Feb 16th 2009

Look closely. Note the two icicles sprouting from the windshield at a 45 degree angle? This happened after 3 hours of sunshine melting the ice off my window. Things like this are most fascinating.

Zero degrees at 8:00 A.M. Logan's friend "Eric" woke me by knocking at the door. Seems that Logan made plans for snowboarding today, which make it the third time this week Logan gets to snowboard! Damn he loves it up here in the cold cold North.

I ate a little breakfast, fed the dog, and went back to sleep until 2 P.M. . What a lazy bastard I have become. I tend to be a night person and if unfettered by artifical schedules such as working, I tend to stay up late deep into the night since it's the best time to think.

My son "Logan" came home around 5 o clock and was totally beat after 2 days snowboarding. I let him drink some cocoa, so he could get his core temperature back up, then sadly informed him of our dire need to do some laundry. Seems like going to the laundry mat is about the only quality time my 18 year old son and I get to spend together. This could explain why I don't buy a used washer and dryer which I could easily afford.

We drove a few blocks to the tiny, lonely, ancient looking laundry mat in the south side ghetto part of town, then loaded up a few machines with our way too nasty clothing. Poor Logan looked like I was forcing him to go to a funeral. I knew he was way to tired, but wearing the same clothes too many days in a row is a bad habit for the both of us. While the clothes were washing we ran to McDonald's for a "Big Mac" fix. I'm not a big eater of fast food, but the Big Mac sure does hit the spot every once and a while. Logan actually volunteered to pay for the check! The magic of McDonald's seemed to brighten up his spirits. He sure is growing up to be a fine young man. I'm very proud of my son.

When we got home Freddy was ecstatic since I gave him the rest of the ham and potato soup from Friday. It's nice to have a dog again, since I hate to throw out leftovers. Freddy and I spent the next two hours hanging out in the "Hell Bitch", just listening to the news and reading the Smithsonian my dad sent me. When in the camper, Freddy automatically calms down and seems to be at total ease. This could be due to the cave-like atmosphere that canines in the wild so much enjoy. Maybe that's why I feel the peacefulness in there also. Perhaps a 100,000 years ago, my ancestors used to huddle in caves with a warm fire and draw on the walls, safe from the pressure of everyday life, with a "Big Mac" of some form in their stomachs, and a can of brew in their hands, while their dog huddles near the fire, and all is right with the world.

Feb 15th 2009

(This should be yesterdays picture of the Thai restaurant across the street from my house)


Nice blanket of snow this morning, Logan left early to go snowboarding. Freddy woke me up around 8:30 so I could let him outside. Since it was only 4 degrees, I let him back in the house 10 minutes later. I cooked up some grits and coffee, then laid back down and watched the "Beverly Hillbillies" on TV Land for a few hours. I'm quite the lazy ass this weekend.

(more will be added later)

Feb 14 2009

Valentines day. Not much romance around here. Logan and I did eat Thai food at the restaurant across the street. Having "Thai food front property" is pretty cool I guess. Afterwards I ran some minor errands bringing Freddy with me. Freddy loves to ride in the truck!

Nothing much happened the rest of the day. I did cook steaks and roasted new potatoes for a late dinner. I wish the day was more exciting. We did get a few inches of snow today which was nice.

(Here is a picture of "Dead Indian Pass" which is located between Redlodge Mt. and Cody, Wy.)

Feb 13th 2009

Nothing much happening today. Everyone seemed kind of bummed out at school, seems like the high of 20 degrees failed to cheer anybody up. I worked on my new ring all day and it's starting to look refined and professional. The kid who made the wax origional was pleased with his accomplishments. This kid has a promising future in the Jewelry business.

Freddy threw another fit today when I was gone. He flung his food and water bowl in the back yard, out of protest that I dare leave him outside during the day. I will get some time to spend with him this weekend and hopefully we can work this impasse out. My last two dogs were "outside only", so I might have made a mistake in spoiling him. Time will tell of course.

Hung out in the camper again and the heater got the camper heated up lickety-split! Hell, It was only 15 degrees above.

Dog was good and seemed to like the cave and fireplace thing.

Called Chuck and Dan Aptekar. Chuck and wife are going back on the job, and Dan was quite fun to talk to as aways. Dan has the most laid back personality and knows much interesting information.

Feb 12th 2009

Incredible day. I found out that one of my students has been awarded the highest honor than any other piece of Jewelry submitted by a high school in the state of Utah! I commissioned the same student to design me a University of Texas class ring which I got to cast today.

My modern kiln is on the fritz so I had to cast using the ancient kiln that hasn't been used in two years. This kiln is small, and requires the teacher to ramp up the temperatures manually, which means I can't program it when I leave school, and be ready to cast in the morning.

Aside from all that, I had to take an ounce of 24 carat gold, and mix it with an ounce of mixed copper, silver, and assorted 12 carat gold broken jewelry pieces, including one of my mothers old crowns.

I was worried about the casting, since 1 and 10 casting molds blow up or fail in some way. I was imagining $1200 worth of gold getting splattered around my casting studio!!! (Yikes)!

After casting the first mold, I placed mine in the centrefuge and let her rip. The ring came out a bit dirty, with some bubbles; But the overall casting went quite well! I finished up staying 2 1/2 hours after school, and most of the casting molds came out excellent.


From 5:00 PM till 9:00 PM, I filed and refined this ring, and it's starting to look incredible.



Freddy is behaving much better today, he seems to have lost his "Alpha Male" problem, which caused him to be a pain in the ass yesterday. I hope to take him camping tomorrow night, if I can find a place that is open.

Feb 11 2009

Checked my bank account this morning and noticed that Walmart had fixed their mistake! I also noticed that the $300 check I deposited yesterday, to keep my account from bouncing, was not there.... No record of the deposit was on my account?? I drove to the bank, walked up to the teller that deposited the check and politely told her what happened. She acted like she didn't remember me. I told her I was probably the last customer of the day, and reminded her that she led me into the safe to access my safety deposit box.

She went through a small pile of checks and found it, then checked my account and put the deposit into my account. At no point did she admit fault or apologize. What is wrong with people nowadays? Seems like most people are too cowardly to admit when they are wrong, and few will apologize for they're mistakes.

Took Freddie up into the mountains today, he got so excited that he forgot how to come when I call him...again. I don't blame him, but something has got to change or I can't take him out in the wilderness. I might try a dog whistle or even a shock collar. Freddie also tore away at the backdoor during the day, flipped over his water and food, and tore out all the bedding from his doghouse. Freddy is clearly challenging my authority as the alpha male. I'll read some of "The dog whisperer's" techniques and apply them today if he still needs it.

In the evening, Logan and I went to the underground pizza place nearby and watched WTC(?) boxing and wrestling. It was fun.

Feb 10 2009 (Late Nite)

After finishing the Atomic Enchiladas and listening to Wolfie's (my son) crazy organ music, I read a little more from the Steinbeck book "Travels with Charley".

Steinbeck get very introspective once he hits his hometown of Salinas California, and reveals much of his true thoughts and wisdom. The book no longer is a fun adventurous road-trip like when he started. He talks of the locals he had known that treat him like an outsider and he quotes Thomas Wolfe, saying that "home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory".

My take on it is that his controversial book "The Grapes of Wrath", and his rejection by some of the rich farmers from his own valley, who called Steinbeck a "communist" and shit, have forever estranged him from his native place. He moved on from Salinas then crossed the Mohave desert and began to philosophize.

Some of his quotes from the Desert chapter were quite profound. "and there are true secrets to the desert. In the war of sun and dryness against living things, life has it's secrets of survival." and goes on to state: " I find most interesting the conspiracy of life in the desert to circumvent the death rays of the all-conquering sun."! Damn that man could write!

Steinbeck goes on and adds: "The desert, being an unwanted place, might well be the last stand of life against unlife. For in the rich and moist and wanted areas of the world, life pyramids against itself and in its confusion has finally allied itself with the enemy... non-life. And what the scorching, searing, freezing, poisoning weapons of non-life have failed to do may be accomplished to the end of its destruction and extinction by the tactics of survival gone sour."

John Steinbeck shared the concern of the worlds destruction with others such as Einstein and Oppenheimer and many, many others. But John Steinbeck proposes that the inhabitants of the deserts....being used to such harsh extremes and tribulations could possibly be where the survivors of the destruction would come from.

He writes " The lone man and his sun-toughened wife who cling to the shade in an unfruitful and uncoveted place might, with their brothers in arms....the coyote, the jackrabbit, the horned toad, the rattlesnake, together with a host of armoured insects---- these trained and tested fragments of life might well be the last hope of life against non-life." then adds this poignant sentence: "The desert has mothered magic things before this."

Curious how after his initially his trip sounded like a personal blog or even a tourist guide book, then turns into a personal journey. After Steinbeck visits Salinas, the book turns inward-then on to profound philosophy. Steinbeck seems to be searching for something. Unfortunately the book is almost over when he gets to his desert ideas. He is only halfway finished with his trip yet the book is nearly over. I think he lost interest after the heartbreak of visiting his home town.

Life is all about "heartbreak" and how we deal with it. There are many types of heartbreak and millions of ways to address it or accept it. The heartbreak of being rejected by many of his old friends and neighbors is a tough thing for Steinbeck to live with. I suspect that he was so far beyond those people in his writings and ideas, that he tended to make those folks quite uncomfortable and his old friends had no choice but to reject him and his ideas. People reject things out of fear or misunderstanding, or a perceived need for self-preservation: This causes people like Steinbeck to travel to the desert and contemplate existences.

Feb 10th 2009

SCREW WALMART! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGjrCZpj5j0&feature=related

Remember the stuff I told ya I bought yesterday? I unfortunately bought it at Walmart. When paying with my card yesterday, the checker told me that their system was having problems and then she swiped my card again. She told me that I needed to pay cash, since their system was down. I happened to have the money and I paid cash. This morning I noticed that I was charged twice from my bank card and that my account balance was minus $100.00!!!! I called the store, who passed me to the corporate office, who passed me back to the store again! Then once more to the corporate office. So far nothing has been resolved.
Arrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhh......


On the bright side, it was a bright sunny day with 4 inches of new snow on the ground, and cold enough to freeze my backyard. So the mud is now frozen and covered with snow. Freddy is one clean puppy! I ran some errands and Freddy was happy to go for a ride with me. Tonight I plan to make some "Al's Atomic Enchiladas! I use ground beef, cheese, and sour cream for the filling, combined with an exquisite mixture of Pace Picante, tomato soup, and Tabasco Habenero sauce. This is quite a labor intensive dish, but should help me keep my mind off the Walmart situation.


I cranked up the new $49 Bissel vacuum cleaner before cooking and gave it a workout. This thing has some big power and sports a clear window to show you all the filth that it sucks up! The Bissel sucked up enough dog hair to weave a sweater and 40 days worth of dirt. As much as I now dislike Walmart, I have to admit that $49 for a kickass vacuum cleaner can only be found there. This thing is way more powerful than the old Kirby's I used to sell for $700, back in the early 80's. I will still shop at Walmart, but not as much, and will only pay with cash.

Chuck, who I just toured the northern Rockies with just called. He snowboarded Monarch Pass and Wolf Creek, and is presently near Roswell, New Mexico. He's traveling fast so he can see his lady that he missed for the past two weeks. Chuck is the best tour guide for anyone wanting to see cool places between Terlingua, Tx. and Alaska. He has crisscrossed the Rockies many times in all the Western states and Canada as well. Chuck knows where to go when out west. He has also traveled to many Countries and on all continents except for Europe.

I'll try to write more later and add a picture or two, so remember to always check back with me.

Feb 9th, 2009

I finally found my damned cable that allows me to upload my pics from my Nikon D-60 to my computer. Unfortunately I had my camera set to "Dumb ass Mode" or "Automatic" which tended to over-expose my pictures due to the increased light in a snowbound world. I plan to educate myself and learn how to fully use this camera, but it will be quite the challenge. I confess I didn't get the camera out much, especially around town, since the thing weighs as much as my SKULL!

In the future I will get a smaller digital (Canon makes an excellent one for less than $200), that will allow me to get easier in-town shots.

I will try to get some of the pics I did take ASAP. It is a good idea to reread my posts a few days later, as I am constantly updating them and adding things.


Today I went back to school in order to ascertain the wreckage that forms when leaving the classroom in the hands of a substitute. Fortunately my Sub was hand-picked by me for her easy going nature and her general success in relating to kids. "Jen" did a heck of a job! Funny how any reasonably intelligent person, with no training could do my job as long as they can relate to young people. Teaching is a great career! don't ya know??? But you gotta love young people, and you got to be able to deal with craziness and stress.

My teachers aides helped Jen take over the helm for three days, which is the longest time I've been away since moving to Utah. Jen is a heck of a gal and my students seemed to like her alot!

Freddie is having a tough time dealing with the unseasonable warmth we've suffered with in February. The temps get up to nearly 40 everyday but with the snow and rain my back yard is a total mud hole. Freddy plays all day in the cold mud, but cannot come into the house in the afternoon, since he is so wet and nasty! Today, I put him into the utility room for three hours to dry out, before I could brush the filth off of him. He is also shedding copious amounts of long, fine, fur, which covers the interior of our house.

Today I bought a more effective vacuum cleaner and a serious doggy brush. I plan to brush him daily, and try to use the hose attachment on the vac to suck up as much hair as possible. My older robotic vacuum cleaner is excellent at cleaning the kitchen tile and living room wood floors when I'm not home. I love the "Roomba", but getting fine dog hair off the carpet, is no match for robots, I needed a new weapon!



Inside/outside dogs take a heck of a lot of care, but it is always worth it to do things for others. Freddy is a hell of a good dog, so I can live with the effort and expense. Freddy shows his appreciation for my efforts many, many, times each day, Freddy is truly "mans best friend".

Feb 8th 2009

(location of Logan Utah)

Sunday: Hated to leave the condo, so we left at 11:oo am toward Logan, Utah. I asked Chuck to take be directly back home since I had to get ready for work Monday. Jackson Hole is only 180 miles to Logan. Somehow the trip lasted 6 hours but we got to criss/cross the Grand Targhee National Forest.

We left Idaho and went back to Wyoming then drove thru the beautiful "Star Valley" , which is about 50 miles long and quite cold. We filtered back to Idaho and the Caribou National Forest (which is merely an extension of the Cache and Grand Targhee National Forests).

I could walk from Logan Utah to Jackson Hole up to the Grand Tetons and ultimately Yellowstone. All these mountains are connected. We have been cirumnavigating "Yellowstone Park" for the past 5 days. We even touched it once near the Tetons.

These are some of the most pristine and unspoiled places in the lower 48 states. These are places were wolves, grizzleys, moose, elk, buffalo, and mountain lions still run free. It's nice to have these places and they should be left alone as much as possible.

I, preferring the truck camper and dirt bike modes of transport, will not have much access to places like the Wind River Range. But I still have plenty of access to some of the other wilder places where most people never get to go. I am grateful for this.

We drove past the giant, "Bear Lake" on the Idaho/Utah border, and through the nice little towns of Paris, Fish Haven, and Garden city, before we thread our way across the Wasatch Range between Garden City, Utah, and Logan, Utah, via: the Magnicifient Logan Canyon.

Logan Canyon is one of the most beautiful 30 mile drives in the world as far as I'm concerned. Twisting and turning with high walls on both sides, finally snaking it's way 3000 feet downward to my town called: Logan, Utah.

Logan is as beautiful as ever and I'm happy to be home with my son and dog again.

Feb 7th 2009

We arrived Friday evening in Jackson Hole. We got a lucky deal at the "Snow King" resort, and only paid $100 per night for a nice condo with two bedrooms and bathrooms which was right next to the ski lift. We spent Saturday taking photographing the Grand Tetons and snowboarding. I haven't really tried snowboarding at a ski resort yet but after starting off on an "Expert Only" ski lift, I eventually came home beaten and broken.

Yet I plan to try it again in the near future.

This town is nice and beautiful, but lacks the genuine sincererity that was noticed in Red Lodge. Jackson Hole is a bit more serious about money and feels the huge pangs of being a world class resort. We enjoyed watching the crazy skiers and snowboarders that would park at Teton pass, hike four hours to get to the top of the nearby mountains, then ski down to the bottom of the pass then hitch hike back up to their cars: these people are tough son of a guns in my book ... kind of makes me wish I were 20 or 30 years younger. We also enjoyed dining and watching how the young Europeans with money mix with the Americans with money.

After my trys at snowboarding and tumbling down the mountain....I seemed to feel that I got punched by a thousand gorillas. With twisted knees and a general soreness all around, I dove into my giant bathtub which heated most of my injuries away. Chuck went "night snowboarding" over at the lift. Chucks energy is at least as relentless as my laziness!

Feb 6th 2009

Friday: We left Redlodge late morning. The Hotel we stayed in, the "Yodeler", was a pretty cool place to stay. The place was older but they saved all the retro things like "the steam shower" from the 50's. Just turn the switch, wait five minutes, and steam starts filling up your shower so you can take a steam bath! The rooms were clean and roomy enough, the owners were two outdoors people, and are eager to please their guests. They are loads of fun to hangout in the lobby with and talk about rock climbing, skiing, or anything else to do with mountains. Great conversations are to be had all over Redlodge. Gabbing with strangers is a pasttime there, and I had the impression that all were quite sincere. I will return to the town of Redlodge soon! The rest of the state impressed me immensly, Montana was the favorite state of Steinbeck as well.

We drove the 30 miles from Redlodge to Cody, Wyoming and felt like we were in another world.
Cody was a nice clean town. We had lunch in a very old restaurant called the "Irma", which sported a fancy buffet for 6.95. I had the goulash with fried pollack and shrimp. Chuck made a veggie burrito with lots of cheese and sour cream, and the tomato sauce and spaghetti.
The waitress was professional (and cute!), the decor was Buffalo Bill related (as is the entire town), and the moghogany paneling, tables, frames, ect.. combined with the old pictures of locals from yesteryear, made for an excellent lunch experience.

Leaving Cody, we headed South toward Thermopolis and beyond. As lonely and desolate Wyoming seems, the topography is fascinating. The rolling hills, half frozen rivers and lakes, the distant mountains, the wildlife, and the general lack of people, seem appealing to me. I hope Wyoming always keeps it's population small. We wound up skirting the "Wind River Range", which is a national Park and has little vehicle access. The Range gets less visitors than most of the other Parks in the system. Avid hikers who venture this wilderness, are the only ones who get to experience the Wind River Range. Anyone brave and tough enough to traverse the 70 or so miles to cross the Mountains, has my deepest respect. The place has most of North America's largest and most dangerous animals. It nice to know that such a large refuge exists for them in the lower 48.
After 6 hours or more in the rough looking lands, we started over the Northern end of the Wind River Range. We passed through the mountain town of Dubois, and continued toward Jackson Hole, which would be my hometown for a couple days.

Feb 5th 2009

(Photo compliments of Jody Z.)

Red Lodge, Montana is an interesting town located in the south central part of the state. Red Lodge has 2100 residents and at least 10 bars and 3 casinos. The town is a bit touristy with a ski resort and close proximity to YellowStone National Park. The people in the town are as real and friendly as it gets. Chuck is wanting to relocate up here this summer.

We were eating breakfast and some old timer stopped by and introduced himself as Frank. Frank proceeded to talk and tell jokes for quite some time, I've noticed a general friendlyness here that is tough to find in the rest of the US, its easy to see why Chuck wants to live here.

Feb 4th 2009

9:15 AM: Left Logan and it's hazy stench and headed to Montana. Once we started up the Wellsville range we were in the sunlight once again. We drove the 90 miles or so, up to Pocotello Idaho and had a gas station breakfast with coffee, then rode like the wind thru Idaho Falls and entered the "Grand Targhee" National forest. Much of Idaho (and Utah) is part of the Great Basin Desert which is comprised of red dirt and sagebrush. Compared to my favorite desert the Chihuahua, this desert is bare, cold, and depressing to me.

The Middle Eastern part of Idaho has some beautiful mountains and incredible vistas like in the Grand Targhee range. The little mountain towns in the Targhee are spartan but quaint and friendly, no pretension in the air. We never saw a sign when we entered Montana but we made a pitstop in the tiny town of "Norris" and I noticed a bar and casino.

I found out that in Montana there are many bars and casinos in every town. Kind of like the old West! The land in this part of the state had rolling hills and warm temperatures in the 50's! Back in Logan the temp was around 7 degrees, and 250 miles to the North East was downright hot! I didn't even see much snow until we neared Billings and turned south. Here in Red Lodge Montana, near the Wyoming border, there is as much snow as Logan. I really was impressed with the large college town of Bozeman, Montana. One of my best students plans to attend college there.

I love every thing about this great state. It's alot like the real Texas that I remember as a child. I have definate plans to move up here when I retire. The vibe here is quite nice.
Chuck and I just pulled in the "Yodeler" Hotel in Redlodge.

He got us a fine basement room, for only $59 dollars per night.

It does have an ancient steam bath option in the restroom, that came straight from the 1950's. I haven't used it yet. We got here an hour ago, and plan to hit a restaurant/bar/casino very soon. Wish me luck in the Casino. I want to play some 5 card draw with the local sharks for a little while (Mom, I'm sure you are reading this, so I just want to assure you that I will quit after losing 50 bucks or so).

Wound up playing Ntn Trivia for free and drank a few "Red Lodge Pale Ales", the water for the Red Lodge brewery comes straight from the local glaciers. The beer was incredible and fresh, and if you buy 4 beers, they give you a fifth on the house. I hear all the bars in town do this.

Feb 3rd 2009

Bussssssssy day at school. Took me nearly two hours to get out of there....Whew! Logan is subject to a phenomenon known as an "inversion". This happens in areas that are surrounded by mountains during the winter time, where the cold air mixes with smog and other pollutants and sinks to the valley floor. The result is burning eyes, lungs, and a general stench in the air. The only natural solution is for a new weather system to come in and flush the nasty air out. When the inversion becomes officially "Hazardous", schools will not let the children play outside during recess. This inversion is the worst I've seen during my 1 1/2 years living in Cache Valley, and the thickest pollution I've witnessed since 1983 when I stayed in Mexico City for a few weeks. The building in the background is the beautiful Logan LDS temple.

Ran around with Chuck the rest of the day, getting ready for our trip to Montana.

Feb 2nd, 2009

My good friend "Chuck" from Texas got here today. He arrived in his truck sans camper. His camper is too big for the truck and he can cover more distance without it. Plus he likes to camp in tents on top of mountains at -20 below. Chuck loves the mountains more than anyone I know. We are leaving for "Red Lodge" Montana Wednesday. Thursday and Friday we will go snowboarding. I'm still learning how to snowboard so I'll get back to you on the subject of how a big 45 year old man, does at learning to snowboard.

Chuck, my son (the Elvis looking guy), and I went out to eat at Chili's, then returned to discuss important matters like: How well my 260 cm snowboard will haul my 280 pounds over the flats and stuff? Or will my old school bindings hold my ancient "Lost in Space" looking snow board boots? I paid $150 for my board, bindings, and boots, and it's all top quality, yet older than hell snowboarding equipment.

Freddy, Chuck, and myself then hung out in the Hell Bitch just to see how crowded the camper would be with two giant dudes and a 60 pound dog. Spent a couple hours catching up on things. Turns out the the camper is comfortable for all of us to sit around. Sleeping would be impossible.

Feb 1st, 2009

After more ham/chickpea soup for breakfast, I spent the rest of the day reading "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck. I've read the book a few times before and must admit that I've been influenced by his passion for boondocking across the country with his dog.

Here is his Truck and Camper which he named "Rocinate" after Don Quixote's horse. I named mine Hell Bitch after Col. Call's horse in Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove". Funny how both Hell Bitch and Rosinate are very similar in the interior setup and equipment, as well as the general lack of high technology. I'll leave you with a quote from Steinbeck.

"Where does discontent start? You are warm enough, but you shiver. You are fed, yet hunger gnaws you. You have been loved, but your yearning wanders in new fields. And to prod all these there's time, the Bastard Time." John Steinbeck

In the afternoon, Freddy prodded me out of my chair and convinced me that a walk was in order. Freddy was not too well trained on the leash. So I research leash training techniques, and now taking him for walks is much more tolerable. We only walked to my classroom and Freddy got to roam around. While I fed the fish and did some aquarium maintenance Freddy grabbed a chunk of "Jewelers rouge" and apparently enjoyed the taste of it. So me and "red mouthed Freddy" walked around campus before walking home. Funny how much taking Freddy for a short adventure would boost his spirits for the rest of the day.

Jan 31st 2009

Today I took Freddy up to the base of the Wasatch Mountains. Freddy was in heaven out there. He loved being in the mountains so much, that he forgot how to come when I call him. He also started barking at a cross country skiier, so we had to go back to town.

I had an overabundance of ham. It's quite economical to buy after Christmas. We bought a 12 pounder a couple weeks ago for 1.5o a pound. Two nite's ago I baked the big sonofabitch, and we have been making ham and baked bean tacos with it. Last night I bagged and froze much of it, including the ham bone. This left us 4 pounds of sliced ham sandwich cut meat, and I used 2 of the pounds for a soup that I made tonight.

After an Internet quiry I decided on an excellent "Ham and Chickpea" soup that turned out to be quite heavenly. The connection between the pasta, onions, ham, garbanzo beans, and red pepper, were quite incredible. The Italian soup was most winning, possibly the best tasting soup I've ever made. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Ham--n--Chickpea-Soup is the recipe I used, but changed a bit of it.

I Bought Freddy a new collar. His old collar is buried in the backyard waiting for the spring. I also bought Freddy a frisbee, which he is too lazy to chase. Freddy is getting a little chubby.

In the evening, Freddy joined me for another chill session in the back of the Hell Bitch.

We enjoyed an excellent Blue Grass session on PBS, and continued on to some Celtic music that was well done. After spending several hours a night in the camper nearly every day for a month, I have no complaints about the space in the camper. We will have no problems living in the Hell Bitch in regards to space.

Jan 30 2009

I should have put this photo of Mom up yesterday but I got stuck on the "Freddy" story. So here it is! Can you believe she is in her 70's?

Had another MRE for dinner "Kadhi Pakora" or vegetable fritters in a yogurt sauce, from Southern India. Served with a few lightly toasted corn tortillas. Is was one of the strangest things I've ever tasted. Spicy enough to make you dream of sacred cows and elephants! I'm down to the last of the huge MRE assortment I bought several months ago. I've already eaten all the normal things like Chana Dahl and Alu Mutter. Now I have to try the stranger fare like "Paneer Chili" which is a spice indian cheese curd dish. I'll give you a full review once I get the courage to eat it.

Spent the evening hanging out with Freddy in the Hell Bitch. Many strange cars parked on my street due to a basketball game. I could hear people walking by and some of their conversations. None of them had a clue that me and Freddy were living in the camper as they were walking by. This is a test in "Stealth Camping". Stealth Camping is when you are stuck in a city and need a spot to sleep for the night. Since we boondockers don't like paying for an RV stable with neighbors 10 ft away in all directions, "Stealth Camping" is always an option.

In order to be a successful stealth camper, you need to follow a few basic rules:

1. Your camping vehicle needs to blend in.
2. Choose your campsite carefully to avoid a late nite eviction or worse.
3. Stay quiet and keep lights down.
4. Get the hell out of there before sun up!

Number one concerns the choice of vehicle. It's tough to be stealthy in a 30 foot class A motor home for instance (but it is possible). A camping trailer would be pretty obvious as well. The best stealth camping machines are vans, cars, and delivery trucks. A small truck camper like mine blends in pretty good. Since my camper needs the tail gate open in order to enter and exit, I plan to take out the truck back window and make it to where I can crawl thru from the truck cab to the camper. This machine rates pretty good on the stealth potential meter.

Number two is extremely important. Stay out of nice residential neighborhoods or any other area where the cops patrol. Some stealth campers prefer automotive shops, since people will think that your vehicle was dropped off after hours for service. Just make sure you leave before the shop opens. Many Walmarts allow camping. I hear that truck stops and rest areas are good yet noisy places, often with free internet service! My friend "George" often camps in industrial areas or behind grain silos. Many casinos allow camping in the parking lot.

Number three is obvious. Don't pull out the grill and lawn chairs in your stealth camping site. Keep your music down and your lights off. Keep a flashlight ready, preferably one large enough to be used as a weapon. But who would break into an old truck like the Hell Bitch?
Be sure to have a leak proof container in case you need to take a leak. Once your camped, do not go outside for any reason. If the cops come knocking be polite and tell him that your wife just kicked you out or something, the ability to cry would help with this excuse, I better get practicing! Just kidding. Just be polite and honest, and you should be ok.

And number 4 speaks for it's self.


Out west there are so many boondocking opportunities that stealth camping will not be needed too often, but it's nice to have that option.

Jan 29th 2009

Today is my Moms 73rd birthday. A few months ago she completed the San Antonio Marathon! It was also her first attempt to run a marathon. My mom (Joanne) is really an incredible person. She always excels at anything she puts her mind to doing. She has taught me to always keep going, never to lay down and quit.

I've had a few inquiries about Freddy. Freddy joined my family around Christmas 2008. I spent weeks, looking for a dog to buy in the newspaper. While looking for a dog that was, easy to train, medium size, non aggressive, intelligent. Going through all the Retrievers, Schnauzers, Greyhounds, ect. , none of the hundreds of dogs really appealed to me.

Until the picture of Freddy appeared on one of the online ads.

The Ad read "Free Dog"! and described Freddy as 1/2 Australian shepherd and 1/2 Golden Retriever??? I called the number and the owner didn't have much good to say about Freddy. Apparently his teenage daughter decided to move in with him and his new family, and his spiteful ex-wife bought the girl a dog, just before she changed parents. The owners new wife forbade Freddy to live in their house, unless he stayed in the crate. And since Freddy was an expert at escaping their fence, he had to be chained during the day. The father needed to get rid of Freddy, in order to keep the peace, and was more than grateful to unload him on me.

I was in the process of moving, when the family showed up with Freddy. The first thing Freddy did was bark and growl at me as soon as he got out of the car. I immediately noticed that Freddy was indeed an Australian Shepherd cross, but the other half is obviously ROTTWEILER , not "Golden Retriever".

So as the nice country family left my apartment, I remembered what the owner told me on the phone: " The last guy to take this dog, brought him back the same DAY! Please just take him to the pound if Freddy doesn't work out." Freddy was trying to bust out my front door to escape and would snarl at me if I tried to pet him! My reservations about Freddy was at an all time low.

So picture me, in an apartment halfway moved out and BUSY, while trying to figure out how to get out my own door, since this crazy mad dog was occupying the kitchen, And to top it off I wasn't sure how to get the dog to my new house in a snow storm. The only thing I was sure off, is that I probably wouldn't survive trying to lift this beast into the cab of my truck.

My son started bribing Freddy with pieces of hot dog until he could actually grab the leash handle. I told Logan to walk the dog to our house and don't worry if he escapes on the way.
Once Logan and the psycho-mutt left, I jumped in the Hell Bitch and drove to the house.

About 20 minutes later my son and Freddy arrived and things began to change. We left Freddy in the utility room with the backyard door open. Freddy scouted around the back yard for quite some time and his mood seemed to improve. Then we let him in the main house and he checked it out for a while, until Freddy walked up to me and started licking me on the hand. It took an hour before he seemed pretty comfortable with his new setup and owners. While Freddy and I were sleeping on the ground that first night, he reached out with his paw and we shook hands. Freddy was smiling with delight. Since then he has been my best friend!

The Rottweiler half makes him heavy and strong. Look at his leg muscles in the middle picture. His biceps are ridiculously large as well. He takes pleasure in opening doors, just pushing them until they open. I think he should unload freight for a living. Freddy is between 9 and 11 months old. He weighs around 60 but seems to grow more every day. He is also well behaved, potty trained, and won't jump on the counter or get in the trash when I'm in the house. I think the girl trained the dog well. I trained him to do a few things too. He returns on command even when distracted or in action. I've never had a better dog in my life.

Jan 28th 2009

Much warmer today. Highs in the mid 20's with SNOW! Freddie and I love the snow. School is out and we are going to the gym to swim some laps.

Here is the blogsite to my friend George, who's blog is an inspiration to me and is filled with good advice about what I plan to do. George and I have different approaches to the same goal (freedom). :http://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/

Earlier I wrote about the virtues of Indian MRE's or "Meals Ready to Eat". The food is excellent, needs no refrigeration, cheap, delicious, and uses little storage space. http://www.ishopindian.com/shop/readymade-entrees-c-33.html is the source where I get Indian MRE's. A boondocker (rv'er who doesn't use rv parks or full hook-up campgrounds), with no refrigeration, needs to learn the secrets I've learned from the blue water cruising community, many years ago. For example: If you paint your eggs with veggie oil, they will last for 2 weeks or more. Mayo doesn't really need refrigeration. Sprinkle lemon juice on your newly caught fish fillets, then let them dry on the roof in the sun before you eat it raw. It's easy to live without refrigeration, as long as your not too picky.

CAUTION: Be careful which MRE's you buy, some are definately an aquired taste. Mango Dahl and Bhindi Marsala come to mind here. The Chana Marsala, and most of the other Dahls are good stuff. MTR, Priva, and VeeTee are brands that I prefer.

Jan 27th 2009

7:00 AM: Feckin' 2 degrees below zero. Had to put "Freddy" outside while I go to work, I hope he uses the dog house! "Freddy" gets too anxious if I leave him inside alone, and tends to chew up stuff. So I have to put him outside for a couple hours. Drove the Hell Bitch three blocks to school, so I could run home and check on Freddie during my off hour.

9:30 AM: 0 degrees. Hell Bitch's door lock was frozen shut, so I had to walk home to check on Freddy. Freddy is now enjoying the warmth of the house until I have to send him back outside again. He doesn't seem bothered by being outside this morning. It is supposed to warm up to 15 degrees this afternoon!

11:40: Lunch Time! Wow, it is 4 degrees now! I can't make it home to Freddy until 1:00. At least the sun is shining.

Ok, Made it home at 2:30 PM . Freddy is doing fine as usual. Logan and I took a siesta for a couple hours then took the "Hell Bitch" to the laundrymat to do some laundry. One advantage of having a truck camper is that while doing laundry you have a place to hang out. Although it is very cold outside, the camper stays quite warm thanks to the excellent insulation and catalytic heater. As much as I love the laundrymat crowd, I'd rather sit in the camper and surf the internet with the radio on.

After dinner, Freddy and I hung out in the camper and talked to my friend "Chuck" , who is currently stuck in El Paso, but is heading up here to do some snowboarding with Logan and I.

Freddy and I like to hang in the cave-like camper.

Oh Yeah.... Anyone up in freezing weather, while locked out of their vehicle due to the cold, should spray some WD40, thru the little straw, for a few seconds to de-ice the works. Thanks to my compadre "Lee Burningham", I managed to get the Hell Bitch home.....

Jan 26th 2009

Monday, Monday....



Students finishing off reports, lots of grading done. Taught 4 students how to play chess!! They seem to be hooked on the game now.



Freddie the wonder dog and I took the Hell Bitch out for a spin in a snow storm. Some Utah citizens need to have their license revolked. We played "dodge the idiot" while going to the indian convenience store, by the college, up the hill; in order to buy some MRE "meals ready to eat".

We bought the Alu Mutter, which is an excellent blend of peas, potatoes, and tomatos in a fire'y Indian sauce. Goes well with rice, or eat it by scoooping it up with a toasted tortilla over the skillet.



At one point we had to slam on the brakes of this 7000 pound beast and the dog found out where the windshield was. We went home in order to avoid the Logan rush hour.







After that Freddy and I hung out in the camper for a couple hours, listening to the oldies on my ETON AM/FM Shortwave radio. The radio is about 11" x 8" and thick enough to produce a decent sound. Much better sounding than my smaller Am/Fm Shortwave set. "Eton" builds the German "Grundig" radios. This radio will be my only contact with the outside world when staying up in the mountains or deserts. I still plan to blog each day, but I might not always be able to post everyday.



Low tech living is my choice. The K.I.S.S. principal is the way I chose to go as far as technology goes. Of course, I will have a wifi antenna, and a gps on the laptop. Probably will go with a small 50 watt solar panel, to keep the computer in power. All inside lights are battery powered, and we won't be using a frig or much else electric.



I really like the simplicity of Indian MRE's for dinner. They have a long shelf life, store in a small space, require no refrigeration, costs about $2.00 per meal (minus rice or tortilla costs), and are vegetarian, which probably can't hurt me too much. All you do is boil the bag in water for a few minutes and serve.

I will probably eat some fish and buy a steak on occasion. For breakfast I'll focus on oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, beans, and picante sauce. Lunch will consist of GORP, PBJ or Ramen.



These are all basic plans and ideas that I have researched well, and practice quite often. Soon I'll start spending the weekends in the local mountains for practice. I hope some of you will come along on my trips.

1/25/09

Surfed the net most of the day, researching everything from internet satellite systems to gps systems for laptops. I decide against the high tech satellite system in favor of using wardriving and hotspots for my internet needs. This means that when out of internet range, I'll have to post the daily blog in chunks rather than on the exact day.

Spent a half hour in my future home at 25 degrees F, with a light jacket and a 3.2 beer. I would have hooked up the heater but it seemed warm enough not to go through the hassle of hooking the heater to the propane (little tank was empty), since I was planning on leaving once the beer was gone.

Spent two hours reading "The adventures of Tioga and George" which is an excellent blog about boondocking and life on the road. Check out his excellent site!

Jan 24th 2009

Today was rainy and tropical. Usually the day/night temps are 4/20 F. Today it is 30 F to 40 F!!!! Today is downright tropical.

I hung out inside my freedom wagon "Hell Bitch" which consists of a 96' Ford f-250 and a small, old, well-preserved, truck camper. The camper is quite comfortable and warm with plenty of storage space. I paid $150 for the "bitch" and it is in fine shape. My dog "Freddy" and I plan to spend this upcoming summer living in her.

We plan to add much more equipment to the rig in the next few months. We will need a reciever hitch motorcycle carrier for my little Chinese dirt bike, and some sort of small boat to carry on the roof of the camper.

"Freddy" already loves the camper and we have spent many a swell evening chillin' out in the Hell Bitch. We can hardly wait to be out on the road for extended periods of time.