"The Oasis of my Soul"... A Lifelong Journey on the road...

[Beemerchef]

It was an anticipated day to see Meathead, (Mark), can you understand his handle through some of the pictures?... swing by here, Fort Davis, TX, and join me for dinner...
I have posted the pictures and the short stay on my Blog...

Enjoy and be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Clint]

Yours continues to be one of the only motorcycling blogs worth reading. Thank you.

[Beemerchef]

That is very kind of you... it makes me think about what I am doing!
I have throughout my life read many ride reports... many worthwhile from abroad... they are at least 200 riders at any given time circling the Globe and the stories are very exciting... at 59 I cannot go there anymore or even have the desire to watch over my shoulder again and unfortunately I never wrote about my past travels or for that matter 28 years living on sailboats... also having Spirit with me would really complicate border crossngs... Mexico and Canada are going to be tough enough regardless what anyone says... The fact also is how many readers are ever going to have the chance to circle the Globe?
I feel good writing about what is right here under our nose in our beautiful country...
I was amazed with the messages that I received as to how many riders are going to Big Bend because of my Blog! That is the purpose...
And yet so much is coming up... Southern California alone has so much to offer... starting the 14th of this month.
As I also browse through many threads on different Forums... I can see which threads are the most popular... I think I have written this before...
I maintain a "G" rated Blog... I would be much more popular... it is a fact proven with numbers... I am not being judgemental here... as they say... whatever turns you on... if I included sexual contents or images... profanities... alcohool consumption related stories... and I also stay off religious and political contents... There is no effort in me to follow this path... this about traveling... a life on the road... trying to every day grow into a better human being... and maybe showing a path to some that would like to follow my footstep but have not found the way... yet! It is very doable by many... and sometime I will write about that too!!! I am not trying to be popular... there just is so much that we have ridden by without stopping and looking... now is that time for me to do it leisurly!
In the meantime... it is cold... but the sun is out... and I will take this day with also a smile as I do them all...
Thanks for taking the time to write...

Be well...

Ara &... Spirit too!!!

[Beemerchef]

Hard to believe that one week and more has already gone by in this New Year... time is starting to speed up as I look at maps, there is no plans or directions, the weather will be my guide mostly as I have to move on to warmer climates, mainly for Spirit. With even two coats on, the poor guy is cold, he does not want to go out and I am not feeling comfortable with his lethargic days... we both need our exercise... him as much as me!

We did not ride yesterday... spend it mostly at Jerry’s and Nalda’s Bookstore... it amazes me for a town this small how many interesting people there are... so many conversations!

There are always pictures from the past that do not make it on the Blog... with Cagiva 549's permission I have posted some of the recent past ones...

Hope you enjoy...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

Don’t you be thinking now...
On my way back from Balmorhea Hot Springs, a few miles into the ride, a black truck with blue and red was flashing... I could not see very well beyond it, looked like a couple bikes had kissed the grass...
Not so...
They were shooting a commercial! I stop... U turn... going the wrong way... the local Sheriff is not very happy, but the guys are... a sidecar with a dog? compared to the usual two wheel stuff they have been working on. Any chance to be in it?... I ask... sorry... wrong brand!
Oh well... maybe better luck next time...
The rest of the riding was great... it is all the Blog.

My last day in Texas... you have been good to me... I leave with some new friends and some incredible memories... and I will be back! There is no doubt about it...

Be well...

Ara and Spirit

[Beemerchef]

You know the drill if you have ever taken a Freeway, in transit as I call it... and most, unfortunately, because of lack of time, somehow wondering why my time has been lacking now suddenly... needing to get from point A to point B as I am doing!
It finally was a good decision to take Hwy #10... as you might read it in the Blog...

Till then... you all be well... were going...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

It rained all night, we, I say we!... slept late... kept raining and there was not much sense going to Tucson trying to find another place to camp... 80 miles away, I thought, leave early tomorrow morning and have a do nothing day!
Well, the skies cleared up, and actually for the first time I cannot write it all in one Blog!
So this is part one of what end up being a full day...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

A quick overnight in Gila Bend, AZ, and here we are now in Anza Borrego, California! I will spell it for the first time...
A day, or was it two days ago?... returning from the Chiricahuas the sunset was magical... as so was the ride up, all in the Blog.
Feeling always like a kid in a candy store... that is me today... new maps, new roads with the knowledge that I will be here, in this area anyhow, till it starts warming up a bit...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

Leave some space I always think... with a load like mine the braking effect is just not the same... specially when second in line to a minor fender bender... What was really funny and I wish I had a picture of it, but we had to move along as this happened... We had to wait a while for the accident to be moved. A cop arrives coming the other way... parks and crosses the median by foot...
They are making some space for us to move along... as we leave... he sprints back to his car as I almost run over him, I look... and the brushes under his car are on fire!!! flames are shooting 3 to 4 feet by the time he reaches the other side... myself wondering what he is going to do... he jumps in the car, gutsy move... and drives it forward! Gets his extinguisher and puts the fire out... his car was not burning... yet! Wonder... wonder... I bet he will never throw that cigarette again down when getting out of his car!!!
It was down to 19 degrees last night!... I will not complain, I know I am at about the most southern point there could be and everyone else has to be colder. So you will not hear about it... anymore! Instead I will write my day in the Blog, my first day in this unusual State Park...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

I have not been able to settle since I have been here, unlike other places that I have been, I have dug deeper and deeper and very slowly some mental answers are, vaguely I have to say, taking some various shapes. I watched a short movie this morning at the Visitor Center about the Marshall Family that lived here on Ghost Mountain for 15 years... hiking for 14 miles they brought wood piece by piece to built their home... their water came from miles away 12 gallons at the time... They had 3 children and they end up with a divorce in later years. Can we change so much, from one extreme to another? I miss the simpler years... of course I can go back to them as right now nothing prevails but truly the matters of the mind... ABDSP is an enigma to me as I wonder why it has brought up all these questions in my mind? Is it because it is so vast?... so much land with the freedom to live on it anywhere one likes?... the invitation sure is there... I will probably take it after my stay here in the Park... that is what I have been longing for...
I got to ride some of those areas today... much land... and much sand!

The Blog.

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

We had a blast today! Literally... my best day since in ABDSP... and, as someone mentioned it, the Southern part of the Park is it for me! No doubt... I am finding out slowly what attracts me to the land... Vast open spaces, the solitude and the lack of a crowd, unlike Borrego Springs itself.
Having commitments from the 26th of this month to be in Death Valley and Mojave Desert and backtrack to Gila Bend for a couple days, I know... thanks for the support, it is a tough schedule... I decided to come back here afterward but camp in the Southern part which you will read a bit of it in today’s Blog.

You be well...

Ara and a tired Spirit... snoring as we speak!!!

[Beemerchef]

Busy, busy!... maybe I will take a vacation and “do nothing” someday, and then again, that is just not me!
From meeting locals in Borrego Springs to picking my next campsite in the wilderness... finally... and getting stuck one more time... it is all in the Blog with of course, more pictures!

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

Out of Borrego Springs this am... into the camping spot I was checking out yesterday... time to put everything to test... and even managed to take a little ride toward Salton Sea... A beautiful HOT day, not a good one for pictures as the haze was real thick, still managed to save some for your viewing on the Blog...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

Heavy winds, deep sand... a couple more days and I will be out of here. Thursday, assuming it is Tuesday today... I will spend the day in Julian, nice black top going up and heard that it is a very cool town...
In the meantime I checked out Ocotillo Wells, Salton Sea, dinner with new friends...
All in the Blog.

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

Even Spirit is getting excited about sunsets, I think!... Or is it because we had company for dinner... This place is starting to feel more and more like home... have to be careful not to get too attached to the land!...

My Blog has been going through some growing pains!... It is called Bandwidth... At first I had to switch, if you remember to texting on SmugMug, then learn a different way to post... and now...
finally my own Website is all ready to go!

For the first time you will be redirected on it... a little cleaner... same everything as they say...
much more Bandwidth!

... and still a Blog! The Oasis Of My Soul

Thank you... be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

Much thought has gone into writing and publishing what follows.
No ride report today... No pictures of Spirit playing or sunrise or sunset.
I did seek advice, not wanting to be out of context, I hope the moderators will understand. This is a Lifelong Journey on the Road that I have embraced and write about, and as some very good friends of mine wrote to me... “you have been an open book, we all have within ourselves many layers of us, he is part of your Journey, part of your everyday life, there is nothing wrong by dedicating this day’s writing to Lance...”.
I also know that he will like it, he will be thrilled for all of you to get to know him a bit... because he also was my friend, my buddy... and would have been yours also.

Sincerely, “Thank You” for reading today’s Blog...

Ara

[Time4me2ride]

Thank you for a beautiful post and blog entry. It is hard to put words to the feelings that remain after burying a loved one, especially outside of the expected generational order. It is a part of the journey for many of us, but it is a difficult path.

time4me2ride

[Beemerchef]

I wanted to show you before I left where all this was being written from!... a few “regulars” are also around, about one mile apart... We visit each other once in a while! I did not realize till today that I have been here exactly 2 weeks!... A couple more great rides today and we are packing to take off, headed North to Mojave Preserve...
Mostly BLM lands... there will be much to see, ride on hard packed roads... I hope!
You be well... and many “thanks” for all your support which I received yesterday...
Your company is most appreciated...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

On to Mojave Preserve, CA.

I have to say, I think, still a bit unclear... as that person could not speak up in a forward manner... that my sunsets were...?... or?

“Quote”
Hi Ara,
Author Terry Pratchett writes of the Discworld where magic works
and Twoflower (Discworld's first tourist) is pointing his camera at yet
another sunset when the hatch on the camera top opens and a
paintbrush-wielding Imp sticks his head out to yell:-
"Enough with the sunsets! I'm running out of vermilion! "
Fred Hill, S'toon.


Maybe TV reruns would be more suitable?... I am so confused...
Sunsets... sunrises... moonsets (is there such a word?...)... moonrises... yes? are a spiritual time which culminates a day’s time period... a ritual... a “bravo”... none, I repeat none... unlike TV reruns, are alike...
So here is another one!...

Culture shock today... sensory perceptions overloaded... I-10 Southern California, should I say more... find out!

Tomorrow, back in the wilderness...

Be well...

Ara & Spirit

[Beemerchef]

I am speechless having arrived at the Mitchell Caverns! It is like the thoughts in my mind are going 100 miles per hour, overloaded... and I am thinking... how am I going to ever describe this!
Earlier I explored some of the BLM lands, the trails... the hard packed trails!... with a big smile...
This is where I could use an Internet Dish!... Some connection, but very weak... I will have to ride 50 to 60 miles and spend a few hours sending out all this... will be well worth the wait!
I already know that this is where I will spend many weeks... at least a few!
Again, the pictures are not going to do justice... this is above anything I have ever seen and experienced!... wish you could all be here... I would have loved to see the expression on your faces!
Enjoy...

Ara & Spirit