BACK HOME EARLY

I decided to bail on the last part of my trip and head back home to have a sweet "staycation."

No pics, but 17 hour drive home was mostly listening to "The TED Radio Hour" on Pandora. Check it out- good stuff.

LOVE this one.
The most listened to TED talk ever.

https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en#t-1149303

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

This might be my swan song for this type of travel. Car camping works great out west, not so much here in the east. Too wet, too cold, not enough open space in the winter. It's a different culture out there and I'm SO glad I got to experience it a few years ago.

So unless I want to drive 70 hour across country, probably not happening soon. Or I buy a bigger vehicle that I can hide out in during bad weather that I can actually stand up in. Maybe.

So thank you all for your readership, and I might continue on with this blog as Me, dog,....... who knows? Van? Boat? in the future!

Thank you also to my wonderful hosts this and every year who made it magical.

Love,

Laura and Choochi

BREAK IN THE RAIN Sunrise walk on the beach

Slight break this morning for a sunrise stroll.

Van dwelling nomadic surfer guy out early.

My spot at the beach.

Thirteen miles of this loveliness. And all dog friendly.

One of the things that I'm noticing is that many people come up to interact with me, and my first reaction is, "uh oh, I'm in trouble." 

A cop pulled up in North Carolina to ask if I was "broke down" when I was looking at my phone on the side of the road. I thought he was going bust me for looking at my phone on the side of the road. 

A woman pulled up beside me while I was taking a picture and I thought "uh oh, she's going to complain about something I'm doing" and she said "that's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life (about Choochi)." 

The beach patrol guy came cruising down the beach this morning, and pulled up and I thought "uh oh, he's going to tell me that my leash is too long" and he said "Does she want a biscuit?" 

A woman leaned into my car window a the beach and I thought "uh oh" but I wasn't sure what the uh oh was about. She just was curious about what I was doing and then proceeded to tell me all about her husband who has dementia.  

Clearly, I'm a Yankee, and expect people mostly to not be coming up to me or talking to me to be friendly!

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WEATHERING THE WEATHER, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

It's Tuesday and it's pouring. Pouring pouring pouring.And it's going to pour all day tomorrow also.

But before it was pouring, I was getting crabby and feeling like I had no idea what the hell I was doing all this for. All this driving, all this crazy sleeping in my car, eating out of a cooler, not to mention peeing in a bucket.

Part of the thrill, in a way, of doing this kind of crazy unconventional traveling is getting what you want and not having to pay much for it or commit to anything in particular. It's very spontaneous and the lack of comfort and solidity kind of opens you up to all kind of things. Including your resistance and freak outs. 

So my Amelia Island dream-scape consisted of somehow LIVING on the beach. Now this actually is possible because people are allowed to drive on the beach and well if you're living in your vehicle, then you can theoretically pretty much spend the entire day literally living on he beach.

The problem with this is that people get stuck on the beach. And people have gotten run over! And wildlife is disrupted.  There's a lot of controversy about this here's more if you want to read about it.

https://ameliaislandliving.com/fernandinabeach/2019/05/second-amelia-island-beach-visitor-run-over/

So that's not a great option.

And otherwise  if you wanted to live on the beach you better have some serious cash.

So I realized on Monday that I most likely would not have my dream come true and was feeling rather sad and grumpy about it.

 The incredible canopy at Ft. Clinch State Park.

I spent the night in the state park which is right next to the beach, in the "river" campground. It's a lovely park with big ancient live oaks. Nice riverside beach but no dogs allowed.

But camping there, as it is with most places now, is just huge RV's with all their grills and TV's and whatnots. I stand out like a sore thumb. A tiny itty-bitty sore thumb. Little teensy car. It's just kinda yuck to me that "camping" has turned into this.

The eternal organized chaos of  my car.

So I decided to bail on the campground and Mike is letting me camp in his backyard. 

But before I left the campground at 7 am, I decided to hit the main beach parking lot and figured out, HEY, I can nab this spot which is literally ON THE BEACH, looking at the water, and just stay here all day! So that's what I did.

My million dollar view.

 And it was FAB!!!

And three spots down, MY PEEPS!!! A van-dwelling-tattooed-surfer remote-tech-worker-from-California was doing the same thing. So I felt right at home.

I got such a great beach buzz being there all day. I could walk, come back "home" and sit in the car watch the birds and be on the computer, or play guitar, or just stay out of the chill for a bit.  And Choochi LOVED it.

A unique moment happened when I went back to my cooler for lunch, took out a piece of chicken, put it on a plate, heard this commotion, saw all these seagulls fighting over what looked like a piece of...... wait a minute.......

that's my chicken.

Wow, that was amazingly stealth. I didn't hear it, see it, or feel a huge bird fly right by my head and grab my lunch!

So great day on Monday, Tuesday rain to point of flooding. Hung out and jammed with Bruce the guitar player  (the shirtless Harley rider) who I found out HATES TRUMP!!!! YAY FOR OUR TEAM!!! 

Bruce sez "NEVER TRUMP"

So out of three Harley dudes, one voted for Jill Stein (Bruce)! one voted for Trump, one voted for Hillary. You just never know.

More rain tomorrow.

Then it's gonna be sunny but down in the thirties at night.

Lemme know what you think!

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GREG ALLMAN'S HARLEY

After a good night's sleep in Brunswick GA, I rolled into (or onto Amelia Island/Fernadina Beach around noon to meet my buddy Mike who has lived here his whole life. 

Mike

I met him three years ago when he hosted me as a "boondocker" on my first trip down here. Mike has a thick deep southern Georgia-ish accent (although I'm sure I'll stand corrected), so the "ya'll come on down" vibe was cool, but it was my first time staying at a GUY's house or yard and I was a little wary. He had something about living with his mom on his profile and other nice stuff, so how bad could it be?

Mike's bungalow surrounded by live oaks and moss

So when I pulled in and knocked on the door, there stood a very tall, very large "big guy" with a beard and  a Harley Davidson shirt. 

My thought was "WELL WE'LL HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN COMMON." That was my snotty Yankee first impression. Again, the deep southern accent kind of added to that opinion...... that hey, this guy's a Bubba and he's probably a Trump voter and I'll just stay out here thank you so MUCH! for letting me park in your yard! 

"You sure you don't want to come in?" 

"NO THANKS! I'm good!" 

"You can use the bathroom if you need to."

"NO THANKS! I'm gonna be fine! Thank you!"

And so it went for a couple of days.

Fort Clinch, Fernadina Beach, 2020

Then I called him to ask him a question about a place on the Island and I was lost. That's when I realized that I had been very mistaken about Mike. He became the most helpful and gracious host. he was sincerely proud of his place of birth and wanted to make sure that I saw the best of it.

At some point we started to have further conversations. I came and sat down on his sofa. 

Then the topic of politics came up and I was SURE he would tell me he'd voted for Trump.

"I voted for Hillary."

OMG are you kidding me?? Now you're my friend for life.

And it truly hit me how pigeon holed we become when it comes to others. 

So here's what travel can do for you. It gets you out of your stupid. 

On the road I had two encounters with two other men, one toll-taker who was yelling at me cause I backed up (nobody was behind me at all) and the other was a hotel clerk who was kinda nasty. In both cases, I just smiled and said "thank you", and the toll guy gave me a little grin like "haha, I know I was being a jerk." That was cool.

So the following is just more of Laura meets Harley guys.

Gregg Allman's bike

When I arrived on the Island noon on Saturday, I was completely intoxicated by the green trees, especially my beloved live oak with the Spanish moss hanging like wisteria and blowing in the wind or inverted seaweed underwater. 

For some reason, this just makes me so happy and excited to see these "grand ladies" as they call them here. Azalea are blooming, I saw daisies. It was in the upper 60's and sunny. SO HAPPY.

Mike said "Hey, I'm hanging out with my buddies Calvin and Bruce, we're putting a winch on his jeep. You want to come over?" 

So I drove over there and every one of those guys were wearing some kind of Harley thing.... a shirt, a hat, whatever....... They were all crouched around the truck trying to install this winch. 

Calvin, Bruce and Mike

I noticed this very snazzy blue Harley in the garage.

"That was Gregg Allman's bike." Mike tells me.

"What? Really?" 

Apparently, it was. 

So here's a photo montage of Calvin (the owner of the bike) and Bruce (who wanted to pose also and I said "ok but you gotta take your shirt off", and by golly he did!) and Gregg Allman's bike.

Bruce

Calvin

Calvin and Bruce and Mike and I then got together later, drank Margarita's and played music. It was good.

And I have no idea who Calvin or Bruce voted for.

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TWENTY-TWO HOURS

Never trust what Google Maps tell you it will take to drive somewhere. Add at least 25%. And when you're even considering that, that maybe 22 hours isn't that much different than 17 hours, well, yes it is. 

My dashboard altar from all of my car journeys, desert and ocean.

However, one of the great things about driving a long long way is that I listen to podcasts and music. TED talks that I would never ever choose to listen to liked "What is a tribologist?"....... it's someone who studies the nature of friction and how to improve the efficiency of things like motors and tires and so on. Well, I would never have chosen that one! 

This American Life is also a mainstay, and so often I wish I could share those incredible stories with others. If you have a chance, listen to "Abdi the American" about an amazing Somali man, who taught himself English from listening to American films, survived the horrific war torn attrocities there, won a lottery to get a green card to come to America and had 90 days to get his papers in order. When you think you're having a rough day, just listen to this. You will kiss the ground you walk on. Isn't this what great radio is about?

LISTEN TO ABDI the AMERICAN - INCREDIBLE STORY.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/693/abdi-the-american

I stayed the first night at Laura and Joel's house in Harrisonburg VA, one of my very first forays into "Couchsurfing" and "Boondocking" three years ago. So it was a bit of a reunion. 

Laura and I have kept track of each other through Facebook and she's a very active campaigner worker for Warren. You just have to let your heart be so amazed that folks are so incredibly giving and generous with their homes, their food, their time, and open their hearts to just about anyone who wants to come and stay.

Their home is one of those soulful places filled with the things that they love and give them joy. Their kitchen is a wide open jumble of pantry, pots, smells, and handcrafted cabinetry. 

The porch I sleep on is a three season glass enclosure that is chilly, but magical at night.

This was shot with my amazing new Sony camera. Almost NO light and handheld. I'm in love.

Unfortunately, it appears that the cold snap we got north is also affecting northern Florida. So I'm heading into possibly nights in the thirties sleeping at the campground. I have slept in cold weather int he dessert so I've done it before with double sleeping bags and wearing just about everything I have in the way of hats and coats. Days might warm to 50-60 which is still lovely, but I'll have to wait to get further south for real beachy-ish weather hopefully.

Choochi's twenty-two hour nap.

I tend to loose car keys. This a real problem. I have started to just put ONE key on lanyard that I wear on my wrist. I have to be super conscious of where the key is at all times. Unfortunately, in a stop in North Carolina, I didn't put the key on my wrist and it vanished in the density of the packed car. I beat myself up for miles. I wasn't sure if I'd find it, I thought it's gotta be here. I even went to a Honda dealership off the highway to get another one, but they didn't have a 2001 key and it would have cost my $130.

FOUND IT!!!!!! It's never leaving my wrist again.

SO did have a second key, but then found the other at the bottom of the ocean of boxes and bags. Oh happy day!

After driving for 12 hours, you get sort of giddy and bleary and numb. I decided to stop and stay overnight at a Motel Six only one hour shy of my destination just so that I didn't have to sleep in the car in the cold. 

I was going into my room, and there were five of the most beautiful feral cats I've ever seem in my life, scurrying around hoping for some handouts. A mother who was long haired and her four adolescent kittens. They were each absolutely gorgeous. Calico, orange, black and white and a beautiful tiger.  I put out three handfuls of what was my carefully measured dog food for the three weeks (which I will now be short of) and they all came running

Baby kitty.

. 

Mommy kitty.

My heart always breaks at this kind of thing. They didn't look skinny, so maybe others are feeding them also, but unless they get neutered, it's going to be ongoing and endless. Well, nights are cold here now, but it's better than if they were in the snow.

Egg for calico kitty in the morning.

And PALMETTOS for ME!

See you on Amelia Island/Fernadina Beach!

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ME DOG CAR we're heading out again!

Headin' Out Again

It's been two years since I was last traveling in my little Honda with my dog. I miss it. 

                        St Augustine 2017

Instead of heading south in 2018, I went to Paris with my dog in September (where I got sick and then I got robbed- see the blog if you want to read more)  and was in a really fun musical production when I came back called "I Love You, You're Prefect, Now Change" where I got to play 5 or 6 different characters all with some kind of relationship conundrum. And I got to sing about it. It was AWESOME, perhaps the only and last opportunity of someone my age to do be cast in such a big, challenging and diverse role. GRATEFUL.

Cast of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" The Wilton Playshop 2018.
I'm 2nd from the right.

Going back to Florida, back to Amelia Island, heading down to Braydenton Beach area to hang out with my brother for a few days. I do love Amelia Island (which locals insist is actually Fernadina Beach, that Amelia Island- which is the same thing- is where the "rich folks" come to play golf), but we'll all intent on wrecking it, I just happened to be there on the cusp of the wreckage. I'm going to try to not add to wrecking it, whatever that means.

Meanwhile, contemplating the trip, I'm incredibly relaxed about this. I've done it all before. I pretty much know the drill. Got all the stuff to do it, just need to haul it out from wherever it's been crammed. I am actually looking forward to my super glam tent on wheels, which is what I call my car. Warm, dry, padded, A/C on demand, AND I have two marine batteries that are in the passenger seat well that I keep charged with my driving for my electronics. And the views are SPECTACULAR.

      Edisto Island, South Carolina, 2017

And the cell phone. Endless entertainment.

And friends. Open hearts waiting to receive my visit.

   Boondocker's Wecome host and good friend Mike from Fernadina

I'm happy that my dog will get to be out of her usual  indoor sleep stupor for a few weeks. 

She is one smart little cookie and I feel so bad sometimes her life is so dull at home. And she LOVES the beach.

   Clinton Beach 2019

And everything else.

No boondocking this time, have a campground and friends. I'm going soft.

But still, will be living in my car for three weeks or so, being outside almost always and last time I was in Florida it was VERY COLD. So I hope I will be able to enjoy at least a couple of tee shirt days.

Edisto Island, SC 2017

I have gotten more into my camera, printing now and doing portraits. I just bought an INCREDIBLE and SUPER SMALL Sony used that's blowing me away. Amazing features, size of a deck of cards.

Here's a recent shot I took, not with the new one but my older Olympus that has a great micro/macro capability. Ice created flower globes. BEAUTIFUL. And I couldn't actually see it until I got it home. THAT's WHAT'S very cool.

Miracles abound every day, in every direction. We just have to keep looking and seeing.

And watching out for snakes.

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