The First Week of Van Life

Our journey has begun! The first full week of van life started at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and included stops at Niagara Falls as well as some quality time during an unusually warm week in October in the Adirondack Mountains. Life comes at you fast on the road, having to problem solve a whole different set of issues than “normal” day to day life is an interesting challenge that requires quick thinking and flexibility. We navigated a medical incident, used our first amazon locker, utilized our Boondockers Welcome and planet fitness membership for lodging, workouts, and showers and even did laundry all while adventuring through three different states! Organization improves over time too and you can read more about that in our van storage post.

We blasted all the “on the road” tunes we could think of as we headed out of Michigan and on to our next adventure. Tears were shed over The Milk Carton Kids “Michigan” as they crooned that our home state is “in the rear view now”, but to quote another iconic artist, Mr. John Prine, “If you’re homesick, it’s your heart telling your mind that you love somebody,” and that I can confirm is absolutely the truth. So, keeping in mind that we can always visit, wiping the mist away and carrying those we love with us in our hearts, we pushed aside the mushy stuff and moved forward full tilt.

We generally like to hit a visitor center first to get our bearings and Cuyahoga Valley National Park was no exception. We stopped in, spoke with an amazingly helpful ranger and did a short hike to Blue Hen Falls enjoying the leg stretch after driving/riding all morning. Cuyahoga is an interesting National Park, it contains private residences, small farms and you can even hear highway traffic in some areas on a hike. It spans over 33,000 acres between Akron and Cleveland and has all kinds of hiking/biking as well as waterfalls, marshlands and forest. The park earned its National Park status in 2000 but was a national recreation area before that which was established in 1974.

My folks actually lived in Akron around the time that it would have just been established as a national recreation area and my dad did note that it was “the prettiest area in Ohio”, and we would have to agree. It is a little jarring though to pass a Costco and then two minutes later a sign that says welcome to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We definitely found ourselves scratching our heads several times over the unusual nature of the parks location.

Firsts are so exciting, your first concert, the first time your puppy goes potty outside, the first dinner you make in the van you built, or the first time you wake up with a kidney stone on day three of being a nomad in a different state with no family doctor 15 minutes away…
Yes, this did happen to me, but remember when I said problem solving looks different on the road, it was time to adapt. We were lucky enough to have a signal (not miles away in the wilderness on a hike/bike) and we were very near the Cleveland clinic. I was able to get to an urgent care and pay way too much (even with insurance) to have a doctor tell me that the worst had passed and what to look for in the future, but sheesh that sure made for an interesting morning. Talk about getting the big stuff out of the way first!

Back to the fun stuff though, we biked the Tow Path in Cuyahoga for most of the day before the infamous kidney stone morning arose and it was absolutely lovely. A short walk around town after our ride featured local farm goods and National Park trinkets. Eric got a super tasty ice cream made by a local company and we then headed to check out the Ledges, a hiking area just a short ways from where we were biking in the park.

The Ledges are a series of rocks and crevices dripping with moss and growing full on trees out of what appears to be solid rock. The three-ish mile walk around the Ledges was a great way to wind down after a 30 mile bike ride that included my largest climb to date, I wonder if that effort was what dislodged the stone that shall not be named? In any case, we both survived and lived to ride/ hike another day, thoroughly enjoying the Narnia-esque landscape before us.

We traveled on towards Niagara Falls and found a little hidden gem along the way, a privately owned property called Panama Rocks in NY state that offers tickets to explore similar caves, rocks and crevices to the Ledges but with a lot more encouragement for exploration. There was a one mile walking loop that encircled the rocks that we were urged to stray from so as to climb on, in and around the ancient giants which we absolutely did with gusto.

Two hours later we exited the rocks slightly dirt covered and grinning from ear to ear. They even had a wheel to spin to win a prize if you posted on social media so I did of course and we won a sticker to add to our collection, a perfect stop on the way to a tourist attraction of more mammoth proportions.

We eventually did make it to the big one, Niagara Falls from the US side. We figured we basically had to since we were so close by. After much debate, we opted to forego the Maid of the Mist boat ride where we would get soaked and walked the edge in our dry shoes instead. It was a beautiful day, tank top in October, holy jeez, yes please. We also treated ourselves to a NY slice because, when in Rome, or NY I guess in this case.

Moving right along, we stopped at another Boondockers site with beautiful views and a more than gracious host. If unfamiliar with Boondockers Welcome, I would highly suggest checking it out. It is a part of the Harvest Host network and offers private residences for parking/camping for free. The Harvest Host locations are wineries, farms, breweries etc that you are encouraged to purchase goods/services for approximately $30 to stay there. If you have space to host or would like to try it out for your travels I would highly recommend it. We have met the nicest people and it is an invaluable network for travelers. Even though we are only in our first week I am beyond impressed and am so glad we got the membership.

We enjoyed a cozy morning porch sit and visit with our host and host dog Dax. We talked about life and death, and all the adventures in between while gazing at the fall colors from under a fuzzy blanket. Letchworth state park was suggested for some hiking not too far away and conveniently it was on the way to our next intended destination, the Adirondacks in upstate NY.

Letchworth is called the “Grand Canyon of the east” which I don’t know if I would go THAT far having just had our socks blown off by the real deal in April of 2024, but it is a very lovely state park and with the fall colors coming in, muah, chef’s kiss. Admission to the park is $10 and they have a nice visitor center where we grabbed a map and a point in the right direction for a hike. The hike took us to three different falls, lower, middle and upper falls.

An interesting little tidbit we noticed first at Letchworth State Park were postings everywhere that it is a pack in pack out park. This pack in pack out is not uncommon on its own but typically when we see that it means there are no large dumpsters, or dump sites. This was not the case here and literally meant NO trash cans anywhere. This made us think that there would be trash everywhere, but to our delight there was not! This also proved to be true on our next stop in the Adirondacks and we have got to give credit where credit is due, good job New York State on picking up after yourselves and maintaining an amazing place for everyone to enjoy.

A quick stop over under a starry sky somewhere in New York in a kind farmers field and then on to a more wild setting for a few days. We planned to spend several days backpacking in the Adirondack’s Moose River Plains, but some impending weather changed our itinerary to hike and bike out and backs instead. Another pack in pack out area of over 6 million acres (yes you read that right) was beautifully maintained by the people who use it and it was all free. The Adirondacks are the largest protected area in the contiguous United States, larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon combined. Whoa! The internet tells us that is about the size of Vermont, very very cool if you ask me.

We endured a bone rattling journey down a steep, rocky gravel road, but the slightly dislodged fillings were worth it. The Moose River Plains has numerous free campsites that each have a fire ring, a picnic table and get this, their own privy at each site! The sites are very spaced out too so as we settled in to our spot for the next couple of days we marveled at the quiet. No other camper sounds, no traffic aside from the occasional vehicle tackling their way back to their site, just the wind and the trees, the birds and other critters. The bumpy ride was definitely worth it and it helped to test our construction skills as well, happy to report nothing dislodged or damaged in Momo.

We decided to split up the next day, not because we were already sick of each other but because we have different interests that we like to spend time on. I painted and went for a hike to Hell Diver pond, Eric rode back out the way we came in to get service and set up our InReach device and to enjoy some challenging bike riding. I’ve been asked by several friends before embarking on this journey if we were concerned that we would come to hate each other or how would we handle needing time apart and I think its important to talk about this subject because there is no denying a van for two is a fairly small space so I would like to note two things.

Thing one: we are two different people and we knew going into this that we wouldn’t do every single thing together and that’s good because we want to and will maintain our individuality. We have different priorities and personal goals and we support each other on both our individual and combined paths.
Thing two: we don’t generally fight or “need time away” from the other because we make communication a priority, remembering we are not only best friends but also a partnership which requires give and take.
So if you were wondering about this or are flirting with the idea of this type of lifestyle, do with that information what you will. Just remember to COMMUNICATE, and everything will be great, see it even rhymes! Alright PSA/counseling session completed, please read on.

After a day of doing our own thing we were back together again, this time both on our bikes checking out where the road went further on into the Moose River Plains wilderness area. I can always count on a ride with Eric to push my limits. This 30 mile day resulted in yet another “biggest climb” for my Strava record. Two personal records in one week, I think maybe Michigan is flatter than I even knew. This is a prime example of how we support each other on our respective paths, Eric is a much stronger rider than I am but I am working towards getting stronger and riding along with him helps me to push myself and his encouragement along the way is invaluable. His willingness to go on these rides together at “Jo pace” is a gift that I am continually grateful for.

Although the ride was challenging for me, with around 2,000′ of elevation gain over 30 miles, it was a dream of fall foliage and perfect weather. Temps hovered around 70 degrees and the road was dappled with shade which was great temp regulation wise, frightening and skeleton rattling hidden rock in the road wise. But again, we made it without incident and we really enjoyed the scenery and the ride together.

We drove out of the Moose River Plains that afternoon to reward ourselves with big juicy cheeseburgers and pulled into another FREE lakefront campsite just as the sun went down on our first official week as full time van lifers. We have quickly come to realize we have no idea what we will get into next, our itinerary changes by the hour sometimes and we never know what challenge we will have to navigate, so stay tuned to see where we end up as the journey continues.