Series 2

Series 2 – On the Road

In this series, we spend five months on the road in the American West in the Bobs, then we send occasional postcards from the road while we work on series 3 in months six and beyond.

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S2:E1 – On the Road…Again

Listen in on our first week on the road, as we leave Fort Collins, overland Colorado’s bumpy backcountry discovery route, explore Buena Vista, Salida, and Leadville, and search for the right pace for long-term travel.

Pace is important. We don’t want to fly through things too quickly. We don’t want to leave things undone because it’s not always feasible to go back. But there’s so much to see and do that even with unlimited time, it’s still impossible to do everything. Because you’re always limited by something – if not time, then weather, dirt road fatigue, the need for fresh vegetables, life maintenance duties. So we’ll be working on finding the right balance for us as we continue this journey.

S2:E2 – Planning for Spontaneity

When traveling, do you like to plan every detail or relax and go with the flow? Lisa used to be a thorough planner, but found that all that planning did was make her miserable and stressed. She has learned that she can’t plan or predict when interesting or memorable things are going to happen, so she just has to put herself in the way for them to happen. How that approach to travel relates to our life on the road, highs and lows from the first month of road life, and the Road Tripping in America road trip playlist.

S2:E3 – Ruins, Rats, and Realizations

What are ruins, really? A trip to Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico digs up memories of Lisa’s favorite childhood playground. And, Hartman Rocks is an amazing place to mountain bike in Gunnison, Colorado but…be prepared with rodent repellent if you’re there in pack rat nesting season! It was a battle of Paul vs. the pack rats – and the pack rats won.

S2:E4 – The Colorado Mountain Biking Special

A special edition all about mountain biking in and around Colorado. We rank, we review, we get bruised (often). Find out how Hartman Rocks in Gunnison, the Thunder Trails in Norwood, and Turkey Springs in Pagosa Springs stack up with a few other trail systems in Colorado.

Do you have any suggestions for mountain bike trails we should check out – in Colorado or anywhere else? Let us know at info(at)roadtrippinginamerica.com.

S2:E5 – Money and Dinosaurs

A deep dive into our budget vs. actual spending for our first two months of road life and a tour of Dinosaur National Monument – the fossils, the canyons, the river, the…poems?

S2:E6 – Making a List and Checking it…Later

Three Wind River, WY stories told by way of the things we saved to Google when back in cell range: from terrifying cows to windstorms to running out of water on a hike, we bumbled through a few misadventures, then double checked to see how we could do it better next time. And the eight things we think about on a daily basis that are second nature when you live in a building.

S2:E7 – Covid and Loathing in Las Vegas

We can’t live like every day is a vacation – we’d probably die (and we’d definitely blow through our savings). So most of our days on the road are like real life, with a vacation thrown in here and there. Back in more optimistic times, we had planned to spend my 40th birthday in Vegas. But then things went weird again. What was it like in Vegas in September, 2021? We’ll tell you what we saw.

S2:E8 – Third Time’s a Charm in Death Valley

After previous attempts were thwarted by Maruchan lunches, underpowered rental cars, unusual rainstorms, distracting flowers, flying tents, and snow, we finally managed to climb a big mountain. And why we’ll never stop returning to Death Valley, no matter what it throws at us.

S2:E9 – 35 Days in Canyon Country

In canyon country, we force our bodies through cracks in the ground in places like Buckskin Gulch and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, send the Bobs down tough roads, and struggle with some big questions about land use. After 35 days of this, after enjoying endless canyons, gorgeous dispersed camping spots, carefully timed resupply runs, and achieving furnace temperature perfection, we finally feel like we have hit our stride with road life – just in time to pause for a few weeks.

S2:E10 – Wrapping up Five Months

After five months on the road, we share a budget update, answer some unanswered questions from previous episodes, and find out what each other’s “ests” were (the bests, worsts, scariests).

S2:E11 – A Postcard from Florida

Why we stuck around Florida for a month: featuring delicious raw bars, freezing iguanas, the new worst smell I’ve ever experienced, miles of serene beaches, and all kinds of sea specimens.