Ten months and a few days into 2022, and we’re blowing past all of my travel goals for the year. My heart was set on at least one getaway each month and to go someplace new. In the first five months, we made seven trips to six different states.
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Here’s what’s happened since then.
June: We returned to Ridgway State Park for the umpteenth camping trip. Our first was in 2001, and I’ve lost count how many times we’ve been back. The views of the San Juan Mountains are to die for. There are hiking trails galore. This time we took the Jeep on Last Dollar Road to Telluride, walked around Ridgway a bit, and just relaxed.
July and August: This was quite the busy time for us! Scott and I took our daughter and son-in-law to the Keystone Wine and Jazz Fest for an early 30th birthday celebration for both. Then he and I roadtripped to Montana for a family reunion and celebration of life for my Uncle Eddie Bear. This trip started in July and ended in August. When we had catastrophic engine failure in my 2022 Audi on the way home. Good times. Scott also took our son camping at Taylor Park Reservoir with family and friends.
RELATED: All the Feels on This Road Trip
September: We scored a big new-to-me destination with a long-awaited camping and riding trip to Bryce Canyon, Utah. It was definitely worth the wait, and we are looking forward to going back again. Great friends, perfect weather, breathtaking scenery and a toe-tapping Cowboy Dinner show. Two thumbs up. (It would be three if Walden had thumbs.)
RELATED: Fall in Love with Bryce Canyon
October: Two trips this month, one planned and one surprise. First, I met my sister in Oklahoma for a visit to our childhood home with cousins we hadn’t seen in way, way too long. It’s hard to describe how special this was, both spending time with my sister and reconnecting with the people and places from so long ago. There will be a post about this soon!
The surprise trip was just a week later. We sold our Lance truck camper and truck and bought our first motorhome! It was located in Mesa, Arizona, and we couldn’t miss work, so there was a lot of road time and a scant 36 hours in Mesa. It was enough time to spend the night, buy the motorhome, do a quick shopping run and drive to Flagstaff to spend the second night. The first song I heard the next morning was from “Austin Powers” and it prompted me to name our new rig Vanessa, because she’s very groovy, baby.
November: Fast forward one more week, and we spent one night camped at Rifle Gap State Park. This allowed us to get most of our things—i.e. dishes, cookware, wine glasses, okay, all the glasses—unpacked and organized. It was very chilly, but we were toasty and cozy inside as we curled up with Walden on the sofa and watched a movie with the electric fireplace blazing away. The next day, Scott winterized Vanessa, which means no camping until spring. So sad! But we have all winter to keep tweaking things so that we are ready to roll when the weather warms up in March or April.
What’s next? I’m not sure. December is always busy in the retail business, but there’s a slight lull just after Thanksgiving. That should give us time for a final trip. I’d love to visit the Christkindlmarket in Denver. Fingers crossed!
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Tales From the Empty Nest 
That is an amazing record, Mandy. Six states is quite a feat for many in a lifetime. LOL!
Did you know that Denver Christkindl Market used to my client? For years, when they first started. Then they exploded and got HUGE! I haven’t been since they moved locations. I might have to go this year.
Congrats! And Fritzi thinks 9 states in 3 years is good… haha! That’s her record, btw.
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I didn’t know that it used to be a client. I’ve never been and hope we can make it work. Alas, Walden only made it to Colorado and Utah. Thankfully, he wasn’t with us on the Montana trip when my car imploded. One of the things I’m most thrilled about is how much of our families we saw this year. So special!
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