Day 5, May 16th

Left Morgan, Utah early and rode/walked to the Devil's Slide on I-84. Took a picture. The devil must have a hard hind end.

I'm traveling along a river. When the semi-trucks have gone by it is quiet except for the soft sounds of the current and occasionally the soft rattle of the quakies in the wind. There is a lot of what I think are cottonwoods. Hold it. Four deer walked up. All does, no bucks. What a wonderful country we have. There are pines or firs along the river and higher up. 

I'm sitting on the ground in front of my bicycle eating a peanut butter sandwich with my wife's homemade bread. Hard to beat that.

Yesterday I decorated Laura and the bike with reflector stuff given by a fellow and his daughter. We look like a Christmas tree.

A crane flew by. He looks so lazy with his long legs dragging. I'm the only one here at the view area. 

I put a walmart bag on my seat and have had no soreness. Maybe that's a biking solution?

Laura just floats along behind me. I cooked two meals today. There were no stores in two towns (Hennifer and Echo). 

Took a bath tonight in a reservoir. Felt great. I'm parked about 30 feet from a frontage road. The sun is about down and I'm sleepy. Good night.

Day 3 & 4, May 14th & 15th

Today I tried the sail brakes. On a given slope they will let me reach a certain speed. It felt good to feel them working. Much of the day the wind was at my back. The sails are a help.

Had a little dizziness today so I got a hamburger. No more dizziness. I'm learning about this life. A lady stopped ahead of me and gave me $10, then she gave me another $20. I had the biggest most caloric thing Subway had to offer. I crave calories. The body quits without them.

Sardine Canyon seems like weeks ago. At the rate I'm going I'll be out of the Rockies in a month. I talked with a fellow today. I have to go over a pass in Colorado that starts at 4000 ft and goes to 10,000+ ft. I'll probably die there. I've gone up Weber Canyon headed for Heber.

I got some special tubes for the house wheels in Ogden this morning. I travelled from 10am to 7pm today. Sleep will be good. This is where I stayed in Morgan, Utah.

I am resting on day 4, May 15th.

Day 2, May 13th

Made 22 miles so far today. It is 5:00pm, so traffic is bad in Ogden, Utah. I'm at a Fresh Market parking lot leaning against a light pole. Nice and sunny and warm.

I was pedaling along and I saw, at the edge of a field, that a large pipe had broken so I took a shower. Paul, my father-in-law, stopped and asked me if I needed anything. Nice to have family. 

I went a ways farther and a nice lady, Julie Milton, pulled me over and was happy with my journey. Later I had a flat tire. I was laying down beside the house at one point so someone reported and injured or dead man. When I got back with the tire 3 police cars and an ambulance were there. The tire was still flat so the police took me to get it fixed and one car stayed there and watched my stuff (the Harrisville police). They were very nice.

As I was writing this days doings a fellow stopped and showed me the best way to get to highway 40. The Lord takes good care of me. Without that fellow's directions I would have gone way out of my way. Not much energy today.

I decided to have dinner (mixed vegetables, chicken, and powerade). I have 4 seagulls to share with. I think one of them said, "Is this cardboard?" I ended up at a church and got a wipe down bath and did some laundry in the sink. Did 22 miles today.

Day 1, May 12th

Left home about 8am. Got to my parking spot in Perry about 5:30pm. It's raining. sounds nice on the roof.
I made 28 miles today. One 5 mile stretch took me 5 1/2 hours to traverse. When I saw the 7 miles downhill sign, I thought I'd gone to heaven. Are all the slopes downhill in heaven? That 7 miles was done on wet pavement. That worried me at first, but the bakes did well. I even stopped to talk to two people on that slope. One had a flat tire and the other was just curious. Nice fellow. He gave me four bottles of orange juice. Probably saved my bacon. I was mighty thirsty.
My body did well. Both legs still work and I didn't exhale either of my lungs. I've had a little rest and some chicken so I'm good to go. Laura (the house) wasn't a bit of help. She just hung back there and enjoyed being pulled. I don't see that she has any damage.
Wayne Norman slowed down and waved as he went by. Nice to see a familiar face. Got texts and calls from several of the kids. I have a great family.
Almost forgot. Two young men stopped and pushed me two or three hundred feet. Nice kids. No blisters.
This is a picture of where I stopped for the first night.

Route

This is the route I've chosen so far.

Paradise to Brigham City to Ogden to Salt Lake City To ???

Wonderings--

Am I a man or am I a muppet (from the Muppet Movie)? Is my name David or Don Quixote? It is the night before I leave. 20% chance of rain tomorrow. What will the months ahead bring. I fell down in the shower yesterday, so I am probably not the 30-year-old I envision myself. Still I am determined. How hard can it be to put one foot after another, pedal once and then again. I am definitely a David.
I plan to leave about 8:00am or as soon as the kids leave for school I have permission to stay in a parking lot in Perry, Utah, 26 miles away. There is a 5 mile hill between here and there that I can't ride up. I walked 26+ miles once in 10 1/2 hours. I should make the parking lot sometime tomorrow night. I hope that hill in not littered with discarded treasures after my passage.
The wife is making me cookies for the journey. I'd throw the iron lung out beside the road before I'd part with the cookies.

So What is the Deal?

I've had an idea for a month or two. I wanted to make a little house for homeless people that would satisfy their needs and still be light enough to pull behind a bicycle. So I've been putting something together.

Wayne, owner of Joyride Bikes on Main in Logan, Utah gave me a couple of pretty nice bikes when I went to ask for some junk parts for another project. He has been very helpful with this project as well.

I turned these bikes into the wheels and suspension system for the house.

Here are a few pictures during construction and testing.

Considering my reasons for the journey, I've asked a friend to put a few thought's on the house. Here is a completed picture.

I plan to leave Paradise where I live the Monday after Mother's Day. My wife set that date. I'll head south and then east over the mountains. Somewhere out there, I will find the person I've built the house for. I'll continue east until I find that persons. The journey can't be more than about 3000 miles. I'll run into Atlantic Ocean about then. The house is not a house boat.

I'm 72 in May so my plans may exceed my abilities. We will see. There are some passes that are 9000 feet in altitude on my route. By the way, I'll try to put my route on the blog as I figure it out.

Random thinking and remembering:

When the house was mostly done, I got under it and pushed it up. I don't suppose it was more than 100 pounds or so. The wheels were not on. I hope to end up with under 175 pounds to pull.

There is a hill near us that leads down into what the locals call the bottoms. It is a 11% grade of about 500 foot length. I gave it a go with the house the other day and was able to control the speed fine.

When I got stopped at the bottom, I put a strap attached at two places on the house that went over my shoulder and hauled everything back up the hill. A lot of this journey is going to be done with the strap.

The house door is made of clear Lexon (24” x 23”). The house is made out of 5 sheets of 3/16” plywood – some aluminum channel that I didn't use on one of the cannons years ago, bike parts, and 4-5 sets of crutches.

I made a wood cook stove out of an old fire extinguisher.

 I boiled an egg in a #10 can, so I think it will work for the cooking.

I almost forgot, I built a couple of wind brakes/sails for the house. They are 6 square feet each and will help slow me on those long mountain grades. I should get a push from them when I have a tail wind.

David Cullumber gave me a 5 watt portable solar panel and two wind up lights (LED). I know some very nice and thoughtful people. I can recharge my phone and running lights.

I have a clothesline and a place of privacy where I can take a shower.

I'm thinking about how I'm going to eat. Perhaps grasshoppers and the occasional fresh enough road kill will have to do at times. I wonder if I can east those things? The closest I've ever come is sour milk. We'll see. I want to live like some people have to on the journey. I guess I'll find out what I am made of out there.

I gave the house a test run behind the 4-wheeler yesterday. She just floats along so pretty like. A policeman stopped me. He had trouble figuring out what to do with the old timer that evidently had no knowledge of the rules. The 4-wheeler wasn't registered, there were not stop lights on the house (I don't need stop lights when I pull it with my bicycle), and 4-wheelers aren't even allowed where I now was. He was nice. Things worked out. It was an exciting day. It was a day of mercy, not justice.

I think I will name the house Laura after Laura Ingalls. After all, this little house might cross the prairie sometime too.

Remembering back, I went up to John and Jennifer Willis' place a while back, and they gave me a bed for Laura. Emily, their daughter put the flowers and sayings on Laura. Jennifer is doing this blog for me so those interested can come along with me as it were.

I asked Emily to put “Jesus loves us” on Laura. It always comes back to Jesus I find. On the front top she wrote “Could compassion and sharing end hunger and homelessness?” I think that's a good question. Many will see. I hope these thoughts make a difference to some. I hope my journey makes a difference. I wouldn't feel right unless I gave it my best try. I guess that's all anyone can do.