Fall is coming in the north woods. We noticed shortening days, the onset of fall colors, and (sadly) smoke as we moved through southeastern British Columbia and Northern Montana.

• 

• 

• 

• 

So we decided to head for home. As I plow through a gazillion loads of laundry, cleaning the truck, de-furring the Truck carpet (the joys of dogs!!), I am reflecting on the highs and lows of our first big journey in the Truck.

In no particular order, or level of importance, here are some lessons from the road:

1) Sometimes the best things in life are free. Our favorite campsites were just boondocking off the road or in small city-run campgrounds. (Of course, not exactly free…there is the small matter of our investment in the Truck to make it possible 😇). These sites were often beautiful, relatively solitary, and there were no rules to follow.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We were really fortunate to get a campsite well into Denali National Park as well. While most people took in the park from a tour bus, we were able to hike and bike from the Savage River Campground primarily due to the impact of Covid on traveling to Alaska.

The Provincial Parks throughout Canada are similar to National Forest Campgrounds in the US. Basic amenities but generally lovely sites with much greater privacy than most campgrounds. When we were in the far north, there were only a few other campers so it was often quiet.

2) With planning, and the Truck amenities, we could eat very well! I was traveling with Jim after all, so making sure we had good food was important even if we were hundreds of kilometers from the nearest grocery store!

• 

• 

• 

That was true, even if one needed to keep the bear spray close at hand

3) Trial by fire 🔥! Traveling off the grid with a brand new vehicle and no access to a phone, YouTube or Google certainly is a way to make you figure it out for yourself. Many a morning I grabbed the manual even before I climbed out of bed to work out how to use something or get it working again. Probably not the smartest way to use a new rig but we learned a lot!!

4) Our guides on our prior big bike trips did a lot of stuff! It’s amazing how much time it takes to plan a route, cook, clean up, shop and support the rider. Fun, but it was hard for each of us to get in more than a couple of hours cycling as compared to the long distances that we rode on earlier trips.

• 

• 

• 

5) It’s fun to meet people everywhere. It’s really nice now compared to the early days of Covid when we all had to treat each other like toxic waste. I mentioned before that traveling with the Truck is like hanging out with a celebrity. It certainly led to many conversations with strangers and Jim especially enjoyed all the Truck-talk.

6) All adventures include difficult moments when you wonder why the heck you want to do this. Rain 24 hrs a day, rough roads, no fresh water to be found, whatever. I guess that’s why it’s called an adventure. Enough said 😏

• 

• 

• 

It’s nice to be home for now. We’ll be headed for the desert later this fall. We look forward to exploring the Southwest by bicycle and Truck.

Thanks again for joining us and for all of your encouragement.