Death Valley and hot springs!

Our plan was to head up to Mammoth Lakes and then Yosemite, but a giant snow storm thwarted those plans. So we journeyed back into the hot desert to wait until the roads north were cleared and ended up in Death Valley National Park. We spent our first day poking around and exploring some popular canyons. But at the end of the day, we realized we needed to get away from all the touristy spots. Colin had read about some hot springs in the northwest part of the park, and we were lucky to get a backcountry road map that had a small dot marked "Warm Springs." On our way out, we met a young couple in a Subaru who decided they too would attempt to make it up the "high-clearance" potentially snow-covered dirt road to the hot springs. Three hours of jostling and bumping later, we were there--a small camping area surrounding six or so tubs of varying heat and privacy. Luckily it was dark when we attempted our first soak ... because everybody was naked! We were thankful when most of the crowd left the next day and we had a beautiful day of sun and quiet to enjoy some more soaks and take in the beautiful scenery--desert mountains on one side and the snow covered eastern side of the Sierras on the other. Not a bad trip we're having ...

Los Angeles

We headed north out of Mexico and ended up in LA. More specifically, we ended up in Santa Monica to visit our friends Debbie and Kelly. We had a great few days enjoying the sun, riding their beach cruisers around town, and having a great meal at a Japanese restaurant called Musha (thanks Kelly). Plus we got to take some showers and do some laundry (thanks Debbie).

Our first foray on the bikes landed us at the beach. What we didn't realize was that it was the famous Muscle Beach, supposedly the birthplace of physical fitness. I am pretty sure that some people were in shape before Muscle Beach was established, but you never know. We had an absolute blast playing on the adult jungle gym. We left only when we couldn't hold ourselves up anymore. And we definitely had some sore muscles the next day...

Whenever Misa started climbing the rope, everyone on the beach stopped to watch my incredibly strong wife show up all the muscleheads!

Ouch...California

Oh boy

Greetings from cold, rainy, and WINDY Baja

 The title says it all. We have been in Baja for about 7 days now. Our initial idea to head to Baja was to escape the cold weather and wait out a bit of winter before heading north. So far, our bathing suits haven't emerged from our clothing piles yet, and we are still wearing full winter garb (insulated sweatshirts, furry boots, and fleece jackets (even long underwear at night and in the early morning!!!).  What the heck is going on?  And we haven't even begun to tell you about the wind and rain.

Let's talk about the wind.  Holy cow, Chicago has absolutely nothing on this place (not true, says Misa, who has experienced many a blustery winter in Chicago).  Each day we have to reposition the truck so that we are not blown away inside our sleeping area.  We've spent our days watching the whitecaps on the ocean...which makes the ocean look quite unfriendly. 

Baja is also known as a pretty dry place--it is most likely a desert--but it decided to dump about a third of its' yearly rainfall average on us during the course of one night and morning.  We camped at a beautiful point break called Punta Baja, which is a very remote fish camp.  The second morning, we woke up to the drumbeat of a heavy rain falling on the truck.  We thought, "This can't be right. It never rains in Baja!" But sure enough, we got quite a storm and it turned all the dirt roads into the slipperiest driving surface ever.  Getting to Punta Baja required driving on about one hour of mountainous dirt roads. There were many times when we weren't sure if we were still on the road or had veered off onto a ranch road. Getting out of Punta Baja started with a very long and steep grade, which was made incredibly challenging by the rain. It was impossible to maintain a straight line going up and down these hills, even in 4wd.  The truck is absolutely covered in mud and probably gained a few hundred pounds of mud cargo. We are on the lookout for a pressure washer to clean off the undercarriage.

We also learned some things about ourselves.  Misa really doesn't like turning off on every dirt road that may or may not in a few hours lead in the general direction of the beach. Colin, however, will gladly turn off on any dirt road to try to find the beach if it means that we may end up with our own private beach at some point in the vague and distant future. So we needed to discuss this.  After a long talk about car sickness and bumpy roads, we decided that maybe we should focus more on places where we truly want to live, not just places where are interested in for recreation. Now we are going to head north out of Baja.

We are both a little surprised that we haven't found the Baja that we expected.  Maybe we didn't travel south enough?  Maybe we hit a weird weather pattern?  Maybe we didn't choose the right dirt roads to explore?

Some highlights that we had while we were here included a great night's stay in the Bibayoff Winery, on La Ruta de Vino, which featured a fantastic outdoor shower via a pipe coming out of the ground,which we got to experience by full moon. The rain also brought real unexpected beauty to the desert and mountains. The desert is in full bloom now with flowers coming out of every plant. It is spectacular.

Some downsides to Baja were the numerous federales checkpoints (the Mexican army checkpoints where every car is stopped because of all the drug cartel problems).  The soldiers are all very nice and courteous, but they seem to have a problem with stealing things. Of course we don't notice it during the check, but it has happened twice so far. Colin got his brand new headlamp snatched, which was his Christmas present and Misa got a pair of underwear taken.  Even if we saw them taking our stuff, how are you going to argue in a foreign language with a bunch of soldiers with machine guns?  If you are ever in Baja and you see a soldier wearing a Black Diamond headlamp and pink panties, tell him we want them back!!!

Almost to Mexico & MPG updates

Finally, finally, we are ready to cross the border into Mexico! We spent our last Arizona night in Yuma, a strange complex of chain superstores in the middle of the desert--definitely not a place where we would ever live! But Yuma has a Barnes & Noble, which was helpful for getting a Baja guidebook and map. It also has a Walmart, where we attempted to sleep until we were told by a friendly old Minnesota snowbird that Yuma has an ordinance against sleeping in any commercial parking lots. The friendly bird, however, also told us about a casino parking lot down the road that doubles as an RV camp site. So after cooking one of our best meals yet, we headed to the casino and crashed for the night.

Colin has been keeping fastidious records of our gas consumption and miles per gallon. In case anyone is interested, here is what we've been getting on average: 17 mpg. Our best tank was 18.74 and our worst tank was 14.51 (due to Misa's first time driving the Tundra and the hills of Arkansas). While a far cry from free veggie oil fuel, this is not bad for a Tundra with a roof box and mini apartment in the back!

We are now heading through multiple border patrols and have already given up some tasty little limes. Hopefully they won't find our kale! Once in Mexico, we hope to travel as far down the west coast of Baja as possible today.

Yoga Everywhere

When we first started planning and saving for the trip, I'll admit that I was a little nervous about what would happen to my yoga practice. I even thought about starting a separate savings fund for yoga class expenses! Then I realized that most nights (hopefully) we'd be in remote places, far, far away from any town or city to drop into for a yoga class. 

I'm so grateful for my time at the Sivananda Ashram before this trip. The wonderful teachers there gave me a beautiful practice that I can take anywhere, share with anyone, and always return to for stability, regularity, and calmness amidst our day-to-day adventures. My alarm still goes off at 5:30 am, although I don't always respond by jumping out of bed and onto my mat. When weather permits (not too cold or rainy), I try to quietly slip out of the truck for morning meditation, pranayama, and a full practice. When weather does not permit, I stay in the warm confines of the truck and continue study of the Bhagavad Gita. There is no more anxiety about whether I will find time to practice or whether a class at a studio will fit into our day because I know a practice is always there for me as long as I want it. When I need more variations, I can add some play and variety into the basic practice. When I just want to relax into the familiar, I can stick to the basic 12 postures and feel rejuvenated. 


Never let your schedule or your environment fool you into thinking that you don't have the time or the right space for yoga!  

~Misa   

New Mexico

The drive through New Mexico was long and dry. The sun was hot and relentless. We both decided right away that New Mexico is not the state for us! After a night at a rest stop (and waking up to watch the news about Japan on the rest area TV), we headed to a small town called Holman to visit friends Daniel and Rebekah. It was nice to see a couple setting up their life together after moving out to an unfamiliar state simply because they both desired to be there (sort of like how we will be). After delicious pancakes and coffee, we went for a short hike just behind their backyard. It was a steep and pretty, like most of the land around them. Later in the day, they showed us the yarn mill and weaving center where they work, and then we departed with a lovely gift of home-baked bread and sweet honey.
On our third night in New Mexico, we turned off of Route 40 and headed toward some beautiful rocks on the Continental Divide Rd. We drove toward what we thought was uninhabited grazing land, but were surprised to find small pockets of houses nestled in between the desert scrub. What a gorgeous view they wake up to every morning! Here we were grateful for the 4-wheel drive as we drove up to our incredible camping site. In the morning, we went for a walk/jog/scramble, investigating, but soon learned that the rock there is dry, crumbly, and incredibly unstable! We returned to the campsite via road, and got in the car determined to make it out of New Mexico by the afternoon!

Arizona

We finally made it to Sedona! After a long journey through New Mexico, we arrived in Flagstaff, AZ on Monday. Somehow, we managed to spend five hours at Borders trying to get a mobile broadband device so that Misa can work from truly anywhere (not just coffee shops and Laundromat parking lots). The day ended with us making the last few miles to Sedona in the dark and sleeping at a rest stop just outside Coconino National Forest (the Red Rock area).

Tuesday was a beautiful, clear, sunny day. We stopped at the ranger station and bought a National Park Pass, and we were ready to go. We began the day with a long trail run down to a river (cold water, but Colin went in!) and then back up again. Then we headed up the dusty dirt road to the top of the Schnebly Hill Road, where we separated from the Jeep tour crowds and found a shady spot to eat lunch and enjoy the scenery. Hot and happily exhausted, we drove down to a swimming area in Oak Creek, found a secluded sandy area with a nice large rock! The water was so cold it hurt, but we gave ourselves a quick shower and then hung out on the rock. The ranger in the morning had shown us some forest service roads where we could camp, so we headed over to find a nice camping spot before dinner. It is unofficially named prickly pear campsite because we were surrounded by prickly pear cactus plants (and cowpies)!

We had our first technical difficulty with the truck. Nothing major, but our donated power inverter decided to stop working, so we were unable to charge our laptops. We will be searching for a replacement in our next town so that we can be independent of coffee shop recharges.

Now we are at a coffee shop in between Sedona and Prescott (our next destination), recharging our computer batteries and updating this!

Looking for our nightly campsite

Furball maintenance in Nm

Ozarks

After a day of driving in the rain and sleeping in a rest area, we decided we needed a day to enjoy the sunshine and sleep somewhere pretty in the woods.   After spending the morning in Clarksville, Arkansas we headed up into Ozark National Forest to explore a bit. Apparently our atlas thinks there are roads that should exist, but don't (thanks Kristen and Rick for the Christmas present!!) and we got a wee bit turned around. We started to explore some forest service roads and we happened upon an old logging road. 4wd was engaged and off we went.

We ended up next to the Mulberry River deep in the forest. It was perfect.  Had the river water not been around 45 degrees it would have been the perfect swimming spot. The water was a brilliant aquamarine.

Tucker even had some fun running off into the forest and returning 45 minutes later with a large bloody bone in his mouth and some fresh scratches on his face.

The Ozarks get two thumbs up from us.

First cherry blossom sighting!

We saw the first cherry blossom in DC, right across the street from Kristen and Rick's house! Now that we are further south, and there are daffodils and crocuses everywhere (although sadly no mountainside rhododendrons in bloom yet), it doesn't seem so exciting to find these early signs of spring, but I still wanted to share.

~Misa

Western North Carolina

Our idea was to head south to warmer weather and escape some winter ...
but when we crossed the border into North Carolina, it was snowing.
We were lucky to find a great camping spot right off the forest service road that goes up to Table Rock, and it would have had a beautiful view, but it was still a little cloudy.
After a cold and windy night (with some flurries!) we ate a quick breakfast and headed up to Table Rock. We spent the morning hiking around Table Rock and peering down into gorgeous Linville Gorge.
Tucker got quite a workout and as soon as we got back to the truck promptly fell asleep on the ground.After our great morning, we drove down to Asheville to visit our friend Erin and poke around town. Erin put us up in her cute little cottage right in downtown. We cooked a yummy dinner together and were grateful for showers and a warm bed.
Today we toured downtown Asheville and spent some time at Colin's college, Warren Wilson. We ran into his Outdoor Leadership Professors Marty and Ed. It was really great to catch up with them. In the afternoon, we enjoyed more hiking and a pretty trail run.
Tonight we will begin our massive push westward, with our next destination being Baja, Mexico for a few weeks of beach fun.

Roanoke, VA

We are in Roanoke, Virginia right now taking shelter from the rain that has kept us prisoner for the past 18 hours. We are realizing we are somewhat at the mercy of rain because getting drenched and then being stuck in the truck with a wet smelly dog is not ideal!

(Misa (lucky to be able to work remotely) is doing some editing work from her computer.)

We have had two great days traveling since we left Kristen, Rick, and Maddie in DC. We took the slow route west, to say the least. We started at the top of Skyline Drive and headed south. The 35 mph speed limit allowed us plenty of time for Misa to see the sights on her first trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains. We've also gotten plenty of time outside the truck, going on one short, steep run, and 3 nice hikes in the park.

Last night we explored some Forest Service roads and found a great little spot to park the truck for the night. Tucker had his very own stream to play in, Misa did some yoga under the awning, and I was lazy and hung out in the back of the truck.

We got pelted with rain this morning as we packed up to continue south. We are headed to Asheville, North Carolina tonight to visit some old friends and explore. I went to college in Asheville and have been raving about the college and surrounding area, so Misa is excited to finally see what I've been blabbing about.

-Colin

Our trip has officially begun

Well, after about a year of dreaming and scheming, our trip has finally begun. We are currently on Day #4, having a coffee shop morning while escaping the rain in Roanoke, VA.

Misa came home from her Sivananda Teacher Training course in the Bahamas on February 20th. A few weeks of flustered barn and truck packing followed. Our date of departure got pushed back a few times but eventually everything came together and we set off on March 3rd. On our first day, headed to Washington, DC to visit Kristen, Rick, and Maddie. We had a great time with them. It was fun playing with Maddie (our 7-month old niece) and noticing the changes she has undergone since we last saw her at Christmas. We picked up a cargo box (courtesy of Kristen and Rick) for our roof rack, which opened up lots of room for us in the back of the truck.

Ok, let's back up a bit more. Who are Misa and Colin (Tucker too!), why are we going on this trip, where are we going, and how are we getting there?

We, Misa and Colin, are a young married couple, and Tucker is our dog. We have both lived in New Jersey (only the nice, relatively green parts, of course) for most of our lives. We got married in July 2010 and are using this trip to start our new life together. Both of us want to find a place that is quieter and a bit more rural than New Jersey to settle down in--somewhere that we can have some land to stretch out in, some mountains to play in, and lots of wildlife for Tucker to chase around. We are both drawn to the mountains and wilderness, but we also need some way to make a living. Colin dreams of tractors, big mountains, lots of snow, and building our own house. Misa dreams of trails starting in our backyard for running and xc-skiing, hot summers, big flower gardens, and a peaceful place to deepen her yoga practice. Tucker hopes for deer to chase, warm, sunny spots for napping, and loose piles of leaves or dirt for digging.

Where are we going? Well, we don't know where we will ultimately end up, but we sure are going to enjoy ourselves on the way. Right now we are headed to Baja, Mexico to wait for some warmer weather in the northern states. I am sure we will have no problem occupying our time with surfing, swimming, and relaxing on the beach. After we tire of the sun, we will head north and start exploring small towns and areas that we might want to consider home, while also searching for jobs we like. We are going to spend time in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and California.

Now for the last question: how are we going there? Well, for the people who know us, you are probably smiling right now because you know how many different versions of transportation we have gone through before arriving on the truck we are driving now. After we came up with the idea for the trip, Colin got really excited and started geeking out on different traveling/living combinations. Unfortunately he is slightly impulsive and we have had a number of options in our driveway before settling on the Tundra. First Colin bought a truck camper from a great couple in Minnesota. He and Jim (our New Jersey housemate) drove out to pickup the camper in our Ford F350 thinking that surely a one ton truck would be big enough to carry this Corsair Excella 10-8 truck camper. Once it was loaded it on the truck, we were very excited to start planning our dream of this trip. Unfortunately, there was one glitch. The Ford ran on waste vegetable oil and had a veggie oil tank in the back of the truck so the camper couldn't slide all the way forward and be centered in the truck bed. So Jim and Colin did 1,300-mile wheelie all the way home to New Jersey. After the scariest driving experience ever, Colin decided we needed a bigger truck to handle this massive camper. So we sold the Ford F350 and bought ... a bigger Ford F350. Surely this was the answer for the ultimate road trip vehicle. It was a F350 with dual rear wheels and a 11' flatbed. He then installed another veggie oil system in this truck with a 115 gallon veggie oil tank.
Isn't it awfully good-looking? It was going to be perfect... What could beat a truck that runs on free fuel, a camper that has hot running water, a queen size bed, a heater for any climate, a shower, toilet, and 4-wheel drive? Well unfortunately, the truck was a complete beater, having lived a very hard life before we got to it. Colin actually bought it off ebay, and when the guy who sold it said it was in great condition, he lied. We spent an unfortunate amount of money trying to get the truck in tip-top shape for the trip and just when Colin thought he had it running perfectly, it began to have trouble starting. Frustrated with the expenses and also the size of the truck, Colin sold it. He decided that the simpler our travel vehicle the better. And Misa (not a truck gal at all) knew that no trucks are worth that many gray hairs. They decided to look into a Toyota Tacoma (Colin's most reliable truck in the past). The question was, would it be big enough for Colin to work out of (Colin is a carpenter) and big enough for us to live out of for a few months while carting around all of our recreational toys? We started looking at Tacomas and realized that Toyota Tundras were selling for about the same price as Tacomas. After a bit of thought we ended up with a 2008 Toyota Tundra Dual Cab with a longbed. It seems like the longest truck in the world but it is perfect for our needs. We bought a pickup cap for it and spent a few weeks designing and building a storage/sleeping system for us and Tucker. It is decked out with a refrigerator, a separate sleeping area for Tucker, some sliding drawers for all our stuff, a full-size bed, and a nice little electrical system for all our power needs. Finally, we are set.

Colin still dreams of a 4x4 Sprinter van decked out for traveling, but Misa has finally put her foot down. It is time to stop spending money on vehicles and hit the road, happy with what we've got.

-Colin & Misa