Saturday, October 31, 2009

Moving Up

Kevin and I are off. Errands are done. The truck is packed. The moon is full and rising as we drive off into the sunset. Everywhere we went today there were ghosts and goblins. We saw Superman, Two Face, and Dorothy at the grocery store. Cats and devils were at the bank. What a day to be leaving. The sky was clear all day, the sun shone and the weather was just perfect. Thanks Mother Nature for a great sendoff. Tonight we head down to mystic hot springs in Monroe UT to soak away all the craziness and tight muscles from this week’s preparations. Today is the day. Our journey begins.

It’s strange to think that this is something we’ve been looking forward to for so long, and now it’s finally here. Will it be over in the same way? Will we suddenly turn around and find that this great adventure is at an end? I know that the adventures will never end. We will always travel, climb, hike, canyoneer, and go where our hearts and feet lead us because life is one big adventure. I think about the future and what things will be like when we’re back in school, or when we have kids. Will we go on these adventures? Will we be more careful? Or will we simply take our children with us? Fit adventure into the weekends and summer vacations?

As we drive I look out the window at the suburban sprawl next to the freeway. I think of all those people in their homes, cooking dinner, getting the kids ready for bed. We drive past amusement parks, mini golf, shopping centers, and I can’t help feeling relieved to be leaving it all. To be heading out into the wilderness. To be taking the path less traveled. And at the same time there is anxiety, trepidation about the hard parts that I know will come and that I know we’ll get through along with all the fun and adventure parts. Like when you’re on the third pitch 200 feet up and you can’t find any handholds, your feet are slipping and your terrified but the only way to go is up. There’s no turning back now, only moving on.

WE ARE OUT!

Happy Halloween!! We're Headed to Mystic Hot Springs

http://www.xmission.com/~mysticstudios/new_mystic_site/New%20Mystic%20Hot%20Springs/l2_events.html

tonight and on to Robbers Roost for some canyoneering and backpacking YES!!!

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/roost/

Check out this page for updates on where we are on google maps!

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1QQcRZRjcLONO5GTuIURNeMi6RvdimBze
Password: Soleilspot

(the password is case sensitive)

Enjoy!!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Which forks to bring...







Hello readers. I am writing to you in a laying down position on top of a pile of fun/essential/useful/soon to be situated in the back of our truck stuff in my otherwise barren living room! Emily and I have been for the last week packing and building, running last minute errends, and slowly depositing most of our possessions into a 5x10x10 rectangle.

Actually I have been at it for about two weeks now. I never would have guessed that moving out of a 1 bedroom apartment to live out of a truck would take two weeks! There are a few reasons why it has though… Carefully selecting the things you want to live with/without is a difficult thing to do. The length of time to do with/without them is a large factor in this. The things you take and leave become very vital or not. You will use them all of the time or not.

I’m noticing that many of the things I have I use only a small percentage of the time. Take for instance, Emily and I have 27 forks. 27. For two of us. When I eat a meal that requires a fork I already have 26 unused forks. For the sake of this trip things like this are mostly eliminated. I will use the one fork I will bring.

Take another example. Em and I have a Bocce set. We have played Bocce maybe 5 times since I bought it in May. Most days we do not use or play with the Bocce. However we have opted to bring the Bocce set and let it occupy the room that may be otherwise used by much more essential things! (our extensive spoon collection for instance). I do intend on making uneven surface obstacle filled bocce a common sport of our trip.

It amazes me that most of the Items I own I only use very ocassionally. and the more Items I own, the less each is used. There are some exceptions of course, like boots, or a bed. For the most part I am glad to be greatly reducing the inventory for a while.

We have walked miles in our apartment back and forth slowly, and painfully eliminating the junk we don’t need from the gold we do. I think next time we do something like this I will do it the other way around. Pick the gold out and get the biggest cardboard box ever to sling the junk in! 2 weeks down to 2 hours. Done and done.

In case my literary sarcasm is undetected we have a lot of nice things to store away. We have been putting care there. I do find that the less things I have the less time I spend messing with them. And more time I spend Enjoying life. It’s just time to GO!

Here are some pictures of our new home being constructed. Emily using a saw! It took two sessions. Thanks to Todd and Jessi for letting us use their garage as the snow fell… We’re both quite glad to be migrating…

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Final Week

So it’s down to the final week of preparations. We plan to leave on Saturday morning. Halloween. I can’t decide if that’s a good omen or a bad one, but nonetheless we’ll be off. At least 6 months of traveling around the country living out of a 1995 Toyota Tacoma, backpacking, canyoneering, climbing, and just generally exploring.

There are still so many things to do that sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming.
• Go to the DMV
• Pack the kitchen
• Build the platform for the truck
• Set up the mail forwarding
• Get a cover for the Miata
• Make sure we have food for the trip
• Find a frame for some pictures I’m sending off
• Send care package
• Send stuff to my parents
• Etc.

And we leave on Saturday! We’re hoping to have everything packed by Friday evening so it’s a lot to accomplish. All the loose ends in the storage unit, and all the things we’re taking with us in the truck. It’s been an adventure already, trying to fit two people’s “stuff” into a five by ten by eight space is an adventure in itself. -E