Hovenweep National Monument

On our trip out, we made plans to meet my parents, aunt and uncle, and family friends in Durango, Colorado.  It was a great place to stop, charge batteries, eat amazing food and rest for an afternoon. Bright and early the next morning we got up and drove to the Colorado/ Utah border to hike at Hovenweep National Monument.  We did an eight mile hike through the beautiful spring desert to some very remote ruins.  Being able to see these unique ruins so well preserved was amazing.  Thank you Susan for planning this expedition!

Lee's first desert hike!

The Utah desert was blooming, and we were lucky enough to hike with a friend who is a biologist.  It was awesome to be able to have plants and animals identified, even with the Latin name!

I'm just waiting for one of the dogs to step on something like this...

 We took full advantage of this, and stopped at every new flower and shrub.  The flora here is so different from New England, and beautiful in a very different way.

The collared lizards were out! 

The most amazing part was reaching the ruins and seeing how people lived in this area 750 years ago. The climate here keeps everything so well preserved that there are still the original wooden beams in place!                                                                                                                                                        

Beautifully preserved!

All of the mortar was filled with these tiny stones, I'm guessing to make it stronger.

Still hanging on, 750 years later!

A good hike was the perfect antidote to four days in a car, and a great way to get to know southern Utah.  I can't wait to keep exploring this area!

We're in Utah!

Hey there!  The past few weeks have been an insane blur.  In two months, we finished each finished a full semester of graduate school, did the majority of the renovations on the Airstream, worked, and packed up our whole lives to move to the Wild West!  To say it has been overwhelming and stressful is putting it mildly.  We were asked if we would ever do this again, and honestly I would never undertake what we did in the past two months again.  Given a year to complete a project of this size, I'd think about it.

There were, and will always be, roadside repairs

Anyway, we have arrived in Utah and have officially started living full time in the Airstream with little support.  Last night we parked at the Chuckwalla Trailhead right outside of downtown St. George.  It's a beautiful spot which was recommended by some rock climbers I contacted through Facebook.  It is very handy to have a Starbucks right down the road (thank god for free internet!) and a town large enough to get the things we need for plumbing and electrical projects.  Last night we meet the coolest couple who also have a 1977 Airstream!  We were messing with our inverter when another Airstream pulled into the lot.  They gave us tons of advice about the area, a heads up on a camping spot near a lake just up the road, and were a nice welcome to a new town.

More importantly, there is an In-and Out here!

Free campsites are the best!!!

Honestly, I am most excited about being in one area for more than 12 hours.  The drive out here was pretty intense, and 9 hours of driving a day was a bit much.  I passed a lot of time with audio books and arguing with the cat, but I'm glad to be here.  At this point the plan is to stay in the St. George area for the next few days, and then head north this weekend.  Lee started work today, and I start next Monday.  Here's hoping we can get a shower up and working in the next 24 hours!!