"Maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's about unbecoming everything that isn't really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the first place."
- Unknown
May
Month Alc $185.00 Bills $272.00 Camping $101.00 Dog Food $27.00 Food $98.00 Gas $427.00 Grocery $494.00 Misc $138.00 $1,742.00 May Over/Under Category Budget Actual Diff Alc/Bar $100.00 $185.00 -$85.00 Bills $400.00 $272.00 $128.00 Camping $250.00 $101.00 $149.00 Dog food $50.00 $27.00 $23.00 Food $100.00 $98.00 $2.00 Gas $250.00 $427.00 -$177.00 Grocery $450.00 $494.00 -$44.00 Misc $350.00 $138.00 $212.00 Total $1,950.00 $1,742.00 $208.00 DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!! We did it!! This was our first month on the road where we ended the month UNDER budget. We were able to come in under budget largely due to the fact that nothing on Nancy broke. We were also able to somewhat control our habit of going out to eat more than our budget allows. We covered a bit more miles than anticipated and therefore we went over our expected budget on gas. Also, when we were in Flagstaff, AZ, we found a bar that we really enjoyed (FLG TERROIR). This caused us to go over our budget for bar trips. Outside of these things we are pleased to announce that financially speaking, we kept it in between the mayo and the mustard for the first time during month of May!! Miles Traveled: 2,085 Gallons of Gas Purchased: 155.43 Average MPG: 13.41 Number of things we had to fix on Nancy: 0!!!!! Number of Nights connected to shore power: 0 Number of Nights Spent Dry-docking/Boon-docking: 30 (we spent 1 night in a hotel room when Anna’s sister Paige came to visit Number of Cliff jumping spots: 2 Number of waterfalls viewed: 8 Number of waterfalls swam in: 1 Number of Nature Showers: quite a few! If you are reading this and would like to support our travels, Please click on the Support the Journey tab and let our website redirect you to Amazon.com for your online shopping needs. : ) -G As always, thank you for reading and let us know if there is anything else you would like me to add to future “By The Numbers” blog. April Month Alcohol/Bar Trips $251.00 Bills $329.00 Camping $30.00 Dog Food $49.00 Food $240.00 Gas $393.00 Grocery $451.00 Misc $916.00 $2,659.00 April Over/Under Category Budget Actual Diff Alcohol/Bar Trips $70.00 $251.00 -$181.00 Bills $400.00 $329.00 $71.00 Camping $250.00 $30.00 $220.00 Dog food $50.00 $49.00 $1.00 Food $100.00 $240.00 -$140.00 Gas $250.00 $393.00 -$143.00 Grocery $450.00 $451.00 -$1.00 Misc $350.00 $916.00 -$566.00 Total $1,920.00 $2,659.00 -$739.00 SO……… We had yet another month where we couldn’t manage to stay within our budget. This has been a reoccurring theme, but hey we are trying. This month we went over budget due to bar trips, going out to eat at restaurants, traveling a bit more than our gas budget allowed, and most off all we went over budget because Nancy needed about $750 worth of repairs to her front end. However, I still have faith in us next month. Miles Traveled: 2,242 Gallon of gas purchased: 153.08 Average Gas Mileage: 12.38 MPG Number of Nights connected to shore power: 2 (Lake heron state Park in Northern New Mexico to wait out a blizzard.) Number of nights spent boon-Docking / dry-docking: 27 (we also stayed in a hotel for Anna’s birthday Anna’s age at the beginning of the month: 25 Anna’s age at the end of the month: 26 Number of days I went without coffee: 1 How hard it feels like the wind blows in the desert: I would say at least 150 MPH As always, thank you for reading and let us know if there is anything else you would like me to add to future “By The Numbers” blog. April was so exciting because we visited four National Parks. We spent the beginning of the month in New Mexico at Heron Lake State Park due to an unexpected snowstorm. We needed to be able to hook up to shore power to run a heater at all times because the average temp was 29 degrees and we had never driven Nancy through the snow. We have a Mr. Heater portable propane heater that was gifted to us before we hit the road, but we knew we didn’t have enough propane to run it all day and night for 48 hours so camp hook up it was. Paying for this state park camping broke our boon docking streak we had been on since we left at the end of January for the open road. Desert weather is crazy. One minute it can be 90 degrees and the next thick snow. Thankfully Nancy is fully prepared for either! After the New Mexico snow storm cleared, we headed for Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.
I think Mesa Verde is one of Gregg’s favorite National Parks we have been to yet! He has Native American blood in his family, so he really resonates with the old dwellings in the cliffs. I however, have a bad taste in my mouth for Mesa Verde. This is where I almost broke Nancy. Steep hills that travel up and down the side of mountains provide great views of the long roads back into the different points of the cliff dwellings. One particular hill was really steep and Nancy felt like she was having a hard time so Gregg suggested switching to a lower gear to help her out. While this seems really simple, I made it really complicated. I switched into reverse as we were rolling down hill at about 25 miles an hour. The entire check engine and other various dashboard lights came on and Nancy shut off. Right before Nancy shut off, Gregg yanked her back. With the car off and the steering wheel stiff, we rolled off the side of the road and where I sat in shock and Gregg hiked up the closest hill to blow off some steam. After about fifteen minutes of thinking our journey was finished and for sure that the transmission was blown, we cranked her up. No lights came on and she switched gears with ease. Gregg had saved our Nancy girl with his quick reflexes of pulling her into drive almost as soon as I had thrown her into reverse. WHEW! After exploring Mesa Verde we headed for Utah. The views during the drive to Moab did not disappoint. The La Sal Mountain range in the distance with various rock formations, arches, and the Moab desert is something we miss already!The BLM land with the La Sal Mountain range came in at a close second to the Valley of the Gods as our favorite BLM land in Utah. Valley of the Gods pictured below. The name is nothing short of what this place has to offer. Also while in Utah we explored three other National Parks including Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park. Arches National Park was our first stop. We explored Arches with friends from back home in MS, John Morgan and John Collins. John Collins is a raft guide in Glenn Wood Colorado, only a two-hour drive from Moab, and they were headed there for a few days and invited us to come. Before heading to Colorado, we spent our last night in Moab camping with some new friends we had met through JC and JMO along the Colorado River and it was breathtaking. During magic hour we had our first experience of bouldering and it is no joke! If you don’t know what bouldering is, give it a quick Google or click here. Gregg and I were sore the next two days. We spent three days in Glenn Wood rafting the Colorado River (which was freezing), enjyoing warm showers, new friends, good food, new tattoos, and finally we decided we needed to head back to warmer weather. We decided to go ahead and leave Moab and head to Bryce Canyon and Zion. On the way out of town we stopped at Fisher Towers to hike and explore. To get to Bryce Canyon, you have to drive through Page AZ because there is no highway connecting you through to the other side of Utah due to all the National Parks. While in Page we stopped at Horseshoe Bend, which was SO cool, but also really crowded. We suggest going super early if you plan on visiting Horseshoe bend. We wanted to explore Antelope Canyon while in Page, but $30 bucks for a guided tour is not our budget. Apparently someone died recently due to rapid flooding of the canyon and now guided tours are required to see the canyons. On the way to Bryce Canyon we also got to see the infamous place where Forest Gump decided to stop running, Monument valley! Next was Bryce Canyon. My favorite National Park was Zion, although Bryce Canyon was really cool too coming in at a close second! I was excited about Bryce Canyon National Park because a friend, Jane Oliver, said this was her absolute favorite place she had visited in Utah. The Hoodoo Mountains were captivating. From the first look out point we stopped at, we could see the highest plateau in North America. This is also where we saw Ponderosa pine trees for the first time. These pines are unique because of their extra long pine needle and orange colored trunks that make it less likely to burn all the way up the tree if the forest were to catch fire. After exploring the different trails and viewpoints of Bryce, we headed towards Zion NP. On the way to Zion we stopped at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, which is the largest no kill shelter in America, was so amazing! We even paid five bucks for an all you can eat vegetarian and vegan buffet overlooking gorgeous views of Utah. We drove through Zion to get to a small town on the other side a few days before we actually explored the park. This is where Nancy’s breaks went out and we had to have her whole front end rebuilt! That blew our whole budget for the month of April. Gregg will post our “April By the Numbers” soon. Close to a thousand bucks is what it was going to cost to have her fixed. That is almost 20% of what we paid for her. Gregg and I were so upset. We had to sit down and have the talk of whether or not we were going to sell her and head back to MS or pay the troll toll and continue the journey. Reluctantly, we had her fixed. Now she has brand new brakes, rotors, break pads, new center link, new power steering and A/C belt, alignment, and new air valve in the front right tire. After we got Nancy fixed, we got a hotel for my birthday! So amazing! We went for a few drinks and sushi and spent the rest of the evening with some locals in a hot tub, one of which shared the same birthday as me! They told us about some local hot springs called Arizona hot springs. If you follow us on instagram, you know that this is the hike that we got lost on with seven other people who ended up saving me with food and water! After the hotel it was onward to Zion. We learned our lesson about Zion and drove in a lower gear the whole time enjoying Nancy feeling like a new truck! Our first day in the park we hiked Angel’s Landing! We have a good bit up about this hike including a video on our instagram if you haven’t gotten to check it out, they will be posted below! Angel’s Landing is easily the hardest hike we have ever done. I am scared of heights, but the view and exhilaration was so worth it! After Zion we headed for Arizona. The hot springs was our last stop before making it to Sedona, which is where we are now! For more pictures and our video from hiking Angle’s Landin in Zion, click the instagram link above as well! We would love to hear any stories, comments, or questions you have! -a Although I am running a bit behind this month, I would like to give a breakdown of our past month of travels “by the numbers”. I hope that you enjoy!!
March Actual Month: Alcohol and Bar Trips $210.00 Bills $290.00 Camping $0.00 Dog food $47.00 Food $252.00 Gas $477.00 Grocery $395.00 Misc (rv repair,DR,license) $731.00 Total Expense $2,402.00 Target Budget Month Alcohol $70.00 Bills $400.00 Camping $250.00 Food $100.00 Gas $250.00 Grocery $450.00 Dog Food $50.00 Misc $350.00 Total $1,920.00 March we went over budget by $482 (going over on alcohol, going out to eat, gas, and unexpected RV repair and a trip to the doctor to tend to a severe outbreak of poison) Miles traveled: 2,601 Gallons of Gas purchased: 210 Average Gas Mileage: 12.38 MPG Number of nights connected to shore power: 1 (free campsite in Brownfield, TX) Number of nights spent boon-Docking / dry-docking: 30 I hope this information found you well, as usual if there is anything else you would like to know please let us know. -G With our National Park service Annual Pass in hand, Anna and I will be visiting several of our nation’s treasured parks on our journey. Today we spent the day exploring Mesa Verde National Park located in the southwest corner of Colorado. Surrounded by snowcapped mountains and nestled in amongst towering cliff faces and gorges, this place is a true gem. This park differs from the rest of the National Parks due to the fact that it safeguards many Ancestral Puebloan ruins making it an archeological world heritage sit. Aside from its natural beauty, Mesa Verde NP is home to hundreds of ancient Pueblo sites including massive cliff dwellings dating as far back as 700 AD. The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans from the Southwestern US who traditionally lived in communal towns made of adobe. The buildings that they constructed consisted of complex apartments with numerous rooms usually built in strategic defensive positions. What I also found interesting, was the fact that they thrived by being some of the best horticulturist to ever exist. Another cool thing about this NP is that they allow Dogs which was a huge plus for us.
We drove into the entrance of the park, located off of Hwy 160 between Cortez and Mancos, and started our 20 mile drive up to the site of the ruins. I want to also say that the ancient dwelling were so well preserved, that I feel bad for referring to them as ruins. As we drove up the steep mountainous road in the park we were in awe at the surrounding beauty. We did have a slight mishap on the way up…. Due to the incline of the road, we thought that it would be a good idea to shift Nancy into a lower gear to help her with the climb. Well…. Anna instead of shifting down into low, accidentally shifts up into reverse causing the engine to kick and all of the check engine lights to come on. Needless to say, we freaked out a bit thinking we had just totaled the engine. After pulling over and letting dear Nancy rest for a few minutes, we cranked her back up and to our surprise everything seemed OK. The journey to the ruins continues. The first set of ancient Pueblo habitats that we arrived at were pit houses. The Pueblo people primarily lived in these from 750 – 900 AD. While examining these in ground structures, Anna and I couldn’t help but to imagine what life was like for these people sitting in their homes around a fire with family. Despite the many differences, I am led to believe that there are more similarities to our lives than not. We still feel the same emotions. We still have the same needs. We both desire to be part of a tribe and that is apparent while gazing upon these old living quarters. It was a joyful experience to imagine myself sitting around a fire laughing, belly full of corn, far before it was subsidized by the US government. We spent the next couple of hours gazing at ornate cliff dwellings that were built between 900 and 1200 AD. It seemed as if the higher in altitude we climbed, the more impressive the structures before us became. The cliff dwellings were built in such positions that it was hard to imagine how the inhabitants maneuvered in and out. The view that they had day in and day out puts to shame even the most elaborate mansions. Mesa Verde National Park saves the best for last. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in the park and a sight to see. It was built around 1250 AD and has roughly 150 rooms. It is thought that Cliff Palace was a social administrative site with high ceremonial usage. Whatever its use, it is something that will be engraved in my memory forever. Anna and I both highly recommend visiting this National Park if the opportunity arrises. You won’t be disappointed. Plus, did I mention that dogs are allowed? ; ) -G Hola from New Mexico! We are going to start a few new things that you can expect regularly. At the end of each month we are going to “recap from the road” some of the highlights from that particular month, “month by the numbers” the first week of the new month showing the finances of the previous month, and also a live video feed every Sunday on our instagram. You can find us @thejourneywithn there and also on Facebook!
So the highlights for this month –
Our first BLM land we stayed on was in a beautiful area that was such a relief from the city and Wal Mart life we were use to. Now, any city we visit, we check to see if there is any land near by we can sleep on instead of the busy interstate driven roads by Wal Mart. We spent a few more days at the ashram in Alachua Florida where I was yoga teacher trained with people that are now like family to us before heading back to Mississippi. On travel days we usually travel three or four hours on the road tops. Only being able to go 60-65 mph wind permitting is exhausting and not worth the energy spent on being unhappy driving to us. Being back in Mississippi was overwhelming. We had to divide our time between seeing family and friends, all on top of tying up loose ends with my moms death. However, we are grateful for that time knowing we won’t see those family and friends for another eight months. This month is all about change. It would seem the lifestyle of living on the road would be all about change, and it is is, but we have a routine now. We will share this soon! After Mississippi, we headed to Austin, Texas. This is one of our favorite cities that we have spent a lot of time in prior to hitting the road full time. We stayed with a friend, Lee Smith, and met a bunch of cool new people we really connected with. We are enjoying making friends along the way. Austin always treats us to a lot of fun, usually too much, and then we leave in the whirlwind we came in. Finally the end of this month was finished at our first National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Carlsbad Cavern is one of over 300 limestone caves in a fossil reef laid down by an inland sea 250 to 280 million years ago. Twelve to fourteen thousand years ago, American Indians lived in the Guadalupe Mountains; some of their cooking ring sites and pictographs have been found within the present day boundaries of the park. By the 1500s, Spanish explorers were passing through present-day west Texas and southeastern New Mexico. Spain claimed the southwest until 1821 when Mexico revolted against her and claimed independence. Mexico, fighting the westward expansionist United States in the late 1840s, lost the southwest to the US. In 1850, New Mexico Territory was created, and for the next 30 years the cultural conflict between American Indians and the US government continued. Eddy, New Mexico, the future Carlsbad, was established in 1888 and New Mexico became a state in 1912 (NPS sit info). In layman’s terms, it is SO COOL! 750 feet underneath ground in 56 degree cool air surrounded by limestone drapery. The total hike inside the cave is about a mile and half. The pictures don’t do it justice. You must go if you are ever near Roswell. We were not expecting Carlsbad Caverns’ to be as cool as it was. This was also our first NPS we have found that offer kennel service for dogs, because leaving dogs unattended is prohibited. Of course we can’t say we took the park service up on this offer, we however think its cool that the service is available for all you pup friendly people out there who don’t have a temperature controlled RV. Now we are sitting in a Wal Mart in Roswell New Mexico. We checked out a state park in the area but were unimpressed and not willing to drive the thirty minutes it took to get back out there once in town. It is hard to believe the month of March has already come and gone but we are excited to see what the month of April has to bring! We will be updating the blog with the finances within the next week! Here are some pictures from this month! Enjoy! – a In this post I will give a monthly look back on how things stacked up from a numbers perspective. Below you will find some stats that paint a picture of the month of February “by the numbers” monetary and otherwise. Please enjoy
February Actual Budget February month alcohol $203.00 bills $283.00 camping $0.00 Food (restaurants) $247.00 gas $325.00 groceries $583.00 dog food $48.00 Misc(rv Repair) $825.00 Total Expenses $2,514.00 Monthly Target Budget Target Budget month alc $70.00 Fixed Bills $400.00 camping $250.00 Food (restaurants) $100.00 gas $250.00 grocery $450.00 dog food $50.00 misc $350.00 total $1,920.00 February we went over budget by $594 (going over on Alc, Food, Grocery and unexpected $500 Rv Repair) Miscellaneous Stats: Miles Traveled: 1621 Gallons of gas purchased: 130.95 gallons Average Gas Mileage: 12.38 MPG Number of Nights connected to shore power (campgrounds): 0 Number of nights spent boon-docking / Dry-docking: 28 German beer halls/restaurants visited: 3 amount of days spent in Wal-Mart parking lots: too damn many Amount of times we ate out: 7-8 Number of Tennis balls lost by Miles: 3 Let me know if there is any other information in regards to full time life on the road that you would like me add into next months “By the Numbers” breakdown. -Gregg After acquiring Nancy Anna and I spent the next 3-4 months preforming the labor of love that is renovating and improving Nancy. This is an ONGOING perhaps never ending adventure with a bit of a learning curve involved. With so much that needed to happen, we started with something easy. Nancy’s exhaust was rusted from the catalytic converter all the way back, so we took that in to have replaced. Then, I try to save a few dollars by ordering tires myself and have a friend mount them. Well considering I am on the very front end of the automotive learning curve and have never even changed my own oil, I somehow manage to screw up and order the wrong load bearing grade tires costing me about $40 in unnecessary shipping. We finally take it to a tire shop and leave it to the professionals who have to special order 6 new tires.
Next, we find out that Nancy needs a special horizontal propane tank that had to be special ordered, so we tend to that while at the same time take here in to have her shocks replaced. Somewhere along the way, we order (2) 6volt AGM deep cycle batteries that would be hooked together in a series to give them 12volt capacity. We had to build a special battery bank under one of the couch seats inside of the RV to house the new and improved battery bank. When Trying to connect the battery bank to the RV I discovered that due to the number of wires and splice jobs, I once again needed help, so we take it into an RV shop where we also have them check the plumbing and gas systems for leaks. Sure enough, a small gas leak was found and fixed and also a new water pump was installed. Rest assure, we now have 2 working LP gas and carbon monoxide detectors inside Nancy. Meanwhile during all of this Anna paints the entire inside of Nancy, including the stove and all of the counter and table top surfaces. She also handmade curtains out of sheets of fabric and hangs other various decorations. Knowing that we will be boon docking (no electrical or water hook-ups) quite a bit on our adventure, she also mounts standalone battery operated lights and string lights all around the RV to preserve the precious charge of the on board battery bank. Let me see, what else. We rebuilt some of the wood that was around the coach, reinforced the cabinets up top that were starting to sag a little and my personal favorite, built a mounted spice rack. After living in her for a brief period, it became clear that Nancy had some major issues with leaks. After 3 tubes of caulk, two coats of roofing paint and 60 feet of roofing tape around the edges, I think she is leak free. Well, at least for now. If you were paying close attention you might have noticed that we did not get the broken gas gauge fixed. Sometimes life calls for a little sweat. ; ) The last thing we did before we hit the road was get all of Nancy’s belts replaced. Two weeks into our trek to Key West, we discover that not only is the alternator no longer charging the house batteries while we drive, but they aren’t being charged while we are plugged into our Honda 2000i generator. We take her to the shop to discover that the circuit switch and relay that sends volts from the alternator to the house batteries needs to be replaced as well as the convertor that charges the batteries while plugged in to shore power needs to be replaced. So we give the people what seems like our life savings and abracadabra, problem solved and she is good as new again. *Breaking news… While I was in Publix, Anna had a small mishap backing Nancy over a curve. The result was the ripping out of her entire Black/Grey water drain pipes sending grey water and ammonia filled black water all over the parking lot and making way for more fun renovations. I’ll let her tell that story and I will keep you posted on the result of this mishap. So far these are all of the updates (unless I missed something) that we have made to our dear ole Toy home. I am sure that there will be more updates to come and I will keep you posted. If you would like to help Nancy get her updates, please click the link on our website and let it redirect you to Amazon.com before you do any of your Amazon shopping. It won’t cost you anything and Amazon will pay us a small portion of the sales price. Thanks for being a part of this journey with us. -G Below in no certain order is a list of the renovations made to Nancy including the price associated with each. Toyota Motor home Acquisition Price $5,250.00 Muffler $220.00 belts $200.00 propane tank $210.00 converter $360.00 trailer hitch $50.00 tires $580.00 relay and circuit $175.00 Coach batteries $615.00 Seat covers $37.00 Wiper blades $22.00 Curtains $100.00 misc $70.00 Bike Rack $60.00 Tape Sealant (for the constant battle with leaks $105.00 gas leak, water pump, electrical work $512.00 shocks $340.00 Total $8,906.00 When Anna and I decided to embark on the adventure of full time living in a RV we were eating lunch at our favorite restaurant, Sakura Bana in Jackson MS. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend checking this place out. Order some salmon belly sashimi and a one punch roll. You can thank me later. As far as RV living goes, we didn’t really know where to begin. Neither one of us had ever driven one, much less knew about the inner working of one of these vehicles. So we did what any natural born millennials would do… We got on the internet.
We knew that we wanted something you drove rather than pull behind a vehicle and it also had to small so that it would good gas mileage, be easy to drive, and be maneuverable. We also knew that selling my car, motorcycle, and various other items around the house would fetch us somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000, so we started looking in that price range. The RV would obviously have to be older to fit within our budget, but what make, what model, and how old were still left to be discovered. We searched and searched, even going to several dealerships and test driving some in the 25 – 33 ft range. We liked the spaciousness of them, but they definitely didn’t tick all of the other boxes. The search continued. While searching online we randomly discovered a Toyota motor home “Toy home”. There are not that many of them on the road because Toyota only made them from I believe 1986 to 1994. It was exactly what we were looking for. I ended up finding a completely rebuilt and updated one for sale in California for $19,000. It was more than we wanted to spend, but just for fun, I thought that I would call and see if I could haggle. Turns out, this particular one had only been on the market a week and was already in the process of being sold. The person who remodeled and sold the unit is named Mary Lee and goes by “Tika” in the Toyota motor home community. Yes, there is a community. After talking with Tika for several hours I was now convinced that a Toyota was without a doubt the target vehicle. Aware of our target price range Anna, Tika, and I continued looking for the Davis family RV. A few weeks of searching went by and Anna and I found one in FL that might fit our needs. It would need some renovating, which just about ALL of the ones listed for sale do, but we could make it work. We had plans to go see the band Phish play in Alpharetta that weekend anyway so we had decided to work it into our plans to also go to FL and check the prospect out. Then, I get a phone call from Tika, who tells me that I’m not going to believe this, but a 1989 Toyota RV just hit the market in Horn Lake, MS. Given the lack of inventory on these vehicles, I was absolutely stunned. It seemed almost too good to be true. We canceled our FL trip and after having our auditory senses dominated by Phish all weekend, we headed to Horn Lake. When we arrived and set our eyes on what soon would become Nancy, it was love at first sight. Sure the gas gauge didn’t work… sure new tires were needed…. sure there was no battery in the coach, and sure the interior was the most hideous midnight blue you had ever seen…. She drove like a charm…. Well actually she was bumpy as hell because she needed new shocks, but with only 63,000 miles and for the bargain price of $5,000 how could we say no. We gave the stranger the money and with title in hand, I drove Nancy from Horn Lake to Jackson that day. That night we broke her in a bit by lounging inside her, listening to music and having drinks with friends…. -G |
We are two passionate millennials aspiring to live a budge-friendly and sustainable lifestyle, living on the road in an RV, traveling with three dogs.
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