People who haven’t actually been inside of Thor — my motorhome’s name is Thor Odinson — are often shocked to learn that I have no air conditioning. It actually had two rooftop air conditioners when I bought it, but I uninstalled both and now rely on just fans and other...
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....
As I crossed the last mountain pass, traveling west from Phoenix, I stopped by the side of the highway and looked down over the tiny town and surrounding desert valley I had traveled so far to call my winter home. More to come about the ups and downs of life...
I’m not a churchgoer so perhaps it’s unsurprising that I don’t get it. But while driving across the country, I passed several enormous churches. Not only were they truly huge, but far away from any population centers.
A 2,500 mile thunder run is absolutely not my preferred pace of travel. I put a great deal of time and effort into building a life that would allow me to travel and explore at a somewhat leisurely pace. Unfortunately, elements of this particular trip are dictated by constraints that...
Activities / Adventure / High Adrenaline / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published March 12, 2022 · Last modified February 20, 2022
The place where I hid out for winter of 2021-2022 was on a very tiny horse farm outside Mobile, Alabama. Aside from the two horses, the family that owned the farm had a collection of toys that rivaled any church carnival. A trampoline A motorized train made from rain barrels...
Adventure / Culture / Laid-back / USA
by Jeffrey Kontur · Published March 5, 2022 · Last modified February 20, 2022
It was an accident of timing that I visited New Orleans two weeks before the start of Mardi Gras. But I can now definitively say that’s the best possible time to go. The French Quarter is a ghost town. You get none of the drunks, vomiting, crime, or other unseemly...
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...