Ahoy maties!

We are on the PA/Ohio border....almost at the farm, where we will stay a couple months, then out to the sierras for a bit, then down to taos. Am not going to turn on the phone or 'net at the farmhouse, so will have to see how my connection through my cellphone will work.

It has been quite the trip, and the desert is firmly entrenched in my heart....it remains to be seen if I can pass muster as a true desert rat. We'll see!

The first thing you see

I'm on the move again. Fast. Want to be on the east coast for my son's graduation on saturday. Left pahrump at noon on sunday, made alot of stops to play with mutt, so only made 473 miles in 9 or 10 hours (damn time zones). Slept in a motel 6 parking lot and after the initial shock of waking up and not being in camp, fell in love with this view. 

I miss the early morning visits from Tony and Tori. I think Mutt does too.

Part II of part II

Okay, so this night has been a long one.

I started out in a walmart parking lot in yuma, where we were rousted about 3 a.m. We ended up going to the border crossing at algodones, hoping to scope it out and maybe make the dash across on what is to be the coolest day of the week. 

Just before 5, 3 stray, skinny dogs came by, and I fed them some cookies out the window. When the border patrol drove by, I rolled the window up, and stuck the box of cookies under my seat, which of course was the wrong thing to do. After he ran my plates he approached the van and had me pull out the cookies. I had a pic of one of the dogs on my phone to back up my story, but I felt kinda bad, because he was just a kid, and what a thankless, dangerous job they do. 

I drove into CA. to a gas station where the realities of gas prices hit home. Came back to AZ for gas and to plan my next step. It may be too late in the year to leave mutt in the car and to cross the border for glasses. I need to price mexican auto insurance for the day, maybe drive across, or rent a motel or find a kennel where the dog will be safe. Original plans had me doing this when other vandwellers were around to dogsit...... I'll keep you posted.

Http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com
-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Update: Part II....

What I  neglected to mention in part I was that when we were in san antonio, it snowed there for the first time in 12 years. I missed it. Most likely, I was in the bathroom. It never stuck to the ground where we were, news reports indicated some snowman activity in the hill country, though.

A significant portion of our trip was spent in verizon corporate stores trying to fix the pixi. It had multiple issues, like turning itself off repeatedly, frequent screen freezing and error messages, and even dialing *611 spontaneously.

We had been to the SA store 3 times, and they were unable to fix it. They gave me a new one, which had it's own set of horrors. I couldn't believe it. I set across west texas with a phone more gremlin than pixi. The guys in las cruces wanted to replace it again. I said no. I didn't want to lose my bookmarks snd music all over again, like I had in SA. There was a new  update scheduled that weekend, and  I decided to continue on to arizona and hope that the update would fix it.....

To some degree it did. Most of the error messages were gone, but the annoying habit of shutting down spontaneously continued. In a phone that can take 5 minutes to turn itself on, that was unacceptable. What if I had to dial 911? I just wanted a phone that worked.

By then I was in safford, az. Verizon customer service informed  me that there was a VZW store within 25 miles of safford. Turns out, it was more like 25 feet, across the street in thatcher! There, the manager listened to my story, read the lengthy documentation from tech support, and offered me a new solution...a different phone. I was reluctant at first....i wanted the phone I had to work, no more switching and losing apps and music and bookmarks. But after 3 more days of it turning off in the middle of an email or the middle of the night, I decided to go for it.

I switched to a pre. And am I ever glad I did! It just works. It does what it is supposed to do, when I want it to do it. And nothing I don't want it to  do, like dial itself. How simple and perfect is that?

I am so grateful to the folks at the vzw store in thatcher, for making this possible, and for renewing my faith in my phone. It's been almost a week, and not one error message or shut down has happened.

Thank-you Braden and Wendy for all of your kindness and assistance, you went that extra mile. I am so happy with my phone and my service!

During all the phone madness was a bright spot, though. I got to spend a little time with astrobrian at roper lake state park. With Mt. Graham on one side, and roper lake on the other, it was a peaceful place to regroup. Mutt and dina dog had some nice off-leash romps in the desert, too. A storm rolled through, of course, but it was much welcomed rain to ease the drought. An old guy in the walmart parking lot thought I should stay, and offered me the key to the city, if I attracted that much stormy weather :-)

I've been asked to move by the border patrol. I'll finish later.

Http://twokniveskatie.blogspot.com
-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Update, short and sweet (part I)

We left PA on feb 4th, couldn't stand the weather. Got caught in the 1st blizzard without making it out of PA, but got to hang out at my sister annie's! Thank-you sarah and david for shoveling me out!

I scurried south just ahead of the 2nd blizzard, feeling pretty safe when I got to knoxville, until ron called and informed me of the storm dumping on dallas texas and heading my way. So we scurried some more, only to experience snowfall just north of new orleans.

So, we scurried some  more..... living in the moment was becoming a thing of legend. I so longed for warmth, and finally found a dose of that in east texas where I tracked down phoenix (a fellow vandweller) ....had a great dinner with him, and as usual, alot of laughs.

Set our sights on san antonio the next day. Had a really nice interlude at a closed weigh station on I-10, where mutt got to do some off-leash running and playing. A not-so-nice interlude came a few miles later when we were stuck in standstill traffic for several hours while a tanker burned and authorities evacuated a mile radius of homes around it. We were about a half mile away, where I was feeling pretty pleased at having all the conveniences of home right  there on that overpass, when streams of people started heading past us on foot, back east, evacuated from their vehicles in front of us. We weren't asked to leave the rondyvan, and after a couple hours, were allowed around the crash site and made the last 13 miles to ron's without incident. Except for getting lost. I hate it when the GPS lady shrieks.

it was so good to see ron, and to have left  all the drama behind! Heh. Poor Ron. Mutt and I promptly came down with giardia picked up heaven knows where. There was a visit to the vet, nasty medication for both of us, and countless bathroom visits. Our vandweller friends came through with lots of suggestions on living with this illness in close quarters, while Ron fielded most of the whining. The good news is that I recovered enough appetite for a visit to coopers BBQ before we left. Ron had to cancel his plans to caravan out to the vandweller gatherings, which had pretty  well dispersed by the time we were able to get on the road again.....but we found plenty to do....see part 2 tomorrow!

utah

finally. i tried to blog last week, but the wifi at the flying j was wonky, and i went back to the canyon until tonight.

the scoop with the phone (i have a palm centro) is that i can blog from it, but the window for typing at blogspot is so tiny that it is difficult to reread my entry and heaven forbid i should miss a word or a punctuation, and i can't download pics, so i am going to try to blog from the laptop. i need to learn how to type while i'm offline and then when i reach wifi, i can upload my posts.

anyhow, another big catch-up here. my big sprint across the midwest paused for a stop in lincoln nebraska (june 16th) to visit adam and ann and their daughters sophie and iris. what a cool family! i was welcomed with hugs, and felt instantly like family. it was good to take a breath and regroup. we had dinner that night with their friends sean and amy....how great to talk to someone besides mutt!....and i began to get an idea of the great things that are being done in places like lincoln.....by people like ann and adam, who are making a difference every day. after dinner, they took a tour of the van, with an impromptu spindle spinning demonstration. adam taped it and stuck it on youtube, which was cool. my youtube debut! there will be a separate blog about my stay in lincoln, with more about adam and ann and the girls (you too, shuma) and their tribal business "meadowlark". but thank-you, guys, for the sanctuary, the food and friendship, the clean clothes and community, and the chance to hang out with some great kids..... i can't wait to see you at Ten Thousand Ways in oregon!

after a 2 day stay in lincoln, i headed west again, and made cheyenne, wyoming just before sunset. i spent two nights there, giddy with the cooler temps and the need to wear my mukluks again! i was having a problem with my cel phone....it kept ringing randomly throughout the day and night for no reason, and was seriously affecting my sleep. there is only one sprint store in wyoming, and they were unable to repair it. my choice was to go south to denver, or west to salt lake city to find a repair center......well, since my friend heidi was in slc, that was an easy choice. the drive across wyoming was so beautiful....i love the mountains so much....we made it to salt lake at 9 pm that night, and promptly got lost. yikes, are there alot of lanes in their highways! i ended up in a section of town with alot of pawnshops and LOTS of billboards for bailbondsmen. a fight broke out minutes after i pulled into a 7-11, and my first inclination was to get out and box some ears, i was so hysterical to find a flying j. not that that would have gotten me anywhere but in jail, or dead, but i woulda felt better anyhow. my friend laren came to my rescue with downloaded google maps and calm reassurance that i would eventually find my flying j, and talked me safely to my destination.

on sunday, heidi and scott rescued me from the big city, and took me to a canyon outside of the city, and near to where she works. we set up a camp near a creek formed by snowmelt from the mountains, underneath some cottonwoods. i thought i was in heaven, and mutt was certain he was :-) we have stayed there up til now, coming out to the mouth of the canyon to get cellphone reception, and into town for provisions, meetings and hot showers at the J. we had one excursion to petsmart which restored mutt's faith in mankind, and to REI, where we met another salt lake city vandweller named steve. we yakked it up and drooled over the cool gear and made plans to get together again before i leave utah.

living on the road is falling into a comforting non-routine.....we move more slowly, and more mindfully through our days....less worried about our next meal, my next shower, or where we will sleep next. things fall together more effortlessly, and wherever we are ends up being just right. i am more at peace than i have been for a long time......

more later, about people we have met, places we have visited here, and a persistant coyote at our camp.....