S/V Adventurer

We are starting to think this adventuring thing is pretty good for us. When we started this road trip, we thought that we might get bored. We thought that we might run out of things to do and see. We actually thought that we would be racing back to the boat after a month or two and that we would be itching to get back on the high seas. Well, I have a little bit of news for you...there is way more stuff out there to see and do than we can fit into a lifetime. We are starting to realize that even with Brenda's super walking powers and my big muscles, we are no match for everything this world has to offer. We are however doing our best to experience everything humanly possible. Which brings me to where we are today. We are now sitting in the Grand Staircase of Escalante National Monument. This is a place that I have never heard of. It is the largest public landmass other than Yellowstone in the lower 48 that is open for exploration and recreation by the general public...

We are currently sitting in a parking lot in the big city of Las Vegas. It's actually not really a parking lot but a RV park that sure does resemble a parking lot. It is complete with a concrete space to park your RV, painted lines that tell you which spot is yours, neighbors that are so close to us that if we aren't careful when we open our door, we will smack the side of their RV, and a swimming pool that has nothing in it but some dirt. We have been mostly camping in the boonies or at some pretty nice state parks and national parks so this is a bit different for us. Luckily for us, we aren't the type to sit at home in our home on wheels all day long, so this parking lot is just a place for us to sleep at night while we are in town. A lot of our neighbors are “snowbirds”. Since you may be new to this RV retired lifestyle like we are, I will do my best to explain to you what a “snowbird” is. Snowbirds are basically old-folks that chase the sun. They come from ...

I have had a few emails about our new home so here are a couple pictures as well as a couple of pictures from our visit to the mighty vortexes in Sedona. The inside of our home sweet home The new and improved kitchen where all sorts of veggie items will be made...no bacon allowed! Brenda is contemplating the meaning of life at the Vortex This is me touching the Vortex and begging for something to happen...nothing did. Brenda thought that if she climbed up to the top of the Vortex, she would feel something...it didn't help. Brenda found one of these critters hitching a ride on her shoulder and FREAKED OUT!  It was about the size of a large monkey and it looked hungry.  Needless to say, the one on here shoulder didn't live long.

The last week has been pretty exciting for us. We really got a lot accomplished. We purchased a new home on wheels and a new SUV to pull our home on wheels. Brenda and Tanya (my sister-in-law) had a big girly road trip adventure to Seattle and had a great time. They camped out, explored a little, had some girly talk, got the things done in Seattle that needed to happen, and came back smelling like they just spent 5 days in a car. I hung out with my brother and their 4 kids, we broke the world land speed record in a Toyota Prius (144 down hill...WOO HOO!!!), drove all around town with the kids in tow, I broke my thumb while playing football with my nephew, and since Tanya and Brenda were on a road trip, we ate some candy and some bacon (not nearly enough of either)...in a nutshell, it was a great week. We are now back on the road in our new home on wheels and are stopped in Sedona for a few days so we can get our new home organized and see some more of the sites. Sedona is a ...

Well...I don't know how to say this but we decided to buy a new house in Arizona. We haven't set down roots, we haven't gotten a place with a yard or a garage, and we haven't decided that it would be better for us to sit still and grow old together with a garden (although someday Brenda would love to have a garden). We got a new home on wheels. We have been on the road for about 6 weeks now and in those 6 weeks there have been tons of times that we wished we would have had something different than the home we had. Not that there was anything wrong with our little rolling home, but we just couldn't quite fit all of our toys in it. Our little home was just too little. We have been perfectly content with the small amount of living space in our camper, but the lack of storage for our toys created a bit of a problem for us. There was no room for our paddle boards, climbing gear, skis, fishing gear, etc.... So all of that stuff stayed back in Seattle in our g...

A handful of weeks ago we were in Seattle visiting with our good friends Larry and Karen. These are a couple of our sailing friends that have been working their way around the world for the past 4 years on their boat. They left their boat in Australia and flew back to Seattle for a short visit and we were lucky enough to spend a little bit of time with them. Anyway, these people are pretty amazing. First of all, they are older than dirt (I can say that because they are our friends, we love them, and because it's true...they are older than dirt) secondly, they have been to amazing places while seeing and doing amazing things, and they are seeing and doing these things while they are older than dirt. They really have incredible stories that we can only dream about (some of these stories are scarier than we would like to deal with). While I was talking with Karen, I asked her what her favorite place has been so far. Keep in mind that they have been to countless countries, ...

I'm going to start this little bit of jibber-jabber off by saying that we have just hit a milestone. We had an anniversary. Not like a wedding anniversary or the day that we first became a couple or something ridiculous like that. No, we have just hit our 4 month travel anniversary. We left Seattle and the comfort of our jobs and took off 4 big months ago. It's kind of a big deal. It's not as big of a deal that our one year anniversary will be, but still, it's a big deal. It's such a big deal that I would be ok if you sent us gifts. Nothing big...don't go our of your way or anything like that...but gifts seem appropriate. Since we are homeless, I'm not sure where you should send these gifts but just remember that I am no cheap date...I have expensive tastes. These past 4 months have gone incredibly quick in a way, and at the same time, it seems like we left Seattle ages ago. It's hard for me to believe that we are actually doing this and t...