Post Christmas....

I made it to the in-laws as did all those who were scheduled to come for Christmas and it was very sweet indeed. Family is a nice concept....especially when it proves to be a fact.

The thing that has happened for me since the solstice is that I am even more dedicated to that of the spirit and reaching for a more present and vital being.

I have no idea if anything has happened globally but if it is true that you bring into your life what you give and choose to include in your 'dream' As The Toltec's say, I have good feelings about how the future will play out....

"babylon yo' throne gone down..."
One Love,
MWB

Almost the end of the world as we know it.....

Ah, good title....less than two weeks before there is a consciousness shift from material to spiritual. Or something else. I find much to rejoice over today, whatever will or won't happen and I hope I am ready for whatever comes along....

I reflect on the Y2K millennium change.   Kit and I were halfway through an excellent Baja tent camping journey in our little "Jenny Burrita" Suzuki Samurai....

We had been hearing at every AA meeting we went to all down the peninsula about the big New Years Eve pig roast and gratitude celebration near Todos Santos and to be sure not to miss it.

We were there as invited and camped on a hill overlooking the beach at Los Cerritos, a little south of Todos Santos. On New Years eve people started showing up and soon there were 30 or 40 folks all camped around a very accommodating woman's large palapa and the food started covering the tables and when the pig showed up all roasted and crispy from hours in the local baker's oven we had a mother of all feasts. Kit made her excellent guacamole and everyone brought their signature favorite dishes...yeow! It was awesome! 

Afterward we had a touching and heartfelt meeting with gratitude as the topic and  never have I felt more pleased to be with a group of people in my life....and we all sat and welcomed in the new Millenium.....what a way to welcome it!

I do think we are in the throes of big change as a species and we are beginning to see all across the board that systems that dismiss any of our fellow men and women in any way, are not sustainable, ethical or worth saving.

While we are realizing it and while the change is gaining momentum, it is and will get more and more uncomfortable and as with anything that is worth embracing, there is always the chaos before the settling out at a higher and more valuable level.

I like to think that while it very well may be the end of something, it is also the beginning of something much more sane and kind to our Mother Earth, all our relations and the paradise we are charged with tending.


So, I am tightening up the base camp and getting the rig ready for my winter journeying where I will not only meet with some of my actual family but also with my chosen family of vandwellers for a celebration of life and love.

My sons were both born this month and I am fond of it because of that and of course there is the solstice and the welcoming of the peaceful, inward time of year.

I had a great chat with my son Isaac last night and he and I talked a bit about the season and what he sees in the kids in his charge as well as his own children. I don't think there is a better group of people than children that signal what is going on with and around us....

Peace to you all this time of year and I hope you will join with me to welcome a new age of light and enlightenment and shrug off the insanity of a system of commodification that oppresses rather than enables people.

In Love,

ManyWheelsBrian

Thanks to my friends and family...

We had a wonderful day yesterday at Ranchito Cielo Azul (the Kemsley southern homebase). Ten of us gathered to finish prepping the feast and around a table in the front room to eat. Joe P said a blessing and we went around the table giving one thing each we were grateful for. Then we tucked into a beautiful feast of thanksgiving...

A good meal with lots of laughter and sharing and a good time had by all. If you weren't with us there, I wish you were....another day perhaps you will be and for now just know that our love went out to you wherever you are...

Great blessings as we go out from here....

MWB

Happy Thanksgiving....

I was thinking about the Thanksgiving holiday and how it affects some of my friends and need to say that I am finding that the less I allow the past or even ideas to rule me, the freer I am to BE HERE NOW.

I want to wish you all a great day and I hope you stop and try to make just one person smile today...even yourself.....you are loved by those you don't even know....

Blessings abound in the Universe and we can all claim some by passing them on.....

Happy Thanksgiving...

MWB

For some reason I don't understand, my blog page no longer has the little strip across the top that lets me go to the places where I can make a post, do housekeeping with the blog, etc....frustrating and it must be something I did since it still appears on my other computer, the nettie. Weird but not unusual since my computer literacy is at the level I usually can get into trouble but not get out without help. I would have said that it is at  third grade level but in this day and age third graders may well be way beyond me....LOL

So today I will enjoy immensely since my wife and mom-in-law and good friend Jim C are here and I can just hang out...after the morning Men's 11th step meeting I so enjoy, we will all head down to the Arrey café for breakfast and a blast of New Mexico's finest red chile and then Mom will be filling the house with her pie baking smells...egads, heaven on earth....apples from Kit's tree in Durango made into Mom's pies!!!!!

With the really moderate weather now the mineral bath is getting a workout these days...I take one nearly daily and Jim has and now Kit.....Moms prefers cooler water so too bad for her.

Jim has bought the canned ham trailer and now has his own southern home in TorC...in our yard! He has been a great and close friend for nearly 30 years and I love it when he comes to be here with us. We have traveled a bunch of the world together with him and he bought the land next to us in Alaska and lived there until we sold out and headed south. Ordinarily these days he is in Alaska or in Hawaii when not traveling. A great friend indeed.....

So that's it for now, I am trying to get comfy with posting more often and if it is trivial and mundane (as a friend likes to say...filled with minutiae)...sorry but that is my life many days...trivial and mundane, but the job is to stay present in it and if you like to visit...cool beans...if not, I trust you will give it a skip...

Hugs to all...
MWB with two less wheels...

Thanksgiving....stop, look and be grateful!

I wonder why people who talk non-stop and completely monopolize the rap, invariably say, "Oh I love to travel and meet people and learn about them!!! LOL! Amazing!

I am getting ready for a houseful of folks over the Thanksgiving holiday. I just got a call from friend Jim from AK/HI that he is on schedule for the morning picking up in Las Cruces.... Kit and her mom will be down Tuesday and then a bunch for dinner on Thursday...

Excellent....very big fun coming up!

I'll say it now so I don't have to remember: I hope your holiday is one that you can be grateful for. I know mine is, as well as my amazing life on this spaceship...earth....

Peace,
MWB

Oh man, I don't like the feeling of not having my van in the yard...she's back now and fixed but whoa....weird!

Part of it is not having the van itself, but a lot of my personal stuff resides in her and when she is not handy, neither is my stuff...

I had my sidecar rig and my tiddler and bicycle so I was not going to be immobile but I feel like my van is a part of me.

That is why I take such good care of her, she is faithful and dependable but I need to do my part of keeping her in good running shape....

Happy traveling...

MWB....

Well old Chinookie goes in this morning for the last of the mechanical things for now. She gets a rear brake cylinder leak fixed and a checking and replacing the rear brake shoes if needed....

She is getting antsy for some travel....um, wait...that's me that is getting antsy...

My traveling genes need to be recognized once again.....

Travel well and smile,
ManyWheelsBri and Blue Sky Expeditions

Relief.....is just a click away...

I quit the last forum I was on and the relief is palpable!

I finally realized I was way too attached to what was said, and my role in it all....

Pesky EGO!

I feel much more present and able to be here for the people in my F2F life. Amazing how distractions can seem so important when what is really important is in being here now.

Nothing that profound but it needed doing....and I am here!

I am getting ready for having some family...especially my bride...and friends here in TorC for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday...not because of some early pilgrim drama but because I love it when gratitude is talked about so much and I can break bread with those close to me. 

Some of my Amerind friends hate it and I don't really blame them, but all that very real and terrible history aside, I do like the harvest festival/thanks-for-my-life-and-all-in-it....event...

Also readying the van for some vanliving this winter, maybe Mexico, maybe not...but some nice desert camping and traveling.

Nothing promised but I will make the effort to keep up my blog...I am so inspired by some of the bloggers that I follow....George & Tioga who posts every day...Glenn with To Simplify who is also a daily blogger...

I try to remain apolitical on here but I think I can say that I am greatly relieved to have the political season over with and my president is back to being a president and not a politician...I hope he keeps his head on straight and continues to do right by the 99% and not so much the 1%.

Blessings to all and a very good and healthy holiday to you....

ManyWheelsbri

Kiva....

I joined Kiva.org some time ago and it is really huge fun.Here is a link to them.

Kiva.org

OK, I think this will work....

Kiva is an organization that allows one to make small loans to various folks around the world. I started with an extra $25 I had and have made 3 loans so far....two of my own money and one from the paid back money.

It works so that the money you invest in others is paid back and you can again loan it to help someone else....if you are interested I hope you check it out. It is easy, and for the cost of a few lattes that you will never miss, you can help make a big difference in someone's life who is, just like you and I, trying to feed their family and grow their tiny little businesses.....

Not a commercial....nothing comes to me except I feel really good knowing others may enjoy this too.

Enjoy,
ManyWheelsBri

These last several weeks....

I have been selling on ebay and enjoying the heck out of it. Getting rid of a lot of excess baggage is always good, no?

I bought a jacket the other day and once I got it, realized that it was far too heavy for here and for a trip to old Blighty so I resold it and doubled my money....jeez, I could become a businessman before you know it....


Funny stuff....It does feel really good to sell some things and clean out the storage shed and the shop, etc. a little at a time and not have so much stuff around.

I found we had five extra backpacking camp stoves from upgrading and all so they are all gone now....I still have a few Honda shop manuals from several boxes of them I bought from a shop that was liquidating....I made a fair amount of money on those.

More to come...

Happy trails,
ManyWheelsBri

Change up.....

Hi friends,
I made an interesting change the other day. I withdrew from my online vandwelling forum involvement and I deleted my Facebook account.

I am feeling a bit of a disconnect from my present and I am finding these things too much distraction. I tend to easily get caught up in politics and right now this seems to come from all sides....again, I think it is a distraction.....from what we are doing in and to the world. This "we" is a big, all inclusive..."we"....and I need to grasp firmly my part of it and take a good hard look and see where I can improve. 

I have been doing some studying and researching and while I have no idea what the future will bring, I feel a huge pull toward the spiritual and my own particular path and the practice involved. Of course that happens in the present.

As I journey through life, I have found that when I am hearing the same thoughts, ideas and concepts from many sources, it is time to take notice and see how what I hear may either affect me, or what I can do in regards to what I am hearing...to maybe be of service...at least pay attention..lol.

I know this is esoteric and oblique, but I am not comfortable enough with what I am experiencing to name it yet. That may come later but meanwhile, I am urged outside, to look up and see what manifests as I pass along in my daily moment....

I will make the effort to post more often. I am amazed at the good blogs I follow....I am really enjoying The Adventures of Tioga and George, and Glenn Morrisette's
To Simplify. Both men are bloggers supreme and let us into their days and minds as they go along their paths...George in Mexico with  a Class C Tioga and Glenn in the states with his Chinook Class C.

Happy trails to you all and  God speed,
ManyWheelsBri

Wow...105 degrees today...

So, now it's hot! And mornings and evenings are just awesome here in Ojo Caliente de los Palomas, Nuevo Mexico. I'm not real excited about the idea of a hot mineral bath right now but that will come later. It will feel very good when it cools a bit...

So lately, since it is pretty hard to be outside in the blazing sun during the day... I go out and do an hour or half hour of outside stuff, come in and watch the Olympics for a while, go back out and phart around some more and come back in and cool off.

In the last few days I have been experimenting a bit with alcohol stoves and making some buddy heaters, etc. I have also been messing around with my bicycle to convert it from a mountain bike to more of an around town cruiser so I use it more often....need some cable sheath before that comes together but I think it will be good for me and Dina to get a little more exercise...

I just learned how to use the Calibre program so I can download a larger variety of e-books to my computer and convert them into epub for my Nook e-reader. That will really expand my foraging for good books.

Kit is off in the high mountains of Colorado on a several day moto trip. She is visiting the places where her roots on her mother's side run pretty deep. Leadville, Cripple Creek etc.

That's about it...more as it happens, it is just happening slowly..LOL

Good travels,

ManyWheelsBri

Here are some photos not necessarily in order...

Back to our northern base camp....

OK, so I gave up...go ahead, spank me.

I hit my wall while camped in a nice little USFS campground on the east side of Hayden Lake just north of Couer D'Alene ID.

When I pulled in it was hot, humid and thousands of flies and skeeters, but a guy can take that for a while. I spent the afternoon in the shade, reading and brushing away flies.

Along comes the RV from Hell and pulled in two spaces over, idled his diesel engine for about a half hour, switched it off eventually and then fires up his generator. I never saw the owners but a couple teenage kids went outside, played catch for a while and then had a big fight while screaming at the top of their lungs. Time to get the earplugs out.

Well about the time the bozo shut his genset off...11:00 PM....I heard the rain start and I had to jump up and throw the tarp over Dina and the rig...I was in my Hennessey hammock and had the rain fly up for that, already.

When I woke up in the AM it was still raining, the sky was totally socked in and I realized that I was in for another 5 days of this kind of existence...rain and cold alternating with hot, humid buggy campgrounds with idiots in RVs and who was to say it wouldn't rain all through the rally I was waiting for.

I must say that it was a bottom for me. It took me back to the main reason I moved from Alaska...this was standard for summer bike touring there. Maybe if it hadn't came after nearly a month and a half of the same-o, same-o rain and funky weather.

I packed up the gear, hopped on the bike and even though I had paid for another night, I sped south.

No regrets today as I sit at my netbook in Durango having made it here for Kit and my 27th wedding anniversary yesterday.

So there you have it. No more trips to the Pacific Northwet on the moto.

More later when I have some perspective on it all. I will be here about a week and then be back to my main computer where I can download some photos and put them on the blog.

Hugs to all,

ManyWheelsBri

Hmmmm, too much helmet time...

And because of that, I have come to think that maybe I actually worship the Sun! Yep, I said it....I am a Sun Worshipper!  Without that puppy we won't even be here. I love it sooooooooooo much!

Dina and I made it to DMC in Enumclaw...spent a night in a crackhead motel to avoid a bad rainstorm...didn't sleep much as the tweekers in the next room were loud all night...spent the next two nights in a state park...Tenaskin-Palmer to be exact and the second night got freeking soaked to the bone as well as did  everything we owned...so, the next morning we spent a couple hours in the laundramat to get stuff washed and dried and to go over my mistake that caused the drenching....no tarp up since I only expected drizzles. Hah! there are those pesky expectations again...and nasty assumptions. I didn't take it personal so that is progress with the Four Agreements...lol.

On Monday I showed up at DMC and spent the morning there with the fine folks who own it and work there....the tire came in by 1 PM and it was installed and the rig buttoned up by 2 or 2:30. Jay and Barry said that the rig is set up fine and that car tires wear a lot faster than bike tires....too soft for bikes is the problem, I guess. I had thought they would last longer...bad info. Plus my tire/wheel was out of balance.

I also took a long look at a BMW 1200GS with a DMC M-72 sidecar on it and fell desperately in lust.....my Gawd, I must HAVE ONE! Almost enough to go get a job to put together the many bucks it would take to own one. Not quite though and my aching body says Thank You Bri for not being quite that stupid. I will say that if anyone wins the lottery and feels like sharing the love....I want one in silver/grey just like what sits in Jay's shop....

If you are interested in sidecars, a stop at either Jay's shop or the website Dauntlessmotors.com is a treat....they are currently my favorite builders....

Then I came over the mountains on 410 through Ranier National Park and it was cold, cold, cold....38 degrees and raining of course so I did take a couple shots of the rig next to the snow banks...brrr.

We camped in a USFS campground by the name of Cottonwood for the last two nights and it was blissful...sunny, warm and quiet with only the river and the birds....really sweet and especially good over the fourth of July...no fireworks...Dina is doing fine!

Today in Yakima to do business, get a BC map and an automatic tire balancing product so my rear tire wears evenly.....I want DynaBeads but they have a knock-off only so I hope it is as good or better....

More later but now it is north to BC and a bit of the lake country before my International insurance card runs out....

Stay in the saddle and be aware!

ManyWheelsBri

Still traveling...

Dang it, I have to be the world's worst blogger! I really don't feel like saying much while traveling and it is really difficult to get good connections for wifi...in California almost impossible to find a data enabled Verizon connection!...who knew???? I never found that anywhere I have traveled in the states...No wonder I avoid CA.

So: Cyndi...no pics...just haven't taken any...I get so absorbed by the moment, I forget to record things. I wish I felt like taking them but I just don't. Sorry to my followers...especially you my friend, C....

I will mention a few things though. I have been from Durango where I effectively started the trip, to the coast of California at Fortuna, all the way up to Lincoln City, OR , stayed with friends in Newport and met Susan from the blog MinnyMinerva for coffee in Lincoln City. Both really nice visits. Next stop was at friends in Vancouver, WA and then a run up to friends on the Olympic Peninsula where I spent a couple of nights.  Next a stop with both of my sons and their families...first Isaac in Bremerton and then Jed in Port Townsend. A quick but nice visit with Sarah their mom, as well.

While at Jed's place in Port Townsend, WA I got fed up with rain and cold and I did a  run back down south to the summer Rubbertramp Rondy in an area of the Sierra's near Dinky Creek/Shaver Lake. On the way south I rode on CA route 49 from Auburn to Oakhurst and it was spectacular! Many curves and hairpins and amazing country. My only complaint is that there are next to zero campgrounds the entire way...I think I counted about 4 and that included public and private. I don't get it...but that's the way it works there...a couple of them were exclusive gated RV parks for the folks who are used to gated communities I guess....weird but true...keeps the rabble like me out. lol

My stay at the RTR was perfect.... a bit cool at night but fantastic country, wonderful people and many good meals and campfires to sit around and get to know each other...lots of old friends and new ones I got to meet...one new friend Steve/Nol is a hair stylist and he gave several of us free haircuts, including me and I now have pretty short, easy to care for hair....cool.

Bob Wells once again pulls together a great event! I left after about 4 or 5 nights as I am not really prepared for that cool a night...it got well below freezing..cold enough to freeze Dina's water so I headed back north and am now in Redding taking I-5 north. I think about 10 or 12 rigs showed up throughout the few days I was there.

Usually I do not like superslabs but in this case I am using it to get to Enumclaw and Dauntless Motors by Monday the 2nd of July to have them re-align my rig  and replace a rear tire. I left with a brand new tire on all wheels but I have worn the rear down way too much and in a strange way....I think it is due to the rig alignment changing somehow and I do not have the equipment to make the changes necessary. It is very important to have it done by a good, knowledgeable shop or by myself at home.

Jay has my tire ordered...kind of a rare tire...and it is expected by Monday.

If I can do it, I would like to still pop up to British Columbia for a few days before the USCA rally in Coer D'Alene, ID on the 19th of July.

That is about it....as long as I can stay out of the rain, I am having some very nice camps and good riding, but this old man is liking discomfort less and less as my joints and bones ache. I will go to great lengths to avoid wet camping. I am going to get after my new invention of an actual sidecar camper this winter...it would be a game changer for me...just pull into a Walmart or truck stop or rest area and pop the top and be sleeping by the time it took to find a campground and set up my tent cot...

More will be revealed!

ManyWheelsBri

Excellent travels...

Hi all, I am now at Nelda and Jerries for a night or two....and having a great trip ....In the last week or so I rode over to the coast at Fortuna, CA and up to Newport, OR where I stayed at one of my old Navy buddy's and his family and attended a home school eighth grader's graduation with them. Lots of nice chats and good times. Then today I stopped and had coffee with Susan of Minny Minerva blog fame and it was great to see her.....I had camped with her, another woman Robbi and Steve the wild Texan from our very own ranks at City of Rocks CG in New Mexico much earlier this year...

It is so cool to see my friends Nelda and Jerry! We hit it off at the first RTR and have been good friends ever since....
They are very kind and gracious and it is nice to spend some more time with them.....

Next will be Suanne and John if they are home and accepting guests.

More as we go...

ManyWheelsBri

A little further along...

So after a good night in Cold Spring CG camped with some young bicyclists on their way across country, I headed off at 7:30 AM without coffee to get a jump on what promised to be a hot day....
I had a good ride until just after Reno and the ride up the pass....Here is the post I put up on Yahoo and CRL...:

---

Hmmm, well time to make an admission....shamefacedly... Dina and I got absolutely blasted with cold rain coming over the Sierras and since there is a lot of construction on I-90 over the pass, I wasn't able to get ready for rain and batten all hatches....I did finally get the rain gear on, the cover on the sidecar and then rode for literally hours with both boots full of cold water, gloves soaking wet and cold and a stupid tinted dark smoke face shield .....it got us by surprise!

So that is the lead up to the admission of a night in Motel Six in Oroville, CA to dry off and get warm again. It works good for that...LOL

Now! the bonus to a dry night is that when I was walking Dina Dog, I discovered Taquiria Estrella! A little store front taco joint...20 years in the same spot and if there is one thing I like as well or better than my Arrey Cafe Huevos Rancheros Rojo, are "street tacos" carne asada and/or carnitas! I polished off 4 and am a happy, very grateful ol' dry phart!

We'll see what tomorrow brings for route...not Fort Bragg like I originally thought it would be.

OK, now back to the weather channel....

Happy Trails,
ManyWheelsBri

On the road....

Hi all, I am currently at the Burger King in Beaver Utah for brekkie and wifi...mostly coffee and gas....lol

I spent the night before that in a little bowl up against some cliffs underneath a gorgeous Pinon pine tree that looked like a Bonsai plant...stunning! And free....it was just west of Capital Reef National Park where the CG was full....hah, their loss, our gain!

Then yesterday the ride over Utah Hwy 12 which may be in the top five best rides in America in my opinion. Found a sweet little place called the Burr Trail Trading post where the locals were conducting a tiny little Farmer's Market and I got the most amazing loaf of fresh baked whole wheat bread! Got some good coffee there as well.

My destination for last night was the Beaver Canyon CG in Beaver, UT...yep, no lie!) and Maria's Cocina...where the CG owner's wife cooks some very excellent Mexican food for dinner every day....pork Chimi for me....cheap at $12 for one old phart on a bike. And a nice evening and camp on grass with a great shower and dog walking area...

I will have to wait to put up photos as they are on my phone and camera and it is a pain when I have only a few minutes of wifi....

Today hoping to be well into Nevada and on highway 50...a long and lonely stretch of road...one of the originals though...will upload a pic of that...the rest are on my camera so will put them on my blog when I have the opportunity....

I am going to put in a plug for Utah...a state you don't see talked about on here or on vandwellers forum and I don't know why....there are thousands of acres of free camping and dirt roads to explore and the red rock and sandstone cliffs are mindboggling...
Do yourself a favor and come and enjoy them. If you are mobile enough to. If you are living in a vehicle to live really cheaply of course you won't move it much but, if like me, you live in one to travel and see the country, and I know seveeral of you are...don't pass up Utah....they even sell good coffee these days...lol
Bri

The trip begins....slowly

I left TorC about 9 am yesterday and am now in Durango where I will hang with Kit and take of my honey-do list.

I may be here a week or two but don't know how I will do that long with the elevation...I usually only stay here a week.

Everything is going well with the rig and usually the first day tells the story....

One pesky little development is that my GPS is giving me fits...like not turning on when I need it....not good and I will make some effort to correct the problem or will leave it here in DGO...

I realized I  forgot an item or two and that I left the A/C turned on in the TorC house. I will ask a friend to take care of the A/C  but the forgotten items I can't do anything about...s'ok!

More as it happens....
ManyWheelsBri

Update...

To hell with the little Stanley thermos! It is too much hassle for too little gain....

I instead will stop in stores and buy things like RiceSides that make two meals out of each package for me with a little canned or dried meat of some kind...summer sausage or foil packed Spam slice...maybe tuna fish or Chinese dried, shredded pork. Hey, we live in America where there is at least one food store in every town.

That's all, just got that out of the way...one less thing to carry...

Hugs
ManyWheels

The call of the road....

I am sneaking up to a leave date for a summer on the rig up to and around the PNW...

The bike is in good shape. My camp is sorted out and I am now taking care of the things around the property that need doing so I can leave it with a good feeling. I just finished up the yard and now it is the painting that needs doing....

When it feels like time to leave, I'll ride up to visit with my sweetie in between her job demands, take care of some honey-dos, have a couple of days with Kit to enjoy ourselves and then head west....

I will try to keep up on the blog and get some photos on it as I go...still trying to decide on which computer to take....the old "boat anchor" that has everything on it and is easy to use, or the  netbook with Ubuntu that is light and small and that I have about zero skills with...it's a toss up.

I will try the netbook out for blogging and see how it works for that before deciding. I would really like to take it instead of my older Compaq.

I have been messing around with a 16 ounce wide-mouth thermos for cooking brown rice on the road...I think I have it worked out for short grain brown rice and if, after a couple more tries, I feel good about it, I'll take it along so I can have freshly cooked rice meals.

That's about it....stay well and happy trails,
ManyWheels Bri

Hi folks...I offer this article as a must read for all us passengers of this space ship....

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/07-0

Thanks for reading....please pass on or not as you are moved....
Bri

Nice trip to the Terlingua/Big Bend area....

Camp with tent cot...

Another camp shot...

Well now as the weather warms up and the winds slow down a bit, my traveling juices start flowing.

Nine days ago, friends Jon B and Paul C headed on the bikes down the old highway with breakfast at you know where...yep, Arrey Cafe, then the old highway south until we hit state highway 375 or what is known as the Transmountain route. Effectively doing a nice bypass of the main area of El Paso.

Unfortunately as I travel that way through Fort Bliss, I have been watching the enormous buildup of equipment and what appears to be a hundred or more huge dorm buildings...I won't go into my fears on here but there is something very ominous about this enormous outpouring of money and energy when we are actually supposed to be downsizing the military and winding down a couple wars....go figure...I did hear a guy from the War College being interviewed about where the next US war will be. He was asked whether Iran or Korea and he volunteered: Mexico!  Your guess is as good as mine though. We only know there WILL be one.

So, off east on I-10 til we hit Van Horn, TX and the delightful KOA there. They gave us a good deal on tent space and have their own little restaurant right in the campground....nice folks and the nice German lady half of the owner couple graciously stored our big bag of bratwurst in her freezer so they would make it to Doug C's camp on the Terlingua Ranch properties in good shape.

We spent a hour or two at Doug's and then on to my favorite Big Bend National Park campground, Cottonwood in the Castolon area....for a night. We needed to go in to Doug's on the next night for the grilling of the brats and get together and so we explored along the way. We stopped at each sign and pullout and took a side trip or two and then on to Terlingua Ranch and party time...

The folks who showed up were Paul and Voni Glaves of BMW fame...Paul, a retired city planner writes the Bench Wrenching column for the monthly magazine of the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association....and Voni, a retired school teacher and recipient this year of the Million Mile Award by the MOA usually rides....a lot.

A nice neighbor, Jim Nays, showed up on a little thumper and Ara Gureghian and Spirit the dog showed up. Ara is well known also amongst the BMW crowd, the sidecar crowd and those who follow his blog "The Oasis of my Soul", in which he writes his personal journal and displays thousands of his beautiful photos. Ara showed up in his Honda Element since he and Paul had his sidecar rig apart for repairs....
Apparently Ara is also a traveling chef and will cook for you or your friends for some recompense....all on his site.

Great evening with Voni's homemade salsa for dipping the chips, grilled brats and the Key Lime Pie Ara made with Voni's limes brought back from Key West. Wow...heaven on earth...

We spent another night or two at Cottonwood and then rode to Rio Grande Village with a lunch stop up at the Chiso's Mountain Lodge....pretty good eats and the view was stunning.

We camped another couple of nights at Rio Grande Village campground and the first day took a little jaunt out to the Boquillas del Carmen area and back.

We had trouble getting much of the story about the re-opening of the border so there could be traffic between the US and Mexico at Boquillas del Carmen so we parked the bikes at the entry to the old crossing road and took a hike to see what progress has been made if any. To our amazed eyes there stood a brand spanking new customs house and gate compound completely done and waiting for the way to be granted.

Earlier as we stopped at the Boquillas Overlook to see the sights and look at the highly illegal handcrafts and minerals laid out there waiting for purchasers, Jon and I each made a personal contribution to the people of Boquillas del Carmen. We walked to the other end of the turnout and when we turned around, lo and behold there was a gent from Mexico and his horse....highly illegal you understand, after all there IS a border....well, a river actually, with not very much water in it since most of the water is dammed up in New Mexico. But I digress.....after a chat with him in his perfect English, we found that the Mexican side also has built a nice customs and gate house and that mostly the wait is until after the Mexican elections since somehow that has an affect on it.

So, to make a long story even longer......it looks like maybe, just maybe, by spending a few million dollars on what used to be a sleepy little river crossing that only awaited you to holler across for the boat guy, will now be a highly effective station for the Homeland Security agents  to check your passport and grill you as to what you were doing over in a little town of about a dozen buildings that has a couple restaurants and a bar or two and the other half of a pretty damn beautiful National Park. Oh yeah, and there will have to be some housing in the park somewhere for these agents to bunk in. The kind of housing we had in my parky days will guarantee to give us a few highly irritable and cranky agents to guard us from an incursion of rabid terrorists. That will be good....

Back to Terlingua to help Doug move his Transalp out to the "lodge at Mount Crow" for the summer and dinner at the Starlight Theater in old Terlingua. Excellent food, nice folks and good old timey music on the "porch" there....

We had earlier made a reservation for a campsite along the river in Lajitas canyon so we camped there our last night and it was delightful.

All and all, good trip...some rain and wind but the Tent Cot worked wonderfully for me and I was able to sort out my gear and camp for my summer travels....and the company was great...three olde phartz traveling together and enjoying life....

Happy trails to you...get out and ride!

ManyWheelsBrian

Wonderful Canyonlands...

My camping buddy and sweetheart...

Our camper Listo the "Cabin"

We only had a couple days and a night but it was a nice break in routine and a great camp. What a place...

Hmmm, not so cool....

I finished my initial proto build of my "hack rack" and tried it out and it immediately bent on both ends...I guess 240# is too much for a rack made of electrical conduit. That's OK, it was butt-ugly!

I am keeping it intact and available for any other wild ideas I come up with to actually sleep on my sidecar. It was kind of a neat idea and I see that with a different approach it may yet work.

Anyhoo, I just welded up a couple of brackets that fit in the inboard frame supports I originally planned to use for the rack. This way I have a good place to carry my Kamp-Rite tent-cot and will still be able to sleep up off the ground and use the tent on it for either bugs and/or rain. It is hard to describe but when I get them painted up and finished, I will include a couple photos.

I will have to let go of the idea of being able to do any truck stop or WalMart parking lot camping...certainly not my favorite thing to do but better than paying $25 or $30 a night for a place to lie down for the night. I really hoped to have a way to be able to use the occasional Pemex station in Mexico.

One thing I have been thinking about is filling in my map of states I have motorcycled in and that requires a trip through most states east of the Mississippi. Unlike the west where you can camp just about anywhere, I found it rather difficult to find campgrounds, etc. when I was there....maybe better research will help.

Anyway, there you are...the bike still looks more or less like it did and I remain a pretty lame designer/fabricator....nothing new...LOL.

Happy trails....
ManyWheelsBrian

My new seat.....

Nice lightly used Corbin leather seat....my aft end is very happy....as is my back.

Photos of Panama..

I am including a link to my wife's FB page and you should be able to see the photos even if you are not a member of FB...I have no way to test it though so here is hoping...:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2723960945621.2117262.1455042755&type=1&l=ea88c60d37

You will have to cut and paste to your browser as I can't seem to put a link on Blogger.


Hope you can see them....
ManyWheelsBrian

A last bit about Panama...And home to New Mexico

It is a bit early but we are starting to have some of our spring winds here in NM and as the dust ramps up, I start sneezing...oof, allergies.

We had a great trip to Panama and our goal of visiting all of the countries in the Americas is one country closer. Very sweet country and very, very hard for me to get my head around the idea that in 1989 we invaded Panama. Amazing!

We found that it is an easy country to visit, it seems to be doing well with lots of jobs and a lively economy and that a lot of expats enjoy living there. I would go back any time. One interesting thing was that as the airplane neared the country and we filled out our visa forms, we were handed a folder with a detachable card that informed us that as tourists, we were covered for all our health care needs. How shamelessly socialistic! No wonder we invaded them! That crap can be catching...just think if all of us in the US realized you can actually do that and provide health care as a right and not have it continue to be a for-profit industry, it would turn the country upside down.

So in 16 days we visited the old part of the largest city, the Atlantic side at Boca del Toro, the uplands in the north at Boquete and the Pacific side at Boca Chica....giving a nice overview of the country.

I won't go into all of the experiences we had but there were many and we met a fair number of folks that we really enjoyed.

Now I am home in NM and working on happy-home-owner projects as well as getting my hack ready for a good long summer ride. I am experimenting with some ideas to set up a way that I don't have to sleep on the ground but up on the hack tub. Interesting project and I hope it works out....it would be nice to be up off the ground and able to park overnight in an occasional Walmart or Flying J truckstop....maybe a Pemex in Mexico....

Some pix...

Oh cool, I can post..

I have been having trouble posting on my blog as we travel but now it is working so I can tell you we are in the little town of Boquete here in the uplands of Panama after having spent time in Panama City...Casca Viejo or old town, time in Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast and now the uplands of the continental divide. I will post some pix when I get home next week.

It has been a great trip, with some good experiences all along.....

Yesterday was pretty special as we rented motor scooters and did some riding around the mountains here. I truly believe there is no better way to experience a country or area than by moto. You can smell the different scents as you pass through them, feel the spray from the waterfall or the change in temperature from the sun to the shade...you have to be aware of the surface of the road...all things that heighten ones awareness and experience.

If you ride, I am only preaching to the choir...if you don't ride, I am sorry....I wish you could experience that things I do....

Perhaps a bicycle...that is even more in touch with where you are as you feel the strain of the uphill and exhileration of the downhill....


Enjoy your travels even if they are short...the post office, the store, the dog walk...all so very good.

ManyWheelsBri

The other end...

Here is a photo of the other end of my inspiration...ick...not so good for my taste but Frenchy is an Arctic guy it looks like.....cool beans for sure...I still love the box but mine will be smaller and lighter and the bike will stay like it is....

ManyWheelsBrian

Nice break in the winter weather and everyday life

Early this month I spent some nice time with Kit in Durango and around the 10th headed south in the Chinookie for the desert near Quartzite, Arizona and the 2nd Annual Rubber Tramp Rondy put on by my friend Bob Wells, a nomad who lives in a cleverly converted utility trailer and who spends his life living on various spots of public land.

Last year he counted a total of 43 nomads attending at least part of the three weeks of Rondy and this year by the third day of it he had already counted over 50!

I met my friend Jon B. from TorC there and we spent a little over a week  socializing, going to the workshops and taking a couple long walks in the desert every day. Every night we had a great bonfire and lots of good company and laughs and during the mornings held the various workshops/seminars on subjects important to anyone trying to live lightly and "green" as well as cheaply, in a vehicle of any kind.

The first workshop I attended was the one held by Radio Brian on comm of various kinds from CB to amateur radio. Excellent, informative and inspiring to me to go out and buy a small CB for the sidecar rig! Found the perfect one at a secondhand goods booth in the mix in "Q" for $10 and Brian checked it out for me as "good".

Later in the week Bob held a session on Mexico border health topics with Brian the Younger and Brian the Elder (me) giving tidbits about travel and camping in Mexico. Another traveler, Ann gave some insight regarding overlanding as far south as Panama and a lot of good info was passed around.

Many meals put together by various folks, spaghetti, stew, soup  and it was another huge success by this slightly odd but very open and caring group of nomadic folks.

On the way home to TorC Jon and I stopped in Why, AZ to visit a couple days with our friends Steve and Sue (nomads as well) and Sue's son Sly.  I was looking forward to meeting Sly and am pleased at having a new young friend. He is very artistic, doing me a great drawing of my future self with a pimped out walker and Dina still with me....

Home and feeling good and grateful for my very full and complete life....Again I say, I have never had it so damn good! Thanks to the Creator, good friends and a sober, clean life.

May your roads be smooth and the wind at your back,
ManyWheels

Beautiful weather in Durango...cold at night but oh so clear and sunny during the day...

Great to be hanging with Kitty for a while and just relaxing here in CO. Our little spot here is nice and cozy and warm with gorgeous views of the snow spotted, red cliffs when we go out for a walk....

I will stay here for a few days and then head down to the Rubber Tramp Rondevous near Quartzsite...

 http://cheapgreenrvliving.com/RTR_Calander_2012.html

A great chance to see some of the folks I have met on the Vandwelling and RV forums I belong to and those I met last year there. Also a number of good workshops and discussion groups covering everything from Ham radio/comm systems to living on public lands....not to mention the great campfire evenings and good conversation and meals together....

Friend Jon is coming over from TorC and we may take a couple days and go camp with and visit friends Sue Soaring Sun and Steve B. in Howling Coyote CG in Why.....

Sounds good and the Quartzsite area is a vibrant sea of humanity doing what snowbirds in RVs do....lots of raw capitalism and bartering and bantering....going to town is like walking into a carnival movie set....

More later,

Happy trails,
ManyWheelsBrian