Our life on the road

Overland Expo Mountain West – Loveland, Colorado // Overland Expo officially kicks off this morning with education, demonstrations, and vendor exhibits starting at 9 a.m.  Our class is slated for 2pm which means we have all morning to peruse the show at our leisure and attend any classes if we feel like it.   The show essentially has two sides to it.  One side is the...

Overland Expo Mountain West – Loveland, Colorado // At noon, we’re packed up and back on the road.  We’re actually on a schedule today, and it entails needing to be at Overland Expo in Loveland no later than 4 p.m. to attend a mandatory instructor’s meeting for the weekend ahead.  But our first order of business for the day is to find a place to take showers.  Thanks to the iOverlander app...

Roosevelt National Forest // It’s time to pack up again and make our way towards Loveland today.  Before doing so though, I’m grateful to have time in our day for my preferred morning routine: writing with a hot cup of tea in hand, a long walk, and then breakfast. My days are exponentially better when they are able to begin slowly and intentionally. Today’s drive takes us up and over Fremont...

Twin Lakes, Colorado // We have two days to make our way to the front range for Overland Expo, so today we pack up and work on inching our way east.  The drive back to Buena Vista is exquisite.  Cottonwood Pass, topping out at 8,000 feet, is a favorite of mine.  Anywhere in the state that you can get above treeline, you can expect to be rewarded with breathtaking panoramic views of...

Gunnison National Forest // In the morning, our company departs.  I had thought we would be on our way out also, but it’s shaping up to be another gorgeous day, and we have no reason to leave.  While out on a walk, admiring the rugged beauty of this valley, we decide to stay.  Now that it’s Monday, enough people have left, making it feel as though we have the place to ourselves...

Gunnison National Forest // I wake at dawn to the truck rocking back and forth.  All I can think is that there’s a bear outside and it wants something that we have.  I wake Mark up only to have him say in the most calm and assured state, “it’s a cow”.  Ah yes, of course, that makes sense.  It’s not the first time free-range cattle have enjoyed our truck as a back scratcher...

Gunnison National Forest // It’s Thursday.  With the weekend upon us and no weddings or portrait sessions scheduled, it’s time to decide where we’d like to be and get settled.  The last couple of years, I’ve said that Thursday is the new Friday.  Dispersed campsites begin filling up Thursday afternoon, and for that reason, we try to avoid searching for a place to stay on a Friday...

Buena Vista, Colorado // Yesterday, we moved about an hour down the road to Buena Vista.  This morning, while out on a walkabout, I was amazed by the sheer number of campsites in this one area.  We’re only a couple of miles away from downtown Buena Vista.  It’s unusual to find so many camping opportunities in such close proximity to a popular mountain town.  It’s a refreshing...

Buena Vista, Colorado // Years ago, I heard an author say, “Sometimes I don’t know what I think until I write.”  I can’t recall who it was that said that, but I can tell you that few words have resonated more deeply with me.  Writing is how I process things.  For me, clarity often lies on the other side of the written word. Today, instead of sharing how our day unfolded, I’d like...

San Isabel National Forest, Colorado // We check out of our Airbnb this morning with ten days to roam around before our next obligation.  With that kind of freedom, I have one simple desire.  I want to go somewhere in Colorado we’ve never been before; a goal easier said than done.  My sights are set on the west side of the Sawatch Range.  Many years ago, we spent a single...