2/21/2024: Off and Running, We Hope 🤞

The plan is for Alan and I and the dogs to head out on Friday for points unknown, but ultimately south and west and warm and dry. It depends on if the road freezes and if Pippin has been plowed out. The camper is sitting at the back of the storage lot, surrounded by a field of snow. According to a few folks from the Dulce area, this is the warmest winter ever recorded here, and as a result, the usual mud season started in mid-January instead of early March, and continues still. We probably should have left weeks ago! The creek started running yesterday, which is a sure sign of future flash floods in the making. On the plus side, maybe it will be over by March, instead of mid-April, as is usual.

We are still dogsitting Mira, a wonderful, sweet lady who gets along amazingly well with both Clair and Zane, even to sharing bones (mostly….sometimes Zane gets a little testy). She will be staying with another friend when we leave while her mom continues to recuperate.

The last storm, right before Alan got home, dropped 16″ of snow in 4 hours. I’ve never seen anything like it: a full-on blizzard that came and went in a flash and left a winter wonderland behind. Much nicer than mud, but short-lived.

Right after the storm, Alan got home from a productive and fun 10-day stay in Denver, bringing a few mementos from his mom’s home which we have hung on our bedroom wall: “the Angel Corner.” The pups and I were very glad to see him and we immediately started poring over maps and planning this road trip. We decided to stop all house improvement projects until we get home in 6-8 weeks.

I have a list of places we’ve never visited and hope to see. It’s a bit scattered, and I doubt we will make half of them, but a girl’s gotta dream.🌞

I created a temporary window seat, and ended up loving it so much that when we get home, building a permanent bench and real cushion will be one of the first things I do. I can sit here and read, have a London Fog, and watch the birds. Perfect!

Packing for a long road trip is always a challenge. We hate shopping, and eat nearly 100% organic, which limits our options, so we try to bring as much food stuff as will fit in a 14′ camper. Also tools, dog food, backpack gear, etc. In an effort to save a little space, we bought a quieter and much smaller generator and are taking less camping equipment. We don’t use the generator often, just when there’s several cloudy days in a row or need to use something that takes more power than our small solar array allows, but it is a nice luxury.

We DO hope to backpack a bit, maybe on the Arizona Trail again. Both Alan and I are feeling strong and all our various aches and pains seem to be in retreat. We will start by taking long daily hikes, with our packs holding more and more stuff until we feel confident we can carry 25# for 8 miles. Again: 🤞.

We will have our Starlink set-up with us, so I’ll be continuing to teach from on the road and will probably write a few blogs. At home, I have a couple of field/security cams set up and they seem to be operating perfectly. We’ll watch elk cavorting in our yard! Alan and I will also continue to watch The Great British Baking Show, which we are binging on with great pleasure.