Dare to Dream BIG!!

The last several days I've been staying home.  This is very unusual for me as I am most often everywhere but home. All summer long I am away every day and sometimes for days at a time, off riding my trike somewhere.  I totally love riding my trike (3 wheel motorcycle).  Now that the weather is too cold to ride, I am again driving my truck, which I also love.  However, oddly enough I am going through some kind of phase where I don't have any desire to go anywhere, I just want to stay home.  Mostly I sit in my chair watching TV and doing 'stuff' on my computer.  I play way too much Spider Solitaire and MahJong, as well as spend time on Facebook.  I also surf the net, reading recipes, health related articles, inspirational things, and various other web sites.  Some of the various other web sites are things of interest to my current life, and some are all about dreaming about my hopefully future life.  Some examples are looking at kitchens, cupboards or appliances; today, even though I don't have a basement in this home, I looked at flooring for basements;  I often look at web sites to do with trikes as I would love to upgrade mine or to get a new one built; and I plan to go to Arizona and/or New Mexico one day, during winter months.  My mother calls me a dreamer like it is a bad thing, yet I believe that you must dream in order to do anything important in life. My current trike was just a dream for many years before it became a reality, as was my 2008 Ford Ranger pick up truck. I say, Dare to Dream BIG!!

Drive/Ride SAFE!

I like this as it shows that riding is the big part of the day and that beer comes only after the riding is done!!  For me, this would be tea in the morning, riding all day, then more tea and more riding!! Though I personally don't care for drinking alcohol, I have nothing against others drinking in moderation... I just think that intoxicants (alcohol and/or drugs) do not go with driving any motor vehicle. You may think that you are perfectly good at driving after you have that drink or that joint, and maybe you are some days, and I am sure that others think they are also perfectly fine after the drink &/or toke or pills... and yet countless numbers of innocent people have been killed by impaired drivers that were sure they were okay to drive. 

PLEASE drive/ride SAFE!!

Recuperation Day

Having thoroughly enjoyed my weekend of riding my trike, I was so very sore and tired today (Monday), so I accomplished none of what I had planned for myself.  Instead, I just stayed home and slept or sat around on the computer all day.  I had to recuperate.  Just not as young as I once was so need to rest up between the fun times now.  I used to have a windshield on my trike and found that it made riding less stressful on the body, so I really must get one on again soon.  The wind is deflected by a windshield and with it the bugs and rain. Without it for protection, the wind presses hard on the head and body, thereby causing me to get a very sore neck and upper back area. Riding a short distance without the windshield is no big deal, but a long distance is hard on this aging body.

My friend Phil's sister, Marilyn, has been down visiting for nearly 2 weeks and is returning to her home near Edmonton Alberta early tomorrow morning, so as much as I just felt like staying home, I wanted to visit with Marilyn once more before she goes.  I had promised to bring tea so I packed up a tea pot and 2 kinds of Rooibos tea and off I went in my truck as my body needed the rest from riding the trike and it was rather stormy and looking like it might rain.  We had a very nice visit for 2 or 3 hours, then we said goodbye until next time and I came home around 9pm.

My New Truck

Currently, I drive a 1992 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4... and I love it. I have been trying to remember just what year I bought this truck who I named Vaquero (Spanish for Cowboy), and I don't recall though it could be as much as 10 years ago now. When I got him, he looked great and he has always been a super dependable truck. Now, with over 320,000 kilometers on him, he is rusty so doesn't look so good anymore, yet still he is super dependable and still is a pleasure to drive. I took Vaquero off the road in June, switching the insurance over to my trike. All summer Vaquero sat in my yard waiting while I rode Phoenix. On October 1, I decided it was time... it was cold and rainy, not the type of weather I wanted to ride the trike in, so I changed insurance from Phoenix back to Vaquero (from trike back to truck). I went out and put the key into Vaquero's ignition, turned it and VROOOM, he fired right up, happy to be alive and running again!!! I totally love this truck!!!

As much as I love Vaquero, the time has come to replace him, so taking into consideration how much I've enjoyed our years together and how dependable he has been and still is, I decided to go with another Ford Ranger 4x4. This time it will be a 2008 XLT with power windows and the 4 door extended cab. He has all the features that I wanted... and already he has a name!! I was telling my friends on Facebook about my new truck and posted a photo of this Grabber Orange truck. (Grabber Orange is a rare color... only 618 of them were put out in 2008 and fewer in 2009). My friend Brooks referred to this truck as Orange Julius... so I've named him Julius!!

You may have noticed a theme here... I always have male vehicles, not female, and yes, I name them too.

And here he is.... Julius!!

This is the photo my brother took of Julius when he, Terry, went to test drive the truck for me. You see, I found it on Craigslist and it's in Vancouver. Terry lives in the lower mainland so was able to go check this out for me (a wonderful big brother, don't you think), and said I'm getting a really great truck. Tomorrow I will drive to my bank about 1/2 hour north of here in the small town where I once lived and my Mom still lives. I will get a bank draft to pay for the truck and have a short visit with Mom, if there's time. Then back home where friend Ray will pick me up and give me a ride to the Greyhound Bus depot where I will begin my 9 hour bus ride. Terry will pick me up at the Vancouver bus depot and we'll drive about 45 - 60 minutes to his & Alana's home where I'll spend the night. On Wednesday I will meet with Vic, "the seller" and get all the paper work done, the truck paid for and all that stuff... then off to insure the truck. I will then begin the drive back home. The trip home will take quite a bit less time than the bus ride down will take. Well, unless I stop along the way to visit some of my triker friends, lol.