This years adventure is: Dragon Wrider's Walkabout
After 13 years in the computer industry, doing everything from Data Entry, project management, development (software and data warehouses), quality assurance, performance engineering, load/stress testing, capacity planning and business report design, I find myself unemployed. So, I have decided that it is time to see the world, or at least the country while I continue to look for a job and hopefully find a career.
As some of you may know I did not begin this adventure alone. When we hit the road on April 1st, I accompanied by my 14 year old dog named Merlin.
Merlin had been suffering with back issues off and on for years and last October paralysis started in his rear limbs. By November the vets said that he wouldn't get any better without surgery, which he may not survive, due to his age. Not wanting to put him through the pain of the surgery, I decided that I would find a way to help him be comfortable and see if rest and previcox would be sufficient, to get him back to health. Well, it was and by mid January he was moving around pretty good on his own, provided he was on carpet (he still walked like he was drunk, but his tail was wagging most of the time).
In the car on the move to Georgia, I began talking to Merlin, my closest confidant, about all the places that we would see together in this new adventure we were embarking on. I explained the smell of the Atlantic ocean off the New Smyrna Beach sands, the sound of the forest in the Smokey Mountains at night, the views of the high plains near the Grand Canyon, the colors in the Grand Canyon at both sunset and sunrise, the sounds of the Pacific Ocean lapping onto the shores of Los Angeles, the taste and smell of the Redwood Forest, the spectacular scenery of Yosemite, the Lava Fields and the magnificence of the Rocky Mountains. All the while he would lay in the seat next to me, looking up and appearing to be listening and encouraging me to tell him more. So, it was near the end of those many hours riding together that I began to lay out a plan, no an adventure for he and I to go and see all those things instead of just talking about them. Every time I had an idea, I would fill him in, as a way of thinking out loud to see how it sounded.
Our first adventure was New Smyrna Beach and Moms house. Together we smelled the beach and even took Erica with us. To me it was another beach but, to Merlin and I it was the next step in our big adventure, which I dubbed The Adventures of Merlin and Dragon Wrider. During that week, there was an altercation with one of Mom's dogs and Merlin was bitten, at 14 an attack can be life threatening, but Merlin was tough as ever, and soldiered on.
The weekend after Easter, I noticed that he was having issues walking again. I had taken him off the previcox while he was on another medication and the effects had definitely worn off. I immediately put him back on his regimen and began putting him in his wheelchair to allow him some freedom. A week later he was needing assistance urinating and just as before, I did everything I could. I went outside with him periodically to make sure I emptied his bladder and to walk him around so he could poo. Periodically he would have a bowel movement and not even know, which clued me in to the fact that my efforts were not enough. We couldn't go far because of his issues but he loved being in the car. He would get excited when I would walk toward the car and generally meet me at his side, tail wagging and waiting for me to take him out of his chair and into his seat. During these rides, for hours sometimes, I would explain what we would need to take with us on the trip, the food, mosquito nets for the car windows (home made and work great), what campgrounds allowed pets and which ones wouldn't, what type of trailer we would need to pull the motorcycle (Dragon) and the biggest question...how do we get both of us on Dragon? Finally, we found a pet travel case that we could modify so that he could ride in front of me...it was all coming together.
Then, in the early morning hours of April 27th, everything went pear shaped. Here is an excerpt from my diary: "...Merlin pooped and urinated in his sleep but woke in a panic, seemingly worried about me scolding him...I kissed him, then got up, bathed him, changed his bed and tucked him back to bed with my hand on him...he's been rather despondent for a few days now, he's not acknowledging my existence, ans is actively refusing my attempts to give him belly rubs. All morning I tried working with him to get a response letting me know that he was in there and wanted to continue...I got an appointment to see an acupuncturist and he seems much more aware, happy and energetic...I thought today was the day I would have to put him down...but the adventure continues..." We had a great weekend together, he still had minor accidents but seems in much better spirits which was a key for me.
Unfortunately, Merlin passed away on May 2nd 2012, after 14 great years together. It is in his honor that I continue this adventure and will be spreading his ashes throughout the country, at each of the sites that I had planned to taking us. Although, Merlin won't be there physically he will always be in spirit and in my heart. My stories will occasionally include him, as my guide. Here is our story.
Since I purchased my first motorcycle in 2004, I have been obsessed with the desire to ride, I have since realized that the riding was nothing more than an excuse to get out and see the world. Don't mis-understand, riding is still my passion but I no longer feel that I have to ride everywhere...it's perfectly acceptable if not preferable to tow the bike to new locations. As you will find out this is actually the form of travel that I have adopted. Towing the bike and then riding out of a central location actually makes life more enjoyable in the long run. I use the car, in this a 2009 Toyota Prius that I have nickname "Tug" to pull my "Dragon" my 2008 BMW R1200GS. Tug serves several purposes, carry the core elements of the journey like clothes, food, camping gear and other necessities; it can be used as sleeping quarters in the event of bad weather, unsafe environment or just to get off the ground; and finally to tug or pull the Dragon down the road from one major location to another. To accomplish the latter, I have acquired and modified a new Ultra-Tow motorcycle trailer and installed a tow hitch on Tug. In order to make the trailer compatible with Tug we needed to keep Dragon at the back of the trailer instead of the front where the built in wheel chock is located. The purpose of this shift is to move the weight off the tongue of the trailer and lessen the drag on Tug's rear suspension. We then installed a wheel chock further back on the trailer to keep Dragon from rolling forward and installed additional tie downs in the rear to assist with immobilizing her. We then added a wheeled swivel jack to allow us to take the weight off of Tug during overnights or stops in which the Dragon would not be unloaded. The final addition was a spare tire, unfortunately, we could not find a suitable location that didn't require significant trailer modification, or adding unwanted tongue weight, so the tire is housed in Tug's backseat.
Now that Tug, the trailer, Dragon and the Wrider are ready, the story will begin...
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