A Big Detour, and Why we don’t make long term plans.

Flossie hanging out in my childhood backyard.

Well it’s been over a month since my last post and the thoughts are swirling around in my head which usually means it’s time to start writing again. I’m writing this from a bedroom in my childhood home in Northglenn, Colorado. Pretty much the last place I ever expected to be, yet the place where we are most needed for the time being.

While we were at the eco ranch in Texas and while the grid was down, we had limited cell service and reception. It was during this week we slowly found out my dad back had contracted an infection in his brain. Once we got settled in Marfa we gained more information from my siblings who had taken the wheel with regard to his care. Rather than making a beeline straight home we took our time (as we normally do on the road), because being back straightaway wouldn’t have changed any outcomes for dad.

Reflecting back, I’m still glad we did it this way as there were places we had planned on seeing in NW Texas and Southern New Mexico and not fully knowing what we were getting into in Colorado, we needed the time as our small family unit to bank up a little more self care and adventure since this would likely be the last of that lifestyle for awhile. Prior to all of this, we had been tossing around the idea of finding land in New Mexico where we could park Flossie, store our things, and eventually build to suit. Guatemala is still on the table, but maybe a little further out than we had hoped due to my dad’s condition.

It’s really hard to be straddling the potential next chapter with what we’ve come back to Denver for. It’s not entirely clear what our next move should be, all that is clear is that we’re in the right place for the moment. My dad made zero plans for this stage of his life, so it is up to us (my brother, sister, and I) to get some structures in place for his needs. I have applied to be my dad’s guardian and conservator and we will be selling our childhood home in the coming month.

I visit my dad in person now about once a week at the VA. He’s being treated well and is eating regular meals and more than I’ve ever seen him eat in recent memory. (The man has existed on coffee, cigarettes, and Coors for most of my life.) He is able to recognize each of us, but is not able to carry a conversation with any coherence. He’ll tell us a different story about where he is at each time someone talks to him. Sometimes he’s on a ship in Hawaii, sometimes he’s working in Oregon, other times he’s at the library or fire station. It all makes sense to him as it’s a reliving of a certain time and place for him, but has no context for the current time we are existing in. His prognosis is that this is his new normal, he will likely not recover and needs to be placed somewhere where he can have round the clock monitoring and care. We are still in shock and are processing all of this, there are a lot of moving parts and complexities to navigate, but we are doing it one step at a time.

Thanks to those who have called or texted or sent encouraging messages, please keep doing so! We are never too busy to grab a coffee or a walk, and it breaks up the tedious tasks we’ve been doing for the past few weeks.

If you’re the praying type, please pray for the Guardianship process to go quickly and smoothly, pray for a place to open up for my dad that will accept VA Benefits, as he has yet to apply for Medicaid or Medicare, and he may not qualify until his asset (proceeds from sale of the house) is exhausted. Pray for my brother Kurtis, who has never moved from this house and aside from my dad, will have the biggest life adjustment to make when this is all said and done. That’s enough for now, thanks for reading about our detour.

Winter hits Texas

As we all well know by now, Texas was suddenly hit with extreme winter weather conditions and we got to experience the southern edge of this unprecedented (that’s my first use of this overused word in this whole blog, it’s allowed) weather system. We escaped Del Rio after one night in a hotel. The decision to leave rather than sticking it out in our sad little hotel was a good one. Nearly all the businesses in Del Rio were closed and most places were without electricity. We paid cash to top of the gas (computers were down and the only open gas station could only accept cash, always carry a little cash!) and headed northwest into the unknown. It was a slow-going drive for most of the day. There was ice and small snow drifts covering the road and most people in these parts do not have the training or practice with these kind of inclement driving conditions. We saw a few semis off the side of the road that had either wrecked or abandoned their post (and were hopefully somewhere warm). As we made our way into Alpine, our only medium-sized town stop along the route we realized just how bad things were. Lines for gas and propane were long and supplies were short, luckily we didn’t need any groceries because the scene there would likely mimic what we all experienced at the beginning of the pandemic last year with hoarding and empty shelves. We filled our propane at the third place we tried then made our way south towards Terlingua.

Hotel parking lot Flossie is a sad sight

As we drove south things gradually calmed down. The snow was already quickly melting and our hipcamp host gave us a better route to his location that would help us avoid driving through a lot of mud. By the end of the day we were tired but dry. One more cold night then we could get back to “normal”, or at least that’s what the weather reports were assuring us. The following day as things thawed out we actually anticipated having a few plumbing issues that, despite preparing for the storm, were still caused by the hard freezing temps. Our kitchen faucet sustained damage and our pipe for water intake were the problem areas so Zach made the 60 mile drive back up to Alpine for parts while the kids and I stayed home. I’ve said it before when things have gotten this cold, sometimes we can outrun it by location, but other times you just have to weather the storm and then plan for damage control on the other side. Fortunately, these were relatively easy fixes that only cost a day’s work.

The Eco-Ranch

Our hipcamp hosts, Robert and Debbie have been homesteading this land for the last eleven years. They started building an earthship with tires but after Robert sustained an injury, they shifted their constuction to glass bottles. The end result is beautiful, glimmering walls that reflect the south Texas sun. However, the aesthetic beauty is just one small part of what makes this place amazing. This family’s specialty is poultry; with over 100 ducks, chickens, turkeys, and geese all serving a bigger purpose to help these people live self sufficiently and sustainably. They also have about a dozen goats that gladly greeted us and tried to nibble our clothes. Debbie toured us around and had specific stories to share about nearly every animal, which given the shear quantity was quite the feat. These animals are both their family and their sustenance. After a long visit with all the friendly animals we stepped through a door to the hydroponic greenhouse. This was the room dreams are made of (at least for me)! We learned all about their pond system with fish whose waste turned to nitrates in huge elevated barrels which then fed the hydroponic tables. Even in the dead of winter plenty of greens were growing and even with the cold spell and single degree temperatures they experienced during the storm plenty was still living and thriving in this one little room. We will definitely be applying this year round growing knowledge wherever we end up buying land and homesteading. We can be pretty self-sufficient in our little trailer on the road but something we’ve really missed this year is gardening and growing our own food.

This is what land stewardship looks like.
These were some very happy animals!

The following day with everything repaired and temps warming up, we finally made it to Big Bend National Park. Hard to believe, but the last National Park we’d been to was Saguaro in Arizona back in December. We were out of practice for a long hike so we instead opted for the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive and a handful of shorter hikes to maximize our sightseeing. Our favorite stops for the day were the Burro Mesa Pouroff a short and easy hike to a geological feature. And the Santa Elena hike, with a little elevation gain and beautiful stroll along the Rio Grande. The canyon wall was spectacular. On our drive out of the park we spotted two javelina and all throughout the day we saw numerous birds from hawk and golden eagle, to smaller wintering species. This desert climate is green, alive, and thriving, especially after the much needed moisture. We got back to the ranch just as the sun was setting, eager to return to the park the following days.

Well, winter had a second punch that quickly derailed those plans.

We couldn’t help ourselves with this fella 🤠☃️

We went to bed with increasing winds and some drizzling rain. I remember hearing the rain a couple of time during the night thinking, at least it’s just rain. Come morning however, we were blanketed with another couple of inches of cold and blowing snow that continued falling until about mid-day. We contemplated doing a supply run back to Alpine for water and produce – the two things that are the hardest to keep in plentiful supply when we’re this remote. Then we’d extend our stay at the ranch for a few more days to see more at Big Bend. But with no phone service or the slightest idea of what we’d be getting into we instead opted to stay home and leave on Friday as we originally planned. The kids were of course the most disappointed in this reality and it was one of the harder choices we’ve had to make lately since we all would have liked more time in this area. We booked a recovery week back at the Tumble In in Marfa where we are currently regrouping and watching the snow melt/mud dry with a few more amenities.

Some of our favorite sights at our quick trip to Big Bend NP

Texas beaches and the Gulf Coast

Corpus Christi Camping and a Bday Celebration in Port Aransas

Spot the dolphin! 🐬

After all the hustle and bustle of city life and running around, we planned for a restful week of boondock camping on the Gulf Coast. Corpus Christi is an easy drive from SA/Austin so that was our logical choice. Mustang Island is a State Park along the chain of islands that allows primitive beach camping for $10/night so we registered for a handful to start out our beach week.

In the meantime, we had a birthday to plan a celebration for, Natalie turned 15 on Groundhog’s Day. Our bestest friend Sara and I conspired to have her show up as a surprise for the bday girl. (Fully vaccinated) Sara made her travel plans and and Airbnb rental that coincided with our beach timing. When we got to camp on Friday I made an excuse to run to the store but really drove to the airport to pick her up. We got back and saw the fam had finished setting up camp and were strolling down the beach. We ditched our shoes and started walking their way and when we got close enough the kids realized who was with me. Big hugs ensued all around and we were astonished that we pulled this off with relative ease despite being in close confines with the kids basically all the time. easily

Three nights of camping directly on the beach was sufficient for us, sand was literally everywhere and when the coastal winds pick up it leaves a salty/sandy film on every single surface (my mentor Becca calls this “special sand” and boy is she right!). It was a little daunting considering how we might go about cleaning all of this up but with Sara nearby in Port Aransas and with her Airbnb host’s approval we moved inland and moved into the house so we could give Flossie a deep clean. What a marvelous reset for all of us. We made meals together, celebrated the birthday girl with homemade BBQ and cake, walked to the port for dolphin viewing, to the beach for more sand that we could then clean off in an outdoor shower before returning home, and we scrubbed every last inch of our little trailer while it was semi-empty in the Airbnb driveway. Sara – you’ll never fully know how much this break was needed and how it restored us so that we could get back on the road with fresh everything – perspectives, energy, sheets and towels, appreciation…

Homemade Tres leches with what candles the Airbnb had on hand

How many miles did we walk barefoot on the sand? Countless (actually around 50). And writing this a week later while hunkered down during a polar vortex makes the memory seem like a mirage, or at least like it was a really really long time ago.

We moved further south down the coast for a few days near Brownsville where we had our first sketchy hipcamp experience (saved in my review and not worth repeating), but also geeked out at Space X, which was super cool. We ate some very delicious and authentic Mexican food – I’m loving these border towns the more time we spend near Mexico. Then we spent two nights in Laredo, Tx so I could see a chiropractor and we could get more supplies before moving on to Del Rio. We ate all the Latin foods for very little dollars and everyone in Laredo wondered what some gringos from Denver would be doing passing through their corner of Texas. Seriously, the chiropractor questioned it, a fellow RV park guest asked, as well as the Salvadoran man we ordered our dinner from on our final night. Despite their lack of enthusiasm for Laredo, it was far better than El Paso and everyone treated us with kind Texas hospitality we’ve come to know and love.

Beachy sounds are always good

Guatemala meets us in Austin

Coming to Austin was the culmination of the business end of our trip. If you don’t know me from a previous life, two years ago I co-founded Kinship Market with my friend and business partner Tom Curcio. We did the majority of our business at farmer’s and craft markets prior to Covid-19 and with the pandemic in full swing we each made significant life changes – Tom and his girlfriend Laura moved to the Austin area, my family and I took our lives on the road. Tom and Laura took most of Kinship Market’s inventory with them to Tx, but I had kept aside one suitcase worth to show as samples to any potential retail stores I thought might be a good fit for our goods. The heartbreaking part of that dream was that upon visiting small town after small town, shop after shop I realized that my sample sharing plan was conceived from a good heart place but not one that made much sense in real life/real time application. Small shops and entire towns have been completely decimated this past year, I don’t know how long it will take to recover, or if we ever will collectively, especially as a huge contingency of the population continues to heavily rely on Amazon and Walmart to get their needs and wants met. So take it from a small business owner who has seen a lot of places this year, support your entrepreneur friends, shop local and independently owned stores and restaurants that you want to see survive. They are literally depending on you – their communities, to keep their lights on and employees paid.

As for Kinship Market, we are continuing to assess the long term sustainability of our business model. Fortunately, neither Tom nor I are depending on consistent income from the business and it can be in hibernation mode for awhile longer while we get our bearings adjusted. I brought my suitcase of samples back to them so the products are all in one place and I don’t have to send the random order out from the road. Laura cooked us a delicious brisket comfort food dinner, theirs was the first house we’d been in since last August, and their golden retriever Maya gave us all the sweet dog cuddles we could want. I’m glad we spent our time together just enjoying our company and being friends rather than fretting over business matters. (I do enough fretting in my head and don’t need it spilling out all over the people that I love.)

The Guate love continued when we met some social media friends in Austin too. Angelica is the owner of Tesoro’s Maya and lives within easy driving distance of where we were staying. We decided to grab lunch together and meet for the first time in person at The Saltlick BBQ. Angelica’s business is much like ours, we know a lot of the same people at Lake Atitlan in rural Guatemala. Talking shot about similar struggles this year has brought was somewhat a relief because it means we aren’t weathering this storm alone. We shaped another day of our visit close to her again so we could see her land and cute little pigs/chickens/homestead situation. I just love finding our people when we’re traveling.

Our final Guatemalan connection was meeting a woman whom I greatly admire in person for brunch. Ronne Rock has been an online friend for a long time, once again because of our mutual love for serving friends in Guatemala. Last year she published a book, “One Woman Can Change the World” and it was such an encouraging read about women doing their part in a lot of small ways to make big changes in their corner of the world. It was such an honor to share a meal with Ronne and talk about ministry and the world and how all of it is shifting since the pandemic. Something that keeps haunting my mind from our conversation is that many countries may not want us back doing “ministry”in their territory after they’ve seen our collective response to how we’ve treated the least of these among us on our own soil. Ouch! #hardtruth

Along with all of our Guate-related escapades we made plenty of time for eating our way through the entire city, a visit to the Texas Capitol which was in session so we could tour inside, a luxury grocery shop at Central Market, strolling up and down South Congress and all the funky shops, a nature hike at Hamilton Pool, relaxing on a dock while the kids kayaked down the Lower Colorado (boats courtesy of our hipcamp host whose property backed up to the river), and one last meal out with Tom and Laura on our final night in the city. This was by far the most socially active we had been since last March, we did it all safely with masks, physical distancing, frequent hand washing, and being outdoors whenever possible. Nobody we had seen had been around other people since everyone is working from home, we hadn’t been around other people minus one outdoor and physically spaced gathering the previous week. I said it before and I’ll say it again, you can travel safely if you’re willing to implement protocol that has everyone’s well being and health in mind and are transparent about your plans, who you’ll be seeing, and adjusting expectations around what you’ll do together to stay safe.

More Hamilton Pool (can you guess our favorite nature stop?)

Now here are the rest of the photos and all the links!

Our sweet little biz:

http://www.kinshipmarket.org

The Salt Lick BBQ worth the drive out of town

Angelica and I meet in person at The Salt Lick

Walk along South Congress for all the funky shops my favorite was Tesoro’s (not to be confused w/ Angelica’s biz listed below) http://www.tesoros.com/homepage.html

Visit the state Capitol building

Grocery shopping experience that’s more posh than Whole Foods at The Central Market https://centralmarket.com

Eat dinner at The Cosmic Cafe: 3 food trucks and great drinks under tents (we had tacos and posole! Tom had BBQ, Laura had wings, it ALL looked amazing!) https://www.cosmiccoffeebeer.com

https://www.tesorosmaya.com is Angelica’s business. We carry similar but different items and support many of the same families and communities in Guatemala. #collaborationovercompetition

Ronne’s website with links of all the places to buy her book https://ronnerock.com Sign up for her emails too! She’ll literally pray for you!

Guadalupe River State Park

San Antonio, Tx

We departed from Marfa on a really chilly and really early morning in order to make it to the San Antonio area before nightfall. We tend to avoid major interstates so our mode of travel is slow and meandering. This was one of our longest travel days in awhile as we tend to break up a long haul over several days but it was less feasible this time with the reservation window we had at the state park on the northwest side of SA.

It stayed chilly and we got socked in a wet weather pattern for most of our stay in San Antonio. This was our first parlay with any moisture since snow in Bryce Canyon NP way back in mid-November. It’s been nice taking the winter off but we were bound to catch some inclement weather sometime. The upside was, of course, no crowds anywhere. We had the run of the one open state park trail and campground pretty much to ourselves. We also got our first experience with some of Texas’s wildlife, armadillos rooting around everywhere, vibrant red cardinals, strange dinosaur-sounding birds that we were never able to identify but certainly heard numerous times. We obtained a Texas State Parks pass for this visit and plan to fully utilize it as long as there are places to stay.

Here’s proof that not ALL armadillo in Texas are dead on the side of the road.

Along with plenty of time in nature, we visited the Alamo and enjoyed exploring the greater San Antonio area, we met up with three former New Denver Church families and spend an evening picnicking with them and catching up.

The Alamo (which was smaller than we were expecting)

Our favorite lucky food find was a hole in the wall BBQ joint where we had the best brisket we’d ever tasted. If you’re ever there go to The Station BBQ and have a spiritual experience (if you like meat of course).

We were pleasantly surprised with our mutual enjoyment of this place so we went ahead and extended three more days before departing to Austin. Our visit with our friends also filled the longing for connection we didn’t realize we’d been missing since departing from our new friends in Tucson. This pandemic may change how we interact with one another for a long time into the future but it doesn’t mean we need one another any less. Community remains important even when we’re distant and have to get creative to see each other.