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Well, here at the Wolfpack in Brant Rock, Marshfield Mass., the curtain has been drawn on another summer, the 73rd of my life. We are on the ocean here and when I am near the ocean, especially the North Atlantic, I am in a good place. We had a very busy summer and now have begun preparing for pulling up stakes and following the warm weather.

This will be our 7th year of our grand full-time RV adventure and, although not as excited as we were in year one, we still get very excited when we start preparing to depart. If you have been following us for all 6 years, you know that we went to Florida the first 3 years and then out West each Spring from Florida and then directly out to Arizona in years 4 through 6.

This year we will also go directly to Arizona, but only for a short while. Then we will head right to Newport Beach CA and spend most of the Winter there. Before we get into that story though, let’s review the second half of our summer here at Blackman’s Point (See our previous post for early summer).

We had left off after Red Fox’s 70 birthday celebration and my 55th High School reunion.

1. In early August we took a short trip up to the Bangor Maine area o meet up with our friends from British Columbia whom we hang out with in the Arizona Desert every winter at Imperial Dam, Captain Canada, Debbie Dewdrops, Lonesome Larry and Busty Barb. They were on a tour from B.C. to the maritines and were scooting across the border in New Brunswick for the day.

We had a great lunch at the Seadog saloon, went for a canal walk, caught up on stories and then watch a bunch of crazy people following Pokey Man around on their phones, some almost falling in the canal.

2. On August 28th we participated in a memorial motorcycle ride for a long time friend who died suddenly in early summer. Many riders from both the Upland Riders and the Manomet Mystery Riders attended and we had a great remembrance of past good times in his company.

3. Hawk releases his fourth book, “Seaweed Shanty Town”

During early August, after many months of preparation, I was able to put the finishing touches on my fourth book and second in the Irish Sea Mossing series.

“Seaweed Shanty Town is the story of Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine, landing in the United States at the ports of New York and Boston and then finding their way to a small South Shore town in Massachusetts called Scituate. There they discover a seaweed, Irish Sea Moss, that they are quite familiar with from their home shores in Ireland and proceed to establish a unique industry that lasts for over 130 years.”

It was an immediate hit in the local area and I had 3 separate book selling events in and around the local area. I sold out of all of the first 100 copies and immediately stocked more. If you are interested in this book, go to the link below, set up an account and password and then you will be able to order it, as well as any of my other books or associated videos. At this site, you will get a discounted price as compared to Amazon.

http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk

                                                          

(With Jerry Pallotta, children’s author,                                        (Book Cover)

at Scituate Heritage Days)

(“Hawking” the book during Sand Hill’s Labor Day Parade)

4. My daughter’s wedding took place September 10th in Plymouth Mass., America’s Home Town and it was a joyous occasion.

5. And, finally, The Wolfpack closes out another great summer!

(Marshfield Fair)

That’s it for now folks. Stay tuned!

 

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Well, here we are about halfway through the summer in the Northern Hemisphere and there’s lots of things going on(in the world and in our little corner). We will stick with our little corner, since the world is in moderate chaos right now. Here is a quick summary of our highlights-

1. Wolfpack Summer Fun

The grandkids are older and bigger, but the Wolfpack is the same size and so we are gearing down a little on the sleepovers. Here are a few highlights from several visits. four out of six so far, but we are trying to corral the other two. Here you see Patrick, Angus, Margeaux and the new, little guy, Marcus.

2. Dotti’s annual Skimos Motorcycle weekend

Every summer we ride the Hogs up to Jackson N.H. and then take a ride to Rangely Maine. This year we encountered rainy weather, but couldn’t postpone due to everyone having a full summer schedule, so we soldiered on.

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3.Bicycle Ride to the Gurnet

A few weeks ago Red Fox said she wanted to go on a bicycle ride, so I showed her a 20 mile route from Brant Rock, through Green Harbor and then over to Duxbury Beach and down to the Gurnet. It was great except that about 10 miles were hard packed dirt and it was a hot weekend day. Anyway, we made it and the scenery was great.

4. Manomet Mystery Riders Bicycle Ride

This year, due to many members of our motorcycle club not riding anymore and needing a more sedate activity, we formed the MMRBC (Manomet Mystery Riders Bicycle Club). Our first ride was a few weeks ago down in Rhode Island. It was a 20 mile ride with a lengthy lunch break at the halfway mark.

 

 

 

 

5. Red Fox hits the big 70

Believe it or not, Red Fox turned 70 June 1st. We hightailed it up to Newburyport for a celebration with her old friends.

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That’s it for now! More exciting news soon, including information on Hawk’s latest book. Stay tuned.

All decked out for Hawk’s 55th High School Reunion.

 

 

 

363 Full color pictures!

Yesterday, June 12 2016, marked the sixth anniversary of the beginning of our great adventure. It was on this day that we picked up The 2006 Wolfpack Toy Hauler at Flagg RV in Uxbridge Mass. with our buddy Roadglide Dave and drove it back to Humarock MA, for a trial run to Laconia Bike Week. For those of you new to our blog, here is a quick summary of our rig.

The Wolfpack was (and still is) a 20o6 model, manufactured by Forest River. It is 30 feet long, not counting the hitching portion, which you can see in the picture above, underneath the white propane tanks’ white cover. The hauling vehicle, an F-350 Ford diesel xtra cab is also a 2006 model. We had actually purchased the Toy Hauler first and then had to go looking for a truck capable of pulling it, plus our two Harleys, plus all our belongings (approximately 5 tons). The Toyota Tacoma that I had at that time was not even close to being able to haul 5 tons!

We towed her home and prepared for a trip to Laconia Bike Week. You can see all of our adventures on that trip, including all 4 tires blowing out and a blown head gasket, in Volume One of our book, “Hawk and Red Fox-Modern Day Gypsies”, available at

 http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk

or by going to “Hawk’s Books” on Facebook.

The Wolfpack has a ramp up which we are able to ride our Harleys , after collapsing our living room. Then, when we travel across the country, we still have the use of the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The pictures below will give you an ides of how it all works.

 

 

On the road, traveling overnight, we still have heat, refrigeration, hot water and propane cooking. We are able to stay overnight in a Walmart parking lot and then move on the next day. Each year when we return to New England for the Summer, we stay at the same campground, Blackman’s Point in Brant Rock MA. For those of you new to our blog, we will review Blackman’s in our next post.

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

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363 Full color pictures!

When last you heard from us, we were in Zion N.P. in Utah from 4/7 to 4/20. This is our favorite N.P. and this was our third time there. Two weeks however was enough and we decided it was time to move on and continue heading East towards our home state, Massachusetts.

(Almost ready to leave Zion)

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

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We wanted to visit a few more areas out West before making a beeline home but the weather throughout the West was showing a week of rain no matter where we headed. What to do? We didn’t want to head home yet because our summer campground doesn’t open until May 1 and the weather in New England can really be dismal in early May. The light bulb finally went off and we decided to head to The Great Smokey Mountain N.P. in TN. This is near the infamous Dragon’s Tail road in Deal’s Gap and is a favorite with motorcycle thrill seekers (318 hairpin turns in 11 miles!). I had been there about 9 years ago, but Red Fox had not. So off we went.

It took us 7 days to get there and we did the usual overnight stays at Motel Walmart each night. Here is a quick summary-

4/21-Zion Utah to Winslow AZ

4/22-Winslow AZ to Edgewood N.M.

4/23-Edgewood N.M. to Amarillo TX

4/24-Amarillo TX to Henryetta OK

4/25-Henryetta OK to Conway AR

4/26-Conway AR to Dickson TN

4/27-Dickson TN to Townsend TN-Caves Cove Campground 

We would have been there in 6 days, but we had 2 blowouts on 4/25 and had to get 4 new tires.

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

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Other excitement along the way-

1. A big steak and cowboy beans dinner at the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo.
2. Local redneck boys all showing off their glass-pack mufflers in the Walmart parking lot until 10:30 p.m.
3. Long, 7 mile windy/hilly back road off route 40 to get to the Dickson TN Walmart
4.  Long, very narrow, very steep, 9 mile road from Townsend TN to the campground in G.S.M.N.P.

(Our campsite in G.S.M.N.P)

This campground is one of the quietest we have ever been in and was the most beautifully wooded area we had ever visited. It was a very tight squeeze getting into one of the few sites large enough for the Wolfpack, but we managed after a few tries and a minor dent in the front, right side of the pickup.The weather was iffy and we had to get the Hogs out on the road right away. We rode for 2 days and then hiked and bicycled for 2 days, due to severe thunderstorms predicted for days 3 and 4.

Our first day of riding was on the Dragon’s Tail and our second day was over the mountains to Maggie’s Valley (where I had stayed in 2007? with my Manomet Mystery Rider Club).

*******************************************************************************************************(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

When you get to that site, register with a user name and password and you will be ready to order. For more details on our books, go to Hawk’s Books Facebook Page or to Amazon.

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(In front of the “Dragon” next to the local Harley Shop)

(The Tree of Shame at the end of the Dragon Tail, in Deal’s Gap N.C.)

Here are 3 video clips from the Dragon Tail ride, including rare footage of Hawk riding (Red Fox reluctantly agreed to wear the video cam)

[wpvideo sI6jTxkV

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Bicycling on Cades Cove Loop

There is a beautiful 11 mile loop road adjacent to our campground in GSMNP. We rode it on our 3rd day there and it was one of the most beautiful rides we had ever taken. It was like going back to the early 1900s. When the park was established they preserved all the cabins and out buildings. Here are some pictures of that ride, including some up close bear shots.

Our campground-Cades Cove Campground

Here are several shots of our idyllic campground. It was the quietest, most serene campground we have stayed in and quite a change from the campgrounds out West.

After 5 great days at GSMNP, we packed up and headed for our summer camp in Brant Rock MA. We arrived home to typical gloomy New England Spring weather with the temperature dropping to 41 on our second night home. But that’s a story for our next posting.

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

363 Full color pictures!

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Today, after waiting for some windy, unsettled weather to move through during the last two days, we have the Harleys all polished up to ride on Mount Carmel Highway towards Kanab and Fredonia. At that point we will be just north of the Arizona border. We probably won’t go as far as Page AZ. We did this ride last year and the scenery coming through the Zion Canyon is spectacular. I videoed most of it last year. Below is one of the best clips.

Also, shown below, from yesterday, are some fabulous shots of the long horn steers on a farm here called two feathers Farm. These long horns are so much more picturesque than regular steers.

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

***********************************************************************

 

363 Full color pictures!

(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

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Yesterday we did a combination motorcycle ride and hike in a part of Zion not visited by most tourists. The scenery was great and the hike was beautiful. See my facebook page for motorcycle videos. Here are some pictures from the hike.

(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

363 Full color pictures!

Yesterday we returned to Zion for the third year in a row (Can you tell we love it?). Right away, today (4/10), we redid one of our favorite hikes, Watchman’s, which is conveniently located right near our campsite. I am attaching pictures from last year, rather than redoing them all. Here for your enjoyment once again are the best ones. We were here earlier last year, hence the Saint Paddy’s day regalia in some of the shots.

(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

 

(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

That was 4 days ago. Finally getting time to add more. Here are a couple of videos and some pictures from our hike on Angel’s Landing.We had a fierce hail storm and heavy rain during the hike. The trail got washed out at a couple of points. Very exciting!

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

When you get to that site, register with a user name and password and you will be ready to order. For more details on our books, go to Hawk’s Books Facebook Page or to Amazon.

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363 Full color pictures!

Last week we picked up camp and moved north from Joshua Tree N.P. to Death Valley. We had friends who were there waiting for us and we wanted to catch them before they left. We knew it would be hot, but figured we could handle it. The ride from J.T. to D.V. is about 300 miles and we decided to cut across Mojave National Preserve to get there. We were on the south side of J.T., so we first had to drive across J.T. to 29 Palms. Then we got on Amboy Road and followed it to Amboy. Then a right onto Old National Highway Trail (which I believe is part of Route 66) and then a left onto Kelbaker Road, which crosses Mojave Preserve.

(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

 

We actually saw more Joshua Trees in Mojave than we did in J.T.. We did hit a snag at Kelso, in that Kelbaker was closed at that point. We had to detour up to Cima and follow the detour to Route 15. This added about 35 miles to our trip. Then we followed 15 south to Baker and got on Route 127 to Death Valley Junction and Route 190.The attached map gives you a general idea. J.T is down towards the bottom, Mojave is in the middle and D.V. is a the top.

(In the middle of Mojave National Preserve at Kelso. The building in the second picture is the Kelso Railroad Museum. We did not go in because of the detour and long distance we had to cover, but it looked very interesting)

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

***********************************************************************

 

We were greeted warmly by Larry, Barb, Greg and Kathy and were soon all set up next to their rigs. We had a killer domino tournament the next day with the guys emerging victorious.

A couple of days later we took a motorcycle ride to Lone Pine CA by way of Stove Pipe Wells and Panamint Springs. We have some great videos, but the internet is too weak here to post them. We will get them up at a later time. We were here last year and like it here a lot, but it gets hot fast after March ends. Low 90s for the past few days. Below are more pictures of the Forest Service Campground and surrounding areas.

 

***********************************************************************(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

When you get to that site, register with a user name and password and you will be ready to order. For more details on our books, go to Hawk’s Books Facebook Page or to Amazon.

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Next stop Zion N.P. again. Stay tuned!

363 Full color pictures!

Here are some pictures and videos of 2 hikes we took here in Joshua Tree N.P.. We are almost at the end of our 2 week stay here and will be pushing north soon, towards Death Valley. Red Fox shot over to Huntington Beach for Easter to be with her family and yours truly held the desert fort. We are about 150 miles from Huntington Beach and she, of course, rode her Harley. What a girl!

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

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The two hikes are Lost Palms Oasis and Ryan’s Mountain. Both, of course, are in the “Challenging Hikes” category. Lost Palms was more level but much longer (7.2 miles). Ryan’s mountain was only 3 miles, but had a vertical gain of 1,000 feet in 1.5 miles.

Lost Palms Oasis

(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

***********************************************************************

***********************************************************************(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

When you get to that site, register with a user name and password and you will be ready to order. For more details on our books, go to Hawk’s Books Facebook Page or to Amazon.

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Ryan’s Mountain Hike

(Standing under Indian Rock and hoping it doesn’t move)

(Finally you see what a Joshua Tree looks like and a J.T. Forest)

That’s it for now. Hope you had a nice Easter.

Book ordering site below-

http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk

http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk

Well, on Tuesday March 15 we finally began our annual trek out of the deep southwest area and towards higher altitude and longitude climes. We were held up in Winterhaven CA for several days while we waited for some critical mail (a shipment of our new book, “Hawk and Red Fox-Modern Day Gypsies”, Volume Two).

(To order, go to-

Anyway, we were on our way, but really not on our way, because we had to go to downtown Yuma to get our toilet flush mechanism fixed, which had failed a couple of days previously. Fortunately it was a quick and easy fix and we were on our way before noon. Since we only had to cover about 150 miles, it was not an issue.

Our destination was Joshua Tree National Park, located in Eastern CA, near the Nevada border. This is one of three of what I will call desert national parks. They run from south to north in Eastern CA and are Joshua Tree, Mojave National Preserve and Death Valley National Park. They all begin to get rather hot this time of year, so one must get there usually by February to be guaranteed reasonable temperatures. Mojave is at a higher altitude, so it doesn’t get as hot as fast as the other two.

Why were we at Joshua Tree? Several reasons-

1. We had never been there before
2. It was highly recommended by several friends
3. It was a national park and therefore only $6 per night
4. Red Fox needed to go to visit her family one more time before we headed East and J.T. is only 150 miles from them.

What we did not know is that there are very few camp sites that can accommodate our rig and we quickly had to modify our camping plan. This was easy, because as we approached the south entrance of J.T., we had noticed several rigs parked out in the desert, outside of the park. Inquiring inside the park, at the information center, we learned that this was Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and had free camping.

***********************************************************************(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

363 Full color pictures!

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So, we were soon back outside the park, driving into the BLM area. We elected to park as close to the macadam entry road as possible, since we knew we would be unloading the Harleys, and wanted as little driving on hard packed sand as was possible.

You might be asking why the camping here is free. The answer is simple. There are no facilities whatsoever. No restrooms, no electricity, no water, no dump stations. We weren’t worried though. Our generators were filled with gas and we had 3 more containers in the pickup. Our propane tanks were full and we took on 40 gallons of water in the park. We had dumped our sewer tanks when we left Winterhaven/Imperial Dam. Additionally we had another 20 gallons of water in containers in the truck. In short, we were good for about 10 to 12 days.

(The view out our side window)

***********************************************************************(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

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Soon we had everything set up, including the unloading of the Harleys and we were ready to explore the park and surrounding areas.

At this point, you may be wondering what a Joshua Tree is and why a park would be named for it.

Here is a brief wikipedia summary-

Yucca brevifolia is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca.^[2][3][4][5]

This monocotyledonous tree is native to southwestern North America in the states of California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, where it is confined mostly to the Mojave Desert between 400 and 1,800 m (1,300 and 5,900 ft) elevation. It thrives in the open grasslands of Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley in Joshua Tree National Park. A dense Joshua tree forest also exists in Mojave National Preserve, in the area of Cima Dome.

Joshua trees are fast growers for the desert; new seedlings may grow at an average rate of 7.6 cm (3.0 in) per year in their first ten years, then only about 3.8 cm (1.5 in) per year.^[15] The trunk consists of thousands of small fibers and lacks annual growth rings, making it difficult to determine the tree’s age. This tree has a top-heavy branch system, but also what has been described as a “deep and extensive” root system, with roots reaching up to 11 m (36 ft).^[2] If it survives the rigors of the desert, it can live for hundreds of years; some specimens survive a thousand years. The tallest trees reach about 15 m (49 ft). New plants can grow from seed, but in some populations, new stems grow from underground rhizomes that spread out around the parent tree.

Google Joshua Trees if you want more extensive information.

Here is a picture of one-

We took several video clips of them from the motorcycles and I will post those later.

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(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

Order both books and get a free DVD of your choice. The DVD will show the “Kids” riding their “Wild Hogs” at a fabulous National Park. Choose from Bear Tooth Highway or Zion.

***********************************************************************

Here are some photos of our campsite and the surrounding desert scenery. We are about 150 miles east of L.A. here and you would never know it.

We will be here for about 12 days. We arrived on the 15th of March and will leave right after Easter. In the next blog, we will show a ride we went on through the Joshua Tree Forest and a hike to the Fan Palm Oasis.

***********************************************************************(Hawk and Karen’s two books are available at http://www.nstarsolutions.com/store/home.php?provider=harleyhawk)

When you get to that site, register with a user name and password and you will be ready to order. For more details on our books, go to Hawk’s Books Facebook Page or to Amazon.

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Thanks,

Hawk and Red Fox-Six years on the road