It’s like couch surfing, except all I occupy is a piece of driveway instead of the living room couch. It’s much less invasive.
It was a good few days at Light Hill Farm. It was great to catch up with Sarah, and also get to know Chris a bit better. I love what they’re doing, and the lack of zoning restrictions that would’ve gotten the place condemned a long time ago instead of allowing them to rebuild it their way. No power? No problem!
We had a couple of “campfires,” which were actually permit burns to get rid of building materials from the old parts of the house they couldn’t salvage. (They’re both on the local volunteer fire department, which no doubt helps.) Sarah described it as “burning your house down on the installment plan.” Despite my rather negative recent history with fire, that statement breaks me up in laughter every time I hear or even think of it.
Next I ventured north to Kenduskeag, Maine, not far from Bangor. My friend Eldon, who I’ve known for years, recently moved back in with his parents there. His story is not mine to tell, so I’ll just say that he’s going through some rough times and invited me to visit. He and his parents were super welcoming. I know, from very recent experience, how much it means to have a friend around when you’re going through stuff. Several have been there for me lately. I’m glad I could pay it forward on a karmic level now that I’m doing better.
I also got to check out their recently acquired RV. In fact, Eldon ordered the exact same window cover as me for it, since it’s based on a 2003 Ford E350. They get this life. I think Lister spent more time sitting under their RV than my van. He’s probably trying to tell me he wants an upgrade, perhaps his own room.
My next stop will probably seem extremely weird to many of you, but I’m a weird person, so deal with it. I drove to Lisbon, and am visiting my ex-wife, Amy, and her current husband Casey for a few days. We’ve remained friends ever since the marriage dissolved, and we’re actually better off for it. Casey and I get along great, too, with a mutual interest in motorcycles and fun cars. I parked on the flat gravel area where a mobile home used to be. Lister enjoys exploring here, and I had the time, space, and a delivery address for Amazon to send the last parts I needed to install my sink.
I even had time to go for a bike ride with Casey and his friend Clif up to Height of Land. Yes, I was just there last weekend, but the roads are a lot more fun on a bike, and my KLR’s off-road suspension is perfect for absorbing the big bumps on the poor condition roads up there. I haven’t gotten a good bike ride in for a while, so it was worth going.
During the ride, my turn signal flasher relay died. They’d turn on but they wouldn’t blink. It’s only the second problem I’ve had with my KLR in the two years I’ve owned it. The other was a failed clutch interlock switch. (I spliced the wires together to bypass it and called it good.) After a bit of research, I tried a generic $4 flasher relay from the auto parts store. It had the same two-prong plug pattern, so maybe it would work. Amazingly, it did. It’s a little slower than my old one, and I don’t care. I’d much rather use a $4 relay than the $30 Kawasaki one that does the same thing.
While visiting all these friends has been great, I’m looking forward to getting out on my own a bit. I’m ready to travel alone, I think. I never intended to, but here I am, and in a better rig than I ever could’ve built myself. Regardless of our split, I do have Trisha to thank for kicking butt in the building process. Soon I get to start using it for what this has been all about since the beginning: to boldly go where I have not gone before.
Smokey Da Van 