Helena, MT

After possibly taking a naked bath in the woods, I continued eastward to Helena MT, the home of Mother Vagabond.  Her apartment has a nice view of the ugly apartment building across the parking lot, but also a decent view of Mount Helena.

On the morning of September 12, we woke up early and ascended Mt. Ascension, whose summit offers a nice view of Helena and the surrounding valley.

After our hike, we enjoyed a truly Montanan lunch: a buffalo burger washed down with a beer called Cold Smoke.  Can you get more manly than that?

Jerry Johnson Hot Springs, ID

On the fourth morning of my vacation, I woke up and realized that so far I had spent far too little time surrounded by naked strangers.  Therefore, I hopped into my car and backtracked a few miles to Jerry Johnson hot springs.  The hot springs are located about 1.5 miles off of highway 12, on the opposite side of the river.

After a short hike, I came across the steaming pools of water, and settled down for a nice soak.  My experience brought to mind the old philosophical riddle: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, did Doctor Vagabond go naked during his morning bath?

Wendover Campground, ID

On the morning of September 10, I left Boise and headed into the mountains of Idaho.  I drove north for a few hours, then headed east on highway 12 towards Montana.  I stopped to camp for the night at Wendover Campground.  It was very quiet, and situated on the beautiful Lochsa River.

I spent a little time skipping stones across the river, then headed back to set up camp.  While walking around, I ran into Dave and Christina, who lived right across the street from me for 10 years in Pullman, WA.  It turns out that they also own the property where my ex-girlfriend and her family used to live.  I am not making this up.  One can leave Pullman, but one can never truly escape.

Boise, ID

After enjoying the dirt of central Nevada, I continued northward to Boise, ID.  I stayed with Vince and Lisa, two old friends and kindred spirits.  They have a nice house with their own dojo built next to it:

On my first night there, we threw each other around and played with knives.  This is our definition of a good time.  I also learned that Vince knows how to make a killer drink; I had a headache for the next three days.  In addition to doing martial arts, we spent a nice evening sitting on the back porch, drinking champagne and enjoying the view.

The morning I left, they loaded me up with food in preparation for my trip into the mountains.

Back on the road: Livermore, CA to Rye Patch State Recreation Area, NV

Howdy folks.  After a 1.5-year hiatus, Doctor Vagabond is back on the road!  For the next two weeks, I will be doing a loop around the western US in order to attend a wedding in Seattle.  Along the way, I am pleased to share my mundane experiences with all of you.  If you're wise, you'll find something better to do with your time.  But you're not, so strap in and let's go!

On Wednesday September 7 I drove out of sunny Livermore, CA and headed east toward the wild plains of Nevada, armed with only the necessities: a roll of toilet paper, some light reading, and a big-ass knife.

Driving east, I passed through the beautiful mountains of eastern California.  I decided stop for lunch at a rest stop, and heard the sounds of a pleasant, babbling brook.  Following the sound, I came across something less than pleasant.

I chose not to drink.  Eventually, I ended up at Rye Patch State Recreation Area, located in the middle of nowhere, Nevada.  Despite being situated in the center of a giant dirt field, it was actually fairly pretty.

After eating a tasty dinner of avocado mixed with tuna fish and smeared on a cold bagel, I took a short hike around the reservoir.  At one point, I came across a bench overlooking the water, and saw this:

 
I couldn't agree more.

Final Words

It's been over two months since I last posted something on this blog, and it's about time to wrap this thing up. So, here goes.

To start, check out a map of the trip. It all came and went very quickly, but this helps to remind me of how many places I went and saw:

Now, let's sum the trip up in numbers.

1: number of road trips
1: number of jobs lost
1: number of jobs gained
1: number of giant, bloody elk carcasses in my lane while going 80 mph
2: number of times I was nearly killed by a truck
3: number of giant truck tires in the middle of my lane while going 80 mph
3: number of times I was rained on while camping
4: number of nights in a hotel
6: total number of near deaths on the road
16: number of dojo visited
17: number of nights spent camping
18: number of homes that were generously opened up to me
20: number of pounds lost
20: number of pounds gained back
32: approximate gas mileage for the duration of the trip
57: number of destinations along the way
1,800: approximate number of dollars spent on gas
20,000: approximate number of miles driven


Craziness. Finally, let's sum this thing up with a few words.

First of all, I was struck by the incredible generosity and hospitality I encountered along the way. Everywhere I went, I was greeted with open arms, an open door, and a wide-open refrigerator. This was from family and old friends, and also from people whom I had never met before. My everlasting thanks go out to all of them; I now expect a steady stream of house crashers as payback.

Next, I can say a whole lot about how I discovered myself on the road, and how this changed my life, and gave me a new perspective, and blah blah blah. All of that did happen to some degree, but none of you guys really want to hear me blab on about it. Instead, I'll just say that experience is the best teacher, and I'll close this blog the way I started it. Happy travels!

Livermore, CA

On January 21, Doctor Vagabond made the big move from Tempe, AZ to Livermore, CA. He was aided in his move by his girlfriend, Mistress Vagabond. The drive from Tempe to Livermore is about 700 miles, and takes about 12 hours. That would be bad enough, but Southern California decided that this day would be a good one to have its biggest rainstorm in the past 50 years*. So, it was 12 hours of this:

And this**:

For those of you into math, here's a nifty equation:
U-Haul truck + snow in the mountains east of Bakersfield = good times.

Anyway, we made it to Livermore eventually, and enjoyed the luxuriousness of my ridiculously square living room***:

Anyway, this seems to be the end of my trip. I'll include one more post to wrap everything up, and that will be it!

* This may or may not be true.
** I'm not picking my nose, I'm scratching the side of my nose. Seriously.
*** It is really hard to arrange furniture in a perfectly square room. Try it some time.