Called To Wander

13/06/2025

02/06/2025

America: where it’s almost as economical to drink windshield washer fluid as it is to drink purified water.

Think we can get some guidance from the Health and Human Services department as to the nutritional value of windshield washer fluid?

Note: These photos are from a Loves truck stop, where the company exploits hardworking truckers who can’t pull their rig into a normal grocery store parking lot to buy water.


Love's Travel Stops

31/05/2025

Our first Alliance RV Ally Rally was a success and so much FUN!! We met so many awesome people and were welcomed into the FamAlly with open arms! What an amazing community Alliance owners are, wow!! Chris was in the dunk booth for the opening ceremony to help raise money for FamAlly CARES INC and we donated a Baja Amigos RV caravan tour to the silent auction that ended up raising over $40,000 for nonprofits in the Elkhart community. Now we just need to make the drive through South Chicago 😆

19/05/2025

First hummingbird of the season just showed up at our campsite in Custer State Park. She revealed herself to me (Lindsay) a few days ago and told me she was hungry, so I made some sugar water and hung the feeder. I’ve seen her almost everyday since from my window ❤️
I took this picture of one of the females last year and love the picture so much that I hung it in our new RV.

03/05/2025

Hola! We’re popping up for air and thought we’d give a quick update since our last post!

We are currently back in Custer State Park working seasonal jobs in between our Baja Amigos caravan seasons. Aside from 2 weeks away at the end of May, we’ll be here through October and would love to meet you if you’re planning to pass through the Black Hills!

Between now and our last post we finished leading our first annual “Wander to Baja” 40-day caravan. Our guests had a blast and we were grateful to be able to spend 40 days in Baja after having to wait so long to get there. The Alliance RV 23ML fifth wheel we purchased did great for us as we learned to live in it.

When we popped out of Baja, we spent two weeks in Yuma, Arizona decompressing from the caravan and getting a little bit of dental work done across the border in Los Algodones.

Then we took a little over a week to drive our favorite roads between Northern Arizona, Utah and Colorado and had some fun hiking slot canyons and taking photos of wild horses.

Upon our arrival in South Dakota, we were greeted with a few inches of snow and some sub-freezing temperatures - the same freezing temps we swore we’d never see after we left Elkhart, Indiana at the end of January!

We’re now settled into our wondeful Alliance RV 23ML, getting into daily routines and balancing working for the lodge with continuing to build Baja Amigos RV Caravan company and editing and releasing new episodes on YouTube.

We have lots of photos and links to videos toshare over the next little bit. Thanks for continuing to be a part of our wander!

Baja Amigos RV Caravan Tours
Alliance 23ml Enthusiasts

28/02/2025

(February 11th)
Today we finished meeting our caravan members. Yesterday we arrived at the Southern California campground that has been our target for the past 3 months. All of the anxiety I had from the moment we learned our trailer would not be built until the end of January is gone. It never should have existed in the first place. I should have known that we would find a way to thread a dozen needles to be here.

That’s the thing about anxiety. It never should exist. It’s a figment of our own imagination, that some terrible thing might happen despite no credible threat. Most people I know, if they have anxiety, have anxiety over the future. I am like most people in that regard.

I like to control things. I like predictability and the logic of most outcomes. If I do a thing this way, it will turn out that way. Then try to do a thing the way you want it done, so it turns out like you want it.

Uncertainty makes me anxious. So I plan and plan and plan. I make up scenarios that might exist just so I could solve them before they happened.

I don’t gamble. But if I did, I would have wagered three weeks ago that we would not make it to our campsite in Southern California today. There were too many things that could go wrong, too many variables beyond our control, too many scenarios where I have to have three backup plans just in case.

But we were destined to be here. We first announced our caravan around 9 months ago. It filled in almost a week. It was a blessing. It is a blessing. We have stumbled into the opportunity to do what we love. That whole saying about doing what you love so it never feels like work… I always used to think it was a load of crap. It’s just something some motivational speaker says after he takes you for a few hundred dollars at a weekend conference.

But it’s true. Tomorrow morning Lindsay and I will load up our group and drive into Mexico, at the Tecate border. As it should go, we’ll stay straight for three blocks before turning left for a block and then a right. From there we’ll drive 35 mph along Highway 3 toward Ensenada. In around 45 minutes we’ll take a left turn into our campsite in the heart of Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s Napa Valley. We’ll set up camp and then pile into a van and hit up a few wine tours and tastings at the local vineyards.

We’ll love it, all of it! There will be stress at the border and we’re boarded, searched and then sent on our way. And it may rain, complicating everything. But during the good and the bad, we’ll be leading a group of 11 adults and 4 kids for 40 days through a place we accidentally fell in love with.

We’ll love it, all of it! There will be stress at the border and we’re boarded, searched and then sent on our way. And it may rain, complicating everything. But during the good and the bad, we’ll lead a group of 11 adults and 4 kids for 40 days through a place we accidentally fell in love with. , we’ll take a left turn at our campsite in the heart of Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s Napa Valley. We’ll set up camp, pile into a van, and hit up a few wine tours and tastings at the local vineyards.

27/02/2025

(February 8)
Dear Diary,
We made it to California. It took almost 3 weeks to get here by way of Northern Indiana and Galveston, Texas, through freezing cold weather and some of the most horrid highways.

It’s been challenging at times. But looking back just now I see how much I’ve changed in this time.

I was worried that out of 10 things that had to go right for us to reach California today, 7 would go wrong. Depending on when that one happened, the rest would fall like dominoes.

But as we met many challenges in the past 3 weeks, I decided to let everything shake loose mostly on its own. I learned to believe that I had done all I could in the situation, and the rest was up to God, so it be. And I learned to trust that God cared about the little things in my life that meant so much to me.

We have nearly a dozen people waiting for us to finish our drive to meet them on Monday morning. And if any of those 10 things went wrong, there was a chance we would not make it.

We did not choose to have this situation unfold as last minute as it has been. But we decided to roll with what we had to do in the circumstance to get to the next phase of the journey.

It turns out, I handle stress better than I thought I did… when I don’t dwell on what could go wrong but rather focus on the one thing in front of me that I can make right. I can now see that little things these past 3 weeks have shown me a lot about my life and living out what’s left of it. I don’t want to be afraid of failing every time I accept an opportunity.

I don’t want to feel like it has to be perfect, either. I don’t even want to think about what it could lead to. I just want to focus on what it is in front of me, place my hands on the plow, and start digging in to the work that I can do.

We reached California for what seemed like the thousandth time. I was born here. Well, not here in El Centro. I don’t think anybody is born here. They just find their way here and never leave.

I was born further north, and left this state before I was one. But I suppose it is a part of me, and I am a part of it.

We have a busy day tomorrow, running errands, gathering groceries and preparing for 40 days of leading our guests through our favorite place in the world. I’ll focus on that, and let those 40 days come together as they will.

26/02/2025

(February 7)
Dear Diary,
It was nice to sleep in this morning until 7:30 AM… eastern time zone. That was 5:30 AM in the central time zone, where I am. I’ll remember this because for the next two hours, I should have been sleeping, I spent listening to the eerie sound of a thousand Sandhill Cranes doing whatever they do at 5:30 AM central time zone.

I can’t explain it. So I’m giving you a video so you can decide for yourself what noise God gave these creatures to share with the world.

I find it hard to be displeased with God over some of his decisions. I bring it up with Him sometimes, about how I can’t believe he let this person or that person into the world. These kinds of conversations usually take place while I’m driving. Now I’ll add the cry of a Sandhill Cranes to the list of “why Gods.”

But the sunrise, wow! Lindsay ran out to watch it rise over the pond with all the chatty birds. I watched it rise from my bed, debating whether I could catch a few more hours sleep or not before our drive to Phoenix. I got up, put my running shoes on and took the dogs for a few miles worth of laps around the bird pond.

It’s hard to exercise on drive days like these last few have been. But Huckleberry needs to run somewhere near 27 miles every day to get his cattle dog energy out. So when he finds a wild, big-eared jack rabbit in the brush, like a good dad, I let him run a quarter-mile sprint after it.

He hasn’t caught a running rabbit yet. He caught a hiding rabbit, maybe a sleeping rabbit once in South Dakota, that we don’t talk about anymore. But when Huck chases after a rabbit in full sprint, it’s like God put this perfect motion in him and when he can use it, he comes into his being.

Speaking of perfect motion, we arrived in Phoenix to visit my sister with just five more drive hours broken up over the next three days until we reach California. It’s been one heck of a run we’ve made, from packing the 5x8 U-Haul trailer in Florida to sub-zero temps and snow in Northern Indiana, to Lindsay flying to Florida while I drove 1,200 miles in 2 days to Texas, to then come just 5 hours from our destiny.

Two months ago, when we hashed out this crazy idea and set up all of the needles we’d have to thread, it didn’t seem possible. Everything had to go right, a lot of everything. And it has. It has been incredible.

By dealing with sub-zero temperatures in Northern Indiana, we missed the snow in Florida and the storm that would have derailed us. A second storm, sweeping further south, came just in time for me to race down beneath it for a mild week on Galveston. We didn’t expect to have the trailer so soon. I should have been stuck in that storm, or delayed. And the guys who did our solar power system started a day early, giving us the time to swing through Phoenix and still have time to make it to California.

It’s been a wild ride, but a perfect one. Tomorrow, we’ll sleep in a bit before heading southwest to our favorite border town of El Centro. There’s a campground with a dirt lot waiting for us, a Wally World and Aldi to load up on groceries and an In-N-Out Burger to cherish before we head southwest of the border. It’s a nice drive too. One that nearly took our lives a few years ago, and gave us the chance to save another one. That’s a story for another day. Maybe tomorrow. Today was a good day.

25/02/2025

(February 6)
Dear Diary,
Today was a good day. It started in a Wal Mart parking lot and ended next to a lake full of Sandhill Cranes. Like thousands of them. Lindsay and I have wagers against each other over whether their squawking will act as white noise or not tonight as we sleep. I’m the one betting against that idea.

On a related note, I forgot how incredible desert sunsets are. It’s been almost a year since the last one I saw. Looking forward to 40 more during our time in Baja. With all of this moving, I’ve lost track of days.

It feels great to be on the road again. And our new rig is awesome! We’re looking forward to finding more places like these over the next few years. So much to see in this beautiful world. Even if it’s just a one-night stopover, the views make this life that much better. Today was a good day.

25/02/2025

(February 5)
Dear Diary,
Today was our first day back on the road together and our first day in the truck and trailer combo. Lindsay had not yet seen the trailer mounted to the truck. She left Indiana before we finished the hitch setup.

Of course, Lindsay also missed the last 1,200 joyride from Northern Indiana to Galveston. So we’re making up for lost time with a near-600-mile drive day today. That gets us just shy of halfway to Phoenix, where we’ll pop into my sister's life briefly before turning southwest toward San Diego.

So far the drive has been nice and mostly uneventful. I did have to showcase the stellar turn radius of our short fifth wheel twice in unexpected situations in parking lots. No backing up. But big wide u-turns that I hoped we had a chance of making, or else I think I’d die in that parking lot waiting for someone to get in my truck and fix the mess for me.

I know I’m supposed to stress myself out in order to learn. I’m supposed to make mistakes that freak me out in the moment and then look back upon and laugh at. But really, I’d prefer this thing drive itself while I nap and snack on beef jerky and cashews.

Since that won’t happen, I guess it’s best to watch other people make mistakes and then not do what they did. That’s how I prefer to learn. I’d rather learn from someone else’s stupidity than from my own. If the option exists, of course.

We covered a lot of ground today, including the hill country, which was absolutely gorgeous at sunset but was not kind to the truck. We averaged 7.7 mpg for those few hours. Good thing gas has been at or below $2.50 along the way.

We stopped at Buccees, a real Texas showcase, and then found them on nearly every corner afterward, a seeming staple for every small town in Texas. The ones in Florida are far larger than those here in Texas. If that says anything about Buccees self esteem and, well, you can probably imagine what guys from Texas say about how “everything” is bigger in Texas. They’re really not that big. But they do have delicious brisket, which Lindsay enjoyed in a breakfast burrito today.

Aside from that, the day went well. I wasn’t worried about breaking down, as I had been for the last 10,000 miles or so in our old motorhome. I had beautiful, grand thoughts I sorted through and organized, thoughts of things I want to create, people I want to help.

In the morning hours we “soak” in Christian worship music. That’s my preference for music these days anyway. Yeah, a big guy like me can confess to preferring worship music, good worship music, not Amy Grant kind of music. Those hours of soaking are wonderful. They’re my time with God, and with myself, with Lindsay quietly processing her own morning thoughts.

I love the road. I mean, love, love, love, love, love the road. Sometimes, I love the actual highway and will stop and stand in the middle of it and look around - at the mountains, the desert, the plains, the beauty! We find ourselves on roads sometimes where nobody cares whether you stand in the middle of the road and gawk over the beauty of the road disappearing into some beautiful horizon landscape. They don’t care because you won’t see anybody for long stretches of time.

These moments I want to fall down and hug the road for bringing me there, and for simply being there and existing in such beauty all of the time. The road has been good to us, as the sea might be to a seasoned sailor who was made to sail and nothing else. I was made to wander, like Abram and Moses, and it defines me in this chapter of my life.

Like Abram and Moses, one day I might settle down. But not now. Now I think about how the road takes me to some of the most amazing places in the world… while also taking me to overnight at Wally World… sigh.

23/02/2025

(February 3)
Dear Diary,
The solar and power installation is done. It looks amazing! And our entire roof is covered in solar panels, 2,000 watts worth. To give some perspective, when we first started out on the road in 2018, we had 200 watts and we thought we were special.

We ran both of our air conditioners on our batteries today, too. That’s going to be pretty awesome when we’re boondocking in Utah or Arizona or Colorado and feel like spoiling ourselves for a few hours a day, or even overnight.

This means our time in Galveston is coming to an end. We could leave tomorrow for California but we paid for camping through Wednesday morning and I’m too cheap to leave a day early.

Also, we’re trying to time our 1,200-mile drive for a quick detour to see my sister in Phoenix. It will be a short one, 3 four-hundred-mile days. So we’ll start on Wednesday to meet for dinner Friday night. Then we have to move on to SoCal to prep for our Baja caravan before meeting our group on Monday.

We’re cutting it close. But we’re about 80% through the massive logistical challenges that had been the last 3 weeks of our lives. Driving is easy now. But I still think I’ll take one more day off the road before making this one last run west. Today was a good day.

22/02/2025

(February 2)
Dear Diary,
Day 3 of the power and solar system build and everything is looking and working great. One more day more for tune-ups and touch-ups and then we pack everything back in our outside storage and get ready for the road again.

We’re looking at 1,500 miles to Southern California. Gonna try and take it in 3 days and maybe a little more. Sounds crazy. But I just did 650 miles twice in two days.

However we break it up, we’re planning for these drives to be the last long hauls we make. We need to slow down. Tomorrow the truck goes in for an oil change at 6,000 miles. 6,000 miles! How did we put that many miles in this beautiful truck?!

Although we’re in a perfectly good campsite with unlimited power, we’ve disconnected our power cord and are living off our massive power bank.

Sometimes, people who don’t RV don’t understand how important power is and how easy it is to take unlimited power in a house for granted. We can run everything we own now, including our air conditioner, on our batteries.

That’s a pretty big deal in our world. And I’m so pleased with the two guys doing the work and the kindness of their families. We’ve stumbled into meeting great people who will become lifelong friends. Those don’t come easily on the road. But you take them when you can.

For now, it’s movie night! Sitting in our new reclining sofa, watching our way-too-big tv with the dogs in our laps. Today was a good day.