We aimed Marcel toward Mono Lake on what might be the most aggressively side-to-side rolling dirt road we’ve ever driven. Not the gentle up-and-down kind — this was full-body sway, the kind that makes a tall van question its life choices. Marcel was not a fan. Neither were our cabinets....
We were on the final push now. Mojave behind us, the plan was simple enough: head north, cross the Sierras, and get Marcel settled in for a long 6–8 month hibernation while we disappeared halfway around the world to go sailing. Simple plans, of course, are rarely executed simply. Originally,...
We rolled straight through Kofa National Wildlife Refuge without even lifting our foot off the gas. We’ve been through there a few times now, and while it’s still beautiful, this was one of those keep-moving days. Quartzsite was next. We’ve been here before too. In fact, everyone has been here before....
We have spent this past work week just trying to get back into the routine of van living on public lands. Lake Mead has been nice to us. We found a dirt road rough enough to keep most people from passing by and set down it. It then provided us...
It took another full week, and weekend, for the issue with Big Blue to finally get resolved. That makes three full weeks we lived in an AAMCO parking lot in the greater Las Vegas area which included Xmas, new years, and our five year anniversary. Before anything I say about...
The parts for Big Blue’s repair would not arrive before the weekend, meaning we had a few days to kill before the work could be done. It was painful to accept but we have been trying to make the best of the time we are trapped in an AAMCO parking...
Well, we got Big Blue to the nearest AAMCO after the long, slow, journey to Henderson, NV (suburb of Vegas) on the back of a UHaul truck. This was the only AAMCO in the Vegas area that would be able to look at our problem within the week, but still...
We hate back tracking. We prefer to take a different path out than we took in if at all possible. So when given the choice between an hour’s drive – on asphalt – the way we just came, or two hour’s drive – on dirt – on a new-to-us road,...
Sure, we could have taken the direct route to get back to Northern California, but what fun is that? Instead, and knowing our time in Big Blue is running thin with the boat calling us, we chose yet again to take a route that neither of us have traveled before...
It’s hard getting Kerri out of bed in the mornings. Really. If the temperature is below 50 degrees, and I am foolish enough to give her a cup of coffee while she is still under the blankets, there is no hope for an early start to our day. And that...
