It’s been over a week since my last post. I know some of you get a little worried when I don’t post anything for a while. Not a lot is going on these days, but here’s a quick post to assure you that all is well.
I have a new tire — again. While I had to wait a few extra days before Cycle Gear could get me in and out on the same day, it was worth the wait. It was also quite understandable, given the backlog of work they accumulated in the aftermath of the tornado in town, which shut them down for a few days with no power. I got it mounted and balanced Tuesday, reinstalled it yesterday, and enjoyed an easy shakedown cruise to scrub it in. Melissa wanted a ride after work, so I took us to the nearest Dairy Queen, almost an hour away. Being so far from civilization has its downsides — or does it? In this case, it was an excuse for a longer ride.
I’ve been enjoying the drone I got a great deal on from Adventuring With Amanda. I’ve taken it to a nearby park to practice flying, maneuvering, and landing a number of times. I seem to be a natural pilot. The basic exercises I’ve read and watched videos about are child’s play to me, and I’m already better at landing the drone than its built-in automated mode. Landing safely (without crashing!) is the hardest part of flying, so that’s saying a lot. It was easy to get my recreational drone license and register the drone on a rainy afternoon. I’m considering doing the full Part 107 license, so making money off my drone photos and video would be an option as well. For now, though, I’m content with the recreational license while practicing my flying skills.
I’ve also used it at Melissa’s place to do some surveying up the hill where we camped when we first arrived. We want to make a more permanent encampment here, with its own separate driveway, so we never have to slip and slide up and down the grassy hill again. Getting my van down that hill was a scary experience I never wish to repeat! (You can still see my tire tracks from that ordeal.) But it’s a beautiful location, so we’ll likely move up there once we can arrange direct access to it from the road. The rainy season here also seems to be coming to an end, so the muddy conditions we ran away from before no longer exist.
That’s about it for the past week. May was a lean month for work, so I’m not out spending money on adventures right now. Fortunately, I have a lot of work lined up for June, so I have my nose to the grindstone on that instead of adventuring right now anyway. Having the motorcycle back in commission will help me get out more, too, since I won’t need to rely on having the 4Runner available if I want to go somewhere. There’s nothing wrong with the van that won’t let me drive it, but having shore power plugged in, my Starlink antenna as far away from the van as it can get for a clear signal, and the air conditioner taking up the driver’s seat area, all makes switching from house mode to travel mode is a much bigger deal than usual. I’d like to avoid it unless we’re actually going camping somewhere, which will happen again at some point.
Smokey Da Van 