Sasquatters

23/07/2024

Desert views and critters. In order of appearance: San Jacinto Mountains, California Horned Lizard, Bucksnort Mountain, Hopi Rattlesnake (AKA danger noodle), killer sunrise that makes being up before 5am everyday worth it, Broad Necked Darkling Beetle, neat storm rolling through the valley from Palm Springs.

08/05/2024

Just wanted to share this blooming spineless prickly pear cactus with y’all. This beauty is practically right outside our door and I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy it.

23/04/2024

The trees we encountered at Lake Tahoe are deserving of their own post. Many of the large trees around the area are sugar pine, ponderosa pine and cedar. There are others as well but these are the conifers that I was able to positively identify. I, Holly, absolutely love conifer trees and seeing so many huge, beautiful trees, was a real treat! I’ve since planned our trip to see the redwoods as soon as possible!

Fun tree facts!

Did you know that large coniferous trees like these can survive wildfires? The ponderosa pine for instance, when mature, can have bark up to 3 inches thick that protect it against fires. Some trees, like redwoods, rely on the high temperatures that wildfires provide in order for their seeds to release from their cones and to expose bare mineral on the forest floor so that seedlings can take root. These seedlings also benefit from the trees that do not survive fires, leaving open holes in the forest canopy for sunlight to be able reach them. Isn’t nature neat?

23/04/2024

We finally made it out to Lake Tahoe and it was just as stunning as we had hoped. Our goal was to get there while there was still snow on the mountains, but also warm enough to hike and explore without being bundled up and last weekend provided us with just that.

Rather then starting with the hike we had planned, we ended up hiking straight up the side of Jake’s Peak first thing in morning because our drone inexplicably fell out of the sky and we needed to recover it. Tracking the drones last location led to us hiking trail-less, through sand and snow with zero traction, or brush so thick it was nearly impassable, all at about 8,000 ft elevation with what I would guess was at least a 60% grade. It’s what we now affectionately refer to as a real “huffer” of a hike. Even though we found the drone in pieces, it was hard to be upset after seeing the views that I doubt many others have seen from that perspective. It was absolutely beautiful. We spent some time admiring the view before ripping down the mountain, jumping and sliding in the sand where we could, and gently walking accross several feet of snow in other areas, trying not to break through the thin crust. We spent the remainder of the day hiking to Eagle Falls and exploring the area around Sand Harbor. We cannot wait to go back when it is warm enough to swim in the crystal clear water!

06/04/2024

March 2nd marked 10 years that we have been together. We were so busy around that time that it wasn’t until about 7PM that we realized our milestone. We couldn’t believe it slipped both of our minds, but considering everything that was going on prior to the move, it made sense! We then decided to wait to celebrate until we were settled in California.

We’ve made so many memories together in ten years. Traveled to amazing places, hiked so many awesome trails, tried all the foods, set and accomplished countless goals, and occasionally, lived with complete reckless abandon just for the fun of it.

There’s so much that could be said about the life we’ve created together, but I’ll keep it short. Finding love is cool and all, but being able to say that the person you are in love with is also your best friend, is something extra special. Being able to be yourself, uncompromised and real each and everyday, is exactly how I want to spend the rest of my days together.

(We are endlessly trying to get nice photos together, but end up being goofs, these are todays as we head out to celebrate us)

25/03/2024

After 5 days, 55.5 hours, and a cool $1,923 in diesel, we’ve made it to Sacramento! We feel super lucky to have made it without any major issues, however, it wasn’t without a slew of minor engine issues along the way.

We had a couple check engine lights pop on regarding sensor issues, which was no surprise to us after a new engine and ECM were installed. Our fuel filler neck got backed up due to the breather tube becoming clogged. Gauges quit working leaving us to wonder when our next fill up should even be. At one point the bus started to overheat during a fiasco in the Arizona desert when the radiator fan would not kick into high speed. This lead to replacing both thermostats. Then to top it all off, our house water pump called it quits once we were covered in oil and grease.

Overall though, we didn’t encounter that many crazy drivers, which was shocking, the roads through the Midwest were so nice, and we made it almost 3,000 miles safely, and that is what is most important! Now that our long awaited relocation has happened, we are super excited to explore Sacramento and venture out of town for hiking and adventure!

12/03/2024

We’ve made it to the half way mark in our journey! Currently driving through Kansas and while I will admit the landscape is pretty monotonous, it is mesmerizing in its own way.

Our goal is to make it to Sun Valley Arizona tonight, we’ve got a cool little spot to stay a couple nights while we take a day to explore and enjoy ourselves and we cannot wait!

09/03/2024

Like always before leaving, we’ve had to somehow manage to cram several months worth of work into a couple weeks. Dustin has been absolutely kicking ass getting things done though.

He’s spent two days working on a clients bus, installing water tanks, water heater and mounting propane bottles. Spent several more days getting a van conversion started, installing sub floor, solar rails, max air fan, and windows. Couple more days installing a 24 volt solar setup for a client. Countless days working on our new bus, getting a fresh undercoating on it and securing everything for storing it away for a bit. Not to mention, he had to drive nearly to New York when we discovered we needed a new ECM for the bus we live in, which was a nice $3,000 surprise after parts, programming and gas to and from, also, setting him back with getting all the aforementioned things done!

It’s been nothing short of a whirlwind and honestly, we don’t expect much less at this point! We’ve got a few short things to check off our list today, in the pouring rain, and then tonight… we party! We’ve got almost all of our favorite people showing up to wish my sister a happy 40th birthday as well as a see ya later shindig for us. Tomorrow, we start our 2,800 mile journey to California!

22/02/2024

I’m sure I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, our plants are one of my favorite things about our home. The philodendron’s hanging at the front of the bus have grown so wildly that they needed to be trimmed. I’d love to leave them long but I’m sure Dustin will appreciate being able to see and they will appreciate less weight bouncing around while driving. The vines I trimmed are now propagating in water until they are ready to move into soil.

Anyone else completely in love with their plants? Our cactus and succulents are also growing like wild so I’ll have to get some photos of those beauties soon as well!

21/02/2024

Just popping in to show you what it looks like to be married by Elvis in the nicest clothes you brought on vacation on a random Thursday in Las Vegas! A good portion of the photos include me laughing at Elvis strutting and singing around us. What a trip!

Life has been crazy lately with Dustin having two surgery’s in the last 3 weeks and trying to get everything accomplished to head out. It’s nice to take a minute to look back on what turned out to be a hilarious wedding. We realized we never posted a photo with the King himself and certainly don’t want to deprive you all that viewing pleasure! 😂

07/01/2024

Last night after we settled into the Air BnB I sat down and wrote an extremely long, heartfelt, and motivational post about why money is an important factor when deciding to live in a bus or van and travel.

It was immediately met with dozens of strangers telling us how to live our lives, and how crazy we were to pay for a new motor instead of buying used one in an unknown condition. One person even suggested buying another bus and “moving” our interior into it. 🤦🏻‍♂️

A consequence of social media I suppose.

While I’d like to say that kind of s**t doesn’t bother me, I would be lying.

Initially, I took a bunch of screenshots with the intentions of showcasing just how s**tty people can be. But… all of us already know that people suck. So, rather than dwell on the negative, I decided to highlight the positive and say thank you to those that understand the struggle and took the time to comment, or send a DM thanking us for keeping it real and highlighting that bus life isn’t always an IG worthy sunset.

Thank you.

07/01/2024

What do you do when the new motor you purchased from Alaska finally arrives, but the camper you had planned to use for almost five months falls through at the last minute, so you have to rent a $1,000 Air BnB for the week, but you can’t start the bus to take it to the mechanic because the batteries are old, so you call Advanced Auto Parts and they say they have three in stock, so you drive in 3” of snow to get them but when you arrive the lady you talked to on the phone said she can’t sell them because they were special ordered for another customer, so you then drive to Auto Zone to get batteries, but when you get back to the bus you find out that they sold you dead batteries, so you try to use two battery chargers for several hours with no luck, and then you try and use the work truck to jump the batteries, but since several hours have now passed the work truck gets stuck in 6” of snow, so then you shovel the van and the bus out, but then you remember the defrost and heat doesn’t work so you can’t see s**t while driving to the mechanic, but then when you’re finally at the mechanic and moving all of the items you need for the week out of the bus and into the rental, the cat locks you out, but the mechanic fortunately has tools to break into the rental, and you finally make it to the Air BnB after 12 hours?

Carbo load of course!

05/01/2024

Boy howdy, that’s not a sight we see often! Today was spent readying the bus to move tomorrow. I’d like to say it’s for adventure, but the time has finally come to get the new engine installed! Tanks are empty, counters are cleared off, cats are nervous, I’M nervous, and of COURSE there’s a snowstorm coming tomorrow. We should only be driving the bus when there is maybe an inch or two, but I still hate the thought of it. Who all has driven their bus in snow? Care to give us, and I really mean, me, Holly, some courage and insight? It’s crazy to think how many times my bus driver in school drove us through some pretty serious snow, she must’ve had zero fear!

13/12/2023

A long time ago, we posted about some of our favorite things around the kitchen that help us be more sustainable and reduce plastic waste. We told you we would check back in with some of our favorite toiletry/laundry items, and never really got around to it, until now!

Here are some of our go-to items that help us reduce our plastic use and general waste. Tested and trusted by us, because sometimes it is not always easy to find products that are worth paying a little extra for.

First, the laundry items. Laundry sheets, we LOVE these! They smell great, come in a recycled paper container and best of all, get our clothes as clean, if not cleaner, than the leading plastic bottle brands!
Did you know that dryer sheets are a single use plastic? They are made of synthetic polyester which once tossed, hangs around on earth, pretty much forever. We use wool dryer balls and again, completely love them. They reduce static just as well as dryer sheets and can reduce your drying time by 25% by helping to separate your clothing as they tumble around. We’ve had the same set of 6 for years and they have yet to show signs of wear.

We use natural loofahs for showering and for dishes. They last an incredibly long time, never smell funky when rinsed properly and are 100% natural and biodegrade. Also, you can grow them in your own garden! They look scratchy and rough but once wet, they fluff up and become much softer.

I’m personally a sucker for floss picks over regular string floss, mostly for convenience and ease of use so that I do it daily. I was pumped to find these eco friendly flossers. They are made of corn & wheat straw making them compostable. Another win-win!

Just to touch quickly on the other things shown, Native deodorant is awesome. It’s aluminum and baking soda free and can be bought in a 100% plastic free tube. Simply using a bar soap in the shower over a liquid helps save another plastic bottle from being bought. Lastly, the reusable “q-tip”. While it IS plastic, it is also reusable and can be used pretty much indefinitely as long as you keep it clean, reducing years and years worth of throwing away q-tips.

26/11/2023

One of my favorite pictures of the bus. Taken before I ripped down the road on the dirt bike to catch up to Dustin.

06/11/2023

I like to be reminded of just how small we really are in the world. Being in extraordinary places, feeling so small next to something so massive in nature, is why I love to hike and explore.

After many, many phone calls, Dustin has been offered a job in the location that we were hoping for in California. With it, comes a place to stay in the bus as well, and we feel incredibly lucky for it to have it all come together so well.

We will be just a few hours drive from 2 huge bucket list items for me, hiking Half Dome in Yosemite and visiting Sequoia National Park. Not to mention how close we will be to Lake Tahoe as well! I literally cannot wait to get back out there to explore, I’ve already started bookmarking all the hikes!

Photo’s of our bus looking small at the Vermillion Cliffs!

23/10/2023

The leaves are really putting on a show again for us this year, everything is so warm and bright. We’ve been trying to pencil in a time for a motorcycle trip to really soak in the sights and hopefully we can find the time. We’ve both been battling illness and when we are up to it, it’s either crazy windy or raining. Fingers crossed everything aligns for us to get out next weekend!

17/10/2023

It was really hard to narrow down just ten photos to share of the Valley of Fire. There is beautiful, colorful landscape in every direction and it’s impossible to take a bad photo. We were thrilled to get to revisit the area on our recent family trip out west, and even more thrilled to have seen so many bighorn sheep so close! With so many National Parks, it might be easy to overlook this State Park, but if you are ever near, don’t miss it! You will not be disappointed!

11/10/2023

We didn’t plan to get married in Las Vegas. We didn’t have nice clothes or rings, but we did get to reminisce of the months we spent there previously and visit the Grand Canyon again! It seemed fitting to get married in the first place we really traveled to in the bus. Our “we finally made it” trip that was absolutely amazing. We also thought, if we are getting married on a whim in Vegas, we better go to the Elvis Chapel and get married by the King himself! 😂 It was hilarious, a little tacky and everything we wanted!

In leu of wedding photos, we’ve got landscapes to offer and a few additional photos of us together in one of our favorite places!

05/10/2023

Married this lovely gal today.

30/09/2023

Now that summer has officially come to an end, we wanted to share a recap of our summer in a few photos. We had a busy season and were lucky to spend lot of time with many of our favorite people. We saw some excellent shows including a few favorites - Tyler Childers and The Head and The Heart. Spent some time at the beach, grew pretty flowers, and soaked up the sun in the pool. We feel like it was a summer full of warm, nostalgic moments, even as we were making them.

We’ve got a pretty neat trip coming up but after that, we are happy for things to settle a little as we ease into fall. It’s nice to take a step back during the changing of seasons and breathe a little. We are very much looking forward to cozy campfire nights and getting back in the kitchen making all the comfort foods that come with cooler weather. It will be just the break we need to really nail down our plans for the upcoming move to California.

19/09/2023

Putting our faces into your feed to share a life update! We’ve decided to put our new bus build on hold so that we can head to California after the new year. It’s time for another change and we’ve found some opportunities there that will get us closer to our main goal, which is buying land. Naturally, there’s a million and one things that we need to accomplish before leaving for California, the biggest thing being our bus engine. We’ve got the new engine, we’ve just got to choreograph getting it put in.

So, we are going into another Autumn with all sorts of sentimental feelings as we prepare to leave our loved ones again. It’s always hard, but it’s even harder to stop the wanderlust.

21/07/2023

What a good lookin’ machine!

22/06/2023

It’s riding season again which is cool and all but man, do we miss riding with views like this!

26/05/2023

Check out our newest blog post! WiFi Ranger Everest

If you need reliability and redundancy for work or school look elsewhere. The new line of products has missed the mark entirely.

15/11/2022

Autumn has been really good to us this year. We spent a lot of time in the mountain riding and just enjoying the colors. Now that all the leaves are down, we wanted a little to make a little video to give us those fall vibes whenever we need them as we slip into winter… we are expecting several inches of snow today already!