Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

13 Jul 2015
20 Comments

The Zenith of Civilization

Oooo, shiny object!

Oooo, shiny object!

Skyscrapers, medical advances, Hubble telescope, cellphones, Internet, wash and wear clothing, Hello Kitty merchandise, they all pale before mankind’s greatest triumph, the coffee percolator. The start of my day always begins with coffee, and it’s been instant coffee for as long as I’ve been on the road. Now, encamped in the wilds of Rockford, Illinois, full hookups on the Defiant have at long last afforded me the real thing.

Seems like everyone has their own preferences on how to make good-tasting coffee, but my own taste buds decidedly lean towards a General Electric heirloom handed down through the generations. This thing must be at least fifty years old, and its heating element had to be welded back into place in the nineteen eighties, to keep it going. It nearly gave me an anxiety attack when it blew out, but a sympathetic and capable machine shop foreman where I worked took it apart and fixed it. It came with internal fittings to optimize it for three cups or less, and apart from being coffee-stained, they still work fine. Try to find one just like this in Walmart today.

My Louisiana-based neighbors here in camp, upon hearing that I was relegated to drinking instant coffee, made sympathetic Read more…

Posted in Daily Life
07 Jul 2015
4 Comments

The War on E-Bikes

Cool! A new way to kill yourself!

Cool! A new way to kill yourself!

Reader Michael recently sent me a link to a rather spectacular e-bike, a high performance, low production European model capable of 40+ MPH. This e-bike by Trifecta boasts 4,000 watts, an 85-pound weight despite plenty of aluminum and carbon fiber (it’s mainly the battery), a 14-speed automatic transmission, and a price tag starting at $25,000 smackers. Yep, you read that right. Many one-off e-bikes have been built with even more power and even higher top speeds, but the Trifecta differs in that it’s no one-trick pony. Seeing this Lamborgini on two wheels prompted some thought, which in my case is always an invitation to mental chaos.

Federal law here defines e-bikes as common bicycles, as long as they have electric motors no bigger than 750 watts and top speeds of no more than 20 MPH on flat ground. And Federal law trumps all state and local laws. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at laws and ordinances that have been passed in some jurisdictions.

My Evelo Aurora helps me get up those long grades. My only potential lethality with it is pedaling hard enough to give myself a heart attack.

My Evelo Aurora helps me get up those long grades. My only potential lethality with it is pedaling hard enough to give myself a heart attack.

Look at New York, for example. New York State has banned all e-bikes, period. In that state, their motors disqualify them as bicycles, and because there is no provision to register them as motor vehicles, they are legally Read more…

Posted in E-Bike Pack Mule, Navel Gazing and tagged , ,
04 Jul 2015
8 Comments

Pack Mule Conquers Rockford’s Rugged Roads

It came, it saw, it conquered! Well, it dodged potholes, anyway.

It came, it saw, it conquered! Well, it dodged potholes, anyway.

I’ve been walking for exercise lately, since the presentable nature of the Blackhawk Valley Campground has been making for a pleasant enough little hike. But with all the recent rain, mosquito hatching has taken place, and a grunt up the steep forested entrance drive makes for an unpleasant enough little hike. Indeed, with the river just a few yards away, an evening stroll anywhere in camp is beginning to become an exercise in priorities.

Evelo Aurora to the rescue. Rockford is a rather gritty, sprawling burg, so there’s no “distance to town”, per se. You pass little pockets of businesses until you find one with the type of store you want, and there you are. My self-assigned mission was to Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, E-Bike Pack Mule and tagged , , ,
22 Jun 2015
15 Comments

This is Camping?

Which one is the Defiant? Hard to tell...NOT!

Which one is the Defiant? Hard to tell…NOT!

I made it to Illinois, checking out a new-to-me RV park in Rockford before heading for Plans B or C. Blackhawk Valley Campground is technically the least expensive campsite in the general Chicagoland area, and the most presentable I have yet seen. Nicely kept grounds, full hookups in monthly sites, decent water, if commendably mineralized. And quiet, for the most part. There are occasional dogs barking, but it’s limited since allowing it to persist or having/allowing yer mutt get loose stands a very good chance of getting tossed out and blacklisted. Usage of generators ist verboten, since electricity is readily available. Washrooms and showers are immaculate, and if I don’t feel like paying the cost to electrically heat water in the trailer, a rather luxurious hot shower is available as short walk away.

It's humid here, but the shade trees trim the "extra" heat that direct sun normally adds to the Defiant's interior.

It’s humid here, but the shade trees trim the “extra” heat that direct sun normally adds to the Defiant’s interior.

As a result, this attractive campground is pretty much booked solid. All the seasonal spots are taken up. Upon arrival, I had to Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, Tourista!
17 Jun 2015
2 Comments

Just a Glance Back

New Mexico, Land of Enchantment and Whoop-De-Do's.

New Mexico, Land of Enchantment and Whoop-De-Do’s.

Previously, I’ve written day-by-day travel accounts on my voyages from Illinois to Arizona and back. Not this trip, since these long-distance transports of the Mighty Defiant are simply that – eight days of driving a total of two thousand miles at sixty MPH, and stopping to overnight at the closest workable facility. Depending on the state, that includes Interstate rest stops, truck stops, city park campgrounds, and Sam’s Club parking lots. Ah, the romance of the road. In this case, enjoying the journey is not part of the equation. The goal is to Read more…

Posted in Travelin' Man and tagged
07 Jun 2015
4 Comments

Mormon Lake Team Roping

The steer roping encampment is right where the Overland Expo used to be. Still a bit moist, but much better.

The steer roping encampment is right where the Overland Expo used to be. Still a bit moist, but much better.

The weekend following the Overland Expo arrived with pleasant surprise – a team roping event! I tripped upon it at the end of its first day, and wandered over to take Day Two in. The nice thing about all these is that none of these things charge any fee to watch. As a competition event with entry fees and payouts, the organizers apparently aren’t about to devote manpower and costs into the few spectators that might also show up. Most all of the people in the stands are related to the competitors, so why bother? I didn’t return on Day Three, Sunday, because of fairly consistent rain all day. Didn’t seem to stop them, though. I could just barely hear the announcer now and then from camp, and toward the end of the day, rousing cheering and whooping from the crowd. I liked that.

Competitors warm up their mounts, and jabber.

Competitors warm up their mounts, and jabber.

Three things in particular struck me. First was the dedication and drive of some of the teams, and many were proud of Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Tourista! and tagged ,
05 Jun 2015
2 Comments

A Trail in Mormon Lake

An inviting trail, no? A slightly smoother detour is to the left.

An inviting trail, no? A slightly smoother detour is to the left.

While scouting trails to locate a campsite in Mormon Lake, Arizona, I passed one branch off NF-219 that did not look promising as a place to drag the Defiant. Its start was already past an impassable dip in the main trail, so that was that. But its appearance was forested in and seldom used, and I mentally marked it as a place I’d have to wander down later.

When later did arrive, that tour took a little doing on two counts. NF-219 goes up a low mountain, and although this branch was not all that far from camp, it was still a puffer to reach on foot. That made me decide that hiking up 219 a mile or so every other day would be good exercise, and it was. It let me know that riding the e-bike isn’t all I should be doing.

The mental challenge was that, as bonafide city folk, I had little idea what was in these quiet and relatively untouched woods. I’d seen lots and lots of pretty sizable canine tracks in the mud running parallel to Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life and tagged ,
02 Jun 2015
10 Comments

Overland Expo 2015

The local horse riding place had a bunch of horses saddled up and ready, to tempt visitors into going for a ride.

The local horse riding place had a bunch of horses saddled up and ready, to tempt visitors into going for a ride.

[Caution: If you’re on a limited cellular data plan, you might prefer to abort and hold off on this post until you can get to a free WiFi source. It’s a big one, with lots of photos.]

My being out in Arizona’s drier parts for so long made the many days of overcast and frequent sprinkles of rain stand out. The rain actually got significant just before the Expo started, which turned the grounds into a bit of a mudpit, which was probably a first for this show. I felt sorry for the vendors, who had to find the driest spot available in their little preassigned slots to set up canopies that were commonly surrounded by moats of water. Attendees then had to snake their way around the mini-bogs and ponds to navigate a workable path in the gooshy mush. Even on the main paths through the show area, folks needed to use care to pick a path here and there.

I merely cruised around the camping area on my first day, since heavy rains were quickly due in. These visitors from Brazil had a Jeep that we are not offered: one with a diesel engine. Torquey when it counts, Jeep thinks they won't sell here. This one is making its way from coast to coast before moving on to another continent.

I merely cruised around the camping area on my first day, since heavy rains were quickly due in. These visitors from Brazil had a Jeep that we are not offered: one with a diesel engine. Torquey when it counts, Jeep thinks they won’t sell here. This one is making its way from coast to coast before moving on to another continent.

The e-bike proved invaluable here just to gain entry! I was able to idle it right through a couple of deep troughs of water, pedals up, and park it against a perimeter fence or tree to walk at leisure. That was handy, because folks faced congested paths in and through by foot, plus the Aurora carried a big bottle of water for me. People didn’t seem to mind the sloppy ground or resent the occasional Read more…

Posted in Camper Nirvana, E-Bike Pack Mule, Tourista! and tagged , , ,
28 May 2015
12 Comments

More Adventure!

Hmmm, think some tire dressing would help?

Hmmm, think some tire dressing would help? Note the rubber marks on the body and the broken-off piece of fender.

Well, the inevitable happened. I was going to post about what I saw at the Overland expo next and ignore the return trip, but here you go. Travelling up I-25 north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, I stopped at a rest area to hit the potty and check the Defiant’s wheel bearing and tire temperatures. Everything was stellar. Not ten miles farther on, I felt some weirdly bumpy pavement and while I was wondering what the deal was, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that the trailer was no longer level side to side. Glancing out the right side mirror, bits of tire debris were spewing out of the Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, The Defiant, Travelin' Man and tagged ,
27 May 2015
2 Comments

Adventure!

Oops! Goofing with a jackstand on the soft ground of the forest allowed the trailer to twist off it, dropping the tongue to the ground.

Oops! Goofing with a jackstand on the soft ground of the forest allowed the trailer to twist off it, dropping the tongue to the ground.

Arriving at quaint Mormon Lake Village a couple of hours before sunset yielded NF-219, a track just south of town that quickly turned to ascend a low mountain. At the bottom though, it was muddy from recent rains, but the mud was not bad enough to be a show-stopper. I pulled into a treed area that seemed to allow a circle path through it, but then found that, unlike Darth Vader’s revelation, the circle was not complete. The rig wasn’t trapped, but the back-up would be an ugly affair, cranking the hitch at an angle it deeply resents.

Since the sloppy climb up the slope was hemmed in and rocky, I broke out the mighty Aurora e-bike from its carrier at the front of the equally-mighty Furd and made my way up to look for something usable. The sites I found were Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life, The Defiant and tagged ,

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