In Spite Of

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I have written several posts but have not posted them because they were too much, just philosophical explorations. When we are traveling it is easier to post because I put up pictures of what I saw, and naturally what I think flows through. But it isn't solid ideas.

I love the RV lifestyle. I find myself dreaming of sitting in a desert in the winter with the weather playing a symphony on the fiberglass cocoon of my trailer, shaking and shifting me in concert with nature. I love the freedom of an RV; to go possibly anywhere, or the middle of nowhere, and still be home. I love that the RV lifestyle includes rich, poor and very poor. I love that the lines of who has resources get shifted and blurred.

I've been boondocking in a large free site outside of town. I've talked to people with a rig as expensive as a house with fit, finish, and trim as nice as any custom home.  I've talked to people with disabilities living in converted utility trailers. I've talked to people living in their cars. And they were living side-by-side.

I would like to see every town as part of their obligation to rule the people, to allow a place where it is free to live. Then deal with poor people head-on instead of shoving them into cracks and pretending they don't exist. I would like to see every town be obligated to designate a percentage of land corresponding to the percentage of people who budget a small amount for housing, for people to live in RV's if they choose. Maybe I want to live a smaller life, but it is illegal in my city. Another portion for people who want mobile homes. Make these places close to town or in it, and not by the dump. Why can poor people only live in bad places? Doesn't that add to the difficulty of trying to escape poverty?

More choices for more people. We need more living choices. Will there be more to figure out? Of course. Is that a problem?

When I owned my own business I would ask employees to vacuum the rug. I would always check and see that it was done. Many times I would find it was not. The employee would tell me something like, "Uh, the bag was full so that's why I didn't do it." Other times I had employees who told me things like, "The bag was full, so I looked for a new one but we were out, so I ran to the store and got one."

The people who stopped at the first difficulty had no guilt, they always felt 100% justified in their decision. They encountered an obstacle, they succumbed to its power over them. All you need is a valid excuse in some minds. Not mine.

I believe when we mature we see farther down the road, we stay focused on ideas rather than events. What we really can accomplish is we accomplish in spite of, not because. Too many people talking about because, not in spite of.

Here's a great "in-spite-of" RV blog. Love it. Rolling in an RV... Wheelchair Traveling.

Oktoberfest Und Jacques

So... went to Oktoberfest with some friends and family at the beautiful Snowbird Resort here in Utah. In between the bands they had various contests. My wife and friends went to the bathroom, when they returned this is the scene that was unfolding.

Path To Arches 2011

Hello friends! Once a month, is that the frequency that I am down to posting? Seems like. Not much of a blog if I only post once a month. I agree. But I don't give up easily.

The blogs that I read post at least once a week. I read the blogs linked in the sidebar, mostly RV lifestyle blogs. When I traveled I blogged at least 3 times a week for a year. I believe in the value of on-line stories that essentially journal our experience. We don't know what's happening until after it has happened, so it's good to write it down.

I learned much living in an RV and traveling for 18 months. I have learned much becoming "im-mobile" (as a good friend recently described us living in a house) and thinking back on that time. Life is a moving river, nothing stands still.

I appreciate the running dialogue blogs of "we did this" stories, because they flow with river. I find what I miss reading is what people think about. Communication is instant, but comprehension takes time to see the patterns emerge.

Looking back, technology is moving at a ferocious pace. Social patterns are changing at a pace influenced by ferocious technology. Looking back seems almost futile. The future is now. Today will immediately be replaced by tomorrow, so today becomes meaningless. Except... it doesn't. Today means everything. Today is another chance.

So check it out. We went to Arches National Park and it was beautiful. We stayed in the Devils Garden Campground, the only campground in the park. We hiked, saw the sights, went for a ride on the trust Honda CT110. Glorious.

Everyone takes the same picture from the same spots at these places. They mark them for you and build a parking lot.

I wanted to do something different than the same beautiful shots of the same beautiful landscape. And so, I am sharing some of the pictures of what I saw ON the landscape.

Arches is crawling with people. They come in vans, buses and RV's and park in the parking lots and spill out over the ground.

That's what you are seeing here, my album of pictures of people taking pictures. You are seeing the vans, buses, RVs. You are seeing the tourists on their way to the carefully marked spots.

This is the beaten path of off the beaten path.

Believe me, I would much rather see tourism here than mining. I would much rather have our beautiful places crowed with people than destroyed for their assets. And I can't get too upset, I was one of those people who came here in an RV.

And it was awesome!






Next stop, Boulder, Colorado!

Nashville

In all my years of traveling I had never been to Nashville, Tennessee. A while ago me and the Mrs. were talking about where we would like to go and we said Nashville. Shortly thereafter a client scheduled a conference there and off we went. Well, almost. Their first conference was flooded out by the Nashville flood so we went to Jacksonville, Florida. But they soon rescheduled Nashville and then we made it.

We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. We had been to another Gaylord property in Orland, Florida, so we kind of knew what to expect. According to their literature there is 9 acres of indoor atrium gardens. There is a river with fish in it and you can take a ride in a boat tour through the hotel for only $10!

It was nice and all, but I never find human recreations of nature to be inspiring. I find them a bit tawdry, a cheap imitation. I know they are not cheap, but they are not close to the real thing. But if you like your nature climate controlled and a short walk from your hotel room, they've got you covered!

We did venture outside the property, we took a tour of Nashville with Grayline Bus Tours. It was a straight-up tourist trek through the city, cost about $45 a ticket. I am not much of a bus-tour-type, but I would do it again. They did a good job.

Our tour guide was a local with a Tennessee accent as smooth as a barrel of Jack Daniels. He gave a great running account of the sights as we were seeing them. Obviously, music is a BIG deal in Nashville. Before we went I understood it was a big deal there, but once we got on the tour I began to understand it to be a seriously big deal to them.

We saw all the old recording studio buildings and the downtown honky-tonks. We stopped the tour at the historic Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Oprey. Loved it. What a great old theater. 

The shot at the top of the blog is the sun coming through the stained-glass on the upstairs level. The shot to the right is the hallway where those windows are located. Walk through these doors and you are in the Ryman, home to so many performances by so many music legends.

I couldn't help myself, I grabbed my uke and jumped up on that famous stage for a quick verse of "Rocky Top" and a photo.

The next stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was great and very interesting. They had all the usual stuff you might expect; outfits worn on stage by this act or that, one of Elvis' cars, original lyric sheets and time-lines of who came when and did what. I'll leave all that to the real country fans who have more of an appreciation for it. What fascinated me was this squirrel statue. It's a little stuffed squirrel bluegrass band. Why this is in the hall of fame, I have no idea, but it did raise the level of the exhibition in my mind. Nothing like some raw freaky to bring it home. Click on the picture to make it bigger and see the squirrel's facial expressions.

Our last night in town after work we slipped over to the new Opryland Theater, which is right next to the Gaylord Hotel. Here is a picture of me standing in front of a giant tourist-trap guitar out front of the theater. You cannot see the other 30 anxious country fans waiting to take that special picture that everyone else is taking.

The Grand Ole Opry was quite a thing. 4400 seats and a live radio broadcast at the same time. We saw 91 year old Little Jimmy Dickens and the Riders in the Sky, and many other acts. Interestingly, the each play only a couple of songs in their set and they are quickly moved on and off the stage as the announce reads old-time radio ads for Humana. 

It's quite a show, with quite a tradition. I am not sure it is for everyone, but I loved it. 

So that's about it for our trip to Nashville. It was great, and I would love to spend more time there. It has its own definite, distinct vibe, like San Francisco, Miami, Chicago or New York. There is no other place like it, and I think that is just the way they like it!

Next blog stop: Arches National Park.

State Fairs

One thing I have enjoyed in our travels is visiting the local state and county fairs and festivals. The summer is filled with them, you need only choose one and go. They provide great entertainment on many levels, not the least of which is people watching.

We visited several this season, with an end-of-summer visit to the Utah State Fair this week. The weather was absolutely perfect and the fair was... well, once your city gets over a million people it gets hard to do the hometown-smalltown-fun thing authentically. Short synopsis: I'm not sure it was a fair as much as a marketing opportunity. But I guess that is what America really loves, a chance to sell stuff. The local college rivalry game isn't about college boys playing a game on the grass anymore, it's about grown-up men making serious grown-up money on college boys playing a game on the grass.

Parking was $6. Real small towns it's free. Admission was $10 a head, so just to walk in the door it's $26 for 2 people. We had been gifted tickets so we were only into it $6 for parking. Another $6 to ride the Ferris Wheel. You want food? Cha-ching. A coke? Cha-ching. Endless vendors lined the walk ways peddling wood signs, custom-fitted toe rings and blankets. How do people afford this? If you are going to take your kids to the fair you are going to need over $100. For the fair?

We headed over to the free exhibits, namely the livestock displays and the arts and crafts. One thing I do love about this part of the fair is the user participation. You can see all kinds of "art" and "crafts." For example, to the right is a shot I snapped of a lovely couple in their festive Hawaiian shirts admiring the beautiful butter sculptures. This art got funding.

Check out the guy on the left, he seemed super-excited to be in the picture with this award-winning cow. To each his own. I was just taking a picture and he jumped in. Glad to see excited people.

It's Utah, so if you want to win prizes and be a working artist there a few subjects you should pay attention to; children, tired cowboys, mountains, pioneers and horses. Mormon art also sells extremely well.

Here is one of my favorites from the fine art display.  I have my reasons for liking this, I should probably say what they are, but let me just say it has something to do with intent. I like art where everyone plays.

Fair food is it's own universe. I see people eating food at fairs that I don't see them eating day-to-day. Perhaps that is part of the allure of the fair, a chance to go wild with the deep-fat fryer!

Deep fried butter, funnel cakes, footlongs, corn dogs, twisted taters.

Fairs offer new learning activities for parents. The kids are excited and you want to put them in the pens with the pigs, what should you do? Luckily, there is a sign giving you guidance in that moment of confusion.

There is always time at the fair to stop and text your excitement to your friends who couldn't make it.

In the evening you can catch the Demolition Derby. Tickets are $20 so if you are taking the family you need another $100. There are musical acts too on the main stage. You'll need even more $$$ for those.






Fairs are great. It's nice to see a community come out and get together. I wish there were more times that belonged even more to the people. What I feel makes a community special is spirit. May our spirit always be free.

Beaver View Campground, Utah

I want to wrap up the photos from this excursion because I have others from our more current runs that I am going to post. This was a quick weekend trip to Evanston. After a couple of nights in Evanston we headed back to Utah via State Rt. 150 (Mirror Lake Scenic Byway). This campground is right on the Hayden River and is at 8700 feet.

We were able to find a campsite without a reservation, but I would say we were lucky. We stayed at the Beaver View Campground. When we got to the campground there were several choices, and we pulled in our spot literally as the previous campers were leaving. The other spots that were open when we arrived filled within an hour or so.

Just a short walk down the trail from our campsite was this beautiful river spot. It was gorgeous, but the bugs were THICK. Not Alaska thick, but starting to get there. I would have worn my mosquito net hood if I had it.

The people who camped before left us a nice supply of firewood, so we built a nice fire hoping the smoke would help with the bugs. What is it about campfires that people will sit and talk around them?

This was bear country so we had to be careful with our food. You don't want to accidentally fall asleep with a piece of bacon in your hand out here.

Here's a shot of our rig with imagined graphics. I have often thought that maybe a sponsor could provide the funds to keep us rolling down the road. I was just playing with the logo from my friends Tevis and Sheryl's company, Cannonball Musical Instruments.

BTW, if you are a high-level player, check out their horns. They are absolutely gorgeous and superior quality. Played by lots of pros. I walked through the factory one day and saw the process. Lots of time working on the small details in craftsmanship that affect the playing and quality. Every note is turned by filing and tuning each hole and note individually, for example.

I don't know who would want to think about musical instruments while they are camping, so this shot doesn't make much business sense, but it looked good so I stuck it on here. Plus, Cannonball Instruments is an awesome company. I little publicity never hurts. You never know...

I guess it also shows the dilemma. How do you go about enjoying these beautiful, quiet places without working? Working generally involves being around many people, noisy places. How much is the right amount of each for a healthy life?

I would tow my rig around covered in graphics to be able to be on the road. I would be willing to go to gatherings of like-minded people so they could see it. Like cover it with the graphics of a motorcycle parts company and then go to races. Cover it with a spice company package and go to chili cook-offs. Now that sounds fun. Sample spices and eat chili!

I am trying to find that balance between work and peace, just like everybody else.

After a beautiful night sleeping in the trees we drove home the next morning. Total round-trip, 208 miles. 2 nights free camping, one night Forest Service, $16.

Evanston Railroad Complex

We took some time to poke around Evanston and we found the Evanston Railroad Complex. According to the Evanston website:

The Union Pacific Railroad established a stone roundhouse and associated shops in Evanston in 1870, just a year after the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Built at the same time were the machine shop, power house, brick store, gas storage buildings, yard buildings, office and restrooms. --City of Evanston Website

We were the only ones there and took some time to walk around the buildings and take some photographs.

This building is The Power House, built in in the early 1900's. The above picture of the window is taken here. This one of the three primary buildings on the site and has been identified for restoration.

Because of the design of the building, you can literally see through the building front to back and side to side.

"The railroad arrived in the area in November 1868, and Harvey Booth opened a saloon/restaurant in a tent near what is now Front Street. By December the rails had reached Evanston and the first train arrived December 16. Later a machine shop and roundhouse were constructed, giving Evanston a longevity not shared with many other railroad towns.^[8]

Abundant timber and water along the Bear River made Evanston a refueling station for cross-country locomotives. Coal was mined a few miles north of Evanston in Almy. Similar to other railroad towns in Wyoming, early Evanston had a large population of Chinese railroad workers — in Evanston they lived on the north side of the railroad tracks in a small "China town." Over time, the Chinese population dwindled, disappearing completely in the 1930s." --Wikipedia

The city has plans to renovate and has begun work on the iconic Roundhouse. It's quite an impressive 28 bay circular structure built 1912-13. See the master plan here.

My photos really don't do it justice. There is an excellent article on this site with plenty of the old-timey photos at jacobgines.blogspot.com.

I love looking at the buildings of the late 1800's and early 1900's that are still found on the backroads of the West. I see many grand and glorious abandoned dreams. There was a reason all of this happened and a reason it all went away. Sometimes I see photographs from that time, with advent of automobiles and trains and the Industrial Revolution and think about today. Such a belief in machines and technology. It revolutionized the world! Then the world moved on and it died, the buildings left rotting in the sun, physically telling the tail of boom and bust.

I see new buildings standing empty today. Do the dreamers come back?

This is an interesting site, worth a look if you ever find yourself with free time in Evanston.