On the Road West

With my feet on the dash, a wasp flew in through the window and down my shorts to zing my cheek. That is all.

Views out the window as we pass through CO, WY, UT, & NV

Aspen

Salt Flats

Road to Nowhere

CO: Three Hot Springs in Three Days

With the bus out of commission, we headed to higher country in CO. This first week on the road has revealed an interesting truth. Bathing is tricky when we are too cheap to pay for a legit camp site, let alone hotel room. Seriously,  $35 for a crowded campsite?! Please. I've decided that a dip in the river counts as a rinse off, as does a soak in a hot springs. Therefore, we made our time count and hit up several hot spots. The first was Indian Hot Springs complete with the mud room. The second, Conundrum Hot Springs outside of Aspen, was an 18 mile trek into Maroon Bells Wilderness. The experience was quite incredible. For me to proclaim this despite multiple thunderstorms, loosing Isla, permanently misplacing my thermarest and returning to a dead rental car only deepens my conviction. The view was worth the effort. Colorado has some incredible territory to discover, but good grief they are rigid with rules. Who knew a wilderness could have so many pet and camping restrictions. Fortunately, one restriction not in place was mandated clothing. Often primitive hot springs make clothing optional. We were joined by a token older gentleman in his natural state, which mixed things right up.  

Our final hot springs stop was was in the river between Carbondale and Restone, CO. Penny Hot Springs is a favorite among the boozing college crowd. No hiking required. Accessible cold water for dares. Close for liquor runs. It is a coed daydream. We did our share of meet and greets and frozen river dips, then continued on for the best drive in CO. The stretch on to Marble is stunning and twisty. Plus, Redstone was a worthy pit stop. We stumbled onto live music and beer in the park, which was pure magic in this charming community. I may retire here someday.

Our final days on this rental car super loop were spent in rainy Telluride and sunny Mesa Verde. We rode our bikes, climbed around some ancient Puebloen ruins, and slept in the tiny compact car more times then I would like to mention. 

I'm ready for the bus. 

Idaho hot springs

Conundrum

Penny Hot Springs

Redstone, CO

Telluride

Mesa verde

The Departure

After contemplating the logistics of creating a life on the road for over a year, Ben and I have made the leap.  We've let go of the security of our reliable day jobs, said our goodbyes to our dearest friends and family, and watched Casper, Wyoming - literally- fade into the sunset.  The next chapter has begun.
We welcome in the unfamiliar and all the wonderful challenges that come with toting along two dirty dogs in our VW bus.
We are three days into our epic journey, and already have had a fair share of setbacks.
Our first stop in Boulder, CO was at a VW shop to give the FreedomWagen a look-over and make sure she was fit for the trip.  Turns out, she's not.  Ben's months and months of work and elbow grease have gotten her awfully close, but she will be out of commission for a solid week.  We milled around North Boulder for the day and spent a solid 3 hours in the dog park, then decided one day was plenty and rented a compact car.  It is a cozy treat.  We will now head into the hills and hit up some gems that were otherwise tough to reach in the bus (we max out at 55 mph ... downhill).  So, after a brief dinner date with our sister Margaret, brother Bryan and our adorable little nephew Sawyer who has proudly joined the masses that can sit up independently, we urban camped for the night in the yard and took to the interstate.  The sleepy mining town of Idaho Springs was stop one.  Indian Hot Springs was a sight.  We absorbed all of the magical healing properties of the waters and mud bath while sweetly serenaded by native flute.  After a less-than-restful sleep in the rental, we now head toward Aspen where we hope to embark on an 18 mile hike to a primitive hot spring in the mountains. So far, so good.