I am behind with my blog posts. A lot. Blame this crazy life of ours.

I want to write about all the improvements we performed on Thirsty Bella and the heaps of preparations we went through to ship her abroad. And what it all cost. But those stories feel boring to me at the moment (and, until recently, also irrelevant and obsolete – right!).

I hoped to have this particular blog ready by Thanksgiving Day in the US – a more appropriate timing – but, on that day, we had bigger fish to fry in a once-again turned-upside-down-world. I promise an update soon, but I am not ready for it; I can’t handle reliving it all (without a happy ending so far).

Ever since we returned to the US from Baja California, Mexico, last spring, our friends from the western states have played a key role – offering us a driveway to park and camp or a room to stay, allowing us access to their bathroom, kitchen, and laundry facilities, showing us support (mentally, logistically, and physically), and providing advice, help, knowledge, or their skills.

These have been amazing experiences and the highlights of our many months of work, effort, focus, stress, and investments to get ready for the next big adventure: traveling throughout South America in our truck camper, Thirsty Bella.

California

It’s been a tough road this year, with nothing going according to plan. We entered the country in California for a quick visit to friends Janis, Paul, and Amy in San Diego. This was followed by a pit stop on our friend Diana’s property in Julian, to clean and photograph our previous truck camper, Temp, before heading to British Colombia to pick up a Lance 830 truck camper we’d paid a deposit for. Diana is someone we house and pet sat for in San Diego twice, years ago. We became friends, stayed in touch, and she’d asked in the past if we were interested in property sitting this place. Now was the time!

Unfortunately, the Canadian owner of our prospective camper backed out of the deal and we were back to square zero, in a state with extremely high fuel prices. We frantically looked for, researched, and inquired about another Lance 830 and left the Julian property sooner than planned to pursue one in Northern California.

Idaho

Our next set of friends to help out were Katherine and Brandon, whom we met two short months earlier in Loreto, Baja California Sur. She bought a paperback of my memoir Plunge, we got along really well, and they even invited us to their condo in Loreto. They also offered up their small house in Boise, Idaho, if we needed a place to crash or change gears. And that’s what we did…

For two weeks in May, we happily slept in their one-bedroom home while switching truck campers. This sounds easier than it was! We had to make the well-used and rough-around-the-edges Lance 830 we just bought and picked up in Auburn, California, livable before our friends returned, and… we had to sell Temp and ideally our e-bikes as well. All within three weeks. The pressure was on!

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