Heading out in the Moonlander (with a stowaway)

A bit like the 2021 sci-fi flick, "Stowaway," except we aren't going to Mars. And our stowaway wears a harness and leash.

Introducing Ellen Barkin -- AussieDoodle extraordinaire! Ellen's now 5 months old and about to embark on her first Moonlander adventure. She already loves to ride in the truck and gets super excited about hiking days when we head out with our awesome church small group. We know camping in the Moonlander is going to take her excitement to a whole new level!

Ellen resting while hiking the Chinnabee Silent Trail, a portion of the Pinhoti Trail, at Mt. Cheaha photo: Emily C.

Our Tundra is once again road ready. If you caught our January snow post, you got the news about our collision with a tree the day after Christmas. That 301 lb. aluminum camper is one tough girl so she faired pretty well. The truck, however, suffered several thousand dollars in damages: a shattered rear window, paint and body damage, inside and out, to the passenger rear area of the cab. We're still thanking God that no one was injured, the repairs are done and we're back on the road!

We're now packing for a whirlwind road trip to Florida then to the Dismal's Canyon then to Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee. It'll be our first time seeing the Dismalites, which are rare tiny bioluminescent creatures. These "glowworms" require a select habitat to survive and are unique to only a few places on Earth. They are close cousins of the rare glowworms found in Australia and New Zealand. By the way, did you know that Alabama ranks as the fourth most biologically diverse state in the nation? To us that means we don't even need to leave our own state to see so many wonderous places.

After the nighttime hike in the Dismal's with our hiking group, we're off to a state park in Spencer, Tennessee. Fall Creek Falls is home to one of the highest waterfalls in the eastern United States, 256 feet, along with other cascades, gorges, waterfalls, streams and lush stands of virgin hardwood timber. This state park offers several great camping sites for RV's but fortunately for us, also a couple primitive sites that promise a less people-ly and less noisy (more relaxing) spot for us -- perfect since we are self-contained with no need for electric or water hookups! Off-the-grid is the way to go.

We'll end this post with a few pics but be sure to come back soon for more photos of God's incredible creation, a bit of off-grid camping, and, of course, puppy photos.