Trampas Lakes
This weekend I spent 3 nights in the Pecos Wilderness. The area was absolutely gorgeous. I spent most of my time on the Trampas Lake Trail. It followed a mountain stream and not a smooth, tame sort of stream, but the sort with rocks and logs and some steep descents making the water seem powerful […]
Jemez Mountains
I went on a short trip with the van to explore the Jemez mountains a few weeks ago. Some of the areas I found were nice enough that I’m reluctant to share lest more people go and it ruins it for me. Like a lot of trips, this one had some ups and downs. There […]
Magdalena Mountains
I’ve a big fan of the idea of exploring things close to home. Reading Marisa’s recent travel post on places close to home inspired me to want to post a few of my recent pictures. I have been on quite a few trips around NM lately but just haven’t had a chance to post anything […]
Accepting that I don’t like some things I wish I liked
Yesterday was the final day of a conference I went to in Chicago. Well, the conference was actually in Bloomingdale, west of Chicago. Since I was making the trip out here, I figured I’d book an extra night at a motel in downtown Chicago to explore and check out the area while I was here. […]
Caves, ghosts, and Carolina Reapers
The story of a week long trip in the van I left Socorro a week ago for a three night trip. A week later I’m finally back home. I left a night early for a weekend yoga retreat at Ghost Ranch, figuring that I would camp somewhere on the way. I had a map showing […]
First night out with the van
I’m excited to finally be moved into my van. I spent the first night in my van in the driveway at my house and then took it out into the wild for a night. It was amazing to get out into nature for a night. Highlights included a nice hike, watching the sunrise and having […]
Preparing the RV
There were some things that I wanted to get taken care of on the van before I moved in. I had it out on a two week trip a few months before beginning to prepare it for living in, so I had some ideas about the things that needed to be fixed. While part of […]
VLA
Whether you’re a bit of a geek or just looking for something to do around the Socorro, NM area, the VLA is a great place to go check out. Even if you’re not in the area and never plan to be, you’ll pick up some interesting information from this post. Having lived in Socorro, which […]
About my van
My van is built on a 1984 Dodge B350 base. The modification process involved cutting off the top and back and replacing it with a fiberglass piece. The back end is extended slightly beyond the length of the original van body. It’s an Xplorer van, and the modifications to turn it into an RV were […]
Resources on minimalism
As I’ve been going through this process of reducing clutter, there are a few resources that have really resonated with me. Marie Kondo’s book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up and The Minimalists have both become popular lately. Some things become popular because they’re really awesome things and I think both of those fall […]