The Big Winter Decision
When you live in an RV and want to stay where it’s warm, your choices for winter are limited. Florida 2020-21 As you guys know, we totally spoiled ourselves by... Read more.
Mystery Neighbor at the 21% Lake
We’re about an hour north of Fresno, CA, at a Corps of Engineers campground built around a reservoir called Hensley Lake. Hidden View Campround As with nearly... Read more.
Heart-palpitating Monterey Bay Aquarium
I’d anticipated this day for years; I was thrilled by this day; I took tons of photos this day; but my post of this day is the lamest I’ve ever written! Here... Read more.
Photos from Los Padres/Big Sur
Here are the missing photos from my previous post about our week near Big Sur. The land between the highway and the ocean at our Plaskett Creek campground is owned... Read more.
Contemporary Tiny House
I bought this house kit because of that contemporary-style rock garden at the foot of the steps. I’ve worked on Japanese houses with tall trees in the courtyards,... Read more.
Los Padres Nat. Forest at Plaskett Creek
Here’s a text-only post because I don’t have enough data to upload photos. Photos coming soon! I’ve also thrown it together from unedited notes, so my apologies... Read more.
Goodbye San Simeon, Bring on the Music Game
Today is our final day at San Simeon State Park; tomorrow we take a short but dramatic drive up Highway 1 to a new (to us) state park in the Big Sur area. We’ll... Read more.
Beauty and the Stress
My friend Whit shared a NYT article with me yesterday about the contrast between the shiny social media portrayal of #VanLife and the sometimes-miserable day-to-day... Read more.
We Are All Caricatures of Ourselves
When we were in Texas, I mentioned this quote (by my sister’s friend), referring to Texans. The sentence in full—that I love so much—goes, “Texans... Read more.
“Where the Kelp Meets the Sycamore Tree”
This exactly describes where we’re camped at our first California State Park campground by the ocean: Leo Carrillo State Park, directly west of LA at the foot... Read more.
In Search of the Bloom
For a week, we’re boondocking on BLM land at the Carrizo Plain National Monument, the largest native grassland in California. Before I get to why we’re here,... Read more.
Introducing GDTR Guest Writers
New voices have joined me here! Here are regular posts by sets of friends we’ve made on the road, friends who RV full-time or mostly fulltime or who help us RV.... Read more.
Lola’s La Jolla
This is Lola. Lola is a good friend. When we were first camping near her part-time home of San Diego, the only spot we could find was in Laguna Mountains, where... Read more.
Sweetwater Summit
It’s a chilly, drizzly day on top of Sweetwater Summit at its regional park campground—in the town of Chula Vista, directly east of San Diego. But no matter:... Read more.
The Beach Every Day, Several Ways
Today, we move on, from Tijuana River Valley Regional Park to a whole honking half-hour away, to a county park east of San Diego. A week there, then up the California... Read more.
Tiny Tea House
Although there’s no swimming pool and no slippers by a plush bed, this is my favorite little house so far. Yes, I always say that! But look how inviting it is.... Read more.
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
You know I’m unsure how I want to say what’s on my mind when I resort to quoting Jimmy Buffet. Sadly, this isn’t the first time on my blog, either. I do have... Read more.
Our Second-year Nomadiversary
Yep, two years ago today, we left Tracy’s house and took off in the Airstream. What a shocking and terrible and adventure-filled, wonderful year that was. On that... Read more.
Pacific Ocean High
After eight months of mostly glorious Southwest desert, we finally landed near San Diego to begin our trek up the Pacific Coast. Not a moment too soon. (And I realize... Read more.
Banjo Visits Mars, Again
Our long-planned spring trip up the Pacific Coast begins with reservations in San Diego soon (but not yet), so we needed a stop west on the way there. Why not revisit... Read more.
An Eye-Opening Night in an Old Ghost Town
Ruby, Arizona, used to be a mining town, built after the first strike to its ore in the 1870s. Along with a shaft mine—that produced gold, silver, and... Read more.
Blogging in Dark Times
As I write this, I’m thinking about the war in Ukraine. Yet, almost two years ago, I wrote about the weirdness of “living on vacation” and writing about it... Read more.
Compelled by the Desert, Again
Tracy and I were driving due south from Tucson to find a campsite almost on the border with Mexico, when I realized something important. We’ve been letting the... Read more.
Tamarind Sour, Gliders, Goodbye Tucson
It’s our last evening right outside the Ironwood National Monument Lands (northwest of Tucson), and I’m feeling the Sunday blues just as if I had to go to work... Read more.
Strip Mall Tourists
We’re the lamest tourists ever when it comes to visiting cities. We’ve traveled nearly all over the country by now, so why haven’t we immersed ourselves (or... Read more.
A New Week, A New Desert
We’re actually still in the Sonoran Desert, but we moved east—from the lovely Ajo, Arizona, toward the city of Tucson, trading a green area for a brown one.... Read more.
Water Conservation While Boondocking
We may get rain today in the Sonoran Desert just south of Ajo, AZ, and if it’s more than just a drizzle, it’ll be the first rain we’ve ever seen in the desert,... Read more.
Mines, a Desert Cemetery, and One Awesome, Useless Map
We’re having a delightfully quiet week (or longer, if our tanks will last) here in the Sonoran Desert just south of Ajo, Arizona. We’re only about 30 miles... Read more.
Tracy’s Parking Skills for the Win Again
We made it into a great boondocking spot in the desert just south of Ajo, Arizona, thanks to a wee bit of luck and a lot of work. Here’s kind of a technical post... Read more.
Saguaros and Sunrises
So, in an earlier post I think I said that saguaros are old enough to start sprouting limbs after about 35 years, but I just heard from a National Park tour that... Read more.
