Along the Colorado Front Range

Parked on an old farmstead just East of Fort Collins... funny too... There we were, 100 miles from anything out in the Utah Desert... and our signal was 3G 3 bars.... here, in the middle of the Colorado Urban Corridor... and it's all we can do here, to make a phone call... :) some sort of weird cellular black hole...

... kind of suggests maybe a guy should just keep himself out in the Far Country don't it?

It is a peaceful place Evin has here though...

Storms were passin' by last evening, just at sunset... missed us but made for some nice views of the old farm.

... and one tiny lil' rainbow out past the silo...

Last evening, the wind was nigh on to howling at times from the scattered storms... it sounded like the steady flow of a big river... but tucked in behind the farms windbreak like we are, we're protected and sheltered... and can just capture the sunlight between the storms...

On the mend from my latest bout with what's become my annual Spring Bug... Geeze... I never used to spend a day sick... now... I can almost set a clock with this stinkin' spring deal...

Lookin' at maps this morning... Wonderin' where our road will lead this season? North for sure... once spring finally truly gets here? But where? and how far? Hell... I don't guess even I'll know that, till I can look back and see were I went! :)

Takin' it Easy on the Front Range
Brian

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The First Years RV Circle is Tee Total Complete...

Just Parked the rig this afternoon at a friends farm east of Fort Collins, so, the circle of the first year has been closed... and the year only took us seven months! :)

One lil' note concerning the suspension/shock work Josh helped me with the past week... I do think it was a successful project... Coming up I-25 from Denver, I hit a few pavement breaks on expansion joints, heaved pavement and such... and, today... they seemed a lot less harsh then they'd been the last many thousands of miles...

So... again I say... Flipping the axles gave me clearances I needed both on the tail of the fiver and where the trailer meets the truck (especially if you're running a regular bed) ... but... a major part of flipping your axles I've discovered ... is making Gol Darn Sure... the outfit doing the Flip... has reset those shock absorbers properly! allowing them the space to do their job... Today told me... it Really makes a difference! :) Not checking closer when I had the job done was My Bad! :)

We're gonna sit here for outside of Fort Collins for a bit, before we crack out on Circle #2... do some more tinkering on the rig... some store business... try to cut down some more on what we've got in storage... a few other odds and ends...

... and try to get some more work done on Novel number 2...

I guess it's to be expected, but after rolling nigh on to 14,000 miles, and... more like 23,000 in the last 8 or 9 months, if you count my run to Alaska... we've seen a few things in the Rig we'd like to change, even after hauling it as long as we have...

Some... can't be changed until the assets in the bank change... and so, the need to finish Novel 2! :) but some are really just a matter of culling out some more stuff, and making choices...

We're still carrying stuff we didn't use since we loaded it.

One thing, that is kind of a surprise to me has been the desk I put in... One of it's main purposes was to allow me to keep my leather carving hand tools close to hand... so I could do some carving along the way... Truth is, that hasn't really happened. The only leather I've carved was mostly sitting at my daughters kitchen counter back at Christmas time...

... so... one more time it looks like I'm gonna rework that corner...

Now... I never liked the original dinette... but... truth be known, to do my writing... which is all I do when we're IN the rig... all I need is a place to sit my butt. and a place to park the Laptop... I'm scheming again and working on an urge to simplify even more...

But... there's another Idea... percolatin' in the back of my head... that's takin' into account all the realities of life on the road... the cost of fuel, friends left behind, Rig and Motorcycle Projects, and several more pieces and parts...

I intend to maintain my Open Road Freedom... Going down the road is a joy I won't lose... and  I'll resist the entanglements of High So-sigh-uh-tee as best I can... but some folks might be surprised at how I'm thinkin' I might best do that...

But... ya'll aint' gonna find out what I'm conjuring up just now... unless and until I pull the trigger on my latest "Idea"... I'm gonna keep ya'll wonderin' what it might could be! :)..... hmmmmm... what could that Ol' fool be schemin' up now? .... hmmmm :)

Take Good Care!
Brian

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Three or Four Days to Do... One, Two hour job... :)

Finally... got the shock mount rework done yesterday evening... thought I'd never! Borrowed a lil' torch set to trim off parts of the old mounts... that were in the Wrong place... Thought since I'd not lit up an Acetylene  torch in a LONG time... a lil' bit of practice might could be a good idea? ...

... yeah well... it sort of was... right up to the point that after practicing for all f three minutes... ppppffffffttttt! The oxygen ran out... and it was quite a ways to somewhere that might have gas... so... plan B...

... run up to Loews... get some "heavy metal" blades for a borrowed 18V sawsall... get back... and find out the batteries will only hold a charge for maybe, 20 seconds of cutting... for 3 1/2 mounts...  a 1/2 a mount left... and they won't even take that... uh... bad names and dirty words!!!! and blue smoke rollin' out from under the rig... and it weren't the rig burnin'! :)

So... after takin' most of the afternoon to struggle through that... had to wait until a neighbor 'cross the street rolled home from his day job... and I could borrow a corded sawzall... and Zip! ten seconds and the cutting was finally done...

Then... it only took all of a half hour to weld on the mounts we built the other day... another half hour to bolt the shocks back up... and so far... with the rig still sittin' out in the street... nothing has fell off. :) and near as I can tell the fifth wheel ain't on fire...

So... if you ever have your axles flipped? take care to closely inspect how they remounted the shocks... might even be a good idea to say something up front? ... like uh... "Make sure you remount the shocks... so they can actually DO something?" ... hard thing to figure huh? but an easy thing to get fooled by... I learned. :)

Got up this morning... and my reward for not getting my shorts in too tight a knot over the snafus in this lil' project was... having a throat that feels like a small campfire... and generally feeling like the stuff you scrape off your boots when you come out of a stockyard... some bug has taken up residence and I'm feelin' puny...

Not the best time to try and continue gettin' used to contacts huh? especially... since I think these suckers are defective too! :) sheesh... poking, beggin', pleading, threatening... cursing... and every other thing I can think of... and the things act like their stapled to my finger! Finally just had herself stick 'em in... and even she had trouble...

Now... since she's been puttin' 'em in and out for better than 30 years... and it generally takes her all of 3 1/2 seconds for both eyes... the fact that she couldn't get the gol dang things to let go of her finger either... tells me ... somethin' ain't the way it was intended...

Once the suckers are in... I can see, and gettin' used to the different focusing ranges between each eye is comin' quick... but gettin' the contacts in there, so they can do their thing... I still got a lot to learn! :)

So... while ever'body else is runnin' round doin' whatever... I'm suckin' down coffee and distracting my poor abused self with surfin', doodlin', and whining! :)

Back to lookin' at my list of Spring Projects... before we head out for this Summers circle in May... Hopefully... I can get the rest of my "two hour jobs" done, without using 4 days a piece! :)

Being in "Town" for a week... has me... Lookin' Down the Road...
Brian

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Fixed Up Eyeballs... Burning Metal... and Crowded Places...

Well so far so good... I guess... the contact lenses I'm set up with are the left/weak eye close up, right/dominant eye far vision... and I found, at least early on, that if I cock my head a touch... stuff comes into focus a bit better... so... I guess I look like a bird... what with my head bobbin' around trying to focus on things. :)

But... it's already so much better then my glasses sittin' so high on that beak that I'm lookin' out from under 'em!

Now... if I can get the puttin' in and takin' out to run a lil' smoother I'll be good... Pokin' my finger in my eye until the back of my head bulges... and still havin' a lens stickin' to the end of my digit when I pull it out... has got to improve! :)

As always... life has a way of gettin' in the way sometimes... This has been one time, I miss my shop... Had the rig been there... the job would be done already... Guess, when you're using borrowed space and tools, it's not too polite to whine very loud huh? :)

I thought we'd have the shock mount rework/repair done up last night... but got obstructed by the lack of a torch... the guy that was gonna bring one by got held up having to work late... Not ME! :) so... I'll do the cuttin' today, and try not to burn the rig down :) and tonight we'll  burn the mounts in place.

Hmmmmmm.... grumpy old geezer... crawling around under his fifth wheel parked out in the street... with an acetylene torch... knockin' off bits and pieces... sounds like a script for the five O'clock news... don't it? :)

The kids schedule should break free here in a week... so we'll get to movin' around the area a lil' more... and start publishin' some fresh photos... what with bein' able to actually see what I'm lookin' at so much better! :)

Mostly, this is a pretty quiet month... outside of... the fact that, Denver ain't quiet! I truly don't know how folks can live in town for any length of time... I'd pop like a blister if I didn't see the end of this particular tunnel... Between the barkin' dogs, wailin' sirens, and people belly to butt, with All of 'em, in such a gol dang hurry... all the gol dang time... sunrise till end of day...  I'd lose it in a rushin' hurry...

So... I'll just keep on the small list of chores I had for this time... and count myself lucky that I'll be back in that empty Far Country in short order!

Workin' Hard at Bein' a Good Neighbor
Brian

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Wonder If My Pictures Will Get Any Better If I Can See?

When I was young and purty.... I used to have a big Red S on my chest... Yup... I had Superman vision... When ever'body else was braggin' 'bout havin' 20/20 Vision... I could laugh at 'em... I had 40/20... yes sir, not only a genuine western hero but a hero who could see the trouble coming... twice as far away as anybody else! :)

So... then... as the rest of ever'body complained about gravity causin' their parts to sag... I had it a lot worse... Started to notice tooling leather, that the flowers and such weren't quite as crisp and sharp... What the hell?

I remember riding with folks, looking for missing horses... "There they are" I'd say... and point.. The people with me would say; "Huh? There's nothing there!" To which I'd  reply; "What are you talking about? They're right there!"...

... Then we'd ride for twenty minutes... a mile or more through the mountains... to where I'd seen the ear flick or the tail switch behind a bush... and there'd be the Horses...

But... the years have dragged along until... I can't read a freakin' newpaper... if ya shove my face into the page!

... and glasses... The only thing I despise more then glasses... outside of the sunglasses that make me look so cool :) ... would be a life without Motorcycles! :)

They can send a man to the moon... they can transplant livers and fingers... but... Not one company on earth... can build any frames that can hang the lenses I need on MY face...

My gol durn stinkin' proboscis is so... uh ... generously proportioned... that any glasses sittin' on it... has me trying to look out through the middle of my forehead... and then... those eye docs keep talkin' me into TRI-FOCALS!!!

Kinda like Gus McCrae... "There's some things my vanity won't abide!!!" :( ... so... I been fighting the degeneration of my super powers for quite some lil' while...and for some reason... I just never tried out Contact lenses...

So... goin' down the road on the Raider... I can't read a map or see the speedometer...  'cause my glasses won't fit worth a ding under my helmet... so any time I have to look at the map tucked in my tank bag or try to keep my speed legal... it's an issue :) and trying to read the GPS or the dash in the truck I have to pull my sunglasses and put on cheaters... a royal pain in my western hero caboose!

Well... yesterday... I broke down... finally... and went to an eye doc at Costco... and now... here I sit... after a fifteen minute ordeal gettin' the dang things stuck in this morning... tap tap tappin' out this post... with no glasses... tryin' to get bi-focal contacts to adjust... The doc told me that MOST of the adjustment is training my brain...

UH OH... I gotta train my BRAIN? ... UH ... Don't they know? sheesh... now I got my left eye... and my right eye... arguin' with a brain that is ... uh ... somewhere else altogether!... This could get interesting. :)

It'll be pretty cool if I could go back to goin' down the road and actually be able to see some of the maps and such... without having to find a scratched up pair of stinkin' glasses that don't fit!

Seems like there's a good chance... this is the first post without glasses in a long time!

Chores and such are gettin' done in Denver... and if it will quit raining... we might even finish up the welding on the shock mounts this afternoon... Then, an Easter Egg Hunt with Jilly Bean on Sunday... and we should move up to Fort Collins on Monday...

Seeing the Light in Denver
Brian

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I'd Be Catchin' Up on Chores... If I Quit Adding to the List...

Got the last pair of old tires (4 years+) replaced on the fiver yesterday morning... and, in lookin' close at the tires... and the suspension, I decided that I was right... and the shock mounts are wrong...

So... while we were gonna move the rig to the Fort Collins area today... I decided to hang fire on that for a day or two... while my son-in-law and I, rework the shock mounts...

Turns out... when I had the axles flipped a few years and a whole lot of miles ago... They only did part of that job right... and unless you look... really close... you don't catch that the shocks are mostly compressed from the get go... point being... when you hit a thumper in the road... there's little if any shock absorber left to take up the thump...

This morning I'll go get the steel to build some new lower mounts... rough 'em out... and when Josh gets home this afternoon, we can maybe get 'em burned in place...

... and then... we'll move the rig north a bit...

Otherwise, getting a few things done... got a new battery ordered for this laptop... just kept putting it off all winter... wasn't quite sure where we'd be long enough to get it shipped somewhere... so that'll be here in a few days... and with any luck...it'll actually work!

Also this month I've got a couple odds and ends planned to "adjust" things on the Fifth Wheel a bit. Gonna try and lighten the load a touch... things I haven't used on the road... and now don't expect to much... the usual...

Goin' down the road... you find some ideas you had, work out well... others... just don't seem to fit over time... so when I come on to those... I just, try something new!

Something to keep in mind when you're running down the road full time... most of the RV's out there just aren't designed for the stress of full time living... and hell... if they were? The suckers would ALL weigh 60,000 lbs!

So... point is... bein' light enough to make draggin' 'em around a practicable thing... makes most of our RV's needful of quite a lil' bit of maintenance especially when they get the age and miles on 'em of the Eagle I'm hauling... Plan on keepin' an eye on things... and doin' maintenance and some "reworking" once in a while...

Lucky for me I've got two places we can Rest Up and do my RV Maintenance chores, here in Colorado... where there's tools and help to do bigger jobs... and one real good one down in Arizona! :)

Well, I gotta go find some steel, to shine up the suspension on the rolling house...

Keep the Rubber Side Down...
uh... that's Your Tires... Not The Rubber Roof!
Brian

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The Good and the Bad....

When we left out of Moab, we cut across through Utah coming into Colorado west of Ridgeway... so... we pulled on down to visit Mark and Bobbie in Ouray... before rolling on to do a night of Wally Docking in Montrose...

Had a visit with some of their Neighbors... just North of town a bit...

Dang! That pair knows how to set up a Suh-Wheet Cabin!... Mine Shack II is just about the nicest setup in a "Cabin" I've seen. It's a modest sized place... but it don't FEEL like you're in a small house... The artistic touches inside, turns the place from just another cabin... into something really special... and the views from it... Whoooooweee!

I don't think there's another place in Ouray that can equal the panorama whoever lives in that cabin is gonna enjoy... North, East and South... standing in one place... in the middle of a work of Art... Built... in the Middle of a Work of Art... Pretty Awesome! :o)  (point is... if you know anybody looking for the sweetest cabin they could ever find, in Ouray... tell 'em to hunt up Mark an' Bobbie! Mine Shack II is on the Market!)

*Somewhere near Ouray*

Buuuuuuuut....... we had miles to go... so we pointed the radiator toward Denver and kept on rolling...

Like I said... we spent the night in Montrose... courtesy of Wal Mart. Now... for those towns that think blocking such use of Wal Mart parking lots is a good thing... and that it protects the RV Parks in town... think about this a minute...

*Montrose Wal Mart Night Camp*

We... like a whole lot of other folks are NOT going to pay what those parks want... to stop for 8 or 10 hours to sleep... You aren't protecting them... 'cause we're not gonna use 'em for overnighting... ain't gonna happen...

What you are doing... when you stop us from stopping is... Take the business away from Chili's across the street, where we went for supper... the coffee hut next door where I bought my morning coffee... and Wal Mart itself... where we dropped a chunk of change on some supplies...

If you prohibit us from using Wal Mart in your town... we'll just smile, wave good bye... and roll to the next one down the road... that, Does, want our business! :)

Enough said... we got up next morning... and after that good big cup of High Falutin' Americano coffee... we rolled for Denver...

:o) ... Seein' the kids is a good thing! ... Lil' Jillian is growing like a weed and starting to talk like a magpie! I even managed to come up with a good idea to help Josh with a lil' piece of his motorcycle project yesterday afternoon...

but still... from where I sit... Denver is best left to Denverites! This is NOT the place for me! :)

Oh Lordy! with all the time we've spent the last few months... mostly a long way out from crowds and commotion... stopping here is like getting locked in a shopping mall... Ever'body in a rushin' hurry to get... no where! .... Honkin' and flippin' fingers.... and squeezin' their cars in between the rig and a bus...

... so they can lock up the brakes as soon as they force their way past... just so they can turn into a burger joint! ....arrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh....

Yep... it's gonna be a busy... but difficult month in this area!

I've got to put another pair of tires on the 5er... the last two of the Old set... just over 4 years old now... got some other maintenance issues to take care of... like remounting the shocks on the trailer if I can... after all the miles the rig has rolled since I had the axles flipped I've decided the shock mounts are screwed up... so... I'm gonna try and reset those a mite...

And then...it's another round of sorting junk... We've got a storage shed up to Wellington... The darn thing is something like 50 or 60 square feet, 8 feet tall... stuffed wall to wall and floor to ceiling... ya better be careful when you raise the door... I think the stuff is under pressure!

... and to tell the truth? I don't really know what's in there! Been trying to remember... I can come up with a couple of things... but whatever the rest is, I must not be too awful needful of it...

... Haven't needed any of it since last July... and I can't even think of what's there... so why am I paying $40 bucks a month to keep it? .... so... spend a day or two... sorting and Di-Vesting... one more time!

Too bad there wasn't a big fire.... :)

Then... there's some service on the bike to do... and a few other odds and ends... we're gonna likely go spend a week, give or take up in Rocky Mountain National Park... and... I REALLY need to get some major writing work done... falling behind there...

... so... I might not be crankin' out the photographs I have been... but it's not cuz I'm not doin' anything... it's just that, a fella may have beautiful horses... but you gotta remember... sometimes... Ya Gotta Muck out the Barn! :o)

The rig is sitting in the street in front of my Daughters house... not the best of places to park a 30' fiver... and the slide can't go out... so space is a touch confined... I'll likely be moving it up to a friends farm outside Fort Collins in the next day or two... Heidi's gonna spend much of next week at the store... while I do my chores on the rig and the shed...

So... right now... things are just a little discombobulated... but... hang tight... get the Barn Mucking done... and we'll clean off our boots and get to rollin' again... :o)

A little Rain Must fall... If You want rivers to fish in!
Brian

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Do We? or Don't We? ... Just Pinch our Noses and Jump?

Well... the fiver has closed this circle I guess... sort of. It's rolled back to Moab, where we rolled through, goin' the other direction, last October.

*Somewhere in Arches National Park*

Back then, we had planned on going south and then Arizona for the winter... but got tickled with a wild hair, the morning we pulled out of Moab and turned right rather than left that morning, running NW clean to the mouth of the Columbia... and weeks of rain! :) and surf like I'd never seen...

*Along the Rim of Canyonlands National Park*

Now... we're slowly moving toward Denver, the kids, and something around a month back along the front range, taking care of some business, family, the rig, and somehow making the final decision... Do we just step off and head for Alaska?... or... make this years circle... wider then last year... but... shorter then Alaska?

I thought we could juuuuuuust squeak by... until the truck broke... which tightened the budget up like a banjo string! :o) ... so... I'm sanding the fat off the budget... trying to fit 9000 miles into a 5000 mile gas tank!

I'll know what I decided... when I look back in September... and see where we went...

Last fall when we stepped off and just left... I was asked by a few curious people; "I thought you were broke? How are you gonna leave? How are you gonna live?"

*In Arches National Park*

My answer? "We've got enough to almost make it to the end of the month... with a lil' luck... the store, my websites and the books I'm hawkin' will make enough more as we roll, to keep us going UNTIL the end of the month!"

Now... THAT was a picture I wish I'd been able to take. Their wide eyes pretty much said it all; "Brian! Ya'll are nuts!" :) ... but... you know what? Here it is, something like 7 months later... we're in 'bout the same place dollar wise as when we left... so I guess, holding my head above water, these days, can be considered success!

There's things along the way we'd wished we'd been flush enough to go do/see... and a restaurant or two we passed up that we'd kind of liked to go eat at... rather then eating in camp... 

but... when it's all said and done, travelin' slow like we have has been good. Fuel being the biggest expense these days... it is a cost you have some control over... if you don't roll... you don't burn any!

*Hovenweep Ruins*

But then... it'd be a real difficult deal... to get through the Yukon... and Alaska... without firing up the cummins... Hmmm... you think one of these Freightliners running by would notice if I swung a rope... and dragged along behind? :o)

I've had a few steers and cows haul me a ways... on the end of a rope! :)

*Arches Nat Park Sunset*

... and one other thing I've noticed... all the photos on this post... were taken last October... and I'm thinkin'... my photography has improved since then. :)

Looking back... while Rolling Forward
Brian

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Capital Reef... The Same, but Different

I suppose that some folks might think; "Seen one Canyon, You seen 'em all"... but really, that ain't true. There's a lot of similarity for sure... I mean... They're all deep rock :) but each has in some way, it's own personality...

And... for those that think you can capture that personality... with words, or a photograph... or a video... I say... "Luck with that." I do my best here... and I can show a bit, but in the end, you need to take yourself to these places... sit on a rock and look at them, not a photograph.

You need to feel the breeze coming down the canyon... See the weight of the Canyon wall hanging out over you... hundreds of feet above you. You need to breathe in the scent of the place and hear the river echoing off the walls...

*Capital Reef at Sunset*

... and a lot of these places are more than rocks and geology... There's human history that tickles the imagination. Wondering, how folks lived here without all the things people worry about today. To look at the work they did to carve out a life in this beautiful, but still intimidating place.

It's intimidating today... knowing I've got a truck that can take me in a matter of hours to where I need to go... these folks were days, if not weeks from any sort of help...

*The Original Old Barn*

They survived though... and lived long enough to build up to some luxuries... It ain't a cummins... but I expect such things changed their lives a lot more than most of us appreciate...

Don't you just wonder how many loads of fruit this old truck hauled out of this canyon? and how far they had to go to sell their produce? and what it was like... waking up in this canyon each day... without a campground over there beside the barn? :)

We took a walk late one afternoon... down the Grand Wash... the rock wall towers over so high... you can't capture it in a photograph... you can't get half of it in...

One Ol' guy... thought he heard a roar... and thought maybe he could climb to safety...

Lucky for him...it was just a jet... high overhead...

Bein' springtime, the flowers are coming on pretty well now. At least in the places the sun has got and warmed up the ground... That something as soft and delicate as flowers like these, can even grow in such a rough place is pretty amazing to me... considering how hard I seem to have to work to keep 'em alive in a tended garden!

I suppose I should stick with Trucks and Motorcycles ... uh ... seems I break them a lot too don't it? Maybe... I should win the lottery... so I could just hire a gardener and a personal mechanic!

Saw this lil' Buzzer workin' hard...

I don't remember ever seein' a bumble bee colored like this big guy... two orange bands around his middle... hard workin' lil' bug though... I couldn't get the picture well, but I could see the great big pollen sacks on his legs... Taken' home the bacon!

*Capitol Reef View*

It's a pretty place... and lot's of spots to walk to... without having to suck in your gut, slide sideways... while you try to keep your quivering liver under control...

I am really grateful, more than I can say, for the many comments that have been made on my photography and my words here... I am ever more grateful that what I am able to do here, has become my work, and a significant part of my living... a genuine; "I can't believe they pay me to do this!" deal...

... it would be Most Rewarding... to hear that people went to these places I am so lucky to travel through... Motivated by my words and Photographs... to see these places for themselves...

So Very Grateful that You Keep Me... Moving on the Open Road
Brian

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Slot Canyons... and... Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?

Something like 25 miles southeast of our camp here... down what is mostly a decent dirt road... with some of it being... uh... more like a bone sifter... there's a turn off... which is like a widened two track...

You follow that back in a mile or so... and park the rig... then follow a trail across the desert, marked by rock cairns... dropping into a sandy bottomed canyon...

Up and down that canyon are lil' side canyons... though.. when something is only 'bout belly to backbone wide... Does it REALLY qualify as a... canyon?

*Utah Slot Canyon*

Here's a tip; If you're gonna go look at these things... with... uh... someone of... uh... Generous, proportions? I'd suggest you make them lead the way... That way... when they get ... uh... delayed? ... you won't get trapped!!!

Yeah... the way is Narrow...!

*Slot Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument*

We went about a mile up the Wider of 'em... a couple hundred feet up the skinniest... and... I climbed up a few feet into the mouth of one they call "Peekaboo"... before I got hindered by a rock slab, with no handholds... no footholds... and the signs of other 'climbers' feet slippin' and scrapin'...

... and knowin' that even if I did get up there... I'd have to come back down... and I already had the "comin' back down" to do... with the part I'd already climbed up!... So I... uh ... exercised.. Discretion. I stopped where I was at... and said; "Yup... ain't that purty... BYE!"

*Harder coming down... than going up!*

*Damn! The foothold was right there! I know it was!*

*View from the top... where "Smart" guys... turn back!*

It's a piece of work goin' from slot to slot... I don't know what the gym boys figure it to be... but a 1/2 mile sloggin' through the sand... for a guy that prefers horseback or two wheeled motivation... is a genuine piece of work...

*Narrow*

*Narrower*

*Skipping that Second cookie was a good Idea!*

... and then... in the slot canyon  they said was "Wider" than the others...

*Wider than the others?*

... Look, I might be just a dumb cowboy... goofy enough to get all giggly 'bout a motorcycle... but... to paraphrase Ol' Forrest; "I'm not a smahrt man... but I know what WIDE is!!!" ... and baby? These suckers ain't!

'bout the onliest thing that rivals my dislike of heights, snakes... and authority figures... is my liver quivering difficulty with confined spaces... Hell... I get claustrophobic in a shopping mall!

... Heidi was taken a risk... coming up the canyon behind me... good way to get trampled when the damn breaks and the kid says... BYE!... I'm Out-a-here!!!!

It's a strange feeling down in those slots... Every time I'd hear a jet... 35,000 feet above us... I'd say.. SHHH!... wondering if that was something... rushin' down that narrow space... and wondering how fast I could learn to swim...

... or if my fingernails would work as good as them lizards claws...that let it climb straight up a vertical stone wall...

But... I survived... with little damage... and slogged back up the drop into the canyon... one step up... foot slides half a step back in the sand... repeat...

1/2 a mile = 2? :)

Well... hauling to Capital Reef today... IF... I quit yakkin'... and start loading!

Calming Down My Quivering Liver...
Brian

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Finally... a lil' Sun Returns to the High Utah Desert...

Early morning and the Spring Weather on the Escalante wasn't showing much sign of letting up... bein' the wuss I've become... been stayin' close to the furnace the past couple days... while the flurries... flurried through...

They'd quit for a bit...and I'd think it was passin'...and 'bout the time I'd think of stretchin' my legs... whoosh! The mountains would disappear again... and big Ol' fat flakes would be hittin' the window...

So I just kept the coffee hot and waited... only... my waiter... has been gettin' over used and is kinda sore... which inflames my hitch itch... and.... oh hell... you know what that can cause!

Long around mid afternoon... it finally did pass on by... so... we jumped in the truck and made a quick run up to Escalante for some more water from the community park... dropped the jugs at the rig... loaded the dogs... and took a dirt road toot south of camp...

... it was the start of the drive we started to take... last week... when Murphy crawled under the hood...

This Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument country is reminiscent of Ash Fork... in a lot of places...

Junipers, grass... and Far Horizons...

It still has it's own personality though... A ways south of here, didn't watch the odometer... 10 miles or so... is a spot they call Devils Garden...

A place of Hoodos and twisted rock...

*Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Devils Garden Hoodos*

The BLM has put in several pic nik tables and an outhouse... so it's a nice place for a pic nik... if the last of the storm wasn't blowin' a cold wind through the rocks at 'bout 20 mph! :)

It's kind of a peaceful place... at least it was for us... the "other" visitors braved the wind even less then we did... so we had it much to ourselves for an hour or so... and what with the remnants of the past storm still hangin' in the sky... the clouds make for nicer pictures...

*Looking across the top of Devils Garden*

This country is different... you walk through a grassland... and then... you come up to a sharp edge that just changes... like walking through a curtain... grass on one side and torn, eroded wasteland on the other... or crazy rocks just sticking up out of the high plain...

There were places around the fringes, and within the Devils Garden that reminded me of the Sand Dunes National Park back in Colorado...

Though, the trees and bushes here seem to be doin' a lil' better at surviving... barely... amongst all the sand and Stone...

... and if you walk to the right spot... at the right moment... when the sun is just in the right place... you can capture that soft glow on the stone...  which she did...

... and different personalities of the arches...

On our way home we got caught in another back country traffic jam... These guys came out on the road as soon as the truck started slowing... had a lil' difficulty gettin' past 'em... at first I though maybe they were mustangs... but... if they are I could see no BLM brands... I know they used to freeze brand 'em..

... and the way they came to the truck... made me think of ranch stock... that come runnin' for groceries... when they see a "Ranch Looking" truck... which our beat up ol' '99 sure does a good imitation of! :)

The sky today is mostly clear... for a while... if we can summon the ambition, we're gonna run south again... a bit farther to where there's supposed to be some slot canyons...

'cause tomorrow, we're haulin' out... and moving east... aiming to be in Denver the weekend of the 15th... the store is calling for a lil' attention... and other stuff... so... if we're gonna see those canyons, this trip... today is the day!

Welcoming the Returning Sun
Brian

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Wanderers on the Open Road Have So Many Ways of Going...

... from Lil' tents...

*Dome tents in Zion*

to bigger Tents...

*Whitewall tent in Zion*

to Million Dollar, Toy Hauler rubber tired mansions, with their Smart Cars... and everything in between...

*Toy Hauler Motorhome and its Cargo*

Walking around our campground in Zion a couple weeks back... I wondered about all the different people...  had interesting conversations with several of our fellow yonderers...

There's been a hell of a lot of conversations... here and other places... 'bout what's right. The words run from; "OMG! That Rig is so awesome!"... to ... "That is so foolish! So Wasteful! So... Wrong!"...

I gotta admit it... some of what I've said could be easily misunderstood as bein' judgmental like that... so... let me say again... that's never been my intention... and even if it was... I got no right... or the  knowledge to make such a judgment... and neither does anybody else. How a person "Goes" is... Their choice, and no others...

My main intention has been only to try and get folks... whatever their financial situation... to see... that going after their dreams and ambitions is the goal... not... seeking out and achieving the approval of others... and that poverty... is not an excuse for allowing your life to stagnate where you don't want it to be.

Sure... if you want one of the million dollar RV Mansions... and like me... you're a fella... or fellerette... with a beer-on-sale budget, driving a worn, 11 year old truck draggin' a plain old fiver just as old... or even less... you've got an uphill climb... but so what? If you want it bad enough... whatever it is... what other option do you have?

I mean... if it's what puts a smile in your heart... what other option do you have?

You have got to chase the life that calls to you... You have to do the things that build the foundation for what YOU want... not... what you think other people want you to do...  Whether it be minimalism wandering... or building skyscrapers...

If the lil' tent is your joy... go for it. If the high dollar rig suits you... that is just as sweet... That's the real deal here... or should be...

*Minimalist Full Time Traveler*

The guy driving this lil' rig... a cargo trailer pulled by his Jeep... is choosing his Own way of going. He's going down the road... Full Time... and has been for several months so far... and was about the calmest and seemingly most content fella I've run across so far on this journey...

That's right... like a few others, he's simplified to a pretty minimalism extreme... at least, relative to the rest of the world around us. He has what HE needs and if other folks don't like it... He just smiles and... goes on down the road...

The camp was filled with many others...

*4WD Sportvan*

4WD Sport Vans and Lighter Rigs built by VW :)

*VW Camper Van*

and... even "Adventure Rigs" built on an SUV base...

*Toyota Adventure rig*

There were many Old Reliable... Motorhomes... like this well cared for Old reliable RV...

*Old Faithful Motorhome... and a backpacker tent*

What I'm talking about here... isn't just RVing and Wandering... it's about Living... It's the only Life we've got... Don't waste it... Don't fail to appreciate the flower along the trail... the breeze on your face at sunrise... The friends along the way...

Don't fail to hang tight to the opportunities that come along at the least expected moments... Grab 'em... and hang on!

Don't take what I say as any sort of a judgment...except of my own life... What I say here is only intended as a prod... to try and help break the inertia that can tie people up and hold 'em stagnant... I use 'em to keep my ownself focused as well...

A judgment I hope is acceptable; Ain't it nice to walk through a camp, and see... Just how different folks are... and just how much the differences add to the world around?... and how often they have us looking inside and wondering... "What in the Hell was I thinking?" :)

Just Trying to Keep a Proper Perspective...
... In search of "a more harmonious outcome"
Brian

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