Blog: Catching Everybody Up in 2022

Most of the time it’s not easy keeping the SchadPad adventure community updated. But I’ve let the site languish for a while, and it desperately needs a facelift and some new blood. When I came back to revisit the site it was surprisingly pre-covid, and it forced some reflection on how the last two years have impacted everyone’s adventure travel.

I had grand plans for 2020 travel. We had sold the Sportsmobile and replaced it with a Taxa Cricket, a hip lightweight pull behind with a little flexibility. Even though the pandemic was really picking up on the summer of 2020, we had family planning to go out and give it a go. There were really no other places to go.

But the night before we were to leave I made one of the most boneheaded mistakes of my life that resulted in the Cricket rolling down my very steep driveway and it’s total destruction before we had ever spent a night in it.

Gravity. Remind me not to mess with her again.

Summer 2020

My oldest son Sebastian and I were the only two left who wanted to tent camp out of the truck on short notice, so we headed out to the San Juan mountains in Colorado for a short jaunt. Only 10 days, it’s the shortest trip out west I’ve ever taken, but not going at all would have seemed like an admission of defeat.

The trip was awesome, reacquainted me with Durango, and left me thinking that if I ever actually bought property out West it would probably be there. Durango has a great combination of a cool unpretentious town, incredible scenery and wilderness within an hour, good fishing, and just overall vibe.

Winter 2020

Given the lockdown, we decided to go someplace sunny in the winter to get away and work from home, and rented a house in Tucson in December 2020 and January. I’d go back to Arizona in the winter anytime, although probably not to Tucson again. We explored Saguaro National Park, the Sonoran Desert, and most of the terrain around Tucson, as well as a quick trip to Sedona. Sadly, our septic system at home exploded and my dad’s health degenerated, cutting our trip short.

Summer 2021

The summer of 2021 was a new opportunity. Still light and lean in the truck, my sons and I explored Montana and Wyoming, moving fast from place to place. I’ve never seen the West so crowded. It presented challenges, but I know every place to camp around almost every national park, and we made it work going way off the grid. My mom and Kelly came out to meet me, and I had the chance to show my mom the West. I think she understands me better now. Kelly and I explored new places, including Missoula.

I thought long and hard about how important this adventure had become to me, and how I wanted to do it in the future. At Red Cliff campground outside of Big Sky I met a wonderful couple in an Airstream Basecamp 20x and asked them to give me a tour. As fate would have it, they had decided to sell it. It was the perfect fit for us, and in September I made the trip to Austin, Tx to pick it up. Looking forward to many years of adventures in the “torpedo”. And I promise not to let it roll down a hill on it’s own.

That’s pretty much were we are now. Planning for a big trip to Colorado next summer. It’s never been as important to renew your spirit and feel the road as it is in these troubled times.

In the winter months ahead I plan to post more photos and videos of the past year’s adventures to get back in the grove.