My first post on this topic!... What a diversified Forum... very nice!...
My background is of being a Chef for the past 40 years, born and raised in France of Armenian descent, with 3 years of Culnary in Switzerland.
Sometimes I have to correct the mentionning of 40 years as a Chef as I have only worked 6 months a year throughout my life. Some like a big Bank Account... I like a Big Vacation account... I have found out many moons ago how short life is, this one way Journey... and how much there is to see and share. A short while ago I decided that now... as getting up in age, 58, I will just get on the road for as what I think is forever with my Buddy Spirit!... This Journey is turning out to be quite different than the six months yearly that I have taken in the past... I have a Home Base... and it moves once in a while, once I am done exploring in depth the area I am in. The past has seen me fly by... get there... and come back. Now I can stay wherever I am... for a week... 2 weeks... a month... as long as I discover the new roads that some maybe have never ridden, the local fare that I will cook back at Camp... and share it with my writings.
One might, and has, asked... why not Europe... or Asia or Africa... Well, I have done that in my youth and honestly what I am trying to do is wake up the awareness that you can have a blast rigth here in your own backyard!... where the water is drinkable... where the currency is familiar... where the language spoken is our language!... yes, a higher level of confort... and why not! Lets not forget also that the whole World, the World's Motorcycle Riders look upon us with envy to come here and experience what sometimes we take for granted... I can maybe shed some light on the foreign riders, as most of you on this Blog thread have done, writing about the intricaties that this country has to offer when coming here to ride! I have done the USA, Canada and Alaska I cannot remember how many times... and yet... I have done none of it! I can only wish to live long enough, to have good health long enough to scratch the surface of it and make new friends. As friends for me is GOLD!... the interrelationship amongst us cannot be bought... loaned... borrowed... we all have something in common... and in my travel I have met the nicest people there are!...
This Journey will evoluate... I am still in my trying stages... internet connections have been sometimes shaky... I have had mechanical failures... and crashed last saturday!... some good Louisiana mud made me come to a stop, unharmed... even though Spirit bailed out the last 5 feet... I have friends around here and in a couple days I will be rolling again!... nothing like some added excitement!
Being on a few different Forums however I have had to write my Blog on TypePad... and besides a few lines of posting you will always have the link to it, which I update anywhere from 5 times to a couple times a week... The Blog actually will also be moved to a real website this time!
The bandwidth I have been alloted was reached too quickly... but TypePad will remain... there just will be an extra link to get to the Website which will give unlimited writing and picture posting with also SmugMug for more pictures!
I hope that through the coming times I can entertain you, make you discover some roads never ridden, some local food out of this world with also some cooking recipes for the road!
I always look for a secure place to leave my home base (a 1990 Bronco with Hallmark PopUp Camper and a 12' Featherlite trailer!... 40 feet of caravan...), in a week Texas will be my destination... I can then take off with the cycle and explore! South in the winter...North in the summer!
You be well...
It is all here... my Blog www.theoasisofmysoul.typepad.com

PS: maybe someone can help me figuring out how to post a link instead of the URL!

Be well... Spirit and Ara

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

Today has to be an exciting day... my rig is rolling... I feel great... a lot of you readers have written me with some great feedbacks... and please do not stop... life is good... even Spirit is feeling pretty frisky himself... and tomorrow is the Big Feast Day... it does not get any better!
I decided to write and post about some of the places I want to go back to... and realized that there are so many... Today’s do not even scratch the surface... and how about all the places I have not seen yet... I should have started this 20 years ago... and then again... I had to work so I could go now! Lets just enjoy the days as they come... the Journey has just began...
This is one of my favorite pictures... and you might think... well... nothing special about it...
Two trees and a field... I was on one of my six months trips when I took it... I was almost at a stage when I had to start returning and this picture somehow represented to me...
“The Door to Paradise”... As I took the picture those thoughts came to me... that if I would cross this door, someday I will be able to roam freely... and I did before I took the picture... walked through it.
It will always have a special meaning to me... Hope you enjoy the Blog and have a great Thanksgiving.

Ara and Spirit

www.theoasisofmysoul.typepad.com

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

It does not get much better than this... I still have not made it to Texas... changes... why not... no schedule... I am now allowed to do so, or not to do so! I am in New Iberia, Louisiana. Seems like I am never going to leave this State... at least I know that I will never go hungry... It is morning as I am posting this... a great ride and experience from yesterday... but my mind is already on lunch!... The weather has been cooperative, the rig is running good, I feel healthy and.. overweight. I have decided to spend 5 more days here, visiting friends and everything that surrounds me... including cooking a couple dinners for them. Can't loose my touch in the kitchen... My Blogging format is still not finalized... my own website is still under construction... and somehow I feel Christmas right around the corner... with no plans what so ever... Oh! well... might be a quiet one in some woods celebrating with Mother Nature this year...
My stories are always on my Blog... hope you enjoy...

www.theoasisofmysoul.typepad.com


Be well... Ara and Spirit

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

Today was a great day... it always is when nothing breaks down, the ride is good and the food even better... no rain always helps!
A nice loop, the Tabasco factory, a great late lunch... what more can a homeless person and his dog asks for?
It is all posted in today’s Blog with a lot of pictures... love that SmuMug!

www.theoasisofmysoul.com

Hope you enjoy... Ara and Spirit

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

It is almost December, just a few minutes away as I am writing, my first December since graduating from Culinary School not spend working... I keep thinking sometimes... what am I doing? How ironic after all these years, finally on top of my profession, with not many mysteries left and some solid knowledge to be successful... to stop working! It just does not make sense sometimes... but I cannot go back as much as I miss the kitchen, this is one chance of a lifetime to extend a Journey over 6 months. I know that I have been on the road only a bit over a month, but I have never thought about turning back!... and I could have.. I never wrote about 2 new contracts that have been offered to me since I have left! As much as my passion remains for my profession... going back always seems like a dark tunnel with no daylight.
Today was, what I call a catch up day. A multitude of “things” to do that accumulates... laundry, organizing, downloading the GPS with new maps, that sort of things as my time here remains at one day.
I will be pushing West... toward the vast lands. I had thought about staying East for a while, but my plans have been rearranged and the need is not there anymore... I am so drawn to the vast open spaces, it will not be the first time and not the last. The ability to actually live in one place for a few days or a few weeks suddenly is so appealing. It is the first time that I adventure myself in this fashion. The past has always seen me on the go... ride, ride, ride... only seeing the peripheral attractions which stood up in travelers brochures and magazines... I want to taste and experience the unadvertised paths which need to be discovered!
I want to unpack everything I have... cook... ride... discover the back roads daily, suddenly the knowledge that I am pushing west further has almost given me a new life... there just is so much on the road to share with you all, and strange enough... as much as I want to be there... I don’t want to get there... afraid to miss what lays in between! I should be in Texas by tomorrow, it is 33 degrees here this am in New Iberia, Louisiana!... I know the northerners reading this are probably smiling, I am not complaining, I actually like the cold better than heat, this does however slow down the amount of outdoor activities, specially with Spirit.
Regardless of the mechanical break downs I have had, this first month has been a great trial time... and everyone in my path has been so kind and hospitable, I could not ask for more. If the rest of my Journey includes people as I have just spend time with, well, I will consider the luckiest person alive!
Friendships and human relations have always been for me the key of life. You know the classic saying... “money can’t buy...”. How true it is, and how great it is when, strangers at first, we can spark such positive emotions into each other’s hearts.
I hope, as I leave here, that my Internet connections are many on the road followed! I enjoy posting these reports along the way.
You be well... enjoy your day... looking up the sky will always make you smile... try it.

www.theoasisofmysoul.typepad.com

Ara and Spirit.

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

So why would someone rests on a Sunday?... because they can... because the winds blew me everywhere but where I pointed my nose at... because it got colder and colder going north...
And the fact that, hopefully there will be a tomorrow... Of course I can always say that Spirit was cold... made me turn around...and that would be it for my Blog but there is a bit more... but lets not always blame the lazy bum!... he makes up for it with his personality... and his great companionship, he is a good listener, always agrees and low maintenance!
Should be in San Antonio tonight... I repeat... Texas is huge!!!
And then I found out the weather for Big Bend for Friday night... might need some Gerbings for the rig...
Till then... Ara & Spirit

www.theoasosofmysoul.typepad.com

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

Wish I had time to read all of your blog, but I love the brindle in your pic.

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2003 Yamaha R6.

It seems that plans when living on the road are made to be broken!... As we have been watching the weather, they promised hail and snow and 1 degree temp for tonight in Big Bend... it was already last night... brainless decision to hold the departure for tomorrow am...
Food store today... new coat for Spirit... “camo” design I might add... not my favorite by from lack of choice... and a good night sleep for tomorrow’s travel... half way most likely if anything interesting pops up...
In the meantime, we took a short ride to the Texas Hills yesterday... glad that I did... I know now that Texas is not as flat as I imagined it!
Some pictures and ride report here on the Blog...

Hope writing to you from Big Bend next time!... really!!!


I could not resist the picture...

Be well... from Ara & Spirit

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...

Enjoying your blog BC. Keep on ridin'

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Hud

'There's class warfare alright, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning'. Warren Buffet

SV-Wolf's Bike Blog

Made it to Big Bend... today!

I wanted to make my first sight in daylight and we took two days to get here... Sanderson was last night’s stop... but today I am in Terlingua... and without say... breathtaking... this is not having even been into the Park yet!
All I can hope is that my camera does justice to the scenery for the days to come...
Hwy# 90 was a nice ride... deserted... and as one might say the ocean can be boring and is not... the same scenario plays here. I have heard over and over... but there are no trees... of course not... but if one looks closely there is so much more to the eye... and the mind!
I will go on posting on the Blog as much as I can... lucky to have WI FI here from 6am to 10pm... and amazingly the days here are longer!... daylight till about 7pm... summer approaching?
Better not fool myself... winter is going to be here for a while...
Till then... till tomorrow... be well... I am breathing again!

Ara and, of course, Spirit...



www.theoasisofmysoul.typepad.com

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http://www.theoasisofmysoul.com our Blog...

http://beemerchef.smugmug.com/ our Photos...