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30 April…this morning is a gift…no wind, crystal clear skies, and a calm you only get in the high desert…I’ve had my morning cuppa and a perfectly cooked bowl of oatmeal…the walk was enjoyable and missing the cow patties in the road was a game of sorts…nice to walk down a dirt road there the only markings have been made by your boots and not another vehicle for days…or even weeks.

I’m sitting outside in my chair reading a book titled “Man and Horse”…superbly written by a young guy (24) who rode his, in horse years, equally young horse across the United States in 1974. Here’s the description posted on the Amazon Kindle page:

In 1974 a disillusioned young man from a broken home set out to do the impossible. With a hundred dollars in his pocket, a beat up cavalry saddle, and a faraway look in his eye, John Egenes saddled his horse Gizmo and started down the trail on an adventure across the North American continent. Their seven month journey took them across 11 states from California to Virginia, ocean to ocean.. As they left the pressing confinement of the city behind them, the pair experienced the isolation and loneliness of the southwestern deserts, the vastness of the prairie, and the great landscapes that make up America. Across hundreds of miles of empty land they slept with coyotes and wild horses under the stars, and in urban areas they camped alone in graveyards and abandoned shacks. Along the way John and Gizmo were transformed from inexperienced horse and rider to veterans of the trail. With his young horse as his spiritual guide John slowly began to comprehend his own place in the world and to find peace within himself. Full of heart and humor, Egenes serves up a tale that’s as big as the America he witnessed, an America that no longer exists. It was a journey that could only have been experienced step by step, mile by mile, from the view between a horse’s ears.

Kinda like what I’ve been doing the past 3 years.

Today is perfect…I could be out riding but instead have chosen to sit and read in the warm sun and gentle wind…the second cuppa I made before I began to read is cooling from inattention…my heart rate is low…the story of John and Gizmo is being selfish as I can’t put it down…life is good.

Read a few chapters then headed out for a ride…this is the first day the winds haven’t blown like hell and the temps are nice.

I was thinking about riding along the pipelines down into the valley but after walking a bit further I realized it was gonna get really steep and rocky…a good place to break a hip 🙂

Endless two track to explore

My setup fo napin, readin, laxin, and lookin at stuff.

2 May…. life is good and slow here at 3 Step Hideaway.

2 April…nice day today…didn’t do much of anything at all…went for a little ride on some dirt roads up on the mesas and hung around like a vagrant…it’s that way out here and I like it that way…pork steak and mixed veggies for dinner followed by a glorious bowl of popcorn…the microwave comes in handy…lots of bikes and riders here…all dusty…supposed to have storms coming tomorrow…hope so…the area is really dry.

3 April….watching the clouds gently roll over the mesas…raining all day today…I’ve got the passenger seat turned around in the van so it’s a nice recliner…leaned back with a small cuppa watching the world go by…good to spend a day like this…hindsight…

“There are two ways to view things in hindsight. One is to look back and wish you had done things differently, now that your mistakes are painfully clear. The other is to look ahead and, knowing your past mistakes, try to do better in the future. There’s no reason why I can’t do both at the same time, and in fact I do. I look back and wish I hadn’t done something while I look ahead and try not to repeat my mistakes”.

Egenes, John. Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America (p. 237). Delta Vee. Kindle Edition.

Yep…as I age I sit and remember things that have been buried in my brain for decades…most are inconsequential to anyone else but me…I find myself completely at ease with aging…I don’t worry about stuff I’ve always wanted to do…well maybe a little but I’m totally comfortable with things as they are because I finally don’t worry about things I have no control over and have the time and sense to fix the ones I can…finally smart enough to see the differences…maybe not watching TV helped…probably so…I’ve found a renewed joy in reading…I don’t like reading on a computer screed but it is what it is these days…I know before my next wander I’ll have a few real books with me…there’s something comforting when holding a book and having to use fingers to keep the pages from collapsing….I can’t see the La Sal mountains now…the rain has pulled a curtain across the horizon…glad I’m not on top…sure the snow is coming down at the peak…only one other here at 3 Step now…another Sprinter Van…all the riders have left onto the rain…and the mud that surely follows.

The La Sal mountains in the distance from a ride yesterday…the little bike will go anywhere.

8 May…I’m back…left 3 Step on Tuesday and have been on the road about 5 days now…stopped to see my buddy Rocky and his family in Meno OK…always good…they’re like a second family to me…good times and good beer :)…left there Friday morning and now I’m in Jackson MS for the night at another Cracker Barrel…good places to stay when traveling…highlites from the past few days include the Commanche National Grasslands…and the Great River Road along the Mississippi River…both are beautiful.

In the middle of the Grasslands is an almost abandoned town called Pritchett…I finally saw a resident out and about this trip.

Dinner one night…don’t remember which night

I’ll be back in Florida in a couple of day…won’t be posting much until I take the new bike up to North Carolina for a putt…stay tuned and thanks for coming along.

12 May..dealer called…my new Honda CRF300L Rally is being serviced this morning and will be ready for me to pick up at 1000…good times in hot and humid Florida today.

22 May….puttering along beautiful deserted country backroads on the bike is the best thing to relax the mind and heart rate….I love the new bike…it’s slender, light, fits me perfectly, and purdy…just like me….and because I’m so cheap, 102.6 mph will be just fine.

29 May….just checked to make sure my facebutt account has been really deleted…tried logging on this morning with my old UN and PW…says I don’t exist…,perfect…today is a great day 🙂

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