Canada Ho!
The farther away you travel from the gravity of the mass mind of the United States, the more you discover that as a whole, Canadians are a pretty personable lot.…
North with the spring
For those of you not familiar with Edwin Way Teale, he was a peripatetic naturalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who lived in the first half of the twentieth century, primarily known for his book series,…
You Make the Road by Walking It (or Talking It?)
Sometimes direction of travel is self-evident. In alternate moments a small nudge, a chance meeting, or a wrinkle in time opens up doors onto undiscovered roads. My brother, Bryan, texted me one day as we…
Campground Characters
When you nose into any campground you pass through a veil of probability. There are multiple layers of consideration: location; privacy; facilities; feng shui of view; positioning of solar if necessary; proximity to hiking, biking,…
Scene Along the Road 4: Winds and Tracks of Time
Zephyros Ah, Joshua Tree! We find ourselves again at a favorite boondocking site, just adjacent to the National Park border, with the I-10 corridor’s blistering fast cell and data connection. Every iteration is a learning…
“Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, What’s the Supremest Species of Them All…?”
Mirror: “Humanity’s ego reigns extreme, but beneath your feet lives some supreme.” “Say what?!” A short stroll here, in the Anza Borrego Desert, remnant dried sea from a distant past, reveals a landscape pockmarked with…
Two for 2; and Exploring 1.61803
Two months have now passed since the passing of Gyp, and we are crossing into the outfield of two years’ exploring a life of enchantment on the roads less traveled, hence the blog post title.…
Meeting with some of the oldest living things on earth
August 10, 1952: Patricia Huber was feeling very uncomfortable. She was a few days, or perhaps hours, from giving birth, and her baby’s kicking and rolling about was tempering her tolerance for the event soon…
Traveling through bendable time on steel rails
As one who has always encouraged his students to build upon the knowledge previously imparted, these numbers should look familiar―37.2691273,-107.8825162―but if clarification is necessary, refer to our last post, Boondockin’ the Old Spanish Trail. (Authors…
Boxes
by Ruth I hate boxes. No, not the cardboard kind that Kitty plays in. I mean those boxes people put you in (and you put them in) the minute you put a label on something.…
Real Time Savannah Adventures: Part 2
“When you enter through the portal, you may never return the same.” Savannah’s siren call echoes in your mind and body, a sinister syncopation matching the growing intensity of our truck’s windshield wipers. A veil…
No Truck: No Texas, and Going Postal in America
No truck, no Texas: If you aren’t driving a truck in Texas you are less than human, or at least not a true blood, and I’m not talking your run-of-the-mill, half-ton, maybe-weekend hauler. You’ve gotta…
Galveston Island and the Bryan Museum
We slowly meandered east and up along the south Texas coast line hugging the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters, and serendipitously chose Galveston Island as our place of refuge and discovery for a time. We…
NOLA: It’s about the food
by Ruth The trouble with writing an ongoing blog is, well, you can easily get sidetracked. We got sidetracked by New Orleans. Those of you who know us well will not be surprised. Between some…
Nothin’ says Amurica like the rodeo!
Seeing a rodeo was big on our bucket list, and Rodeo Austin—our San Francisco-away-from-home in the middle of the conservative melting pot of the Lone Star State—would be the host. We’ve been talkin’ ’bout goin’…
One short story, above 25 stories, above 40 centuries, on the bottom of the ocean, 265 million years ago…or…
Long roads: short thoughts I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of the wind beating our aluminum trailer skin, and crack an eye to watch it blow through curtains, carrying memories…
More Roadside America: The Great State of Texas
By Ruth Who knew there were so many roadside oddities to see, not only in this country, but just here in Texas? Let’s begin with Marfa Famed for the Marfa Lights (which were explained years…
Smiling Seniors Siren Saga
Picture, if you will: An RV park that appears on the shimmering horizon, beckoning you to an oasis of organization and security from the wilds of BLM camping. Tanks are in need of dumping and…
Downtown Drug Deal?
Ruth and I drove into Tucson to celebrate a long lost connection with my brother Bryan, his wife Karri, and their son Joshua, at the popular downtown Mexican eatery, La Poca Cosa. We arrived a bit…
Arizona Reprised: The Desert Museum (Part 1)
In recent past blog posts I mentioned that a few places would be revisited for special mention. One of these is the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, which I had briefly described as one of my “favorites.”…
Inside a T. rex, The Historama!, and what is The Thing?: Getting lost in Roadside America
By Ruth Webster’s dictionary defines kitsch as: “Something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality.” Well, YES! But what Webster’s doesn’t tell you is that, when it comes to…
Ajo, Sonoran Desert, and The Border Patrol
We barreled down the long desert highway, wipers straining against wind and rain gusts, holding tight to the center of the road against the onslaught of semis streaming from Mexico, our 8-foot wide trailer on…
Quartzsite, Arizona
Driving into Quartzsite, one is at first struck with the specter of a vast hive of humanity’s industry: the ebb and flow of foraging, building, prospecting, constructing, provisioning, transitioning, connecting with new and old friends,…
Anza-Borrego Desert and Borrego Springs: The town out of time
The Anza-Borrego Desert is a 600,000 acre gem hiding in plain sight, nestled deep in the valley west of the Laguna Mountains and framed north and south by the Santa Rosa and Vallecito mountain ranges.…
Hello, and we’re back!
A few of you have commented that you haven’t heard from us in a while. We were in San Diego, celebrating my parents’ 70th wedding anniversary, and got caught up in all the partying—well, as…
Joshua Tree evacuation
Don’t be concerned. No story of danger awaits you, dear reader! Just a play on words… Ten glorious days boondocking—or sometimes known as dry camping—here has gifted us with extreme solitude amidst the sharp borders…
“Where Ya From?”
Perhaps nothing epitomizes the theme of our travels better than this clip from the original Magnificent Seven, staring Yul Brynner.
Road food, diner kitsch, and cooking on the road
(by Ruth) Thursday was a road food day. We started with a late breakfast (lunch?) at Red House BBQ in Tehachapi, CA, about 100 miles from our stockup point in Bakersfield. While Ben took Gyp…
Joshua Tree National Park
You pull through Twentynine Palms, California, just before your entry into Joshua Tree National Park, where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts join in approximately 800,000 acres of stunning landscape. This region is one of earthly…
Meandering with the muse of music
Being on the road naturally lends itself to rhythm, the throb of the engine, the thrush and thrum of air pushed aside, vibration of wheels in the contours and cracks of the pavement. I’m reminded…
We all live in a silver submarine, silver submarine, silver submarine…
We are now approaching four months of on-road travel; still novices, but patterns are developing. Science does require long term analysis so further study and reporting will be ongoing. What are our fellow wayfarers driving…
Dog noses make “scents,” and you make the road by walking it
Part 1: Our Border Collie, Gyp, takes out her herding frustration with us by bringing us sticks to throw, and her impulsiveness led me to look up the definition and explanation of OCD in the…
Iron Chef Airstream: Part Two (by Ruth)
Part Two: Cooking Challenge There’s a hush in Kitchen Stadium this morning, as Chef Macri and Chef Dunmire suit up to face the Airstream Thanksgiving Cooking Challenge. Chef Macri dons his traditional uniform—important that your…
Iron Chef Airstream (by Ruth)
Part One: Ingredients challenge It started when Ben said, “Let’s have a real Thanksgiving in the Airstream!” Um, okay. With three burners on the stove (only two of which can, realistically, be used at the…
Back on the road: musings in metaphysics of the wandering kind
Three summer months traversing the western US, three months prepping our house for friendly renters/caretakers, and now we are off again on a journey with no concrete destination or time constraints. We’ve taken one week…
Why I Prefer Life on the Road
by Ruth People ask me what I love about being on the road. Perhaps this will answer that question. I should have known what kind of day it would be when, first thing, I broke my…
Ventura, San Luis Obispo, and North
We attempted to pass through Los Angeles untouched, hell bent for leather, but her inter-city highway madness entangled us in her web. The southern California DMV driving test varies somewhat from that in the northern…
If you read this, we’ll have to kill you
Ruth here, finally chiming in, because this place is just too magical not to share. Tell no one. We’ve spent the past three nights at Emma Wood State Beach, just outside Ventura, CA. That doesn’t…
Joaquin Miller: “Poet of the Sierras,” Wild West Adventurer, and Raconteur
Born Cincinnatus Heine Miller in September 8, 1837, and known by his pen name, Joaquin Miller, he poetically professed to “having been born in a covered wagon pointed west”; though in reality his parents set…
Viva Oasis Las Vegas
If you wanna go big, go Oasis Las Vegas. 46 acres with spaces for 935 RVs, a “Centurion” posted at the front gate for the security of the guests, separate family and adult pools with…