It's That Time Of Year Again, Finally!

[SiouzQ.]

I've dubbed this years' adventure, The Wild West Extravaganza Version.2016. I will be leaving on June 3, right after working the 6am shift (per usual) and make it out to Lake Michigan where I have a reserved campsite at the State Park. I am heading for Taos first (again) via Kansas this time. I am bound and determined to find things of interest in Kansas after blasting through as fast as possible the very boring I-70 corridor for two years in a row coming home. I thought I'd check out the Tall Grass Prairie Reserve and the Flint Hills area, and then angle off heading southwest to the pan handle of Oklahoma and then take some little route into New Mexico that I haven't done before. I'll end up camping outside of Taos and my goal is to set up a table to sell jewelry by the Rio Grande Gorge one morning (just to see if I can do it)!

From there I will wind my way down to Madrid (which is between Santa Fe and Albuquerque) where I have gallery business to do. I am going to hang out there for a week or so and do a trunk show at the gallery. I will be spending some time staying at another artist's off the grid spread at her AirBnb campsite. I'll be doing some day side trips to Santa Fe and Albuquerque while I am there.

Then from Madrid I plan to head to southern New Mexico, which I haven't done in many years to check out White Sands, Silver City, Las Cruces and basically meander where ever to my heart's content. I will then go south to El Paso (which I have never done) and the head east and check out Marfa, TX, which is another artist town. I have never explored this part of Texas before so I am a little nervous, as it is REALLY BIG and VERY EMPTY! From Marfa I will head east to San Antonio where a very old aquaintence from my long ago punk days lives - I have some jewelry I made for her to drop off. I have never been to San Antonio and I heard it was very nice. After that I'll head to Austin and then will have to start heading back east at that point to make it home by June 27th and back to the grind on June 29th.

Oh boy, what a year it has been - I'm sure I say that every year, but this past one was really a doozy to make it through! The broken big toe from last summer, the being off work for so long, the trying to get my stamina back, to just making it through the sheer grind of it, the cruddy, dismal Michigan winter, the S.A.D. I had to overcome - all very first world problems, but it was hard on me. But I survived it, and all the hard work pays off, once again. This is a totally paid vacation (I had just enough PTO time saved up for it). My car is finally in great working order (after $580 worth of repairs), part of this is a working vacation that I can write off, I have enough money to spend while vacationing (I am always frugal when I can be, but I don't deny myself spending money for experiences). I feel very blessed to be able to do this type of trip, once again!

Now, I just have to make it through FIVE more days of work before I can take off:D

[Tammy]

Makes me want to sell it all and travel with you for the rest of our lives!

[iris lilies]

Tell Las Cruces "hi" for me! Liged there a gew years in the 1980's and
I look at listings there in Realtor.com. It has very low real estate costs.

[nswef]

Have a wonderful time. I admire your independence and flexibility, plus your work ethic. I hope it is a glorious trip.

[IshbelRobertson]

Have a great holiday!

I am typing this from a Greek island, sipping a Campari and soda, whilst waiting to go for dinner in a favourite taverna.

[Teacher Terry]

Having lived in Kansas twice there really is not much to do there. The Flint hIlls are pretty and I really love KC, missouri. That town has almost as many fountains/statues as Rome, Paris, etc. There are many cool things to do there. There is an old fort to tour, etc. Have fun!!

[pinkytoe]

That's a lot of travelin'. Stumbled into Madrid once and had lunch; it felt like the desert version of the old show Northern Exposure. San Antonio celebrates its history and culture a lot more than most Texas cities but has gotten absolutely huge since I lived there. You probably don't want to think about work when you're in Austin, but the flagship store is quite a tourist destination since it's in the middle of town. There has been a lot of rain this spring so things are mush lusher than usual. Have a great trip!

[razz]

Have a wonderful and successful adventure!

[freshstart]

Have a wonderful time. I admire your independence and flexibility, plus your work ethic. I hope it is a glorious trip.

+1

take pics for us

[ctg492]

wow!!! Is all I can say. I read your post to hubby and he was thrilled to. To hear someone doing exactly as they want and seeing all those places outside of our grand state of Michigan:cool:

[catherine]

Sounds wonderful! Would love to get updates from the road if you're bringing your computer!

[pinkytoe]

Here is something to check out in Marfa:
http://elcosmico.com/stay

[JaneV2.0]

Here's to a grand adventure, Marfa lights, and a sellout trunk sale!

[SiouzQ.]

Thanks everyone! I am leaving the computer at home (it's a good thing, because I have really gotten addicted to it since last summer when I was off of work for so long). I'll take lots of pictures - funny, the camera on my phone is way better than the little cheapie point-and-shoot camera I have. I will have to try hard not to be on Facebook too much, but I got in the habit of doing these little one minute video clips of each night's campsite and my friends and family love them. They especially liked the one where I was showing them my campsites' "backyard" at Goosenecks State park in Utah where it looked like I walked perilously close to the edge of a deep, deep Grand Canyon-type canyon and showed the entire panorama. My mom likes my videos and pictures too because she has been to all the places I go but she can't really get to them anymore so she relives my adventures vicariously.

Many of my friends are still astounded that I go out and do this by myself - I've been doing these trips for so long it seems normal to me but my female friends just do not have enough guts to go out by themselves. I love going by myself; I get to do whatever I want, whenever I want. If I feel like sitting in the campsite all day long reading, that's what I do. If I feel like hiking, that's what I do. If I want to go to different towns and check out stuff, that's what I do. Once in a while I think it would be really nice to have someone to share it with, but I get over it. When I get lonely for company it forces me to be outgoing and talk to strangers.

Three more work days left!!!!!!!!

[freshstart]

did you already say how long you go for? It sounds like you'd need a month!

[SiouzQ.]

I'll be gone for 25 days (long enough to have to find a laundromat somewhere)! It is really freeing to live out of one's car for that long; I love the feeling that I have when everything I REALLY need to live with is packed tight in my car, minus all the superfluous stuff that clutters our homes and daily lives. The only thing I don't like is having to sleep in the car during bad weather. It seems like the last few years I have been forced to fold myself up at least once per trip on the front bucket seat of my Honda Accord (the rest of the car is pretty much packed to the gills with all the camping equipment, jewelry and display stuff, a guitar, lots of books and CD's) during terrible storms that swamped my tent. In the future I would really like to have a pickup truck with a camper back when I get too old to crawl in and out of a little tent - even now it is hard on my knees but I refuse to give up on tent camping that easily!

Yesterday I ran around after work to the bank for a stash of cash and to the post office to stop the mail. I finally have a day off today - all my gear is strewn about the living room. I am going to start packing my car. I need to go to the library and get at least ten books to read. I will do my laundry today and clothes packing tomorrow before and after work, and fill up the tank in the car. The mobile vet is coming this morning to give my cat her yearly check up and to help me get her in the cat carrier so I can take her over to my MIL's where she will have her "kitty vacation." I work tomorrow during the day and then go to work at 6am on Friday and get off at 2pm. I will run home, change clothes, pack the cooler and all the final stuff, obsessively run around the house to make sure I didn't forget to pack something essential (forgetting that I can stop at any Target anywhere in this country to purchase any forgotten item). Unplug all the appliances, close the windows, check that the door is locked about five times (!). Get on I-94 heading west, which at that time will be close to rush hour and will take me at least 45 minutes to actually get out of town because the traffic on a Friday afternoon is THAT bad.

I'll spend the first night on Lake Michigan, which is only about a three hour drive from home and just enough travel time on the first day to get me excited to be on my yearly adventure. I am hoping and praying by then I will be so tired that I crash REALLY HARD and sleep a full night's sleep for the first time in weeks. I've gotten myself back into the horrible insomnia/caffeine/bad work schedule cycle once again. Here's hoping being free as a bird for the next few weeks will remedy that!

[freshstart]

this sounds heavenly

[Ultralight]

Enjoy your trip and keep us updated! :)

[SiouzQ.]

And off I go! I'm hittin' the road!

[margene]

Sounds like a great trip. curious how much you end up spending.

[SiouzQ.]

I'm back, and just a preliminary run through of numbers it looks like I spent about $1000 on this trip - 3 weeks of driving 5,000 miles and tent camping. Thank god for cheap gas! It looks like I spent about $400 on gas. The lowest price I saw was $1.99 in Texas but in general it was between $2.02 to $2.15 a gallon. Campsites were generally about $15 each, some $10 and some up to $22, so it averaged about $13 per night. The rest of expenses was for food, ice for the cooler, and other incidentals.

[razz]

Do you feel all charged and refreshed again? Sounds like you did very well financially if it cost only $1000 for 3 weeks.

[SiouzQ.]

Not as much as I would have liked, see my other post in Family Matters regarding an incredible job offer I got while traveling. I am trying to decide if I want to take it.

[Tammy]

(The fact that you call it "incredible" tells me you really wan to do this.)