July Travel Update

July has been an interesting month, to say the least. We said goodbye to family in South Dakota and began our slightly mad journey to the East coast. The journey was mad only because we chose to do it in the hottest month of the year in a bus without air conditioning. July was also a lot of driving and not a lot of enjoying locations on the map, hopefully August will slow down and cool off a bit. We are still on track to visit all 49 driveable states by 2020 and we knocked several off of the list in July.

A North Dakota National Park

We are on a journey to see all 50 states together and to take our bus to 49 of them, so a side trip to North Dakota was needed. ND gets a lot of hate from the other states and it is pretty obvious why…there is not a lot there. One place worth mention and a visit if you are close is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Unfortunately for us, our vehicle was too big to pass through the construction area on the road in the park so we only got to see a portion of Teddy’s park.

Wild Horse herd at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The claim to fame of the park is its wild horse herd, which we were lucky enough to see in our short time there. These some 1000 horses roam free here and are truly something to behold. Like most of the plains, there are a ton of prairie dogs and bison to see roaming the banks of the Missouri River. The landscape and horses make a visit to this park the MOST interesting thing that one could do when visiting North Dakota, and I say that in the nicest way possible. 

Headwaters of Big Muddy

Due to the time of year that we are crossing the country, most of the things that we would like to do in Minnesota are in the far-north and simply not an option right now. We have plans for a Boundary Waters trip someday that will allow us to explore Minnesota more in-depth. An attraction that we did get to visit in Minnesota was Itasca State Park near Bemidji. Lake Itasca is the start of the Mississippi River and at the headwaters Big Muddy is a simple 8-foot wide stream. 

The Mighty Mississippi starts here!
Itasca State Park is riddled with bike trails

The park is extremely nice and we gladly paid for camping to have access to the showers and water fill up. The bike trails that run through the park were also a super nice way to go check out the mighty Mississippi without having to move the bus.

Caves in Iowa?

 Another state on our list that was relatively close to our route was Iowa. Although we would have loved to hang around for RAGBRAI (on our bucket list for sure) the only other thing that we found of interest to do in Iowa was to go caving. You read that right, we found a cave to explore in IOWA! It would be unfair to compare these caves to the caves we just explored in South Dakota as they are completely different types of caves and these are not nearly as elaborate or as well-preserved as the caves in South Dakota.
We hiked all over the small Maquoketa Caves State Parkand had mostly free rein of the some 10-12 caves in the valley. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack on any real rules or regulations in the park and it was pretty much chaos compared to the National Park managed caves that we visited in June. Would I travel across the midwest to walk around these caves in East Central Iowa? No. But I would stop in on my way to other places on the East Coast. 

This was THE only cool place to hang out in Iowa

Iowa was also a really good stop to get my stitches removed from my misadventure in SD with a table saw. It cost $2500 to stitch my finger in South Dakota and only $97 to remove the stitches in Iowa. 

Newest US National Park in Indiana

I too have been seeing the buzz all over social media about Indiana finally having a National Park, Indiana Dunes National Park. Previously designated a Lakeshore, the National Park Service has simply slapped a Nat’l Park sign on the entrance and has neglected to do much of anything else. We spent the day hanging out on the beach and attempting to enjoy the waves of Lake Michigan lapping on the sand. In true National Park style, there were thousands of people in the park and no accommodations had been made for extra trash or more porta-potties and parking at 8AM was a nightmare for a 22-foot long school bus. 

We still had a good time as we tend to do just about anywhere, but we hope the NPS invests in Indiana before the next time we visit. The BEST part about our trip across the midwest was getting to meet up with a bunch of Rachael’s extended family, most of whom I (Zach) had never met. We were welcomed in to the air conditioning, thankfully, and we got to go out to lunch with most of the Fort Wayne cousins. It was an absolute treat and we now have a reason to come back to Northeast Indiana!

Bay City Bust

We made a mistake- We should have driven the West Coast of Michigan and explored the Upper Peninsula for a couple of weeks while a heat wave attacked the midwest, but we didn’t. Instead we wanted to explore part of Ontario so we drove through the least pretty and most boring section of Michigan, the Southeast. I had visited Bay City as a kid and remember it being a type of coastal town with pretty boats, I was twelve after all. We made the drive to Bay City to find a ghost town. Shops were closed in the middle of the day, streets were empty, and it just seemed like nothing had happened here in a long time, perhaps since I was there as a twelve year old. 

We hung out by the river and got some work done but soon made plans to escape Michigan and head to Canada, at least we would have Tim Hortons to console us. And console us it did. Although Tim Hortons sold to the company that owns Burger King, we will still continue to patronize them as long as they continue to serve delicious crullers and affordable coffee.

Shortest International Visit EVER

Entering into Canada north of Detroit was a really smooth border crossing. Something that always happens in our bus, people tend to think we smoke weed, which we don’t. No huge political stance or moral objections to it, it’s just not our thing. The border agent seemed to think we looked like drug users and informed us several times that weed was legal in Michigan and in Canada, we simply needed to declare it, only we had nothing to declare. Ahh the joys of living in a school bus and having long hair!

We spent a few days in Canada lounging along the North Shore of Lake Erie in the little town of Port Stanley. This town was the perfect place to charge the batteries and sit in the cold lake while record highs smacked the Midwest and Northeast. We found public camping near a beach and road our bikes or walked all over town and worked in a nearby coffee shop when we needed to. It was a pleasant couple of days. 

Niagara Falls was the other reason that we wanted to cross Ontario and we were not disappointed. Although Niagara is a haven for tourists, the falls are still beautiful, especially from the Canadian side. After exploring around the falls, we prepared for another breezy border crossing back into the states and we suddenly found ourselves in New York!

Upstate New York

Upstate New York is a really interesting place to visit. The bulk of attractions in Upstate revolve around the lakes region of the Finger Lakes, Lake Champlain, and Adirondack Park. New York is also home to the Number 1 State Park in the United States, Letchworth State Park and was the site of the Winter Olympic Games in the 80’s.

As is the case with most of the Eastern US, public land is rare, but we found several good camping spots and explored the North end of the state, one of which was next to a retired fire tower. Unfortunately, we did not have a ton of time to spend in New York and hopefully we can come back and spend a bit more time when the weather is cooler.

Vermont and New Hampshire

 Despite the challenges of camping for free in VT and NH, we still managed to see some sites like the Ben and Jerry’s. Factory, the Green Mountain National Forest, White Mountain National Forest, and beautiful landscapes of dense green forest along the way. We found there were simply too many people touristing for our speed. Also, the heat was a bit much. The temperature was in the 90’s during the day and high 70’s at night and in a bus with no AC, that is simply too hot. 

We will likely make a weekend trip to Vermont and New Hampshire in the fall some day, but for now we are heading North!

We are Quitting Buslife!

We are quitting #buslife and parking the bus! Our Skoolie has provided us thousands of miles of adventure and exploration through some of the coolest parts of the Western US. If you haven’t seen our bus, you can catch up by checking out our Bus Build Page!

Okienomad’s Skoolie Bus Build

Our Skoolie will stay around and will eventually tow our new adventure rig to future destinations. Until then we will be traveling in a new-to-us 1986 Toyota 4Runner! The 4×4 will allow us to see more of the backroads and off-road trails that the world has to offer. We loved traveling in the bus, but having a small, nimble, and capable truck will allow us flexibility to travel farther. Without delay, here is the new truck!

The ’86 will obviously need some work before we take off on the road again! Plans include a new paint job, new bumpers, suspension refresh, rear platform build out, and a roof top tent. The goal behind this build is to have a capable, reliable, and rugged off-road machine to explore deep into the wilderness.

Here are some of the ways you can follow along with our build:

We have worked tirelessly on the truck to make it as reliable, capable, and fun as we could on a limited budget. The result is a great truck to get us into the wilds of Baja. 

’86 4Runner South of Ensenada

Rachael and I will be spending the Winter in Baja housesitting at an off-grid ranch. We have always really enjoyed this lifestyle and hope to learn more about how we wish to setup our future off-grid home. We will be shifting a lot of our content to off-grid living topics like solar power, aspects of ranch life, and the realities of living in remote areas. We hope you enjoy the new content and we look forward to sharing the next leg of our adventures.

As always, thank you for reading along on our travels and adventures. Hopefully you were entertained, enlightened, or otherwise felt like the last few minutes reading this post was a worthwhile investment of your time. If you enjoyed our content, there are a few ways that you can help promote what we do and keep us on the road a little longer:

  • Follow us on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The more viewers, subscribers, likes and comments, the better our pages rank. 
  • Share this article or our website with others that you think might enjoy it. 


Over Prepared and Underprepared: How Both Can Keep You From Exploring

Hammock Camp Buffalo River Arkansas

By: Ethan Hayman

Whether you choose to explore the world around you by motor vehicle, bicycle, or by foot there is a fine line between wandering dangerously into the unknown with no preparation, being safely prepared for the adventure ahead, and being paralyzed by the insecurity of not having every piece of equipment you can imagine. If your goal is to explore the world and to be able to do so for a long time there are certain items and skills that will be necessities and others that can simply keep you from exploring at all. The most important question to ask is, do you want to sit around and wait for the stars to align, or do you want to plunge head first into the unknown and seize every opportunity for adventure?

The first multi day backpacking trip I ever did definitely fell on the less prepared end of the spectrum. Three of my best friends and I had planned out a five day fifty mile plus trek through the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri. Combined, we had very little experience and almost no proper gear suited to the task at hand. Those of us with some cash to spend invested in various items of the outdoors persuasion, and do we ever look back and laugh at those choices. Some items were solid selections. I purchased a pair of Vasque hiking boots which have now been worn for four years, gone hundreds of miles, summited peaks in Colorado, traversed the Grand Canyon, and waded through the Buffalo National River. I also bought a Fiskars chopping axe which weighed over five pounds and was proudly strapped to the outside of my pack to be carried fifty miles and was necessary approximately zero times. One friend opted to spend no money and wore old sneakers, military fatigues (in navy digital camouflage), and borrowed an ancient external frame backpack.

To keep a long story short, we got absolutely destroyed within two days of being on the trail. Five inches of rain fell the morning we were supposed to set off, turning our path into a tiny flowing river and making every step treacherous. The forecast also changed drastically from when we packed up and when we arrived leaving us expecting mild weather. Instead we woke up to snow falling the second morning. It was at this point that our spirits were broken and we decided to detour to a nearby state park and call for a very expensive shuttle ride back to our vehicle. Many experienced backpackers have told us we were foolish for going out with the equipment and lack of experience we had. We certainly felt foolish and were lucky that no serious injuries occured, communications were maintained, and there were options to bail out. To add to the point here, two of us attempted a return trip at the opposite time of the year with a different group and experienced one hundred degree temperatures and drought causing the expedition to throw in the towel at the exact same location as on the first attempt. All that being said, I am so thankful that I experienced both of those trips and would absolutely not trade the memories for anything. We learned a great deal about ourselves, our equipment, and our passion the hard way. And sometimes that’s the best way.

Since these experiences, many more lessons have been learned and many thousands of miles have been successfully traversed by foot, car, and bicycle. As I gain more experience and begin to slowly accumulate better, more useful equipment I find that sometimes I am held back by this desire to have all the right gear before setting off on the next adventure. Some of the hesitation is warranted, lack of potable water on our second trip to the MTNF could have been a fatal mistake, but I will probably be ok on every trip without a solar panel, 50” LED light bar or even steel bumpers on my expedition rig. While all of these can make certain situations easier, safer or simply more convenient the lack of them should never keep you from exploring the world around you.

As long as you have the basics covered, water/food, communications, first aid, navigation, and shelter I say go out and find something amazing in the world around you. Waiting until you have every tool and gadget will keep you from ever seeing the world and being totally unprepared could end your grand adventure we call life, but with minimal expense, basic gear and careful planning you should be all set to get out there and safely venture into the unknown.

JK Jeep Offroad Overlanding

Today’s post was written by Ethan Hayman. Ethan is a hiker, wood-worker, and general outdoorsman. Ethan’s adventures take him all over the South Central United States including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona. Follow him on Facebook to keep up with his shenanagins

If you would like to contribute to the blog, submit your short stories or articles to okienomads@gmail.com. As always, check out our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Skoolie Overland Travel Part 2: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Great Travel Rig

I hope you have had a chance to read Part 1 of this article before reading this one. In the first article on this topic we cover some of the negative aspects of living in a Skoolie-conversion, a lot of which we did not expect before leaving for a period of extended travel across the United States.

Check it out here: Skoolie Overland Travel Part 1: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Bad Travel Rig

Everything AND the kitchen sink

Firstly, when living in a school bus conversion, there is enough room to bring anything you would need for an adventure. We have a very small bus and are still able to cram in a queen-sized bed, a big refrigerator, all of the camera equipment we could need, 4 bicycles, 2 kayaks, and more books than we will be able to read through the course of the summer.

Our school bus is around 75 square-feet of living space and that is A LOT compared to conversion vans and truck campers. We have friends that travel in off-road trucks with slide-ins or roof top tents and the first thing they comment on is the space. “There is so much room for activities!” All Will Ferrell quotes aside, when it rains, snows, or drops below freezing, we are warm and dry inside. Rachael’s yoga practice can still carry on even if there is a torrential downpour outside.

 

 

Custom cabinets that need bungees to stay shut

Another aspect of traveling in a Skoolie is that the design is 100% customizable! The builder can customize the design and layout however they see fit. Once the seats and the floor are yanked out, the bus can be built to include anything that you can fit in the space. Cruise the interwebs for a bit and you will find Skoolies with 2000+ watt solar systems, full-size bathtubs, mobile workstations, the opportunities inside are endless. The biggest challenge is making the decision on toilet vs. no toilet.

We built a simple interior using remedial carpentry skills and equipment, but it has served us really well so far. You can see the inside of our bus on our video tour below:

 

An aspect of Skoolie ownership that we did not expect is that Skoolies, especially short Skoolies, are surprisingly capable off-road. No, we are not seeking out off-road opportunities to test the flex of our suspension or drive through 4-foot deep mud holes, but to get to more remote campsites we have endured some off-camber and sketchy situations.

Smaller busses are built on similar chassis to full-size trucks, so in general, there shouldn’t be much difference between taking a Chevy 3500 Silverado and the Okienomad’s Skoolie down a Forest Service road. The motor in our bus is shared with the military Humvee and a lot of farm trucks and Suburban’s of the past 25 years, so it is no surprise that when geared right, out bus will climb up and over some stuff.

Below is a photo of a campsite that we were rewarded with after an arduous climb up a rutted Forest Service road near Anza, CA. Worth it!

 

As mentioned in Part 1 of this article, one of our favorite and least favorite parts of Skoolie overland travel is that Skoolies are slow! How slow you ask? We got passed by a full-size pickup hauling a trailer that had to have been 12,000 pounds or more like we were standing still. I couldn’t even recognize the make of the truck it was moving so fast, or err, we were moving so slowly. The slow speed of the Skoolie up mountain passes, around turns, and over washboard roads makes it the perfect overlanding vehicle, you simply see more than if you were flying by at 75 miles per hour in a new sprinter van.

If we had to choose, we would travel slow every day of the year and not miss a minute of it.

 

One of my favorite aspects of bus travel is that Skoolie conversions do less damage to the environment. Keep in mind that traveling a ton of miles on a less-than-efficient diesel engine through beautiful forests and deserts is not exactly healthy for the environment, however, keeping a big hunk of metal out of a scrap yard and in use is a win for the environment when you consider the alternative of buying a newer vehicle such as an RV or full-size truck camper. We have recycled our bus from its previous life of shuttling kids to a new life of seeing beautiful things every day.

Once we are done with our travels in the bus we will likely park the bus somewhere nice and quiet and use it as a cabin in the woods or a suite for the visiting in-laws or parents. We will only need to add a composting toilet or outhouse and a small shower area to make the Skoolie 100% livable off-grid, reducing the need to use a ton of new material to build a new house someday.

 

A Skoolie for sale now!

Lastly in our list of reasons why a Skoolie is a great overlanding vehicle is that Skoolies are cheap! School districts, churches, and metropolitan transit companies are constantly shuttling out (pun intended) gently used, fleet-maintained vehicle for rock-bottom prices. Most of these vehicles have been maintained since day-one by competent mechanics and are usually on the auction block with less than 200,000 miles on them, a considerably small amount in regards to the life of a well-maintained diesel engine.

Our bus came to us with 107,000 miles on it and other than some neglected maintenance issues by the second owner of the bus, we have had 13,000+ trouble-free miles out of it.

Not only are skoolies cheap to buy, they are cheap to build. You don’t have to have an Insta-famous porcelain tub or a teak-wood deck on the roof of your bus. You can build a bus that is simple 2×4 and plywood construction, slap on a little paint and you are good to hit the road. Our bus was built with materials that are cheap and available at any hardware store with tools that most people already own.

 

If you are still hanging on through all of that negative, I hope you have had the chances to read Part 2 of this article, Skoolie Overland Travel Part 2: Why a Skoolie-Conversion Makes a Bad Travel Rig. We are really happy with our choice to hit the road in our Skoolie and we wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

If you have enjoyed our article, please explore the blog some more as there are tons of stories, write-ups, and photos from our travels around the country. If you want a more streamlined media feed, check out our Instagram and Facebook pages, thanks for stopping by!

 

 

New Travel VLOG Episode: Moab Madness

The newest episode of our Travel VLOG series is live on our YouTube Channel!

In this episode, we travel to Moab, Utah and explore Canyonlands and Arches National Park as well as area mountain biking and hiking. Thank you to everyone that subscribes and follows our adventures, it means a lot to us. Enjoy!

New Travel VLOG Series Episode: Utah or Bust

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that we have begun our year of full-time living on the road and exploring this great country.We are going to document our travels and adventures with you through a new series on our YouTube channel. We have made it to Utah and we want to share the first leg of the journey with you. Check it out!

If you like our content and want to be updated when we post to YouTube, please SUBSCRIBE!

Moab, UT- An Alien Planet of Adventure

When you make the turn on HWY 191 to start the descent into Moab, Utah, you transition from a world of pine trees and alpine peaks to a landscape splattered with globs of slick-rock and arches that are a million years old: it’s like being on Mars. We spent a week in Moab and found it to be a very interesting little town, with just the right amount of quirk.

Camping

Moab is a free camping paradise! The entire town is surrounded by either Forest Service (FS) or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Not to mention the fact that you could probably stealth camp on Main Street and no one would notice, or care. You can see all of the campsites we visited while in the Moab area, we have included GPS coordinates so you can find them on your next visit.

CAMPING IN MOAB

Considerations for boondocking in and around Moab: 

You can’t poop in the desert like you can in the woods

  • Due to the sensitive nature of the desert soil, defecating on the desert floor or even burying your poo is highly destructive to the environment. Bring along a portable toilet or use public facilities that are scattered all over town. Most campgrounds won’t allow you to stay unless you have a toilet set up.
  • It is a desert, bring plenty of water, sunscreen, and common sense

Seriously, temperatures can reach 100+ in the summer time and mixed with the dry heat can zap the energy right out of you. Remember to carry emergency water in your vehicle and always fill up at the visitor centers that offer free water. Below are a few of the free water locations we found in Moab:

  • 7-Eleven on Main St– FREE potable water to fill your RV or water jugs
  • Arches and Canyonlands National Park Visitors Center– The National Parks don’t want you falling out on the trail, use their water, you’ve paid for it already
  • Moab Visitors Center on Center St– The visitors center has every brochure and map       you could need to navigate Moab and they sell OHV permits for off-roading. Stop in and      ask the clerk about the guy from Louisiana with a strange accent.

Attractions/Activities

Moab is home to some of the most unique and beautiful landscapes in the world, most notably in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. These national parks boast some of the most premiere arches and canyons in the World. The town supports world class mountain biking, hiking, and off-roading with a fine mix of culture and entertainment to go with it.

Arches National Park

Based on the name, you can guess what you will see at Arches National Park. Countless 300-million-year old arches abound in the park. These sandstone structures litter the horizon of this well-kept park. We became spoiled in Arches, because the road was just finished in the Fall of 2017 and is in excellent shape. On your way into the park, be sure and stop in the Visitor’s Center and fill up plenty of water bottles and jugs if you have them. You will be surprised at how much water you can drink in the desert.

The Windows Section of the park gives a warm-up hike to a set of arches that are all within a half-mile of the parking lot on easy trails. North Window, South Window, Turret, and Double Arch are well worth the short walk from the car.

Delicate Arch is the main attraction for park visitors and it seems the only way to secure a photo of the arch with no one in the middle of it, is to hike up in the early morning and secure a spot before the sun rises. We did not do that and wished we had. The trail to Delicate was littered with hundreds of people trying their best to climb the moderate slickrock trail. It was hard to be frustrated with the number of people, because at least they are outside taking their kids on a hike. The arch itself is beautiful and well worth the 3-mile roundtrip hike.

Devil’s Garden is the furthermost section of the park and it boasts the most remote trail in the Devil’s Garden Loop Trail. On this 7.2-mile loop, you will see Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch, as well as Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch was especially impressive due to its 306-foot span and interesting history. In September 1991, a massive, several hundred-ton rock fall caused a section of the trail to be blocked off. Hikers were the witnesses to the rock fall and had to scramble to safety.

Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands has a lot to offer both in Island in the Sky and the Needles District. The Island in the Sky offers views and trails from the top of the mesa, down. And the Needles District is known for its needle like features that grow out of the valley floor. The two districts are only 20 miles apart as the crow flies but take over an hour to drive between them.

We opted to stay in the park at the Willow Flat Campground. The campsites were super clean and much closer to the attractions in the park than they would be if we drove in from Moab. Just down the road from our site was the Green River Overlook which sports an amazing view of the Green River from a couple thousand feet up.

Rachael’s Pick in Moab

If you only get time for one stop in Canyonlands make it Mesa Arch. This is a very short hike from the parking lot, about 300 yards. The arch itself was not the grandest we saw, but the view behind the arch was spectacular! We got up just before the sunrise and biked to the trail. It was a cloudy morning, so the sunrise wasn’t awe-inspiring, but as the rays of the sun began to light up different parts of the canyon it seemed like every few minutes the view would change just a little bit. The distant horizon started as just a dark expanse but had so many shapes and colors as the sun brought it to life!

If you have enough time for a little bit longer of a hike take the two-mile round-trip hike out to Grandview Point. Island in the Sky gets its name because the park is on a big mesa. This hike takes you to the southernmost point of the mesa. As you walk out and look to the east there are several layers you will see below you. About 1,500 feet down is the White Rim. It is a layer of rock that looks white compared to all the red rock around you. On this layer there is a trail, the White Rim Trail (they thought really hard about the name), if you are lucky you will see either 4x4s or mountain bikers making the 100-mile trip around the mesa. As you look past the white rim and even further down you can see the Colorado River several thousand feet below you. As you approach the point look to the west and you will see the Green River. At the point you can almost see the confluence of the two rivers and you realize the shape of the mesa is formed by these two rivers.

Both hikes each had great features of their own, but the commonality of the two is the vastness of the views. It was amazing to realize just how far into the distance you could see.

Mountain Biking

If getting off of the road is your thing, then Moab is for you. Whether it is in a 4×4 or on a mountain bike, you can find a perfect trail system in Grand County. Because we live in a bus, we chose to hop on our Mountain Bikes and check out a couple of Trail Systems in the area.

Gemini Bridges

 This trail system has something for everyone. Easy, rolling blue/green runs or black diamond expert runs are available from most every trailhead. We chose to start at the top of the Mesa and ride the downhill first on the Getaway Trail. In hindsight, we would have started at the bottom and ridden up to enjoy the downhill on the way back to the trailhead. You are rewarded at the bottom with a short hike down to the Gemini Bridge which has formed over a stream and is a real sight to see.

Slickrock

The world-renowned trail at slickrock is world renowned because it is difficult. The entire trail is, you guessed it, slick rock. The terran is steep and you must have the appropriate gear and attitude to ride it successfully.

Bring the appropriate bike

It seems that the most successful of riders on Slickrock were on 27.5-29” full-suspension bikes, with flat peddles. Most had some sort of knee protection and had aired down their tires a bit.

Have a good attitude

If you never rode in Moab and you expect to fake it until you make it, you will be very frustrated at the experience. Come in willing to learn and willing to try a section a couple of times before you get it right.

 

Zach’s Pick in Moab

Klonzo

Klonzo has something for every skill level of rider, even specifically for young riders that are new to the sport. This park is located off of Willow Springs Road and is located on BLM land. The trails are well marked and well mapped. I really enjoyed the Wahoo and Vertigo lines on the North side of the road as they really pushed me and my riding ability. The trails combine slickrock and dirt singletrack as well as tough climbs and spirited downhill sections.

Start on the South side and warm up on Rollercoaster, then head over to try your hand at the more difficult but much more rewarding North side.

Food, Groceries, and Ammenities

We typically don’t eat out very much and Moab was no exception, the only place we visited in town for food was a coffee shop, Moab Roasters. The coffee was high quality and they sold pastries and gelato, but no gluten free food options. Other than the coffee shop we did not eat-out, so this review is really only for the grocery store. The City Market on Main Street had plenty of GF options and they were clearly marked with reasonable prices. If you are willing to cook your own food Moab can accommodate!

We did laundry at Moab Laundry Express and it was exceptional. The building was on a quiet street, the inside was clean, and the machines worked great. There are also 24-hour security cameras on the premises, which made us feel even better about the location. The next time we are in Moab, we will do laundry here again.

Moab, UT is such a unique and strange little town that everyone should come and see. Even if you aren’t a die-hard mountain biker or if you don’t like 4x4s, Moab has something to offer everyone. Come check it out before it gets too big and too developed to enjoy.

As always, you can keep up with our photographs and stories on Instagram and Facebook as well as our YouTube page. We hope you are enjoying this journey and we are glad you are following along.

FREE CAMPING: Texas Travel Center- Amarillo, TX

FREE Camping on I-40 near Amarillo, TX (EXIT 76)

GPS: 35.19151, -101.725334

In a previous post we showed you a wonderful little public park to camp in on the side of Interstate-40 if you don’t want to drive any farther. But what if you can’t make it to San Jon, NM? Stop in Amarillo!

*Previous Post: Free Camping- San Jon City Park

Right off of I-40 and near a Flying J truck stop is the Texas Travel Center. This property is paved, well lit, has 24-hour security, and was immaculately clean when we visited in April 2018. We arrived late and there were already several trucks, motorhomes, and passenger cars there. We pulled right in, used the facilities (which were spotless and warm) and slept soundly. The noise from 40 was not very noticeable, and this was one of our more enjoyable urban camping experiences.

We camped here in our skoolie conversion and felt right at home. If you are travelling along I-40 and can’t drive much long past Amarillo, consider this stop.

BONUS: The infamous Cadillac Ranch is nearby and is a must see if you’ve never been. These mid-century automobiles were erected in 1974 by the art group Ant Farm. Each caddy is arranged at an angle supposedly in line with the pyramids of Giza and is affixed in the ground nose down. The cars are now covered in graffiti and have been recovered and re-decorated for several PR campaigns in the area.

Cadillac Ranch is FREE and open 24/7 and is a unique piece of public art that everyone should see. Also, if you see my wife, ask her how she got purple hands and purple paint all over her jacket.

SaveSave

New VLOG episode is LIVE-Land Run Redemption

Last year we got hailed on and got pulled out of the race 35 miles in. This year we entered Land Run for the 50 mile distance on single speed bikes; a new challenge for a new year.

This episode documents our training as well as our troubles on race day. Check it out and give us a subscribe and a like if you enjoyed!

Rachael Doesn’t Have to Ride in a Lawn Chair Anymore!

Okienomads VLOG Episode 10 is live on YouTube!

In this episode we :

✔️Grab conversion van chairs from a junkyard

✔️Take out the old crusty seat

✔️Install the new (to us) seats

Thank you for checking it out and let us know what you think!

Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel to keep up to date with our VLOG and our skoolie conversion progress and follow us on Instagram for all of the snaps?!

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