Home in Carmel Valley

I've been channeling Jack Kerouac lately, and wondering how I ever decided to get off the road and settle down in Carmel Valley, a small rural community a couple of mountains over and a ten-mile drive from Carmel-by-the-Sea or just plain Carmel if you wish. I am home, I think. At least I'd like to think I'm home.

I spent 323 days or so living in motels and in casinos on comps and attending art festivals and blogging and takeing pictures. I guess I'm tired and have stopped traveling. I came to Carmel and the Monterey Peninsula a few days ago and just decided to stay. The ocean, the cool breezes, the nice people keep things in balance when you consider this area is among the most expensive places to live. I'm paying more for gas than rent.

I've opened a studio for a place to hang out and write, paint, draw, swat flies, and watch delivery trucks drop off fresh fruit to the market that sits beneath me. All is well, so far.

Current Location: Solvang, California

Solvang is a nice hamlet, or should I say "gehucht." This Dutch community is growing on me. I'm seriously thinking about settling down here.

I'm staying at the Kronborg Inn, just west of downtown. The Kronborg is nice enough, but my room is located upstairs where access is a little difficult. I must climb stairs near the office, then walk through an enclosed balcony of sorts, before reaching an upstairs deck. Then it's a nice walk along the deck, making one turn down another path, before I can enter my room. The patio door leads to a small deck outside my room, and it actually would provide a shorter trip back to my car. But I'm a little afraid of leaving the patio door unlocked while I'm gone.

Ice? To get ice I walk out my patio door (leaving it unlocked, but at least I can see it from the vending area near the pool so I'm not too worried about it) and walk down the stairs near the office. Then I follow a trail along the swimming pool to a narrow path along a wall outside some lower level rooms. I take the narrow path for a short distance before arriving on the far side of the pool where the vending area and ice machine is located. I fill my ice bucket up and return the same way. I feel like a mouse, making my way through a maze to retrieve some cheese.

All of this traversing the paths and narrow walkways of the Kronborg is just another way of reminding me that living in motels can be a bitch sometimes.

Traveling Can Be Hard Work

Well, let's see. I've been on the road now 300 days. That seems like a milestone to me--a nice even number. Though my original intention was to travel for a year, I may not make it that long. I want to settle down. Traveling is fun and I love it. I will always be a traveler. But having no homebase, no headquarters, nowhere to call "home" is tiresome.

Traveling is hard work.

I find myself today in the small hamlet of Solvang, just north of Santa Barbara, California. Solvang is a Dutch community founded in 1911. Back in those days the town's economy was based on farming, of course. Today, it's tourism. I've read that more than 2 million tourists a year come here to see the Dutch architecture, taste the Dutch pastries and food, and sample the wine that is abundant in these parts. Vineyards and orchards are everywhere. So wine-tasting is a major attraction. I'm being tempted to live here.

My writing schedule has been in a mess since I've been traveling. I have a number of projects I'd like to finish, or maybe start, but have been too busy seeing and experiencing places on the road. Most of my writing has been done on my travel blog at http://www.myroadart.com/.

However, time has probably come for me to leave the road for while, catch my breath, settle down, and do some serious writing. I need a home. I need a place I can retreat to once I leave the road. I need to make some money, too. I'm not a rich man.

Long Journey Update Me

Current Location: Laughlin, Nevada.

Okay, so sue me. I've neglected this blog for weeks now. I've been reguarly hanging words on my site at 1100 Miles to Vegas (also known at "MyRoadArt.com"), but for whatever reason I've not done much writing here. In fact, I've been neglecting my writing schedule altogether.

At least today I've checked in. How's it going with you?

Spamalot and StarTrek

Poorly Designed Logos

Thanks Bert, for sending me these poorly designed company photos.

This and That...and Some Other Stuff

I've spent the morning trying to figure out the hosting account at GoDaddy.com. I like their prices, but really, can someone tell me how you work your way through the confusing web hosting and email account instructions? I've been with GoDaddy for three years, maybe longer, and I'm still trying to figure things out.

I'm developing my web site at MitchellAiken.com, and this morning worked out the hosting and uploading of files. Over the next few weeks the site will begin to come together. I am choosing to design the site myself with Microsoft Frontpage, because I'm so cheap I don't want to pay for someone else to do it.

I'm going to try my best to make regular updates to my blogs: here at WriteFinger, at 1100 Miles to Vegas, and at Straight Talk from the 7 Seat. My travel writing will hopefully take off this year as I try to break into that business. I have found a couple of good books on travel writing and will work a plan to publish both online and in print.

I'm working on an outline for a novel, but it's slow going. I'm in no hurry. Novel writing takes time, and I'm learning as I go. The research and reading of background material is fun, but exhausting. My goal is to have a basic outline completed by the end of the summer.