How to Pay for a Mule Wagon Journey
Think of it as a game. You’re traveling from Canada to Mexico in a mule wagon and you have to earn enough money to keep your mule in oats and your belly in, well, more oats. You’d sell books, right? If this sounds familiar, well, I thought it was a good idea too so that’s how I’m going to pay for my cross country mule wagon journey.
The book I’m selling from my wagon is “Woody and Maggie Walk Across… Continue reading
Pedal Billionaire Reverend Hans
Nothing gets the point of wealth across like being a billionaire. But who says it has to be measured in dollars? I mean really, it’s just a measure, right? Well, this week I met a billionaire – in a generally overlooked currency.
Meet Reverend Hans.
I spotted him pedaling North on US 1, outside Southern Pines, NC, and just had to pull over for a chat.
The Reverend’s rig
Southern Pines, NC
The first thing that struck me about him… Continue reading
To the Post Office by Mule
Welcome to my wagon world. It changes daily and here’s what it looked like this week.
In the photo below, we’re cruising down a Hoke Country dirt road. My front door’s open and I trust Polly to hold the course while I rummage around inside the wagon looking for an apple or a notebook or that ever-disappearing pair of worn-out gloves. My desk’s in the folded-down position and you can see my journal under the electrical panel. That dark blotch… Continue reading
Sail Around the World in an Eight-footer?
In early 2007, I plan to drive the mule-drawn “Captain Bernie’s Lost Sea Expedition” wagon from Mexico to Canada.
The Lost Sea Expedition wagon
Southern Pines, NC
Why? Because I want to explore the sea bed of a vanished ocean, the Great Interior Seaway, that covered the Great Plains 75 million years ago
Ok, I admit I’ve taken a bit of ribbing from my friends. They’re just not going for my “Well, that’s what I do for fun. What do… Continue reading
Preview Woody and Maggie Children’s Book
“Woody and Maggie Walk Across America” is a children’s book that features something unusual about each state I visited in my 12-month cross-country ride with my mule Woody and pony Maggie. I wrote half of it and Woody and Maggie handled the rest. If young readers don’t remember Arizona for the saguaro cactus, they’ll remember it for the naked green giants that can’t get their shoes back on.
Arizona: What I saw (Left) and what Woody and Maggie saw (Right)… Continue reading
How Big is Your Escape Pod?
Folks are curious about how big an “escape pod” they need – an escape pod being anything that’ll take them on their dream journey. They often ask me “How long a boat do you recommend for ocean sailing?” or “How big (or many) a horse(s) do I need to go on a long distance ride?”
The answer, these days, seems to be “REALY BIG”. The average length of a new cruising sailboat has stretched to 40-something feet, up… Continue reading
Mule(-less) Wagon Prepped for Croaker Parade – Oriental, NC
There may be no mules to pull it, but the Lost Sea Expedition wagon is set to appear in Saturday’s Croaker Festival Parade in Oriental, NC.
Keith Smith agreed to provide his Wizard lawn mower for locomotion.
Gee! (that means right in mulespeak)
For more pictures visit towndock.net.
Announcing "Captain Bernie's Mule Speed Library Tour"
As I rode Woody and Maggie across America, I wrote a series of articles for RiverEarth and various newspapers.
There was only one problem.
I couldn’t carry a computer in my saddlebag because it weighed too much.
Enter libraries. They had public computers and Internet access. But what would I do with my mounts as I filed my stories?
Bringing them inside was out. I’d tried that at Gaskill’s Hardware Store in Beaufort and when Woody wasn’t eying the peanuts,… Continue reading
Where are the Mules on MuleCam?
I hear it all the time. “If you call it MuleCam, where are the mules?”
Mules?
The answer’s simple. I don’t have any right now – well, not any I’d trust to pull my wagon.
What about Woody?
It occurred to me that since he’d had already walked across America, he’d probably make a fine wagon-pulling mule. And he jumped too. That showed flexibility.
Woody the showjumping mule
In a moment of enthusiasm, I draped an old harness on him,… Continue reading
Where's MuleCam?
MuleCam is visiting the Blue Bottle Garden in Oriental, NC this week.
Also, RiverEarth has released a two-minute clip of the “65 Days Alone at Sea” DVD (available in the RiverEarth General Store).
Here is a two minute sample.
Bernie
