7 weeks, 17 states, not to mention Burning Man 2009

Holy moley - I've been driving my ass off. I've hit 17 states in the last 7 weeks or so. But don't get me wrong - it's been amazing!!

I reconnected with some old friends, had some amazing times and, of course, experienced Burning Man 2009. I'm still digesting the whole Burning Man experience. Suffice it to say I plan on attending every year in the future as long as I'm above ground.

I've finally got my travels setup on Google Maps - if'n you're so inclined, you can see where I've been so far - http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=103527771783674415659.00047407aada12eaf0556&z=4

I have a problem and I'm big enough to admit it

Okay, listen: I have a problem with gasoline and vehicles. I can't seem to keep enough of the former in the latter. Yes, friends and neighbors, Chris ran out of gas again, stranding myself, Mick, Homer and Marge in the middle of the Utah desert. Mick and I actually had a lot of fun with it before my truck actually wheezed to a halt. We'd get the truck up to 40 MPH, turn off the engine and then coast as far as we could. We did this for over 10 miles until all vapors were gone.

I stuck out my thumb and a nice couple from New Mexico picked me up and took me to a gas station. Mick and Homer stood guard over Marge. Once at the station, I picked up a gas can, filled it up and then stuck out my thumb. The FIRST guy who drove by was nice enough to pick me up and return me to Mick, Homer and Marge. Total time - less than 30 minutes.

Thanks to Jason and Bonnie from Albequerque and Jerry from East Carbon, UT!!

No doubt - I have a problem with running out of gas. But problems or not, this story proves I've been doing some clean livin' :)

Fruita??? Seriously???

What a stupid name for a cool little Colorado town. I find myself walking around the ever-so-hip downtown trying to think of a pun using the town's silly name. No dice yet...

The trip to Burning Man is going well. We made it across the Rockies yesterday. The Expy pulled Marge admirably although I had it pretty much floored by the time we reached the Eisenhauer (sp?) tunnel.

I was doing my usual renovation work on Marge this morning at the campground and the host-lady came by and said "what's going on here?". It's pretty common for people to stop by and see what I'm doing but I could tell she had more on her mind than vintage Airstream talk. She said "you can't do repair work here. The owners would have a stroke if they saw this". Wow - those owners must have a lot of loose plague running through their arteries. The whole thing kinda chapped my ass so I packed up and headed to a coffee shop where Mick was feverishly working on his Mac.

We're about to head west, to where I'm not sure. More to come this evening...

Where I call home right now - Willow Cove

Many folks have asked where I am these days. In short, I'm living off the goodwill of others while I get Marg into fighting shape. For the last 8ish weeks, I've been staying at my friends' (Andy and Heather Andersen and Justin and Suzanne Williams) house on Lake Sinclair in Eatonton, GA. It's a fabulous spot in every way. I'm deeply in debt to these guys for all their hospitality and help with Marg.

The photo is the view out my back door this morning. Not too shabby... :)

Whoopsie!

I just returned from taking Marge on a shake-down trip to Owensboro and back. I drove into the mouth of the beast as Owensboro had just been hit by a HUGE ice storm. Marge, Felicia and I bravely drove in, with a shitload of generators to sell folks, if they needed them (they didn't). The goal of the trip was to get my incredibly talented Aunt Marty to give me her ideas for how Marge should look.

In short, the trip was a success. I saw Marty and I accomplished a couple other Owensboro errands. However, there were... issues:

I had my first accident with Marge - I was trying to navigate a tight spot in the Home Depot parking lot and I apparently clipped a guy's rear view mirror. I left him a note apologizing and asking him to call me so I could pay him but he never called. God bless the nice people of this world. Here's the only damage Marg sustained (no creases, just some paint):

The second "issue" doesn't have such a neat and clean ending - honestly, I don't know how it ended. Apparently, at some point on the drive, the plastic cowling off my old air conditioner broke apart and flew off - think plastic hunks and/or shrapnel flying off at 65 mph. Eek. I didn't notice this had happened until I got back to Atlanta. I don't remember anyone passing me and flipping me off... Here's what Marge's AC looks like now:

Eat it world - you'll take shrapnel from Marge and like it :)

Bitch got wheels!!

At long last, Marge (the tentative name for my trailer) has new shoes. And new... er... feet. Anywho, I put new wheels and tires on her.

These wheels may look to be roughly EXACTLY the same as the ones she had when I bought her but trust me - the technology involved with heavy hunks of round steel has come a long way in 44 years. Well, maybe not but I'm told these wheels are much better than the "suicide rims" they replaced.

Showin' this bitch who's in charge

So I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to handle the demo of the interior. My original plan was to keep much of the interior in-tact and simply improve it. Here's what it looked like when I got it:

Well, that plan kinda went out the window. Here's what the interior looks like now. So much for discretion.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been a traveling fool, albeit without the benefit of my Airstream. Atlanta to Nashville, Nashville to Owensboro, Owensboro to Lexington, Lexington to Atlanta, Atlanta to Seaside, Seaside to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and San Juan to Seaside. I's been a hell of a lot of fun. Tomorrow, I return to Willow Cove to dig back into the HOTFUT mobile. The travels have been fun but I'm looking forward to making some progress on the buggy. More to come...