2020...
Our annual Summer trip got pushed out a month, but we pulled it off! (Just wanna see pictures? Click here) We survived the Sedona heat longer than usual this year, and were eager when the day came to store the RV for several weeks and blast off in the truck on August 8th. On the first day of our journey, we logged a whopping 40 miles- HAHA- up to Flagstaff, just to get out of town and be able to hit it sooner in the morning. Joel's nephew graduated high school that night. We were able to stream it on his phone. Quiet out here and we slept great. Next day we drove through some of the painted desert, across the Indian res for a few hours, into Colorado. From here we would meet up with a couple friends of ours from Mpls, MN, in their van, with their dog and cat. We are gonna have several days to just lollygag together across southern Colorado. Most of where we're going is new territory for us 👍
Woke up on day 2 and saw THE FIRST MUSHROOM of our trip, right behind the tent. (YaY!!) There was a small creek behind us. We were right off the dirt road, but nobody had driven down it since yesterday just before sunset. Private, quiet, alone. Great spot. That afternoon we met up with Charlee and Peter in Ourey, CO. We took them back to an area that we stayed at last summer- we had loved it so much. Very different this time! MUCH busier. NO privacy. The spot we had in mind was taken. And blah blah blah- We had a nice time there for 1 night then decided to shove on. Spent the next day going further east on Hwy 50. Found an absolute 💎GEM💎 of a campground. There were only 6? sites. And a vacant spot large enough for both our vehicles. The river was RIGHT THERE/our backyard. They also provide a pump for water, it tasted great, and a bathroom (i love that. so much.) All this for a mere $5. We love the BLM so much! Holy Heavens- spent 2 nites here, went for walks in the area, and it was such a rejuvenating place: perfect temps, gentle breezy, no bugs, mossy, shroomy, the sound of the water, playing in the water! and TONS OF BIRDS- they were everywhere, all day long. At one point a chipmunk made it's way down the treetrunk that Peter's hammock was tied to. Peter was laying in there eating a snack. And this chippy inched it's way not only across the rope but then onto the hammock edge, just a couple inches, but pretty close to Peter! It paused for a second then turned around and ran back up the tree. It was hilarious. This is one of our favorite finds of all the places we've ever tent camped. (Btw, Charlee and Peter's van is SO fun- they have it set up really cool in there! I can see the appeal of "van life".)
Next stop: the UFO Watchtower in Hooper, CO. This is our 4th time spending the night here. The sky is gorgeous! The energy is unique. There is a large raised deck observing area, and a "garden" made of "gifts". (Can you find the Torofulx?) The following morning we made a brief pit stop at the great sand dunes national park. That's a cool place to revisit, too. The rest of the day we just chugged further east, checked out a lake, and landed in a new campground, down some winding roads, in something of a canyon, with a creek that was dry. It was a pretty area for 1 nite.
We broke through CO into western Kansas. Somewhere along the way we visited a rock shop and I saw a type I'd never heard of that resembles my dad's name. Our home that night was not very far off a busy freeway, but yet very pretty, with burn barrels and lots of space, nestled within meadows of yellow flowers, and it had a bathroom, bonfire barrels, trash bins... it was really nice. And humid. Holy heck, was it sticky. We're certainly not in the desert anymore. That next day we made it to outside Fredonia, KS, to spend 1 nite with our friends Andy & Lou. Charlee and Peter ate a meal with us then split, heading back to MN. I planned to see Charlee again in a few more days for camping with family in WI, at our favorite little campground ever.
It is where Joel and I got married, and we return every summer for more swimming, swimming, and swimming. And kayaking, hammocks, fishing, fires, yard games, and for the first time this year, we harvested 2 different types of edible mushrooms 😀 that we sizzled up over some coals. Also for the first time, my bestie and her family drove up to join us from Iowa. Callie was born in the Philippines. And she showed us how to make her mom's homemade eggrolls. They were FAB! She also indulged us in her newest and favorite frozen cocktail creations. GOOD TIMES 💛
One day after our outdoor reunion, we got to visit with Joel's grandma, for at least a little bit. It was outside at her nursing home. We sure look forward to being able to hug and be close again!
Now the MN regional burn was just a couple more days away. Fewer tickets were sold, masks were mandatory, theme camps refrained from hosting gatherings, and ample amounts of hand sani were EVERYWHERE. As was our gladness to be pulling the thing off- and gloriously- nothing short of weird, hilarious, safe, and much needed. As far as I know, everyone stayed healthy, and our camp even made the front page of the paper for the first time, so... a pretty cool year for being (pod) Anti-social 👍
After that, we fit a few more days of stuff into our time up here: some 3D printing, a whole day of 4wheeling around WI, a backyard man burn burning man party (say that 5 times fast), a visit to a bog (in the city, FILLED with mushrooms... I used to live not far from here. HOW had I never been to this magical place before??!!?!).
Our leave of the Midwest happened on Labor day. We drove to Rockerville, South Dakota. We had plans to look for agates in the Black Hills. When we rolled in that evening it was snowing. So much for pitching the tent 😮 We got a room, woke up the next morning and it was thick in fog, there was more snow, and even more was on the way. So much for rock hounding?! Weighing out the situation: our truck doesn't handle well in mud, and the rocks are under inches of snow.
Hmmm...
time to move on. Into Wyoming. (Shall we go to Yellowstone, honey??)
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| Wyoming, Sept. 9th |
We had no rock collecting planned for Wyoming, but we did have a strong itch to check out Yellowstone for the first time. So we just enjoyed a day of driving our way across the state toward the park, seeing some new scenery, and got ourselves to Cody, WY for over night. Still too cold to pitch the tent! Another motel room. Woke up the next morning feeling super jazzed for the day😁
I was in Yellowstone as a kid, but I don't remember it. I am SO glad I went back. This was Joel's first time, too. WoW. I'll just share it with pictures. We took a ton of pictures. However, I do not share everything > wink < You gotta see it fresh for yourself, too. That, and it's a BIG place! HAHA. We could have spent another couple days here EASY, given the trails and hiking one may do. We left the park after dusk and found it was still too flippin' cold out to pitch the tent! So another motel tonight.
From here I'm directing you to the blog I wrote for our business website, where I already typed up the majority of this part of our trip.
Mostly just sprinkle in visiting Joel's Aunt Sharon, who lives outside Boise, Idaho, in Eagle. We called her rather last minute (😲). She had been social-distancing herself for months, just her and her dog, Buddy, but she eagerly hosted us for several different nights. We had a marvelous time! One of the first things she did when we arrived was show us the rocks she'd collected over the years. And she wanted to know more about what we do at our business. She is new to all of it. (So were we, not very long ago!) We showed her where we planned to go rock hounding a couple days from now, and she showed us her map of the area, then offered to drive us around and see some of it. And so the four of us went out on several car rides together, seeing some sights, the parks, a river, and eating pie. We also got to have dinner outside with Sharon's daughter/ Joel's cousin, who he has really missed! Somewhere in there Joel and I spent our day collecting rocks and spent the night in some new mountains, then returned to Sharon's. It took the span of two nights for us to watch all of Hamilton for the first time (well, not for Aunt Sharon. I think she's seen it about 50!). She made us lattes every morning. We lounged in her charming backyard, picked fresh herbs and veggies from her garden for meals, and one afternoon Joel and i went out for a bike ride into the city. This is a rapidly growing area- Holy smokes. Speaking of smokes! It was so thick in the sky the entire time we were there, that we didn't even know there were mountains surrounding us... I've heard there are- we'll have to go back! And when we do, it is going to look VERY different. We sure look forward to whenever that is. Sharon said we were the best roommates she'd ever had! She also mentioned that Joel is her favorite nephew. We had the greatest time making meals and chatting and playing together! But alas, our office in Sedona was expecting us back after the weekend. We left Idaho on a Thursday in September, spent the night in a few more nifty places, and went back to work on Monday the 21st.
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| Awesome Aunt Sharon! |
It was a wonderful trip, we are healthy, business is good, and we have new rocks to cut into. Some of them we have already polished, as of this posting- There's a few pics thrown in at the end of the album.
We are staying at a new campground now, for the winter months, and are looking to purchase land. We daydream about creating our own little luxury RV campground/ hobby farm. We will live on one space, reserve a couple for drop-ins from friends and family, then rent the others out. Maybe even combine it somehow with our rock shop. The vision keeps evolving, so we'll see!
Our next plan for travel is to the outdoor Quartzsite rock show in January-ish. We usually pull our home and spend several days there buying new inventory, hiking, and collecting more rocks on our own.
Oh! and
I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT:
"The world's largest collection
of smallest versions
of largest things"
Joel found this listed in a collection of oddball sights to stop for in Kansas. I was driving when he read it out loud to me. I had him repeat it about 6 more times. It sounds delightful just to say it! And it was too far away for us to visit this trip.
(THIS trip...
)
TallyHo, amigos!
~Angie la la la
(CLICK HERE to see the full photo album)
