So much to report...

Well, we're sitting in a cabin in Escalante, Utah right now. We have showered, eaten and ingested some beer... now we can safely move on to pictures and recapping the last week or so. Where did I leave off?

(April 22) Green River.... After spending a day in Green River, Utah golfing and hot tubing...

(April 23) We headed East to Moab to catch the infamous car show and hit up the gear shops to get more books on Canyon Country.

We also did a bit of laundry- while we waited for our clothes, we did some hiking and exploring near town.

After our laundry was finished and we were done in town, we head out in search of the perfect camp site. The search turned into a scenic drive up Potash and into the back of Canyonlands NP... We keep finding these gnarly roads!

Turns out, the car show brought more people to Moab than we thought, and we ended up at a group camp sight just outside of Canyonlands- not ideal, but we'll set up where we can when we have to.

The next morning (April 24) we rose early to get to Arches NP and hike the Firey Furnace. One of our friends from the Raft Trip said if we liked the Dollhouse, we would also enjoy the Firey Furnace- and Ali is a rather trustworthy gal...

After Arches, we headed back to the San Rafael Swell. We got there in plenty of time to have camp set up in time for a sunset beer- unfortunately the wind was not cooperating and we had to take in the sunset from the car window, and cook in the tent. We played Go Fish by headlamp.

(April 28) The next morning we went to check out Little Wild Horse Canyon. We'd hear good things...

This canyon is actually two canyons- Little Wild Horse and Bell. It's an eight mile loop suitable for just about anyone. We knew this because upon arrival we saw a family with a toddler walking back to the parking area. It was well worth it, even if we weren't the only people in that canyon that day.

okay, all this blogging (indoors) is making me stir crazy. I'm going to go the restaurant, I'll be back with the rest of the story later...

From Condo to Subaru. Vol 1

As I mentioned earlier, Josh and I are embarking on an epic road trip in about three weeks. We have been living in a two bedroom, 1200 square foot condo for the past six months. We will soon be living in a four door (guessing here) 50 square foot Subaru Outback. HOW? most people would ask. Well, I am here to walk you through the steps of downsizing into a vehicle.

First of all, it helps that I have a pretty decent sized vehicle. The Subbie is perfect for road trips and, with the right finesse, can fit an awful lot... but packing the car will be the final installment in the From Condo to Subaru Chronicles.

In downsizing, the most important thing to do is take it slow. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to go through everything and decide what you need to keep with you, what you need to put in storage and what you can throw away. Make three piles. You may need to go through the keep-with and storage piles more than once to make sure you aren't hoarding things you don't need.

DO ONE ROOM AT A TIME!!

Start with your smaller rooms first. I started with my bathroom. I have a tendency to over buy products and homeopathic medicines. I like herbs and I have an obsession with hair products... but I only ever use one at a time. so I have a box of half used products under the sink that I rarely use. I also have a hair dryer and a curling iron that I hardly ever use. Also kept in my bathroom is my jewelry. (I LOVE jewelry!)

I had a rule on the bathroom. One (small) box for storage, one (shoe) box for medicines/first aide, my three drawer Rubbermade "chest" for make-ups and products and one travel bag for jewelry. The rest, I threw away.

This box will go in storage, full of things that I will not need while traveling, but won't want to buy when I get back... (including jewlery)

This is all of my "beauty" products that will be traveling with me. (this includes shampoos, soaps, lotions, tweezers, razors and blades etc) I am going to look really cool running into a truck stop bathroom with this guy =)

And this is all the jewelry that I will be traveling with. I realize that this is a little much, but I cannot live without certain pieces of Steaze!

Next up-Bedroom. I have to reduce A LOT of clothes and shoes into ONE suitcase.