Welcome to The Winter Times

The only constant in the universe.

Change. The first thing you should have noticed is that we have had a name change. We had to change after we let the domain name expire, and the price for winterstead.com went up beyond our means. The good news is that we were able to raise the value of our brand.

We chose The Winter Times because it is just about us. Not about our homestead. Not about our road trip. Just about what we are up to. Whatever that may be at the time.

Oatman Arizona: The land of wild donkeys and hogs.

Back in Kansas a friend of ours told us about a town in Arizona named Oatman. She said it was acute old mining town turned tourist trap. I love a bit of history and a tourist trap so I thought yeah I'll go. Then she tells us that the place is home to a bunch of wild burros. So I thought yeah I have to go.

Stuck in Bullhead City

After we paid the bill at the mechanic I thought that our plans were shot. We had hoped to get a lot of traveling and writing done with that money. I was thinking we would spend some time in Vegas, see SoCal, and tour the Grand Canyon. Now we don't have enough gas to get to any of those places. I have to admit I was kind of depressed. 

Milestones and Memories

We left Oklahoma refreshed and optimistic. Sure I did not win my millions at the Casino like I had wanted but there would be other chances in our future. Besides, you do not need to be a millionaire to enjoy the warm weather out west.

Step back in time at the Dalton Defenders Day!

It has taken longer I had thought it would to write this post. Every time I get started something comes up. Sorry to have kept you waiting. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

We stood at the feet of a Goddess

        I have always thought about how cool it would be to hit the road and see America. One of the things I was most looking forward to was road side attractions. My wife who knows me so well kept this in mind as she mapped out our ride. She plotted our route using Google Maps and a neat little feature to point out the sights along the way. She told me that a classic looking icon caught her eye.
        Anyone who knows me knows I have a love of classical culture. Nashville has a piece of classic culture reborn in America. A remake of the Parthenon in Athens. It has been there for over 100 years and I am just hearing about it now.

Maiden Voyage: Last Leg

Heading into Nashville

Thursday night was our first thunderstorm in the Defiant. I would like to say that it passed unnoticed but that would be a lie. The thunder seemed to shake the whole camper and the lightning lit up the sky like it was mid-day. Though the storm did not last long it was enough to jolt us from our sleep and keep us awake for more hours then I would have liked. The good news was there were no leaks.    

We got up much later than we had wanted and I wasted no time getting everything ready for the road. I had hoped that we would have made it to the Parthenon by the time we were just getting out of bed.

Maiden Voyage: Part two

We awoke to the gentle sounds of Mother Nature. The birds were singing, the wind rustled through the leaves of the trees, and the squirrels hunted for their morning nuts. The first thing that came to my mind was where am I? After a few moments of disorientated panic I remembered we were in Georgia. I have come to find that I have woken up like that every morning in the camper. I wonder if that will ever go away.

Our second day on the road promised to be better than the first. I had much more rest then I had the night before our maiden voyage. I was also much more confident in my driving; after all I had gotten us this far without running over anyone.

Our Maiden Voyage

                When you have a dream you build up an image in your head of what it will be like when you finally get to live it out.
                When I dreamed about our RV life I had visions of sing-alongs as we rolled down the road, pleasant chats with diner patrons, beautiful landscapes, and the feel of real freedom. Things are not always as you imagine them.

                Now I don’t want you to think I am not having fun. This has been a lot of fun and I am sure it will only get better. It is just things are not exactly as I had dreamed they would be. After our tearful goodbye that you can read all about in my last post I realized something. I had never driven anything this large that far.

                When we got the Defiant it was not far from where we were living. When I drove it home it was on back country roads that I knew well and we did not see many other drivers on them. After that she sat parked in the yard while we worked on her and raised money to start our adventures. We took her a few places locally, like the inspection station and Mammaw’s house, but again all back roads I knew well.

                Our first trip was 1000 miles to Kansas and most of it was interstate and driving on the interstate was a little different then country roads in NC. The defiant has a strong motor and I know that, but still a piece of me was worried that she might not

It felt as if the day would never come...

           All the talk, all the preparation, and all the planning let us know the day would arrive but it felt like it never would... Then the day came.

Robert's Modern American Dream

There are a lot of people out there who feel like they want to do something to better the world. We would like to talk to all of them and see what they have in mind. 

The trouble with that is we can not talk to everyone face to face. So for those who have something they would like to tell us but we can not get to you for an interview we will send a little E-mail questionnaire.

So I thought that before we start asking America these questions I would answer them for myself. 

Take me out to the ball game..

I am not a big fan of baseball. 

I own a glove and understand the terminology, but the professional sports side of it I do not understand. When someone asked me who my favorite player was I said Buck Bokai, for the London kings.

So why a baseball game? Well we were kind of enticed to go.

We did know the star of the show, the most talented hostess Halley Murrow Castleberry, and her invitation was hard to pass up.

Painting tight spaces

I have had some experience with painting in the past. 

The first job I ever got paid to do, way back when as a 14 year old, was as a painting assistant. That did not start a lifelong career but it was the first of many hours spent painting. 

When my wife and I left our first apartment I painted the whole thing in 48 hours. So with all that experience and the best paint money can buy I thought for sure I would be done painting the Defiant in no time.  

One Man's Take on Essential Oils

It is 1:30 in the morning and my stomach is on fire. For the last 30 minutes or so all I could do was sit here doubled over and rock like a baby. The sweating has finally stopped and I’m not really shaking any more. My back is still sore from the spasms in my abdomen but that will pass quickly, it usually does. 

The fortress was cracked open.

As I am sure our readers are well aware that the Winter's are about to pack up the Winter Stead and hit the road. We hope to find ourselves in some type of mobile something or other (RV). We know it might be a pain to travel with two cats but they are coming with us. Our chickens though are not so lucky, we can not travel with them. 

So today I am going to share the recipe we used to fry them up... Just kidding!!

Something new

My wife has been asking me for some time now to write a post for our blog. I have given some input to some of her posts, but for the most part all of it so far has been in her words. I suppose she feels that the blog could use a bit of my voice. I have been there with her this whole time doing the work I just do not have the talent for writing that she does.