Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 16, 2023 · Last modified January 9, 2023
Ask any eight-year-old kid — or I guess really just about anyone — to draw a cactus and they’re almost certain to draw a saguaro. Well, they really do exist. Not in all desert areas. But in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, around the area near Quartzsite, they are all...
Modes of Transport / Off-the-beaten-path / USA / Wandering
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published January 9, 2023
Having a fat-tire electric bike is great. It’s able to handle the desert terrain. From deep, soft sand to rough gravel. So I’ve spent a lot of time riding around the desert and checking out some of the RVs parked out here near Quartzsite, Arizona. My favorites are all the...
Active / Logistics / Off-the-beaten-path / Strenuous / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published December 31, 2022 · Last modified December 29, 2022
Life — all three months that I plan to be out here — in Quartzsite is a lot different from life in the “real world”. I’m not really sure what the term self-sufficient means to most people. In fairness, this isn’t like living on the open prairie in the 1800s....
Off-the-beaten-path / USA / Wandering
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published February 26, 2022 · Last modified February 20, 2022
I read the book Forrest Gump long before it was made into a movie. These days I like the movie but when it first came out, I despised it. Forrest went through so many more adventures in the book. It was much more of a farce. I felt outraged at...
I’ve been hiding out from winter in Mobile, Alabama. The rainiest city in America, as it turns out! (It’s true! I didn’t believe it when someone told me. Then I looked it up. Mobile gets 67″ of rain per year; easily enough to submerge most 5th graders.) One rainy day,...
The small town of Adrian, Michigan very briefly held the world’s record for largest number of decorated Christmas trees on public display all in one place. Within a few hours, another town took the record. But seeing these trees was still quite a sight, even for someone who hardly cares...
Logistics / Moderately Active / Modes of Transport / Off-the-beaten-path / Strenuous / USA / Wandering
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published August 31, 2021
This story will have more twists and turns than a goat path through the Ural Mountains. It will also be a really long story. For those who don’t want to read the whole thing… TL;DRRV’s engine broke down. I fixed it. The end. First, a key take-away:When I was involved...
Active / Activities / Adventure / Nature / Off-the-beaten-path / USA / Wandering
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published July 13, 2021
For my birthday recently, I decided to take a weekend trip back to my childhood home. I had not been there since I was 12 years old.
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published October 19, 2018 · Last modified October 16, 2018
There is a place along I-95, near the North Carolina/South Carolina state line called “South of the Border”. Out in the western part of South Dakota is a place called Wall Drug that reminds me of that.
After packing up a large house and two-car garage into two storage containers, I helped SB drive over 2,800 miles from Washington state to upstate New York. After cramming three semi-feral bunnies and her large hunting dog into her small SUV-type car, we only had room left for one backpack...