Another Year Another Change (summer 2013)

Cargo Tops

We sold our roof top tents Oct 2013 just before leaving Colorado.  Although they were great while we had them, we needed something that allowed us a bit more mobility.  When we had them set up in camp it made us immobile.  We would have to pack them both up, shift half of our sleeping gear (about half could fold up inside the rooftop tents themselves) into the van or leave in a ground tent so we could go to a new beach for the day, or go to town for water and food.

It got old real quick.

With our gang its a challenge to carry enough fresh food and water for more than about 4 days so that’s how often we’d have to pack them up.  But sometimes we stay places for longer than that, like Los Frailles, MX where we stayed for 3.5 months, and Cortez, CO for 4.5 months.

But when Mitchell built Girlfriend it changed the dynamics.  That was another heavy weight to put on top and we certainly, under no circumstances, were going to be loading and unloading that lug to access our roof top tents.  So, they had to go.

You’ll see that Everette built cargo boxes he placed on the roof racks, and above that he used some metal fence posts to support the 16 ft dory.  Then there’s the fishing kayak resting against that, and 2 surfboards on the very top.  Underneath the dory is a cargo bag full of winter jackets and extra bedding along with some lifejackets (I accidentally ripped the bag open at the Hermosillo airport being too high pulling up beside a short overhang to exit the parking lot.  When I happened to look up in the sideview mirror and notice one of the blankets exposed I knew I’d had a booboo.  No more cargo bag.)

So, we’ve moved down to ground tents.  Tents that we can set up and leave in place and go on a day’s adventure and return in the dark and its ready for us to crawl right into.

This is more what our campsite looks like now.

near Sycamore Wash (Nogales, AZ)

in Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge, AZ

We have a total of 6 tents as most of the children chose to sleep on their own, except the teen girls which was somewhat surprising!

We set up tarps to make like a courtyard in the centre and our tents open up onto the courtyard.  It gives us a feeling of community, yet the kids have their private place to go if they need some privacy.

Same wheels (van) with a few adjustments.  But the van is doing real well.  Showing some wear ‘n tear, gone about 30,000 km in the past year.

So, that’s the update on our wheels and how we are living, as of Nov 8. 2013 (edited Jan 2014)

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