RAT PACK DRIFTERS

“Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.” – Jon Krakauer

Hope everyone is having a good day!

One of my all time favorite movies is “Into the Wild” about a guy that gives it all up to venture into the Alaska outback. There are mixed opinions on what he did by throwing it all away to venture off with no experience in wilderness survival. Burning, and donating all of his money living true freedom along his travels. My opinion is that I respect what he did, but believe a little better planning should have been done on his part.

So I mentioned in my last post of some changes I’m doing this summer. Some believe it’s a little nuts, while others don’t understand my logic behind it. I’m leaving the RV behind in Texas, and will be nomading out of a canvas tent for the next few months in extremely isolated areas.

reasons for this change:

1. To test the boundaries a little further.

2. Save on fuel.

3. To see areas I can’t with a trailer.

4. To take away most technology.

5. To give myself a new challenge.

I will still be documenting places to see along the way, but will be getting into wilderness survival also. We will be looking at everything from trapping, shelter building, wild game processing, and the bait to be used. We will get into areas of making camp perimeters to keep predators away, gadgets from solar to how to live in the wilderness comfortably.

The information that will be given is good for fulltime RVers, to the people that want to learn a little on wilderness survival stills.

Those of you that made the leap to fulltime nomading understand the research that was involved before you decided to make that leap into the unknown. I felt like I started all over with living on less then the little I had. Fear is all in the mind, how you transfer that fear is what will make or break a person, and if you think about it, is the only way to make change to venture into more unknown territories.

People that know me personally know that I try to push the limits to see how far I can go. Once comfortable, I push it farther to see if I can take the next level.

I will be working at an herbal medicine farm, learning about the old ways of farming using bio dynamics which is a step above organic.

Kitty will be staying in Texas due to financial obligations, and as of right now, I will be bringing 3 dogs with me.

we will see you soon next week to our first camp area.

 

 

When I quit working iron with the Pacific NW Ironworkers #29 to venture into new territories, I never felt any less brotherhood with other Ironworkers, and still today support them, and understand how dangerous the job can be. There’s a saying “Once an Ironworkers, always an Ironworker.” There is so much truth to be had in this.

Recently there was a collision that killed 2 Ironworkers out of local #29 and local #86 from a crane collapse. Both were far to young to leave this world. Below is a link For any donations that will be going to the Ironworkers families to help for their recent loss in this accident.

“The Ironworker’s Prayer”

“Monuments built by human hands, bridges, towers, and buildings, too by men who work for me and you.

Men with strong callused hands who toil all day upon our lands.

They work in weather dark and dreary, then day is done they come home weary.

They work in hottest heat of day, and earn every bit of their weekly pay.

They work in mud, sleet and snow.

And go where no others dare to go.

They work alone and with each other

And that is why they’re called “Brother”

They climb where angels fear to tread

They never look down in fear of dread.

So don’t wait until the bye and bye

To say a prayer for the one on high

For men on whom we all rely,

Bless the Ironworker in the sky.”

 

Author “unknown”

 

Travis Corbet Local #29

Andrew Yoder Local #86

Construction trades, brother hoods, nomads or who ever is put into risky situations, Stay safe out there brothers and sisters.

 

Ironworkers Supporting Ironworkers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone, I know it’s been some time since my last post, but prefer to blog with the adventures, and not the everyday normal life of work.

It has been 8 months working at Austin Orchards working with a variety of fruits, vegetables, and farm animals outside of Austin Texas. As most of you know that have been following from day one, this is a LONG time for me of staying put for that amount of time.

Those of you that don’t know, but remember Drifter, he has passed away due to antifreeze poisoning. Before he went, he did have some beautiful puppies with one of the old chocolate labs that we had here at the farm, and ended up taking one that has more of the markings of a German shepherd… Meet Gypsy.

She has been a very good dog so far, and hope that she stays that way.

My dad came out here for a month to see what Austin Texas had to offer with a little NASCAR, Indy Car, and Moto GP racing to venturing off into some of the best BBQ that you won’t find in the Pacific NW. It was great having him here, and for him to have a better understanding of what this lifestyle is like.

For any of the Fulltime RVers that follow my page, Austin Orchards is with Harvesthost now, so if in the area, stop on by.

I am gearing up to take off for the summer back to Oregon, but will be making this trip a bit different, possibly more extreme, or some may even consider it nuts. My next post will give more details on what will be soon to come for the trip back to Oregon.

Have an awesome day, and safe travels if on the road!

When traveling Route 66, make sure you don’t blink or you may miss the state of Kansas that this Hwy travels through!

When reading about attractions to see in Kansas, most of the reviews I read was the drive is only about 14 mins. in. Yes, this state was very short, but has been my favorite so far out of the states traveled on this Hwy due solely on luck of a stop we made.

 

As We came into Kansas, we knew that we had to find a spot where souvenirs, and gifts were sold before we got into Oklahoma. (Those that travel full time I’m sure know why these places are very important).

We ended up in Baxter Springs Kansas where we found a Route 66 Travel Center, so we decided to stop to see what they had in there. Place is set up like an old gas station and is hard to miss in Baxter Springs. We ended up buying a couple items, talked to the guy working there, and got our names marked on the board. We were guided to backtrack to Galena, Kansas to see where Radiator Springs was inspired from, with the real life Cars autographed by the inspirations behind each of the main characters.

 

Meet the man we were talking to in the Route 66 visitor center. Dean Walker.

Dean Walker’s old tow truck is on the far right, followed by Tow Mator. Talk about making a lucky stop to see!

Kansas was our favorite on this Hwy so far, but there is still more Hwy to see, and attractions to visit.

Have a great Monday everyone and we will see you in Oklahoma.

 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

So before I start this blog I wanted to mention that It looks like I was wrong about the Cars characters being on Route 66. Kitty did correct me on it. The good news, is that we did come across other Cars characters a couple blocks of of the Old 66 highway that we will be talking about in our next blog.

We ended up looking for a winery to boondock for the night with Harvesthost and found this small winery called OOVVDA Winery.

The place didn’t look like much from the outside until you head in and see what they had to offer. This winery did by far have the best red wines I’ve had so far since on the road checking out the wineries.

 

Once the host got us set up where to park, we had another arrival of a couple from California that was staying overnight. The host gave us a small tour in the back where he does all of his brewing.

Our host brought us in to the tasting room, asked us what types of wines we liked, then did free sampling’s of the different ones. I will just say, that if your into red wines, birthday cake, and strawberry are ones to check out.

The owner is Norwegian, and decided to build this business up as a Viking style theme, which made it very unique from the past wineries visited in the past.

We ended up buying a couple bottles, and headed outside to relax for the rest of the day. So far, I have been very impressed with the different wineries visited so far, that all have there differences of what I’ve enjoyed about them. I will list below the address and phone number to here if your in the area and with harvest host, looking to stop by for a quick stop, or are looking to buy online (some states won’t allow for online ordering).

OOVVDA Winery
Contact: Brian Overboe or Tatum
Address: 5448 N. Berry Lane, Springfield, MO 65803
Located: 8mi N of Springfield or 3mi n of I 44 Exit 80 off Hwy H. Parking is grass/dirt/gravel
Telephone: (417) 833-4896
Website: http://www.oovvda.com
GPS Coordinates: 37.294041 -93.269418
Hours: Daily noon to dark and by appointment.
More: Large selection of grape & fruit wines, croquet & bocci.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

 

 

Hello everyone! Been busy getting set up and started work this week, but have some more blogs on the way.

Welcome to Missouri’s Route 66! Out of the states covered so far on this amazing Hwy, Missouri seemed to have the most attractions to see. Wasn’t my favorite state so far on this hwy, but was well worth the stops.

Sometimes taking a wrong turn has the perks of seeing thing that you never knew about.

while we were on our way out of St. Louis we took a wrong turn on hwy. 66 trying to get back to Waterloo, Illinois. As we were looking for a turn around, we ended up passing the Pixar movie Cars characters just hanging out in the grass. Pretty neat seeing and glad we made the stop to get some pictures.

I made a mistake thinking that the second tallest rocking chair was in Illinois, but was actually in Missouri. Definitely a stop to make on your travels.

After checking out the enormous rocking chair, we went to the Fanning Outpost General Store on the same property to see what they had to offer. If your looking for Route 66 souvenirs, they will have it at the Fanning Outpost General Store. The owner of the store said that the store was shut down for awhile, but is now under new ownership and is full operations.

Once we got to the half way marker coming into Oklahoma, we headed up north to the Ozarks to spend a couple days at (last blog was about our trip in the Ozarks). We finally got back to 66, after our trip in the Ozarks, but saw that we had to back track 34 miles to see the famous Uranus Fudge Factory. Definitely worth the back tracking. Plenty of outdoor attractions, gifts and sweets in the factory, a cafe, museum, and enough antiques to keep you amused for awhile. Do stop by if passing by.

Our next blog is a small winery that we ended up boondocking for the night almost into Oklahoma. Have a great weekend everyone and stay happy.

Welcome to the Ozarks!

I remember when the show came out on Netflix, and seeing the episode where the family had just arrived to the Ozarks standing on that cliff side, overlooking the lake that I had to add this of places to see.

Ozark Lake was everything I expected it to be, with the neat little towns that reminded me of the Pacific Northwest beaches to the odd exhibits to see along the way.

Getting out here to the Ozarks isn’t exactly a pleasant ride hauling a trailer, and be sure to fill up with fuel before you decide to make the trek into the hills. About 52 miles in hilly and sharp corner roads will have you second guessing your decision of getting out here if hauling a rig. Soon the signs start showing up of watching out for horse and buggy on the roads. Never knew the Omish community was out in Missouri! Soon we got back behind an Omish man on a buggy which wasn’t something expected on this trip, but was something worth the trip getting there.

We ended up finding a nice camp at Majestic Oaks Campground about 2 miles from Lake Ozark. With Passport America, expect to pay 17.00 per night, otherwise standard price is 34.00 a night. We decided to stay 2 nights there to beaver to spend a day touring the area to see what the lake had to offer on places to see. The camp is small with a pool, games, and hiking trails to keep you entertained on your past time when not seeing the local attractions offered in the area.

Overall, Lake of the Ozarks was a place definitely worth seeing, and would like to go back in the future sometime.

We will be covering Route 66 in Missouri for our next blog, covering major attractions we checked out along the way, a couple wineries in Missouri and Oklahoma that we boondocked at, Route 66 Kansas, Route 66 Oklahoma, and plenty more to come!

Have a great night everyone, and stay happy!

 

 

Missouri or Missoura? Depending On where your from, down to what part of the state your from is how you will pronounce it.

Welcome to St. Louis Missouri! We ended up spending a few days in Waterloo, Illinois to visit Kitty’s family members, and to knockout a bucket list item of seeing the St. Louis Arch.

One thing I’ve learned about being on the road, is that you never know what the next day will bring you.

On day 2 in Waterloo Illinois, we took off the Columbia, Missouri to attend a wedding ceremony, that you couldn’t ask of having any more of a southern charm setting. With the large tree, hay bail seats, and the tractor in the background, this was for sure a setting you could only see on T.V..

We were suppose to be hitting the road the next day to find a boondocking spot, but with more trouble with the lights, a blown 20/30 amp converter, and a generator that I’m still working on getting fixed, we had to stay another night before hitting the road again. These are some of the complications that happen when fulltiming that need to be planned for when they do happen.

If I’m the area, and love gifts and souvenirs, Ozarkland is a place worth stopping at. This gift shop is 2 stories that have everything imaginable to find.

We have a couple blogs in the works coming up for Missouri’s Route 66 and, camping in the Ozarks, and campground review of where we stayed.

Live free, have fun, and make every day as if it was your last.

 

Good morning everyone!

Route 66 in Illinois was pretty exciting to check out. We drove the new Route 66 which is Hwy 55 now cutting off a little bit out of Chicago, then cut on to the original  Route 66 for awhile until the old hwy got to beat up to take my truck on. 3 major areas that we missed was the old maple syrup company that still make maple syrup the old traditional way due to being closed for the season, the giant Paul Bunnion statue, VW Rabbit Ranch, and the was tallest rocking chair in the world. If taking the new HWY this is one area that you want to focus on every tourist attraction exit to see what they have.

 

 

 

 

 

The first stop made on the old hwy was the tallest covered wagon in the world. This was the first spot that got us on the old 66 where the roads were still in good shape. We noticed a lot of Abraham Lincoln tourist spots in this area.

 

 

 

Down the old hwy we had to flip the rig around as we went past this little town that reminded us of Radiator Springs. Very small town with some a couple antique shops, a bar, a gift shop, and a Route 66 racing shop.

 

 

 

Route 66 is a hwy that can take you a whole day to travel just 20 miles with the different attractions and bizarre exhibits that just makes you want to stop to check out. If ever in the area, take in what this piece of history has to offer. Have a great day everyone!

 

 

 

Good morning everyone!

 

Covering the state of Illinois has shown me how much the state atmosphere can change within a few hundred miles apart. Upstate Illinois seems to be city central due to Chicago and the suburbia lifestyle that takes up a good part of the northern state. As you travel farther south, the country side starts to appear as Wisconsin more with the landscape beauty’s of old barns and rolling hills. Coming into the St. Louis boarder area of Illinois, you start seeing more of the true south with the dense vegetation, southern accent, to the lifestyles of the southern living.

 

We ended up getting settled in at Waterloo, Illinois where Kitty’s cousin lives. Her cousin ended up getting us a spot at a park next door to her house where we were so lucky to get a bathroom and electric hook up right on a pond where I hear the bass fishing is good, and are always biting.

 

So this is Mr. Wilson that most on Facebook and friends at the Jellystone park remember. We decided to light him up here, and was well worth the wait. He will be missed but threw a good entertainment for the night.

My next post will be a little bit about Illinois’s Route 66 and some of the places we stopped at along the way. Have a good Monday everyone!