Where did the summer go!!

It was a great summer in Santa Fe/Taos, NM. The weather was great and made some good friends! One of the best cities I have every visited! Not to big and or to small. I tried 45 different restrauants. My goal was never to go to the same place twice. When the green chillis came in, what a treat. The veggie omelets topped with green sauce is the best. I did not do a lot of riding, but I did improve upon my grilling skills. Grilled artichokes are the best! I worked for a great guy for a couple of weeks. Del runs a Pak Mail store in Santa Fe. A chance meeting in the Trader Joe's parking lot. The jokes were non stop. He let me do a couple of long distance runs, delivering furniture on the west coast, along with a trip down to Texas. Thanks Del.

Currently in Las Vegas, NV. Camped out behind the Green Valley Ranch Resort. They have a very nice pool. The sports bar offers cheaper drinks then the Elks. My friend Walt stayed for a couple of days with me. We had a great time during Interbike and attended Cross Vegas.

Which is a cycle cross race. Not the other Cross event. Scored some VIP tickets. Met and had my picture taken with my bike idol, “Ned Overend “ from Durango, CO.

Only 1 small crash during my stay here, it was on the first day. This is some tough riding, where you really need skills.

Working on my a camper I purchased a couple of weeks ago. My plans are to leave around the middle of November for the drive down the Baja coast then a ferry trip to Mexico. Continuing on to Costa Rica for the rest of the winter. If anyone wants to ride part of the trip, let me know.

I plan on traveling light in case things go really bad on the truck/camper. Salvage what I can and ride buses the rest of the way. My Spanish should get better or I will end up walking some of the trip. I am going to keep my blog going and updating much more then the last few months. Stay Brown!

This post is a couple of days late. I spent the last day in Hisperia, CA. getting service work. I had put this stuff off long enough. Finally found a small garage with a very keen mechanic. All service work done. Including the dreaded internal transmission filter. The guy was great. I spent less then I had expected and had more work done. Brown does have it’s privilages!

Should get to Santa Barbara today.

Cycling in Texas

It’s been three weeks; wow, what a long time since my last post. I’m having a hard time remembering places I’ve been, things I’ve done and people I’ve met.

I began riding again with renewed vigor. I’m looking forward to going to this year’s IMBA's World Conference, being held in Augusta, GA, early next month. I’m flying over there, renting a car and will visit with my mother and check on the house in Skylake.

I arrived at Xtreme Paint and Graphics to get the needed bulkhead repair. James and the guys did a professional job. The coach has never ridden so smoothly. Kudos to them. I really thought this was going to be a major deal, however, they put my mind to rest. They told me to go mess around in town and come back later in the day. No, I watched and detailed their every move. Another guy I know had the same problem and is going to attempt the job himself. I took photos and emailed him blow by blow action. He shouldn’t have any problems with his repair. The guys did not finish till 9pm that night which meant it was a 12-hour job. I left James two days later and he’s very happy with the results (he even throws in a full coach wash.) His rates are reasonable; under $1000. I didn’t think a foretravel owner could leave the Nacadooches city limits paying less than $2500 without penalty of law. If you ever need paint body work done on any coach, this is the place to go.

I then traveled north to St. Joe, Texas and spent a cold, wet 5 nights at “The Breaks” at Bar H ranch. They probably have the most challenging trails I have ridden in Texas. Built on the ridge and valley of the Red river, there’s some great flow and some aren’t as great. With the awful, rainy weather, I was only able to ride 2 of the six days which allowed me time to clean and do maintenance work on the RV. When I come back next month, I plan on visiting them again. I promised them some trail payback time and hopefully will complete Devil's backbone without walking most of it. On my way out, I had to stop at the casino across the river in Oklahoma. I wanted to make sure I still sucked at playing poker. I do. There were free hookups at the casino, well not exactly free but after that I made my way down to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

I stayed at the Elk's Lodge in Lewisville, Texas located down the road from the Northshore bike trail. This trail is maintained by the members of DORBA which is a total of 19 miles out and back, much of which is a loop system. Quick and technical. The Elk’s have a great RV parking area and since I didn’t plug in, they didn’t charge.

I made it up, though, with the bar tab. I can always find a couple things to eat wherever I go but I was there for Casserole Night. Wheeee Doggies.

I camped at a marina for a couple of nights, adjacent to the trailhead. Lake Lewisville and its marina remind me of Kincaid Lake in Murphysboro. Party marina and crowd! Very good fish tacos. I visited with Paul and his friend Brian Keller from Denver. They were some of the artist's showing their work at the Southlake spring festival. We had a nice time and went out for pizza after the park closed. As a potter, Paul hooked me up with one of the coffee cups he makes. It’s from one of his T2R (time2ride) lines. You can find his stuff on line at Pauluhlpottery.com. Lucky for me the place was right across the street from the Fresh Market. I was able to restock my larder with all the veggie items I needed.

Saturday and Sunday were spent on another private ranch, owned by a true biker. Mack plotted and built an 8.1-mile trail system on his 80 acre spread. This was the second sweetest private trail I’ve ridden. Last weekend he was hosting a Texas State Championship series race. Over 475 riders came out for the ride. Paul's kids were representing the Smithville area. Kristen took 4th in the Mens pro and his daughter, Kara, who just came back from a butt kicking at Sea Otter took 1st in her class! I didn’t plan on racing but I was already in the area and wanted to test myself. I put in a good lap and came in 3rd. I was only 1 minute behind the winner. I love racing in the senior division. They still have their weight weenies. Sixty year old, 155 lbs people racing on $5000.00 bikes! Still, I was only 1 minute back! LOL


Just down the road, from Mack's Solvaca ranch was a beautiful Texas State Park. Every pasture was full of blue-bonnets. It seems I’ve been following the wild flowers of Texas, since they started blooming, just south of San Antonio a few weeks ago.

The last couple of days I’ve been riding the trails of Dinosaur Valley State Park. Located across the Paluxy River the trail system is the first place I’ve ever ridden where you had to carry your bike on your shoulder, while traversing through mid-thigh high currents. The trails were challenging with great technical downhill sections. The White trail with some blue and a little orange make for about a 8 mile loop. I did two laps in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. I’m definitely feeling stronger. I want to give a shout out to Rick and the guys at Sage Cycles in San Antonio. They did the work on my fork and tuned everything perfectly. Thanks.

Last night was very nice. I parked next to the Comfort Suites parking lot. They have a well equipped gym with a lap pool and jacuzzi hot tubs. They also provide large towels. No, I didn’t take the robe. The breakfast was great and I would highly recommend them, however, I cannot vouch for the rooms. if your ever in Glen Rose, Texas, it felt like a scene out of the weeding crashers. LOL.

Today I’m heading back to Dallas to find a place to park during my trip to Atlanta. I stopped at Cleburne State Park. They have 9 miles of pure single track. I broke my chain 3 miles in and me with no mechanic on the ride turned it into a nice hike.

More of Texas

Albert, Texas. I set up camp in the middle of a pecan orchard, which was one of the highlights of the week. I met John who told me about a pickin parlor and which had a field to camp on, not to far from Luckenback. The sky was so bright with the full moon, very peaceful. I did not attend the Ray Wylie Hubbard festival this weekend. They had been sold out for weeks and could not find a ticket, to some of you, this will come as a shock, but I could not get past the gates without a ticket.

Cruised into Austin for a couple of nights, stayed behind the whole foods. They do not get as much money from me, ever since I quit buying their processed and/or frozen foods. Restocked on most of the bulk/dry items I could not find at the local HEB's. Went dancing a couple of times this week, my 2 step is getting better, but I still have a hard time with the turns. Texas is full of honky tonks live music and everybody dances. I also attended a Cross Canadian Ragweed concert. They are a great rockabilly group. I then headed down to San Antonio for a couple of days. Overnighted in a out of the way town, Floresville, which is best known for developing a particular type of peanut,which is grown in this county. The statue is very cool. It's plaque did not say what was so special about the nut, so I guessed maybe they came up with the peanut which has 3 nuts instead of 2 inside it.

Riding thru Texas country. My drive today was beautiful. The wildflowers are in full bloom. Pastures and road mediums are full of spring color. No pictures of course. duh!

Drove back to Smithville, going to ride Rocky Hill Ranch for a few days. I am in Riverbend City Park where the rates are great. $9.00 for seniors, this is the first time I have found where the age of 50 is considered to be a senior. I will get all my laundry done and fully charge the batteries. The solar panels and batteries have worked flawlessly. It is easier to plug into a powered location, to run the washer and dryer.

The community recreation center is great draw for me. When I was here last fall, I started working out, attending a step and stretching class. I am going to park behind the fitness center, which has a big lot. Resetting my goals. I hope to lose 18 more pounds and add more weight lifting to the program. This is a very aggressive goal, but with the better cooking and nutrition, which I have ongoing, I think I can get there.

My appointment to get the RV bulkhead repair is still set for 12APR10. I will drive to Nacadoochees next Sunday.

Back in the States, RV'ing thru Texas

I am back from a very warm winter. Uvita, Costa Rica is a wonderful place. The weather was everything I hoped for. Sunny and hot everyday. Towards the end of my stay, the rains started in the afternoon, which made riding the motorcycle up the mountain to my bungalow very tricky. I finally crashed a couple of weeks ago, on the hill, missed a gear and tumbled over. No major damage to me or the bike, but still healing in a few places. The best thing that happened on my trip, I lost 25lbs. I am now at 197!! I met some girls which put on a spin and step class at the local indoor soccer field. They would meet 5 days a week, (I could or would meet only 3 or 4 days a week) from 7:30 till 9:00. But, Sharon still gave me my smiley faces! Weights and abs were also included. I had so much fun and looked forward to the classes, which would conclude each day with a detox smoothy at the local coffee shop. I did not even know that I had lost that much weight till 2 weeks before leaving. I also had some dental work, removed all the mercury fillings, one crown, laser whiting. The price was a third of U.S. dentists. I became friends with so many people. Everyone was so interesting and fun to be with. I am sure I will meet up with most of you again. I did not post much after arriving because without a camera it just did not seem like a could describe what I was experiencing. I did get to see monkeys outside my room, also a three toed sloth, toucans were a dime a dozen, not just on a cereal box. I found a little work to keep busy, however, I have to admit, it did not seem like work at all. I read alot and cooked almost all my meals, well, after Taylor went home. Tuna tuesdays will always stand out in my memory. I made almost everything from scratch. Nothing processed. I started cooking this way back in November and find it very satisfying.

Now that I am back home, I have purchased a new camera and will start posting more often. I arrived back in San Antonio last Wed night and picked up the RV the next morning. After hooking the batteries up, it cranked on the first spin. Unfortunately, a mouse got inside again this winter, I have spent 2 days cleaning everything including all the drawers and cabinets. Everything else survived the winter Ok.

I headed over to Lukenback, Tx. They put on some great rockabilly shows and will hang out in between Comfort and Fredericksburg. Ray Wylie Hubbards festival is this coming weekend. The line up includes - Elizabeth Cook, who I heard in October. Slaid Cleaves, James McMurtry, and the one and only Chris Robinson (Black Crowes), I wonder if he will remember the $8000 he beat me out of, for his move to New York. I listen to all this type of music on Sirius radio and love seeing the performers live. For the last couple of day I have been staying in Comfort, Tx which is home to Flat Rock Ranch. Another, great private mountain bike trail system. Unfortunately, the owner does not have any work for me. However, it is great to get back to riding. Like they say, you never forget. I picked up my bike from Sage Cycles in San Antonio. I left it there to rebuild the front shock. What I got back was basically a brand new bike. The guy went over it with a fine tooth comb. Rides and shifts like a dream.

Not far from here is Fredericksburg, which is a destination spot for antique shopping. The town is also home of the Admiral Nimitz museum. I spent Sunday roaming around and found the place remarkable. I served on the USS Nimitz (CVN-69), so I felt very special connection to this place. The town is also home of the Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park which is located only 3 miles south of Fredericksburg. I will stay here a couple of days to finish the solar project and do laundry. Easy scooter ride in for groceries.

That about brings me up to date. I have a major RV repair to take care of in the next couple of weeks. There is a bulkhead, in front of the rear wheels, which is separating from the frame. This has occurred on a number of these style coaches. Xtreme graphics located in Nacadooches will do the repair in the next couple of weeks. It is about a six hour drive from here, back to east Texas. But I trust these guys to do the work right. They have done enough of them. Xtreme did the lamentation and reset the windows last fall on the RV and did a great job.

This was a long post, and did not scratch the surface of the last 2 months.

Working for Room and Board

Bought a motorcycle this weekend. Met a gringo which arrived back in November and is leaving in 1 week. He purchased a Honda 125 new when he arrived. The bike only has 800 Kilometers usage. I will be able to travel along the coast and visit other places on my off days. I bought a backpack which straps to the seat nicely.

Been upgraded to a real cabina with a wood floor. The tent dorms were filled the last few days and nobody wanted the more expensive room. So my roommates and I were moved to the luxurious cabina.

I now have 2 jobs, my main one is still tiling the shower for a free room, however, I still am not a very good masonary person, so as luck would have it when I am in town and when I find a traveler or two. I bring them back to the Flutterby hotel for which I receive credit. I am way ahead of the game on this. We have been almost sold out for 3 nights. I tell Pam in the morning I am going trolling and she just laughs. With my other job, I meet alot of people looking for a place to stay. For every night that a guest stays in the Hostel I get a free night of lodging.

Bartending at the Toucan Hotel has been a blast. Trey the owner pays me 10% of the bar revenue. I have averaged 130,000 per night over the last two weeks. Which sounds like I'm getting rich, but that is Tico money, about 5.60 to the dollar. I also receive a free dinner and couple of drinks. Since I am in charge of the money, no drinking till last call. Hardly any tips at all. In Costa Rica tips are not expected, so even the gringo's do not leave a tip. I plan on putting a tip jar out and slowly changing the culture.

My surfing, well, more like paddling has improved over the past week. I was finally able to stand up and ride a wave for awhile yesterday. The waves were really good the last couple of days.

Found a new place to eat, Soda Marsla, right across from the bus stop. They have the best fish tacos in town. Lunch is only 1800. or about 3. dollars, for a huge plate.

Still no camera, with the duty tax, they cost twice as much as I paid in the states.
Stay warm, Best wishes.

1st week in costa rica

Hola, I have added a little spanish to my vocabulary. Enough to get to the bathroom and get an extra serving of Gallo Pinto, the national breakfast/lunch of Costa Rica. Quite good and filling. I stayed at a nice place, last week, that was only charging me 400 dollars for the month. but they had some issues that I could not handle. Cashed out. Today, I moved down to a surf camp, Flutterby House, 100 yards to the beach and staying in a dorm room for free. Worked out a deal with another guest (Pam) on vacation from Santa Barbara, CA. I buy the food and she cooks the meals, which should work out cheaper in the long run. I hope she does not eat much. I will tile one of the showers for the free bunk.

This week has flown by. Enjoyed my time with some nice German guests. They departed for a trip down the coast, which was way out of my budget. We would go to the beach or the waterfall everyday and just hangout.

I ran into some guys, from, of all places, Murphysboro, Il. They were walking down a dirt road near the beach, we started talking. I cannot remember their names at the moment, but one guy's wife is the manager of memberships at the CO OP. Small world! They were staying in a tree house at the hotel Toucan We did find the back way into the beach area, without having to pay the tourist fee of $6.00 to get in. ripoff.

They went snorkling off of the whaletail jetty, and did not realize as the tide came in that the jetties would disappear. I really thought I was going to witness three drownings.

On New Years eve, I went to a great party. It was also a birthday party of the owner of Toucan Hotel. He threw himself a great party. Through out the night, actors would perform. One was a girl who had worked in Circus Ole, she did the ballet from the curtins hanging from the tree. Spinning, dropping very cool stuff. Then fire dancers came out and threw and juggled with fire. Followed by one of the local mountain indian tribes with swords and spears fighting each other. What a great show. The music was incredible with a band playing hard blues/rock accomidied with a guy playing a Didgeridoo. What a sound! Uli boge is his name. He has some stuff on Youtube. Long stumble back up the mountian.

A couple of days later "Victor" from the Canery Islands built a

sweat lodge with bamboo and palm frawns. He then built a huge fire in order to heat the rocks, Upon entry, eight of us sat on the ground and as the rocks were placed in the pit, a person would score the rock with a pine tar ball, which generated a powerful, cleansing scent.. Then you would start to chant. I do not know any chants. I just sweated, very easy . He would come in and pour water over the rocks for the steam. The tempature would soar to about 125 degrees and you sweat like mad. We did three, 10 minute sessions or as long as you could stand it. During each session, as we would exit, Victor would pour a herbal green tea completly over you, then rub you from head to toe with a red clay mud. Not all of us got naked but my friend Uta, did. Those crazy German's!! I hope she is not mad with me for posting this but it was the only one that came out because of the mud on the camera.

Monday, the little banddito's got my backpack!! I was walking down to the beach and set my stuff down, for 2 minutes. BAM gone! MP3, camera, 20,000 cahones. = 10 dollars, and my hammock. I hope to find that little bastard. They local kids have a little gang down here on the beach. No worries.

That's about all for now, the food is very good and cheap. The only restaurant of note, thus far would be "Madras" which specializes in French, Thai and Indian Food. Which is a very well presented and decorated french modern. The food "Voondaba". I am heading back there with a group from the surf camp Friday night. The cook brings in freshly caught bluefin tuna in the morning to serve only on Friday nights. I will post pictures next week. The place is truly special.

My new home does not have internet so my post and email replies might be slow to respond.

Pura Vida

December update

I do not know where the time has gone since my last post, as most know I headed down to South Padre Island for some warmer weather, along the way I stopped at the Elks Lodge. Too much eating and drinking! I met a great guy, "Clyde" from Missouri, who comes down here every year. He has a great sense of humor. He says he can play golf. But he has yet to get a round in since arriving. He lent me movies from his collection and went to the other Lodge to sample their fried fish. I was able to obtain the title and tag for my scooter. I love that it only cost 4.00 to fill up and I can go 130 miles between fill ups.

The weather has not been very good for the month of December. Very wet and and cold, like most of the country. I was expecting more like south Florida, but the locals say this is very unusual. I headed over to the Island on the 4th and was invited out on a boat to join in the parade of lights. (left camera)

My campsite offers a great view of all the marine traffic going into and out of the bay. It has been great watching the shrimp boats going in and out of the bay.

I had to replace the refrigerator on the roof. The old one had become very brittle and the top was falling off

I have since been working on making the rv solar project. This will allow me to camp for a couple of weeks without having to plug in somewhere to charge up the batteries.

I have three of these 230 watt panels along with some new batteries to install. They just arrived today. I have already made the mounts for the panels so up they go.

I have not been out to eat at a restaurant since leaving the Elks earlier in the month. I started making everything from scratch. Pizza crust, spring rolls (raw), burritos. Made fresh daily. Learned to work the convection oven. The best pizza's come from it. No more burned crust! That brings this part of the month to close. I will continue to work on the solar project for the next week. I plan on going a little bit further south in the coming weeks in search of better weather. My job search with the BLM is on going, posting my resume and applying online for openings in the high desert, or something with trails. That's about all for now, I have to stow the dish before it goes flying off, the wind is blowing about 35 knots today.

Merry Christmas to everyone.