We spent the maximum allowed time in the campground at Capitol Reef – two weeks. And we even managed to extend our time in the park by staying in a ranger’s driveway. All this time in one place has been a new experience for me and a shift occurred where I stopped feeling like I was on vacation and started embracing the realities of my new life.

Being in one place allowed me to explore everything I wanted to in the park, get familiar with my surroundings, meet some new people, and get into a daily groove. I also found myself becoming more aware of how I spend my time. When we’re not driving to a new location and exploring new and exciting surroundings a lot of free time opens up. And how I fill that time is completely up to me. Another factor was our lack of connectivity – there was no phone or internet in the park.

One result of this was an increasing feeling of isolation. Yair and I both experienced pangs of homesickness – missing the friends and favorite activities we left in Austin. On our last days in the park, while living in the ranger’s driveway, we were able to get online, feeling a wave of relief at being able to communicate again. But it’s not the same as being there with someone and I expect we will both continue to struggle with this aspect of nomadic life. But, it’s a bittersweet kind of struggle – missing wonderful people and things reminds me how much I love them.

We did get some shots of social: Laura and her parents met up with us in the park and invited us out on a few hikes and to a couple restaurants (a treat!). And we were unexpectedly invited to a park ranger’s birthday party – an enlightening event. Yair and I were the only non-rangers in attendance which meant that we were surrounded by a variety of highly passionate biology-oriented types. We spent more than an hour talking about owls. It was amazing. I also learned a little about what it’s like to work as a ranger: that many of them are on seasonal contracts with no benefits and no guarantee of continuing employment. This means that rangers are likely to move often and are therefore mostly young adults. The pay isn’t fantastic either. But everyone that was there loved their job and was excited to talk about their various passions: from cougars to rocks.

Did you know that owls rip the heads off their prey before eating them… WHOLE?