THE PLAN

"Planning is good, but plans are worthless" General Omar Bradley

But plan we must...

The reality of our retirement seems to be so far away yet the day rushes upon us with an inexorable certainty.

My absolute last day on the job as a fire captain/paramedic after 40 years in "the business" is 31 October, 2017. Kristie, who has worked in EMS since 1978, has drawn her line in the sand at 15 June, 2015. These jobs that have been not just what we do but also such a part of who we are will soon be but a long chapter in the.

Life on The Hook

Since the day in 1972 that I first stepped foot on a sailboat I have known that I would one day drop my anchor in the lee of a tropical isle and live the idyll of the of the cruising lifestyle. My bride of the past 18 years grew up as a "water girl" in Page Arizona with the brand new Lake Powell as her playground. She has has seen that the move to a sailboat is nothing less than the inevitable fait accompli of the not so distant future. She too has been bitten by wanderlust and the desire to sail away from the dock and point the bow toward the equator.


Our first "adventure date" in 1993 involved a week long learn-and-cruise in the San Juan Islands. I figured that would give me a pretty good idea if this was going to be a workable plan or not. We attained our bareboat charter and coastal navigation tickets and felt the pull of the sea. A year later we made our first run to the BVIs for a 10 day bareboat charter and have returned as often as we could to answer the island call. Our latest BVI excursion in 2012 gave us the opportunity to bring our two daughters and several friends along for 14 days of sailing, beach combing, snorkling and some good old fashioned screwing off. That's a lifestyle I can endorse whole heartedly.

My sister works in the travel industry and specializes in cruise ship vacations. She has tried and tried to get me to book a trip on one of these floating behemouths but I have no desire to ever set sail on one (not even if they were to let me drive the damn thing). No, not for us.

The Land Dinghy

The Land Yacht

We will have some time to prepare for a life lived on the hook (45 months from this posting) but Tempis Fugit and all that.

The intervening years will see us cruising on the road in our Outlaw RV (the Land Yacht) and on my Harley (Land Dinghy) but the search for our ocean steed is ongoing and the planning has commenced.

BE IT RESOLVED

Getting a head start on my New Years Resolution ~ Operation: DE-CLUTTER... Every week SOMETHING is leaving this house. Whether we give it to our kids, sell it on Craigslist, give it to Goodwill or take it to the dump this stuff will not fit in our intended downsized lifestyle so it has GOT TO GO!

Todays purging includes: 

• 2 pairs of size 15 boots (going to Lee Gilliland)
• 1 old office chair (Goodwill)
• 1 old CRT monitor (Goodwill)
• 1 VERY LARGE box of old shredded documents (Not pictured).
• 2 boxes of fire department/IAFF, Haz Mat, EMT and Paramedic related training materials   

(If I ever crack another medical textbook somebody please hit me in the head with a hammer)

Blue Skies and Warm Days in Seattle

The run to the West got us in to the Seattle area on August 7th for a visit with our daughter, Kasey, who took the week off to hang out with her mom and I. The initial challenge was what do do with Mondo the Magic Bus while we stayed for a couple of nights at Kasey's house. It all worked out as I was able to squeeze our 37' Class A motorhome into the space on the road in front of her house.

It was a bit of a rush the morning we got there because we went to a Mariners v. Blue Jays baseball game with a noon start on the day of our arrival. Before the game we met some of Kasey's friends (Jami, Mirka and Bryant) at Pyramid Brewing Company (across the street from the ballbpark) and missed the first 1-1/2 innings because the beer was so very good and also MUCH less expensive than inside the park.

We had a great time at the game, although I am a National League guy and it's interesting to watch a game where you really don't give a hairy rats rear end who wins, but we cheered for the home team and in the end the Mariners prevailed (Mariners 9 / Blue Jays 7).

Our post game celebration took us to FX McRory's Oyster Bar and Chop House. Great beer selection and one of the worlds largest collection of premium liquor.

We had a fantastic plate of oysters and a few (ok several) tasty beverages to finish off our day in the City.

Our plan for the next day again took us in to downtown Seattle for a visit to the Pike Place Market and a mandatory lunch (according to Kristie) at Pike Place Chowder where we had our bowls of chowder and a crab sandwich. Pretty freakin' yummy.

We could have spent all day roaming through the market but our RN daughter really hadn't slept more than a couple of hours over the past three days so we headed for her house so she could get some much needed rest. It was really very nice to get the afternoon to just relax with no place to go and nothing to do.

On Friday we were rolling out in full on "crack of noon club" fashion for our planned trip across to Port Orchard for four days at the Manchester State Park campground. We hit the grocery store and then loaded up the gear, the dogs, the bicycles for the four day excursion. I took Mondo and the dogs on the land route down to Tacoma and then back up to Port Orchard while Kristie and Kasey took the ferry across the sound. I was able to get to the campground and set things up sit down and quaff down an ice cold PBR before the girls arrived.

Manchester State Park is set in a deeply wooded area that in a past life was an artillery harbor defense site during WWII but is now a great place to get away from the big city without really ever leaving the big city.

Giant evergreens, ferns and moss covering everything.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, as did every day while we were in the Northwest, and I was up early for a solo motorcycle run to Poulsbo, WA to the check out the Northwest Cruisers Festival that was running for the weekend. I had intended to run up and check things out and then come back and get Kristie and Kasey to bring them back for the afternoons festivities. (music, sailboats, pirates and all that stuff) but as is my norm, I

always try to cram too many things in to

too little time and after I made the run up to Poulsbo (a beautiful town by the way) I made the decision that, while the festival was way kewl the 70 mile round trip would be a bit more than my lovely bride was gonna be up for so we'll save that part of our life journey for another day.

While I was in Poulsbo I did get to meet Bob Bitchin (Lipkin) and his wife Jodi. They are the publishers of Cruising Outpost Magazine which was resurected after the untimely demise of their original sailing magazine Latitudes and Atttitudes. Bob and his magazines have given me more than a little inspiration for my life dream of living and cruising aboard a sailboat, but that is a blog for another day.

Bison and Elk and BEARS Oh My!

Day 15, 16, 17 and 18 ~ When we rolled in to Yellowstone for a three day stint in America's first National Park I wasn't sure how my lovely bride was going to like my plan of touring the park on my Harley. "What if we run in to a buffalo? Or a Bear?" Well we got to see both and several Roosevelt Elk as well. As it turned out the rides were spectacular!



The Grizzly Bear was off in the distance in a meadow pretty much intent on getting from point a. to point b. but the Bison was right up close and personal. More than a little intimidating. He actually almost T-Boned a red Hundayi that was right in front of us heading the opposite direction from the Upper Yellowstone Falls.

While we saw several Bison the funniest thing we saw was as we were leaving the park via the West Entrance and came upon the usual traffic jam caused by a wildlife sighting (in this case a cow elk) and then we drove past a 4+ mile long bumper to parking lot of people that were just driving into the park. It was gonna take a couple of hours to clear the mess caused by the folks that were just parking their cars in to road and hopping out to snap some photos of what I pretty much think of as roasts and hamburger on the hoof.

The two days of riding through the park were not nearly enough. We stopped at many of the usual spots but for Kristie, as it was her first trip to Yellowstone, it was all very new and exciting although she didn't really much care for the stinky sulfer hot springs and she especially didn't care much for the hords of tourists.

We were able to find a quiet little picnic spot that we had all to ourselves for about 15 minutes and then the Clark W. Griswalds rolled in and unloaded two suburbans full of whiney little kids and sullen teenagers who decided that this little slice of heaven was the perfect spot to tell their parents just how much their lives sucked.

THAR SHE BLOWS!

                         

What, Me Worry?

Who knew when we started out on our month long road trip that the number one worry every day would turn out to be whether or not the dogs had pooped yet today?

The first three days out Helen, our female Boston Terrorist was adjusting to life on the road and had Kristie worried about bowel obstructions. Oliver, the male, seemed to have no problem getting his poop on but he was definitely on his own schedule.

It was a big celebration when Helen finally cut loose. She couldn't quite figure out what all the whooping and fist bumping was all about as Krisite and I rejoiced after this important event.

Here we are at the two week point and we are still not quite on a schedule. As we roll down the highway we have all the comforts of home in the Mondo Magic Bus but we still have to make the regular stops to walk the dogs in hopes that they not only pee (which they are very good about) but that they have their once a day BM that will let Kristie rest a little easier.

For the most part the pups spend the day either sleeping or sitting on the dash of the Magic Bus watching the scenery roll by. We made the mistake once of not paying attention to Helen as she practically screamed at us to pull over so she hopped up on the dash and pissed on the blanket we had laid out for them. I guess she showed us. 

All it takes is the slightest bit of agitation or even just a sideways glance from our canine road warriors and I get the regular refrain of, "Dave, pull over! I think he/she needs to poop!" Unfortunately the pups are not so regular, but we pull over at the nearest convenient spot and walk the dogs. Hoping that the time is upon us...

...please oh please won't you just take a dump so we can get this show back on he road.

54 Trips Around the Sun

Starting out on any endeavor can prove to have a hiccup or two, so goes my foray into the realm of the blogger. So much to do and so little time. My intended daily journal of our 2013 road trip has been, shall we say sporadic at best. Time to catch things up...

Day 7, 8, 9, 10 ~ We rolled in to Morgantown West VA to attend the IAFF Motorcycle Group National Rally which was held in conjunction with the Mountainfest Motorcycle and Music extravaganza. We hold our rally in different locations each year and firefighters from across the U.S. and Canadia come together for a few days of riding, camaraderie, and all around good times. This years rally was dedicated to the memory of Brother Jim Judd who died while riding home from last years rally in Butte Montana.

We had a scare on the first day of our rally when Dave Dobbs had a bit of a mishap that put his bike in the Triple S Harley Davidson shop for some mostly "cosmetic" repairs after Dave had to put his big red baby down hard on the street. Dave also had some "cosmetic" damage done to his person. Mostly road rash but I'm pretty sure I could see the bone in his pinky finger. Dave's "cosmetic" damage won't be quite so easy to repair, that's just the way he looks.

During the rally we took a really cool day ride through the hill country of West VA and also lead the Parade of Motorcycles through downtown Morgantown as the Grand Marshals.

Who doesn't LOVE a parade?

The Mountainfest had all the usual rally things, vendors with all sorts of stuff that you just can't live without, music including Fog Hat, Three Dog Night and Joan Jett, food and scantily clad girls that are the same age as my youngest daughter (put in that context it kinda puts you off but at least they weren't MY daughter) serving ice cold beer... ya know, rally stuff.

All too soon the rally ended and we made the good byes and wished each other safe journeys as we headed back to our respective parts of the continent.

Day 11 ~ Drove 600ish miles through CORN COUNTRY. We saw lots and lots of corn (Ohio, Indiana to Urbana Illinois). Spent the night in a Walmart parking lot.

Day 12 ~ Drove another 600ish miles through CORN COUNTRY. We again saw lots and lots of corn as w ran through Illinois and Iowa before we pulled in to the KOA in Sioux Falls South Dakota.

Day 13 ~ Nice day running across the prairie of South Dakota with a stop at Wall Drug. If you ever find yourself running across I-90 this place is not to be missed. You won't forget because the signs for Wall Drug start popping up on the roadside about 600 miles away.

Other than some over long days on the road through corn country the road trip has been "pretty good alright" with the exception of trying to get the dogs on some sort of schedule with their need for a potty break. We think that when they start farting (Ollie mostly) that the movement is imminent so we pull over and go for a walk-about. More often than not nothing occurs. so off we go again wondering if he's just gonna let loose while on the road.

We made it in to Deadwood for the night. Kristie has declared that she thinks Deadwood is pretty OK.

Day 14 ~ I woke today in Deadwood South Dakota on my 54th birthday WAY TOO EARLY due in large part to all my early rising friends that posted up their Facebook shoutouts wishing me a happy day. I really can't complain since I have become one of those old guys that is up with the sun most every day anyway. Today, just BEFORE sunrise, as I lay in my snug little sleeping loft in Mondo the Magic Bus (our RV) my phone alerted that I had a new message and then another, and another andanotherandanotherandanotherandanother...

Now, my phone usually doesn't go into a manic message mode unless there is a major fire or other incident at the FFD that requires an all hands response to duty. My first thought was that I was missing some good action back home. After about the 20th little whistle that alerts me that I have an incoming text I got out of bed and went downstairs to check my phone. Pretty awesome to have so many people from all across the country wishing me a happy birthday. Thanks all. I also got to talk to my mom and my sister, Liz who called to express their birthday wishes as well.

We are making the run from Deadwood SD to Cody WY where we will spend the night in a post up position for our four day visit to Yellowstone.

Day 15 ~ We took highway 16 (Sweet 16) over the Big Horn Mountains through some pretty spetacular scenary. The gal at the RV park in Cody where we were headed for the night was very concerned that we were going to attempt the drive from Deadwood to Cody in a single day. I'm not sure what she was worried about. Yeah there were some pretty steep climbs and downgrades but Mondo handled things just fine.

Birthday dinner for me in Cody and topped off with a chocolate dipped cone at Dairy Queen as my birthday dessert celebration.

Storms, Low Hanging Branches and McGuyver to the Rescue

Day 4 ~ Part Duex

Rolled in to Sevierville TN right at dusk to visit with Chad and Peri and their 27 dogs (really it's ONLY 10).

They have recently loaded up all their stuff and moved from Flagstaff to Tennessee. They found what may be the most perfect-little-house-in-the-state-that-could-also-run-a-moonshine-still-and never-get-caught. They have not one but two creeks running through their property which is tucked waywaywayway back in the woods up the hollow (holler for all you southerners).

We got the grand tour and Kristie got to see her first ever lightning bugs and then it was time for a great little dinner with grilled kabobs and corn on the cob.

Day 5 ~ No rush morning. Visited with Peri while Chad got to work. He is still with Flagstaff Medical Center and working remotely from his home office as is Peri as well.

Once we got on the road the day was going along great as we drove through the hills of West Virginia. The heavens opened up and we had some torrential rains come down for awhile but by mid afternoon things were clearing up.

We had a plan to make a short day of it and layover for a day in whichever campground that Miss Kristie found for us. The choice of the day was (and I'm not making this up) Cooter's Cabins and Campin'. Kristie had called them and the guy (Cooter?) had assured her that our oversized rig would fit just fine. This turned out to be a HUGE mistake resulting in a few things:

1) Instead of staying two days at Cooter's Cabins and Campin' we got to spend an unplanned night in the parking lot of the Fayetteville WV Wal Mart where...

2) Due to the low hanging branches on the road in to Cooter's Cabins and Campin' we took out the roof top vent for my refrigerator and two other vent covers leaving large openings in the roof of the Magic Bus (as Kristie calls our RV) so...

3) I got to show off my unbelievable awesome McGuyver skills as I had to do some serious makeshift repairs to get things water tight again due to the threat of heavy rain overnight (whicg proved to be an accurate forecast). I went through plans A, B and C but by the time I got to plan D the resulting repair job was nothing short of spectacular. A word to the wise that I adhere to religiously.

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVEREVEREVER GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT GORILLA TAPE IN YOUR REPAIR KIT!

Day 6 ~ it rained all night but things looked to be nice and dry in the areas of damage so continuing with the results of our ill fated foray in to Cooter's Cabins and Campin'...

4) We got to spend the first few hours of DAY 6 at American Campers, a great little RV sales and repair shop in Bradley WV where Frank and Gary took great care of us and made the permanent repairs to the Magic Bus getting us back on the road by noon. I'm pretty sure my truly mindblowingly fantastic repair job would have lasted for the entirity of our remaining 25 days on the road but for the sake of Kristie's peace of mind we left a couple of hundred fun tickets in the care of Frank an Gary and they sent us out as good as new.

We then rolled up the highway a little way (36 miles) to pull in for the day/night at the Mountain Lake Campground at Summersville WV. This is a beautiful spot and we knew we would regret that we were only here for one night.

Of course it would too much to ask that there wasn't a little bit of drama so as I pulled in to our assigned spot I had to find that little boggy area on the side of the road and procede to get the Magic Bus just a little stuck. Nothing bad but it took my heavy duty tow strap and an assist from the park owner in his pick up truck to get me UN-stuck and settled in for the day.

Now it was time to unwind a little. Lunch, beer, nap, take a walk, meet the neighbors, dinner, take a walk, beer, settle down for a good night sleep, listen to the rain come down... zzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzz...

Rolling East ~ Day 1 through 4

Day 1 - Didn't roll out of Flagstaff until well after noon. I had wanted to get as far as Tucumcari NM but it was just getting too late.

We spent the night in the P-lot of the Route 66 Casino west of the ABQ.

Day 2 - was a LONG day on the road. We ran from ABQ NM to Shawnee OK. Started with a great breakfast at Wecks on Coors but then is was a long day on the road.

My lovely bride was maybe a little "testy" by the end of the day as we pulled up at the free RV Parking at the Fire Lake Grand Casino in Shawnee OK.

Day 3 - Off at the Crack of Noon. Today was Kristie Day... All decisions about where to stop for the day were hers. She discovered the Allstays app that lets her look up pretty much every campground along the route. She now has the job of finding our overnight stops. I think this will work out fine.

Day 4 dawns as we get ready to roll from just outside of Memphis, TN.

We had a crazy storm here last night with rain, hail, lightning... sounds kinda like what was going on in Flagstaff last night. Also it is NOT a DRY heat here in Forest City Arkansas!

Kristie Koontz Manning has encountered some southern wildlife. Toads, Texas speed bumps (read several dead armadillos on the side of the road), mosquitoes, and last night... AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!! A TICK!

I am pretty sure we won't be moving to the south any time soon.

On the road early (after a thorough check for TICKS) to go visit our friends Chad and Peri in Sevierville TN.

Crying in the Produce Aisle... It Must be the Onions

On July 4th, I was on duty for the first half of our usual 48 tour. We work 48 hours on and then have 96 hours off.

My crew and I had gone to the grocery store to shop for the food we would eat over those two days (lunch, dinner, breakfast, lunch and dinner). During our time in the store we were approached several times by other shoppers who wanted to express their condolences to us regarding the loss of our brother firefighters in Yarnell. I am always humbled when I have someone come up to me and thank us for our service to the community. In my mind I am just doing my job, but with the recent tragedy I was feeling just a bit more pride in what my fellow firefighters and I do for the citizens we are sworn to serve.

On this day we also had two older women that seemed to be shopping on the same aisles as us as we went through the store. At one point they approached me and, as had happened a number of times that day, and said "Captain, my sister and I really want you to know how much it means to us that we have brave young men such as you there to protect us". I thanked her and her sister and told them it was our privilege to serve them. The woman started to cry and said "We really want to do something to help the families of those boys that died".

There was nothing else I could do but stand there in the produce aisle and hug this complete stranger as she cried on my shoulder for several minutes while other shoppers just stopped and watched the scene.

After a time she apologized and said she just felt so overwhelmed by grief over what had happened and that she felt especially bad about the families of the fallen firefighters. I told her I understood and that we appreciated her support. I was also able to tell her that there are a number of charities that will help in these situations so I told her about the 100 Club, an organization that is set up to assist the families when a firefighter or police officer dies in the line of duty. (www.100club.org)

She again thanked us for what we do and my crew and I went on about our shopping.

As we went up to the check out counter the tones went off on my radio for a motor vehicle accident just down the street. We pushed our cart over to the customer service desk and jogged out to our truck to respond. This particular Fry's grocery store is very close to our fire station and all of the crews (3 shifts) do their shopping here. The store personnel have become accustomed to our sudden departures and will push our cart into the walk in cooler to keep our food fresh until we return after completing our emergency run.

We went to the call, which turned out to be a minor "fender bender" and then returned to the store about 30 minutes later. The store manager saw us coming in the front door and called for a clerk to bring out our shopping cart.

The groceries had been bagged and there was a note taped to a receipt on the bags. It was from the women that had stopped me in the store.

The note said: "Thank you firemen for all that you do."

They had paid for our groceries ($65).

The manager then handed me an envelope. In it was a $100 bill. The manager told us that the women had insited on paying for our food and told him to give us the $100. They told him "Those boys will get the money to where it needs to go."

The store manager then handed me another envelope containing another $120. He told us that several other other shoppers had given him the cash when they saw the two women explaining to the store manager that they wanted to pay for our groceries their donation with him.as well. 

Now I am a big, strong, tough guy but I suddenly was having a difficult time seeing. I must have had somthing in my eyes because they were watering like crazy.

I have been a firefighter for over 35 years and as a part of my job I have dealt with alot of tragedy and pain. As I like to think of it, we show up to help when you are having a very bad day. The danger personal risk is always there. It is a part of the job, but it is never easy when things go bad.

On 9-11-01 I lost 343 brother and sister firefighters. Just last month I attended the funeral of a young (23 years old) Phoenix Firefighter who was killed in the line of duty and on Tuesday I will attend the memorial in Prescott. Since that day in Yarnell there have been at least two firefighters (that I know of) that have died in the line of duty.

All in all I have developed a pretty tough hide but when I drop this envelope of donated money into the 100 Club collection box that will be set up at the memorial I will likely have tears in my eyes and will be thinking of the sacrifice that was made, the families they've left behind and the woman that cried on my shoulder in the produce aisle.

 

 

Sad Day in the Firefighter Community

July 1st. 2013

 

It is a very sad day here in Arizona and in my community of firefighter brothers and sisters.

You have probably all heard the news stories about the 19 young firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hot Shots that lost their lives on June 30th, 2013 while fighting the Yarnell Hill fire in south of Prescott Arizona.


Granite Mountain Hot Shots - Rest in Peace
God Speed Brothers ~ We'll take it from here.

Please keep the families, friends and loved ones of these young men, boys really, in your thoughts and prayers.

I have been a firefighter my entire adult life and started out working as a Hot Shot on my 18th birthday. 35 years later I am still on the job and my heart is breaking for the thought of these young lives that have been so tragically snuffed out. I knew several of these lost souls and their families personaly.

Also keep all the families that have lost their homes and all of their possessions during this tragic incident. My sister-in-law and her husband were amoung those who have lost everything.

Please support your local firefighters as they put their lives on the line every day to protect you and your family.

Time for a BREAK

It seems like lately we've been workin' our fingers to the bone and have had little time away from the grind.

Kristie has had more than a few "stand up 24s" on the ambulance (that's when she goes to work at 0800 and doesn't get a break until she goes home at 0800 the next morning) dealing with a bunch of the usual suspects (mostly Native American street alchoholics) that tie up our medical system (See Mike and Molly controversy... They have it pegged exactly right and I won't apologize because the truth hurts) along with more than a little administrative and bureaucratic buffoonery. My lovely bride is at the absolute end of her rope.

I have had my usual mix of medicalwildlandcaraccidentcatinatreestaiontourforthekidstrainingexercisehousefireteachingCPRetc work schedule along with a sizable dose of FFD administrative buffoonery (I can't believe they haven't fired our "not really a Fire Chief and piss poor  administrator" yet) on top of the end of semester hustle and shuffle at the college and the summer EMT Refresher course keeping me pretty busy (yes, My name is Dave and I am a workaholic). That said and our extended road trip vacation is still 5 weeks away.

We thought we were gonna have a little getaway over Memorial Day weekend but it turned out to be more of a hassle than it was worth in the end. As it turns out it is not such a good idea to go camping with a bunch of people (18 total) many of whom you don't know. WAY too many "personalities" came into the mix when what was really needed was a bit more quiet and solitude.

We had a bright spot when our daughter, Kasey (ER Nurse in Seattle) flew in for a few days last week to visit her grandmother who has been having some serious health issues. We had a great visit albeit far too short. Unfortunately for me I was teaching an EMT Refresher course all day Saturday and Sunday and then had to go back to work for my usual 48 hour fire department tour on Tuesday and Wednesday so I really only got to visit with Kasey on Monday. At least she got to spend a little more time with her mother, brother and her little sister.

We were able to get all the kids including our youngest daughter (Meghan, NAU student), our son (Lee) and his girlfriend (Lena) along with her 6 y/o daughter (Andi) to come out to the house for a pizza party on Monday because Kasey was in town. It is such a rare thing to have them all together any more. Everybody was giving me the business because my refrigerator was full of PBR. It however did not stop any of them (with the exception of little Andi) from consuming ALL of the aforementioned PBR. For the record there were several other beer selections available.

I think now it is time to have a little Kristie and Dave time with just the two of us partaking in some adult recreation. We're gonna cash in Kristie's "Pot of Gold" (that's where we've dropped all or pocket change for the last 6 months) find a hotel with a comfortable bed, a swimming pool and maybe a Casino in the mix as well... Laughlin here we come!

A Little Wind in the Face is a GOOD THING

Finally, Spring has sprung and the motorcycle has made it out onto the open road for a ride through the Arizona desert mountains.

One of my annual "gotta do" items is to take a motorcycle ride down from Flagstaff to the Valley of the Sun to take part in the East Valley Firefighters Charities Poker Run that starts out at Superstition Harley Davidson in Apache Junction Arizona. The Firefighters from Mesa, Apache Junction, Gilbert and Globe Arizona put on one of the best events of it type in the state during Arizona Bike Week each year. This year was no exception.

After the registration part is done and I buy some

raffle ticketsthe Mesa Local 2260 Firefighters put up

a big pancake breakfast for all the hungry riders.

Then it is TIME TO RIDE!

The poker run route traditionally runs up to the copper mining town of Globe/Miami for the first stop and will then vary from year to year.

For the 2013 ride we then ran South from Globe through the scenic Gila River Canyon to the town of Oracle and then to Florence and finally ending in Mesa at the Cactus Moon Sports Grill.



We had a little bit of extra fun this year when Steve "Munk" Mundell, one of the riders in our little band of IAFF Motorcycle Group members was able to draw 4 Kings and a Jack to put together the winning High Hand and take home the prize of $1000 cash!

 

The next big event is the Laughlin River Run where we will be meeting up with other firefighters from around the West for a ride and BBQ that I started 4 years ago and is now being put on by the Leatherheads Motorcycle Club.

 

I'll have our Damon Outlaw set up at the Riverside Casino RV Park along with my good friends from the Las Vegas Fire Department for 4 days of riding and enjoying the rally.

De-winterizing projects de jour

The snow has melted and I can get a few projects done that I have been putting off with the excuse that it has just been too freakin' cold! The main catalyst has been that we are getting ready for a little run to Laughlin for the 2013 River Run motorcycle rally in a couple of weeks.

The first thing I had to do was replace the galley faucet that had retained a little water when I drained all the lines and, unbeknowst to me until I turned on the water, had broken. The shriek from my lovely bride when I turned on the water could probably be heard in the next county.

The hole in the base  of the faucet

is NOT supposed to be there!

The new faucet is very high quality with brass fittings instead of plactic. I will also be sure to open all of the taps when I winterize and blow air through the system. Lesson learned.

We also had this Add-a-Wall soft wall in our small 16' toyhauler trailer (in the background) that was too long for the trailer but fits perfectly in our '07 Damon Outlaw. The install took about an hour mostly because I was working solo. I'm pretty sure that if evolution were to really kick in we would all start growing a third hand out of the center of our chest.

 

My next project is to install chains to the ramp to hold it level so we can use it as a patio.

Travel / Life Companions

Kristie and I have long been full partners in life. We have known each other for nearly 30 years and have been together for over 20 trips around the sun.

I'm pretty sure I would be featured on one of those weird hoarder TV shows if I didn't have Miss K to keep me on the straight and narrow. If left to my own devices I tend to "collect" things. We have a running back and forth conversation about how we need to simplify our lives (her view) and my assertion that what we really need is more storage space. Thankfully this tendancy doesn't seem to afflict me when I'm out and about. When I'm away from home I become a "less is more" kinda guy.

It is as much a function of physics as anything else. There just isn't that much room available on my Harley, a river raft, or a sailboat. The new RV does give me a little too much space to play with, after all it does have a garage. I'm trying really hard to keep the weight down as it has a pretty strong impact on fuel economy and I am, at my foundation, kinda cheap.

The RV purchase came after a couple of years of looking at a variety of options but I kept coming back to the Damon Outlaw. This was strongly influenced by my love of riding my Harley balanced against my brides need for a comfortable platform for us to make extended road trips with our pair of Boston Terrorists in tow. The shake down cruise for our home on wheels is still five months away but there will be a couple of short excursions as soon as the winter snows and freezing temperatures abate... C'mon Spring

"Planning is good but plans are worthless"

"Planning is good but plans are worthless" Gen Omar Bradley

With the start of a new blog the snow is falling outside and we (more correctly I) am found to be making plans for our trip to visit our daughter in Seattle this summer. Flagstaff to Seattle would be pretty straight forward but we're gonna throw a twist to the trip and get there by way of Morgantown West Virginia.

First off, we are Dave and Kristie, a pair of soon-to-be retired paramedics (within a few years anyway). I am also a Fire Captain and college instructor but the eye has turned to the impending retirement years. We love to travel but have modest means. None the less we do seem to pull off the odd trip or two.

One of our last big adventures put us in the Carribean for two weeks at the end of July 2012, along with our daughters (the son had work commitments) and a few other close friends.

The trip was a logistical challenge. Herding all the disparate cats into some semblance of order was all part of joy of the journey for me, you see, I am The Planner, and I love it when a plan comes together.

I love the process of putting together the bits and pieces that coalese into a series of events that bring a smile to the face of my bride, my family and my friends.

It may be a white water rafting adventure through Grand Canyon...

.... or riding our Harley's across the country to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9-11 along with a few thousand brother and sister firefighters.

 

We love to sail and through the years have made a few trips to the British Virgin Islands as well as the San Juans and Channel Islands. We will probably come to spend the portion of the year that finds snow falling on our roof at home floating "on the hook" in more temperate climates.

In the mean time we will be spending as much of our summer months as we can on the road in our 2007 Damon Outlaw.

And thus todays "planning session". Looking at maps. Calculating distances. Do we go north or stay to the south? How long do we stay and visit friends in Texas and how long will we stay in Yellowstone? What mischief will our daughter have planned for our stay in Seattle?

We never really know where the road will lead, but the plans will be made and re-made right up to the the day we roll out of town.

No matter which path we follow we will be out there living our lives to their fullest.

This ain't no rehersal.