A Man of Constant Quiet...

Funny... As I spend this Christmas Eve alone with Simon and the Damn Cat... The gusting desert wind is the only sound... The RV is rocking... Simon and the Damn Cat are sleeping like babies in a cradle... Peaceful quiet... Yet I never feel alone... Looking back I had the same peaceful quiet when I lived on Lake Ontario... It was all I ever wanted...

My mistake... Opening the door to someone who never respected my love for that quiet... Someone who needed to fill that quiet with the noise of constant drama and chaos...

Because she was afraid of what she'd hear in the quiet... Things she didn't want to hear...

It's ironic that the same noise of constant drama and chaos left everyone in it's wake feeling alone... It never really drowned out the sounds she didn't want to hear...

Never understanding those sounds she didn't want to hear came from deep inside her heart and mind... The noise of constant drama and chaos will never silence them...

The noise of constant drama and chaos only stole the peace of the people around her... 

Sadly, I can't help thinking that was the plan... Someone truly at peace doesn't feel the need to steal someone else's... 

I've found the peaceful quiet again... I like what I hear in the quiet... And I never feel alone...

Happy Thanksgiving

OK... Much to be thankful for not just today, tomorrow or the next day... Everyday!!!

The boys and I have been on quite an adventure the last few years... Some of it good... Some of it hard... I won't call the hard times bad... We learned from both... We've been blessed by both...

Simon and I are now the "Last of the Moheathens" on this adventure and we've got a lot more adventure to live... That fact alone is something to be extremely thankful for...

Simon, Baby Girl and I will chill beside a campfire tonight and be as grateful as any other night... Just maybe thankfully thinking a little deeper than normal... I hope everyone else takes some time to do the same...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Deep Desert Thoughts...

Known a few of these... The last being the worst... Why??? She hid it the best... Wanted everyone to think she was joy to live with... Took a while to see through the chaos...

Love Bombing

Love bombing is a term used to describe the typical initial stages of a relationship with a narcissistic personality where the narcissist goes all out to impress their target with flattery, holidays, promises of a future together having the target believe that they have met their perfect partner, their soulmate.

Mirroring

A narcissist will mirror what they see in you from your mannerisms to your dress sense, your behavior and your likes and dislikes. They basically become just like you. 

Machinist... Comedian... Trucker... 

Just sayin'... Did the research...

Freedom...

Feeling abundantly thoughtful this morning... I certainly know I don't want or need anyone else's chaos and drama... #freedom

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Sunday 10/23/16

So… What’s life on the road really like??? Well, this trip has been full of adventure… The adventure these intrepid travelers started with was not what we had planned…

Heading south Wednesday we were greeted by a steel belted blow out of the left rear inner tire… Which also damaged the outer tire though not bad enough to keep us from limping off of I-15 south and to a tire store…

Two new tires later we were back on the road… Thankful it wasn’t worse… We didn’t die… But in need of a beer… We stopped for the night at a Salt Lake City VFW post… Only to find some additional surprises… Pieces of the steel belt had gone right through and were still imbedded in the floor of the RV… Looking back now I should have taken some pictures… I’ll get some pics of the holes from below and above tomorrow… I’ll also be calling the insurance company though who knows what they can do for me…

The pieces of tire and the shredded floor board have been cleaned up, but the holes are still there and strategically covered now to keep the cool night air out… Luckily they are not in a walk path forward and aft in the RV and thankfully more damage wasn’t done…

Our second night out (Thursday) we camped just east of Spanish Forks, Utah at Diamond Campground… It had been our scheduled first night stop… Nice quiet, but not the scenic Utah campground we had hoped for…

Heading southeast from there through Moab, UT… The scenery and countryside was beautiful and everything we had hoped for… But we drove right past Arches National Park and the surrounding campgrounds full of way too many people… Maybe another time… Maybe a different time of the year, but we wanted no part of the crowds…

South of Moab we found Wind Whistle Campground… Beautiful, quiet, scenic… it would have been great to stay there more than one night, but feeling the need to press on we broke camp again… Leaving Wind Whistle Campground in Utah and heading through Cortez in the southwest corner of Colorado and into New Mexico… Straight south through Navajo Land…

Planning a stop just east of Gallup, New Mexico only to get there and find the campgrounds closed… With the sun setting, sick of driving for the day and yes, more than a little annoyed… We pulled into a truck stop off of I-40 in Milan, NM… Surrounded by big rigs… Many of which left their diesels idling all night… 

Which once one is adjusted to the steady drone and the vibration left me with two thoughts…

Yes, shipmates… You guessed the first one… Sleeping through diesel ops… And in the words of Jimmy Buffett…

“Put in a quarter, turn out the light…
Magic Fingers makes you feel alright…
Feel alright, feel alright…
Magic finger makes you feel alright…”
                   -This Hotel Room

After driving way more than was planned yesterday… We drove only about an hour today and are camped in El Malpais at the Joe Skeen campground… A free BLM campground… With a seven day stay limit and a two mile walk to fill water jugs…

Not needing to arrive in Alamogordo for another week and only 260 miles from our destination… These intrepid travelers will spend a few days here collecting their thoughts and some rays… Well, Simon will sit in the shade… We already know his thoughts… Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner…

I had jokingly posted this Facebook status update a few weeks ago… “My mouth is singing Swing Low Sweet Chariot… #cottommouth”

An old negro spiritual about being set free from a life of slavery… I had one final thought before drifting off to sleep… The RV has become my “Sweet Chariot” freeing me from the slavery of a death sentence nuclear work schedule… Setting me free on the road to adventure…

Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see
Coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

Sometimes I'm up, and sometimes I'm down,
(Coming for to carry me home)
But still my soul feels heavenly bound.
(Coming for to carry me home)

The brightest day that I can say,
(Coming for to carry me home)
When Jesus washed my sins away.
(Coming for to carry me home)

If I get there before you do,
(Coming for to carry me home)
I'll cut a hole and pull you through.
(Coming for to carry me home)

If you get there before I do,
(Coming for to carry me home)
Tell all my friends I'm coming too.
(Coming for to carry me home)

Swing low, sweet chariot

Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

My Private Idaho...

Well, it’s been exactly 6 weeks today that I left Leavenworth, WA… A week on the road through some awesome beautiful country… Mountains… Rivers… Waterfalls… and Forests… 

It’s exactly 5 weeks that I have been camped in Shelley, ID… It’s been a welcome respite from the rude kids and even ruder adults who frequented the Leavenworth KOA… 

Alone with Simon most of that time and now joined by the new addition to our family… The “Damned Cat” as Simon calls her… No that’s usually me calling her that…

We… No, I… Though I do run all my ideas past Simon… His input is invaluable… Anyway we (I) had a lot of time to think… Actually probably a little too much and a sign we probably should have gotten on the road again a little sooner… We (I) almost convinced myself and Simon that it might be a good idea to change our original plans and stay in Idaho…

After some long hard thought this past weekend… And weighing many options… Not the least of which is this storm… http://idahostatejournal.com/members/biggest-snowstorm-of-season-thus-far-bearing-down-on-southeast/article_5a24e4c6-6965-5f32-97a5-7f43adbd91d7.html

We (I) have decided to stick with our original plan and head to New Mexico for the winter… There’s a few places marked on the map that we’ll try to see along the way and we’ll post plenty of pictures… We could be leaving as early as tomorrow afternoon… Though Wednesday is more likely…

See you next spring, Idaho… For now… The adventure continues…. 

Really Real People...

Real People was an NBC reality TV series that aired Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 from 1979 to 1984…

Real People featured a panel of seated hosts in front of a large studio audience. The hosts introduced pre-filmed segments and engaged in comedic banter about them. Each segment was a visit to someone with a unique occupation or hobby. Occasionally someone was brought into the studio to interact with the audience.

                                                            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_People

This show came to mind yesterday… I remember it being a big favorite during my time in the Navy while in both San Diego and NTPU Ballston Spa… I can't think of too many single sailors who didn't have a crush on Sara Purcell... But the show isn’t what I’m here to write about…

No… I’m here to write about Really Real People… 

As a lot of my faithful readers know… 6 years ago I left New York… A lot of these past 6 years have been a “Love-Hate” relationship… With my job… Comedy… Idaho… Mormons… California cops… And certainly with my ex… OK, maybe for some of these there wasn’t any of the “Love” half of the relationship… 

But here we are… Simon and I… “The Last of the Moheathens” to have left western NY 6 years ago… There's no sense to lament what we left behind... 

We’ve been all over the western US… We’ve come to love the travel and a new adventure is on the horizon… We’ll be on the road again within the next 10 days…

New adventures… New places… New people… I think the best thing about the last 6 years has been all the Really Real People that we have met and some old friends we’ve gotten to see after many, many, years… Please note... I did NOT call you... Really Old Friends... 

You're all... Priceless gold that we would have never found or seen again if we hadn’t loaded up the covered wagon and headed west…

I’m not going to list any names here… I don’t want to embarrass anyone and I certainly don’t want to miss someone… I hope you know who you all are… 

Thank you all for being Really Real People… 

Sounds

Recently posting a video of my favorite sound on Facebook…

https://www.facebook.com/stevethenuclearguy/videos/10154428784223329/

For those that listened… I hope you get it… I could write volumes about one who never did get it… Even when personally introduced to the same sound on the lake shore back east… It was considered a joke… Something not to be respected and something to be drowned out by the chaos that she brought to control…  

I found it interesting that as I opened my favorite book today for my morning read this is what I read… http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/walden/hdt04.html

Next Tuesday Simon and I will have been on the road again for two weeks… Most stops along the way… One, two or three nights… We’ve been in our current location since Wednesday… There’s a few more days here to wrap up some personal business…

It’s nice not to be packing up camp every few days or so and we sincerely appreciate being in a place so nice… I have no desire or need to go into town… Quiet and beautiful here… Time to read… Time to write… Time to listen… Time to hear… Time… Yet no clocks… Just sunrise and sunset… The rumble of Simon’s belly the only “alarm”

No worries, no hurry, no stress, no mess… Just the moment… The moment to listen…  The moment to hear…

Just a warm and sunny late summer day…  A pleasant Idaho breeze… (22 mph and gusts to 27… I just checked accuweather.com) And the rustle of the leaves…

For those that know…

“It’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound???”

It’s my favorite sound…

“Everybody look what’s going down”

A welcome respite…    

Conversations With Simon...

I had this conversation with Simon this morning…

Prior to our morning walk, while Simon impatiently waited outside the RV, I had cleaned all the RV counter tops, the stove and table with all-purpose cleaner… 

Not a fan of the smell… The morning walk gives it a chance to dissipate…

Explaining to him the reason to clean as means to minimize food smells, etc… So as not to attract flies… And thinking out loud… I thought… “Damn, things eat shit.”

“So do I”, replied Simon, “How come I can’t fly???”

“Cuz you’re fat, Simon. You can’t fly cuz, you’re fat… It’s Isaac Newton’s fault.”

“Aw… FIG!!!”, Simon snorted.

Dances With Labradors

Heading east out of Leavenworth, WA the Tuesday morning after Labor Day in no hurry to get anywhere in particular, I thought about the pioneers who headed west by wagon… They had no choice but to not be in a hurry… Many times after travelling all day still camping within sight of their previous night’s campsite…

I am grateful I could not see Leavenworth in my rearview mirror as I set up camp Tuesday night at Hawk Creek campground… Hawk Creek feeds into Roosevelt Lake, which was formed when the Grand Coulee Dam was built on the Columbia River… Simon and I were the only ones there, camped beside a waterfall… It’s on Native American land and they are now calling me… “Dances with Labrabors”… Maybe if I had smoked a “peace pipe” with them they would have set me up with the Chief’s daughter???

A needed quiet night to start our journey east and south… The campfire ban, due to the dry weather, being the only negative…

While enjoying an early morning cup of coffee Wednesday morning, we were graced by the presence of a very majestic visitor… As we watched a Bald Eagle fish the mud flats of the creek for about 30minutes…

He was alone and free… Kind of symbolizes this life we have adopted… The one we were meant for all along… Yet while we love our time alone in the wilderness, a shout out needs to go to some of the wonderful people we have met along our way especially the last two or three years…  

While some only in passing… Some from one of my previous life’s… The Navy… And some who have also adopted this “No Vacation Necessary” lifestyle… The list is long… But you’ve all made our lives richer with your friendships and we hope to see at least some of you somewhere on the road again… Thank you…

Packing up and continuing east and into Montana Wednesday morning we spent 2 days along the Clark Fork River north of Missoula… The second day most of it inside due to rain… Something we hadn’t seen in central Washington in months…

Breaking camp early Friday morning… We continued south on Rte. 93… Stopping just north of the Idaho state line… Near the Lost Trail and Chief Joseph Passes… Just west of the Continental Divide… Setting up camp again at The Indian Trees Campground in the Bitterroot National Forest… It’s primitive… No hook ups… Vault toilets… Potable water available… But it’s Quiet… Alone… Dry… Warm… At least while the sun is out… It cools off quick once the sun goes down… Can’t ask for more… We’ll be here until Monday…

For anyone thinking this sounds like an easy life… Breaking down and setting up camp every few days is a lot of work… I’ve changed my underwear, but I haven’t had a shower or a bath since last Monday… I’m not tanned… I’m filthy…

The RV is dinged up and showing some wear… Yet I wouldn’t trade this life now for much of anything else… This is a life that really focuses one in on what’s really important in life… And it has taught me to be very grateful for those things…  

There’s no timetable here and many times there’s no cell signal, the internet connection is weak at best… But let me assure you… The connection with the Universe and the small still voice that it speaks in is far superior… Forced to be alone with our thoughts… Not only to listen… But also to hear…

I have been toying with the idea of sharing some of what we hear… But for now it’ll just stay in my journal… For now that’s between me and the Universe…

In a scene right out of the movie “Castaway” pine cones instead of coconuts thunder to the ground and Simon has become my “Wilson” and I lean on him for support as much as he leans on me…

Monday morning, a week after Labor Day, we headed out of Indian Tree Campgrounds and south into Idaho… Pulling into Idaho Falls a day earlier than expected… Spent Monday night at the Snake River RV Park…

Walked into the Roadhouse Saloon, a short walk from the RV park for a late lunch early dinner and the Andy Griffith show was on TV… Yeah, I got back to Idaho Falls and Mayberry was on TV… Never thought I would say this about Idaho Falls… But it’s goddamn good to be home…

Dumped tanks Tuesday morning… Had two new tires put on the RV and headed to Shelley… Going to sit here for hopefully only a week… Need to finish up some loose ends and then head south thru Utah and into New Mexico… TAKING OUR TIME DOING IT… There’s lots of beautiful and spiritual places to visit and see in in the southwestern desert… I ain’t talking about the Salt Lake Mormon Temple… That’s not spiritual… That's bullshit…

There’ll be lots more written and plenty of pictures posted when we have a strong enough internet signal… We’ll have one while we are here so I figured it was time to finish this blog and get it posted… Looking forward to sitting on the porch here tonight to watch the sunset haven’t seen them from here in a year…

You can enjoy the pictures of our travels on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stevethenuclearguy and stay with us for our travels… Our plan is to spend the winter in New Mexico and we have a lot of ground to cover before getting there…

Thanks for reading… 

You Smell Like the Game...

As I mentioned a few blogs ago… http://novacationnecessary.blogspot.com/2016/08/im-so-excited.html

Our life now... RVing... Like a Med Run or a West Pac... There's the adventure of getting there and the adventure of being there...

Getting there... By submarine or RV is cramped... Sometimes smelly... Everything better be stowed for sea before getting underway... And goddamn it... I'm still hot racking with a smelly dog... 

So I went to the store this morning looking for some scented candles to put in the candle warmer… I’d rather smell Simon than some of the flowery stuff they had… I didn’t get any…

Walking home… Luckily, I still remember where I parked… I had an idea about those candles and some manly scents… Steak… Bacon… Burgers… Fried Chicken… Beer…

Then I remembered… I’m camping… Bears like the same scents…

Guess I’ll go back to the store tomorrow… Maybe they have cinnamon… The RV will smell like Fireball and the bears will just come by for a drink… 

What Difference Does it Make???

This started as a Facebook status update… Because Facebook wants to know what's on my mind... Well, since they asked... There’s a lot on my mind… Too much for a simple status update… So it’s become a blog… As someone once said… “What difference does it make???”

If my dog was outside incessantly barking for no reason other than to bark... I would fully expect someone to ask/tell me to shut him the fuck up...

Note: He isn't/wasn't... He's trained better than that... I'm making an analogy...

Yes, I realize anal is part of that word... It's going to come in handy... Damn... I used anal and come in… In back to back sentences… This could easily flow right into the gutter from here… Facebook might be sorry they asked what’s on my mind…

OK… Back to the analogy…

If my dog was outside incessantly barking for no reason other than to bark... I would fully expect someone to ask/tell me to shut him the fuck up...

So why do people think it’s OK to bring their kids to a Kampground and let them act like animals??? Incessantly, screaming for no reason but to scream… Loudly whining when they don’t get their way and fighting with their siblings…

What’s the difference???

There are a lot of places it would not be acceptable to bring my dog, yet he behaves better than the animals frequenting this Kampground… I’d be expected to put him in a kennel for the weekend or for the time I’m away… Yes, I have ranted about this before…

Well, if you are going to bring your kids how about teaching them to act like humans or leave them in a kennel next time you go away… 

There’s a business idea for you… Kennels and Kages for Kids… But someone else already has the logo… I wouldn’t want to work there… Sometimes I feel like I already do…

Thankfully, it’s the last weekend of the summer… Can I make it until Tuesday without poking my fucking ear drums out??? 

I'm So Excited!!!

Early summer 1985... Standing on the pier... Norfolk, VA... 2 less than two weeks after reporting aboard the USS FLYING FISH SSN-673... Waiting to get underway for a Med Run... Dress Whites... Singing this... 

31 years later... 2016... Late summer... Simon, in his dress whites and I... The Last of the Moheathens... Weeks away from the next leg of our adventure... 

Details of which are changing rapidly... Like the river we are camped on... 

Our life now... RVing... Like a Med Run or a West Pac... There's the adventure of getting there and the adventure of being there...

Getting there... By submarine or RV is cramped... Sometimes smelly... Everything better be stowed for sea before getting underway... And goddamn it... I'm still hot racking with a smelly dog... 

Being there... Everyplace is different... As different as a Med Run and a West Pac... 

As different as a 23 yr old on West Pac and a 29 year old on a Med Run... As different as a dark, crowded, smoke filled, noisy bar, full of drunk sailors and country music and a 60 yr old alone in a quiet campsite, beside a campfire, only the dog near by... 

Surrounded by the sounds of the forest and stars so close they can touched... Far better than the sounds of a casino and flashing neon lights...  

Any way... This song has been echoing in my head all day... #imsoexcited #coulditbeanomen 

https://www.youtube.com/attribution_link?a=b3XQziVgIK0&u=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dg6A6pMO_WKM%26feature%3Dshare

Long may you run...

Just found out yesterday was Rainbow Bridge Rememberance Day... 2/3 of these beautiful boys have crossed... Simon and I are the Last of the Moheathens and we miss his brothers, everyday... Long may you run boys... Long may you run... xxxxx

No Regrets, Coyote...

A little over a year ago I began the practice each day of listing things I’m grateful for in my journal… Each morning with a cup of coffee, pen and paper… Old school… In cursive… Sister Mary Miserable would be proud… Even if it’s messy sometimes…

It’s been an eye opener and life changing as there are always things to be happy for… Taking the time to think about them to start the day sets the tone for the rest of the day…

Using different methods to provoke good thoughts and to get the ink flowing… This morning I started with the five senses… Sight, Hearing, Smell, Touch and Taste… Felt so good after words I thought I’d share some of the good feelings here…

Sight… The blue sky and all that is good… The trees and the leaves that have already begun turning yellow… Mountains… Sunrises and Sunsets… Smiles… And the wag of Simon’s tail…

Hearing… I’m looking forward to hearing nature again… Three more weeks before Simon and I are alone in the wilderness… The sound of a stream and the wind through the trees… The song of the birds and sounds of the forest… Laughter… And silence, my favorite sound, it’s the sound that speaks the loudest…

Smell… Campfires and good food cooking on the fire… Wild flowers… Simon as I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in the fur of his neck… Smells like love…

Touch… The touch of a friend… Near, far, new, old… A handshake… A hug… Or even a text from afar… The feel of a cool stream to put my feet in… The splash of cool water on my face… The warm sun on my face… The morning dew and the wet grass on my bare feet…

Taste… Good food… Meat off the grill… Fresh fruit and vegetables… Strong coffee… Red wine… Cool water… Good beer…

Warm bed… Good rest…

Time to think… Time to listen and time to hear… Yes, there’s a difference…

No regrets… Life is good…

South By Southwest...

With still some months of summer left to be spent in the Cascade Mountains of central Washington… Plan A is evolving to drive down and camp along the Oregon and California coastline… Stay tuned for plenty of pictures…

Work has just been started on a possible Plan B... But it's not far enough along yet to decide if it would be an alternative to Plan A or to mention it here...
"Too soon" as they say...  

Often accused of being Psycho and with the screenplay of my life already like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie…  If we stick with Plan A... Maybe we’ll make a stop at the Bates Motel…

Oregon coastline… Then California… With stops planned to see the Redwoods, Point Reyes National Seashores and Big Sur… A stop in Ventura to see some friends… Then Slab City… At least to say I’ve been there… One of these winters I’d like to spend the whole winter there…

Then Arizona and into New Mexico… A stop in Roswell, NM for a “family reunion”. If I don’t trade the RV for a UFO… Then we’ll finally get to this winter’s stop in Alamogordo/White Sands, NM…

Already planning on taking a tour of the Trinity Site in White Sands next spring… One day a year the site of the first atomic bomb test is open to the public… Which brings me to one of my favorite quotes… Ironically made during an election year… “Built in America, tested in Japan.” – Ross Perot

I’m psycho, remember…

There’s more stops planned and research continues on other interesting things for Simon and I to see and do along the way and this winter... 

While Simon and I are enjoying our time together as the "Last of the Moheathens"... There is also the possibility of finding him a new brother this winter in New Mexico... 

Though I haven't been blogging as much as I should or would like to... I'm still filling journal notebooks by hand... Turning the scribbles and sometimes random thoughts into readable and hopefully entertaining blogs hasn't always come easy... 

So stay tuned faithful readers... You, Simon and I will fight through some writers block together and share our adventures...  

Priceless Freedom...

"My story isn't sweet and harmonious, like invented stories. It tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves."

- Hermann Hesse

It's not just about what happened... But also... Why did it repeatedly happen??? From one bad relationship to the next… Well, finally the universe has shed the understanding I have been searching for...

Long ago... In a galaxy far, far away... It was ingrained in me that what I wanted never mattered as much as what everyone else wanted... That well, I just didn't deserve the things and the life I wanted...I finally know now it wasn't true...  

Taught that other’s needs, wants and the chaos they create to get it were more important... Taught this from early on by evil and reinforced by evil and bad relationships throughout my life... From one bad relationship to another… Taught to falsely believe that if I gave and met others needs mine would be met as well... Evil people feed on that... Makes you think and believe that initially… Then it overwhelms you with chaos to maintain the control it fears it will lose if you finally get what you want... Evil never was intending to really lend support to my wants and needs… It was only constantly feeding the lie that they were…

It leads to a stolen life... I’ll never get back the hours spent working jobs that I hated chasing paychecks long since spent to trying to appease, please and in the end trying to buy myself peace from the controlling chaos… Controlling chaos that I mistakenly repeatedly opened the front door of my life to… Finally understanding this is part of finally being free of it... Of never repeating it again… 

Yes, youth… And its years of earning power and money has been lost… Pissed away on ungrateful evil… Ungrateful evil only interested in what can be done for them today… Chaos interested only in control… Narcissistic in its need for it…

Now finally understanding this… There’s no more need to talk about what’s been lost… It’s time to only focus on what’s been gained… Certainly there’s been a life time of experiences… In the end, though not all the experiences have been positive… There’s been more good ones than bad ones… Certainly some I’ve had experiences only a few people get to have… Certainly, some hard lessons were learned along the way… But we’re not talking about the cost of those lessons any longer…  

Looking back… What’s been gained??? Yes, a lifetime of experiences and adventure… Yes, certainly some dreams fulfilled… I have seen just about all corners of this world and this country… I fulfilled a dream to tour as a road comic and have lived adventures only a few people get to have…

I have had the love of many a fine dog and we’ve shared adventures some dogs only dream about… I have friends near and far across this land… New friends and old friends…

What have I gained??? One word… FREEDOM… A price tag can never be put on that… 

Even The Locals Are From Somewhere Else...

Is it a precursor to Alzheimer’s??? Lately, I have been amazed at some of the things surfacing from the depths of memory… Songs, stories, events, etc… Sometimes with little to no connection to what might be happening around me… Be it working, walking, talking thinking…

Like this one today…

I think anyone who has been a regular reading of my blogs, facebook posts and tweets knows how much I am enjoying life and the freedom of the road in my RV…

Now work kamping in the mountains of eastern Washington… The Comedy Dog House is down to one dog… Well, yeah… Two, if you count Simon… We like it here…

So what happened today??? Get to the damn point!!!

Everyone who works here is from somewhere else… Even the locals are from somewhere else to me… A pretty cool thing…

So yeah, the point and how to Segway into it…

Well, I was going to write a blog about telling someone I work with that his personality, attitude and constant complaining about the job was just like the “drip, drip, drip of gonorrhea”.

There’s wheels on your RV… If you don’t like it here… Drive the fuck away… Or shut the FUCK UP!!

But it might be too negative to blog about that…

So I’ll write about how amazed I am at what surfaces from the depths of memory sometimes, instead...  

https://youtu.be/QFl3T9Asw7Q

Hammer Time

So for a long time… With many starts and stops I’ve tried to put old columns together and piece together a book… I’ve even written about those efforts here… Yes, they are stopped again…

Stopped again… Maybe each time for the same reason… They weren’t saying what I wanted to say… Well, at least not “cutting to the chase” as fast as I would have liked… Oh yes, eventually they may have told the story… Maybe… Maybe it would have been missed??? Maybe eventually they’ll finally make it into a book??? Maybe it’ll finally be made into a movie???

Maybe this column will finally put into words what I have wanted to say all along… Hopefully it’ll make the book that much easier to write… The message will have already been said…

There’s a saying that the “Lessons in life will be repeated until they are learned”. 

Maybe… Just maybe I’ve finally learned what the lessons (over and over) had been trying to tell me for so long…

I worked a long time at jobs filled with unhealthy hours and stress… Unhappy while doing it… But doing what I thought I was “supposed” to do…

The only ones benefiting from those efforts being those who in the end gave no damn about me… Except when it was time to ask again… “What are you going to do for me today???”

Each time I would finally put my foot down to end the drama and to ask “What about what I want??? I would become the bad guy…

Repeatedly making bad choices in people to trust… Repeatedly trying to “earn love”… I’ll probably be faulted for quoting some scripture here… But I never said there isn’t any wisdom to be found there… 

As a matter of fact, this bit of wisdom is found twice in the Book of Proverbs… Proverbs 21:9 and 25:24

“Better to live on a corner of the roof
    than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”

Just wish I hadn’t been repeatedly fooled by those pretending not to fit the description…  

Repeatedly, repeating the lesson… Until it was learned… I’ve experienced lots of loss in this life… All those years of work with little to nothing material to show for my efforts…

It’s safe to say the lesson will not need to be repeated again… The lesson??? What’s important??? 

I finally have it figured out… And I’m living it now…

Living “small” now with the boys for the last two years, mostly out of my RV… Stress and drama free with an abundance of wisdom, better health, love, quality relationships not built on what someone can get from me, adventure, insight and freedom…

I’ll dip into the scripture bag one more time… Proverbs 15:17

“Better a small serving of vegetables with love
    than a fattened calf with hatred.”

The Universe was trying to teach me this for a long time…. And yes, many of those old columns would have rehashed the lessons… But not moved me past them…

Yes, sometimes we just need to be hit in the head repeatedly with a bigger and bigger hammer until the lesson sinks in… Okay, I get it now…

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window???

I wrote this 12 years ago… Seems like a perfect time to re-post it… If you don’t cry you might be a terrorist…

Having just completed two weeks of evening and midnight shifts, I ventured out this morning headed to the country garden store. A time to reacquaint with myself as I loaded up on cat food, dog food and rawhide bones. I must have taped a sign on my back as I entered the store… "Bad A$$, but Soft Heart".  Hmm.....

As I checked out what should appear?  But a miniature Jack, so young and so pure.

We're looking for a home for this guy, said the checkout girl.  As I stopped to say hi and ogle the puppy. 

How old is he?

Six weeks, we call him JJ.

Of course he was cute, most puppies are. But a puppy was NOT on my shopping list this morning, so I proceeded to the door. Almost out to the safety of the truck, the big invisible hand held up a stop sign. Turning me around it drew the words right out of me.

How much is he?  Expecting to hear a figure high enough in the hundreds to justify NOT getting him.

Free, to a good home!

Put the dog food in the truck... I'll go buy some puppy chow.

So now Riley had a brother, JJ (for Jack Junior?) was here. Doolittle that is, so he was talking soon enough...

And talk he did for 12 straight years… Goodbye JJ… You were the best ever…I’ll be forever grateful to that big invisible hand that knew I needed you much more than you needed me… I will always love you… 

Requiem for a Heavyweight

Started this journey across America with 3 dogs and a cat…  The cat and a dog occupy two shallow graves in Idaho… Like the pioneers of yesteryear who left shallow graves across the American frontier… We dug another one today in the mountains of Central Washington…

Like the pioneers of old... He traveled west from NY to Idaho... Northwest to the Washington coast... Back to Idaho... Southwest to Southern California... Back to Idaho... and finally the mountains of Washington... Mountains, Deserts, Oceans, Rivers and long ago in a galaxy, far, far away a Great Lake...  

He lived a long… Though are they ever long enough??? A happy, adventurous life… No dog enjoyed this adventure like JJ… Always in the co-pilot seat… Scanning the horizon for danger and adventure as though in the front seat of a pioneer’s covered wagon…

Mischievous, fun, full of love… Though at times a “boog-a-loofer” not wanting to admit he loved the attention…

He went bravely and bright eyed today… With Riley, Jack and Buddy and all those before him there to greet him… The smallest of the three… He leaves me with the heaviest heart…

A heavy heart and Simon… “Heavy Si(gh)”… Long considered the “slowest” of the bunch… He continues to show how in tune he really is…

Leading him quietly to the grave site… Not saying a word… Sitting on the ground beside it… He walked over… Sat directly in front of me… Looked into my eyes and slobbered kisses all over my face… I think I might have to get Simon a kitty…

JJ’s pain is ended… Our love for him goes on…    

"Sugar" Jay

The Answer

Sitting by the campfire feeling a bit like Jim Morrison… At least The Doors are echoing in my ears…

So who cares what the question is… Camping is the answer… We have been on the road since Monday afternoon… I’ll only count Monday night in the RV park as half the answer, since we slept with all the windows wide open…

Last night we couldn’t do that as the sun went down so did the temperature in the mountains of northern Oregon… But the answer is complete…

I love this life… Off Grid Freedom… Last night as I crawled into bed… I was more relaxed than I have been in a long time… No tension knots… My back completely relaxed and pain free… No tossing and turning… Waking up in the same place I fell asleep… Alive and invigorated…

A campfire this morning, coffee and bacon… A hike and a swim for the boys… Lunch… A nap… And two mile walk down the road to fill some water jugs with a smile on my face…

Dinner… Chicken, carrots with butter and brown sugar… A bottle of water… Tonight’s campfire is burning when I finish this… I’ll throw another chunk of wood on it and open a Mason Jar of Apple Pie Moonshine…

I would live every day like this and never miss anything left behind… I know I missed this… Off Grid Camping alone with the boys… I never feel alone… Many times in the city I could not say the same thing…

For now, though tomorrow we will head to a KOA in Leavenworth, WA to work camp for the summer… It’s a small compromise… We aren’t alone in the mountains, but we will be “camping”...

We’ll follow the seasons and the sun... With the plan to be full time Off Grid Campers in two years or less… Still following the seasons and the sun…  

I wanted to say more… But I think I have said enough… Time to sit by the fire… So I will leave you with this…

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.” 
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods