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Museos en Ciudad Mexico

Get on the metro and make your way to the blue line

1 minute read

Guanajuato light show

There’s a lot to see in Guanajuato in the daytime. And given the stairs, easier...

1 minute read

Amor y almuerzo

Lunch in the church plaza was couples’ time. The dogs came with a punk crew...

1 minute read

Getting our money back, chapter 2

How would we retrieve the $1000 the Mexican government owes us? If you don’t know...

2 minute read    — 3 comments

What this parabola can do

So I made a parabola out of wood, foam board, and aluminum foil. What can...

1 minute read

Cats go inside

Our cats had never been inside, other than trips to the vet. On their first...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

Worn out

We worked hard with our bodies throughout our year in Mexico, but muscles and feet...

1 minute read    — 3 comments

Moving roots

We’re back in the US after a year in Mexico. We’ve been in NC for...

1 minute read

Crossing the border with pets

Ever crossed an international border with pets? If you were driving, you probably faced more...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

Toileting and vanlife

I prefer to pee into empty containers while we’re making progress on a roadtrip than...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

Vanlife and re-wombing

My mom stayed in El Terreno for 42 hours while Phillip and I went to...

4 minute read    — 1 comments

Roadtrips with cats

They yowled for the first two hours. It was hard to breathe through the stress...

2 minute read

Composting toilet results

Do you know how our composting toilet works? Check it out. The toilet has been...

1 minute read

Goodnight and good luck, El Terreno

We waved goodbye to El Terreno yesterday, with no idea when we’ll see it again....

1 minute read    — 1 comments

Homegoing

Getting home to El Terreno is kinda like this We’re gonna miss the neighbors and...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

What we won't miss

That scary hill! Here’s a taste of driving home from the city - sorry for...

1 minute read

Mildew

When archaeologists unearth a 2019 layer of human refuse and DNA test (or whatever they...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

Delegation of duties

Phillip and I are different - personality, strengths, hobbies. We’ve got plenty of shared values...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

No vanity in the dust bowl

We have one tiny mirror, so unless I catch my reflection at the right time...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

Border security

We love the neighbor dogs! Ever since Torce introduced us to our wonderful neighbors we’ve...

2 minute read

Sourdough pancakes

Since we’re growing a sourdough starter, we get to increase the vitality of our (nearly...

2 minute read

Sourdough pizza

Since the best part of a pizza is the toppings, we don’t care much about...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

Winter weeds

Winter brings a new menu of weeds to El Terreno. These are the ones we’re...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Fly catching

Our favorite fly-catcher was named for that skill. We are so glad she’s back! Though...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Keeping Gris company

Isn’t it a gift to return to “normal” life and be grateful for small blessings?...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Pretty in pink chocolate cake

We’ve got a new favorite adult chocolate cake recipe (though we still love this one,...

3 minute read    — 3 comments

Wintering with monarchs

What country can claim the monarch, which lives in Canada, US and Mexico? Growing up...

4 minute read    — 2 comments

Best chocolate cake

Cake 1 cup flour (above picture was version with oats, slightly ground, can use ground...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Flying upside down

Puerto Vallarta’s malecón (board walk) is infintely fascinating. We were grateful to be in the...

1 minute read

Walking the river to the sea

Puerto Vallarta is one of those enchanting places where you can follow the river to...

1 minute read

Malecón

Puerto Vallarta’s malecón or boardwalk is full of art and truly delightful. (Especially if you...

1 minute read

Our Lady's homes

The parish church for Our Lady of Guadalupe in Puerto Vallarta is enchanting, though it’s...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Beaches of Puerto Vallarta

On this luxurious week in Puerto Vallarta, we’ve been bumming between Holi Beach (seen above...

2 minute read

Playa Destiladeras

Próspero año nuevo! This is beach season in Mexico, and we’ve been in Puerto Vallarta....

1 minute read

My kind of Puerto Vallarta

We happily joined our friends for a week in beachside Puero Vallarta. Friendly, relaxed, successful...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Gallery of injuries

I wondered when we would get our Mexico bodies back, by which I mean, our...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

Black bean brownies

Can’t think of a better Christmas present than these black bean brownies: Gluten-free Sugar-free option...

2 minute read

Sleighless delivery

Merry Christmas y Feliz Navidad! We spent a month in the US this fall and...

2 minute read

Cooking in a sleeping bag

Maybe we have to cook in a sleeping bag cause we’re living offgrid and it’s...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Pick your favorite sunset

We got a drone, since vanlife doesn’t look cool without shots of the van at...

1 minute read    — 4 comments

Getting our Mexico bodies back

We crossed the border two weeks ago and we’re starting to get our Mexico bodies...

2 minute read

July in Christmas

I’ve heard of Christmas in July, but we’re living July at Christmastime. All summer I...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

Using Solar Electricity

Continuing from the Off-grid Solar Electricity Overview this post describes the ways electricity collected from...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

Cocina un poca menos rustica

While we were gone Stan organized the finishing of the kitchen floor. It’s gorgeous! Only...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

Losing my Mexico body

Just as we head for the border, I’ve finally lost my Mexico body. The cracks...

2 minute read

Back over the border

We had a stressful border crossing on Monday, by which I mean, we had a...

4 minute read    — 2 comments

Lone Star Thanksgiving

The San Fernando Cathedral light show stole my heart on behalf of the Lone Star...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Van woes and wins in Mexico

We were too busy getting out of Morelia to tell you how we got out...

3 minute read

Baking in a grill

Baking in our grill is disappointing. But we love dessert so we keep trying. We’ve...

2 minute read

Spider gallery

Fun fact/fiction: you’re never more than three feet from a spider. It’s true en El...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Premature aging

This life has taken years off ours. Mostly sleep deprivation, from leaking beds, sick dogs,...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Going camping

Why go camping if you live in a van? I’ve wanted to pitch a tent...

2 minute read

Getting stuck again?

We left San Antonio Monday morning. We expected something would go wrong, since our last...

2 minute read

Getting unstuck

How do you drive your van-house away after 6 months of parked living? Gravel, straps,...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Adios gatitos

The worst part of leaving Mexico (to spend a few weeks in the US) was...

2 minute read

Granola

Before we bade farewell to our friends in Atlanta, we made a last big batch...

1 minute read

Welcome to our kitchen

We’ve settled into our kitchen this summer (and Phillip added several passive solar appliances). Check...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

We have a water heater

Phillip made this simple passive solar water heater. He dug and leveled a 3” deep...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Morelia at peace

The most peaceful place I’ve been in/around Morelia is this stretch of the bike path...

1 minute read

Off-grid Solar Electricity Overview

Off-grid Solar Types Direct Thermal - There are many types of off-grid thermal systems. Some...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Solar dehydrator, 2nd attempt

Our first solar dehydrator didn’t last. The rainy season has consumed many cardboard/paper items. The...

1 minute read

End in sight

The rainy season is tapering! The end of constantly muddy feet, muddy bed, muddy pants,...

2 minute read

Our favorite mistakes

Here’s an abbreviated gallery of mistakes we’ve made: We’ve been baking in our grill and...

3 minute read    — 2 comments

La colina de la muerte

Virtually every time we go into Morelia we have to take the scariest hill, whether...

1 minute read    — 2 comments

Solar dehydrator, 1st attempt

We’ve been harvesting wild edibles (also known as weeding the gardens) and can’t eat them...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Slow and steady, easy does it

By our 108th sun salute I was tired; I was glad to be done and...

3 minute read    — 1 comments

First theft

When we first moved onto El Terreno we expected our stuff would get stolen, repeatedly....

2 minute read    — 1 comments

How to do laundry by hand

If you live in a van, RV or otherwise without a washing machine, if you’re...

3 minute read    — 3 comments

Cut out the middle man!

Thankfully, Max is better (for now) and sleeping through the night! Poor old fella has...

3 minute read    — 4 comments

Our grill

Our grill is called RoadTrip and that’s accurate - we’ve cooked in city parks, state...

3 minute read

We're stuck

How did we end up living in a van? Well, first we decided to live...

3 minute read

Dog retirement home

Do you ever feel like you’re not doing enough? Look at the clock and realize...

2 minute read

How to make *chocolate*

If you ask for chocolate here (cho-co-lah-tay) it’s hot chocolate. That’s how people first consumed...

3 minute read    — 4 comments

How to make coffee off-grid

Update After our pour-over fell to the rustic kitchen floor, we’ve been making cowgirl coffee....

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Blogging and couching

Blogging about our permaculture adVanture shares a few laughs, groans, and insight connects us to...

1 minute read    — 1 comments

Electricity off-grid

We don’t have electricity here. That is, we’re not on the grid. We do have...

3 minute read    — 4 comments

Clean

The day I tossed a (firm) dog turd out of our bed, finished making that...

3 minute read

Wind

All the elements feel more extreme here - the sun is stronger, hotter. Afternoon wind...

1 minute read

Rustico

We have a new kitchen! It’s glorious, fancy and oh-so-useable. Also rustico. Yeah, rustic. Victor...

2 minute read    — 2 comments

Ven, gatita y gatita

With mice and rat poop all around the van, someone breaking into our coffee and...

2 minute read

The Evolution of Showering

We’re on shower system 3.0. We’ve stuck with the same solar shower bags throughout our...

3 minute read    — 1 comments

Granizo

The rainy season started early this year. Every day, usually late afternoon, we get a...

2 minute read

Wet Blanket

Follow-up on laundry: our bedding is too big for bucket washing, so I’ve been hanging...

2 minute read    — 4 comments

Laundry

Two buckets make up our washing machine. I got this navy blue one a few...

2 minute read

Püp tent

We decided to put our toilet in our tent for privacy. This means I can...

2 minute read    — 1 comments

En el terreno

Four people and five dogs watched the sunset. We had a fun weekend with my...

2 minute read    — 8 comments