trip

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. . .

On Top of the World: Deadhorse, AK + The Arctic Ocean + An Arctic Fox

Here is what you need to know about Deadhorse, AK. It’s a small town in northernmost Alaska near the Arctic Ocean with a population that is often listed at 25-50 permanent residents. The town’s primary function is to house the workers at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, which when including the temporary workers brings the population to around 3,000. In order to house the workers, “pre-fabricated modules” (cozy!) were shipped up and put on man-made gravel pads on top of the tundra, where the workers live for the duration of their employment.

Most people work 12-hour shifts daily for two weeks straight, and then have a week off. The town has a very small airport for transporting workers at no charge, so most people fly home and back in that week. Each work camp has its own building, with different amenities from camp to camp. Some have theaters or gyms or basketball courts, but these are all housed right in the work camp building.

It’s not as if anyone would want to pass the time outside their camp anyway; the mean annual temperature is 12 degrees Fahrenheit, and even the warmest month—July—sees an average temperature of only 47 degrees! Lows in the winter are generally below -40 degrees. It’s freakin’ cold up there. Almost every parking spot in town comes with a power cord.

What this means for tourists is that after being shaken around in your vehicle like dice in a Yahtzee cup for somewhere around 18 hours, there’s not a lot going on up there to do! Well, that’s not necessarily true, but the accomodations for tourists are limited to a gas station, general store, Napa store, a handful of buffet-style cafeterias for the workers that are open to the public during limited hours, and a hotel with a little snack shop and coffee counter inside. So we did all those things on our first full day there.

The white building up there is the hotel. It didn’t look any different than the housing, General Store, or gas station and the town really doesn’t waste good money on signage.

We also came across one of my favorite wildlife sightings to date: a little arctic fox! He was just the sweetest little thing and stayed close enough for us to watch him scamper around for about 5 minutes.

There is also a tour bus that you can book 24-hours in advance (to run a security check), which will take you past the security checkpoint and up to the Arctic Ocean! They charge $70 per person, but once you get that far, you really have to go all the way, right?

We thought so. So on our third day in Deadhorse, we took the early tour through the oil fields and saw the sights on our way to the beach. There were five others on our tour: a French couple who had flown in, and a couple from upstate New York and their tour guide who had driven them up in a tricked out Ford Escape set up by the tour company specifically for the Dalton Highway drive. Their guide jokingly asked if we’d remembered our swimsuits, to which I replied, “Actually, yes!” He laughed good-naturedly, as it was the first day of September, and said he’d be amazed if we went through with it. Challenge accepted!

The beach access we were able to explore was a nice long stretch that jutted out into the ocean. When we got there, our view was especially lovely under a hazy rainbow.

The guide volunteered to take pictures for us, and got a nice play-by-play of our walk out, and Andy’s sudden and shocking dive below the water.

What a beast! That boy knows how to have an adventure. I take longer than Andy does when it comes to decisions involving plunging my bare skin into frigid arctic water on a 30-degree day. But of course I eventually got the job done.

Ok . . . half done. But I’m telling you; it was so cold that not even my five layers on top could save me from that icy shock, or the subsequent half hour of numb legs and toes! It was awesome. We are very proud new members of the Polar Bear Club, and have a pure white rock from the beach as our memento of the day we took the plunge.

By the time we got back to the Turtle, we’d warmed up under the blanket Andy had brought along and felt ready to take on the Dalton Highway again. We decided to break the drive up into three days this time, because we wanted to check another National Park off our list by hiking into Gates of the Arctic.

We turned southward and said farewell to Deadhorse. We were so glad we made the trip, but are fairly certain we won’t be returning unless Andy will agree with my brilliant idea to build a summer home there. And so far he’s not budging. Oh well . . . goodbye, Deadhorse!

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.

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.

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!

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

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

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

It’s become our motto.

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

A place we lived for a night in Corvallis, Oregon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Breakfast in Garnet Ghost Town Parking Lot

Now let’s talk about where you can stay:

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

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

Public land somewhere between Bozeman and Missoula, Montana

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

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

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

That time we lived on a lake

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

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

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

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

A Year of Vandwelling!

Guess what?

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

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

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

THE EASY:

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

THE HARD:

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

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

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

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

We Made It!

We’re here!

On Sunday we arrived at Pacific City, Oregon for the first leg of our exciting new life.

It was a bittersweet farewell from Portland, which was to be expected after living there for a combined 17 years! Portland holds a very special place in both our hearts, and it would take nothing more than a thrilling new adventure to convince us to leave such a unique and beautiful city.

January 30th was both the last Saturday of the month and my birthday, so shortly after noon we left our cozy slice of Sauvie Island and headed to my sister’s house in Washington. There we got to hang out with two of my three sisters, along with their husbands and all 8 combined kids! I was in sister/auntie heaven. The following morning, after a delicious pancake breakfast for me and a (requested) leftover pot roast breakfast for Andy, we said our tearful goodbyes and hit the road.

About a week earlier , we had purchased a Groupon for the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, and stopped there on our way to the coast. If you’re ever in the McMinnville area, I assert that it’s worth the seemingly-high ticket price to check the place out! You can easily spend at least 3 hours there, and more if you see a show in the theater or go to the water park. They have a waterslide that starts at the top of a Boeing 747! (Check it out at http://evergreenmuseum.org)

In the interest of time we didn’t do the water park, but we got to walk inside the Spruce Goose, take a tour inside a B-17, and see an SR-71 right up close.

We arrived in Pacific City just in time for the wild hail storm hitting the coast, and checked into the park. The following morning we were lucky enough to get a bright and sunny start to our stay here! Andy had work to do, but over his lunch break we took Scout down to the water for some border collie beach fun! He was grinning from ear to ear, bounding down the beach and back, jumping up to spring off our legs, and then would bolt away for another lap. It was hilarious!

The rocky coastline makes for a dramatic backdrop! It’s also a lot of fun to climb around on. Scout made it to the top and back five times before we made it halfway up. This really is the happiest I can ever remember seeing this dog. He was having such a nice time he even let me catch a few photos of him.

We have a nice little spot for our tiny house right in the middle of the park. It’s a clean and friendly place, and as a extra bonus, the grounds are home to dozens of wild bunnies!

We also have a great pool and spacious hot tub, which we have been taking full advantage of. Our new schedule allows us pool time before breakfast, during lunch, and after Andy finishes working. Andy gets so excited about pool time that his new work uniform consists of a warm hat, sweater, hiking boots. . . and swim trunks.

On our second day here, we opted to stay in the hot tub for the entire duration of Andy’s lunch break, so afterwards Scout and I took a trip down to the beach by ourselves. The sky was mostly overcast and the wind was incredible! It was stunning and invigorating.

The waves were crashing and pounding on the horizon, and they whipped up the frothiest sea foam I’ve ever seen! A wave would push mounds of foam on to the sand, and then the wind would push it in peaks sideways down the beach. When I tried to pick it up in handfuls, it would vanish instantly in a wisp of airy bubbles. It was magical.

We endlessly marvel at how unbelievable it is that after working so hard over the last year, our vision has finally become a reality. It was incredibly hard work, but our dream to make our lives more about quality time together outside is now our real life! We’ll keep you posted on the goings on of the upcoming week, but so far it has been made up of relaxation, lots of laughing, and especially much more time for days like this:

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