Dharma

       We are officially homeless. No more cozy bed, or movie nights on the couch. We have stripped ourselves of common luxuries, and material comforts. We now live out of a Jeep, we are nomads. These were words I wrote right after we took off. The reality of it all really started to sink in and hit deep as we watched the last of our extraneous belongings leave with strangers for pennies on the dollar at our second yard sale while meanwhile mounds of camping gear piled up around my dad's house seeming to exceed our Jeep's cargo capacity ten fold. This dream we had been nurturing for the last year was finally coming to fruition right before our eyes. I thought I would be more afraid, leaving the security of our home, but it was all happening so fast and there was so much work to do we all kind of just went through the motions in a bit of a shocked stupor. The fear and sadness came not from leaving belongings behind, but from leaving my dad in a house void of family and companionship, from abandoning my cats with strangers in an unfamiliar place. That was the painful part, scared by my own selfish desire for freedom, I became engulfed in guilt and despair. Honestly I hadn't experienced emotion like that in several years. However, the decision to travel did not come without logic evaluation of loss and gain, and even my father, though lonely without us, would not want us to sacrifice this opportunity.

     
       Our first overnight stop was up in the Jemez mountains, just north of Albuquerque. We wanted to hike to San Antonio hot springs the next day. It seemed like a long drive up there, although it is really only 6 hrs or so. Our Jeep did great, even weighed down like she was. We finally gave her a name,  it seemed called for considering her crucial role in this epic journey, that she had a profound name; so we decided on Dharma. I think it's perfect. Right at dark Dharma pulled us into a campsite we found off a short dirt road. There was a fire ring and tons of dead wood gathered already with a perfect flat spot for the tent. We set up camp and started a good fire for warmth and to cook dinner. We busted out the grill and cast iron dutch oven and cooked our first meal over the fire. We fried up potatoes, sausage and jalapenos and melted cheese over the top it was perfect. We felt we succeeded at the first night and that was encouraging. After dinner we cracked open a bottle of Kraken black spiced rum that had been gifted to us before our trip by my friend Skyler. Thanks man! It was idealic actually, small snowflakes fell around the fire for a short time and the whole experience was almost surreal. We talked about how excited we were to wake up with the sun shining through the forest canopy and planned to hike to the hot springs first thing and then come back and relax in our hammocks. After some time we finally retired to the tent, perfectly content. When we woke up the whole scene had changed, the tent walls were about two inches from our faces and it took me a moment to even comprehend what was going on, I felt claustrophobic and disorientated. Then I realized our tent was covered in snow and had collapsed on us in the night. We shook off all the snow and the tent popped right back up. Ty and Denton literally went right back to sleep and I ventured out into the whitewashed landscape. It was freezing! and there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. I wanted to laugh, we failed to check the weather before coming up into the high elevations of New Mexico in early spring and we had been coldly reminded that we are now at the whim of mother nature. It was still snowing like crazy so we just hunkered down for the day. Everything was a chore in the cold and snow, but overall it was pretty fun. We finally decided we would have to visit the hot springs a different time when the trail didn't require snow shoes, so we packed up and left the next day since there had been no break in the weather. Dharma went in 4 wheel drive for the first time and she climbed right out of there like a champ. On the way back down the mountain we stopped at Spence Hot Springs, there was snow everywhere, but not nearly as much as our campsite and the trail was easily followed. After 2 days in the snow the hot springs were a welcome respite. We were barely able to pull ourselves out of there, but since there was no camping allowed in the area we didn't have much of a choice. Eventually we hiked back down and drove out of the beautiful Jemez mountains.

      We are in Stigler Oklahoma now, we drove straight here only stopping for a few uncomfortable hours of sleep in the Jeep at a Love's truck stop. We are staying with Ty's Aunt Terry who has just been spoiling us like crazy. We have just been awestruck by the beauty of Oklahoma, I always thought of it as a giant midwest dust bowl and was quite surprised to find quite the opposite. There are rolling fields of green and lakes and rivers and forest, it's incredibly lush. We've gone fishing and hiking, and had an epic bonfire at Ty's cousin Tammy's house. But, best of all we have spent peaceful nights and sunny days with Aunt Terry talking and singing and painting and eating together. It has been so nice getting to know her and just being surrounded by her good energy.

      We will be leaving here in a couple of days and heading west towards SoCal. It will be hard to leave here, but we're all excited for the adventures to come. Well, dinner is ready so I must end this post. Good night and farewell for now.

Peace Love & Road Dust
-Shawna

"May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand."

Traditional Gaelic Blessing

Freedom Begins

     Today was my last day at work. It ended with a bang, the chef quit and I almost walked out myself, considering yesterday was technically supposed to be my last day and he talked me into coming in today. Not to mention there was two new people there I was trying to train and my right hand man, the grill cook Skyler was scheduled off. It was crazy, and I was terribly angry over the whole situation,  but I decided to stay and get the kitchen through the night one last time. It turned out alright and at the end of the night the owners of the restaurant presented me with a cake and everyone said farewell and good luck and thanked me for my time there. I was a star employee for a year straight almost a year on the dot. Never called off, never even asked for time off, gave 6 days out every week of my life this last year to this restaurant. It's been hard stressful work, by far the most stressful job I've ever performed, but it's also been educational and challenging and for that I'm appreciative and reminded that it was not time wasted. However, I am so ready to get outside and paint my life with some color instead of slaving away in monotony to bring someone else's goal to fruition. They are still trying to bribe me into staying another week since the chef just walked out, they've offered me double the pay for the week to make it worth my while. A part of myself feels obligated, like I have always felt, hence the reason I've never even missed a day or requested a vacation. The money's not worth the prolonged sentence though, I'm free and I'm not turning back now.
    This week we'll be getting everything ready for a major yard sale. We're selling off nearly all our material burdens for some extra road cash. My dad is kind enough to let us store a few things at his place, but all the furniture, dishes, most the clothes, and all that riff raff is going. We just want to call it a wrap and roll outta town. Shit's about to get real, this is no longer just an idea or a dream, it's happening.

Peace Love and Road Dust

-Shawna

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver