Local Flavor | Live Work Dream | RVing Lifestyle Design Blog

Hodges serves up fine breakfast buffet fare.

April 23, 2008 by Jim

I hate writing about stuff that happened weeks ago. But then I guess you would never know, if I didn’t tell you! Anyway …

I hadn’t reviewed any biscuits and gravy for a long time.

So I was especially pleased to discover Hodges Corner Restaurant serves up a mean breakfast buffet on Sunday morning.

I was even more pleased – and even more surprised – that René actually suggested we stop for breakfast on our 12 mile bicycle ride from Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences up to Elephant Butte. It’s sure a good thing the second six miles were downhill!

Developing the Truth, or Consequences

June 1, 2022April 16, 2008 by Jim

What is up with this town? I just have to ask myself that.

And now, I guess I’m asking you. Not that I expect you to be able to answer that, if you’ve never been here to this little jewel of the Nile.

OK. It’s not the Nile, it is the Rio Grande. And this gem looks more like a lump of coal than a diamond in the rough. But unless something changes – which may happen very soon – that coal might become a diamond before this town ever grows up.

Having lived for ten years in a town where growth is a bad word, I understand how a community can clash over development. But what I don’t get is why there is absolutely none here in Truth or Consequences, NM. The place has obviously seen its day. But it still seemed to have such potential. Then I spoke with a local developer.

Greener Pastures in the Scorching Southwest

March 31, 2008 by Rene

We’ve seen many places in the U.S. where human habitats are completely at odds with the environment. In places like Florida, builders continue battling nature, despite all of the evidence that this is a bad idea. Living there is a constant struggle between the land, the animals, and the humans, and as a result, few things about the place feel natural. There is complete and total disharmony with the environment.

But here in the harsh lands of New Mexico, humans seem to do a better job of working with their surroundings. From the ancient style of adobe buildings that naturally insulate homes, to suburbanites doing xeriscape conversions, people seem to be more willing to work with nature.

Finding Nature in the City of Angels

March 20, 2008March 18, 2008 by Rene

In the past, whenever I visited L.A., I’d have a hard time adjusting to the frantic pace, smoggy air and traffic. As much as I like seeing my family, I hated how stressful the city made me. But my visit was different this time. Our sabbatical has changed my attitude toward visiting places that I find undesirable, which makes life a lot more enjoyable. As Jim likes to say, “it is what it is,” and I accept that can’t change that. So this time while visiting the region, I decided to try to see more of the positive things about L.A, and find beautiful things about it, like nature.

Petroglyphs and Graffiti

March 13, 2008 by Jim

Driving around Los Angeles, I can’t help but wonder what archaeologists of the distant future would make of the cryptic tags of today’s graffiti artists.

And I have always snickered inside at all the modern day scholars writing dissertations on the meaning of ancient petroglyphs which may in fact just be the scribblings of prehistoric taggers.

Our Two Dollar Tour of East L.A.

March 10, 2008 by Rene

Our year long RV Road Trip sabbatical takes us to visit East Los Angeles and reunite with family in California

Goin’ Back To Cali and Dealing with The Man

March 7, 2008 by Rene

When you’re camped out in the middle of a wild desolate landscape, without a cell signal and a silence so deafening that its roar squeezes your brain like a vise, it’s tempting to believe that you’ve fallen off the radar. You look around for miles and see nothing but desert landscape, imagining that there are no rules, laws or entities that have power over you.

But the truth is, you can’t escape. Ever. Because it doesn’t matter if you hightail it to Patagonia, or just hide out in the woods; the Man will find you.

In our case, the Man was the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Houston Police Department.

Feelin’ Like Somebody in Luckenbach

December 12, 2012February 28, 2008 by Jim

Let’s go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’ got us feuding
Like the Hatfield and McCoys
Between Hank Williams pain songs, Newberry’s train songs
And blue eyes cryin’ in the rain, out in Luckenbach Texas
Ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain …

[Show as slideshow]

Restoring Our Faith in Humanity Along America’s Backroads

February 4, 2021February 26, 2008 by Rene

Journey along Highway 82 in Louisiana for the best of Acadiana and Cajun country.

Artz Ribz and the Deep Ellum Blues

February 24, 2008 by Jim

We’ve been hearing a lot of good music lately. So much that I’ve added a new Musicamericana Video Playlist featuring samplings of the local music scenes we’ve soaked up along our way.

But I promised Sonja I would post this movie from our dinner at Artz Rib House in Austin where they hooked up with us for some good food and good fun.

Finding Common Ground in the Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish, New Orleans

February 23, 2008 by Rene

One of the best parts about going on the road is having your eyes opened up to the realities that exist beyond your own little corner of the world. So when it came to New Orleans, it was one thing for me to hear secondhand reports about the state of affairs in the city from the comforts of my home. But to walk through the rubble that remains, to talk to those who are trying to piece their community back together, was another thing altogether. This is why we travel.

Our time down on the bayou

February 22, 2008 by Jim

For our visit to New Orleans, we boondocked on the BioLiberty compound down on Bayou Liberty in Slidell, Louisiana.

This is where our old Humboldt friend Gordon Soderberg now calls home.

Living full-time in his RV, he has established quite an impressive green enterprise with the help of a local dentist who owns the property.

[Show as slideshow]

New Orleans: Live Music and Great Art without the Attitude

February 20, 2008 by Rene

I started out this trip behaving like a spoiled little West Coast snot, like a character out of that famous New Yorker drawing that shows a map of the U.S., with the Left Coast and the East Coast, and nothing in the middle. How wrong that is, and what an ignorant turd I was for falling for it.

The middle of this country has the nicest, most down to earth people we’ve met, and some of the most creative. And since arriving in the South, we’ve witnessed more talent, and met more artistic individuals here than anywhere else. Maybe it’s because they’re at arm’s reach here, whereas on the coasts, the artists and musicians I’ve met have gigantic egos, stick to their own kind and don’t make an effort to blend in with the masses, unless it’s to try to make a buck.

From The Redwoods to the Bayou, Now In NOLA

February 9, 2008February 9, 2008 by Rene

Friday, we pointed ourselves westward, right into New Orleans (NOLA), where we’ve met up with an old friend from Humboldt, Mr. Gordon Soderberg. As one of the founding members of the Redwood Technology Consortium, Gordon is one of the reasons why we fled San Francisco in ’98 and moved up to the sticks. He was a geek like us, and we figured if he could make a living in the trees, so could we. In 2005, Gordon left Humboldt to join the Veterans For Peace wagon train that was supporting Cindy Sheehan, and found himself in NOLA two days after Katrina, to help with the rescue, cleanup, and now, grassroots rebuilding efforts (because the government hasn’t done crap. More later).

One Good Thing About Florida: The Atlantic

April 22, 2021February 5, 2008 by Rene

Swimming in the Atlantic ocean is one good thing about Fort Lauderdale and Florida.