Hello New World

A few weekends ago we packed up the family in the CX-9 and went about to explore and hopefully find some good camping sites up in the Rockies for future camping trips.  This was our first adventure of this sort out in Colorado since last summer all our camping gear was in storage, and we haven't exactly adapted to the cold to where we'd want to go winter camping...who would.  Krystal and I have always liked what you call dispersed camping, where you are more off the grid, don't have amenities, no paved roads, no camp grounds, etc. so I looked up some possible locations near Nederland and off we went.

And here is where the problem began.  The CX-9 isn't exactly an off-road vehicle.  In fact, it felt much more like a stretched out minivan with no ground clearance and slippery highway tires that had very little traction.  Let's just say that we had to turn around and in doing so got stuck for nearly ten minutes.  It was a good test of Krystal and I's wonderful communication skills ;)  After that experience and not really finding what we had hoped for, we weren't all that thrilled with the CX-9.  This is where Logan comes in, he has been obsessed recently with Jeeps.  Every time we pass one on the road, he yells "JEEP!" in his usual non-volume controlled voice.  We also knew that after one winter Krystal's car wasn't all that great in the snow, which meant if it snowed then Krystal stayed home.  This would present a problem this coming winter since Logan will be going to preschool, and we don't think he's ready to walk in the snow to school just yet.  So compile all these things together and the idea of a new vehicle starting sounding more and more like something we wanted.

I'll save you the car shopping details but in the end we bought a 2014 Toyota 4Runner SR5.  Logan compromised on not getting a Jeep, and was happy that the 4Runner could still (in his words) "go off the highway and it's fun for families too".  Krystal has in fact wanted a 4Runner for awhile but in AZ our lifestyle didn't really support the need for an off-road capable truck.

There's another part of this story...Krystal's dream has been to live in Colorado (and for whatever reason) own a kayak.  I say "and for whatever reason" because Krystal doesn't exactly like water all that much.  She'll only go in a swimming pool if you beg her and generally being out on the water isn't her idea of a good time.  BUT, being on a lake surrounded by green snow capped mountains simply does it for her.  I won't complain in the slightest, it's her happy place and the water is a second home for me.  So, when I brought home the truck to surprise her I felt it was only appropriate that a kayak be mounted on the roof.  A tandem kayak that would fit us two, plus Logan right now and Fiona once she gets a little older.

So where does that put us now...well we have a 4x4 truck that can take us anywhere we want and beyond, along with a kayak to take us even further into the outdoors.  We can explore this wonderful state we live in, and take adventure after adventure.  My hope for this blog is to document all these adventures so that one day we can look back at them together as a family and appreciate all the time we spent together.

***Oh and a HUGE thanks to Erick for helping me on Saturday morning with the kids, truck, kayak, etc.  Couldn't have surprised Krystal without you, much less survived the day on my own :)

July 12th 2014: Hello New World