Something New...............A Photo.

West Texas Dust Storm

Happy Sunday Everyone. For those of you uninitiated in the quirks of living in West Texas, what you see in the picture is the way it is, around these parts, every Spring. Now the wind and dust in the air is not just a Spring phenomenon. I've seen the sand blowing on Christmas Day. It often amuses me when I see TV accounts of the weather in Iraq. The newscasters always seemed amazed by the sandstorms encountered there. I have seen dust storms rolling out of the West, looking like giant ocean swells of red dirt. Sandstorms have always been a way of life here in West Texas and we didn't get called the dust-bowl for nothing. Sandstorms are more prevalent in the Spring, simply because that's when the farmers plow up their fields.

One of the things that appeals to me about the full-time RV lifestyle is the fact that you can literally choose your own weather. Ideally, I would like to live in 70° weather year-round but I don't think that will always be the case. Sure, I can spend the Winter and early Spring months in Daytona Florida and I will certainly avoid the bone chilling cold of West Texas, and the colossal dust storms. I also plan to spend August in Sturgis South Dakota. I have been in Sturgis in August when the temperature was 106°. Okay I'll admit it, there will be some exceptions to my 70° rule. What I'm getting at is this, I do believe there is a type of Code, if you will, that dictates the life of the full-time RV'er. One of the things that appeals to me about the lifestyle is that you don't carve your travel plans in stone. Flexible is the key word here. Yes I'll admit, there are rules. But most of the rule are just common sense. Everyone knows to clean up your own campsite, don't plug your cord into another fellow's power, don't drink water you're not sure of, don't overnight park in a place that says NOP, and so on. The part of the Code I enjoy is the courtesy and comradely you experience when you are out on the road. I have noticed that in most campgrounds, a fellow traveler opens his hood to look at his engine, and before you know it, you have all the expertise and advice you need. This is a good feeling. For example, you don't have the right tools, you will get offered a loan and even help to get the job done. Okay, TTYL.

Announcing!! My very first posting.........TA! DA!

I suppose it was inevitable I was born into a family that suffered from wanderlust. We traveled, often times with dad driving, mom acting as the navigator and snack supplier of such treats as the  cheese sandwiches, summer sausage with crackers, deviled ham sandwiches, supplemented of course by roadside cafés. I bought my first true RV style camper in 1971. It was a 1957 Chevrolet pickup with homemade, but very cool, camper built onto the back of it. I bought it when I lived in central California. I camped up and down the West Coast into Arizona, finally settling in Ruidoso New Mexico. The next camper I had, I sort of put together myself. It was a one year old GMC pickup with a very cool camper shell. I built a bed and storage into it, and lived in it when I first moved to Santa Fe New Mexico in 1976. This was before I had found a job or a place to live. At night I would drive up to national forest land and set up my camp. I had a catalytic Coleman fuel heater, a Coleman stove, and a Coleman lantern. The camping vacation was soon over, as I found a job, rented and later bought a house, and joined the rat race. In retrospect, I thought I was camping in the woods not 'boondocking' as it's called today. I traded that truck off for my first Ford  four-wheel-drive pickup. I kept the camper shell and enjoyed many, many camping trips in the forests of New Mexico.


A few years later, I bought my first true RV. A wonderful Mobile Traveler found its way into my life, and into my travels. It was in 1978 Class B. You could drive it at freeway speeds and still get 16 miles to the gallon. I had it for about four years and traveled many roads in Texas, Oklahoma, and  New Mexico. It was really the best. No problems, economical, comfortable and unobtrusive.


I then acquired a 1979 Southwind class a motorhome. I named him Harvey. Harvey the RV. He really got to take us to some places. Why, I even drove him to New York City. Harvey had the biggest windshield you've ever seen. It was like the best seat at an IMAX theater. He did have a few drawbacks in the form of 4 miles to the gallon which did limit me some what.  Harvey was over 40 feet long, but did have all the comforts of home.


My next soirée into the world of RV was a Lance truck camper This is a big cab over affair that also has all the comforts of home in fact I took many extended trips with this camper mounted on the back of my F350, four-wheel-drive, diesel pickup truck. I went from Maine to Florida to Texas to Arizona to Colorado and many exciting adventures in between. I do believe all these campers, my love of travel, and the fact that I am hurtling towards retirement (kicking and struggling the whole time...)  have led me to my decision. I am Metamorphosizing into a full-time RV'er.
This blog is a journal of my adventures, or misadventures, as I embrace my new life. I ask you, the reader, to enjoy this is insight of what is sometimes humorous, tragic, enlightening, encouraging, informative, irreverent, sometimes mundane, but never boring account of what is happening in the life of this typical, atypical baby boomer. I am re-doing part of this post. Thanks for reading...


Michael Ultra