The New Adventures of Linus and Snoopy

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Happy birthday to my friend Billy!

For What It's Worth - 77 Days and Counting

Road Trip Necessities

I did purchase a small microwave oven specifically for use in the bus on our road trip, hoping that it does not take up too much space. I’ll have to load all of our equipment up before our trip and take a short camping trip for a week or so just to see what we will need and what equipment will be overkill. I have not camped n Linus for any extended period of time such as a week or longer. I think maybe 3 or 4 days was about it so far, so we need to have a proper experience off grid for a bit longer timeframe to ensure what equipment becomes needed and what is not. This is one of the most important things you have to determine before starting out on an extended road trip where you will be basically be out there in the wilderness all on your own with no direct support for anything you may need.

You must be totally self-sufficient and be able to do everything for yourself when you are out “in the system” as we used to say in my flying days. With my bad back, working on this bus might be troublesome, so preventive maintenance is the key. Keep oil and fuel in the bus and run the engine often. Drive it when you can to ensure it continues to work properly. An older vehicle tends to become inoperable when it sits and does not move a lot. The key is to drive your old vehicle daily or when you can, whether it be a mile or so or longer, just drive the automobile! Driving it keeps it moving!

Our flight plan in Linus is a basic clockwise navigation plan around the perimeter of the US mainland to be revised slightly as we go along, specifically when we discover some awesome place we pleasantly enjoy. Especially if it is a boondocking site (No camping fee site to camp at) with adequate resources such as drinking water and plenty of firewood for nightly campfires, an almost necessity. When camping, drinking water and firewood are the two required needs, and shade and food come in a near second on the hierarchy of needs. With adequate drinking water stored in supply and an adequate amount of food to sustain you, we can realistically spend days or even weeks living off of the grid.

I met another Westy pilot (aka VW Westfalia Bus) this weekend, which was way cool. is name was Julian and he also lives in the South Bay area here in Southern California. We talked lengthly about our buses and how we used them. He has his roof cover with solar panels which seem to keep his aftermarket fridge powered. I got some good specifications from him regarding the freezer/fridge he has which sound like something I may want to pursue for installing in my Linus. It might even fit in the spot where the current fridge is located, which would be sweet! We are slowly getting Linus in shape for our back roads trip adventure and this addition would surely make things much more comfortable.

Snoopy, The Fugitive

Yesterday, on the Columbus Day Holiday, Snoopy somehow got off her leash when she was on her clothesline setup outside. My buddy and I went to IHOP right around the corner for breakfast and I left her outside since it was beautiful weather and she was just laying there basking in the sun, as usual. I get back home in about 45 mins or so and I get a call from this guy saying he has Snoopy. She was probably scratching herself when she apparently must have hit the slide release on the clasp of the leash getting loose, and off she ran. He found he in the street and since she is the friendly type, she came to him when he called. Anyway, in about 20 minutes or so he comes driving up with her in his work van and I give him $20 for gas since he drove her back to my place. He did not want to take it so I stuffed it in his shirt pocket and thanked him once again just before he drove off. I was glad she was safe and sound and she was happy to be back home again, I think. :)

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

The best things in life are free.

And it is important never to lose sight of that.

So look around you.

Wherever you see friendship, loyalty, laughter & love…

There is your treasure.

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Friday, October 10, 2014

For What It's Worth - 81 Days and Counting

Happy birthday Lisa C-M!!

Following Blogs

There are a couple of blogs I follow on a regular basis as I hope happens with our blog. Our daily exercise currently is occurring almost every workweek day for us. We anticipate that frequency to go down once we get out on the open road early next year as is currently being planned. We hope our readers check out our blog posts to keep track of where we are traveling to as well as the sites and destinations we encounter as we go along.

Matt is a 30 year old guy from Northern California who is a great writer, has a great blog and I have been in contact with him for quite a few months now. He is a kindred spirit and we have parallel paths in life I believe. I have followed him and his VW Westfalia Vanagon named “Donnie” as he crisscrosses the US living mobile, free and happy. He mostly stays in the western side of the continent traveling as far east as Indiana, the state he grew up in. He has even braved the long haul all the way to Alaska on the AL-Can Highway traveling for many days solo piloting his rig on stretches of road hundreds of miles away from any civilization in either direction, staving off bears and any dangerous wildlife that had come his way. A brave soul indeed to attempt such a feat. He does not carry any firearms, so meeting a bear could be a hair-raising experience. I am sure he probably has bear spray. Maybe after we have put many months of back road traveling under our belts would we ever attempt such a arduous journey. With a vehicle as old as Linus (1978 model), I am not brave enough to try to tackle such an adventurous journey until we can gain some extreme confidence in my vehicle ’s reliability. Even then an Alaska trip traveling in a VW microbus would be a supreme adventure just in itself. You gotta have some savvy to try to drive that road all by yourself. Maybe some day we will give it a try but surely not for a good long while.

I do follow a few traveling blogs, peeps living out on the road in their vans or small RVs. I get a lot of good ideas from the ideas these peeps share to us readers, which we wish to also provide as we experience and learn in our blog. We just need to avoid making as many mistakes as possible that do us hardship, as well as cost us any time and money. Living on a fixed income, you need to manage your money well. That amount is fixed and will limit our capabilities. I am hoping that not paying rent on an apartment will free up some cash to be used for plenty of fuel for Linus and maybe a get a motel room or a decent campground every once in a while to take a hot shower, wash some clothes and sleep in a proper bed.

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

Stop waiting for Prince Charming. Get up and find him.

The poor idiot may be suck in a tree or something.

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Thursday, October 9, 2014

For What It's Worth - 82 Days and Counting

Happy birthday BJ!

Survival

As I may have said before, I really like learning survival techniques from some of the TV shows that have come out in the past 10 years or so.

Survivorman is probably at the top of my list because he actually will survive for a week or ten days and he really lives the life completely, besides filming everything on the show basically. That may not seem too big a deal for us sitting comfortably in our recliners or laying on our couches in the comfort of our own temperature controlled and fully sheltered living rooms. But doing all that filming makes the endeavor 4 times as hard I believe. He has to carry and take care of all that 50 pounds of cameras and filming equipment, plus he has to take the time to set up various cameras to catch different shots, camera angles, and different points of views (literally). This also includes the fact that he also has to walk 3 times as far setting camera shots up, then performing the actual shot of him walking or climbing or whatever is going on in that scene, then go retrieve the equipment, pack it up again, then continue on his trek. All this effort is time consuming, requires loads of energy he may not have after a few days of little caloric intake, and all this must be done for him to have anything for the viewers to watch. He has to be a film maker, director and producer, all-in-one. He does the best job I believe and I never miss an episode. I like his approach so much that I bought one of his books to read and learn from. It will be with me on our upcoming back roads trip. Looking forward to being out there with a new adventure everyday, never knowing what may come.

I also like Dual Survival, a show with two survival experts with totally different training

backgrounds and philosophies. One has a military background and one is more of a nature lover, such as a hippie treehugger type of individual. Contrasting styles that often clash while they are out someplace, their goal is to get back to society somehow as soon as possible. They may be only out there for a few days and they also have a film crew that follows them around that films it all. It is a good show also illustrating different points of view and helping each other along the way. Squabbles also happen adding some extra drama.

Then there are the extreme copycat survival type of shows with some weird twist such as Naked and Afraid, a show with one male and one female both naked each week in some remote location for 21 days. Each week are new individuals that do not know each other until they meet at the location with nothing to hide except their personalities and weird quirks. They do get to choose one item they can have with them such as a machete, fire-starter, knife, or what ever they want to bring. These three items are what they usually bring, which is probably best. I have seen stupid things such as duct tape, a pan and even a magnifying glass. How stupid is that? Some of these people really get on each others nerves and are at odds with each other almost the entire show. Some are quite mean to each other really. One episode this woman on like the third day just goes off on her partner attacking him, belittling him, and just being a raving bitch. A few days later she comas back and apologizes to him and he just shrugs it off. I think I would of went off on my own and let her suffer all alone on her own. The last words she would of heard from me was, “You’re on your own” as I left her to fend for herself. Putting up with a bitch for 21 days all alone is a feat that deserves a medal or trophy and some kind of grand prize.

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

The less you respond to rude and argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will become.

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

For What It's Worth - 83 Days and Counting

Continued from Last Time...

So, that about wraps up the long story of our awesome motorcycle road trip of the summer of 1984. It was 10 great days of being on the road and living in the moment, and it all ended in a flash with a crash. Breaking my back was a life changing event that I wish I never had to have happened. I went from a 186 pound physically in-shape specimen to a guy who is only a shell of his former self. I used to strut a little bit when I walked way back when, now I just try to get from point A to point B without injuring myself again. I guess we all have regrets and I guess so do I. Live & learn.

Survival

I bought a book a little while ago from Les Stroud, the host and filmmaker for the TV show, “Survivorman” called appropriately “Survive!” It teaches some essential skills and tactics to get you out of anywhere… alive. I barely started reading it but I plan on studying it from front to back cover, which is what I generally do when I am interested in doing. I probably have seen every episode that has aired and I always look forward to new episodes when they become available. I really enjoyed his two part episode on searching for Bigfoot or Sasquatch. The Bigfoot episodes are not the typical “searching for Bigfoot” episodes you always see on TV, but he looks at everything with a very skeptical point of view. He did two one-hour back to back episodes which he seemed to think it could be true. He has been out in the middle of nowhere for many days in a row and all alone filming everything himself for quite a few years now. He has even lived off grid in the Canadian wilderness for a year or so.

He has mentioned that he has heard things out there not knowing what was making that sound. He knew at the time it was not a bear, wolf, cougar, moose, deer, elk, coyote, bird or anything else he has ever heard of before out in the wilderness. It was a very interesting couple of shows that I really enjoyed watching. The structures built out of trees and branches out in the middle of nowhere were compelling to say the least. f you never saw either of these episodes which aired earlier this year, I highly recommend you give them a chance and watch them. You may form your own independent opinions yourself.

Besides these two episodes, he has pretty much survived 7 - 10 days all alone in many different and various environments from deserts, rain forests and everything in between. He has even survived in a life raft in the middle of some South Pacific Ocean destination, which had t have been one of the hardest he has ever accomplished and survived. Just spending all that time bobbing up and down in the water for even a few hours would be enough to drive me crazy. That would not be something I would want to endure for any amount of time really. Forget that!

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

People need to learn that their actions do affect other people.
So be careful what you say and do, its not always just about you.

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

For What It’s Worth - 84 Days and counting

FYI - This narrative below is from a motorcycle road trip back in 1984…

Continued from yesterday…

At the hospital I am given a set of crutches and put in a wheelchair and I get wheeled out into the waiting room to be released and transported. I was surprised they even released me but I really did not want to stay anyway, so I did not make a fuss. Billy wheeled me out of the hospital and I sat under an overhang while the rain continued to fall heavily. While waiting there, I notice a toddler in a car seat in an empty car. I think, where is this parent? I ask Billy to go inside and tell someone there is a kid all alone in a car. Apparently there was a cop inside and he came out and opened the car door and took the child. We were talking for a few minutes then the mother came out. The cop gave her the riot act about how the child could of been taken by someone and then he ended up writing her some sort of citation.

About this time Lisa pulls up in her 1972 Super Beetle VW to take me home. She is understandably quite distraught and she and Billy somehow get me into the passenger seat. Billy gives me my motorcycle key and then he climbs in the left rear seat and we depart to go get his motorcycle still at the accident scene. We drop him off there and he then follows us over the mountain pass heading south towards San Bernardino. We wave adios to Billy as he continues on South to Riverside and we turn and head east to Redlands and to Lisa’s apartment.

We finally get to her apartment and the shock has subsided and I feel the pain. Intense pain is felt as she helps me get out of her car and stand up. The crutches save me from falling on my face as I realize I am at the mercy of nature. I can barely hold myself up as we slowly make it towards her apartment. I remember being in the living room and almost falling onto the glass coffee table as I try to maneuver onto the sofa. I have a rush of adrenaline as I put all my weight on Lisa, almost collapsing on top of her. We manage to get me onto the sofa in a lying position, which is the status quo for much of my remaining life. The intense pain again reminds me I have broken my body pretty bad and I better get used to the pain. To this day I still feel pain on a daily basis, just not always as intense. This is how it all started and my life has never been the same as it was before.

To Be Continued…

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

“Wanting to be someone you are not is a waste of the person you are.”

- Kurt Cobain

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb

Monday, October 6, 2014

For What It's Worth - 85 Days and Counting...

Continued from last Wednesday...

So, they wheel me into the hospital on the gurney, which took about 45 minutes to travel to. Some emergency room doctors and nurses quickly evaluate my injuries and then I get wheeled off into some room off to the side. Maybe it is a holding room, if there is such a thing. So, I lay there for a long time and then the rain storm hits quite violently. It is going for maybe 10 minutes and then the power goes out. Now I am laying there in the dark wondering if anyone knows I’m even in here and then the pain hits me. Thinking to myself that I guess the shock must be wearing off because the pain is creeping in. Some more time passes and the lights have been out for a while and I begin to think that I have been forgotten. So, when my patience wears out I start yelling for someone. After a while someone rediscovers my broken body in this darkened room.

Finally some doctor with a long beard comes to see me and they ask me if I am in any pain. I mention that my back is killing me, my right foot feels like it has been crushed and it feels wet, and my entire right side of my body feels like I have been body slammed. Well, I guess my body has been body slammed at about 65 mph, so I figure the pain is understandable. So, I get some x-rays taken, and an MRI, and then they give me some medication for the pain. I know I need to call someone to come get me, so I call my girlfriend Lisa at her work In San Bernardino and tell her I am in a hospital located in Victorville. She is understandably upset, she never liked motorcycles, and she drops whatever she is doing and she starts on her way to get me.

All this time Billy has been waiting out in the waiting room and I ask a nurse to go locate him. After a little while he comes in and sees the mess I am in. He notices the maroon paint on my right boot, on my t-shirt and on my jeans. I ask to see my boot which was removed long ago and I notice that the metal eyelets have been flattened and the paint of the new car has been embedded into the leather. I think to myself, “No wonder my right foot feels so bad”.

The bearded doctor finally comes in with my x-rays and discusses my injuries with me. He shows me the disc bulging out my left side and also that one of my lower vertebrae has broken off and is floating between my bulging disc and my spinal cord. He also tells me that my entire right side of my body has had intense trauma and will most likely end up bruised severely. He then gives me another injection of pain meds, which I find out is morphine.

To be continued...

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

On particularly rough days when I'm sure I can't possibly endure,
I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days
so far is 100%... and that's pretty good!

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

For What It's Worth - 90 Days and Counting...

(Continued from last post...)

So we put the rubber to the road and were now traveling at a very high rate of speed for many miles since there was hardly any traffic at the time. Getting stuck in the mountain pass with a deluge of rain was not an option.

All was going well until we ran into some traffic just outside of Victorville. Sh we began slowing down from our 3 digit speed to maybe around 80 or so. It had become a four lane road from a two lane road which we were glad for. As We came over this one hill I had traffic on my right and then I notice a line of cars in the left lane. I did not see any brake lights, then I realized that that line of cars was not moving, they were waiting to turn left.

So I got on my brakes as fast as possible and knew there were cars still on my right side. I knew I was going to run into the rear of the car ahead of me so I decided t try to go around the line on the left of them. As I made that decision, the front car in that line of cars began to turn left. I realized I had no place to go, so I tried to make that left turn as well to avoid that car. Well, I realized that I wasn’t going to make that turn either and I was heading for the front of the car making that left turn. I knew that an impact there would send me sailing through the air, so in that split second I decided to impact the car into the doors on the left of the vehicle so not to fly through the air. Now this vehicle was a brand new maroon Cadillac Sedan DeVille, still with the dealers window sticker in the left rear window, which I found out they had just picked up that day.

Anyway, I impacted the left side of that car on an angle sort of broadside at an estimate of 65 mph, with my left handle bar coming back violently, hitting me quite hard in the lower left side of my back. My right foot was between the right foot peg and the car, driving that foot peg into the right heel of my boot. The rest of the right side of my body took the full impact between the motorcycle and the car. Unfortunately my heavy leather motorcycle jacket was strapped onto my motorcycle behind me because it was hot out, so I encountered a lot of road rash as I tumbled after the impact. I do recall seeing the window sticker and the drivers face as I made impact, but then afterwards I did a bit of tumbling.

I do recall laying there in shock on the road thinking to myself, “What the heck just happened?” since it felt so surreal to me. My buddy Billy never even seen what happened as he was busy dealing with the traffic also. A few minutes later, Billy came back and asked me what happened. I remember someone trying to take off my helmet as I was lying there. I was thinking WTF… why is someone trying to take my helmet off?

Well, I laid there in the road for what seemed like forever wondering where the heck is the ambulance? Did they deploy from Timbukto? What was taking them so long? I felt hardly any pain as I laid there due to the shock I guess. When they finally arrived, I could hear the siren way off yonder, several miles away, and I knew they were coming for me. It is a weird feeling hearing a siren way off in the distance, miles and miles away, knowing that siren is coming for you. They finally arrive and put me on a back board and on a gurney and start rolling towards the ambulance. I make a request to them to take me over to my motorcycle so I can assess the damage to my loyal mount. They tell me no. I tell them it took you guys over 45 minutes to get here, so another minute is not going to hurt, so take me to my bike or I will get off this gurney immediately. The grant me my wish and roll me over so I can see my bike. I make a quick assessment of the damages and in my mind I tell her I am sorry to have done this to her. She quietly just laid there. I holler at Billy to bring her to the hospital if you can ride her, and apparently he did so.

The ambulance drivers load me up into the vehicle and I tell them to take me to the nearest Kaiser medical facility, and they tell me the nearest one is in Fontana and too far away. They tell me they are taking me to the Victorville Hospital, and they head off in the opposite direction I really want to go. I realize I am a passenger and I don’t have much choice but to go wherever they are taking me. I recall seeing Billy through the rear window riding my bike all damaged following the ambulance as we headed many miles back the way we came towards the hospital of their choice.

To Be Continued…

Simple Joys of Life & Words of Wisdom

Being an adult is the dumbest thing I have ever done!

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Snoopy asks that you please… “Bark Less and Wag More!”

Until next time… Be Good!

- cb