Freyja and Matt's Grand Adventure

22/03/2024

Welcome to New Mexico! The last few days here have been a blast. What a beautiful and diverse landscape they have everything but the ocean here. We spent yesterday in the Gila national forest exploring the Gila cliff dwellings and some hot springs. Pictures and words can't do this place justice if you're ever in New Mexico put Gila forest on the list you won't regret it.

19/03/2024

Well it's time to say good night Texas, off to tucumcari in the morning. it's been a blast on to the next series of events, I'd say we left our mark but by the looks of things it will be gone tomorrow 🤣

18/03/2024

Some team roping

18/03/2024

Tie down roping

17/03/2024

17/03/2024

If you haven't been to a rodeo you're missing out, what a great experience I highly recommend Tejas rodeo company near San Antonio. Good food great, performance, and awesome bands. Freyja was just disappointed that she couldn't chase the bulls. Videos to follow!

16/03/2024

Texas! What a place we've had some fun the last few weeks hanging with friends and traveling around. It seems like they farm prickly pear and rocks here in the hill country! We haven't seen the whole state but maybe next trip. We got in some awesome miles on the bike and meet some cool people, Freyja is just lapping up all the attention. The hospitality of friends and strangers on the road has been immense and we can't be thankful enough! Headed to a rodeo tonight then working our way west to the next adventure before to long.

01/03/2024

Happy leap day! Freyja and I spent the day exploring her cultural roots in Catahoula perish, LA the area in which the Catahoula Leopard Dog was conceived. She sniffed the same sniffs as her ancestors and frolicked in the swampy woods. The word Catahoula means "Big clear lake" in Tensas the language of the Natchez Natives. In my research I found that the owner or creator of the Catahoula breed is none other than Jim Bowie who died famously at the Alamo.

28/02/2024

What an awesome airboat ride, I might need to buy one. thanks P.J. Penrose can't wait to come do it again!

28/02/2024

It felt like we were in Florida forever! Well last night we finally crossed out through Alabama and into Mississippi for a bit of gambling in Biloxi. We had some awesome times in Florida a big thanks to all of our friends and family for the great hospitality. Getting to see everyone was a highlight of this trip! Enjoy the great pictures and follow along as we work our way west to Texas.

18/02/2024

Mom feeding the tarpon

18/02/2024

Today is a rainy day in the keys so it's a great time to make a post and share some pictures we've been in Florida for about a week now and who knows when we'll leave. Warm weather will be hard to say goodbye to. We have got to visit lots of friends and family and still have more to see on the way back up! Yesterday Freyja and I rode the motorcycle from Taverner to Key West to see the sights. I guess people haven't seen many dogs riding on a bike like that, they all had to get videos or photos everywhere we went. Hanging for another day then were north bound and ready for the next adventure!

10/02/2024

The rope swing what a blast

10/02/2024

I passed my lead belay and climbing test with the help of a new climbing partner in Chattanooga. Promised myself a nice steak dinner if I passed so I earned that one! The next day we headed south through Georgia and made a quick pit stop in the town of Calhoun to get a quick photo for the Folsom family. Our next stop was Amicalola fall to see the approach to the Appalachian trail. After climbing 425 steps to the top we started our hike. I wanted to make it to Springer mountain the southern terminus of the Appalachian trail, but we got to late of a start and only made it to frost mountain. One thing I can say is hiking in the south is that it seems much easier than the mountains back home, you can almost stroll through the woods. After a night on the road we made a surprise stop in Gainesville to see our good friends April Castine and Dylan Tracy. Today me and Dylan went for a swim in Poe springs that water was pleasantly warm compared to my dip in Tennessee. We're going to hang for a few days here then head South to the keys and everything in between.

07/02/2024

So we're hanging out in Chattanooga area for a few days while I take a climbing class and regroup to head south. Today we hiked Cloudland canyon in Georgia and saw another nice waterfall, it seems like you can't walk in the woods without finding a nice waterfall in Tennessee! Freyja found an armadillo and a couple cool caves on the trail. Even though I'm far away I still get to enjoy time with the family, sissy and I had dinner together via video chat. Tomorrow I will test for my climbing class then Thursday back on the road to points unknown.

04/02/2024

And more........

04/02/2024

And more...

04/02/2024

Some videos to go along with the photos!

04/02/2024

With as much as I'm doing now I guess a weekly post might be a bit long so I'm just gonna dump pictures and stories as I go!
Well this week has been off to a good start, Freyja and I went back to Broadway in Nashville and we walked all around everyone wanted to pet her and say hi she loves the attention. I found a few bars on the strip that allow dogs so me and her got to listen to some live music together and she got lots of treats. For anyone visiting Nashville with a dog The Stage and Redneck Riviera both allow dogs. We spent most of the night at the Riviera where everyone was giving Freyja some love. My friend Shawn met us there with his dog Poppy. they let him get up and play a song it went over pretty well. The next day I met up with Shawn to play some pickleball at one of the local parks we had a blast even if I lost every match. After pickleball I encountered my first challenge one on my rear tires picked up a 3/8th bolt and went flat. Broke out the jack and tire iron and found that there was no way I would be able to get the lugs off by hand (good to know for future reference, guess I'll need to invest in a breaker bar). Luckily, there was a discount tire shop where they repaired my tire for free!
Back on the road and headed south I decided to try my hand at fishing for some Tennessee rainbow trout. No luck fly fishing but I got a few with the spinning rod. Then we headed over to the Short Springs Natural area for some hiking and water falls and I went for a swim it was definitely colder than I thought. We finished our day with a tour of the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg. Learned lots of cool facts at the distillery the best was that the first Friday of every month the employees are given a bottle of whiskey along with their paycheck they call it "Good Friday".
Today we went for a long hike at the Savage Gulf state park and saw a few waterfalls. had to wade across a river for one of the trails I had to carry Freyja one way the hike was nice running along the creek for the whole first half then the rim of the mountain for the remainder. On the last half of the hike we encountered a couple "getting it on" in the middle of the trail I'm not sure of the etiquette here maybe someone can inform me do I make some noise to let them know I'm coming through? Or do I just walk back the other way and let them do their thing 🤣. Headed back Chattanooga way tonight stay tuned for more fun!

01/02/2024

Week 1
Well today marks a week on the road. I left the state of Maine in an ice storm and drove all night to make it out of New England. Freyja patiently sitting by my side wondering where the heck we were going. We stopped for a few hours of sleep just outside Harrisburg Pennsylvania at a truck stop. The next morning we were back on the road and driving through the Shenandoah River valley with the mountains all foggy. When I come back through I want to make a point to stop and see some of the caverns and hike some of the Appalachian trail. After hours of driving through Virginia we finally made it to Tennessee at dusk. Our destination was my friend James's house in Chattanooga. We stopped for a few days to visit and regroup. I got to try out the climbing gym in town then set out for Nashville. On Saturday night we got to Nashville in the rain and I went down to Broadway with my friend Shawn who is also living on the road to see the night life. I don't think I've ever seen so much live music. We stopped in Whiskey River to listen and watch people fall off the electric bull. From there I spent my first night in a cracker barrel parking lot the free overnight parking and a common place for drifters on the road. Lots of vehicles there every night haven't talked to anyone yet but I'm sure I will. the next few days I spent walking state park trails with freyja and trying to get into a good routine for living in the RV. I learned a lesson about dealing with strange dogs even if I have met them before. I'll have a constant reminder of that one. I found a good climbing gym to train in near Nashville and have been a few times. I'm considering taking a climbing class to help improve my skills, either that or paying for a guided trip to the Crag (what rock climbers call the rock walls in the mountains)The last few mornings I wake up and boil water and Shawn and his dog Poppy come over to have coffee and tea.

I don't think the idea of life on the road has set in yet it still feels like a trip or vacation. I'm waiting for a shift in my perspective and I'm sure it will come. I think this first week went well not as exciting as anyone might hope but I have enjoyed figuring out how to do everything in the RV. Some things you might not consider in life at home are water management whatever water I use I will probably have to pay to get rid of. So where do you shower? Planet fitness for me, a cheap membership and locations all over. Or lots of baby wipes when it just doesn't work out. I do have the shower but that's being utilized as storage. Sometimes in my house on wheels my cupboards and drawers like to open and send things for a ride! Thankfully I was fully supplied with bungee cords (thanks Ethan and Adi). Trash! I brought a long a bunch of Hannaford paper bags and that's what I use for all my dry trash and just dispose of it when I get fuel. Cooking in the RV can be a challenge with the small space everything I do is planned and thought ahead not to waste space or make extra trash. I guess that's all until next week hopefully some more photos and some good stories!