Advertisement
Published: February 8th 2014
BoardWalk
Almost done with the Benches...2013 From Florida to California
It has been a while since I wrote my last blog but that does not mean that i have not had some adventures to share. I was spending the summer in the Florida Keys kite-surfing and working at the Bird Center in Tavernier. It was a hot and mucky experience with the heat turned up and the humidity in the 90is. The worst however were the biting midges or no-see-ums. They are so small they the fit through my window screens and they would show up by the hundreds. Their bite would not leave a mark on me but they where painfully annoying. But regardless the bugs i had a great time kiteing and spending timer with my dogs at Anne’s beach on the windy days or being on bird-rescues or building the boardwalk through the mangroves.
As my project came to an end and the boardwalk was completed it was time for me to wrap up my time in Florida. I was ready for an other adventure crossing the country. I wanted to head west and explore the back-roads and avoid all highways. My time in the everglades hunting for some opportunities to shoot
Bench
to the beach wildlife with my camera, was cut short by an infection on my thumb. A little scratch that did not heal right away had developed a red stripe that was climbing up my wrist and arm. I was worried being out in the boonies by myself with an infection that could create a problem way more serious than i was willing to risk. So I decided to head back to civilianization and get some antibiotics. Certainly when I finally was in the next town it was already getting late and finding a doctor or walk in clinic was challenging. I was following the directions I had gotten from a pharmacy and when I stood in front of closed doors again I was getting slightly frustrated. Just across the street there was a hospital and so I wet and ended up in the ER. I was asking if there would be a way to get some antibiotics for my hand and the lady started asking my for all my information and after a few minutes a doctor took a quick look at my hand wrote me a prescription and gave me just for good measures a tetanus shot. It all took only
Spoonbill
Frequent visitors on the beach 5 minutes and I was presented with a bill of $1200 not including the antibiotics I was asking for. Well that was a shocker. If my whole interaction with them was 10 min that makes 120 bucks a minute or $7200 per hour. Nice!
Well as you are still reading and I am still writing you see I did not succumb to the infection and just lost some weight due to the lack of money for food. This experience was my first one with the American healthcare system and I have to say it made me wonder why people are still against Obamacare or at least some reform of this current way of killing people financially after they suffered some kind of illness or accident.
I made my way through Florida, Alabama and Mississippi and was driving with my dogs on the passenger seat over the country roads toward Arkansas. Yes you got that right Arkansas. Many years ago i had found myself there and liked the people and the country and decided to get a fresh perspective. Somewhere north of Little Rock in a little town on a lake I had a flat. I don't tell you
catch and release
found him at a kitchen remodel..
Blue & Orange Granite Tokay Gecko the name of the town since I want to respect the privacy of some city officials. So as the story goes... I was broken down and was looking for a place to camp out without paying camping fees. Thanks to my smart phone and google earth I noticed the road that looked like it went through the lake. I had come across such a strange situation las year as well when I broke down with the rear axel. It was a road that got flooded and therefore unusable after they had build a dam and created a lake. So I figured I would be a possibility of a dead end road right on the lake and it turned out to be just about perfect. The road was now used as a boat ramp and there was plenty of parking and it was fairly quiet. I parked and got to work on the flat as I had done hundreds (and no I am not exaggerating) of time before. To my unpleasant surprise I came to find that the damage was not repairable and I had to get a new tire and tubes. I put on my spare that needed some repairs
Kite surfing
my fun-time on the water as well and went looking for a tire shop to get what I needed. That was easier said then done. My size was simply not available in any of the shops and had to be ordered. I was promised it would only take a couple of days and with labor day just around the corner I settled in down at the boat ramp. It did not take long and I had made a new friend. Larry was an avid waterskier and he and some of his friends had set up a slalom course on the lake. After watching him speeding back and forth around the buoys we started talking and where hanging out on his boat. I even had the chance of trying out wakeboarding on my own board and everything was great. Well that was until the cops showed up. They where super friendly but never the less informed me that I was not allowed to camp here. They referred me to the next campground and made me move. The next day I was back on my spot to spend the day at the lake and told Larry of my encounter with the law. He just looked at me
and pulled out his phone and called the Major of the town! After a short explanation of my situation he told me that I was fine and could stay till after Labor-day. I also was invited to the Labor-day party at the dock just across the lake where I was to meet the Major in person. He told me that if the cops would come back just to tell them that Johnny (name altered) the major said it was OK. Well I guess it is true that everything is possible if you know the right people. So I spent an other night down at the lake and in the morning the police was back. I told him that I had the OK from Johnny and he just looked at me a little perplexed and left me with the words: Well if the major said so and you don’t here back from me i guess it is alright!”
That day I got my parts and was able to fix my tires and was glad to be ready to roll again. However I could not miss the party and thank the Major in person. The party turned out to be quiet wild
and there was a lot of booze consumed. The major himself ended up quiet plastered and he won the bet that he would fit in the cutoff shorts of my friends beautiful and slim girlfriend. He was a little concerned about the picture that someone took and made it clear that those where not to share. It was all in good fun but it could be a little problematic if the picture would end up on line.
Leaving my new friends behind I took off and went looking for the Lost Valley. Believe it or no I actually found it. It was just where the map said it would. Having a coup of coffee overlooking the beautiful valley I soaked up the sunshine and lush green view for a while before I headed further west where I stumbled on to the most beautiful place in Oklahoma. Located near the Oklahoma/Arkansas border in the scenic Ozark Highlands region of northeast Oklahoma, Natural Falls State Park. I have to say it was beautiful. A short hike into a canyon revealed a little clear furn framed pool with a 77ft waterfall splashing into it. There where several places where Koya and Scout
where able to go swimming and cool off. I did not know that this would be the only place beautiful in Oklahoma, at least what I found.
I made my way north west into the mountains of colorado.it was a slow going climb with my buss. I am not sure how high I was at the highest point but after a long descent on the other side I still was up in 7000 feet. I found a lake in a windy little town that would have been awesome to Kite-surf on but is was just to darn cold. I was surprised to find a flock of white pelicans up in this altitude and so far inland but I guess they where on a migratory path and where taking a brake. Koya and Scouty where delighted to run across the muddy beach and even flushed out a heard of dear that where hiding in the tall grass.
Since it was chilly and windy up there I did not spend to much time there and was heading further down. I wanted to explore the area around the Monument Valley. It was one of the few places I never visited in
Georgia
Somewhere... my travels before. The Valley of Kings in Uta is a little less famous than the Monument Valley but to me very much more desirable to visit since the beauty of it is just as photogenic but a lot less touristy. The road that leads trough it is just dirt road and at places a bit challenging and not advisable for motor-homes or cars with low clearance but my buss had no trouble crossing the dry riverbeds. It was for sure not worse than crossing the Sahara Desert. It was a great place to camp out and explore. I got my fill of it and shot lots of pictures of all the great sandstone formations. By the time I arrived at the gates for the Monument Valley I already had shot lots of pictures and was a bit disgusted with the huge gate and tourist trap they created to get to the “classic views” of the Valley.
Break downs are always interesting and some of them had turned out into my best adventures and I have met great people because of it. Now when stuff goes not as planned I don’t worry much about it. There is either a
Friends
Larry my hero! and his beautiful lady solution or adventure to come. Some are easy fixes and others take a bit more time.
All the off-roading and driving across the continent had taken a toll on my slightly damaged muffler and it was getting louder by the mile. It was time to pay closer attention to it and just as I was leaving a gas station and wanted to head out of a little town in the desert the muffler broke finally of right after the connection to the manifold. I asked some local guy if there was a repair shop in town and referred my to his mechanic but mentioned that it was Sunday and they where closed. He gave me directions to a nearby water reservation where I could camp out. Since I did not have anything else to do I climbed under the car and assessed the damage. I figured I could make a temporary fix that would get my to California. But I needed a metal pipe of some sort to make a coupling. So i opened a can of black olives. With my belly full of olives, the can and four hose clamps I fashioned a temporary fix that actually got me
all the way tho the west coast. Unfortunate that was not the only breakdown I had to fix. All the flats I had to fix in the last few weeks must have had an negative impact on my nuts. I heard something hit my wheelbase and when I heard it again I stoped and checked. My rear dualies where hanging barely hanging on my axel and I was lucky that I had stoped before the wheels took off on their own. Two of the six bolts had broken off and I tightened the remaining ones and went on with frequent checks. I was looking for a place I could camp and replace the bolts. This was not the first time that had happened and I knew what was involved. I had two spare bolts but needed some gear oil and bearing grease to make the repair. I found the stuff I needed at the next town and came across a river with a little boat ramp where I settled in to make the repairs. Everything went easy and I did not run into any surprises. It took me less time than expected and I was up and running a few
Sunset
always nice to camp on the water... hours later. Yes I know my bus is getting old and stuff is beraking down. There where still a few issues I had to deal with before I arrived in Big Bear Lake in California. The braking of my clutch pedal however was a bit of a surprise. But as always my bus is giving me warnings and I just made it to my destination before I had to make my next repair. Big Bear Lake was my planed destination where I wanted to settle for possible the next couple of years. Plans are great but they don’t always work out as we hope and it turned out that it was not so easy to make any reasonable amount of income up in this little town. After five months I gave up and I am back down on the coast in southern California making plans of whats next.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.146s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 10; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0466s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Claudonwheels
Claudio Derungs
Off the beaten path...
As usual I avoid as much as possible highways and big cities. I like to see the countryside's and find my way often without maps. This trip took me from Florida through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona to California.