On the road again...summer trip 2021

This year we took a 2 month RV trip to Michigan to visit our childhood stomping grounds and connect with family.  It took us about a week to drive from AZ to MI.  We alternated between boondocking and paying for full-hook up campgrounds while on the road.  We did have one little snag on the drive - one of our windows shattered!  We have no idea why.  I went in to open the windows after we stopped for the evening and it broke into a million pieces.  We had to figure out a solution that would work...this is what the "patch" looks like.  We were lucky this happened on the first day of the trip.  We were able to stop near our homestead, run out to the land to get tools and parts and complete the repair in one evening.  We didn't have to buy anything - we accomplished this with things we had laying around at the homestead.  This paneling worked well as replacement window for the drive to Michigan, for our entire stay, and for the drive back.  We have yet to schedule a time for a new window to be installed.  We did add some duck tape around the molding to ensure the water didn't settle into the window track.  This kept the panel board from getting wet where it would swell.  

Our primary destination was the Hideaway RV Park in Grass Lake, MI .  We had a reservation for a month.  It was a lovely place to stay (although it started out rather cool and wet).  My parents, siblings, nieces and nephews all live in the area. We were able to visit with various families each day.  The nieces and nephews were still in school and my siblings were working, so we met for dinners and had some fun gatherings on the weekends.  The campground has a pond for swimming and paddleboats - we enjoyed both.    

There were a number of personal reasons why we stayed in Michigan and didn't do any National Park sight-seeing this year.  I mentioned in a previous post that my grandma passed away in November - in addition to collecting items handed down to me, I assisted with an estate sale.  Secondly, and more importantly, my mom was diagnosed with cancer in April  - weeks of testing followed to determine the stage.  On the day we arrive we learned that it is stage IV and had spread from the initial site.  I was present for the first five weeks of her initial six week treatment of radiation and chemotherapy.  As I write she is on a week break from treatment and will soon begin a four-month chemo regime where she will receive treatment every other week.  At the end of those four months more tests will be completed to see how the cancer responded to the treatment in order to determine next steps.  I am glad I was able to be present during her initial treatment.  

We were also able to connect with Husband's family.  His parents passed away years ago, but his nephews live in the state and we were able to meet up with them one afternoon for a very nice visit.  We also took our kids to Frankenmuth, MI and Bronner's (trip down memory lane for the two of us).

We decided to extend our initial one-month visit by a couple of weeks.  We stayed at the Somerset Beach Campground for five nights.  This is where my parents full-time RV and we have stayed at this location in the past.  The sites have electric only.  You can run a hose from the bib to fill your RV tank.  There is no on-site sewer - you have to schedule a pump dump or move to the dump station.  The public restrooms and showers are very nice and allowed us to stretch one tank of fresh water for our entire stay.  

Our last week was spent at Camp Turkeyville - my parents moved here to better accommodate my mom's treatment and so we followed.  This place was expensive, but had some nice amenities (pools & restaurant were most appreciated).  Yes, there are turkeys and the restaurant serves a variety of turkey dishes.

The grounds are beautiful, the weather was nice, and the kids and their cousins all got to do a lot of swimming in the two pools!

We were parked across the road from my parents which was very nice.

We stayed a week and were turkey'ed out! Gobble gobble

We left Michigan on June 8th.  It took almost a week to get back to Mesa, AZ.  On the way back west the heat was intense so we paid for full-hook up sites every night except the first.  When we got back to our site in Mesa, we set up the RV for our next visit to the area.  The heatwave in AZ was in full force so we were anxious to pack up all of our stuff into our smaller cargo trailer and head back to the mountains.  We were away from our homestead for a full 8 weeks in total.  Thankfully we installed security cameras and were able to check in on the place frequently from the road and from Michigan.  It's been very good to be back - travel is exhausting!  

Headed for (arrived in) the hills

Yesterday we made the trek up the mountain and arrived in St. Johns AZ.  I'm quite happy with the site at St. Johns RV Resort (though "resort" is really overselling it).  Being away from the big city gives me some comfort - I mean it's all a statistics game.  The outbreak is so terrible in NY and CA because that is where the masses of people live.  Statistically speaking less people = less exposure, though we know the virus will travel everywhere.  We need to continue to practice social distancing and minimize our travel to public spaces. 

I'm trying to minimize my exposure to the news as well.  It's all just so terrible.  Especially when our President is more concerned with his ego than with using the federal government to provide aid in this terrible time. 

I have an overwhelming desire to grow a garden, but I don't have any of the supplies I would need.  I have been trying to figure out if I can order everything and curbside pickup from Home Depot or something...I am not going into any stores right now.  We are going to try and make our shopping list for two weeks of groceries at a time.  This is difficult for us due to the limited storage space we have in our RV cupboards, but with the right planning I think it can be done.  I am very much looking forward to the end of the semester when I will have 150 less students relying on me.  I am sure they all feel the same way.  This is such a difficult time for everyone. 

While the rural area brings some comfort it is also still very cold!  Last night it was 27 degrees!  We have not ever stayed a night in that sort of weather.  We had to unhook the water so that it didn't freeze and our furnace was running practically all night.  I was stressing about how long the propane would last!  Thankfully today Husband was able to get the propane refilled at an outside station maintaining proper social distance.  The weather in the valley is warming up - air conditioner weather will soon be arriving there but we will enjoy cool temperatures for quite a while. 

Today I made a very nourishing meal of lentils & rice.  I ate it with hummus and some leftover naan bread.  It was an excellent comfort food and I have leftovers for tomorrow.  We were eating out quite a bit prior to all this quarantine business - I have to adjust to eating in all the time!  I am looking forward to my parents joining us after their month is up at their current site.  When they come we will do the shopping for everyone so that their risk is minimized.  Well, that is the newest - glad to be settled in up here for a while and thankful that we are healthy.  Wishing best health to my readers!

In the face of a global pandemic...

Has shit hit the fan?  It seems the answer is yes.  Universities across the US are cancelling face-to-face classes and instead offering remote sessions during class time.  School districts are cancelling school for the foreseeable future.  Remote work options are being rolled out across America.  All social gatherings, sport events, concerts and other cultural events are cancelled.  There is no toilet paper available for purchase. The economy is failing, people are losing jobs.  There has never been a more clear sign that our current systems are broken and it is apparent to me that neither Republican or Democratic leadership are up for radically and fundamentally reshaping our system.  The power is, and always has been, in our hands.  

For us the answer is clear - proceed with the plans to develop Rancho Status Quo.  The convergence of events is spectacular - almost spiritual or serendipitous - in their occurrence.  Husband quit his job over a month ago, I will be teaching online, kids' enrichment program is cancelled, a CD came due last week, our annual rent in Mesa is due April 1st and we can, in this very moment, decide to walk (or drive) away to head in a new direction.  I suppose you see where this is going...we are ready to leave the city and embark on the greatest adventure - forging our own path - creating our own place.  While many people are feeling overwhelmed, scared, stressed at forces beyond their control - I feel that I have been waiting for this moment to finish plans we set in motion over 20 years ago.  

It's scary, yes, but it is exciting and there is no better time to be a full-time RV family.  While our federal government considers domestic travel bans, we flee to the one constant we have enjoyed these many years.  This past year we have made a lot of progress and we are very near having a self-sufficient homestead/base of operations.  The future for many is uncertain - but over the next couple of weeks we will position ourselves for a move.  We will be able to spend nearly six months devoted to Rancho Status Quo.

It is time we stop lending our energy and voices to propping up systems that do not serve us.  We will begin creating new systems that are sustainable and work in harmony with the natural world.  Our lives and our natural world are out of balance - it is time to relearn what our ancestors knew - we are part of the web of life, not master over it.  

Putters Paradise RV Park, Snowflake, AZ

We stayed at Putters Paradise RV Park for six weeks total.  First for a month at the beginning of the summer and two more weeks at the end.  The majority of spaces seem occupied by full-timers and/or seasonal residents.  There is a friendly, albeit older, vibe - meaning that kids are tolerated, but certainly not encouraged or catered to.

There were a few manufactured units like the one next to our site in the park.

Clubhouse

This may be my biggest complaint - how they handle and talk to visitors with kids.  On the issue of kids - we were told that we could not stay more than a month due to the kdis, but then realized that some children who were there at the beginning of the summer were also there at the end of the summer and clearly lived there full-time.  Secondly, there is a very nice clubhouse, with a ping-pong table, games, exercise equipment, theater seating and large TV, but I was told a number of times that the kids need to be supervised at all times.  Such repeated warnings and directions are unnecessary because I would never let my kids hang out there unattended!  There is a pool, but kids are only allowed in it during certain times of the day.  When we returned to the park for the second time and we were parking the rig Brother went to the clubhouse to use the restroom and was asked where his parents were.  There is a general uneasiness about kids at this park.  This gave me the sense that our presence was not welcome despite the fact that many of the neighbors were pleasant and friendly.  Also, as this location marked the beginning and end of our trip I wanted the kids to enjoy the place and play outside, but there is little for them to do.

Upstairs at the clubhouse

The facilities including the laundry, public restrooms and the rest of the clubhouse are very nice.  It is clear that a lot of care has been put into the place and I understand the desire to keep it in good shape.  I was especially happy with the reasonably priced laundry facilities.

We will likely be back given the reasonable proximity to Rancho Status Quo.  This is a nice park and Snowflake-Taylor has decent shopping, restaurants, and parks!  It would be great if Putters Paradise had a small playground for the kiddos. 

Snowflake City Park

Santa Fe, NM to Snowflake, AZ - 2019 Trip summary

From Santa Fe, NM we drove back to Snowflake, AZ completing our approximately 3000 mile trip through five states (AZ, UT, WY, CO, NM).  We stayed at the same park, Putter's Paradise, that we stayed at during the start of the summer (review forthcoming).  Our road trip took 7 weeks and we stayed at nine unique overnight locations.  We avoided the heat of Mesa, AZ for a total of 13 weeks staying in Snowflake for a month at the beginning of the summer and two weeks more at the end.

The Ford F150 paired with the Mesa Ridge 3110BH by Highland Ridge rig was the perfect balance of interior trailer space, lightweight for towing by a F150, and gas efficiency.  We were able to average 12-13 miles per gallon when towing and the truck gets up to 25 mpg when not hitched (when touring the parks).  We drove some very mountainous paths with the rig and the Ford performed beautifully.  The amazing thing is that last summer when we used our Toyota Tacoma to pull the much smaller Keystone Hideout, we got around the same mpg when towing.  It is amazing that we were able to upgrade our interior space 57%, from 200 square feet to 315 square feet, and not spend more on gas while towing.  We had hoped for this outcome when purchasing this rig and when put to the test we were really happy with the results.

The other thing that went really well this summer was that, on average, we stayed longer in each place and we didn't drive as many miles as last summer.  Being out the first year and wanting to see everything we headed west and then east when we should have probably just done one or the other so as not to wear ourselves (and the kids) out with all the driving.  This year, the plan to make a loop worked out great and we visited some of the most National Park dense parts of the country!

We returned to Snowflake in large part to check out the construction that had taken place at Rancho Status Quo as we had worked with a contractor at the beginning of the summer to sketch out the plans for building a bathroom, kitchen and loft in our quonset hut building.  We are really happy with the progress that was made.  Here is a before and after picture:

I will share more about our progress at Rancho Status Quo in future posts, but suffice it to say that being able to live/work out of Snowflake for six weeks this summer really helped us move our project forward.  This "tiny house" quonset is 500 square feet (plus the loft) and seems absolutely enormous when compared to our primary residence of 315 square feet! 

Husband was able to work remotely for eight full weeks.  Although he did not get to visit all of the National Parks with us, he was able to see a lot and we were together every day.  In a few cases we knew internet connectivity was going to be a problem (like at Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site in WY) and in other cases the crappy connection was an unfortunate surprise we had to deal with (like in Estes Park, CO).  The weBoost was used during the week we were at Ancient Cedars RV Park in Mancos, CO - without it he would not have been able to work from home.  Despite the challenges we were able to find a suitable location from which he could work no matter where we were.  Libraries worked well.  I also worked from the road and needed internet for participating in meetings and teaching an online class.  I was also able to work around poor connectivity in some locations - though I will say it can be stressful at times.  The lesson learned is that Verizon lies about its 4G coverage, so you can't rely on the map.  Estes Park was a prime example.  But with a little flexibility and creativity we adapted and found service, albeit less convenient. 

We celebrated two years of full-time RV living in June and I have to say that we are really happy with our current situation.  The biggest plus is the fact that we are growing together and learning together every day.  Small spaces bring people closer, both literally and figuratively.  We educate our kids, we live with minimalist values, we save our money.  I want to devote some future posts to our homeschooling adventures, but that aspect of our life is really going well for everyone.  The kids completed 19 Junior Ranger books (a mixture of science, social studies, and history lessons) during the 7 week trip and they never once considered it work.  They love doing them and collecting the badges.  This summer we collected hiking medallions and a few patches (their vests were very full from last summer but I did manage to sew a few new ones on). 

Looking forward to the next adventure!

Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, NM

Petroglyph National Monument was established in 1990 after many years and previous efforts to preserve the cultural history of the area.  The park is divided into four areas that are not connected and require a visitor to drive through and around the city to find the trails.  For us, as the last National Park stop on our adventure it was a return to the desert in a real way - it was the end of July and even early in the morning the temperatures were reaching near 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Here (above) you can see how the city reaches into one protected are where untold numbers of volcanic basalt rock, dark with a desert patina are carved with ancient images.   

The trails here in the Boca Negra Canyon snaked up and down the hills taking you by some really amazing artwork.  The meanings are lost to time, but the images are stunning and stand out brightly on the dark rocks.  The visitor center had an excellent movie about the history of the park, efforts to protect the petroglyphs, and contemporary perspectives from native people about the meanings of the pictures. 

There were some obvious signs of vandalism and destruction.  It is so disappointing to see initials or other modern things carved in the rocks. 

The weather was against us the day we visited as it was difficult to be outdoors for long due to the heat.  We had avoided the heat so well during the summer - even playing in snow and using our heater many nights - we had not adapted as one does when they spend the summer in the Phoenix area.  Being in Albuquerque, we found a great restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful lunch before heading back to Sante Fe, but we were only able to see one of the four areas in this spread out park. 

Pecos National Historical Park, Pecos NM

At the height of the pueblo's use probably 2,000 people lived and thrived.  Pecos was a cultural center and there was a sophisticated trade network extending far and wide.  For visitors there are a couple of rebuilt kivas that provided a special look into the architecture used by the puebloans.

When the Spaniards came they recognized the importance of the place and this is probably why they decided to settle right next to the compound.  It is astonishing that despite the vast expanse of land surrounding the pueblo how close to the pueblo the mission was built.

Unfortunately, like many missionaries before and after the religious settlers did not believe in cultural relativism and instead insisted that the puebloans adopt a Christian view of the world.  This caused a great deal of conflict and eventually the puebloan people rebelled and burnt down the mission and drove the Spaniards away for a period of around 8 years.  Ultimately the Spaniard missionaries returned (probably with force) and rebuilt the mission over the ruins of the previous one.  To this day the ancestors of the place include adherents of both Christian and traditional faiths and they hold festivals and ceremonies at the site.

The legacy of powerful forces imposing their will upon native people would be a curiosity of the past if it were not continuing today.  I kept thinking of Standing Rock and the Lakota Tribe's efforts to stop a pipeline through their land in order to preserve the natural resources.  Their efforts failed and their worries about oil spills were not unfounded.  We like to think imperialism is a thing of the past, but the facts clearly point to the fact that the Empire building is the business of America.

These sites tell an important story and they are a warning to us.  There are other ways of living and thriving in nature, but these ways and understandings continue to be relegated to the past in favor of  an approach that favors force, technology, and dogmatic understandings.  Climate change is the result of our current approach and we need to uncover the methods and understandings of the past in order to bring balance to our world on fire.  Perhaps there is a middle road, but we can't act like the knowledge of the past is worthless.  Civilizations were built and thrived before Europeans destroyed them.  I hope we can learn some lessons from the past instead of continually repeating mistakes.

Manhattan Project National Historic Site at Los Alamos, NM

So....this is a strange one to take a five-year to, and it is an emotionally heavy one for a nine-year old.   As you probably know this is the birthplace of the atomic bomb and is where the Fatman and Little Boy bombs (that were later dropped during WWII on Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively) were constructed.

So the Manhattan Project National Historic Site at Los Alamos was established in November of 2015 and was a partnership between a number of agencies that were trying to preserve this history.  When you visit there is a walking tour through the town that takes you to a number of sites ran by a different entities (NPS, historical society, the city, and the Los Alamos laboratories).  Through the various sites there are a number of movies and exhibits that tell the story of the area.  Of course the story is one of people being displaced so that the town could be set up as a secret base.  The main set of buildings that were taken by the government were those belonging to the Los Alamos Ranch School - a lot of history there.

Of course the whole point of converting this area into a secret base was so that the nuclear bomb could be developed.  I am quite a pacifist and my view on the dropping of these bombs is not positive - of course the way history is told is that the dropping of these bombs ended the war - which is a debatable point of view as there were other factors that contributed to the end of the conflict.  Anyhow, this visit took a great deal of contextualization, explanation, and emotional conversation.  Additionally there is the legacy of nuclear weapons on the planet and the nuclear weapons in the U.S.  ...conversations that needed to be had.

Here are some pictures of the Ranch School:

So....quick story, on the way home I asked Sister, "what did you learn?"  She said, "I think there was a war?"  She wasn't quite sure after talking about the war all day....So, yes, she was exposed to some information, but it wasn't exactly a five-year-old friendly day.  Also, as Husband has a better memory for history, I really missed his contribution to the conversations Brother and I had.   So, the take-away is that this is a very important part of U.S. history and it was very educational for Brother and I, but it was also a troubling and difficult visit due to the mass murder perpetrated by BOTH the allies and the axis powers.

Bandalier National Monument, Los Alamos, NM

Hello dear readers - My free time is so limited these days between teaching at the University, homeschooling, and our other projects!  I will be talking more about those soon, but the immediate reason I haven't written is because I spent my free time putting together a memory book with our pictures from the summer.  I made one last year and love it.  I used Shutterfly this time, but I have also used Mixbook and don't really notice a difference between the two.  Going through all of the pictures and trying to narrow them down took some time!  Anyhow, back to documenting our summer travels!

Bandalier National Monument was a trip I made with the kids while husband was working.  This is another park that has limited parking and requires the use of a shuttle.  When you get there the rangers provide an orientation and you can check out the guided tour book and then you can go hiking to see the amazing ruins.  In this park you can climb up into caves which were once used as part of the pueblo and look down over the rest of the compound.

What is amazing here is that the pueblo once was built to include these naturally occurring caves and they served as additional rooms...in this picture you can see the holes that once held the floor beams for the upper stories.

One of my favorite things to see at ruins is the pottery and other artwork that was produced by the ancestral people.  At this site there was a small section of plaster with art that has been protected with a clear cover.  I just imagine how cool this would have looked when the plaster was all intact.  

This was a beautiful place with a really great hike and things to see all along the walk.

Just to recap, we saw Bandalier while were were staying in Santa Fe, NM.  There are a number of wonderful sites within an hour drive - actually too many to see in a week - but we really enjoyed this one!

Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, NM

In a drastic departure from our "National Parking" we visited a very unique artistic space.  There really are not words to describe this experience as I am sure some of my pictures will highlight - but it was a worthwhile and unique experience.  We were directed to this place by the manager of Pinon RV Park.  I had asked about local places to take the kids - I was actually thinking about a community pool or water park...but when she asked me if I had visited Meow Wolf I had a vague memory of reading about it when I researched area attractions in Santa Fe....later she brought over a brochure and I was sold on a visit!  Funded by George R. R. Martin (author of the Game of Thrones series) and created by an artist cooperative it is an immersive, colorful, trippy alternative reality where you explore space, get lost, find things and lose them again.  There are multiple levels of understanding the "exhibit" and though I spent a great deal of time there I did not try to follow the actual story but rather I got lost in the whimsical and metaphysical.

What are you looking at?  That is totally the question.  It's an alternative dimension full of amazing places, odd characters, unique sounds and sights.

When you first enter you start in a two-story house, but you quickly find that the house is a portal to the hidden realms.  Some of the kids' favorite ways to enter the alternative realm(s) were through the fridge and the dryer.  Here is Sister going down the rabbit hole and a shot from inside the fridge.

This is a place to be experienced, not talk about.  I love sharing my pictures, but really they don't do it justice at all.  I took the kids to Meow Wolf on a day Husband was working, but it was so amazing we went back home, waited for him to get done with work and then the four of us went back so that he could experience it too.  I couldn't imagine trying to tell him about it and it really felt wrong for us to experience it without him!  He was just as blown away as we were - it is a total trip.  In short, if you are in the area - you should totally go.