Sold the van

Camping in the van

After much deliberation and a bit of procrastination, I’ve finally parted with my beloved van.  As most of you probably know, the engine threw a rod on my last trip with it and the van never made it back from Texas. It was not an easy decision for me.  My brain tells me it was […]

Ouachita National Forrest

The Ouachita National Forest is perhaps my favorite place in Oklahoma.  I know in my post about Wister Lake State Park, I said the southeast corner of the state was my most favorite.  The Ouachita National Forest is in this same area, so I’m not just saying they’re all my favorite.  Although I do have […]

Lake Wister State Park

I have a lot of favorite places in Oklahoma, but I have to admit that the southeast part of the state is my favorite favorite.  It’s full of rolling hills and tree-covered mountains.  It is green in a way that nothing in New Mexico is green.  It’s the part of the state that I like […]

Van engine blew up

The engine on my van basically exploded while I had the van out in Texas.  “Exploded” is not the technical term for it.  I’m too tired to care about the technical term.  I was set to start driving back home later that day. It has been a long couple of days since it happened.  Tonight, […]

Red Rock Canyon State Park

Red Rock Canyon State Park is a very welcome respite when driving I-40 across western Oklahoma.  That drive is characterized by fairly flat farmland.  In contrast, Red Rock Canyon State Park is a small, luscious canyon lined with red sandstone walls that seems to appear out of nowhere. Unlike some of the Oklahoma State Parks […]

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 […]

Caves, ghosts, and Carolina Reapers

Road to Ghost Ranch

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

Camping in 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

hoppy helping to install the new fan

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 […]