Recap - Month 2
Another month of YOFO is in the books (or blogosphere)! In addition to chronicling the driving miles (2024), the in/around miles (2027), the absurd number of hours spent in outdoor physical exertion (ugh, I get brain DOMS just trying to add them up), or the gas stats (385 gal and $975) for this recap we figured we'd give you a glimpse into some lessons learned.
1) For every cool thing we see or do, there are at least five others in a ten mile radius that we miss. For example, as I write this we're passing by the Idaho Potato Museum. Damn, that could be cool! We're already contemplating hitting the things we miss on YOFO round two (kidding - not kidding).
Some cool stuff out here to be explored.
2) Dean is the strategic planner and Dawn, well, isn't. But, Dean likes to call audibles mid-stream, so it sorta kinda balances out.
3) Somehow, Dawn ends up having to be in the lead for most hikes, "runs" and mountain bikes. Dean says it's to serve as his "pace booty" but she's convinced the real reason is to find the spider webs, snakes, and tree roots before he does.
4) Dean gets to lead on road bike rides so that Dawn gets a nice draft (and her own shot of pace booty). Which translates into him zoning out and dropping the hammer (unintentionally, of course), and subsequently getting his ass chewed. Fun for all!
5) You don't go to YOFO with the fitness you need, you go to YOFO with the fitness you have...which dovetails nicely with the next lesson learned.
6) There's a saying that you can't outrun a shit diet. There's some truthiness in that, but we're giving it one heckuva try! Despite enjoying all the good eats and adult beverages, we've both managed to drop some pounds and just might be approaching something resembling "fit." Well, let's just settle on "fitter." Neither of us would qualify to be in a wet t-shirt or six-pack abs competition, so we'll continue to be secure in our present condition, complete with our protective abs shields (if you're unfamiliar with that technical term, an "ab shield" is the protective layer of fat covering our mid-sections).
7) We'll both wuss out of minor chores or wait long enough till the other one knocks it out, but when it's time to "march order," set up camp, or deal with the unexpected (like changing a tire on the side of a highway), it's asses and elbows teamwork until the job is done.
8) We spent over a week out of the YOFOHome (repairs and solar install at Salt Lake City)...the thing we forgot to pack that caused the most grief - finger nail clippers. There's a scene in an old horror movie "The Fall of the House of Usher" where the matriarch comes back from the grave with these crazy, gross, curved under fingernails...shudder...we didn't get there but we were ready to bust out alternative tools!
9) Murph will be missed - Even though he was unable to join us on our hikes etc., he was an awesome travel hound.
10) It's really nice not being plugged in all the time. But the random jolts of what's going on are jarring. It's like getting hit by a tidal wave and then going back to being in the moment of the adventure.
11) We loved having visitors for a WOFO. Our first visitors and WOFO-ers, Kady and Nate, seemed to have lots of smiles as they saw and did things they've never seen or done before. There's definitely something to this effing off lifestyle that causes, or spreads joy.
Touring the Mammoth Dig. Who's wearing the headsets the best?