Hi everyone! Nikki and I decided our October departure date was a bit ambitious and we needed to take a test trip to really ensure we were ready for the real thing. So we decided to take a 2 week test trip to California and push back our departure date to November 14th. Our test trip includes stops at Lake Tahoe, on Colter’s bucket list, San Fransisco, San Diego, Tempe, AZ, Coconino National Forest, the Grand Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante and Pueblo.
Day 1: Fort Collins, CO ➡️ Delle, UT
After closing the last moving box up in Fort Collins (we wanted to have all the packing done before we left), we spent most of the day driving. We ended up at our BLM campsite in the evening, pitched camp and headed to bed, a little uneasy as this was our first real night alone in the camper, off the beaten path. We woke up panicked at 4 am with Kaya rattling like crazy in an estimated 35 mph wind!! She’s only supposed to be in 30 mph winds, so we ended up popping the camper top down and sleeping on the floor for the rest of the night/early morning. Regardless, we got some good rest, found out we could sleep on the floor and had a great first day of our inaugural voyage!
Day 2: Delle, UT ➡️ Lake Tahoe, CA
It was another long drive day for us, but our book and some life planning kept us busy in the car 🚌 We loved observing the change in scenery as we passed through different states, from rocky outcroppings on the edge of UT to rolling hills in NV to trees and views that look very similar to home in CA. Lake Tahoe is stunning and it has all the things we love; mountains, water, leaves and good camping! We are also settling into our tiny home in Kaya and learning the extent of what we can and can’t do. We made shrimp tacos for dinner and ate outside before it got too chilly! Pine cones dropping on the roof had us a little on edge due to the abundance of bear warnings throughout the campsite, but we settled in for the evening without any issues.
Day 3: Lake Tahoe, CA ➡️ San Francisco, CA (AKA S.F)
We hiked down to a river to eat our new favorite breakfast of yogurt and berries, hyper aware that berries are bear’s favorite food 🙈 We then took a meandering drive down the south coast of Lake Tahoe which was stunning – truly the best of all worlds! We had some work to get done in the morning so we pulled off and worked at an alpine cafe for a couple of hours and enjoyed the obligatory pumpkin-chocolate chip bread. We then embarked on our journey towards San Francisco! A 3.5 hr drive quickly turned into a 5 hr drive due to traffic, but it was well worth it to find Zoey! We met up for a yummy dinner of falafel, hummus and pitas and turned in for the evening. We also promptly learned, courteous of Zoey, that no one from San Fransisco calls it San Fran. So now we are part of the cool kids who call it S.F. Thanks Zoey!
Day 4: San Francisco, CA
It worked out well that Zoey had a work day today because we had a lot to get done. We bounced through a couple coffee shops throughout the day, working away. We then headed to Fisherman’s Warf to watch the Airshow on the go ✈️ After enjoying the dare-devilish stunts of the pilots, we found a place to grab a happy hour beer and met up with Zoey for a chill dinner at home. Bryan joined us and we had a fun evening out on the town 💃
Day 5: San Francisco, CA ➡️ San Diego, CA
We said our goodbyes to Zoey and spent a majority of the day driving through Cali to reach Ben! We passed by a lot of the fires currently on the go throughout Cali which was sad to see. Upon reaching Ben, we spent a lovely evening enjoying tacos and beer and seeing his new home town of Encinitas! We learned one of his favorite beer spots in town offers free pizza, and in our case, muffins which was fun!
Day 6: San Diego, CA
We started our divine day off by paddle boarding in Coronado and swimming off the coast of a beach we found along the way. We then enjoyed a yummy lunch and beer at a brewery. We spent the afternoon lounging in the sun, sampling various beers from other local breweries. We then had dinner watching the sun set over the ocean and chilling on Ben’s roof, having a long missed catch-up chat.
Day 7: San Diego, CA ➡️ Tempe, AZ
We said our sad “‘til next times” to Benji and hit the road. It was a fairly short drive day, but we had some work to get done so we popped up Kaya along the way to work for a couple hours. We got into Tempe to see Casey and Keith in the late afternoon. We met their puppo, Odie, for the first time and had a nice, hot walk through their neighborhood. We went out for a yummy dinner at a local brewery and they showed us around down town and Casey’s campus. We then went home for a fun evening of Code Names, which they kicked our butts at!
Day 8: Tempe, AZ
We got out for an early hike to try to avoid the heat, but as you can see from our bright red faces, we didn’t totally avoid it! The hike was well worth it as it took us to an overlook of Tempe, which is larger than we expected. We then took a refreshing swim in the freezing pool outside of Casey and Keith’s new place, spending the afternoon lounging and tanning. Casey then cooked a divine dinner and we returned to our battle of Code Names. We ended the evening with a much needed chill and chat.
Day 9: Tempe, AZ ➡️ Coconino, AZ
We said our goodbyes to Casey and Keith and hit the road again. We had quite a lot of work to catch up on and get done so we coffee shop hopped through various cafes in Tempe and Sedona. There are certainly worse office spaces to inhabit. We pulled into a beautiful campsite and tried out our pressure cooker for the first yummy time!
Day 10: Coconino, AZ ➡️ Grand Canyon, AZ
We had some big trip prep and some work to continue trucking through, so we worked at a divine coffee shop in Flagstaff for most of the morning and afternoon. We felt at home in the college-vibey town. We then made the beautiful drive into the Grand Canyon, which neither of us have ever seen! We buckled down for a chilly evening.
Day 11: Grand Canyon, AZ
Day 12: Grand Canyon, AZ ➡️ Grand Staircase Escalante, AZ
Day 13: Grand Staircase Escalante, AZ
Day 14: Grand Staircase Escalante, AZ ➡️ Pueblo, CO
This was a long 10 hour drive day, but we got to see Colter’s grandparents for dinner!
Day 15: Pueblo, CO ➡️ Fort Collins, CO
I realized I didn’t wrap up sharing pictures from the end of our practice trip! We spent the last week soaking up the mountain air and sun that we love so dearly and will miss when we move away. From 15 mile hikes in the Grand Canyon to 6 mile trail runs and waterfall splashing, we had an amazing week. We finished it off with a fun visit to Colter’s grandparents.
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