The Dude Abides

Two fears were vanquished this past week: the fear of not having a support vehicle shadowing my route, and the fear of not have a travel companion. Peddling across the country alone was never a good idea.

Long story short, I called my friend Dave Rickabaugh just to check-up on him. He answered after three rings sounding exactly like Jeff Lebowski, as he always does. "Yeah man, what now...?," he wondered. We talked for 10 minutes or so about nothing substantial. Then I began to lament that I was preparing myself mentally to ride solo on my cross country journey. Dave -- who, for those of you familiar with A Long Ride Coming know as The Dude -- commiserated. "Bummer, that could be gnarly."

Then The Dude moved into Dude mode.

"Yeah, well this is completely from right field man -- or left, or center, or some friggin' place -- but my neighbor down the street has this radical old RV for sale. It's so bitchin' man, that if you buy it, I'm your travel dude, man."

So again, long story short: I'm now the proud owner of a 1989, 33', Allegro recreational vehicle. Sight unseen, I bought the beauty all on the word of The Dude, who assures me I got a radical deal.

So we will see. Since the motorhome is in Hemet, CA, some 500 miles to the west of where I live, it won't be anytime soon that I eyeball my new pride and joy. She's resting in a storage facility and will stay there until the adventure begins in May.

But The Dude abides. He'll be a travel companion beyond compare and if the RV can make it 3,000 miles before crapping out, it'll make a nice donation to a worthy charity in St. Augustine, Florida.

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