Pre-Launch!!

           

           Here we are officially in the first leg of our journey, but still in the comforts of our hometown of Nevada City.  The last few months, weeks and down to days have exponentially become more exciting and hectic.  It’s crazy that the beginning stages of planning this trip started back in September 2010, and now here we are the end of April 2012 - no jobs, car packed, saved money in the bank and two anxious ladies ready to hit the road!

            It’s been a long time preparing - researching different areas of interest, buying all new gear (that’s been fun!), finding people we feel comfortable enough to sublet our home to for 4 months, to saving all our pennies (literally- we’ve been to “coin star” a number of times, and spent many hours rolling quarters), bills paid for 4 months and Baxter, our boy, prepared to stay at Grandma’s farm for the summer to climb trees and play with the other cats - he will be missed, but will be in good hands.  In a lot of ways, it will be weird to no longer be “planning,” but actually executing what we’ve dreamed about for so long. Our lives have very much been wrapped up in this trip, so there is a part of us that will miss the whole process leading up to it…but so ready to embrace getting out there! 

Our 8,000+ mile, 27-State Route!

          I think at this point we are really looking forward to hitting the road & just being outside - being in nature, sleeping under the stars, waking up to beautiful sunrises, playing games and reading our books by a campfire, hiking new areas and sitting quietly watching sunsets over amazing landscapes, distancing ourselves from everyday life things (cell phones, television, etc.)….just being. Both of us grew up building forts and playing in the woods (yes, we were both complete tomboys, and yes, we’re both still little kids)…nature is our “church,” and we feel a strong connection to it, so what better thing for us to do than explore it for 4 months and build forts…well maybe a tent.

Gear!

 

          In line with the “stages” of our departure, it works out pretty great that 1^st - we’ve left our house, our jobs, and the town we live in, but we are still here in the comfort zone of Nevada City.  2^nd - Next stop Santa Barbara- away from both “homes,” but still in a house, visiting Tessie, her hubby and little boy Connor.  3^rd - Sedona - our first bout of camping but still not far out there, and we get to see a friend of ours, Matthew Schoening perform with his electric cello (check him out - he's pretty amazing!).  4^th - Head into Utah where we have our first and only campsite reserved for 4 nights - YES!! From there, what comes next awaits us, as we determine along the way where exactly, and for how long, we will stay somewhere.  We are planning about 2+weeks or so exploring the areas of Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Escalante, etc. frolicking about in the great outdoors and living in the moment.

The Navigator!!