Page, Arizona | May 28, 2026
We slept at a scenic viewpoint pulloff about 45 minutes past Page last night. I got there around 5:30pm and cooked three pounds of chicken on the induction cooktop outside. The Walmart stop in Page was good, $105 on groceries and $125 of diesel at $5.59 a gallon. Filled up 16 gallons of water. Showered on the side of the van at a campsite we passed through at Jacob Lake. Got rid of my trash. Feels good to be topped off.
I got to bed early but was woken in the night by someone revving their engine and peeling out. Then the most difficult alarm of my recent life at 7am. We’re rolling out at 9:30, which means journal entry, post it, create a 30 second vertical video, post that, and be moving by 9:30. I’m giving myself an hour for the journal and an hour for the video while I’m still working out the technical side. Once I have the system dialed I expect both will take about 20 minutes each.
I got lucky and grabbed tickets to the Cliff Palace tour at Mesa Verde today at 1pm. They’d been sold out but I got on a notification list and grabbed them when a slot opened. We’ll need to leave 75 minutes from the entrance to reach the trailhead where we meet the ranger. Ladders involved apparently. We also lost an hour yesterday crossing time zones, so we’re going to be pushing it.
Since I blasted out those short form videos yesterday I’ve been thinking about them differently. The 30 second video is running the world right now. It’s king. It’s a genuine art form. I’m going to get curious about it and see what I can learn.
Something I’m recognizing in how I’m approaching all of this is a method I’ve been applying for years without fully naming it. Stacking habits. Giving up alcohol 3.5 years ago was the foundation. Better sleep, no more stiff achey inflamed body, all that stuff I thought was just aging, gone. More time to actually pursue interests. No more sluggish day afters. But more importantly it opened the door for everything that followed. It made the keto diet possible. Most people can’t do keto because they can’t give up alcohol. I’d tried it before and been derailed. Keto made me feel so good I became willing to give up sugar, something I’d never done in my entire life and didn’t think I could do. Turns out I could, and I feel so much better. Then I stacked on giving up processed meats and pork. Then the custom electrolyte drink. I’ll keep stacking. That same method is how I’m approaching this online presence. The journal is the foundation. The short form video is the first thing stacked on top. I’ll get that squared away and see what comes next.
Three hours to Mesa Verde, then 75 minutes inside the park to the trailhead, 45 minute tour, then probably BLM land just outside the park for the night. Morning drive of an hour and fifteen to Durango. Amazon packages waiting there. I haven’t done southwestern Colorado in the van in summer before, only for snowboarding. I think it’s going to be great.
Roads dispatches appear on layng.com/roads after a short delay.