travelers

3 Months in Baja: Guerrero Negro to Mulegé

By the time we left Guerrero Negro, we’d officially made it into Baja Sur and and had been in Baja for 21 memorable days.

That dotted line just above Guerrero Negro is the border of Baja California and Baja Sur. Since we snuck in the back entrance on the remote dirt road, we missed that border inspection and the cost of being sprayed for bugs there. Hopefully we didn’t have any hitchhikers!

Our next stop was Mulegé, which we’d been told by most other travelers was the best town in all of Baja. In fact, many people drive down as far as Mulegé and then just stay the entire winter there, usually just south of town somewhere along the Bahía de Concepción. We were excited to see it!

But first we passed through Santa Rosalía, a darling sleepy little town on the Sea of Cortez, a town unlike any other in Baja.

In the late 1800’s it was occupied by a French mining company who bought the rights to mine El Boleo copper mine there. The French influence can be seen throughout the town, from the remains of the mine, the wood architecture and the French bakery, Panadería El Boleo, that has been in constant operation since 1901 and is famous throughout the peninsula for its baguettes. I forgot to take a picture of it, but here some photos of the mining structures that were super neat.

Santa Rosalía’s other claim to fame is the Iglesia Santa Barbara de Santa Rosalía church, designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (who you may know best from another little project he built in Paris). The church is made almost entirely of iron, which was constructed in Europe and then shipped in sections to Santa Rosalía where it was reassembled.

I discreetly took a quick photo of the interior before I saw the sign that asked me not to take any. But the damage had already been done, so the illicit photo remains here for your benefit.

On our way into town we investigated the spot that we’d chosen from iOverlander before arriving, dubbed it “Playa Basura” (Garbage Beach) and decided not to stay there. The historic town is wonderful, but the beaches there are black and trashed, and I didn’t like the idea of the animals running around there. So Santa Rosalía became our first in-town boondocking spot in Baja! We parked next to the town square by the Mahatma Ghandi Library, and chose a single spot instead of the double-length spot that another traveler had reported getting double parked behind the morning after boondocking there.

We walked around town for a while, visited a ferreteria where we learned the Spanish word for hardware store, and looked for a new backup bomba de combustible to replace the old backup that the Turtle was now using as its primary bomba de combustible. No luck there, but we had fun drawing pictures with the helpful guy behind the counter.

For dinner, we had two options: the place that looked like it had incredible tacos but was blaring club music so loud we couldn’t even hear our conversation about why we didn’t want to go there, or the place with the crazy menu. We chose crazy menu and decided to try out a Mexican pizza for the first time. Aside from the confounding addition of candied maraschino cherries on my Hawaiian side, it was pretty good!

We slept great in the middle of town, and in the morning noted that every single long parking spot was double parked, so we were grateful for the tip from the other travelers on iOverlander. Then we went to Coffee Star for some Wifi and the best mango smoothie Andy has ever had.

After trying my very best to catch up on the blog, I had to give up when I realized that uploading a single photo took 12 minutes every time. I tried, guys! The trickle of Wifi throughout Baja is the reason I’m still playing catch-up here. (We’re currently in California, but I promise we’ll get to that soon!)

We abandoned plans to get work done and went next door to a taco stand that advertised “Tacos de Guisado” which was a new term for us. I Googled it and learned that Tacos de Guisado are a stewed meat breakfast and lunch taco, and that the stands open early and close usually by 2 or 3 p.m. It was just before their 2 p.m. closing time, so after the patient woman showed us each pot of mouthwatering meat since my dictionary didn’t know any of the words on the board, we ordered a sampling of them and sat out in the shade to eat.

And holy cow. Remember when I said we were on a search for the best tacos in Baja? We did it! It’s like a pot roast taco, which might sound weird but I assure you it’s scrumptious.

Our other favorite feature of Santa Rosalía was the pink drive-through Six! And when I say drive-through, I don’t mean they have a window. Cars can drive right through the middle! We loved it.

We left Santa Rosalía full and happy, and drove the short distance to Mulegé.

The town is quiet, clean and very friendly. We ran into Ransom and Casey, some friends we’d met on the whale tour in Ojo de Liebre, walked around town some, and then stopped by a well-hidden second-story bar for a beer.

Before the sun set we drove up to El Faro, a public beach at the lighthouse just north of town.

The first night was fairly quiet, and we enjoyed the spot very much. We walked down the beach to a little outdoor restaurant and had dinner and margaritas, then spent a pleasant night by the water.

The next day we walked around Mulegé, met Ransom and Casey for breakfast at a really cute cafe, explored the shops, did some laundry, and generally enjoyed everyone’s favorite town in Baja.

We camped on the beach at El Faro with Ransom and Casey and were adopted by the local beach dogs. When we parted ways we made plans to meet up again somewhere down the road.

We loved Mulegé, but we had a bit of a deadline. . . our friend Jason was flying into Loreto in a few days, so we made it a quick stop and promised to spend more time there on our way up north. We’d been saying that a lot, actually. We were never ready to leave when the time came, but Baja is a big peninsula and there is a lot to see! So far we’d made it about two thirds of the way down, and the best was yet to come.

3 Months in Baja: San Felipe to Bahía de los Ángeles

This is the story about all Andy’s dreams coming true.

Well, maybe not all of them, but a lot of them. And awesome ones.

We’d spent our first week in Baja enjoying the quiet beach site outside of San Felipe with our friends Gary and Kiki, who were also planning on heading south down the peninsula, and neighbors Stashik and Dorota who were on their way back up to their home in Canada. We’d gotten a lot of great advice from the group, like “get money from the ATM before you’re completely out of pesos, because nobody takes credit cards and the ATM’s regularly run out of cash” and “bring the meat you purchase at Calimax to the lady with the grill outside, who will BBQ it for free and even add potatoes and onions to the mix.” We heeded their advice—useful and delicious.

The other tip we got was “although it looks like a much longer route to Bahía de los Ángeles, go back up north via Mex 3 to Ensenada and then south again on Mex 1. . . definitely do not take the Mex 5.” The Mex 5 is a construction site of a highway—dirt roads, potholes, huge jutting rocks, steep grades, unmarked routes, and completely inappropriate for a 2WD van-house. People regularly pop tires, break axles, and puncture oil pans on that stretch of so-called road that ends at the intersection of Mex 1.

Followers of this blog will be unsurprised that we did not heed that particular piece of advice.

From San Felipe to Puertecitos the road is paved, but still quite torn up and punctuated by deep ruts and potholes. Then after Puertecitos the pavement ends and the 131 km of excitement begins. We jolted back and forth, side to side, our bobble heads bouncing around as we slowly lurched down the dusty road. The Turtle began to protest, making new sounds that prompted a few pull-overs, but resulting in nothing more serious than some photo ops.

Some of the construction areas were relatively flat and comfortable.

I took a video during a smoother part of the drive, when I was able to hold my phone without dropping it, and the quality was such that it wouldn’t make the viewer seasick.

(For the record, we had more than 12 km to go at that point. But tiny hand-painted signs on rocks can be misleading.)

Those of you familiar with this stretch of road will wonder if we stopped at Coco’s Corner, a super-popular tourist stop that even has a “historical place” icon on Google maps. Suffice it to say, that place may have been a great stop in its heyday but was a little depressing when we visited, with dusty undergarments covering the walls and a sullen Coco mumbling about the old days through a tiny window we had to crouch to see through. We didn’t stick around long, but upon our arrival we did meet a fun group of American travelers who were just departing, also on their way to Bahía de los Ángeles, and they invited us to watch the Super Bowl with them that Sunday. We got the location and said we’d be there!

After about six total brain-rattling hours, we finally made it to Mex 1 and cheered when we saw pavement! Andy just loves off-roading and seeing what our little Turtle is capable of, so he was very pleased that we made it without incident. The drive had taken even longer than we’d accounted for, so by the time we rolled into Bahía de los Ángeles, the sun was just beginning to set.

We found a nice little beach spot on iOverlander and parked by the water to watch the show.

Another van was parked there, and as the sun set we met its owner Lirón, a nice young guy from Israel who was also taking a few months to travel around Baja and then beyond. We made a camp fire, and talked about all the available shellfish in the area. Lirón had never tried any at all, so we all walked down to the water and harvested a bucket full of the biggest mussels any of us had ever seen!

We cleaned them, rigged up a little grill, and set them on the fire to cook.

Once they popped open, we took them off the grill, opened them up, and added either garlic butter or a tasty Thai chili paste mixture we whipped up in the Turtle.

The evening was warm, the beers were cold, the mussels were rich and delicious, and it was a really memorable travel experience with a new friend.

The next morning we parted ways with tentative plans to camp in same spot that night, and Andy and I drove back into Bahía to see the sights. The town is a super small coastal town with a population of about 800 and very little in the way of tourism. It’s a popular spot for fishing, snorkeling, and kayaking, and in our opinion was worth the drive out of the way to visit. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and some wispy WiFi, and as we sat on the patio facing the main drag, Andy was delighted to see a number of “Baja Bugs” driving up and down the road. He chatted with a fellow named Richard, who was admiring the Turtle as Andy admired the bug he’d arrived in, and Andy learned that the very next day was the Bahía 200!

The Bahía 200 is an annual off-road race that runs on a portion of the Baja 1000 track, starting just south of Bahía de los Ángeles and consisting of a 4-lap course. All the drivers come to town the day before the race in order to attend the pre-race inspection and celebration the prior evening, which the entire population attends with much festivity. Andy reported this all to me, gesturing excitedly with wide eyes and a huge grin, hardly able to believe our luck and accidental great timing. We adjusted our plan to park in town in order to join the party and see all the cool off-road vehicles there.

Our travel guide told us a nearby restaurant also offered beachside RV parking, and as we hopped out of the Turtle to investigate, we ran into Lirón, who had just purchased some snorkel gear. As we talked about our new plan Andy noticed the yellow bug he’d been ogling outside the restaurant as he talked to Richard, and when he saw Richard himself we all walked over to say hello.

One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned in our years of travel has been that since most people are awesome, the more we go out of our way to meet new friends, the more our experiences take on new exciting flavors and expand in directions we never could have imagined. We’ve met so many incredible people throughout our travels who are now forever a part of our tales of adventure, and sometimes we wonder how much the experience would have paled in comparison without them.

Even with that lesson in our pockets, when we walked over to say hello to Richard and company, we weren’t prepared for the odyssey of fun we were about to embark upon with this wonderful bunch of wildlings:

Enter Bernadette, (Lirón you know already), Dave, Richard, Kathi and Kathleen.

This exceptional group of friends comes down from the Bay Area to Kathi and Kathleen’s place every year for the Bahía 200, and once we introduced ourselves they adopted all three of us into their circle, invited us to park both vans in their driveway for the evening, and asked if we wanted to accompany them to the race party that evening. Their generosity was overwhelming, and continued throughout the next few days.

They were cooking up a big dinner that evening and insisted we join.

Over dinner we got to know everyone better, enjoying their stories of the Baja races, in which all members of the group had been involved in some capacity or another. Dave, Richard, Kathi, and Kathleen have all actually raced in the Bahía 200 multiple times, and they related their experiences with broken racers, running head-on into cacti, taping parts back together, scorpions, being stranded in the desert, and so on. Andy was (literally at times) on the edge of his seat with joy, being surrounded by people who not only wanted to discuss off-road racing but who totally knew their stuff and were teaching him a bunch about it too!

After the meal we walked over to the town square for the party. Many in our group admired the racers. Others talked and watched the kids run up to Kathi to collect the stickers and sweets she saved up all year to give out at the event.

There was music, food stands, people of all ages, and of course, lots of off-road racers.

If that was all we’d done, we would have left happy. But the next day was the race, and the group invited us to spend the day with them there, too. I can’t remember what we decided.

Oh, that’s right, we went!

Andy didn’t stop smiling the entire time.

Dave and Andy were the cutest buddies you ever saw, and they talked racing and gears and equipment and miles per hour and suspension all day long. Also, beer.

Dave let Andy drool all over his Baja Bug throughout the day, and Andy asked me to make sure to get both angles of the bug so he could continue looking at it later.

Then the race began!

It was such an exciting and carefree day. Those in the group who had raced in previous years enjoyed the art of spectating, and we cheered heartily for every racer as they passed.

The backdrop wasn’t bad, either.

All day long Andy just kept grinning and disbelieving his good fortune in stumbling across this event—the right place, the right time, and the right people to enjoy it with.

After the races ended, Andy picked up a commemorative shirt that even had Kathi and Kathleen’s car from the previous year’s race on the back, and the racer friends signed it for him.

We went back to the girls’ house to cook some food, and it didn’t take Scout too long to make some new friends too. The local beach dogs all loved him and he soon became absorbed in the pack. His natural wild look really helped him fit right in.

We were already on Cloud Nine when Dave offered Andy a ride in his bug. Andy was so excited he immediately abandoned the guacamole he was making in the Turtle and nearly forgot to put his shoes on as he flew out the door.

They got strapped in, put the headsets on, and off they went!

As Andy was off realizing a lifetime dream, Scout was also reaching maximum joy as a beach dog. He loved the freedom, the friends and the water so much I’m surprised he came back with us at all.

Soon Andy and Dave returned, and judging from Andy’s smile and disheveled Muppet hair, I think they had fun.

They drove on the same raceway that is a part of the Bahía 200 and the Baja 1000, cruising at nearly 80 mph! Andy still hasn’t stopped talking about it.

Dave offered to take me on a run as well, so of course I had to see what all the hype was about.

I totally get it.

We blasted down the road at 80 mph but I felt like I was rocking in a hammock. Dave is an impressively super-skilled driver, and also intuitive enough to know I’m no adrenaline junkie so he took me on the smooth dirt road and not down the crazy bumps and curves that he and Andy went on. Thanks Dave!

After we returned, the boys got to talking about our route while the rest of us relaxed and gabbed on the patio and beach.

After another delicious dinner we got ready to head back to the town square for the announcement of the Bahía 200 winner and the closing ceremonies party.

Another great time was had by all.

The next day the group had to head back to the Bay Area to prepare for the upcoming work week. Kathi and Kathleen let us use their shower before we left, and I can’t tell you how much we appreciated that, ladies! From the moment we met you all were incredibly kind and so generously brought us right into your circle without asking for a thing in return. As we tell stories of our time in Baja, you guys always come up and have become a Best Memory of our travels. THANK YOU! We hope to see you all down the road.

After our much-needed showers, we headed over to the restaurant where we’d been told a Super Bowl party would be happening, and met up there with the group we’d run into at Coco’s Corner who had invited us. It was a beautiful spot on the beach with views of the nearby islands that make the Bahía de los Ángeles coastal views so unique.

The small hotel—Raquel and Larry’s—had a cute restaurant overlooking the bay, and a crowd of about 20 had gathered to watch the Super Bowl.

Just as the game started, the power went out and the motivated group came together to get it going again, driving into town for a new generator, running cords from various locations, and ducking into the kitchen to help troubleshoot the outage to the pizza oven. Andy was pleased that he was able to contribute a few extension cords and some electrical advice to the cause, and soon both the TV and the oven were back in action and we all enjoyed the resulting game and homemade pizzas.

The next morning we drove the short distance to a beach just outside of town called La Gringa. We spent a few days there, enjoying the rocky coast, the bird watching, the breezy hikes, and best of all, the clam-digging!

After a few days we decided to get back on the road. We had lunch at Guillermo’s on the patio, where the cat Bernadette had befriended and named Rosemary came by to visit and see if we might share any shrimp.

Andy was still flying high from all the dreams that had just come true, and over lunch we reviewed all the crazy things that had happened in the last few days. We got to test to Turtle’s mettle and drive on the most wicked roads we’d seen since the Dalton Highway, we collected shellfish right from the ocean and ate it fresh on the beach, we made loads of genuinely nice friends, got to watch a Baja off-road race just five steps from the track, and rode top speed in a Baja Bug!

When we got back to the Turtle, Gracie was reviewing the route we’d mapped out that morning. (She was big enough to not mention that we’d just been sharing shrimp with another cat.)

The plan was to continue down the slow and bumpy dirt road along the coastline instead of driving back west to meet up with the Mex 1, because apparently we’re gluttons for punishment. It’s as rugged—if not more—than the Mex 5, and it’s exceedingly washboarded, far less traveled, and has a longer distance between services.

I mean, what could go wrong?

Desert Magic

The desert is magical, and the desert is bizarre.

Between the rich January sun, the vivid colors blooming in every direction, and the fruit trees weighted down by citrus, we were feeling energized and enjoying the magical aspects of the region as we walked around Palm Desert. And though we were in no hurry to leave, we did have a lot of jobs to get done while we were in a bigger city to complete our pre-Baja checklist.

The more mundane jobs included getting my contacts prescription filled, shopping for supplies, doing laundry, cleaning sand out of all the corners of the Turtle, picking up our General Delivery mail at the post office, and trying out the Amazon Locker service. Ok, actually that part was pretty exciting. When you order your item, you get a code mailed to you to have scanned at the locker, and when you scan it, a drawer pops open with your package inside! We liked it.

The funny thing is that even those tasks seemed exciting while in the desert, since we were running around in the sunshine wearing flip flops and picking oranges off the trees as we walked around town. It was truly a memorable few days of errands, woven in with the fun things we got to experience in Palm Springs and Palm Desert.

We went to a polo match and sat in our chairs on the grass and cheered arbitrarily for various teams. Not only was it exciting to see the athleticism of both horses and riders as well as all the ladies’ fancy hats, but we also now know the word chukker. So it was a big day.

We had the best pupusas ever at Fernanda’s Restaurant, and even went back before leaving town to get more to go, and now that I write this I’m feeling very wistful just thinking of them. Deliciously light and savory, the cabbage slaw on top perfectly zesty, at first bite I knew they were the best I’ve ever had. (Uncles Kevin and Bob, if you are in Palm Desert, you must go try them and weigh in.)

On Jen and Ken’s recommendation, we also went to see Robolights. It’s an indescribable art installation in a local man’s back yard that is open during the holidays and that we just happened to catch while it was still going on. The artist has taken reclaimed materials and created sculptures and vignettes with toilets, telephones, mannequins, gas masks, microwaves and more along paths traversing his property. It’s simultaneously eerie, whimsical, disquieting, and beautiful. (If that makes no sense, then please refer to the part above where I said it’s indescribable and give me a few points for at least trying.)

After a few days combining errands and fun, we returned to our convenient and comfortable dispersed camping spot south of Joshua Tree National Park. That spot served us well during our entire southern California stay, especially where the animals were concerned. They had enough room there to play safely, so they could experience some freedom before we took them to unfamiliar territory where they’d be leashed much more often.

At one point I went up to the attic to take down some summer clothes and saw these darling little paw prints covering the entire roof.

Often when we’re sitting inside we can hear her stomping around on the roof and we pretend to complain about our loud upstairs neighbor. And usually if the vent is open, she shoves her face against the screen and meows at us, and we say we can’t take it anymore; we’re moving.

During our three-day BLM stay, two very awesome things happened.

The first was that we had a chillier day, so we stayed in reading books and when I made chili for dinner I decided to try out stovetop cornbread as well, which turned out great! Our oven is still currently being used for storage until we decide to sacrifice the extra space and get it fixed. So it’s always fun to figure out ways to prepare oven-y food on the stovetop.

The second awesome thing (and actually awesome, not like the last cornbread thing) happened as we prepared to leave on the third day. As we packed up, a guy in a white Toyota 4WD van pulled up to introduce himself. His name was Alex and we’ve been following each other on Instagram ever since he spotted the Turtle up in Yukon last summer, found our Blue Turtle Crossing account and messaged us! He’d just happened to be driving around checking out vans in the BLM spot while he waited for some friends to finish up their tour of Joshua Tree and he saw the Turtle. Small world, right?

He invited us to join them all at their campsite in Painted Canyon that evening, which we happily did. The wonderful spot took second seat next to how much we just loved meeting Alex, Andres and Desiree and getting to know them as we sat around the campfire that evening. It’s so exciting when overlanders come together to share vandwelling stories and travel experiences, since it’s such a unique lifestyle that being able to relate to new friends with a common mindset is refreshing. And they were all just a treat to meet.

You can follow them on Instagram here:

@roaming_northamerica

@papapitufo_follow_our_trip

They were all headed to Slab City, which is where we were headed as well, so we made plans to join them there the next day. You might recall that we travel slowly so we needed an extra day.

On our way, the bizarre parts of the desert began to reveal themselves. First we stopped at Bombay Beach on the edge of the Salton Sea, an enormous inland surface water body that is only about 100 years old and lies 228’ below sea level. Bombay Beach used to be a thriving resort town, but is now almost completely abandoned and looks like a post-apocalyptic movie set.

Equally as strange and fascinating was our final destination for the day, Slab City. This “town” sits on an abandoned military base and is comprised of vans and RV’s scattered in semi-organized clusters of visitors and full time residents, some of whom live there even through the 125-degree summers. Others stay there for just days or months at a time, and all travelers are welcome. Many of the residents have built fences, patios and artwork around their rigs made from reclaimed materials, and the town even has a music venue and café. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

We found our friends parked up above the town, and made our way through and around the streets to meet them up on the bluff just a short walk to Salvation Mountain.

Oh, did you think the bizarre part was over? It is not. Salvation Mountain is a total trip. It’s a 50-foot-high mountain made of adobe and covered in layers of paint that a man named Leonard Knight created to share his deeply felt message of God’s love to the world. It’s bright and beautiful and feels like walking on a cake in a children’s book. We’d seen pictures before we got there, and honestly the experience of walking the “yellow brick road” path of the mountain was much more impactful than I’d imagined it would be.

We got back to our little neighborhood and hung out for a bit before collecting wood for our evening fire. It was another great evening with the caravaners!

They planned to take off for Baja quite early the next morning, so we said our goodbyes that night. The next morning I saw a photo Alex had posted about them getting stuck in the sugar sand as they tried to depart, and I felt sorry that we hadn’t heard them so we could have come out to help. But they’d made it out, so it all worked out.

When we tried to leave later that morning, we weren’t so lucky.

The flour-soft sand swallowed our tires and no amount of digging and laying rocks under the tires would get that Turtle out. We worked for hours and hours, but every attempt ended in us being settled deeper in an ever-growing depression in the sand. A few people came and attempted to help free us, but to no avail. One guy tried to tow us out and got himself stuck in the sugar sand too, so once we’d dug him out he left us to our own devices. Unfortunately we didn’t have many. We weigh nearly 11,000 pounds and that sand really was like powdered sugar and gave us no traction whatsoever.

I called the nearest tow company to price the job, just so we’d know we have an option if nothing else worked. He quoted me $600 so we crossed that option off the list and decided that even if it meant digging the bluff down one shovelful at a time until we hit the firm dirt down below, we’d do that. Andy walked down into Slab City to find someone with a truck, and with a promise from one resident that he’d return the following morning we spent one more night in Slab City, wondering if we were destined to become residents as well.

The next day we began with about 100 fewer bruises than we’d have on our arms and legs by the end of the day. The man who’d promised to come help us did indeed bring his 4WD truck up to tow us out, but there was so much sugar sand between us and the hard dirt path that our tow strap wouldn’t reach. Another resident who had come up to see the action loaned us two lengths of chain and a thick rope. A couple riding bikes stopped to help, and between the husband’s hard work ethic and his wife’s cheerful attitude and no-nonsense management style, we were soon ready to give it a try.

The number of times that it didn’t work should have defeated the group to the point of giving up on us, but they stuck by it, digging and digging alongside us and trying again, until another local brought his truck up to contribute to the effort. One truck pulled the other truck who pulled the long rope which pulled the two lengths of chain which pulled the tow strap pulling the enormous blue Turtle which was being pushed by four of us, and suddenly we were inching our way out of the sand to firm ground.

HOORAY! The Turtle was mobile once again. We are so often humbled by the kindness of strangers; we could not have done it without a single one of them. We profusely thanked the group, and after talking for a bit we all departed the sandy bluff. I took some sugar sand with us as a souvenir, and in high spirits we drove to the other side of Slab City to see East Jesus, the art and sculpture garden created by the residents.

And once again we were back on the road, as if we hadn’t just been in a real pickle and then immediately afterward saw a wall of old TV’s carefully painted in the middle of an art field in the middle of next-to-nowhere.

The desert is magical, and the desert is bizarre.

Mojave National Preserve: Kelso Dunes

Everyone has heard me say it over and over—whether in defense of my inability to supply Turtle arrival dates and destinations or even just to tell stories involving unexpected delights and trials—and just in case you haven’t heard me say it lately, I’m here today to say it again! When you travel full time and are regularly on the move, there’s not a lot of time to make future plans. We’re always in the middle of an experience, so not only do we not have time to sit and research, we also could change course at a moment’s notice and then all the time we spent planning would be for nothing. So we just wing it, and more often than not we’re pleasantly surprised!

There was a whole lot more to Mojave National Preserve than we’d imagined, and the next stop was the Kelso Dunes on the south side of the preserve.

Just a little ways past the Kelso Dunes Trail parking is a free dispersed camping area, where we found a nice spot against the dunes, had some lunch, and let the animals out to play in the sand.

While Andy sat outside the Turtle, basking in the sun and sanding a car part to artistic perfection, Scout and I embarked on a hike up the dunes.

The dunes give the landscape no sense of perspective, but if you can see the line where the light sand meets the darker shade, just to the right of the green swath in the middle is the lighter dirt of the parking area, where a teeny tiny turtle sits almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

After a few hot hours of slow and steady climbing, we got nearly to the top when we were faced with a nearly vertical wall of sand. I tried scrambling up at top speed, but the moment my hand dug into the sand, this happened:

My hands and feet would get buried in the sand avalanche and I’d slide right back down! After some serious top speed climbing and a ton of grunting and a few requests to Scout to stop making it look so easy, we made it to the top.

Totally worth it!

A wonderfully long hike is not its own reward in Scout’s opinion, so I had to make the journey worth his while by playing a little frisbee with him on top of the world.

When the day began, I couldn’t have anticipated that this would be my backyard vista. Another pleasant surprise for the books.

A Sun Story: Canyonlands National Park

Both Andy and I grew up in Montana, and later lived in Seattle and Portland for the better part of our adult lives. This was mostly a coincidence, as we didn’t meet until we were both living in Portland, though early on we discovered that our paths had crossed many times over the years. We joke that our first concert together was The Pixies at Bumbershoot years ago, despite the fact that we didn’t know each other at that point.

We love Montana and the Pacific Northwest dearly, or we wouldn’t have stayed so long! But I think we can all agree that none of these places are known for an abundance of warmth and sunshine. Which is why, as we get farther and farther south, we’ve been amazed at the effect the sunshine has had on us. We’ve been infused with energy and feel so ready to take on the day each morning, and it only occurred to us after a few weeks in Utah that the sunshine may have something to do with it. We’re not used to all this vitamin D and the great feeling of sunshine warming our toes in their flip flops.

Luckily, we made it out to some seriously wide open spaces that can accommodate our ebullient sunshine-infused energy. After exploring Arches, we stayed one last night at our great BLM site north of Moab, then drove the short distance to Canyonlands National Park.

It’s big.

The park is divided into four sections, with no continuous road connecting them due to the paths of the Green and Colorado rivers.

The districts are:

Island in the Sky
The Needles
The Maze
The Rivers

They each have separate entrance points and every area offers a unique park experience. We were closest to the Island in the Sky, which is one of the more developed portions of the park, with hiking trails and a designated campground.

Right away we decided to drive straight through to the end of the road, at Grand View Point.

There’s an overlook with an incredible view, and an easy walking trail that follows the rim of the Island in the Sky for about a mile out one way.

The viewpoint at the end of the trail is 360 breathtaking degrees of, well, canyonlands! It’s hard to grasp the scale of it.

On the walk back we wandered off the main trail to check out the landscape a little farther from the rim. It’s a great playground, and we ran and climbed around the smooth rock formations under the sunshine.

When we got back to the Turtle, the sun was beginning to go down. We drove out to the Green River Overlook to watch it slide like melting butter across the rolling hills below.

The view in the other direction wasn’t bad either! The saturated evening sun lit the rocks and bushes, painting everything in rich golds.

Near the Green River Overlook is the Willow Flat Campground, where we decided to stay for the night. There’s a lot of room to walk around there too, so we took Scout out to explore while we watched the rocks change colors. (As we walked he was on his leash per park rules, but I liked the backdrop so I took it off for the photo. He’s getting a lot better at having his picture taken and didn’t move an inch the whole time. Good boy!)

The sunset was as grand and spectacular as the canyon views.

The next morning we got up before the sun rose to walk up to Mesa Arch, which the ranger recommended we see at sunrise. Apparently it’s the most photographed spot in the park, as the rising sun illuminates the underside of the arch beautifully.

He was right!

We drove around the park afterwards as we drank our coffee and looked at the map to find one more hike before leaving. We decided on Whale Rock, which was a moderate hike with a cool name. I loved this hike.

The views were expansive from way up on the huge smooth rock dome that actually did feel like walking on a whale’s back. We played with shadows in the crisp morning light and tried not to blow off the edge as the wind picked up.

We left the park glowing with happiness and moved west until we reached a dispersed camp area outside St. George. Scout and Gracie were ready to get out and play too, and this spot was perfect for us all to hop out and run around.

I looked out the back window after the animals had been out for a bit and caught them in a sweet moment.

I guess all this sunshine is really working wonders for everyone! I think we’ll stay down here a while.

Disc Golf, Hot Springs, Board Games, & Animal Photos: The Nelsons Come to Missoula!

Guess who came to visit us in Montana last month:

Kona!

And she brought our good friends and long-time-ago neighbors, Lisa and Rhema!

We were super excited when we heard that they would be coming out to Montana around the same time we were dropping in from Canada, so we made plans to meet up for a week in my beloved old stomping grounds—Missoula.

Fall was in full swing when they arrived, and despite the fact that the forecast said we’d have mostly rainy and cold weather, it was crisp and sunny for almost the entire trip. Since we’d anticipated the October-in-Montana weather, though, Rhema and Lisa had planned on staying in the Jeep, and they made a super-cool bed platform and suction cup curtains so that they could sleep inside. They did an awesome job, and had lots of room for storage under the platform and so much overhead clearance that Andy and I commented numerous times about how luxurious it was! Lisa even strung up tiny lights across the inside making it incredibly cozy.

(I forgot to get a picture of that, probably because we’re all animal people and mostly took photos of the pets having fun. So brace yourself for copious animal photos!)

Since both parties were mobile, we’d planned on visiting a few camp sites around the Missoula and Lolo areas. It’s the winter season so we had only a few options for open campgrounds, but the ones available were some of my old favorites, so it worked out brilliantly.

The first site we visited was Chief Looking Glass, just south of Lolo. We like this spot because there is a great site on the edge of a huge field, so Gracie can roam and the dogs (and their people) can run around and play frisbee.

Both Rhema and Lisa are incredible disc golfers, so we told them before they came to bring their discs because Missoula is a big “folf” town and has two great courses nearby. (For Rhema’s sake, that’s the last time I’ll use the term, but for accuracy I have to acknowledge that it’s what Missoulians call the sport.)

On our first full day of the trip, we went up to the Blue Mountain course and Andy and I got a lesson in disc golf from the pros. They were so professional in fact that they didn’t once complain about having to walk slowly beside me as I threw 5 times before my disc reached where their first throw landed.

We all agreed that this was a great way to get a taste of the Montana scenery while catching up and playing a game. And aside from a few minutes of rain and later a few minutes of hail, the weather held up quite nicely.

Kona also tagged along and sniffed her way through the course, though Scout did not, for obvious reasons. For a frisbee-obsessed dog, it would have been pure torture watching us throw discs and making him leave them alone.

Toward the end of the course, Kona’s sniffing led her to a very wild and wonderful smell which she loved so much she couldn’t resist rubbing her face and body all over it. It turned out to be some wild animal scat, which was so potent and foul that she required a soapy shower when we got back to the parking lot!

She was pretty sheepish about it, but a good sport.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that we had to walk down to the river to rinse her soap off, we wouldn’t have seen the tiny fuzzy bear cub that walked across our path on the way back! We waited a bit to make sure his mom wasn’t right behind, then quickly got back to the cars and drove back to Chief Looking Glass.

The next morning was another sunny one, and we had our coffee by the river near our site.

Then we took advantage of the sunshine and drove out to Pattee Canyon to try out the disc golf course there. It’s a very densely wooded course, so the soundtrack to this outing was the constant cracking of plastic against trees.

We kept score this time, and it will surprise no one that Rhema and Lisa did very very well, Andy did well, and everyone acknowledged that I participated.

Whether or not you’re a first-rate disc golfer, it’s a beautiful walk through the woods and we had a great time. Afterwards we took our sore arms (it truly is a work-out on the old triceps) to Tamarack Brewing to try lifting some beers, and also ordered their Keg Of Nachos that is as delicious as it is enormous. Between the four of us we couldn’t finish the thing!

We decided to switch things up and go to another site for the night, a favorite of mine when I lived in Missoula—Thibodeau Campground. It’s open all year, right on the Blackfoot River and far away from civilization, so you can hear the river while you watch the myriad stars at night. It’s a great spot.

Rhema and Lisa have a great camera and when paired with Rhema’s equally great camera skills, we got a bunch of gorgeous photos of the animals!

Just a few minutes from the campground is a local-favorite day-use spot called Red Rocks. It’s just a short walk from the parking area. . .

And then you’re right on the river with a stunning backdrop across the water!

It was another beautiful day, and Scout wasted no time getting in the water to swim, fetch sticks, and watch us skip stones. Rhema caught his tail in mid-swish as Andy skipped a stone.

We spent a few hours at Red Rocks, enjoying the weather and making some sweet cairns.

The water was so lovely and appealing that after some time considering it, Rhema finally couldn’t help himself and had to jump in!

As he dried off, he and Andy built a very charming stone man.

Scout just pretty much tried to get us to throw sticks the whole time.

And Kona practiced her camouflage skills.

On the way back into Missoula, Kona rode along with us in the Turtle. She loved it and sat up front the entire time like it was her usual spot!

Scout sat in the front-middle for the first part of the trip, and then in the back for the last bit.

When we got back to town, we stoped for a beer and a few games of shuffleboard at Kettle House Brewery.

Scout and Kona watched us from the Turtle when we came out to the patio to play a game of Rummikub.

The next day we drove into Lolo National Forest to stay a night at Lolo Hot Springs. We got a nice spot at their campground and paid entry to the hot springs so we could soak before dinner, after dinner, and then before bed. We got our money’s worth for sure!

The next morning we had coffee at the restaurant and discussed plans for the day. Should we drive farther into the forest and find a dispersed camping spot, stay another night, or camp somewhere else on the other side of Missoula? As we thought it over, we noticed that since we’d been at the restaurant the night before they’d added a bunch of balloons hanging over the bar. We asked what they were, and the bartender said they were full of coupons and cost $2 each to pop one and see what’s inside. Well of course we had to!

We each popped one, and the bartender bought us two additional balloons, so we ended up with six coupons, one for a free tent site and one for a free cabin site! Plus free soaks and free drinks. . . and the decision was made. We stayed another night!

The cabin was tiny and adorable, and made for a great spot to dry our swim suits in between soaks.

That night we spent a few hours in the restaurant eating dinner, playing Catan, having some drinks, and laughing about how we basically got a free day of fun at Lolo Hot Springs!

When we woke up the next morning, it had snowed a little bit.

But as we drove back toward Missoula, the snow eventually melted and we had beautiful views of the bright yellow larches covering the mountains.

When we got back to town, we stopped at Rockin’ Rudy’s to browse for souveniers, Andy got a fancy new pair of sunglasses, and then we took the dogs down to Bark Park, a great dog park right on the river near the university.

As the day neared its end, so did our visit with Rhema and Lisa. We went back to Chief Looking Glass for one last night of fun and games and animal friend snuggles. Gracie adopted Rhema early on in the trip, and every game session in the Turtle looked much like this:

Also this:

We realized after the sun had gone down that we hadn’t taken a group shot yet! So Rhema set up the camera and we gave it our best attempt.

Perfect.

We were very sad when it was time to say goodbye the next day, as we always are after a visit from Lisa, Rhema and Kona.

We miss you guys! But especially now that you have that sweet setup in the back of the Jeep, we know we’ll see you down the road. Thanks so much for coming our way and spending your week off with us! We’ll keep you posted on our progress toward Baja, so you can start driving that way too. . .

Wildlife Safari on the Alaska Highway

Remember that time I said we loved spotting wildlife? Well we really loved the drive down through British Columbia into Alberta.

As we pulled away from Liard Hot Springs, we made it about 100 feet before spotting this darling lineup of wood bison.

We read in one of our travel pamphlets that while wood bison are a subspecies of the American bison, they differ slightly from the plains bison that are more common in the States. The most obvious difference is in size: these guys are much larger than the bison we’d seen before, and when we looked it up we learned that they are the largest land mammal in North America. Large males can weigh over 2,000 lbs!

I found this handy visual online which compares the two:

As I read this information aloud to Andy as we drove, he tapped my arm and pointed up ahead.

There, on both sides of the road, were about 60 or more wood bison! They ranged in size from hulking males to darling little fuzzy babies.

We pulled over to watch them graze and nap in the tall grass, while others crossed the road right in front of us to meet their group on the other side.

It was very, very exciting—for us, not the wood bison. They seemed pretty nonplussed by the whole encounter.

After a while we decided to move along, and the landscape along the Alaska Highway was just as incredible to watch as the wildlife.

It wasn’t long before we came across another neat animal: a female rock sheep. She was the only one we saw during that portion of the drive, despite the signs all along the road telling us to watch out for rock sheep.

After we passed rock sheep country, we stopped to take a picture of the beautiful rainbow of fall colors on the hill, and this time I was the wildlife being observed from someone inside the Turtle.

The drive took us up into the mountains and then back down again as we approached Fort St. John, B.C.

Once we’d left the mountains we thought the wildlife spotting was over, but just outside of town we came across this handsome couple:

We hadn’t seen as many caribou as Andy had hoped, so this close-up view was just perfect.

There’s a great rocky beach just south of Fort St. John that lots of locals go to launch boats and spend the day, and we saw other boondockers there for the night as well. That night we watched the Northern Lights while Scout and Gracie sniffed around on their leashes, and in the morning we played outside for a while before getting back in the Turtle and driving some more.

Typically we prefer to move really slowly and drive a maximum of two hours a day when we’re not camped out. We’re not in any hurry, it’s cheaper and uses less gas, and we get to see so much more of the world and have more impromptu adventures that way. But since we were trying to stay ahead of the weather, we’d been driving much more frequently than usual, and it was starting to catch up with us. Being in a van all day is not why we’re living in a van!

So when we finally reached Whitecourt, naps were in order. Gracie is the best nap buddy a person could ask for.

Waking people up to interact and play is much more in Scout’s wheelhouse.

We pushed on, and within about 20 minutes of each other we watched a black bear cross the road in front of us, and then a lynx. I speculated that British Columbia wanted to make sure we left satisfied and was quickly sending animals out for us to have one last treat before we crossed over into Alberta.

Alberta felt very metropolitan compared to the rural areas we’d gotten used to, but it was exciting to have cell service and reasonable gas prices again. We decided to take a trip to the West Edmonton Mall to get our wave pool and waterslides on at the World Waterpark. It was a great way to spend a blustery day, and as full-time travelers we always appreciate a fun activity that ends in free showers.

The next day we returned to check out Galaxyland in the mall and went on the “largest indoor triple-loop roller coaster,” the Mindbender, which is very aptly named. Holy moly.

After a few days in town, we escaped back to nature. We had plans to meet up on the road with some friends we met at Diablo Canyon in New Mexico last year, Eric and his PBD (plain black dog), Willow.

We stayed for the weekend at a dispersed campsite outside of Hinton, AB. It was a great spot to catch up on the past year’s travels, have a few beers, enjoy a nice fire in the pit Andy built, and watch some animal playtime.

Now that we were moving away from the land of many predators, we let Gracie have a little supervised off-leash time, and she chose to use her freedom to revisit her favorite sun porch and oversee everyone else’s activities.

While we’re on the subject of wildlife, there are three pets in this picture. Can you spot them all?

Eric is a 5-star animal lover and was a patient and accommodating friend to Scout, throwing toys for him almost every time Scout asked. That meant he was busy from morning to night. Willow loves a cozy chair and a sunbeam, so she didn’t mind watching her human play with another dog.

In case you were wondering, this is what the aftermath of two days of being totally spoiled looks like:

The next day, he was back to his old self and ready to go again!

Of all the wildlife we’ve gotten to see along the way, these two are the strangest and sweetest.

Hmm . . . make that “these three.” Wild beasts, all. I think I’ll keep them.

Yukon Gold

The first thing I said as we drove back into Yukon was, “Wow, the skies are just as big as when we left!” Yes, it’s the same sky as everywhere else, but somehow in Yukon I was constantly aware of the magnitude above me more than other places. It’s beautiful.

It was an exciting time to be my camera, because I had that thing working full time during our drive through Canada. The fall colors were really beginning to explode, and I filled up the camera to capacity every day. I’m sure if Andy asked you to quote me on the trip it would be a three-way tie for, “That YELLOW!” “That RED!” and “That ORANGE!” And that’s only if gasps don’t count.

After spending a few weeks high up in wintery weather, the temperate fall was a welcome change. Scout and Gracie also got to spend more time outdoors, so everyone was enjoying Yukon to the fullest.

On our original trip through Yukon, Andy had mentioned wanting to pan for gold, and as we drove farther through the province, we realized we still hadn’t tried our hand at fortune-hunting yet. We found a nice spot to pull out by the river, took our pot lids, food scoops and a very excited doggy down to the water, and got to work.

It was a lot of fun and pretty exciting, even though we didn’t see any sparkly signs that we were in a good spot for panning. We wished we’d started sooner in the trip, because I could have panned for hours and hours in any river around.

Scout had other plans for our time outdoors and tried all his best methods to convince us to throw all the sticks he found by the river.

So on the walk back to the Turtle, we threw sticks, played hide and seek behind the trees, and then on the last leg Scout just bounded up and down the path with general Border Collie joy.

Farther down the road Andy wanted to check something under the hood, so we pulled over for a riverside picnic. Though the Yukon is so wide it looks like a lake!

We panned for gold again after lunch, but no luck. We did see a fresh bear paw print in the mud near us, so we decided to make it a quicker stop and get back on the road.

We could see some storms ahead, which made the light moody and surreal.

When the most spectacular rainbow poured out of the sky, we followed it for a full 15 minutes before it evaporated back into the air.

The storm moved all around in the distance, and when we stopped outside Taro for the evening, we could actually see the sheets of rain traveling east along the riverbank.

It never hit us directly, so we basked in the after-storm light and played outside until the sun went down.

Everyone had a successful day, I think.

We had to try one last gold panning session before we left, so we played outside for a bit before packing up.

As I put the panning implements in the Turtle, I laughed at how instantly messy it gets in there, between the toys we keep out to use later, the mud we inevitably and consistently track in, the rocks I can’t stop collecting and have no room for, the boots laying on the floor that we removed to change into “gold-panning shoes”, the travel pamphlets shoved into the front console, among the other regular chaos specific to Turtle life.

I decided to take a picture for posterity, since in 20 years we’ll want to remember the reality of our lives and not just the pretty pictures immediately post-clean-up. Right as I took out my camera, Scout came running to the door to see what I was up to, and the smile on his face and mud on his paws inadvertently made the photo complete: the reason we live this lifestyle, messy as it may be. At the end of the day, we all have that goofy smile on our faces.

There weren’t many gas stations around, so we stopped in Taro for a fill-up and an ogle at this awesome orange beast.

Then back onto beautiful Highway 4 toward Watson Lake, which we’d be passing through one more time on our way into British Columbia and Alberta. But first we had to stop at what was to become our Favorite Campsite Ever, a free pullout on postcard-worthy Finlayson Lake.

Due to the burn ban, we hadn’t been able to have a fire for months, and it seemed like fate that the ban had been lifted right as we came upon this site, complete with cut firewood scattered around for the taking.

We were sitting just a little elevated from the water, overlooking the lake. There was no one around except the two people flying sea planes nearby. It was crisp, cool and clear, and we were on cloud nine that we got to live there for a whole day.

It was such a perfect spot that I took a quick video of the fire so that in future years we can relive the moment.

If we didn’t have the winter weather nipping at our heels, we would have stayed for days. But that chill wasn’t far behind, so we moved on toward Watson Lake.

We thought it would be fun to go visit our signs at the Signpost Village, especially because it’s not too often these days that we’re somewhere familiar. There they were!

Then on we drove into the endless green and gold mountains and valleys of British Columbia.

We had a garbage bag to toss, so we pulled over at a viewpoint to use the waste bins, and accidentally stumbled across this vista.

And this was the view from the other side of the parking lot! Beautiful British Columbia, indeed.

And then to add even more icing to the British Columbia cake, we stopped at Liard Hot Springs and accidentally had the time of our lives. We’d read about it over and over while researching the area, but didn’t think much more of it than “Sure, we could stop at a hot springs; that sounds nice.”

It was wonderful. It’s a provincial park and not privately-run, so for starters it’s really affordable. The day use fee is just $5 per person, but the hot springs fee is waived if you’re camping, which is $26 a night. That’s actually a little on the spendy side for boondockers, but it’s also really nice to have water and garbages at your disposal now and then, in addition to the free hot springs. So we paid for our site, got settled and then went straight to the hot springs.

It’s a beautiful walk down the boardwalk to the springs, over the warm marsh that is very popular with the wildlife, especially during winter.

For a developed hot springs site, this one is surprisingly untouched in all the best ways.

There are bathrooms, changing rooms, and a deck, but other than those few comforts it’s just a lovely pond that’s a piping hot 110-120 degrees at the source and then cools the farther away it travels from there. So the upper pool stays super toasty, and the lower pool is a perfectly warm and slightly deeper swimming pool.

We loved it so much we spent a few hours there on our first trip before going back for dinner and some travel planning.

The Anti-Project always has other plans, but luckily she has a short attention span and was soon on the prowl for buggies while we got a little work done.

As we planned we decided we weren’t ready to leave the hot springs already, so we decided to stay another day, then went back for our night soak. Liard doesn’t have closing hours since it’s a natural springs, so we got to soak until late when we were ready for bed.

The next day was another sunny fall day, perfect for multiple trips to the hot springs.

That night as we splashed around the warm lower pool and visited with some other travelers, the Northern Lights came out in enormous green flickering bands that twisted and arched from one side of the sky to the other over our heads. We laid on our backs and floated in the steaming water, watching the lights and laughing out loud at how perfect it all was.

When we got back to the Turtle, it was late and we were all warm, cozy and ready to snuggle up. While we got ready for bed, Gracie crashed out under her own personal quilt that my niece Ava made for her before we could even make it up to the loft!

With plans to return as soon as possible—especially in the snowy winter months—we got everyone ready to move on.

Gracie’s preferred and self-appointed travel spot is in a clothes bin in the closet, which is kept open for her as we drive. Usually when it’s time to go she hears the engine start and hops into her spot, but if she doesn’t sometimes we have a conversation about it to give her a chance to get in before we start moving. And it’s adorable.

And with the huge skies of the Yukon in our rear view mirror, we set our sights on the road ahead.

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:

The Alaska Road Trip Begins!

Well hello there!

A lot has happened since the last time I updated the blog on our roving whereabouts, wild shenanigans and general goings-on, and if I could, I’d catch you up completely on what we’ve been up to since I last reported. But as I sit here writing this post, I realize how long that could take, as we’ve been moving at breakneck Turtle speed for the last few months! (Of course I’m not referring to miles-per-hour speed, as that remains as slow as ever. I’m talking about how much ground we’ve covered, which for us has been a lot in an uncharacteristically short amount of time.)

Instead, I’ve decided to pick up where we are at this moment, which is the beginning of such a fun adventure that I think you’ll agree this is the best place to begin. Because we just crossed the border into Canada, which (in our minds at least) is the official beginning of the Overland Trek to Alaska!

The general plan is as follows:

The Timeframe: A month driving up to Alaska (July), a month exploring Alaska (August), and a month returning home (September). We’d stay longer, but we’d like to stay ahead of snowy road conditions and by October the roads can start to ice over.

The Route: We are going to loosely follow what some travel guides call the “Gold Rush Route” on the way up, and then follow the Alcan Highway which ends just north of Montana, so we can drop in to see family at the end of the journey.

Must See: Denali National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, The Cook Family in Anchorage, Harding Ice Fields, Kenai Peninsula, and a moose. (It doesn’t matter which one.) Other than that we’ll play it by ear, as is our general travel style. There’s a lot of Alaska up there and we want to see as much as we can without moving so quickly that we forget to relax and enjoy the quiet moments that we’ve come to love most during our travels. I’ve been surprised to find my sweetest memories are the little surprise spots we stumble across between official destinations, and we try to make sure we leave room for improvisation for that reason.

Aaaaand, honestly, that’s as far as we’ve gotten. It’s tricky to make new travel plans while you’re in the midst of traveling and enjoying your current location! So we’ve become accustomed to making detailed itineraries a day or two in advance and then making more general plans where the upcoming weeks and months are concerned. It’s just no use trying to nail things down when we could see an interesting road and end up somewhere completely different than we’d anticipated!

We just arrived in Canada yesterday, and already we’re just charmed to pieces. It’s very familiar of course, but different enough that we’re excited to see what unexpected twists we’ll encounter as we go.

Unanswered questions include:

How different are the regulations regarding boondocking? Can you stay overnight at any turnout or viewpoint along the highway like you can in the states we’ve visited in the US?
What are “good” prices for fuel and propane? Our brains are already so tangled by conversions, and then by the time we work out what the prices are in US Dollars we realize that we don’t even know if the price is good or bad for the region we’re in!
We were surprised by the questions they asked us at the border, but they let us in so who are we to complain? They had a lot of questions regarding our lack of jobs, even though we explained we were living off of savings, and wanted to know what jobs we had before we left them for life on the road. The agent asked to see bank account balances to ensure we had enough money to cover our trip, which makes sense. He didn’t ask about pets, even though we did have all the documentation for Scout and Gracie including immunization records, etc. The one we’re still puzzled about though is that he asked how many guns we own. Not how many we were carrying with us, but how many do we own anywhere in the world. Interesting, right? The answer is none, so I’m not sure what the outcome would have been had we said we had an arsenal somewhere in the states. But again, we’re not here to tell the man how to do his job, especially since we crossed over in very little time.

Today we went to Vancouver, BC and had a great time at the Granville Island Market and VanDusen Botanical Gardens before hitting up a few points of interest including the steam clock, a “metaphysical supply store,” the Digital Orca, and the Marine Building. All awesome.

We love Vancouver!

And now that we’re all up-to-date on the current adventure, here is a sampler platter of the aforementioned shenanigans we’ve been into the last month or two, for those who like pictures of cute animals, lovely scenery, fun friends, and other general niceness.

	Blue Turtle Crossing on 3 Months in Baja: San Felipe t…
	Blue Turtle Crossing on 3 Months in Baja: San Felipe t…
	Blue Turtle Crossing on 3 Months in Baja: San Felipe t…
	Kevin Wood on 3 Months in Baja: San Felipe t…
	Don Herington on 3 Months in Baja: San Felipe t…