007
Charter Member
Sounds like a blast. When I was 18, a friend and I took off from Wisconsin on a hiatus to kullyfornia. We spent about three months migrating from San Fran down to San Diego basically living on the beach, working little jobs, until I wound up in jail. Got a little too friendly with the HA's and got into some trouble. Headed straight back to Wisconsin after I got that cleared up. But given the chance, I'd do it all over again. I have no friends or relatives that can say they've ever done anything like that, and that's just the tip of the ice burg. Live life to it's fullest pard, and don't gauge how rich your life is by money. How HAPPY you are is the real indicator.
Amen!
So it was you who corrupted the HA's! They used to be such nice boys, too.
Hell yeah! I walked from the Mexico/California border to north of Lake Tahoe a few years back on the Pacific Crest Trail. It took 2 and a half months and cost $800! Cheaper than rent for a month. I didn't have a tent and nothing but the clothes and 40 lbs. pack on my back and it was some of the best days of my life. I'd wake up in the morning with nothing to do but walk north and enjoy the scenery. A couple of years before that I spent 2 months living as a climbing bum in Yosemite National Park. I climbed Half Dome's northwest face (the sheer face) but didn't get up El Cap. I would go to the Yosemite Lodge cafeteria and wait for old ladies (who'd pile food from the breakfast buffet high on their plates but only eat three bites) to get up and leave and then I'd go sit down before the busser got there to clean the table and have myself a free smorgasbord. Some of the best days of my life. One summer I spent in Leadville I worked construction and lived in a tent down by the river (literally) and would fish my dinner after work. I'm lookin' forward to this winter in the Sonoran, Mojave and Colorado deserts. 70 degree days and nothin' to do but whatever I want.
Did you ever think about riding your bike up the Trans-Alaskan Highway? I met this guy who got laid off, got a severance package of $20k, bought himself a Mitsubishi dual-sport (yeah, yeah, not as cool as your Harley) and rode from Santa Cruz all the way to Nome, Alaska and back. I thought that was pretty damn cool. All he had were a couple of plastic panniers, a fly rod, and his leather get-up and helmet. I met him at a campground near Tioga Pass in Cali and he spent all morning catching trout then came and offered to share them with me. We ate pan friend, fresh caught trout, drank Beam, and swapped tales all afternoon by an alpine lake surrounded by rugged peaks. How much money is that worth?
Fucking outstanding man.... outstanding.
I've been contemplating selling everything I own and buying a decent RV, pulling a little jeep with it and making some sort of accommodations for my Harley, and then just traveling every damn back road in America. Take four or five years and just explore. I've been hankerin' lately for some sort of new adventure, and I'm not getting any younger.
I'll drink Beam, eat fresh caught, pan fried trout and swap stories with ya anytime there Cmm. Let the city slickers and main streamers all caught up in their rush, rush, must have more than the Jones', dog eat dog world have it. They don't know what they're missing...