Heather, and the Purple Backpack

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North Cascades National Park: Why It May Be the Most Underrated National Park

North Cascades National Park is located in Northern Washington about 3 hours west of Seattle.  It is surrounded by national recreation areas and national forests creating a huge play land for you to explore. Whether you only have a day to drive through and check out the viewpoints or weeks to get deep into the wilderness North Cascades National Park should be on your bucket list and here is why: It's Free! That's right, there is no entrance fee (or even a gate) for the park.  Some trailheads do have a day use parking fee, however the Interagency Annual Pass is [...]

North Cascades National Park: Why It May Be the Most Underrated National Park2018-09-06T14:41:40-06:00

Five Best Campsites in Idaho

Idaho was our 4th state to visit on our journey and provided some of our best campsites yet!  There is ample free camping in the mountains and national forests and tons of dreamy waterfront spots on various lakes and rivers.  Perhaps the best thing of all about Idaho, it seems nobody else knows about it yet.  While we are hesitant about letting the secret out, Idaho is too awesome not to share.  Without further ado here are our five best campsites in Idaho:   1. Trail Creek Road: Sun Valley, ID Location: Trail Creek Road (Sawtooth National Forest): numerous spots available Type [...]

Five Best Campsites in Idaho2018-08-23T12:15:56-06:00

But How Do You Get Mail? Getting Packages on the Road While Traveling

One of the most common questions travelers (including us) get asked is "how do you get mail?" And, while we are in the day and age where paper snail mail is not all that important, packages (particularly Amazon Prime packages) are.  Here we will talk about how we get mail, and all the different ways we have tried (both successfully and unsuccessfully) to get packages while traveling on the road. Getting Mail on the Road This is an easy one for us.  We send all of our mail to Nick's mom. Her house also happens to be our permanent address and [...]

But How Do You Get Mail? Getting Packages on the Road While Traveling2018-08-11T11:13:54-06:00

7 Reasons You Should Go To Idaho

Idaho is the Gem State, which couldn't be a more fitting name for this hidden gem.  Some folks probably can't even pick out Idaho on a map, and most likely don't know about all the beauty and awesomeness throughout the state. Here are seven reasons you should go to Idaho. 1. Mountains There are numerous gorgeous mountain ranges in Idaho and we recommend hiking into them to get the best perspective, but many are beautiful to just drive through as well.  We made it to the Pioneer and Sawtooth ranges, which blew us away.  One day we'll come back for the [...]

7 Reasons You Should Go To Idaho2018-07-29T22:13:38-06:00

Three Month Reflections – I Think We’re Getting the Hang of This!

As of yesterday, we have officially been living on the road for three months.  It feels like we started forever ago and yesterday all at the same time.  Overall, we feel like we are really getting the hang of this and have worked out a bunch of kinks since we started traveling.  Though, we still have plenty to learn and work on at the same time.  We figured now was a good time to reflect and celebrate the areas we've improved and to document the things we want to work on so we can be held accountable. Things We've Gotten Better At [...]

Three Month Reflections – I Think We’re Getting the Hang of This!2018-07-11T15:05:00-06:00

The Best Camping Spots in New Mexico

We spent 21 nights at 13 different camping spots in New Mexico in April 2018 and compiled a list of our favorites to share with you.  We broke them up into categories so that there is something for everyone from RV parks to tent camping and more!     Top RV Park: Santa Fe Skies RV Park Website: www.santafeskiesrvpark.com Address:14 Browncastle Ranch Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508 map Price: $45 and up Description: This is a nice RV Park with amenities like a dog park, a walking trail, laundry machines that take credit cards, unlimited clean hot water showers, fast wifi, tons of [...]

The Best Camping Spots in New Mexico2018-05-14T15:54:13-06:00

Best Random New Mexico Road Trip Stops

After driving over 1000 miles and spending just under 4 weeks in New Mexico, we’ve settled on our favorite road trips stops.  Interestingly, most of our favorites were in southern New Mexico, and could easily be combined into a shorter trip. Perhaps, it was the cold weather and engine troubles we had while in the northern parts that kept them from being our favorites?  Either way these places are sure to please and should be added to anybody’s New Mexico road trip itinerary. Heather’s Favorite: Madrid, NM Madrid is located on the turquoise trail which is a scenic byway between Santa [...]

Best Random New Mexico Road Trip Stops2018-05-12T21:28:20-06:00

Lessons Learned Month One on the Road

Technically, it has not been a whole month yet, but, with May starting it seemed close enough.  We have certainly had our share of kinks and things to work out these first few weeks.  Therefore, we thought we would offer up some advice, or lessons if you will, of things we have learned so far from full time traveling in our converted school bus. 1) STOW GFF - pronounced “Stow Girlfriend Friend” in a high pitched voice.  This is the acronym we came up with of all the things to check and make sure are in the right position before driving. [...]

Lessons Learned Month One on the Road2018-05-08T08:51:39-06:00

Hanging with Alpacas (and Trying Out Harvest Hosts)

After spending 4 nights in a mechanic's parking lot we were ready for fun and adventure again.  We made a brief stop at an RV park for some hot showers and laundry and then moved on to our first Harvest Hosts stay - an alpaca farm! For those of you who do not know, Harvests Hosts is a membership program you can join that gives you access to fun places like farms, wineries, museums, etc., all over the country that will let you spend the night on their property.  Naturally, when we saw an alpaca farm right in the Santa Fe [...]

Hanging with Alpacas (and Trying Out Harvest Hosts)2018-08-09T11:45:59-06:00

Week One Reflections

You know that awkward feeling when you just don’t know what to do with your hands?  Well week one pretty much felt like that - but with everything. Where do I put this? How do I get to this? Where should we go? What should we do today? Why doesn’t the water work? Why doesn’t the internet work? Crap, is there an engine problem? Has Miles eaten/peed/pooped? Damn, I hit my head again! As one would expect, we’ve had some kinks to work out.  I’m happy to report that we’ve mostly gotten the what/where/when in the bus figured out at this [...]

Week One Reflections2018-05-08T08:51:40-06:00
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