1.7 Bits and Pieces

Milestones.

July 19^th was the Jolly Swag’s first birthday.  We celebrated in the town where the notion of a Year on the Road was conceived—Alameda. California. 

I was open to any possibility.  I promised myself I’d stick it out for at least three months even if I got bored, missed my friends, and Bay Area routines.  I also thought it possible that the full-time life might embrace me like a mother’s hug.  And a backward glance tells me everything is better than I could have imagined.   I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. 

JS and I have logged over 11,000 miles.  We’ve spent our nights in National Forests and other public lands, in driveways, and Walmarts, as well as a few truck stops and interstate rest stops, plus one night in a commercial campground and one night in a state-run developed campground.

We’ve learned to be parsimonious about our on-board resources for a self-contained month.  In frugal mode we can stock up on food, stretch our water and collect our wastewater for a month. And keep stuffing the laundry bag.

We’ve looked up friends of long-standing and encountered new people: the hitchhikers, the mountain man, the trainman, Mark, Andy, the inmates of Madrid.

We’ve stumbled upon Jake’s Corner, Tortilla Flat, Madrid, and Arcosanti.  We’ve camped at Lake Roosevelt and on the Mogollon Rim.

We’ve found writers’ clubs and bridge clubs. 

August 10^th was the anniversary of the first blog post.  We’ve posted over a hundred blogs since and they have elicited over a thousand comments.

We’ve visited only five states.  Only forty-five left to go.

The next milestone is Oct 4^th, the one year anniversary of moving aboard.  And the beginning of Another Year on the Road.