The Road Less Traveled

November 2007 finds be drifting across the Gulf Coast States as I head back to my beloved Arizona Desert. To all my friends who live in areas where cool, cold or humid describes your general weather conditions, you are going to have to travel west to warm and low humidity to spend a lot of time with me. After my last trip east, and needing to return to using pain medicine to get thru the day made up my mind for me. 5 days back out west, and the only pain I feel was from the muscles I was over using smiling as I drive across the panhandle of Texas or from playing too much pickelball. I will be spending Thanksgiving working in a soup kitchen in Phoenix, continuing a tradition I started years ago in CT.

October 2007 finds me experiencing a never ending display of fall foliage. Starting in CT at the beginning of the month, I have drifted south with the color change. The reds and oranges of New England and NY gave way to brilliant yellows and softer yellows of PA, VA and NC. Highlight of the month was a weekend spent in Sapphire Valley in the midst of the Smoky Mountains at peak color change. For some one who grew up in New England, I missed the fire engine reds of the sugar maples, but the sweeping vistas of the mountains and valleys of the Eastern Continental Divide. For all the news stories on the water shortage in Georgia, some how the emotional experience of seeing lakes with boat docks with no water around them, or reservoirs that are bone dry with grass growing really makes it "real" just how bad the situation is down here.

September 2007 finds me back in North Carolina visiting friends and family. The Smokey Mountains have provided a nice cooling change from the baking heat of this summer. Dairy Farming had a great part of my childhood, and it amazed me to realize that my son had never seen hay baled or corn chopped for silage or picked for grain. What a different childhood he has had vs. the one I experienced. This month I also experienced the best examples of Customer Service I have ever personally experienced at the Master Tow Factory in Fayetteville NC. My Tow Dolly had hit a pothole just out side of Branson MO and ever since it had pulled badly and experienced terribly uneven tire wear. The fine folks at Master Tow fixed the issue, upgraded me to radial tires and generally spruced up several other items on the dolly at only the cost of the tires. Even though we were late getting there, they still got us on our way that day with a smile on our faces and a 3 year old dolly that has never behaved this well and looked and behaved like it was brand new.

August 2007 finds us moving about in AR, MO and KY. I discovered during this time that Dan had a passion for classic cars. I found the museum at Tupelo amazing with some of the vehicles they had in stock. Ranging from a pre 1900 Benz to a Tucker to a Pizza Hut Delivery Rocket and a whole lot more. It was fun to do a walk down memory lane with Ramblers, Nash's and Packard's. I was amazed at the amount of agriculture in Arkansas, for some reason that fact slipped by me. It has been extremely dry out here, and the ground is so hard that it looks like pavement. For all the hype about no major hurricanes in the season last year, the south and central parts of this country needs those storms for rain fall just like the northeast needs snow melt for water levels. Branson, MO has turned into such a tourist trap town from what it was 16 years ago when I was last there. Such a shame too, because it is a beautiful place. That is, if you can look around the billboards, high rises and other commercial buildings and fast food or mass market stores.

July 2007 finds us in TN. This is a big and beautiful state. Running the Natchez Trace Parkway is something I recommend to anyone looking for a beautiful days drive. Cutting thru some of the most rural parts of TN, AL and MS this road follows the old Trace up from the Gulf Coast to Nashville. Stopping for deer, turkeys and other wild life is a pleasant diversion. Dodging bicycle riders helps pass the time too! Next stop is Nashville and then on to Memphis.

June 2007 finds me leaving the American South West and heading back to CT for Dan's Graduation and to catch up with friends back east. The crossing of the Plains States gave me a greater appreciation of the mental and physical toughness of the pioneer families who traveled this land in much less comfort than an RV 150 years ago. Also noticed that between the slight downhill trend as I leave the Rockies and head for the Mississippi River, and the tail wind I am getting the best fuel mileage I have ever gotten. Good thing too, because to go from AZ to CT to NC is close to 4800 miles :-) Still can not understand why gas was 2.69 in AZ and 3.69 in the Chicago area. Taxes do not make that much of a difference and the current delivery price for RBOB did not move that much. Iowa was great, I could buy mid grade 89 octane built around local grown ethanol for less than straight gasoline 87 octane.

May 2007 finds me staying in a park in Bullhead City Arizona, playing Texas Hold'em in Laughlin, NV. If ever I saw a graphic indication of the effects of tax policy on two towns, just standing on the bridge looking down the Colorado river says everything needed to be said. One side of the state line has no stores, they are all over the river on the lower sales tax side. One side of the river has few hotels, they are all on the other side of the river, where the hotel tax is less. Live on one side with no income tax, work on the other. Would have done better in the tournament, except some lucky guy drew the case 7 to beat my full boat with quads. Oh well, as they say, that's poker! I do understand the attraction of the game though. Doyle Brunson is right. 5 minutes to learn. A lifetime to master.

April 2007 finds me in Nevada. First in Las Vegas (Boy has that town grown and grown over the years) and for the rest of the month in Pahrump. Pahrump means water from rock, is one of those places where water has always been plentiful. Electricity and phone are new, so are paved roads. 1962, 1964 and 1967 respectfully for those things. Long known as a good place to hide out, Butch Cassidy apparently thought so. In Kansas, the billboards were mostly for churches competing for parishioners, in Vegas it was the players clubs. Here in Pahrump, the billboards are for other businesses, ones that generally don't advertise THIS blatantly. Funny thing too, after bruising a muscle or ten in my bike crash, I could not find anyone in town who did therapeutic massage. LMT's take note. There might be a market here. Since I could not ride for a while and since so many have told me to stop and smell the roses, I did. Here is some proof that I am in fact, following your suggestions. I hope you enjoy the photos. I wish the web could display scents as well!

I moved past older months posting to a different page, and will try to keep just the more current months on this page. Happy Holidays to one and all. And since so many of my friends and family celebrate some other Winter Seasonal Holiday than Christmas, I feel that Happy Holidays is the proper thing to say.