Seemingly stupid but appearently sound!

Livin’ the dream, what the fuck does that mean? Is it the ability to go clangin’ around the country when the opportunity arises? Or is it the luck involved to just finish what you are doing and have the planets align so you can pick up stakes?
I don’t know man, it’s a big world and you can go anywhere as long as you work hard enough to be able to leave. There are an infinite number of places to spend some time. As time wears on your mental situation can add nuances to any of these places and give you a completely different perception on any of them. Good or bad. There is no perfect place, only some that are better than the rest depending on how your mental outlook is at the time.
This epiphany hit me while taking a joy ride with a friend in his old pick up, Budd panting patiently at my side. The flat pointed desert sprawling out around us in all directions, cowboy hat, pistol, a good old Shovel, a weird little dog and a few pictures to paint. I can take this anywhere…and I mean anywhere.
Realizing almost immediately that I don’t give a fuck what state of mind I’m in, when I want to split, I want to split. All I need is a studio when I get there and a place to call my home. The studios are easy, but I never really find a separate place to shut down after painting and that’s important.
I’ve always had a nut over the whole’ living small’ thing and even when I have a place to hang my hat I use up very little room to actually live. The most comfortable I ever felt was when I was living in my little 24’ Danger Hut. The problem of course because that thing was past its expiration date and then the world fell through my roof. But when the weather was perfect, man that was a sweet shack! Peace and quiet, and a cool breeze comin’ through the Jolisy windows. The air was never fresher.
In summary, Tombstone was great when I was living in the Danger Hut and the weather was optimum, when the weather changed and I was forced to move into the studio and with that into the center of the carnival that is downtown Tombstone things kind of started to smell like shit. The town is cool and the people that inhabit it have their own way of doing things and that I liked. I can’t deal with it any more…as always happens no matter where I live.
So with the Smoke Out looming on the horizon I am packing up shop, loading the paintings and heading east. After the chaos in Rockingham I will be living in Payson with the knowledge that I might want to head out again. What to do and how to do it.
I’m set up in my friends Toy Hauler for two months and at that time I will find myself a cheap place to paint, get to work and save up some cash. I do hate living in someone else’s property so I have to consider what I am going to do about permanent residence. Permanent meaning one roof for my living quarters…that’s not the studio. That poses the question; does my residence have to be a fixed structure? Why can’t it be mobile? Why should it NOT be mobile?
The biggest reason is that RV’s in general are built like shit out of materials that are chosen to keep the weight down for gallivanting around the country and not for long life or durability in severe weather. I.E. motor homes are built flashy and cheap to keep all the retired Mom and Pops delusional and create the façade of opulence. I am not looking for that. I am a minimalist and have a bit of wood when it comes to ‘living small’.
So I am looking for a motor home that is built like a tank. Heavy, strong and with a full frame and structure above built well enough to be leak free and well enough to be insulated with high “R” rating to keep warm and dry even in heavy snow and cold. Quite a high order for something that is made for ‘week end’ getaways.
Enter the mid ‘70’s Dodge Superior motor homes. They are built like a tank, with galvanized roofs and sidewalls to fend off the worst weather and probably a few shot gun blasts. They are heavy and with that they are either equipped with 413 or 440 Dodge motors linked to indestructible 727 transmissions. Of course , as I am sure you figured out, they suck ass on fuel mileage. They average 7-8 mile to the gallon, a touch less than your average Hyundai.
So why start looking for such a tank? Because I want to live in it only moving once in a while when I get a cool opportunity to land a studio surrounded by killer roads to ride my Shovel. Most importantly, if things start to blow balls I can load the bike on the back of the motor home, hook up the tow hitch to the station wagon and just head out.
Yea, it’s a farfetched idea but I am the kind of guy that likes to be able to move to different locations and have the ability to do it without being locked down anywhere. I don’t have the funds for any of this but I am hoping to have at least a few dollars squalled away after I hit Payson.
The initial idea seems sound but I know there are obstacles that haven’t, at this point, made themselves apparent. At this point I am psyched about the opportunities that this plan has to offer. The painting business is holding its own and I want to keep following that path. Moving to different buildings that could be used as a studio is exciting and most of all I would get to live all over this great nation of ours.
This lifestyle would probably have little or no appeal to your average citizen, but I ain’t average…or much of a citizen either. This seems like the best way to keep things moving, keep the writing interesting, produce some more original paintings as well as working on commissions and have a grand adventure.
So I’m looking for the right motor home, saving some cash or working some barter and moving on with moving on. It would be a load off my frazzled mind if I didn’t just have to pick a permanent place to live…exploring options seems like a much better idea.
With any luck I will find a place that I just don’t feel like leaving and take it from there. In the mean time I have to be able to live in different places without even a hiccup in my life. Seems like a sound idea to me! But what do I know, I'm a bit off center. What's your input? “GTP”