RV Road Stories: Siscily Fraley
Retired Business Owner Spends Countless Hours Traveling The Country And Hopes Others Take Advantage Of The Public Lands At Our Disposal
Walking dogs along the northern shore of Heron Lake in northern New Mexico, Siscily Fraley discussed her passion for the outdoors, RVing, and art. “I’ve always loved the outdoors. I grew up in New Jersey and I was really impacted by losing the natural resources I had come to love. Seeing rivers become polluted and not being able to swim or fish in certain rivers really impacted me”, Siscily recalled.
Siscily has spent much of her life traveling and teaching others about the great outdoors. “I initially had an opportunity to travel when I met the man who would later become my husband. We traveled around the country in a Ford Econoline van”, stated Siscily. “It was a basic van completely un-outfitted. We had a foam mattress on a piece of plywood and stolen milk crates”, she chuckled. “We traveled for ten or fifteen years periodically stopping not usually for more than three months. We would get jobs, put together a couple of thousand bucks and then start again. We visited every national monument, park, seashore, battle field, forest. . . every piece of public land you can imagine. It made a really strong impression on me.”
With her love of the outdoors, Siscily decided to do more with her time than travel. “As I got older I wanted to do something more with my life. I thought I would go to college and that was a goal of mine. I went to the University of Montana School of Forestry and got a degree in Outdoor Recreation Management, and that started me on a career path working with natural resource agencies. Later on, I had an opportunity to complete a Master’s program in Environmental Education, which I did, but the whole time I never stopped traveling”, Siscily stated.
“Some years later, I had a different husband, and he had a pop up camper, but we wanted to get something a little easier that we wouldn’t have to set up every night, so we ended up getting a Casita. We wanted the security of a kitchen and bed that was set up, but didn’t need much indoor space because we were out doors all the time. I still have the Casita, but I don’t have the husband anymore”, Siscily chuckled. “It probably doesn’t look much like a Casita on the inside; it looks more like Siscily’s funky art studio.”
When asked about her art, Siscily explained, “I would call my art folk art. It’s very whimsical colorful stuff. I also do pieces from found objects which I’m always finding along the highways.” Although her art is not inspired by her travels, it has been impacted by them. “Over time, because of traveling in the Casita, I have started to do smaller and smaller pieces that travel well.”
Siscily not only enjoys traveling, but also has a passion for kayaking, “I started kayaking when I lived in Montana. I started with whitewater kayaking, and that was pretty eye-opening because you can kill yourself pretty easily on those rivers. I was still in my twenties, where you think you are invincible, and maybe because you think you are invincible you are a little more. In later years, I got into flat water kayaking, but I have done everything from class 5 rivers to lakes and paddling on the ocean. My favorite experience kayaking was when we went out to Boca Chita which is one of the northern most keys in Biscayne Bay. While we were kayaking, this storm came in that changed the wind so it was blowing from the east to the west, which is really unusual there. I had a sail with my kayak and the wind was so steady, it wasn’t gusty or anything, and I sailed the nine miles from Boca Chita Key to the mainland of Florida. That was very special.”
Her interest in kayaking led her to develop a kayak rental business at Heron Lake in northern New Mexico. “When I worked for the parks, I put on three kayak festivals and I started a kayak rental business. That was very gratifying to over the years put so many people out on the water and give them instruction. It was really gratifying not just to introduce people to a sport, but to get them to really respect the resource and the power of the resource. It’s very nice”, Siscily reminisced.
Currently, Siscily is retired and has sold her kayak business. She spends her time either at her small home in Chama, or out RVing in her Casita. “I am married now, and my husband had a fifth wheel, and he just got a smaller 30’ trailer. We sometimes travel together and I will be the scout and I’ll turn down a road and make sure it’s a good enough area for him to get in and turn around”, she said. When asked about being married and traveling with separate RV’s Siscily just laughed, “So we travel together, but we still have our own spaces, which is probably really good when you marry somebody after 55”.
After years of traveling and seeing the country, Siscily is still enchanted by nature and open spaces. “I still have this amazing respect and appreciation for public lands. Whether state, federal, or county, it’s such a rich thing and it’s available for the whole public. It’s so valuable, I really hope it can continue, because I think it’s one of the greatest assets we have as a nation and people have it at their disposal. Especially people who don’t have a lot of money, they can still enjoy these places and I hope it never gets to the point where they can’t, because I just want everyone to have a chance at it.”
Jared Langenegger
A graduate of New Mexico State University with BS in wildlife and fisheries biology Jared spent 15 years working in fisheries and parks management. He enjoys camping, fishing, hunting, painting, and wood working.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Heron Lake State Park, where a picturesque lake is set among the tall pines of northern New Mexico, making it an excellent location for all types of paddle craft. Heron also has amazing sailing, cross-country skiing, and hiking.