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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: camping (page 4 of 5)

Two-week RV Trip, Part 1 – Rocks and Petrified Wood

June 13, 2018 / / 69 Comments

After Mark and I finished our two-month house sit in Santa Fe, the end of May, we had no other assignments lined up. Partly because the 2.5-week gap before our train journey east was tight to find a “perfect” house sit; partly because we wanted to give full-time RV living a chance. We planned to make a loop from Santa Fe west into Arizona, north to the Four Corners region, east through Southern Colorado, and then back south into New Mexico. Memorial Day weekend would offer us a little break away from the computer, and since our business partner was on holiday for ten days early June, Mark’s job would be more relaxed then as well.  During those once-a-year periods, he only deals with customers over email, and postpones phone calls until “vacation time” is over.

The southern part of Petrified Forest National Park

Our trip was off to a rocky start, since our windshield was still leaking. We’d come back earlier, after two weeks, and deal with it then. First stop: El Malpais National Monument, where we’d briefly stopped for a free night of camping after picking Zesty up in Arkansas, almost a year ago.

El Malpais National Monument

Already on day one, our bikes came in handy. We explored the eastern part of the park at our own pace, and photographed rocky outcrops, peddled through Indian Reservations, and discovered a natural arch.

Zesty and the bikes in the Joe Skeen campground of El Malpais
The black patches are lava rock
Sandstone Bluffs
La Ventana natural arch

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Highlights in Southern New Mexico – A Long Weekend Away

May 9, 2018 / / 64 Comments

Mark and I finally did it! After months of frustration, stress, and dealing with atrocities out of our control – from having both our websites hacked, to rude Wirie customers, to issues with Blue Host, to incapable Mass Health employees messing up our health plans six times – we pulled ourselves away for a long weekend. Our destination: White Sands National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park into warm weather. Both New Mexican highlights had been on the mental list since last summer, when we first house sat in Santa Fe for four weeks, but remained in the area.

So, we packed up Zesty, filled the water and diesel tanks, and drove south for about four hours. Lake Holloman became our free campsite for two nights, merely 3 miles away from the National Monument.

Free camping at Lake Holloman Military Base

White Sands National Monument

The scenic drive brought us smack in the middle of dunes, created by the brightest, whitest of sand. Where is the ocean? Continue reading

Wordless Wednesday – Mystery of the Flip Flops

February 14, 2018 / / 62 Comments

The last time I published a Wordless Wednesday post, two weeks ago, Suzanne from Global HousesitterX2 suggested in the comment section to call this feature “Worth a Word Wednesday”. I’m all for that, since I have a hard time keeping things wordless (and sticking to rules). Thanks, Suz! The theme of this week’s Daily Post photo challenge, which I like to integrate in my WW posts if possible, is “sweet”.

A devastating discovery!

My flip flops pictured above, were sweet to me. They were comfortable, robust, and my go-to footwear wherever and whenever possible.  They have been my reliable friends for over two years and had a lot of life left. Then, “this” happened…

Mark and I went to bed in Zesty, being boondocked in the Arizona desert, and left our “shoes” outside as usual. When waking up in the morning, yesterday, three of the four flip flops were gone! A quick search in the area revealed these sad-looking flip flops. We never located Mark’s second shoe.

This is where it happened…

Can you solve this mystery?

(Next week, I’ll share our theory of what we think might have happened.)

Wordless Wednesday – Joshua Tree National Park

January 31, 2018 / / 45 Comments

It has been a long time since I posted a Wordless Wednesday blog; since the spring of last year to be precise. I frequently used Wednesdays to showcase a gallery of colorful mementos, collected during our travels on water and on land, in an “almost wordless” fashion. The weekly Daily Post photo challenge acted as a theme. This week, I am joining those ranks once again.

Joshua trees can be found in the Mojave Desert part of the park, which is higher and cooler than the Colorado Desert section
The perfect Joshua tree 🙂
Free campsite for two nights
One of the hikes in the desert revealed old and abandoned automobiles

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Southern Utah’s National Parks – 12-Day Adventure between House Sits

November 11, 2017 / / 71 Comments

Between our month-long house sit in Rollinsville, Colorado and the next, three-month one in San Diego, California, Mark and I faced a gap of two weeks. Initially, we were on the look-out for a short pet sit, but pretty soon, we realized this would be the perfect opportunity to really test the van life. Longer than one weekend, and for fun, instead of as a means of transportation to get from point A to B. It was an attractive plan for many reasons, including these four: we have always wanted to visit some of Utah’s incredible National Parks, they happened to be en route, we could use a break from our computers (when not?), and, coincidentally, our business partner appeared to have a scheduled vacation within the exact dates we’d be on the road. Now, if that wasn’t the ideal time to relax The Wirie work a bit ourselves!

A window to Delicate Arch

Arches National Park

Not much planning and anticipation went into this camping trip. I checked the map, saw Canyonlands, thought “I guess we stop there,” then noticed a green spot called “Arches” along the way and yelled: “Oh yeah, that’s the famous one in Utah, not Canyonlands. We have to go there!” Now, I don’t know whether you have ever looked at Southern Utah on a map… it is one national park after the next! How exciting! All we had to do was pick and choose, be happy about not doing it all, and not feel rushed! Oh, did I mention that the two biggies, Bryce Canyon and Zion are here as well?

Our selection of Utah National Parks

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Welcome, Westy! – The New Development

July 30, 2017 / / 107 Comments

The past weeks I have been insinuating a new development in our lives. It is time to reveal what we have been up to! Let me introduce our newest “family member”, Zesty. He is a 2005 Sprinter Airstream Westfalia camper, endearingly called a Westy. Ingeniously built in Germany and known as a Westfalia James Cook in Europe, only 250 of these campers were imported into the US. Airstream did those honors and “Americanized” them by adding an air conditioner and a generator, and swapping the cassette toilet for one with a holding tank. The Mercedes engine was re-branded as a Dodge for the American market. Confusing? The main thing is that Mark and I now own one of these unique, compact and decked-out camper vans! Indirectly, this plan has been brewing for a couple of years.

Second night, in Oklahoma

“I think our next adventure should be in a camper again.” I share with Mark something that has been on my mind for a while. It is March 2015 and we are anchored in beautiful Huahine, French Polynesia. Continue reading

WW – Ambiance

January 18, 2017 / / 18 Comments

I have decided to post photos of past travels in general and our eight year sailing adventure on SV Irie in particular for Wordless Wednesdays.  Also, I can’t manage “completely wordless”, but I’ll try my best at “almost wordless”. 🙂

With thousands of photos haphazardly archived over the years, I can’t easily pick what to post, so I use the weekly prompt of the Daily Post to inspire my Wordless Wednesdays. This week’s Daily Post photography theme is “ambiance“.

I relate ambiance with a feeling of contentment and joy. Many times a wonderful ambiance is created when hanging out with friends, something we finally get to do more often these days. The first thing that came to my mind when discovering this week’s photo theme was a campfire. The crackling sound, the woodsy smell, the intense warmth, the constantly changing shape of the flames all create an ambiance I can wallow in for hours.

Check out Terri’s post about this topic on Second Wind Leisure Perspectives. You might recognize some of the characters… 🙂

What does ambiance mean to you?

Five Day Vacation in Acadia National Park, Maine

September 19, 2016 / / 14 Comments

The clouds are lifting in Frenchman Bay

“Thank you for calling The Wirie. The customer support department is on a short vacation right now. We will resume our timely and personal support service again on Wednesday, September 14th. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you and thank you for your patience. Have a nice day.” I hear Mark change the message on the answering machine of our Wirie business. Then, he creates an automatic email reply for customers who contact us via the ticket system: ”The Wirie Customer Support team is on a short break right now. Please, allow us to get back to you after Tuesday, September 14th. Thank you for your understanding and your patience. Have a nice day.” It is the very first time we “close down” this part of the business, and these are the last preparations we make before our long anticipated trip, three years in the making. It is finally happening, after keeping a close eye on the weather predictions and postponing our departure a few days… Continue reading

Feeling the Bern in Burlington, VT – A Mid-Week “Weekend Away”

August 29, 2016 / / 13 Comments

Our plan did come with some serious considerations, but we took the risk anyway. It is not our fault that most weekends in August had contained rain! Who likes camping in the rain? And, we really wanted to visit Vermont again while in this area. One weekend had not been enough. So, all we could do was go on a two-night camping trip during the week. The weather predictions were perfect. The campground we had set our minds upon had most of their eight spots available, so no reservation and extra cost was required. Maybe we would be lucky with a quiet few days in regards to our Wirie business?

While the voice in my head was being positive (or naive), my gut knew better. We cannot and should not leave “the office” on weekdays. It does not bode well; sh*t happens. We know this from experience. Especially when it is the most inconvenient. When you run your own business, you do not get a break. Ever. We ignored my gut, ready for a couple of days away (You never know!), planning to be online and deal with customers and issues intermittently, whenever possible. That is the beauty of being able to work remotely, right? Anyway… As often, my gut was right, and Mark ended up spending many hours behind his computer and on his phone at the picnic table of our campsite or bent over on multiple patches of grass in the shade of Burlington’s parks. But, let’s focus on the stuff I should – and usually do – blog about!

Driving north in Vermont
One of the many ponds and lakes in the state
Jenny gets comfortable – she is such an easy dog to travel with
Hills and wildflowers
And cute farm houses
Grain silo at a farm
Most farms have one or more silos
Farms and grain silos everywhere!

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The Art of Being Flexible (and Realistic)

August 1, 2016 / / 7 Comments

One of the greatest perks about house and pet sitting in different states (or countries) is that you can explore new areas at will. If you decide to take on longer term sits, like us, these explorations can be done in-depth with destinations galore for weekends away. Mark and I only have about one month left of our 4.5-month house sit in Heath, MA and I feel that we are running out of time for my “to visit” list. Of course, this list is so extensive that it is humanly impossible to actually do it all, unless we could devote ourselves to our roaming ways every single day of the week, which we can’t, because of our business.

Town Hall in Great Barrington

Town Hall in Great Barrington

I had a few “to do” things planned for our weekend in SW Massachusetts: climbing two mountains, Mt. Everett (partly) and Monument Mountain (wholly), strolling around two historical towns, Stockbridge and Great Barrington, hiking to three sets of waterfalls, Bash Bish Falls, Bear Rock and the cascades of Race Brook, visiting Guilder Pond and driving back from Great Barrington to Lee on a scenic road, before heading home on Sunday. Oh, and as a back-up or if we had extra time, I had more waterfall destinations up my sleeve.

View from Mt. Everett

View over the Berkshires

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