown Billings have patios, and their patio gets great sun, plays good music, and the beers are super tasty!

We did a lot of bike riding, even though the temp was in the 90’s the whole time we were there! We had to pull over one day so I could run around in some sprinklers for a while. We took the dogs to Pioneer Park, had nachos on the patio at The Granary, and stayed up late playing games and gabbing outside in the grass. Fun times with Granty!

One night we also came across this extraordinary line of garbage cans, which Andy was so taken with we had to take a photo with them. It really was an impressively long line of pristine garbage cans. (It doesn’t take much to keep the three of us entertained.)

We also spent a few days with Blake and Martha, who always show us a great time! We went to a Mustangs game, and Andy offered to hold little Harper’s mitt for her. . . then wore it the whole game. She was too busy with her ice cream sandwich to mind.

We had lots of great meals, the boys stained the deck, and Martha and I snuck out again for a beer while the boys watched Harper. I secretly think they just wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Harper is a good patsy.

Then we moved on to Bozeman to visit my mom and sister Kari’s family for a few weeks. We even timed it just right (accidentally) so we were able to see my Grandma and Uncle Brian while they were in town visiting! They were only able to stay for a day and a half, but we got to spend lots of time sitting around sipping coffee and sharing stories. What a treat! Plus Grandma finally got to meet Gracie and Scout, who had never made the trip to Newberg with us when we would visit her there. I only realized after they left that I never got a photo of all of us together! Bummer. So instead, here’s a photo of a Bozeman sunset.

We also got to see a new baby Lipizzan pony! My sister and her friend and all their kids were going to see her, and Andy and I jumped right on that bandwagon. She was so sweet and funny, leaping around at top speed on those spindly little legs. Lipizzans are a special breed of horse with a fascinating history that we learned about from their owner while we were there. They are dressage horses who are super nimble and can perform some incredible dance moves cued only by tiny twitches in their rider’s bum and legs. Crazy!

Then we went to the Museum of the Rockies, where there was a Pompeii exhibit that we really enjoyed. And their dinosaur bone collection is simply incredible.

That weekend, David and Kari invited us to an evening fishing trip up Hyalite Canyon. We picnicked, Scout swam, and David kept very busy helping the kids bait the hooks and reel in all the fish they were catching! The beginning of our trip was quiet on the fish front, but after we moved to another spot by the dam we all had better luck.

Scout and Gracie love being at my mom’s the most, as they get lots of attention and total run of the place.

My niece Bella and I went for pedicures one day, and both of us are now sporting some killer sparkles. Bella even has fireworks on hers!

When we got back to their house, the kids had an impromptu clothes-on pool swim.

We ate like kings while we were at Mom’s, as she’d just cleaned her BBQ, and Andy installed a few parts to get it looking and working like new! So there were lots of fancy dinners off the grill, including a feast of salmon, steak, and chicken with ginger asparagus and grilled polenta for just the three of us. We could get used to spoiling ourselves like this.

On our way out of Billings toward Seeley Lake, we stopped for the night in a gorgeous spot in the middle of nowhere, and also made some fishing stops along the way.

We decided to reach Seeley via Garnet, so we could visit the Garnet Ghost Town. The roads there are treacherous, and when we saw the caution sign, we decided to see what the Turtle was made of and just go for it! (Ok, Andy decided. I just said yes and wiped off my sweaty palms.) There were some seriously steep hills that were knuckle-biters. Andy was thrilled.

Neither of us had been to Garnet Ghost Town in over a decade, so we were excited to visit. We got there Saturday evening, and after the first 15 minutes, we were the only ones there! It made it really easy to use your imagination and picture what the town was like during the mining boom, when all the buildings were still standing. But the remaining buildings are well preserved, and they provide lots of information about the town and residents’ lives there.

You can boondock at the ghost town for free, so of course we did that! We returned to the town the next morning to see the inside of the buildings that had been closed by the time we arrived the day before, and then drove on into Seeley Lake in time to celebrate the 4th of July with the other 3,000 people who come yearly for the parade and fireworks! We just happened to be boondocking right on the parade line, so we were able to easily pop our camp chairs up and watch the festivities with zero preparation or stress.

After the holiday visitors took off we had our pick of the camp sites, so here we are now right on Seeley Lake. We hiked around the campground and harvested the abandoned piles of wood the holiday crowd left at their sites, so we’re all set to stay here for the next four days! In the next post, you can look forward to some sweet woodcarving projects, much like this impressive hot dog stick Andy made yesterday! We’ve got the time and plenty of sticks, so we’ll see what we come up with. . .

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