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3 Great Reasons to GO GREEN this Holiday Season!

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Why is winter the best season to go solar?  Let us count the reasons… BU NDLE up and save now!  Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll find some of the lowest prices of the year on many of Renogy’s most popular components from now until December 9th – un lock MEGA discounts of UP TO 70% OFF during their Black Friday and Cyber Monday events! Turn your GREEN dreams into reality now, save later!  There’s never been a better time to take charge of your energy consumption and find your energy freedom. You’ll not only save money on those outrageous electric bills, you can reduce your tax liability by writing off up to 30% of the total cost of the solar equipment that you purchase and install this year on your U.S. federal taxes next year. Chase away the WINTER blues!  Digging into a fun and challenging DIY solar installation is a great way to brighten your outlook during the cold, dark, winter months ahead.  You’ll be ready for that January ski trip at your of...
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October/November '24 Canlife Correspondence - Connection, CORE Battery, Constellations, & Caverns!

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Just a few days ago, in a Walmart parking lot, a young man approached, "Hey, aren't you the folks with Freedom in a Can?"  Now, this doesn't happen to us very often, and if you think I'm sharing this to sound famous...think again.  This young man came to our seminars at the Raleigh RV Show in North Carolina earlier this year and left inspired to give life on the road a try in the small truck camper rig that he had, rather than buy something bigger and less affordable.  We made a connection at that seminar, and he approached us 9 months later when we happened to bump into each other in Idaho, just to say thank you!  Actually, my friend, thank YOU!  Connection -- that's really what this whole rolling shindig is about for us!  It's the reason we left our home to color in the blank spaces on our map in person, the reason we started sharing our journey through pictures and stories, the reason we became speakers at RV Shows and on college campuses, and the reaso...
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September '24 Canlife Correspondence -- Memories, Memberships, Magazines, Money Saving Tips, & More

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We are thrilled to have so many new folks join us for our midlife journey as well as this newsletter!   For those of you who haven't heard Hamlet's origin story, we thought we'd share a bit about our early days... On September 3, 2012 we took a deep breath, and made the first of many leaps of faith by pulling out of our driveway.  We had just quit our busy university careers, downsized our life, rented out our home, said goodbye to friends and colleagues, and hit the road in a restored 55 year old camper which Shari had purchased on eBay for $900.   That special day was our 12th wedding anniversary, and this midlife adventure was intended to be both a gift to ourselves and our marriage. Simply put, it was time for a change to something more sustainable, and drastically different.  We thought it would be for a year, maybe two at most. We often refer to everything in our crazy lil' lifestyle as #canlife. You may have heard of #vanlife, which came on the scene...
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August '24 Canlife Correspondence -- Sublime Parks, Starlink, Sales, & Summits

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The upper left coast of the contiguous 48 states is a moody place.  Wedged in between the Salish Sea (Puget Sound) and the north Pacific Ocean, the  Olympic Peninsula famously  offers a  dysfunctional interchange of fog, drizzle, and downpour, interrupted with fleeting moments of sunshine that recharges both our spiritual and physical batteries. But, the rain returns.  It's this rain that gives the park so much incredible life, and biomass, both in the forest and along the shores.  We've seen massive trees that contain multitudes (one study showed that a single Bigleaf maple contained over 2,500 pounds of lichen and moss -- when dried!!).  In Olympic National Park , we've also seen browsing Roosevelt elk in the Hoh Rainforest, Northern sea lions barking from the ledges, Ochre sea stars clinging to rocks below the tideline, the elusive Olympic marmot high up on Hurricane Ridge, Grey whales feeding near Cape Alava, and even my spirit animal, a river otte...
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June '24 Canlife Correspondence -- Springtime in the Sierras, Summer Sales, Spring Rolls, and Solar 101!

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Springtime in the Sierras: Hidden Gems Over 8000 Feet! "Climb the mountains, and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you like sunshine into the trees!"  Just because this might be the most over quoted, and over used bon mots from John Muir, it doesn't make it any less true.  We have climbed, paddled, cycled, soaked, and simply ambled through these Sierra Nevada Mountains and we heed their glad tidings and feel their peace.  Y'all should really try it!   No matter how much we travel, we can never really see it all -- sometimes we just have to save something for next time, and the next time, and the next time.  We've been through the Eastern Sierra region of California and Nevada at least 4 times prior to this spring.  Sometimes it was snow that shut us down from crossing into higher elevations, forcing a southerly route back through the Mojave.  Other times it was some work obligation that required us to simply boogie on through to an ...
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Favorite Recipes: Glorious Gazpacho

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GLORIOUS GAZPACHO It's that time of year when the tomatoes in your garden and at the farmer's market are at their ripest.  They are dripping off the vine, begging to be picked at just the right moment.  So sweet and juicy, they become the cherry on top of your favorite salad, burger, or pasta.  But, they go fast if you don't use them immediately!  Just when they are starting to turn is the perfect time to make them into a tasty chilled soup that'll tantalize all of your senses. Shari set out to find the best gazpacho recipe in 2018, then has altered it over the years to make it even better. Each time she makes it, it's a bit different as it all depends on the quality of the fruit.  It's a possibility this is perfection in a bowl -- filled with sweet, tangy, spicy, and just enough texture to give it some toothiness. It's filling enough to make it a meal, or just serve it as an appetizer.  The best part?  Other than briefly blanching the tomatoes in boil...
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July '24 Canlife Correspondence - Canyons, Campgrounds, & Cool Dinners

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The Scout We tie the boats to the Tamarisk trunks along the bank and follow the winding path up to the rocky ledge which offers us a better view of the river's features lying just around the corner.  We call this "scouting," where we make a plan for our run through a big rapid, get stoked about it, decide if it's over our heads, and generally ramp up the anxiety and/or fun of this adventure.   As we push the brush away from our faces, I hear the roar of the rapid increasing.  Reaching the top of the bench, the valley opens up below to reveal the maelstrom of the ancient ongoing battle carving out this magnificent place.  Current throws itself unrelentingly against rock and ever so slowly tears through the gradient, millimeter by painful millimeter.  This rapid is bigger than I thought and my heart leaps into my throat.  It 's not the first time my mind wishes for a little bit of the impossible. "I wish that I could somehow jump forward to the moment wh...
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