MOVED TO SUBSTACK
After much deliberation and aggravation, I’ve moved this blog to Substack in February of 2024.
Please go to divvercity.substack.com
Traveling About
I’ve always traveled, from my earliest age and memory. When I retired, I was able to indulge my wanderlust more than ever.
I started writing travelogues in 2010 or so, formatted as PDF attachments to emails. A good friend suggested that I change that format over to a blog, which seemed a good idea. Especially for bandwidth-challenged subscribers, the blog provided a short email which could be expanded later. Plus, the WordPress structure allowed easy editing and multi-column formats and other “trinkets”.
So, what you’ll see here is a broad sampling of travel-related writings. RV/motorhome, Jeep, motorcycle, commercial airlines, hiking, boating, diving — pretty much anything that happens when I’m away from home, which is quite often these days.
So – – – What’s with that funny URL? divver-city??
It’s just a little play-on-word. The word “diversity” is pronounced “dih VER sit ee”. But if you mis-pronounce it (DIH ver SIT ee), you end up with divver-city. (Someone else thought of a variation – – see diverse-city.com, no relation to me.)
Diversity is the element of daily living that keeps us interested, alive, energized. To paraphrase a line from William Cowper’s 1785 poem “The Task” – –
“Diversity is the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.”
(The original word was not “diversity” but “variety”. Sue me.)
Karin and Greg
Greg (that’s me) does the writing, driving, and fixing; Karin does everything else. Different pictures, at different times. Karin and me “dipping our toes” in the Arctic Ocean, on the shore of the Beaufort Sea at Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, Canada. Karin riding an antique bulldozer at Carrizo Plain, CA, and me goofing off with an iron terraraptor at Borrego Springs, CA. We really like getting out and about, and these snapshots epitomize the wandering life that we sometimes are able to enjoy.
Howie and Toad
These are our erstwhile steeds. Howie is a 2003 Itasca (Winnebago) 27-foot class-A. His name stands for: House On Wheels In Excess. The “excess” is how much more comfortable Howie is than our previous tent-camping life. Here he is (with Ralph in tow) at the beginning of the Cassiar Highway in British Columbia, Canada.
Over the years, Howie has gotten a LOT of modifications, and I mean A LOT. Since 2019, he has been fully converted to 4X4 using F550 components, 35″ tires, 6″ of suspension lift… and is more ready than ever for adventuring.
Jayk the JK is our newest steed, a 2013 Jeep JK Sahara in the most pleasant slate green I’ve ever seen. We’re looking forward to many happy years roaming the trails in this capable little vehicle.
Ralph is simply short for “Ranger Ralph”, in reference to our 1996 Ford Ranger 4X4 pickup. Since replaced by Jayk, we had some fine times in Ralph, and you’ll see him often in pre-2019 posts.
It was with a heavy heart that I had to sell Ralph in early 2019. He had some severe mechanical issues, and rather than $$fixing him, I decided it was time for something smaller and more nimble — enter Jayk.
Bote — a latecomer, our earnest little Sea Eagle FastTrack 385FT inflatable kayak. Such fun, and stores away in one of Howie’s cargo bays.
In the Beginning
When we first started exploring with Howie, we had a piggy-back motorcycle (named “Papoose”, naturally). It was a nice 2009 Yamaha TW-200, and we put well over 1000 miles on it. Rough, windy, cold, injury-prone miles.
After three years and a sprained ankle, several bone-chilling rides, and a general reluctance to use Papoose at all, we sold the trusty two-wheeler and started towing Ralph. This worked VERY well. As of the beginning of 2019, we had taken Howie and Ralph all over the western States, and through Canada and Alaska to the Arctic Ocean and back.
TWO WHEELS
After many years of living with only 4 wheels, the 2-wheel passion would still not leave me alone. Late in 2017, I gave in once again to my motorcycle “itch” and bought a new 2016 Yamaha Super Tenere. After a couple of months of it constantly teasing me to ride it, I named it “Teezer”.
(Of course, the jokes immediately started coming, “geezer on a Teezer”. Very appropriate.)
Teezer and I made several 1000+ mile trips, but I never quite got used to the weight (>650 pounds with luggage). In late 2019, I traded Teezer for Pleesr, a 2019 Suzuki Vstrom 650. About 100 pounds lighter, and still pretty peppy and versatile.
With all the changes to Howie, it was no longer feasible to haul around a piggyback motorcycle, especially if we still wanted to tow Jayk. So I crafted a beefy front motorcycle rack — but the Vstrom was still way too big for a “trail bike”. So I bought a Yamaha XT250 — same weight as the old TW200, but a bit more highway-worthy. We took it out on a trip or two…
But the eventuality was that the little 250 just wasn’t up to any real highway travel (for me, anyway). So it got sold, and I bought a Suzuki DR650. Basically, an XT250 on steroids. Lots of power and highway capability, but still light enough (100 pounds less than the Vstrom) for easy trail work.
EITHER of these 650’s will easily do duty as a traveling bike; and the DR650 can (possibly) accompany Howie, with or without Jayk, on the front mount. We have a lot of experimenting to do.
What’s next? Only time will tell.
PS – – This blog is pretty much a G-rated, family-style discourse. No politics, religion, or contestual stuff.