Gore creek & turquoise lake

The idea of checking out gore creek- both the campground and the trail- came about in the winter of 2021 at mcdowell mtn park in Scottsdale az. Yes this is how my world works. I’d potted some little plants in old jam jars and felt called to give one to the super cute volunteer couple who often worked the gate there. I was leaving a van camping adventure, departing the park, and on my way out I stopped and gave them a little plant.

Somehow we got to talking about them being camp hosts at various campgrounds around the country and he said- hands down- his favorite place of all time where they’d been camp hosts- was the gore creek campground just outside of vail.

Well with that kind of endorsement I couldn’t NOT check it out ! So I added it to my adventure list for the summer and booked a campsite for a few days - June 2022 …

And then I got hit by a motorist in early June 2022 and 100% of my summer plans were immediately canceled. Including this one. I scrapped the camp reservation, ate the cancellation fee and kinda mentally moved on.

Until this summer … when I began adding adventures back on the books; I recalled this gore creek campground Recommendation and decided I still very much wanted to check it out.

Van camping for Ramsey and me in the peak summer months can be tricky as my van has a rooftop air fan but not an AC. Just the van itself has ac and I don’t like to run the van and have it idling just to keep us cool. Thankfully vail is at a higher elevation and as the trip approached I checked the weather to ensure we wouldn’t roast — the temps seemed doable esp with nice cool overnight lows so off we went :)

It’s such a lovely and small campground RIGHT at the base of the vail pass bike path/climb ! not sure how I never noticed this little gem in here before but what a hidden treasure. I could understand fully why it was so hard to find available sites here. (**Note: I booked this site MONTHS ago! No more days of winging it with campsites- too many people are also doing the #workfromanywhere thing these days to be spontaneous - plan ahead!). 🗺️

We settled in, set up camp, went for a couple walks, made a quick run to get some groceries and then I enjoyed an *evening of light yoga and meditation as well as reading one of the books I leave permanently in the van— The Fifth Agreement.

*With all the rain colorado has enjoyed this spring and summer, this is the first trip in the van EVER where we’ve had a really bad issue with biting flies. 😞 they made it impossible to focus during yoga and super easy to go to bed early.

Tuesday morning i woke up excited to finally check out the gore creek trail as well as one called deluge. We started on deluge as I assumed it would feature fewer humans given its “black” trail difficulty designation on trail forks - the trail was gorgeous but very overgrown, making me nervous about snakes/ poison ivy/ ticks etc.

We went about 1.5 miles up gaining almost 1000ft elev before I’d had enough foliage scraping my legs and we turned back. We only saw a couple humans— which was awesome — This trail made me 100% convicted about (finally) getting myself a pair of hiking pants asap.

We doubled back to the sign where the gore creek path started and went up that for awhile- it was not as overgrown and followed the creek, offering that lovely rushing water sound as well as several water crossings which give Ramsey a chance to get wet and cool down. Soooo pretty. I turned us back once I felt she was starting to run out of steam (ok and I was, too 😉) and we made our way back to the van.

At the end of both trails are lakes and while it would have been cool to see one of them by making it to the trail end, I was happy with our adventure. I don’t do efforting or muscling my way through things these days; when I feel complete, I shut it down. I let my intuition and what my body is craving guide me and while it leads to a fair number of “Incompletes” I also 100% do not give a damn ✌️

I try to soak up these adventures with Ramsey while I can before she isn’t able to or doesn’t want to anymore. She’s twelve and still hikes like A BOSS but I know it won’t always be like that 😞 🐶 ❤️

I’m in a major retraction phase (again) now after being really open, outgoing and energy-outputting for the last few weeks … a few folks overstepped some boundaries of mine, I felt over-asked and over-stretched really quickly, and I came right back into energy preservation mode… it’s really notable to me how quickly and desperately I needed to shut things down and go back within again.

It’s just showing me so clearly how deeply depleted and grief-filled I still am and how much healing there is to do yet. Grief works like that I think.One step forward and two steps back - for me that’s how it feels in this season anyways.

So I’m super thankful for this van outing where I don’t need to talk to anyone or summon courage or energy. I simply get to do whatever I feel called to do next. Moment by moment. 🙏🏼

On day two I (of course!) got the road bike out and rode vail pass - 3x. The first time I took super easy, the second I gave it some gas and then the third just took in the scenery. Not even close to my PRs from back in 2013 but 🤷‍♀️

I wanted to get four climbs in but started too late and needed to pack up the campsite for noon checkout (camp hosts take this very seriously I’ve learned in these years of camping!).

It was absolutely perfect out. A pristine bike path far away from any motorized vehicles and just a few other riders out. Slight cloud cover, ideal temps —- true slice of heaven out there. 🙏🏼

We left vail/gore creek (aka the land of pernicious flies) and with fingers and paws crossed (that the 🪰problem would not follow us) we made our way to our campsite at turquoise lake near Leadville…

Wow. In a word. At this even higher elevation (Approx 10k feet), Temps were nice and cool and with the lake right here the breeze felt heavenly - and it kept the flies at bay … thank GOODNESS. 🌲🪵 (although a few sneaky 🦟 found me and bit me up!).

The lake is breathtaking and the campsites are fantastic. I wasn’t choosy when i selected my spot here but once I got Ramsey put for a walk and did some recon I quickly learned the “beachfront property” spots are the ones to aim for next time.

Even better- no signal here. 🙏🏼 that’s always my goal when we’re out camping - to have my 📱rendered useless. I had just one bar of signal in vail which meant some annoyances found me there // that I was touching my phone more than I wanted to be.

Here- radio silence. Just the breeze and the absence of flies and quiet. 🐾 Ramsey and I are in heaven. (I use my iPhone notes app to draft my eventual blog post when I’m in places w/out signal).

We sat by the lake for a long time just… being.

It began to sprinkle so we returned to the van where I looked for another book and found “she- understanding feminine psychology.”  I read it cover to cover as I have before on van trips (hence the reason i leave it in here). Something about sitting in the midst of tall trees with nothing to do and nowhere to be really heightens my reading experience.

Each time something new jumps out from this book — this time:

“A woman has a profound capacity to be still, perhaps the most powerful act any human being can make. She is required to go back to a very still inner center every time something profound happens to her. This is a highly creative act but must be done correctly. She is to be receptive, not passive.”

This book blows me away every time.

I highly recommend it. It’s 80 pages and will probably take you an hour to cruise through.

I woke excited to ride the mtb trails along the lake— stunning!!!

I had an absolute blast and can’t wait to come back here!!

**I always post these blogs after the fact -never contemporaneously with my trip.

Breck & Frisco- summer solstice

I’ve done a thing… I rented my house in golden- aka what’s been HOMEbase since May, 2009 … and I’ve committed myself to some months of wonder - adventure - exploration - and self love/self care … it’s exciting and so far I love being in new places and spaces and trying different things on for size.

Thankful for the van & other lodging, for a flexible schedule and the ability to work from anywhere, grateful for my health and well-being; yeah, it’s FULL SEND for me after last year’s events and trips were disrupted due to the crash— absolutely unapologetically going for it and I don’t care what anyone thinks about it ! 💖 🚀

Last night I raced in a breck Wednesday night mtn bike race series for the first time ever. The trails were new to me and I didn’t get a chance to preride much of it so I was racing blind 🤪which isn’t my favorite. I’m still battling anemia related to the miscarriage two months ago and my hemoglobin remains low so I really feel the shortage of red blood cells up at 10k feet elevation ! But I wanted to have fun and just explore and try new things - so I did ! After all it’s the solstice and what a difference in this solstice versus last year ! 🤩

The race was fun/ my heart rate was pegged - no matter how hard or fast I climb I still get beat by the other women on the descents. Maddening for sure but I’ve got Loads of work to do in my desire to be a more proficient mtn-biker.

Mother Nature put on QUITE show out there. We had the most gorgeous weather and temps. Wow.

After the race we relocated to Frisco to a campsite I’d reserved near the lake. We enjoyed the most amazing sunset hike and the clouds just blew my mind. I stayed up way past my bedtime but then again isn’t that the point of the longest day of the year ?!? The overwhelming feelings of gratitude washed over me like waves. I feel more like myself than I have for months.

We woke the next morning and went for a lovely run- which was a pivot from my original plan of riding the reverse Cooper triangle route on my road bike. As I felt into what I needed and what my body wanted (something I do every morning nowadays), I knew my back was tight from racing last night and I wanted to involve Ramsey and so the opportunity to run alongside a gorgeous lake (something i don’t normally have the chance to do!) overrode the road bike ride and away we went for a beautiful morning run/jog/hike. 💯 stoked on my decision.

One of the absolutely essential apps I use and happily pay for in my adventures is trail forks. You can download an entire state at once so I’ve always got all the trails and maps accessible even when my phone doesn’t have signal. It’s kept me from getting lost so many times and helps me quickly find my way to trails etc. I highly recommend ! Here’s the route of our run:

Where to next ? Well …I know the answer to that of course but I’ll never share my adventures or plans online until after I’ve left the place or done the thing. Safety first. 👋🏻

Prescott AZ- racing & forest-bathing 🌳

This 🚐 trip kicks off with a lovely dose of #americana - some ball sports, some lively hockey, some bike racing, kids running around, the requisite amount of dirt and dust, loads of campers and RVs, ample 🇺🇸 flying and one helleva sunset ... 🌅 I took the @canonusa out to capture all the feels. #sunsetvibes🌅 💕

Life these days offers glimpses of normalcy and it feels really *really* good. 🙏🏼

Also can I get an amen for @dippindots ?! I haven’t had these in probably 20 years. What a treat. 😋.

Ok so where are we? We’re in a large sports complex park in Prescott, AZ. Here for a mountain bike race, I’m experiencing for the first time this parking lot-event style camping vibe.
This wouldn’t be my top vanlife venue choice on a regular basis …but for this event and experience it’s totally fine. This location boasts temps a full 20-25 degrees than in Phoenix so we’re enjoying the nice cool evening temps and the escape from the big-city-heat.

Pros: restrooms close by, lots of friendly humans around, safe.
Cons: all the humans. And pavement.

Friday night parking lot camp vibes …

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Saturday’s race went GREAT! I actually warmed up for this race and implemented lessons I learned in March’s bike race … and took the win! I raced women intermediate 40-49, won my age group.
More importantly I felt great - I executed food, warmup and race strategies. I hit the opening stretch and hole shot into the first climb, at the front, and it paid off. I got more and more comfortable with the fast & flowy portions of the course as the race went along. We raced at noon so I did some yoga and a walk beforehand. Not normally things I’d do pre race but I wanted to keep my face out of my phone as I sat there nervously waiting for my start :)

One of the race organizers shown above- Les- was so kind. The young gal Pictured -Cat-was the one in front of me I could never quite close in on. She races NCAA triathlon for ASU. She’s 20 years younger than me. The girl who finished right behind me was 18. You have to love a spot that allows women of all ages to closely compete and root one another on ! I highly recommend the MBAA events. This was mY first and I’ll definitely be back it was great !

As I chatted with Cat at the finish I met her friends including a guy named Jason from Bend OR. I mentioned the campsites I was considering for the evening and he gave me some great recommendations as he’d been camping in Prescott for over two weeks. Thankfully we had this convo as the place I planned to camp was full (so many are not doing online reservations only First come First serve). So I moved to the spot Jason had recommended and he was right — it is amazing !!! We were super lucky to snag the last spot.

Once Ramsey and I got settled in we went out for a short hike. There are so many trails right here ! She is such a patient photo subject ;)

Some quick dinner (eggs, Tomato, guac, grapes- a little Bit of everything from the fridge) and some CBD drops and soda to recover from the day and wind down … and then it was time for some evening yoga and star gazing before bed.

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Sunday morning we awoke to the best sights and sounds: quiet. And big trees. The kind of stillness and peace we really can only find in nature and these big trees surrounding us make it even more magical. Our Campsite is nice and big, With ample room for me to throw the ball for Ramsey and for her to walk around and explore. There are birds all around us. It’s delightful. 🐦
I made some coffee, oatmeal, got out my journal (and yeah my 👩‍💻 too) and soaked in the special vibes of this place. I paid to stay a second night since I’m liking it so much. (I usually wait till after night 1 to decide, to be sure my gut has a good vibe about the spot).

I highly recommend this place If you’re ever in the area. It’s west of Prescott and we’re at close to 6000 feet elevation so it’s nice and cool here. I use the Recreation.gov app to scout spots like This- some even have a QR code so you can use a CC to pay for your campsite (otherwise it’s always cash or check).
again though- many are only doing FF right now and not allowing online reservations.

Pros of this site: great cell signal so I was able to use my hotspot to work on my 👨‍💻; sites are spaced apart so you have lots of room to move and privacy; great tree cover and lots of trails nearby.
Cons: the ATV crowd riding through the campground BRAAAAAAPPPPing. 🤦‍♀️

…the other spot nearby I had planned to stay was the Yavapai campground.
It was full but we got to see some cool stuff on the drive, like this overlook :

Then, as these things often go, I connected with Cat, Jason and their crew and we went out for a fun and chill mtn bike ride on the trail system near my campground. Jason is a professional photographer and he brought his camera along and snapped shots of us on the ride and “sessioning” certain tech sections. It was so fun to be part of a totally random group ride. I’ve missed this so much- being out in the world meeting people like this.

Jason’s professional pics below. Find him at Photo 13 Media.

Post ride, Ramsey and I went for a nice long run up here in the woods. It feels like Colorado … and if I’m being honest, I think we’re both a bit homesick. ;)

And then it was time for our second night in the woods and yoga on the forest floor —Delightful… 🙏🏼

“The key to unlocking the power of the forest is in the five senses. Let nature enter through your ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hands and feet. Listen to the birds singing and the breeze rustling in the leaves of the trees. Look at the different greens of the trees and the sunlight filtering through the branches. Smell the fragrance of the forest and breathe in the natural aromatherapy of phytoncides. Taste the freshness of the air as you take deep breaths. Place your hands on the trunk of a tree. Dip your fingers or toes in a stream. Lie on the ground. Drink in the flavor of the forest and release your sense of joy and calm. This is your sixth sense, a state of mind. Now you have connected with nature. You have crossed the bridge to happiness.”

— https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing

A Giant Slice of Humble Pie 🥧

Quick quiz…
1️⃣ it’s really important to cool down after a hard, short race.

2️⃣it’s really important to warm up before a race involving a “hole shot.”

3️⃣intervals are the only way to truly improve fitness and performance; therefore it’s important to include them in training each week.

4️⃣all of the above.

Before the start. ICYMI- Drinking coffee in the van is NOT a proper warmup. 👍

If you said 4️⃣above, you’d be right.
Even though I’m not new to bike racing I committed several cardinal sins today and acted like a total newbie: I didn’t eat three hours before my race. I didn’t cool down last night. I didn’t warm up this morning.
When the race started and my group took off uphill towards the single track I popped. Immediately. Legs imploded. 💥 My race was over a few minutes into the thing. I watched my entire AG ride away from me and I never saw them again.

As easy as it was for me to spend the next four hours reading myself the riot act, I didn’t.

I honestly didn’t.
I haven’t done many intervals or much structured training of any kind during the pandemic. Races were cancelled and TBH it turned into a nice long off-season. I rode when it felt good. I ran when it felt good. And after twenty years of structured training, racing, teaching spin classes and following interval regimens my body got a much needed break. It honestly felt the best it’s felt in a long time last year.
I’ve been riding lots of road miles in 2021 but without structure or intensity now and then, I haven’t made any gains towards race fitness. And I knew that.
I also knew this morning when it was cold and rainy and I sat in my van drinking the precious, aka my coffee, that I should’ve been out warming up. I knew that last night when I went from a full gas race effort to driving my van to the campsite and not cooling down, that my legs would feel awful the next day.

Sometimes, we must be reminded of the things we’ve learned already but forgot or pretended didn’t really matter…. today I got re-reminded.

In addition, there were some personal wins:

🏆 I started. I finished. I didn’t crash. I rode some techy-ish stuff that previously would have scared me. I had numerous chances on course to bail out to my van and drive away. Or nap. And I didn’t. My legs felt empty from the start and yet I kept riding. I ate … drank … focused on form and kept going and I felt better the longer I stayed on the bike… four hours later I finished.

This morning’s view out my van window ⛈

Sometimes just throwing a leg over the top tube on a cold rainy Saturday and pedaling four hours on the mountain bike is a win. I mentally stayed in a positive place even as I suffered - my legs did NOT get the memo that I needed their participation today. They felt like total 🗑! Today the head ruled the roost and kept my body in the game. Given the cold and rainy weather, had I been home I would NOT have ridden four hours on the road or inside on the trainer. So again- that’s a win; I netted some fitness today that I didn’t have this morning.
and …I filled up on humble pie. 🥧 Big time.
Last place by a LONG shot. Friends— first place finished over an HOUR ahead of me. In 40 miles that is a proper ass-whooping.
Yes. I’ve got work to do. Today was a wonderful reminder and kick in the pants.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest that you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

Seriously MAD props to the women out here CRUSHING it. They’ve obviously been putting in the work. It’s super inspiring. I don’t love getting my ass handed to me but I do love the motivation-by-contagion I caught out here. 🔥

Love it when a fellow PeopleForBikes fan has the same socks ;) 📷 cred: Julie Lyon

Post race I was cold and wet. Found myself a hot shower in the campground showers and then made a warm lunch of udon noodles and hot chocolate ! Looking forward to another chill and quiet evening in the van out here in the desert 🏜 . The rain is a nice touch now that I’m warm and dry INSIDE the 🚐 😊!

Lunch was deliciously warm.

Wanna try some of this tasty HUEL?? I LOVE the spicy indian curry!! Click HERE to get $15 off your order!

Post race recovery (& dinner) looked like this:

Back to being a ‘Newb & Pandemic-versary

The tears welled up in my eyes today as I stood near the start line for the national anthem. It gripped me by the throat - more, I dare say- than ever before. My throat tightened and emotions bubbled up as I reflected on my reality:

I am at the start line of a bike race. 🇺🇸 🚲

One year ago, my world (and your world & the entire world) felt like it was ending. We were locked down and scared out of our minds with so much uncertainty, so many unknowns, so much panic. For the first time in my lifetime I went to my local Sprouts in March of 2020 and saw many of the shelves totally empty. How could we NOT panic when we saw our neighbors hoarding food and supplies?!

Colorado hard core locked things down right around St Patty’s day. That’s the day I really felt the shift and began to self quarantine because suddenly we were surrounded by this invisible, indifferent and apparently very random and contagious killer called Covid…. Those were the days when I wondered what was next - would banks & ATMs go bust? (Anyone else get charged by their bank for trying to withdraw cash to have on hand? 👋🏼… yeah that was scary as hell - they didn’t want to part with it). I remember thinking I should’ve stocked iodine tabs at home in case water became scarce. A generator suddenly sounded like a really good idea but I didn’t have one. We worried about whether the gas pumps would run out. We laughed about the TP shortage- kind of. A shortage of anything in this day and age was such a foreign concept…. How far would it all go? I grew tired quite quickly of the word ‘unprecedented.’ Ugh 🤦‍♀️ yes it was -and also let’s stop saying that word over and over.

I remember thinking how thankful I was that Waste Management was still coming to get our trash- because … what if they hadn’t ?
Eerily and overnight -rush hour disappeared. I mean vanished. POOF. I could have WALKED down Highway 58 in Golden or jogged down Colfax if I’d wanted to. I rode the 470 bike path along 470 and could count the cars on two hands. People joked about it being apocolypic and yes— it very much was.

I recall Nat Geo posting that new earth tremors were noticed because we’d all quieted down. The air in Denver was the clearest I’ve ever seen - atop North Table Mountain looking down on denver there was no longer that brownish haze. We all stopped going places and hunkered down. Mother Earth got to catch her breath. 🌍

The upside- we saw people taking to bikes like never before. Summer camps and school clubs and vacations were cancelled and families looked to bikes as one of the few things NOT cancelled. More people riding and fewer people driving meant we didn’t get a call in my office that entire 8 weeks from any injured cyclist hit by a motorist. It was a small win in the midst of an absolutely terrifying time.

A year ago I didn’t know if we’d ever get to bike race again. I didn’t know when I’d get to see the cycling community again. I didn’t know how long I would be locked up in my house unable to go anywhere.
And yet today there I was. About to toe the line of a race.
And let me tell you- it has been a MINUTE since I’ve had the pre race 🤮 jitters. I mean I can’t recall the last time I was so nervous and felt so new ….

Yes, I’ve been a bike racer for a long time. But (aside from one 50-mile mtn bike race years ago and the couple chill 12-hour mtn bike races I’ve done on my singlespeed), I’ve not honestly raced proper mountain bike events and certainly never one for 3-days/stages.
I felt like a proper NEWB. Aka newbie.
I had to readjust my expectations and goals. From trying to podium or win, as historically was the case, to instead— having fun (first 🏆), learning something new (second 🏆), meeting new people and not crashing (ties for third 🏆).

In total candor I was so nervous about this I almost talked myself out of coming to the race at all. That’s right. I almost chickened out. The fears of the unknowns and newness almost steered me into excusing myself due to rain or life stress or other reas…er, excuses.
I am so glad I didn’t chicken out. 🐔 Today I got to see racing through the eyes of a terrified newbie all over again. What kind of nutrition and warmup? What about kit versus skinsuit ? Will my fitness matter or will my skills hold me back? I don’t want to crash. Crashing hurts.

I texted my friend Shannon - a legit mtn biker- and asked him to weigh in on the skinsuit issue. And guess what. Several of my competitors also had skinsuits on - moral: wear what makes you feel fast. Period.

I was a BALL OF NERVES I tell you. And yet I had committed to myself to work more on moutntain biking in 2021– a commitment I made last year during the pandemic when I was looking for solace and a focus. Today I made good on my promise. I loaded up my new “big girl bike” and I decided to wear my “roadie” skinsuit and I gave it my all. I haven’t seen heartrates that high in years. I can’t remember the last time I have had the post-race “hack” … it has been a long time and it felt good to be back in the game.


As predicted … today’s short and punchy time trial looked like this: me crushing the climbs & losing precious time on descents /tech sections. Any time I would make up on a fitness-dependent spot I’d lose on a skills-dependent spot. I finished 6th out of 7 in my AG.

Now-the old megan would have been disappointed. This megan is thrilled we get to race at all and she’s thrilled she even toed the line today and she’s stoked she didn’t crash.

Tomorrow’s stage is the XC 40miler. Sunday’s stage is enduro format where we are timed based on fastest descent times on three segments.

I appreciate events like this which require a combo of skills and fitness. It’s what I once appreciated about cyclocross racing too. That’s not to say my fitness can’t use some work- it can. I haven’t done intervals in a realllllllly long time :)

So yeah- it’s fun to be a newbie again. It’s fun to do things that scare me and to enjoy them and push myself and yes- camp in the van too 🚐 …

I have SO missed my wonderful cycling community and it’s surreal to be back in the midst of it (albeit masked)… It’s something I won’t take for granted again that’s for sure. 🙏🏼

With lovely lady and friend Julie Lyon- she gets credit for race pics above 🙏🏼 💕

The afternoon and evening ended with a walk with Ramsey, camera time as well as a healthy van dinner and then some self care in the van like lax ball rolling and foam roller and meditation on the neck cradle. I got to try out my newest van toy- a usb /cordless mini blender. It was PERFECT for my post race recovery shake!!

Since I have signal out here in the van this trip, I’m keeping up with my nightly MasterClass sessions. This one on sleep 😴 has been really informative and interesting. I definitely recommend it.

Wanna try a free week of MasterClass? Comment below and I can email you a guest pass. (Limited to the first three takers).

Campsite experiment

So after parking the van for a couple weeks now, it’s funny how much I was itching to get her back out into the wild.
(Truthfully I was needing some wilderness and so was Ramsey but I didn’t know just how much until we got out here).
and— it is her (the van’s) one-month anniversary so I felt a celebration was in order! ;)
For this third outing I decided to try a campsite in a regional park - which boasts hundreds of miles of trails. Far enough away from city life and hustle bustle but contained enough for me to feel safe and not a super far drive to get here.

While I knew it would mean camping near other humans, I also continue to learn and refine my processes & I feel like these baby steps are best done when civilization is still fairly nearby.
Plus- restrooms. *And this one came with an unexpected bonus: a hot shower !

Ramsey and I loaded up and went to the park. When we arrived I learned all tent spots were full because- wait for it … there is a bike race here today !! Hahaha. Seriously that struck me as funny. I was attempting to get away & I got myself right into the middle of a mountain bike race. 😆
LESSON: always check your target park or campground website in advance for special events & to ensure there will be a tent spot /campsite. 🤦‍♀️

Well- luckily there were still spots in the overflow parking which TBH is the best area since it’s removed from the mayhem of the main camping areas where the racers are all staying AND it has the newer restrooms. I found myself parked near three other vehicles and their occupants proved to be super friendly neighbors. Each of them taught me something new tonight. So for that and the conversations I am super grateful. I do love talking to strangers.

Once we parked and settled in, we set out for a nice long midday run/hike. Ramsey was over the moon to be out here doing the work. This is where she truly thrives. She is the opposite of a couch potato !

Post run, I tried to chase rehydrating with a tall bottle of Skratch. I feel like hydration is a battle I am constantly losing out here in the desert 🐪 😓.

After that I came back, changed, and got on the Cannondale Fsi hard tail mountain bike for the dusk golden hour trail bliss. Hardly anyone was out there- I assume the racers were all resting up for tomorrow and the light and vibe out there was soooo good.
The paparazzi snagged a couple pics of me wearing my brand new Champion System 3/4 trail jersey with our latest custom design featuring my spirit animal, the hummingbird. We called it the BE FIERCE kit. It’s rad. (Artwork by my friend Luis Soto). Something about the desert 🏜 + the mindset I was in + the new kit gave me wings. 🐦 The simplicity of the singlespeed always brings me joy, too. No complications- no fuss.

Once back at the van, it was time to hang out my gear to air dry for a 2nd use tomorrow. I’m not gonna lie I had a lot of fun setting up these photos. (Side note: if van life has taught me nothing else so far it’s that the smallest littlest tasks are worthy of extra time and attention and reward me with the most joy).

Ramsey and I took in the incredible sunset tonight and went for a quick walk before dark. I tell you what- I am a mountains and colorado girl in my soul forever, AND the desert has also always had a piece of my heart ever since I was a little girl. 🏜 🌵

Grandma Jane wintered down here and after years of visiting her during the winters, I always wanted to spend my winters here too. Not when I eventually retired mind you- but as soon as it was possible.
For the first time ever, and it’s worth really noting this and me celebrating it, I am finally living that dream and it’s my current reality. Covid has made lawyering possible from anywhere with everyone on zoom and I am taking full advantage. 🙏🏼

Last, it was time for my most favorite part of vanlife: meal prep. Tonight’s random meal consisted of a noodle bowl, blueberries, salt&vinegar chips, hot chocolate and seltzer. Not the healthiest ever, but it really hit the spot and it was all doable with hot water heated on the van stove.

The night ends with me typing this blog while my legs are up recovering and getting ready for another active day tomorrow. 😊

In summary it was the perfect day- dog, van, sun, outdoor movement and exercise, dinner, rest, camera and photography practice, a little contemporaneous blogging and … I’m off to catch some 💤 😴 so I can do it all again tomorrow.

Stay hydrated and energized on YOUR adventures! I recommend Skratch Labs (made in Boulder, CO!) drink mixes for your bike rides and trail runs! Order some using the link below!

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