Phew! It’s been a busy 7 weeks since we hit the road again in Stan the Tan Van. You already know about hiking the Badlands or as Tom likes to call them, the Radlands (Instagram stories peeps, you know what I’m talking about). This week we’re sharing an update on exactly what we’ve been up to and announcing some changes to the blog.

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Fall in and Around the Rocky Mountains

After spending time in South Dakota, we continued west to Wyoming and then Colorado. We had unfinished business there after fleeing the frigid mountains sooner than expected last year.

Our timing was much better this year. Not only did we arrive before the road through Rocky Mountain National Park closed for the season, but the Aspen’s were starting to show their fall colors. The green hills were dotted with splashes of brilliant gold and a spicy tang permeated the crisp morning air. Here are some highlights from our time near the Rockies.

Bear Lodge (aka Devil’s Tower National Monument)

Established in 1906, this mysterious formation was the first national monument in the U.S. Long before that, it was a sacred place to many of the native tribes. These tribes had different names in different languages with different stories attached to the monolith, but most of the names translated to mean this was the home of the bear or Bear’s Lodge. Traditional ceremonies are still practiced here and it’s still a place of peace and connection for many modern tribal members.

If you’re a sci-fi nerd like us, you may also recognize the tower from a little movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Anyone else insist on mounding your mashed potatoes into a tower after watching that movie?

Denver

While in the van we decided to eat and drink vegan and dry. While out of the van, visiting friends, we indulged in the meats (seafood only for my pescatarian self of course) and fancy cocktails.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Highlights of our second visit to Rocky Mountain National Park included attempting to summit a mountain (elevation is a real a-hole), driving over the great divide from one end of the park to the other, and hearing a moose bugle (which sounds very similar to me trying to get out of bed on cold mornings).

Breckenridge

We did some hiking and troll meeting with a friend in Breckenridge.

Glenwood Canyon

This area of Colorado is gorgeous! Steep towering rock walls, shady canyon floors, and brilliant fall foliage abound. We planned on hiking to Hanging Lake while we were here. Unfortunately, the trail was closed for maintenance so instead we did a morning trek along Grizzly Creek and it didn’t disappoint.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

This was our 32nd national park together. I thought it was our 31st which would have marked the over half-way point, but I just counted (twice actually since math’s not my thing) and we’re at 32. This park feels remote and rugged and peaceful. Black Canyon has some of the most impressive and beautiful rocks I’ve ever seen. Plus, we saw a UFO here so it’s definitely a park we’d like to visit again. The truth is out there, friends😉

Colorado National Monument

This quickly became my favorite national monument. The main road leads through tunnels and rockfaces up to the summit of the park and back down. Along the way you can stop at numerous trails and hike to lookouts of the canyon and unique rock formations.

Utah Salt Flats

After spending the night in a desert with the finest sand I’ve ever felt, we headed to the Salt Flats of Utah. We got an early start so that we could see the morning sun glistening on the coarse cracked salt floor. It’s one of those astoundingly odd and unique places that you hardly believe exists.

I’d love to say that we saw everything we wanted to and hiked all the trails we dreamt of during our time in and around the Rockies. Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case. The outdoor opportunities there are truly endless, and we still feel like we’ve only scratched the surface. I wanted to write a destination guide for Rocky Mountain National Park. Then I wanted to outline an ultimate Colorado road trip itinerary. Unfortunately, the more I dug into the details of both ideas, the more I realized that we don’t have enough information yet to do those topics justice. This brings me to my next point.

Ch Ch Ch Chaaaanges

We have big plans in the works for this site. Part of these plans include creating even better content and lots more videos. In order to focus on this, we’re changing our posting cadence to every other week for now. That’s not so say we won’t post a short update here and there, but we want to create content that we’re proud of and most importantly that you want to see.

Instead of deciding what to write after we’ve left a place, we want to visit some areas with the intent of creating something useful for you. Detailed guides that you can use to plan your trips—info that will help you have the best possible travel experiences and maximize your adventuring time. For us, this means spending longer at each place and documenting details.

Conversely, we also want to share more stories of exactly what it’s like to live a life of travel. We started this site to explore what happens When You Wander after all. We recently attended a van gathering (which we’ll post more about soon) and we’re brimming with inspiration and ideas! You can expect us to share more about ourselves, living in a van, and this alternative lifestyle. The good, the bad, and the smelly. We’ll be the first to admit that sometimes we’re guilty of focusing on only the good, and not sharing enough about the shitty (sometimes literally) moments.

Not to be a spoiler, but we’re starting our first planned content project next week and we’re super stoked about sharing it! As always, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading this blog and supporting our journey. We hope to inspire, help, or even just entertain you for a bit along your own journey. Much love!

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