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Falling temps in the mountains has gotten me thinking about warmer climates, and those thoughts transpired into these little watercolor cactus doodles.  One of the greatest perks of #vanlife is being able to follow the weather and stay in comfortable conditions, which is why we may be headed west in the next week or two. 🌵🏜
Two weeks, one tow, four trips to the garage, and I’m finally reunited with my van. The original issue was a dead fuel pump. Given the van is a 2001 with 233k miles, that didn’t come as a huge surprise. It took a week for the garage to get parts, repair, and return the van to me. Within an hour of picking it up, the van began to shimmy and shake, and not out of joy for being back on the road. Turns out the failing fuel pump – which had not indicated its slow death before the van simply failed to start – had damaged the spark plugs and more.  I admit I took a quick dip in the “woe is me” pool, letting my imagination run wild with “what ifs” and thinking about the next steps should it be the demise of the van. The important thing is I didn’t stay with those dark thoughts too long.  Instead, I chose to focus on gratitude. For starters, the fact that I was in town when the van didn't start was huge. I’d spent a couple of weeks tucked deep in the forest on a mountain at 11,000’ elevation. There’s no way a wrecker truck could’ve gotten to the van had the fuel pump gone out then. Second, I’m extremely grateful for friends. I usually travel solo, but for the first time in 2.5 years on the road, I’ve been sharing campsites. Asking for help or leaning on people is not something I do easily, but I can’t begin to explain the solace I felt of being able to phone someone in my time of need. We transferred contents from my van to another and returned to camp where I thankfully had my tent already set up. Even the weather seemed to cooperate. After two months of daily rains, these past two weeks were filled with abundant sunshine.  It feels so great to be reunited with the van. To be back home. Let’s hope these are the last issues it has for another 3+ years! 🤞🤞🤞 Thank you to everyone who reached out and offered support, it means a lot. 🥰
I suppose after 2.5 years on the road, this day was due. Everyone send good vibes to my van while I await diagnostics. 😔🤞
Paco and I have been hanging out in the same town for nearly two months now. Granted, a long stretch of time was spent in a house staying with a sweet dog and cat, but I never expected to stick around the area for so long.  It reminds me of the Wilco lyrics, "I have no idea how this happened, all my maps have been overthrown. Happenstance has changed my plans, so many times, my heart has been outgrown." Paco and I have made so many new friends, both of the two and four-legged varieties, I've reconnected with old friends, gotten back into biking, and have had so many incredible adventures. I'm not going to lie, the cool temps are also hard to leave when I see all the triple digits out there.  I don't know how much longer we'll stick around here or which direction we'll head next. Feels as if I've thrown all maps to the wind and am allowing life to unfold before me in so many magical and unexpected ways. Can't go wrong with that. 😊
A drawer full of tiny paintings. When I remodeled the van to turn it into a mobile art studio, I built two drawers to fill a void. It's pure kismet that my tiny paintings fit into them so perfectly. Like a game of art Tetris. 🤗👩🏼‍🎨
That moment when someone points out your childhood resemblance to young James Hetfield. 🙄 #metallica #badperms #80skid
Thoroughly enjoying our time in Colorado. The weather is perfect, hikes are rigorous, and views are spectacular. 😍
These new little watercolor paintings came from a week filled with inspiration from the crisp mountain air. The first one emerged as a way to correct what my critical eye saw as a mistake, but then I liked the way it looked and soon these vivid faces were pouring from me. I admit, it feels good to get back to portraits. 🥰
Our plans have changed yet again, but not in a bad way. Our original plans for the summer changed, so I decided to head to Montana, but while stopped in Grand Junction, CO for an oil change, a new opportunity came our way and I took it. Good thing too, as we'd have been just west of Yellowstone about this time had we continued our path north to Montana. We'll be spending a month in Colorado pet sitting. Paco is going to be thrilled to have a dog to pal around with, and I'm looking forward to saving a bit of money on gas. This seems like a pretty spectacular place to spend the hot days of summer and I'm looking forward to daily showers. 🤷🏼‍♀️🚿 Proof, yet again, that plans should be held loosely.