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A Life Less Ordinary

Category: RVing (page 19 of 25)

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah – Part Three: The Surroundings

June 18, 2019 / / 26 Comments

This is my last blog in the Best Friends series, but I’ll add a little twist in my next post. To read more about the sanctuary itself and our two-week volunteering experience (with heaps of photos of cuteness), particularly in Dogtown, click here. You can find out more about “our” sleepover dogs here.

In my previous blog post, I showed some of the beauty Angel Canyon, where Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is located, comprises. My favorite view is still the one from the Angel Village Café. And, the one through the windows of one of the founders’ home isn’t too shabby either!

View over Angel Canyon from Angel Village Cafe
Wonderful view into Angel Canyon from Jana’s house
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Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah – Part One: The Sanctuary

June 11, 2019 / / 44 Comments

Where do I start?

When I met Mark while traveling through California in 2004, he handed me one of his favorite books to read. It is called “Best Friends – The True Story of the World’s Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary” (published in 2001). Ever since absorbing this story about some of the founders and the animals, we have been captivated by the organization and its no-kill sanctuary in Utah, the biggest one in the country.

Red, Tiponi, Dingo, Dale, Inky, Cliff, Mandalay, Janko, Lordes

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Monthly Expenses – May 2019

June 8, 2019 / / 21 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting, and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 Since July 2018, Mark and I have been combining van life in our Zesty and house and pet sitting, which we did full-time before that. The best of both worlds! 

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce, and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast.

The first ten days of May, Mark and I house and pet sat in Albuquerque and the rest of the month we lived in our camper van in Kanab, Utah while volunteering at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I made a comment in my last expense report that May would be an expensive month for us. It was... extremely expensive... triple the amount of April, because of our camper van.

May is the month in which we pay for our annual van insurance, which increased to over $1,000 this year. That's usually what we aim to spend (but rarely achieve) every month for all the categories! We also purchased a new alternator and pullies for the engine, which Mark replaced himself in Kanab, Utah. It was a day-long project. He can now call himself a car mechanic, on top of a boat mechanic. 🙂

Taking the engine apart…

… and fixing it, at Napa Autoparts in Kanab, UT

Outdoor workshop

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IWSG Writing Update June 2019 – About Drafts

June 5, 2019 / / 46 Comments

Every first Wednesday of the month, the IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) engages writers to share their fears, thoughts, progress, struggles, excitement, encouragement, or anything really, about their writing. A different question is posed each month as a writing prompt. Answering it is optional. For June, the question is: “Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Diane Burton, Kim Lajevardi, Sylvia Ney, Sarah Foster, Jennifer Hawes, and Madeline Mora-Summonte. Feel free to swing by their sites and see what they’re up to.

My answer to the question (Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?)

I used to love reading books. I still do, but unfortunately that activity is at the bottom of my list of priorities. I have no time for it. My life is hectic in a unique sort of way. I make an exception for books I promised to beta read. As a result, I’ve read two books this year – one memoir and one cozy mystery. Yep. That’s it.

As volunteers, we took care of a variety of animals at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

I prefer reading stories about real people and events, as opposed to fictional ones. That being said, to really relax when reading, fiction is preferred. To be honest, since I’ve become a writer, I never read for pleasure anymore. My mind can’t help itself to pick out typos and grammar mistakes (and I make notes!) or somehow learn from the craft.

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Canyons, Dead-ends, and Lessons Learned

May 28, 2019 / / 47 Comments

The Plan

Things don’t always go as planned. Not that we plan often. But after our exhausting house sit in Albuquerque, the idea was to spend a couple of days at a quiet, free campground in El Malpais National Monument, drive to Canyon de Chelly to spend a day hiking and sightseeing, move to the Hopi Reservation in Navajo Nation for an affordable tour and a free night at the Cultural Center, and visit the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. That park opens on May 15th every year and—reputedly—has smaller crowds than the well-trotted South Rim. Our temporary end destination would be Kanab, Utah to volunteer at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary for two weeks. (Click on or hover over the photos to read the captions.)

Panorama from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Albuquerque, NM

But… two important packages—to fix an engine problem in Zesty—refused to arrive as scheduled, before our departure from Albuquerque. Mark did all he could to reroute them to Kanab. Everything seemed in order; we left for some rest in El Malpais, an hour and a half west of the city. Luckily, we picked up a cell signal with AT&T there (we never did with our previous carrier T-Mobile). After a cold yet peaceful night, both packages were to be delivered at our pet sitting address, that Saturday. In awful weather, we returned to the house. The USPS parcel had arrived by 11am, but we waited for the UPS package until 4:30pm; it was the last stop on his route! We drove until 7:30pm to make a little bit of headway in the right direction and “urban camped” in Gallup, NM. Detour: three hours.

Campsite El Malpais NM
Stormy weather
Free night in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel in Gallup, NM – not the quietest place

Lessons learned: Don’t believe everything is in order, until it actually is! And, don’t venture too far away if packages are “in transit”.

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de Shay), AZ

One of the most rewarding experiences of having no expectations is arriving at a new destination and being awed. We rekindled with that feeling we discovered in Bryce Canyon and Arches National Parks last year, in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Navajo Nation, Arizona. This park is free! Staring into the canyon the first time, we found vertical walls, branched off side canyons, a meandering river, and a lush valley.

Canyon de Chelly NM

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Dog Love on the Road

May 19, 2019 / / 51 Comments

Mark and I love dogs. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been ten years since we last had one of our own, on Irie. Kali passed away in Puerto Rico in December 2008 and we lost Darwin on a trip to the US in December 2010.

Kali (white) and Darwin (grey)

From the moment we sailed west from the Eastern Caribbean and then into the South Pacific, we rarely saw boat dogs anymore and sometimes enjoyed the company of strays. They’d follow us on hikes or walks in town.

Once we left the sailing life and “semi-settled” in the US, we experienced a lot of dog love during three years of house and pet sitting assignments. When we moved in our camper van Zesty, we worried about missing out. But, we’ve managed to pet multiple camping dogs and even had one over for a morning of dog sitting! We’ve made many furry friends along the way this year.

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Where Utah and Arizona Meet

May 8, 2019 / / 52 Comments

As Mark and I wrap up our five-week house sit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it is more than time for me to wrap up my blog posts about our explorations in Zesty before that.

Driving through inspiring landscapes

What follows is a series of snapshots of fascinating areas, which didn’t make it in previous posts. Northern Arizona and Southern Utah—it was often not clear in which state we were hiking, camping, or sightseeing—have so much to offer in terms of natural beauty (and an animal sanctuary) that we are returning soon.

Horseshoe Bend
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Monthly Expenses – April 2019

May 5, 2019 / / 18 Comments

Expenses - image

Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting, and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂 Since July 2018, Mark and I have been combining van life in our Zesty and house and pet sitting, which we did full-time before that. The best of both worlds! 

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for the two of us. Under groceries we incorporate all the food, produce, and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and Mark's vitamins and supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor's visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups, we both return to the East Coast.

Lake Powell near Page, AZ

In April, Mark and I lived and traveled in Zesty for the first week. The rest of the month, we house and pet sat in Albuquerque, New Mexico. No crazy expenses this past month. We went out for lunch in Navajo Nation to try Native American food.

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Kicked out of Monument Valley – Bikers Beware

April 28, 2019 / / 53 Comments

Ever since seeing photos of Monument Valley (was it on a calendar, a poster, in a guide book?) years ago, I’ve wanted to visit this Tribal Park in Navajo Nation. So, when Mark and I left Southwestern Utah to drive to a house sit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, we decided to make the detour and explore this park on the Utah-Arizona border. We read that the 17-mile loop drive is in horrible condition and that biking is the best way to see and experience the sites. Perfect! We’d taken Zesty on enough rocky roads lately.

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Catching “The Wave” Means Winning the Lottery

April 24, 2019 / / 53 Comments

“Will you try to go to The Wave when you’re there,” fellow travelers kept asking us as they learned about our plans to visit the Lake Powel area in Northern Arizona. Mark and I had never heard about it, so said, “Maybe.” We rarely plan and certainly not weeks ahead of time. We knew the surroundings of the lake were pretty from Ingrid’s blog and that was it.

When a “Good luck!” followed, we wondered why luck is involved to hike to a sandstone formation. Apparently, there is a lottery involved. “Over 100 people a day apply,” a new friend told us. Hard to believe and it was still too cold to head north, so we kept The Wave in the back of our mind. As more and more people either raved about this destination or wished they could have hiked there, it was time for a quick Google search.

The Wave
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