Getting antsy … making plans
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We’ve been in Las Vegas since mid-January. Here it is early April and we’re still here. For some people that would not be unusual. For us … well, it seems like quite awhile in one place. There’s moss growing on the north side of our hiking boots! The backyard deck is finished and though Blue needs lots of work, he’s raring to go. We’re getting antsy to be on the road again.
After all of our years away from home and at sea, you’d think we’d be happy to stay put, but au contraire. We’re most happy, it seems, when we’re ‘on the road’ heading somewhere (or nowhere) and enjoying the journey. While David is working on getting Blue to at the bare minimum point for departure, I’m working on where to go … though Lord knows, we rarely keep to plan.
Arizona is calling us … the lure of desert and wide open spaces … and national parks. I’ve put Tucson on our list of potential stops primarily because of Saguaro National Park which borders the city to the east and west. There’s also Tohono Chul Park & Gardens, ‘a Sonoran Desert oasis’, that sounds interesting and has reciprocity with our local Springs Preserve. Further south near Ajo and Why, there’s the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We’ll be so close to Mexico, we might just wander across the border to Nogales for a day or two.
From Arizona, it’s back to Cali with a planned stop to visit Restless Soul (previously known as Nine of Cups) and her crew. Murray & Carol have invited us to Cups’ renaming and Christening ceremony and if our schedule permits, we’d like to attend before heading further north in California. We’re hoping to drive part of the Pacific Coast Highway … Monterrey, Carmel, Big Sur, all the little towns in between and up into Oregon.
Lassen Volcanic National Park straddles the California/Oregon border. What a great way to enter the Pacific Northwest! Though Oregon has only one US national park to itself, it’s definitely not lacking in parks and scenery. We’ve both visited the state on business … primarily Portland … and taking our time to explore more will be an adventure. Crater Lake National Park, Mary’s Peak, Oregon Dunes and Columbia River Gorge lead the list of must-sees.
Washington state offers so much to see and do that it’s not feasible to list it all. Certainly Olympic National Park and Mt. Rainier National Park top the list, but we’re also fortunate enough to have lots of friends to reconnect with in the Evergreen State and we’re really looking forward to it.
It really depends how much we linger in each place as to how far we’ll get. Maybe we’ll get up into British Columbia and check out Victoria and Vancouver. Maybe we’ll make a big swing through Idaho and Montana and head back south that way. Maybe we’ll do all of the above. We’re only limited by our imaginations and wanderlust.
We plan to return to Vegas in early July. That gives us a max of 2-1/2 months to wander and explore. We’ll get a good taste for van life and evaluate if it’s for us (as if!), as well as determine exactly what we need and want for future Blue upfit projects.
Stick around … the next couple of months are going to be fun!