The Great Sand Dunes look so out of place sitting in the middle of the San Luis Valley with the snow covered Sangre de Cristo Mountains as its backdrop on the eastern side. On our drive from Salida to Crestone, Jerud pointed out the sand dunes to me; from afar you could see the land turn smooth at the foot of the mountains. I was very excited to see the Great Sand Dunes and knew it would be a unique experience. But I wasn’t prepared for how spellbound I would be by them.
Read MoreAfter walking out of Salida Mountain Sports and Absolute Bikes with maps and a list of trails to check out, Jerud and I felt eager, excited and overwhelmed. Salida has so many trails that it would take years to complete any large portion of them. I have to remind myself that it’s ok that we won’t be able to see and do all trails, and that we’re living on the road now which means coming back will be a lot easier than traveling in our previous lifestyle.
Read MoreBelow is a list of things that have gone wrong during our first month on the road. This isn't a sob list. Rather it's to share with you that life on the road isn't perfect - there are days when we feel like all we do is fix things (and that's actually what we did). There's a large learning curve to living in an RV, and this list shows that we are newbies.
Read MoreOn our last day in Salida, CO we had decided that because of the snow and muddy roads we had to leave town. Our 14-day stay limit was up at Salida East Recreation Area and our other boondocking options weren’t viable because of the road conditions. The plan was that we would head to Great Sand Dunes National Park the next day. Early the next morning Jerud got a text from his grandmother. Turned out his grandmother and grandfather were in Colorado Springs until the next day staying with his aunt and uncle. They hadn’t seen Jerud in a long time and wanted to see the RV, so we headed to Colorado Springs for the next two days.
Read MoreBefore we arrived Salida, we said to each other, “We’ll only be here for three or so days before we head onto Durango.” Salida wasn’t even on our radar until Andrew insisted that we stop and check out the town. Andrew, Reid and Brant (two brothers he met) rode through and stopped in Salida during his Great Divide tour last summer. Him and Reid randomly decided to ride the Backbone Trail on S Mountain (Arkansas Mountain Trail System) to get into town from the Great Divide route. I remember him calling me to tell me about this incredible piece of singletrack that brought him into a cool town.
Read MoreIn Denver we experienced what it would be like to live in a shopping center parking lot. Jay, our friend we went to visit, let us stay in the parking lot of his retail store while we were in town. It worked out really nicely because it was conveniently located to all the errands we had to run while in town. The spot Jay picked out for us was actually pretty nice - we were parked away from all the other cars and essentially had our own little section of the parking lot.
Read MoreWe thought we would share the things we've learned in the past two weeks. Some you might say to yourself, "Duh!"
Read MoreThe RV has been our home for a week now. We got to Kansas City last Sunday to visit our friend Chad and stayed in his driveway until Friday night. Our arrival was just in time to help him pack and move from one house to another.
We had his driveway to ourselves the first night there, but his storage pod was delivered to next morning so our RV had company the rest of the week.
Read MoreWe left Asheville on the first day of spring as the trees were budding and flowers were blooming. Driving through Warren Wilson College campus to visit our friends Shaun and Tash before hitting the road, we were reminded of how beautiful western North Carolina is and why we've stayed as long as we have.
Read MoreThe original window curtains and valances matched our RV interior in color, pattern and ugliness. A simple fix was to reupholster the valances and have it match the rest of the renovations we were doing. Turns out it's very simple and quick to reupholster RV valances and just requires tools you most likely already have at home.
Read MoreStonewall Falls Trail is about 12 miles from the campground and has close to 13 miles of trail. It was the closest mountain biking trails to us so we checked it out. We also hiked down into Tallulah Gorge and it wasn't what we expected.
Read MoreJerud and I decided that Thanksgiving weekend would be a good time to bring the trailer out on its maiden voyage to test it out. We wanted to go somewhere away from Asheville but not too far. We ended up at Talulah Gorge State Park in Talulah Falls, Georgia.
Read MoreIt's been too long since we've taken a day off and spent it the way we used to. Our excuse for today's day off was to celebrate Andrew's birthday (belated) and Tybee's birthday (early).
Read MoreStepping out from the forest of cedar and moss I am stunned by what I see. Lake Twentytwo sits at the base of Mt. Pilchuck.
Read MoreTwo days ago, June 4, Andrew got on a plane to Calgary, Canada. With a one way ticket and his bike. To ride the Great Divide.
Read MoreSome time you have to do a lot of little things to be able to get to the bigger part of the projects, This was one of those weeks.
Read MoreWith the roof all cleaned up and the wiring completed, the next step was to insulate it.
Read MorePMBAR (Pisgah Mountain Bike Adventure Race) is this super popular race put on by Pisgah Productions. So popular, it sells out in less than a day (update: it sold out in 16 hours in 2014 and a record of 5 hours in 2015). The race is a checkpoint format with teams of two riders. But the highlight of the race (aside from spending an entire day in Pisgah on a bike) is that you don't know any details of the race until the morning of.
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