To say that a lot has happened in the six months since I last wrote would be a major understatement. We are back exploring the wild, wild west (wild in more ways than one!) and we have gained a traveling buddy along the way. But more about that in a bit. First of all, where are we and where have we been?!?
My last blog post left us in Texas where we continued to meander through until we hit Tijeras, New Mexico in early July. Tijeras is just outside of Albuquerque, which is one of my favorite areas. The culture is so rich and unique that it truly feels as though we are adventuring in a foreign country when we are there. I like it! We hiked back up the Sandia Crest Trail which was very nostalgic and as memorable as always. This trail leads up to the ruins of the Kiwanis Cabin and it has been forever etched in my memory as one of my favorite hikes of all time.
When we left New Mexico we headed north to Colorado. We explored brand new areas in Colorado, different from the last times we visited this state, so it was incredibly refreshing to experience some brand new sights for a change! We were starting to feel like we’ve “been there, done that” more often than not lately. But Colorado breathed new life into our adventures. First we stayed in Durango and explored that area.
Next, we drove the famous, or as the quote below calls it infamous Million Dollar Highway.
“An infamous stretch of U.S. 550, twisting and turning its way through the Rocky Mountains of Southwestern Colorado, the road ascends and descends three of the highest mountain passes in North America. No shoulder in most places and missing guardrails in others brashly makes it very clear that “The Million Dollar Highway” is no ordinary road. Over much of its 25 miles between Silverton and Ouray the road’s speed limit is less than 25-miles per hour. Traveling any faster would not be sensible, perhaps even insane. This incredible road has to be seen and driven, actually experienced, to be believed.”
From The Million Dollar Highway – Colorado Sky Way
Not only did we drive it just with Moses first to do a test run; but the following day we actually towed our entire home all the way up the Million Dollar Highway from Durango to Silverton to Ouray before we continued on to our destination at the newest Thousand Trails park that is located in Gunnison, Colorado. It was hairy and stressful, but oh so AWESOME! That was without a doubt our most memorable Scenery Swap Day EVER!
We then spent a couple weeks in the Gunnison area at the Thousand Trails Blue Mesa RV Resort which we absolutely loved. We drove our rolling home right through Telluride and then we stopped in Monument Valley on our way south to Arizona. In truth, we loved every single inch of Colorado! While there we visited so many iconic and memorable areas, we both determined that our favorite town of all was Crested Butte.
By early August we arrived at our favorite TT campground in the country, Verde Valley RV Resort in Cottonwood, Arizona. Shortly after our arrival we unexpectedly flew our oldest granddaughter, Saylor, here to Phoenix to come travel with us for the school year. We had already made our plans, but God directed our steps where we were not expecting. She is the new traveling buddy I hinted to above! We are now blessed to be traveling with and homeschooling her along the way. Since she is with us now, we decided to bounce around our various Arizona resorts through the end of December and take her to some of our favorite places as well. She has been here two months and we have already taken her to lots of places including: Sedona, Jerome, Gold King Mine, Flagstaff, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Tuzigoot National Monument, Casa Granda Ruins National Monument, and the Grand Canyon National Park! We also drove her up to Mount Humphreys Peak which at 12,637 feet is the tallest mountain in Arizona. Oh… and she’s been swimming in quite a few different swimming pools. I am sure I left some things out but as you can see, she’s already been to lots of epic places and there is so much more to come!
After Christmas we will head to Palm Springs, California (where I taught Saylor how to swim when she was five!) and then we plan to mosey up the eastern side of California to visit Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Lake Tahoe. Then we will head on up to Oregon before popping over to explore Idaho, and Utah. At least that’s the plan for now…. but as always God will direct our steps.
Another major life-changing event that recently occurred is…. drumroll…. we got Starlink for RVs!!! This has been more of a major life changer for us than we expected. We didn’t realize just how stressful and time-consuming dealing with slow or non-existent Wi-Fi was until we got our Starlink and found ourselves with consistent fast Wi-Fi —24/7! Now we finally have the freedom to go anywhere regardless of the cell service or lack thereof. What’s more, we can use it on our future sailboat as well! Greg is a software developer with remote clients and online products, so internet connectivity is mission critical for him. Also, Saylor has some online homeschooling subjects (Teaching Textbooks Math, Spanish, and Typing), and we also like to watch interesting and educational online content, documentaries, and entertainment. All that means that adding Starlink to our repertoire has made a HUGE difference in our lives, not to mention it is amazing not to have to stress over and manage EVERY SINGLE GIGABYTE!
Stay tuned as I am going to TRY (major emphasis on the word try) to write more frequently than I have been. Every six months is nothing to be proud of, so I aim to up my game. Just for you!
Until next time — Happy Trails & Sunny Sails!