Hello all! It has been quite some time since our last blog post and for that we truly apologize! After four months our time here in Colorado is coming to an end… Aside from a couple breakdowns, stalls, and getting kicked out of a few places Colorado has been good to us. We have two weeks left before we head back to Illinois. We came out here with an unfinished bus and have had to keep working to make it home. Most of our time out here has been spent working on the bus…. Whether that’s nights, weekends, in campgrounds or parking lots. We have gone from living out of coolers with no running water or bathroom and eating on the couch to a fully functional home! After getting to a certain point on the bus work we finally said: we can’t be out here all summer and not see Colorado! Thankfully our house has these really convenient things called wheels! We’ve spent time in Pikes National Forest, Rocky Mountain National Park, ventured over the mountain to Gunnison to see two different national forests/parks there, the Great Sand Dunes National Park (sand boarding is SO fun), and attended the second annual Tiny House Jamboree.

And boy have we gotten the itch to travel. Once we started taking advantage of living in a moving vehicle we just can’t get enough of it. Our hearts long for adventure and experiencing new things. We realized we couldn’t stay tied down to one place for EIGHT months through a freezing winter in South Dakota like Luke’s job would have required… So we quit! Well, Luke quit. Originally our plan was to go back home, visit with everyone for a week or so and then head out to Luke’s next job in Vermillion, South Dakota. Our hearts just weren’t in it anymore. We’d be crazy to pass up this amazing opportunity that we have created for ourselves! So the new plan is to go home, scratch that, we’re always at home, go back to Illinois, visit, get a few things squared away with renting out the house, save up a bit of money and hit the open road. Oh how my heart is happy just typing that!!! Yes Colorado has been a blessing and such a great state to get our feet wet with the whole tiny living but we’ve had a tie to the Springs for four months.. We can drive far but only as long as we can get back before Luke has to work on Monday morning. Needless to say we’re ready for adventures that are longer than a weekend!
So as our first chapter of bus life comes to an end I’d have to say that it was pretty successful! Definitely fun and a great conversation starter! We get lots of mixed responses when people see us. I’d say that (thankfully) the majority is thumbs up, waving, praise, asking for a tour, and general wonderment. But we’ve also seen lots of surprised looks, disbelief, disgusted staring, head shaking, and as one fine gentleman said as he rode past on his bike “that’s a total rape van” as his girl friend replied “yeah… That’s terrifying”. (He then realized we were standing right there staring at him as he pretended it didn’t happen and rode away). Positive outweighs the negative though and we love it!
Oh and I’m sure most of you are wondering how our sweet little nugget has adjusted to bus life. Truth is… She loves it! She loves being close to the outdoors, hiking, exploring, rock climbing, going for bus rides, seeing animals and basically anything that gets her outside! (Another reason we weren’t looking forward to SD in the winter time) Whenever we leave the bus she always says “bye bus! See you later!” I mean how cute is that?!
I’m sure many are wondering where we’re planning to go next. As of right now we’re planning to do an east coast/New England road trip through the fall and oh how beautiful it will be!
Until next time, live simply! ✌🏼️