April '24
Key Stats
On a scale of fist (aka 0) to 5, how high is the stoke level for trailer life? Still at a 5!
Odometer reading? Start: 13,682 miles, End: 16,311 mi
Total: 2,629 mi
Which sports did we tackle? We finally, actually wrapped up skiing, then got in lots of climbing, mountain biking, and hiking
What was the hardest thing this month? Dealing with a broken trailer axle
What was the most surprising thing this month? New Mexico nearly edges out Colorado as our favorite state! At least in the winter and spring...summers seem hot.
Favorite memory or adventure? Niece time! Building sandcastles with Mila & making banana icecream with Emma
Any lessons learned? Bring a flat kit for your flat kit (Ben's CO2 inflator blew an o-ring...)
Favorite book/podcast? Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen/ Upzoned a Strong Towns Podcast
Musings
April served as our official transition from winter to summer sports, as well as a nice break from trailer life enjoying a couple days with Chloe's family in Ft. Lauderdale and a send away cruise for Maddie, David, Emma, and Mila before they moved to Spain. (Note: While trailer break ideally meant more consistent access to showers, turns out the showers on a cruise ship are roughly the same size as our shower in the trailer!)
The month started with another week back at Palisade thanks to Chloe's jury summons (Happy Birthday from the Mesa county Justice system!), giving Ben the opportunity to compete in the NASTAR National Championships, which were coincidentally at Snowmass the same week. After hanging up the skis, we switched gears into mountain biking while beginning our cross country sprint from Palisade to New Hampshire.
Our climate advocacy continued through policy maker outreach, including Ben speaking at the Mesa County Board of County Commissioners meeting in support of repealing the solar moratorium, which was repealed and replaced with rational Land Development Code for utility scale, community, and residential solar as well as agrivoltaics!
We continued our education, largely focusing on the 16+ hours of prework for our upcoming EMT course. This included an overview of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and HazMat training (the main theme was everything can kill you). We continued our remedial Spanish, but our online technical coursework will need to wait until after our EMT course.
At this point, trailer life no longer feels foreign or unusual. At times, it almost feels mundane, which is crazy given our adventures. In some ways though, that was the point...we wanted to recharge rather than going full throttle from 60 hour work weeks to packed weekends. Getting to slow down and enjoy our adventures at a more relaxed pace while having time to learn and advocate is exactly what we wanted, and we definitely achieved it in April.
Trip Report
We started the month with a few more days in Los Alamos, New Mexico. After nearly a month in NM, we can confidently say it ranks high in terms of our favorite states. Boundless outdoor opportunities, delicious food, stunning architecture, secluded hot springs, surprisingly good skiing, and friendly people make for an outstanding experience. We would consider moving if it weren't for scorching hot summers and their winter snow being in jeopardy due to climate change.
After Los Alamos was another stop back home in Palisade (well, not quite "home", but some secluded BLM land about 20 minutes east). Every trip back reminds us of why we love the Western Slope. This trip was somewhat driven by Chloe's call to jury duty, but it also included catching up with friends at a poutine party and one of the best Palisade Wine Club meetings to date (shoutout to TWP!). Serendipitously, Ben had qualified for the NASTAR National Championships when he competed in a few races at Deer Valley in December, and they were in Snowmass the exact days Chloe had jury duty! It was a great experience to get back out on the slopes to compete, rekindling a passion for the racing aspect of skiing in addition to freestyle, back country, and big mountain skiing.
We then pivoted 180 degrees from skiing to a tropical vacation in Florida. A 15 mile mountain bike ride through the Everglades quickly reminded us that we are built for snowy mountains, not hot and humid tropics. Nevertheless, it was a great trip seeing Chloe's family, and was capped off by a quick Caribbean cruise as a sendoff for Chloe's sister and her family as they move to Spain.
In another quick trip to Palisade, Ben had the opportunity to speak in support of solar energy at the Mesa County Board of County Commissioners meeting, which concluded with the successful adoption of updated codes allowing expansion of solar energy production.
From there, we began a 3 week cross country journey to New Hampshire. We waffled back and forth on the best way to execute the trip, oscillating between 6 days of pedal to the metal driving or breaking it into smaller chunks. We opted for a combination, breaking it into 3, 2 day long drives broken up by a few days exploring in between. Our first stop was Arkansas, including Bentonville and Hot Springs. The mountain biking in Bentonville was incredible, while Hot Springs National Park was a bit of an unusual experience. The Park is effectively the preservation of ~8 art deco buildings from the 1920s and a small plot of land behind them. They have a fascinating history, including some wacky old school medical treatments, baseball training, and major tourist attraction, but it did not quite feel like a National Park. A great stop nonetheless in a part of the county we don't often visit.
Gear Eval
First bike rides of the season are always a coin flip on what's going to go wrong. Ben encountered a massive torn tire, which would not have been an issue had he 1) brought 2 tire levers and 2) had his CO2 inflator not blown a gasket. Chalk that up as another lesson learned not to buy no-name brands from Amazon. Thankfully some kind folks on the trail lent a second lever and their inflator.
Looking to next year, new race skis and a new race suit may be in Ben's future if he continues racing NASTAR or competes in the Masters League.
Oh, and cross country skis do not enable skiing steep powder.
Chloe's Kitchen
Birthday treats were officially a food group this month. Celebrations meant the kitchen was at minimal capacity for a good portion of the month.
We spent a lot of time on the road and tried to take advantage of local specialties (that could be quickly found off the highway). One of our favorites was a BBQ baked potato with allll of the fixings!