North Bound! part II

WHERE DID WE LEAVE OFF? 

Colorado, just north of Hooper.  The UFO Watchtower:

good morning!

WEDNESDAY May 23rd,  got up around 7ish to a lovely skyline view.  the fenced-in donkey not too far away was heeing and hawing, perhaps talking to his horse companion.  Joel stirred the coals of the fire and made us bacon, eggs and toast  while we discussed our plan for the day, turning over a few different ideas.  It was a tough call.   We decided to skip the Great Sand Dunes park only 40ish minutes away, in exchange for plenty of drive time through the mountain roads, and we'd visit some of Rocky Mountain national park.  I was pretty bummed at first.  I've been excited about driving up through the Rockies for MONTHS, yes, but The sand dunes were SO CLOSE right now!  I badly wanted to see them.  Then I remembered the fact that everything always works out for us.  I would have what I wanted, and at the perfect time.  Do I trust this??  Yes.  Okay then... onto logic and gut feeling, we were clearly being pulled to the many mountain peaks off in the distance.  So... ONWARD HO!  North we go, to Leadville.  
(see you another time, sand dunes, that are claimed to be Great.)

Leadville, CO

We drove passed peak after peak... peaks a'plenty, all of them sitting at just above 14000ft at varying heights.  And it's only the end of May, so they still had snow on them, SNOW! they were so pretty.  
WHOA! it was such a great drive.  

By lunchtime we hit Leadville, a historic silver-mining town that sits at 10,152 feet, making it the highest 'city' in all the U.S.!  Back in the day, late 19th century, it boomed to be the 2nd most populated city in the state of CO (Denver was #1).  Today the pop is about 2600.  Some friends in Sedona recommended we stop here and check it out.  It's hilly!  We found a nice park high up with a view to make and eat our lunch.  Afterward we walked downtown to grab a coffee and took some pictures of oddball things.  this place is cooool.  And I wasn't huffing and puffing from the high altitude.  This surprised me.  I lived in Cusco Peru for close to a year, that sits at 9,000some feet, and I had a hard time breathing calmly walking up a hill, EVER.  Walking up hills was a trip.  I just had to take it slow.  but not here. ?  that was neat!  (one time in peru, a friend and I went to market together during the New Year season, when folks run around with water balloons and squirt guns, or even buckets! of water.  a group of kids came up from behind us as we walked back home, and nailed us with balloons.  My friend and I took off running.  we did OK for a minute or two.  then we came to the large hill that leads up to our home, with 100s of steps to climb.  we started out running up those steps, but didn't get very far without having to stop and catch our breath.  the kids gained on us.  we couldn't move forward fast enough.  they were ruthless- screaming and throwing and squirting, they DRENCHED us!  I tried to run more, eventually giving in, I actually sat down, covered my face & head with my arms and waited for the inevitable.  I was surrendered to the laughter, giggles, shouts and smacks of exploding water.  we were cold and dripping from head to toe by the time we reached home.  Rough time!  but GTs.)

We left town with our treat of decadent coffee, ready to hit the park a couple hours more away.  What a time of year to show up!  we missed the opening day of an incredible mountain pass road by only 48 hours!  they close it for the season due to snow.  some years there are still MANY feet of snow where we were standing- they had a whole wall of pictures from seasons past. we'd have to come back another time to do the drive we had in mind.  Oh well, All good- we were allowed to drive into the park at least, and just turn around at the road closed.  It was spectacular, to see elk, a few moose, one with a baby calf! (see it sitting!  so funny.  in the pics link at the bottom), picturesque lakes, and ponds with snow-capped mountain wilderness behind them... just like on a postcard.  After leaving here we drove by Grand Lake and hiked around Adams Falls.  The trail passes by a pretty, swampy meadow, more untouched, gorgeous scenery, and gets up close and personal to the cascading water.  This was a lovely respite and bit of exercise for us on our sunny driving day.  Felt great to stretch the legs more. 

In the early evening we shot out through Estes Park to keep heading east, until I got us into Nebraska.  I got really tired, and couldn’t go much further.  Joel, the excellent navigator that he is, soon guided us to a free camping area near the shore of a park reservoir.  It was BUGGY!  first flurries of bugs we'd been in since leaving Kansas in November.  It was about 2am when we arrived and quite populated.  Our tent is tiny, so we found a small spot, on what appeared to be a small cliffy area, near enough the edge of the water to hear it lapping onto shore.  The grasses were tall. We were careful to set up and get situated as quietly as we could to respect the other campers.  I drifted off to sleep quickly while wondering what this place looked like in the daytime.  

Babysitting.  Literally.

THURSDAY, woke to the sound of screeching birds in the tree next to our tent just before light began to creep up.  Tried to doze on and off for a while longer.  Finally saw the view we had pitched ourselves into- a wide and pretty one!  of the lake/reservoir.  It was so warm and humid.  Buggy.  First bugs we’d encountered for a long time.  Our goal today: get through all of Nebraska!  Into Iowa, where we’d overnight at my friend Callie’s place in Waterloo.  I found the drive to be very pleasant.  It was pretty to see so much green, soft grass, and some trees, like back home in MN, and unlike what grows in the desert.  Callie is a gracious host.  We slept well that night IN A BED- OH, to have a bed!  Yum.  We helped her out the following morning by watching her kiddos so she could leave the house for a bit.  The smallest of the 3 took my sitting on them the best. 

    

TOUCHDOWN!  we made it home.

FRIDAY, It was as hot up here as it was when we left where we were!  wtf?!  only difference was the level of dew and humidity.  which was thick.  and we got to see our first intense storm since months ago.  What a dilly we drove through! as we finished our trek into Wisconsin, arriving at Joel's parents' house early evening.  We climbed out of the truck and were greeted with a rainbow!  but no people inside the house.  Joel called one of his brothers- the one who also came in from out of town, with his family, and found out everybody was gathered at sisters house.  Brother said he would not tell anybody we called, and we scooted over that way.  What timing!  everyone was together, about to leave for our niece's graduation ceremony.  Joel and I didn't know that was happening tonight... it just hadn't occurred to us.  we had "Saturday party" on the brain.  but we were here Friday evening, proving our arrival to be even more magical!  We pulled into the driveway the same moment our niece was about to leave for the high school.  She didn't even notice us!  I tapped on her car window to get her attention.  she saw us, realized it was us, and freaked out.  it was awesome.  we hugged a long time amidst the shock and emotions.   she calmed down a little bit then took off down the road.  into the house we went to surprise another 10 ppl.  It was hilarious!  more freaking out happened, more hugs, more laughs.  what a SATISFYING experience.  hfsb!

as if all that wasn't fulfilling enough, we learned that just the previous day, niece did not have enough tickets for all the fam that wanted to attend the ceremony.  but today she happened to end up with 2 Xtra ones.  so Joel and I got to see her walk and receive her diploma.  what a wonderful surprise how the timing of everything unfolded.  Also, it's small town, so we ran into other friends and family that we love and miss.  It was a wonderful evening, and next few days, catching up with Joel's family, before we went to surprise my folks.  HeeHeeHeeHeeee!!!

Click here for more pics

back for the burn! )'(

Joel and I returned home to MN to attend the local burn(ing man) in July.  But as things panned out, we were able to leave the SW near the end of May and stay many weeks!
After a few days being back with family we surprised in WI, we ventured over unannounced to my parent's place in MN, trusting they hadn't caught wind of our return yet (and assuming we could crash there for a while)!  we arrived to another empty house, but there were signs they hadn't ventured far.  minutes later they pulled in, my dad stopping to park the truck before reaching his usual spot in the driveway.  My mum jumped out to hug us and wrap her head around us standing there.  we stayed there for several days, until one evening we received a call from Joel's aunt, asking if we'd be interested in helping them with a big project, that they would pay us for.   It sounded like a great idea!  So back over to WI we went! We helped pack up and clean out their house so they could put it on the market to sell.  They fed us everyday, we all had some fun quality time together, we were pleased as punch with everything that got done, and they paid us to boot  😁

Anne ❤

The evening after House-Work project was over, we went to a fundraiser party in Mpls where our friend Anne, a massage co-worker of mine, was probably going to show up.  she didn't know we were going to be there.  She did indeed attend.  Sneaking up behind her at the entrance was awesome.  seeing her reaction was priceless, and I giggled so much about it all night long!  I couldn't stop relishing her shock, and our happy reunion.   I also walked on stilts for the first time, (did pretty good! I had nice teachers :), watched pet scorpions, made some new friends, and danced my butt off.

As it turned out, we practically lived at Anne's home in St. Paul for much of the time we were in town, which was fantastic.  We did many fun things with her 10 yr young daughter, milla, and Anne's hubby.  Jake is an avid pedal biker., so they happened to have 2 extra bikes around 😄  we all went on rides together, jumped on Milla's trampoline, played badminton, slept outside in their gazebo many nights, and went camping- back at the lake we got married at last July.  Some of Joel's family joined us there as well.

Logan and Milla (floatie time!!)

One evening Joel pre-made some sourdough pizza crusts and we tried cooking them over the campfire for the first time- HFSB!!!!!  IT WAS SO GOOOOOD  👍👍👍  HANDS-DOWN THE BEST pizza i've ever had.  Joel is amazing with his sourdough skills.  The following day was particularly windy.  after a yummy campfire breakfast, we decided to play with this to our advantage.  We blew up and packed in a bunch of floatie toys, drove our truck over to the park on the opposite side of the lake and most-leisurely floated our way back over to our campsites via the wind.  Twice we did this!  It was seriously the most fun swimming and chilling and laughing on the lake that I've had in a little while.
The in-between times had us whipping water balloons at each other with Milla, swaying softly in hammocks near the water's edge, hula hooping, and setting one of mine on fire at night. 


A couple weeks after Anniversary Camp-Out, I went back to work!  seeing some of my massage clients from the 8 year practice I left behind.  I had no idea how wonderful it would be to catch up with these folks.  A few of them came to see me twice within the 3 week period I made myself available!  It was a happy reunion with each of them.  And fun to give a bunch of massages again.  (I only do a little bit for fun on the side since we left MN.)  I also have to throw in my BIGTIME kudos to my sweet friends Charlee and Peter.  They bought our Prius from us just before we left MN last November.  And they let me use the car for practically the WHOLE TIME I was home!  i cannot say just how wonderful it was to have it, especially allowing me to see clients while Joel stayed in WI to do his own things.  I am endlessly thankful to them for being so generous on our first return trip back home.  it just made it all the more abundant! 

Deborah spinning poi

Between going back to some work, getting out to dance, Frisbee golf, bowling, throwing Kubb (yard game), picking wild strawberries, finding mushrooms, swimming, gazing at pretty flowers and gardens, and a quaint little memorial to Larry Harvey, throw our various event projects into the mix, and we stayed pretty busy, and had such fun!

Joel and his bro, Jeremy, cut and decorated some bonfire burning barrels for our camp and others.  And I have a little gig/experience I provide all my own, as well as portapotty decorating.  We, along with Anne, and about 10 other peeps, are all part of a "theme camp" called Camp Antisocial.  Anne and I plan out the meals we share in as a camp, organize various community events hosted in our space, and this year we threw a Halloween party.  The whole weekend in mid July was again and as always amazing.  all I can say other than that, is i'm endlessly tickled to be part of this collective of wacky and genius ppl.  I look forward to it every single year.  One of these times we'll make it to the AZ one that goes down in the Spring.  (I find i don't take many pictures at burns.  I borrowed a couple from a friend tho and have included them in a montage toward the end of this blog.) 

Only a couple days after it was over, we spent one night with our wiener-dog friends who are planning to embark on their own new RV adventure in the Fall!  We got to see their rig, trade some camper tips, and we're so thrilled for the adventure their going to soon embark on!  A day after that, we had to start driving back to Sedona (for the new jobs awaiting us).

I didn't get to meet up and visit with everyone I wanted to.  we we'll be back another time tho... definitely again next July!

a BIG Thank you to everyone who opened their home to us, shared meals, made time, and helped us out with anything we needed while we were back.  it was wonderful!!  we love you all so much. 

until next time,

Tallyho! ~

click here for photo montage

our favorite lake/Heaven in WI  

North bound! part I

this ain't no desert mushroom

Our first trip back home since we left in November greeted us with incredibly lush green, grassy, leafy fullness.  We had no idea to what vibrant extent it was flourishing up here, as MN (and WI) was already hot, humid, and getting rain quite regularly since the end of May.  We left mid-90 temps in Sedona, only to arrive in the same exact temps up north!  That was a surprise.  Altho great to be back among all the mushrooms, flowers, and tall, full trees, in contrast from life in the desert.  I was stoked for a couple full months of MN summer; swimming, camping, frisbee golf, hammocking, biking, mushrooms, time with friends and family, Dance Church, lots of dancing (Maaaaan, I miss my live house and techno DJs!)... etc.  I really do enjoy living in Sedona, AZ, but I was really excited to come back up north.

Our next travel plans out of Sedona were for sometime in late June or early July, to again be part of our local Burning Man event in MN.  But as life and luck would have it, the clouds parted amidst our new work situation, allowing us the opportunity to blast off much sooner than anticipated.  Well-over a month sooner.  So we decided to go for it!  With only several days to figure out a plan and get our ducks in a row, we found a spot to store the RV, ate up all the food in our fridge and freezer, found a babysitter for our sourdough mother and house plants, packed up our tent and sleeping bags, then took off the 4th week in May.

Colorado

We decided to leave the RV behind, and resort to couch surfing between friends and fam, so we could more easily drive through some of the Rocky mountains, and make it in a shorter amount of time, since we had a particular day that we wanted to arrive by:  Joel's mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary + niece's graduation party on Saturday, May 21st. 
Last we spoke to anybody about attending, we were not going to be able to come.  So we kept our change in plans to ourselves, that way we could surprise everyone.  It was so fun to do this!!  I have never surprised so many ppl in so short a span of time.  It was an absolute HOOT.  I was so giddy about this before we left, and my excitement only grew every day along the whole drive up.  Seeing the look on family and friends’ faces, and hearing them freak out... HAHA... it was so much fun.  This went on for about a month! 

Everything worked out and fell into place so wonderfully.  Without even planning, or knowing about it, we arrived only moments before our niece was about to drive off to her high school graduation ceremony.  We were able to attend, and she about peed her pants when she saw we were there!  (Details in part II).  The party the following day was lovely.  We surprised my parents a couple days later.  And more friends after that. 

We left on a Monday, giving us 5 days to get home:

Overnight on the edge of Albuquergue, NM

BYE BYE SEDONA at 4pm.  Today’s driving goal is Albuquerque, about 300 mile away.  New Mexico landscape and scenery felt pretty different from AZ.  Hmm!  Neato.  We hit our goal.  In the wee hours of the ‘morn, we pitched our tent at an interesting city-run campground, just outside/ practically in town.  It rained a bit on our drive.  The ground was wet when we set up our tent and the air very humid.  I thought this was the desert?!  The following morning we overheard a park maintenance worker say that it hadn’t rained there in over a year.  Over a year!  And last night, they happened to get a nice little 10-minute downpour.  I thought it was neato that we were there for it.  (TIMING!) 

TUESDAY was our busiest day (so I'm breaking this blog into two parts), doing a variety of things outside of the truck.  First stop was breakfast in some teeny town just outside Santa Fe, then on to Taos.  We hung out there for a couple of hours.  I'd like to go back and spend more time one day.  Maybe go snowboarding!  The mountains were beautiful.  A fun town with tons of history to dive into.  Lots of yummy native culture.  We shopped in the town square a bit as I was on the hunt for a wooden flute.  (I didn’t find it.  my gut tells me it's back in Sedona.)  Amazing gem and fossil shops!  One place had a lizard stuck in some Amber, not for sale, just for looksies.  The shopkeeper took it out of the display case for us to hold and view closer.  Fascinating.  They claim it’s about 5 million years old.  WooWee!  We left Taos to press on into Colorado.  We went over the Rio Grande for the first time ever.   WHOOWEEE!!!WOW.  holy crap.  What a sight that is.  
Not far passed that I swerved to avoid a live snake in the road.  “That looked like a rattle snake!” Joel said.  I kinda thought so too, going off of the colors of their skin that I’ve often seen in pictures.  So, I finally saw my first rattlesnake.  HeHe.  Not far passed THAT we whizzed by the EarthShip homes community.  I was so excited!  Back when Joel and I were first dating, we watched oodles of youtubes about these amazing, unlimitedly creative, self-sustaining homes that were being experimented with in some open area of New Mexico.  And now, here they were, so close I could almost touch them.  There was a sign down one of their roads that says they gave tours and info.  I wanted to stop in so badly.  But Joel kept us on track.  We had to get into CO, and then some, so we had to keep driving.  

We weren’t sure yet where we were gonna spend the night.  Joel referred to some camping app we have, and came across a very intriguing option, at the UFO Watchtower, located in the “mystical San Luis Valley”, outside of Hooper.  This place is RAD.  Out in the middle of practically nothing, (other than one hot springs facility, and a alligator farm!) there's a tiny dome structure housing a gift shop and admission office, with a large metal deck constructed all around the top of it.  We paid $10 for one night of camping.  There were 2 other campers parked at opposite ends of the land, but we never saw any other ppl.  

Entering Colorado

UFO Watchtower / camping!

We chatted it up for at least a half hour with the kind woman in the gift shop- about consciousness, God, Love, well-being, healing, and reality in general.  What a this kindred soul this was!  She said we were free to climb up to the observation deck after dark, after she’s gone home, but at our own risk.  And if we were to see any activity or have some kind of experience with our space brothers, would we please record it in the notebook that hangs outside? She claims to have had a variety of different experiences herself in this place.  Some of them touched her deeply.  I got to tell her my 2 stories, one happened in Peru, and the other out at my mom and dad's house in Bethel, MN.  Before we headed out the door, she also mentioned that numerous psychics and the like have visited this place, claiming to see/be aware of two very large- TALL- extraterrestrial-type beings on both sides of the structure that appear to guard and bless the space.

Now, I am often wanting to sleep outside without a tent around me.  But not very often do I feel it is a safe and comfortable environment to do so (critters being my main concern.  Or a clean, smooth spot to lay on my inflated pad).  Until today!  When she said we can go up top that night, I thought “WHOA!!  PERFECT.  I'm gonna sleep up there tonight!”  It’s high off the ground.  Nothing is gonna bug us up there, unless we’re sucked up by a spaceship, but that may not even be bothersome, so much as amazing.  I made up my mind I was gonna take my sleeping bag and mat up there and spend the whole night.  I was excited out of my gourd about the idea.

As if this wasn’t great news enough, we still had plenty of time left in the day to scoot down the road only a minute to Sand Dunes Swimming Pool & RV Park  (only a few more short miles from Great Sand Dunes Park Reserve).  We grabbed our suits and went to eat lunch and dip in the water.  This place was so fun!  Ya know what, actually, every single hot springs I’ve ever visited has been a blast.  And all so different;  creatively laid out, clean, soothingly comfortable; each with their own unique flair.  All so rejuvenating.  We paid a little extra on top of regular admission to hang out in the “adult area”- a walk down a lit corridor of old storage containers that lead into a GIANT room that used to be a greenhouse, converted into a luxurious chill space, with various temperature pools sprawling all over, and even a little baby pineapple plant thriving away!  One of their pools is called The Coffin.   HAHA.  We managed to get our entire bodies into it.  And after about 10 seconds, I said “I think we’re about to turn into a soup.  This can’t be good. ”  And Joel agreed.  We had to get out!  I think it was only half a degree before boiling point, is my guess.  (it said and I don’t recall.)

We hung out in the pools and chatted with some great ppl.  One older couple lived on the other side of the mountain range, a couple hours and then some, away.  They come here at least once a year with their RV.  They told us to for sure hit up the sand dunes national park tomorrow.  And suggested the most scenic route we could drive through on this end of the Rockies.  The bartender gal was fantastic- she has this wonderful story of marrying her sweetheart, having kids, living near a big city in CO and realizing she was caught up in the rat race… wanting her family to be closer, spend more time together, maybe even grow their own food, and spend more of her energy on things that really mattered to her.  So they left their jobs, downsized their possessions, moved to some homesteading land, changed their lifestyle quite a bit, and they’ve never been so fulfilled.  She bartends in this awesome place once in a while and just loves it.  Her energy and genuine smile were as beautiful as her story!  She enjoyed hearing our story, too.  There were others we met.  A few drinks had.  Lots of mineral-y water soaked up.  We left feeling ready to go home, set up our tent, and FINALLY have a friggin’ camp fire!!!  This was the first time in MONTHS that we were in a place with a fire pit, and no current fire ban in the area.  There was even a pile of wood left in our spot!  So we put it to good use. 

It was quite windy and had been all day, but we thought it would die down a bit.  It hadn’t appeared to.  It also got cold- much colder than I expected it to.  Would I really wanna hack laying outside in this all night long??  Joel and I meandered over to the watchtower deck to scope out the situation.  We climbed to the top and took in the clear, grand view of the vast sky.  The wind whipped here and there.  I was cold.  I was no longer feeling like putting my sleeping bag up here.  Maybe if I wake up in a few more hours it will be more calm, and I’ll leave the tent then.  WELL, I did wake up in the night.  I unzipped the tent and stepped outside.  I just stood there in my solitude for a few minutes, breathing deeply, looking at the moon, just gorgeous, orange, low to the horizon, with a feeling of calm stillness even though the wind occasionally whipped my hair across my face.  The temperature has dropped even more, as well.  I crawled back into the tent to sleep more, feeling so content under the light of the moon, casting a soft glow into our space.  

~ SO content.  So happy. ~

mornin'!

The next morning Joel stirred the coals and made us breakfast over the fire.  Then we had a loooong, but awesome drive ahead of us the rest of the day.  for that and the rest of our trek, see part II (i'm still workin' on it!)