Life was good. Just over a month ago I purchased an awesome van, and outfitted it for this summer’s road tri. After having my mechanic in Bend check it out we did about $1400 worth of work to make sure it was ready for the road. We fixed a leak in the intake manifold, replaced old disintegrating brake lines, serviced the transmission, differential, and did a tune up. Everything was good, and the van runs just fine so I headed down the road to Reno, NV, Yosemite National Park, and my cousin Monique’s home in Camarillo, Ca.

Over the mountains and far away the boof bus rocked! It climbed up the mountains into Reno, over Tioga Pass into Yosemite, and down to Camarillo. It just wouldn’t climb the (small) hill to Monique’s house. Well it did get to Mo’s, but just barely. The transmission completely failed so I had to call a tow truck. Monique recommended a transmission shop, and the bad news was true. The transmission was completely shot.

It took a couple of days, but they dropped in a new transmission for a clean $1600, and I was on the road again. Thank you so much to Monique and her Mother Madeleine for all their support and help while this was going on.

So the moral of the story is: Don’t buy a 24 year old vehicle and expect the transmission to keep up with a road trip over the mountains and far away.

I can only imagine the wonder in the heart of the first human beings to set eyes on this valley. I cannot even find words to describe the wonder in my own heart as I came down through Tuolumne Meadows from Tioga Pass. The landscape is both stark and lush at the same time. Viewing Half Dome from Olmstead point it seems almost ordinary, even if it is strangely shaped. The pure size of it doesn’t really hit you until you’re down in the valley.

Countered on the opposite side of the valley by El Capitan, these are only the two most well known formations of Yosemite. These two are the “in your face rock stars” of Yosemite’s awesome features, like the waterfalls.

Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in North America.

Bridalveil Fall, where the wind sometimes makes it look like it is flowing sideways.

And the Merced river.

At some point I’m going to have to come back to spend more time in this wonderful place. It really is a shame to do a drive by here, but I can’t help but be thankful that I could.

High up on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, on the way to Yosemite National Park by way of Tioga Pass there is a crystal clear bit was water with a saline content higher than the oceans. Seagulls squawk and fly and squabble over bits of food around this place, and strange looking formations rise up above the waters. Its name is Mono Lake.

Mono Lake is one of the western most lakes in the great basin where there is no outlet to the sea. This accounts for the high salinity of the lake.

Be sure to visit the Mono Cone in nearby Lee Vining for an excellent cheeseburger and deliciously cool soft serve ice cream.

Out on the road things happen. Sometimes they just happen because they do, other times it’s because we’ve done something stupid. Last night I did something really stupid. I got myself stuck down by the edge of the Carson River.

Dirt roads and camping turnouts crisscross the BLM land along the Carson River, and I picked one looking for a place to park for the night. Driving down to a likely spot I put myself into a place where I couldn’t turn the van around. I couldn’t turn around, and I couldn’t back out because I got stuck in some soft sand. If the ground had been level I would have been all right. There was just enough tilt to the ground, and I was in it.

If I had called for help at this point things would have been very easy, very simple. A good pickup truck could’ve pulled me out from this. Instead I thought that if I moved forward I could get on some level ground where I could turn around. As I moved forward there was room behind me to back up, and I could turn around to drive out. It looked like a good plan except it didn’t work. I was stuck, again. Surely I should call for help, but if I just moved forward a little bit more the ground was level, and I was sure that I could drive forward over the bank and onto firmer ground.

The ground ahead was level, and it was a bit firm, but the bank ahead was to steep to go over without a running start, and I didn’t have room to make a running start. I was boxed in with a giant log directly in front of me. Muddy ground behind me, the river on the left and a steep embankment on the right. I was good and truly stuck. I called for help.

USAA has an excellent roadside assistance program, and they were sympathetic. More importantly they were able to get a tow truck out to my location.

Cory from Valley Towing in Carson City had this night’s work cut out for him. He rigged up his tow straps and pulleys, and managed to winch my van to the rear to get a better angle for the nose to come up over the bank, and then he winched me up over the embankment through sage, mesquite, and who knows what else.

It was rough going. We tore up a lot of bushes and scared up the embankment a bit, and if I had called for help when all of this first happened none of this would have happened. But I didn’t call for help. I kept moving forward making a bad situation worse with each move forward. Moving forward doesn’t always make things better. Sometimes moving forward can make things a lot worse.

Spent the afternoon paddling in Reno’s whitewater park. Had a great time with some cool people!

I had planned to leave Tuesday morning, however as things turned out I wasn’t ready to leave until Tuesday afternoon. There were still things to do on the van, and it took most of the day. First up was making sure that I had accessory electric in the van. The cigarette lighter wasn’t working, and I didn’t know if it was just the plug or the wires. Pretty easy to figure out once I put a multi-meter on the wires. Just needed a new plug. After this I ran the cord for the GPS through the dash so it’s not hanging out. Next I wired a cable from the battery to a couple of terminals in the van so I could have my house battery charging while I’m driving. I have two battery alligator clamps connected to the terminals so that when I’m driving I can connect the house battery, and when I’m using the house battery I can disconnect them. Not as elegant as having a switch or a continuous use solenoid, but it works.

Next I loaded up everything that I had forgotten about on Monday, and I was off to the thrift store to pick up a mattress. The bed is designed for a queen mattress. What I found that I like was a full size mattress that cost me just $39 with a set of sheets. As it turns out this is an amazing deal. This mattress is one of the most comfortable that I’ve slept on. Having it full size also gives me an option I hadn’t thought about before. I can turn it sideways in the van providing a sizable shelf in back for storing stuff.

Next I stopped by Joann’s and asked the ladies there if they would cut some cloth for me for curtains. I’ve been carrying around this bolt of cloth for almost 15 years, and this is the perfect use for it. Curtains for the Boof Bus!

Finally it was time to fuel up and get out on the road. So what time did I leave? It was 6pm, and I made it all the way down to Merrill, Oregon just this side of the California border.

After planning on leaving in the morning I actually left in the evening, but the benefit of running on “Robert Time” is that I wasn’t stressed out.

The inspiration for this trip came from last year’s stop in Vail at the Teva Mountain Games, and in Lyons, Co at the Lyons Outdoor games. Last summer was so much fun I decided to do it again this summer hitting as many whitewater festivals as possible.

Lets recap last summer’s road trip. What began as a simple trip out to Arkansas for our tri annual family reunion turned into an incredibly awesome summer full of new kayaking adventures across the United States. Here’s the blow by blow!

1. Teva Mountain Games in Vail, Colorado. Paddled in the down river sprint on Gore Creek and met Kayaking legend Eric Jackson.
2. Lyons Outdoor Games: Lyons, Colorado. Learned some basic play boating.
3. Evanston, Illinois. Visit my cousins, Film makers Roger Brown and Gaylon Emerzian.
4. Sparta, Tennessee. Toured the Jackson Kayak factory and went out to Rock Island.
5. Erwin, Tennessee. Paddled the Nolichucky Gorge.
6. Nantahala Outdoor Center, North Carolina. Paddled the Nanty and traded my Liquid Logic Remix for a Jackson Villian.
7. Ducktown, Tennessee. Paddled the Olympic Section and middle section of the Ocoee.
8. Charlotte, North Carolina. Paddled at the United States National Whitewater center.
9. Raleigh, North Carolina. Visiting my big sister Nancy.
10. Back to Ducktown. Paddled the upper section of the Ocoee.
11. Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas. Our tri-annual family reunion. Spent three days with the most awesome family ever!
12. Hammond, Louisiana. Home, had to come down to visit Mama.
13. Houston, Texas. Stopped over to visit my friend Jody. Got to meet her newest child Dylan! Cute lil bugger he is too.
14. Athens and Dallas, Texas. Ok this should’ve been two stops. Visited my cousin Stephen and his family in Athens and my cousin Sarah and her family in Dallas.
15. Drumright, Oklahoma. Visiting my cousin Edward and his family. Spent one nice afternoon riding horses with Edwards daughter Katie.
16. Salida, Colorado. Spent a wonderful week playing in Salida’s awesome white water park.
17. Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Had to stop for a day at this great wave.
18. Cascade, Idaho. Spent about a week playing at Kelly’s White Water Park.
19. Riggins, Idaho. Paddled the Main Salmon with Dave and Kat Levitt.
20. Maupin, Oregon. Last day on the road. Paddled the lower Deschutes with my buddy Dave Eveland.

Ok, that was last year. Check back as this summer heats up for this years incredible kayaking adventure. It all starts next week.

View Whitewater Parks in a larger map

In 2011 I managed to return to Glenwood Springs. This time I was ready to go get on the wave myself. It was big, and it was fun, and I still got flipped.