Traveling Solo And Being Alone

One of the questions I get asked the most is, "do you get lonely?". The short answer is yes. Although I am alone most of the time, I don't get lonely that often but yes, sometimes I do. I have a routine each day with Max and I try to keep busy when I have spare time. Taking photographs is something I do everyday and that's fulfilling and challenging to me to create new images each day. I usually travel to a new place on a daily basis so the excitement of what's to come keeps my mind busy.

When I am alone in my surroundings and a bit bored, sometimes I take self portraits to pass the time. All of the photos below are taken with my iPhone on a timer(except i am holding the iphone out of the water in the head shot). I never really know when it will take the photograph so it's always a surprise to see what I captured. Posting photographs on this blog, Facebook and instagram makes me feel a little connected to the outside world and being connected helps when I have no idea what is going on since I don't watch tv or read a paper. However, that can be a good thing sometimes.

So, thank you for reading the blog and keeping in touch! Max and I always love hearing from you while we are on the road and wherever we are calling "home" on that day. For us, home is where we park it.

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

I have always loved the cape and I still do.

I spent some time at the tip of the cape in a little community called Provincetown.  Each town on the cape has its own distinctive personality and charm and there is something special about every community you come across.  I didn't get to spend as much time here as I did last September, but it was special just the same.  There really is something for everyone on the cape.

Most of the days were rainy when I was visiting but I took advantage of the clear breaks when they came.  I took Max for a spin in his trailer, walked along the beach, went to the bark park, strolled around commercial street and soaked in the sights.  I didn't take as many photographs as I did last year, but these are a few taken with the three cameras I have with me.  I did pretty much the same as I did a year ago.

Sometimes I like to set the timer on my camera and jump around on the beach to entertain myself.  It's actually quite the workout and good for a few laughs when you watch people passing by staring at you.  I don't mind.

Other people didn't mind the weather and enjoyed a campfire on the beach even though it was windy and in the 50's.

It was also interesting to see new signs up that tell you the mileage from PTown to Long Beach, my home base.  Just in case you were wondering, it's 3,652 miles.

I look forward to sharing more adventures coming up within these 3,652 miles.

Taking My Cruiser, "Rusty" For A Spin In Illinois

Don't get me wrong, I don't just drive around the country with my rusted cruiser bungee corded to the back of my car just to make my ride look stylish, sometimes I actually get on it and take it for a ride.  More specifically, two times I have taken it off for a spin.

Today was one of those days.

I drove to Illionis to visit my friend, Adrianne.  I am usually last minute on planning things so I told her not to worry about her plans and that I would tag along and do whatever she already had plans to do.  On this particular day, it was the weekly meeting of the Bloomington Women's cycling club for their evening ride.  I warned Adrianne that I only had a cruiser, flip flops, no helmet, no fancy bicycle clothes and only one speed for the ride.  She assured me that this was a "fun ride" for all levels.

When I arrived at the shop, I met the ladies and some looked at me and said, "awww, you're not going to join us this evening?" (as I wore flip flops and walking shorts). When I pointed to my cruiser they looked at it and paused to think of the correct words instead of the, "are you kidding me" that most likely went through their head.  I even joked that I found it on the corner with a "Free" sign attached to it and one woman nodded her head and said, "oh, that makes sense. "

I didn't mind.  I just wanted to go along for the ride and take pictures along the way.  It was a fun ride until I couldn't see the group anymore.  Every now and then someone would fall behind so I could keep tabs on the direction we were headed.  As long as I knew the direction we were going, I was fine.  I just had my camera phone in hand the entire way to snap these photographs as I was riding along.  I had a good time seeing the back roads of Illinios and snapping pics as I passed by.

The ride ended with a welcomed snack assortment and social hour at the Bloomington Bicycle shop.  I am so glad I was able to join these wonderful ladies on their weekly ride.  If you live in the area, ride a bike (anything you have will do) and are a woman, this is a great social group to join!

I can't wait to see what else the weekend has in store in Bloomington, Illinois!

Herding Cows On A Working Ranch In Washington

I would consider myself adventurous.  My friend Kari wanted me to experience a little of what life is like on her family's ranch so I agreed to play along.  I headed out to the ranch located two hours West of Spokane outside of a small town where there aren't any stoplights or grocery stores to be found.  However, I did notice a blacksmith and a post office.

This is her way of life year round.  The cows are out to pasture at the moment, so I decided to tag along while she moved them to another pasture.  Trading horses for ATV's, we headed out to herd the cows from one stretch of land to the next.  It's a good thing she knew where we were driving and what we were doing.  There were bumps, holes, drop offs, etc in the ground that I didn't notice until I was right up against it.  The last time I sat on an ATV I was 16 and it was a three wheeler.  As I was going up a hill, I didn't distribute my weight high enough so I jumped off and the ATV went crashing down the hill.  Of course, I didn't mention this to Kari at the time.

This time, it was a smoother ride.  I learned a lot about ranching on our adventure.  I didn't know that cows will come to you when called.  At one point, we were driving along and she kept yelling, "here...cows!...hereeeeee cows!!!"  I thought that was nice that she was saying hello but in fact, they listened and a few moments later, we were in the line of a stampede.  Just as the cows got to the gate, they stopped when they saw me, unsure of what I was doing there with my camera.  I slowly tip toed out of the way and they continued on their way.

After we did this a few times, we drove around the area to explore empty barns, a cemetery and stopping to chat with a neighbor on his ATV driving by to check on an area he sprayed the day before.  Three ATV's on the same road would be considered a traffic jam in this area.  In fact, after chatting with Kari's dad for a while, he doesn't even know where the key to his house is located.  "What do I need a key for?" he said.

Life is sure different out on the ranch.  I think everyone should experience this once in a lifetime.  I am not a beef eater but I think it's a good education to see where your food comes from and the people behind the work.  I also toured a working ranch in Arizona where they branded cows in front of us.  Wasn't the most pleasant sight but it's what they do to keep Americans fed.

Thank you Kari for the tour! She will be featured in my "Women's Work" project.  To see more photographs of these women, click HERE

Welcome To Canada! (I think)

Max and I decided to head to the border to Canada to meet some online friends.  The last time I was in this country, I was 10 so I don't really remember what it was like to cross the border. I suppose when you travel to another country, you need to have a specific plan in place.  As you know, I like to wander around and make up the journey as I go and I decided at the last minute to go north to meet some nice folks I found on the internet a while back that travel in their airstream part of the time and work at a motel when they are not traveling.

Sometimes I meet people without talking to them on the phone or even through email.  I don't remember how I came across Kim and Deb's blog, but I enjoyed it and Kim made a few comments on my blog so I decided to see what their life was like in Canada.

When asked why I was coming to Canada by the border police, I said, "I'm meeting some friends I met online."  Then they asked why I was meeting them, how I knew them, where they lived, etc.  Immediately, I was flagged as suspect and sent inside the office.  While in the office, I was asked the same questions.  It's a good thing I wrote down the address moments before crossing.  Even so, that didn't seem to justify my story.  The border police wanted her phone number so I dug in my email and supplied that to her.  Once I did, she looked at me with a very serious face and tone and said, "that phone number isn't from around here."  I said, "I don't know what to tell you, that's the number."  Her suspicions deepened and consequently, I had to go out to the car, take Max out and put him in a kennel so she could search the car.  While I was kenneling Max, she called Kim to see if her story matched mine, which it did.

After she searched the car, she came to me and said, "how come you have so much stuff in there?" Well, I am traveling for months in my car and I need things to camp with but I guess I need to travel lighter.  Who knows?  In the end she let Max and I proceed into the country.

What if I didn't have a destination in mind?  I am not sure that the country wants people wandering around seeing the sights.  I am glad I was able to get through and get on our way, regardless.

Just an hour away, we met Kim and Deb at the motel they run and lucky for us, they offered their 1974 Airstream Overlander to sleep in.  This was my first time sleeping in an Airstream and I know it won't be the last.  It was so nice to meet these two.  They treated us so well with their hospitality and cooked some delicious meals!  The area is pretty incredible.  Click HERE to visit their blog.  I look forward to sharing more of the sights with you soon.

Visiting Tillamook, Driving Up The Oregon Coastline, And Witnessing A Hit And Run

There is always adventure in each day.  Max and I left Horse Camp and headed up the coast on beautiful highway 101, stopping along the way to admire some scenic overlooks.  It was a day to take a leisure drive up the coast without a plan to see where we would end up.

We drove through some charming towns along the way and decided to stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for an ice cream treat.  Well, Max stayed in the car but I enjoyed a delicious one scoop (if you can believe it) of chocolate peanut butter.

I decided to do a little people watching so I sat outside and ate it on a bench during a very windy afternoon.  As I headed back to the parking lot, I decided to sit in the car to catch up on some emails.  As I was on the computer in the car, I witnessed a person back up into another car and hit the bumper.  From where I sat, it looked like a tap and the owner of the vehicle got out to inspect the damage.  I went away on the computer figuring that everything was ok.  About twenty minutes later, I saw a few people gathered around the car looking at the damage.  After a while, a gentleman came up to me to see if I saw anything. I told him my story and what I didn't know (or see) was that she left a big dent on the side of the car.  I told him that I would help out in any way I could since I would be there for a while.

Shortly after, a police officer came to write up a report of the incident.  She came to my car to ask me a few questions and after I answered, I asked her if I could ask her a few questions and take her photograph.  To my surprise, she agreed to it!  So there I was, out in the middle of the Tillamook parking lot taking photographs of the town's female sheriff to perhaps be included in my "Women's Work" project.

It goes to show you that you never know what will happen in your day or who you will come across.  Not only was I able to get caught up on some mail in the parking lot, I was able profile the sheriff of Tillamook and let's not forget that huge scoop of ice cream!  That was enough excitement for the day so we decided to leave and continued our journey north.