MML's Travel blog

Look out for new Tire Sagas episodes coming up

To get data service on a SMG900V GS5 on Cricket here's the Access Point Name settings under Settings>More Networks>Access point names I am getting H+ service not LTE but with better transmit and receive in remote locations than with the cheap Cricket and other prepaid phones.

Today is the 7th day of the Elk hunt. While we have seen Elk, the only herd on public land was well outside of access. Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope are recurring encounters, as are all the normal birds except Blue Grouse and small furry critters like Cottontail and Squirrels.    The Elk we have seen in the mountains were staying well away from roads and trails, in other words inaccessible without pack animals. DIY hunters trying to road hunt undoubtedly play into that and that is why every legitimate guide in the state of Colorado uses pack animals, mainly Horses.    So we are trying low elevation, low hunting pressure public land near water sources and farmland. Pronghorn territory and more of a wintering ground for Elk and Mule Deer but given the dryness and high pressure in the mountains, that's what we are going with. Without knowledge or skill we are going by feelings here. Shed hunting is a side effect of being on low traffic lands

Alright, laptop bit the dust a little while ago. I can afford to but don't want to replace it, yet...  From now until late September I am busy spending a lot of time in the woods, in the pursuit of Elk on an OTC(Over The Counter) either sex tag. Not a productive use of time or fuel but it's more important than just meat,  hide and bones to do it.  Today I am in town because of van drama, turns out even though it sounds horrible that the source was the harmonic balancer breaking in half,  cheap repair that involves swearing like a sailor and crawling under the van. Needless to say I will be leaving it broken and noisy for now and maybe fixing it on one of the times I'm in town making money. Still recording video even with endless technical difficulties in the mean time I am writing this blahg to test my ability or rather patience when it comes to writing on a phone.

   I am no minister, I am not ordained and I am trying my best not to put ideas in anyones heads, just pointing out some things I find interesting. So today we look at the book of Genesis in the Christian Holy Bible.   First thing is background on what a "Golem" is. In Jewish mysticism, based around the Kabbalah or "tradition' said to be handed down from Adam. A Golem is a creature or monster cast in the shape of man. shaped from clay, mud or dust. Brought to life by the word "Truth" in Hebrew.    So let us look at Genesis 2:7 NIV And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being   Adam was nothing dust in the shape of a man until the spirit entered his body? Interesting.    A closer look in Hebrew shows Lord as Yahweh, who we know as the "Jealous God of Israel" but God reads Elohim, which is the plural of El(Power). There's also an "Et...

This was not a bad spot, though crowded with highway noise and busy tracks nearby. It was level, well vegetated and the small waterfalls were quite nice. I wouldn't suggest it for a class A or a brand new travel trailer that's never been offroad. The outhouse building was bad, door had no latch and there was no TP but it was clean enough. 42°38'05.1"N 112°00'15.7"W good service with Cricket My apologies for not "blogging" in a while. I am better at keeping up with YouTube making videos.

  Just some flat grasslands above Burnt Cabin Gulch, 2wd van access high clearance recommended, good Cricket service and a 16 day limit. Cow pond nearby. I came in on 217 and passed a dozen or so Travel Trailers and RVs but at my campsite all I saw was a group of dirtbikes and a sideXside.    Ponderosa pines, shrub oak(?could be wrong?) and aspen groves a short walk away. 40°39'55.9"N 109°25'06.0"W  

   Another peaceful campsite in Colorado. Located just down the road from some campsites listed on Campendium. 2wd van accessible without any clearance or traction issues, RVs are maybe. Not much to say other than there as a fire ring, some trash and like most of the public land is open range so there was cows, one particularly annoying bull and a couple cattleman rode past on.    Good service with Cricket 40°21'25.0"N 109°01'19.9"W

   I anted to avoid all human contact through the busy holiday weekend so I carefully mapped out a camp, a dead end road near some abandoned or capped oil wells. Nobody should be up there and I did get the full 8 days of peace and quite.    Again I go camping in the oilfield, there's many reasons I do this to myself. Starting with access, these roads, or former roads are cut to get a drilling rig in so when it's dry a 2wd van can get in, if you do see someone they aren't there to socialize they just want to do their job and go home.    Now camping in the oilfield has it's drawbacks, one is that you see firsthand the destruction to our public lands caused by oil corporations, out own citizens and the agencies that are supposed to protect the land, I digress..... 39°23'01.7"N 108°47'48.5"W Here look at some photos:  

   West pipeline Rd runs from Delta, near the airport and Devil's Thumb on BLM WSA land up the side of the Grand Mesa in the NF. It's a dirt road, many would classify as a 4x4 trail but as you can tell I made it a ways up in a Honda Civic and could have made it further.    My goal with this campsite was I wanted some peace and quiet, I knew some snow or rain would be blowing in so there should have been no traffic. That wasn't the case, people outfitted like hunters went up and down the road a few times, starting after it snowed I say "like hunters" because they took until an hour or to after sunrise to even get past my camp, no real hunter hunts that late, they beat the sun if they want to put meat in the freezer    Anyways, picture time. 38°51'18.1"N 108°06'26.5"W Late April 2017

     I was shooting some photos the other day, I checked them on my camera and saw this on a picture of an abandoned pit.    Given the lighting at the time I'm apt to say dust but you never know, neither the picture preceding or just after taking this one showed anything strange... It's important to note I never use flash.   Just a short little post from the desert where I am hiding through the holiday weekend

On the road, I spent my first night here at this truly glorious overlook off Lands End Rd. The much needed spiritual, mental, emotional and physical healing has started. 38°59'30.7"N 108°14'25.3"W Now Time for me to shut up and show you photos:

   As much as I love family I can't stand civilization, it has been over 2 weeks since Esel the Civic broke down and I can't take it, I have to flee. I pray my van will have the strength to carry my burden.    I bit the bullet on four new 235/75R15 wranglers( Affiliate link ), they are installed and the van now feels like a race car. It took almost all day to get done but brand new tires gives me good piece of mind.    Tried going to two other shops in search of used 15" tires prior to giving up the search for cheaper tires, again I was told 15"s are obsolete and that they are hard to come by. In the long run it may be necessary to move up to 16" or 17" wheels. I suspect if I am keeping this van for years(unlikely) by the time these tires wear out I ill be able to move from the puny 10 bolt 5 lug axle to a true 3/4 ton 8 lug axle with 16" wheels.

   Tires, tires, tires I am trying to resist my urge to rant about this most devastating and illogical modern convinces. As long as you are depending on these you will never be free.    I do these things to myself, I do what I know is wrong, like buying another vehicle held up by these air filled rubber/petro donuts. Alright, I just don't like tires but it is part of the vanlife, one day I will step away from these contraptions and live with much less stress.    So what's bringing this up is that the G20 van needed tires when I bought it, I didn't look too close but I thought they would be fine for a while but after a closer look they are not even close to being safe. So I spent a few days shopping for tires to find out a few things, one of those was today in 2017 fifteen inch wheels are becoming obsolete, retailers don't keep a good stock of new tires and used tires are hard to come by. Going up to 16" gives you more options but I was able to source...

   Meet my new home on wheels, A 1984 Chevrolet G20 Tra-Tech Conversion van 305CI V8 and 700R4 combo. It was destined to go to the scrap yard but I got it purring in short order, all I had to do was pull the doghouse cover and spray some starting fluid/ether down on the carb and let it sit while I ran to pick up a new Valuecraft battery from Wallyworld. After putting the new battery in and a half dozen pumps of the pedal she(he?) fired right up. some idling and revving to clear it's throat and we were on our way back to home base.    I must say the high top giving a 6'3" height inside is quite strange to me, I find myself ducking when I could stand and hitting my head when I thought I could stand. The van came outfitted with a 2 burner camp stove and a sink. I had a 20 gallon water tank and Flo-Jet waterpump from my old truck camper so I already have those set where I want them, This van is huge so I will be dragging my bicycle along in the overhead storage. I ...

                    Esel the Civic                  The logistics of abandoning it    So Esel was a Honda Civic Wagon, specifically a 1987 Real Time 4wd Civic that I had bought off Craigslist for $300. I put some sweat and a little bit of cash into fixing it up and I decided to name it "Esel" which means a burrow or donkey in quite a few languages because it would be hauling all my gear. Long story short after about a month on road I was once again leaving one of the tons I have family in here in Colorado, this time for good I thought. not more than a dozen miles out of town I get a flat, I put on the donut and turn around to go get a new tire but immediately the rear end is whining "Crap, it really doesn't like that donut." After about 4 or 5 miles the car stops dead in it's tracks like it hit a brick wall, dead...

Well I'm trying to work a deal on a Chevy van, I went to look at a different one today but it turned out to have a blown head gasket which is something I am not willing to fix. Hopefully I can get something worked out sitting here in society is killing me. Helpful hint = "milky" oil means there's coolant or water in the oil, most likely caused by a bad head gasket. As the search for a new dwelling continues I am feeling better about my choice to abandon the camperized and already set up civic as if that or any sort driveline failure had happened in BFE I would have been hiking with a puppy too young.

Trying out this blog thing..... If I like it I will start using it, as I am better at articulating some things in the form of text....