The Road More Traveled

It was an interesting week that featured one 200-mile stretch of Idaho that I did not intend to drive three times in three days. Sunday, after my mistake of forgetting I was supposed to leave Nampa on Saturday, I hitched up the rig and headed for Twin Falls. About thirty miles east of Boise, I stopped at a rest area and noticed my fan was running at triple speed again. They’d just replaced the thermostat! This should not be happening. Then it stopped and I continued toward Twin Falls. Somewhere near Mountain Home, the battery charge light came on again. They just checked the alternator! This should not be happening.

Then everything was fine. Truck ran fine. Trailer pulled fine. And the gorge at Twin Falls looked spectacular.

Looking down the Snake River from the bridge entering Twin Falls.

On the ridge slightly right of center is the ramp that on Evel Knievel used to attempt his jump across the Snake River Canyon in 1974. His Skycycle X-2 didn't quite make it across.

So after a leisurely start to the day and getting a lot of writing done Monday, I headed to Jackpot, Nevada. It’s only about fifty miles. At forty-eight miles, the truck just stopped running. The battery charge light came on. Then a wrench light came on. Then a warning about the oil. Then I restarted it and it was fine. Except for the check engine light that stayed on. I camped at Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot and had a drink and a smoke. Everything was not fine.

I called the repair shop in Nampa and agreed to try to get the truck to them the next day. Unsure how long I would be gone or if I would be camped beside the highway waiting for a tow truck in the middle of the desert, I booked three more nights at the RV park, packed my SHTF bag (and my phone) and took off the next morning back to Nampa. I left my trailer in Jackpot—which sounds like the start of a bad joke or a country-western song.

Miraculously, they discovered the problem. The electrical fuse that controls the fuel pump had burned out but fused inside the box so it was still making contact and just shook loose a couple of times. This, they said was a known problem (but not a recall) and they had a repair kit that would put in a larger fuse and move the connection to a new location in the box. They also got my windshield washer working again. I got the truck back that afternoon for a mere $300 and drove the 200 miles back to Jackpot.

That was pretty much the extent of that except that I had now paid for three more nights in Jackpot so I didn’t leave until Saturday to head south through the desert to Ely, Nevada. Instead of leaving, I wrote. Do you know what that looks like? At the beginning of the year, I set a goal for myself to write a “NaNo a month” or 50,000 words a month in 2018. Here’s the chart of my actual progress.

29,000 words this week!

At 300 days into the year, I have already far surpassed my goal of 600,000 words. And mostly, they’re pretty good ones. In the past week, I wrote 29,000. I’ll accept that.

So, yesterday, I did make it the 200 miles to Ely and got there early enough to keep writing. This morning after doing a lot of blog and Patreon posts, I continued south across the Great Basin and am camped for the night in Caliente, Nevada, about another 150 miles from Las Vegas—tomorrow’s goal. So far, I have had no additional truck problems. Let’s hope it stays that way.

This is where the Pony Express trail crossed Nevada in 1860-61. And this isn't even the Great Basin. It's only the sort of large basin.

The Great Basin was great, in every way, in every direction. I suppose at one time in our geological history, it was a vast inland ocean. Now it is just vast. It was about 135 miles from Ely to Caliente and the scenery was pretty uniform. And there was only one rest area, which I could have used thirty miles sooner.

Looking toward Mount Wilson across the vast Great Basin.

The Basin is Great in every direction.

So, I’ve already far exceeded my NaNo-a-month goal for the year and here it is just four days from the start of National Novel Writing Month. That means there is just enough time before October 31 to join as a Nathan Everett Patron to follow along as my new novel is written in November. Wild Woods is the sequel to the popular City Limits and I plan to do most of the writing (hopefully all) of the first draft in November. Here’s an opportunity for you to read it before it even gets to my editors!

I’ve become more and more committed to providing my stories at no charge to those on fixed income and/or otherwise unable to buy books. It happens that I currently have over 1000 active readers of the serialization of The Gutenberg Rubric. City Limits is also available free for online reading. It is my patrons who are making that possible.

Now you can join my Fifth Wheel Community at https://www.patreon.com/join/NathanEverett? for $10/month and not only help me provide free reading material for others, but also get a chance to read along as I write Wild Woods next month. When you enroll, be sure to select the Fifth Wheel Tier as your reward level. I sincerely hope you will join me in this exciting project!

If you’d rather not commit to a monthly pledge, you can make a one-time donation of $10 or more at https://www.paypal.com/aroslav. Leave me your email address and I’ll send you the link to the reading site. Content will post nearly every day in November as I follow the story of Gee Evars, the man without a memory.

More next week from Quartzsite, Arizona!

That Was Exciting!

The adrenalin rush of feeling the truck jolt sideways and hearing the crunch of impact as a white blur careens to your left. Let me just say, everyone is fine and my truck has been healed.

This beauty has been coy with me all month but finally came out
to say goodbye the morning I left Sun Meadow.

It seems that I have a picture like this on about the same date from each year!
All hitched up and ready for the next great adventure.

I left camp at Sun Meadows on Monday 10/15 early, meaning some time before noon. After a stop at Les Schwab in Moscow to find out why my right rear tire was leaking and a subsequent $100 wheel replacement, I was back on the road and enjoying some of Idaho’s most beautiful landscapes.

Overlooking Lewiston, Idaho and the confluence
of the Clearwater River and the Snake River.

It was Tuesday that things got interesting. I progressed from Lewiston toward White Bird, where I hoped to visit the Nez Perce Battleground again. It is an amazing site and there is an overlook half way down the eight-mile 7% grade from the summit to the town.

The Nez Perce Battlefield at White Bird from the overlook on US-95.

Reference points for the locations in this story:

A. Sun Meadow, Worley, ID; B. Lewiston, ID; C. White Bird, ID;

D. Nampa, ID; E. Twin Falls, ID

We were moving very slowly down the incline at about 30 mph behind a big rig when the pull off came up. I signaled and moved into the left lane to slow down and make the turn. The driver behind me thought I was just pulling out to pass the big rig and wasn’t going fast enough, so pulled into the oncoming traffic lane to my left to pass—just as I turned into the parking area.

Crunch, jolt, keep control as he flashed past me with my mirror scraping along the side of his truck. We came to a rest in the parking area.

I don't know how he avoided ripping up the door and front fender
but even the white scratches proved to just be some of his paint
and washed right out.

His F250 SuperDuty was a little taller than mine, so when he
took off my mirror (and his) it scraped all along the side of his truck.

After exchanging insurance information, I stayed at the overlook and rested for a while. Then I made my way back onto the highway to finish the trek into White Bird where I stayed at the Swiftwater RV Park and spent the afternoon exchanging messages with two different insurance companies an RV Park in Nampa, Idaho, and the Ford Dealer in Nampa. The next day was a long drive (150 miles) to make with no mirror on my left to see if there was traffic when I changed lanes. I booked into Garrity RV Park in Nampa and took my truck to the dealer.

In addition to the mirror, I was having difficulty with my check engine light coming on again and the fan starting its running at triple speed. Problems I’ve had fixed three times in the past month at a cost of $2,000. Corwin Ford promised they’d get to the bottom of it and fix it.

They did. Turns out the air intake flush valve (that has some other name that engine fanatics would be appalled I don’t remember) was stuck open and sending too much air through the engine. They replaced it. They also discovered my thermostat—replaced in Seattle at a cost of $350—had been installed incorrectly with the gasket on the wrong side and was leaking coolant. (Apparent cause of the fan running so fast.) They had to re-replace the thermostat. Along with a couple of other minor repairs, like replacing my wiper blades, my total for the trip was $1,002. The insurance company should reimburse about $385, but that was still a big chunk of change.

By this time, I’d spent two days confined to the trailer and immediate environs and I collapsed in bed Friday night to get some rest, knowing things were finally fixed. The next morning, I arose without a care in the world and spent the morning writing. Then I decided to go out and see if I could find mirror extensions to give me a wider view of the highway behind me.

That’s when it struck me that I’d only booked into this RV park for three nights and I was supposed to be on the road. The park is full, but fortunately, they were able to let me stay another night. I sometimes forget what time it is when I’m writing, but seldom what day it is or how long I’ve been somewhere. I did, however, get the mirror extensions and now I feel like the guy would have had a bigger target when he hit me.

I feel like I have wings sticking out on either side of the truck.
Will have to remember to fold my mirrors in whenever I'm parked.

So, today when it gets light out, I’ll be back on the road again, headed for Twin Falls, Idaho. I’m anticipating a leisurely Sunday drive. Got that?

Spending three days stuck in one place with no ability to leave did give me a lot of writing time and I finally exceeded my 2018 goal of 600,000 words. Pretty remarkable in my book. It isn’t even November yet and I still have the draft of Wild Woods to create during NaNoWriMo.

That little number in the upper write corner is
how many words I wrote. THIS WEEK!

Which brings me to the finale of today’s post. There is still time to sign up to follow the daily writing of Wild Woods in November! I’m very excited about writing the sequel to City Limits and expect the words to flow rapidly during the month. Become a $10 patron at www.patreon.com/nathaneverett. Or make a $10 donation at www.paypal.me/aroslav. Be sure you leave your email address so I know where to send the links to new chapters!

As a special incentive, you can now read City Limits online at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/citylimits/index.html. FOR FREE! You’ll want to be caught up with the story before you follow Gee Evars through the next adventure.

One thing is certain; Gee isn’t the type of person

to look at life through a mirror, thinking only of the past.

Neither am I.

Ready, Set, MAYBE!

I’m preparing to move out and head south tomorrow. Maybe. Over the past six weeks, I’ve had almost $2000 worth of repair and maintenance done to my truck and when I went out to start it yesterday it refused with the same symptom that got it into repair six weeks ago! Fifteen minutes later, it started just fine. One friend just sent me a not that he’d had chronic engine problems with his 2013 F150 as well and that was why he traded it in for a 2017. Well, that’s unlikely. As much as I’d like to trade up, there is no money in the bank for that.

I finished my 2017 income tax yesterday and got it filed a whole two days before the October 15 deadline. Fortunately, I made a large payment with my extension and didn’t owe anything more. I plan to do some better bookkeeping for this year.

Right.

WYSIWIG

Last night was the Black Tie/White Glove dinner at Sun Meadow and I stayed here specifically so I could attend. Had a moment of panic when I couldn’t find my tie. I’d just worn it at New Year’s Eve! Some one said that was ten months ago. How time flies. Well, it was with my cufflinks, where it should have been. I just couldn’t remember where I’d put them. And the cuffs and collar. I suppose that if I celebrate New Year’s Eve this year, I’ll have to wear clothes.

I had a great trip back to Seattle for the three Fs, friends, family, and physicians. Michele and Jason have a new home and kindly invited me to stay with them. Really beautiful but the week convinced me over again that I’ll never own one again.

The lake in M&J's back yard was a convincing argument for home ownership!

I was very happy to spend time with Quinne during the week even though she is very busy with work. Dinner with her boss was also delightful. Very nice woman with a lot of common interests. Q and I, of course, talked about writing, travel, and her promise to visit me in Quartzsite in December. It happens that her book is set in a National Wildlife Preserve not too far from Quartzsite and she’s applying for permits to visit it while she’s there. Definitely need to make sure the truck is dependable!

Then it was on to the Washington Cigar and Spirits Festival at Snoqualmie Casino Saturday night. Sister Kim and Nephew Brendan joined me. We met up with Mike and Sue and had a great time.

Me, Brendan, Kim against the hazy background of cigar smoke.

Brendan wants to be included on our annual get-together from now on. Food was good. Spirits were good. Cigars were good. Company was good. All wrapped up to be a good night.

Then I headed back to Spokane to have dinner with Dennis and Jackie before spending the night at Mike and Sue’s so I could pick up my trailer after maintenance and having some badly needed repairs done at Camping World ($2000!). As usual, I stopped at every rest area and twice for coffee. That’s six rest areas. I skipped the Starbucks at Moses Lake because it is so hard to get in and out of. Only hit the ones at Ellensburg and Ritzville. There are some very impressive rest areas on I-90 across Washington and I’ve been to each many, many times.

Sprague Rest Area west of Spokane. From here, the next rest area eastbound is in Idaho!

I’m already beginning to wonder how many rest areas there will be along my proposed route south. I’m taking a route I haven’t tried before, cutting over from Boise to Twin Falls and then south on US 93 to Vegas. I might continue south on 93 until I reach I-40 and not cut into California at all on this trip. We’ll see.

My proposed route south is on US 95 to Boise, I-84 to Twin Falls, and US 93
through Las Vegas and on to Kingman, AZ. I-40 west to Arizona 95
and from there south into Quartzsite.
Anyone along that route to visit???

How I get back in the spring is still subject to discussion. This is such a direct route that it is tempting but it is also pretty much deserted. Last year I came a good ways east and up through Kansas and across southern Wyoming. I might do a central Oregon trip this year. I guess I’ll find out when it’s time to start north.

Well, if you are located anywhere along that route, let me know. Company for a glass of wine or a cup of coffee is always welcome!

The time has come to get things posted and update my other sites. Here is a reminder, though. I survive and subsist on my writing and Federal Benefits, otherwise known as Social Security. People often look at my carefree lifestyle as a full-time RVer. (After seeing all the number of repair people who came through M and J’s house a week ago, I was going around singing “Yo ho ho, the trailer life for me!”)

But here are the facts. I’m going to Quartzsite for the winter because I can get a site for my trailer for six months with electric, water, and sewer for $200 a month. Every penny above that which isn’t used for food will go to paying off the maintenance on my trailer and truck from this fall ($4,000).

I have a Patreon page where people who enjoy my writing and want to keep me on the road can contribute anything from a dollar up each month. It’s at www.patreon.com/nathaneverett. The page is fairly new, so there aren’t many supporters signed up yet. I’d like to invite you to join my community.

And here’s the big bonus: Members who join by the first of November at the $10 level will have access to the first draft of my new novel Wild Woods, the sequel to City Limits, as I write it in November. Your chance to not only contribute to the success of your favorite author but also to contribute ideas and suggestions as the story progresses. I love engaging with readers and invite you to read along.

That’s the end of the commercial. More exciting news from the road as I turn south next week.

Another Year Older and Deeper in Debt…

Oh, yeah. I turned 69 years old this week. I’m kind of thinking I should make that a theme for the year. Saturday night, we had a party. Two of my friends out in Spokane area have birthdays within a week of mine so we celebrate together. We all enjoy a cigar and libation in the evening when we’re at camp, so Colleen put together an appropriate birthday cake for us.

That’s really all cake and frosting, and it is was delicious! Three different cigar cake designs for the three “Smoking Hot Men” who were celebrating. Mine, of course, is the one with the “69” on it.

Sunday morning, I picked up and headed for Seattle for the three Fs: Family, Friends, and Fysicians. Turned out that I need to add a fourth F: Ford. My engine warning light came on and something under the hood is making a strange noise. Fortunately, the tachometer says the engine is running at normal speed, despite what the fan sounds like. All the gauges are normal. I’m calling a service company now that I’m here.

That will add to the bill for having my trailer serviced this week while I’m in Seattle. Normal little things like lubricating the slide-out and awning, UV coating the roof, and replacing my exterior speakers. But also, adding a Fantastic Fan to my bedroom skylight so I can get some ventilation when I’m in Arizona.

I plan to be back in the trailer in a week and then off to the southlands about October 14 or 15.

While the site is empty, I spent time Friday and Saturday working on filling and leveling my patio, trimming back encroaching weeds, and clearing brush from under my evergreens. I want this site to look sharp when I get back in May!

It’s October 1 and that means time to prep for NaNoWriMo in earnest. I’m clearing projects away from my desk as rapidly as I can so I can focus on writing the sequel to City Limits in November. I have a ton of notes to be organized and more to be made before I start writing on the first. This year I am going for my fifteenth consecutive NaNoWriMo win.

When I first started participating in NaNo in 2004, I blogged my novels as I wrote them. I’ve stopped doing that for the most part because I have progressed in my writing enough to want to edit before I let people see what I’ve written. Usually. Last year, I had half a dozen readers who followed along as I wrote City Limits on a chapter-by-chapter basis. They commented and advised. They kept commenting for over a month after I finished the first draft and based partly on their recommendations and party on my dissatisfaction, I did nearly a 90% rewrite of the original manuscript in January and February.

How would you like to have been one of the readers of that got to see that first draft? That got to give input on how it progressed and what should be changed? Well, this year you have that opportunity! And you’ll be helping me in more ways than one.

I’m inviting you to join my Patreon Fifth Element Community by November 1 ($10 per month level) and receive links to each day’s writing as it is completed. It won’t be pretty. It might occasionally be confusing. But you’ll see the words take shape straight from the author’s mouth. Join at http://www.patreon.com/nathaneverett.

If you don’t want to make a long-term commitment (and at our age, who can do that?) you can follow one of two alternate paths. Either join in October (which gives you November access on the first of the month) and then cancel anytime after your November contribution has been collected OR make a one-time $10 contribution at http://www.paypal.me/aroslav. Be sure to leave me your email address so I can notify you of new postings.

While I’m preparing to write Wild Woods, you can prepare as well! I’ve posted a lovely, easily-to-navigate, online reading version of City Limits at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/citylimits/. If you don’t have an eBook or paperback copy (still available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble), you can read the entire released book online for free! Believe me, one of the things I’ll be doing this month is reading the first volume in this series so Wild Woods is consistent and reads like a continuation of the same story. Why not join me and pass on your comments to me regarding what you read in City Limits?

Collapsible table of contents allows you to expand the chapter subheads to quickly locate your last reading location.

I’ve also installed easy Previous/Next buttons at the end of each page. You can just keep reading!

Now here is something to make your life even more exciting.

A lot of people my age are on a fixed income and simply cut out some of the pleasures in life, like buying books. So I’m progressively making all my books available in an online reading edition for free. Of course, you can still buy the eBooks or paperbacks if you have the necessary resources, but no one should be denied the pleasure of reading my books because of finances. Consider it my own version of a public library.

You’ll find free short stories at http://www.nathaneverett.com/stories/ and free novels at http://www.nathaneverett.com/releases/. Currently, I have City Limits, For Money or Mayhem, and The Gutenberg Rubric available to read for free online. If you are able to contribute, you are invited to, but no one should feel obligated to do so. And if you’d like to contribute so others can read, I’ll graciously accept that as well. I hope soon to be able to add features to the website like reading aloud, but I have to learn how to do that first.

I’d like to do some more shameless self-promotion, but time marches on as illustrated by the last signs of fall harvest here in Northern Idaho. In one of my favorite fields, the wheat straw has now been gathered into these enormous bales and fields are being prepped for planting of the winter crops. Hope you’ve harvested a lot of joy today!