Page 25

23 Jan 2021…It’s really nice here at my campsite…good internet (mostly)…neighbors far away…there’s gas in the little town of Bouse about 6 miles away…topped off the buggy, little bike, and my 5 gallon can…no need to go anywhere for a while now…I take hikes, naps, fiddle with the van…and listen to my music…finally broke down and bought a pair of Apple AirPod Pro ear thingys…man those things sound great…don’t know why I waited so long…I’m cheap?…pork chops for dinner tonight…got the van all vacuumed with the new vacuum cleaner today and all is spic and span…no wind now and just about perfect to sit outside and just breath…took a few more shots of Trouble’s Traveling Cup #2 on my hike this morning…the camera in my new iPhone 12 Pro Max is really nice.

Pretty sky this afternoon

24 Jan…this is my backyard

I love being in the van during bad weather…I’m always nice and cozy…with the systems I’ve built into the van I can stay warm, dry, and cool during any kind of weather event. I especially like to read, listen to music, and watch some Youtube during a big rain event…and it looks like I’ll be really happy this afternoon…

I usually go for a hike most every day…I love walking in the desert…the crunch of the stones, the wind blowing through my hat, the toxic noise we are constantly bombarded with these days is gone…sometimes I leave my phone and camera behind…it feels great just walk and enjoy the stillness knowing there’ll be no interruptions.

I’ve done many things…built buildings, surfed, served in the Army, delivered newspapers, raced motorcycles, earned a nice living photographing women, had a bit of satisfaction helping my community as a Law Enforcement Officer…all gave me a lot of pleasure and satisfaction…and pain…a few times. I’ve never been married but did come close a few times…no children…I do miss some of the things I could have had…a family…but many things I’ve done could not have been done if I’d chosen to be a family man.

These days are simple for me…I work hard to keep it that way…many decisions people make only tend to make matters worse or too complicated…most times the simplest way is the best outcome…maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m comfortable being alone…I always win all the arguments and all decisions are final 🙂

As I was heading out for a walk this morning I could hear the couple who are camped about 200 meters away me arguing about something…who knows what it was about…I just smiled to myself and kicked a rock down the road as I passed their campsite…the rock didn’t complain and we had a great time.

And speaking of rocks…I picked this up…don’t know what kind of stuff it is but it weighs about 2 to 3 times what I expected…maybe it’s a piece of a meteor?…sure is nice.

25 Jan…stormy all night…this morning I’m surrounded by huge storms…temps in the lower 40’s…not a problem…I’m having a nice cuppa and a warm blueberry muffin I heated in the microwave…the rains are bucketing down, the winds are blowing like hell, and the van is rocking and rolling…fun times for sure 🙂

A few hours later and the storms are moving north…my little white box of comfort here in the desert

I’m really looking forward to getting back to my home base…with all the Covid stuff life on the road is a bit depressing…I try not to look at the news…mostly doom and gloom…I want to ride the little bike in warmer and less windy conditions…want to watch my niece bust her noggin at the park…eat pizza on Monday nights…and make a few modifications to the van…I’ll be ordering a nice Celestron Outland 10×50 binocular for the next trip…the night sky out here with no light pollution is stunning…I want to lean my chair back and look at all the galaxies…and see who’s looking back at me.

I’ll also be adding two more Renogy 200 watt solar panels to the system…I’ll mount them on the roof of the trailer with a pigtail I can plug into the van when I’m boondocking…should give me more than enough power in the winer when the sun is low on the horizon during the day…I won’t be adding the tilting brackets to keep things simple…with a combined total of 600 watts of solar panels I’ll be more than good to go.

27 Jan…beautiful pastel sunrise this morning…36 degrees…talked to my buddy Anthony…he’s coming down from Vegas to visit and camp for a bit…gonna be nice to sit around the fire and catch up.

28 Jan…my buddy Anthony got here yesterday afternoon…good to see him again…we’ve ridden our motorcycles many miles together on trips to the southwest, Canada, and Alaska…he’s got the coolest tent I’ve ever seen…it’a an expedition 4 seasons tent with a wood burning stove!…super cool ( hot)…he’s ready to camp on the Mongolian Stepp!

This is what it’s all about…a perfect night, cool, no wind, a warm fire, and good conversation.

29 Jan….beautiful sunset last night while sitting around the fire

Doing what I do best

Moonrise tonight…gonna be a full one.

Anthony’s wood burning stove in his expedition tent is smoking away

We left our campsite this morning around day break…Anthony decided to buy the buggy… I’m headed to his place in Las Vegas to drop it off…then I’ll set right full rudder and head back across the country…planing on coming back out here the first of April if all goes well at the home patch.

Was great to be able to catch up with Anthony…he’s a good friend and one of the few people I know who has an abundance of common sense…like me 🙂

On the way to Vegas I stopped in Kingman for the night…Anthony went on ahead to his place…I’m at another Cracker Barrel…love them for food and overnight parking….parked right before a hail storm blow through…not big hail stones but enough to build up on the the van and trailer.

1 Feb…been on the road for a few days headed east…I leave my overnight spot early each morning and drive for around 6/7 hours and stop around lunchtime…why…King of The Hammers is going on and they are broadcasting live on the net…love that stuff…I get set up (usually at a Cracker Barrel) and spend the afternoon and evening watching the racing…was at the event last year but left after a couple of days because of the dust…yeah I’m a wuss.

5 Feb….one more night on the road at a Cracker Barrel (Tallahassee) then I’ll be back at my little place in FL…this is my 6th one in a row since I left Las Vegas last Saturday….I’ve only been driving around 300 miles a day before stopping for the night…love traveling slow…since I sold the buggy to my buddy Anthony and kept the trailer I’ve been dragging it across the country for the past week…sucks…I hate pulling a trailer…I’ll be selling it if anyone’s interested…after it’s gone I’ll never (hopefully) have to pull one this big again…when I head back west the end of next month I’ll only have my little 125 on the bumper carrier…nice and light…gonna get my covid vaccine shots while I’m in Fl…then I’ll feel better licking the gas pump nozzles.

I love sitting in the van with the door open watching and listening to life go by…the coffee is brewing and life on the road is good.

8 Feb…finally got to take the CT out for a country ride today…man I love this thing…cruising along small country roads is really enjoyable…I putter along around 40 mph…sitting upright it’ll run at 55 but turning lots of rpms…not a problem though because you can’t blow the thing up…super smooth little motor…the riding position is great but I’ll bend the shift and brake levers to give myself a bit more foot room…first oil change tomorrow at 300 miles…hope the weather is nice.

BTW my trailer is for sale if anyone is interested.

13 Feb…with everything that’s going on in the world it feels so good to be completely off social media…I have friends that are tying themselves up in knots worrying about stuff…being mobile is the best and safest way to live…I can go where the weather is good and the people are nice…if I was grounded with a brick and mortar house I’d be stuck with whatever comes my way.

2 March…had a nice drive down to Ft Pierce to pick up a 5×8 foot enclosed trailer today…those things are hard to find these days…I could have ordered one and waited 8 weeks…found this one after a lot of searching the web…decided it would be good to put the genset, tools, bike, and other stuff in it rather than trying to pack it all the van with the bike on the rear bumper rack…just too inconvenient to unload the bike every time I wanted to get into the rear of the van….plus the bike will be out of the weather and secure in the trailer….it’s MUCH smaller than my last one…so much nicer pulling it than dragging the big one around.

Also had a nice propane campfire ring delivered today…will be nice to sit around a fire without having to forage for wood…easy.

4 March…got the little trailer all set up…pulled the wheels, greased the suspension linkages, set the wheel bearings properly (they’re never set properly on these cheaper trailers from the factory, always too loose), re-torqued the wheels, loaded her up and adjusted the stuff inside so the tongue weight is approx 160 pounds…all good for a shake down run up to the NC mountains next week…can’t wait!

24 March…I am totally off all social media and have been for about two months now…feels so good! You can text me (386-748-3342), email me (timtew@icloud.com, or call me anytime…I might just call you back 🙂

Page 26