We Partied Like It Was 1999, Cause It Was…

"I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted." Kerouac 


Remember the Y2K hubbub? A beach at low tide is not a good place to be stranded had the "chip" in Petroleous Rex failed. Come to think about it, I think we were in Tucson at Gilbert Ray Campground, actually. So the above photo of our first full-time rig was taken around Thanksgiving on North Padre Island, Texas, a beach with sand firm enough to drive on… most of the time. Camping that close to the ocean proved a bad idea. After a couple of days, rust blooms were breaking out on our brand new Arctic Fox's frame, hitch, and propane tanks. Then the fridge quit working… and Pet Rex's chrome wheels, not to mention the allure of Beach Camping, forever lost their luster.


"Those were the days, my friends, we thought they'd never end. We'd sing and dance and forever and a day. We'd live the life we choose. We'd fight and never lose, For we were young and sure to have our way."

Resort camping in Boulder City, Nevada. Oh how things change… 

Now a few selections from the pen of my "On The Road/Dharma Bum" mentor, Jack Kerouac: 

Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.
Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry. 
There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars. 
One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
Something like,
I (have) nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion. 

"Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?"  Kerouac

I realized these were all the snapshots which our children would look at someday with wonder, thinking their parents had lived smooth, well-ordered lives and got up in the morning to walk proudly on the sidewalks of life, never dreaming the raggedy madness and riot of our actual lives, our actual night, the hell of it, the senseless emptiness.

About to wed my Bobbie in hot air balloons over Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Life must be rich and full of loving--it's no good otherwise, no good at all, for anyone.

Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.

The closer you get to real matter, rock… air…  fire…  and wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.

What's in store for me in the direction I don't take?

Well, Time Capsules are a fun diversion on rainy days. Only problem is, they always drop us off where we are… older, hopefully wiser, and trying to teach our children to never give up their dreams.  

All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together… 

Bobbie made a very cool Birthday quilt for Caleb…  

Pain or love or danger makes you real again....