Tick It Before You Kick It
Dive into the waves of wanderlust with The Bucket List Mermaid! Join our adventurous host as she takes you on a thrilling journey through the world's most epic adventure bucket list experiences. Alongside sharing the ins and outs of ticking off bucket list adventures, The Bucket List Mermaid also sprinkles in anecdotes, hilarious mishaps, and heartwarming moments from other adventurer's globetrotting escapades as well as her own. It's like chatting with your mermaid BFF about all the crazy adventures waiting to be conquered! Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or just dreaming of your next escapade, this podcast is your ultimate guide to living life to the fullest and making every day an adventure!
Tick It Before You Kick It
Escaping Forest Fires, Poo Water, and More (24 Hours of Mayhem)
Check out the full show notes 👉 here for more information!
You might think that full-time living in an RV is all butterflies and rainbows. And sometimes - it is! Other times? Not so much...😳
Join your mermaid host, Alexandra, and her adventurous mother as they recount 24 hours of pure chaos living in an RV.
Starting in Buena Vista, their time spent hiking, doing yoga, mermaiding, and visiting Wild West ghost towns was quickly interrupted by a forest fire! 🔥
Listen to the funny recounting of the 24 hours that followed and all of the preventable mistakes that they made while frazzled, proving that full-time RV living is no walk in the park!
Let's Go Adventuring:
https://thebucketlistmermaid.com/
Follow the Tail:
@TheBucketListMermaid (YouTube)
@thebucketlistmermaid (Instagram)
@TheBucketListMermaid (Pinterest)
Get in Touch:
alexandra@thebucketlistmermaid.com
Just saying we're idiots and forest fires are dumb. Hey guys, this is Alexandra. Welcome to Take it Before you Kick it, and this is an adventure podcast that talks about everything that you need to do on your bucket list and also some hilarious travel stories. Today, I have with me Pam this is my mother who travels full time with me in an RV, and we have some hilarious travel stories. Well, okay, maybe they're not so hilarious this time, but they deserve to be talked about nonetheless.
Alexandra:Let's just get started with the crazy 24 hours that we just had living in an RV. It's really funny, because when you see RV living, you know it's very glamorized. It's very oh my gosh, look, we're surrounded by mountains and that's 100% what it is for sure. However, there are some times, like the last 24 hours, which it was just a constant struggle from start to finish. So let's get started talking about it and what happened. So, starting off, we got a recommendation to go to St Elmo, which is about what? 45 minutes outside of um, buena Vista, and we need wait. No, buena Vista, buena Vista, and we were Bueni, wait, no.
Pam:Bueni Vista.
Alexandra:Bueni Vista. I think you're wrong. I don't. That doesn't sound right to me. I know the locals are like oh, it's Bueni, but how in the world? I'm a Colorado local and that sounds weird to me. So I guess, yeah, according to the store owner, I've heard Buena, I've heard Buena and we've heard Beunie. So if you are from however you pronounce it, please let us know, because we have been having a debate about it for a while now.
Alexandra:So anyway, we were staying right in between Twin Lakes and I'm just going to say Buena Vista, that's how I would say it. We were right outside of there and we decided to go to St Elmo, just very spontaneously. I did a little mermaid shoot. I'd filmed a yoga class up at these amazing hikes called the I think it was the Midland Hill. It was amazing views of the Arkansas River, and so we went a little hiking, we did some yoga, we mermaided around for a bit she was my photographer and then we got back to the RV. We're like oh yeah, let's go to St Elmo, which is a historical ghost town, and it is one of the most preserved gh ost to wns in the West. Yeah, there was what?
Pam:43 preserved buildings, buildings that have changed very little from their birth.
Alexandra:Yeah, and it was beautiful there, the drive was amazing. Yeah, talk about your experience with St Elmo. Oh, was beautiful there. The drive was amazing. Yeah, talk about your experience with St Elmo,
Pam:oh my gosh, I loved it.
Pam:It was kind of a surprise recommendation from um mom and sister and they said they just loved it. Did they like historical towns? Anyway, we liked the ghost part, um, but the drive up was mountains and Aspen, and you've got this raging river, um next to you and Aspen, and you've got this raging river next to you.
Pam:The drive was fantastic, be really great in the fall.
Pam:So past the Cascade Falls, which we had to stop and just experience.
Alexandra:Well, that was crazy too, because it was late June. So because it was late June, all the water runoff was there.
Pam:It was really high it was really high.
Alexandra:Those were some crazy rapids for sure.
Pam:You need to go check out the video, because they're amazing yeah it was.
Alexandra:It was amazing, and there was also chipmunks that you could feed.
Pam:Yes, I'm going to say maybe 30.
Alexandra:And they were running all over us. I've never seen anything like it. Normally I don't condone the feeding of animals and I'm not sure how I truly feel about it. And there was this, uh, this mother and this little boy, and they gave us some bird seed and seriously, there was like five chipmunks on me at the same time Just running all over us looking for food, and it was adorable, it's crazy. There were like deer three feet from us. Yeah, blue Jays Blue.
Pam:Jays, it was just fun and I guess they feed them year round, um they actually sell the bird seed in the general store yeah, so worth the trip. Bring your own bird seed yes, also little tiny tip.
Alexandra:We got a recommendation also to go up tin cup pass and we were pooping our pants the entire time. I don't want to sugar coat it. It was like four wheeling to the max. I'm pretty sure we hit a rock in the back of the car. We hit rocks on the underneath of the car. She's sitting there cussing in the car. We're just like, oh my gosh, we're going to die. Or like who's going to die first, us or the car?
Pam:Well, and we would have been fine in the truck, but we were in the RAV4. And you know, I thought the RAV4 could do it, but the little ravioli just could not.
Alexandra:Yeah, if you don't know, our RAV4 is named the ravioli and our massive Ford F350 truck that pulls the fifth wheel is called Tinky Winky, named after the Teletubbies.
Pam:Yes, and our fifth wheel is named Dipsy because we were trying to figure out the weirdest names and we just got on the Teletubbies and just started laughing and just said we had to do it.
Alexandra:So dipsy and tinky winky so we started coming back and again. This drive is just stunning we had all the windows down, we were playing some music, we were just watching all these waterfalls, we were taking pictures. It was absolutely gorgeous. And then, on the way back, she, she said, oh, I want a pizza.
Pam:So we stopped at Godfather's Pizza, which I haven't had Godfather's since I was a kid, so I don't know if any of y'all have had it, but it was wonderful.
Alexandra:Very nost algic, Very nostalgic. And we were just chilling, eating pizza, Just not a care in the world. It was great. And then we got out of the you know the little pizza place and we saw this massive plume of smoke.
Pam:Originally I thought it was rain, and because we're at sunset, so everything was just a really pretty hue of pink, and so at first I thought it was rain, but alas, yeah.
Alexandra:And we just looked at it and we're like, oh my gosh, I think there's a fire. So we went back in and we're like, oh, do you know what's the fire? And she was like, yeah, I think it's pretty close to here. We're just kind of hoping that it gets put out really fast. And then we started going back to where we were Again. We were in between Twin Lakes and Buena Vista, Taking pictures of it. Taking pictures of it because my grandpa loves pictures of the smoke.
Pam:He loves fire, yeah.
Alexandra:So we were just leisurely going back and as we started getting closer, we just thought to ourselves uh, it's a fire, there's a fire.
Pam:And then it became oh, it's a fire, oh, wait, it's a fire.
Alexandra:And then it became oh my god, it's a fire. Yeah, it's a fire. And so we got back there and I'm going to put some of the pictures in the show notes. It was devastating and I think by the time we got back it was around 5 pm, I think. At that point. They don't know what caused it at this point, but it had consumed 160 acres by this time, as of the time of us recording this podcast, I think it's up to over 400 and it's called the interlock and fire. But at the time it was just a little baby forest fire, but still just devastating.
Alexandra:We were like should we leave? Should we not leave? Should we, I don't know? So then we started going around the RV park and asking what, what, what, what, what do we do? And they didn't seem too nervous and it was funny, we were, we were watching it and they're just talking to me about random things. You know, like, oh, cool, fifth wheel, awesome, how do you drive it? Blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm just sitting there sweating. I'm like should we be running and evacuating? You know cause I it's pretty close. I mean, I can see the red hues of the flames. So it was kind of a funny, weird thing. And then the, the city.
Alexandra:That was about what like 15 minutes away from us was on pre-evacuation and then it got lifted right as we went to sleep. So we were like, okay, we're fine, I think we'll be okay. I cut a deal with the other RVers and I said if you decide to abandon ship in the middle of the night, come pound on our door and we will abandon ship with you. Go sleep in a Walmart parking lot, because I'm not taking any chances and we were actually going rafting the next day. So we were just sitting there going well, we really want to go rafting on the Arkansas. So we wen t to bed and then I woke up a couple times in the middle of the night, just checked just to make sure Nothing, it was fine. And then we woke up the next morning and neither of us could talk.
Alexandra:Just smoky eyes watering my throat felt terrible, it was pretty hazy. Yeah, there was smoke everywhere. And then the evacuation started coming back and we started talking to the other guys and they're like how does that mean it's shifting and we're like we're supposed to go rafting. So then we just decided, we just weren't comfortable rafting and leaving the animals. Oh yeah, because we've got two little kitties and a dog that live with us in this adventure. You know we couldn't like leave them, because what if we were gonna get a vac? You know, it was just, it was just too much. So panic, calling people, you know, calling the rafting company. We don't know where to go. Luckily we were leaving the next day, so you called the, the campsite that we were going to, and just yes, and she was wonderful, you know.
Pam:know, she said I don't care if we leave a spot or not, just come, just get out of there.
Alexandra:So we were kind of just leisurely, you know, packing up and then all of a sudden our phones start blaring. It's like get out of there.
Pam:We evacuated, packed up, really fast and made some very preventable mistakes, because we are owning all of this. We're tired and we're stressed and we're bummed about not being able to go rafting and we loved the place we were staying.
Alexandra:Yeah, we didn't want to leave. And also you know we loved the place we were staying. Yeah, we didn't want to leave. And and also you know it's hard to see forest fires. I mean, forest fires are just devastating. Yeah, I don't think the historical district is at risk now, um, so hopefully that continues, but it's just so many lives of people and firefighters and the U S forest service. So it was. It was just a lot. It was a lot packing up. You know, there I was very grateful that we could just roll out, but my hearts go out to anybody who is permanently living there.
Pam:Yeah, I guess Twins Lake is beautiful, oh yeah, so a lot of locals were just very, very sad about that.
Alexandra:Yeah, it's just, it's devastating. So, yeah, so we started making some very silly mistakes. As I said, we're very exhausted. We're, you know, devastated about this, and the first mistake that we made was I started driving. It is the joke that she goes forwards, I go backwards, so she always drives it and then I back it into the things. So I'm sitting there with all the pets in the ravioli and I'm baking Like our AC has been wonky and it's June in the mountains and I'm going to pass out Like I was considering talking to her and being like I feel lightheaded, like I just feel like I'm baking at a convection oven and then all of a sudden, right when we got to our destination, Hour and a half later.
Alexandra:An hour and a half later I realized that I just didn't push the AC button. Oh yeah, you're smart and I can't even blame anyone else. That was completely and totally my fault. Oh yeah, and so my big mistake was we drained before we left, and then For those of you who you know aren't active, rvers, one of the less glamorized versions of it is you have to drain your own sewer, which you can just use your imagination on how fun that is.
Pam:And smelly, and smelly. So we drained, we're ready to go and we have two sets, because we have two sewer lines, and so I had closed the one sewer line but I'd left the other one open.
Alexandra:I don't know why, but I left it open and then drove for an hour and a half Because we were escaping a forest fire. That's why you left it open.
Pam:Well, we think there's a clog in there from soap, but that's another story. And so it just kept draining and draining and draining into that pipe while we're driving, and so when I go to unhook the sewer line and hook it back up to where we are staying now, it was just a poo explosion. I just stood there, I had no words and nobody to blame. Yes, it was awesome, so happy, and I'm so. Yeah.
Alexandra:I hear this mortified scream from inside of the RV because I'm unloading the interior while she's just setting up the sewer and I'm so, yeah, I hear this mortified scream from inside of the RV because I'm unloading the interior while she's just setting up the sewer and I just hear this blood curdling and I was like, oh my gosh, did she fall? And I come outside and she is just covered in poo water. That's so gross.
Pam:And so we get, you know, cleaned up from that.
Alexandra:And we did figure it out, but it was a lot of cleanup and by we get, you know, cleaned up from that and we did figure it out, but it it was a lot of cleanup and by the time we were done and there's no showers here at the campsite that we're at and we don't really like using the shower in our RV. But I mean, we definitely gave it a go, oh yeah, but we were absolutely disgusting by the time that was over.
Pam:Oh yeah, smelly girls.
Alexandra:So we decided that we needed to go into town, which was Cripple Creek which is fantastic, which is so quirky. Can we just talk about Cripple Creek for a second? Oh, cripple Creek is great. I was not prepared for Cripple Creek. I it was like Vegas had like a really weird looking baby with a Colorado mountain town.
Pam:And the old west.
Alexandra:And the old west just sprinkled in there. Seriously, it looks like an old west town. It looks like something that should be again St Elmo, that ghost town. It looks like St Elmo, except there's just casinos everywhere and cheap drinks. It's so funny. It's just it's crazy to me. So we went to dinner. We got like some Long Island iced teas for like $2 a piece. We were loving life. We spent a grand total of $8 at a slots machine because we hate gambling, but we just had to do it for just for the experience.
Pam:And we came back and uh, Came back and I realized that during the entire time that we were having dinner I had left the car running, just running, doors open, running. I don't know it might have been locked. I don't think it was, because the car doesn't lock if it's running.
Alexandra:I think it does. Maybe it does.
Pam:We have to check. But yeah, I left it running because I'm a dork, I think it does, maybe it does, we have to check. But yeah, I left it running because I'm a dork and we went home and went to bed. No, we went home and I opened the fridge and while traveling another travel tip do not leave any hot pot fondue liquid.
Alexandra:We just had like some sauce that we would dip things. We're really big fans of hot pot. Ever since I traveled to Mongolia and China, I've just been obsessed with hot pot and I have this little sauce concoction that I make. So we started doing it ourselves because it's like this really healthy Chinese fondue and I just set it in the fridge and it was fine when we left Until we drove an hour and a half and then I opened the fridge, top came off.
Pam:Oh, it was cling wrap. Of course it's going to come off, but there was hot pot everywhere.
Alexandra:Everywhere. How many times did we change clothes because we were dirty?
Pam:Oh, like four times that day.
Alexandra:And again, we had showered that day and we can't shower technically again for another 10 days.
Pam:Oh yes, we're going to have to break out the brand new showers, anyway. So that was fun. So we decided that we are not really on our game when we get frazzled trying to evacuate.
Alexandra:I don't think it was that it was just so much. And for those of you who are like, oh, I can pack up my RV in like 10 minutes, okay, that is not us. You are not talking to people who can pack up within 10 minutes. We live full time in this thing and we like our decorations, we like, and we like to clean as we, yeah, and we like to clean too, so we will clean this whole thing and pack up at the same time. So it takes so long for us to get packed.
Alexandra:And this is a massive rig, dipsy is a massive home and, again, we are not roughing it, we are RVing in luxury here. So it was stressful and it was, you know, just getting evacuated is our first time ever dealing with something like that and it was just hot and there was just a lot to do and, you know, trying to figure out where we were going to go and you know we were just tired and I was also up, you know, multiple times during the night previously just making sure that we weren't, you know, going to get evacuated.
Alexandra:Yeah, it was just, it was just a very interesting RV experience.
Pam:Yeah, and so right after this, I am going to take down 50 refrigerator magnets and wash the hot pot off of them.
Alexandra:We're just living in the lap of luxury.
Pam:But at the same time as.
Alexandra:I'm filming this podcast, I'm looking at a stunning mountain view, so we really can't complain about this lifestyle. I'm just saying we're idiots. Just saying we're idiots. And forest fires are dumb. Yes, yes.
Pam:Yes, so there you go, there you go. We have spoken.
Alexandra:What do you think of our stories? Do we have any full-time RVers out there? Would you want a full-time RV with stuff like this Maybe put you on edge. Or would you just like to come to Cripple Creek or Puny Vista? Buena Vista, puny Vista.
Alexandra:Puny Buny is what they say I think you're crazy, I think you nuts. Anyway, you guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Ticket Before you Kick it, where we share hilarious travel stories and bucket list adventures. If you did like this episode, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and also check out the show notes on thebucketlistmermaidcom. If you do have any of your own adventures, you can reach out to me on social media at thebucketlistmermaid, and we will see you next time. Keep adventu=ring, you, you, you.