#vanners

We have traveled about 8,000 miles! Our secret to sanity is our music and the alone time we get while driving separate vehicles. You may think, "Oh no, they don't drive together!?" Well, we live together in a 75 sq ft space, with a dog as well. Time to reflect and do internal work is greatly appreciated, and it allows us to miss each other for a bit. The tunes really help us along on the longer drives, and we wanted to share with you what we jam to! De'Niece prefers a mix of anti-road rage classical and jazz, while Adam enjoys nice throwbacks to the 2000s and some songs from his favorite movies. We linked them below if anyone wants to hear what we've had playing in our ears for over 8,000 miles!

WARNING: 'Fight in Flight' (Barbarella Soundtrack) is on my playlist. The intro is quite loud and jarring, and the song itself is high-energy. Sorry.

De'Niece's Favorites: Ode to Vivian, Mexican Dream, Midnight in Moscow, and Ladyfingers. (Though I adore my WHOLE list)

Adam's Favorites: Rockin' That Thang, and S.T.A.Y.

Our next stop was Los Angeles County, 🌴 where we would visit Six Flags Magic Mountain and make a quick stop by Hollywood. Driving in from Joshua Tree, we would quickly notice the effects of climate change. The dry dust and arid air of the Mojave Desert quickly gave way to a more temperate climate, featuring abundant green grass, lush palm trees, and bushes and shrubs not typically found on the East Coast. The roads swerved through curvy hills and mountains, with neighborhoods neatly built into the terrain. ⛰️ The aura quickly went from one of a post-apocalyptic world to the bells and whistles of Southern California you see commonly in movies and shows. ✨

Our first stop was Six Flags, 🎢 where we would ride the first ever roller coaster to feature an upside-down loop, The Great American Revolution. While the thrills are not quite as intense as modern coasters, it hits just right. There were abundant drops with long pauses at the top. Being in the back row, we couldn't see how steep the upcoming drop was, leaving us with a nervous anticipation followed by a sigh of relief after each drop's completion. 😅 The coaster is beautifully intertwined with the park's nature. 🌲 We were gliding along amongst the Southern California treetops, providing us with enjoyable views while riding, which are unmatched in more modern theme parks. We hit several other coasters with historical relevance, such as the recently built West Coast Racers, which feature dual tracks with matching launches to simulate a race, the first of its type. 🏁 This one was especially enjoyable; we rode it twice 😊 The park overall was a beautiful experience. The crowds were minimal, and the weather was perfect!

Our next experience was going to Hollywood. 🎬 We would go to a smoking lounge and then take a casual stroll around the neighborhood. The neighborhood was beautiful and intertwined nature immaculately with urban design. 🌿 One block over from a busy main road, and you could hear a pindrop, thanks to the abundant greenery blocking the noise. The birds were chirping like crazy, making it feel like we were in an aviary, not a city neighborhood. 🐦 After a short walk, we grabbed some Lebanese desserts. 🍨 De'Niece grabbed an intriguing dish, crepes with a creamy spiced cinnamon gelato on top. It was unique and not something we had seen elsewhere. Adam got some simple Mango Gelato, but it was amazing. 😋

Overall the weather and energy there was very nice, and we'd visit again just for that simple fact!

Adam: "I couldn't help but constantly compare where we were to the East Coast to De'Niece. Most people seemed super chill and laid back, which is totally different from what I'm used to! I think people could easily tell I wasn't from there. (I guess I need to work on my tan lol.)"

📍Joshua Tree, CA

On the next leg of the trip, it was a little desolate.🏜️ Nothing in sight for miles but mountains and shrubbery for our 11-hour drive from New Mexico. Only stopping for a hotel and rest area in Arizona where we battled the intense desert winds day in and out. It was like living in a sandstorm. 😶‍🌫️

We set up camp in Joshua Tree, California and waited until early morning for our chance to head out into the desert wasteland ourselves. It was chilly that morning, prompting us to bundle up in layers so we could remove them as the desert heated up throughout the day.🥾 We traversed our way down the mile-long trail to a known spot called the Arch Rock. Many small creatures were running around underfoot, running from shaded shrub to shaded shrub to protect themselves from what was circling above.🐿️

Once we reached the arch, other travelers appeared shortly after us. We were going to simply observe the rock formations until our new friends showed us how to climb them! Prompting the most fun photo shoot we've had so far. We both free climbed to the top of the arch after letting the others go first. (De'Niece's Idea.)

Adam joked about climbing on top of the arch but if it were possible he surely would have done it.🧗‍♂️💪😂 De'Niece was hesitant because she didn't think she could but after observing all the others she successfully made it to the top.🎉🏆🧗‍♀️

How These Rock Formations Came To Be:

"Geologists believe the face of our modern landscape was born more than 100 million years ago. Molten liquid, heated by the continuous movement of Earth’s crust, oozed upward and cooled while still below the surface."

"As ground water percolated down through ... joint fractures, it began to transform some hard mineral grains along its path into soft clay... and Rectangular stones slowly weathered to spheres of hard rock surrounded by soft clay containing loose mineral grains."

"After the arrival of the arid climate of recent times, flash floods began washing away the protective ground surface. As they were exposed, the huge eroded boulders settled one on top of another, creating those impressive rock piles we see today. "

https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/geologicformations.htm

De'Niece: "I am genuinely so happy I was able to wear my vault 101 hoodie in the actual Mojave desert. A major inspiration to one of the most notorious games in the Fallout game series. (My favorite series.) This desert serves as a large portion of the map for Fallout:New Vegas. Though it is not my favorite, it is my second, it is hands down the best game in the series."

After saying farewell to the last of De'Niece's family, we set out west to see the rest that the US had to offer. New Mexico was the first state that neither of us had been to. The distant mountains and rolling hills of cacti were new and intriguing. It appeared quite empty but we knew it was abundant with unseen life and beauty.🏵

We camped out at the base of Dog Canyon in the Oliver Lee State Park. The views were all around stunning and the mountains provided us with shade later into the afternoon. Protecting us from the blazing sun longer than other areas outside of their shadowy reach.

The highlight of this stop was our day trip to White Sands National Park! (We had to travel through a missile range to get there!) Though not in the shade of a mountain, the dunes were cool to the touch due to the reflective properties of the gypsum sand. This property is also responsible for the mirage-like appearance the desert takes on from a distance which we saw as we drove close. 💧

We took time to traverse the dunes ourselves for at least a mile. Far enough to be fully surrounded by the vast breathtaking beauty of the extensive white sands. We found a sled near a milepost, and chose to give it a good go! Adam, ever brave and a gentleman, showed me how to sled down a hill properly. Choosing the steepest and tallest hill to demonstrate first. I fell out of my sled a little but I'd say it was overall successful! 👍🏽

It contains the world's most extensive collection of ice age footprints. Like those of humans, giant sloths, and mammoths. Proving that humans were present in North America over 20,000 years ago.

Adam: "I remember googling the white sands in my room at 4 am 10 years ago and thinking how cool it would be to go there. It seemed otherworldly and being there surpassed my expectations. The sand was the whitest I've ever seen. If you didn't know it was sand you could easily be fooled into thinking it was snow."

This is the point of the trip where visiting family and friends was the adventure! 👨🏽‍👩🏻‍👧🏽‍👦🏽 It was a time to create unforgettable moments with the people I had held dearly in my heart and all those Adam never got to meet.🤍🥹

📍Edmond, OK

Our first stop after Hutchinson was Arcadia, OK, where we met up with my father's mother, Mrs. Shiela, and all of his nieces, nephews, and siblings! Oh, there were many of them! All with smiling faces, laughs, and good energy. ✨ They filled my grandmothers aparment with a great time that weekend.

In our spare time between festivities, we took her and her husband to see our van, visited my father, repotted some plants, and stopped at the Pops 66 Soda Ranch.🥤 A place with over 100 different sodas! 🤤

We spent a lot of time working on these days as well, but it was wonderful to spend all that time with everyone, and we can't wait to do it again! 🫶🏽

📍Tyler, TX

We made a special stop to see my little sister, who just moved out and into her own place! Words can not describe how proud we are of her! Putting herself through school 📚, raising her son, and working hard to keep themselves dry and fed.👩🏽‍👦🏽

She took us to a sushi restaurant that was quite unique. If you could put it in a sushi roll, it was on the menu and good! Then we took a stroll through the town's rose garden.🌹 Which was already teeming with life in such early spring.🐞 We planned to meet again next year, and we can not wait.

We worked here, took drives in the gorgeous countryside, and enjoyed all the amenities available at our campground.⛺️

📍Beaumont, TX

I used to live here in the last of my teen years and into my early twenties, but it is not where I met my best friend, Brittany. We met in High School in our hometown, Bay City, and have been friends ever since. I couldn't go to Texas and NOT see her. 🤷🏽‍♀️

We stayed at a quaint farm in the middle of almost nowhere.🌾 30-40 mins to anywhere, except to my best friend's house! (YAY) She came and hung out with us in our van to play a round of Clue 🎲, let me hang out at her house with her and her cats, and rented a local place so we could paint together.🎨

We went shopping in town, ate at a finger-licking good spot, and consumed unsafe amounts of Starbucks Coffee and boba.☕️ Wouldn't do anything differently. 😊

📍Bay City, TX

Last, but not least, it was time to head toward Bay City, TX. I spent the vast majority of my childhood in this place, and many of my family members still reside there. We decided to park on the beach for a night down in Matagorda, where the mosquitoes were ready for us! 🦟🤣

The weather was amazing. Mid-70s with a steady sea breeze to help combat the intense Texas UVs. We got to open up the van doors and let the breeze come through. 🚐🌾☀️ It was the first time we were able to enjoy the warm weather in the van. It was a refreshing reprieve from the short but eventful winter we had. Agatha had a blast walking and sniffing through the sand. 🐾🏖️

After the beach, we headed to a campground close to my family. It was in a beautiful wood, where the trees were just beginning their early spring bloom. Finally, we were able to host my family and have a cookout. 🍔 Burgers, chicken sandwiches, bikes, badminton, and board games made for a memorable night. 🚲🏸🎲 We left Bay City about a week after we arrived, exhausted but ready to continue our journey further west!

We decided to stay in Hutchinson, KS for a few weeks so that we could slow down, cook, and celebrate Chinese New Years this year🧧✨. After a bit of research and recipe hunting, we put together small, van worthy meals and snacks for the essential days.

I made my first dumplings and boy oh boy they were amazing (to us lol). As well as made my own concotion of meatballs to combine both of my husband's culture in a most delicious way. 🙂‍↕️

This video is a little glimpse of the meals we made in the van. Some of the meals had to be vegetarian and all had lots of meaning based on what was given. For example, longevity noodles. 🍜 Which are mighty long noodles that you must slurp for good luck and long life. The longer the slurp the better! 😄

We were definitely limited by what groceries we could find and what fits in a van kitchen, but somehow that made the experience even sweeter. We learned a little more about Chinese culture, shared really meaningful meals, and created one of our favorite celebrations yet. ❤️

For a keen observer: yes some were made in the house, but I forgot to take pictures of the van version! T.T

One of the many lovely things we learned is that the 15 days of Lunar New Year each have their own meaning, traditions, and even gods connected to them. ✨ Heres just a few:

🏮 Day 1 welcomes the gods of heaven and new beginnings. You should eat vegetarian to cleanse your body.

🧹 Day 2 honors family and ancestors — but no sweeping, or you might sweep away good luck.

🍚 Day 3 is known as the “rat wedding day,” when people traditionally go to bed early and leave crumbs out for the rats so that rats wont bother them for the rest of the year.

💰 Day 5 celebrates the God of Wealth, when fireworks are used to invite prosperity for the year ahead. They recommend being home save you miss a visit.

🔥 Day 7 is called “everyone’s birthday,” believed to be the day humanity was created.

🏮 And the final Lantern Festival fills the streets with glowing lanterns, sweet rice balls, dragons, and wishes for the year ahead.

Adam: "Im thankful that my wife made such an effort to try something new with me. It gave us something to focus on and enjoy while we were out in the middle of nowhere."

While driving through Hutchinson, KS, we spotted a sign for the Strataca Salt Mine and Museum. It boasted about being 650 feet underground, and that fact alone piqued our interest. We returned a few days later to give it our full undivided attention, and have not regretted it a day.

We had to enter through a large industrial elevator, but only after we were well secured in our hard hats. The 90-second ride down was pitch-black, with soft conversation happening over the slight squeak of the elevator. With no light to gauge, it was almost impossible to tell how far down we were, but you could feel everyone's slight nervousness in the air.

A feat unto itself, the passage to Strataca bored through frozen aquifer and countless layers of rock and silt, making room for the 6-ton hoist. This double-decker wonder transports up to 28 passengers on the descent — 650 feet below.

The nervousness is replaced with amazement as we enter the actual salt mines. The true museum was in front of us now, and the first stop was the Permian Room. Intriguing as it is palatial, the walls of the Permian Room act as ancient scrolls of the earth, revealing secrets of the strata formed by the Permian Sea millions and millions of years ago.

We were then greeted by the Mining Gallery, where we received an overview of life and work in the salt mines. YES! People still work the mines to this day. The mines were so expansive that not only did we see no work being done, we could not hear it either. (980 acres!!) They recently retired their longest working employee a few years ago, with an impressive 50 years under his belt.

One of the most unexpected parts of visiting Strataca is discovering that it’s not just a museum about mining—it’s also a massive underground storage vault. The mine’s environment is incredibly stable: it stays around 68°F year-round, with very low humidity and almost no exposure to light or oxygen. Those conditions make it ideal for preserving materials that would otherwise degrade over time. That’s why everything from Hollywood film reels and props to historical records has ended up stored deep beneath Hutchinson.

The same logic explains the presence of civilian defense items. During the Cold War era, underground spaces like this were seen as naturally protected environments—shielded from extreme weather, radiation, and other threats. Government and private organizations stored emergency supplies, archival materials, and defense-related items here because the salt mine acts as a kind of natural bunker. Walking through those sections, it’s striking to realize that this quiet, otherworldly space has served not just industry and tourism, but also as a safeguard for pieces of history people wanted to protect for the long term.

Adam: "Its hard to simplify this unique experience. So far underground, a stable environment.. made you feel impressed by the enormity of it? Only 15 people work in this expansive but empty almost ghost town. It was a window to a different world. The trolly tours really helped it sink in as it took us through the large black empty halls. It could easily be a horror movie situation if something went wrong. Thankfully, they say its safe!"