Simple Living and Simple Travel

Santa Rosa only had two other rigs here. Sites are close to the road but very little traffic in the winter. M/O out on one of our late afternoon walks. At some point on every walk, Meadow or Onyx will sit in ambush until the other one comes along, then pounce and roll around together. Sometimes if Onyx is crouched and waiting, Meadow will sprint past and they both go running up the trail with their tails straight up in the air. Meadow has no qualms about slamming into Onyx but she would just as soon not have the same happen to her. Very, very entertaining. Had a few cold days with two single-digit nights. Meadow and Onyx bagged the walks. Had to stay an extra day because the roads were pretty icy and snow covered. Meadow was watching something out the window one day. I looked out and saw this fox rooting around in the ground. The morning I rolled out of Santa Rosa State Park, I stopped for breakfast at Joseph’s out on rt66. Had a tasty omelet and hit the road with,...

I hate headwinds. Heading down rt191 towards Monticello with the pedal-to-the-metal, the ’91 Cherokee was only going 45 mph. Two more years and I’m getting an 8 cylinder. Driving over to Cortez and Durango was easier going. Didn’t stock up until Durango since I did not want to be dragging the weight from Cortez. There was an Albertsons, Wal-mart, and Home Depot in town. Rt172 south was a nice, laidback drive until I hit New Mexico. The road then got rougher and was a steep 25-30 mph climb up the mountain, with no passing lanes. It took us quite a while to reach the top and luckily there was not any traffic. Sure looking forward to that 8. Picked up another annual pass at Navajo Lake state park. It’s a decent campground but, as you know, campgrounds don’t generally work for Meadow and Onyx. The only campground that was open this time of year was Pine. Not many people here since they are mostly much farther south by this time. Damn do I plan well. I got a decent site for the little on...

Well, a couple days turned into a couple weeks. I love this lifestyle&#151it’s so unpredictable. I hear many fulltimers say stuff like if they go off and dry camp, they are ready to bag it after two or three days. They don’t have anything to do, miss other people (in only three days!), and they get bored. Unreal. These are the same people who state that their grandkids need to be constantly entertained. Isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black? I don’t know if I could get enough of being out in the sticks for weeks at a time. I love steppin’ out the door in the morning in a place that demands to be noticed. I love it out here. I drove about 30 miles south of Moab, turned off rt191, and headed west. After 8 or 10 miles I turned onto a dirt road heading north and came across the spot in the first photo to camp. I do like solitude. The next day I went out for a mountain bike ride and came across another place to camp so I moved the following morning after a nice run c...

I don’t like to drive from SLC to Moab all in one day so I went off on some sand roads south of Page for the night. I spent a week at Lisa and Glen’s place in Moab. They provided a great place to park and are fine people. Glen knows EVERYTHING about local places to hike and camp. He pointed out places to camp south out of Moab in my DeLorme atlas. I’m set. We also had dinner one night with Theresa, one of my old principals, who grows the BEST garlic I’ve ever tasted. I truly enjoy these visits. If in the area, check out the all volunteer community radio station&#151KZMU 90.1 and 106.7. They broadcast most of what is happening in town. If you don’t like the music, tune back in later. Each programmer plays the music she likes so the genre changes depending on the day and hour. As luck would have it, the last Farmer’s Market of the season was on the weekend I was here. I snagged a fabulous loaf of blue cornmeal walnut bread, a VERY decadent small chocolate pie, and a tub of cheese...

I’ll let my bumper sticker say it for me. Yee-hah, we’re rollin’! After these past four months, I will finally be getting back to the lifestyle I most enjoy. I really appreciate getting emails from those of you who have come across my blog, as well as those friends who have been following it all along. Thank you. It’s like a virtual social-fix whenever I come back onto the grid for supplies and access the web. Thank you, thank you. give me a low-rider camp chair, a small fire, a well written book, a bottle of Bordeaux, some bread and cheese RVwest article ‘Following a Free Spirit’ FOR INDEX OF POSTINGS GO TO JULY 2006

Remember I stated back in August that Meadow and Onyx have been ready to move on? Instead of their usual roaming, they frequently sit around the site. I thought this shot was cute. It’s as if they are saying, ‘Hey Sebo, this is the road out of here, in case you don’t know. Let’s go. Pack up and pick us up.’ Another climber I met was Pam. A nice lady I enjoyed spending time with. She lent me ‘A Walk in the Woods’ Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. Very informative and entertaining. Two way out-of-shape friends try their hand at hiking the AT. Bryson has some hilarious lines about equipment, their ineptitude, and some of the people they come across on their travels. Thanks Pam. We also went to a local mountain man rendezvous. The next time I go to one of those, I have to plan to see the various events. We also had a fabulous 3-hour dinner at Ruth’s down in Salt Lake with a bottle of Merlot and on another night, some great Thai food and Thai beer. That was S...