Post-Sedona, we made it back for the holidays. The toughest part was being “home,” but not quite being HOME. Logan was back from his freshman year of college, and we were close to friends and family again but it didn’t feel the same. We weren’t settled into our usual rhythm of traditions, routines, and all the familiar comforts (and, honestly, all our “stuff”). We still celebrated, of course it was just different.
For most of December, we based ourselves in Boulder. Some good friends escaped the cold for a month in Costa Rica and needed house and pet sitters, which couldn’t have worked out better. They have a wonderful home right in the heart of town—three bedrooms and a couple of amazing dogs. Perfect, right?
Everything was perfect… until an extreme wind event rolled through and the electric company shut off power for a few days. A little wind is no big deal, but when gusts push past 100 mph, trees start coming down... and that’s exactly what happened. A massive tree fell, took out power lines, and left us without electricity for the better part of three days.
We made the most of it, but it was eye-opening to see how much daily life depends on the grid: lights, refrigerator, dishwasher, internet, garage doors, heat, the list goes on. It’s amazing how quickly things feel complicated when you lose power.
Even with the outage, being in Boulder gave us a chance to slip back into some of our favorite routines: hikes at Sanitas and Anemone Trail, bike rides with friends, celebrating Logan’s 19th birthday, spending Christmas with family, and even ringing in the New Year with friends.
So… did we enjoy being back? Sort of. The holidays just aren’t the same if you’re not with your people and we were grateful for that time. But we also noticed something: instead of exploring new places, we started falling back into old patterns. It was a great few weeks, no question, but we’re excited to get back on the road and return to a routine filled with new trails, new restaurants, and fresh adventures.
One more thing worth mentioning: this stop gave us the chance to recalibrate our packing list. After Sedona, we took inventory of what we actually used, what we didn’t, and what we were carrying “just in case.” Turns out, we could shrink our footprint a bit. As we set off for what we’re calling “Chapter 3,” we left behind nearly two boxes of stuff.
We pared down the kitchen gear we weren’t using (goodbye tea kettle, large skillet, and the random assortment of YETI mugs), along with some puzzles, cards, and other downtime fillers. We realized that when given the choice, we’ll almost always pick exploring over staying in.
As for what we added: a few clothing swaps, Katie’s cowboy boots (hello Austin and Nashville), and a replenishment of toiletries. Overall, we trimmed the load, simplified things, and now we’re more than ready for the next stretch of the journey.
