After 40 years... Homeless with my Dog...  

Do not despair, it is by choice... and 40 years also might not be true, depends how you look at it... I have taken 6 months vacation every year for the past 20.
So at 59, when this last restaurant's yoyo owner decided to start selling alcohool to minors... and when we got raided, just like in the movies... I decided it was time to hang it up.
Not much for material possesions we hit the road about 3 months ago, my buddy Spirit and I... and started writing a Blog just about everyday...
It might interest you... might not... I do cook on the road, but my camper is small... and the weather is cold... when it warms up I will be able to do more outdoor cooking... From Florida we made it to Big Bend and Fort Davis, Texas, in a few days we will head West to Anza Borrego State Park... where it is warm... My Blog should have been called... 6 1/2 x 6 1/2... That is my stand up living space indoor!... But instead it is called

The Oasis of my Soul

and the Blog is

www.theoasisofmysoul.typepad.com

The ironie???... A resort from St Croix just called me for another Contract... apt + food + high six figures... I will say NO!!! This is my time and I enjoy writing...

You be well...

Ara & Spirit

Backing up a bit in time...

"I am at Home in my own Soul"... that is so very well said... that is so true that I will use that phrase with your, of course, permission.
How long?... as long as my Health holds up...
Never been one to believe in material possesions... I do have everything that I need... the most cherished are my friends... the real ones that extend their arms daily, without them this Journey would not take place!
I miss working... that offer in St Croix had me puzzled... and then again some parts I do not miss... I have always given 100% unlike the ones around me... I figured if I stopped now... i would be selling my Soul for the mighty $!!!...
So... there is goes... there will be some cooking as time goes by... some surprises... and many pictures... maybe some of you will join me!... always great coffee!... I still roast it three times a week!!!... talking about attracting a crowd!
Hard to believe that one week and more has already gone by in this New Year... time is starting to speed up as I look at maps, there is no plans or directions, the weather will be my guide mostly as I have to move on to warmer climates, mainly for Spirit. With even two coats on, the poor guy is cold, he does not want to go out and I am not feeling comfortable with his lethargic days... we both need our exercise... him as much as me!
We did not ride yesterday... spend it mostly at Jerry’s and Nalda’s Bookstore... it amazes me for a town this small how many interesting people there are... so many conversations!
There are always pictures from the past that do not make it on the Blog... with Cagiva 549's permission I have posted some of the recent past ones...
Hope you enjoy...
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

A ride to Balmorhea Springs... awesome!

Don’t you be thinking now...
On my way back from Balmorhea Hot Springs, a few miles into the ride, a black truck with blue and red was flashing... I could not see very well beyond it, looked like a couple bikes had kissed the grass...
Not so...
They were shooting a commercial! I stop... U turn... going the wrong way... the local Sheriff is not very happy, but the guys are... a sidecar with a dog? compared to the usual two wheel stuff they have been working on. Any chance to be in it?... I ask... sorry... wrong brand!
Oh well... maybe better luck next time...
The rest of the riding was great... it is all the Blog.
My last day in Texas... you have been good to me... I leave with some new friends and some incredible memories... and I will be back! There is no doubt about it...
Be well...
Ara and Spirit

In transit, Wilcox, AZ.

Yes... the pace is good... the offer in St Croix was and is very attractive... BUT... and I miss work beleive it or not... the thought of THAT PACE and 100 hrs a week... NO... NO>>> I just cannot go there anymore!!!

You know the drill if you have ever taken a Freeway, in transit as I call it... and most, unfortunately, because of lack of time, somehow wondering why my time has been lacking now suddenly... needing to get from point A to point B as I am doing!
It finally was a good decision to take Hwy #10... as you might read it in the Blog...
Till then... you all be well... were going...
Ara & Spirit

The Magic of the Chiracahua's

It rained all night, we, I say we!... slept late... kept raining and there was not much sense going to Tucson trying to find another place to camp... 80 miles away, I thought, leave early tomorrow morning and have a do nothing day!
Well, the skies cleared up, and actually for the first time I cannot write it all in one Blog!
So this is part one of what end up being a full day...
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

Oh! Yes.... North soon!!!

Part II of the Magic of the Chiricahuas...

A quick overnight in Gila Bend, AZ, and here we are now in Anza Borrego, California! I will spell it for the first time...
A day, or was it two days ago?... returning from the Chiricahuas the sunset was magical... as so was the ride up, all in the Blog.
Feeling always like a kid in a candy store... that is me today... new maps, new roads with the knowledge that I will be here, in this area anyhow, till it starts warming up a bit...
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

Anza Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP)

I will be in CA probably for 3 months?... till North warms up... maybe it will warm up here too!!!
Leave some space I always think... with a load like mine the braking effect is just not the same... specially when second in line to a minor fender bender... What was really funny and I wish I had a picture of it, but we had to move along as this happened... We had to wait a while for the accident to be moved. A cop arrives coming the other way... parks and crosses the median by foot...
They are making some space for us to move along... as we leave... he sprints back to his car as I almost run over him, I look... and the brushes under his car are on fire!!! flames are shooting 3 to 4 feet by the time he reaches the other side... myself wondering what he is going to do... he jumps in the car, gutsy move... and drives it forward! Gets his extinguisher and puts the fire out... his car was not burning... yet! Wonder... wonder... I bet he will never throw that cigarette again down when getting out of his car!!!
It was down to 19 degrees last night!... I will not complain, I know I am at about the most southern point there could be and everyone else has to be colder. So you will not hear about it... anymore! Instead I will write my day in the Blog, my first day in this unusual State Park...
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

This is real Desert, a reminder!

I have not been able to settle since I have been here, unlike other places that I have been, I have dug deeper and deeper and very slowly some mental answers are, vaguely I have to say, taking some various shapes. I watched a short movie this morning at the Visitor Center about the Marshall Family that lived here on Ghost Mountain for 15 years... hiking for 14 miles they brought wood piece by piece to built their home... their water came from miles away 12 gallons at the time... They had 3 children and they end up with a divorce in later years. Can we change so much, from one extreme to another? I miss the simpler years... of course I can go back to them as right now nothing prevails but truly the matters of the mind... ABDSP is an enigma to me as I wonder why it has brought up all these questions in my mind? Is it because it is so vast?... so much land with the freedom to live on it anywhere one likes?... the invitation sure is there... I will probably take it after my stay here in the Park... that is what I have been longing for...
I got to ride some of those areas today... much land... and much sand!
The Blog.
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

Beautiful Southern ABDSP

We had a blast today! Literally... my best day since in ABDSP... and, as someone mentioned it, the Southern part of the Park is it for me! No doubt... I am finding out slowly what attracts me to the land... Vast open spaces, the solitude and the lack of a crowd, unlike Borrego Springs itself.
Having commitments from the 26th of this month to be in Death Valley and Mojave Desert and backtrack to Gila Bend for a couple days, I know... thanks for the support, it is a tough schedule... I decided to come back here afterward but camp in the Southern part which you will read a bit of it in today’s Blog.
You be well...
Ara and a tired Spirit... snoring as we speak!!!

The first bloom in ABDSP...

Busy, busy!... maybe I will take a vacation and "do nothing" someday, and then again, that is just not me!
From meeting locals in Borrego Springs to picking my next campsite in the wilderness... finally... and getting stuck one more time... it is all in the Blog with of course, more pictures!
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

Camping East ABDSP

Out of Borrego Springs this am... into the camping spot I was checking out yesterday... time to put everything to test... and even managed to take a little ride toward Salton Sea... A beautiful HOT day, not a good one for pictures as the haze was real thick, still managed to save some for your viewing on the Blog...
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

PS: it has been a blast... and more, and it is just the beginning... longer days soon... warmer weather... winter is rough!
The camera is a Pentax A20, just came out. 10MP, with image stabilizer and 2 gyroscope stabilizer blurr reducer... It has been good... smaller than a pack of cigarette!... and great for those hands that start shaking a bit after much riding!

A ride to Salton Sea and more...

I wonder if it will fly if I ever post some cooking outdoor???... part ofthis Journey as the weather gets nicer!
Heavy winds, deep sand... a couple more days and I will be out of here. Thursday, assuming it is Tuesday today... I will spend the day in Julian, nice black top going up and heard that it is a very cool town...
In the meantime I checked out Ocotillo Wells, Salton Sea, dinner with new friends...
All in the Blog.
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

Another dinner and a ride to Julian, CA.

Even Spirit is getting excited about sunsets, I think!... Or is it because we had company for dinner... This place is starting to feel more and more like home... have to be careful not to get too attached to the land!...
My Blog has been going through some growing pains!... It is called Bandwidth... At first I had to switch, if you remember to texting on SmugMug, then learn a different way to post... and now...
finally my own Website is all ready to go!
For the first time you will be redirected on it... a little cleaner... same everything as they say...
much more Bandwidth!
... and still a Blog! www.theoasisofmysoul.com
Thank you... be well...
Ara & Spirit

In Lance’s Memory, October 13th 1978 - January 26th 2004

Much thought has gone into writing and publishing what follows.
No ride report today... No pictures of Spirit playing or sunrise or sunset.
I did seek advice, not wanting to be out of context, I hope the moderators will understand. This is a Lifelong Journey on the Road that I have embraced and write about, and as some very good friends of mine wrote to me... "you have been an open book, we all have within ourselves many layers of us, he is part of your Journey, part of your everyday life, there is nothing wrong by dedicating this day’s writing to Lance...".
I also know that he will like it, he will be thrilled for all of you to get to know him a bit... because he also was my friend, my buddy... and would have been yours also.
Sincerely, "Thank You" for reading today’s Blog...
Ara

Last ride in ABDSP

I wanted to show you before I left where all this was being written from!... a few "regulars" are also around, about one mile apart... We visit each other once in a while! I did not realize till today that I have been here exactly 2 weeks!... A couple more great rides today and we are packing to take off, headed North to Mojave Preserve...
Mostly BLM lands... there will be much to see, ride on hard packed roads... I hope!
You be well... and many "thanks" for all your support which I received yesterday...
Your company is most appreciated...
Ara & Spirit

En route to Mojave Preserve, CA.

On to Mojave Preserve, CA.
I have to say, I think, still a bit unclear... as that person could not speak up in a forward manner... that my sunsets were...?... or?
"Quote"
Hi Ara,
Author Terry Pratchett writes of the Discworld where magic works
and Twoflower (Discworld's first tourist) is pointing his camera at yet
another sunset when the hatch on the camera top opens and a
paintbrush-wielding Imp sticks his head out to yell:-
"Enough with the sunsets! I'm running out of vermilion! "
Fred Hill, S'toon.

Maybe TV reruns would be more suitable?... I am so confused...
Sunsets... sunrises... moonsets (is there such a word?...)... moonrises... yes? are a spiritual time which culminates a day’s time period... a ritual... a "bravo"... none, I repeat none... unlike TV reruns, are alike...
So here is another one!...
Culture shock today... sensory perceptions overloaded... I-10 Southern California, should I say more... find out!
Tomorrow, back in the wilderness...
Be well...
Ara & Spirit

PS: I use to fall off two wheels... now... like back to childhood... I have a training wheel!!!

Another Wonder!... Mojave Preserve, CA.

I am speechless having arrived at the Mitchell Caverns! It is like the thoughts in my mind are going 100 miles per hour, overloaded... and I am thinking... how am I going to ever describe this!
Earlier I explored some of the BLM lands, the trails... the hard packed trails!... with a big smile...
This is where I could use an Internet Dish!... Some connection, but very weak... I will have to ride 50 to 60 miles and spend a few hours sending out all this... will be well worth the wait!
I already know that this is where I will spend many weeks... at least a few!
Again, the pictures are not going to do justice... this is above anything I have ever seen and experienced!... wish you could all be here... I would have loved to see the expression on your faces!
Enjoy...
Ara & Spirit