The Desert Rose Podcast

Today was a momentous day at Camp Cordray, the stationary Mississippi River version. Two kind and considerate young wrecker drivers came to get Erik Van Home. They were solidly impressed by the solar panels, add on a/c unit, the hand built kitchen and bed, fridge, and other perks as they loaded him up. That made up for the fact that he is an 8000 pound beast that took some jiggling to extract.

Our traveling coach rolled over 304,000 miles, spanning more than 10 years of travel for a mere four thousand dollar initial investment. This road warrior rolled out today with most of his pieces-parts, as Dan would say, and brand new tires all around. No matter what, he deserved those new shoes that he got as he carried us to Memphis. He sure earned them.

We thought of so many vandweller friends who would have loved to live in our chariot after us. With a big oil leak to chase and lots of wear, we couldn't give it to anyone with limited funds with good conscience knowing it would take a lot to keep it rolling. We decided to donate it to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

We spent some time over the holidays hanging out inside and reminiscing. We had a lot of bits and pieces to remove before we could make the call for pick up. Dan cycled through the flu and with him working extended hours immediately afterwards, it took a bit to complete the task. We made the appointment for pickup on Friday, and today they came and wheeled him away.

I didn't expect to bawl like a baby as they worked to hitch the van up to pull it backwards to a larger section of the parking lot where they could drop it and load it up on the flatbed facing forward. I just wanted a picture or two, and of course, my lurking around waiting with a soggy face led to questions and comments about how this was surely the superior way to travel. Cheaper and better than any RV, the young man said. I didn't share that we had grown into an RV situation because I loved the light in his eyes.

I loved that he stepped inside and allowed himself to dream a little dream, just like Dan had done when he found our chariot, shortly after we met but before we left out on the road together. Like my van and his old van, this van joins the vehicle timeline of our nomadic story.

On this day, I was crying in gratitude for the synchronicities and the memories, for the bucket list checks and how two sets of two became four, including the pups. How it never seemed impossible because we were both already living van life, to varying degrees, when we had that fateful cup of coffee.

I was feeling in my core the blessing of a conversation Dan had with a co-worker about wanting to buy the van, but being short just yet. He had been through a rough divorce and had a van already, the one he owned when we met. But this one was special. He could do so much with it if he had it.

The same mutual friend who introduced us, Linda Barton, had looked at this van first and didn't leap. Dan let her know that if she didn't, he would, if he could figure out how to pull it off. All hail Linda Barton, who decided against the van so it could be his, and then ours. You brought us together, and you also led us to Erik, our van home. We owe you a lot. Thank you, friend!

That coworker believed in Dan's dream and pledged the money to buy that van, happy to wait as long as necessary for him to repay the loan. Of course he did, asap. Earning freedom in all of its levels and layers means sandwiches for lots of dinners and sacrifices that bring rewards in the end. Neither of us have shied away from putting in the work to do what we love to do, and have what we need and want to have.

Dan had his old van, and was slowly building out Erik, and I had my own van when we met. He also had a get-around car for work. We have seen a few vehicles roll away in our years together.

I will admit to a teary goodbye when another coworker of his bought my van. So many memories! It was the place where I birthed my nomadic self. Erik was Dan’s van upgrade, but also our little nest-home, where we did lots of trial runs on the accumulated PTO he had accrued while he served out his last year of work. We also built a good portion of Erik out together, when he chose me and added a bench seat where he had planned to build a credenza. Whew! So far I have never lost out to furniture.

Eight years ago yesterday Dan “officially” retired. As we all know, he has worked here and there since then, to fund our dream of continuing to both build a sturdy foundation and to also continue a life lived traveling by the seat of our pants. Erik Van Home showed us that we have what it takes to show up for that adventure and to make it a sustainable lifestyle choice. He also showed us that we were cut from the same scrap of burlap, rough, ready, and resourceful. Two of a kind, working on a rolling house.

No matter what lies ahead, we earned our stripes in our early days of freedom and carry those lessons and experiences forward as we redefine the next version of the rolling Camp Cordray. We can't wait to get back out there!

So there's the story, Morning Glory. I have another tale to tell, but I will save it for another post. This story deserves its own post. Plus, the next one already has too many pictures (sigh) but I will spiffy it up and shoot it on out soonly. Since the Instacart grocery order landed at the same time the van rolled out, I have stuff to put away and dinner to prep. Soon, though. It's great news!

Take it easy, and lighten up while you still can.

I so look forward to whipping out the above status update once again. With that, I will launch from my armchair as I am late for the kitchen. Dinner's next.

Blessings and bottle rockets, and a nice cup of tea…

Brenda Cordray

The Desert Rose

One fine day, the wind blew just right and the Cordrays had no choice but to honor their itchy feet and hit the road. We chose to front-end-load the autumnal celebrations by heading out for an adventure on the first day of October. We cooked up a bunch of grub to make meals easy and loaded up dogs and gear for a very short leapity-leap to a local favorite, Dome Rock Mountain Road 14 Day BLM Camping Area.

Dan was ready to try out his 80 meter dipole antenna for ham radio. You can see the poles in front of and behind the van. We don’t have this much room at home, so we often come to the edge of town to play radio.

We were also ready to rockhound and look around a bit, to see what changes the monsoon have brought to our slice of the desert. It’s really green out here! The cover photo is an old broken Coca-Cola bottle, of course, but this huge pile of cans (all exactly alike) was a mystery to us. We think it was canned water for mining operations. There were shredded tires in the pile as well.

Every sunrise and sunset seemed more vibrant than the one before it. We spent quite a bit of time calling in “ground truths” as local weather spotters. The humidity was fierce without the relief of rain, but alas, a good rainstorm was simply a mirage here at Camp Cordray.

We could see the lights of Quartzsite-town and could be home in two shakes of a Libby’s tail, but we hung in there and adapted to the conditions, like we would if home wasn’t just a few miles away.

It was nice to be back in the van, brewing ideas for kitting it out for a longer trip and enjoying nature and each other’s company. There were a few bumps in the road that you can only find out about by reading part two of our Dome Rock Mountain Road adventure-stay tuned!

Waving hi from somewhere out there,

Brenda Cordray

“The Desert Rose”

Buy Me a Coffee!

Hello, everyone~

Thanks again to those who let me know so quickly that the video portion of my last newsletter worked just fine. Excellent! We sure love those wee birdies and are so happy that so many come to visit our backyard oasis. The hummingbirds are extra special, though. I was so happy to bring you all a teeny dollop of joy!

With that being said, I am aware of the possibility of recording some of my posts or even putting together some sort of podcast as part of my newsletter through the tools offered here on Substack. I am not sure when either of those will happen, but I am giving it some thought and working out the technical parts like where and when to record.

Considering what you have read of my offerings thus far, which topic or post really grabbed your attention? What would you ask me if you met me in person, somewhere out there? What do you think of this crazy mixie nomadic/staycation retirement plan of ours?

I would love to hear some topic ideas from my readers. I will certainly give them some consideration as I think about what I might share via audio.

In the meantime, please enjoy this picture of a bowl of seashells and ocean goodies I picked up on Ocean Beach in San Diego, California.

And because you are still here, check out this picture of Miss Liberty and a large-sized clone of her at Dog Beach, just across the jetty from Ocean Beach. Dog Beach in San Diego was the first off leash dog beach in the United States. Baby Liberty had a ball!

Boy howdy, you MUST be a beach person to still be scrolling! I sure am. Liberty and I first dipped toes and paws in the Pacific Ocean on this early part of our journey. She and I were new travel partners at this point. She found ME in Phoenix. Just looooook at her on her Gotcha Day!

I wanted to make all of her wee doggie dreams come true, so we headed to the beach right away. Little orphan Libby was a dooooog beeeeaaaach fan from the get-go. Any beach would do. That pup had noooo idea how many beaches she would see, and neither did I. What a great place to start!

Because you stuck around until the end of the post, I will reward you with a sunset shot at Ocean Beach.

Still here? How about another? I was hoping to witness the famous green glow as the sun meets the horizon over our western shoreline, so we stayed a few weeks and enjoyed every single sunset. I never did see the green glow, but I didn’t feel left out with these views.

Thanks for joining me on this stroll down memory lane. Don’t forget to add your ideas for some sort of audio thingy and let me know if it sounds ok. Then we can have some fun!

Until next time, keep it between the navigational buoys, and always keep your sunny side UP!

Beachy blessings,

Brenda Cordray

“The Desert Rose”

Buy Me a Coffee! ☕