A Homeless gathering…

Sunday, February 18th, 2007

It was with anticipation that I waited the arrival of my friend Jay Kam… can someone be your friend when you have never met them? I think so. Since way back, throughout my preparation days, we have exchanged ideas about what to have on the road, how to power all those paraphernalias that somehow with now encumber ourselves with, what to use down to the minute details, cooking, washing, maintaining our vehicles, health insurance or the lack of it!

I was waiting for him at the Home Depot in Lake Havasu City, a busy town on the weekend, specially having a Fireworks Convention going on. Sorry I will not have pictures of them. We have been camping about 10 to 15 miles from them… my camera just was not up to par to translate how incredible they were last night! They were the best of the best, new patterns I had never seen before, colors, effects… their sales I am sure must have been good!

Patricia, the owner of the Hot Dog stand, and 3 other ones (!!!) Kept me company while waiting… she has herself four dogs and of course took after Spirit in no time. We talked shop… somehow deep down it was always a fantasy of mine to own a Hot Dog stand! This one is for sale she said!… and as we talked numbers I never realized that such a stand can have an income matching a full blown Restaurant!… and the sale price of course due to that fact was not cheap either… Were have been all my life?… This is what I could have been doing… stress free… adding maybe some good coffee and pastries… too late now! If anyone interested… let me know… I will put you in touch with her!

Jay Kam shows up, right on time, and it is like old friends getting together… well, we are old friends, both sharing one great facts in common… we are both homeless living on the road…

It is going to be exciting to exchange thoughts… facts… stories!

On to camp through town, stopping of course at a real nice Food Market, Basha something I believe… where we buy some supplies for the coming days. I have found myself not cooking much when alone… not that much fun to be honest. This is a great occasion… I had always told him anyhow that I owed him dinner due to all the help he has always provided me…

And of course we have food and yours truly is cooking this weekend. Nice to cook for others…

Always have the desire to cook as such for myself, but… happens very rarely. Maybe as the weather warms up, the days become longer with more daylight time it will happen, most likely.

Never quite knowing what the results are going to be, we end up the first night with a rice pilaff and some chicken! Sauteed chicken strips in butter, sliced onions, a bit of Hot Sauce… finished with some chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes and mango! A little bit of Hot… and sweet tastes…

We cleaned that up!

Yet no ride the next day and the hours went by so fast… Life is full on the road, we are not traveling… this has not been just a ride but a lifetime experience and much to talk about. We will never see in detail all the sceneries and we will never have the time to ride all the great roads this country has to offer! We try… and for that main reason we exchange routes, we can at least apply ourselves to explore the ones that will provide some excitement to all our senses.

He has been on many I have not… and vice versa! This is all invaluable information that we exchange… same for all the doings we go through. How we would like to handle and acquire solar power in the near future, how we would maybe like to set up our vehicles, how we handle the situation when in need of medical care, we talk about other riders that we have met… get togethers we have attended and some that we will attend this coming summer…

Another dinner is on the way… this time some breaded pork chops topped with a green onion and diced tomato mixture… they have been sauteed in olive oil. A side a mushroom and herb couscous and some steamed broccoli completes the plate… We are eating better than any fine establishment around here… that is for sure. There are no walls obstructing the scenery… no ceiling hindering the sky’s vision, none of that sitting next door customer baffled noises and I might add… the service is pretty good!… so was the food.

Today Jay leaves, we are people lovers, we enjoy the great company of others, and at the same time we are loners! We dig deep into our lives everyday, there are no obstructions from society to prevent us from doing so and living the life we enjoy the most.

There is always a welcome sign hanging over us… you might not see it, but it is there 24/7, and you don’t have to be Homeless to join us… we love the company, he will be missed after today… and at the same time the solitude on the road will be gladly embraced again, the maps will be looked upon for the next destination, next roads and campsites.

Wherever you are when you are reading this Jay, thanks for stopping by… thanks for the company and the richness you have brought to us these past couple of days… and to all of you that were not here… plan on it, anytime, anywhere… my schedule is non existent!

You be well…

Ara & Spirit

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4 Responses to “A Homeless gathering…”

  1. Ronn Says:

    Ara~Love the stories and details of your adventures. Had to comment on the two dishes shown here. They look wonderful! I plan on trying to recreate them soon. I would hope that Spirit at least got a taste. 🙂

    Travel safe!

  2. Jerry Feldner Says:

    I tried to post here before but my server would not let me. I hope this goes through otherwise I will post on DUSA. Nice words. I never thought of you as homeless. rather, i thought what agreat adventure you were having. Love the blog and the pics. Jerry

  3. Steve Williams Says:

    I need to get a hot dog cart when I retire. Great story.

    I also went out and bought some pork chops just so I could try the diced green onions and tomato mixture on them. That really looks good.

    Steve Williams
    Scooter in the Sticks

  4. Paul Massie Says:

    Man, I don’t know what’s better – the fine scenic photography & commentary or the gourmet food shots! Either way, I just wanted to express my appreciation for your fine web journal. Keep up the good work!

    About the Petco no-photos policy: a lot of retailers are doing that these days. It’s a defensive measure to protect themselves from the guerilla tactics of political activists who want to hurt their business, so try not to put all the blame on Petco. Too bad that it’s come to this, but it’s a commentary on our times.

    – Paul (aka TWT “scratch”)

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