When we first started renovating the Toaster I was set on replacing all the window blind wands with something a bit more tasteful than the clear cheap plastic that our original blinds came with. But as the list of things that needed to be fixed on the RV got longer, the wands lost priority and fell off my list. But they came back on my list when I recently noticed markings on the wall.
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Something we recently discovered was showering outside the RV. Like most RVs, ours came with an outside shower. But we never used it to wash the dogs or rinse something off outside. We kept waiting for the right combination of circumstances to be able to shower outside: weather and privacy.
Read MoreIt wasn't until the day before we wanted to go hike Antelope Canyon that I searched online for hike details. That was when I found out that you have to join a paid tour group to be able to enter and visit it - whether it's Upper or Lower Antelope Canyon. The words "tour group" make my stomach turn sour.
Read MoreIt's funny how I had never heard of Hurricane or Virgin, UT until we left the Toaster at a storage unit in St. George to go to Jackson, WY. Then we found out that the area is jam-packed with outdoor activities: from rock climbing to mountain biking to hiking.
Read MoreMountain biking is why we came here and mountain biking is what we did! The Hurricane/Virgin area is small, but to make up for it (really there’s no need to make up for small because small is great!) there are six different mountain biking trail systems, tons of hiking, and Zion National Park is nearby.
Read MoreStaying connected while on the road is one of the hottest topics amongst full-timers, and the unlimited cell data plan is the holy grail of working nomads. But if you don’t already have one, they are getting harder and harder to acquire, so travelers are increasingly having to make ‘limited’ data plans work. We’re not experts on this, but we have traveled for a year without an unlimited plan, and when we tell fellow nomads how small our data plan is, they generally seem amazed. So I think that means we’re getting by with a pretty small allotment. It does take effort, but cell data costs can be kept in check (really helping the monthly budget), without totally unplugging from civilization.
Read MoreWe didn't realize until we arrived in Hurricane how close to Zion National Park (Zion Canyon part of the park) we were boondocked - 17 miles to be exact. From the two boondocking sites we stayed at we could see the Zion mountains in the horizon. The benefit of living this close to a national park is that we we aren't in a hurry to hike everything in a few days' time.
Read MoreThe Hurricane Mountain Bike Festival is a 3-day event where a bunch of bike vendors are on-site with demo bikes for festival goers to ride. Shuttles for JEM trails are provided, breakfasts and a dinner are included and there’s a beer garden, raffle giveaways, and music. All for the price of $55. Which is a really good deal.
Read MoreThe Aquatank2 30 gallon water storage bag was something we had been eyeing for awhile, but for $100 we kept putting it off until we really had a good reason for getting it. As soon as we realized that one of our main boondocking limiting factors was fresh water we got on Amazon and purchased the bag.
Read MoreWe survived our first year on the road! And we didn’t kill each other or the dogs. I call that success! Check out our infographic below.
Read MoreBlue Ridge Outdoors, our hometown outdoor magazine, did a Q & A with us and we're psyched. This is the magazine that we used to pick up monthly to read, so it's super cool to be featured online! The timing also worked out nicely since it was just a few days before our one year anniversary.
Read MoreFolks are getting really excited about residential fridges in RVs. Seems like a lot of this is driven by the desire for larger, more feature-rich refrigerators. But the move away from 2-way and 3-way fridges is exciting to boondockers like us, too. If you’ve been wondering what it takes to run a residential unit in your RV – and whether you could use one while boondocking – I’d like to share some info that might help you decide if it’s right for you.
Read MoreHere’s a post with some yucky photos for you: Today I cleaned out our P-traps, and I learned a few things along the way!
Read MoreEvery year we fly out west somewhere to go snowboarding. The last two winters the annual trips didn’t happen because we were rebuilding the Toaster. But this year we made it happen. It’s Andrew second winter in Jackson and we decided to meet there.
Read MoreOur plan for the beginning of February was to drive to Jackson, WY to visit friends and go snowboarding. But we didn't want to tow the Toaster up there with us since we would only be there for two weeks before returning south where we would stay for awhile. So we decided to store our RV during that time.
Read MoreAfter Borrego Springs we were really itching to get some mountain biking in. We still had about 2 weeks before we had to be in Jackson, WY so we decided to detour east over to Tucson, AZ to ride. While neither of us had ridden in Tucson, we heard it had pretty good trails.
Read MorePeggy and Bernie of Places and Platypie came over with their fisheye lens and took some wonderful photos of the interior of the Toaster.
Read MoreOur main reason for going to Mittry Lake Wildlife Area in Yuma, Arizona was so Tybee could go swimming. While we were in Borrego Springs, we had a conversation with a vet about Tybee that left us frazzled, sad and more aware of the potentially limited amount of time we have with her.
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