Spotted this last week in an east Oakland neighborhood (on the edge of the really tough part of the city). Something about it just looked right. A guy came down the street and asked what I was doing. I told them that I  was working on a book on tiny houses, that I liked the trailer. He said it was owned by a woman and she paid $500 for it. He was wearing a pale jade pendant, and I pulled out my New Zealand jade pendant to compare. He wanted to know when the book was coming out; I said February, so he showed me where he lived (the little place behind that pink house) and I agreed to bring him a copy in February. Gonna get word out every way I can.

Email from Richard Jones in UK yesterday:

Hi Lloyd – spotted this Gem on ebay -I’d love to own and restore it, but far to many other projects and 9 month old baby. I don’t think I could give it the time it needs.

It claims true “convoy” pedigree. This is when the young of UK abandoned their ordinary lives for life on the road going from music festivals to raves in a trail of hedonistic freedom !

Unfortunately the capitalist Thatcher government didn’t like free radicals. Castle Moreton Rave drew tens if not hundreds of thousands and the authorities feared loss of control.

The Convoy was smashed by the iron fist of the iron lady. The Battle of the Beanfield at stonehenge saw the police smash up buses and trucks, travellers and horses. These were peoples homes and lives violently destroyed. Not to mention beautiful rare vintage buses !

Anyway – this one survived

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1954-Thames-Lambourne-horsebox-diesel-/120766098039?_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D2295974440331323489

Tis a mighty nice truck.

Hope all is well.

Cheers

Rich

These bikes are in the shop of Steve Main in Pt. Arena, Calif. The (black) Norton is a ’68-’69 850 Commando that was found in a barn and restored. Steve says the owner has put on 20,000 miles in the last 4 years.

The two Harleys are for sale (the Norton isn’t). The Pearl grey one (at left) is an 883 HD Sportster. $4500 or will trade for an ATV. The silver one (below) is a ’99 Dyna Super Glide and is $7000.

I like these compared to the overloaded steroided-up chromed–out Harleys you see these days. (In college I had a Harley ’45, it was like a farmer’s motorcycle, cheap, simple, dependable.)

If interested call Steve at 707-882-2818.

Got in on Jet Blue red eye at sunrise. I never can sleep on planes, so got to my hotel at 35th and 6th Ave groggy and yes, a room was available at 7AM. Bliss! It’s the Hilton Garden Inn and I got a rate of $209 due to publishing friends’ corporate discount, it’s a place I would never have chosen, and it turns out to be perfect. Halfway between the Village and the park, nice room on 21st floor (window looks out at Empire State bldg.), cool staff (let me carry my own bags), Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast a few blocks away…

After showering and resting a bit yesterday, I headed uptown on 6th Ave. Got to Bryant Park, and the noise of birds in the trees was surprising. Hey, am I out in the woods or something? At the same time, cabs were hurtling down 6th, busses roaring.

San Francisco is my city and I love it for its beauty and variety and clear ocean air, but this here is the big daddy, the big sister, the Big Kahuna. Nothing like it. Something else fer shure. Each time I get here it grabs me.

I have with me in NYC, a K2 scooter, which I took out yesterday afternoon. (don’t understand why more people don’t get around this way.) I rode up to the park on 6th, then down to the Village on Broadway, using the green bike lanes in the street, or riding on the sidewalks. I can cover 2-3 times the ground I would walking, and it’s fun! Because of the handle, I’m a lot more secure than on a skateboard, plus it’s got a brake (press down on rear wheel fender). I fold it up to go into a store or restaurant.

Washington Square is really torn up right now; most of it is under construction and fenced off, but in a small section was an old guy on guitar, young harmonica player, sounding good. “Your mama can’t dance, and your daddy can’t rock and roll.” (Oh my!)

The city’s an energy infusion. Just walk out into the street, turn in any direction, and vwooom! The sights, sounds, smells, people, store fronts, the endless images — brain goes into overdrive. There’s a level of, what to call it? — maturity — here not found on west coast. Window displays, quality and variety of the shops, faces in the street, newspapers (Village Voice compared to SFWeekly), the CBS TV city newsroom anchors, the culture in general — it’s just the Big Time. There’s depth.

Read More …

This looks like a beautiful magazine on road trips, exploring the world:

“Overland Journal was conceived in 2006 by two friends, Scott Brady and Jonathan Hanson, who were passionate about vehicle-supported expedition travel but dissatisfied with the then-current paradigm of 4WD and adventure motorcycle magazines, which stressed conquering trails rather than exploring the world. The two dreamed of producing a high-quality magazine devoted as much to the journey as to the vehicle and the equipment, a magazine that would inspire readers to explore their own world, whether on a weekend trip 100 miles from home or a cross-continental expedition in another hemisphere. And they dreamed of a magazine that would recognize there are places where motorized vehicles simply don’t belong, that would encourage further exploration by bicycle, kayak, canoe, and backpack.”

https://www.overlandjournal.com/