Van life with Scout: March 2023 recap
Last fall I started doing a monthly recap to keep track of what we’ve been up to at a high level here on our blog (alongside our regular sharing on Instagram). Here’s our March overview!
We spent the bulk of this month in Colorado and Utah, first figuring out some electricity issues in Hermes the van and then heading farther west.
TLDR: Top March highlights
Two months in, we’ve handled several little hiccups living in our van—and we all still love it. Hermes really feels like home!
We got to see both our families at the start of the month, connect with college friends in Wisconsin, and then meet up with several connections from the online dog community as we went through Colorado.
Utah’s national parks and public lands do not disappoint. We’ve been having an absolute blast chasing canyons and waterfalls and sunrises out west!
Van life: Our second full month on the road
I’m not entirely sure where 2023 is going, but somehow here we are in April—more than two full months since Sean, Scout, and I backed out of our old house’s driveway one last time in Florida.
We started March in Wisconsin visiting family, headed to our college town to see some friends, then made our way to Denver to have our van conversion company fix an electricity issue Hermes was having. (More on that below.) One everything was resolved, we drove through the rockies into Utah and have been enjoying the red sand since!
We survived van electricity issues with our inverter
When we left my parents’ house we noticed that none of Hermes’ “house” electricity was functioning. Sean was able to figure out that it was a problem with our inverter—we couldn’t convert DC to AC, so we only had power from the front of the van while the engine was running.
This meant:
No charging laptops or other electronics with the house outlets
No stove and no microwave (in short: no cooking)
No air conditioning
But thankfully our fridge, water pump, and heat could all still run normally. It was in many ways the perfect time of year for electricity to go out given the winter weather.
After a bunch of troubleshooting with remote support from our van conversion company (trying everything we could think of that didn’t involve getting a brand-new part, which takes a while to order) we reached out about our inverter warranty. We arrived in Denver, Colorado on March 10th and were able to hit the road on the 17th without actually needing a replacement part—everything checked out after the wiring was redone. Cue major relief!
So far so good since. Crossing our fingers it stays that way for a good long while.
Some favorite March destinations included:
Having the entire beach to ourselves at Lake McConaughy in Nebraska and waking up to our first fresh powdery snow since moving into the van
Seeing college and online dog community friends alike in Denver, Colorado
Embarking on so many hikes in Utah’s national parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon so far) and public lands
Trekking to play tug in front of Lower Calf Creek Falls at sunrise
Running at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes with no one else in sight
A full roundup of where we slept:
3 nights visiting my parents’ house
2 nights in a hotel while Hermes got fixed
4 nights in national forest land / backcountry boondocking spots
3 nights at Harvest Hosts
11 nights in public parking lots (like Cabela’s, rest areas, city parks without overnight parking restrictions)
8 nights at designated campgrounds
What’s new with Scout specifically this month
Did better with my baby niece than ever before
I was absolutely thrilled with Scout when we were at my parents’ house. She’s met my baby niece a few times now (more details in this article) and needed almost no management this visit!
At one point my mom commented that Scout was basically acting like Olive was just furniture—not anything worth paying attention to—and that’s exactly what I want. Our cattle dog eagerly played around our niece, chewed her toy just inches away while they were both sitting on the ground (my sister holding Olive’s feet still so she couldn’t accidentally kick), and all in all was just a delight.
Scout’s definitely not a classic family dog the way my mom’s doodle is. She’s still timid and needs our consistent support, and I will never just throw her into those sorts of chaotic situations without a good management plan in place. But goodness—she’s come so far and sure is adaptable.
Lots of social time meeting friends in Madison and Colorado
After saying goodbye to our families, the social interactions continued. It ended up being a lot for us three introverts—but also so so so worth it. We got to see several college friends in Madison, spend a bunch of time with our wedding officiant / Sean’s best man in Denver, and meet multiple online dog community connections in person for the first time!
Scout was incredible dealing with the extra stimulation. She politely coexisted with other dogs, was neutral to people (not very interested in physical affection from strangers lately but great at just hanging out), and recovered from small slip ups (like being stressed watching Sean & I play with unknown dogs outside Hermes’ windows) in a way I was proud of.
It wasn’t perfect—there was one particular day I think I asked too much of her, and I could tell she was exhausted by the time we left Colorado—but I’m ultimately thrilled with all of the things we can enjoy together.
A champion while Sean and I did non-dog-friendly things
While March had more social time than Scout’s used to, it also involved quite a bit of her settling alone in the van while Sean and I went places she wasn’t allowed. I think we’ve been able to strike a good balance of dog-friendly (and let’s be real, dog-centric) activities along with time for us humans to do our own things.
Scout’s comfort in her van home makes me ridiculously happy. It’s so convenient to be able to leave her in a parking lot with temperature control—and there’s so much peace of mind knowing she’ll be perfectly happy to just take a nap until our return.
The cutest BARK Ranger
Scout’s joined us at seven national parks since we moved into Hermes. Most locations aren’t especially dog friendly—with good reason given the protected wildlife & environment—but we’ve made the most of our time regardless. I had entirely too much fun putting together this reel about the NPS pet rules!
