Yearly Archives: 2021
Happy New Year 2022
Happy 2022. Here are a few photos from ’21 that made me smile. I wish you all the best in the New Year.
Bernie
Smell the Laundromat: Two-month Roadtrip in a 1923 Model T
My wife Julia and I were driving around the campground looking for a place to park our tiny gypsy wagon trailer. We drove by a black hot rod Ford parked in a camp site, and I thought, “I’d like to meet those people.”
How We Got Here
Julia and I were on a… Continue reading
When Land Burns and Rivers Run Dry: A Rafter’s Story
My wife Julia and I walked by a large green inflatable raft sitting on a trailer under a redwood tree. A man was sitting in the boat, stowing gear. He was tan and lean with a trim beard. “Is that your little wagon?” he asked and pointed to where our tiny gypsy camper was parked. We told him it was. “I love it,” he said. The man said his name was Mark.
Fire, Drought, and Crash: Julia’s Letters From the West
“Before we hit the deer in California we hit somebody’s carburetor in Idaho.” excerpt from one of Julia’s emails to friends
Julia and I are exploring the West in our small car and homemade gypsy trailer. We went west looking for the perfect place to start our next long-distance saddle journey. We knew the West was burning up, drying out, and running out of… Continue reading
Total Vehicular Destruction in Two Acts
Act One. The Blowout
It’s after dark, I’m driving, and the caffeine jitters are kicking in. My wife Julia and I are heading across the desert in our Subaru Crosstrek, towing our tiny red gypsy wagon. We’re outside Idaho Falls, pushing through the night to get to Hailey, 130 miles away.
Me Hue Man: New Name, New Tattoo
She stepped out of the night and came over to where Julia and I were chatting around the picnic table. Our homemade gypsy wagon trailer was parked next to us. It was hard dark, and the woman’s long black hair covered her eyes.
She said, “your wagon is so cute. I’ve been thinking about building a teardrop.” A teardrop is a small trailer, often homebuilt, that has… Continue reading
BioLite Stove Review: Now We’re Cooking With Wood
My wife Julia and I have used a BioLite stove on our latest car camping trip. Who knew you could use twigs and pine cones to boil pasta and charge your phone? In this post, I review the BioLite cook stove. Read on to learn if cooking and charging your phone with a wood-fired stove might work on your next camping or road trip.
Lesbians, Furries, Kissing Men, and A New Belt in the Sandhills of Nebraska
My wife Julia and I left western North Carolina in our homemade gypsy vardo wagon and arrived four days later in the Sandhills of Nebraska, where we spent the night in a cabin owned by a rancher and his wife. They own a leather shop, and I asked her if she could make me a new belt. “Sure,” she said and told me to drop by the leather shop the next morning.
From Starved to Star
A kind soul rescued him from a herd of eighty feral horses, some of which were starved, others of which had broken legs. And yet, he survived. Read the amazing story of Magneto the Magnificent, my wife Julia’s new horse, at her blog Saddle Under the Stars.
Little Red Vardo Gypsy Wagon Road Trip
This week, my wife Julia and I hitched our little red vardo gyspy wagon to the Subaru and headed west. It’s the same wagon my mule Polly pulled across most of Newfoundland and then through Pamlico County in eastern North Carolina. It featured in the “Our State” / UNC-TV’s episode “Mule Rider” which won a regional Emmy Award for director Morgan Potts.
