Archive for Uncategorized
August 2, 2006 at 6:46 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Sorry I’ve been offline. The in-laws offered to take Emma for an overnight with her cousin, and Eleanor and I took the evening off to go out on a date. I figured if I’m taking an evening off from being a parent, I can take an evening off from being a blogger, too.
With a dining room table and high-speed Internet available to me, I decided to get back to Operation Kill Paper, which was last conducted in December back in San Diego. The plan is to reduce this:
… to this:
I found that most of the paper can be trashed immediately. It’s amazing how much paper we had in the files that we really didn’t need. I spent much of yesterday and today scanning the rest, and earmarking things to be dropped off in storage when we get back to Vermont.
Getting rid of the paper is a job, too. It’s all sensitive data, filled with account numbers, tax ID #s, SS #s, etc. Shredding it all is out of the question — I have enough to overheat any shredder, and shredding takes too long anyway. We’ll burn it tomorrow night in the campfire ring.
People often say how “brave” we are for tossing the paper in favor of scanned images. But really, this is much safer. A fire or water leak in the trailer would probably result in total loss of our paper files. Once scanned, however, I have multiple copies and can re-print any document in seconds. One copy of everything will be on my laptop, another on Eleanor’s laptop, a third on my backup hard drive, and a fourth copy will be burned to CD and mailed offsite for ultimate security.
Moreover, I don’t have to worry about someone coming in the trailer and stealing documents for purposes of identify theft (not that I was really concerned in the first place). I can easily encrypt the entire folder of “scanned documents” so that nobody but Eleanor and I can view them — better than a safe!
The only downside of this is the initial job of scanning a few years worth of documents. We brought documents (mostly tax records) going back to 2003. I have invested several days, counting the time back in San Diego, getting all that paper reduced to electrons. Going forward it should be much easier, since I scan new incoming documents every couple of weeks, and also because we are receiving much less paper these days than before we started full-timing.
July 31, 2006 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I am fortunate to have in-laws who are nice people, with nice kids. Emma spent the entire day with her cousin Hannah, and Eleanor spent the day with her sister-in-law Alison. They all had fun at the swimming pool. I spent the day working on their dining room table. Oh well.
One of the fun things about visiting Emma’s cousins is that there are so many of them. There are five kids from 18 to 5 years old in this family, all great. The two oldest girls and their boyfriends joined us for dinner. Eleanor made an Italian entree that I can’t spell (but it was really good), and she seasoned the cauliflower in such a way that everyone liked it (which I would have thought impossible).
Eleanor’s grandfather was the Head Chef of the Locke-Ober Restaurant in Boston for twenty years. That’s where Eleanor got her cooking talent. Her brother Arthur also inherited the cooking gene, so when the two of them get together it’s time to build up your appetite. Tonight Arthur was busy at a baseball game, so he only showed up for the eating segment of the evening, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they team up in the kitchen later this week.
I uploaded pictures from Garden of the Gods city park today. See the Flickr photo album. We also worked out some tentative plans for the weekend and next week. We’re going to head west into the Rockies to Salida and Gunnison. This will be our last chance at Colorado for a long time, and we would like to enjoy it as much as possible.
July 30, 2006 at 10:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
… and then, nothing happened.
We had to move the rig this morning from the dull & noisy campground we had in Colorado Springs to a spot about 15 miles south of town. So we spent the morning doing Sunday morning stuff, and then stopped off for groceries, and by the time we got to our new site it was nearly 2 pm and 96 degrees outside.
I had all these ideas about driving out to some little towns in the mountains, seeing the Royal Gorge Bridge, etc., but somehow they all evaporated in the heat of the day. Besides, I found out a bit too late that cell phones don’t work here, even though they work just about 2/10ths of a mile down the street. So I spent an hour of the afternoon trying to get my Vonage box to work on the campground’s wireless network, and then Eleanor and I languished while Emma griped about our lack of activity.
Well, once in a while you’ve got to take a day off from everything. I guess today was it. Tomorrow we will resume our usual schedule of frenetic activity. Since I can’t make calls from here, I will tag along as Eleanor and Emma head up to Colorado Springs, and park myself either in the in-laws’ house or Panera Bread for the day. I could do worse than having an office in Panera Bread …
But despite the lack of activity today, I did find a great place to go for good times with family:
Sign of the week!
July 29, 2006 at 3:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The weather continues hot here in Colorado, but we decided to hike around Garden of the Gods city park anyway. This place is too beautiful to miss.
It’s also rather busy, especially on a sunny summer weekend like this, with rock climbers and browsers of all descriptions. There are a few short trails off the beaten path, if you need to escape the crowds.
There’s a good Visitor Center with various added-value attractions: a movie ($2), gift shops, cafe, a bus tour ($5), etc. But the park itself is free and the view is spectacular.
After some hot hiking, we decided to visit our local Thai restaurant for lunch. A blog reader and fellow traveler, Brad A, mentioned that he has not seen any good Pad Thai lately. Brad, this one’s for you!
Now we’re taking a break before meeting the in-laws for a barbecue nearby.
July 27, 2006 at 8:55 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We have been making plans for the next few weeks. Our obligations are declining for the late summer and fall, and that’s a good thing since it means less running around. But we still have a few things that must be done, and logistical problems to solve.
People often ask how we decide where to go and what to do. With Airstream friends all over the country, family, events, and seasonal changes, we never run out of ideas or places to go. Our bigger problem is figuring out the logistics of how to make it all work and not spend a billion dollars on gas. And when we are going somewhere in peak season, we have to work out places to stay, but we try to avoid crowds so that isn’t often a problem. I prefer to have freedom to meander, and having campground reservations can kill spontaneity.
Speaking of peak season, tomorrow we have to leave Cherry Creek because there are no sites available for the weekend. We’ll head down to Colorado Springs for a while. Next week looks like a work week, with some visiting. On the 9th or 10th we’ll head to the Rocky Mountain Vintage Rally in Creede CO for some fun.
After the rally, we are going to get our bent aluminum fixed at the Airstream factory in Jackson Center OH. It’s right along our route eastward. We should be in Vermont by the week of the 20th, and then we can stay put for a while. The trip eastward will be our last big mileage push for a while, which should be a welcome relief for the fuel budget.
At this point the only major trip from Vermont will be a week in Maine, visiting Adam and Susan. We’ll go across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh, to visit with Colin Hyde at his restoration shop, and do a few upgrades to the trailer, but that’s just a short hop from home. We may take the trailer up to Montreal too, but again that’s a quick trip.
So that’s how trip planning is done. We just look at what we want to do, what we need to do, and usually a plan presents itself. There’s enough of interest in this country that we rarely have to worry about finding something to do when we get there.
July 26, 2006 at 11:16 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Since I’m working long hours this week to get the Fall magazine and other issues under control, we aren’t having a lot of adventures. Tonight we visited Fred Coldwell and took him out for pizza & ice cream, but other than that the day has been “just another day at the office.”
All long voyages have days like that, whether a long day at sea during which nothing much happens, or day of doing laundry and polishing the brightwork. I don’t regard it as time wasted, just time spent a bit differently. The lack of news gives me a chance to talk about other things.
For example, I’ve been reading more travel books as we go, and it occurs to me that I haven’t told you the latest items in my bedside book nook.
One classic of Airstream lore is Wally Byam’s book, “Trailer Travel Here and Abroad.” It’s half travelogue, half “how-to” guide for prospective trailer owners in the 1950s. Wally talks about some of the superb adventures he and his fellow caravanners had in the heydey of international trailer travel, when a trip to Europe was a glamorous experience available to an elite few.
The book also covers his many trips to Central America, Africa, and the Middle East. Interestingly, the insights and notes of the book echo many of the lessons we’ve picked up as we’ve traveled in the 21st century. I can read his comments about trailer travel and (excepting technology changes), many are as relevant today as they were half a century ago.
Fred and I were working on a project to scan this book (long out of copyright) and reprint it. I was unsuccessful at achieving a good OCR (optical character recognition) scan of it, and for now the project is on hold. If anyone has access to a resource that could handle this large task at low cost, let me know. I’d like for this book to be available to everyone, since it is very hard to find and rather expensive on eBay.
One thing in particular that echoes throughout the pages of “Trailer Travel Here and Abroad” is Wally’s firm belief that by traveling, every caravanner was a diplomat and emissary of international peace. We have noticed also that in travel we learn more about the diversity of people and come to appreciate the differences between human beings, rather than fearing them.
Wally was a self-described gadget man, too. He had a phonograph, wireless set, bullhorn, and other gadgets in his trailer. I expect that today he’d have wireless Internet, a cell phone, an iPod, DVD player, and solar panels — just like we do.
Another book I’m reading about a great voyage is Steven Ambrose’s “Undaunted Courage”. This is the story of the Lewis and Clark “Corps of Discovery”. Our recent travel has taken along their route (but in the opposite direction), from the Columbia River in Oregon to the Snake River in Washington and Idaho. We camped in Lewiston ID (just across from Clarkston WA), and followed their path into Montana. Their accomplishment is incredible considering the times.
It’s easy to find a copy of “Undaunted Courage” in western national park bookstores, and I’m sure it is still in print. Their rough-and-tumble voyage in a set of pirogues and river boats bears little resemblance to our cushy existence in an Airstream, but still I find tiny parallels. There are commonalities to all voyages, and it is inspirational to read of the fearlessness of this team that penetrated the west when the west was unmapped and mysterious to all Europeans.
July 25, 2006 at 11:07 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We really needed to settle into the Denver area for a while. There is so much to be done. I picked up my new phone today from FedEx, then spent a couple of hours trying to get my Mac Powerbook serviced. I finally settled on a specialist in Denver who will put in a new 100 gb drive and have it back to me by the end of the week.
While I was gone, Bill (The Health Chic’s other half), took Emma’s training wheels off and started teaching her to ride her bike, while Eleanor supervised. It went well, and now Emma is able to ride in a straight line all by herself! The campground is an ideal place to practice, since there’s no traffic, flat smooth paved roads, and lots of room.
In the afternoon I had a conference call, which I usually take outside so I can pace around while I talk. Unfortunately, we got a rare sprinkling of rain right around then, so I spent most of the conversation ducking between trees for shelter. I could have gone in the trailer but when I’m concentrating on a call I just can’t sit still — and besides, Eleanor and Emma were in there making noise. Such are the compromises of working in a trailer with family.
This evening we went to the home of our friends Forrest and Patrice for dinner. Forrest draws the cartoon for the magazine each quarter, in addition to occasionally contributing articles. We solved all the problems of the world in one evening, so if anyone needs to know the way to world peace, rejuvenating the WBCCI, or inexpensive electric power from cold fusion, just let me know.
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