My goal was to spend a month in Tucson. I didn’t achieve my
goal. Shortly after Gem and Jam I decided it was time to move on. I did however
spend three fairly rad weeks in Arizona: two weeks in Tucson with a week at
Cochise Stronghold squeezed in the middle. As luck would have it, Papadosio was
headlining the Gem and Jam festival while I was in town which would be the
culmination of my stay. After the show, I decided I was sick of sleeping in
parking lots and left. Unfortunately, I am still sleeping mostly in parking
lots.
The decision to leave early gives me an extra week to drive
to Key West before making it to Asheville, North Carolina for three more nights
of Papadosio. This plan change also gave me the opportunity to spend time with
friends in Texas and see Lotus play in Austin. I happened to stumble into New
Orleans for Mardis Gras and was probably the only sober person on Bourbon Street.
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| Every person you see is wasted |
My journey has transitioned from a climbing adventure into a
musical endeavor. I am currently logging LOTS of miles on the road chasing a
few of my favorite musicians around the south. I will be in Asheville, NC at
the end of the month and will be quickly moving through Atlanta, GA, and Nashville,
TN on my way to Louisville which will complete my trip full circle from where
it started just about 10 months ago.
The biggest thing I want to write about is something I am
personally very proud of. Upon rolling into Key West, FL last night, I have hit
50,000 miles that I have driven since I converted Bertha to diesel. This
equates to roughly 47,500 miles I have been living in Bertha. The 25th
of this month will also be 10 months since I was discharged from the Army and
started living on the road. In those 10 months and 50K miles, I have also managed
to drive to every corner of the U.S.
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| Key West, Florida |
It has been almost 4 months since Dan left to backpack Asia
and I can say that life on the road solo is starting to wear on me. Having a
full time climbing partner made the journey all fun and games where as riding
solo has been more of a chore. I am starting to feel that my life needs
slightly more focus and that I need to spend less time driving around. In the
last 10 months, roughly 20% of my time has been spent driving. I am not saying
that I want to travel less, just that I need to slow down and spend more time
at the places I visit. I think when I hit one year on the road and make the
trip full circle, I will feel that I have accomplished what I set out to do.
On Tuesday, my buddy Becker will be joining the adventure
for an undetermined amount of time. Becker is one of my good friends from when
I first joined the Army and was living in Colorado. Becker is an incredible
photographer and his company will be very much welcomed. Expect the next post
to have some epic photos and stories to make up for the lack of stories and photos
in this one…
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| May 22nd, 2014: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia |
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| September 9th, 2014: Seward, Alaska |
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| November 25th, 2014: San Diego/Tijuana border, California |
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| February 21st, 2015: Key West, Florida |
