My Journey

Riversdad.....I'm reluctant to post too much on the internet about myself but here's what I have to say.....at a relatively young age I owned a business which I decided to sell. That was years ago and I've never worked since. I decided then that I valued the quality of life over the accumulation of money and things. Often I wonder if that was a good decision.....I am a fairly happy man.....

ITTOG.....there was a reason for that random Zillow comment which you will see in the coming weeks maybe.....

blanketslayer.....yea.....it's soooooo good to be home.....

tgil.....I'll do my best for the very few that show interest.....

Arjan.....we too have loved the snow and it appears that Montana may have one last storm in her this upcoming weekend.....we shall see.....

JD.....I understand.....like I told blanketslayer....."it's soooooo good to be home".....



We arrived at my friends house on a cold, blustery Montana wintery day. Initially the three of us (Tanner, Trapper, & I) tried to make ourselves comfortable in their house but it was soon obvious that our house manners were not quite what most people would expect from normal people that dwell in a house.....

20210415_174421.jpg

The dogs returned to the camper while we had a real nice visit. It was good to be inside a home.....I hadn't experienced that since visting my best friends on the east coast last year.....

20210413_172605.jpg

20210413_172555.jpg

Now my friends had been busy working on a new project and they invited me along.....

20210502_072043.jpg

They bought a tiny house I'm guessing you would call it.....725 square feet consisting of one bedroom, one bathroom, and a combination "great" room / kitchen. The plan was to move this tiny home to a 1.5 acre parcel of land that they owned right down the road a bit.....

20210420_173504.jpg

20210420_173517_copy_1600x415.jpg

The views of the mountains from this 1.5 acre tract are magnificent.....I know this land well.....

20210420_173537_copy_1600x346.jpg

I've watched the deer play here, the fox make their dens here and stalk the chicken coops looking for a free meal.....occasionally moose pass through and waterfowl are a common sight as they frequent the nearby canal.....

20210504_125520_copy_1600x418.jpg

Expedition Portal is a travel website which I think is important to note.....my plan is to rest here now for the summer and the fall. Now the question is.....what is My Journey ? Is it one mans journey through life with his best friends or is it a mosaic of travels that make up one mans life with his best friends ? My friends boarded a flight for the west coast but before they departed they asked me a question that could change our (Tanner, Trapper, & I) lives forever.....so maybe now our lives will not be about travel but just the opposite.....is it really appropriate to continue posting on a travel website.....

20210417_193052_copy_1600x900.jpg
 
Last edited:

ITTOG

Well-known member
I hope your hiatus is everything you expect it to be. Hopefully you will get your pulled muscle completely healed and your mind and body refreshed. God Bless you and the dogs and I hope your posting continues.

PS If you looked at most the posts on this site I don't think they are travel related. I would venture to say at most they are about wanting to travel: builds, events, for sale adds, questions about travel, etc. Just throw a pic of your truck camper at the bottom of every post and hopefully it will relieve your concerns.
 

mekcanix

Camper
Wowzers. Firstly as I and many others have said, Thank you for all you share. For myself I love reading your posts and eagerly look forward to them, and get concerned when I see a gap. I can speak for myself and say that I would still love to read your thoughts and your adventures with your best friends even on a smaller simpler scale. I truly enjoy your view of the world as I see shades of it myself, but I do not have the experiences you do. I am one part envious, one part i feel sometimes i am apart of it. Anyways, I sincerely hope you continue to post, and if its not here, please leave a link where it will be.

John
 
Wowzers. Firstly as I and many others have said, Thank you for all you share. For myself I love reading your posts and eagerly look forward to them, and get concerned when I see a gap. I can speak for myself and say that I would still love to read your thoughts and your adventures with your best friends even on a smaller simpler scale. I truly enjoy your view of the world as I see shades of it myself, but I do not have the experiences you do. I am one part envious, one part i feel sometimes i am apart of it. Anyways, I sincerely hope you continue to post, and if its not here, please leave a link where it will be.

John

Stealing your answer! Jerry, you said " Expedition Portal is a travel website which I think is important to note.....my plan is to rest here now for the summer and the fall. Now the question is.....what is My Journey ? Is it one mans journey through life with his best friends or is it a mosaic of travels that make up one mans life with his best friends ? My friends boarded a flight for the west coast but before they departed they asked me a question that could change our (Tanner, Trapper, & I) lives forever.....so maybe now our lives will not be about travel but just the opposite.....is it really appropriate to continue posting on a travel website..... "

My opinion on that would be that after all that you have traveled and shared has more than earned you some leeway, but of course it's not my website. As a dude who is in the thick of the dad life with baseball games and driving kids around, your story and thoughts have a lot of appeal. Before the family life in my early 20's it was just me and my 2 dogs and our adventures and I have little doubt I will return to that at the right time later on. I also have little doubt you won't be still doing some exploring while in Montana .
 

Riversdad

Active member
Absolutely keep posting Jerry. We've been following you for a long time and it would be nice to know when you finally find that little piece of heaven you've been looking for. Hope you have a great summer and fall and please do drop in and let us know how you and the kids are doing.
 

halseyt

Active member
More posting of course. As well as local and future adventures you have many past travels to share. Those pics a few weeks ago from Alaska and Peru were a real great treat. It's good to see the way we did things without so much stuff.
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
I traveled full time for over eight years and posted about it frequently. But when I settled down I continued to travel and posted about my adventures from a home base. I believe what I wrote was still interesting and relevant. Jerry yours will absolutely be interesting and relevant too. Please don’t stop posting. You have a big fan group that really enjoy your writing. Maybe during this period of staying in one place you can finally write the book we all encourage you to do.

Alan


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

billum v2.0

Active member
Riversdad.....I'm reluctant to post too much on the internet about myself but here's what I have to say........

tgil.....I'll do my best for the very few that show interest.....

Tanner and Trapper:

Please do me the favor of passing this on to the man you've adopted.

I've followed his thread for years. Began paying attention a few years ago. Your man sincerely believes we stop in to see the beautiful travel photos, accompanying narratives (mostly centered around you two) with curiosity of where to next. That may be true.

But some are drawn here to the man, who's been working through stuff for a while and continues that journey. In a way that's cathartic to those that have stuff themselves, who would/have done it badly in ways that are destructive or at least not nearly as honorable. His willingness to share himself with no concern for ego is something.

Expedition Portal is a travel website which I think is important to note.............

Appreciate knowing where to look should you move......."for those few that show interest" (you'd be surprised).
 
Last edited:
ITTOG / mekcanix / blanketslayer / Riversdad / ghostdancer / halseyt / Alan / billum v2.o.....OK.....will do.....



So here we go.....my build thread.....

April 17, 2021.....Now of course the first thing that you need to do before you move a tiny house to its new location is to dig a hole. And here, like my most places around the U.S.A., construction workers are swamped with work so we were quite fortunate to have enticed this college student / excavator to come out on a Saturday morning to dig us a hole.....

20210417_111023_copy_1600x900.jpg

20210417_114228_copy_1600x2844.jpg

For this particular task I played the role of the engineer and I spent my morning in that hole telling the excavator how deep to dig.....

20210417_101636_copy_1600x900.jpg

20210417_115553_copy_1600x2844.jpg

This kid / operater was pretty darn good with that piece of heavy equipment and it was just a few short hours of digging before our task was completed.....

20210417_115545_copy_1600x900.jpg

20210417_115602_copy_1600x2844.jpg

He wanted to teach me how to operate that thing.....I passed on the offer cause I knew he needed to study for exams and he needed to get home......it was already a kind gesture to help us out on such short notice.....and that was enough for me.....

20210417_101728_copy_1600x900.jpg

My hoarder buddy (some of you may recall this character from past seasons on this land) came by for a visit and a look see.....my buddy unfortunately is once again dealing with that nasty disease called cancer......it's his second time.....

20210417_133558_copy_1600x900.jpg

We hung out and chatted that afternoon away.....once again just like I was a year round resident here in Montana.....and we marveled together at those mountains that lined the eastern skies.....and we were both thankful for those amazing views.....

20210417_192955_copy_1600x387.jpg

Me and my buddy.....we chatted that afternoon away and finally our shadows became long as the Montana sun set in those western Big Skies.....

20210417_192941_copy_1600x394.jpg
 

GregSplett

Adventurer
Purpose. Something both dog and man need and can only do with out just so long before we get frustrated. This is why i smartassly teased you about getting a job. Having lived like you are now I can sense your itchy frustration.
 
Riversdad.....so.....the truth is that it's not actually mine yet. My friends surprised me with an offer to purchase down the road if I want it & I accepted. I guess the reality of the situation is that this summer season is really much like the past 3 summer seasons where I've come here to chill out, rest and act responsibly. I think in the past I've called these times something like "What I Did During My Summer Vacation".....time will tell where this goes.....

Greg.....yea, it feels good to be digging in the dirt again and pounding the nails. Still living in a truck camper.....some things never seem to change.....and happily still unemployed (yes I've already turned down a job offer since arriving back here a short time ago).....



May is typically the wettest month in Southwest Montana (and June comes in second).....and I was not looking forward to it.....

20210509_100224_copy_1200x2133.jpg

April was wet.....and May so far has been even wetter.....

20210509_101321_copy_1200x675.jpg

The dog pen has been a total disaster.....much like climbing a mountain.....one just has to endure.....

20210510_143614_copy_1200x675.jpg

20210510_144406_copy_1200x2133.jpg

20210510_144411_copy_1200x675.jpg

20210510_144403_copy_1200x2133.jpg

We took time to celebrate Tanners 4th birthday.....oh my doesn't time fly by so quickly.....

20210510_170944_copy_1200x2133.jpg

20210510_170947_copy_1200x2133.jpg

And speaking of time.....it took quite a bit of time and quite a bit of thought as well before Tanner would bite into that rather bland looking birthday cake (I guess I can't blame him for that).....

20210510_170950_copy_1200x2133.jpg

But eventually Tanner had his cake.....and even shared a few bites with his 2 best buds (Trapper & I).....

Happy Birthday Tanner Dog.....

Screenshot_20210512-044657_Gallery.jpg
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,533
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top