Today was a business-y day. We broke ground in October on COhome. Since then we all drove out over New Years, Zak came out in January for the important electric walk, the girls and I flew out for our spring break, and Zak drove out the week after. I know it sounds like a lot […]

Read More Day 8: COhome (i)

Our original plan was our first backpacking night of the trip at Great Sand Dunes National Park. I’ve been really looking forward to backpacking and started reading some backpacking accounts on Reddit to get hyped up even more. That was a mistake. All the posts clearly outlined the difficulty, the extreme level of misery, and […]

Read More Day 7: Great Sand Dunes to Mancos

I’ve done a few lessons on fossil beds with my students and have fond memories of Dinosaur National Monument. I had no idea what to expect here and was slightly disappointed that Zak said there would only be fossils of small plants and insects. He mentioned petrified wood, but we’ve had a wonderful time at […]

Read More Day 6: Florissant Fossil Beds

The morning started with an absolute treat for me, sunrise yoga at Garden of the Gods. I’m struggling with the guilt of making the rest of the family get up at 6:30 and patiently waiting for the entirety of the class. The class of 15 had participants of all pratice levels and I seemed right […]

Read More Day 5: Garden of the Gods

At Sand Creek Massacre we learned about Bent and his forts, the old one and the new one. Today we visited them both, beginning with the new one. We pulled into the tiny gravel lot, confident we were the first ones there in days, perhaps weeks. I put the hiking pack on the hood of […]

Read More Day 4: Bent’s Forts and Colorado Springs

Today is brought to you by racism. We learned about two events in American history that I didn’t know nearly enough about it. Learning about events like this, acknowledging the mistakes, and teaching others is a way to bring a small amount of justice to those who deserve it. Sand Creek Massacre will forever be […]

Read More Day 3: Sand Creek Massacre and Amache Internment Camp

Our first stop was Homestead National Monument, I remember learning about the Homestead Act of 1862 in high school and being so bored. I never enjoyed the Little House on the Prarie books, which, it turns out, might be dealbreaker had Zak not already spent over 20 years in our relationship. I guess you still […]

Read More Day 2: Omaha to Colby, KS

Although nearly all at home, the journey from the last day of rtxix to the first day of rtxxi has been long, filled with the happiest of highs and some dark lows. I’m most proud of the girls and how they weathered a global pandemic during their first years of middle and high school. Not […]

Read More Day 1: Home to Omaha

This is the weirdest of all the posts to write. We do this blog for us. I want us all to be able to look back and remember the events of this part of our lives from our own perspective and from those we spent these days with. There are a lot of days in […]

Read More Days 50, 51, and 52: The End

This evening, at dusk, we drove from the Dolores Brewery to Cortez. The sun had set and every mountain range that surrounded us had a purple haze. The silhouette of Sleeping Ute, in the distance, was particularly lovely. We could see the lights of the ranches, the homes, the farms that we drove by. In […]

Read More Day 50: Southwest Colorado