Lessons & Recommendations after a year on the road. — To whoever is not listening to the sea

As we round out our first year on the road, we've reflected on the experience and what we've learned. Many of the reflections we offered at six months still hold...but we do have a few additions from the last half of the year.

Best Experience — Learning about Ancient Pueblo People!

We didn't realize we were going to be spending so much time in what was the homeland of the Ancient Pueblo people, ancestors of current Hopi and Zuni tribes, among others. We never got tired of exploring pueblo ruins, cliff dwellings or petroglyphs. We were also blown away by our three-hour behind the scenes tour of the Anasazi Hertigate Center in Colorado.

A bangle made from a clam shell. Anasazi Heritage Center.

Worst House — Don't rent a 600 sq ft house near a railroad track!

We took a detour in August to stay in Marfa, TX, population ~2,000 and rented a small, adobe house, which in fairness was lovely in many ways. Some of the reviewers on Airbnb had mentioned the train, but they cast it as a "fun addition" to the experience. It came through 5-8 times throughout the day and night and often shook the whole house as it passed. For Rufus especially, it was a nightmare...as a result, we had about 2 sleepless weeks...before the local vet suggested melatonin for Rufus. It worked like a charm!!

Worst Experience — Nesting mice in the Vanagon!

We didn't take the Vanagon out much in New Mexico and unfortunately picked up a family of mice, which we only discovered after we arrived in Colorado. We'll leave out the details...it was as bad as you imagine. On the plus side, the Vanagon was the cleanest she's been all year after that episode!

Close second — On our way to Marfa, TX Curt drove through a swarm of bees...it was alarming and there was sticky gooey stuff all over the Vanagon that required taking gasoline to it to remove.

Location with the most to do — Northern Arizona!

This is highly subjective and limited to where we actually visited, BUT, looking back through our photos, we realized that Northern Arizona provided some of the most breath-taking photo opportunities and hiking of the year. It's worth spending a few weeks there if you can (we spent two months and still missed a lot!) Here's a bit of what the area has to offer: The Grand Canyon, the Red Rocks of Sedona, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, the Petrified Forest National Park (unbelievably beautiful!!), Sunset Crater, ancient pueblos at Wupatki National Monutment, Arcosanti sustainable community...among so many other places.

We only spent a hot minute in southern Utah, but heard it's also chock full of great places to visit — we only got to see Arches and Canyonlands on a single day.

Lands of most surprises - New Mexico!

If you've read our blog, you'll know we do alarmingly little investigation into an area before we go there. We have found pleasant surprises everywhere we've gone, but Tent Rocks in New Mexico really blew us away. As did Valdera Calles, which recently became more accessible to visitors, when it transitioned to management under the National Park Service. Finally, we didn't anticipate hiking at 10,000 in the Santa Fe National Forest, only to follow it up exploring petroglyphs in a desert landscape around Albuquerque.

Cliff Dwelling's at Bandelier National Monument

Most convenient location - Joshua Tree!

Our first stop was Joshua Tree, so we explored a lot just out of sheer excitement. But the proximity of the National Park to our house (5 miles to one entrance 10 miles to another) made exploring a breeze. We were never so close to so many opportunities again...we were grateful for it!

Best local government - Cortez, Co!

You may consider this to be a strange category to include, but we came to appreciate the impact of local government staying in so many different communities this year. We were mightily impressed by the town of Cortez, population 8,000. There were a plethora of community amenities, from high-speed internet to lots of community green spaces, a community gym and fitness center, a fantastic library, huge outdoor pool...amongst many other things. The local government provided copies of their annual report all over town, so we picked one up and read it! As it turns out, a town with a plan and dedication to work toward it can get a lot done for its people. (The neighbors were pretty interesting, too!)

The more novel a place is...the more you explore!

When we arrived in the more familiar East Coast this fall, we found ourselves working more and exploring less. While this was somewhat to do with the general rhythm of our work and visiting family, we realized that we also just need to commit to getting out there, even when everything is not as new. This means 2017 poses new opportunities for dedication to adventure!

Shout out to Rufus.  She's been a trooper! — Shout out to Rufus. She's been a trooper!

2017 starts out with (hopefully) lots of sunshine, blue waters and white sandy beaches in the Florida gulf coast! We look forward to sharing the experience with you!