Pushing the Limits

In our new lifestyle, I have learned that Jonathan and I like to push the limits, each in our own ways. When Jonathan drives, his mindset is “I can do it!” When there is a muddy hill, he will get us off of it. When there is water on the road, he will get us through it. Of course, he isn’t doing it haphazardly or without evaluating the situation, thoroughly, but it does always make me a bit nervous: AAA doesn’t work in Mexico…

Some of his recent exploits:

A hill with a wind-block built for tent campers at Crystal Forest Gift Shop Campground at Petrified Forest National Park:
When we left, it was so muddy that my flip-flops collected 1” of mud on them. The trick was just not to stop. We left some nice tracks through the campground, I am sure they weren’t fond of us.



When driving to our next potential campsite at Ironwood Forest National Monument, we came across a flooded road. He took the first two with no problem or hesitation, despite the warning to not enter when flooded.

The last one stopped us though, it was probably 2 feet deep in the middle. I believe this was a result of irresponsible flood-irrigation farming. I had to find another route.



Now I on the other hand, will push the limits on my designs. Which is why I end up with drawer designs that look this:



I often have to sand off a quarter-inch or more to make it fit.

Or, I have to do things like this to make it fit:




Cutting corners off.

Cutting off already-glued-on sides to make the tray 1/8” smaller in width, then gluing them back on.

Fitting in as much as I can is my limit-pushing, which is also what leads me to put in as much as we can do in a day. Probably why we ended up driving through some crazy-strong winds only to drive 28 miles through Petrified Forest National Park to our campground. Jonathan may complain about the driving, but I definitely found it worth it to discover the wonders of the petrified trees.