Appropriate lyrics for the times..

The Haul Begins.

Randomness

The truck is back in action, and seems to be working fine — 450ish miles since the repair and all is well.  I decided to do a shakedown run from Malibu up to the Bay Area just to make sure things were in order, and all seems good.  In 20 hours I leave for a cross-country attack run — I-80 from San Jose to Pennsylvania in 3 days.  The last time I did such a drive alone I was 21; we’ll see what these 30 year old bones can handle.  (Given how pathetically tired I was after last night’s 6.5 hour jog, I’m not anticipating much success..)

Not sure how many updates I will make from the road, so here are some pictures of the last few weeks to keep you occupied until I return..

Magic boycotting the day -- after a hike, he slept almost 14 hours!

Yes, that is a dog. On a motorcycle. Ridiculous.

I was sick for almost 10 days, and Magic was good company. Didn't make soup, but was a good pillow.

Crazy FJ45 parked next to me in Malibu

NorCal

We appear to have a mouse. Magic is now keeping a watchful eye. But, he is too slow.

Anybody know of good humane mousetraps?

Randomness

Happy Father’s Day — my original plan was to pop back east to celebrate a combined retirement/father’s day with my dad, but the truck had other plans.  Will have to take a raincheck on that.

Father's Day Ride, 2005

So, the counter on the right tells me this is the 5 month anniversary of full-timing.  Time flies.  Time for a recap:

• I’ve towed the airstream about 5300 miles so far.
• This is the longest consecutive time in my life that I’ve been away from the east coast.  (2000 comes close, but I had a trip back east in may/june sometime)
• I’ve spent about $2500 on various airstream-related stuff, including upgrades, accessories, and repairs.
• I haven’t really calculated RV park fees, but it’s probably close to $6000 including electric/pumpouts/gas/etc.  Way less than my $3000/mo NYC apartment, but 1200/mo seems high for this sort of activity..
• I’ve spent $1700 on truck and motorcycle repairs, not including the upcoming truck repair.
• I’ve ridden my bicycle a disgracefully small number of times, probably countable on two hands.  Most of my exercise has been dog-related, which is good for Mr. Magic.  Also, riding alone isn’t much fun.
• I’ve spent way more than I ever expected to on laundry.  Magic stinks up the sheets.  I do 2-3 loads a week, at about $3 a load, which is $40/mo on laundry.  wtf?
• I’ve read a few books: The Illuminatus Trilogy (which I started 3 years ago and never finished, so I reread it cover to cover), Watchmen (never thought I’d be into graphic novels, but it’s badass), and Ghost Rider (”Travels on the Healing Road” — I’ll write more about that some other time)
• My favorite RV park by far is Malibu Beach RV park.  My least favorite is Trailer Inn’s in Bellevue, WA.
• The most off the wall place I’ve stayed was definitely Dufur RV Park.
• This trip would not have been doable without the dog.  Way too isolated and lonely.
• Women generally aren’t interested in dating transients, unless they are also transients.  Unfortunately most transients either don’t have jobs or don’t shave their armpits.
• I expected to learn to surf while I was on the west coast, but I didn’t.  I also expected to be in amazing shape from hiking and biking, but that didn’t happen.  I do have a wicked tan, though.
• It takes way more effort than you’d think to keep 165sqft of living space clean.  Especially with a dog and only a dustbuster.
• I have eaten at least 20 boxes of Raisin Nut Bran.  Maybe more.
• I did a surprisingly good job of packing.  I wear or use almost everything that I brought with me.
• Whenever I end up back in an apartment in NYC, space is really not going to be a big deal.  As long as you’ve got good light and location, small spaces can be really cool.

Ghostbusters marathon on AMC.  My friend Ross said earlier that Ghostbusters completely shaped his image of New York as a kid.  I was thinking the same thing.  Toward the end of my 3 1/2 year stint in New York, I kept looking around wondering why I didn’t “feel” like it used to when I first got there.  I realize now that part of this was because I was trying to compare it to my presumption of how it seemed in Ghostbusters..  (and the rest of it was probably due to some sort of burnout, I guess..)

Anyway, I leave you with this, worth watching if you’ve got an hour and a half (thanks Liana for finding it!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

happy trails..

-d

Life

I couldn’t really take the couch anymore — it was uncomfortable and filthy from the dog. Bad color, bad material, etc. So, I decided to splurge and have the entire thing reupholstered with new cushions, pillows, etc.

It came out really well. Comfort still isn’t ideal (I don’t think the ergos are really possible to repair) but it’s way better than it was. And it actually looks presentable.

I ripped out the ugly old FLOR tiles that I had in there too, exposing the faux hardwood in the living room. Really makes the place look a lot more like a place to live..

Airstream

“Regionally significant 340-acre Corral Canyon Park in Malibu encompasses the last undeveloped coastal canyon in Los Angeles County that flows freely to the ocean.”

Undeveloped. My kind of thing. And it turns out the trailhead is only a 5 minute walk from here..

Magic and I tried to hike this trail in January, but it wasn’t clear how long it was or if it was even a loop trail, so we hiked until we drank about half of our water (Magic isn’t the most efficient water user.. half of it ends up on the ground..) and turned back. I also had no idea what the place was called, so I couldn’t find a map. As it turns out, it’s only a 2.5 mile loop (though it’s a pretty decent hike with a 500′ elevation change), so this time we decided to do the whole thing.

It’s generally too hot here in the summer to do hikes like this during the day (magic overheats pretty easily with his black coat), but it was a cloudy, cool day in Malibu, so we gave it a go. We did the full loop, as well as a few of the small side trails, so it was about 3 miles or so. Lots of good photo opps at the higher elevations, though it was cloudy so things didn’t come out quite as well as I had hoped. (this was also with the little camera)

Here’s some info on the canyon, and photos below..
http://www.lamountains.com/parks.asp?parkid=4
http://www.lamountains.com/PressRelease/corral%20canyon.pdf

SoCal

I have had a love/hate relationship with Ducatis for the last 9 years. When they run well, they’re amazing, but when they don’t, they’re hell. Last weekend, the relationship was on an upswing.

The Santa Monica Mountains are riding heaven. Desert/mountain/canyon/ocean/etc scenery all within a few minutes’ drive. I did a route along Highway 1 (PCH) -> Latigo Canyon -> Mulholland Highway -> Malibu Canyon.

This is some of the best riding I’ve ever done. Weather is always amazing in SoCal, and these roads were just killer. Unfortunately the roads are heavily patrolled by Malibu’s Finest, which keeps the fun factor down a little, but pretty much no matter where you turn, you’ll have a smile on your face.

The more time I spend in SoCal, the more amazed I am by the ridiculous amount of money out here. No matter where you go, there are huge estates with privacy hedges and gated entries. It’s not just Beverly Hills, but pretty much anywhere near any of the mountains and beaches, there are multi-million dollar mansions. It’s hard to believe that there are that many rich people in the world.

SoCal

Dog

While I wait for the truck to be repaired (sigh), I’ve decided to make a few modifications to the Airstream. My friend Daren (who I met in Malibu) has recently started a little Airstream customization business, and I’ve decided to undertake a little project.

In the short term, I’m:

- redoing the couch in a black leather with yellow stitching, to replace the ugly dog hair-prone fabrics that are in here now.
- redoing the horrible FLOR tiles that I have on the floor, and replacing them with some small rugs (plus a new bathroom rug)
- painting the ceiling fixtures (probably silver, rather than the ugly off-white)
- redoing the shower in blue with a better door that actually opens and closes properly

I’ve also figured out my plan for the dinette — I’m going to reuse the existing tabletop, move it against the TV wall (mount with some L brackets), move the leg to the corner, and rip out the dinette benches, replacing them with some normal chairs. Probably can’t do this until I’m back on the east coast, though, whenever that is.

Airstream