Hello friends! The Van Vagabonds here! I (Kristen) am going to do the honors of writing this post! WOW. So much has happened in only a week! Where to begin? Well, there is much to talk about. First I must say that internet has seemed challenging to find at times and I am starting to gain a new belief that it is EASY. Pai has already been invited into two different coffee shops with us. This is SO NICE because it is CHILLY here in San Diego and I can’t concentrate and type when I am cold.
Tonight as I write this, I am at a coffee shop in North Park called Filter. Filter is open until 2am and a good thing because it seems that we are SLOW during our days here and that things (like making the bed) take extra longer to do. So, after a full day, we made it to an internet cafe at 12am. I am glad we found one open late. 
It actually reminds me of Epic Cafe in Tucson, only a little more chill and relaxing.
Pai, who was warmly welcomed in is now sitting across Azstrel, myself, and Amy. We are all sitting on a couch with our laptops and our “lap dog” sprawled across us. I am in the middle, so I am the special one who gets the heaviest part of Pai. I DO feel special about this. I love this girl, SERIOUSLY. 
So, with all that said, Azstrel, Pai, and I want to tell you what we have been up to! We are finding the importance of staying CURRENT with writing about our travels. So this requires getting to cafe’s regularly. I am glad to be here. I am SO TIRED. It is in a good way. I admit to being so cranky before we came here and yet it feels so good to be here, writing to you.
One thing I am learning while traveling is that sometimes doing things (like laundry) feels challenging. Then once we begin to do it, it is just about being in the moment. So, here I am, writing to you. I love it! I am so glad I breathed though my challenging feelings and being tired. It always feels so good to just DO IT!
As I write to you, it has been 6 day since we departed on our journey from Tucson and yet it feels like so much longer. It is amazing how much you can experience in only 6 days! Especially traveling like we do, in our van. This has been quite the experience. One I am loving more and more each day. There are definitely challenges and it has ALL been beautiful.
We left Tuesday the 18th in the late afternoon. It felt like we could not get the van “together” fast enough. We had some packing to finish and the van needed cleaning. I was reaching my ends so quickly. The simplest acts, such as putting a blanket on the bed, felt SO HARD. I had reached a point where everything felt like so much and I was so frustrated with looking at everything we still had and trying to find places to put it. Well, we DID IT! I left a few things at my Dad’s house (thanks Dad!) for him to donate for me. We got in the van around 4pm and began to run some last errands as we left Tucson.
We planned to get to San Diego that evening and soon decided to change our minds on that. We decided to really slow down. There is no reason to rush on this journey. It is about the JOURNEY, NOT the destination.
The first leg of our journey actually began in a wash, in Tucson, near the freeway. WHY?!?!?! Well, for the love of Pai is why! This sweet and lovely lady is teaching us SO MUCH. The first of which is to slow down and enjoy the present moment. We knew Pai needed to run and express herself before we left, so we took her to a wash neither Azstrel or I had ever been too. The wash was near Speedway and the Freeway and it was really beautiful. We thanked Pai for being in our lives and taking us to a place we would have just passed by. This happens quite frequently on our journeys. Because of Pai, we go places, see places, and do things because of HER. We love her. She deserves a blog post all her own. Actually, she deserves a BOOK and we have only lived with her for two weeks now.
Next up on the journey of journeys was Costco! We filled up Talyn’s belly with gas (best priced in town). AGAIN, thank you Dad for the Costco Membership. YES! The keys to the Kingdom! 
AND…. no trip to Costco would be complete without a Kosher Beef hot dog and a coke for $1.50. You can’t beat it, plus, if your flexible on what you eat, this helps your travel budget IMMENSELY. 
So, we ate hot dogs outside Costco with our Hot Dog, Pai. I love eating hot dogs at Costco, it is always magical! I have a whole other blog post to write on why…it will come to a blog near you (Movamor) in the near future.
At Costco we began to see just how magical traveling with Pai would be. We started to have conversations with people at Costco because of this lovely dog. We all had a great time, eating, talking, and enjoying the sunset.
So, we headed out of Tucson after sunset, a most magical time of day in the Sonoran Desert, and enjoyed our night ride greatly. We had pretty much decided at this point that we would camp somewhere near Dateland, Az. The walk in the wash had really shown us that we could find magic ANYWHERE. We had no need to rush to San Diego and I am glad we didn’t. 
What we found that evening out in the desert was TRULY MAGICAL. Curious? GOOD! Got your attention? GREAT! I want you hungry for more of this blog! You may not be hungry for Costco hot dogs, but I bet you sure are salivating for more of the Van Vagabonds. Really though, this is a long post and I would like to continue the story for you in the next post!
OK! Here we go!
Lots O’ Love!
~Your Van Vagabonds, Pai, Azstrel, and Kristen
{ 16 comments }
