All the time in the world...No time at all!

Time has been slipping through my fingers lately. I feel like I just wrote a post, then when I come to catch up it's already been a month or over a month since my last post. It's funny how when you start living this lifestyle of freedom, you think you're going to have all of this time...haha, well for us, that's not so true! It seems like we still don't have enough time in the day, but it's all good because at least it's stuff we would much rather be doing. I don't know how we ever got anything done when we worked actual jobs!

We were camped around the Flagstaff area for the last month or so moving a few miles apart every couple of weeks.

My high school swim coaches were traveling through where we were camped and stopped in for a visit. 

The night they camped with us, they were in a tent and wouldn't you know, it rained sooo hard, it flooded their tent! Between the highway noise, the 50 trains that went by during the night and the rain, they ended up leaving first thing in the morning...and it ended up being a beautiful day! 

 Figures! 

It was so great to see them, catch up and hang out, it had been almost 15 years since we last saw each other and it felt like absolutely no time had passed. 

Over the past month, we were able to visit with many old friends and make some new ones. We usually don't see this many people until the RTR, so it was nice to be able to spend some one on one time together. And as I'm sitting here typing this, I'm also looking for pictures of those friends....guess we were too busy catching up and laughing I didn't take any...next time!

One of our friends, Dan, came to up to Flagstaff for a visit but also for the Lunar Eclipse of the Blood Moon. Not only did we have a great night, we watched Football (Bronco's won!), had some drinks with lots of laughs and tons of photography talk. I had to get all the tips I could, since Dan is THE man when it comes to photography!  Most of mine were a little grainy due to not enough light, but I was surprised I even got what I did. Here are a couple of my shots of the moon that night:

I am trying to learn how to draw and paint. I used to love to draw when I was growing up, but kind of lost the creative draw as I've gotten older. After watching Jamie do this oil painting on a Pronghorn skull, 

I decided it was time to re-train my brain. I'm starting small and easy with things I like or that I'd like to see every day. Here is a picture I drew for my "Desert Dad" or "Papi"...he was so proud he even hung it on his fridge in his camper! haha

The critters are getting their fill of the last couple of weeks of nice weather. We went on a walk one morning and the ground and air were just teaming with movement. 

Guess we're all taking it in while it's awesome out!

The weather changed from being beautiful every day to raining on and off for a few days. We figured we would leave Flagstaff when it started getting cold, but sometimes that doesn't always happen like you want it to.

It didn't happen as soon as we wanted it to because, pretty much out of nowhere Jamie got the stomach flu. He was really sick for about 2 days and then was on the mend. I thought I was going to be free and clear because I wasn't having any symptoms and felt fine....until late in the day a couple of days later. It wasn't fun but I didn't get it half as bad as he did, thankfully! I think it also helped that we were camped with Bob & Judy and they rescued us with half of the pharmacy and some good "sick" foods. If it weren't for them, we probably wouldn't have healed so quickly. THANK YOU again you two, you're the best!!

While we were sick, the weather turned for the worst getting down to the low 30's at night and even wrapped in the warmest of clothes during the day, we were freezing in the mid-low 60's.  Oh, and it was raining!

We stayed in bed a couple of days watching football and movies but once we both felt good enough, we packed and moved South to warmer weather.

Now we are sitting in 90* degrees, not a cloud in the sky. We have some friends that are meeting us here and saw some other friends on our way in. The next few weeks should be filled with fun, lots of laughs, learning, creativity and who knows what else. I do have a lot more to share but I'll keep that for the next post, which I will try to write in a couple of days. 

Thanks for hanging in there with me, we'll see you soon!

PEACE

Don't forget!!!

 Go to our YouTube channel

 to find out more about how to live a better life.

ENIGMATIC NOMADICS YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Like and Subscribe 

A Million Dollar Good-bye

I've been meaning to get this post out for, well ...forever now but life seems to be moving a little fast these days so it has slipped under things, put on the back burner, blah blah blah....

No more excuses.

We are on our way to California and so we have to say "good-bye" to our friends in the Enchanted Forest of Flagstaff. The past two weeks have been not only inspiring, but for me, also eye opening as well as having the opportunity to open my heart and mind to things that have been shut off for many years. I truly met a Soul Sister for life and I will never forget the time that was spent listening, laughing our butts off, and loving this life that too many people take for granted. This blog post is about the GOOD in good-bye. There are a few different links to this post due to the awesome friends we have and them being up on their "game" in the blog world. I hope you are able to view all of the links and can enjoy every minute as if you were there.

We hope you can join us next time!

Randy the poets blog post= http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/2013/07/discovering-good-in-goodbye.html

A video Laurie made including a song she wrote and some great photos = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMJUYcBRw38&feature=youtu.be

A video J' took of our "Million Dollar Good-bye"=

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11vd6g_a-million-dollar-good-bye_tech#.Ue6nd3eAfXo

We will never say good-bye, only see ya later...I mean, could you say good-bye to a friendship like that!? I don't think so. We are forever tethered and we are so grateful to have met such a great group of people and be able to call them, not only friends, but family.

We love you and can't wait until we meet up again some time very very soon!

PEACE

A Gathering Like No Other

What is this thing called the R.T.R., you ask?

For those of you that don't know, the R.T.R. stands for Rubber Tramp Rendezvous and it's something that can be described but truly has to be experienced to get the full effect but I will try, as I always do, to bring it to life on your computer screen through my pictures and stories.

This gathering was our second Summer R.T.R. We saw some people that we had met previously at other gatherings as well as greeting new faces and making new friendships along with strengthening the bond of our true tribe! It's such an amazing time.

Upon our arrival, there were already quite a few rigs parked among the trees...everything was quiet...pretty much the norm for the middle of the day.

[caption id="attachment_4987" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Joon @ the R.T.R.[/caption]

We unpacked and set-up our awning...which I'm now going between calling the Freedom Fort or the Simple Temple...both are great names for what our amazing awning has actually become. Within about an hour of setting up, we started grilling hot dogs and within about 10 minutes of that we had a good 10-12 people bringing their chairs bringing in good food to share with the group, big smiles and good conversation. Since I was the hostess with the mostest...I have no pictures to share but take it from me, it was spectacular!

The couple of days that followed our arrival date were a little slower than usual but it was a great time to catch up with old friends and meet some new faces. We were super stoked to see one familiar face and his furry babies as well as an awesome addition to his family...Brad and the traveling fur babies! haha He has two pups and a kitty...hopefully they will be "on tour" soon and we will get to see more of them.

The group walks daily, twice a day. Bob promised Homer (his dog) that he would give him a great life and keep him healthy, so every day... twice a day (8 a.m. & 6 p.m. depending on the time of year), they go on about an hour long walk. It's nice for the group as well because there is a lot of bonding time on those walks. In between the walks, there's a lot of other things going on. In the morning, around 10 a.m., we all gather and talk about different topics ranging from how we cook and our favorite gadgets to any kind of questions about living the lifestyle as well as gathering for meals and music. If you want to come, than come on and if you need or want some alone time than that's what you get. It's all about helping one another as well as doing what you want to be doing and if you want to be alone...then go be alone. Everyone understands and is very respectful of your time.

Some of our downtime consisted of bonding over cooking sweet potatoes with Bryce, talking in the forest with Steve, taking walks with the group or by ourselves, having dinner parties at The Simple Temple which would then turn into hilariously long conversations into the darkness of the night, gazing at the Super Moon, surprises from Bob, hair cuts and colors, installing solar panels and a bed on other rigs, J' being a mechanic, watching the Ravens and Squirrels "sort" our trash, beautiful sunsets, decadent oatmeal with Randy & Laurie, rainbow time, laughing, playing music...er, trying to play music haha, getting soaking wet while eating brekkie in the rain, and among a million other things just being together as a group.

There are about a million and one pictures during this time...you know me! Here I will try to sum it up in a few photos ...ya know for the full effect!!

[gallery columns="4" ids="4992,4991,4993,5003,4990,4994,4995,5004,4996,5005,4997,5006,4998,5001,4999,5000"]

I will have to upload the majority of the photos into Shutterfly when I get the data...there are just too many great photos that I have to leave out due to storage. But at least with these you can get a little glimpse into how much awesomeness we consume in two weeks!

Who knew you could have this much fun for FREE in the forest!?

There is nothing like this experience/lifestyle. I'm just happy to be able to say that we are able to live this life and enjoy it to the fullest. There are things that cannot be put into words on 'paper' for they are experiences that had to be felt in that moment that not a lot of people would understand unless they were present. This Summer R.T.R. is a moment in time that I will cherish and remember for a very long time. The people that I have to thank for that know who they are and I cannot say thank you enough for making this one hell of a Summer and making my life that much better to wake up to every day. And Bob, I want to personally thank you once again for bringing us all together so we can make these true bonds and connections that will last longer than a lifetime...You rock Bobby and I love ya man!

Thank you all for making this Summer magical! We WILL see you down the road and can't wait to hear about...well...everything!

PEACE

Blowing Around like Dust in the Wind

We ended up having a shorter time with our friend Micheal than we had anticipated but it was great having him in our 'home' and to have everybody hang out together. We threw a little "See ya later" dinner where everyone came over, ate burgers, beans & taters and enjoyed some fun conversations.

Safe travels to him and hope we see you soon buddy.

We had gone to bed the night before with the intention of leaving Sedona, so when we woke up this morning we started packing it up...this was going to take a 'few' minutes! We had our morning cafe' convo's (conversations over coffee) with Kevin and Mike and little by little Joon was packed stuffed and we were ready to roll. We figured we would just organize everything at the next place, so this is what you get when you roll like that...

[caption id="attachment_4705" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Yikes![/caption]

Where were we off to, you ask? Flagstaff. The first day J' & Micheal went riding they drove up toward the Flagstaff area and found some areas with National Forest land and some possible great spots. I wasn't really ready to leave this area just yet but sometimes you just gotta go along with it. The main reason for us leaving was the wind gets pretty strong around 12:30 p.m. until about 5-6 p.m... that's a lot of van time... with the doors and windows closed, due to the 'dust in the wind'. When we left we drove through a part of Sedona we hadn't been through yet, so that was a treat! I love seeing new views and new things!

As you drive North the landscape changes drastically. We drove from the big and beautiful red rocks into 40 ft. tall pine trees. I almost felt like we were in Montana (I've never been to Montana, it's just what I felt like). We popped over this hill and there was this HUGE mountain in front of us... with snow on it! What the heck, where did that come from? It was a pretty drastic scenery change!

We drove around and looked at spots, checking the wifi and some open air for the solar panels. We were sitting pretty high on a 3g signal but that's because the towers are back in the forest, we don't think they have 4g towers out here. As for the solar, we weren't having any luck with too much open air. The panels would probably only end up getting a few hours of sun instead of a whole day... which we need. After checking out a few different areas and many spots within those areas, we stopped and had lunch at Subway (getting to use our awesome Subway coupons!) and talked over our options of staying here or going back to Sedona and checking out other campsites around the area. After filling our bellies we decided to head back to Sedona and check out areas around where we were just camping.

We drive back to Sedona!

I was actually pretty stoked about this because, like I said before, I was not ready to leave yet...GRIN! 

[caption id="attachment_4709" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Over it![/caption]

Believe it or not, we drove to about 5 or 6 different camping areas and spots within the area and after about an hour of that, ended up right back in the same exact spot we left this morning! We now truly know that we have the best spot in town. What a great feeling!

We are tired but happy we are back. Sometimes you just have to satisfy that curiosity bug, ya know! We'll probably go back up to Flagstaff, during the Summer R.T.R. that Bob is holding in June, but until then we'll deal with the wind when it comes and be happy little campers at the best camp spot in Sedona!

[caption id="attachment_4710" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Pleasantly Pooped![/caption]

Have you fed your curiosity bug today?

PEACE