Our wanderings

Roadtreking Reprise: Photo Safari 2 (for us)

On July 2, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings, The Epic Van

Roadtreks parked at Chewing Black Bones Campground on the Blackfeet Nation, just outside Glacier National Park.
View of burned area in the mountains.
Jeremiah, our guide and bus driver.
Blackfeet chiefs, part of a sculpture, made from recycled car parts, that welcomes visitors to the Blackfeet Nation.
A horse made of recycled car parts, part of a sculpture welcoming visitors to the Blackfeet Nation.
Clouds over the mountains.
Rain and clouds over the mountains.
A bison made from recovered car parts, at the hospital in Browning, a piece of art made by a tribal member.
Mist on the mountain near Glacier National Park.
Jack Copeland singing for the crowd.
Mike and Jennifer Wendland enjoying the entertainment.
Linda Peden watching the music.
Crowd participation, making bear ears.
Enjoying the singing.
A Blackfeet storyteller shares traditional tales.
Beautiful lake reflection.
Taking pictures of each other taking a pictures.
Snow on the mountains.
Views from the hike to Hidden Falls.
HIdden Falls.
View from the trail returning from Hidden Falls.
Josephine Lake.
View from our hike in Many Glaciers.
Wildflowers on the hillside.
Mariposa lily.
Beargrass blooming along the trail.
Indian Paintbrush.
A deer munching, from our hike back from Hidden Falls.
Judy and Tom in front of Josephine Lake.
Campskunk and his owner, Fiona.
Portrait of Fiona, mistress of the universe.
Campskunk fixing our window blind. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Campskunk fixing our bathroom door. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Campskunk models a very manly hat of his family plaid, a gift from Mary Jane.
"Don't fear any snakes" juice.

You know I love The Epic Van. And I love the company that makes it, Roadtrek.

The first year we were on the road, we went to the Roadtreking Photo Safari near Yellowstone. It was a gathering of my kind of people. We still have friends from that first meetup.

Now, three years later, we just finished our second Roadtreking Photo Safari, this one near Glacier and, once again, it was a blast.

My personal thank-you list is looooong. So, here goes. Thanks to:

Roadtrek, Mike and Jennifer Wendland, and Mel, for helping create and nurture this great community and for all the work to put this week together.

The Blackfeet Nation for sharing their home, their chief’s leadership, their storyteller’s wisdom, their delicious food, their beautiful songs and their dancers’ gracefulness and strength.

Campskunk for his generosity in minor (and not so minor) unauthorized repairs, and just for being awesome. Sharon for coming out to mingle with the riffraff. It was the highlight of the week. And feline Fiona for letting me take her picture. So accommodating for such a celebrity.

Mary Ellen and Sue for arranging and inviting me to participate in the Creativity in a Camper. It was great fun and I loved hearing all the stories and advice from our fellow writers. And for the wonderful books that I’m already tearing through.

Mary Jane (we finally meet) for her amazing Wild Tea and discussion of cook book publication, and Jeff for being a stand-up tea guy and a great hiking companion.

Sandy and Lynne for being lovely neighbors and lunch partners, and for forgiving American politics on behalf of all Canadians.

Dan and Rhonda for a great lunch and more Canadian/American political crosstalk. Are all Canadians so calm, considerate and insightful? It seems so. And Dan for allowing us to watch his creativity in action with his painting.

Linda for re-congregating our first photo safari group (missing you Mary Z), for a great late-night visit with Pat, our new friend Janet, Steve (we know you’re itching to go full time) and the nice man with the whiskey whose name I’ve temporarily misplaced.

Jeremiah for being an excellent bus driver, guide, singer and storyteller, for remembering all our names, and meeting ALL our expectations. And for the book recommendation.

David and Nancy for being just as interesting as we remembered, updating us about your lives and bringing gluten-free chocolate dessert to the pot luck. You’re the best. Next time in Big Sur!!! With your new rig?

Yan and Kiki for taking us to Hidden Falls, sharing huckleberry sodas and a barefoot walk in the grass, and for initiating us into Kiki’s Realm. I still have a warm feeling about it, but it may be from what came out of the bottle.

Glacier National Park, Montana, Roadtrek

The Everglades: A fragile river of grass

On June 18, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

Sunset in Everglades National Park.
The river of grass.
Sawgrass bending in the freshwater of the Everglades River of Grass.
A crocodile lolling in the sun on the side of the road.
A wood stork perched in a tree.
A roseate spoonbill.
Mangroves, damaged by Hurricane Irma, struggle to revive.
The orange bark of the Gumbo Limbo tree.
Orb-weavers spin their nests at night, then pack them up in the morning.
Strangler figs start out vinelike, growing from the branches of trees, then strangle it as their aerial roots grow larger.
A bromeliad blooming along the Anhinga Trail.
A purple gallinule waling on lily pads .
An alligator glides through the water.
An anhinga perches on shore.
An Everglades morning glory.
A painting on the side of the building at the Hurcules Missile site in Everglades National Park.
A vintage photo of crews assigned to man the Hurcules Missile site in Everglades National Park.
A piliiated woodpecker in Everglades National Park.
A green anole lizard in Everglades National Park.
A green anole looking brown.
Oatmeal-looking periphyton mats, a mass of algae, cyanobacteria and microinvertebrates float under the surface, an important part of the food chain.
Corbin and Tom hiking on the Coastal Prairie Trail.
The waters of Florida Bay, seen from the Coastal Prairie Trail.
Tom in the canoe.
Tom in the canoe, following the ranger.
Our fellow canoe buddies on a ranger-led tour of the Everglades National Park.
Herons coming in at sunset to find their perch for the night.
Sunset in Everglades National Park.

The Florida Everglades, the River of Grass, feels fragile, like any moment a hurricane will wipe it off the map, or humans, after decades of abuse, will finally kill it, or invasive species will forever alter it.

The longer you’re there, the more fragile it feels.

Everglades, Florida

Fun in Grand Mesa National Forest, western Colorado’s land of lakes and magnificent overlooks

On June 16, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

The view from our campground spot on Cabbott Lake.
The Epic Van, that little piece of silver, at its campsite viewed from across Cabbott Lake.
Views from the trail around Island Lake.
The Book Cliffs viewed from Land's End Observatory.
Looking into the canyon from Land's End Observatory.
The snaking road down from the summit into the valley.
A cabin formerly used by cattle herders who brought their stock up to the good grass during the hot months.
A view from the Crag Crest trail.

By Tom Nichols

I never heard any of my outdoor-loving friends in Arizona mention Grand Mesa National Forest. There are so many wonderfully eroded canyons and expansive mesas in Utah and Arizona, so many famous peaks and alpine parks in Colorado’s Front Range, it’s little wonder that Grand Mesa National Forest, the nation’s biggest tabletop mountain, is never mentioned.

Colorado, Grand Mesa

Summer freedom: Warning lights and a stunning Colorado road

On June 9, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

A tin-roofed barn nestled in a valley along Colorado 145.
The beautiful variety of green in the trees of the San Juan National Forest.
The San Juan Mountains provide stunning views along Colorado 145.
A view from Colorado 145 near Lizard Head Pass.
A view of Mount Wilson from Colorado 145.
Alpine meadows near Lizard Head Pass on Colorado 145.
Granite towers and snow along Colorado 145.
A lakeside view on the way to Telluride on Colorado 145.

By Tom Nichols

There’s nothing more liberating than returning to The Epic Van and setting course for Glacier National Park, the next leg of our Year Four adventure. I feel like a first-grader on the first day of summer vacation.

Colorado

Don’t call my awesome ride an RV

On June 6, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings, The Epic Van

Sitting on the steps of The Epic Van in Texas's Palo Duro Canyon with our folding bikes and Pippi, our 16-year-old cat, who traveled with us until she went to the road trip in the sky.
The Epic Van driving through a tiny waterfall in Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains.
The Epic Van at Capitol Reef National Park.
Deserted foggy campground on Pacific Coast in northern California.
The Epic Van squeezing through a rock tunnel in the Black Hills on South Dakota's 16A.
The Epic Van got to do some stream crossing on the beach road.
Sunset on The Epic Van
The Epic Van at a free campsite in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Seeing the United States makes it all worth it.
The Epic Van parked at the City of Rocks, a New Mexico state park that charges less than $15 a night.
The Epic Van at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.
The Epic Van

This may be totally stupid, but I have a hostile reaction when people say, “Oh, you’re driving around in an RV. Cool. My grandmother does that.”

This usually happens after I’ve told them of our totally awesome, unconventional, fearless life on the road. After I’ve specifically told them that I live in a big camper van. (Which, OK, technically is an RV but, in my world, is my free-spirit house on wheels.)

Roadtrek, The Epic Van

La Manzanilla, Mexico: Baby needs new shoes

On May 9, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 0 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

Jackie rings the bell.
Faces instantly appear once the bell is rung.
Campbell is part of the unloading crew.
Lucero, with her ever-present companion, Nico, survey the happy madness.
Carson hauling bags of shoes as Lucero looks on.
Nate unloads boxes.
Happiness is a new pair of shoes.
Shoes for everyone.
A big smile for new shoes.
Yea! A fit.
Mom is happy, too.
Admiring the newness.
Brian helps fit a little boy.
Polka dots suit her.
Old and new, next to each other.
Patiently waiting.
White sandals were her match.
Shiny blue and white sandals for a new friend.
He offered his kitten as thanks. We politely declined.
In La Manzanilla, Campbell keeps an eagle eye for new customers.
Carson dives in the back of Lucero's van, loaded down like Santa's sled, to find the perfect size.
Brian helps fit shoes for a baby as his mother watches.

In La Manzanilla, Mexico, and its surrounding villages, shoes can be hard to come by.

Especially if you’re poor. And you’re a kid.

So Lucero Castelazo, who now runs her late mother’s place, Casa Maria en La Manzanilla, also carries on Maria’s charitable spirit, collecting and distributing shoes for kids who need them. She gets money from friends and buys discounted shoes from companies in her hometown of Leon, a shoe-manufacturing mecca. Then she hauls them in her white van to La Manzanilla.

When we visited for Christmas, we were lucky enough to be included in a couple of the distribution runs.

La Manzanilla, Mexico

La Manzanilla: Crocs, cameras and cormorants

On April 26, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 2 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

Primi piloting the boat while Tom spots birds.
A Great Egret takes flight.
A Great Egret.
A Snowy Egret unfurls its wings.
A crocodile eyes us as we float by.
An iguana sunning on a tree branch.
A green heron walking on a branch.
A juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
A Yelllow-crowned Night Heron.
Thomas sent his camera on a drone out to capture the mangrove preserve from above.
The whirring blades of the drone.
A Black-crowned Night Heron.
A Groove-billed Ani.
A Ringed Kingfisher.
A Ringed Kingfisher.
A Ringed Kingfisher.
A Common Black Hawk perched on a dead trunk.
An Anhinga in flight.
A Neotropic Cormorant drying its wings.
A juvenile Green Heron.
A Yellow-crowned Night Heron walking on a branch.
Another Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
A juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
A juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron in flight.
A Snowy Egret in the sun.
A group of White Ibis on branches.

At the end of the main road in La Manzanilla, after the farmacia and the paleta shop and the sidewalk stand of charcoal-roasted chicken and the stacks of beach toys and the tiny bodegas and the place with the coldest cerveza, you come to a chain link fence marking the edge of the crocodile preserve.

La Manzanilla, Mexico

La Manzanilla, Mexico: The warmth of sun and friends

On April 5, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 8 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

The view toward the ocean at Casa Maria en La Manzanilla.
Meals with the Castelazo cousins under the palapa at Casa Maria en La Manzanilla.
Frank Castelazo, Jackie's brother, shares a story at dinner.
One of the silly gifts in the Christmas exchange: coasters you can hang on your nose.
Mending fishing nets on the streets of La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Tortilla makers in La Manzanilla.
The beach in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Carson, Luci, me and Tom at the beach.
Julia shows Campbell a starfish she found on the beach.
Lucero relaxes in a hammock at the palapa on the beach.
A fisherman throws out his net on the beach in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Nate with rescued kitten Coco (Killer Mike) and Mateo in a hammock at the beach.
Lucero's favorite drink stop on the road to the airport.
A man and his parrot in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
A boy and his rooster in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
A nativity scene, complete with rabbit in front of one of the houses in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
A flute player at the Friday market in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Fresh fruit at the market in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Squeezing lime juice over shredded zucchini, carrots, beets and jicama at the market in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Jackie enjoying some fresh veggies at the market in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
A delivery bike on the street in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Tiny Coco (Killer Mike) playing with the wastebasket.
Coco (Killer Mike) sleeping on the window sill.
Tom reading in the hammock at Casa Maria en La Manzanilla.
Tacos on the street in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Food vendors at night around the town square in La Manzanilla.
Industrial churro making at the street fair in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
Sunset view from Casa Maria en La Manzanilla.

I love Mexico. LOVE IT. The sun, heat and white-sand beaches take me back to Hawaii, where I grew up. The art is amazing, and the food makes me swoon in delight. I go whenever I get the chance.

I hadn’t been since we started our full-time adventure in The Epic Van more than three years ago and was in dire need of a fix. So, we decided to get out of The Epic Van, take a vacation from our endless vacation, and spend last Christmas with the Castelazo family in La Manzanilla, Mexico, a small fishing village on the Pacific coast south of Puerto Vallarta. We celebrated the holidays early with family and friends in Scottsdale, left The Epic Van in mom’s driveway, and jumped on a plane.

Mexico

Speed tourism in Austin

On March 6, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 14 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

Barbecue at Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew in Austin, Texas.
Beers at The White Horse in Austin..
Ebaugh & the Tender Things performing at The White Horse in Austin.
Roman numerals on a recovered timber from the 1684 shipwreck of the La Belle, on display at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. The number showed that it was a kit ship, the number a guide to which timber goes where.
A thin gold Sun King medallion found with the shipwreck was a symbol of King Louis XIV of France, who commissioned the expedition. Many of the muskets were embedded with a medallion.
Hawk bells, found by the thousands on the shipwrecked La Belle, brought to trade with Native Americans.
Allens Boots on South Congress, SOCO, in Austin.
Austin's clouds reflected in the Fairmont Hotel Austin.
Austin's Museum of the Weird.
The Frost Bank Tower in Austin, known as the "owl building."
The Paramount Theater in Austin.
The Texas Capitol, bigger than the U.S. Capitol, nach.
A moon tower in Austin. Amazing.
The home of the Texas Longhorns.
The Tipsy Chick and the Democrat at Torchy's Tacos in Austin.
The Alabama Shake and a breakfast taco at Torchy's.

There’s a lot to love in Austin, Texas, and we only had 24 hours. So, we went for it. Here’s our visit hour by hour.

Austin, Bullock Texas State History Museum, Stiles Switch BBQ, The White Horse, Torchy's Tacos

Bravado and simple charm at LBJ’s Hill Country ranch

On March 2, 2018 by Judy Nichols With 6 Comments - Blog, Our wanderings

The reconstructed birthplace of Lyndon Baines Johnson on LBJ's Ranch.
LBJ at six months.
A barn on the Sauer-Beckmann Farm, neighbors of the Johnson family when LBJ was a child and now a living-history museum on the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site.
Descendants of LBJ's herd of registered Hereford cattle still graze on the ranch today.
The wide Texas skies above the LBJ Ranch.
LBJ with one of his prized registered Herefords.
LBJ on horseback, wrangling cattle.
The Johnson's home on the ranch, dubbed the Texas White House, becasue LBJ worked nearly a quarter of his time in office from the residence.
Air Force One and a Half, the small aircraft that Johnson took to the Ranch after landing Air Force One in Bergstrom Air Force Base near Austin.
The baby blue convertible amphibious car that LBJ used to scare the daylights out of guests.
A photo of LBJ motoring in the amphibious car.
My favorite photo of LBJ, howling with his dog as his grandson looks on in amazement.
A portrait of LBJ at the Ranch.
Lady Bird's name on a placard on the outside of the home.
The Johnson family cemetery under the spreading live oaks. The two taller headstones are for LBJ and Lady Bird.

I remember seeing a photo of Lyndon Baines Johnson taking the oath of office on Air Force One after President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, LBJ’s wife Lady Bird and JFK’s widow Jackie by his side. The Kennedys were planning to spend the night at LBJ’s ranch on that day when Camelot died. I was eight years old.

Visiting LBJ’s ranch is a strange mix of nostalgia for simpler times and a fairy tale the president created about his own life as a Texas cattleman. You can visit his birthplace, his first school and a living-history farm that gives you a sense of the hardscrabble times in which he was growing up.

LBJ Ranch

2 Comments

Reply
electricscootershq.org March 1, 2017

Nomads and the civilised look at each other with disapproval and misunderstanding. Why would anyone want to wander the wilderness and live in a tent? Why would anyone want to live in a box and obey unnecessary masters?
- Reply
  Judy Nichols March 3, 2017
  
  Ali, Mostly we’ve found people think it’s really cool. Many tell us they dream of being able to wander the world. Are you a nomad?

New American Nomads

Minimal home, maximum life