Bernie Harberts and his mule Polly were featured in the “On the Road” section of our book Tiny Homes.

“I’ve sailed alone around the world, traveled across America by mule (twice), pedaled a ten dollar bike around Tasmania and walked across Newfoundland with a mule. Most recently, I sailed a wood ketch from the Falkland Islands to South Georgia Island, off Antarctica. From there, we sailed 3 weeks across the iceberg laced Southern Ocean to South Africa.…

For the Lost Sea Expedition series, I traveled 14 months across America in a wagon. Just as I did in North Carolina, I explored things that are particular to an area. This time around, it was horse breakers, Lakota elders, sod hut dwellers, ghost towns and a vanished sea that caught my eye.

I filmed the whole voyage myself – a first ever for a cross-country wagon voyage.…”

lostseaexpedition.com/

I left around 6AM, stars were out, it was cold. My MO for these early morning rides into the city: cup of fresh ginger tea, a bit of power plant in Ploom, the Michael Des Barres program on Sirius radio (for which I thank you, Lew!), iPhone ready for whatever pops up.

This morning as I drove the windy road, I counted 54 lights out in the sea, crab season just opened, and it might be a good one. Neighbor fisherman Todd pulled 35 pots the 1st day, got 700 lbs. dungeness crab (we had fresh crab with 1-hour-old porcini pasta, + my brother’s deep red Syrah wine last night, ahem).

I was driving my Toyota truck (picking up lumber today) when, on a tight turn, a white Porsche, came roaring up behind me, didn’t hesitate, whipped around me with a roar, crossing the double line, baby — you go!

It’s always a thrill to go thru the tunnel and see the Golden GateBridge. This is my bridge; I’ve been to the top of it, and crossed under it in a kayak — and this the city that I love to this day, 81 years later. I start the day with a latte and brioche at Cafe Roma, old-school coffee house in North Beach, spend a few hours writing, editing, blogging, listening to music on earphones before venturing out for the day’s chores.

This was playing as I went through the tunnel:

Hi Lloyd,

Last we spoke, I was telling you about the “Lost Sea Expedition”. It was just mule Polly and me traveling across the USA in our wagon. We were looking for stories behind the Lost Sea, the ancient seabed that once covered the Great Plains.

I filmed the journey without a film crew, support vehicle or sponsor. I charged my camera gear off the solar panel bolted to the wagon roof. Now, that footage has been turned in to the “Lost Sea Expedition” TV series.

First, a bit about the journey:

As I bumped across the USA in my wagon, I folks what they knew about the Lost Sea. Early on, a Lakota elder told me about “buffalo stones” – fossils from a marine creature called a baculite. From there, the story took off in all directions. I thought I was looking for a vanished sea. Instead, I unearthed an all-American web covering topics as far ranging as the Ogallala Aquifer, Creationism, Evolutionism, Prairie Fever ,and Depression-era horse breaking.

Who knew that diving in to the origins of a long vanished sea would turn in to a journey to the heart of America?

2,500-mile wagon route across America

Read More …

“The unconventional life of I, seeking thrills in hills of thighs, thighs of hills, on bikes resonating along the twang of banjos and books whispering beside the silence of now. Leave your mind, gasm a little and become one with the dingus, sporadic, raw and original material included. – T.P”

I caught up with Trevor a few weeks ago and he gave me his new online photo journal:

https://bikesbooksnbanjos.tumblr.com/

Here’s my encounter with him in 2012: https://www.lloydkahn.com/2012/01/13/ride-down-mountain-this-afternoon/

From David Shipway

Not sure why they truncate the boards’ noses, maybe to avoid pearling.

Check out the old guy rippin it up.