I've been absent for the last couple years. A lot has happened, and I won't even try to begin covering that much ground in one post. The short version is that I sold the house, moved into a motorhome an hour away from work, spent the winter freezing my tail off, and got the job I've been watching for more than half a decade.
I'm now bouncing around the southeast, dodging tornadoes, alligators, and floods in an old Ford diesel flatbed truck with a truck camper, toolboxes, and a Mazda in tow. I started my new job on the 18th of March in Shreveport LA, and am presently in training to survey all around the country.
I didn't get here alone. There were a handful of people who helped make this possible, and without them, I can confidently say that I wouldn't be here. You know who you are. Thank you.
Things are starting to settle down as much as they're going to. I'll try to keep up on the blog for those who care to follow along. This won't be a priority, but I'll do what I can.
For now, I'll just post some pictures of where I've been.
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| Ready for my 1200 mile journey. Really wish I had working fuel gauges. |
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| I ran right through the middle of a "bomb cyclone in Jefferson Ohio. I had a semi-truck get blown into my lane, and decided to get off the road for the night. I woke in the morning to find my driver's side rear lower shock mount torn off. |
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| Middle of nowhere, Arkansas. |
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| View of the Red River right off my backdoor in Bossier City. |
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| My refrigerator made it 1200 miles and a day before springing an ammonia leak immediately after returning with $100 in groceries. I got it stuck between the cabinetry and the roof air conditioner for about 45 minutes, before getting it here. It stayed the night right here till I figured out how to get it through the door. The truck camper is -just- big enough. I had to relocate EVERYTHING to get the refrigerator out. |
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| After removing the refrigerator, I found a leak. This wouldn't have been visible without the refrigerator out. |
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| The refrigerator was one inch wider than the door frame. I had to rip the mounting flange off with pliers and a crowbar to get it out the door. I taped everything back together so I didn't have 30 pieces to move. Thankfully, Bossier city has a nice appliance disposal site where I dropped this off for free. I tried to explain that it was an ammonia appliance, but they didn't seem to care. I wasn't going to argue with them. |
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| The old fridge took 2 days to get out. The new one went in in about 10 minutes. The difference a few inches can make. |
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| Shreveport Boardwalk. |
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| Shreveport Makers Fair. |
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| This is Queeda(sp?). She was my neighbors dog in Bossier City. The owner worked the oilfields, and was gone 16 hours a day. We were buds. She helped me take care of all my extra bacon when he was gone (with permission). |
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"You got under 100k miles on that thang? How mushoo want? Cash money right naow."
It took 3 people to guide me in. Oil changes are expensive on diesels. |
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| LeFleur's Bluff State Park. Jackson MS. Lovely little campground, other than the mosquitoes and gnats. |
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Weather forecast in PA: We have a storm front moving through North of I-80. You'll likely see some accumulation.
Weather forecast in the South: We gots wind an' hail an' tornadoes an' shit. The following states are completely screwed. Y'all kiss your mama an' say your prayers cuz y'all gon' die! |
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| My lunch buddy at a gas station in Madison MS. It had nothing to do with the chicken breast I was holding. |
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| Shipped in from Germany. You don't see too many Mogs in the states. The couple using it quit their jobs to travel for a year or so. Guy said they'll figure out what to do later. Respect. |
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| I got a knock on the door at 6:15 am Sunday morning saying that we were being evacuated. I guess that's the downside of camping directly downstream of a dam. |
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| Water's rising. The ranger said that there were three campers he couldn't get hold of. Not sure what happened to their rigs. |
I'm currently at an unremarkable campground right now. It was the best I could do on short notice. It's cheap and has everything I need, but it's basically a gravel parking lot. I leave in the morning to travel about 100 miles north. I'll get more pics later.
See ya' down the road.
