Ahhhhhh, Southern Utah in the fall, I’m pretty sure every muscle in my body relaxed (even more, haha) and my smile grew a little bigger when I brought the RV to a stop in a juniper forest in Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument.

The middle of nowhere. That’s where we were camped. Down the end of a bumpy dirt road on Bureau of Land Management land in the middle of nowhere. Perfect!

Cue Western Whistle, you know that theme music from every spaghetti western you’ve ever seen where there’s tumbleweed blowing down the main street and there’s two outlaws drawing their guns at each other while some weathered drunks and a scrawny dog watch on from the saloon doors? I felt like we were characters in a movie set the 3 days I spent in this strange and beautiful landscape.

It doesn’t get any better than camping by a lake in the San Juan mountains at the peak of leaf peeping season! It was such a lovely spot, I stayed 6 nights.

What a quaint little mountain town! Dubbed the Switzerland of America, this town is nestled in the San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado. I spent 4 wonderful days here and loved every second.

I got a great spot on Rabbit Ears Pass at Dumont Lake. The site was set back from the lake overlooking a large meadow of willows, brush and pine trees. Really peaceful spot in a small and well spaced-out Forest Service campground.

I couldn’t have found a more perfect spot to unwind for a week than Steamboat Lake State Park. My campsite sat on a grassy hill overlooking the lake in one direction and Hahns Peak in the other. The only interruption to that tranquil setting was the occasional fishing boat or kayaker passing by.

I’m back! Or should I say, we’re back! Atlas and I but also a new addition to the family, my 4-month old daughter, Millie. We’re setting off in an RV for 3 months to see the Western US.