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2 December….I found a quote the other day that just about sums things up perfectly…

“Life Is The Storm Before The Calm“

Took a little drive up to a nice lakeside park this morning…Lake Dias…I’m the only one here…it’s a place I visit a few times a month to just sit and watch the ripples on the water…moss swaying in the wind…and to enjoy the silence.

Life is stormy now…I’m not a very outwardly religious person…I tend to keep my thoughts to myself…faith is something that helps the mind cope…I do have faith that all things happen for a reason…I realize I have no control over many things.

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The little generator is humming along quietly…with the Eco mode selected it barely makes a sound…nice

It’s been overcast for a few days so topping off the batteries is good. I’ve got so much invested in them I want to make sure they last a long time.

20 December…got a call from the dealer in Utah saying my little Honda Hunter Cub 125 is in…awesome…can’t wait to pick her up….probably will leave shortly after Christmas to head out there….got my carrier already installed on the van…now it’s just waiting for the Christmas stuff to get over.

The photo makes it look like the carrier sticks put on the passenger side…nope…camera perspective distortion…it’s perfectly centered.

23 December…I pray all of you boys and girls have a great Christmas…I’ll be headed out to Monticello Utah next Wednesday to pick up my new little 125…then south to Arizona for the winter. Merry Christmas!!!

28 December…starting the load out today…gotta wash the van…I always start a trip with everything clean…stock the pantry and fridge…top off the fuel.

I’m looking forward to this trip…love the new wheels and tires…the ride is nice and the bigger tires look much better than the small (sort of) tires the van came with.

Last winter out in southern AZ the cell service was a bit weak in some areas…I added another antenna for my cell booster…it’s directional and supposed to give me almost 65db in boost…the small omni-directional one I’ve been using is good for about 30 to 35 db in gain. Took the legs off one of my old photography light stands and mounted it on the rear ladder using two stainless hose clamps. I can run the antenna up about 10 feet above the roof of the van. I can use my phone to see which direction I point the antenna for the best signal…we will see.

The antenna is not connected in the photos.

30 December…I’m on the road! Left around 0830 this morning and drove up to the Cracker Barrel in Crestview FL for the night…right off I-10…easy one and off…I’ve stayed here many times. Feels so good to be traveling again…but…there was a bit of sadness when I left…my little niece cried when I told her I was leaving again but she cheered right up when we had a talk about being good and helping out everyone.

I gave her an iPhone for Christmas…I set it up for no phone calls or internet at this time but she can watch her favorite kids YouTube channels, play kids games, text her dad, me, her sister, and FaceTime. Her dad will make the decision when the phone is activated for calls.

Drove about 375 miles..stopped around 1530…love to stop early and get relaxed. Tomorrow I’ll continue on I-10 till Mobile AL then back roads for a few hundred miles though AL, MS, and LA…love to see what’s off the big roads.

Oh…and I bought a new iPhone 12 Pro Max…the camera system in the thing is wonderful…this was shot hand held at the Cracker Barrel tonight…almost totally in the dark.

31 December…nice drive today…took I-10 over to Mobile then turned NW on easy, uncrowded back roads over to Hazelhurst MS…about 300 miles…not driving lots of miles each day…got tons of time till pick up the little bike in UT…Super Walmart…not crowded at all…heavy rain forecast for all night so I’ll sleep like a baby in my cocoon…will cross LA tomorrow and probably stop in Jacksonville TX for the night…another Walmart…I LOVE not spending any money each night for accommodations!

Averaging about 19.4 mpg so far…good with that…me and the van are running well 🙂

1 January 2021…Happy New Year homies! A nice quiet night at the Walmart last night…no rowdies in the parking lot spinning donuts…left this morning early just as the sun was coming up…love the early mornings…headed across LA on small back roads…crossed into Texas just after lunch…stopped about 5 miles inside TX at a little roadside picnic place for some peanut butter sandwiches and cold milk…and two chocolate chip cookies…the soft ones…hate the hard ones…this was on highway 63.

These little picnic places are scattered all over TX…really nice.

Pulled into the Walmart in Huntsville TX for the night…it’s between Houston and Dallas…I NEVER drive through Houston or Dallas…like driving in Hell I suppose…two small sirloin steaks and a salad for dinner (one piece of milk chocolate too)…I’m taking a more southern route than planned to miss some of the snow north of I-10…BIG storm there Thursday night…I’ll be on a small part of I-10 near the NM border in a couple of days…the snow should be gone from the roadway by then.

Time for some Youtube and coffee…TTYL.

3 January….5th day on the road…feels great…moving slow and easy…missed all the snow that fell the past few days in west TX and NM…good…tonight at the Walmart in Edgewood NM…nice and quiet so far…tasty egg sandwich for breakfast this morning…easy to make and nutritious with whole grain bread, real butter, and fresh egg.

This was next to me last night…really?…probably got $400,000 in the rig and all the stuff and staying for free in a Walmart parking lot….but…come to think of it, the thing is so big there’s no RV park big enough to park the thing 🙂 geez some folks never leave home or he has a bad case of “I need to impress people with my stuff”…..he’s got two Can-Am three wheelers stacked behind the truck cab…how does he get the things unloaded?

Good Morning Vietnam!…pulling out this morning right at sunrise from the Walmart

I usually drive around 55 to 65 mph…today 65 seemed so harsh and finite…64 was so much softer and nicer…this train was paralleling I-40…I was doing 64, the train was doing 64…I followed along beside it for about 40 miles…enjoyed that.

Still some snow along the roadway as I traveled north into NM

Late tomorrow I should be in Monticello UT…hope to pick the new 125 up on Tuesday then make a beeline south to my friend Len’s place in Silver City NM. I have my trailer stored across the highway from him. I need to install a couple of tie down eyelets in the floor of the trailer to secure the bike inside. Hope Len can give me a hand (you reading this Len haha).

Anyway…more after the break…

I’m back…four small pieces of Bovine muscle and mixed veggies for dinner tonight…I like my steak cooked all the way through so I usually buy an 8 oz sirloin then butterfly it into smaller pieces…cooks really nice with a little bit of butter in the pan…then to top it off a bit of Cholula sauce for some kick. I know some of you don’t care about what I cook on the road…that’s ok…I don’t complain when you post pictures of your cats licking their behinds on facebutt 🙂

Strange cloud and sky over the van tonight…pretty though.

5 January…stayed at the Maverick mini truck plaza in Monticello last night…always quiet there…about 8 in the evening the city had a nice fireworks show in the park next to the Maverick…really cool…lasted about 20 minutes.

Woke this morning to 25 degree temps and cloudy skies…kinda dreary…the diesel heater was humming along well at 70 degrees in the van.

Around 9 I went to the Honda shop to pick up the new bike…it was ready to go…paid Brett for the thing…went to the insurance place to get it insured in Utah…then across the street to the DMV for my tag…only took about an hour for everything…loaded her up and headed south towards Gallup NM for the night at the Cracker Barrel…I stay there a lot.

Aint she purdy…I’m gonna love puttering around and exploring areas where I set up camp…I can carry it on the carrier or in the trailer when I have the buggy along…best of all worlds for me…it only weighs around 250 pounds…easy to load and unload by myself.

Anyway…I’m in my usual slot here at the Cracker Barrel in Gallup.

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