Easter was always a favorite holiday of mine growing up. It had all the ingredients of a perfect adventure, the key one being a treasure hunt. My mom and dad would hide a basket for each of us kids, and that basket contained treasure; namely, a bunch of unhealthy candy.…

I changed the oil in my truck, the first time I’ve done so with the new rig–a 2020 Ford F150. What usually took me 15 minutes with my Toyota took me two hours with this one, partly because I didn’t look at the engine diagram closely enough and I removed…

Small town, rural life is different from life in a city. That goes without saying. Life on a farm, which typically revolve like satellites around small towns—near them but not of them—is within another category all its own. My sister’s farm supplies its own natural gas from an oil well…

After a great week of visiting Joel in San Antonio, I drove 600 miles north today to visit my sister, her husband, and my niece and nephew on their farm near Tonkawa, Oklahoma. She’s lived here for I think about 15 years, but it’s my first visit. Years ago, when…

Last night in my room at Joel’s house there was a fly buzzing around. I think it was about 5 a.m. and I wondered why it was up so early and what was so damn important. Don’t flies sleep? He buzzed around in the dark for a good hour but…

Today I worked from Joel’s in San Antonio, the camper tucked safely into the driveway. All the comforts of home are here, including a massive TV, but I find myself wishing more for outdoor time than anything else. It’s been relatively cold in San Antonio since I arrived, with no…

At 9 a.m. I was on the road again, past Houston where for what must have been 100 miles you’re in 3-6 lane traffic, half of it semi-trucks transporting all kinds of goods from the gulf. I-10 here is maddening, nothing but warehouses and billboards, and Texans with oversized tires…

800 miles is a long way to drive when pulling a trailer. It’s a long way to drive anytime, but when you’re pulling a trailer, if you’re relatively sane, you’ll keep it a little slower, around 65, maybe 70 if it’s completely calm and the roads are good (maybe even…

It’s funny, but when I started this trip, in my first and second week, I started dreaming of a larger camper than my R-pod 179. Whenever I had to be indoors (for work and/or weather), I felt frustrated and slightly suffocated. Early on in the trip, I was also the…

The Conecuh National Forest campground at open pond started to turn over today, as several of the people I’ve come to think of as “long-termers” left. It’s kind of sad, in a way. I’ve been here 12 days, and all 3 were here when I arrived—the max stay is 14…

A couple in their mid-60s or so stopped by to chat with me today as I sat outside working. They asked how I liked my R-pod camper and said they met 30 years ago and were tent camping then and they’re tent camping now. They were on their way to…

Today was an unmitigated disaster. I essentially drove 200+ miles through a monsoon to eat a $50 lunch. The trip to see my friends included a ferry ride… long story short, I didn’t make it the whole way, grabbed some sushi and a bloody mary at a restaurant after giving…