California to Florida, Episode 5: Guadalupe Mtns National Park 

I think this was my favorite videos from your current trip. The photography was beyond beautiful. So clear you felt you were right there with you both. The short clips of you cooking and interacting with John was precious. Love the way you tease each other. Looking forward to more videos as you travel.

Good morning. Having the time for a casual breakfast and watching this episode is a real treat. You still haven’t convinced me about the bisquick pancakes!? My suggestion is try the buttermilk pancake mix by Kodak Cakes and use buttermilk to make them. You won’t be disappointed with maple syrup. They are protein packed! The cheesecake looked yummy. That is on the list to try. If you get a chance, please talk about your trekking poles. We’re both 65, and think these will be necessary on our hiking trips.

I loved the nature shots and the lovely peaceful music to go with it.

Eating good, sleeping good, great hiking, beautiful scenery, historic sites. This trip is coming along nicely. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Hi Debbie and John, It was wonderful to meet you at Davis Mountain CG and Ft. Davis to share travel and Rad stories. Thanks for the tip on the library/wifi! Safe travels and see you down the road!

Great tip on the electric blanket, wish I would've seen that a few months ago!!

Thanks so much for all you do. We bought a truck camper and are planning to take off after I make it through this tax season. Your videos are awesome!

That observatory looked really cool! Thanks for all your tips- Fort Davis etc. and thanks for keeping it real- needing a shower and doing laundry. You guys are great. The rock formations in Guadalupe looked really cool- who knew there was so much to see in West Texas!

Really nice editing job! Great coordination with the music. Cheers

Just recently found your channel and am loving your travels. You are going to all the places I visited last winter on my solo 5-month cross-country trip from Florida to California. Ft. Davis State Park was the coldest place I was at. It got to 23 degrees one night. I look forward to following you.

Nice! And deja vu! We ran this in reverse a year ago. Austin, Big Bend, laundry in Marfa, Davis Mtn, Ft. Davis, McDonald Observatory, and Guadeloupe. Crazy coincidence. Great video, thanks👍.

Awesome video! Thanks for sharing your experience

Love your videos. You guys are so down to earth and we learn a lot from you.

You guys are such an inspiration. Good info about the electric blanket 👍, yummy food.

Very nice video from the beginning to the end. The beginning of the video was very dramatic with the music and with John’ jelly legs. John, you are funny!, The clip with the sunlight in the back while you were hiking was very beautiful. We are definitely going to get that electric blanket after we get our RV. Good tip on using the wifi at the library. Safe travels. See you on the next video.

Beautiful scenery and hikes! Definitely getting a griddle for the van after drooling over your blueberry pancakes. I don't see a problem with cheesecake for breakfast either :) Enjoy Big Bend and Happy Valentine's Day!

Love your videos and your narrative. The treks are fun to watch where you and John dare to challenge yourselves over some rough (yet beautiful terrain). Thanks and continue to drive safe. Caution: moisture inside your rig can be bad news! It can form inside your walls causing mold and rot to eventually be a huge problem

So we always put our homemade pancake dry mix into a gallon ziplock before we leave (1.5c flour, 1 T sugar, 1 T baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt, then add 1 egg, 1.5 c rice milk, 1 tsp vanilla...one kid adds Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips) so it's easier to make pancakes while travelling.

Hello! We just love your travels. We started watching when you went to Alaska. We are your demographic and resonant with the two of you. We bought a 27 foot Airstream 2 years ago when I retired. We were long time tent campers and in retirement we are enjoying having a comfy rig. We live in South Lake Tahoe and like your references to this area. We bought a small Instant Pot because of the great ideas you have given us on your videos. We have travelled the west coast, the west and midwest. We are headed to Alaska this summer. Thank you for sharing all that you both do and I love the poem that was the inspiration for your name. Mary and Lee

Great advice. Thanks

I loved your music choices on this video. Really enhanced the story telling!

Great episode. Fort Davis a will due. Tks.

Love Guadalupe. Hidden Gem. Didn’t know about it until we stopped there after Carlsbad Caverns. Lucked out and got one of the perimeter sites. Did the same hike to Hiker’s Staircase/Devil’s Hall. Enjoyed Texas Fall Color down in the canyon. If you liked this hike you’ll have to do the Chisos Basin Pour-off hike in Big Bend. Hope one of your spots was at the campground at the trailhead. We stayed at 3 of the 4 developed campgrounds in Big Bend and it was our favorite by far. On the bedding front we sleep with 3 layers of blankets and turn the furnace down to 46°at night. Comfy in bed but hard to pry out in the AM to turn up the heat. Missed McDonald Observatory. The show was sold out. Love the artist town of Marfa. The lights viewing area is a great spot to overnight along the Hwy even if you don’t see inexplicable lights. The nearby Prada art installation is fascinating. Safe travels.

you folks are such an inspiration

full of great info!

I have stayed at the Las Cruces KOA and definitely a nice view into the Valley and Town. My past summer/fall trip was like yours, stopping and visiting at a lot of old historical forts along the way, learning more of our countries history, some good and some not so good. Travel safe! Pulling out tomorrow around 9:00 and heading north. If all goes well, should be hitting the area around noon.

Love your videos! John's shaky legs walk was pretty funny. I also appreciate your bits of knowledge. I have a 12v Electric blanket that i haven't used yet, even though i was in 18 degree temps at June Lake last October. I have a feeling it will only last for a few uses. Safe travels!

Woman! You are a mountain goat! Sheesh. 😳. Loved the scenery and the hikes were amazing. I’m not as athletic as you by any means. That cheesecake! Yum. But I could never eat it for breakfast, I have to have protein in the mornings. You work it off though, all that activity! I’m starting to use my Instant Pot more because of you. It’s been pretty good! 😁. I’ll be ordering the pot-in-pot pans soon. Thanks so much for taking us along. Loving the video content. Safe travels! I can’t wait to get on the road.

I’m a traveler and photographer who has had several pinch type lens caps fall off while hiking. Consider a metal screw type lens cap, they are inexpensive, will last a life time, and are available on Amazon. When screwed on properly it’s pretty hard to lose.

Goodun! I'm going to show this to my wife so she can see you really can cook on a road trip. Keep up the good work, John! :)

Great video thanks for sharing. Love your new dear friends.

Loved it!!

Enjoyed travel thanks

The title text on the video says Episode 6, but I think this is Episode 5? I’m going through all of them! You do a great job!

Electric blankets sold like hot cakes when they first came out (60's) I'm guessing

Another great video!! makes me want to go to the observatory and fort and try an electric blanket!! do you have the target link?

If space is not a concern, PW should have installed Truma Combi, instead of just a water heater. It's just so quiet.

We started watching you because of your Alaska trip. We are heading back to Alaska again this year. Last road trip to Alaska was 2017. But as you can see, we are staying around. We are loving your videos. Our question is where did you get your Instapot inserts? My wife is wanting to try some of your recipes. Thanks in advance and safe travels.

Great video and footage. Have you ever tried Snoqualmie Pancake mix? It’s the best! Safe travels...Thanks for sharing!

Did you make it to Alpine? It’s one of my favorite places in Texas. I stay at the Lost Alaskan RV Park.

Wow that telescope looks massive! Loved the hike you did. Can I ask the pants you wore for hiking? What brand is it?

I never knew electric blankets had a speed rating ?

Curious as to what your hiking shoes are and the colorful area at you ankles, gaiters?

Gene and Pam from Tahoe again, We are having bigger tires mounted on our Plateau TS, BFG KO 2, in April, by Agile Off-road. We were wondering if you could give us any insight into also purchasing the ARB Onboard Air kit. It is a bit pricey, but do you think it is a good investment? How often do you use yours? Any pros or cons? Thanks so much.

nice.

Have you considered a camera harness to keep your camera from flopping around during hikes (eg Cotton Carriers)

The battery monitors in the Ascent are not accurate or linear, as they only show voltage, not amp-hours used/added. You may like to add a Victron Battery Monitor which can give you a very accurate 0-100% reading based on amp-hours measured in and out. Also the GoPower solar charge controller in the Ascent is only settable for AGM batteries, not Lithium, so it will read 100% most of the time. Our Ascent's batteries stay well charged in sunny weather and frequent driving, but in colder cloudy weather, boondocked for several days with the furnace running a lot, this drained the batteries down and the Battery Monitor was key to knowing, not guessing, the actual remaining capacity.

Hey Debbie, do you have your cheesecake recipe written out anywhere? I’ve been using my mini IP - is this the same one Yalu have? I’m going to write it down from the video but just want to make sure I get it right. Thanks! Looking forward to the newest video (I know this one is older but it’s the cheesecake one!!! 😁). Hugs.

Scrolled past this in my suggested because of "California", but came back because I didn't think Guadalupe was there. I used to drive truck and, after my "experiences" in California and Oregon and Washington... the "west" for me ends at the Arizona, Nevada, Idaho borders. Been to Carlsbad four times and never went south to Guadalupe. After watching this video... I will make it there next time. The Beast is sitting quietly for now out back under a tarp (mid-center Florida). She is an extensively modified 34 ft 1991 Southwind (engine work, 2000+ watts of solar, 900 amp hour batteries, two mini-split heat pumps, etc). Her toad is an old Jeep Comanche (pick-up version of the Cherokee) again highly modified. Both units look like crap... but I prefer to appear like I'm broke. Nobody thinks there's anything of value there. And, of course, most of my stays are boondocking. Mace (my dog) keeps running to the Beast every time we go outside. I thinks she's ready to hit the road again!!! Probably mid March we'll set out again. Keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down and have fun out there.

I saw the 2021 Pleasure Way Plateau advertised on RU-vid and it has the same Dometic Fridge that so many RV campers complain about. Wonder why the Pleasure Way people refuse to acknowledge the complaints. I should have written Dumb-etic instead.

I did not mean generator, propane? Sorry .

Check out "Van Trekking lifestyle" for neat van leveling idea.

We love Davis Mountains. Welcome to Texas! Do you use your generator to run your fridge at night? We tried using our solar all night and ran out :( Love Fort Davis.

Cheesecake for breakfast, my kinda lady

I thought he was a zombie

I hate the desert. It sucks the juice out of anything that lives there. Everytime I see it it makes me think of thirsty, starving animals and that bothers me. Why people want to go there I don't know.