Travel...

Aha....Kit rolls in tonight and tomorrow we are off to the old isles....the UK. Good friends are staying and watching over my little fur-buddy Dina and I know she will be in great hands....

So much I want to see and "feel" in England! We will be thorough and will stay in southern England, east to west and back. Some just to see sacred sites and areas and some to see where my very ancient ancestors were rooted.

I wish there was time to take my metal detector along and do some treasure hunting...it is awesome in the UK....you can find Roman artifacts and celtic pieces in the same fields sometimes.... 

An interesting aside is that the DNA retrieved from remains in barrows dated back as far as 4000 years before Roman occupation matches up with DNA from present day citizens. Does that not mean they are indigenous?

I hope to find at least some little connection to early oral traditions and feel something of what my forebears felt...well except for the drunken Laird of the Manor in Shaftsbury of the 1500's....I know enough about the cups!

More later friends and I wish I could take you all with me.

I am going with the belief that I am in the Creator's hands and my health will hold steady throughout the trip.

Be Peace,

MWB

Oh yeah...nature...

Ummmmm boy. That was nice....So glad to be able to get through the health stuff enough to camp a couple nights...

It was sweet, a site along the Gila river within a few minutes walk to a nicely built hot pot to soak in.

I enjoyed meeting my brother-in-law's new lady friend....a very nice soul and it was good to camp with him as well.

The photo is of our little camper on the way home....God how I love new Mexico....

Back home and getting ready for our visit to the Isle of Albion....yay...

Be Peace...

MWB

My good news...

Yes! The cumin seems to have been the culprit and I am feeling a lot better....in fact so good I am going camping with Kit and Abel, her brother, for a couple days....!

This is one of Abel's secret special places. I am really looking forward to it...it has a small hot spring also....

Best to all my friends and family.....

Be peace

MWB

hmmmmm...dammit!

Well I goofed again. Not enough caution in what supplements I take...I do have it down to a couple, well-researched by me, supplements now and won't be adding any anytime soon....

I thought I was wise in using cumin as an anti-inflammatory, joint help addition to my diet. I was taking two caps a day one in the morning and one in the evening....

The doc had asked if I took any kind of blood thinner and I had stopped the 81mg aspirin I was taking, so I told him no.

Something finally niggled my hind-brain enough to get my attention though and I did some research on cumin...yikes! WebMD says to not take it if you have any kind of blood issue....who knew? "Ask your healthcare provider" is something that just doesn't ring a bell for me as none of my medical community that Medicare or my excellent insurance covers will tell me much at all about supplements since there is no federal oversight nor any real  research done in the US available for most of them.

So to make a long story shorter, by taking the cumin supplement I was exacerbating my bladder bleeding issue.

This is reminiscent of when my first urologist in Boise, ID asked me to please run anything "supplemental" that I was taking by her since there are elements that actually will mask the markers for the cancer I have and make me think the cancer is "cured" when in fact it isn't and it will grow unchecked.

Beware...be-aware....

Peace,
MWB

Power of prayer and visualization....

Hi friends,

Well today...the 20th ....I am appearing to be back to a good facsimile of "normal"!  Had a great night and my body is feeling good, I have no medical devices clamped or inserted and I appear to be free of losing blood....

Thank you my friends and family for your beautiful, healing and warm thoughts and prayers. It worked and while I will go slow for a couple days to keep the healing doing it's job, I think I am over the rough stuff for today, which of course is all we have....so I am thrilled!

On a low note, my efforts to digitize my father's tapes is scraping the bottom....damn ignorance! I often find myself lost in the world of computer jargon and lacking the experience and/or the knowledge to move forward and this is one of those times. I find the right software and download it fine but somewhere along the way it asks me things that are greek or geek and I have no idea about...things like ASPI drivers that I do not have on my little old puter...argh....

Obviously not an area where my intuition works for me....:)

Anyway...enough and I hope your day is computer/stress-free.....

Love and Peace,

MWB

Trying to not a wish away a day....

I am soooo, impatient to get to the docs tomorrow. TMI as to why, but it will be a relief and hopefully a step out of the medical drama...

Meanwhile since I have been locked into my house for about a week....and I am a hand-on kinda guy....I am going a little stir crazy...tons of reading, praying and meditating...(what happens if I become too spiritual?)
haha...joke...., video watching, etc.

So today, and I really needed to get to this, I dug out the 28 120 minute cassette tapes of my Dad's life narrated by him and  started digitizing them for the rest of my family.

Oh man, to hear his voice after all these years is a rush. I miss that ol' boy so much and feel lucky to have had him as my Father.

I am using a Ion tape convertor and have yet to see how well it works. I am uploading to Itunes and hope to download to thumb drives for the family.....

A good use of my time....

I listened through the first tape side and wanted to keep listening but I will try and increase the volume a bit in Itunes to make it easier to hear him.....

Peace,
MWB

On and On and On......

Still down with this health problem.  Not much to say about it....Hopefully when I go in to the doc on Monday I will be able start moving on from this....

I have been meditating more and visualizing healing more so that may help.....or maybe it already is...

My friend, Lester H. from Vandwelling circles came and visited and was helpful both for the distraction and some things like mowing the yard for me. He is now in Biloxi I believe, working a new job.

So other than that...all is well and I continue to feel gratitude for being alive and on earth with you all...

Peace,
MWB

Uuugh!

The last few days have been filled with urinary tract drama and I will let it go at that...the rest is way TMI...LOL
I am home in TorC again and seem to be on the mend....
Thanks for the prayers and warm thoughts from my friends and family....you are the best!

Peace,
MWB

Changing views...

These last few months have been enlightening to me as I find that I REALLY enjoy being grounded in one place.

I spent my entire life living the life of a nomad....honestly, from the first I remember traveling across the US on a train with my mother and sister and I was maybe 4 years old...to the last long trip on the moto-rig, I have adventured and lived much of my life on the road and moving about the country and some of the world.

When I was going through the ironing out of my Vietnam war experiences, I spent a lot of time with a VA counselor and VA psychiatrist. One thing the counselor mentioned to me during our journey together was that the one thing I had never done in my life was to stay somewhere and grow roots...ooof, I didn't really think that had a lot of interest to me so I put it on a back burner. Maybe sometime in the future I might find somewhere that actually felt like a place I would call home and I would revisit the idea.

Well it has happened and I am finding it to be refreshing, comfortable and perfectly natural feeling for me to be here in the present, in my chosen (or that the Universe provided) place on the planet....

What an interesting thing for a guy addicted to motion and movement to find out!

I can go anywhere in this little town and meet friends and acquaintances, most of whom I like and enjoy, and have a conversation or just a quick howdy do and feel like I know my neighbors. Our conversations pick up where they left off the last time we met and leave off again where we stop talking...

I guess this has something to do with roots...I don't really know...it is, as I say, a foreign concept to me. I always find it easy to talk to and meet people wherever I am...it is a gift I enjoy....but to have the continuity is really pretty nice.

Here I am invested, financially, politically, emotionally and very much a citizen among citizens...here I can make a difference even if it is just a smile and asking how someone's loved one is faring....

Maybe this is old hat for some...maybe it is your turn to live the nomadic life and I honor that. It is good. But I don't carry envy, just a gratitude for having lived my life as full as it has been and to find that in the later years I can enjoy the comfort of a hometown....

Peace,
MWB

Lately...

I don't have much to report of late. Lots of doctor stuff trying to stay ahead of the cancer and be sure nothing else is sneaking up on this 'ol boy. I truly want to be healthy enough to travel in September.

Also I am hosting some CT90 building in my yard and shop...we bought 7 and I had one in pieces already...Ed is building two, Dick took one back to MI for his grandson and Steve is heading toward building one for himself....fun for me, helpful to them and the ultimate goal and my main agenda is to have more buddies on them to go explore the desert with. I don't do it alone any more because at my age and medical issues, not a good idea to be a lone wolf.

I slowly go through the material stuff that is clogging my space and sell it on Ebay or give it away, or in some extreme cases, throw it out...argh, yeah I know....it's only when it is in the last ditch. (grin)

My spiritual life has reached another dimension and I know I have talked about it already...it just expands and resonates for me. I have been really inspired by my native American friends who have embraced their oral traditions and how it has given them such a better a grasp on their roots and inspired them to learn and keep alive those traditions.

After a particularly amazing Navajo sweat with several of my local brothers up in Window Rock, one of whom is a full blood Native American, I was encouraged to pursue my own roots as I have deep roots in the UK. My forebears sat in sweat lodges as well and invoked the same earth spirits. I know it was transforming for me and the impetus I needed to pursue the path I am on.

I am on that path now and amazed at how the traditions resonate with me.....

So I hope to meet some of you on the path,

Blessings be,

MWB

A little gem....

This is by a fellow named carverdoug....after you listen to it his weblog is worth a look too, incredibly talented carver as well as songster....

http://www.carverdoug.com/audio/bigbookboogie.mp3

I hope you enjoy....
MWB

Ride up Emory Pass..

I was invited yesterday to do a day ride up in the Black Range with a couple of friends. Pat and Fred and I took a nice ride up to the Emory Pass overlook and it was the first time I had seen the burn from the Silver fire and how extensively  it had affected one of the most scenic rides in southern New Mexico.

It was pretty stunning to say the least. I took a pic from the overlook and it is of an  area that was completely treed and green a month ago....

And here are a couple of the view from Truth or Consequences while the fire was raging.

For those who aren't aware, this was a fire in Kit's forest and what has occupied her dispatch center for the last few weeks....it is effectively out now with the advent of the monsoonal rains...thankfully.

Peace,
MWB

Latest personal news....

I am excited to share that I have gotten a great, clear set of  health reports that covered my entire body! I still have cancer and emphysema and a bad back but the rest is good. In some cases really good....

The drugs I take to manage these things appear to be working and I am relieved to say the least.

So on to more fun and interesting things like.......oh, I don't know...motorcycles? Yeah, that's the ticket...motorcycles!

Peace to all and thanks for the warm thoughts and prayers....

MWB

I know I have said I wanted to keep my blog advert free and I do. However my good friend Ed Adkins, a mildly eccentric and delightful inventor has invented something that I think is a wonderful tool and I want to share it.

He has initiated a crowd-funding for it on Indiegogo and if you like, you can take a look. I don't get anything but the enjoyment of seeing him be successful with the product. I did buy the DIY kit for my own garage. And I really look forward to receiving it in January or February.....

Anyway, here you go...look or not and it cost nothing to look....you decide....

http://igg.me/at/centipede-sawhorse
Peace,
MWB

Truth.....

This morning I practically watched the goatheads appear in my yard due to a hard rain last night...
Just the truth of nature.

Peace,

MWB

Good morning....

I woke up at 3:00 AM and laid awake thinking about many things, not the least of which was how little is known about the early Druids.

I am really just amazed at time spans....like that the Romans occupied the British Isles for 400 years before pulling out. They interbred of course like any good occupier. We have been occupying North America for that long....and have interbred like any good occupier...
The Incas, while a very old culture, were only top dogs in western South America for 100 years before the Spanish came along and nearly exterminated them and colonized/occupied much of the continent..

Having been born and bred here in North America I have trouble with time spans longer than 400 years....
An interesting factoid is the the Camino Real trail between Mexico City and Santa Fe New Mexico is 4000 years old. 4000 years old!...that is a  long time in anyone's book.

So the Romans were in and out of Britain before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  The Druids were pretty much wiped out as the Romans began their occupation of Britain.

Now what I am learning is that many of our elder belief systems were pagan and held to the TRUTH of nature....including the Druids. Nature can only be truth, much of what we say and believe in our personal and collective imaginary worlds is untruth and fantasy.

Interesting and amazing....and excruciatingly simple.

Peace,
MWB

Aha, back on me 'horse!

Life is good today. A couple of good friends are back in town and they are peaceful souls...very calming and positive to be around.

After friend Cyndi mentioned the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with the phrase: "Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right then it is not yet the end.", I watched the movie and totally agree with the phrase...thanks Cyndi and my other good friends....

All is well here in the desert! It is currently raining...apparently the Rain Dance Celebration that we all held  on the summer solstice worked and brought the monsoon season a bit early...how cool is that? There was  a main celebration in Silver City with Blue Thunder leading it via Skype as he was elsewhere, and a drum/prayer circle in our local town park. Those of us who had prior engagements joined in prayer and wet thoughts and it has rained twice here in TorC and more than that over the mountain in Silver....it feels very, very good in this drought burned river valley.

Blessings to all,

MWB

This morning...

I have been hesitant to post since my mind is in a dark place these last couple of days. A series of upsets came along and I guess that set me in that direction.

Nothing dramatic but as a friend says, "sometime that will happen in a big operation like this!" Kind of a size check, huh!? Hahahaha

Anyway, I have been reading books and watching videos relating to Druidry and Britain before the Roman occupation. I would like to post more about that but need to wait until I am in a more positive head-space.

"If the path is clear, you are on someone else's!"  Joseph Campbell

MWB

When the going gets tough the tough get more wheels!

Ha, take that old cancer cells!

I'll build bikes at you!!!!

Good distraction and they aren't for me...several for close friends and my fun in helping them build them

I am also considering selling the Chinookie and the Goldwing sidecar rig. I want to get rid of all the extra GL parts...two titled frames, and enough parts to build a nice bike that I will never do....maybe I can sell the hack rig with the parts? It is all up in the air....the less I have around me and the less to do, the more energy I can put on holding off the cancer.

I can't afford to buy another hack until I sell the one I have so it goes on the block....it has done me well....

Anyway...it was long past time for a post and Kit suggested me share what's going on these days.

Love to all and keep on rolling.....

MWB

Quest into the unknown indeed....!!!!

Well my health situation just took another twist and the prostate cancer has taken a jump from wherever the little bastard was lurking onto my spine.

The good news is I am on the right treatment for it, a drug cocktail that has relatively painless but annoying side-effects and I think we can keep it slow growing if not gone. Or so my doc says...

I don't want to get into details much but I really don't know whether I will keep a blog going or just take it down....

I hate reading about or listening to someone's health care drama and I think maybe you do too. If I find that it becomes a primary thing in my life I may close up blog-shop but if not...maybe just hang in there....

Keep to the trail...or wait, screw it,  head out across country, just enjoy your day.....
MWB

More wheels....

My recent replacement for the old Subaru that was sold off about 6 months ago...

It is a 1985 Toyota Xtra cab 2 wheel drive 5 speed that gets a cool 30+ mpg. It shows 250K miles on it but since it was towed behind an RV for much of it's life, it is actually much less mileage on the drive train. Ity is nice and tight and well taken care of and will be my runabout to Las Cruces, Albuquerque and back and forth to Silver City. Those miles add up and at $3.55 a gallon of true petrol sin alcohol, it does add up. Plus it is a really minimalist camp-mobile...that's fun.

I will look for a higher canopy or even a Flip-pac tent camper if one should show up...

Anyway, more as it happens,

Happy trails,
 MWB

Oh Boy!

Now that is what I call, a sweet ride! I had to go back to the DMV to straighten out a glitch in the registration but since I already had the plates, I rode the Alp down to Hatch and back...a 75 mile ride on State Hwy. 187, the old hwy, a nice two laner through chile, cotton and pecan growing areas....

I have to say I am absolutely thrilled with this bike. It just wants to be ridden and the rider quickly becomes a part of the bike.

My Alp has a Supertrapp exhaust that sounds just like a moto should...like a trumpet! I had a hard time keeping it down to speed limit or just over...it wanted to rip.

I knew all this was true but it was quite a while ago in 1994 I last rode one...my friend's first as I mentioned. It made an impression though and I am really amazed that riders didn't demand the Honda USA bring these in again.

Anyway, just a report of my first ride on Alpenglow and I can hardly wait to head out again....

Peace,
MWB

A new family member...

Alpenglow...my new-to-me 1990 Honda XL600V Transalp has made her appearance in the garage....she has been sorted out and tidied up a little and is ready for our first ride tomorrow morning.....

I have admired and desired one of these ever since I saw my first....my friend and Alaskan riding buddy Doug C. bought one in the 90's....I rode it one time and fell in love with the model.

I bought this particular one from Doug...his third and am quite happy with it so far.

The model is one that Honda designed to compete with BMW  R80G/S back in the mid 80's...Honda brought it in to the USA for two years only, 89 and 90, sales were flat so they dropped the importation of them. The rest of the civilized world got them until as recently as 2008 possibly later, I'm not sure....

It was intended as a enduro with the emphasis on the road part but I know that that they hold their own on rough single track as well as the BMWs and the other heavy "Adventure Tourers" although none are designed as a technical off-road machine.

I may hang a hack on it but will keep it as is for a while...maybe pull a trailer so Dina can go with me....

More later,

Stay well and engaged,

ManyWheelsBrian

Time slips by...

I have been busy helping my bride move her base of operations to Silver City, NM. She took the job of Dispatch Center Manager there and we had to get her moved.

The Durango trailer sold to the first caller, she found a sweet little house in the Arenas Valley to rent for a decent price and I have been back and forth to Durango and Silver a few times trying to be of help where I can....so...nothing going on much to blog about.

I am keeping busy so I don't have to think about my new bike too much...I will go and get it when the P.O. gets down to where it is stored...yikes, patience?...nah, thanks anyway...I'm really wanting the pony to be in my garage! NOW!  OK, I'll practice my patience....

I am considering a trailer hitch on it and a small pull trailer for Dina to ride in. Fewer modifications, cheaper and I can still ride a two wheeler...all good pluses especially since I now have a reason to ride Emory Pass back and forth...yahoo....the New Mexican Tail of the Dragon/Espina del Diablo...

Shiny side up,
 MWB

Juicing....

Latest is the greatest....! I finally found a good used juicer I could afford and bought it....man what a treat to have something I don't have to clean three or four times before I get a vaso of the good stuff.

I found an Omega 4000. The one with a plastic case...got to be gentle....and all stainless innards...

I also just assembled a 5 gallon plastic bucket "balcony composter" and can use my waste organic material in a good way now.

I seem to be staying home more these days, enjoying it a lot and thinking about maybe doing a few things like start building some gardening soil, etc.

I don't think things will implode but I think things including the climate will continue changing and in some fairly radical ways and it can't hurt to develop the property to be a more sustainable place for our future.

That's what I am up to these days as well as helping Kit move to Silver City and her new post there as manager of the USFS dispatch Center there.....

We are happy to be only 2 hours apart rather than the 6 hours it has been....it is much better and the ride over Emory Pass is awesome.

Cheers,

MWB

Latest van makeover...

I will get some pix taken soon and put them up but I finally finished the latest van makeover and like it a lot.

My goals were to take out all bulk propane, make the passenger seat swivel, lighten up on stuff and build a way that I can expand the bed so Kit can occasionally travel with me in the van.

It all came together and is more open and spare and safer as I don't expect any more fires due to the propane. I had two fires on the last trip and they were extremely disconcerting....this was with many precautions and checks for leaks....I actually think I will try to do most of my cooking outside the van unless I am in bad weather.

I am not recommending anyone else do this regarding propane but it makes me feel much better.

So until I take some photos....

Peace,
MWB

Yeeees! New bike for the old guy!

As usual, not much time goes by before Mr. ManyWheels adds some more wheels to the rancho fleet.

This time it is a close friend's 1990 Honda XL600V Transalp....a bike I have wanted for many years, about 16 or so.

To add to the joy is that the top box I made for Kit's R65GS and our trip through the Americas that ended with a bad crash on the Dalton Highway comes with it. This box was traded to the guy I am buying the bike from and it now comes home...cool beans...the only example from my aluminum TIG welding projects that I will have.

These bikes were only brought into the US for two years, '89 and '90. A real shame since the bike was made until 2007 and went from 600cc to 650cc and ended with the 700cc version. Extremely popular throughout the world and coveted by us in the USA.

It's big brother, the 750cc Africa Twin never even made it here at all and is even more coveted.

I think I will leave this a solo bike for a while and eventually add an enduro style sidecar with no mods to the bike so it can be ridden solo or as a tug.

I am excited and honored to be the fourth sober AA guy to own this particular moto....kinda cool.

Stay tuned. I won't go get it for awhile since it means a drive with the trailer to Terlingua, TX where it rests in a shed, waiting for me to liberate it from....TEXAS!

I'm coming! Don't despair...there IS life after TEXAS!

This is a shot of a similar bike, same year, different color.

O-boy!

Peace,
MWB

New stuff....

Home in TorC again...man I love it here! It has really gotten my attention since I never thought I would find a place that would hold me like this little town in this redneck state does. I thought I would always be restless and have itchy feet and I guess I still do to a degree, but it is often just to take a little break from daily life.

I found on this last trip that my van felt small to me and I thought I might like more room. Hard to get that without the negative of worse mpg.

Well, instead of making too fast a move, I am redoing the little Chinookie with the idea in mind that I am really only taking short trips in it and I have been packing for expeditions! So? Cramped space with way too much crap I don't use...

I have sung this song many times before. Never have I been able to cut down enough on what I think I need to have along on any trip...

I have been inspired many times by folks who travel with almost nothing and do it well.

So...the van is emptied out, a swivel added to the passenger seat, batteries re-arranged and stowed under the bed...I went back to one large 12v deep cycle and took out the two T-105 6v batteries...I don't really need so much power storage. It is a bit lighter and takes up less room.

I have taken out a bunch of stuff that I don't ever use including some tools and compressor, etc. trinkets, and redundant stuff...extra TP, extra paper towels, etc.

Next the propane system came out, back to the one pounders for the Buddy heater and a new small butane stove like several of my vandweller friends use and like.

The big puzzle will be how to build a bed that is a single bunk while I am alone in the rig and a double size when Kit is with me...a puzzle but it can be solved....

More later,
Happy trails and peace.

MWK

At the Infamous Third Winter Rubbertramp Rondezvous

I arrived on the 8th and found a lot of my good friends and many others already ensconced in their chosen spots in the area Bob chose for the event....My spot being next to Jerry and Nelda and their Roadtrek right near the main fire pit.

Great group so far with many first timers...some new to the mobile life, some not so new.

There have been a few group meetings and twice daily group dog walks with the dozen or so dogs in the group so far.

This morning there was a seminar on the hows and whys of choosing a home state/address/maildrop, drivers license, vehicle registration, etc. and quite a few showed up for it....looks like something is planned daily with a few group dinners and breakfasts planned as well.

I have already found some of my spiritual fellows here and we have had some nice chats and sharing.

The rigs are phenomenal and I have fallen in rig-lust for one for sure, and two other possibilities. As I think I mentioned it is time to enlarge my space and since I find I am not interested in ranging so far now, I do want it to be big enough to stand up and move around in and be able to pursue some hobbies in and to have Kit join me in some travels in it...

The Mobile Traveler still calls me as always, I see that a Roadtrek 2100 would be nice and then there is the extended full size high roofed cargo van route such as my friend Cheri has...and do the build myself...and the last  is prolly the best idea.

I will have to put the request for something out there and see what the universe has in mind...it is always better than I can invent myself....

More later though,,,

Happy trails,
MWB

Yuma...

I landed in Yuma a couple days ago and my friend Roy (living these daze in his new to him 1989 LazyDaze class C)  is showing me the ropes here....I nice WallyWorld parking lot for the nights and an amazing Kroger store with a bakery/cafe with easy chairs and good wifi with lots of outlets for computer stuff and tv watching. Did I mention it is a bakery???? Well not only that but an actual food court...hehehe....

Lots of good conversation and taking care of business and maintenance. Today a shower at the Flying J, a great steak and egg breakfast at a good local restaurant. And that is only so far....it is 11 AM.

Last night he took me to a very good little meeting at the Foothills Alano clubhouse....a wonderful campfire  meeting with several oldies and a few newcomers...nice!

So about Tuesday or Wednesday I (we) are off to the Q for the RTR....I think Roy may go, but not sure...he has been invited.

Really looking forward to visiting with many old friends and making some new friends...yay!!!!.... life is good indeed...

Blessings from the southern frontier where it is low 40's at night and mid 70's in the sun....ohya, ohya...

MWB