Bing Bing Binginging! Ricochet Rabbit!

Remember him? That's how I feel lately... bouncing from one task to the next... most times the first isn't done yet, just obstructed by some lack of parts or timing, so I move on and will come back later.

Been working on getting that generator up, and  finally, for the time being got that finished up yesterday. It was a piece of work. The carb was bad varnished after sitting unused for a couple of years, so that took some TLC. (Luckily I've a good friend that knows the inside of a carburetor/generator like a book)

Annnnd... the charging circuit for its own battery isn't functioning... so I'm having to "work around" and use my lil' charger to juice the generator battery while the generator is juicing the rig...

Found that out when I Plugged the rig in and ran the air conditioner for two hours to run in the brushes well and give it all a shakedown...

... it's not perfect. Not especially satisfied with the wiring... but it'll do for now. There's also a lil' more conflict 'tween the trailer and the generator than I was hoping for, on right turns... less than with the bike and the fiver, so I can deal... but I'll be looking at solutions to that as time rolls by.

Then... other projects I've been working on as I ricochet around... One being getting things a bit organized...

As ever'body knows... living in "Tight" quarters requires ever'thing having a place... and ever'thing IN its place... otherwise frustration puts a twist in your skivies.

I'm still working that out on this new rig... annnnd... making a little progress...

buuuuuut... I really really need to line out that setup where I can offload all this leather shop cargo... so this rig can haul horses! ;) Currently, the horse compartment remains full__and getting fuller__ of all that leather shop tools and "furniture"...

...As if it weren't full enough... I keep adding to the stack!

 Yeah... I built that stand this week  for some projects I've had "working" in my head for a while... that need the help of some proper equipment...

Well... all that is loaded and wedged into the back of the rig now... that generator is up and running... bins and buckets are getting squared away and today I'm packing up my warbag cuz  leave Sunday morning for Missouri again. This time I'm finally hauling that old Jayco to near Springfield where my daughter and her family are to be building a house.

Come the evening and it's time to stop and tune up the stereo... and chill for an hour... so I can recharge to start it all again in the morning...

Duckin' and Runnin'
Brian

Fire Belching Balloons, Dirt Bikes and Angle Grinders Eating Compressors!

Almost every morning here the day starts just before sunrise with a rumbling woosh... Not sure where they're taking off, but I'd guess not far from here...

Normally, I look out the window and watch it float as I wait on the coffee maker to brew my morning elixir... This morning, it took me quite a while to even find it...

Not sure how you spell the sound of a hot air balloon... but it was rumbling like what you might expect to hear crawling into a Dragon's lair...

Only... he was nowhere to be seen, so I'm stumbling around, pre-coffee, peering out the windows wondering how you can hide something that big...

I think he was right directly overhead ;) just before the sun broke over the eastern ridges. I think he was just goin' up and down in the dead calm of the morning, ... trying to find a breeze to move the balloon.  ;)

We had some neighbors for a couple of days... a Dad and a couple of kids.

The other morning they loaded their bikes to haul over to the OHV trail head that's just across the road and down a half mile or so...

Kinda caught my eye when the daughter, helped load the lil' guys scooter. Dad had run the other pair up; His and her full size bikes... the boy, probably 6 or 7 had this cute lil' dirt bike...

I shoulda gone over to the trail head and photographed the lil' guy kickin' up the dust. :) buuuut... you know... lazy and workin' hard behind my window at the computer... ;)

But... I did finally get the button punchin' work done and tackled another small project that's been pokin' at me for a long time.

When you're on the road for a while... sometimes things start to migrate around when you're in a hurry to pack up... things get added, swapped out... and the "system" starts to get clumsy...

I wanted to do some reorganizing and clean up that mess as well as make some basic "improvement" changes that had come to me... as to where things might fit better.

I've wanted to move the compressor to the truck for a goodly while. Where it was in the front roadside compartment... it was really awkward to use... and so it didn't... and so having it along was pretty useless... and tires weren't being kept... ahem... up to speed as well as they should.

The problem was, the compressor had a handle on it that was a few inches too tall to fit in the sidebox of the truck... and honestly, I wasn't totally sure that bobbing the handle would make it fit.

The box where it was to go is a pretty tight squeeze... buuuuut... A minute or so with my angle grinder and a cutting wheel and it got shortened up just fine!

Now... another problem still lay ahead... 20" long 18" high compressor had to fit through a narrower and shorter door way...

 Some of the tool cases, jack and such that had been in the compartment are sitting on the bed...

Tool me a few minutes of tweaking, torquing, cussing and wiggling things around to realize... it wasn't ONLY the handle... uh oh... ;)

I had to take some of the compressor apart to fit it through the door...

Nothing major... it came down to just the lil' muffler had to get unscrewed to give me that last 1/4" of clearance to pop her through the door...

Now... with the compressor in an accessible place and out of the front compartment of the Fifth wheel... it left all that space open...

To move my tool box in there from where it sat on top of the battery box on the other side of the front compartment.

Before, I couldn't open the drawers, 'cause the lid couldn't open to release 'em...

So I had to pull it forward to get that clearance... but I still couldn't see 'cause it sat too high...

Boo Hoo... it's always something.

Now, It's at a good height and the lid can open without a hassle...

And I can see into the drawers when I pull 'em open! Excellent!

Looks like a pretty good fit don't it? The box is also 20"long... and the space it slid into is 23"... shouldn't be a problem should it? Except because the way the battery box overlaps the opening, the box had to slide in diagonally and then turn...

Dang... this hyar is gittin' complicated! Gee-awmetree and thinkin' stuff an' ever'thing! Let's see; mass X acceleration divided by the coefficient of the tool box color =  the negative multiplier of cold beer applied to the common denominator on a sunny afternoon... ME! :)

I fought that heavy loaded bugger, pushin' and gruntin' for ten minutes before I finally figured out that the Other end had to slide into a small recess out of sight on the right, and THEN it could turn into place.

Funny how ya just keep shovin' cuz you're only a 1/4 of an inch off... and you KNOW it will fit! Everyone knows that trailer frame'll flex if you push hard enough! :) and that steel tool box will compress! :)

So Then! I went in to home depot for some lil thing a bit later... and stood staring at the door wondering why it wasn't opening for me... until I realized that I was looking in the Window... BESIDE... the door! Man did that thing work slick when I moved 'bout six feet to my left... to where the door actually was! :)) The lot boy pushing carts in was exceptionally polite to the poor old man scratching his head and staring at the window... :))

With the tool box moved... I could move the cases that carry most of my small leather tools (the three cases to the right of the parts case drawers, and one more out of sight to the right of them) to where it sat... and stash the cases with them other tools ~almost enough to build a house ;) ~ out of sight above those...

With a little more repacking and the normal "puzzle work" of fitting odd shaped stuff and paraphernalia into the odd shaped nooks and crannies of a rig, I made some significant progress the day before and yesterday afternoon.

I even replaced my air chuck and air gauge for some that'd work without so much hassle on duals and got all the tires on the rig in proper shape to haul. We should be rolling out some time before noon! ;)

Tools more accessible, air compressor more accessible... Things a bit more organized... again... Dang! I might even start doing my maintenance around here in a lil' more timely fashion!

Yeah right... Had ya goin' there for a minute didn't I? ;)

Bound for Death Valley
Brian

Getting Ready to Break Our Urban boondock camp...

 ... in my sisters back yard... and run back to the desert... I wonder how many camps this makes now?... I shoulda kept track!

But, the pranks are done ;) most of the packing is done... the new laptop is here... and it's time to roll, get outa town... and get myself back to work before I starve to death! :)

Just fill with water, make a supply stop for bagels and beer and we'll head for Quartzsite... juuuuust in time for a stormy weekend/week. ;)

The packing took most of yesterday to be honest. Figured it was a good time to really sort things a bit while the sun was shining & I was waiting on UPS to show up with my new Toshiba  WORK laptop from newegg.com.

They gave me plenty of time too! According to their tracking it was loaded on the truck for delivery yesterday morning at 5:20 and wasn't delivered till well after 6PM last night. That ol' boy is workin' some hours!

 Last night a few hours were spent beginning the setup of this new laptop. Had to run up to Walmart and grab a fresh flash drive to build a recovery media... considering my relationship with Murphy!

I can already say... wow! after working on that lil' 10" Acer since... October or so... being back on a 15.6" screen... ShazAAAAMMM! It's like being in an IMAX theater! :) and nice to have a full size keyboard again too!

It'll take another few days I'm sure to get all the ee-lek-trawnik furniture arranged and remembered in my new digs. But so far, I'm liking this machine quite a bit... and it's a Windows 8 outfit!!

Yeah... I know... I resist "Change" and some folks warned me off of going with the new microsoft system... but I figured... That's where it's all gonna go eventually... so might as well get it over with now, since I gotta go through the ordeal of learning a new computer anyway.

What with having to rebuild those 400 or so website pages over the next few months, I guess I'll get a crash course on gettin' up close and personal with this thing! ;)

anyhoo... back to that packing. It took some time for a couple of reasons; The first is that over time, "things" seem to migrate around a rig into a discombobulated jumble. As that happens a variety of junk collects adding to the confusion. Then, I try... and I emphasize TRY, to live by the mantra; add something thing new... remove something old.

It's about the only way to keep a rig from bloating up into an axle busting outfit.

So... by yesterday afternoon I'd culled a few bits and pieces of plain old junk as well as one of our folding tables. The new Work Bench (The one thing new) will do the job of the old table holding the grill/stove in camp... until one of the planned projects gets completed... and then it'll just be a work bench.

Once day breaks and we get moving... unless the schedule gets changed... I should be turning off the light back in camp in the desert around Bouse/Quartzsite tonight.

Goin' in Circles but Still Moving
Brian

Made it all the way to Dumont Lake on Rabbit Ears Pass

That was a tough haul! Why, we musta gone nigh on to forty miles! ;) It's a fairly long climb out of Steamboat too!

Made our stop at the Steamboat Campground on the way to use the only dump I could locate in town. Looking at the reviews I was thinking that this would be a costly stop... and one of those where you drive away gritting your teeth 'cause the folks are so rude and grinchy... Know what I mean?

Well, you can't always trust reviews of places. Sometimes... maybe even the heavy side of the teeter... reviews are done by people with an axe they think needs grinding... This time... from my experience they were wrong. The folks there are helpful, and for a $7 dump fee, to empty the tanks and refill the fresh water, I can't grouse. So, if you need to service your tanks in Steamboat... the Steamboat campground is just fine.

Got into this camp early afternoon and put the Raider back on the ground. It'll be a lot nicer camp for the bike. The only gravel is the road in the camp itself. The Highway 'tween Walden and Steamboat is a mile or so away, and a bit of asphalt runs from here to there.

Been quite a while since we were parked with pavement that close! :) I just might get in a few good circles from here. HooYa!

*Campground at Dumont Lake*

Nice big pull through, clean outhouse... water in camp... geeze, luxury camping! :) A lazy old word whittler could get used to such easy livin'. Even if it does cost him $6 bucks a night. Which just happens to be right directly, exactly on what the budget for that is... though Heidi is getting tighter than me and squawks now when we have to pay ;) With both of us bein' so cheap... The squeekin' 'round here is awful. 

The only problem with the campground at Dumont lake is... there ain't no lake!? Uh... it's empty. They posted a sign; "The lake is closed for maintenance."

Lake Maintenance? Change the water? Sift the sand? polish the rocks? Just curious...

Whatever... there's a lot of sites here... and maybe four of 'em occupied... We took a short walk up the forest road that runs past the camp. Up is the operative word here... Still being at 9000 feet plus or so, climbing takes your wind. That and bein' a gimp that turns 60 in another 17 days or so might have something to do with it. (60 goin' on 12)

That narrow track winds up the mountain through heavy timber climbing all the way... We followed it for a ways and kept sayin'; "We'll go to that next bend and see what's around there..."

May have to run the truck up a ways to see if it ever breaks out of the timber!

There was a camp down near the bottom that tickled memory...

Their horses are tied in the shade just behind the trailers. Not sure they're camped here, though they had tables and such set up. This spot is well inside the 1/4 mile "restricted zone" around the campground... and if you look sharp you can see our rig poking through a gap in the trees...

I've got no heartburn with it... they've got a clean camp... but... the FS might give 'em heartburn.

Scenes like this'un poke my imagination and make me wonder what it would be like to be able to explore that country up around Sula... if we had a horseback rig... or the Arizona desert... Riding on the beach in Oregon would be pretty freakin' awesome! :)

A lot of my walkin'/riding and thinkin' time is spent wonderin' about all the ways of going. Wonderin' not so much if there's a Better way... just... always curious about Other ways. It's not that I'm that fickle... really! It's just... I'm a rover in just about every way... Probably just a candidate to be the poster geezer for Adult Attention Deficit Disorder.

Once I see and touch something... I'm ready to move on to whatever grabs my attention next... kinda like a scramblin' lil' weasel... pokin' into everything... always movin'! :) gotta go gotta go... let's move... gotta roll!... whoooeeeee let's GO! ;)

Yeah... what can I say... no shortage of imagination or curiosity... just the shortage of gold to pay for all the bright ideas and diesel!

I should probably just stick to employin' my imagination at keepin' this rig rollin'... and the scooter scootin'... and... well... we DO gotta add a pair of Kayaks pretty soon... Don't We? !!! :)

Judging by the lack of a skeeter invasion last night... this should be a purty good beer sippin' sunset camp too...

... a nice long view of high meadows to let your vision expand through the afternoon...

and then a good skyline for some soul soothin' quiet times when the sun does set...

I just might get some work done here... well... if I don't spend all my time runnin' the roads! ;)

Torn between Ridin' and Writin'
Brian

Odds and Ends of Disjointed Ramblings

About nine O'clock last night a big red alert triangle popped up on the smart phone. "WARNING SEVERE ALERT"  - Flash Flood Warning in this area!

Well... we're sitting on a point at maybe nine or ten thousand feet. If the water stacks up this high... I think they'll be writing a new chapter in the Ol' Book! ;)

It did rain though. Whew! Did it rain! Made for a cool morning too. Felt kinda guilty crankin' up the furnace this morning while I had my coffee and muffin' sittin' watchin' the sun climb over the mountains. The way ever'body back east and even down on the front range has been grousin' 'bout the HOT! :) But it was chilly! So yes... on the 25th of July, on a wet, chilly, mountain morning, this old stove up buster cranked up his furnace to warm up his feeble achy old bones. ;)

How many of you travel and hike with dogs? When you're out on the trail suckin' on your camelback... are you remeberin' your dogs? A few years back Heidi got given a lil' gizmo that we thought was just 'bout the dumbest thing we'd ever seen.

I mean... how ya gonna keep water in a folded bowl? :)

*Folding Dog Bowl*

Turned out to be a handy dang lil' thing. Folds flat and fits in a pack pocket and is always handy for dog drinks on the trail. Which is a whole lot better than a sick dog and another vet bill. We've carried this lil' bit of plastic for six or seven years!

Don't have any idea where you can find one. But I know they make folding bowls for back packers and they likely have some variety of folding bowl at Pet Smart or one of the other big box critter places. If you walk much with the dogs out in far country... it's a good investment. ( and don't forget the water bottle in your pack for the dogs water!)

Along that same line... DOG HAIR!!! ARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

There is nothin' worse than Hairy Ice Cream or... sitting on a quiet morning contemplating the universe over a cup of hot coffee... and having to stop and fish DOG HAIR out of your cup! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

So... While there is no guaranteed gizmo that prohibits an invasion of discarded dog hair there is a gadget that helps cut down on it a goodly amount...

*A Dog Rake*

The thing is made by a couple of different outfits. It comes with a pair of blades. The one shown that rakes out the undercoat and loose hair and then a thinning blade that swivels around to take out even more DOG HAIR!!!

It's not a cheap lil' tool... I guess they charge what the market will bear... and when cranky Ol' busters are grousin' 'bout the DOG HAIR in their coffee... apparently they'll "Bear" quite a bit!!! :)

The thing required in the whole deal though is the discipline to get out and scrape the dogs. Sometimes she waits too long and when she does get after 'em it looks like a herd of rabbits was slaughtered! Better that than fishin' hair out of my ice cream though!

... or chasin' four pound Dust Bunnies of DOG HAIR around the rig!!!

Worked into the evening last night as the rain fell... chasing bad spelling, typos and weirded out formatting.

If you'd asked me twenty years back what I'd be doing now... I can say that editing fiction was Not something I expected. :) As soon as I got that done... as much as my eyes can find to fix at this point anyhoo... I set to work building a table of contents and buttoning up the last bits of work on my third Novel!

HEART of a MAN is on track to be uploaded in the next few days. I just need to do the final scanning to try and spot any OOPS! that have slipped through. Otherwise it's sitting in my laptop all set to go.

This one is the second book following on behind A Matter of Honor in what is now OFFICIALLY the Jeb Taylor Series. I guess it takes more than one book to be a series huh? :)

I've been thinking of a way to give this book and the others a "kick". One way, that doesn't change the cost to anybody would be if I could organize the folks who intend to buy a copy as soon as it's released, to wait for one particular day to do their deals. That way... if all those folks did their deals on the same day it could have a bigger "splash" that could have a chance of pushin' it up into the "Lower" sales rank numbers and make them more "Visible" to all the jillions of readers out there who have never heard of a puss gutted old biker cowboy story teller.

So... I'm thinkin' that if I can get it uploaded in the next day or two... Sometime next week would be a "Target Day"... So if you're lookin' for a Western to read on your Kindle... Stay tuned! :)

Having a lil' difficulty finding water around Steamboat. I've kept my eyes peeled the couple of times we've been down off the mountain, but no spigots have appeared. It's one of the "issues" of boondocking... finding water and dumps. Usually little difficulty. There's dumps all over... and generally there's a spigot to rustle water in National Forest Campgrounds (which we frequently pay to use the campgrounds)... but here...

...Routt National Forest is taggin' users $ten$ bucks for a campsite 15 miles up a Bad Road... seems like a lot for a site that they don't maintain (all over grown with brush and deadfall), the roads are washed out, first gear, rock crawlin' axle busters... just lil' trash cans and few dumpsters and NO WATER. It's only proper to pay a reasonable amount for the use of facilities... but it's also only reasonable to maintain what you're charging $300 bucks a month for the use of!... or charge a heck of a lot less for it... Just sayin'

That and consider that the Tonto National Forest down in Arizona gets $6 bucks... and they've put in paved roads, solar shower buildings, and spacious, comfortable campsites with Ramada covers and GASP! Water!!!... seems like maybe a few other National Forests need to send their supervisors to Arizona to learn how to do the job right? It would appear that it CAN be done! ;)

I mean... the only thing that the two FS campgrounds near us have is a grubby outhouse... and battered pic nic tables. The brush is so thick that it's really just a skeeter farm. It's really time to start running a brush hog through most of these FS campgrounds. Let "natural" prevail out in the forest... but inside the campgrounds, clear 'em out and make 'em comfortable and usable! Just a lil' effort could make a huge increase in enjoyment and "Use" by folks. Improving both the Forest Service bottom line (with increased use and fee revenue) and the worlds of the people using the campsites...

... since I don't expect any great changes in bureaucracies... I'll just keep on boondocking and avoiding the sites that aren't taken care of...

... anyhoo.. I'll keep my eyes peeled once again when we make a bill payin' run to Steamboat today... There's only one dump in town at a private park... maybe I can buy three jugs full of fresh, clear, water! ;)

Un-Flash flooded and "Rambled out" on the Mountain
Brian

Goin' Down the Road... In Search of Better Ways...

Two words keep rattling around in my head... What If?

There are two Best Circles that we've made over the years, that stand out in my mind.

The first, we just traveled in a truck with a campershell, Sleeping in a tent in good weather, the shell when necessary, and hitting a motel once a week or when the weather was really rough. That was 'bout a month long bit of Joyous wandering. The other was the Solo trip to Alaska. Just a bike and a tent.

Just following our/my nose... 

In both cases, about as light an outfit as you could do. Shelter, cooking, clothes and transportation. How much else is really necessary? How much of what we consider necessary... is? How much is just convenience we convince ourselves we can't live without?

I look ahead... at my Bucket List of places I'd like to wander... and ways... and I have difficulty seeing this old fiver... or any other fiver this size or bigger... squeezing up that trail... along with, fitting the cost of moving such a rig into my lil' budget.

I think of how Easy and light, some others travel. Their rigs don't get in the way of the wandering. They NEVER have to say... "it would be nice to go there... but the rig won't fit." Hell, they're Shipping their rigs all over the world!

Just coming here to Zion, we have to stop on the east side, pay an extra fee so they can close the tunnel... so we can run our too wide, too tall trailer through... Hell, we have to do that for just our Dually...

How many camps are we kept out of... by our oversized need for "Convenience"? What If?

These folks have rolled across Africa with their Diesel VW van...

... and are now on their way to Alaska. They're something older than I am...

This young couple... maybe mid twenties?... are near the end of their current journey. They started in Argentina in 2010... are now on the way to Yellowstone and will end somewhere around Vegas I guess... before selling their "Rover", and flying home...

*2takearest.com*

They refer to this lil' rig, in their website as their "Home"... We stumbled across the rig in the parking lot in Zion... and passed them riding the bike on a day trip up to  Bryce National Park...

And then... Here in South Campground is another young couple... proven by their not much more than toddler kids...

Another European rig... Proven by the plates... another VW Van... and What a Tent! It's carrying an Outwell tag on it...

Somehow... these folks that are out for extended periods of time... and look to be having the time of their lives... are doing it fine!

There's a lesson here to be learned I think...

Go down the road in a vehicle that eliminates the stress piled on by size and weight. A huge reduction in the stress of fuel expense...

A bed to sleep on overnight in roadsides if necessary... and when you get to the place for your camp... enough room for a family!

Even in "Hard Side" camps... where the big fuzzy buggers cause trouble... with a Van... you've got your hard side for sleeping... yet no shortage of "Living Space" During the day or even bouts of foul weather.

... and there's plenty of room for adjustments to your own personal tastes...

It's just an intriguing way of going... How much shinier would these views along the way gleam... if the Way itself was lighter and easier?

*Through the Grotto*

  

*In The Sanctuary of Zion*

Consider this... If... the places you go, soothe a bruised and weary soul... what if... the stress and work of pushing a large and heavy rig down the narrow roads, was largely removed?  If the cost of maintenance and just moving the rig was a lot lighter on your life? What if you STARTED from a higher, lighter, better place? How High could you soar?

What If... Without a care, you could stop at those curious little places, where you WISH you could... but can't... because there's nowhere to get your truck and 36' rig off the road...

... so you tell yourself you'll drive back once you get camped... but never do. What If?

What If you had a smaller rig going down the road... that opened up into something you could stretch out in... when you got stopped.

I'm not breaking any new ground here. Too many have gone before... but maybe, just maybe... rather than pointing my own idea of "the way"... it's time for this grumpy buster to listen to and be reminded of a few higher priorities... learned from the lessons of others.

It's not, and never will be a One Size Fits All life out here... but... There are a lot of Options for Vagabonds and Yonderers...

A lighter Pack Can Make for Shining Times
Brian

... and another RV Boondocking "loading day"...

We've pretty much settled into our "long camp" RV Boondocking routine... move a day or two or three... and then settle into a ten or fourteen day camp... 

One thing that seems to have become a bit of an issue... after staying put for such a time... we have the habit of spreading out a bit... so it ends up taking a bit longer, to put everything back, organize the clutter... and get road ready! :)

So... an Item we've been forced to add to our "Long Camp Routine"... is loading DAY! :) This time, with all the Stay in Camp Weather we've had... we may have dis-organized more than is our usual!

Really adds to the draw of the idea of minimalism. If I could just part with a lot more of my precious junk... there'd be a whole lot less to spread around. :)...

on other things... they had a Free Fishing day event at what they call Moose Pond yesterday. Pretty much laid out to give the kids a flavor of fishing... had a big drawing and handed out a whole passel of Rods N' Reels... along with rubber worms and assorted other fishin' box filler for would be fishermen...

*Fishermomma tryin' to show 'em how it's done*

Seemed like the kids had their attention diverted to other pursuits by the time we wandered by... which left the fishin' to mostly Mom and Dad...

*"Dang...too little to keep!"*

... but this Dad... complained that Mom was the only one catchin' anything big enough to keep. :)

Up above, the local Zoomies tried to show the ground tied locals that fishing don't require a rod!

*Osprey fish Hunter*

This feathered fisherman... fisherwoman? caught one just as we walked up... but of course... I missed THAT picture... and although it hung around, demonstrating proper hover and dive technique for at least another hour... I didn't see any of the human variety locals taking up the challenge and diving into that high mountain lake... after any fish!

Late in the afternoon, we made another attempt to find the Elusive Utah Mooses... up above us at Elk Meadow...

As has been our habit... we found pretty ponds, peopled with croaking frogs... I still haven't managed to put a camera lens on...

... and shy Momma Elk... though I've not yet seen any calves from this season...

*Elk Cow in the Uintahs*

Quite a few of the trails around here are proper ATV and jeep trails... though, at least this early in the season, that use seems pretty light. But, a trail that's wide enough for a jeep... makes a pretty easy path for an old cowboy biker "stroller"...  who's gettin' lazier by the day! :)

I've thought for a while that it'd be nice to have an ATV... to give me a headstart up a mountain trail... but, I always end up preferring to just park the truck down lower... and walk quiet though the "Headstart" section... Why slight those first couple miles. :)

... and to think about it... it's a lot cheaper to maintain my boots...then another motor!

Truth be known... No matter what your Hardware of Choice is bicycle, atv, truck, jeep... kayak, or... even... a Motorcycle! ... there's a real tendency, no matter what you see... to keep on rolling.

To See, what there is to see... you have to stop, put your boots on the ground... and just wait long enough for the world to slow down enough around you... so the blur clears and you can see...

Slowly Moving North
Brian

Return to the main site of goin' RV Boondocking or Visit my Sister website Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road

It's a Slow Time in the Spring...

Heidi's enjoying herself back in Denver... she went back down with the truck for a few days... to help with a few things... and I'm settin' here... doin' that reorganizing and consolidating I mentioned the other day... hopin' for a couple of clear days this week to sort through the shed again and get some more of the distilling we've talked about done...

One of the surprises the past six months has been that... though the desk I put in, worked well... giving me a place to work... not having a place to sit and eat conveniently... grew into more of an issue... That and to tell the truth... all those drawers in a desk! ... they just beg to be filled... with something!

But... what the hell ya need to write? A computer... a few pieces of paper to scribble "working notes" on... and a cup of coffee... all that drawer filler is just junk and clutter... and starts getting in the way...

Now... I just never liked the factory dinette that came in the rig, so I can't say I regret ripping it out...

... it's storage area under the booth seats was awkward to the point that it really became just a repository for junk that didn't get used... which we had no need to carry along anyway...

We stumbled across a folding table and benches the other day. The benches nest in the table to transport... It's built to be used outside, in camp... so we picked it up, to replace the bigger table we've had... that actually sits too high for the camp chairs we have... a camp improvement!

The upstart is... we're gonna use THAT outdoor camp table and benches... as a test vee-hickle... Inside, as we work out what we want to put in for a combination dinette... writing desk...

If they don't kick diesel to $8 bucks a bucket... we may get this rig sorted out before we wear the axles off it!

All you gals that Don't haul along a fickle, tinkering, schemer... always wonderin' how this or that might work better... or thinkin'; "I wonder... could I actually do... That?"

... count your blessings! :)

The only time I notice my fickle ways... is when I ask that; "I wonder can I?" question... and then a lil' bit later... as I climb back off the ground where I hit, brushin' off the dust and leaves.... and sayin'; "ouch... guess not!" ... as I stretch my bruised parts... yeah, I notice... but... blessed with a short memory... That crunch is soon forgot... and I'm back to grinnin' and thinkin'; "Hmmmmm.... I wonder....." :)

Gotta get this stuff around here done up pretty quick... and winter needs to let go an' leave... 'cause to tell the truth... I've gotten pretty comfortable with our routine of the last months... bumpin' along, a few weeks here, a few there... just followin' my nose... and I'm ready to roll...

It's that Old gypsy thing... No... it's really NOT some giggling goofy joy, like I was high on drugs or something... for me... my wanderin', Yonderin' ways... are just... comfortable. It's what simply feels... right.


Kind of like... up on the edge of the Mogollon so many years ago, down in Arizona... watching a summer thunder storm crashing across the Tonto Basin... I squatted there in the rain... sippin' a cup of hot coffee, the lightning flashin'... I wasn't jumpin' up and down all hysterical and laughin'.

 I looked out across that basin and just smiled and felt strong.... I thought... I belong here...

Like when you get Home... from a long, brain bending business trip you had to endure?

You step into your House... your Retreat, lean back against the door, just slowly exhale and say; "ahhhhh.... I'm Home"... as the stress of that "Other" place slides away...

Well... ahhhhhh.... I'm Home! Here... the Open road, is where I belong

Where I belong
Brian

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How Much ... UH... Useless Junk!... Do You Carry in Your RV?

The stuff can creep up on you. A piece tucked here, another stuffed there... then one day you wake up, and every nook, cranny, closet, an' storage compartment in the Fifth Wheel, is cluttered with crap and corruption ya never, ever, use!

Our situation was compounded by our move out of the house in a rushin' hurry! :o) As we were packin' up in February, we fell into the trap of; "Put it in the rig... We'll deal with it later." ... Only... "Later"... often is really, really, later! or it don't ever come at all!

... anyhoo... we've been living amongst that 'clutter' for too long... and while the weather hasn't co-operated either, snowing or raining ever' time we had a bit of time to do some RV Housekeeping... our biggest obstruction has been... Procrastination!...

... then... that "Compounding" was twisted even tighter, by the fact, that we we're right in the middle of an RV Remodel... which is where we remain :o) ... Living in a House, while you remodel is tough... doin' that in an RV is even tougher... So if you're anticipating it... My advice is... Complete your RV Remodel... BEFORE you're living in it! :o)

I digress... surprised huh?... Well, That Later, is Now! :o) We started a push yesterday, to cull the junk that got mistakenly held on to. Simple fact is, it don't matter if it's "Good"... or ... "I might could use it... Someday."... There just ain' Room, even in Froggy Donnas' Triple axle Mobile Mansion! :o)

... and kids? ... OUR rig? A mansion it ain't! We like it... It works, pretty good, for us... But it's Redneck Regular  and space is at its' usual, RV Premium... plus, we have visions of getting even smaller!

So... clothes are getting 'distilled'... this and that compacted, consolidated and discarded... pieces and parts are getting reorganized to store and use, more efficiently...

I even reworked my leather stamps into a case, a touch over 1/2 the size of the wooden case I'd built a few years ago. (and am working on distilling all my leather tools down to a very compact "Tooling and Stitching" set that I'll take on the road)

This bit of RV Housecleaning is something ever'body needs to do, ever' once in a while I'm thinking. Like I said, the stuff can just creep up on you, when ya'll ain't lookin'... and one day you wake up in a crappola jungle!

So... Do some heavy duty RV Housekeeping! reduce the stresses and clutter... cull out the precious treasures... you ain't used in months... and will likely, Not use, in the foreseeable future...

It'll give you a mite more room to breathe!

Take Good Care
Brian

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