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1 July…Packed up and left the campground in Silverton around 0800 this morning…perfect weather…the van tows the trailer well…I still take it really easy with the motor and transmission though…ease on up and ease on down the mountain passes…stay out of the other traveler’s way and life is good.

Got to Monticello around lunch time and had a nice burger and shake from the Shake Shack…then laundry…all done. Now I’m back at my favorite campsite up in the Abajo Mountains again. The only difference this time is I have the new trailer with me.

The next few days are gonna be taken up with getting the new tires mounted on the buggy…renewing the Utah registration for the buggy…and waiting for the Utah tag for the trailer…should be in a week or so…hope so…oh and lots of walking and napping.

3 July…coffee and pancakes for breakfast this morning…Aunt Jemima mix is great…looks like rain on the way…good we can use it…really dry and fire danger is high…plus it’ll keep the dust down…my enemy…had the new rear Tensor tires mounted yesterday…the fronts still have some life in them…with all the sharp rocks on the passes in Colorado I’m staying with the 10 ply Tensors…I’m usually by myself when I explore so the tougher the tires the better…the folks at Hondaland in Monticello are great…many thanks to Mimi and Brent…lots of folks here at the 70s Flats BLM area enjoying the 4th holiday…watched a few hours of The First 48 and Forensic Files last night on the Dish sat system I installed last year…pretty nice…about $50 a month for entertainment…I only watch a few channels though…most are crap…also have all the mainstream news channels blocked…loving the new trailer…keeps all my stuff (I have little) secure and out of the weather…gonna sell the 250 Rally and get a 125 to stick on the back of the van when I explore and not dragging the trailer along…thinking of Nova Scotia, NFL, Cape Bretton, and Labrador soon (if the borders ever open back up)…will be nice to stop in the small villages and towns, unload the 125 and putter around looking at things…easy…serviced the composting toilet this morning… easy…just take the bottom container out in the woods, dump the compost out, refill with 10 quarts of Hoffman Sphagnum peat Moss and I’m done for another month…depending on how many tacos and baked beans I eat.

5 July…spent a nice few days at the camp spot enjoying the cool temps and people watching the other campers here for the holiday weekend….buggy drives and napping…gonna meet Scott and Julie at church this morning…got up early and came to town for more coffee and stopped by the car wash to spray off the van…still have a couple of hours before church so I’m here at the Monticello City Park enjoying their quiet and shade.

6 July…coffee around 0700 this morning…beautiful day…drove down the mountain into Monticello to get water…ask the clerk at the Maverick for the key to the water spigot on the east side of the building, attach you hose and filter, get as much free water as you wish as it’s one of their services for traveling RV’ers…nice…got 10 gallons…restocked all the groceries at the Blue Mountain Market…$116…will last me several weeks…I do all my own cooking and don’t hardly ever eat out…I’m cheap…gonna head to 3 Step on Wednesday for the night…will be storing the trailer and buggy there until I return in September…then heading out Thursday morning to my buddy Len’s place in Silver City NM…will take a couple of days to drive the 500 or so miles…I love traveling slowly…don’t have a clue where I’ll spend Thursday and Friday nights…plan on being at Len’s on Saturday the 11th…I’m back at the the overlook up in the Abajo Mountains where I’d spent a few nights last week…nobody here…quiet, cool breeze…really nice to have all the doors and windows open while I type away on the blog.

2117 hours…N 38.5293 W 109.3241…dead calm…no other human..I’m good with that….as I look up there’s nothing but a single star…a planet maybe?…there’s no tell tale signs in the sky as I hear the engines of a metal tube full of people above me at 35,000 feet…they’re heading north…a soft hum of propane heating the coffee water…the flames are not waving…there’s no breeze to disturb their purpose…all along the weaving ribbon leading away and down there’s no movement…no LED headlights to contaminate the fast approaching dark…so easy and so quiet…I can hear myself blink…is this how it is in Heaven?…nothing to pull me away from the calm…I sit on the step in the doorway breathing slowly and looking…the first taste of the evening coffee is always good…life is good…

10 July…Wednesday afternoon I got back to 3 Step to drop the trailer and buggy off…Scott, the owner, was kind enough to let me store the stuff there until my return the first of September…that way I don’t have to drag the trailer all the way to Fl and back…all good…many thanks Scott!

Had a great nights sleep at 3 Step…coffee as usual with Scott in the morning and I was off on the road again…had an uneventful drive through some beautiful Utah and Arizona country….all back roads…stopped for the night at an nice RV park (St Johns RV Resort) in St Johns Arizona…temps were around 100f…I wanted a place to plugin and run the A/C…$20 a night with electric!….nice…very quiet night…up at 06300…coffee…bacon…pancakes…wash the bugs off the front of the van…and I was off again 🙂

Holy Moly…I mostly took Hwy 191 instead of Hwy 180…Hwy 191 through the Apache National Forest over the White Mountains is over 100 miles of nothing but climbs, descents, and curve after curve…there were only a couple of times in the whole 100 miles I got out of 3rd gear in the van…took hours…but absolutely spectacular…when I get back here on a bike it’s a must ride for me….and…the temps were above 100f most of the way…the photo shows 107 when I stopped in Morenci for a mid-day coffee…temps would top out at 109 shortly thereafter…the hottest I’ve ever driven in…the van did well…motor ran warm but not overheating on some of the climbs…if I’d had the trailer with me I don’t think I could have made it over the passes in that heat without stopping many times to let the van cool off…may have even had to overnight at some of the pullouts to let the engine cool…lesson learned for the future.

Gonna be visiting my buddy Len (he rode with me on my first ride to Prudhoe Bay, me on my WR250 and he on his beautiful red 1994 BMW GS) for a few days in Silver City NM…I’m not expected at his place until Saturday morning so I found a jewel of an RV park near his place to stay tonight.

The Ridge Park RV park is awesome…$30 a night total…the owner builds customs Harley’s and the park office is in one corner of his really cool bike shop…nice guy…Bill…he put me in a shaded spot…nice and level. I also asked him if I wanted to store my trailer sometime in the future here in Silver City does he offer that service too. He said absolutely… I can store the trailer in his fenced secure parking area for $25 month…perfect…win win!!

Got a message from a reader asking what I snack on…I mix lightly salted p-nuts and raisins…just about perfect for me. I can make a meal out of this stuff…and have many times…makes me fart a lot though…for those who know me know that’s my main form of communicating.

15 July..had a great time the last 3 days at my buddy Len’s place in Silver City…we worked on getting his bike back together after a complete engine rebuild, solved the world’s problems, and looked at some nice lands for sale…I may live my days out in NM…who knows…we will see…the bike purrs like a kitten now…and he even had a nice place in the shade for me to park the van…much appreciated Len for all your hospitality!

Long day today…about 500 miles…the scenery through the Gila Mountains on Hwy 152 as I left Silver City was again stunning…the town of Lincoln NM that Billy the Kid made famous was totally closed, sucks…it’s really interesting…then mostly nice back roads over to one of the BEST city parks in the world.

Levelland TX City Park…just before you get into town…water and power are FREE and I can stay here for three days before I have to pay a $25 fee…I’ll only be overnighting this time but I’ll be back! I’m the only one here and the sunset will be over a beautiful TX field of agriculture…nice and should be nice and quiet tonight.

20 July…I’m back in Florida enjoying the heat and humidity for a while…no updates till I get back on the road the first of September…ya’ll stay safe and intelligent 🙂

12 August…my van was originally insured as a cargo van….since I converted it to a camper I wanted to make sure my insurance was good to go after the conversion. Most insurance companies won’t insure a DIY camper conversion. I’ve been with State Farm for decades. Stopped by my agents place and asked him about updating my policy. He said no problem at all. After 20 minutes the van was re-insured as an RV. Saved me $100 a year too. He didn’t ask any questions about the build or who did the conversion.

August 28, 2020

I’m back on the road. Left Florida yesterday around 3 am to beat the traffic around Jacksonville…got to Maggie valley NC at 2pm after a nice slow drive up. Staying in the grassy field next to the Holiday Motel downtown. The owners let me park there for $10 a day…nice. I’m having dinner tonight with Patrick and Roger, my two riding buddies who live in the area.

Raining today so I’m in the van napping, reading, and adding a bit to my online diary. Here’s a couple of photos of my kitchen and TV areas.

Made coffee and soup for breakfast…brought my small .6 cubic foot microwave with me this time…nice to heat up soup or a frozen dinner from the store. I can run it easily from the 3 lithium batteries but usually fire up the generator when needed. It draws about 1200 watts or around 100 amps if I run it from the batteries with the inverter…not bad.

Heading west in the morning back to 3 Step in Utah to pick up the trailer and buggy. Then over to Silverton CO for a week of glorious mountain pass driving before it starts to get cold. As you can see from my route I’m bypassing all the big cities. A bit of Interstate but mostly back roads…I love me some backroads 🙂

31 August…Spent last night at my buddy Rocky’s place in Oklahoma. His family is just about perfect…a beautiful wife and two way above average kids (there is hope for the future). Leeann and Lauren made lasagna, breadsticks, and an awesome cake for desert. I went too bed full 🙂 Ryan showed us some of his favorite Youtube videos while Lauren tied a great knot in a necklace chain….

Left around 0700 and drove all the way to Alamosa Colorado…was gonna stay at a Walmart in Trinidad but the place is full of methheads…on to Alamosa to their Walmart…still a few potheads hanging around but generally quiet.

BTW…a carwash is a great place to stop and make a meal…breakfast of pancakes and a banana…and cleaned a few bugs off the front of the van.

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