May 31

Well, I am in Nacogdoches, Texas having traveled only about 150 miles today.  Left Rivendell about 11:15, so it was already hot and humid.  It only got hotter and more humid.  I was wet with perspiration even on the bike.  I wish, however, to report that Pat's idea about the Camelback is brilliant.  I will admit when I am wrong.  Used it for the first time today, and it made a big difference.  I drained it in 130 miles.  I am the only motorcycler I've seen using one.  Put a Harley emblem on the thing and they'd sell like hot cakes.  Not sure I actually know how hot cakes sell, but I understand it must be fast.  Otherwise the idiom makes no sense.  (One of you will tell me it is a metaphor, I just know it.)

I am back on the wagon after eating too well at Pete and Linda's.  I can't afford to gain weight.  See?

Pete and Linda's patio.  I was worshipping the TV while their son-in-law grilled most superbly.  Peter took the shot on his phone.  I think his phone makes me look fat.  Do you think his phone makes me look fat?  Do phones come with "Look Fat" settings so wives and friends can make fun of you?  They must.

Easy trip to Shreveport tomorrow.

May 29 - 30

Rivendell

Notice how even the trees look elvish?  The tree trunks in Lorien were, I believe, silver.

Part of these two days were spent trying to figure out why I can't seem to send e-mails from my mobile devices using the e-mail associated with the blog.  Well, according to a Verizon store geekdude, some e-mail providers, gmail, for instance, work perfectly well with mobile devices, and others do not.  I seem to have one of the do nots.  I mean, I was trying to manually reset my ports (whatever the hell those are) and all kinds of kinky techno crap, but nothing worked.  So, in view of what the geekdude said, I will not fight it anymore.  I can receive, but not send.  Think of that for a moment.  It is sad on a cosmic scale.  anyway, I offer my gmail account in case some of you may wish to get a reply to your comments and e-mails.  It is carleric17@gmail.com.  (Secretly, of course, I am deeply envious of geekdude, for he is competent in an area I regard as wizardry.  I am one of those people who, if a computerish thingy works after I spin around three times and slap my face, will always spin around and self-dope slap before attempting to do the same procedure again.)

Other parts of these two days were spent running around with Pete and Linda as they prepare for a little jaunt of their own.  Of course, they have the sense to go by Lexus SUV.  Very nice.

I leave Rivendell tomorrow having traveled 2384 miles so far.  Many more to go, for I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.

May 28

A continuing comment from Memorial Day.  Women are now eligible for infantry combat duty.  This is a huge mistake, pushed no doubt by people who never wore the uniform and who do not really know what combat entails.  The argument seems to be that women are in harm's way now, so why not allow them to serve in infantry units? The answer is there is a big difference between being in harm's way and being in combat.  Day after day, and week after week, under conditions that test the very strongest, everyone's body breaks down.  Women will tend, strongly tend, physically to break down faster.  Can it be otherwise when the average female is 20% smaller than the average male?  Even particularly strong women will simply not be able to keep up, and will be a drag on the unit.  This will increase casualties, both male and female.  If anyone wants women to have the chances men have, it is me.  Patricia and Katherine are the most important people in my life.  Gender discrimination is anathema to me.  But some rare times it is justified.  Combat is one of those times.

Finished the last of my course of antibiotics today.  Hard to believe I could feel so rotten soon after getting here and feel so decent now.  Let's hear it for modern medicine!

Starting to get ready to depart Rivendell.  Helped run a few errands, hung out.  The revealing thing is my reaction to leaving.  I am apprehensive.  Forty years ago, despite how much I delight in being around my friends, I'd have been eager to get to the road, to see something new, feel the wind on my face.  Now I am apprehensive.  Patricia, who understands me very well, knows this is one of the reasons for this trip.  It is one of the reasons she encouraged it.

Baron Von Richthofen was asked how he went into the air time after time.  He said, "One must conquer the inner schweinhund."  I remember going to the Austrian Alps while I was in high school.  Went walking on one of the ski slopes late on a cold, clear December night.  The slope was bordered on two sides by dense pine forest, and I suddenly felt an unreasoning fear of that forest.  But there was no reason for the fear, so I forced myself to walk into the pines before turning around and heading for the lights and bed.  I've taken that walk into the trees many times over the years.  This trip is partly another walk into the dark forest.  There are many ways to grow old.  One way is to head for the lights without first going into the woods.  I intend to grow old only in years.

I guess today wasn't a normal blog.

May 27

Memorial Day.  I do not have a normal relationship with this holiday.  A few years ago, I was within 100 yards of the Vietnam War Memorial and couldn't bring myself to visit it.  A.E. Housman wrote a verse the last two lines of which I think should be on every war memorial.

Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose,

But young men think it is, and we were young.

I'm not sure whether his view of life was informed by a dissatisfaction with his existence, or the more philosophically subtle point that we don't miss life when we die.  I can't miss something if there is no "I."  Hence, it is nothing much to lose.  A point easy to explain, difficult to live.  I suspect Housman meant both.

Pete and Linda have a grandson who just turned 11.  Had a party for him at their house yesterday.  Much swimming in the pool, eating of cake, roasted corn on the cob, pork loin, grilled veggies and the like.  The birthday boy's dad is great with a grill.  A good time was had by all.  It was really neat observing the very nice relationship Pete and Linda  have with their daughter, the eleven year old's mom.  Bantering, teasing, openly affectionate.  I suspect their relationship with their other two kids is similar.  Well, it is Rivendell, after all.

May 26

The baseball game was a lot of fun, but the Astros are terrible.  Pete tells me they have the lowest payroll in the American League.  Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees purportedly makes more than the entire Astros team.  This may explain why they win only one game in four.  They had almost as many hits as Oakland, but couldn't score despite having multiple opportunities.  Also made two throwing errors.  Can't be making throwing errors.

Our seats were 10 rows back on the third base side.

The mascot.

From above.

For me, the concept of a baseball park with a roof is weird.  This stadium has a retractable roof, however, so it has natural grass.  Retract the roof, grow grass.  Baseball has to have natural grass.  This isn't football, for pity's sake.  The facility is really quite nice

We left after the top of the 7th.  Beat the rush, had a great time.

May 23 - 25

Well, I had a draft of May 23, but it appears I didn't save it.  I do remember that sometime in the last few days Peter, who had considered getting a Can-Am 3-wheeler, but decided against it, saw my Beemer and is reconsidering.  Went to a dealer and he wants the top of the line model.  Looks like something that would be right at home in the Bat Cave.  Very cool.  Unlike traditional 3-wheelers that have one wheel in the front and two in the back, this reverses the arrangement.  It is much easier to steer.  The traditional layout doesn't turn without wanting to slide out.

Went to see the new Star Trek movie on the 24th.  I thought I could at least treat for that, but Linda bought the tickets on line before we went.  Later, went out for dinner and had a great time.  I was finally able to pay for something.

Yesterday, we went to the Gulf coast.  We were going to Galveston.  Thought if we left a little after noon on Sat, we'd avoid the crowd getting down there, people having left for the three day weekend on either Friday night or Sat morning.  Seems a significant number of people thought as we did.  I-45 was jammed, so we left the interstate and headed down to another town, the name of which I forget, but which starts with a 'K.'  Went to a restaurant on the water and got a table on the corner so we could see both down the boat channel and out into the gulf.  Hadn't eaten much since dinner, so, at about 3 we sat down and had a nice late lunch.  For those who keep insisting on pictures, I now have a few.

This and the following give an overview of party town.

Note the variety of rides you can pay to enjoy and then throw up.  I've never understood why this is such a successful business model.

Our lunch views:

The gulf with Mr. Pelican.

This is the area where Pete and Linda moored their boat before they sold it.

A whole mess of catfish.

There!  That should be enough for awhile.

I've decided in the interests of privacy, not to post photos of any of the people I visit on this trek.  For the same reason, I am not going to describe them in any detail.  "Do unto others . . . ."

Tomorrow, we go into Houston for an Astros game.  Likely get an insight into why they are in last place.

May 22

Some of you have been good enough to post comments on the blog.  I attempt to respond, but I'm not sure I'm getting the job done.  So, if you've posted a comment and have not gotten a reply, it's not because I didn't try to respond.  It is because I am inept.

Am making spaghetti sauce for Pete and Linda.  They allow as how it smells good, but we'll see how it tastes.  This is a smallish batch and I'm not sure I apportioned the ingrediments correctly.  (Stupid machine-without-a-soul changed it to "ingredients.")

We were going to go down to Galveston today, but I wasn't quite up to it.  I'm forcing liquids because I am reaching for the stars.  It is possibly unrealistic, but I want to flush my urinary tract and force a bowel movement.  This is my dream.

I think all these problems go back to dehydration.  Pat suggested that I take a camel back with me and I scoffed.  There is an REI on the way to or in Galveston and I think I will pick one up.  The downside is that this will only encourage Pat to stick more things in my bags.  For instance, she wanted me to take a solar powered battery charger, too.  Also a solar powered radio.  Next trip, I'll find my bags stuffed with nuts and berries and solar chargers and lord knows what else.  I'll probably have to announce, "OK, I'm packed," and then sneak back after several hours to pack again. 

The spaghetti was a hit. 

May 21

In "The Lord of the Ring" difficult journeys are interrupted by sojourns with elves.  Frodo and the others recover their strength and ready themselves for the next stage.  I told Pete this morning that he and Linda are elves.  I was more tired than I thought.  Yesterday, I changed into shorts and a short sleeve shirt, went shopping for spaghetti fixin's.  Froze.  The air conditioning down here is always cranked way up.  The supermarket was freezing.  Wound up back at the house shaking almost uncontrollably.  Covered up with blankets, finally put long underwear and a ski hat and went to bed.  Earlier, I'd had a glass too much of Pete's wine and then a bit too much Texas barbecue.  Did not feel well.  Also had throbbing head ache and my forearms and palms are so tight and sore, I can't use them well.  This morning, I was sitting at the table with Pete and Linda, and sweat started pouring off me.  I think I am just whipped.  Fortunately, in am in Rivendell.

Well, by 6 p.m we finally decided to take my temp.  103.  So we went to the ER.  Urinary tract infection.  No damned wonder I felt cold, tired and whipped.  Got the fever down and am on antibiotics.  Feeling much better already.

May 20

No winner, but some weirdness, or at least funness.  (The IPad likes neither my playful approach to the English language nor my charming spelling.  It constantly wants me to change things.  Shut up, machine!  You have no soul.  You have no poetry.)

Billboard just off the interstate:  "Cowboy Church - Branded for Christ."  What, I ask, is the theology surrounding human branding?  There is an ick factor here almost on a par with transubstantiation.

The next one was more fun.  Now, I want to believe that Texas has some statute banning advertising for nude dancing and that some sleezebag club owner has found a way of sticking it to the man.  "Whisper Cabaret - Fabric Free Entertainment."

The scary one was just down the street from last night's lodging.  It was a Chevron station so I started to pull in when I finally noticed orange cones and other impediments to entrance.  Then I saw the sign: "Closed for Tornado Damage.  Opening again soon."

There was a miracle about 85 miles north of Houston - pine trees.  Southeast Texas seems fairly well graced with what I think are large live oaks - hard to tell when you are zipping past them - but pine trees, large ones and lots of them, were mighty unforeseed.  (Stupid machine changed that to "unforeseen," the bastard.)  Quite nice.  (I mistakenly typed "quite."  Think the idiot machine would change it to "quite?"  Why, no.  No, it did not.  Bastard!)

Anyway, I am in Spring, a town just north of Houston, visiting friends I haven't seen in years.  You know  friends are truly life friends when you can visit them after so long and it will be as though we last saw one another yesterday.  I say nice things because I expect them to feed and shelter me for awhile.  Also, very nice house.  I am sitting in their living room on one of two leather sofas arranged at right angles.  They share an ottoman bigger than most tables.  They are clearly 1 percenters who will suffer righteous justice come the revolution.  But they left me a key to the house and bottle of wine whilst they are out and about.  So I hope nothing bad happens to them.

In license plate game news, west of the Mississippi I cover all states but Hawaii, no surprise there, and South Dakota.  That is a surprise.  Usually, you can spot a lot of S. Dak plates.  Escaping, possibly.  But now they seem to be staying at home.  Or maybe they've already all escaped.

Pete should be here in about 45 minutes.  I'm going to try to convince him that we should go to an upscale place, order a couple of Patron Gold margaritas, sit at the bar and look about for evil doers.  He probably won't go for it.

May 19

An easier, greener ride today.  Probably did 200 miles.  Visited some friends in Dallas and spent a very 

pleasant few hours with them.  They are the grandparents of the delightful young lady at whose wedding I officiated a few years ago.  She is finishing up her doctorate and getting ready to move to Houston for post-doc work, while husband Gabe, who is in the same field and who has finished his post-doc, goes off to his new job.  Not in Houston.  They will be apart for a year.  I will visit them in Ohio just before they move.  I just know I will be a calming influence.

Hey, big news!  Texas has trees!  The trees east of Abilene were not a fluke.  Texas is still windy though.  I am in Ennis, some miles southeast of Dallas on I 45.  On to Houston tomorrow.

Once again, we have no name sufficiently worthy to be called a winner.  I begin to despair.

Because certain people are really pressing me for pictures, here are two

The door to my motel room in Ennis.

My sock-clad toes and two bags on the motel floor.

Hope these give you your fix.

May 18

A bit over 500 miles again today.  Santa Rose, NM to Eastland, Texas.  Eastland is about 40 miles east of Abilene.  Today was much more a chore than yesterday.  To begin, it was 77 before 8 a.m., despite the signs warning of ice on bridges.  Of course, it should have been "Ice on Bridges May Exist" or "Icy Bridges May Exist and May Have Big Billy Goat Gruff Walking Over Them."  My hypothesis is that philosophy major undergrads who do not go on to law school, do go on to the sign departments in various transportation agencies.  I digress.

It was hot.  When it hit 94, I stopped, drank some water and shed the leathers.  It hit a high of 101, with strong quartering winds that really blew me around.  Of course, I stopped and drank water, but at one point I decided I needed more.  Spotted a gas station and C store on the other side of the interstate.  Took the exit.  Saw that the overpass I needed to use was completely removed.  Stopped at the next place, 20 or 30 miles away, got some Powerade and chugged all 32 ozs. 

Not only was today hotter than yesterday, it did not have the advantage of beautiful country for the first half of the trip.  Today, I saw northeastern NM, uninspiring, and the length of the Texas panhandle, which is even worse.  I don't recall seeing a real tree.  Flat, recently plowed and under irrigation.  Crossed a fork of the Brazos river that was old bone dry.  Looked like the last time it had seen water was when Noah took up yachting.  To be fair to Texas, once I got east of Abilene, the country improved greatly.  Lots of trees and green.  Still hot as hell, though.

All in all, this was just one of those get from point A to point B days.  No winner and little weirdness.  Except for a couple of Texas town names I will pass on.  Fluvanna.  Wildorado.  And when you pass through Justiceburg, you know you are miles from anything.  And one more tip.  I passed through Lubbock.  Google the Lubbock Lights for early UFO material.  I remember this from waaaaay back.

Dallas tomorrow.

One picture of my yard.  Much greener than Texas.

May 17

Well, 500 miles today.  A very nice trip in the morning, temperatures in the 60s, great scenery. Started from Moab a little before 7:30, went through Cortez, Colorado on my way to Shiprock, New Mexico and the Navajo Reservation.  There, massive disappointment awaited, but first things first.  Crossing into Colorado from Utah was uneventful until Cortez.  Cortez seems to have a great many liquor stores for the size of the town.  My favorite was the worst looking one that advertised, "Liquor, Adult gag gifts and magazines."  Liquor and porn.  I don't think we're in Utah anymore, Toto.

I was really looking forward to getting Navajo fry bread in Shiprock.  Every little Navajo diner has it. The trick is finding a Navajo diner.  There was McDonalds Taco Bell, Sonic - but not little diner that I ever found.  So there is a sign for the next town, Little Water.  Well, Little Water has little water and little of anything else.  So it went, mile after mile, all the way to Gallup, where I was also disappointed.  I ate a salad for dinner last night, a small bowl of cereal and some fruit for brekkus at 6:30.  I was saving calories in the calorie bank.  And for what!  THERE WAS NO FRY BREAD!  I am bitter.  So at about 1:30 I had another Subway sandwich.  My 3d in 4 days.  That fourth day?  I skipped lunch.  Screw it!  I'm having Mexican food for dinner.

By lunch I'd been fighting a serious quartering wind.  In fact, there was a minor dust storm on the res.  As I was heading south, the wind was coming from the west.  When I turned east, it didn't take long for the wind to start coming from the south.  What the hell is up with that?  The temps started rising, too.  By the time I hit Santa Rosa, NM, where I'd pretty much determined to stop anyway, the temp jumped in short order to 94.  I took this as a sign The Lord wanted me to stop.  So I did.

A few road weirdness:  I saw several philosophical road signs, all in NM.  They read, "Gusty Winds  May Exist."  Well, thanks.  Diamond trolls may also exist, and copper elves.  Give me an idea of the probabilities here.  Another happy strange thing was the personalized license plate on a car being towed by a larger vehicle, "Entwife."  Thought I'd come across a real Lord of the Rings fan until I mentioned it to my daughter.  Seems grass, dope, pot, weed now goes by "tree" so potheads call themselves Ents.  That may not have been a literary license plate at all.

A picture from the archives, for I took no pictures today.

Observation:  Western expanses always have a haze.  I think it is getting worse.  Years ago, I spoke with a ranger in the Grand Canyon about this.  He said the canyon was getting air pollution from LA.  Now I think we get a lot from China.  I am serious.

There is no winner today.  None of the camper names were worthy.

The interesting country is all but gone.  I hit Texas tomorrow.

May 16, 2013

So, had an egg white omelet for breakfast (brekkus), two strips of turkey bacon, decaf coffee and two glasses of water.  I felt so pure and superior!  Trouble is, it is now 4:30, and I haven't had anything since brekkus.  So I'm nibbling Pat's nuts and berries, being one with the Great Bear Spirit, and taking pen in hand to write you this note.

A few odds and ends.  Several delightful people invited me to join them on google +.  I am honored to be asked, but I don't know what that is.  When I figure it out, I will be delighted to join your, what is it?, "circle."  I've had another request that is odd if not downright bizarre.  One of you - you know who you are - wants pictures of where I stay.  Ain't happenin'.  If you must, log onto the Four Seasons website and imagine me in a different one of those every day.

I have no winner today.  For those of you who read only for that, stop now.  I did not travel far enough to get a good sample.

Drove to Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park, rode and walked about those places.  This is Dead Horse Point from where you can see the Colorado River make its famous horseshoe bend.  It was mid-day, so the light is terrible, but SHEER PROOF I was there.

Look!  More sheer proof!

Next, I went on to Canyonlands.  It's just to big for photos to do it any justice, but here are a few of a small area.

This dirt road goes for 100 miles through the park.  You want to have a lot of water.  I did not take this.

Speaking of water, I took twice as much with me today.  64 instead of 32 fl. Ozs.  Worked, I'm fine.

Driving in the heat, perspiration evaporates so quickly you don't realize how much you lose.

An observation or two.  First, it's going to be a dry summer.  There is very little snow left.  Mountains to the south of Moab are over 12,000 ft.  Very little snow even on those peaks.  It was like that through Idaho and past Salt Lake.  Second, little rain so far.  A few gentle showers in the distance with the horsetail rains coming down - a female rain, the Navajo would say, I think - but no real rain to speak of.  Even though I have my wet gear,  I am OK with this.  Just as long as it rains after I pass through.

Going to head through southwest Colorado tomorrow, on my way to Shiprock, New Mexico where I intend to satisfy my yen for Navajo fry bread.  Shiprock is on the res.  If you haven't had fry bread, you don't know what you're missing.  Hope to make it past Al B Kirk Ee.  Go ahead, laugh.  Then you spell it.

May 15

Oh my gawd.  I partially unpacked last night and found Pat snuck about 15 pounds of dried fruit and nuts into one of my bags.  Maybe I can share them with a bear.

Yesterday started out at 51 degrees and went to 90.  Of course, you have dress for the chill, so I got a tad mite warm later in the day.  Today, I just waited a few extra hours so it was in the mid-60s when I left.  So clever, so clever.  Of course, I did only two hundred and some miles today.

Today was why I motorcycle.  Got past a small town on I-70 and saw a sign, "No Services Next 110 Miles."  Drove twisting through a narrow canyon in the morning cool where even on the Interstate the speed limit was cut by up to 30 mph going through the curves.  Juniper on the canyon sides, a creek running just off the road with trees in the creek bottom just leafing out.  The canyon was red, tan, yellow, rust, green - and that  was just the rock, and not all of it.  Crested a pass over 7800 feet and dropped down into lower rock formations, gray and eroded into fantastic shapes, a demon's nightmare.  Lots of orange flowers by the side of the road.  Went over a second pass not much lower than the first.  Scenic overlooks every few miles.  I stopped and took phone camera shots of a few, but will not post them because they don't begin to convey the feel of the place.  Those of you who have been here know what I mean.  Those of you who haven't just need to come.  If god made southern Utah, it was when he was feeling particularly wild and artistic.

Not far into the canyon I saw two things in quick succession.  The first was a sign reading, "Frequent Wildlife Next 12 Miles."  The second was a dead elk.  Someone needed to take the sign more seriously.  A dead elk also usually means a dead car or truck, too, but I didn't see one of those.

Oh my gawd again.  I just checked into a place in Moab and found Pat also snuck a pound or so of hard candy into one of my bags.  I checked into Moab - fourth place I tried, incidentally, as the town is full up - because the campground at Arches is, you guessed it, full up.  I begin to suspect that taking the sleeping bag, pad and tent may not be the wonderful idea I first conceived it to be.   I shall have to take advantage of friends even more.  Of course, why else does one have friends?  Oops.  Maybe that wasn't smart to say just now.

After I wrote what you just read, I went to Arches National Park.  Took a serious camera and even more serious lenses.  If I got anything, I will share after the trip.  Did some hiking as well as driving and even though I took a fair amount of water, I dehydrated.  I can tell, because the bike gets awfully heavy, and I have to be careful to think through even ordinary things.  Left the park at seven, got a light dinner and four sizable glasses of ice water.  Still feel whipped.

One thing about Arches - English may not be the primary language.  It may be German.  Bring us them Euros, boys and girls!

The day's weirdness was a waterfall that certainly appeared to be flowing uphill.  It was a creek beside the road, and though the general terrain was going uphill, so the water was flowing as the Lord intended, the road was going down for a way.  So it really looked as if I was heading downhill with the water flowing in the opposite direction.

Today's winner is "Anal Fun Seeker."

I must stretch and sleep.  Canyon lands National Park tomorrow.

Trip: May 14

This where the trip starts.  Our house is in the trees on the right side of the canyon, on the cliff edge.  Can't actually see it in this shot.  Like the neighborhood, though.

Note the wondrous omelet Pat made Carl to start the trek.  The yellow things are not bugs.  They are earplugs.  Around my neck, not on the plate!  Damn, people!

I think Pat's IPhone makes me look fat.  This isn't the first time.

Fifteen seconds later, Carl is off!  Note he is driving past the trash.  Coincidence?  I think not.

(I refer to myself in third person.  Hey!  It worked for Caesar.  'Course, his wife's IPhone didn't make him look fat.)

Well, it was a very good day.  Went 510 miles, about 70 more than I'd planned.  The great news is MY POSTERIOR DIDN 'T HURT.  I was actually quite worried about this.  In the halcyon days of my youth, (see blog wallpaper) I'd routinely do 800, 900 mile days.  But now?  Well, like I said, I was worried.  Not that it was pain free - my mid back hurt, but this is just tightness that has been going on for five or six days.  With stretches, it will go away.

Now, even a mere 510 miles can get boring unless you play games and watch for random weirdness.  The best random weirdness today came fairly early in the trip.  I passed a flatbed vehicle hauler with three beat up Kubota mini trucks and a shiny new Porsche.  When the weird fades, you play games.  There is the old standby license plate game, but I vary it with an even better one.  My daughter, Kat, taught it to me.  She learned it from a close friend who, as I understand it, learned it from her mother.  Anyway, you look for motor homes.  They all have various names emblazoned on them.  Just put the word 'Anal' in front of the name.  Today's winner was "Anal Sportsmaster."  You should play this with your friends.  The name game, I mean.

Enough.  A hot shower calls.

Pre-trip: May 10-13

OK - in case anyone wonders what my weird blog name is all about, here's a clue.  It's the bike's name.  Well, why name it that particular weirdness, you wonder.  Ah!  In Norse mythology, it is one of the two horses that pull the sun.  It means "Early Waker."

Which brings up this picture.  My motto for the trip and life in general.  Had it engraved and attached it to one of my saddlebags.  A.E. Houseman, if you're wondering.

So, it's been a hectic time.  Can't just run off and leave the domestic work undid.  Dusted the inside of the house.  So what?  Well, that's a big deal in a log house.  One must dust the walls, the ceilings and the beams.  Then I brushed sealant on some of the outside logs.  (I will give you my standard advice on log homes.  If you have the chance to buy one, pass it up.)  And the damned deck.  Sanded it, put two coats of sealant on it.  And did the even damneder railings.  And had some chairs reupholstered, and oiled some furniture, and got the sprinkler system up and running and repaired.  (Elk routinely stomp parts of it in the winter.)  And raked leaves, and spread  six yards of bark, and shampooed the carpets - twice.  That's how dirty the dogs get it in the winter when we let the so-and-sos in.  And got the bike ready, and the gear, and the packing, and learning techno stuff so I can use an IPad and a smart phone.  This from a guy who thought he was moving into the modern world when he took up wax and a stylus.  It sure beat the sharp stick and mud brick I'd been using.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to setting out tomorrow so I can nap on the bike.

I am a bit apprehensive.  It is many a long year since I've done something like this.  As we get older, we get comfortable in our routines.  I don't want to get too comfortable; it gets in the way of living.  So, an 8000 mile motorcycle trip seems in order.  One of the benefits of trip prep was that it made me get into the gym, get my resting heart rate down to 54, and my weight down 12 pounds.  There is a lot of weight left to lose, but at least I'm going in the right direction.

Still a number of things to do.  Next post will be after I have some miles under my belt.

Pre-trip: May 8

Sumbitch!  It worked!  Pressed the "Done" button, which, of course, is not really a button, but a faux button, but it didn't fool me! and then another, secret, button popped up.  It said "Publish."  At first, and at second, for that matter, I was stymied.  "What's this second button that-isn't-really-a-button crap?  Some sadist is doing this just to frusticate me."  Then, using native cunning, I decided that a blog is to publish, so "Publish" is probably a good thing to press. So I did, and it worked, and I am so proud.

Pat objected to the first blog, insisting that she has never used the "You'll-have-fun-while-I'm-working guilt thing."  She says, quite rightly, that she is very encouraging and urges me to do fun things in my retirement.    She did, however, use a variation of the above when convincing me to blog.  It was more "I-want-to-have-fun-while-I'm-working-too-even-if-it's-vicariously.  Blog, damnit."  I merely translated.

Now, there is a risk here.  Pat really wants me to have fun, but if I sound as though I'm having too much fun . . . well.  So I expect periodically to post things like, "Bitter cold today.  Didn't think it could get worse but then the driving rains came just ahead of the tornado.  Hypothermia.  Must ... find ... shelter."  If you read something like this, it will be a lie, unless it is my final post, in which case it was likely true.  Anyway, I just don't want anyone getting jealous.

One more thing.  The background picture on this blog is me on my second motorcycle, a 750 cc BMW.  I was in my late twenties, early thirties.  I am unchanged, but the bike is not.  I now ride a 2010 BMW 1200 GS Adventure.  You should google that.

Pre-trip: May 7

Why am I, a virtual Luddite whom no one would call a technical adept, even doing a blog?  Because Pat thinks it is a good idea.

"Carl, you should do a blog on your trip ."  

"Why, it's just more crap to learn. I'll call you every day."  

"But I'll be tired, and we'll probably just say we're tired and hang up."

Carl grunts.  Pat correctly takes this as a sign that a blog will be a hard sell.  A few days later, she launches a more concerted attack, designed to play on the "You'll-have-fun-while-I'm-working guilt thing.  This line of assault, as Pat knows, will enjoy a high probability of success.  It works.  Carl agrees to do a blog.  This is a test to see whether he can even make it happen.  Don't laugh.  The chances are only 50/50.

Carl presses the "Done" button.