SwankieWheels - Kayaking America

Ghost Dancer arrived at the RTR today.

2012-01-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I worked at the Rock Club as Foreman of the Lapidary Shop. Had free breakfast and lunch at La Mesa RV, then returned to the Rock Club to play this afternoon. Then headed up the hill to Dome Mountain where the Vandwellers are gathering. And lo and behold, who shows up, but our very own "vandweller's founding father,” Ghost Dancer. What a guy! Folks were surprised and

First Trip to Mexico

2012-01-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

The American Flag flies over our border with Mexico. This is the line of people going back to the U.S.A. My first time to Mexico. Uneventful and very safe. Was in line for maybe 1.5 hrs... and it only takes about 30 seconds to be checked by the guard at the check point in Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico. It was a pretty place to wait, shaded, landscaped and benching all along the way.

Winter home 2011-12: Part Three–Quartzsite, AZ

2012-01-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

We are having a stormy cold windy week. Looking forward to WARM coming back. I have been spending most of my time at the Rock Club and am now a Sawyer-in-Training (left), and also a Lapidary Shop (right) Foreman. I’ll concentrate on those two activities this year… and next year expand into the Silversmithing Shop and the Faceting Shop. I’m learning a lot about how to cut stones and then

The New Year - 2012

2012-01-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, the old year couldn’t have ended any better. Thanks to a vandweller connecting me with Liz, I now have a new lifelong friend and soul sister. We met in the desert on BLM land and first thing we had in common…. was matching key lanyards. What a hoot. That was just the beginning. We drove on out to find a more wilderness area and made camp, talked, giggled, walked her dogs, etc. Then a

Dances with Coyotes

2011-12-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

This was a morning of uniqueness. I woke feeling very congested from spending two full days in the lapidary shop and even though I wore a mask, my COPD is acting up. So, slept in, and then drove out to a wilderness desert area and walked (and picked up rocks, of course). After about an hour I headed back to the van. Got almost there when a coyote began yapping. So, I turned… tried to spot

Quartzsite, AZ–winter home 2011-12–Part Two

2011-11-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

My camp at B-10 Campground in Quartzsite (with GG’s grey van on his stop-over visit). GG showing me his new catamaran kayak… under his bed. Nov. 13, 2011 – I fled my camp this afternoon, after an increasing number of smokers moved into my area. Last night, while sitting in my van working on the computer the smell of weed was so strong, I nearly got high. Smoker to the left of me (smoking?

Quartzsite, AZ–winter home 2011-12.

2011-10-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

The last SwankieWheel Bead… given out on this leg of the journey. Must order more. Parked beside the Rio Grande River in Truth or Consequences… ready to head to AZ, knowing there was a lot more to see in NM. One of the more interesting sites leaving NM heading to AZ is around the Hatch, NM area… lots of chile pepper business. As summer cools down, the Village of Hatch heats up. Labor Day

Truth or Consequences, NM (Oct. 2011)

2011-10-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

This morning I slept in at the Boat Ramp area in Caballo Lake State Park, NM. When I got up, I fixed a bowl of Cheerios and walked around looking at rocks while I ate it. Now, if you know me, you know it doesn’t get any better than that.. if I can look at rocks and eat a meal at the same time. Sue had invited me in to see her artwork at the Hot Springs where she is working and to have a free

40th State: New Mexico–Lake Caballo near Truth or Consequences (Oct. 15, 2011)

2011-10-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Be gentle with yourself, you are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. Max Ehrmann Today I kayaked New Mexico. Truth or Consequences, N.M. used to be named Hot Springs, NM until Ralph Edwards made them some offer to change their town name to Truth or Consequences, after the title of a popular NBC radio

SwankieWheels’ Amazon Store

2011-10-12T18:58:00.000-07:00

Support my Adventure by visiting my store. I you buy something from Amazon, they will pay me a percentage. " href="http://astore.amazon.com/kayakin-20">http://astore.amazon.com/kayakin-20Thank you, Charlene

39th State: Colorado (Oct. 11, 2011) (Happy 20th Birthday to my beautiful granddaughter, Tori Bailey.)

2011-10-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Near Orchard, CO Today is my first granddaughter’s 20th birthday, no more a teenager. Tori and my son (her Dad) in Paris – September 2011. Happy Birthday, Tori, this State Paddle is for you. Sometimes a day starts out rotten and you think there is no way it will turn around, but today it did. I had one of the most rewarding kayaking paddles yet. Only 9 states of the lower 48 left to paddle.

38th State Paddled–Nebraska (10/10/11)

2011-10-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

Lake McConaughy, Ogallala, NE First I have to say thank you to all my friends, followers and family who helped me get back on the road again… after the set back in September of breaking off a front tooth at the gum line and requiring an emergency root canal, and then the additional expense of realizing my rear tires were falling off the rims, requiring immediate replacement (with used ones for

South Dakota Stranded Status (Oct. 1, 2011)

2011-10-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, if that don’t beat all… about the time I’m getting a bit of a handle on this darned situation, I realize my AAA coverage expired in Aug. 2011… I been out on the road with no road coverage. Geez. O.K. now I’ll ask for help… it’s about $100.00 or at least that was what it was in TX. I’m going to check here in Brookings SD on Monday and see what it costs. I might have a job here for a

37th State Paddle–Iowa. Then got stranded in SD.

2011-09-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sunset after my Iowa paddle. As I was loading up my kayak, a young man came to me and asked to borrow a wrench. Then he began talking to me about my kayaking adventure. He noted I also had a bike. He helped push the kayak into the trailer… then he said “Do you mind if I ask how old you are?” He was genuinely flabbergasted that I am 67 years old. So I told him about not being able to walk

Photographic Restoration Services

2011-09-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

I grew up watching my grandmother retouch photo and negatives and color tint black and white photos. She was very very good. Later in life I learned to do the same work only with technology… Photoshop. Here are some samples of my work. If anyone has photos they would like to have restored, I’ll send you a pricelist. Another way I might get the funds to head south again. See samples : http://

36th State Kayaked–Illinois and then I crossed the mighty Mississippi River today (9/23/2011).

2011-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Leaving Illinois today, I crossed to the Western side of the mighty Mississippi River. Yahoo… I’m in the West again… sort of. Had a really great visit in Indiana with my sister’s three sons, Paul, Kris and Rob and their families. Talked a lot of genealogy. Some of all that was great, except for the five smokers, seven dogs and three cats I had to do battle with to stay healthy. Sure would

Recent Art Work…. sketches for gasoline money!

2011-09-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Here is the recent work I have gotten… and I want to share it here in hopes of getting more jobs. I can’t make the kayaking adventure work otherwise. If you would like to order a sketch as a Christmas gift, please email me a high resolution photo of the subject and I will give you a quote. Prices begin at $40 plus $7 shipping and handling (or one or more sketches-one price for shipping). I

Whose There? In Hoosierville (Carmel, IN)

2011-09-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Below is an email I just sent out to my high school classmates, asking for help. Thought I might as well share it here as well. Sept. 2, 2011 Classmates, My computer hard drive has crashed. Updates that were in progress to this page - http://www.1962arsenaltechtitans.com/index_page2_20110804.htm - might have been lost. About 10 hrs of very intense updating. I am trying to get someone in

Why or why is the month so long and the dollar so short???

2011-08-30T09:47:00.001-07:00

Alright, I’m fessing up. Here is my budget. What can I do to make my money go farther, other than NOT buying gas for the van? Monthly Expenses: Car and Trailer Insurance $ 70 Dental Insurance $ 34 Hospitalization Insurance $ 38 Verizon Internet Service $ 64 (essential) Ancestry.Com $ 30 (generates some income) TOTAL $236.00 One time only: New Hard Drive $ 65 New checks

35th State: August 19, 2011–Lake Monroe, Indiana

2011-08-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

"Back Home Again in Indiana"... by cracky.. you know you are a Hoosier at heart when you enter the state and first thing you get excited about is seeing a White Castle. I know what I’m having for dinner, and it won't be coming out of a grocery freezer. Wahooo! Got to Lake Monroe, south of Bloomington, IN at a very large boat launching area off Hwy 446 at the causeway crossing the lake.

34th State: August 18, 2011–Wilder, Kentucky

2011-08-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

I drove from Springfield, OH where I was visiting friends, to Cincinnati, OH where my great great great grandparents (Sarah Ann Palmer Mason and husband Aurelius Mason) were buried. I wanted to find and visit their graves. Sarah Ann Palmer and Aurelius Mason The young girl is Ethel May Mason, their granddaughter, my great grandmother. It is one of the biggest cemeteries I have ever seen

New Additions to My Blog

2011-08-02T11:24:00.000-07:00

My apologies, I am very far behind in my blog. My hope for the next two weeks is to get it all caught up. At the moment I am at least trying to get all of the photos up for each state I visited, then go back and add the text, notes, links to the photos. 8/2/2011-all photos are now up. Adding text and links. Here are the latest additions. 13th State: Aug. 14, 2010 – Wisconsin paddle and visit

A neat trailer… a prototype!

2011-08-02T08:00:00.001-07:00

I saw this on my travels… and thought some people might really like this set-up. Probably seen in Oregon. I think this is the company, but I don’t see this trailer on their site. http://www.trailersplus.com/Oregon/Eugene/. I don’t see this trailer listed on the site.

Why, why am I kayaking the country!?

2011-08-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

I just ran across this set of photos clustering in a folder by themselves. I realized they told a story all by themselves. I don’t know why they were in the folder together, or if that was my intent so I am putting them here… because I think it is an important story. In the Spring 2001, I met my second husband-to-be. We planned to be married in June 2001… but we married in the hospital in May

Ohio Visit Continued… (August 2011)

2011-08-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

When you don’t have a garden to really appreciate going out to one, digging up your potatoes and then making dinner. Cheryl’s husband, David, digging up potatoes. We all went out to the garden together…. to gather! These potatoes had volunteered themselves from the year before. We also gathered an armload of tomatoes, green beans, strawberries, and green peppers. Then we sit down to this