Life at a "Swell's" pace

Hello.

Here are five things this week.

1. This basket.

Since Easter landed on the same day we left on our trip this week, we gave Skylar his Easter basket on the bus in his "room." He loved the surprise and it was a nice way to kick off our Eclipse road trip.

2. This doggy.

We got new signs for the bus and we also put our Instagram handle on two of them-one in the back and one on the side of the bus. We hope we can gain new friends while we are traveling. We are excited to be on the road this week.

3. These cookies.

I spent this week making snacks for our trip. I made three dozen chocolate chip cookies, granola mix, two dozen oatmeal cookies, and trail mix. We are hoping to stay on the road driving as much as we can, so these quick snacks will help keep us moving instead of having to stop somewhere to eat.

4. This bee.

My Easter gift from Jeff. He had it sitting on my pillows on the bus when we went to leave.

5. These masks.

I created some face masks of my own with an old cotton shirt that had been through a lot over the years. I took a face mask template and cut out masks to use with aloe, or clay, and save money and the environment from single use face masks. I am currently working on a few different masks to use. I am excited to put an old shirt to good use and keep it out of the landfill.

One last thing:

Your Super Super Green, Gut Feeling, and Golden Mellow.

Absolutely love this brand and you'll love it too! Use this link above and get 20% off!

Positive affirmations this week:

Have a nice weekend.

Cortez, Colorado 🠊 Santa Rosa, New Mexico

We spent the night in Cortez, Colorado, at a Walmart parking lot and boondocked it for the night. We had other travelers all around us and in the morning we met some awesome people that were in a converted van-"Yeti2gogh." They were the first people we met on our trip and they were so friendly. They were on their way back to Florida, where they're from, to get married after traveling for several weeks. We consider them friends now, and we can't wait to follow their bus life online and share tips. After we left Colorado we headed towards Four Corners and ate some lunch. Four Corners is literally four corners of states; Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. It was windy while we were there, and we had to wait in line to take our turn in the middle of the corners. There were also Native American vendors around the corners selling their handmade merchandise. Skylar and I found some authentic, one-of-a-kind, handmade jewelry and listened to a story from a Navajo woman telling us how she comes across each piece. As a part Native myself, it was nice to be able to connect on that level with other women at Four Corners. We ended up eating a big lunch and heading towards New Mexico.

Even the views from the bus windows were beautiful.

It was another beautiful day for traveling and we headed toward Albuquerque, New Mexico. The rock formations along the way were some that I have never seen before. We all were taking in the views as much as we could.

We stopped for about an hour in Gallop and washed out the radiator vents and cleaned the bus up. We also let the animals get out of the bus and stretch, eat, and get some sun. The ducks were ready to get off their feet for a bit, and Hardy was excited to explore and smell the area. We weren't on Route 66 long, but it was cool to be able to say we drove a converted bus on the historic road.

We reached the Continental Divide around 9:30 p.m. We were a bit bummed, but made plans on our way back to stop during the daylight. One thing I wanted before leaving New Mexico was a pair of moccasins, and a handmade Native American bracelet.

We reached Albuquerque around midnight, but drove on to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, to stay the night. We got into Santa Rosa, New Mexico, around 2:00 a.m. and stayed the night at a Travel America. We were all exhausted and had no plans to get up early. It was much-needed rest for all of us. We can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.