Road Life: Our First Few Weeks

Now that I’ve shown you our renovated R-Pod and thoughts on the transition to tiny living, lets get to the fun stuff…road life! I haven’t found a single word to describe the adventure we’ve embarked on but with Brad’s help we've come up with a few to describe our first few weeks of travel in this post:

 

*ALLURING*

We’ve traveled to 6 different states by now: Indiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah and Arizona with each one presenting a unique and different landscape that has left our jaws on the ground and the overused “wow” spilling from our lips. Imagine Dan Aykroyd in the movie The Great Outdoors repeating that word when they are trying to exterminate the bat invading their cabin - that’s us on a daily basis. One of the reasons we decided to forgo international travel (for now) was because we realized after our honeymoon that the United States offers the most grandest of lands that would keep us busy for years to come. 

 

We both agree that Custer State Park in South Dakota was jaw dropping. Filled with towering rocks larger than many buildings in our hometown, our most memorable hike was through the woods to Little Devils Tower overlooking our second favorite hike at Cathedral Spires. A sweet smell of pine guided us over boulders and rocky terrain to a destination that left us speechless. When we arrived to the final ascent, we were greeted with massive boulders and layers of rock requiring us to climb in order to reach the top. The dogs were with us so we took turns for individual treks to the summit while the other waited behind maintaining their safety. 

 

This was the beginning of the scramble up the rocks and boulders that led to the summit:

 

 

My favorite photo from the summit captured the spires from above:

 

 

 

Brad added a little bit of Pittsburgh to the summit with a pin from his hiking bag:

 

 

 

Another favorite landscape was our campsite in Glacier Basin Campground within Rocky Mountain National Park. We were surrounded by a 360 view of the Rocky Mountains but nothing prepared us for the morning glow of the sun on the mountains behind our camper. The first time we had a clear view was when I was walking back from the bathroom to the camper. When is the last time you had a view like that leaving the restroom? It was one of those validating moments that everything we went through to get here was worth it. 

 

 

The Badlands also did not disappoint. As Brad would describe them, “it looks like someone made giant sandcastles” throughout the park. We weaved through windy roads surrounded by mounds of sandstone and rock in every direction. We were stopped by a female bighorn sheep and her offspring in the middle of the road at one point causing us to watch in awe as they navigated cautiously around our vehicle. 

 

 

 

 

 

*ADAPTABLE*

Not all of our experiences are easygoing and effortless. We’ve endured a LOT of mishaps and nuisances that have required us to adapt and overcome. As previously shared, our first hour in Nebraska welcomed us with 70 mph winds and golf ball size hail without cover on an unfamiliar farm road. We later learned that storm had pre-tornado characteristics! That experience left us all shaking or panicked over the next week anytime thunder rumbled in the distance. Our second debacle happened (also in Nebraska) after we set up camp and filled our 30 gallon fresh water tank for the week. We were enjoying a quiet morning when the sound of dripping water filled our bathroom turned closet. Turns out we need a better fitted cap for our water hoses to prevent a leak. Nonetheless, this required us to dump all of our belongings outside of our camper, hitch back up to the truck (a 20-30 minute ordeal) and drive down the road to empty our tank and use refillable water jugs until the situation can be remedied.

 

 

In Utah I mistakingly left a light on in the truck draining the battery. Nothing like depending on one vehicle in the middle of the desert and the nearest auto shop is over 20 miles away (you hope). If you’re going to have to jump a battery, wouldn’t you want views like that though?

 

 

 

Other not so planned events include myself falling down a set of stairs in a lighthouse resulting in a sprained knee (Nebraska really had it out for us!), Jason walking into the cabinet door earning him a nice cut near his eye, a nightly infiltration of mosquitos right before bed in Nebraska, uneven terrain in Rocky Mountain National Park causing a scare that the R-Pod would fall forward off a wooden block, a broken handle on the screen door, Jason’s elevation sickness in Colorado, extremely difficult parking situations and Brad’s call to jury duty! All situations we have overcome gracefully and continue to persevere.

 

 

*EPIC*

Although this word is thrown aroud a lot anymore, we couldn’t think of anything more accurate to capture our experiences. We hiked over sand dunes and swam in Lake Michigan in Indiana.

 

 

 

We’ve walked the Oregon Trail and witnessed The Old West Balloon Fest from the tailgate of our truck in Nebraska. 

 

 

 

We’ve been stopped dead in our tracks during a bison herd crossing, watched dozens of prairie dogs scurry through fields, visited 2 national parks and witnessed a bit of construction on the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.

 

 

(this photo credit goes to Brad - I handed him my camera and he got these adorable prairie dogs at the last minute)

 

 

We solo hiked through the Rocky Mountains, enjoyed the beauty seen through Garden of the Gods Park, visited Pikes Peak at over 14,000 feet, climbed the 2,768 stairs that make up the Manitou Incline and camped among history in Mesa Verde National Park.

 

 

 

 

(The Manitou Incline - 2,768 steps with 2,000 feet of elevation change in less than 1 mile)

 

 

We’ve hiked through the desert in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park and witnessed the indescribable Grand Canyon in Arizona.

 

 

 

I know we haven’t taken a single second for granted during this trip. Actually, we keep calling it a trip but this is our LIFE. It was a lifestyle change surrounded by many choices we made to arrive in these places. We may not have the right words to describe our adventures and probably never will. Our plan is to keep on living the life we chose without regret and make honest attempts to capture the beauty through photos and words to share this special time. 

 

I kind of enjoy leaving a quote at the end of each blog post so I leave you with one from the late Anthony Bourdain that sums up my thoughts better than I could ever type out on here: "Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."