Whirlwind

It has been forever since I posted anything.  I have no idea if anyone is watching anymore.  Oh well, for my record I will begin again.

It has been a whirlwind of a few months. Last I entered we were returning to Phoenix after a magnificent trip riding and exploring the South, East and some of the Northern US.  We returned home to everything in the house in fine shape. Then IBM changed the policy that no more telecommuting from outside of your "home of record."  Meaning I could not work on the road anymore!  The travel was done for a bit which we will get to in a moment.

We have a huge, okay not huge but a very long truck 1 ton diesel to pull the fifth wheel to and fro.  It measures over 23 feet. Come to find out our community HOA by laws have a stipulation that restricts trucks that long and tonnage.  To make a long drawn out story short...we are moving.

So to keep you up to date...I can not travel, and I can not park my new truck in the community without risk of fines. Are you starting to feel the whirlwind coming on yet?  Then the next storm in our lives...the biggest blessing!

IBM decided to outsourced my team and our work to China.  That means we are all let go. I have been around along enough to retire, so it was great. I was given a great package for the early retirement including, full bennies for a year, half of year of pay, retooling pay, all kinds of additional things.  I was going to retire soon anyway this way it just came with a silver lining.

For the house and HOA situation, I will not bore you with all the issue of "buying a short sale." other then saying DON'T DO IT!  We have been working this deal for over four months.  We have been told at least six times today is the day you will hear "It is yours."  The first time was about 30 days after we first put down our earnest deposit four months ago.  We finally heard "it is ours" last week.

Sooooooooo...As of July 1, I am retired.  Hopefully by July 10th we will have closed on the new house where we can park the truck where we want and travel when we want....LifeXL will be on again.

Why Do Ride?

We are stuck at home for a bit so thought I would "change it up."  So to get our motorcycle buddies thinking...why do you ride?  Our answer and some inspiration for you is given in this advertisement video...

That about says it all.  Living Life XL means taking time to have fun.  I have to admit I (Steve) forget that sometimes.  My fabulous spouse (Heather) is always there to remind me to have fun.  We scuba, kayak, bicycle,  motorcycle, snowboard, and even did a triathlon a few years ago with my youngest son.  That is Life XL.

God has created an environment with such a diverse methods for exploration and enjoyment. How much time have you taken to search it out and enjoy.  Our motorcycles are just one of the greatest ways to get across the miles of roads truly in touch with God's creation in your face.  You feel the speed, the corners in the seat of your pants, and the changes in temperatures real time as you travel to and fro.  That is the joy He has given to us to enjoy.

We are home and off the road until we can arrange to be back on the road again. We are going out on the weekends when we can but the short trips are not as adventurous as the long haul across country we desire.

I hope you are out living Life XL...

Great Motorcycling of New Mexico

Earlier this year we made plans to have a little family meet up in New Mexico to catch up with Sean and Christine and baby Keller, Joel and Kara and Sara. We found and scheduled Timeshare. A three-bedroom and importantly 3 bathroom timeshare two level condo that also had parking for our truck and rig and took pets. As it turned out it was just Steve, Brodie and I in Ruidoso New Mexico.


We took several long motorcycle rides through some absolutely fabulous areas.  Again, we have nothing like these areas in Arizona.  The roads in Arizona are mostly straight and fairly uninteresting with a few exceptions.  Not here...

We rode on five routes within fifty miles of Ruidoso that all put anything we have done in Arizona to shame. They were long sweepers and tight winding combined and all uninhabited to boot.  These were all among the trees, pastures, and green farm country side always changing.  One of the best loops we did went from 6200' to over 9000' to a very old town called Cloudcroft NM.  Cloudcroft was established in 1890's as part of the the railroad.  I now has a small ski resort, an astronomical observatory, and some really quaint old buildings down town.

In this area of southern New Mexico seems to be made from mostly mesas.  It is table top flat then you come to an edge and you go straight up to the top, or down depending, then it is flat top again.  That is which exception, around the Lincoln National forest.  A large range of mountains poke out for the mesas.  There is a 12000 footer among the peaks here.  We rode to the top of that one too.

Heather, Brodie, and I rode all day in 70 degrees with not a cloud in the sky.  The weather was like this all week. It was beautiful!  This is only about seven hours from Phoenix so we will be back to spend more time at future opportunities if the Lord allows.


The summary of our Life XL: We experienced living life fully, enjoying each other even more than before, which is hard to believe. Who would have thought going from a big house to a tiny 5th wheel would get in our hearts so deeply?
The big change for Brodie has been more exercise and new things to explore. Brodie loves to hunt for furry things and this lifestyle change as been Heaven on Earth for Brodie.
The big change for us personally has been the fun of hanging out 24/7 doing shoulder time.
This has not been a once in a life time vacation, both of us worked our jobs the entire trip. We have different shifts, different schedules and different days off. It has been easy to meld our schedules to still include time to explore.

Another benefit of Life XL has been the ease of meeting people everywhere we go. People doing the RV lifestyle are more open and friendly, willing to lend a hand at the drop of a hat, and willing to share their time and memories, pass on tips for traveling, and hear our hearts. Just knowing we can knock on any of the rigs and see a smiling face is exciting. No one seems burdened to spend time with us. And the conversations seem to generally be much deeper than we experience when we are not on the road.

We can see why Christ and Paul (though not together) traveled so much, as did many of the key people in the Bible. Christ was about His Father's business. We truly see a difference between being planted in a big house that is in a big city with a big population of people all closing their doors and curtains. People busy doing their lives in the hamster wheel of life. There is just no energy or a strong will to make time for the neighbor or help out in the community, let alone spend more than a couple hours a year, if that, with family and friends.

A pastor said, "you can't truly know a person unless you spend time with the person." But....Time always marches on, each day is 24 hours closer to the end of our time on earth. Our decisions to make time to step into this Life XL experience has changed our hearts and desires. No longer do we need stuff, no longer do we want stuff so if you are in need of stuff let us know, we probably can hook you up.

Life XL has tested us in ways we never thought we would step up to the challenge and experience. We realized our thinking was Americanized to the point of being stale. American isn't sinking down the tubes, it is each person living in America too busy to know their neighbor, spend quality time with friends, that is, in part, disconnecting us from being here to connect with others, to be more like Christ.

We have traveled almost 10,000 miles, 24 states in that experience weather has been a factor that showed us God has created a truly unique planet for us to live on. America is a blessed land of plenty. Through five different tornado aftermaths, 45 days of sizzling heat and humidity, pouring rain storms, fog too thick to see, sunsets that paraded beauty and splendor across the horizon, glorious sunrises that gave us goosebumps, lightening and thunder that got our instant attention, all of this has shown us the power of seasons on this earth, the power of Life XL.

We have arrived in Phoenix. Our great neighbors and good friends to us watched our house and indoor plants while we were gone. We owe them much more than thank you cards! Our community landscaper took care of lawn and outside plants. Everything is in it's place. The weather is getting cooler in Phoenix. The house is fine but this isn't where we are needed any more. In just the few days we have been planted in our house we feel the change. I call it "life tiny." No more chatting with people on our walks...faces pointed down, fear in their eyes, walk pass and don't make eye contact. No beautiful changing views, no changing hearts and no one sharing funny stories. Life tiny isn't going to do now that we have walked, driven, and ridden Life XL!

We had a taste of what Paul experienced traveling to new places, meeting and encouraging, helping strangers and stirring the hearts of others. Oh, to imagine Paul's journey, the long hours of walking lonely roads to meet up with strangers, stay for a meal and chat, extend his stay to a week or more, changing their lives as much as they added to his life memories.

The Presidents in Stone...

It has been a bit since my last entry...

We left Minnesota and headed for the west.  What is west of Minnesota?  Why the Dakotas of course.  In the South Dakota is Mount Rushmore, which Heather and I have never seen before was our destination. 

We followed the route through field after field of huge sun flowers.  It was a great drive and very picturesque.  We arrived at our destination of Horse Thief Campground just at dusk.  The weather was cool, clear and just perfect to sit and "watch the trees grow."

Speaking of trees.  This area of South Dakota has the same issue we have had for the past several years in Arizona with the bark beetle.  I gets under the bark of the Pinion Pine, rings it and the tree dies in just a season.  It is standing with nothing but brown needles completely dead.  I am told it is from the lack of moisture, so not enough sap to fight off the beetle.  All the brown in these pictures is standing dead.  It was very sad to see the forest so devastated.

We were camped about 12 miles from Mt Rushmore Memorial and 9 miles from Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota.  It was a treat to see both.  The are magnificent stone carvings that have taken years to complete. I would highly recommend them both.

We took a great 60 mile all day ride around the area.  It was almost as much fun as the the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. It was twisty city and nothing but fun. Here is a map of the route.  It was all day for all the stops and all the places to see.  There were places where you could see your rear tire as you went around the corner.   You must avoid the buffalo too.



We have since left in route for home.  Can you believe it? We have some business to attend to in Phoenix so we headed for the dreaded 114, never ending heat advisory, thunder storm warnings, etc.  Pray for our short visit to the valley and our returning to the great adventure of Life XL...

Steve and Heather

Where we have visited so far...

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Rochester Minnesota...oh what a relief it is.

We have spent the week in Rochester Minnesota and what a relief it has been in several ways.  First off as we have mentioned and many of you across the country have experienced too we have been burning up. 

The weather here in Rochester Minnesota has been fabulous! Now I do not want to start a big controversy or anything but I imagine you have heard the big head line about how "9000+ Heat records were broken in July."  Did you believe it?  Check it out for yourself at NOAA.   I counted about 40-50 maybe.  Do you suppose the media likes to sensationalize sometimes?  It has been in the 70's and 80's here all week with a few showers in the night time.  Just wonderful relief.  We actually had a chance to fire up the heater when it hit the 50's over night!

The next greatest relief is the change of scenery.  We no longer look out at the walls of the "Fall out shelter" but to some very nice meadows of the RV park we found.

 We are all by ourselves in a big ol' meadow surrounded by trees.  There is the river beyond the trees for Brodie to play in.  We have an often overhead display of a of the Canadian Snow Geese flying by. It is quite different then living on the frontage road of I-40 and watching the diesel trucks going by for our entertainment.  Check out the view out my back door. 

The final relief we have felt is the chance to meet my colleges.  This is a video of the first time I have gone to "the office" in what I would estimate seven to eight years.  I was amazed my employee badge still allowed me into the buildings after all these years.  I was even more surprised I could still find it, Not the office, my employee badge!

For those that do not know me personally, I have been telecommuting and working at home for about 15 years now.  I have a team that is spread all over the country and my boss is here in Rochester.  I have been looking forward to the chance to make it to Rochester to finally spend time face to face with my manager and others I work so closely with on an every day basis.  It was an awesome week.  I was able to spend several hours of real quality time with Kin, my manager.  It was time that can not be replaced or replicated on the telephone.  Then to add to that blessing,  I was able to meet and get to know four others that I work with on an almost daily basis.

Scott, Mike, Jason, and Brian are all members of my extended team.  They all bring different personalities and skills that I only now just realized make up the whole.  It was such a great experience to see how they work and interact with such professionalism and enthusiasm under the pressure and loads we deal with. I learned a ton while under their wings for this week.  Heather and the entire team went to lunch together on our last day here.  She was able to meet and greet them also.  Now she too can put a face to a name as I talk about many of the people I work with.  What a blessing to be on the road.

We are now preparing to head west across the northern United States.  We have some fairly important unscheduled business in Arizona so we have to make a detour.  So those of you that are in the area we will see you soon for just a short time...Lord willing.

XL living on the road and loving it
Steve and Heather

We are outta here...

You will not believe this - we are on the road again. It's time for somersaults, applause and cheers with the splits!!!!! We have been in Conway Arkansas since 7-7 waiting and praying for the right parts for our RV warranty repairs.  Parts have arrived several times, however, never the correct ones!  So one day short of a full month "we are outta here."

We were so excited when we crossed over the Mississippi into Arkansas the first time to pick up the rig.  I have to admit after the issues with parts and repairs the rv has lost some of the sparkle.  However, some of that was luster was restored by the our dealer on the final day.

The owner of the dealership made his third twenty-four hour drive round trip to Indiana to pick up everything the manufacture had said "is in."  He came back with the items promised except for the couch. He knew by looking at the couch it was entirely wrong design and about three feet short.  Every other part from this trip and in the past they given us has been the right name of part but did not match what was installed or fit our RV!  Steve went in and said,"we give up, we are ready to leave and just live with the defects now." National Traveler Rv Center, to their credit would not allow us to leave with this outstanding.  They cut us a check for the defective replacement parts costs.  All this, not knowing for sure if they would be reimbursed or not from the manufacture. They have been awesome from beginning. For any one reading I fully recommend Chris, the owner, and David from National Travelers RV Center .

We left our "Big Tin Shed" aka "The Fallout Shelter" from the dealership in Conway AR at 5:30 pm.  We drove all night long and arrived in Rochester Minnesota at about noon.  The traffic that time of morning and night made it easy.  Don't get me wrong Arkansas is actually a beautiful state we hope to be back.  We were just done with it and wanted to be moving again for a different view.  We said to one another several times throughout the night how nice it was to be "on the road again" <--- insert Willy Nelson here...

Brodie actually became quite comfortable with Arkansas.  He became the "Puppy of the Corn..."   But wait, some of you might not know Brodie.  Brodie is a West Highland White Terrier that just worships me and only pays attention (gives time of day) to Steve when I am not around.  Those who know us already know that Brodie is the king. He rides a BMW motorcycle.  He kayaks with us. He tubes the Salt river, a popular Phoenix past time. He does just about everything.  He is in national advertising and Facebook for the goggles (Doggles) he wears. He has made several national publications just for being cute...Need I say more.

Back to "Puppy of the Corn."  Brodie has discovered bunnies, frogs or toads, and mice live in the tall grass aka "corn."  The RV center is right on I-40 as it goes through Conway AR.  There is a large median that separates the freeway from the dealership and access road.  In this area the grass grows like mad as do the bunnies.  We loose Brodie in there for hours on end as he hunts them.  Can you find the Brodie in these picture?  He had a blast but never caught one.  Westies were bred to catch vermin and they will fall over before they give up.  We had to go in get him to so we could get on the road for our next destination, Minnesota.

While on horror movie themes. We switch from "Puppy of the Corn" to the next one which is "The Fog."  The drive towards Minnesota was uneventful except through Missouri and some of Iowa where we ran into a mass of fog for several hundred miles.  It was a white knuckled drive with 18,000 lbs following closely behind.  We pulled off in a rest area hoping to catch some some sleep and let it burn off a bit. We did not sleep with all the big rigs pumping their diesel fumes, puffing air brakes, so for the couple of hours we laid there or walked the dog around the lake which was there. We continued on drove all night across a few additional states to Rochester Minnesota.

What is in Rochester? Steve's boss, who he has he has only met and grown to respect over the phone.  In addition to his manager many of his team members are based here also.  We are planning to spend a week here so Steve can spend time with his boss and team mates.  We have a nice RV park nine miles away from the IBM plant in Rochester where they are all working.  More on this in future updates.

It has been 24 hours of no sleep. It is time to catch up..Night Night

Heather and Steve

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Extreme Heat Index Warning 30 days straight

We always tell visitors to Phoenix that our heat in the Valley of the Sun is a dry heat. We really don't have much humidity in Phoenix. The hot dry heat provides a good market for moisturizer sales to relieve dry and cracked skin. Fly across country to the Southern States for a completely different kind of heat - high levels of humidity packed with loads and loads of heat.

There is no such thing as dry heat in the South. It reminds me of being a kid pulling on a wet swim suit - sticky and slimy feeling of the wet suit against dry skin. In Arkansas, we have been on a extreme heat advisory for over 30 days. One might ask how we know that? From our Blog posts, we came back from the Tail of the Dragon after 4th of July.

There is a heat index reading here that we Arizona born folks don't ever have to bother with. For example, today in Conway it is 103 for the temperature but after the humidity is factored in the actual heat index is 115 degrees.
Either way,
it is hot,
it is humid, and
it is impossible to find something to do outside that doesn't zap energy and blood in your head.

Do I miss the Phoenix heat? Nope, especially my skin doesn't miss the dry heat of Arizona. But this type of heat takes it's toll quickly zapping you of fluids, drenching your clothes down to your socks, and forget any type of good hair day.

I am a water pusher - if we are sweating then we need to be drinking water. One look at us and one might think we walked through the misters at the mall but that was just five minutes in the shade waiting for Brodie to do his business. Speaking of Brodie - I have given Brodie a hair cut to relieve him of his fur coat that seemed to be holding the heat inside his little body. He enjoys laying in front of the fan and drinking ice water from his bowl but other than that it is just too difficult to enjoy a walk outside until about midnight.

Needless to say we are choosing not ride the bikes much since we ride in full gear. But this is the place to watch all the helmet-less motorcycle riders in shorts, flip flops, and beaters riding down the freeways and roadways.

We say "Hi and send our best wishes to our friend David" who is recovering from a near death experience not once but twice in one week. I guess that would be two near death experiences. First, only a week or so having the pink slip to a speed boat, David sunk his speed boat on the second trip to the lake. He has a picture on Facebook of two people floating next the the bow of the boat as the boat is sinking. It settled at 50 feet in below 60 degree water with zero visibility. David swam away with gasoline and oil burning his skin but no serious physical damage. Though the cost to un-sink a boat is costly, especially with EPA collecting all the gas and oil at the scene.

Then days later, David, fellow rider and our sweet gentleman of a friend was riding his motorcycle at 4:00 am in the morning with the normal attire of the area. Yes the same guy!  He missed the deer by swerving his bike but slammed himself and his bike down on a country road in the middle of the dark moon lite sky. He landed sideways skidding down the tarmac at 40 mph. Me and Brodie can attest to crashing at near that speed with gear on. After seeing David's skinless body, broken collar bone, arm in a sling and black eye I will stick to ATGATT. Bambi lives, David lives but David's Harley motorcycle took a hit for the team.

David even took all the skin off the tips of his fingers, knuckles, palms of his hands, forearms, shoulder and knees. Not to mention his $200.00 pair of jeans now are slashed with holes.

It is bad enough the bike is wrecked but to look at David in pain, changing bandages every few hours and unable to move his body normally - one phrase comes to mind from T.E.A.M Arizona classes quoting Motorcycle Safety Foundation - A.T.G.A.T.T.

For those folks who will never understand the sensation of living from the seat of your pants while riding, Google will help with the phrase. For those who do ride the choice is fully yours. But David is a great story of living through two near death experiences and lessons learned. Just seeing his black and blue, ripped and torn body has cemented the reason I gear up when I ride and continue to take skill building classes. David will be several weeks in pain unable to ride, thousands of dollars in medical bills, time off work, bandages, antibiotics and motorcycle repairs.

I guess love of freedom and looking cool 0ut weighs love of money and body. I have heard people say it doesn't look cool to be geared up before riding a motorcycle - I guess not riding because of the pain and suffering of road rash is cooler?

David we wish you full recovery for your body and bike. Hey, David, what's next on your bucket list?

Speaking of Bucket Lists - we can claim to have lived in 400 square feet with no breaks from each other for over 30 days and still smiling and speaking to each other. I am not sure it was a Bucket List item of ours but it could be a hard one to get through. For sure the experience of living in a big tin shed has been the highlight after The Tail of The Dragon for the month of July!

I don't think we would have made it through the entire month without the great folks that work here at National Travelers RV Center. Thanks to Don, Mickey, Chris, David, Aaron, Zack, Brandon and Linda for your conversations. We love you guys. But seriously we are really ready to get the rest of our parts and get out of here. We are ready be on our way to our adventure.

Shout out to all the BMW MOA Rim Riders of Arizona and T.E.A.M Arizona folks for your supportive calls and emails - helps more than you might know right now.
Off to get drenched in slimy sweat as we brave the 115 heat index. Enjoy the dry heat, rain and thunderstorms!
Safe riding!