Where's Dan Now?

STILL NOT SURE WHERE I AM

Look, all i know is that i left sunny southern california exactly one week ago. I remember breaking my carbon fast and walking onto an airliner thanks to the $200 voucher i had that needed to be used up. And there i was, looking down on the very road i had pedaled the week before. How could this be? Like some astronaut gliding in a silver bullet above the eroded coastline. Where was this jet powered coffin streaking off to? Were people on the ground looking up and seeing one of those long white lines in the air? Soon i fell asleep and before i could dream of a place far away, it all came bumping down and i was indeed in a place far away. It just didn't seem fair. 12 days of hard ass pedaling (need to get that electric motor), and with the flick of a voucher i had traveled the distance it would have taken 25 days to pedal. Ah the strange world of being a hobo with a viable credit card. Seems to me most hobos are out digging around just for a little food. I have plenty of that and so can concentrate on bigger things, like what to draw next and ah...finding the SECRET TO LIFE type stuff. Fun. So off the plane i stumbled, only to find the ground transportations out of order because of hella snow falls. Sleeping in the airport isn't so bad. Just find a quiet corner, use your down jacket as a pillow and rack up snore time. Beware of raucous soldiers returning from Iraq though. They're the loud ones with the cammo backpacks. Thanks for your service guys, but can't ya see the hobo trying to get a little shut down time here? The following days were also like a dream. I saw snow. And rivers. And deer. Not sure where i was, but definently had to get the old winter duds on. Now i can smell coffee. And there's people in a long line, craving the bean. Me? I'm just getting high taking deep breaths and drawing all that i see. It's a good day already and it's gonnna be a better week and a damn awesome month. So until the next time i find an electronic thought conveyor, it's see ya all later. And remember you can be FREE. All you gotta do is follow your heart to the very end. HOBO

SANTA BARBARA, A VISION OF HEAVEN

Pedaled for several days thru the Big Sur and arrived at a friend's house in San Lius Obisbo. Got to sleep up in their cozy loft and get the trike all tuned up and ready for the final push to Santa Barbara and the offices of Simple Shoes. Leaving S.L.O. the sky was perfectly clear and a light wind blew off the Pacific. After pedaling 6 hours i found myself at an old campsite on the Vandenberg Airforce Base, but signage on the fence said DO NOT ENTER, UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE IN AREA! Seeing a storm coming in and dog tired, i threw the bags under the fence and the trike over and set up camp anyway. That night i listened to my tiny AM radio squeak out Mexican stations and horrid talk shows, then to the rain, as it tapped on the tent roof all night, successfully soaking the down bag, shoes and anything else not wrapped in plastic trash bags. The next morning the storm continued so i packed up and headed into the tempest, knowing that if it got too bad i could always stay in Lompoc, down the road about 15 miles. And yes by the time i got there at noon i was a totally drowned ratskin in dire need of a hot shower and clothes dryer, not to mention a comfortable place to sit with a bag of chips to watch THE SUPER BOWL!!!! So i did something this hobo rarely does, i checked into a cheap motel, filled the tub and enjoyed the remarkable game with a quart of milk and box of Wheat Thins. As you can see it takes barely anything to entertain this vagabond, especially when soaked to the bone and freezing.
The next day it was a relatively easy 60 mile jaunt into sunny Santa Barbara, where a bike mechanic said yes i did have a totally ruined new derailer (that's why it wouldn't shift properly), and where i got to see all the old buds and catch up on the last 7 months. From here the plan is unclear. Still running down the dream....working on the mystery. May be lost for awhile.... HOBO

ZAPPING THE BIG ZAMBEEZEE

Ended up staying in that firelit cabin for an entire week as heavy rains fell. Thanks Eric. Just the short walk up town brought on concerns of possible drowning. It got so bad that at one point i had the trike all in pieces and was stuffing it in a box to send elsewhere, when....the sun came out! Of course! So i bolted it all back together, cleaned up the place, threw the camping gear and food on board and pedaled right outta there. Heading south on Hwy One, i had a full three days of sunshine and big hills to climb. The going down the other side is what makes it all worthwhile. The trike handles like a race car and sails along at about 25-30MPH. Even though the road in that section is extremely narrow i made it thru without a scrape, dodging the old ladies and big yellow trucks that emerge out of nowhere in the rear view mirrors and go blowing by fast and hard. Seems like i finally got my old hobo self back, camping in the weeds and eating sparce fixin's from the grocery stash. When nightime comes it's easy to find some little cubby hole to crawl into and dream the road away. One night, just below Hearst Castle, i heard elephant seals braying on the water side and coyotes yipping in the hills. A good quarter moon shone the night through leaving little chance of tripping over the rocky shore on forays to the bush for relief in the AM. It's been a damn long time since my solitary self has seen the light of a free day and it felt good to finally crack a smile and truly enjoy the miles as they merrily rolled under the wheels of Terra the trike. This hobo may be seeing the old road for a good long while considering the storm abrewing back home. I have a credit card. And they just sent an email saying my credit is now up to $20,000. That could go a whole long way to getting this vagabond off into the wiley unknowns of this big old world. Why would i ever go back? The magic is out here in the realm of the unknowns.....HOBO