And so, introducing the cast of our developing hit musical:
The Wanderer, our lovely home
Elemental, our gallant steed
Piper, the Queen of Hearts
Juno the frivolous
Rosie the reticent
Dan the Man
And their fearless leader and wrangler, Fred!
Now for some brief introduction and backstory.
The Wanderer is a vintage 1968 Cox Campsquire pop-up camper. It was made in Grifton, NC. I (Fred) acquired it from a Craigslist ad for under a thousand bucks, and drove the more than 800-mile trip to Cincinnati and back in two days to retrieve my new home. The camper was stocked with camping gear, and even included the original portable propane camp stove. Interestingly enough the propane stove was made on Taylorsville Road in Statesville, NC, which is only a few miles from my home base! It left in 1968 and came back in 2014. What a trip. I purchased the camper from the daughter of its original owner, and it had been garage-kept and even made appearances on Millionaire Row at the NASCAR races!
Elemental is my 2004 4WD Honda Element. New to me in early 2014, with over 200,000 miles, it's the perfect vessel to house our zoo. The interior is plastic and rubber so it's super easy to clean up any pet catastrophes, and it even gets an impressive 22 mpg towing the camper! The four wheel drive is an added reassurance when driving in potentially off-road situations.
Piper is a 4.5-year-old complete mutt who thinks she's the "mom" of the trip. She was thrown over a fence and left in my cousin's yard when she was a 5-month-old puppy, and I rushed home from my last day of freshman year in college to take in my first "just mine" pup.
Juno, now 3.5-years-old, was acquired a couple years later as a companion for Piper. Nine months old at the time, the story is that she was sent to the pound as a result of being dubbed the "Farm Chicken Eater." She's not the brightest pup in the dog park, and you'd think to expect more from a likely Jack Russell and Cattle Dog shelter special.
Rosie is the star of our show! Weighing in at 38 pounds, she's tiny even for a Nigerian Dwarf. No one expected to see a traveling, potty-trained, camping goat, but that's what he have here. She lives in the camper with us, and rides in the back of the car just like the dogs and cats. Actually, she tends to be better behaved than the dogs!
Dan is an eclectic young adult from Long Island, NY. He has traveled the world and lived in various settings such as Las Vegas, New Orleans, and even Amsterdam. He is also a writer and will be contributing posts to the blog.
Fred is a recent college graduate who decided she didn't want to use her degree and get stuck in a career to pay for a stationary life she didn't need. She's the main author of this blog, and intends to turn the adventure into at least one book in the future. Obviously an animal lover, it was a tough decision for her not to bring along her nine-year-old bunny rabbit and a pregnant feral cat that had been hanging around the shed.
Now that our players have been introduced, please join us in the shenanigans as we begin our new untethered lives on the road. We will be updating this blog as often as possible with all new photos, stories, and tips garnered from our travels. Feel free to give us any advice on traveling, especially if you know of any free camping spots for us to hit up along the way!
OK, finally figured out how to get a comment on here! :)
ReplyDeleteDan'll tell you but I'm the guy you didn't meet...Mary's "boyfriend".
Your list of the few states you haven't, yet, been to reminds me of a similar list I kept in my "traveling days" long ago. Mine, though, are more southern bound: Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and West Virginia (though I may have tipped in this state a mile or so just to add to the list, but being that this "tipping" was unmemorable, I won't count it),
I loved that summer when I traveled well over 10,000 miles, mostly staying in National Parks and Forests with some cities, like San Francisco, thrown in because, heck, it's San Fran (and a few other, similar cool cities). That whole adventure cost me $315 and, since the bank gave me the money in error, it really didn't cost me a cent.
I hope you both discover what you're looking for, and more (in a good sense) and keep that exploration thirst going for a lifetime.
I had 3 goats once (when I was part of an organic farming commune way back when) and it's a pity that I couldn't meet Rosie face to muzzle. Maybe one day....
You may want to consider the benefits of keeping your own, private, journal also since a public journal may be confining in a certain sense. A private journal allows for more experimentation, unless you're the type of person who doesn't give a shit what your readers are reading, or what honest things appear like when shared.
I'm excited that you two will be traveling together. What a team! If you don't know what I mean by that, but I'd guess you have an idea that you do, you'll find out soon enough. :) I'd love to read about your amazing conversations (with Dan around, that's guaranteed), where your feelings go and how they evolve, how the road, the farm(s), the people, everyone's interactions go and intertwine, how what you see may be distinctly American, and other things just about being human wherever you are, what gives and enhances meaning, and so much more but, heck, it's your blog so write away! :)
May the setting sun be forever chased and the horizon always be within your reach!
Oh, as for free camping, check out: http://freecampsites.net/usa/
ReplyDeleteIn cities I've always found free rooms available on college campuses. In the summer it takes more guts to pull it off (and, if interested, I can detail how I did it without fail) but during the other seasons you need to, first, befriend someone on campus (usually done in the "student center" but other areas may do) and then they'll set you up.
Still, National Parks and Forests are probably a good bet, though the web based URL, above, sounds very workable (they didn't have that in "my" day).