A new phase of the adventure....

Dina and I left TorC Monday afternoon and camped in Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, NM. It was cooold....29 * ....now in Roper Lake State Park, AZ for maybe a couple of nights....I am enjoying it and there are some good walks to take with D.

The sun is out and the skies are clear but they tell me it was 27* this AM so we got a plugin for the stay here.....just a little heat is always nice....showers here and a park hot spring if I can steel my resolve to go take a dip...the wind is bitter and when you get out....hmm, sounds familiar...oh yeah, last time Kit and I camped here we did it and it was tough to enjoy when the wind is blowing.

Mount Graham is big and snowy on it's flanks but I am nice and sun-warmed as I sit and type....nice to have phone and internet connection here.

I left in a bit of a hurry to avoid the blowby from a couple of friends and their painful divorce but am glad I had that as an impetus to boost me along the way. It is only a week or two ahead of when I would have left anyway.

Now I hope to meet up with some of my Vandweller and VanTramp friends along the way as I move west. Move west and north as the time passes. I would love to take a ramble up the Pacific coast since it has been ages since I have been along much of it.

Recently I started the Course In Miracles and it will be a pleasent companion along with my sketch book. If I can ever shut up long enough to do either...jeez I am SO social.

Anyway...I will try and blog more on this trip as well.

Namaste....
Many Wheels

States and Provinces I have visited

Winter rolls on....

I am still in the little casita that is normally Kit's studio but now is serving as my home base for the winter....very cozy and comfy and just the right size for me.

I have also been spending some time in the desert with a friend, Jon B. and the dogs and have found some evidence of earlier nomads. I love it when I get the feeling that we are just another chapter in the great picture....

In the next month I will very likely jump in the van and head out....especially as the sun shines more often here. I am getting itchy feet.

The Chinooky is loaded and locked....all the minor mechanical stuff done...new tailpipe, rewiring done so that everything I use in the van is wired to the house battery, including all interior lites, fog lites, the in-dash stereo, and all cigar lighter plugs. Lots of little farkles.

I would love to come up with the right solar panel and if I have not by the time I get back up to the bus, I will swap the bus panel to the van and make it easy to shift from rig to rig. I just really hate to buy new...I am finding that a lot of my stuff is in the bus and I will transfer it to the van when I get back to it...cruiser ax, 1 gallon propane bottle, etc.

We are making plans for travel to my nieces wedding in San Jose, CA in June and the San Antonio AA International Convention in early July. Wow, lots of driving. I may not get much road time with the sidecar rig again this year. Actually thinking about trailering it back down south so I have it for next winter.

I must say, the more I travel in my Chinookie, the less I want to sleep on the ground in a tent....I may have already made the switch from sidecar touring and just don't know it...;^)

More later,
Latcho Drom
Many Wheels