Ft.Lauderdale to Boulder.................the long way.

View Larger Map


We are finally(me Mum and I) leaving Florida this coming Sunday, when we load up a rented RV with food, clothes, camera gear, 3 bottles of Scotch, a Box of Romeo Y Juliettes, 25 reds, 35 blues, a pint of raw ether, three sheets of blots, 2 qts of Herradura Tequila, 1 art of rum and 2 cases of Chimay Belgium beer, and take the long and scenic way to Mums new apt and life in Boulder CO.

Better living through chemicals,right?....

Ok, so I borrowed some of the list from the late upstanding member and pillar of the community Hunter S.Thompson, and his little book about his own "trip", but at the time it was a damn good list(and still is), and I can't help but think on a trip like this, he would be THE perfect travel companion for a run like this. Think of the fun we would of had.......Mum and Hunter, sipping wine, telling tales.....

Meanwhile, the jettisoning of cargo and the downsizing of my life is carrying on full steam ahead, the latest projectile to be hit with the blasting cap being my '06 F350 pick-up. Carmax, bless their little hearts, found it in them to give me a decent price for the truck, so I took it with a smile and the comfort that it'll pay for Mums move and our roadtrip(excluding the scotch and chemicals of course), and keep me on the road for another year or so, unless we start another war somewhere, and gas hits the Euro price of $8+ a gallon.

My D300 system went on the auction block too ,BUT, it got replaced with something better, so at least i'm not totally shutterless.

My 14/0 Everol Tuna rod and reel is still here,and looking for a good home or wall to hang on. This ones a beast, it even looks good just sitting there. Made in Italy, it's 18 1/2 lbs of rod and reel...

Just to give you an idea of how big this reel is, I put a quarter on the side of it for scale.


And speaking of big....

...here's mi amigo Jimmy Balboni on the bridge of his office,the monster 5,100 HP Broward, one of  Seabulk Towing's Tugs in Port Everglades.

Jimmy  stopped by on Saturday and dragged me off to a watersports competition in Mills Park around the corner from where we live,so we set the cameras on CH and let 'em rip.

When not throwing container ships around the port on the ABS class tug the Broward, he's a maritime and street photographer, and a damn good one two.

See ya Skippahhh, standin by on ch.24 and 69......

Meanwhile back at Mills Park......

 As soon as it got Arizona hot we left, but got some fun and interesting shots. A lot of very talented riders there.

Back at the port,I got to jump on board the Vicki M...another monster tug.

Modern day tractor tugs are state of the art, not the big 'ole prop driven barges of yesteryear. Notice the lack of a "wheel" in the wheelhouse.

The Vicky M McCallister has a pair of "Z-Drives", controllable pitch propellors, which make the 30 meter 4,650 horsepower tug able to turn on a dime.The "Z-Drives" are controlled by a pair of "joystick" controls, just like a video game controller.

The nameplate is from another tug, not the Vicky M.

Sheridan Street,6:50am.


So this coming Sunday morning I depart from Fort Lauderdale for points north and west, heading to Austin TX for a stop with a friend who lives in Roundrock. Then it's on  to west TX and New Mexico.
The Team Red White and Blue run in Shanksville PA is on schedule for Sept 11th, so as soon as  the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials end Sept 1st in Wendover UT at the Bonneville Speedway, i'll be heading east.


I have been swamped to try to get everything packed and ready to go,hence the gap in the blog posts. When I leave this time, the foreclosure process will be moving ahead on the house, so one more trip here and that'll be it for that chapter of my life.

I will miss good friends at the beach here, but I have spent so much time away from "home" in the last two years living on the road, that my "home"  has now become wherever I pitch my tent.










As Always...

Murph