Journey of the Wolf and Raven

6 June 2024 – Trip Day 67

Why yes Mommy, I am awake at 3 am! Glad to see you are as well!

Today was a travel day. Here we are all packed up and ready to head out of Munds Park.

 Driving North, you got a good view of the smoke from a wildfire. While I (Alan) drove on to our next destination, Holbrook, AZ and the Petrified Forest, Meagan took Jarek, Arya, and Randal on a detour to Walnut Canyon National Monument. 

 Meanwhile, back at our (new) campsite, I was having fun getting situated. The space was tight with the length of the trailer, as I worked to maneuver it better into its spot. I removed the bikes for extra clearance with maneuvering. The site was angled and I didn’t have a great approach angle to be aligned when I pulled through. The rig in front of me was kind of far back, which also complicated things. This was complicated by the 5′ poles they put in the site, which made things a bit more interesting.

A view from the other side. The rig is pointed too far to the right, and with the bikes I’m too long to properly maneuver.

After removing the bikes, I was able to get the rig aligned much better. All of the utilities are on the driver’s side, and we generally don’t use that space for any activities. Excess space on the driver’s side is generally wasted, where space on the passenger side is what we use for our living/front porch area.

 A couple hours after getting set up, the rig is cooling down. Of course, it’s plenty warm outside.

One of the dangers of an unattended phone: the photo bomber!

Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee! 

6 June 2024 – Trip Day 67

Why yes Mommy, I am awake at 3 am! Glad to see you are as well!

Today was a travel day. Here we are all packed up and ready to head out of Munds Park.

 Driving North, you got a good view of the smoke from a wildfire. While I (Alan) drove on to our next destination, Holbrook, AZ and the Petrified Forest, Meagan took Jarek, Arya, and Randal on a detour to Walnut Canyon National Monument. 

 Meanwhile, back at our (new) campsite, I was having fun getting situated. The space was tight with the length of the trailer, as I worked to maneuver it better into its spot. I removed the bikes for extra clearance with maneuvering. The site was angled and I didn’t have a great approach angle to be aligned when I pulled through. The rig in front of me was kind of far back, which also complicated things. This was complicated by the 5′ poles they put in the site, which made things a bit more interesting.

A view from the other side. The rig is pointed too far to the right, and with the bikes I’m too long to properly maneuver.

After removing the bikes, I was able to get the rig aligned much better. All of the utilities are on the driver’s side, and we generally don’t use that space for any activities. Excess space on the driver’s side is generally wasted, where space on the passenger side is what we use for our living/front porch area.

 A couple hours after getting set up, the rig is cooling down. Of course, it’s plenty warm outside.

One of the dangers of an unattended phone: the photo bomber!

Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee! 

5 June 2024 – TD 66

I (Alan) needed a rest day, and the kids weren’t feeling too hot either. Meagan took Jarek and Randal to see the Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments while the we took a rest day.

Ed note: I had hoped that Meagan would be able to fill in the story and description, but in the interest in getting it published, I’m going to post the pictures and let them tell the story!

 A view of the volcano.

 Jarek completes his Junior Ranger book.

An artist’s rendition of the structure in its hey day!

“Don’t mind me, just checking in, seeing if you had any snacks and what you’re up to. Keeping the boss informed, and all that.”

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Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee! 

22 May 2024 – Trip day 52

I (Alan) took a rest day today. Meagan took Jarek, Arya, and Evan to see the Colossal Cave. It worked out, because the littles weren’t allowed on the tour.

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Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee! 

1 Aug 2024 – TD 123

For Jarek’s birthday, he wanted his traditional rice krispi cake in the shape of the Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda.

 Evan cooks french toast in our outside kitchen setup. The little induction plate is quite handy.

Arya and Randal get some cuddles!

Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee! 

29 July 2024 – TD 120

We took a rest day, for the most part today. Meagan and Jarek wanted to go back and do the hike to Landscape Arch at Arches National Park. Alan stayed back and got caught up on a few just-as-fun chores with the littles, like defrosting the freezer!

Meagan dropped off a bunch of postcards and saw the really cool Raven mural (banner image on the post).

After the post office, Meagan and Jarek headed over to Arches for an evening hike in the cooler weather to Landscape Arch.

 Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee!

26 June 2024 – TD 87

 It was time to pack up from Monument Valley. We were headed out to Fredonia, AZ as our next stop.

We ended up driving past Glen Canyon again on the way through. Meagan grabbed this picture when she stopped for a rest stop.

There is not much to say about the park in Fredonia, although it did have very big sites. Here, we are getting set up.

As we were finishing the set up, we were hit by a microburst. It was some of the most intense rain and wind we experienced on the trip. The RV was rocking pretty good!

 After the storm, had passed by, I went and did a check for damage. I found that one of our awning covers had been partially pulled out of it’s retention slot.

A view of the cover from the top. Later, I was able to get it tucked back in there.

After taking shelter from the rain, thinking I was done, I was, in fact, not done. I had left the back bay open, and it took on a bit of water. I emptied it out and started to dry out the items and the bays. The bays have a barrier, but it is not sealed on the bottom, and some water got over from the ‘stuff’ bay to the ‘food’ bay.

The wind had blown around some of our sewer hose track, but nothing was broken.

 The storm in the distance after it had passed by.

Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog

You can also buy us a coffee!

15 June 2024 – Trip Day 76

Early morning video games. The kids have taken a liking to Stardew Valley which they get to play together and work cooperatively. They are allowed to play video games and tablets on weekends as long as behavior has been good.

We went out to lunch in the morning with a friend for some Mongolian Bar-b-que. Afterward, we came back  to the campground, and saw a helicopter parked in an empty shopping center.

 Apparently the New Mexico State Police were putting a community out reach event, but we didn’t find any advertisement about it. The kids were still stoked to see the helicopter up close, but they were getting ready to depart when we arrived.  We stuck around a few minutes and watched it lift off.

My order of the Flagpole Buddy came in. I spent a few minutes assembling it and got it rigged up. Much better for installation of the Starlink antenna than kludging it on the ground. Especially helpful for those places with very narrow sites, which we seemed to hit a number of on this trip.

 Garrett and Randal engaged in shenanigans!

I went off to run some errands and shopping while Meagan took the kids to the campground pool to cool off in the Albuquerque heat!

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12 June 2024 – Trip Day 73

After our adventures at Pecos National Historical Park, we took another rest day.

 I got my parts shipment in. I fixed a shelf in the refrigerator that broke a few days ago. One of the shelves cracked and it took a while before we were in an area long enough to get the part shipped. One of the challenges of being on the road and moving often is coordinating logistics and supplies, especially when one is out in the boonies.

 Meagan took this opportunity to go to one of her favorite stores and get kiddo things.

 Randal was curating the book offerings.

 Back at the RV, Randal enjoys dinner. The rest of us took it easy.

Thanks for reading!

Sign up on Patreon as a free member to get notified of updates on our Journey! You can read about other stops on our adventure here on Patreon, or at our blog at https://www.wolfandraven.blog