SouthWestSlide: _{Spring 2004}

Phase Zero_(a)
Wherein the upcoming journey is schemed...

Being a spring journey from our new Sierra Mountain home to warmer, sunnier climes. For three or four months. Slowly.

After our Spring 2003 Guatemala journey we planned to travel as far as possible as soon as possible, but we returned with some health issues. Resolving those has dragged on. And on. And on. But not much longer...

Soon(?) the journey begins. At least, that is our desperate hope, the next step in the rest of our lives. Our tentative plan:

Outfit and refit the RV during the first week of February, then hit the road. [Added: A shakedown run along the Mother Lode route.] Over towards the coast and head south along the Mission Trail, all the way. Then wander eastward along border regions for a couple months, somewhat following the Jackass Trail, eventually to the Gulf Coast. Then jog up across Texas to the Ouachitas and Ozarks to watch'em bloom. Then amble back westward, somewhat following the Santa Fe Trail, to Amador County by the beginning of June. Remain a month for medical and family stuff. Then plot a new course.

That's the gist of it. The strategy: go places that are not too cold, not too hot, not too expensive, not too infested by ETs (OK, so we'll be in Roswell, but just briefly) and not too too boring.

Places we want to bag along the way include: old towns, missions, botanic gardens, SouthWest museums, grand vistas, pueblos, alien sites, big rocks, playas, observatories, railroads and railyards, herpataria, canyons, illusions, labyrinths, petroglyphs, mines and craters.

The general schedule: drive a few miles to the next point of interest, park the RV, walk and bike around for a day or three to see thangs, lie around a bit, then drive a few miles to the next point of interest. When the monthly gas budget is exceeded, stop awhile. Repeat as needed for four months.

TO HAVE, TO DO: We'll take along musical implements (studio, keyboard, guitar, mandolin) and sheet music and practice a bit. We'll take along art implements, Spanish and Italian language tapes, our recumbent bikes, camera and sound and radio gear, a pile of maps and guidebooks, a little beer, the cat, a minimum of clothes for all occasions, battery chargers for every device, a thin bag of expectations. We'll probably forget something. We'll leave the canoe. Except for noting some opening and closing schedules, we'll deal with no unit of time shorter than the month, or season. At least, that's the current fantasy.

POSSIBLE APPENDUM: After returning in June and hanging for a month, we'll maybe do a short two-month trip NorthWestWard, then back home again. Why? Maureen and Sharon and Bobbie may head for Switzerland for 2-3 weeks in September. After which, when Sharon and Bobbie fly back, I may wing across the Atlantic to join Maureen for travels around the Alps before winter sets in. The cat must be boarded for that time. Poor Petrushka. Being a small cat is hell.

The situation on this journey will likely be better than on the JACKASS LINE (San Antonio - San Diego stagecoach, the Butterfield Stage's predecessor) in 1857 as detailed in THE GREAT CALIFORNIA DESERTS by W.Storrs Lee (Putnams, 1963), page 92:

"Passengers were advised to arm themselves for the journey with a good rifle and a hundred cartridges, a revolver and 'two pounds of balls,' a sharp bowie knife and enough cash to bail themselves out of trouble.

"As for attire, they would need thick boots and woolen pants, a half-dozen pairs of heavy woolen socks, six undershirts, three woolen overshirts, two pairs of woolen drawers, 'a wide-awake hat,' gauntlet gloves, a cheap sack coat and a greatcoat. For winter travel an India rubber poncho and two blankets were essential; in summer the poncho and one blanket would do.

"Even the toiletries were specified: four towels, a sponge, hairbrush, comb and soap, all packed in an oil-silk bag. And a repair kit with miscelleneous pins, needles, thread and shears, for fixing up rents and bullet holes would prove useful.

"It was also advisable to take along a private larder of crackers, cheese and sardines to supplement the lean fare that might be served at way stations, and certainly a canteen. Water at desert stations could not always be depended on, and although the company did its best to serve occasional meals en route, no promises were made about the quality of the beef and biscuit."

We don't expect to go through Las Vegas Nevada either, but ya just never can tell, can ya? But the hardships of Vegas are of a different order.

Yesterday was Lincoln's Birthday, today is Friday the 13th, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. A propitious moment, eh? But now we are CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF - that is, we've done with medical consults. Now it's time to pack-up the RV, do one more VocRehab consult next Thursday, then drive away in a week

WHAT'S NEW? This ain't exactly our first SouthWest trip. We've wandered around the California deserts in years past - I even used to live there, in 29 Palms, back during the Ford-Carter administrations. We've camped and campered across Nevada, California, the Four Corners etc, sometimes for a month at a time. But there were always deadlines for our return, which necessitated whizzing past many desirable destinations. Not this time. We can go further afield, to Chihuahua and Texas and Oklahoma. We can ride our recumbent bikes and taste the local air. We can follow our noses. And such big noses they are...

WHY CARE? Why should this journey journal be of any interest to anyone? Well, I'll try to write an incisive, literate, enjoyable account of locations, impressions, meditations, inventions. Maureen is trying to start a career in travel writing, and her contributions will differ considerably from mine.

And when we go RVing, we don't stay at RV parks and we usually avoid improved campgrounds. Our typical layover is in some quiet remote spot, it might or might not be a designated bivouac, but it definately doesn't include full hookups and snack bars.

Still, since the initial weeks of this trip will follow more-traveled routes, we'll initially be overnighting in less-than-ideal locales. Ah, the travails of travel in civilization...

ONLINE: I finally got this mess worked out. Each journal entry will be posted to the Go2 blog and automagically emailed to subscribers on the Go2 elist. As time allows I'll edit those entries, add notes and links and images, and post them at the SouthWestSlide website. (Next: the magazine articles; the bestselling book; the action-adventure film starring Pierce Brosnan, Bonnie Raitt and Toonces the Cat; the cable-TV anime series; many commercial tie-ins. But I digress...)

For connecting I'll depend on InterNet cafes, BlueTooth wireless links, and maybe the occasional phone tap. If we're atop a ridge in the Canyonlands for a week or otherwise lollygagging in a remote wilderness, updates may be delayed. So if you don't hear from us for awhile it just means that we're having fun, not that anything BAD happened. Probably.

VAMANOS! This might be be last journal note until we're actually under way. Stay tuned for all the exciting reports. Ciao --Ric

It looks like it's actually happening. The visiting is done, the packing is proceding, the final at-home email has been sent:

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ric carter" [ric@sonic.net]
To: [Go2Go2Go2@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 8:22 AM

Gentle readers:

After several further infuriating but necessary delays, departure is imminant. I write this the morning of Monday 8 March 2004; our current fantasy, er I mean our intended take-off is mid-day tomorrow. Our expected return is around 12 June. That gives us (lemmee check the calendar) 13.5 weeks of small RV living. Survivors will be celebrated.

Meanwhile, the forecast for wildflower blooms down in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is, they'll PEAK in the last two weeks of March. So we're just in time. And now we'll stop reckoning time and start scanning horizons. Stay tuned for updates.

Terry: Thanks for the invite, we may stop by on our way back
Tracy: Don't know if we'll really reach Ouichitas & Ozarks
Barbi: Hope you're feeling MUCH BETTER RIGHT AWAY! REALLY!

--Ric & Maureen

Now the road lies before us. All we have to do is wake up, throw in the final gear and food (gotta empty the fridge), and roll. First goal, Sonoma.

Don't Fence Me In by Cole Porter

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above, Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love, Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze,
Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever but I ask you please, Don't fence me in.

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle, Underneath the western skies.
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder, Till I see the mountains rise.

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
Howl at the moon till I lose my senses
I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in. --Cole Porter