Two Years Living On Two Wheels...And Counting

[Judoka]

I am so glad that I ride full gear! I was just shaken up a bit but the bike did not fail as well. The pictures of the bike from earlier in this story show that the bike looked beautiful. Not a scratch was on it. Now there was road rash on the left side faring and the saddlebag was scratched up and cracked! To beat it all, the place that was going to buy it would be closed before I could even get there now.

There went my money for starting over!

 

[Judoka]

The Universe has a way of putting us exactly where we need to be if we will just slow down and listen. Right there in that intersection with nobody around for miles That low-speed crash had likely saved my life! I was so distraught with dealing with the drama which had unfolded over the previous couple of days in Seattle that I was not safe to ride responsibly. To prove it further, the bike would not start after that. I was stuck at this desolate intersection in the desert as night was falling ands not a car in site.

 

[Judoka]

After about an hour or so a blue Ram pickup truck came into view and pulled right over to check on me. An elderly woman got out and walked right up to me and asked if I was having mechanical issues. Embarrassed that I had just had my first crash ever on the road I just told her that I had no power and that the battery was probably dead from where it had been in storage.
We jumped it with the truck and try as we might the bike would not start. So we let it charge up a while as we talked. This woman was an absolute gift! Her and her husband listened to me as I told them of the recent events which had lead me to that intersection and then she said, " We will get this bike running. When we do, you are going to follow us to our house and rest".

A few minutes later the bike was running and I was heading south...to Quartzsite!

 

[Judoka]

I woke up the next morning to this sound of a hummingbird.



They had invited me to stay on their couch but I felt more comfortable sleeping on their porch on my bed.

 

[Judoka]

Waking up and taking in the sounds of of the morning as I watched quail dart in and out of the bushes and a rabbit grazing grasses close by, a realization hit me. I was in Quartzite Arizona! It was late September and the LTVA was open! I was right where I had set for when I got on this motorcycle with my Walmart tent and my life packed in saddlebags!

 

[Judoka]

About a year after I made the decision to just get on a bus and leave Seattle area without even going back to the house to get my stuff, I got a text with a link to a Seattle news channel. The report was about the cousin whom I had stayed with. He was wanted in the murder of a Tacoma man. A month or so after that he was shot and killed by Bremerton SWAT after he had killed his ex girlfriend and had a shoot out with Bremerton PD, in that same house!

 

[Judoka]

I will not be able to post up for a few days. I appreciate everyone following and being patient.

I assure you. at the journey has just begun!

 

[Judoka]

OH! I welcome any comments or questions ! Please be patient as it may take time to respond at this time.

 

[ITTOG]

No real question but I did want to say kudos on being so open. Not everyone can do that. So I guess I do have a question. What is your goal in sharing your story?

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

 

[Judoka]

No real question but I did want to say kudos on being so open. Not everyone can do that. So I guess I do have a question. What is your goal in sharing your story?

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

ITTOG. Thank you for the question. Life has taught me personally that being honest and open and as direct as possible is the least waste of time when communicating. I am not a writer or politician so I just say what I think these days.


I don't really have a goal in sharing. Not anything more than sharing a life experience. I figured I would share how I ended up here on this journey and my very non-traditional lifestyle. I know that this forum has a lot of "doers" and a lot more "dreamers" so I figure maybe sharing what I went through might encourage the dreamer and whatI have learned might provide some insight to the doers. If anyone finds this interesting to read then it is worth me sharing. If not then I can just stop.

Keep in mind that these are the easy seasons of this journey. By telling people about the struggles I faced and the craziness of my life at that point in time I hope to demonstrate that all the planning in the world won't get you out there. At some point you just have to go! Of course it is better to be prepared ( much like I currently live now) but if you never move or if you don't capitalize on those sometimes fleeting moments, life will simply pass you by. I had no better opportunities at that time so I decided to make the most of them. I will never get that time back! Should I have just wasted it trying to force something, or embrace the path I was on? I already saw what forcing it looked like and it turned out to be one of the most stressful moments in my life!

I am not saying that this is an "expedition" or an epic Overland adventure (yet) but it was a journey and an exploration of both myself and the human condition. The trials define our character. The journey can be the destination. If anyone wants to read on they can. If this is just annoying then post up your thoughts and we will see if I can dull it down to pretty views and flat tires.

 

[ITTOG]

ITTOG. Thank you for the question. Life has taught me personally that being honest and open and as direct as possible it the least waste of time when communicating. I am not a writer or politician so I just say what I think these days.


I don't really have a goal in sharing. Not anything more than sharing a life experience. I figured I would share how I ended up here on this journey and my very non-traditional lifestyle. I know that this forum has a lot of "doers" and a lot more "dreamers" so I figure maybe sharing what I went through might encourage the dreamer and whatI have learned might provide some insight to the doers. If anyone finds this interesting to read then it is worth me sharing. If not then I can just stop.

Keep in mind that these are the easy seasons of this journey. By telling people about the struggles I faced and the craziness of my life at that point in time I hope to demonstrate that all the planning in the world won't get you out there. At some point you just have to go! Of course it is better to be prepared ( much like I currently live now) but if you never move or if you don't capitalize on those sometimes fleeting moments, life will simply pass you by. I had no better opportunities at that time so I decided to make the most of them. I will never get that time back! Should I have just wasted it trying to force something, or embrace the path I was on? I already saw what forcing it looked like and it turned out to be one of the most stressful moments in my life!

I am not saying that this is an "expedition" or an epic Overland adventure (yet) but it was a journey and an exploration of both myself and the human condition. The trials define our character. The journey can be the destination. If anyone wants to read on they can. If this is just annoying then post up your thoughts and we will see if I can duo it down to pretty views and flat tires.

Thanks for the response. I will continue reading your journey.

 

[Judoka]

After several weeks of living fast an flying loose on my "detour" I finally set up camp where I had been planning to go since I got on the bike. I had my pass to the LTVA and my tent was all set up and I took a picture of the sunset. It would be one of many sunset pictures because the desert has the absolute best sunsets!

 

[Judoka]

One unnoticed benefit of traveling all of this miles in the weeks pervious is that my had was being exercised and it was getting stronger. The little bump that had popped up on the back of my hand in the scar was getting a little bigger and it was now reddish. Other than that, my hand was actually moving better.
I was able to find some work helping set up one of the vender tents . it was not much but it was cash and it sure helped! Then I started doing odd jobs for some elderly folks, like fixing toilets or wiring an outlet or just cleaning their yards. All in all it was not going to get me rich but it was enough to eat and put gas in the tank. There are so many RVs out in Quartzsite that there is almost always something you can find to do. I could take a shower at my new friends' place and I could get my groceries in town for the most part and Blythe CA was not far and had an Albertsons. That was my life for about a month.

How do you empty the Black Water tanks in an RV in Quartzsite AZ?

Hauling S#*t

How to haul your black water from the RV to the dump

youtube.com

Creativity!

 

[Judoka]

While I was grateful for the money I was able to earn in Quartzsite it was not enough to sustain me, let alone get on my feet. I was going to have to find a way to get a sustainable income. That would mean traveling to either, Parker or Lake Havasu or maybe Yuma.
Unfortunately my hand started to hurt a lot more and while my grip strength was improving my fingers were not extending right. In fact they were hardly moving now.
I knew something was wrong and I called the office of the surgeon who had worked on my hand. The relayed the message and told me that he said it is likely just scar tissue adhesion and that I needed to keep doing the finger gliding exercises that the Hand Therapist had given me.
I called my attorneys office and told them that I was ready for a second opinion. That attorney never called me back!


This about sums up Quartzsite AZ.
THIS IS NOT FOR KIDS. IT HAS PROFANITY. WATCH AT YOUR OWN DISCRESSION

 

[Judoka]

I had heard that there was another area where I could use my Long Term Permit down near Yuma AZ. I could find work in a bigger city I thought. So, I packed up my home and headed South. The LTVA outside of Winterhaven CA is very different from Quartzsite! The first thing you notice is that the rigs there are typically nicer, the camping setups are generally more elaborate, and there are almost no tents. In Quartzite you find everything from tents to schoolies to Park Model RVs. It is way way more diverse and eclectic!

I arrived in the dark and tried to find a place within 500' of the restrooms per the rules. I set up camp in the dark and settled in for the nite. This was now going to be home for a while.