Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m sorry this is late to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, but sometimes there’s no reception in the desert! 🤷‍♀️ I hope you all had a great day!

I have so much to be appreciative of & thankful for, especially on this Thanksgiving Day 2021. 💝

One thing I know for sure, without any doubt, is that we’re fortunate to live in America, the beautiful. ❤

I’m grateful for my health. For the most part, I’m healthy. This has been a very strenuous, physical adventure & other than an occasional tired muscle…… 👍🏼

Maddie’s 14th birthday was on Tuesday, 11/23! I’m forever grateful for her & her continuing good health & enthusiasm for our roadtrip. 💝 Everyone we meet is shocked to learn her age! She has been the PERFECT companion for me, especially on this journey. 💝

I’m incredibly thankful for my family & friends & I’m so lucky to have an amazing support system. A lot of my friends have been in my life for 50+ years❣ Thank you…🤗

I’m thankful that I can enjoy the simple and free pleasures of life. These past few months have definitely re-emphasized the importance of enjoying & appreciating every little thing.

I will never again take clean water for granted. We’ve always had drinkable water & we don’t have to go hungry. Being lost in the desert for 4 days has made me truly appreciate our readily available access to food & clean water.

(As a side note, I had enough water & food with us to last another 10+ days! After being rescued, we spent another 10 days camping & we still had enough left to last longer.)

Another thank you to my amazing rescue from the desert local team! Before leaving the area, I dropped off snack gift bags & thank you notes to BLM Ranger Nic, volunteer Talitha & Keira, the 911 dispatcher. It was just a small token of my gratitude for their help in our rescue & a job very well done❣

I’ve made some wonderful, new friends along the way. 🤗 We met at campgrounds in Illinois, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin & New Mexico & they’re all keeping in touch with me❣ Maddie has been a fabulous companion, but she definitely appreciates it when I’ve had someone to talk to other than her! 🤓 I hope & believe our paths will cross again!

I was also thrilled & thankful to visit with friends that I met previously in Massachusetts! In both cases, I scheduled my destinations to visit with them & I’m so happy that it all worked out! 💕 One is from Massachusetts & is now a student in Minnesota & the other two are residents of Minnesota, with connections to Massachusetts.

I have so much more that I’m grateful for, but for now, I want to share with you where Maddie & I spent Thanksgiving this year!

On Thanksgiving eve, we FINALLY made it to our original destination, before I got us lost… 🥴

Devil’s Garden Campground!

After driving through the breathtakingly beautiful Arches National Park in Utah on Wednesday, I made it to the campground & we car camped in below freezing temperatures. 🥶 It was worth it to wake up to this view! I made us a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner for breakfast, still in below freezing temperatures. Yummy!

After breakfast, we moved on to the beautiful Canyonlands National Park for another COLD night of car camping. Again, it was worth it to wake up in this spectacular place.

I’d also like to thank everyone who’s been along with us on this journey, through this blog. Please leave a comment occasionally, so I know you’re “here”! I’ve almost reached 1000 views, so I know you’re “here”! I truly appreciate those of you who comment & I always look forward to your input! Thank you!