Living in the bed of a pickup for over three years

Since Dan and I started going on road trips in January of 2012, we have lived in our camper that sits on the bed of a pickup, our teardrop camper, or (for a few nights) in our tent for a total of 1096 days and nights!  This adds up to over three years in a little less than nine years.  Because of this we have been able to live and hike and explore some of the most remote areas of the United States.  This has all been on our beautiful public lands.....the open land that all of us in our country collectively own! 

Dan loves numbers and statistics.  Because of this we are very fortunate to have real data on what we have done during these three years on the road.  Here are those numbers:

HIKING

Number of hikes:  732
Miles hiking:  3,860

Miles elevation while hiking:  92.8

Average distance of a hike:  5.25 miles

 

CYCLING
Number of bike rides:  958

Miles cycling:  20,400

Average distance of a bike ride:  21.25 miles

We are truly amazed at how we just went out and did something almost every day that added up to these numbers.  All we were trying to do is to have fun, discover things, and experience life together.

In the summer of 2011 when we bought our first truck and camper (a 1970 Chinook camper and 1996 Ford 150) our intention and desire was to “go on a road trip." And we didn’t even know what our idea of a road trip was, except that we wanted to head out somewhere, camp and hike somewhere, stay as long as we wanted and then move on to.....somewhere.

Since that time our idea of a road trip or desert trip hasn’t changed, except that now we know that we want that “somewhere” to be in as remote an area that we can reach with our Turtle (the Ford 350 Dually truck and slide-in Lance camper) or our Rat and Quail (the Toyota 4runner pulling the TC Teardrop trailer).  The reason that we bought the Rat and Quail is that although they may not have all the amenities of the Turtle, the Rat pulling the Quail can climb much further than the Turtle into the rocky, steep, 4-wheel drive roads and the sandy or muddy desert roads.   

We have reached such remote areas to camp and hike that the only people we see are hunters who have lived in the area and hunted there since they were boys (and they all are men, never a woman).  But most of the time we are all alone with beauty and nature surrounding us.  And this is our idea of heaven on earth!

This past week we headed out to the grasslands of the Coconino National Forest with our Turtle to spend several days living in the bed of our pickup and to explore a new area.

Here we are in these beautiful grasslands high on the Mogollon Rim:

We eat VERY good food in the Turtle.  I have a tiny kitchen, but have everything I need, including a 3 burner stove, oven, sink, and a large refrigerator and freezer....just like home, but in miniature.  Every morning we eat a hearty breakfast before hiking.

Dan says he eats every meal in a 5-Star restaurant.  Here are his eggs, avocado, Canadian Bacon, and Beef Stroganoff.  

 See how happy he looks?

Here is Dan doing his early morning exercises while I am inside the Turtle doing my pushups:

As the sun rises we head off hiking to explore and map out this new area:

We found a super campsite for a future camping trip about two miles from where we are camping with the Turtle.  There is a lot more up these roads to explore, but our sweet spot for hiking is about five miles.  Also the road has sharp rocks and deep ruts and is too narrow for the truck/camper, so we will return another time with the Rat and Quail, and we’ll hike deeper into this high desert plateau.

Here is the view we will have from this future campsite.  We can hardly wait to return!  This photo also shows the very rocky terrain in these grasslands.

We are in cow country....sort of open range grazing, so we get to experience quaint gates and signs: “Please Close The Gate.”  Most of them have bullet holes in them.  We love these old, rusted signs.  

 

Also on this trip I am testing out my new hiking skirt.  I made it from some old worn out hiking pants of Dan’s (with the legs zipped off).  I have always envied Dan, with his hiking pants that have such a multitude of large pockets with zippers.  They just don’t make “girls” hiking pants or skirts with this array of useful pockets.

Here is what his hiking pants looked like before I turned them into a convenient cool skirt (note Dan’s model cars in the display case of our Activity Room):

We hiked off road/trail at times, but, as I mentioned, this land is VERY rocky and only good for cows, not for our old hiking legs.  But it was lovely with the fall colors!

We found the largest pinyon-juniper trees with bright blue berries that we have seen in any of the areas we have hiked.  Here is Dan standing near these beautiful pinyon-juniper trees (and Dan is 6’ tall)!  Usually they are more like bushes than trees.  They were all over the place. 

Every afternoon we relaxed and had our quiet, contented, zen time.  Of course, we worked on our hobbies together.

Dan began constructing and painting four different model cars.  He’ll put the bodies together and finish the more delicate parts and trim when we return home. 

Painting the undercarriage of one of the cars:

Trying to decipher the directions which happen to be written in French.  Many of the most interesting car models are European.  His high school French classes don't appear to have been too helpful.  Now he wishes he had paid more attention.

For example, the one below was a pre-war 1939 German car.  Only 6000 were ever produced, and after the war started the German army requisitioned all 6000 for officers.  

Here is a photo of the pre-war German convertible that Dan completed a week later:

 

 

I finished knitting a hat that matches the sweater with cute fox buttons that I knitted for Aryana during our last desert trip.

And I knitted the back, the left front, and started working on the right front of a colorful winter sweater for little Hannah.  Does this look relaxing or what?

Every afternoon while relaxing in the shade we got to enjoy a for real cowboy roundup!  If you look closely you can see, on the left, one of the cowboys herding his cows down out of the high country.  He had three exceptional working dogs helping to round up the cows.  

The cowboys on their horses with their dogs brought more mooing cows down through the trees every afternoon.  So, of course, one early morning we hiked up the horse and cow trail so we could say we hiked on the trail of a real cowboy roundup.

At the end of our hike I got the perfect picture of Dan as we returned to our little home in the middle of the grasslands!

Precious little Hannah’s first six months

We love all our grandchildren so very much.  Each one is a burst of sunshine in our life.  There is so much room in our hearts for these children.  Each grandchild expands our heart with more love.

We haven’t been able to hold our littlest granddaughter, Hannah, but it makes no difference, we love this little girl.  She is our youngest grandchild.  Due to the lengthy immigration process and the pandemic, Hannah was born in Russia and is still living there with her loving mother, Mila. 

We look forward to the day when Mila and Hannah can travel to the United States to be with Owen.

I have made a blanket for each of our baby grandchildren.  We sent Mila and Owen a blanket that I knitted for Hannah.

I knitted Mila a soft cozy blanket in her favorite color, and we also sent her this blanket.  

Even though we can’t hold Hannah, she and Mila can can cuddle in these blankets.  That feels to us like we are holding our little granddaughter close with our love.

We look forward to the day when we can actually hold this precious little bundle of joy in our arms. Until then, we have so enjoyed seeing the pictures and videos of Hannah during her first six months of life.

Bugatti 1932 Type 55 Roadster

Finished another model car.  It is surprising how many hours it takes to paint and assemble these little guys.  I'm getting better at it.  Giving this one an A-/B+.  

One additional issue, in addition to my still-developing skill with them, is that some model kits are better than others.  For example, the Entex models like this one, often have poor instructions.  They frequently give only a general idea where the pieces are to attach together, so even if one is careful it is necessary at times to tear some pieces off and start again.  

Here it is before painting and assembly:

I used a paint that is half green and half copper.  Which one shows depends upon the angle one views it and the light.  It is totally not a reproduction of original colors used on the car, but I don't care about that.  If this paint was available in 1932 Bugatti would have used it.

I rebuild my high school 1931 Model A Ford Tudor Sedan

In 1963 I bought a 1931 Model A Ford.  It didn't run.  My father towed it home, on a rope, with me steering the Model A behind him.  It wasn't until now, when my wife (an ex-cop) was reading this, that I realized that I probably should have had a driver's license to do that, but ignorance is bliss.

I spent several months restoring it and fixing it up to drive.  I got it running.  

I practiced learning to drive in it.

It was a stick shift, but it wasn't just a stick shift.  The transmission didn't have "synchros" in it.  This meant that when shifting the gears they were not always aligned to be able to move from one gear to the next. What you had to do was push the clutch and then listen to the engine.  When the engine was at a certain RPM you could shift the transmission into another gear.  In fact what I learned was that the clutch was actually kind of useless.  I could shift just as well by just listening to the engine and knowing when to change gears.  

So, after learning to drive it using my learner's permit, at 8:00 a.m., on my 16th birthday, I was at the driver's license bureau ready to take my driver's test in it.  I was first in line!  Imagine that.

I passed.

I drove it all through high school.

Well, "drove" it is sort of misleading because I and my friends also had a lot of fun with it.  One thing I liked doing was "wheelies," where you would rev the engine and then pop the clutch.  You could get up on your rear wheels.

What fun!  At least until I dropped the differential (meaning I tore up the gears).

So I bought a replacement at a junk yard (can you imagine junk yards having rear differentials for 1931 Fords these days?).  And tore out the old rear differential and installed the replacement.

But I ran into a problem.  The problem was getting the rear springs set.  You see, the rear axle was attached at both ends to a strong set of springs that, when I removed them from the old differential, immediately closed.  I had to somehow pry the two ends apart.

Here is a photo of a rear end and spring:

The top of this assembly shows where it was attached to the car.  You can see the leaf springs are attached at both ends of the rear assembly.  But after removing one of the pins holding the spring to the end of the rear assembly, the springs "sprung" and were sitting on the axle, far away from where the pin held them in.

So, how to I spread the springs and get the pin in?  

Answer:  I set the springs on the axle, and then added as much weight to the Model A as I could, to push the springs down and flat.  I put my tools in it, my weight set, anything I could find with any weight.  Then I had my parents come out and sit in it (and Kathy and Cindy our dog), and it got closer and closer, but still no go.

Then I stood on the rear bumper and was within an inch, but couldn't get it closer.

What do I do?

Well, as fate would have it, at that moment along came our mailman (remember when they were "mailmen?").  I asked him if he would step on the other rear bumper, and it was enough!  I could slide the pin in.  I wonder if he is still telling that story. 

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Add to that, nor a 17-year-old adolescent who needs help fixing his Model A.

 I loved that car.  

I have just completed a 1/16th scale model of it.  As luck would have it, a Japanese company in the 1960s made a model kit of a 1931 Model A Tudor Sedan, the exact type of my 1931 Model A.

 I tried to duplicate my high school car in every way in building the model.  Fortunately, one day my parents took some photos of me in my Model A.  Here I am driving it to my job at Steele's Market (I know because I am wearing a white shirt and an inch-wide tie). 

 

The paint on the model I built is brighter, of course, but other than that how do you think I did (besides, give my model 34 years to age and it will look identical)? 

It won't do wheelies, so our letter-carrier/postal-delivery-person is safe.

Today we sent this email to our family....

“Excellent, very good, great response, very happy”!

These are quotes from the oncologist, during Dan’s physical examination this morning and when he reviewed the PSA results from mid-August and a week ago.  The PSA has gone down in the past six weeks from an already good level post-treatment.  

(I was in our car in the parking lot, but also on FaceTime with Dan, so I could take notes and ask questions....the world is so topsy turvy right now and I couldn’t be physically with him, which was hard for both of us).

The oncologist wants to follow Dan, and this was something that Dan requested.  We trust him.  The next PSA and doctor’s appointment is scheduled for early April.  He will also be followed by his urologist, so we will have two independent opinions.  Dan has the urology appointment next week.

The doctor told us that the PSAs may bounce around a bit and we should not be too worried if they do (but we will, I’m sure).  He said that we aren’t actually looking for a specific number.  What is important is the “overall trend and right now the PSA is at a GOOD LEVEL.” (his quote)

Dan’s oncologist let us know that it is important to continue to closely monitor Dan during these first two (and maybe three) years.  That PSA monitoring will indicate the long term prognosis.  He has an aggressive form of cancer, but for right now everything looks positive.  And we get to have six months where we can all put it (sort of) “away” and keep living life and enjoying each other and our family.  We had decided we weren’t going to let the cancer be our life, and we have done a terrific job of that.  

We are very happy and will celebrate today with my homemade super duper nachos and a VERY good bottle of wine!   (and maybe even ice cream)

Thanks to all of you and all our grandchildren for being with us through this very difficult time. Your presence and love has meant everything to us.

Love to you all from both of us,

Vicky (Dan was too emotional to write this, so he asked me to)  & Dan/d/grandpa

(end of the email to our family)

The cancer (tests, diagnosis, and treatment) has been hanging over us for over eight months.  It has been hard, but thank goodness we have each other.  

And we can honestly say that we have not missed a day of living during that time.  We have camped, hiked, cycled, walked, and danced our way through it.  In fact, during this time period we have walked/hiked over 1000 miles, have cycled 2600+ miles, danced together every Sunday, and have spent 46 nights sleeping in our camper in the most remote parts of the Arizona deserts.

We are far from being out of the woods.  But as the old saying goes “well begun is half done,” and it appears that Dan’s 45 radiation treatments have been successful in making it “well begun” in treating this unpredictable disease.  

Here are pictures of our well deserved and very happy celebration.  It turned out that I opened two bottles of wine so Dan could take turns celebrating with a merlot or a chianti.....husband’s choice!

I made lots of nacho mix, so we’ll have enough leftovers in the freezer for four more super duper nacho meals.

We ate the WHOLE carton of ice cream and it was delicious!