vanbuild

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.

Catching Some Rays at Arches National Park

Living in a van comes with its own set of challenges, which are made increasingly more difficult when the weather is freezing. We’ve spent many months living in icy climates in the Turtle, and while the learning experience was necessary and helpful, we’re ready to put the cold temperatures behind us for a while. Everything is so much simpler in the sunshine. We don’t have to worry about tanks and water lines freezing, running out of propane so quickly, and water and dump facilities closing for the season. We don’t have to insulate the windows, making the interior a cave without a view. Andy doesn’t have to do maintenance under the hood with gloves on. Everything just works better in warm weather.

We discussed this while we were up in Alaska, dreaming up ideas and plans for the winter. Last winter we spent most of our time in the snow, and this winter we decided we’d be crazy not to follow the other snowbirds down south to enjoy a little sunshine!

As we left the snowy weather behind us in Spearfish, we decided to break our self-imposed rule to not travel more than a few hours a day in order to get out of the cold as soon as possible. We made quick time through a few states and finally slowed down once we hit sunshine in Utah. We could hardly believe it was December as we drove out to some BLM land outside of Moab and parked the Turtle in the sunny desert.

Scout and Gracie were pretty pleased too. One of Gracie’s favorite pastimes is rolling in the dirt, and she got right to it. That little beast was so covered in dirt she didn’t even look like the same cat. Scout and I played obstacle course Frisbee between the grasses and shrubs and ran around the flat landscape. Andy got his tools out and turned some wrenches under the Turtle. Everyone was feeling spectacular.

The best part was that we were this joyful and had only made it to our campsite. We still had a bunch of places to explore just down the road from us.

The first was Arches National Park. Yay!

Arches contains more than 2,000 natural arches, many of which are visible by car if you’re making a quick trip, and the rest can be seen along the myriad hiking trails that could easily occupy a few days in the park.

The first day we spent time in Moab before going to the park, resupplying and running errands, so we just popped into Arches as the sun was descending to drive through and see a few things before it got dark. Among other great rock formations, we saw the Three Gossips, Balanced Rock, and walked the short distance to the upper viewpoint where you can see Delicate Arch from afar. (That’s the iconic one you always see in pictures of Arches and on the Utah license plates.)

We went about halfway in, and after the sun went down we drove back north to our wonderful campsite on Willow Springs Road for the night.

The next day we arrived earlier so we could spend the day in the park.

First we took the very short walk back through tall rock walls to see Hidden Arch.

It seemed like the kind of place someone might pose like this, so I did.

Then we drove to the end of the road at Devil’s Garden Trailhead and walked in to see Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. There were a bunch more to see farther down the trail, but that hike can take a full day and we definitely wanted to do the 2-hour hike to Delicate Arch. It’s famous!

The Delicate Arch trail is a lot of fun, and I’d go on that hike even if there wasn’t a gorgeous natural formation to see at the end. At first it’s a just a nice walk on a dirt trail surrounded by neat rocks and a pretty view.

Then midway through the hike, the trail suddenly stops at a huge smooth rock dome that you walk up-up-up and over, with incredible views from the top! Somehow, the only pictures I took faced away from the view. No one knows why.

Once you reach the top, you walk through little areas of desert bushes and juniper trees for a bit.

And suddenly you turn the corner and are walking on a rock path winding around a huge sandstone wall on your right. Andy climbed right up the side of it to peer through the little arch at the top, so I followed.

And what a view!

It wasn’t very busy that day, so by the time we walked over to the arch nobody was photographing it and we got to take our time getting some nice pictures.

On our way back we took a side trail to go see some petroglyphs.

As the sun began to set, we made one last stop at Double Arch. It was our favorite of the day! We climbed up a bit until we were underneath the arches, lay down on the ground and watched the shadows move across the rocks until dusk.

A quick trip to Moab Brewery rounded out the day perfectly, and soon we were back at our Willow Springs site. It was completely dark by then, but still warm enough to spend a little time outside before going back in for the night. Happily tired from a day full of hiking, we could just walk in and put our feet up. No insulating, no buttoning up to be done, no wet clothes to hang, no layers to put away.

It feels like summertime in the desert, and the living is easy.

Even More Parties: Spearfish, SD

As we meet new friends along our journey, most people are curious to know how far we’ve made it in the last two years living in the Turtle. And when they hear the answer, nearly all of them are surprised to discover how few states and provinces we’ve added to the list.

In case you’re wondering, here it is:

Oregon
Washington
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
South Dakota
Colorado
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Utah
Arizona
Nevada
Alaska
Texas*
British Columbia
Alberta
Yukon

* I can’t decide if we should count Texas since we just crossed through the panhandle, which—on a side note—we learned is actually referred to as “West Texas”. Hm. Anyway, we were just there for a few days and never really got into the state so it feels like cheating to add it at this point. I’ll get back to you on that one.

Looking at the list, it seems like a lot of places to have spent time in two years, especially considering what my list would have looked like a few years ago living in Portland! But we’ve found that many full-time travelers move much more quickly than we do, and the fact that we haven’t even crossed over into the eastern half of the United States is perplexing to them. We’ve talked to people who drove from one coast to the other in a week! Which is perfectly fine—especially if your vehicle gets good gas mileage—but that’s just not our travel style. The Turtle is aptly named. We move slowly. And we like it that way!

First of all, there are just a staggering number of incredible and beautiful and strange things to discover in every area we go. The more slowly we move, the more things we get to experience. Some of our favorite places have been little surprise spots we’ve stumbled across and loved so much we just stayed. Secret lakes, rivers, overlooks and canyons that we’ve had all to ourselves, and that we could have easily just driven by if we hadn’t taken the time to turn off the beaten path to explore.

Secondly, we don’t get good gas mileage. I think you’re not surprised. So the less we drive, the less money we’re spending. We might as well stop to smell the roses so that we can prolong our trip.

And lastly, we haven’t made it far because we keep getting opportunities to hang out with family! There’s always something going on and now that we have the chance to be more present, we’ve really been enjoying family time as if we were neighbors. So as we’re driving around, if we hear of an upcoming event, we just head that way.

After spending a few weeks of fun visiting Andy’s family in Great Falls and then my family in Bozeman, the last of the family stops (for now) was a visit to Andy’s sister Maggie’s house in Spearfish, South Dakota. His mom Genie was getting knee surgery there, so we stopped by for moral support and to lend a hand where we could, and if a lot of fun was had together in the meantime, so be it.

Genie’s knee surgery was scheduled for birthday, so we celebrated ahead of time with a formal dinner. Andy prepared another fantastic feast, with his scrumptious stuffing and a second turkey.

Andy’s niece Ellie can plan a party like nobody I’ve ever met before, and she’d already picked out the perfect cake to make. (I’d advise saving the date for her to plan your party now; by the time she’s old enough to begin working, she’ll be booked for a lifetime already.) Maggie baked the cake and made the icing, I iced it, and Ellie and I piped the flowers. Her brother Will came home and soon he and Andy were even hard at work piping flowers too.

Maggie set a lovely table, and Andy’s turkey came out perfectly.

It was really shaping up to be a good party! Everyone got dressed up and we got a few photos to show that we do in fact clean up pretty well.

It was a lovely party!

Genie had her surgery, and it went well. As she recovered, we all enjoyed our time together.

Gracie and Scout played outside in the sunshine regularly.

Andy made some turkey noodle soup.

And it was delicious!

He also worked on this car part. Before meeting Andy I didn’t realize that an appropriate adjective for car parts could be “pretty”.

A few days later, it was Andy’s birthday! We surprised him with a Lego-themed party, which I’d been wanting to do for a few years now, but this location was ideal since Will and Ellie have extensive Lego collections and are also nice people who are wiling to share their Legos.

Ellie blew up exactly 70 balloons. And lived to tell the tale.

Since Andy is not fond of sweets, I made him his second-annual mashed potato and gravy birthday cake, which he deemed satisfactory under the authority of his Lego crown.

As everyone else in the group is normal and does like sweets, I also make a proper birthday cake for the rest of us. I planned a little surprise for Will during Andy’s surprise party, which was a challenge to remember which secrets to keep from whom, but somehow we pulled it off. When he came up to visit us in Alaska this last summer, we’d talked about having Baked Alaska at some point, but it never happened. So for the birthday cake, I tried making a Baked Alaska for the first time and was lucky enough that everything went according to plan and it turned out great. And tasted delicious too!

Second Party was a success.

Whose dog is this?

A few days later it was time for the third party of the trip—Thanksgiving dinner. Ellie brilliantly repurposed the sign she’d made for Andy’s birthday, and added the most impressive and charming little Lego turkey! Andy and I both assumed the other had helped her with it and laughed out loud when we learned that she did it completely on her own.

It was our third turkey feast in under a month, so we felt very spoiled and happy about it. Andy’s turkey roasting skills only improved each time, and the holiday dinner was his best showing yet! Once Thanksgiving day had passed, we’d gotten so accustomed to having parties that we kept the good times rolling with other activities, such as:

Face taping.

Bowling.

Hanging Christmas lights.

Festive drinks.

More fancy dinners. (Andy dry aged a steak and cooked it sous vide! Truly the best steak I’ve ever had. He’s something else.)

Recess.

Grocery shopping.

Perfecting more car parts. (Bonus points if you can identify the part.)

Pizza eating.

Christmas train maintenance.

General shenanigans.

We felt lucky to begin December with sunshine, but soon the cold weather did finally set in. It just so happened that our trip was coming to a close anyway, as Genie had recovered enough to return to Great Falls.

So as winter descended on Spearfish, we left in search of sunshine, and to add another state to our slowly growing list: California!

All Kinds of Parties: Billings & Bozeman, MT

As October neared its end, we found ourselves back in Bozeman, MT to visit my family as we continued our journey south. It’s still beautiful there!

The weekend before Halloween, we drove over to Billings to spend the weekend with our good friends Blake and Martha. (Martha is taking this photo, so she is not pictured. Sorry Martha.)

We were excited to have time this year to make Halloween costumes, and while we stayed with Blake and Martha we’d planned to dress up and go out with some friends. Andy was a steampunk mad scientist, and after he put the outfit on I realized that this isn’t too far a cry from his real persona.

I was a steampunk mechanic, and the moment I put on the bustle I’d made (from curtains at Goodwill) I decided it was the one thing that’s always been missing from my daily wardrobe.

Once the group arrived at Blake and Martha’s, Martha unveiled the snacks that she had prepared (with some help from Andy and Blake, they’ll want you to know). Aren’t they adorable?

And isn’t the group adorable?

Off we went to a local pub downtown, where the Halloween party was just beginning. (Wonder Woman did not join us on this portion of the outing.)

We had a blast! It was a fun night, and a super-fun weekend hanging out with good friends. We watched a couple World Series games, ate some Chalet Market sandwiches (my favorite), Blake, Andy and Harper carved pumpkins. . .

And then suddenly Blake had to go back to work. BOOOOO!

He was probably relieved.

It was still sunny in Billings when we pulled away.

And no sooner were we in Bozeman than the snow began to fall.

Though Gracie enjoys snow as much as any adventure cat, she preferred my mom’s warm bed. And when it wasn’t available, she’d wait outside the door for her turn.

The rest of us enjoyed playing outside.

Then we’d come back inside to visit Gracie.

The last time we visited Bozeman, we made good use of my mom’s kitchen and cooked up a number of tasty feasts for the three of us. Andy and I both love to cook, and do quite well with our three small burners, two pots, one small pan, and limited counter space in the Turtle. (We had authentic Pho while cozied up inside our tiny house in Deadhorse! It was pretty fancy.) But a complete kitchen with lots of space and a full sized oven is a treat we can’t resist. Andy had his heart set on cooking a turkey, and if you’re going to cook a turkey, you may as well make stuffing, and if you’re going to make stuffing, you ought to make mashed potatoes and gravy and also bake a pie, right?

It was weeks until Thanksgiving, but it seemed like the plan was shaping up into a real party. We christened it Fall Feastival, and invited my sister’s family and a few friends over, and Andy spent all day carefully preparing the turkey.

Meanwhile, Clive and Scout and I played in the snow. That boy can really throw a frisbee, even with winter gloves on. Scout was very impressed.

My sister and I contributed to the meal a bit, but mainly it was Andy’s show and he was happy to have full reign over the kitchen. He made stuffing and gravy so good we all considered drinking it straight out of mugs.

It was a genuine feast! The turkey was without a doubt the best I’d ever had. Andy really knocked it out of the park! I made a pumpkin pie cheesecake and hot chocolate for dessert, just in case we didn’t feel we’d spoiled ourselves enough already.

Afterwards we played a little Pin the Tail on the Turkey, which Liam, Clive, and Bella all helped put together.

It was a wonderful celebration! Maybe the First Annual? Any excuse for a feast.

The Fall Feastival marked the end of our visit to Bozeman, so on we traveled toward our next stop: Spearfish, South Dakota. It’s always so hard to leave my people, but we’re grateful to see them as often as we do these days.

I mean, if we didn’t live in the Turtle, I may have never seen this work of art:

Liam made The Eye of Sauron’s girlfriend.

Like I said—my people.

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