Back in the Land of Smoke and Internet

 Up at our camp in the Snowies of Wyoming it's a nice cool summer... We ran the Furnace up there! :)

*Along the Trail out of our camp*

 We were up above the smoke from fires to the east...and fires to the south...

*Smoke In the Valley*

 What with Alpine flowers deer and bears... there's plenty of eye candy for a refugee from Soh-sigh-uh-tee...

*Bear Track near Camp*

Then we came down out of the Wyoming High Country yesterday afternoon... To smoke at Cheyenne and hot as we rolled south. Not just hot but HOT!

I had to look at the map to make sure I'd not taken a wrong turn and ran all the way unknowin' to Arizona or Southern Utah or some dang where... When the truck thermometer tells you 122 degrees when you come out of a store... if even only for a minute or two you KNOW something's gone wrong!

That heat and the wind that's been runnin' around here for a few weeks hasn't been helpin' the fire fighters either...

From the flowers of 10,000 feet plus...

*Wyoming Alpine Flowers*

 To the lovely views of 5,000 heated feet along the Front Range...

*North End of the High Park Fire*

The fire made a big run yesterday. They'd had it about 60% contained and now it's down to 45% or so. It jumped the Poudre River and is now established on the north side... which puts it into a fresh supply of heavy timber with heavy beetle kill... They're talking MONTHS before this thing is controlled.

The picture is maybe the north half of the fire from about 20 miles away...

Ah... life in the west.

Made a lot of progress up in the high country. Not only got Novel #3 completed and into the editing phase but went back and re-edited A Matter of Honor... my first book.

A couple of months back I got a private message from Nick Russell of Gypsy Journal and "Big Lake" fame. Now... he's made his living with "words" his whole life as a Newspaper Man. (so his 'critique' Should carry a bit more weight) He'd sent me a "Criticism" of the book. One of those of the "Constructive" variety.

At the time I discounted it... 'cause; That's My Style! ;) Yeah? Well... So much for style.

A week ago, after I'd finished the whittling of Heart of a Man... I went back for the first time in two years to look at what I'd written. That time gave me Fresh Eyes I guess... 'cause what I saw made me say; HUH?!!! What was I thinkin'?!!

Thanks Nick! ;) It appears I may be learning a bit... even at this late date!

And the re-edit began.

It seems I have a habit, that needs to be guarded against, of putting commas where I tend to pause as if I was speaking. Sometimes that don't work out quite so well with the written word. So... Now A Matter of Honor has been re-edited and I'll be uploading a "Fresh" version in the next couple of days now that we're back into internet service for a few days.

Heart of a Man should (I hope, I hope, I hope!!!) be ready to publish in another couple of weeks... more and more and MORE CAREFUL editing to be done yet. :)

*#2 in the Jeb Taylor Series*

 But... Today I've got to go out and Replace our RV hot water heater. After ten or eleven years the original has sprung a leak somewhere.

I ordered a replacement from PPL which was delivered to our little store in Fort Collins the other day... Not too bad. Regular cost everywhere else? $600 PLUS! The cost from PPL for this Atwood RV Water Heater? $338 bucks with Free shipping.

Still hurts since that really wasn't anywhere in the budget... and now Peter is cranked off 'cause I took his money to pay PAUL! :)

Now if I can get it installed without creating a propane bomb or sparks I'm pretty sure the overtaxed fire department 'round here will appreciate it...

Maybe once I get the new book published... so that the Jeb Taylor SERIES has two books rather than being a... One Book Series??? ;) The budget will get to being a lil' less anemic!

We'll be down here in the Valley of Heat and Smoke for a couple weeks doing some more chores and Vacation Coverage at the Bead Store... That should give me enough time to find a heat and smokeless place to hide out for a few weeks when we escape once again.

Getting a Refresher Course on City Livin'
Brian

The Second Book in My "Jeb Taylor" Series is FINALLY Written!

I hate to think it's true but apparently hiding from wild fires and losing any cell signal to build posts with is good for writing!

Parked somewhere around 9,000 feet in the Snowy Mountains of Wyoming had me finishing up my third Novel; "Heart of a Man."

Maybe not spending an hour or so carving a blog post near every morning had me saving up the words to string 30,000 of 'em together in a week to finish the book! :) The Movie reel in my head was a singin' and my fingers were flyin' on the keyboard!

I still think "A Pair of Second Chances" is a better tale than "A Matter of Honor"... but... My latest story, Heart of a Man, is every bit its equal. For the folks that like Myra and Ben... and maybe Jeb a little, it takes their story and tribulations a lil' farther down the trail.

I'm already deep into the editing to try and clean things up for publishing and hope to complete that work and publish this latest ebook Western Novel some time by or before mid July.

While I'm doing that editing I'm also planning to go back and do another edit of the first two books as well. There's still a few typos and such hiding in there I want to chase down.

I'm not real unconfident about such things though. We've read quite a few "New York Times Best Sellers" in the last year, and to tell the truth? Those, supposedly "Professhunally" edited and published tomes have more errors and typos than the Indie books like mine that I've read! :) Bald face things like badly misspelled and doubled words ie. "the the" and such things as words totally out of context; as happens when you change a sentence and move words around a bit.

So THAT lil' slap, that I continue to read against Indie Authors and publishers, (made by the old time publishing houses) that they are poorly edited, just don't hold up. It falls on deaf ears. We do our best but those "Big Boys" aren't immune to criticsim or the need to employ improved editing either! ;)

Anyhoo... I figure I'm giving those boys a run for their money. Especially when you look at my $2.99 price compared to their $10 bucks plus! :)

So... before I got that done, we got run out of the FS campground we'd bivouacked in. When we parked we were all alone. A couple folks pulled in the next day but they all dispersed to far corners of the camp that WAS open.

All was good till Thursday afternoon. I knew we was in trouble when two big Identical Vans trailed by a half dozen cars pulled in and a swarm of squealin', hoorawin' teenagers jumped out with two or three "adults"... some sort of  'youth group'...

Well... the adults supervisin' those young ones have a lot to learn there own selves 'bout etiquette and respecting the "Space" of other folks...

When the only way to push any farther into Our Site... with THEIR tents... would have been to ask me to pull  my fiver a bit farther forward... I stuck my fist in my mouth to prevent cursin' and my Ipod buds in my ears with the volume turned up to drown out their racket!

So... next morning, as early as we could I hitched up and I pulled out blowin' as much smoke and makin' as much racket as ~ I ~ could and hauled for the High up AND Lonesome!

*Our Camp the Sunset BEFORE the City "Locusts" Descended*

*Our Driveway into our New Camp*

*And our New Camp*

Ahhhhh.... much much better... still have to drive a few miles huntin' a signal to ship a post... but it'll do!

*High Country Storm Brewing*

*... and I took the road less traveled*

So... I'll find my way back to camp now... and get back to editing!

Tap Tap Tappin Away
Brian

I Think Some Might Not understand me...

 So I offer a feeble attempt at explanation.

I am a man born for the open country. The open road... and possessed of a Passion for Liberty.

Born in Ohio and raised in Arizona, I started Cowboyin' at the foot of the Catalina Mts. North of Tucson. My Cowboy education continued in the Santa Rita Mts. East of Green Valley. From near the Mexican Border to the Southern reaches of Montana I've chased cows, trained horses, hunted coyotes, mined copper, bucked off broncs, packed mules and rustled mustangs. I've sold hardware, cleaned carpets, hauled tractors and even raised sheep! I've lived a glorious life.

I admit to being... abnormal. Possibly an anachronism. I admit that in my words I express the belief that there is more to life than Healthcare. That Freedom Trumps Healthcare. That Liberty is of Greater Value and Treasure than Life itself. I freely admit that few hold that belief any longer, and that maybe my attempts to get that point across leave others as dumbstruck as I often find myself.

Do I have regrets? You bet. There have been heart ripping sorrows that still wake me in the night. Would I like to be able to go back and wipe those from my memory? At times, when I feel close to choking on them? I would... but then I think... it is those scars that have carved me into who I am. With all my many faults, I still like... Me.

For all of my life I've heard and been told that Cowboys were a dying breed. I should take on something more acceptable with my life. It would appear from some comments of the past couple of days that there's those that don't think I've done that and would appreciate the loss of one more of us. Sorry to disabuse ya'll of that idea... but I think I'll hang around and keep stirrin' the pot a mite more.

I love this land in ways I cannot put into words. I've served not only this land with my sweat, and my blood. I've placed my life in service to the people of this land, on more than one occasion. I've paid taxes since I was 14. I have NEVER complained about or tried to duck my fair share, and take offense at that Idea, made by implication. I do however complain when effort and success is punished and parasitism is rewarded.

I as well am astounded by the claims of those who try to tell me that I am required to seek the permission of a bureaucrat to wander around the lands not within the city limits fences. While the Wolf and the Coyote are "Granted" the right to go where and when they please, without permit or fee.

I claim the RIGHTS granted to Wolves and Coyotes. I will by God set my camp on uninhabited land without seeking the kings permission. The King does not, contrary to popular belief, own all the land and everyone on it. I will camp my rig on the Boss's land, where I choose to.

There is something I have noticed in conversation when the subject of service is discussed; Most of those, a heavy majority, who seek the entitlements that I have spoken of for the past few days always seem to have found such service inconvenient when it was their turn. They expect to be defended, hell they demand it! But lo and behold, when it's their turn to place their lives on the line in defense of their community, or just an individual within it... they are remarkably absent.

I have sacrificed my safety, my income and my future in defense of friends, and even on occasion in defense of those I never knew simply because it was the right thing to do. I don't say this as boast, but merely to define the code of behavior I was taught.

Does my ego, ideas, or intelligence make me in any way a person I believe worthy of climbing up on some pedestal ?... well, you bet!... If you set the damn three foot thing in a ten foot deep hole first.

Before I get back to straight up conversation about Yondering through the land I love, and a Life of Glorious Liberty... Granted to me by the Boss I serve as well... let me leave you with this film...



It is the amazing work of JD King, a young fella from Southwest Montana who has an amazing future ahead of him. Do Him and the states of Montana and Idaho a Favor. Get as Many of your friends as you can to watch this man's work. It contains lessons about far more than wolves. Amazing for a man of his youth.

I'll bet you didn't realize that the Wolf you tried to see in Yellowstone was all tied up in this mess too did you?

The film not only discusses a few truths about the Wolf in the Intermountain States... but opens a window through which you can glimpse the face of the resident evil I have described.

There is something to consider. All we have, is each other. The government doesn't care about us. It cares about it's power. It is simply a tool of the real unseen power that owns it. What we are left with is each other.

The divisiveness you see around you these days is no accident and it is The Threat. It is the tool used by those in power to keep us fractured and fighting each other. It is cliche'd but no less true - Divide and Conquer. Those doing the dividing have exhibited exquisite skill.

All of us together are difficult to control. But if we can be kept fighting against each other the smaller groups are easy to manipulate. We are used against each other, to control each other. We are serving as our own Jailers.

All we have, is each other. If you can SEE the cage we are keeping ourselves in, the bars disappear. Your awareness is your greatest strength. Our greatest strength. We have divisions and disagreements. And, we have two choices.

We can either work together to achieve solutions. We can Force Government to obey the will of the people and regain some honor and integrity... or...  we can all give each other a big hug, bend over and kiss our backsides good bye, because the game will be over.

Some Days You Just Have to Stand With Your Mouth Hanging Open in Amazement
Brian

Remember When I've Told You...

... That; "I don't know what's gonna happen, 'till I look back and see what I did."? Well, it happened again, just like that!

We were rollin' down I-90, right on plan and on schedule, heading toward Billings. The plan was, cut south there, and likely lay up in Casper.

Until... A wandering Cowboy Biker and an Onliest Problem Collided...

That Onliest problem was a sign just a bit west of Bozeman that hung out over the road and said; "Ennis and West Yellowstone this exit!"... hmmmmmm.

Uh ... are you starting to see where this is goin'? What's the point of bein' crazy... if ya can't exercise your attributes?

Yup... Next thing anybody in the truck knew, it was cuttin' down the exit and turnin' south, juuuuuuust a mite early. :)

What can I say? The Interstate is a lot like algebra... BORING! and when you stop and think 'bout it, runnin' across Wyoming, and goin' around Yellowstone and the Tetons... makes no freakin' sense 'tall. Not when your whole deal is, Yondering!

Now of course splittin' off like that from the four lane to the two, might not add a lot of miles, but it adds a goodly amount of time to the same trip, so yesterday was a long day. Took the better part of 11 or 12 hours to get a trifle over 300 miles. :) Takes a lot of time to gawk and fiddle... IF ... you're doin' it right!

We hit the park at West Yellowstone and rolled down making our pass through the SW quarter in the late afternoon, early evening hours. I thought that it might allow us to get a nice wildlife pic or two... but it didn't quite work out that-a-way. And I had to do, what I never do... Which was stop at a gawking tourista Animal Jam, to get what I got.

We came up on a jam... people jumpin' out of their cars and runnin' off into the bushes, donatin' buckets of blood to the skeeters, to capture that special picture... and for once, Heidi talked me into gawkin' along with 'em. All there was, was this mid size grunter, layin' in the mud on the far side of a boggy pond. 

Missed the best part though. Some kid, likely bout 12, maybe 13 kept askin' his folks; "Can I walk around and pet him?" and they told him no. The kid was kind of whiny and upset; "Why can't I?"

I wanted to tell him; "You run on over there squirt, and I'll video your endeavor... so your Mama'll have something to remember you by... ya Bambi lovin' idiot!" I swear... if you want to see the failure of public education, all ya got to do, is stand around Yellowstone for maybe six minutes! I love the entertainment the place offers along with the vistas of fine country. :)

*The Tetons just before Sunset*

Pretty good place to run through long about sunset too...
 

*Sun dropping behind the Tetons*

*Sunset from Togwotee Pass*

But, eventually you realize; "I've got miles to go 'fore I sleep"... so you put your butt on the seat... your foot on the pedal... and shake rattle and roll to get where you're goin'.

*The Tetons... through a tunnel of trees*

Though traffic was pretty light really, for the time of year (an advantage to the time of day we rolled through I think) we hit a lot of construction on the continuing rebuild of the highway over Togwotee Pass... and finally rolled into the lil' burg of Dubois hard on nine thirty in the P.M. 

Once I swaller a few more cups of this motel coffee, we'll throw the bags back in the Ol' Dodge, and point it south... and who knows which way I'll find myself dy-vertin' today! :)

Some Place to be... But no Hurry to get there!
Brian

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

The Raider Has Returned to the Eagle From It's Travels...

We rolled something like 1800 miles in six days... turning a ride to the Black Hills into just that, a ride To, the Black Hills...

The way it turned out, the going and coming used up so much time, zigging and zagging through Montana and Wyoming; making a 650 mile or so ride from Seeley Lake to Spearfish something over 900 miles :) that due to commitments we all had, on down the road, we left ourselves little time to actually ride those Black Hills! :)

*The Bikes I was chasing, through Spearfish Canyon*

This picture above, kind of says a little bit of what the trip was like for me... It kind of pulls your eye up and away from the bikes in front of me... I found myself rolling and leaning through Bear Tooth Pass, Over the Big Horns... even through some nasty sidewind east of Gillette... with my vision torn between the road and bikes in front of me...

*Following the Goldwing Down of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming*

... and the country all around that we were rolling through...

That's the paradox of a motorcycle I guess... It requires, It Demands, your complete attention... yet the reason you are there, to see, to feel, to breathe, to Know, the country you're riding through... is calling out to you every mile... pulling your concentration away from that Ribbon of Highway and your Motorcycle.

*Looking out across the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming*

Rode past this view from the Medicine Wheel atop the Big Horns, looking out over a camp that Heidi and I used a couple years back on an earlier trip. This is after you climb Alternate 14... Which you Don't Want to do... either way... If your rig and your abilities aren't up to par... That is One, Steep, piece of Asphalt...

... I mean... when a Motorcycle that will peel me off the seat, with the wind it makes... can feel the grade... It's Steep! :)

So now I'm back... way behind on my work and chores... and adding to 'em... Now I gotta build a trip Video for myself and Kerry and Daryl ... hmmm... I wonder if I spelled that right? :) as well as write up the balance of the trip on  A Ribbon of Highway... so I better go try to start moving in the direction of catching up!

Got behind on posting along the way... due in large part to the electronic "failures" I had... the phone I was using to post... had it's charger die... then the phone itself died... along with the pocket inverter I need to charge the lil' acer laptop... going AWOL... so... No shortage of chores to get done! :)

The Bike is Parked... and I'm Trying to Put My Heart Back In To Working! :)
Brian

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