BBT and the Road Ahead

 Since Early May, Everything Has Been Shifting

It’s wild how much can change in just a few weeks. Looking back, the beginning of the end of the first week of May feels like the moment the gears finally caught, and everything since then has been one long, steady push forward. Not chaotic — just intentional, focused, and full of those “okay, this is really happening” moments.

 Letting Go of the Jeep

The first big shift was selling the Jeep. That was early May, and it set the tone for everything that followed. It wasn’t just a vehicle sale — it was the emotional marker that the downsizing wasn’t theoretical anymore.

The Downsizing Grind

From that point on, we’ve been in full-on purge mode. Sorting, tossing, donating, filling tote after tote. Most of it fell into two piles: yard sale or garbage. It’s amazing how much stuff hides in corners you swear you cleaned last year.

This past Saturday was the big yard sale push. Three truckloads of totes and loose items went out. By the end of the day, we brought home three and a half totes — not even enough to fill a truck bed.

That’s not just progress. That’s transformation.

 The Truck We Didn’t Plan to Buy

Somewhere in the middle of all this, we stopped by the local Chevy dealer “just to walk the lot.” No intention of buying anything. Just curiosity.

 And then we saw it:


  • 2017 Ram 3500

  • Crew cab

  • Long bed

  • Cummins

  • Automatic

  • 156k miles

  • Clean, solid, exactly what we needed

  • And in a color I never thought I’d like on a truck: brown

But not a boring brown. A Beautiful Brown Truck — BBT. The kind of brown that looks like metallic coffee and warm earth.

We drove it. We asked questions. We looked at each other. And even though we didn’t plan to buy a truck that day, everything lined up — right down to a 4.99% interest rate.

So yeah… we bought the truck.

 Breaking It In Immediately

The very next day, we took BBT on a road trip to Helena, MT to pick up a camper shell. Nothing like a few hundred miles of mountains and diesel hum to make a new truck feel like part of the family.

Now it’s set up for the dogs, the gear, and the next phase of this move.

 Next on the List

With the truck sorted, we’re officially hunting for:

  • A camper, or

  • A good-sized cargo trailer

Something towable, practical, and ready for the transition south and the early homestead days.

It feels good to be in the stage where we’re not just imagining the setup — we’re building it piece by piece.

 About the Blog

I realized it’s been since May 4th since I posted. Part of that was feeling like I didn’t have “new” content, or that I was repeating myself.

But looking back at everything that’s happened since early May… this is the story. The downsizing. The decisions. The unexpected truck. The road trips. The momentum.

The real-time shift from one life into the next.

And it’s finally moving.



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