Woke up, put on coffee and ate a bag of peanuts on the east side of the van, where Pippa and I met up with Sunshine for breakfast. Sometimes she just stays like this for a minute or so. Nose up. Still. Soaking it all in. My in-house batteries (responsible for running my fridge, lights … Continue reading Day Four: Desert Attack
Category: van community
Day Three: Free Birds
Desert News: The Sonoran Bird Collective is gathering this week near the Peralta Trailhead in Arizona to celebrate the desert bloom with traditional gospels. Performances begin at sunrise and go well into the evening. Everyone is invited. Admission is Free. It’s glorious here. I can’t leave yet. How can I leave half way through a … Continue reading Day Three: Free Birds
Day Two: Life is a Highway(s).
Human Beings appear to travel at least two great highways in life. One is a visible, external one. It’s the one usually described in our obituary. It sometimes includes actual highways and it moves us from place to place. Roadsigns along the way name our important relationships and life events; distances are measured in years. … Continue reading Day Two: Life is a Highway(s).
A Month in a Minivan 2019: Day One
Welcome to “A Month in a Minivan” - the 2019 edition. I did this last year, and as a writer, it was super satisfying to have a daily practice. Although I thrive in this mostly non-stuctured life, I sometimes crave something measurable to work toward and having a commitment to write each day for a … Continue reading A Month in a Minivan 2019: Day One
Letting Go of Perfect
It used to take me the better part of an hour to scope out a van-camping spot, before finally settling on what felt like “the perfect one.” In the early days, I stayed mostly at provincial parks, and even if I were the only one there, I would race around in a panic, sure someone … Continue reading Letting Go of Perfect
The Nomad’s Front Porch
At first glance, I’m challenged to find the obvious tie that binds the 8000 or so souls gathering each year at the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) and Womens’ RTR (WRTR) in the Sonoran desert of Arizona. A survey of the parked vehicles suggests membership probably isn’t defined by rig-choice or economics. Large, newer-model, Class A … Continue reading The Nomad’s Front Porch
How We Roll
Today we made our way south through Pennsylvania, into West Virginia and are now just north of Virginia. I was poky (according to the trip summary below) because I had to do important things like: A) STOP TO REMOVE MY DOWN JACKET, and B) Go for a long walk by a creek WITHOUT MY DOWN … Continue reading How We Roll
All I Need
It’s not quite dawn and I’m sitting in the van around the corner from my sisters’ house in Oshawa, where I slept last night. Pippa is wondering why we have stopped so soon. I’m waiting for a text from either of my sisters, telling me what I’ve forgotten at their house. I always forget something, … Continue reading All I Need
Day 4: Waiting for a Bite
I went fishing with a friend in Arizona this winter. Words would have made noise in the quiet beauty of that desert lake. No fish were biting, but I contentedly watched as he rhythmically casted, again and again. There was a lovely whirrrrrrr, and the line would hit the water some distance away. If he … Continue reading Day 4: Waiting for a Bite
Day 2: Confessions of a Serial Food Dater
I’m pretty tired of food rules, so I won’t be following many on this trip. I’m just setting off with the basic premise that plants and animals constitute potential human food sources, and if they are grown, raised or foraged within about 100 km of where I am, I will consider them “home grown” or … Continue reading Day 2: Confessions of a Serial Food Dater