Part III

One thing I worked on during that time was trying to get my web page up. I don't have too much content right now, but did manage to archive all of my emails on it, so you can go back and relive all the fun, or if you joined the adventure somewhere along the way, you can read about what came before. Due to the graphic nature of the material, I recommend that you view it with some sort of high speed connection, or you will wait forever for the pictures to download. I started to construct an "About Me" page to explain it all, but really didn't feel like writing anything. Someone suggested I solicit ideas from people that read the emails. So this is your chance to contribute content to the webpage. Anyone wanting to write something appropriate for that section is invited to send something in, and I will put it out there. It could be a few words, a sentence, a paragraph, a haiku, whatever you want. I figure if I get enough contributions, a vague outline will materialize (probably not unlike a chalk outline at the scene of a crime) around this adventure and the adventurer. And if I don't get anything, I'll just have to write something myself, and nobody wants that! If you want to check out the webpage, it is at www.findtao.com.

Way back in mid-September, after 9/11, as I was back East and getting ready to head out West again, I likened that time as a transition; sort of like from Book I to Book II in a long novel (see link - http://www.findtao.com/Email%20Archives/I'm%20sitting%20here%20in%20Tahoe....htm). Now it feels a little like I am moving into the final section, Book III, the last reel, the denouement. I find it interesting that so far things have been broken into about 4 month chunks, demarcated by changes in the season and trips back East. I don't know the ending yet, but I can see something off in the distance. At some point the money will run out, and I can also feel the time coming where I will be sick of sleeping in a van and will want to feel a part of a more fixed community. This section started with a return to San Francisco to fix the van and head out for a winter of snowboarding. My skills at living and traveling on my own are now second nature; problem solving (in particular breakdowns in the van) also becoming second nature. But also a little road weariness, and the need to learn how to do it all with significantly less daylight and in much colder and harsher climes, presenting a new set of challenges.

So it all begins again....and now I have a 4 month deficit in story telling, so there will be 3 concurrent threads in this journal, but for now I will keep us all current on this part of the trip. I last left off with a very long drive towing the van from Bend Oregon to San Francisco due to a broken transmission (http://www.findtao.com/Email%20Archives/Painful.htm).

My flights for the holidays were long boring redeye's, with the only excitement coming when I was pulled out of the boarding line and my carry-on bag and self were thoroughly searched. Upon my return I set about arranging to get the rebuilt transmission installed in the van. Of course that took a little longer than I would have liked, so I spent some time rearranging storage in the van, and built this really cool "loft" in the back of the van...