WELCOME TO SAVING TIME IN A BOTTLE
Hi there! We’re Curtis and Jess, and we use this site as a way to document the memories we’ve made together, and to share our adventures with family & friends. After 10 years in the Navy and moving all over the US, we started our journey as nomads, living in a self-built van, working remotely, and traveling wherever work takes us. We most enjoy spending time in the outdoors along with our basset hound, Charlotte, doing things like hiking, kayaking, camping, and more. Thanks for visiting, feel free to stick around!
RECENT POSTS
- Fort Larned & Tallgrass Prairie
Driving from Clayton, NM to Iowa | Fort Larned National Historic Site | Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve | January 2026 After almost 10 weeks of being on the road out West, it was time to make our way back to the Midwest so Curtis could start his spring work season. Our last few days of… - Santa Fe / Capulin Volcano
Driving from Santa Fe to Capulin, NM | Visiting Santa Fe & New Mexico State Capitol Building | Pecos National Historic Site | Capulin Volcano National Monument | January 2026 We awoke this morning to once again find our water system was frozen — but at least we had learned from yesterday and prepared for… - El Malpais & Petroglyph NHS
El Malpais National Monument to La Cienega, NM | La Ventana Natural Arch | Petroglyph National Monument | La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs | January 2026 We survived our coldest night of camping yet, with the temperature dropping to 5 degrees Fahrenheit in El Malpais National Monument (not counting windchill)! Unfortunately, despite running the heater throughout the… - Window Rock / El Morro NHS
Visiting Window Rock, Arizona | Navajo Nation Museum | Driving from Window Rock, AZ to El Malpais National Monument in NM | January 2026 After leaving Petrified Forest National Park, we drove East on I-40 towards the AZ/NM border — a stretch of I-40 that we haven’t driven in either direction since we first moved… - Petrified Forest National Park
Visiting Petrified Forest National Park | Driving from the Southern to Northern Entrance of the Park | January 2026 We awoke in the Crystal Forest campground to a cool and cloudy morning. We didn’t waste any time packing up and heading into the National Park, knowing we only had half a day before the next… - Taking it Easy in Winslow Arizona
Driving from Winona to Holbrook, AZ | Visiting Route 66 Sites in Winslow | Homolovi State Park | Camping in Crystal Forest Campground | January 2026 We started off this morning by driving into Winona to see the Walnut Canyon Bridge. Curtis was expecting it to be a bit more than it was, but he…