It's Time Again.

My what a year makes. To say this has been a trying year is an understatement. LIke Noah saying his 40 days and 40 nights were, "a little damp".

Within less that 2 weeks, starting January 1st, I sold my house, lost my girlfriend, started a very intense AEMT class, got Covid - again, had to pack up and move the remainder of my worldly possessions and vacate my home of 5 years - alone.

Well, that's not entirely true. I asked some of my fire department brothers to come by on one of the coldest and snowiest days of the new year and help me move most of my heavy stuff to storage. I was very sick and I couldn't help much, but these boys did the heavy lifting and helped more than they know. They were a Godsend and I can't thank them enough for it. Also, a good friend came by and she spent 4 days cleaning, helping me sort and part with a lot of my things and was a cheerleader and encourager when I needed it the most. She saved me. The Sutton Family brought me some awesome care packages along with others making sure I was taken care of.

Interestingly, one of the side effects of my second round of covid was the "long covid". This is where you lose your ability to concentrate and the ability to make decisions, so I did some pretty crazy things.

Then when it was finally over, on January 24th, I packed up my two cats and said goodbye to the house that was my home for the last five years and the only home the fur monsters ever knew. There were no words. I said a prayer to bless the house for the new owners, turned out the lights, took down the flag and drove away. With a big lump in my throat and a heavy heart, I drove the three of us acrossed town to my dad's place where he offered me a room and a warm place to stay. I have a project in the works for summer that will eventually afford me a place of my own, but for now, dad and I are roomies and we're actually having a great time, so far.

The rigors of the class were almost impossible, too, thanks to the gift of covid. This Long covid thing lasted mostly into March where my cognition slowly started to return. It wasn't until April that I truly started to enjoy learning and I crammed as much knowledge in as I could and, with some help from classmates and a lot of determination, I passed my last national test on May 10th. I now wait for the state to give me their blessing then I will be able to practice as a new NREMT-A. It is a relief and more than a humbling experience, to say the least.

And, now it's deep into May and a little while back, I decided to hit the road again. Another trip to the South and another adventure on the road. Now with gas three to four times the price it was last year, this decision was a hard one. I wanted to take my Buell with it's 50+ mpg, but I am running out of time with that one. She needs new tires and I'm not going to be able to do that and all the other things I need to do to get her road worthy. The Africa Twin is ready, but at <30 mpg, it's gonna cost me - a lot! But, how do you put a price on sanity? Sanity is priceless.

But, time is short and I'm being deliberate in my preparing. Luckly, I have little to buy and the packing is smooth after doing it day in and day out last June. It's actually coming along quite nicely. It won't be long now - June 3rd to be exact - then I'll be back on the road heading south by south east.

So, you ask, what's the theme for this one? If last year was "In Search of Roots" then this one should be named something very similar because what I failed to realize last June was that I was within a hand full of miles from family and I didn't even know it. This year I will try to reconnect with them and try to make up for some lost time, so let's call this one "The Search for Roots". Yeah, I know, it's close to the one from last year, but isn't it really the same kinda thing? Last year, I had no idea what I was going to find, but this time I have a goal and an objective. It's about reconnecting more than discovering and if not now, then when? Time never stops and it's getting shorter by the hour.

I will also be looking for property in AR when I get there. Maybe a retirement plan? A new adventure? A people I can relate to? More questions than answers at this point, so I best get to looking for the answers. I will also try to connect with friends made on the last trip and that, I am looking forward to as well.

I plan on posting more pictures and more videos as well as maps of the routes I take. I also want to keep giving you stories on the people I meet along the way. I had a great time with that, so I'll keep that up.

So, here's your part. If you have any suggestions for me, I'd entertain them. I learned so much from the people I met and the great advise they gave me for routes, campsites and attractions and such, so feel free to jump in too! After all, you know you wanna go , right? It's gonna be another great adventure, so you should feel free to play along, don't you think?

Well....??

Are you in??