There and Back Again?

Well, one always expects a different kind of adventure than the one that actually happens. Thus, the shock of the unexpected.

Our weekend with friends in the mountains went splendidly. Until...

Let me mention the good things first. My friends and I actually liked each other in person. We got on very well, hiked a bit, took in some lovely scenery, rode the Carousel of Happiness, laughed till our sides ached, ate way too much good food, talked writing, art, and gaming and managed to mostly avoid controversial topics. We have all kinds of new inside jokes that no one else would ever find funny. My husband has a new nickname, and I learned that I have dampened some necessary outlets for my creativity.

We are even excited to meet up again next year.  Hurray!

Okay, back to that "until" bit. We parted ways, dropped one of our number off at the airport successfully, then... my husband and I decided to go a bit more rustic and do some actual camping and chase down some peace and quiet in the open mountain air for a night. Heh, see where this is going? Yeah...

We were driving up La Veta Pass, bound for Red River, NM, listening to Hillsong's "Oceans" when the car starts making a rattling noise and loses all power.

The lovely weekend vacay just turned into a real "adventure." Two tows later, we dropped the car off at the Subaru dealership all the way back in Pueblo, CO. Luckily the rental car was big enough for all of our camping gear; we hightailed it home and dealt with insurance companies and warranty folks for the next two weeks.

image from my Facebook Author Page

In the meantime ... tornadic storms destroy several of our beloved trees that requires restorative manual labor (nothing like moving trees when one needs to burn off frustration), my poor mother-in-law runs over my dog (the great beast is fine, by the way), the lawnmower is also broken, requiring us to accept help from others, and old heartbreaks rise to the surface and must be dealt with.

And so after a full engine replacement, our beloved Subaru (Sandy, as I've called her in another post) is back in our custody--which meant two trips to CO without a smidgen of camping done. But we got to meet many caring, wonderful people, and most importantly, got to see God show up and do amazing things.

All in all, June has been fantastic. Really. I mean it. Not one moment of boredom. Plans that went awry, but forced much-needed healing. Miraculous all around.

That said, here's hoping for a quiet, restful July.

Tepui: The First Unfurling

The Tepui has arrived! We hijacked family members on Easter to help us bolt her in place atop the Subaru. The name posed the biggest problem. We said it's "TepOOee" like a sneeze. Gesundheit. Of course everyone was curious to know what the tent would look like unfurled, so we unzipped all the goodies and let her fly. Here's the adventure in pics:

Three strong men wrestle the 200 lb. Tepui into place. Thank you so much!

In a moment of panic, I suggested we see if the Subie will still fit into the garage. She does. An inch to spare.

While the men run to the store to replace a broken bolt, my niece decides to climb my house.

The Tepui unfolds just like the videos say! Amazing.

Tepui unfurled, annex zipped on.

My niece and I try out the tent. It's comfy up here.

So far, we are enormously happy with the purchase. Of course we left the Tepui in place, and now, when I drive around town, I see people in passing cars leaning toward their windshields trying to figure out what I'm hauling. Their expressions of confusion are priceless.

Now to try her out in the field. We hoped to take the tent to Angel Fire, NM, this weekend, but the campgrounds don't open until mid-May. Still so much snow to contend with! So it looks like our trip to Colorado in June will be our first chance to see how the Tepui works for us.

A New Adventure Begins...

The adventure I looked for and worked for didn't happen (yet), but that's hardly the end of all things. Now we get up, shift direction, and try again. To expand our adventure-output in the meantime, my husband and I have purchased a Tepui.

What is a Tepui?

This is a Tepui!

A tent that rides and unfurls on top of one's car/truck/etc and turns the mundane driving machine into a gypsy-mobile. Our beloved Subaru Crosstrek (called Sandy) is about to get some new digs. She is going to look snazzy with this tenty abode unfurled upon her back.

Our Tepui is scheduled to be delivered on Monday. It is my aim to blog about the adventures involving this tent, including the ugly ones, like setting it up for the first time. And, of course, the beautiful ones, such waking up to views like this:

So, Horizon, get ready. We're coming.