It’s been a long time since we’ve spent winter in a wintery locale. For many years—even before taking to the road full time—we’ve spent a good part of winter in warmer, sunnier climes—southern California, southern Arizona, the Gulf Coast of Texas, Florida. We would never have deliberately planned to spend winter in our trailer in […]
Author Archive for Laurel (AKA chickadee) – Page 18
We spent two-and-a-half months on Lopez Island in 2016, our sixth summer in the islands. And we didn’t return to the mainland until we sailed back on the ferry to Anacortes in September. That’s a long time to be on an island that’s only 15 miles long and eight miles wide. Do we ever get […]
You didn’t think we were going to let something like a triple bypass stop us, did you? No way! We have lots more adventures ahead (just not of the medical variety, please). Eric’s unexpected open-heart surgery was a major derailment in our life journey. But we’re finding our way back to physical and emotional well […]
Just for fun, Eric and I have been looking at photos from our last year’s travels and playing, “What was your favorite (campground, hike, paddle, bird sighting, café, etc.…)?” On these cold, long winter days, I look at photos of us kayaking the wild rivers in Florida, hiking through meadows of wildflowers in the North […]
We went for our daily walk today in the snow. It’s beautiful and treacherous. Eric needs to walk every day as part of his recovery (and I need to walk for my sanity), but we can’t risk him slipping and falling. It will take at least two months for the bones in his sternum to […]
On the morning of December 5th, Eric underwent open-heart surgery and a triple bypass. As he told the surgeon, this experience was not on his bucket list. Nor mine. Needless to say, this has been the most intense month of our lives. All things considered, Eric is doing remarkably well. He’s now walking 30 minutes […]
Every so often, I’ve wondered how it will feel when we decide to stop traveling fulltime. I hope I’m not going to feel as lost as I’ve been feeling the past few weeks. Other than a two-week trip to Portland in October, we’ve been parked in our hometown of Ashland since mid-September. Our original plan […]
As of mid-October, we’re back in Ashland, Oregon, taking care of a myriad of things that need to be completed before we can again resume our travels. This is a challenging part of fulltime RV life—there’s always a mountain of stuff to deal with when we return to our hometown each year. It’s no different […]
On one of our first journeys to the San Juan Islands, we discovered the tiny hamlet of Edison, in the Skagit Valley of western Washington. With a population of only 133, it doesn’t seem like there could be much worth stopping for. True, Edison is little more than a wide spot in the road. But […]
We’ve tried at least four times in the past few years to get to North Cascades National Park. Each time, we were foiled by mudslides, snowstorms, or wildfires. In mid-June, no random acts of nature interfered, and we finally made it there. The park is not easy to access under the best of conditions. Located […]
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If you enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, birding, art, music, quirky towns, good food, and good friends—you'll enjoy traveling with us. Join us as we explore the backroads of North America—we love company and comments!