Ash & Joe

take the show
on the road

Joe & Ashleigh 2/4/19 Joe & Ashleigh 2/4/19

#ForNow

One of our very first and most persistent mantras was (and still is) “– for now.”

With the clack of a latch, a cabinet closed up; upon a clip or a clasp, a bin snapped shut, some random item stowed – avowably, at least, “for now.”

One of our very first and most persistent mantras was (and still is) “– for now.”

With the clack of a latch, a cabinet closed up; upon a clip or a clasp, a bin snapped shut, some random item stowed – avowably, at least, “for now.”

Where should the laundry bag go? And the olive oil bottle that’s a little too tall for the kitchen cabinet? We find that we naturally suffix a sentence with this mantra (“for now”) when needing to make more decisions than energy or physics will allow: “Let’s put this here for now.”

“For now” can be empowering - it gets you started! It takes you from hemming and hawing, weighing and deliberating, to being decisive. Time is short and strange and always moving, and this van life journey is not unlimited (“one more year” we say, “for now”)… so go on, git!

Tweet your #ForNow.

Joe 2/2/19 Joe 2/2/19

Apache Trail to White Sands

The Apache Trail Scenic Byway is a decently maintained dirt road that leads from Apache Junction, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix) to the Theodore Roosevelt Dam.

Traversable though it may be for most vehicles – including our 23-foot 4x4 dually van – the winding curving crumbling clinging to plunging mountainsides can be harrowing nevertheless.

The Apache Trail Scenic Byway is a decently maintained dirt road that leads from Apache Junction, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix) to the Theodore Roosevelt Dam.

Traversable though it may be for most vehicles – including our 23-foot 4x4 dually van – the winding curving crumbling clinging to plunging mountainsides can be harrowing nevertheless.

After viewing the impressive engineering of Roosevelt Dam, we took in views of Roosevelt Lake Bridge – the “longest two-lane, single-span, steel-arch bridge in North America. […] The original dam-top roadway was designed to allow two Model-T Fords to pass abreast, but today's recreational vehicles and full-size automobiles are too wide to permit two-way traffic”.

Back on regular pavement, we drove a few more miles to Tonto National Monument and explored cliff dwellings dating back 700 years. Originally inhabited by perhaps hundreds of Salado people, today’s full-size humans are too wide to permit two-way pedestrian traffic. ;)

Next, we drove half a day and spent the night in Las Cruces, New Mexico – a new state for us! The following night we drove to White Sands National Monument and then traveled a few hours north to Albuquerque, our base camp before Santa Fe.

(Early November 2018)

Joe 2/2/19 Joe 2/2/19

Spring Lake Regional Park

We had a great site with a view of the lake, as well as a view of the night sky through clearing clouds and intermittent tree branches, on the night of the full supermoon lunar eclipse. It was magical.

Highly recommend Spring Lake Regional Park in Santa Rosa, California!

Here’s a video of our sunset jog around Spring Lake, and a couple of photos.

(January 20-21, 2019)