1-2-05
16 below zero! What a way to start the new year!!!
I am back in my tin can (Avion trailer) at camp south of
Miles. I got back from Susan’s farm in MO on the day before Christmas eve. It
was just starting to snow when I left and I flogged ‘Little Red’ a.k.a.
Bobette, the Subaru all the way home across South Dakota against a strong head
wind. It was hovering around zero and the wind was howling but we rolled happily
along about 55 mph with the heater on high, thankful to be out of those Goddamn
trees.
Susan seems to be getting her strength back with the help
of her kids and my helping with the feeding and watering chores. She has a lot
on her plate down there and I hope she gets it all sorted out and it will run
smoothly for her. The new drug she is taking should keep the leukemia in
complete remission and she will be able to lead a ‘normal’ life. She has
never lead a normal life before, but you know what I mean.
E dog loved to be back on a working farm and she had
several opportunities to ‘help’ with the sheep. Ike is getting old and still
good help, but Ely is young and is really happy when there is work to be done. I
decided to leave her with Susan since I will be traveling and won’t be able to
take her with me. I sure do miss her though. I’m a dog person and often tell
that I like dogs better than most people, which is really true. I was so dog
deprived I have made several trips to town just to see Joe’s dog Bonnie that
he sometimes lets hang at the book store. I finally broke down and asked my
friend Tucker if I could borrow one of his dogs as he has two. i thought he
might loan me Sally who is an old chocolate lab that I get along with. Being a
true friend, he let me have Sally for a two night stay before he had to come get
her. His other dog, he said, missed her so much he had to come get Sally. I had
a good time with Sally and really appreciate the loan.
The bunnies here in camp are relieved to not have E dog
here constantly searching out their hiding places. There is a serious network of
bunny trails around camp and they just sit around and watch me as I walk around.
I really should pop one for supper sometime just to keep them tuned up to the
facts of life.
I need to hang around here until the 10th and
then will head south for Arizona and Mexico for the rest of the winter. I was
reading in my road logs that I wrote last year that I was in Globe, AZ looking
for short sleeve shirts and straw hats. I had rolled out of here in December
last year and had taken only winter clothes. It was hot down there and I ended
up buying summer shirts, shorts, and sandals. It was cold down there too
sometimes but often it was nice and hot enough for the abbreviated costume. I
spent most of yesterday loading my road logs on my website so if something
happens to my computer, I will have them safely stashed where they will be safe.
I didn’t realize how much I had written and now I see why I got some
complaints on how I sent too much and they couldn’t read it all. There is
always the ‘delete’ button remedy which I am sure a lot of people use.
I haven’t made any firm plans on where I am headed other
than I would like to head west and visit with Sam in Big Timber. He has the
cutest little house in town that he is fixing up and has offered to let me stay
in it on my way through. I have never gotten a chance to meet his girl friend
Jackie, who I want to meet. I have heard so many good things about her. Sam
offered to cook up some of the antelope that he shot this fall. He says it is
great!!! Sam is a good cook and I hear that Jackie is too, so I am looking
forward to that.
I suppose if I am riding the grub line I will stop and see
my buddy Mike near Dillon who is always good for a deer or elk steak/roast. Mike
really knows how to hunt for meat and how to cook it. Mike truly lives off the
fat of the land and can find that fat where no one else can. The fish don’t
even stand a chance when Mike wets a line.
I would like to stop and see some friends I made in
Arizona, and maybe hit the Quartzite show as well as the Tucson gem and mineral
show. Quartzite is a little out of
the way and I don’t know if Tucson will be started yet. I’ll just have to
see how that goes and if Ken from Silver Peak comes down and goes to Mexico with
me.
I met a guy last night that has never been to Mexico but
has friends that have given him directions to favorite beaches and cool places
to go. He is going to email them to me. He said don’t worry if I get an email
from a government guy, because it will be from him. ‘No problem’ I told him,
‘I have another friend who works for the enemy.’ They both work for the BLM
but otherwise seem to be somewhat normal people. It is too bad that they had to
sell their souls.
If anyone out there has any tips on where to go in Mexico I
would appreciate the heads up. I will probably get a map but intend to stay away
from tourist places and BIG town/cities. I will probably be gone a couple of
months so should have time to get deep into the country and possibly make it to
the Yucatan and Belize. I’ll just have to see how it goes as I travel along.
Who knows, I might even join a rebel group for a while. J
I always liked the sound of the ‘shining path’ but they probably wouldn’t
let a big gringo join up unless I agreed to be a slow moving target for rifle
practice.
I am sure excited to be getting on the road again and I
sure am looking forward to getting out of this cold. I see now at 11:30 am it is
up to ten below. I got the camera out and was going to step outside and take a
photo of my snowy camp but the little camera says it’s batteries are wayyyy
toooo cold. It should do much better down south. I gotta remember to take along
some summer clothes and swim suit. Yeee hawww!!!
Rx