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Well, we've been home for a week or so, trying to get back into the groove of normal activities, or what passes for "normal" these days. 

We had a whirlwind trip back to Denver. Driving straight through during the night wasn't pleasant, but we got it done. And beat the snow!

As we reviewed our trip, we decided that we had enjoyed it, even with the challenges of colder weather than we had expected, poor route choices and dealing with Covid. So much so that while we were still in AZ, we made reservations for this upcoming November/first week of December at all of the state parks we had stayed at. 

Each park was different but still nice in their own way. We're hoping that November will be warmer overall than December or January! But I'm still packing my extra fleece to wear, just in case. 

But one thing we won't be bringing is our tiny Ascape trailer. After living in it for 6 weeks, we realized that it truly was too small for us to be comfortable. 

Trying to avoid banging your knees on the bottom of the TV when getting out of bed or having to wait for the person that was in the kitchen area to move before you left the dinette section got a bit old! But it was our first RV, an upgrade from a tent, and we learned a lot. 

While we don't have plans to become fulltime RV'ers now, we do want to do more traveling with a trailer in the future. And we want to bring our bike along with us.

One of the things we did while in the state parks was to wander around looking at all the variety of RV's. From luxurious buses with 5 slide outs to small vans and teardrops similar to ours. We knew we didn't want any of those, just something that had more amenities like a separate bedroom and real flushing toilet!

So we had literally only been home for a couple of days and barely unpacked before we had purchased an Airstream trailer! Don said we were "just looking" but it was the last day of a big sale and we really liked what we saw at the dealer. I

t's 27 ft. long with a separate bedroom and full bathroom with shower. Even a stove with an oven!

Two amazing features that pushed us to make this decision regarding the Airstream vs other brands are the large closet (think dance clothes!) and a rear hatch that flips up in the dining area. 

This was designed for easy loading and storing bikes, kayaks etc in the dining section while traveling. There is plenty of space for the tandem. We really didn't need or want one of those huge 5th wheel toy haulers made to carry motorcyles or atv's.

That's good because we no longer can use our van to tow the trailer as it's much heavier than the Ascape. So 2 days after we purchased the trailer, we bought a Toyota Tundra pickup. It's a honking big, black truck that we can barely climb up into, but it should do the trick!

We ended up having to buy new for both items since it seems like Airstreams and these trucks are in high demand now. While we have the truck now, the trailer won't be delivered from the factory until May or June. 

So right on top of the stress of these big purchases, our fridge at home died and we had to buy a new one! What a week! 

But we did also buy a fun item last week. An inflatable tandem kayak! We've never kayaked but used to own a canoe. It should be a fun activity to learn to do at some areas like the Colorado River. No rapids, just pleasant easy floating! I picture us just floating lazily along the river, with Don doing all the work!

We miss AZ but need to be home now so we can get our Covid vaccine. Hopefully sooner than later. Here's crossing our fingers that 2021 will be better than 2020!