The unseasonably hot weather has broken. This morning we were able to stand outside the Airstream in the full sun and feel the soft breeze without melting into a puddle of human flesh. Overnight the Lake Mead RV Village has transformed from an oven to a garden spot. Suddenly I’m noticing the red flowers on the bushes, the ravens in the palm trees, and the blue-green water of Lake Mead seems much more tranquil.

Rich and Emma floating in Lake Mead, near Hoover Dam

But it’s time to move on. We towed the Airstream into Las Vegas today to a staging area for a few days of business. This week Airstream introduces its new 2008 models to its dealers, and Brett & I will be there to represent the magazine. I love the fact that we come to the annual dealer meeting in an Airstream, living the life as much as possible every day.

The blog is about to undergo a temporary change. For about 10 days, we will be childless. Tomorrow Emma and my mother will fly off. Brett and I will have a brutal schedule of meetings in the next two days, and then on Saturday Eleanor and I will begin a cruise across the country to catch up with Emma in the east.

This sort of mode shifting often strikes people as “stressful” or confusing. We don’t feel that way, perhaps because we are used to it. We have to adjust from family mode to business mode, from fast travel to slow, and from city to country, rather frequently. Life and diversity go hand-in-hand, so we expect this, and even embrace it.

Perhaps that’s why we were both feeling the loss of the road lifestyle while we were parked in Tucson. Stability is one thing, but a static existence feels very artificial to us now. We are addicted to change and challenge. Travel junkies.

Eleanor was a bit sad for a moment in Grand Canyon because being there was so great, and it reminded her that our full-time travel is coming to an end soon. We are still trying to come to grips with what that will mean, and we are trying to find ways to keep the best aspects of the full-time lifestyle. If we figure it out, you’ll be the first to know.