GOING UNDERGROUND AT LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT,CALIFORNIA

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, something deep in the earth shifts, releasing molten lava flows over the flat landscape. As the lava cools, the outer layers harden, but the still molten inner stream of lava continues to flow, leaving hollow tubes behinds as the lava empties out. Over millennia, erosion creates breaks in the lava tube ceilings and walls--access points to the lava tube caves below.

Stopping at the visitor center at Lava Beds National Monument we find out that we can wander and roam freely around open caves within the park. Some of the caves have vertical ladders that funnel hikers from one lava tube level into a deeper, darker, colder tube. Some have cavernous entry portals that lead to enormous underground rooms where old-time locals hosted ice skating parties. The caves vary in length, width, and color, but all offer the buzz of dropping into the cold darkness of deep earth.

Mushpot Cave entrance sits just a few yards away from the visitor center so we check it out first. Today's outside temperature hovers in the mid 80s, but the temperature inside the cave maintains at 55 degrees. This cave looks like a subway tunnel made of swirling, smooth volcanic rock with a ceiling high enough to stand upright and a floor strewn with lava rock chunks. We're hooked and make a quick decision to swing the trailers around to the campground and set up camp so we'll have plenty of time to explore the rest of the park.

Most of the sites in the  rustic campground at Lava Beds are small, but we found a spot to park Biggie Moms.

Destination: Cave Loop Road. A dozen or more cave entrances dot this short 2-mile loop. A few closed signs hang on chained entrances to protect bat habitat so we head for open caves and drop ourselves down the access ladders into the cool darkness. Snapping on our headlamps we descend into the depths.

The first directive freaked us out a little bit:
Do not use caves as a restroom. Are other people thinking this is an option?

Sturdy ladders provide an easy way to drop into the caves.

>

After just a few yards, pitch black darkness demands a headlamp. When we switch off our lights for a few seconds we giggle nervously. Humans and  absolute darkness don't mix

Some of the caves have huge rooms. In others we crab walk to get through low-ceilinged sections.

In Golden Dome, one of our favorite caves, lichens that cover the ceiling glow golden and sparkling when illuminated by our headlamps.

Petroglyphs and pictographs at a cave entrance.

Dropping underground at Lava Beds gave us a unique outdoor experience, but the park offers much more. In addition to the underground world, we wandered through a terrain rich with fragrant sage and starkly beautiful fields of black, volcanic rock. An intriguing Indian war story played out here and interpretive history sites abound. We’ll add Lava Beds National Monument to our must return list.

A Berry Exciting Day

 

Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum

In the cavernous pail of the first one to come. Robert Frost

"Ever pick blueberries?"

"Nope."

"Want to go check it out?"

"Yep."

Driving a few miles out of Raymond, Washington into the nearby forest, we follow a winding road until we see a small sign for Smith Creek Blueberries propped in front of a tree-lined entryway. It's 7 a.m. and we're the first ones to arrive. As we hop out of the truck, a young woman greets us and hands us plastic pails with a loop-like handles long enough for hanging around our necks. Over the past few days, we've spent hours picking blackberries along the Willapa River trail, one-handing the berries into small plastic ware bowls so the advanced pail-technology garners approving nods from all of us.

Kristy wears the bucket well

"Oh, this is great. Now we can pick with both hands," we say.

Guiding us over to the weigh-in area, our host sets us up with cardboard flats and explains how the picking process works. "The blueberry bushes are right behind you and they're packed with berries right now so you should have an easy time of it. Fill up your pail, bring it back here, and dump it into your flat. When you've finished picking, we'll weigh you out so you can pay." She scoops a flaxen-headed little girl, toddling around, on to her hip and then stops briefly to rub the head of an aging black dog. As she walks away she says, "Just ignore the chickens wandering around. They won't bother you. And feel free to take a look around the farm."

Annette picking blueberries

Behind us, rows of tall bushes densely packed with blueberries await us. Unlike the blackberry bushes we've been wrangling the past few days, these blueberry bushes have no way to defend themselves. No thorny pricks greet our greedy fingers as we reach for the blue fruit. Wearing our pails around our necks, we head deeper into the patch. A russet-colored rooster streaks by followed by three gorgeous hens in an array of colors traveling at a more leisurely pace. The chickens scan the rows, occasionally snatching up a blueberry from the ground. The hungry chicken patrol relieves us of any guilt we might suffer due to careless picking resulting in the occasional dropped blueberry. As we move around the patch sampling different bushes, picking a variety of fat, and not so fat, succulent blueberries, we lose ourselves in the simple pleasure of harvesting. Because the neck-loop-technology is pure genius, even novices like us fill our pails in no time.

Happy chickens

Although the farm isn't large, it packs in a lot of diversity. Meandering around the outer edges of the blueberry patch, we discover a fenced pen with two healthy looking hogs snuffling the ground. Behind the hog pen we see a few turkeys high stepping across a small field and then disappearing into the greenery. Meanwhile, the chickens stream past us again. We follow them to find an empty chicken coop, elaborate in a rustic way with ramps and roosts, where this chicken clan must congregate in their evening and nighttime hours. Between the chicken coop and the blueberry patch, a tall, fenced enclosure surrounds a large garden packed with lettuces, radishes, beets, and all sorts of other vegetables. Scattered around the farm's outer boundaries, apple trees lift branches heavy with fruit. Every square foot of Smith Creek Organic Farm pulses with life, testifying to hard work, ably done.

Blue fruit...yummy

Back at the weigh-in station, the yellow-haired toddler now clambers around the feet of a congenial, bearded young man, who balances our flat of blueberries on the scale. Between the two of us, Kristy and I weigh in at six pounds. Lynn follows with two pounds of her own blue beauties. At the bargain self-pick price of $2 a pound that amounts to $16 for all three of us to enjoy a morning in the country, plus a take-home stash of blueberries to eat for days. Deeming our first blueberry picking experience an extreme success, we head back to South Bend, popping the fruits of our labor, one by one, into our mouths.

proud of our pickings

 

what a great place to spend a morning

Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

    

Horton Creek Camp

Some days just don’t go as planned. While getting Biggie Moms ready to move on to Mono Lake the landing jacks’ switch stops working. Now just by chance, our site at Horton Creek sloped significantly so when we leveled the trailer on arrival we had to drop it all the way down to the bottom of the jack legs—it looked like the front edge of the trailer was almost on the ground. So now that it’s time to leave we need to reverse the process and extend the legs all the way back up. I click the switch to extend and it moves a little bit and then nothing. I smell that electric train transformer burning smell and know something has gone wrong. Uh-oh. If you can’t hitch, you can’t go anywhere. I google it on my phone and am reminded about the existence of a hand crank. Luckily, we actually have this funny looking little crank that doesn’t look like it could do much of anything. But we begin cranking. An hour later with aching wrists and arms we raise the trailer high enough to hitch. We are amazed that the little hand crank works to lift that big hulk of a trailer.

Annette using the Hand Crank

Thinking it would be wise to get our problem fixed before we move on, we drive into Bishop to Eastern Sierra Propane and RV Service for help. We’d been there already earlier in the week to refill our propane tanks. Jason greets us warmly and then sets to work with a current tester to identify that we do indeed have a faulty switch. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any switches in stock. One of the cool things about small towns is that everyone knows everyone else and everyone else’s business so he sends us off to try and find an extend/retract switch. “Go to the place right across the street from the Jack in the Box. I can’t remember the name of the store. He might have this switch. He has a lot of stuff.” Lynn drives us the few blocks down Hwy 395 and we see that the shop right across from the Jack in the Box is a Western Saddlery store. We’re confused but we go in and walk past the saddles, cowboy hats, halters, etc. and tell the gentleman at the counter about our dilemma. To our amazement, he does have a matching switch. He used to have an RV so he carries some RV stuff. $15 for the switch and $5 for some duck treats for Shug (eclectic mix of merchandise!) and we head back to try it out. Jason is busy with another customer so we pop the switch in ourselves, give it a test extend and a test retract and high-five each other. Jason tells us no charge since we have done all the running around and replaced the switch ourselves. The folks at Eastern Sierra Propane hold a warm spot in our hearts and that Western Saddlery store deserves a visit if you’re in the neighborhood.

Kristy Showing how far we cranked Biggie Moms

Problem solved, we head North on 395 to the small town of Lee Vining and Mono Lake.  Approximately a mile before Lee Vining we turn left off of 395 onto Test Station Road. About 300 yards later we find a place to park Biggie Moms in a little open area on the left.  It takes some cranking and some backing and forwarding to get Biggie Moms in and settled, but she winds up being as level as a pool table and we are happy. Lynn and Cupcake sidle up next to us and we all settle in to our new spot. Finding out that this site has decent cell phone service makes us even happier.

Our next problem surfaces later that evening. While straightening some clutter inside I reach into a low cabinet and realize that the bear spray canister that we use for backpacking has leaked. We keep the bear spray in the cupboard right by the door just in case a bad guy comes knocking. When I pick up the pepper spray an oily, orangey substance gets on my hands. Not thinking, I hand the bear spray canister to Kristy remarking that it feels lighter than normal. Kristy shakes it and agrees that it feels lighter than it should. Now we’re both tainted. The seal around the top had leaked and just the brief contact with a small amount of the oily residue makes our lips, eyes, and skin burn. A bout of coughing and feeling kind of nauseous follows. We both wash our hands in soap and baking soda multiple times. Powerful stuff that bear spray--it burns the skin on our hands until half way through the next day.   

Bishop California

We left our boondock campsite in the Alabama Hills west of Lone Pine and stopped at a Casino/Gas station north of town to dump the RV (free with a gas fill) and headed north on hwy 395 toward Bishop. Our original Camp choice, Horton Creek (BLM $5), was still closed for the winter and wouldn’t open for several more days. We camped one night at Pleasant Valley Campground for $14 (mostly a fishing campground not well-developed, but the frog songs and fragrant sage and creosote made it worth the money). The next day we stopped at Millpond Park to fill up with water and then made our way to Buttermilk Road for a dispersed camping spot. We found a great spot about 2 miles down the road and ended up staying a week. 

While at Buttermilk, we drove up the mountain on 168 for several great hikes including Piute Pass Trail where we followed a couple of Fish and Wildlife guys who knew the trail even through the snow and also a snowy trail from Sabrina Lake that climbs up to Blue Lakes.  We were unable to hike through to the Lakes due to the deep snow but enjoyed the trekking and the great views. At the Buttermilk camp, walking along the many dirt roads in the area was fun and a great way to exercise Shug as well as ourselves. A colorful variety of wildflowers and also flowering shrubs bloomed along the dirt roads. Almost daily, an afternoon winds would kick up and last into the evening so our love of early morning hiking served us well.  

Annette at Convict Lake

Since the afternoons were windy, we took several trips into Bishop to pick up groceries at Von’s Supermarket and to treat ourselves to lunch and pastries at Schat’s Bakery.  Schat’s sandwiches tasted great and the baked goods were amazing. We also took advantage of the town time to fill our propane at Eastern Sierra Propane and to pick up our general delivery mail packet at the post office.

Last week Shug pointed out that we were dangerously low on dog food. After doing some internet searching, we found a source—Tailwaggers in Mammoth Lakes. Shug has food allergies and we were happy to find the last bag of her food in the area. Needing a specific brand and type means that dog food is one of the extra things that one has to plan for on the road. Might as well make a day trip out of it so we headed north on 395. Detouring for a short side trip to gorgeous Convict Lake, we hiked the three mile trail around the Lake and enjoyed the beauty before heading in to Mammoth Lakes for our dog food pick up. Fortunately, the Tailwaggers’ shopping center also has a nice little pizza restaurant where we splurged for the lunch special of personal pizzas and salads.

Making it work

Idle Spurs Steakhouse

We utilize a lot of info from fellow RVers when planning camp spots along our journey. There are many on-line guides with good info. Today we headed toward Barstow, CA with the plan to camp on BLM land just outside of town. The road described as good in the guide must have been washed out recently, and we found ourselves in another "pickle". As I am backing Biggie Moms up over a small ridge I notice Annette and Lynn flinging boulders out of the way. Ha ha!!! We were able to g...et out unscathed. Once turned around Annette started looking up info on a new spot. Using the Trails End guide available through the Escapees RV club we found a great spot at the Idle Spurs Steakhouse. They offer one free night in a little gravel parking lot next to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant is closed on Mondays or we could have had steak with that " pickle". He he!!

Hueco Tanks State Park and Historical Area

Art panel in Comanche Cave/Hueco Tanks

HuecoTanks sneaks up on you and works its way into your heart. At first glance, it’s just another high desert area with small, barren mountains that look black in the distance. The first thing that clues you into the fact that Hueco is different, is that once at the park you have to stop and view an informational video before you can camp or walk around. In fact, if you want to explore, you have to get a pass from the ranger’s office for that day. There is so much history in this park, but unfortunately it has not been well cared for through the years. Many of the pictographs have been defaced and Native American burial sites have been trampled. Several years ago a multi-agency effort to protect this sacred place created a strict game plan for the park’s future use. Park restrictions now require obtaining a pass to climb or hike on North Mountain. A limited number of passes are available at the visitor center when it opens each day. Passes are free for campers and $7 for daily users.

Kristy Bouldering at Hueco Tanks

Hueco Tanks is a world-renowned bouldering area and North Mountain is open for climbers and for people like us who just want to wander the mountain and enjoy the views. Small groups of college students on winter break were in the park bouldering and it’s fun to watch them climb and maneuver on the rocks. They put big square pads on the ground for protection if they fall so you see groups of climbers walking in the park with these large, colorful pads strapped on their backs. We called them Sponge Bob Square Pants, but from the back our camp host pointed out that they also look like giant walking popsicles.

Checking out one of the masks in Kiva Cave/ Hueco Tanks

Several masks in Kiva Cave/ Hueco Tanks

While visiting the park in December, we did not have any problem getting a hiking pass. We hiked and explored North Mountain on our own and played around the rocks which are pock-marked making it easy to find hand holds for climbing. Our camp hosts, Tim and Carol, offered to take us to the famous and well-hidden Kiva Cave to see the Jornada Mogollon paintings of masks. We began by hiking along the trail from the Interpretive Center toward North Mountain scrambling up the flank until we came to a dead tree. From the dead tree, we looked up at the rocks until we located a balanced rock which resembles a duck. At the duck, looking off to our right we spotted a rock formation that kind of looks like an alligator. The head of the alligator points to the cave. To enter the low cave opening, one has to belly crawl. Once inside, the cave opens into a bigger room where eight masks can be found painted on the upper wall and ceiling.  We lay on the floor of the cave talking and telling stories and imagining other people through the centuries doing the same thing.

To see the other two mountains at Hueco Tanks several different tours can be pre-booked. Each tour cost $2 per person. Led by trained volunteers or park staff, tours provide visitors with an opportunity to see more caves and rock art, learn about the history, geology, and biology of the area and to experience the magic of Hueco up close. 

Winter camping: We enjoyed pleasant daytime temperatures in the 50s and 60s while camping here December 17-22, but be ready for night time temps that dip into the teens and low 20s.

Big BendTexas and the Lonesome Dove Novel

Annette, Santa Elena Canyon

I received a gift today. Annette has us reading the Lonesome Dove series as we roll through Texas. It has been fun traveling through some of the places described in the book. Sometimes the story and reality merge. On several occasions while driving I will think that Buffalo Hump will ride out of the Dry Texas landscape looking for scalps. Today we were putting our kayaks into the Rio Grande River, as Annette was parking the truck I was looking across the River at the Mexico b...ank, my thoughts were moving between how cool it is to be seeing the river boundary and the river bank in Mexico and wow hope I don't get kidnapped by a pistolero. Out of the blue a beautiful male voice begins singing across the river, a Spanish ballad. I couldn't see anyone because of the mesquite trees on the bank. After a few minutes I see a Mexican cowboy riding his horse across the plains. I felt for a moment that I was actually in the Lonesome Dove novel with a vaquero. A gift.

Palo Duro Cayon

Palo Duro Canyon 10/26—10/29.

Wild Turkey in Camp

When visiting the Panhandle area of Texas, everyone says, “Make sure you go to Palo Duro Canyon. You’ll like it.” And like it we do. Pulling into Hackberry Campground in Palo Duro Canyon State Park we glimpse wild turkeys and deer skirting around the campsites. Yellow and orange-leafed trees--hackberry, mesquite, oak, and cottonwood, create a classic autumn scene. Our campsite, #20, facing the creek has a fire pit and a covered picnic table and feels homey. It’s November and temperatures in the 70s make us Colorado girls sigh with happiness as we put out our camp chairs and sit down to sip a cup of tea. We settle in and the wildlife show begins. A flock of wild turkeys wanders through making its way among the yellow shrubs. Every so often a tom displays his tail feathers and gets into a tiff with one of the other turkeys. Golden-fronted woodpeckers swoop in and out of the trees showing off their beauty while deer meander through the shrubs below. Later in the afternoon, a wandering covey of bobwhite quail break from the shrubs and cut across near the picnic table. It’s like our own personal wildlife show.

Fun mountain biking in Palo Duro Canyon

We explore the campground checking out the bathroom to see if it has showers (it does!) and look to see what kind of trails we can find close to camp. It’s the end of October and the campground is almost empty. Most of the campsites have decent natural shrub barriers between the sites offering a feeling of privacy. A couple of trailheads are accessible right from camp. Most of the campers we see have mountain bikes attached to their cars or trailers and we see riders cycling back to camp looking tired and happy. We’re looking forward to taking our bikes out for a spin.



Annette and Shug Lighthouse Rock

First thing in the morning we grab Shug and hit the trailhead located right across from the Hackberry entrance and hike out to Light House Rock. The trail is nicely packed and well-marked. We hike out to the rock formation and climb around before turning around to wander back amongst the red rocks, mesquite trees, and quiet desert beauty to camp. We explore other trails off the Rojo Grande trail with our mountain bikes and find trails of varying difficulty and length all marked with simple signs that give the initials of the trail’s name and distance traveled in half mile increments. The visitor center provides a map that shows all of the trails. It’s often hard to find good mountain biking trails, but Palo Duro delivers.

Halfway through our time at Palo Duro, we make a trip into the nearby town of Canyon. There’s a huge and well-reviewed Western museum here that we do not visit this time because we have Shug and we don’t like to leave her in the truck for too long. We do, however, tour around the old downtown which is charming and artsy, and stop in at Palace Coffee Company. Their coffee tastes great and their warm and cozy atmosphere provides a pleasant spot for a bit of WIFI time. Everything one could need in the way of resupply is available in Canyon. A quick trip to the grocery store and a fuel fill-up does it for us and we head back to our camp.

Spider Selfie just in time for Halloween

Camp Rating: 4.5/5 Loved it and will definitely come back—probably during the same time of year

Ambience: Warm and wonderful. Wildlife, trees, and site amenities all great

Tail Access: Excellent quality and variety

Accessibility and size of the campsite: Awkward parking angles for our 38 ft 5^th wheel, but once parked, a well laid out site.

Connections: Zero Verizon connection. 2 TV stations (both were PBS). A few radio stations, including one NPR station

Bathrooms: Acceptably clean, showers could use a little retiling work, but the water was hot and the bathroom was heated.

Negatives: Flies (which may have been exacerbated by our proximity to the trash dumpster).

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Texas

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area  October-23-2015 – October-26-2015

Biggie Moms and the setting sun

Lake Meredith NRA seems to us like one of the gems of the Texas Panhandle area. All of the camping at Lake Meredith is free and there are several different campgrounds to choose from. We camped at Fritch Fortress, a high ridgeline campground that looks out over the lake.  All of the campsites have a covered picnic table, a fire ring, and gorgeous views. The sites are pull-alongs rather than pull-throughs and they are so spacious that even the largest rigs will have no problem parking. Fritch Fortress location has no toilet facilities, but there is a fresh-water fill station and a dump station nearby. An easily accessible boat ramp and parking area about a mile from camp provide ready access for boaters and kayakers. A small dock near the boat ramp offers handicap access fishing. There are outhouses in the boat dock area. We found walking from our campsite to the boat dock and back on the paved road to be a nice walking workout with beautiful views.

Kristy enjoying the view of Lake Meredith

While at Lake Meredith we drive around the lake to visit the other camping areas (one shoreline, and one wooded) and visit the nearby National Monument of Alibates Flint Quarries for an historical tour and learn about flint knapping. We are always on the lookout for good places to walk since our dog Shug is active and used to a lot of exercise. Unfortunately, the Lake Meredith area is friendlier to stickers and thorns than it is to dogs. We do the best we can with dirt and paved roads and promise Shug that better trails will be in her future.

Camp Rating: 4/5

Ambience: Quiet. Expansive views. Beautiful night skies

Tail Access: None that are dog paw friendly. Paved road down to the boat dock = best option

Accessibility and size of the campsite: Huge and relatively level

Connections: Limited Verizon service. No electricity so we didn’t use TV or radio.

Bathrooms: None

Negatives: Slight drone from nearby oil pumps

Colorado Trail Thru Hike

Left to right: Annette,Shug, Kristy, Carolyn and Lynn

Celebrating the Transition For years we had talked about completing a through hike of the Colorado Trail, but had never been able to take off that many weeks from our jobs and home duties. So now that we had no jobs and no house what better way to kick off our retirement than to plan and do a backpack trip on the Colorado Trail. The Colorado Trail runs from Denver to Durango--a 500 mile backpacking trek through the mountains and valleys. Two friends joined us so we were a group of four women and we gave ourselves the trail name of Wander Women. Our dog Shug joined us with an appropriate trail name of Trail Boss. Our Colorado Trail trek began in Denver early in the morning on June 28, 2015. We had the time of our lives. Our friends and family gave us support along the way, picking us up at trailheads and driving us into our resupply towns. Hanging out on our rest days in the little mountain towns of the beautiful Colorado Rockies and engaging in unlimited calorie consumption was a blast. Our favorite times during the trek were hiking and camping in the alpine zone above 12,000 feet in the Rocky Mountain tundra. Over the seven weeks we were hiking we met great people and wandered through incredible beauty. Along the way we were able to find several places to spread Melody's ashes. The journey was a healing time and also a celebration of life. We finished the trail on August 18th walking into Durango with tears, laughter, and an incredible feeling of accomplishment.

Kristy placing Mel's ashes amoung the Aspen trees.

Walking the Colorado Trail became a living metaphor for walking into the next chapter of our lives and we were psyched. We were ready to hit the road with Biggie Moms. Unfortunately, Kristy got sick a week before we finished the trail, suffering with stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea. After several more weeks of assorted testing, a course of antibiotics kicked in and her symptoms disappeared. But then to add to the confusion, the gallbladder tests that Kristy had initially taken showed that she needed to have her gallbladder removed. Then her routine physical showed questionable results that required a breast biopsy. UGH!!

Completed the Colorado Trail

Finally, two months later on October 17, 2015, with all the medical appointments behind us we left Colorado and headed for Texas. We were on the road rolling out onto a blank canvas anxious to create our new life. All of the research time and hard work, the ending of careers and saying goodbyes, all the planning and preparing are behind us now. We are free as birds.

High point on Colorado Trail

Trail Boss and Wander women high in Colorado

Annette and Kristy Lake Ann Pass CT

Catching up to May 2015

Catching up to May 2015 As we moved forward with our plans to retire and become full-time RVers, we failed to keep up our blog posts so here's our catch up. Our much loved downtown Colorado Springs house closed on October 24, 2014. We both agreed that it felt better to sell a house than buy one. After the closing, we walked directly from the title company to the bank feeling free. The bank teller deposited our check and at the same time told us that we pre-qualified for a new car loan. Ha ha NO THANKS.

Sergeant Melody Burns

Beginning in late summer, Kristy's sister, Melody, started having health problems. Although her symptoms were severe, visits to doctors and hospital emergency rooms failed to find a cause. Finally, a 105 degree fever and an aggravated cough forced another emergency room visit and a hospital admittance. After several misdiagnosis and pain filled weeks, Melody was diagnosed with metastic melanoma cancer. Melody, a police sergeant and lifetime athlete fought a warrior's fight against the cancer and couldn't beat it. She passed away February 8, 2015 at age 52. One thing we are grateful for is the extra time we were able to spend with Melody in her last months. Because Kristy had already begun the process of closing down her practice and cutting back on hours she was able to spend that time with Melody. Melody's death left a gaping hole in our lives, and we move forward with her in our hearts.

Garden of the Gods RV Park in Colorado Springs

Life got a bit disorienting during this time. We started living full time in our fifth wheel, Biggie Moms, in mid-December at Garden of the Gods RV Resort on the west side of Colorado Springs. The learning curve for starting one's full-time RV life in a Colorado winter is pretty steep. We did not know how Biggie Moms would fare with the freezing temps, but we armed ourselves with internet research and tips from the park manager, put a space heater in the pass-through and some heat tape on the pipes and hoped for the best. Of course, the winter ended up being one of the coldest and snowiest in decades. Waking up to temperatures like -13 or -17 can be pretty scary for first timers. However, not only did we survive without freezing the pipes or tanks, but we loved our winter camping experience. Biggie Moms became a refuge in that painful time in our lives. Fortunately for us, Garden of the Gods RV Park is close to Manitou Springs home to the Mate Factor cafe, one of our favorite comfort spots where we spent many early mornings sipping Mate, eating muffins steamed with butter, and talking about life and death.

Spring dragged her feet and stayed cool and wet for weeks on end, but eventually May rolled around and Annette finished her last semester as a high school librarian and officially retired. Before we left Garden of the Gods RV Park, we threw a big retirement party for ourselves at their event center. With some really good BBQ and some local mico brew our friends and family shared in our excitement in starting this new phase of our lives.



Becoming Full-Time RVers

If everything goes according to plan, by this time next year we'll be trekking the Colorado Trail,  our preamble, literally, to a new life as full-time RVers. 

Kristy has begun winding down her mental health therapy practice. And, in another week, I'll begin my last school year working as a high school librarian. All our worldly possessions streamed out of our house and into the homes of other people via gifting, garage sales, Craigslist, and ARC Thrift donations. A FOR SALE sign standing in the front yard marks our final phase of switching from conventional to out there.

How did we get here? A couple of years ago, after several meetings with a financial planner, we realized we were ready to bail on the American dream of maintaining a big budget lifestyle in perpetuity (perpetuity is a word one never uses until one goes to a financial planner). Maybe we didn't need all of this stuff to be happy.  After those financial meetings, we plunged into our "What if" phase: What if we sell the house? What if we want to travel for long periods of time? What if we stop living the conventional consumer life--what then? What if we could spend most of our time roaming the earth and being outside? Once we said "spend our time outside" aloud, we both knew we had hit on an idea that would work for us. In that moment, we went from being women who had never even considered having an RV and who knew absolutely nothing about RVs, to women embracing the idea of a full-time RV life.

House under contract

Don't get me wrong. We love our lives. Both of us enjoy our careers and feel good about the work we do. We take wonderful trips, share great friendships, and live in a town and a state that offer us opportunities to do the cultural and outdoor activities we love.  Neither of us feels like we are running away from our lives, but instead, that we are pushing forward into a new version of our lives where we spend less time having and more time doing.

New lives do not just pop into being. Weirdly, the act of de-possessing takes more energy than the act of possessing. Giving up careers feels disorienting. Moving from the known into the unknown is not without its discomfort and things like pianos and LazyBoy recliners are sorely missed. And yet, there's a current of excitement bubbling along in both of us that feels thrilling. We are stepping out of our comfortable life into the unknown and it feels good.