It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

What a wonderful way to begin the new year! Today we hiked 6 miles at San Tan Mountain Regional Park, south of Mesa. We shared the trail with folks on bikes



and others on horses.



This is the first time we have celebrated New Year’s Day with a hike. Most years in the past we would have had to ski, snowshoe or snowmobile to enjoy the outdoors. And it is one of the reasons we are glad we changed our lifestyle last year, one of the benefits of being in Arizona, not Colorado, in winter.

A year ago we were packing boxes and sorting our belongings, deciding what to put in storage, what to sell and what to give away. We look back and have no regrets about deciding to become full-time RVers. At the same time, we knew there would be trade-offs.

This was our first Christmas with no decorations, no Christmas tree. We didn’t host the Christmas dinner. That had its sad or difficult side. On the other hand, it was a quiet, unstressed Christmas. No hurry. We were able to focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas. And we enjoyed a full day with our son Eric and his family on Christmas day without a lot of work to do.

Christmas wasn’t quite what we would like. And being on the road all the time means we lose out on a lot of family time. But when we think of winters past, with three to five months in our Colorado house, spending most of the time indoors and living in a rut, we don’t regret what we are doing a bit.