Retired scientist turned to art and loving it but still geeking out on science. Most recent read/audiobook is The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger, mind blowing about the plant world!! I am in a power wheelchair now so no longer hiking but my husband and I love pulling our trailer to remote camping spots. It has a wheelchair lift. I love your story and the great photos and artwork. I recently purchased an ArtToolkit Folio palette and filled it with paint. I’ll be camping in Wyoming this weekend and fingers-crossed……painting/sketching You inspire me!!
I’ve heard so many good things about the Light Eaters! I have it on hold at the library! Thanks so much for the tip on the paintbrush! I haven’t found any more but will keep looking. ❤️
NM is lovely and the smell of wet sage is quite unique and awesome. So happy you are enjoying AND sharing your lovely art and travels with us. My husband and I are vegan too and get to Santa Fe every once and awhile. If you are in Albq or Santa Fe you have to go to Anapurna's restaurant - it's awesome! We love our Instant pot too - especially for winter Dal. Hugs and safe travels! Cat
Hi Lisa! I haves question about the mechanics of your van life! Do you all have to set up your bed each night? Or is there a bed always there? I am trying to plan a short van trip with my son and we are likely renting one for 2-3 weeks so I’m trying to understand what to look for!! I love watching your journey and your art both here and on Instagram!! Thanks for sharing so generously!!
Hi Amanda!! We have a fixed bed -- when we were designing the van we went back and forth on it but in the end we decided it would be annoying to have to set up the bed each night. So for seating, our driver and passenger seats swivel around and we have lagun mount tables so we have a place to sit/eat/work. I gotta get some van pics! Oh and our van is a medium length -- some extended vans have fixed beds and a dinette area. We wanted a medium tho for taking it offroad. Hope that helps! Have the best time on your trip!
I had a completely different area of New Mexico in mind when you were talking about your artist residency. We did a Four Corners road trip one year and went through Valles Caldera National Preserve and I thought maybe you were going to be there. (Sadly, that leg of our trip was marred by both my husband and I coming down with a nasty bug that had us both up all night taking turns in the hotel bathroom - we had hoped to visit Bandelier, but had to push through to Los Alamos because we were too sick to explore for a couple of days.) The Capulin Volcano looks so fabulous! I can't wait to see more about it!
Thank you so much for all of the lovely pictures and information about your setup and cooking, etc. It's so fascinating (and now I'm hungry!) Backpack cooking was never this yummy looking, but it always tasted amazing because we were always working so hard getting to camp!
I'm sure the mountains have their own weather systems, so it's good that you had an opportunity to get dry and warm in your van after getting wet.
Are you seeing lots of other people when you are out and about in your current spot? Have you seen or heard any interesting critters?
Hi @tRuthful! The Artist in Residency is at Valles Caldera -- it's not until August so we're slowly making our way there. Cannot wait!! Sorry y'all had a nasty bug!
I totally agree on backpack cooking -- it never looked good but always hit the spot!
I'll have to do a write up on the critters in the next post! As far as people go, we were the only ones here that we knew of until yesterday -- I think people are here for the weekend.
Wow! You must have a huge battery bank/lots of solar. How much do you have to be able to run so many appliances🤩? We have a used production van that we are slowly modifying.
Also, are willing to share your painting set up for in the van? Do you use a craft light? How do you store your supplies to keep them safe from water and heat… while still being able to access them?
Hi Esther! We a 12.5kWh battery bank, 800w solar system on the roof and then the portable solar panels are 400w. When we're in the shade we can go 5 days if we're careful! Here in the open the battery has been staying above 90% about every day so far -- fingers crossed! When we designed the van we had a goal of going 2 weeks off grid.
The Instant Pot is actually really good on power -- once it comes up to pressure it hardly uses any power at all. I like cooking lentils since they're super fast to cook and keep us feeling full and fueled!
I really gotta do a whole post on my art setup -- thanks for asking about that! I keep meaning to do it but keep forgetting. Art Toolkit was asking about it too! Stay tuned!!
Oh yeah! I think my husband definitely planned for the worst! We’ve only been down to 20% a few times in the fall/winter when we had parked under trees! But is reassuring to have. He has the goal of being able to stay somewhere for 2 weeks — especially dispersed camping!
I looked up the Paintbrush you saw in my Roadside New Mexico guidebook. Here's what I found: Castilleja LInariaefolia "usually has several branched stems growing from a woody base..Leaves are narrow and lance-shaped except those on the upper stem which are cleft...bracts are also cleft...these and calyx are scarlet. A conspicuous yellow tube-like Corolla protrudes from the calyx."
Castilleja miniata: "calyx and Corolla are green at the base and red at the tip....lance-shaped leaves are broad and have 3 veins...unbranched, often grows in colonies."
Both grow at higher altitudes than the one commonly called Indian paintbrush...can be distinguished by greater height and larger flowers."
Hope this info helps. I'm loving your trip and your art, as always. Tried doing my own triad studies and found the video so very helpful. Happy trails!
Retired scientist turned to art and loving it but still geeking out on science. Most recent read/audiobook is The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger, mind blowing about the plant world!! I am in a power wheelchair now so no longer hiking but my husband and I love pulling our trailer to remote camping spots. It has a wheelchair lift. I love your story and the great photos and artwork. I recently purchased an ArtToolkit Folio palette and filled it with paint. I’ll be camping in Wyoming this weekend and fingers-crossed……painting/sketching You inspire me!!
I’ve heard so many good things about the Light Eaters! I have it on hold at the library! Thanks so much for the tip on the paintbrush! I haven’t found any more but will keep looking. ❤️
NM is lovely and the smell of wet sage is quite unique and awesome. So happy you are enjoying AND sharing your lovely art and travels with us. My husband and I are vegan too and get to Santa Fe every once and awhile. If you are in Albq or Santa Fe you have to go to Anapurna's restaurant - it's awesome! We love our Instant pot too - especially for winter Dal. Hugs and safe travels! Cat
Hi Cat! Thanks for the recommendation! We've been thinking of going to Santa Fe! Added Anapurna's to the list!
Hi Lisa! I haves question about the mechanics of your van life! Do you all have to set up your bed each night? Or is there a bed always there? I am trying to plan a short van trip with my son and we are likely renting one for 2-3 weeks so I’m trying to understand what to look for!! I love watching your journey and your art both here and on Instagram!! Thanks for sharing so generously!!
Hi Amanda!! We have a fixed bed -- when we were designing the van we went back and forth on it but in the end we decided it would be annoying to have to set up the bed each night. So for seating, our driver and passenger seats swivel around and we have lagun mount tables so we have a place to sit/eat/work. I gotta get some van pics! Oh and our van is a medium length -- some extended vans have fixed beds and a dinette area. We wanted a medium tho for taking it offroad. Hope that helps! Have the best time on your trip!
I had a completely different area of New Mexico in mind when you were talking about your artist residency. We did a Four Corners road trip one year and went through Valles Caldera National Preserve and I thought maybe you were going to be there. (Sadly, that leg of our trip was marred by both my husband and I coming down with a nasty bug that had us both up all night taking turns in the hotel bathroom - we had hoped to visit Bandelier, but had to push through to Los Alamos because we were too sick to explore for a couple of days.) The Capulin Volcano looks so fabulous! I can't wait to see more about it!
Thank you so much for all of the lovely pictures and information about your setup and cooking, etc. It's so fascinating (and now I'm hungry!) Backpack cooking was never this yummy looking, but it always tasted amazing because we were always working so hard getting to camp!
I'm sure the mountains have their own weather systems, so it's good that you had an opportunity to get dry and warm in your van after getting wet.
Are you seeing lots of other people when you are out and about in your current spot? Have you seen or heard any interesting critters?
Thanks again for sharing!
Hi @tRuthful! The Artist in Residency is at Valles Caldera -- it's not until August so we're slowly making our way there. Cannot wait!! Sorry y'all had a nasty bug!
I totally agree on backpack cooking -- it never looked good but always hit the spot!
I'll have to do a write up on the critters in the next post! As far as people go, we were the only ones here that we knew of until yesterday -- I think people are here for the weekend.
Thanks for following along on my adventures!
Thanks so much for making me feel less like I was making stuff up, LOL!
Take care and have fun!!! I am definitely along for the ride!
yay! so glad to have you along for the journey!
Wow! You must have a huge battery bank/lots of solar. How much do you have to be able to run so many appliances🤩? We have a used production van that we are slowly modifying.
Also, are willing to share your painting set up for in the van? Do you use a craft light? How do you store your supplies to keep them safe from water and heat… while still being able to access them?
Hi Esther! We a 12.5kWh battery bank, 800w solar system on the roof and then the portable solar panels are 400w. When we're in the shade we can go 5 days if we're careful! Here in the open the battery has been staying above 90% about every day so far -- fingers crossed! When we designed the van we had a goal of going 2 weeks off grid.
The Instant Pot is actually really good on power -- once it comes up to pressure it hardly uses any power at all. I like cooking lentils since they're super fast to cook and keep us feeling full and fueled!
I really gotta do a whole post on my art setup -- thanks for asking about that! I keep meaning to do it but keep forgetting. Art Toolkit was asking about it too! Stay tuned!!
OMG, that’s a LOT of power storage AND a lot of solar! You guys have an amazing van!
Oh yeah! I think my husband definitely planned for the worst! We’ve only been down to 20% a few times in the fall/winter when we had parked under trees! But is reassuring to have. He has the goal of being able to stay somewhere for 2 weeks — especially dispersed camping!
I looked up the Paintbrush you saw in my Roadside New Mexico guidebook. Here's what I found: Castilleja LInariaefolia "usually has several branched stems growing from a woody base..Leaves are narrow and lance-shaped except those on the upper stem which are cleft...bracts are also cleft...these and calyx are scarlet. A conspicuous yellow tube-like Corolla protrudes from the calyx."
Castilleja miniata: "calyx and Corolla are green at the base and red at the tip....lance-shaped leaves are broad and have 3 veins...unbranched, often grows in colonies."
Both grow at higher altitudes than the one commonly called Indian paintbrush...can be distinguished by greater height and larger flowers."
Hope this info helps. I'm loving your trip and your art, as always. Tried doing my own triad studies and found the video so very helpful. Happy trails!