Mohave Desert National Preserve

The longest drive EVER!  We had to stop for gas and groceries.  So, while we left the Grand Canyon at around 10:00, we didn't arrive at the Mohave National Preserve until after 5:00.   There as also a side trip to the Mohave Desert BLM Office for information.  Super nice guy on duty who hooked Coco up with some Junior Explorer books.  We then took the wrong exit off the interstate.... but eventually we made it.

And wow, is it springtime in the desert!  The whole area is teaming with life. We have yet to see a rattlesnake... not that I'm too keen on seeing one, but we did see cattle crossing, sheep, a desert tortoise, prairie dogs and a few jack rabbits.  We could hear the coyotes too, though they also remain unseen. 

We got up early the next day, knocked out a little math and language arts with Coco and then hiked the "Hole in the Wall" trail.  Such a beautiful hike and we saw more petroglyphs (these were the real deal).  Depending on which direction you approach the trail from you either have to climb two sets of rings to get into or out of the canyon.  We climbed up.  It was an interesting process hauling Ms Willow up... but she made it too.  We should have named her Billy, as in billy goat because she loved jumping up and down the rocks. 

Coco picked up another Junior Ranger workbook the day we left (the visitor center was closed the two days we were there).  She is going to work though it and mail this one in. 

 



The Mohave is home to the Joshua Tree, and while there is a Joshua Tree National Forest, this site is home to the oldest and biggest of the majestic yucca.  They grow only a foot every tens years (according to the park ranger).  So, the big grandaddy 40 footers are around 400 hundred years old!  

Unfortunately, because we are in a single unit motor home... the road that leads to that part of the Mohave was inaccessible this time.  We could have gone around (about a 100 miles out of the way), but decided it would be worth it to try again another time.  We were also itching to get going.  There was another place we wanted to see before we were to meet up with our friends. 

From Sea to Land

Now that we are settling in to this RV thing, I suppose I should explain why the quick change. 

First, I want to preface by saying that our boat was/ is solid.  Our decisions had nothing to do with the strength and integrity of our Prout, aka s/v Airabess. 

Our 'plan' was to cruise the Bahamas and make our way via Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands.  That is what we have been working towards for the last seven years.

We crossed the gulf stream from Key Largo and checked in in Bimini.  We got stuck in Bimini for almost three weeks, after making several attempts to get across the Bahamas Banks.  This is not unheard of for cruisers.  In fact it happens all the time.  We were being impatient, but it was more than that. 

We were realizing that the Prout was not the boat for our family.  It was perfect for small day sails around the Keys, but once we got her out into deep water, it became clear that it wasn't working for us. 

Hubs is 6 foot 3, Coco is four foot seven and growing like a weed, I'm only 5'2.  But add all of us together, plus a dog.... we were getting super cramped.  We were not handling the passages very well, nor the waiting to make passage. 

That, and it just didn't feel right.  Hubs and I were constantly second guessing ourselves.  Did we read the weather patterns wrong, should we have taken the window early, did we take the wrong window. etc...? 

There was also the feeling of complete vulnerability.  You are at the mercy of the ocean and wind.  If you make the wrong decisions it could end horribly, or you could make it back to port with a great story.  The anxiety of miscalculations and over thinking and down right fear was getting to be too much. 

I will admit that I don't know that I am made of the right kind of stuff to be a blue water cruiser.  Not that we had planned on that anyway.  But there is no way to get to the island hopping that is in the brochure unless you traverse the deep blue. 

So, we had to make a choice.  Did we keep heading southeast towards the USVI, or do we turn back.  It took those three weeks in Bimini for Hubs and I to finally speak what the other was thinking.... we didn't want to do it anymore. 

I was suffocating on the boat.  The images of snorkeling off the back of Airabess in crystal clear water, laughing and playing on deserted beaches was not enough of a lure anymore. 
I missed fresh food and having a door to my bedroom. I hated being at the mercy of the weather~ to go, to stop, to choose what's next... I was humbled and humiliated by the whole experience.  

The joy that we had been working towards was still so very far away.  I didn't want to wait and work for it anymore.  Neither did Hubs.  Coco, well, she wanted to keep going, but only because that is what we had been promising her for years and years (um, yeah, no guilt there).

Hubs and I wanted freedom.  We thought that living on a boat and cruising would give us that.  In reality, we felt tied down by the weather and sea sickness (Coco, Ms Willow, and occasionally me when it was necessary for me to go down below)

We headed back.  We put Airabess up for sale and started looking at rvs because we realized we weren't throwing in the towel completely.  We just needed to change our vehicle to freedom and adventure.

There was a ton of interest in the boat, as we had it priced to sell and it was sold within a week and a half of our return to Marathon.  That meant it was crunch time to find a new 'home'.  Fortunatly, we did find one quickly.

So, less than a month after we set sail, we are on the road.  Admittedly the gas thing is a serious concern of mine. It is so completely not me or us.  After getting our carbon footprint so low living aboard to then pull up to a gas station as frequently as this rv traveling warrants.... it's hard to swallow.  The next adventure is going  to counter that.

Already we are feeling a little more in control and a lot more adventure.  We are going and doing and seeing.  We are showing our girl the world.  We are living a life extraordinary.

I hope that any readers that are out there still want to follow this family's journey to the elusive there even though we are traveling in a different way.  We are still Airabess. We are still dreaming.   #findingmywaylivingthisdream     

Ready to Live

We have almost emptied out our house.  What is still here either has a home to go too, or is up on the garage sale block next Saturday.  Hubs left this morning to take most of what we have kept to Airabess and do to a couple of pre-splash projects. 
SURREAL, to say the least.  
You talk about something for so long, you plan, you make the decisions to get to that goal... and then it's right in front of you .  It's kind of hard to wrap my brain around it.  

I have been having trouble sleeping.  I'm sure it has everything to do with the anxiety that comes with this change.  The whole family is a little on edge (even Ms Willow).  There have been quite a few what the hell are we doing's happening around here.  Not that we have any regrets.  It's just overwhelming, and a little sad too.  

I went to a friend's house to drop some things off yesterday and when I pulled out of their driveway it hit me that I wouldn't be going back for at least a year (if all goes as planned).  
I hugged my very best friend good-bye a couple of weeks ago (she lives in New York and we only get to see each other a few times a year) and I was balling the whole way home.  I don't see her often enough, but I always knew that I would get to see her smiling face every few months, but not this next year.  
We have no idea where we will end up.  We don't know if we will come back to our hometown, or set up shop somewhere else.  We might cash in and buy a bigger boat in a year.  We might find a new place to call home.  There are thoughts and pipe dreams of maybe here or there... but anything is possible.  It is the first time we have not had a solid 5 year plan.  The very first time since Hubs and I have been together, 14 years,  that we don't really know what direction we are headed in.  We have a loose sailing plan, which could change based on any number of things we can and can't control.  

Our planning and saving and dreaming have brought us here, to this moment, and I don't know what is going to happen next.  It is so awesome and so daunting at the same time. 

Regardless, the time is upon us.  It's time to start living.

Sailor dog?

I've introduced her before... But that's before I REALLY knew what having a puppy onboard would entail. 

Here she is.  All cute and asleep. 

Well... Don't let this photo fool you. Willow is the X-factor. 

What the hell were we thinking bringing a puppy on board?! 

I will spare you the gory details. Sufficed to say I have had wayyyyy more laundry to do than anticipated. Mostly due to our sweet pup's aversion to getting her paws wet. Yep, we live on a boat. On the water.  And she doesn't like getting her paws wet. Kind of a problem. 

Not kind of- definitely a problem. 

Thankfully, after her absolute worst inside mistake yet, Hubs found a solution. 

She needed a crate. We used it at home, and worked perfectly. No accidents. 

But up until Wednesday we couldn't figure out how to make it happen on Airabess. 

So, we moved some storage containers from under our bunk (that is completely open and has tons of room) and made a slatted closure from random stuff we had stored in the bilge. 

So far, so good. 

It's funny though because she had been try to get under there for awhile. Every night she would sleep right there anyway. It wasn't a hard sale.