Trippin' Numbers Style

Upon leaving Phoenix on day 5, we decided to take the long way around to Farmington, NM via Route 66 to put a little bit of iconic American history into our lives. We picked up I-40 in Flagstaff which follows right along the old Route 66 trail, most of which doesn't really exist anymore and the fact that it doesn't really exist anymore, made it really hard to gain access to some of the old historic sites off the road. In fact a lot of things we had to really look to find and some of those that where easy to spot would come up so quick off the side of the freeway that by the time you saw them, bam, they were gone.
Route 66 was a huge eye opener for me though, the abandoned buildings and even a zoo (the entry and animal exhibits still have fragments remaining, enough that you can recognize what it once was), it's crazy to see what has happened to these places as time and technology have progressed. This was really my first experience with seeing pretty much ghost towns, remnants of someplace that was once great, gone, just like dust in the wind. Huge eye opener and crazy cool with aspects of sadness; I am hoping throughout the journey we will be able to pick up more legs of this historic route.

 

Day 6 we spent doing visiting Durango, CO, Mesa Verde National Park, Four Corners and Shiprock using this fabulous route as a guide: http://www.farmingtonnm.org/pages/tours-fourcorners.html 

Needless to say Farmington, NM was not our cup of tea, but we were using free Marriott nights, so we took what we could and ended up there versus Durango; although the hotel was nice the town left much to be desired, but lucky for us it was just a quick drive to the much more hip, fun and clean Durango! So having said that, we got up early and hit the road for our fun little Four Corners loop, starting with coffee and a walk down Durango's main street. Such a cute town and extremely dog friendly, so dog friendly that many of the shops leave clean bowls of water out for the canine shoppers; my only wish we could've taken Miss Ethel on the train to Silverton, it would've been great to have seen it! 

 

Next stop on the loop led us directly to Mesa Verde National Park, which is amazing! This was a speed through and see as much as we could from the car or unguided viewings as we had to leave Miss Ethel in the car for quick runs to the sites to check them out (no worries, it was 40 degrees outside, she had water, the windows cracked and treats). Lucky for us we were able to do a couple of quick 15 minute walks and with the drive we were still able to see quite a bit without leaving Ethel to her own devices for too long. This truly is a must see site and a place I would love to go back and devote an entire day to exploring the ruins.

Next up, the loops surname, Four Corners! Out in the middle of nowhere, but a total must do at some point in ones life; seriously being in four states at the same time, how can you resist! The monument itself wasn't dog friendly, so we were in and out of there pretty quickly, however Ethel got to peruse the reservation while Tom ordered us up some delicious fry bread! Yum! This is definitely one of those places that I am glad I saw, but not sure if I would necessarily want to go back out there anytime soon. In fact they didn't have running water and now I am rethinking my fry bread choice....

And last but not least was Shiprock, which was incredible! I have to say seeing this giant rock jutting out of the earth, out in a vastness of flatness, is just majestic! There is just something powerful and eerie about it all at once; it seriously made me want to take up rock climbing just so I could see the world from on top of it! A goal for the next time we're that way!

Santa Fe, Roswell and our month long stay in San Antonio still to come, please stay tuned!

Road Trippin'

Nomad life is a complete go and we have spent just about a week and half on the road, and I have to say, it has been pretty amazing so far, exhausting, but still amazing. We have seen so much that we probably never would've experienced and/or seen if it wasn't for this crazy take our time journey that we are on. So here is the run down, city by city, and experience by experience.

After our pop-in, in Kanab, we headed directly to Phoenix for days 2-4 on our trip to hang with Tom's parents for Christmas which was fantastic and something we were both in dire need of; parents to take care of us! Seriously, they spoiled us and pretty much took care of everything; it was so nice to just let go and let it happen; which those of you that know me, know I like to be the one doing the taking care of, so it was a delightful change of roles for me. So thank you Mom & Dad "C" for everything and making Christmas perfect! I am not even going to mention the runs and hikes we got in at 70 degree temperatures, because that would be really mean; but they might've really kicked ass!

I promise more to come, but with everything, I debated one giant post, but feel that a lot of the adventures and experiences would be left out.  So sorry, it'll come one journey at a time; please bear with me.

And We're Off!

Holy shit, we are crammed in this gorgeous beast, and let me tell you, it was like playing real life Tetris getting it all in there. Needless to say it was a very strategic process but we managed to get almost everything that needed to go with us in the car and only had to leave behind the non-essentials! Woo hoo!!! And damn, doesn't the Flex look sexy with that Thule on top!

We officially took to the road on Monday afternoon and headed directly to Kanab for a quit pit stop to catch up with an old friend before heading off to Phoenix. And catch up we did, I saw 2am in the morning, I can't remember the last time I was up that late! So thanks Ladd for the laughs and fun; it was a perfect start to our epic adventure!

Beach Clarity

There is just something about the salt air and the sand between your toes that brings so much clarity and allows one to think so clearly. So with that we came back from Mexico and officially hit the road and will just deal with the dice as they roll.

As of right now the house is back up on the market and we figure we will wait and see what happens. If need be one of us can fly back and deal with selling off the furniture or utilizing all of our amazing friends and family that have volunteered to help, but in the mean time we figure why stress over things we have no control. Pictures have been taken of the furniture so we do have a plan and truly feel so blessed to have as many people offer to help us out; we really do have some kick ass people in our lives!

But as for now, The Compagno's are officially road bound, and enjoying the journey so far!

Square One

So what do you do when you get all the way to the closing table, sign docs and then funds never come? You pour yourself a very large glass, let’s say bottle size glass of wine, and you sit down and repeatedly say, “Well fuck, this really sucks!”  Then as you get to the end of that bottle you seem to have gained some strength, a little composure and you start to use other words in your vocabulary other than foul obscenities.  An hour after you’re done with the bottle, you’re no longer angry; of course we aren’t counting the random turret bursts of fuck still flying from my mouth as anger, these are just coping mechanisms and helping me build a new plan, a non angry plan, a constructive plan, one that doesn’t involve me keying somebody’s car plan. So yeah, the Compagno’s are back to the drawing board on the house.

But  all my awesome drunk and non angry planning worked like a charm and it goes back up on the market as of today and for the sake of my sanity, let’s hope it sells to people with more than Monopoly money!  

The real issue and the make a plan part that I am struggling with is the furniture, the previous buyers had planned on buying most of it with their “funny money” and it is still in the house and the kicker, we leave for Mexico tonight, so we’re really restricted on time to get it resolved. We get back from Mexico on the 21^st and were supposed to hit the road on the 22^nd, but right now I am not sure what that is going to look like since the most rational one I can think of is to come home and have an estate sale and get it sold over that week. Some part wants to leave the furniture here and keep the house staged but then eventually we will have to make accommodations to come back and take care of it, or list the furniture online and find a middle man to take the money and meet them for pick up; but I worry about random people in the house, moving furniture and banging up walls (if somebody volunteers to be our middle man and make sure nothing gets ruined, I promise to pay a sellers fee). Or there is always order another POD, have it delivered on the 23^rd and load everything up, but I am just cringing at the idea of paying double the money a month to store stuff. So lots of ideas, just struggling to commit to one, although the practical side of me says delay the trip for a week, and get the furniture sold.

So here is hoping that a week on the beach will clear my head and come up with a strategy that will be best for us in the long run and make the journey a little easier.

So and constructive recommendations and ideas would be helpful and appreciated. Anybody ever have to deal with something similar to this?

CIAO!

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and its good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies." Jack Kerouac

This last week has been crazy and the reality of actually leaving Utah and the people that have been so influential in our lives has started to sink in. Saying good-bye is hard, ciao is much easier; it gives the hope and promise that we will so those we love again and soon.

Things that I thought would be easy, like giving up work, really took me for a whirlwind this last week. I have taught and trained at Daybreak for over two years now, and I officially taught my last class on Wednesday; I was overwhelmed by the emotion I felt leaving there. I know I only see them once a week, but you'd be surprised how much I care about the lives of my regulars, especially when you have seen them every week before the sun is even up, they're ready with smiles, and wanting the worst torture I can dish out. You learn a lot about people in two years; you see their weaknesses, you watch them progress, get stronger, you hear their stories and you want only success for them. I am going to miss you my Daybreak peeps, you have truly enriched my life! Thank you for everything!!! 

We also had the opportunity to say ciao to our friends and family this week as well; spending Thanksgiving with both Tom's and my family and then a big farewell open house yesterday. The open house and Thanksgiving holiday worked out perfect, giving us opportunity to spend time chatting and visiting with those dear to us, including some that we have not seen in quite a while. So thank you to everyone that came out, you truly made our day. Plus, we totally expect to see each and every one of you at some point along our crazy journey! 

Less than two weeks and two more places of employment (or should I say fun,) to say arriverderci to before we are out of Utah and officially road bound! We are trying to relax and enjoy the journey, but let's face it, packing sucks!!!

Road Warrior

You're looking at our new home! We picked this beast up last weekend and have really been enjoying breaking her in.  This baby is far cry from a Mini Cooper and our X3 and I am still getting used to the size of her. In fact, I've already managed to scratch one of the rims on a curb, yes a non moving curb; mock me if you must.  

This bad girl is really comfortable and offers pretty much any amenity you could think of and then some. We ran a test pack yesterday and it looks like she is going to provide us with plenty of space for everything that we are taking with us, except for the golf clubs, we may need a roof rack just for them..

On another note, the POD is ordered and "Operation Pack Up the House" is in full force, so if you stop by for a visit, you'll have to navigate through the trail of boxes. Also, we will be taking off a little quicker than we had originally planned and with a minor detour due to the house selling faster than we had anticipated. Official launch date is looking like December 13th with a quick stop to Mexico for some R&R and then off for a Phoenix Christmas, let the countdown begin!