Sorting Out Our Future RV Home... All Over Again.

Bein' as superstitious as I am... I'm a mite hesitant to speak of this... again. I've carried on this conversation in the past, but now the "pressure" to change is growing again... even if that "Pressure" is self inflicted.

What can I say... I'm a restless soul, and never content with things as they are, for too awful long, Always, stirrin' the pot.

Then, this morning, in answering an email I kinda let the veil slip a touch, and then found an idea rattling around my spacious and empty brain pan; "Well, that's unfair. Ya let one fella know a bit of what you're thinkin'... but you're gonna leave everyone else who's read your gas for so long... in the dark?"

So, as a consequence... I'm not gonna maintain that suspense... at least for those who let such things be suspenseful! and even if I do have to eat a few Crow feathers in the process...

We've been hauling this good Eagle around since it was built in 2001, and a good rig it's been. We lived in it, effectively full time, a time or two for several months at a time, and it did well. But, we Knew then, those were short term "full times".

Now, we've been "On the Road" with No Going Back, for pretty much a full year... and many miles in front of us yet to be wandered.

We've settled solidly, and comfortably, into our Long Camp way of going. Travel a day or three... settle into a NF or BLM camp for a day or two, while we search out the next Long camp, and then settle in there for 10 or 18 days. In fact, those Long Camps seem to be getting longer... but shhhhh... don't tell the ranger fellas... we're working to not attract attention to our "Ways". (and in fact, it IS our intention to stretch those camps a bit)

Longer Boondocking camps make for more relaxed yondering as well as stretching our budget as needed. The truth being that after a year of travel, our bank account, though still razor thin, is better than it was.

Over the many miles we've yondered the past year a few things in our camp have risen to the top. and a few shortcomings have come clearer.

Though the truck has served well backroading, it would be nicer to have a lighter, more economical, and NARROWER rig to back road with. :) When I said that, Heidi told me that, since I took this truck over Imogene Pass, with the outside dual hanging over a few thousand feet of air, I can't really say I Hesitate at all to take it up narrow back roads! :)

Just the same, a more compact back road Vee-Hickle would make for A More Harmonious Outcome! :) Having an Amigo, Sidekick, Tracker, even up to a Rodeo sized small car would be a nice compliment to our camp to daytrip in, rather then the big Ol' Diesel Dodge.

Another thing that's happened is, a return, by both of us to some pretty active Beading and Leatherwork... which... pushes a desire for a bit more conveniently accessible storage of the tools and materials for those RV Recreational activities... while maintaining a good work space for me to tap tap tap out all the gas I publish! :)

I've worn out maybe six trees worth of paper and pencils, trying to conjure a way to make this Ol' Dodge and Jayco Eagle do the things the evolution of my Yondering ways has come to call for.

At some point I've decided a fella just has to accept that you can't make a very good bucket out of a balloon. So... Once again we're back to looking at all the options and possibilities of a total change.

... And, as I told the fella I was writing to this morning, I've also got to fit that change-up of RV Rigs into a pretty anemic budget... so it'll have to be a carefully worked out and Timed enterprise, along with a nice dose of good luck.

Part of, and maybe the biggest part, of this whole deal is keeping my Cowboy Biker publishing enterprise moving along like it has been. It's not growing at some barn burning rate, but, the fact that has kept on improving and growing... as Long as I do my job, gives me confidence.

So right now, job one is to quit finding excuses and put the work into whittling the last words for my second novel and get it published.

Then... it's make the final decision as to What sort of rig, or combination is going to be the one that carries us for likely the next SEVERAL years of Yondering. So I can rope that sucker and get it parked in my camp!

So... to end the suspense I've whittled the options down to three main categories... and to tell the truth, that, in my mind is leaning hard in one direction... but... I will hold that Leaning, confidential for the time being... so I can have some hope of limiting the amount of Crow in my Diet.

1. A Mature MDT Truck pulling a just as mature Toybox Fiver. Bike on the truck, Toad in the Fiver (The Costliest option) and a bit tougher to fit into the NF and BLM camps we use...

2. A Modest sized Motorhome with a Motorcycle lift, pulling a compact AWD Toad. (the quickest and easiest to line out)

and... then the Wildest version of my conjuring...

Number 3... Taking the winter to carve out a Unique and to some Bizarre, Skoolie Conversion. (The riskiest and most labor intensive... but likely the shortest of the rigs)

Well there it is... the cat's out of the bag... let's hope it don't lacerate my kiester too awful bad...

Nothing is gonna happen in the near term. Likely be deep into an Arizona winter 'fore anything substantial gets done... but... I'm hopeful that the next few months will keep things moving and the route we'll take will continue to come clearer.

Loading today and rolling back north for Montana, in the morning...

Yondering and Wondering
Brian

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

The Great 2010 Arizona Blizzard... Pizza... and Winter Flowers

NOT! :-)

They might be sufferin' back east, but down in Arizony... though it's cooler than ya'll might want, it's still better'n they've got back in New York and D.C.!


Unless you call it a blizzard of flowers an' color... if ya'll was lucky enough to be in the right place! :-)

We're startin' to wonder, too, if the road was really as slow as we thought it was comin' down from Colorado last week... There might just might could be another explanation...

From Tucson to Phoenix is generally, leastways for the places we go from and to... a two hour run... So... Miss Heidi an' I pulled out of my Mothers place this Morning... and a touch over Five hours later... Pulled into my Sisters driveway in Glendale on the northwest side of Phoenix...

Uh... ya think maybe I'm just gettin' slower an' slower in my "Going" ? :-) Maybe I can't totally blame bad weather! :-)

It's purty obvious to me that I'm gettin' a lot quicker at settling into my "Road Groove" than it used to take. Used to be... It took me two... maybe three days, or even more, to slow down and get into the "Rhythm" of the road. :-)

Now-a-days... Seems 'bout like... sit on the seat... twist the key... and... doh dee doh doh do da... I'm goin r-e-a-l s-l-0-w! right from the get go... :-)

I can't really say what took so much time today... didn't really stop anywhere... just didn't move very quick I guess! :-) and ya know what I call that easy ramblin'? ... it's called... Suh-Weet!

... then there was that stop in Scottsdale, partway to where we were goin'... when we decide we were hungry... Do ya like thin crust pizza? There's a nice spot in Old Town Scottsdale called Grimaldi's... Don't know that I'd kill for their pizza... but it was good... the coffee was hot... and the flowers... just up the street in front of where we parked that lil' red Chevy HHR Hot Rod... were pretty nice!... for a cloudy winter day...


That lil' hot rod is performin' better than I could've asked for... We tooled up the back way, from Tucson to Glendale... up through Florence and Queen Creek... and found that if you set that cruise control on 55 that darn lil' car gets better'n 40 mpg! We ended with an average of 38 mpg... Not bad for a car that'll run as quick as it can... for a mite over 18 grand...

... so... if ya'll get slowed down in your wanderin' sufficiently... you'll not only be goin' slow enough to see purty flowers... you'll save a whole bunch of gas doin' it! :-)

But... I better get to visitin' with the family... or I'll get into difficulty...

Take Good Care
Brian