We have now been on the road for a little over a month and it is a good time to reflect on how our decision to take this little adventure has impacted our lives.

At the beginning of the year, I saw a post on Facebook that really resonated with me and I shared it on New Year’s Day. It seemed as good a list of resolutions as any, and knowing what we had planned, it seemed apropos.

Being a fan of lists, I have to say that we have ticked all of these boxes! Here is a brief summary of our first month:

The Good:

• We are spending more time together (and bonus – perfecting our selfie taking skills)

• We are sleeping an average of 9 hours a night and waking up naturally. Bliss!
• There have been many more stop and smell the roses moments; time to watch sunsets, time to read, time to cook.
• When I do write the blog, I get to write from places like this:

 

The Bad

• There always seems to be sand in the bed, no matter how many times we shake things out!
• My feet have dirt rings similar to a well used tea cup and I can’t scrub them off.

• While we can’t imagine this adventure without our pup Pippa, we are always worried about her – is she to hot? Is she trying to make friends with the snakes, scorpions or spiders? What is she eating off the ground this time? And our latest nemesis …. foxtails (see the Ugly).
  

  

  

  

  
• This lifestyle lends itself to carb heavy food and we exercise less than one might expect. Breakfast commonly involves cereal, pancakes or toast. Lunch is, more often than not, sandwiches (although we are trying for more salads), and dinner is typically a protein, a vegetable and a starch. We do go for a swim, or a hike or a bike ride most days, and we have plenty of walking around when we are in a city, but when we are out at a campground, we don’t have that daily “in-transit” walking around we had while we were back at home -going to and from work, to and from lunch, up and down the stairs, etc. We are going to try to make exercise more of a priority and plan it into our day.

The Ugly

• Dumping the black tank is just gross.
• Foxtails.

Why are those foxtails in vials, you might ask? Because they had to be surgically removed from our dog’s ear and tonsils. While visiting Paso Robles, we were driving along, merrily heading to our first vineyard of the day when Pippa let our a shriek to rival any alarm. And she just kept screaming. Now Pippa is a bit of a princess and she is the queen of the dramatic, but she was clearly in distress. While Dave comforted her, I called a nearby vet and asked if we could bring her in. The first question they asked was “Has she had access to foxtails?” “Foxtails?” I responded, “Is that the tall grass growing everywhere??”. “Yes”, the receptionist said.

Well, as soon as we brought Pippa in, the vet explained that not a day goes by when they don’t see multiple dogs in with the barbed sliver-like foxtail seeds embedded in their ears, eyes, mouths or paws. Pippa needed to be sedated to have them removed and sure enough, they found one in the ear, and a second one in her tonsils. The vet said they are quite unique to California, but they are everywhere. Pippa has just finished a week’s worth of ear drops and antibiotics. She seems to have bounced back to her usual boisterous self – albeit with slightly oily ears for the foreseeable future. Huge shout out to Dr. Jim and his team at the Paso Robles Veterinary Clinic! Thanks for taking such good care of our fur-baby.

Overall, the first month of our adventure has been amazing, but in typical Dave & Kathleen travel fashion we have packed a lot into that month! We have travelled in 10 States, visited 8 National Parks and slept in 18 different spots. Our expenses have rivalled our costs at home, but they have been much less than we would have spent on a “vacation”.

I think we have done a really good job at focusing on the things that are important to us right now, and a lot of those things happen to be on the list posted above. This may be the first time in my life I have kept a New Year’s resolution!

Here’s to more….