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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: camping (page 2 of 4)

Back in Baja (Kind of) – A Week of Dunes, Drives & Decisions

January 24, 2022 / / 53 Comments

It might not have been obvious in my previous blog posts, but Mark and I were antsy about returning to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico this winter, because we had a great time here last spring, meeting like-minded travelers and taking a welcome break after publishing a book. On this subsequent visit, we hoped to hang out with friends, explore this 1,000-mile narrow stretch of land a bit more, and relax on its many beaches. Our initial goal was to arrive in early December and stay until sometime in April.

Shell Beach vista

After multiple delays – trying to find jobs in Arizona, going to the dentist in Los Algodones, more camper projects in the desert, and a few important phone calls while still in the US with good cell service, we finally crossed the border into Baja on January 12th, six weeks later than planned. It was a good day! We had arrived back in Mexico and we could feel the stress and anxiety leave our bodies. Yet, we realized it would take a while to fully adjust to the life we intend to have: one of plenty adventures with a good balance between work and leisure, and plenty of walks for Maya.

On the access road to Shell Beach, 4WD is recommended
Parked at the end of the dirt road. We didn’t feel comfortable driving and camping on the soft-sand beach

Now that we have a 4WD vehicle (as opposed to our campervan Zesty, last year), more remote campsites are accessible and we feel that’s what a lot of Baja California is about: reaching peace and solitude surrounded by nature and the sea. One thing we noticed from the start, though, is that it’s much busier than last year. We were spoiled in 2021, when rarely a soul crossed into Mexico, and we often camped by ourselves.

A big shell!
Walking Maya on the pretty beach

Half an hour south of San Felipe is “Shell Beach” along the Sea of Cortez. This was our first stop and an awesome one. Miles and miles of empty beach, low dunes, gorgeous sunrises, clear night skies, and oh-so-quiet.

Sunrise on Shell Beach (Photo courtesy of Mark Kilty)
The empty beach runs for miles
The mountainous backdrop of our camping spot
Small dunes along the beach
A huge flock of pelicans on a sand spit at low tide
Huge sand spit
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Discoveries in New Mexico – Gila National Forest

December 16, 2021 / / 70 Comments

We had heard good things about it – hot springs, hiking, off the beaten track. We had seen the green blot on maps – including the words “cliff dwellings” in small print. We’d driven south of it multiple times, crossing the country, not having time for a detour, thinking it would take ages on dirt roads to get there.

Gila National Forest

Until this fall. When we left Massachusetts in our new set-up, Mark wanted to stop in the Badlands of South Dakota and I was finally going to find Gila National Forest’s treasures in New Mexico. We made it happen in early November of this year. Unfortunately, we only had three nights to spare in this expansive area. Fortunately, we have the means to return.

(As always, hover over or click on the photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Unexpected and fabulous viewpoint when we climb the roads of Gila National Forest
On top of the world

In true Liesbet and Mark fashion, we had no idea what to expect. There were the recommendations of friends and the attraction of the map, but that was the extent of our knowledge about Gila. We didn’t research and we didn’t look at photos ahead of time. This way, we are open-minded and malleable. It allows for genuine surprises and discovering new-to-us treasures. It avoids expectations and disappointments.

Welcome to New Mexico!

Cebolla Mesa

When we entered New Mexico, right across the border from Colorado, we stopped at a remote but free campground on Cebolla Mesa for a couple of nights. To our shock, we found ourselves on the edge of a deep canyon, carved out by the Rio Grande. Mark and Maya braved the steep 2.6 mile R/T descend and ascent (770ft elevation gain). I turned back after a few switchbacks, fearing a massive headache from the exertion.

Maya looks out into the Rio Grande valley
Well above the Rio Grande
Campground view
Not a bad spot – peaceful and pretty
Mark and Maya enjoying the sunshine along the edge of the canyon
Tiny campfire, just for the atmosphere
Mark and Maya hiked all the way down there (and back up).
Mark and Maya setting off to the bottom of the canyon
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New York Surprises – Waterfall Extravaganza!

October 4, 2021 / / 42 Comments

“Where are you going first?”

This is not a weird question at all, when you talk to people hitting the road indefinitely. And the poser of said question might get annoyed with the ever-present “We don’t know yet” answer coming from our mouths.

But, first things first; Mark and I had to take care of a few specifics before an actual destination could be determined. Once our departure from Newburyport became imminent – the truck camper was taking shape, the bikes didn’t fall of the new ladder rack, help was in place for my in-laws, ties with friends and family were rekindled, and personal projects reached a stopping point – we could finally look at a map.

Two days before we coasted out of the driveway with our dog, Maya, and our belongings, Mark and I decided to head towards Chicago, Illinois, after visiting a couple of friends in Massachusetts and New York. I contacted three sets of friends in the Windy City, aka Chi-Town, to gauge their availability and location for a meet-up. Then, on September 17th, 2021, the three of us left Newburyport for the last time with a new-to-us vehicle and – somewhat of – a plan!

A quick, one-night stop at good friends in Uxbridge, MA, was followed by a Saturday night visit to a work friend of Mark’s in New York, who cooked his staple meat-loaden pasta sauce for us, following an amazing family recipe.

It was on Sunday, when our trip west was to start in earnest, that we realized we weren’t in a rush anymore. Why hurry to Chicago? We’d returned to our own home, our own routine, our own lives, our own priorities. We were our own boss again with few responsibilities! And, the weather was unseasonably pleasant with temperatures in the mid-70s Fahrenheit (mid-20s Celsius).

“Let’s explore New York a bit,” I exclaimed. A state so close by, yet so far away, as I’d never actually ventured into upstate New York for any length of time, other than quick visits – to our friend Sean and Mark’s college town Troy once, when on one of our many road trips across the USA.

(As always, click on or hover over photos to read captions.)

Schenectady

Mark grew up in Schenectady. I’m pretty good at spelling, but when he challenged me with this one years ago, I miserably failed. To make matters worse, Mark also lived in Niskayuna, a town to its east. I still have to look up how to write that one. But, I’m happy to say that I finally visited both cities, thanks to our friend Sean, who offered us a quick tour, that Sunday of our “real departure.”

Circle in the Stockade
The house to the right belonged to Mark’s parents many years ago.
Typical street in the Stockade
Native American statue

While both men convinced me there is “nothing to see” in Schenectady, I enjoyed a stroll through the Stockade, an 82-acre historic district located on the banks of the Mohawk River. It is the oldest neighborhood in the city and has been continuously inhabited for more than 300 years. The National Park Service describes it as “the highest concentration of historic period homes in the country.” It is here that Mark’s parents used to own a house, while their son attended college and lived on campus nearby.

Walking along the Mohawk River with Sean, Mark, and Maya
Old house reminiscent of Holland
Historic neighborhood in the Stockade
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Tale of Two Towns – Mulegé & Loreto in Baja California Sur

April 15, 2021 / / 50 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I entered Baja California, Mexico, on February 1st 2021 in Zesty, without much of a plan. No surprise there! The main reason for our decision to cross the border was threefold: we needed a break from the US and its chaos, politics, and atmosphere, we aimed to find warmer weather, and we were both ready for a little “vacation” after all the hard work on my travel memoir Plunge.

Baja California, Mexico
Mulege & Loreto, Baja, Mexico

Other than that, we’d drive until we found 1) warmth or 2) an area that spoke to us. Number two came first in the form of Mulegé, a town off the beaten tourist track about 2/3 down the Baja peninsula on the Sea of Cortez side.

Why Mulegé?

Sometimes, when you find a place that touches your heart, it’s difficult to describe why. Mark and I drove through and stayed in this town – actually in the exact same campground – fifteen years ago on our journey south (which brought us all the way to Panama and back) in a truck camper with our dogs Kali and Darwin. But it didn’t leave an impression. Also, we had different goals of sightseeing and exploring back then, not hanging out and immersing ourselves.

The official name of Mulege is Heroica Mulege
Entrance to the town of Mulege from the highway, Mex 1
Local brewery
Colonial-looking beer store

Here’s what we liked about this little gem on our recent visit:

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Tidbits from the Road – Heading West across the USA

November 21, 2020 / / 54 Comments

The last time Mark and I crossed the United States from East to West was in October 2016. We attended the sailboat show in Annapolis as vendors with our marine WiFi and cell data product and invention, The Wirie, before driving to Northern California in our Prius. We had five days to cross this massive country in order to start our first housesit on the West Coast. We lasted a few years “out west,” house and pet sitting and exploring in our camper van Zesty, before making our way back east in the summer of 2019.

The Southwest is where our hearts lie. The vast, open spaces, low population, incredible natural sites, and sense of freedom trump the mountains and greenery of the East Coast. We think…

Our Route

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you are familiar with our lack of planning. We pretty much take life as it comes, one step at a time; something that is evident in the title of my forthcoming travel memoir: Plunge. Anything can influence our route, our destination, our timing, our moods.

Here’s how we ended up in Arizona, this time around…

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Getaway to the White Mountains

August 1, 2020 / / 62 Comments

New Hampshire’s attractive White Mountains are located 150 miles (241km) northeast of our current home base in Massachusetts. It takes a little over three hours to get there in our van (as opposed to 2.5 hours by car), since we stick to an average highway speed of 55-60mph (90km/h) in Zesty. This consumes less diesel, and we rarely have to pass anyone!

White Mountain National Forest was our destination this past week. It is huge, at 800,000 acres (which expand into Maine), attracts millions of visitors annually, and offers countless recreation possibilities, like 1,200 miles of hiking trails. When Mark and I returned from visiting people in Maine and Vermont in June, we drove through this stunning area and were impressed. We vowed to return for a proper immersion.

(Scroll over or click on images to read photo captions in the galleries.)

Just driving through the White Mountains – Mt. Washington
Quick stop last June – falls at a swimming hole
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Boondocking Behind the Scenes – Ten Free Campsites Turned Awry

May 21, 2020 / / 68 Comments

“A picture says more than a thousand words” is an expression I’m not fond of. Rather, I believe a photo instills certain words, telling only part of the story. Understandably, most people want to capture the beauty of a place. It is often possible to cut out less desirable factors, like hordes of people, piles of garbage, incessant bugs, signage obstructing the view, and so on. Personal moods, climate, noise, and other external factors are invisible. There is a lot more to the actual scene than meets the eye…

Locks WMA campground in Fort McCoy

I’ve played with the idea of taking “as it is” shots in sync with the attractive scenes and posting them next to each other. Yet, I too succumb to blue skies and beautiful scenery. So, this post does not quite display that juxtaposition, but it reveals the truth behind some of our camping experiences in Florida that might look “perfect” at first sight.

Dupuis Water Management District

1) Lake Panasoffkee WMD

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Monthly Expenses – April 2020

May 13, 2020 / / 32 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. 🙂

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for two adults and one 60-pound dog (we adopted Maya on June 4th, 2019). Under groceries we incorporate 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 vitamins/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 half of April, Mark, Maya, and I spent in our camper van, boondocking (free camping) and driving. The last half, we lived in “the room above the garage” at my in-laws’ place in Massachusetts. Our accommodation costs remain nil (thank you, Carol and Stan) and we managed to save our April laundry up until we arrived here, taking the necessary precautions to avoid spreading a potential Covid-19 infection.

One of our campsites on the way north in April
The building in which my in-laws have a condo
The room above the garage – our current living quarters

Usually, when we visit Mark’s parents (our current home is also our residency address), we use their kitchen and share all the meals . Because we can’t set foot in the house, we had to buy a couple of kitchen appliances, which I briefly mentioned in a previous blog. Mark’s research always pays off, as we found a big toaster oven and a one-burner induction stove (both new) for $80. To complete our set-up, we are borrowing a water cooker and a college fridge.

Our kitchen “station” with the new oven and induction stove
We love being able to use an oven, as our van doesn’t have one.
We’ve been using our oven a lot!

Mark and I did order Thai take-out for our anniversary on April 30th (this is actually one of two anniversaries; it’s complicated), but we used gift money from my parents for that, so no “eating out” category , last month. 🙂

While we might be spending a bit more on certain products in the absence of generic brands or by having to go to different stores during this pandemic, April was another decent month.

April 2020 Overview:

Groceries:

Camper (diesel: $130; repairs: $89):

Household (oven + stove):

Alcohol:

Dog (food + fish oil):

Utilities (phone):

Postage:

Entertainment (e-books):

Accommodation:

 

TOTAL:

 

$338

$219

$80

$66

$46

$35

$2

$2

$0

———

$ 788

To find out what other full-time nomads spend each month, check out the expense blogs of our vanlife friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Monthly Expenses – March 2020

April 8, 2020 / / 46 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. 🙂

This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for two adults and one 60-pound dog (we adopted Maya on June 4th, 2019). Under groceries we incorporate 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 vitamins/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.

How did the outbreak of the Coronavirus affect our expenses? Less than you might think. The only category that spiked is groceries. I think that happened because of our “constant” topping up of the fridge and cupboards, each time we anticipated self-isolating in the woods of Florida. But, as I wrote about previously, most of those attempts failed, so we kept buying more provisions and – in the beginning – our only choices were name brands instead of the cheaper generic brands we usually buy.

Boondocking along a river and boat ramp in Western Florida
Sunset at the boat ramp
Vultures along the waterfront
Another campground in Osceola NF, Florida, that didn’t work out because of heat, bugs, and incessantly barking hunting dogs.
It doesn’t look like a bad spot from the observation tower.
Lines (with social distancing) before the store opened, at Sam’s Club in Hilton Head

We drove a lot during our quick circle down and around and back up Florida. If we would have been able to sightsee, we would have driven more, but we would have traveled slower. We boogied north quicker than expected, because of our rising discomfort with heat, humidity, and bugs and not so much COVID-19. Therefore, our monthly fuel expenses are pretty much what they would have been otherwise. The diesel price was as low as we’ve ever seen it!

The fuel prices have dropped a lot.
This is the cheapest diesel we ever bought for Zesty. $1.99 a gallon boils down to 50 cents a liter.
Our tank wasn’t totally empty when we found this Sam’s Club/Walmart fuel station.

If it wasn’t for the recent pandemic, our entertainment and camping categories would be higher (I really wanted to visit the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and spend time with the manatees while camping at Manatee State Park), the health topic would have popped up as I urgently needed a haircut, and doing laundry might have cost twice as much. Instead, Mark cut everyone’s hair and we did a load of laundry by hand.

Dog beach at Fort DeSoto Park, Florida
Short hair again after Mark chopped it off
Maya received a haircut as well, which helps with the heat.
Hanging our clean laundry at the campsite to dry. We found a water spigot at a park an hour away.
The netting offers a reprieve from the bugs at our current campsite

The drinking and eating out expenses can be blamed on hanging out with friends and Mark’s birthday (a self-proclaimed brewery tour) before social distancing took effect. Since then, I have been able to keep in touch with friends and family via email, social media, Skype, and Zoom!

Approach to our current campground
Boardwalk in the nature reserve
We are enjoying our daily hikes in nature, without people around.
Our current campsite
A $3 meal for two – egg noodles, asparagus, and chicken thighs.
A total spoil: cheese platter including two kinds of Brie!

All in all, March was not a bad month under the circumstances, but it is the most expensive one this year so far.

March 2020 Overview:

Groceries:

Camper (diesel: $187; registration: $12; tolls: $4):

Bank charge (annual credit card fee):

Alcohol:

Drinking out:

Dining out:

Dog (food):

Utilities (phone):

Postage:

Entertainment (dog beach @ state park):

Laundry:

Miscellaneous (printing taxes):

Camping:

 

TOTAL:

 

$433

$203

$150

$90

$66

$63

$35

$35

$11

$5

$5

$3

$0

———

$ 1099

To find out what other full-time nomads spend each month, check out the blog of our vanlife friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

IWSG Writing Update April 2020 – Coronavirus Status

April 1, 2020 / / 62 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 April, the question is: “The IWSG’s focus is on our writers. Each month, from all over the globe, we are a united group sharing our insecurities, our troubles, and our pain. So, in this time when our world is in crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic, our question is: how are things in your world?”

This amazing, supportive group of writers was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Today, the co-hosts are Diane Burton,JH Moncrieff,Anna @ Emaginette,Karen @ Reprobate Typewriter,Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard.

((After the park ranger told us Wood Lake Campground would close (see last photo of my previous post), she recommended another spot in the forest where we would be able to boondock (primitive camp for free), showing it on her map, from a safe distance. Based on the amount of bugs and the lack of cell service in Apalachicola National Forest, FL we decided to move on.))

My answer to the question (How are things in your COVID-19 world?)

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