Trailer Queen She Ain't... She's Also Not a Dirt Bike...

So... You're camped and Sonja your Raider remains sitting in her nest behind the cab of the truck for three days... un-unloaded... because it's freaking Raining.

Yup... raining... something on the order of 5" of that beer without the good parts falling on the roof 24/7 for two days...

And then... and THEN... and THEN... it stopped! HooYa! now I can ride... right?

Uh... Nope...

Two days later... the sun shining brightly... the breeze blowing lightly... and it's time! Right?

Nope...

*48 hours after the cessation of rainfall... and things are still a mite gooey*

It's warm... and it's dry everywhere but the ground underneath. The legs of the rig sank two inches into the ground... the tires on one side wallowed deeper into the once hardpan... now softpan... The rig (our home) starting to lean out of level like a modern wheeled tower of Pizza... uh... Pisa.

And the bike... That lovely red headed, big bootied, lusty two wheeled seductress rolled down the ramp... into the muck and mire...

She didn't roll... push... wallow far before she whispered to the wishful thinker straddling her back; "It ain't gonna happen today cowboy... it's three hundred yards to the road... and four miles to the pavement... we'd best give it another day..."

So he flipped the switch and shut down the rumbling V-twin resting in her frame and lumbered through the clinging clay...cussing... to wait for another day.

Grab Your Handles and Ride.
Brian

Well Crap... What An Escape THIS is...

So... the whole Idea is... live in a rig... so I can park the sucker where EVER the weather is Motorcycle Weather... right?

Yup... north in the summer time... south in the winter... Keep it in the wind year round...

So... Arizona sounds purty damn fine for the winter... Don't it? I mean... got out of Montana... juuuuuuust 'fore the first big blow of the winter... and then only had to work a week at NASCAR in another generally futile effort to stay ahead of the machinations of the man to suck my meager wallet dry...

and then... Just ride...

Right?

Uh Huh... Buuuuut, ya'll diiiiiiiiiint tell me 'bout that weather fella and his Murphy like inclination to pee all over a fella's careful architecting of winter riding plans!

So... camped here on the Prescott National Forest just a part of a gallon or so below a place called Camp Verde...

Been here before. Not so shabby for a place where the Rent is ZERO...

The neighbors leave a lil' to be desired on occasion...

But again... with views like these... who can truly complain?

Who? Welllllll... how 'bout me?! Ya see... take a look at that last picture... that was taken... oh, about 27 hours ago. See that big dark cloud hangin' low? Well... that sucker opened up about 24 hours ago and hasn't truly let up since.

I just stepped outside to shut off the generator... since the solar power system doesn't produce well when it only receives the liquid sunshine variety... and damn near vanished in the Arizona hard pan... that ain't quite so hard anymore after a full night and a day of rain.

Yeah... this escapin' lifestyle ain't Always what the songwriters crack it up to be. ;)

Sometimes it's a whole lot of coffee sittin' in the cold with a lap blanket, trying to sort out the outline of a new western book I'm writing... cuz I'm too cheap to buy enough propane to keep the heater runnin' all the time.

Oh yeah, almost forgot... and then, just to keep your mind active... how about finding the remains of a partially detonated IED on your last walk out from  camp... just before the deluge started???

Yup the poorly executed soda can version of an Ammonium  Nitrate Bomb... talk about questionable neighbors...

Yeah I know... Quit my Bitchin'... Instead of being trapped for a couple days inside a worn out plastic box parked in the Arizona desert... I could be back standing in the aisle of an Ace Hardware dreamin' of sunny slopes and selling plumbing parts to overweight matrons with purple hair who want to make imaginative centerpieces out of 'em for their knitting club luncheon!

... and lookin' at a 15 degree ride to get home... ;)

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian