On the Road Again - Adventures from an Empty Nest

 Nash lived in Tennessee, first as a hungry stray and then as Maria's beloved first dog, moved to Virginia with Maria and then moved in with us, and now he is on the road like a true American nomad. It's hard to tell how these changes register. Nash seems to feeel at home wherever his people are. He doesn't seem to mind changes in climate (it was 33° when we woke up on Friday), in elevation (as high as 10,000 feet), in activity (strenuous hiking through Little Wild Horse Canyon or long days in the van); as long as we are with him and his dinner is on time, he's a happy guy.  Joe has been training for this trip since 2022 when he started driving the Habitat Store truck and picking up construction materials and furniture. So far, he's driven 5,000 miles on this trip, minus the 100 or so miles I drove one day. He says he enjoys it, and he's got mad skills. Plus, we both agree that I am the better navigator (and camp cook). He's also in great shape for the hikin...

Utah is an amazing place – one I am incredibly happy to visit, but wouldn't want to live in. The air is dry and the sun is aggressively hot. Chapstick and sunscreen have become an essential element of self-care. Every morning begins with shivers and sweatshirts and ends in sweat, sunhats, and shorts. But the scenery – my God! – there is nothing like it. Around every turn in the road, past every hill on a hike, there is a new type of rock formation, a river or dry bed, a totally new variety of trees and shrubs. Tiny oak trees give way to tumbleweed, then juniper, then cactus. Dead and burned trees reach blackened claws toward the sky while ground squirrels dart into invisible holes, chased by an enthusiastic but clueless dog from Virginia. We started in northern Utah, following the multi-state Dinosaur National Monument in from Colorado. We did see dinosaur fossils in Dinosaur, millions of years old and encased in cliffs of sandstone. But we also saw petroglyphs – ancient art create...

The big picture My brain likes exercise way more than my body does. Fortunately, this trip is providing plenty for both. In addition to the beautiful hikes we are taking every day – often multiple times a day – we have had ample opportunities to learn new things. We've learned history: we traveled through reservations in Oklahoma where Indians from across the Eastern U.S. were relocated in the 19th Century; visited the town of Nicodemus, founded by African Americans fleeing white violence in Kentucky in 1877; drove along the old Oregon Trail and read exerpts from journals written by women who made the journey west; and seen some of the amazing artwork of Plains Indians from South Dakota and Nebraska. We drove through forests blackened by fire and visited fossil beds and fascinating geological formations to learn how volcanic activity, glacial movement, drought, and erosion have changed the landscape – and those who live on it – over time. We live in an amazing world, and it's ...

ALASKA–The 49th State and Our 50th!  (Pictures below. Layout is too hard in a free app.) The mountain Denali is a mountain that has held a special place in the hearts of Alaskans for thousands of years. The tallest peak in North America at 20,310 feet, and the furthest north of any mountain over 19,000 feet, Denali is subject to almost daily storms, violent winds, and extreme cold. It spends most of its days covered in clouds and invisible from below. Only about a third of visitors to Alaska will see it. We have seen it on two separate days. We are truly among the fortunate few.  Animals We also saw plenty of wildlife in the park named for the mountain: barren ground caribou, Dall sheep (with a lamb!), Arctic ground squirrel and red squirrel, snowshoe hares, ravens, willow ptarmigan, giant mosquitos (still sluggish with the cold), and—of course—moose! It's been an animal-rich trip. We also saw musk oxen, reindeer and woods bison at a wildlife research facility near Fairba...