mountainborn

One of the ships that I was stationed on many years ago, has a reunion every eighteen to twenty months or so. Several of us have been communicating on http://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM. It has turned out to be a kind of daily thing that we post something simple there. This mornings post from me was, "coffee and email". Much quicker than an email or a blog posting, but it lets you know a bit about what friends are doing in their part of the world. My question is, anybody on these forums using FACEBOOK ? Here is a link to my Profile page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1543209751

The weather channel is talking about the early snow fall and how Santa Anna Winds are pushing it South down into New Mexico. It made us wonder if Steve And Tali had hit the road ahead of the storm. We tried their cell phone this morning but got a "out of the service area" message.

Chuck and Geri are in Hot Springs National Park Arkansas. Photos and commentary on their blog at: http://phunnyfarm.blogspot.com/ Great photo of the Mississippi River bridge near a campground they stayed at. I'll bet a campground report is in the making !

The finished coin will be a little more "coarse" in detail. So I thought styleized might work ok. Being the size of a quarter makes perfect detail a bit of a moot issue ?

Just got off of the phone with the scubarx's. They spent their second night on the road at the great sand dunes and had mule deer right in camp with them ! The next two nights were spent in Durango Colorado making day trips over jeep trails. Some were the same that Betty and I drove last Spring. They are breaking camp this morning. It was pretty cold this morning at that altitude, they report. They have no travel agenda in mind, but are heading South West into New Mexico. No agenda, and a week to do it in ! Is that cool or what ? They took well over three hundred photos so far, so, you know when they post it for us to view, the slide show will be fantastic !

Owner endorsement coin design update. Progress has been a bit slow. We exchanged emails extensively before beginning the project. And for the most part, the first version of the coin was really good, except for the look of the Oliver. We want it to be readily identifiable because of it's unique sihlouette. Getting that look has been a bit of a challenge. We are now on version #3, and it is getting there slowly. Here is a look at all three versions and you can see the trailer beginning to change. Suggestions appreciated. We really want it to look like an Oliver !

Welcome to the Oliver Forums C-breeze !!

Welcome to the Oliver Forums ronbinaz !!

Welcome to the Oliver Forums HARMON !!

We talked to Steve and Tali last evening. They were towing their Ollie West, about half way across Arkansas. On interstate forty. They had plans to overnight at Conway. Don't know how late they drove, but they made it to Conway as planned. This morning over breakfast, Betty and I were talking about their Jeepin' trip to Colorado. We had talked to them before we left to go to Colorado, and discovered that their planned trip was similar to the one that we were planning. We had both locked in our vacation times and would not be able to travel togather. Our trip was early enough that snow at the higher elevations could be a problem. Their trip would be late enough that snow at the higher elevations could be a problem. So, during breakfast, this morning, we watched the weather. Bad. The forecast was for heavy snow above 8500 feet of elevation, in S/W Colorado. We called them. They were breaking camp there in Conway. Optimisticly they planned to get there, looker' over, and go from there. Snow on the million dollar highway ! Now, that would be an experience. Maybe they will hook a wifi signal and update us as the trip goes along.

It was a rainy part of the day, at RVER II, ( River Valley Egg Rally ) in VanBuren Arkansas. The rain wasn't blowing, and the barbeque grills were a' smokin' under the awnings. Some had started a domino game of chicken train in the meeting hall, some were involved in needle work and chatting. Some were just napping. I had other plans, however. Before leaving for the rally, I had loaded several nearby geocaches into our Magellan GPS. Though we had been very near to one of the geocaches while eating a meal at Rick's Ribs barbeque place, we had not had a chance to look for the cache. I was going to look for the cache in the rain. Everyone seemed to be busy and I had just checked email on the laptop, the time seemed right. Sitting at the small dinette in our Oliver travel trailer, I turned on the GPS. When the GPS had "found it's self", it indicated that we were within a foutrh of a mile of the geocache. Though it was raining, it was a gentle rain and wasn't too chilly. I grabbed the Jeep keys and pocketed the GPS. Dressed lightly wasn't a problem, I didn't even take a rain jacket. Placing the GPS on the dashboard so I could monitor it, I noted that I was within one eighth of a mile of the cache when crossing the Fayetteville Highway. Navigating in towards the geocache, I turned in by the barbeque place. The name of the cache was pass the barbeque. And I did. Soon I was as close as the Jeep could get me to the cache. I waited for a bit of a heavy shower to pass. The GPS began averageing over and over, becoming more and more accurate about the location of the cache. Stepping out of the Jeep with the GPS in hand as the shower let up, I noted that the 100 foot proximity alarm went off. Getting close now ! The geocache was a .30 calliber ammunition can and it was full of geoswag. The log book was in a ziplock baggie and was clean and dry. Geocachers from all over the United States had visited the cache. The log book was a good read by it's self. Spreading the swag out inside the jeep so I could sign the log in the dry, I found a rare thing. A PATHTAG, loose in the wild. At first I couldn't believe my eyes ! But there it was. Pathtags are highly sought after trading coins that usually are not found loose in the wild ! Though we had only time for one geocache at VanBuren, it was a sure nuff' deuzzie' ! The PathTag belonged to a Retired Army Airborne Ranger that was Artic trained. The PathTag wasn't logged in the log book. It had just simply been dropped in the cache amongst the geoswag. Later I talked to a couple of the cachers that had been there just before me. Somehow they had overlooked the articabn pathtag.

Very good ! Thanks for the post. Your photos show it all.

Great photo ! Sounds like a good day as you moved along ahead of the weather.

Twitter is a very clever messaging system that is gaining popularity. According to some sources, it is "sweeping the Nation". We had heard it mentioned on various forums that we visit/post on, but had never really looked into it. Yesterday, I got off of the dime, ( now, that is a old saying. The way our economy is going, it may now well be $10. ), went to the web site and joined, it's free, just pick a user name and pass word. When I did a search of my address book for twitter users, I found a couple of our forums members already there ! Twitter can link to your cell phone if you like, ours are. With so many features that come in handy for those that lead active lifestyles, I'll bet there are others on here that use Twitter ! Chris & Cherie have Twitter embedded on their Blog's Home page. Yesterday was a busy day for them. It was a moving day involving Amtrac, Bart, bus, rental truck and a couple of storage facilities ! Take a look at their Twitter posts here: http://www.technomadia.com/ Look for the Razzberry colored block. You can scroll through the updates by clicking the arrows. For those on a trip in their Oliver, having Twitter on your cell phone might be a good way to update those back home who are following your travels ! You can post from your cell phone straight to your blog. mountainborn http://twitter.com/mountainborn How about it oliver forums readers, are you using Twitter ?

Well, foot ! I knew that, just couldn't remember it ! Thanks for the listing.

Betty and I have been looking for a owner endorsement item that we can pass out at rallys, WalMart Parking lots or anywhere we have a chance to show off our Ollie. Since we geocache and coins such as this are often in geocaches and are a highly sought after trade item, this design came to mind. We contacted a coin designer and have worked our way to this point of the coin's design: The mountains, Jeep & contact information seem right to us. We are now working with the designer to get the trailer to have that classic Oliver silhouette that is so easily recognized. The coin it's self will be about the size of a quarter. It will be in shiney Black nickle plating, with a serial number that can be logged in as a find or discovery on the internet, and traded with other collectors. We see similar coins on special collector rings being traded at geocaching events. Traders wear them clipped on their belt loop to let others know they collect and trade. They are flashy and make a silvery jingling sound when the trader walks around the various booths at an event. This is a high quality coin that we believe will be a real hit with geocachers and collectors, as well as something that can be carried away to remember our Oliver by. The web addresses will direct people to both web sites that have Oliver photos and information on them. When the design is finalized the coin will be ready to send to the mint to be struck. Please help with your thoughts on this design. Is it too "busy" ? Not enough Info there ? Too many colors ? Wrong look ? Cast your critical eye on the coin and let us know what you think. Is it something you wouldn't mind having in your pocket ?

Pete and the WonderEgg "Travels with Oscar the Smiley Dog" http://www.peteandthewonderegg.blogspot.com/ Happy Trails "The Phunnyfarm" http://phunnyfarm.blogspot.com/ MOUNTAINBORN CHRONICLES "Life as lived in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains" http://mountainborn.blogspot.com/ Technomadia "two gen-X geeks who are fulltime nomads" http://www.technomadia.com/

Are you out there ? In the Blogisphere, I mean ? Betty and I have been posting to a Blog for several years. It has became a bit dated and we have began to look at other blogs features, ect.. So, we have found the one that some here use, to be more user friendly. We are in the process of moving some photos and short stories over to the new blog. It looks a bit rough at this point, but it is out there. We have about half of THE MOUNTAINBORN CHRONICLES moved over to it. The dates are misleading because the software shows the date they were migrated over to the new blog. Please scroll to the bottom and read towards the top to be in nearly cronological order. Here is the link: MOUNTAINBORN CHRONICLES "Life as lived in the heart of the Ouachita Mountains" http://mountainborn.blogspot.com/ > I know that others here also have blogs, some we suscribe to, others we may not know about. Maybe we could list them here so all could enjoy ?

Welcome to the Oliver Forums IRDEW !!

Welcome to the Oliver Forums tomsrig !!

Tumblwede sent this. We havn't tried it yet. I wonder how long it will last ?

Welcome to the Oliver Forums drwill !!

Hey Sherry, got any home remedies for if your dog gets sprayed ? Ol Dillon grabbed one when he was younger, before he retired. He never wanted to grab one again ! He lives at home now. He was eighteen months old when we first certified as a team. He rode with me for eight and a half years. Here is a link to his web page: http://www.geocities.com/dillonspage/ That picture of him sitting on Santa's lap to tell him what he wanted for CHRISTmas, always reminds me of the large sigh of relief that very nervous Santa gave when he got down !

A side trip adventure at the River Valley Egg Rally II Our wives were at Wally World shopping for supplies, for an event at the RVER II Rally in VanBuren Arkansas. Four Olivers were camped at the rally in the Overland Rv Park, along with Casitas, Scamps, Burros and other very cool fiberglass travel trailers, ours were among them. We had went up over the mountain to the Fairview cemetary to examine and photograph a very old gravesite. Two groups both lay claim to the ancestry of the grave. One group claims it is a Viking grave and another claims it is an Spanish grave from the Hernando Desoto Expetition to exploit the new world. After much discussion and examination, I began to think that it was neither. It clearly has the Masonic symbols on the head marker, but they are inverted. Leading me to believe that it had posibly been used by Masons before their Lodge, a short distance away, was built. Possibly for a ceremony of some sort. As we left the Cemetary traveling down hill towards the old portion of downtown, we crossed the railroad tracks and turned onto Main Street. It was then that it happened. The odor of substance assailed my nostrils ! My mind raced ! Substance, the stuff that dreams are made of ! Looking wildly about, I nearly ran a stop sign. Steve, in the passenger's seat, hastily snugged up his seat belt. Could he see that somehow I was distracted ? Could he also smell the captivating aroma ? Sencing my indecision, Steve said, "the river front is straight ahead ". I had actually stopped in the middle of a four way stop intersection. Right in the middle of old downtown VanBuren. An offended motorist honked his displeasure, but immediately thought better of it, I guess. Any how, he waived his middle finger in the air, cheerily, and sped away. We continued on to the water front, passing through the quay wall gates, into the park at the water's edge. Photographing the house boats and murals on the quay wall were very cool, but I kept thinking about substance and where I had detected it's aroma. We left the park area heading back to the rally area, traveling up hill on Main Street. This time I was more cautious and driving slower, remembering just exactly where it was that I had first smelled the totaly distracting odor of substance. None the less it hit me like a runaway street car on a down hill plunge ! I carefully marked the location in my memory. I would find a way to return. I had to find the source of the odor of substance. The remainder of the day was taken up by the catered meal and entertainment. But, the next day someone suggested a shopping trip to all of those cool old shops in downtown VanBuren. As Betty was shopping antique CocaCola stuff, I somehow slipped away. It was as though my nose had full controll of my entire body, forcing me ever closer and closer to the source of the odor. Soon I was standing in front of a nicely restored building, with an exhaust fan blowing out onto the Main Street. I was captured. With weak knees and trembling hands, I peered through the etched glass of the door as I turned the door knob and entered. Gleaming glass fronted display cases were full, absolutely full, of substance. I had struck the mother lode ! I pointed a shaky finger towards my choice in the display case, and soon, I had substance smudged on my cheek. It was then that Betty, Steve & Tali appeared in the doorway. Looking through the etched glass, they saw me there, with a large block of Peanut Butter Fudge. I was caught in the act, with my preferred substance of abuse in my hand ! Did you find the Fudge Shop downtown in VanBuren ? We did and was it ever so cool ! Betty had to drag me away before I overdosed.

Scubarx and the mountainborn's joined a geocaching Casitan couple, the par-a-medics, to present an hour long discover geocaching presentation at the RVER II Rally in VanBuren Arkansas. It was a rainy day, courtesy of Hurricane Ike, so we didn't get to go out and find but one cache, nearby. It was a cache called "Pass the barbeque", a ammo can full of trinkets and a log book. I took and logged on the path tag website, the serial numbered coin of an retired airborne artic paratrooper. I will put the path tag in a geocache on down the road somewhere so that others may also discover it.