And all ends up well… of course!

Saturday, April 14th, 2007

A wise man wrote this 24 hours ago as my day was starting and for the first time throughout this Journey I was losing it…

[quote] Ara,

Take a deep cleansing breath. Now focus on your beautiful surroundings. Realize how fortunate you are to be a truly free person…. Feel any better yet? Life is good. You have a minor problem which can be fixed. Here are a few options:

1 – Go back to bed and get some sleep. Sounds like you have worried to much last night.

2 – Come to my house for breakfast. Have you ever had a “country” breakfast? Sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy, a real coronary special.

3 – I can make room in my garage to work on your bike. [quote]

“Ratman”… member of Adv Rider Forum.

How much more can one ask for when traveling…

And why?…

Spirit has been sick for the past couple of days… I will spare you the details, I was up most of the night… walking him, with colder winds blowing… they said, near by, between 60 to 70mph…

But the icing was… again the rig!

I know life is a learning curve, and fortunate are the ones that are willing and open to learn as I am… it’s just that sometimes the tests given are too close together! A couple days ago a part that had broken in the past started giving signs of failure… again, and on the way back to camp yesterday I realized that I was not making anything up… and yes, I worried about it all night… the days spend waiting for parts at Mosquito Cove were too fresh in my memory.

The lesson learned?… never put a rig back together unless you are on a flat surface unlike the campsite I was in when I replaced the front eye bolt… After going through every part this morning and not finding anything broken… and as the attachments did not come together, well, I realized what had happened… I hope that I get an A+ on this one! I had a misaligned hack…

And another one learned also… for those riding a similar unlogical vehicle such as mine… I am calling it the “domino” effect… took me months on this one… when one part breaks, check them all as in a very short time, the other members are carrying more stress than they are designed for and will also fail in the near future… It is amazing how long it has taken my to learn this

Regardless, Monday… having been introduced to an old timer fabricator/machinist/welder… I will have an extra arm added… maybe two!… overkill?… why not…

“Buddy” is his name… this is his home… part of it anyhow. He rebuilds these old fuel pumps and inside that building he has about 15 more that dropped my jaws down to my knees… First the tractors, now the fuel pumps… I will try to get some pictures of them…

So… that has been my dilemma which somehow over reacted… The cure?… A nice ride! And Michael, my local tour guide, a man born to ride everyday, had just the route for us…

It had been raining and snowing north of us… around us… the winds finally had died down a bit…

We first stopped at the Gunlock State Park with its Lake, giving the man a chance to use his cell phone…

And then on to a dirt road off old Highway 91 called “Mojave Desert/Joshua Tree Scenic Backway”. Fairly mild, a bit rough in parts, met up only with one other vehicle, I truly recommend it for its fun factor… scenic factor and the many places one can pull over to listen to the silence. It drops south almost to Arizona, goes through Indian Reservation for a few miles, up the hills and down the hills also being BLM land in some areas. Through a great canyon where when one can camp and climb its face to discover some caverns… in which you could also stay a while or even set up bivouac.

As it gets bouncy my buddy Spirit always amazes me while we ride those dirt roads. I can see him a bit from the corner of my eye and sometimes he is hilarious and a good sport all the time!

Lately he has been sticking his head out more, trying to see I imagine where we are going and the coming terrain, and when we bounce harder than usual he quickly turns around and looks at me!

I think the crash in Louisiana will always be on his mind… as sometimes it is on mine also.

He loves to ride… or maybe he just loves being with me! I think it is a bit of both…

It is 5:30 am by the way… he is snoring… and there was no accident last night!… We both got a good night sleep…

The pavement again made its presence, back on old Highway 91 to my uphill dirt road leading me to camp. I know it has to be the weekend… there are a few quads by the lower Lake which I took pictures of the other day while the sun was setting down, has about a dozen horse trailers, cars and tents… My own area is still deserted, quiet amongst the trees where I will probably stay a few more days.

Tomorrow will be black top all the way… I don’t want to push my luck with the rig till I have this extra arm mounted on Monday… we are going to Cedar City to check out Cedar Breaks. Should be a great ride, I can’t quite trace the route yet, my brand new map book is soaking wet, why would anyone hang a Camelback full of water right on it as it drips… drips all night!… beyond me… I think as I am smiling contemplating the failure of this one test! Aren’t schools closed on the weekend?

Till next time… as all does end up well…

Have a great one…

Ara & Spirit

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5 Responses to “And all ends up well… of course!”

  1. geode Says:

    Ha Ha …

    School is always open around here, but I’m a lousy student … so I keep getting the same quiz …

    Glad to hear Spirit is doing better. Upset doggie tummies are never any fun.

    Looks like some very nice dirt roads to explore.

    Hope your new spiffy map book dries out ok.

    be well, g

  2. Linda Says:

    Hoping Sprit is feeling better. Keep emergency meds for him too. I hope it wasn’t your cooking? LOL Pepcid AC

  3. Steve Williams Says:

    I hope Spirit is feeling better. You can bet your boots that he loves being with you! I can’t imagine a dog having a better life than the one he has with you.

    The way you handle the surprises that present themselves on the road is amazing. Doesn’t matter whether it is weather, equipment failures, or a sick doggy, you keep going. My hat is off to you Ara.

    And the more I see the locations you ride and the pictures of a BMW moving down those fine backcountry roads I can picture myself with a nice BMW 1200GS Adventure.

    Time will tell.

    Steve Williams
    Scooter in the Sticks

  4. aragureghian Says:

    Steve?… a GS?…. NO… NO… NO… Us… we will not let you… you have to stick with the Scooter… Too many GS riders… not enough Scooter riders…
    Spirit is a bit better today… Sandra who works at the aninal shelter is going to get him some medecine in case it is a bacteria… he did drink water out of the Lake!!!
    We go on… you would do the same with this lifestyle… This is the ultimate… I can I ever be dissatisfied feom anything… always obstacles… but.. always lucky to have a great support system and friends near by!!!
    Glenn… have you left yet???
    Thanks all for writing…
    Be well…

    Ara & Spirit

  5. geode Says:

    Sorry Ara, but I’m still sitting in Maine, … watching the snow fall right now. Large nasty windy snowy rainy mess here for the next several days.

    Hoping to head west on Tuesday if Mother Nature cooperates.

    I’ll make sure to e-mail you before I go so you’ll know what’s going on.

    Hope Spirit is feeling better. Is his tummy still upset from the chewie thing incident the other day?

    be well, g

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