Winter is coming...

We are currently still in a state forest southwest of Olympia, CA called Capitol Forest. There are campgrounds scattered throughout where you can stay free for 7 days in a year. We have to leave our spot here tomorrow but we are thinking of moving to another campground in the same forest.

Here's the thing that has been weighing heavy on my mind- it's cold and raining a lot. And as far as I can tell from the weather, it is going to keep getting colder and rainier. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE rain. I lived the last three years in the desert of southern California. The few times a year it rained I would cancel all my plans for the day and just sit outside under an umbrella or at the window listening to the rain fall. But in the van... it's different. Here's why winter climates while living in a van don't work for me:

1. We cook all our meals outside of van, there is no indoor kitchen.

2. Cold means condensation inside the van which leads to mold and that is bad.

3. Campgrounds close for the season when it gets cold.

4. We are two people and a dog inside a very small space and we definitely rely on spending a lot of time outside to keep from hating each other.

So, you might be thinking, why don't you just leave northern Washington and go south? ...and that would be smart. However, we have been trying to make it to the Olympic Peninsula since we left southern California in March. Yes, that's five months. Part of the reason it has taken us so long is that we travel SLOW... we spent a month of that in a small town on the coast of Oregon. Also, we spent two months in the Bay Area, living with family for my older sister's wedding. But here we are, five months later and we FINALLY made it to the Olympic Peninsula and I don't want to have to head south just yet. It took so much just to get here. Also, it is fall in the Pacific NW which means beautiful colors everywhere which just feels so magical and is definitely not something I ever saw in the desert. I grew up and went to college in the Bay Area and they aren't really big on seasons there. My experience with fall is limited to the one season I spent in Minnesota after college so I am not ready to give this up just yet.

All this considered, we are going to try and stick it out a little longer, which means a lot of cold, rainy days. Don't worry though- here are some of the things I have done to prepare so far:

1. Order a raincoat online... no store carries one my size, #fatpeopleproblems.

2. Order a dehumidifier which ended up not being delivered for an unknown reason, fuck you Amazon.

3. Worry... a lot... and ask Patrick call the local state and national forests repeatedly, always with a new question about which campgrounds are open.

So I am not very prepared. I think that is becoming a theme of living on the road for me. And while it is scary to be so unprepared, it is incredibly beautiful here and I have nowhere else to be. So I think I will stick it out just a little bit longer.