June has been the hardest month to say goodbye to so far this year. It has been a month of beauty, of exploration, of growth, and peace. I’ve felt really settled this month, which makes sense for me. It’s the month we were on the road for almost all of it. I’m most comfortable, confident, and at home on the road. But, as we’re not independently wealthy and we’re unwilling to give up our house, all good things must come to an end. And we’ll have more months like this in life. I have no doubt.
Travel Planning This Month
We, unfortunately, had to cancel our trip to Asheville for July. I have to be in town now one day in the middle of the week and it’s just not going to work out. Matt was going to work remote, too, and even though that’s a huge blessing to have that option, it still isn’t quite the same as him being on vacation somewhere. So, we’re postponing until next year when he can use vacation time.
Ironically, though, my mom and I did decide on Asheville as our girls trip centered around the holidays. We wouldn’t have planned a trip so far away for that except, Thomas Dambo will have twelve trolls on displace in the arboretum there from November through February, so we’re going for that just as much as Asheville as a whole.
Travel This Month
This month kicked off with a little mini adventure en route home from St. Louis, where we were for Stacey’s wedding! I tasked Matt with a place for us to visit on our way home that had nature and a place we could walk and he found Meramec Spring Park, which was absolutely amazing! We did the little paved loop a couple times to be sure we could get a little over a mile under our belts. Then we went into the visitor center which had a really cool spot for a little class for kids. So, naturally, this will be a camping destination in the future!
NOMAD SUMMER! We spent the majority of the month hopping between Colorado and Utah. We visited so many new places, returned to old favorites, and fell in love with places we remembered liking, but dove deeper this go around. We camped a week each in Ouray, Colorado, Moab, Utah and Estes Park, Colorado. I will have a lot more detailed info on this post, but for now, all I can say is this will not be the only trip like this we do. We learned a lot and are really inspired to do more of it. I don’t want to overshare here, so I’ll do a highlight from each of the three weeks.
Of the week in Ouray, our two half days in Telluride were the highlights. We had a beautiful evening where we rode the free Gondola, which had a spectacular view and blew Charleigh’s mind. We ate dinner at Brown Dog Pizza, did a little shopping and saw the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen. A few days later, we came back to ride our bikes on the greenway trail through Telluride, we went to the Farmer’s Market, the library and The Coffee Cowboy. Plus, we rode the gondola a couple more times. We just have so many sweet memories form these days.
From our week in Moab, I love that we hit a lot of off-road trails. We did part of the crazy road out to Eye of the Whale in Arches National Park, but had to turn around – the truck is a bit too long. We drive Shafer Trail, Kane Creek to Chicken Corner, Long Canyon a few times and Gemini Bridges. It was just such an adventure every single time and it’s something that I feel like I want to do a lot more of!
Our last week was in Estes Park and my favorite memory from there was absolutely hiking up to Mills Lake. I was such a beautiful hike that took us up to an incredible alpine lake surrounded by mountains. I fell so in love with this hike and could’ve happily sat there for hours. What a beautiful memory.
Travel Laughs and Mishaps This Month
On day two of our trip 24-day trip… yes, day two, I was in pretty excruciating pain that progressed more and more throughout the day. By the time we got to Manitou Springs, I knew that I needed to go to urgent care. So, in Montrose, I was able to see someone and I had an UTI that had gone to my kidneys. Of course. I think every monthly roundup has one of us getting sick. Luckily, the women here (all of the staff were women, hell yeah!) got me all fixed up with an injection and oral antibiotics. Thankfully, by the next morning the pain had gone down so much we were still able to have adventures!
We hit a huge bump in the road in Montrose, just a dip. It was one of those dips that make everyone in the car groan. But it also made the camper groan too. Matt discovered that massive bump dislodged one of our bunks in the kids’ room! Luckily, he’s pretty handy and got it back up. Also, just to be clear, this didn’t look like something that was going to be insane. Just one of those unexpected dips in the road.
But we also learned that this isn’t unique to big bumps… along the way we have had a broken bunk, a broken booth… twice, the cargo doors are breaking, and we had a mysterious leak that apparently fixed itself, which I know to not be a thing, but it’s just what happened… haha
Our campground in Estes Park literally smelled like literal shit. Not like it was a little stinky near the trash. The whole campground smelled like a septic tank exploded. So, all our dreams of sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows around a campfire while Matt played guitar were dashed. Literally, every time the door or a window was opened Charleigh shouted, “I think Liam pooped!” and it was always just the air from the campground. A woman who worked there tried to tell Matt that it’s just how it smells when you live in the mountains… No, ma’am. There’s an issue. Haha
Blog Posts from June
May 2025 – A Monthly Roundup – This is monthly roundup, just like this one, of the crazy travels and happenings from last month.
Things to Know Before You Visit Badlands National Park – This is the latest in our things to know before visiting specific national parks series! May 2025 was my third visit to Badlands National Park and afterward, I wrote this post.
The Notch, Door, and Window Trails in Badlands National Park – These were our favorite trails in Badlands National Park and the trailheads all start from the same parking lot, so it felt appropriate to put them all together in a post since you can easily do them all back to back to back.
Camper Diaries – Nomad Summer in Ouray, Colorado – I’m trying to be better about writing what I call “Camper Diaries” talking more about the behind-the-scenes things we learn and experience along the way with being in a camper as a family of four.
Our Week Camping in Ouray, Colorado – This post is more of what we did in Ouray, and where we day-tripped from Ouray. More travel guide than travel diary.
Local Adventures in June
On the 2nd of the month, I hosted my third 4 By 4 Women’s Hiking Club! It was a really beautiful evening to get out on a local greenway! We had 65 women out on the trails and it was just such a wonderful time!
Best Thing I Ate in June
OMG, there was an Indian restaurant in Estes Park called Indian Bites and we literally followed our noses there because it was smelled so good! It was so delicious that we ate there twice in a week! The best part of our meals were the butter chicken and garlic naan! It was mouth-wateringly good, very reasonably priced – especially in a tourist town, and the portions were decently sized too.
What I Read in June
I finally finished Earth Worship: A Woman’s Philosophical and Spiritual Connection to Our Wild World. While I did enjoy this book and found insight in it, I will say, of the books I’ve been reading to deepen my connection with nature, I think that this was the most redundant and that made it a little harder to pick up each night. I’ve since started two different books, both very nature-related: Wilderness Ethics and Your Guide to Forest Bathing. They’re similar philosophies and different at the same time, but I’m enjoying these perspectives.
I’m still hooked on these free audiobooks from audible. These are the ones I listened to this month: The Final Wife, The Twisted Women’s Book Club, How Lucky Are We?, The Ratcatcher, and Jakob’s Point
Quote of the Month
“And in the wild of changing things, we learned to fly anyway
And yes, this space is new and this is also true:
Perhaps you are more ready than you think…
Change will come. And so will the strength of your wings to navigate it.
Spread your wings, stretch beyond the fear…
Many unknowns will surround you and yet, you are still free to fly here.”
– Morgan Harper Nichols –
Most Popular Blog Post in June
Our Guide to Sequoia National Park with Toddlers – I love that this was one of my top posts this month! I love when my national park posts are helpful for others and especially for those with kids! We love exploring with our kids. It may look a lot different, but it’s so memorable and worthwhile.
Most Popular Instagram Post and Reel from June
Wild Motherhood Update
I’ve decided to add this as a section going forward. I know there are a lot of other moms out there trying to raise their kids to be outdoor-loving and capable kids, and I shared a little about that earlier this year. So, I’m going to share a little of my own journey with that each month.
This month, there were so many opportunities for learning outside. I tried really hard to let the kids have a lot of tactile learning opportunities. It’s a little harder to do with Liam because he’s frigging wild. Haha. He’s truly fearless so he was still carried a lot on trails. But Charleigh took to learning more about the world around her and learned even more plant and animal names. She got excited about exploring, took bigger, but very calculated risks and also was brave enough to tell me when she was afraid of something and wanted help or to bow out.
I got so much joy out of watching Charleigh light up as we saw elk, reached an alpine lake, took back roads to walk across massive natural bridges. Liam laughed hard at driving with the windows down, sang Mr. Golden Sun and giggled as he rode along on hikes in our Deuter. He even took to pointing out exciting things on trails like waterfalls, pikas and birds. I love seeing the world through their eyes.
My number one proud moment was Charleigh hiking 95% of the Mills Lake trail. She was really tough and brave and sure-footed. She was excited to touch the water of the alpine lake – her first. She gasped in awe at seeing the lake and giggled with glee at different view points. She asked good questions about how trees grow, why evergreens are evergreen, how rocks are made… so many things. She’s becoming a really good steward of the outdoors and learning trail etiquette and becoming a great role model for little brother.
Home and Life Updates in June
At the beginning of the month had the privilege of teaching at my kids’ school! They asked me to teach about the National Parks and I had the best time giving lessons to 5 different classrooms! It was truly so fun to see each of my kids in their own classrooms and to also hopefully start a spark of interest in national parks for the next generation!
What’s Coming in July?
We have a little camping trip to Echo Bluff State Park planned with my parents – we gift them a camping weekend for Christmas since we both have campers. I’m really looking forward to this trip because I have missed them being away in July. It was hard being away while my mom had her surgery – she insisted, I promise – and I’ve really been excited to see her!
We’re going to pump the breaks a bit on travel for the rest of the year. Not out of a lack of love for it – that hasn’t gone away, and we still have weekend trips coming up in the next couple of months, including my solo trip to Moab. We just want to be more mindful of how we’re spending our money, in terms of travel, and we’ve really fallen hard for these longer trips. Plus, after falling for taking 4WD roads in Moab, I want a 4Runner. We’ve been talking about getting me a new car in the next year for about a year now and instead of getting another Outback, I’ve fallen for the idea of getting a 4Runner and the doors it’ll open for us to take more roads like that, for me to take car-camping trips both solo and with the kids – taking little trips with them one on one is something I’m itching to start asap. So, hopefully buckling down will help us to save the money to live even bigger dreams out in 2026 and to do so responsibly.
Here’s wishing you a July filled with inspiration and adventures – both big and small. Here’s wishing you hot morning coffee with dewey grass underfoot and picnics with fresh fruit and good friends. I just want want you all to be truly in love with your life.
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1 Comment
Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle
July 11, 2025 at 9:14 amI love the addition of the Wild Motherhood tab, as I can’t wait to have kids and bring them in tow with me on the road and through our forests. Thanks for sharing!