Roadstory News #10
June 2007

In 1998 I decided to quit my job and live and travel in an Airstream trailer.  In order to stay in touch with my family and friends and write about what I was doing, I sent out a paper newsletter three or four times a year.  Then I switched to email.  As my lifestyle became more and more "normal" to me, I sent out fewer newsletters.  I've only sent three in the last six years.

I now carry an internet satellite dish with me and I've set up this website to facilitate contact with my family and friends.  My previous newsletters are all here as well as my current travel information, things I've written, my complete daily travel log, photos and the usual personal website stuff.

Don't miss my Photo Gallery.  It's part of my site, has no ads, and now opens in a separate window.  And read my 1984 Yosemite Climbing Accident story ...if you dare.  I've recently revised and improved it.

My last Roadstory News (#9), was written in Lakewood, NM in March of 2005.  My big news at that time was my new membership at The Ranch, an SKP Co-op RV Park.  That "big news" has been completely overshadowed by my meeting of a widowed fellow Ranch Hand named Marilyn Clark in the Fall of 2005.

When it came time to head for Mexico for the winter, Marilyn convoyed along in her motorhome and spent the winter with me in San Miguel de Allende.  While she studied Spanish, I explored the area on my mountain bike.  We also enjoyed visits with my old friend Jim Rinehart who rode down with me and then flew home, and my Mexicana friend Flory Comacho who took a bus down from Sinaloa to visit and explore for a few days.  By the end of the winter our separate rigs had become a burden and we looked forward to stowing one of them away so we could travel in a single RV as a couple.  Marilyn had traveled about as much as I had and my newly adopted strategy of staying put at The Ranch in the Spring and Fall suited her as well.

We spent the summer of 2006 traveling my usual route in California, Oregon and Washington in Marilyn's motorhome which delighted Marilyn since she has spent much of her life on the East Coast. And she adapted well to my favorite forms of recreation by purchasing a mountain bike and foldable kayak.  We intended to tour Baja in my Airstream in the winter of 2006, but wound up spending it in Yuma, AZ instead.  Marilyn was recovering from a surgery and we had an opportunity for a free campsite for the winter in Yuma which we couldn't resist (thanks to Earl Smith).  Nine years on the road has ravaged the finish on my Airstream so while we were in Yuma, I began an ongoing polishing project by stripping the remaining clear finish off of my trailer.

The Escapees RV Club has many special interest groups called Birds Of a Feather (BOF) groups.  They are member organized and there must be about thirty of them.  They have everything from Rock- hounds to Quilters, from Methodists to Nudists, from Nu-wa owners to Pet-lovers.  Now, Escapees for some reason seems to attract a very conservative group.  They are predominantly white, American flag displaying, support-our-troops, Christians.  There is a Gay BOF and a Nudist BOF but from what I've heard, they are highly controversial among the Escapees population and the club lost some members by allowing these groups.  So in August of 2006, I decided almost on a lark to start a "Freethinkers" BOF for the non-religious members of Escapees.  To my surprise and delight, our little group grew almost immediately to over one hundred members.  That is a drop in the bucket when compared to the 34,000 families who are active members of Escapees, but it is a significant presence for a small minority of non-believers in the virtual sea of faith surrounding us.  So as founder of SKP Freethinkers BOF, I am now busy organizing, promoting, and participating in this group.  Organizing the group has been rewarding and I'm making some great new friends in the process.

I was elected to the Board of Directors at The Ranch in the fall of 2006 so when we returned from Yuma in the spring of 2007 I devoted some time to that obligation.  But I spent much more time learning how to author websites and subsequently building a website for SKP Freethinkers.  Visit skpfreethinkers.com to learn more about the group and my technological triumph.  In fact, this website, "Roadstory News" uses some extra space and bandwidth available from the host service of the SKP Freethinkers site.  I also put considerable effort this spring at The Ranch into polishing the upper half of my Airstream to a mirror shine.  I'll resume work when the tendonitis it caused in my elbow subsides a little.

Marilyn's motorhome, though more comfortable for two than my little Airstream, also uses about twice the fuel per mile than my Dodge Pickup and trailer combo.  So our pattern so far has been to stay in her motorhome at The Ranch and travel in my trailer.  The trip we have now begun for the summer of 2007 is a South Eastern figure eight to start in Colorado and include Georgia, and Washington DC.  You can view the progress of our current travels by viewing my Travel Log and our Google Map.

So.  I'm hoping that by emailing the address of this website to the former subscribers of "Roadstory News," I can re-establish contact with some of my neglected friends, stay in touch with my new friends and provide an ongoing source for contact in the form of this website.  Please explore it, return often, and send me your comments and your own news or link!

Happy trails,
Howard Replogle
June, 2007