Where's Dan Now?

HOBO LOSES HIS MARBLES

Okay! Enough! (Hands thrown in air.) After 7 months of going carless i have climbed back in beloved Little Van and driven a far ways. And the gas prices! It had been so long since i had even looked at them that i nearly fainted when pulling up to the pumps. So here's the deal. After all those months of waiting for friends to be going my way, using stinky Greyhound buses and bothering my parents for several "can you pick me up I'm stuck..." scenarios, i have decided to crank the old beast up and use it when trying to go long distances. Then one of my pedal transports will be pulled out and i will ride all around wherever i am. Then when it's time to get home to fill you readers orders, I will simply throw the bike/trike in and DRIVE back. Sheesch. Planes, Amtrak, other people? What an incredible hassle. And each time i drive it i promise to plant some trees back in the meadow. How's that? Do you think this was a good decision? My footprint's damn small to begin with so think it ought to be okay. Now i just have to figure out how I'm going to afford all the high gas prices. Mr. Van only goes about 20 miles down the old road for every gallon of gas it burns up. Maybe i will have to find a smaller more efficient rig. So far i have yet to discover anything that even comes close to the luxury of being able to throw all my crap in the mini-ist box car in the world, take off for the hinterlands, then pull over literally anywhere, climb in the back for a long snooze, wake up, wash the face in a cool stream nearby and hit the winding road again. Essentially nixing those horrid motels, which by the way do not come cheap anymore either. Well unless of course you found yourself way down in Mexico.....hmmmmmm, Mexico, nope can't go there right now. Need to be getting out to Michigan soon to design that new Wiz Wheelz trike. Keep sending those cards and letters folks. Chronicle #64 should be hitting the streets sometime in May. HOBO

NEVER TRAIN HOP WITHOUT A WARM SLEEPING BAG

I know. It's been awhile. Still getting through the troubles back home and decided to bomb out of there for a week to clear the air. Caught a freight train out of LaGrande headed south, hoping to get on down to some warmer weather. There is still six inches of snow in the meadow. You'll have to read Moonlight Chronicles 64 to get all the details but just so you know, never count on a destination when riding the rails. In Pocatello Idaho the train took a turn eastwards in the middle of the night and started bombing though super cold high elevation country (7000ft), into Wyoming at about 50 mph. Soon i had all my clothes on, hats, gloves and was even wrapped up in my  15 year old down bag sitting on the little camp pad, and still was getting alarmingly chilled to the bones. Talk about getting your attention! I just talked my way though it and in the morning started checking out automobile license plates, realizing i was'nt seeing Ogden, Utah anywhere. That's how it goes when you ride. You never really know where you might end up. Which can be an interesting way to travel if you have some time on your hands. So now i am in the Rock Springs library and have purchased a bus ticket home. Damn. Just too cold for rail hopping right now. Sure makes me want to do a trip for several weeks and see where it might go. Promise i will do that soon. Will be a great story. In the meantime remember. Like the Boy Scouts, always be prepared. Could have been the end of this old hobo I'm tellin ya. You see, when the train gets going that fast, there's no way you can get off it no matter what. You are sort of stuck with dealing with whatever is happening as it comes at you.   HOBO