Who You Gonna Believe? me or your own eyes; tour ends

That is not me stealing a baby.

It is not me at all. What baby?

Oh, well it depends upon what baby means and what steal means and what being me means.

See, you give up. It was all a vicious conspiracy perpetrated by my enemies (hard as it is to believe I have any).

The Tour is now over. Let me qualify that---this particular road trip is now over. It was a ballistic tour, however the large picture balisticTour continues.

The car held up dandy.

A few things learned, if I can recall them:
DO NOT WALK BARE-FOOTED ON SAND DUNES ON THE OUTER BAQNKS OF NC IN THE SUMMER AT MIDDAY WITH NO CLOUDS IN THE SKY AND THE TEMP 100 OR SO F IN THE SHADE

PEOPLE ON THAT NORTH-SOUTH HIGHWAY BETWEEN PROVO AND SALT LAKE CITY ARE BEYOND INSANE. in some places you chalk up behavior to ignorance, others just a jerk culture, and others, like Miami, to a joyful sort of zany madness(albeit deadly and often accompanied by gunfire).
That part of Utah, and much in the areas above and below those cities, defies any explanation. It is like jihad and the whole lack of reason and rationale that go with it. Those people may all be potential or actual terrorists. I suggest the feds pull out of everywhere else and focus on that highway.

POINTS NORTH OF TAOS ARE COOLER THAN TAOS. ARROYO SECO IS ONE EXAMPLE. hope I got the name right. Oh well, call my complaint department.

PONCA CITY OKLAHOMA IS ONE VERY NICE TOWN

LOYALTON(?), CA IS STRANGE BUT COOL. GREAT PEOPLE. NOT SURE IT WASN'T ALL JUST MY IMAGINATION--the place may not actually exist. one guy pointed out that the staircase I was descending had 13 steps-just like the number of steps to the gallows.
Later he asked if I had any last words I like to say before leaving. He looked like he could have been a ghost; one who wasn't quite sure whether to be sinister or just happily mischievous.

LAKE TAHOE ON THE CALIFORNIA SIDE IS A GREAT AREA. SEVERAL LITTLE TOURIST TOWNS BUT THEY ARE COOL EVEN WHEN CROWDED

IT IS EASIER TO GET CRYSTALS, PAST LIFE READINGS, SPIRITUAL HEALING, MASSAGE AND MEDICINAL CANNABIS IN MT SHASTA THAN IT IS TO GET A REGULAR COCA COLA.

THERE ARE MANY "SAFETY ZONES" AND THEY ANNOUNCE IT TO YOU WHEN YOU ENTER THEM, AND THEY TELL YOU TO DRIVE CAREFULLY OR SAFELY. I HAD NO IDEA HOW DEVIL-MAY-CARE MY DRIVING WAS UNTIL I ENTERED A SAFETY ZONE AND DID AS THE SIGN SAID AND DROVE CAREFULLY. ONCE I BEGAN PAYING ATTENTION I REALIZED I COULD GO MUCH FASTER THAN I WAS WITHOUT GETTING A TICKET. MY CARELESS, UNSAFE WAYS--MAKING COFFEE, BRUSHING MY TEETH, STRETCHING MY LEGS OUT THE WINDOW WHILE TEXTING OR TRIMMING NOSE HAIR, ALL WHILE DRIVING ---WERE COSTING ME TIME.

MY OLD MEMPHIS BAND ROCKS WHEN THEY WANT TO. I THOROUGHLY ENOY JAMMING WITH THEM. BUT WHAT I REALLY LEARNED IS THAT I AM BETTER AND MORE CONFIDENT AS A RESULT OF PLAYING WITH MY HOME GROUP UP HERE ON BALLISTIC MOUNTAIN. EACH GROUP MAKES ME BETTER. I NO LONGER HAVE SOME RESENTMENTS WHICH ONCE I DID. THE SNAKEDOCS OF MEMPHIS REALLY CAUGHT ME BY SURPRISE IN A NUMBER OF WAYS.

I HAVE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO ARE INEXPLICABLY LOYAL AND KIND TO ME BEYOND THE USUAL WHATEVER IT IS I EXPECT.
THAT MAKES ME A VERY LUCKY GUY.

THERE ARE PLACES WHERE PEOPLE CAN AND DO CAMP NAKED.

That's about it for now. I'll add to what I learned as I remember. Oh yea---if you have a bum knee don't try to take a big step up with a canoe on your head. That, and I discovered I like southern Idaho better than northern, and better than most places.

In many ways I can see that my perspective on lots of things has changed over the last three years. And better than that, it has changed some over the past seven weeks.

BOTTOM LINE: Despite my regrets for not having a dozen children or for the many opportunities which fell in my lap only for me to either not see it or simply walk away or get drunk, etc. the truth is that then and now I am constantly getting second chances and good fortune in one way or another. I say second chances but that can include the fiftieth chance.

Anyway, I am very fortunate to be here writing this bit of vanity. I was able to just say screw it and go, and I may be able to cover rent next month. Not only that but most people I visited seemed glad I stopped by. I'm never sure about some people but they may not be sure about me. Take 'em at their word, at face value I guess. I'm positive I am that little baby's favorite whether she knows it or not. The subliminal message was planted. It's a skill I picked up along the way.

Spy Photo On Seattle Lake--Washington?

That's a native woman in the front of the canoe. Hard to tell what's what from the pic. She was cute but I had to take her by boat back to her people. She'd been bad and I respect their customs so I turned her over to the medicine man for proper punishment.

That is the very canoe that was on my head at the time of the surprising failure of a trusted limb.

How to Attack California

Like everything else on this journey, I'll play it as it go. Except I decided I have no wish to do the coast. If I can only look at the sea, that won't get it, especially considering the crowded nature of CA's coast and resulting high prices. Nothing like being bilked and bunched up with people all at the same time.

My plan is to hit cool inland towns, hopefully in some kind of mountainous areas, and meander secret back roads all the way down, or for as much of the way as is possible. This knee thing may influence it. Sometimes it aches from head to eternity.

I'm downloading my Flip cam as we speak so I can again record some of this trip. Seattle may be relatively undocumented.

Been to Seattle

People in the greater Seattle area are two things: polite and in love with setting off fireworks on 4th of July. Maybe it was organized online, but where I was, slightly north of Seattle proper, those in the township which had no fireworks all set their own off at the same time the neighboring town let fly. By town I mean the kind that are sort of suburbs of the big city.

I've learned many things on this trip. The latest bit of wisdom is that if your knee seems to be acting up and you try to carry a canoe on your head then step up that thing that gets you up on the path to the car, it may give way completely and you may wind up sitting down with a canoe on your head. See, that is the sort of thing I was never told during my tortured childhood. It's just not fair. This definitely limited later facility to play effectively in the marketplace.

I had great views of Mt Lanier on the way out of town. The big shock was that it is not so cool only a little way south of Seattle. 90 deg F in southern Oregon. Talk about your Not Fair!

Seattle was mild and not hot while I was there. It was good.

I spent time with S and N2 and not-wife-but-may-as-well-be of N2, hereinafter referred to as NWN2.

It was touch and go there for awhile concerning whether S and I would die laughing when we caught an episode of Dual Survivor. It's on discovery or History channel. We missed the premise of this particular predicament as the hippy and the ex army guy cleverly got out of the latest pickle: stuck in the woods with a broken down pick up truck.

What to do? The hippy beat on the truck with a log in case someone could hear them while the army guy ripped out a headlight, the horn, cut up the seat belts to make a shoulder sling for carrying the battery, ripped wire out so he could make the light and horn work, and then he smashed the windows so he could leave a trail of glass for rescuers to find them.

But wait! They aren't going to a road for help.
They made their way to the seashore to flag down passing ships. I forgot to mention the army guy ripped out the rear view mirror so he could signal ships in morse code. I also left of the part about using burnt tire to write a note on birch bark. The hippy did that, and left the note in what was left of the truck.

I'm telling you right now, no way I'd rip up the tour mobile so I can flag down ships a mile away in a shipping lane if I break down in the woods.

Seattle grows on you. It is so easy to do things, like drive ten minutes and drop a canoe or kayak in the water---without paying some tax or license. They have their share of laws, like I think you have to wear a helmet in the bathtub, but half the time people don't seem to pay attention, and instances of courtesy per capita are undoubtedly at the top of the scale for large cities, both in situations on the highway, and when crossing paths on foot. I also had the advantage of good company which helps put a good spin on one's impressions.

N2 never ceases to amaze me. The kid can do almost anything. His house has a giant, cavernous basement area full of metal working and wood working machines and tools, as well as giant pieces of mahogany logs, and other wood and metal raw material. And his girlfriend is a looker and nice. It is good to see people of my blood break the chain of tears and frustration. I try not to be envious.

How could I complain? Whether it will mean I am a pauper forever or what, I have been able to take a huge trip without a blueprint and find some great surprises and much warmth all along the way. That is a rather fortunate circumstance. And I've still got one good leg. With luck the bad one will heal up soon. Mabe I can find a native shaman out in the hinterlands of California before I go home. It is already about time for another haircut too. Perhaps I'll have to go back to Misenheiner, NC since it is the only place I know of that gives a decent cut for a cheapo price.

Did I mention that Mt Rainier was in full view under a cool crisp blue sky as I drove south? S rode with me because her place of work is along the way. It wasn't hard to temporarily rearrange things since we'd re-organized the car during the down time over the weekend. I found the items I had mis-located. S cleaned the cokpit--of the tour mobile. It is all spiffy now.

So, I'm holed up in Meford, headed down to get some ice because I've been told it will be good for my canoe knee.

Are we at war or under a new regime? I don't know because I've been avoiding the news.

RE Hooked on West

Per Bobby's question, I guess I refer to parts of AZ, NM, most of Colorado, parts of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California. There is a kind of expanse and the mountains seem to have wider valley's and higher peaks and something about the land grabs me. I like other places too, but now that I'm out here, it is so hard to think of not always being here and being able to get here at will. Even where I live in east SD county has some of that flavor.

I like the miles and miles you can see and drive and never encounter a stop sign, and how it will seem that some section of terrain goes forever, then you crest a hill and there in the distance is a huge snow capped mountain where the sky lives.

The desert is not much to my liking so no matter how you drive to Las Vegas I can do without it.

Unsung and Underestimated

Strawberry mountains I think. I can't tell when taking pic on this phone what is in frame.
Just now saw it for first time. Darn, it did not come out, and that was a really good view. Sorry.


As luck would have it, I managed to take the perfect route through Idaho and Oregon. I cut over on 84 I think, then 20 and 26. Those are highways and interstate, not in that order.

The path took me through southern Idaho through Boise. Like Salt Lake and provo, the highway is undergoing some mysterious construction. Stimulus maybe. Unlike Utah, the people with exceptional courtesy and good sense. I was amazed. As a result, the mess was not unduly stressful or bothersome.

Another thing is that this part of Idaho is really pretty, and people I encountered were nice. Glenns Ferry is a neat little town and people there like it--always nice to see. I am so used to living places in which a huge portion of people do not think much of the town. Miami and Memphis, to name 2. With Miami it was kind of love-hate, but the latter began to outweigh the former even with die hard old school South Floridians.

But I have to tell you, Hwy 26 going into Oregon is really fantastic. Don't expect to see motels and gas stations that often after awhile, though. The people in that part of the state are cool, too. Ranch and farm oriented, I guess, and that often makes for stock which hasn't been as eroded as people like me, my peers and most urbanites.

There was this cool little reservoir by the side of the road, with a creek running out--probably running in, too. I stopped and saw some people at the far end fishing. It looked like a great place to camp, or a place, at any rate. So, I drove over and asked them about it. The od guy gave me a rundown on camping and some suggestions. He said there's be other fishermen there and I'd get no peace.

I ended up somewhere in the Malheur Nat'l forest at a federal forestry camp location. You just set up, put money in an envelope and have a stub to show on your car. If a forest ranger comes by you are OK. I never saw a forest ranger, or anyone except some people a half mile away when I drove all around in there to scope it out. It was OK. Tall trees, and I found some dry wood to make a fire. Earlier in the day it rained. I did not hit that place until about 7:30 pm, so by the time I set up and made some pasta thing from one of those dry mixes that cost 97 cents, it was getting dark.

The drive today was even better because the snow capped Strawberry Mountain range, other I don't know, and My Hood came into view. I was in the mountains I guess. Lots of signs referring to snow areas, skiing, snowmobiles, and where to put on tire chains and where to remove them.

I am developing an aversion to cities. Once I got within 50 miles of Portland, people started driving like jerks and the whole feel changed.

Just an aside, and maybe you own one and can prove me wrong--BUT, does everyone who drives a big Dodge 4x4 lack any sense of lane usage or much else? Are they all compensating for something? Really, it is uncanny how they speed up to get right on someone's bumper and have no idea which lane is for passing. Maybe they make you fill out a questionaire: Are you an unadulterated dickhead? If yes, you can buy this truck!!!

Like I said, prove me wrong. But for me to consider your case, you have to explain basic road rules, like which lane is for passing.

So, I then decided to take a side street that said Longview and Long Beach. It sounded coastal. I drove through I guess, Longview, then some other town. Hell with that. Maybe the 4th weekend brings em out. It was getting odd and I saw no coastal things, just a long inlet--I assume.

I turned around, hit the interstate and found an Inn. I'm too tired to camp and nowhere I saw appealed to me at this time. I know when I get too cranky and argue with the gps lady, it is time to give it a rest.

I ran out of time on the video. The last thing is a quick view of the campsite. Too bad. Mt Hood was spectacular. Just a few fluffy clouds around the peak.

The people I encountered in southeast--I keep saying southwest, and central Oregon really were cool. This state ha more easy access to rivers and lakes and mountains and woods than anywhere I've been, and it is surprisingly clean. You see some trash where people have been but much less than other places.

26 runs by various creeks and the John Day river. It looked inviting, the kind of day and river that makes you want to kayak naked.

A Few Notes on Nothing

Got to hand it to the guy who is at dead horse camping with the family. He has approximately three highly strung teenaged daughters and oddly odd wife who is not as loud as her girls and maybe a family friend, or extra wife along, not sure.

The girls scream and cultivate hysteria over everything. You would have thought a bear was attacking them. I think it turned out to be a lizard or bug, not sure. They constantly go to the car turn on the headlights, open and close doors, generally fidget and fuss. They seemed to be having fun from the sound of it. Sound was my main source of observation because I was under and behind trees in my little tent. No escaping it.

I noticed the next morning as I was packing up and pulling out that they had a little tent city going. Three or four pink tents and one larger blue tent. I'm guessing the girls all have identical pink tents. Nice ones, too. The things parents go through trying to provide for their offspring. In a way I envy the guy. In a way I don't. I do like the fact that they were out as a family and their kids were having fun, like cats, imagining great drama where none exists. It must take a patient man to oversee such madness. Never did I hear him raise his voice. No indication of discord. I think it is a mistake that family life is not glorified in more effective ways. Maybe it is the dissolution of gender identity and individual sense of purpose that has done this. Who knows.

I wonder if the fact that people in such settings are less friendly toward strangers is related to the family thing or otherwise significant. I have noticed that fewer people will return a hello or a nod than in the past. Region has something to do with it but not everything. The gradual refusal to respectfully acknowledge the existence of others in certain real life situations is not healthy. More than likely these same people would lol all over the place on their smart phones and computers with complete strangers they'll never see in person.

I hope I never become so insecure that I can't look at a person and at least give a nod of acknowledgement that they exist.

Off the subject. I think I am hooked on the western USA, especially the parts not overly populated. Aside from the wide open largeness and magnificent landscape, there is so much potential to organize and build in ways that haven't been done. It is important not to do it as it has been done because it is obvious that those methods lack foresight. Traffic alone should prove that point. And I do not think the plans to reduce mobility and freedom, and herd people here and there is a reasonable alternative. Parameters should always include maximum individual freedom and choice, then you work the design from there paying attention to consequences on all fronts which you can identify. Ignoring the side effects is the flaw that screws things up. Imagining that humans have no right to be here and use resources is also a recipe for disaster.
the end

Forgot What to Say In Tremonton Utah

That's where I am now. I'm headed up through southern Idaho and on up toward Seattle. People I ought to see. N2 and his cool girlfriend, S, and I don't know.

Anyway, at first I planned to see the land features I really love-the big beautiful mountains in Colorado, but then I realized I need to see the people who put up with me or share my blood, or both. This has resulted in taking roads I've never travelled and seing sights from another angle, or seeing things I've never seen. Like the mountains around Salt Lake and Provo.

I was going to go to the Salt Lake itself, but there was too much traffic and crowd. The season is on, and the fourth of July hooplah has already begun. That means hordes of people hell bent on getting away from it all with all the other people of like mind. It looks stressful. They'll have to rest and sleep when they get back home and go to work. That's what jobs are for in many cases; a good place to sleep while pretending to be busy.

If you do drop by Tremonton, JC's diner is off the highway maybe half a mile or so but it is your best bet for a cheap good meal, and people with a good diner attitude. Lots of locals there.

Thanks to a tailwind, the tour mobile achieved 32 mpg over the last 450 miles. I think it is doing its best to make me realize that it is as good as the first tour mobile which met an untimely and unfortunate demise due to Over the Hill Trucking's (out of Sacramento) negligent and dangerous conduct and subsequent dishonesty and lying which backfired, hahaha). I realized that I have never put this many miles on any vehicle I ever owned. I've owned a few longer, maybe, but never have I put that many miles on them. I guess it comes to over 30k per year, easily. This trip alone has been somewhere between 6 and 8 thousand.

I'm not sure because I zeroed out the A trip odometer by mistake. I zero B at every fill up so I can exercise my brain and do the math in my head to figure milage. I can't believe the mpg I get, considering I have to run a/c so much. One reason I don't rough it in that way is so my computer won't get too hot.

When I get home it will be close to time for a new timing belt and brakes. Even in the terrain outside Taos and some passes in Utah, I didn't use brakes much. It is an automatic but I drop it down into D3 or even 2. Where I live, I do the same thing. No need to go through brakes in a hurry. If there had been a 5 speed that met the conditions I needed at purchase, I'd have bought it. I don't think current automatics are really any drawback. It is nice to have control and and all that but I can deal with either one. And I'd be fretting over burning out the clutch if I had one so maybe this is best.

This town is not as touristy as some, and it seems like a good place. Two coin laundries, what more could you want?

None of that is what I thought about to say. I wonder what I originally had in mind?

I kind of lost focus and didn't know where to go there for awhile, but then I settled on a plan. All I knew this morning was I'd decide by the time I hit Salt Lake City. One plan was to go left on 80 and then something. Another was to go right toward Colorado, and the final one is to head up 84 and wind up in Seattle. I feel better now that I have a clue and some reason.

There are times when I like to wander aimlessly and times I prefer to wander aimfully.

Travel Tips and Thoughts for Aimless Gypsies:part N of N+X

First thing you should know: avoid driving up I-15 past Provo and Salt Lake City Utah.
The road appears to be perpetually under construction, blocked lanes are poorly marked, it is bumpy, and the traffic is heavy.

OK, that sounds normal for much of America. Here's the catch; the people driving on that road are mostly totally nuts. Perhaps it is a Utah thing, or just that area, I don't know. You have anywhere from 3 to 5 or 6 lanes going your way. Number of lanes is a bit vague at times. The speed limit is 55 in that zone which goes on forever; from below Provo to north of Salt Lake.

So, what do the people do? First, they speed up so that everyone is going 65 or 70 even though cops do pull people over. It is safer to go with the flow and try to put yourself out of the path of the many wildcats who pass at 90 mph even though they can see that everyone in all lanes a tenth of a mile ahead has suddenly slowed to 50. They like to pass on the right then swing to the left a foot in front of the car the just passed, then hit they brakes so as not to collide with the group ahead. If you foolishly adhere to standard rules of the road and pass on the left, you better watch out when you get back over to the right because the rocket jock driving the pickup may collide with you if you aren't aware. He certainly won't be watching for you.

I have a theory. Yes, S, I know I already shared this with you.

Some miles before the highway madness zone begins there is a billboard that reads, "Holding Out Hope For Polygamy". I think that is in an 80 mph zone. I did not catch the website at the bottom but they have one.

I'm thinking, it's like holding out hope for legal pot--yea, there is that hope but in the mean time people just go ahead and do it. In the case of polygamy this means a few guys who have the inside track on such things are scooping up more than their share of women. This leaves all the other young males in a bit of a quandary, especially if they are part of this belief system. It is like radical Islam--too many young males with very serious sexual issues and frustration, so they go crazy and act out in inappropriate ways.

The result is that the unsuspecting gypsy is taking his life in his hands on that road. Apparently some of the mac daddies are spread a little thin, so it results in peculiar frustration for some of the wimmins too. These people are nuts, whether my theory explains it or not. Just a word to the wise. And I lived in Miami for quite some time. If you've driven there in the last 30 years you know that me saying this stretch of highway is possibly crazier than that is saying a lot.

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Another tip: the long meandering road trip causes nose and ear hair to grow faster than normal. Toe nails, too. If I was into government grants I'd see if they'd pay me to conduct a study on this phenomenon.

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Not so much a tip as a WTF?
If you are a male between 50 and 60, about 75 pounds or more overweight, completely gray, I honestly think a tattoo of Frankenstein's head covering the entire side of your ample calf, plainly visible because of course you wear gym shorts and sandals, is not a fashion statement you need to make for any reason I can imagine. Your swagger and habit of standing at the convenient mart counter legs apart, swaying side to side and to and fro also does little to win friends and influence people. You're already taking up more space than your proper allotment. Again, perhaps a good subject for study on government grant. I won't bother with the rest of the "look", My mind went into overload at Frankenstein.

The good looking chick with a partly visible full portrait of a woman covering her back complete with some kind of background was another puzzle. That one probably has a story. I have a feeling the guy just thought, "hmm, tattoos are cool now. Frankenstein is awesome, dude. Put Frankenstein on my leg and I'll be cool too."

To each his own, but I can wonder and puzzle as is my right. I chalk him up to the Utah thing.

I should note that inn keepers and diner personnel here are rather personable and nice. Almost Southern, in the good sense.

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another Tip; if you detect a merchant in a high tourist area has the attitude that all travelers are beneath him or her, don't buy there. Those who make their living off of travelers and visitors fall into two groups: those who know which side their bread is buttered on, and those who don't. I haven't spent much but my hostile-to-outsiders meter has cost people some money. It has made money for the souls who generate a feeling of gratitude and respect.

If you work in the take money from tourists business and you hate travelers, then get out of that line of work. We'll all be happier for it.
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Almost forgot--if you can get where you are going on highway 89 or 89A, and you have the time, that is the road to take. Much more interesting than the big interstate highways. Many cool and interesting places on that road. After all, that is the road to Jerome, AZ, and it runs up here in Utah too.

Cool

My little G niece with the shades I gave her. Her parents also have their shades on in the bigger picture, but I did not want to get in trouble in case they don't want the fame posting their likeness might bring. The baby won't complain.

The glasses strap on so they don't fall off, or the ear piece poke the baby in the eye.