Vol 6 / Epilogue


12/28 Wednesday
Las Vegas, NV.
Big Jim at Competition Service likes Brownie. Though he’s not a fan, he really digs those Green Bay Packers personalized license plates. Told that the word CTYRKA on the plates means “4” in Czech slang, he replied with a verbose “oh” (obviously not a Brett Favre fan). After shelling out $149 and promising to return sometime, We (Brownie & me) rolled out of town for home, not stopping at any establishments espousing the pleasures of that axis of evil: alchohol, gambling, & sex. After all, it is the xmas season...

Feedback! More comments from readers.
-
we were all meant to be seekers. that's why god gave us curiosity. of course, you'll never find what you're looking
for. that's the joy of it. the journey and the destination are inseparable.

-Truck on brother!!!

-Why is it that whenever someone who considers themselves a "conservative" confronts views that conflict with their own, they immediately label the opposing point of view thoughtless or "paint by numbers" or other such derogatory nonsense?

-
Solitude apparently is working it's magic on you and I wonder/hope the experience will improve your layups. Probably shouldn't reach that high from just one week in the Outback.

-
My lack of complex return comments is a reflection of slow typing skills and unfinished musings.

-
Everything sounded so wonderful until that last paragraph,and then I
detected just a littlle increase in your blood pressure.

-
Maybe it is time for me to hike the canyon again and go deep within, Henry your reflections tapped into that memory from 1996 when I hiked the canyon and the energy that brought to my life...... thank you.

-if Mama Cass had shared half of that ham sandwich with Karen Carpenter, they'd both be alive today!


Suburban Los Angeles, CA.
Now it’s really back to civilization: stuck in an LA traffic jam. Some might consider this the leading edge of civilization: the richest city in the richest country on the planet. Others (like me) see it as something of a vast wasteland. Good, bad, & indifferent this place seems to have everything. And more of it. At our current rate of consumption, how long do you think that’ll last? And at what price?
Is the true meaning of christmas lurking somewhere among the 20 million inhabitants of Southern California? Perhaps they’re all on the freeway searching for it. Or just headed to Best Buy for the gift they really wanted.

As I walk on through troubled times
my spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong, who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony, sweet harmony?

‘Cause each time I see it slippin away
it just makes me want to cry
What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?
- Elvis Costello


More feedback!
-I think the the whole religious thing boils down to a search for a higher personal spiritual level. Some find it through the prayerful life facilitated through organized religion, some find it through meditation and some by communing with nature in far away quiet places

-While religion is not really my thing, I'm glad it seems to make all these other people feel better.

-
Secular religions are just as dangerous as the traditional religions.

-
No road trip to find the meaning of this holiday would be complete without a game of 3X3, Alice style! I want to read how you hacked some tribal elder in a fierce battle to control the “paint”, and then settled down afterwards for some Gatorade and hash.

-
Give Brownie a hug for me.

-
my all time favorite book is ON THE ROAD. I went to Pleasant Hill, OR earlier this year to the Ken
Kesey family farm to see FURTHUR, the psychedelic bus driven in the 60's by
Neal Cassady (the Dean Moriarty character in ON THE ROAD). FURTHUR nows
rests in a swamping thicket, day glow point slowly being overtaken by
moss. Kesey obviously preferred it there rather than the Smithsonian.

-A mobile home is mobile whenever there's a tornado warning.

-As I write this a flock of geese honks overhead and it reminds me of you and your journey, not so much because they are following their instinctive migratory wanderlust as they have for thousands of years to places south--no, they remind me of the many women you dated in Sacramento that honked like geese!

-God Bless America...


San Diego, CA.
Home again. What a trip, made even better by the cyber company of my friends and loved ones.
Where all this leads I’m not sure, but let’s go there together OK?
Ahoj,
Hank

Vol 5


HANK’S XMAS BLOG VOL 5

12/27 Tuesday
Mesquite, NV.
After a quiet night of a long hot bath and sleep in real bed (why are hotel beds so short?), I checked out of the hotel and walked right past the casino without even so much as a cursory look at the roulette tables. Probably saved $200.

Leavin’ my family, Leavin’ all my friends
My mind’s at home, but my heart’s in the wind
The clouds are like headlines on a new front page sky
Shiver me timbers I’m sailin’ away...
-Tom Waits

Overton, NV.
On the backroad to Little Red Rocks and Hoover Dam is the Lost City Museum in Overton. No pushing or shoving here, I’m the only one in the place. Seems the Anasaize people settled here 10,000 years ago and farmed in the Colorado River Valley, their ruins were relocated to this museum when (actually just before) the Hoover Dam flooded the valle creating Lake Mead. Actually the Anasaize civilization inexplicably died out about 1200AD. Scientists speculate the cause may have been a severe drought. I think they probably built a Walmart.

Cattle guards have a special place in my psyche; they’re a sure sign that you’re on a back road in the wide open spaces of the American West...
Brownie has been vibrating and rattling since I left Utah, and now on this rough road he’s making a hellacious clunking and squealing racket; I suspect a broken u-joint or problem with the drivetrain.

Little Red Rocks, NV.
Scrambled up a 50ft. red rock. They’re quite beautiful save for the graffiti and destruction from firearms (or is it the people who use them?).

Henderson, NV.
How do you find reliable auto repair for a 1976 Ford F100 in a strange town? One way is to find a another guy with a restored classic car (that title only applies to Brownie from 100 ft away, or when totalling the money already spent on repairs), and ask him for a referral. Didn’t take long to find Dennis (retired military guy from Toledo, OH. “Home of the Mudhens”) in his red ‘69 Chevy Camaro with 327 4bbl engine and 4 speed tranny. He wouldn’t let anybody touch his car accept for Big Jim at Competition Service on Valley View Blvd. 4 (blocks from the Rio) in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas, NV.
40 minutes later I limped into the lot at Competition Service where Big Jim hopped in for road test. He said it sounded like a busted u-joint. A brief inspection up on the rack confirmed the diagnosis; they’d order the parts & it would be ready tomorrow before noon.
Tomorrow? You mean I’m going to be all alone overnight in Vegas with all those alluring evils tempting me from every angle? This is supposed to be a heart warming, soul searching righteous retreat to find value and meaning. Uh-oh.
First I walked right past a giant gentlemen’s club (strip joint) featuring erotic lap dances 24hr a day (is this the xmas gift I really wanted?) over to the Rio and consumed a strip (there’s that word again) steak ceasar salad for $8.95 in the “All American Café”. Then I took a cursory stroll past the roulette tables to the sports book where I read newspapers and watched TV (just how many channels does ESPN have?) for a couple of hours. 

Refusing to pay $200+ for a room at a good hotel (or $100 for a dump) I slowly drove around scouting for a place to park Brownie and sleep in the back overnight. Well sometime later I somehow (somehow?) ended up on the strip at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino sitting at (you guessed it) a roulette table. I boxed #8, #11, #35 and bet black on every spin for 2 hours, and ended up winning $300!! It was now almost midnight and time to shell out some winning $$$ for nice room at the MGM Grand!. Nope. I went out to the parking lot, climbed in the back of Brownie, and slept ‘till morning.

12/28 Wednesday
Las Vegas, NV.
Sitting in a Starbucks near The Palms on Tropicana Blvd. waiting for Brownie and his new u-joint. Ad on the radio sez Desert Chrysler/Dodge in Las Vegas will pay my XMAS debts (up to $7,000.00) if I buy a new car! Is this a great country or what?

Cheers,
Hank

Vol 4



Dec 24, 25

Zion National Park, UT.
Hiking up the Observation Point trail I came across another refugee from christmas: Allen from Phoenix. We hiked together for awhile, until we reached a junction at about 6,000 ft elevation. He said the other trail led to a remote and spectacular place called Hidden Canyon which was too rugged and difficult for him to attempt. I wished him a happy new year, and off I went in search of Hidden Canyon. It was just what the doctor ordered: Lot’s of hiking the sandy stream bed combined with scrambling and climbing over huge rock formations through a narrow canyon with sheer walls 500 ft high.
That night I got my christmas wish of peace, solitude, and a star-filled sky sans holiday lighting. It was a lonely and serene christmas eve celebrated with a dinner of dehydrated lasagne and hot cocoa prepared on my MSR Whisperlite backpack stove. I thought about all the friends and loved ones I miss and vowed to once again renew my relations with all in the coming year. Then I settled in for a windy and chilly (22 degrees) night inside of my sleeping bag inside of my tent. Christmas night was equally filled with quiet and solitude, inspiring me to further reflect on christmases past and the people who’ve made my life richer. I like it here and will definitely return (next christmas?).

The whole region of Southern Utah/Northern Arizona is incredibly beautiful. Some people call it “God’s Country”. Now I wonder which god they’re referring to. Sounds like a marketing slogan to me; do you suppose they pay a royalty to use the name?

 

Dec 26
 

Hurricane, UT.
Hurricane, Utah? So named because some guy named Erasmus had his buggy top blown off 150 years ago.
Ad on the radio suggested I get over to Circuit City immediately to buy myself “the gift I really wanted” for christmas. Ah, the spirit of giving...
I did indeed see a beautiful christmas gift for me along the road in Valle, UT.; in an old junkyard full of "used" cars for sale mostly from the 50's. - a rusty yet beautiful 1958 Dodge. well maybe next year...

Got back in range of mobile phone network, and had christmas messages from friends in the US, Japan, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Nice.
Also in range of Las Vegas radio stations. They issued a traffic alert for a 27 mile backup on HWY 15 to LA; thousands of people ostensibly returning from a weekend of seeking the true meaning of Xmas in Vegas?

Wow, really fierce desert winds blowing today; I was literally dodging tumbleweeds in Brownie.

Mesquite, NV.
The gas pump at Terrible’s Shell Gas & Mini Mart in Mesquite played an electronic rendition of Jingle Bells. Since then I’ve been pondering the concept of xmas music. After 1,000 miles listening to a steady diet of xmas music on the truck radio across 4 states, I’ve heard all the usual retreads, in all the usual radio formats (how many versions of “Feliz Navidad” are there?). I even heard my all-time favorite: “Christmas Time is Here” by The Chipmunks. I wonder is there a music format that doesn’t have christmas songs? Did Nine Inch Nails or 50 Cent release xmas songs this year?

Christmas
Speaking of christmas, what a great holiday for nuclear families with disposable income. I know because I happily grew up in one (albeit a large one). We staged our own front-yard family nativity scene at christmas which was a big local hit. My dad once somehow assembled and delivered 8 bicycles to our garage on christmas eve. At age 11 I had a newspaper route and my family would wait to open gifts christmas morning until I returned from my route. It was all good. We never quite connected santa with jesus, but no matter, we got lots of presents and that’s what counted. Kids and christmas: a match made in heaven. What joy! What happiness! What great early training in overconsumption?

Religion
I first began to question my catholic faith at age 12; by age 16 I had totally rejected it. Growing up a catholic seemed normal as being one of 12 kids. We ate fish fry or tuna casserole every friday, I attended good catholic schools (till they finally threw me out), and was even an altar boy. (Sometimes just to horrify my mom, I tell her yes, as a young boy, I spent a lot of time alone with priests) As I read more books and learned scientific principles, I wondered how you could ignore simple logic in favor of unfettered faith. It was mostly out of fear and guilt that I toed the dogmatic religious line. The more I could think for myself, the more I thought it wasn’t for me. So I left the church; no hard feelings, it just isn’t for me...

Now I intend not to offend anyone or their faith, but rather to question the dominant paradigm and perhaps create some dialogue.

Why do christians keep telling me that I somehow lack something in my life, and I’m continually searching for it; the inference being that it’s faith in god that I lack, causing me unhappiness. Indeed. I could no more believe in the characters and myths of an old book titled “The Bible” than I could a book titled “The Koran“ or “The Wizard of Oz”. What’s more I certainly couldn’t structure my life and belief system around it. (Follow the yellow brick road, watch out for the evil witch, and you’ll meet the wizard at the Emerald City; just ignore that man behind the curtain). You go ahead and believe what you will; please try not to tread on me thanks.
Christians always seem to want to reduce everything to a battle of good vs. evil, which to me is just an easy answer to life’s diificult questions (don’t even start with me on ID). Too easy, and far too trite. What’s more, IMO they’re overly rigid, insisting that they’re right, and everyone is lost and/or searching. Or wrong. Or evil.
Then they’re appalled at the fervor of muslims, who to me are just the other side of the same coin. Religion has probably killed more humans over time than all diseases & disasters combined. Perhaps some day all these gods and their disciples can get together and decide to live in peace and harmony. Imagine...

Just got a $39 non-smoking room at the Casablanca Hotel & Casino. I haven’t slept in a bed for nearly a week, and I’m way overdue for a shower, so it’s welcome back to civilization! And hey, hey: the coffee shop has WIFI!!! I’m off to improve my personal hygiene.

Later,
Hank :-)

Vol 3



Friday 12/23 (continued)
Williams, AZ.
On historic Route 66 an old town with lots of character, especially at Old Smoky’s Pancake House: a venerable hole in the wall joint I just couldn’t pass by (see photo). The menu sez that Elvis ate here in 1965 (peanut butter & jelly pancakes?) and the place has not had a shred of remodeling since (maybe that’s why). I ordered the “Everything Omelet” with hash browns & toast for $5.95 and scanned the local rag for items of interest when this gem leaped out at me:
The winner of the Williams Holiday Lighting contest was announced today. The theme of this year’s contest was “New Family Traditions” and the contest was judged by the Williams High School Future Business Leaders of America. Canyon Gateway RV Park received a perfect score and has been selected to receive the Judge’s Trophy.A perfect score? Hmmm, sounds a bit fishy don’t you think?

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ.
Ranger Jerry at the south entrance sez today is the 3rd slowest of the year for park visitors, which means I actually got a parking spot at Mather Point. Seemed to be no shortage of foreign tourists; shouldn’t they be home for xmas?
I last visited the canyon at age 22, and all these years later it still looks spectacular, if perhaps not quite as psychedelic this time around.
I heard that some Islamic terrorists were planning to destroy parts of the Grand Canyon by building a dam and flooding it. Oh wait a minute, it was actually the US government. I drove out the east road to Navajo Point and had the overlook trail all to myself.

Paige, AZ.
The Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell abut the mining & tourist town of Paige, which has a Navajo language radio station. The Navajos agree with us ecoradicals that the Glen Canyon dam is a collossal blunder of misguided government “development” and should be dismantled thereby restoring the verdant Glen Canyon, which old timers say is more beautiful than any on the Colorado. Dave Brower, the Archdruid of environmentalism, lamented that losing Glen Canyon was a travesty, and long ago suggested tearing down the dam. Same with Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite.

Kanab, UT.
After a scenic cruise through the Grand Staircase Escalante and past the Vermillion Cliffs, I’ve arrived in Kanab, Utah and settled in at the “charming” Crazy Horse campark. Maybe Elvis stayed here also in ‘65 because it too has not changed a bit in 40 years; with one major exception. They have WIFI! And not just in the office/tv room; but up on a pole, so I’m actually sitting in my campsite beside the fire and banging out today’s adventures ready for delivery out onto the digital ether. Around the world from the Crazy Horse campark in Kanab, Utah! Tomorrow it’s on to Bryce Canyon and then Zion Nat’l Park for some Xmas eve wilderness camping.

Speaking of wilderness camping on xmas eve, I’ve done it before. I took my 2nd wife to The Everglades in Florida. We actually had a good time for awhile: the weather was tropical, the stars were out, we’re cooking on the stove. It was all going pretty good until she started complaining. OK, so there was an alligator in our camp; you don’t have to make such a BIG DEAL of it! Women! I’ll tell ya...

Feedback!


Selected input from our co-listers:


-
Hank you look like Ali Baba-One day I'll tell you about the "true" meaning of CHRISTmas! Until then enjoy your sunsets & stars. Merry Christmas. 

-Hodně zdraví a štěstí v osobním životě,
 -You're the new Jack Kerouac! You can never go back to your regular life again.
-I find it all very sour grapes just because the Packers aren't playing well.
-And what's with the continual bashing of W? Despite his busy schedule with saving the world I imagine he's looking out for you-

-Recall Siddhartha, you can never step into the same river twice. 
-God's speed
-
I love the blue highways thing for x-mas. Not so sure about the paint-by-numbers liberal schtick.
-
observer ... commentator ... heathen.


Next post when I return from the wilderness after xmas :-)
H

Vol 2



HANK’S XMAS BLOG VOL2

Thursday 12/22
Indio, CA
This town is a strange combination of poor Hispanic farm workers from the Imperial valley fields and wealthy retirees from golf course communities spilling eastward from Palm Springs. Thanx to the latter group I suppose, and the army of workers that supply/serve them, there’s a Starbucks with WIFI from which I just transmitted XMAS Blog Vol 1. The group of retired white guys in the corner soft chairs were holding their daily political discourse. Today’s subject: Is W a smart guy? I bit my toungue...


Chiriaco Summit (30 miles east of Coachella, CA)
Who knew? On Hwy 10 next to a gas station in what seems to be the middle of nowhere sits the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum. This guy ranks right up there with the famous defenders of American freedom: George Washington, Ullyses S Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, JFK, George W. Bu.. uh, no.

Sighted on the road today 13 Walmart trucks and a bumper stickerthat read “Bacon is a Vegetable”.
Ad on the radio suggested this xmas I buy myself “the gift that never needs painting: new stucco!”

Quartzite, AZ.
A brief stop to peruse the endless rows of tents filled with “Southwestern” items mostly made in China. Not to let a good selling opportunity go to waste, they also have loads of kitschy xmas lawn ornaments. Perhaps it’s to decorate the thousands of mobile homes in the multitude of trailer parks seemingly everywhere you look for miles. BTW: When is a mobile home actually mobile? Does that mean when the bank reposesses it, they cart it away?

Buckskin State Park (25 miles north of Parker, AZ.)
Pulled into a nice “developed” campground on the Colorado River and rented a space for $20 with hookups. Of course me & Brownie are a bit too primitive to use the hookup, but there is good news here. Despite sitting between 2 massive motorhomes with more square footage than my San Diego apartment, at least with the hookup for electricity, they don’t run their obnoxious generators to power the xmas lights. The crowd is mostly retired snowbirds wandering during the holidays much like me and hittin the sack early (much like me). So crickets are the loudest sound in camp tonite. BTW: Jack & Marion Pelligrue of Overland Park, KS. send season’s greetings to everyone on the list; and if you’re ever in Kansas City, be sure to look em up! Jack never met Harry Truman, but wishes he had. Me too.

Speaking of the Colorado River, I was wading in it tonite trying to remember if I’d ever touched this river before. I’d certainly seen it before at Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, and from airplanes flying overhead, but had I ever actually touched it? Then it dawned on me: among the hundreds of municipalities, irrigation districts and other users in a half a dozen states who divert Colorado River water is none other than the City of San Diego. The Colorado is the main source of San Diego’s drinking water supply, and it finally reaches there after receiving along the way the discharges of 77 sewage treatment plants. So yes in fact I have touched it many times before. Incidentally, the number one selling soft drink in SD is bottled water...

Friday 12/23
Lake Havasu City, AZ.
Feedback! Thanx to all who’ve responded to my musings. I’ve received lots of encouragement, a bunch of really funny comments, and many nice messages from folks affirming their faith in christ and christmas. That’s great! My intent is to search for meaning and purpose; to learn, perhaps, more about what you know. Call me an observer, a commentator (did I rip W twice in this message?) on the landscape of life in late December 2005. I’m glad you’re with me.
Is that really the actual London Bridge over there across the parking lot from the In ‘N Out Burger? Gotta go check it out...

Intro / Day 1














Brownie
Borrego Badlands



Hank's Xmas Search for Meaning


Intro

12/20
Welcome to Hank’s XMAS Brain Blog. Why, you may ask yourself is Hank writing a xmas blog? That atheist commie pinko doesn’t even believe in God, much less christ, santa, and the amazing holiday savings at Walmart! Well maybe that’s why. This year I’ve decided to escape the massive wave of xmas momentum and get away from the tradition of “home for the holidaze”. Way away. Alone.

The christmas of my childhood was always a happy and harmonius occasion celebrated with my parents and many siblings. I still love the “family & friends” philosophy of togetherness in the holiday season; indeed they all welcome me each year to join them and I do quite often, enjoying the warmth of their family love and friendship. Last year I enjoyed christmas with my adopted family in Moravia. I’m sure there will be many more family & friends christmas celebrations in the future. But this year will be different. Perhaps I’ll discover the true meaning of christmas, or something meaningful within me. Or maybe I’ll just successfully hide out for a week.
Now some could see me as a lonely, tragic figure; and I might well be. After all, who actually WANTS to be alone for christmas? Well I guess it’s always been my station in life, to wander and wonder about the world around us. Because I’m someone with no wife-kids-mortgage-boss-debts-food-booze-football-inlaws-shopping-stress this christmas, why not do what I do best: travel!

But alas I won’t be completely alone; I’m taking YOU with me. We’re going on a road trip! That’s right. Maybe a week or so to the wide open spaces of the American West: camping, hiking, exploring, and escaping. Got to be back next week ‘cause I will be with friends in Florida for New Years. So welcome aboard. Brownie (my beloved ‘76 Ford pick-up) is loaded up and tomorrow we’re rolling out of San Diego headed east. Thanx for keeping me company. My life is richer because you’re in it.. And hey, we might even roast some chestnuts (or maybe weiners & beans) over an open fire!


12/21 DAY 1
San Diego, CA.
Unfortunately we’re off to a bad start. Due to technical problems with my notebook’s wireless setup, I’m forced to visit the Apple store genius desk. That normally is a pleasant experience, however the Apple store is located in (horror of horrors!) the Fashion Valley Mall. So, it’s a bit ironic that to escape the onslaught of xmas merchandising fever, I headed right smack into the belly of the beast! The place was mobbed. The parking ramp clogged. The only opening a tight space unfilled by Lexus and BMW drivers wary of door dings adding to their shopping stress. Not a problem for Brownie though! He once ripped the rear bumper off a late model Mazda when the driver, whilst parralel parking, hooked her bumper onto Brownie’s and then hit the gas. Dings? Bring ‘em on! (Where have I heard that quote before?)
I pushed and shoved my way across the mall to the Apple store, which had a line of customers going literally out the door. Kudos to Steve Jobs and the Apple nation for their success with making technology simple, functional, reliable, and fun. Somewhere Bill Gates is having ipod nightmares... Ten minutes at the Genius Bar was all it took to get me back in clover and on my way. Well, back into the holiday shopping frenzy and traffic gridlock of xmas.

Laguna Mountain, CA. (50 miles east of San Diego)
Finally escaped SD traffic and stopped for lunch at the Penny Pines overlook (6,000ft. Elevation) with a beautiful view from Sunrise Highway. Laguna Mountain in the Cleveland Nat’l Forest is a wonderful mountian alpine environment just an hour from SD. No time for a hike though.

Borrego Badlands (100 miles east of San Diego)
Arrived just before dark in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Picked a camping spot in the Borrego Badlands. Today is the shortest day of the year (winter solstice) which is a significant event for many of us non-christians. It’s also the longest night of the year; excellent for viewing the stars, especially in the pitch blackness out here in the desert. I’m no astronomer, but there sure are a lot of stars tonite!
The Kumayaay tribe has been viewing these stars and celebrating the annual winter solstice while living in peace and harmony with this land for over 12,000 years; one wonders how they managed to survive that long without taking advantage of the huge xmas blowout sale at Big Ben’s Carpet Barn in Salton City...

12/22 Day 2
Borrego Badlands
After a chilly but sleepful night, a beautiful sunrise this morning (see attached photo). Went for a short hike , saw a coyote and some lizards. Now we’re off see the wizard! uh, I mean to find a WIFI signal...