Homeless with Spirit on the road... the story.

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More of Charleston, SC

Thinking back I cannot decide which was the highlight of Charleston! The Historical City or the “Three Dog Bakery”? Spirit thinks it is the Bakery… of course. Yes, those are made for our buddies… can you believe it? More pictures are on the Blog.
Our stay is coming to an end, today is the last day for our car rental, we will have a couple more days to reorganize it all before we head back to Atlanta where we will spend a few days regrouping. We will take a straight route to Moab stopping in Birmingham to visit the Motorcycle Barber Museum and couple other visits planned on the way. I know that we will arrive a bit too early for warmer weather, but I would like to witness the biggest annual 4x4 week planned in that area.
Enjoy the pictures…
Be well and stay well… Ara & Spirit

Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

hey beemerchefke . I want to ask you a favor. Would i be able to take your story and put it and the pictures in a hard back book just somethign i would like to try out and i think your story would be perfect for it. I can send it to you when im done

Why don't you e mail me... as I have my own book publishing in mind and the text/pictures have a Copyright. You can find my e mail on my website. Thanks





Lasts days on Tybee Island, GA

Bittersweet on this last day here. Excited about going back to Atlanta tomorrow morning, ride my old stumping grounds “The Georgia Mountains”… check out the old neighborhood where we use to live… have the camera cleaned professionally… Sad and thoughtful about my mother’s departure back to Munich, Germany. We have been a scattered family all our Life as much as we love being together. We probably would not know what to do if we all lived in the same town! Mother in Germany, aunt and uncle in Belgium, cousin in Ohio, aunt and uncle again in England, another set in Australia, my favorite cousin in Thailand… and the list goes on and on. And us?… roaming around… it has been hopeless.
We all checked out the Savannah Wildlife Refuge the other day, a well worth visit if you are in the area. Unlike us, try to spend the whole day, I know there would be no regrets.
Enjoy the Blog… we have to start packing…
Be well and stay well. Ara & Spirit


Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Idling in Atlanta, GA

Yes, it has been raining since we arrived here, non stop and we are on the verge of cabin fever. We are almost there… Good thing dogs like to sleep a lot and once this is behind us I think we will stay up for days! Wish I had Spirit’s patience, I am learning very quickly in times as such.
Georgia Mountains maybe if things clear up a bit, would love to take some of those well known roads and some last pictures of the area before we leave Monday morning.
My mother made it back safely to Munich, already a phone call to assure me of it. The next chapter of this Journey will go on very soon… exciting times ahead… we hope.
A nostalgic look back on the Blog today… old photos are always fun, that is what they are for… right?
Enjoy, be well… and stay well!
Ara & Spirit


Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Finally some Georgia Mountains…

All too familiar where the roads and the scenery yesterday. “Two Wheels Only” motorcycle campground, the “cooler run”, Dale’s… all was our second home, sometimes first home a while back.
Cold temperatures, specially on the way back… but nothing was going to hold us back this time as we are headed to Birmingham in a few minutes, one of the many stops on the way to Moab, Utah. So many memories came back, those were the first roads the sidecar and Spirit took when assembled after the moving truck dropped off this huge box at our house in Dawsonville… How exciting that was! And who knew at the time what would be the future… We still don’t!
Take a ride on the Blog as we did…

Be well… Ara & Spirit

Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

The Barber Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, AL

So we made it here to Birmingham and how ironic that we went to visit the Museum on one of the nicest days we have experienced lately. It was custom made for Spirit who had to wait outside in the sidecar, giving us a chance however to go for walks every couple hours only wearing a T shirt! I keep thinking that even if you do not care for motorcycles, or cars for that matter, a visit to Barber is a must. It will leave you speechless as it did to me, the building itself is Art and the whole experience is worth and more its $10 entry fee! They actually have a special for 3 days, Friday~Saturday~Sunday, for $15! The problem is… too many picture! They are all going on my SmuMug Gallery soon which I will give out its link, in the meantime enjoy the ones posted as there will also be more of them on the site next time.
You be well… Ara & Spirit


Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Love the shot!

Thanks!!! Love this one too... strong message... right?



From Memphis, TN, more on the Barber Museum…

The pictures are still endless but I am almost done working on sorting them out for the picture Gallery! In the meantime I posted some interesting ones on the site, including my favorite, one of them anyhow, the full dressed Vincent, which ironically did not sell well.
We have arrived in Memphis, and getting ready to learn what all the fuss about Graceland is… camera is also ready… Spirit will have to stay behind for a few hours. I need to find out if Elvis had a dog and what kind! Should be an interesting day…
I cannot help posting a picture of Spirit while visiting second graders in Birmingham, which I will write about also next time! You know… those Pits labeled “mean”…
Maybe we will see you sometime down the road… and hope that you are not yet tired of motorcycle pictures!!!
Be well… Ara & Spirit

Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Moving right along, Amarillo, Tx

With a prediction of wind chills between 16 and 21, accumulation of 2” of snow, winds between 25 and 35 mph per hours with gusts of 45mph… that is tonight… repeat scenario for tomorrow… you would think we are in North Dakota! No… this is Texas… but not the same Texas that has been so friendly to us! For some reason today Florida sounds real good… We might not be able to move till Tuesday. Well, we have food, fuel and power… heat is good… books and the Internet!
The link for all the pictures from the Barber Museum is up.
I also posted about our visit to the Deer Valley Elementary School in Hoover, near Birmingham, AL, entertaining the second graders! It was a fun day and I think the kids also had a blast…
Hope we survive all this!
Be well… Ara & Spirit


Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

A visit to Graceland, Memphis, TN

Just like the flip of a coin the weather showed its smilie face in Amarillo, a welcome change. We made it to Lubbock and spend the day with Mike and Nathan working on a final proof for a T shirt and a mouse pad with some very impressive machinery these guys have! And on camping a few miles south of it, in a little town called Slaton as right downtown, at the City Park, they provide free camping for up to three nights! Awesome…
The visit to Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley was memorable, there are still crowds coming in to pay their last respect and take the tour as I did. It was a strange feeling to actually walk around in the same space that he did trying to imagine all that has gone on in the past. A step back in time as the pictures show…
Less than 800 miles from Moab now, we will be headed that way tomorrow morning for the last leg of this “coming back West”.
Exciting….
Be well… Ara & Spirit


Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

If you do... there is more today!!!...



To Albuquerque, NM

Try spelling that word without looking!
We end up using all three free nights of camping the City of Slaton gave us as we had to regroup yesterday. What is regroup? Just a feeling that we are caught up with everything including replying e mails, baking some Treats, cleaning, filing pictures, roasting coffee and… taking a nap! That is “regroup”!!!
A bit of snowing, a bit of wind and beautifully clear this morning as we hit the road again. I will not even bore you again with the destination, seems like lately it takes us twice as long to get anywhere! More on Elvis and Graceland on the Blog… while already sorting out the pictures taken at the wind mill museum and the oldest bakery in Texas.
Be well… till next time, we are rolling.
Ara & Spirit

Made by us on the road while traveling… “Spirited Doggie Treats” and “Art Cards”… put Spirit to work…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Leaving Texas…

We are in Moab today… as soon as we made that eastbound turn on 550, a bit north of Albuquerque, big empty and vast spaces presented themselves and suddenly it was as if another new page of this Journey had been turned. Peaceful, calm and serene, mountain tops covered with snow, cattle grazing in search of green patches, it was as we had never left the West. We stopped many times as the weather cooperated fully with our last leg of this transition, lucky I was thinking having missed the horrible snow storms that hit the towns we had just come through.
My first picture here on our way near a few miles from Moab!… The story of a T shirt, new friends and a Wind Mill Museum on the Blog…
You be well… come and visit!… we will be here a while.

Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

What you are doing is absolutely amazing!
Someday I wish to travel the US with my very own motorcoach.
I truly envy you!
You take great pics also and I just love Spirit!

Let us know when you get on the road... we should still be going! Thanks...



Fascinating Moab, UT.

“This” is definitely a “destination”… a smorgasbord of rides, photography opportunities, just being amongst it all can be overwhelming and glad that we will have the time to explore it all… versus just blowing by at a multitude of frames per second.
Strangest weather here, 80 in the sun by the afternoon, 20 at 6 am… 60 degrees difference within every 24 hours! Dress up and take it off… constant as even in the hot temps riding is cold…
We have only taken a quick ride through the Arches National Park, a few miles also along the Colorado River, today we will head south a bit more and try to ride into Canyonland…
Enjoy the Blog…
Be well… Ara & Spirit



Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Canyonland, Moab, UT

The possibilities are endless in this area. Canyonland was new to us and I share this with others saying that it is actually more beautiful than the Grand Canyon. Maybe “beautiful” is the wrong word, as every Park has its own personality and character, Canyonland is more intimate specially when we get the chance to do Schaffer Trail and Long Canyon on the return which both run on the lower Mesa’s edge near the White Rim.
It is also Jeep Safari week and some of those trails seem just impossible to pass through, called “rock crawling” I have only seen the start of some and we have been invited to ride in one! It has been through the drivers a good source of information as to where ourselves can go or not go. Much going on here!
Be well, Ara & Spirit


Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

Life in Moab, UT

I think the decision to come here and spend some time was a good one. Diversified for many there is much to do for everyone that loves the outdoor, from the simple hiking (inexpensive…) to photography combined, on and off road bicycling and motorcycling, 4x4 jeep rock crawling, rafting, fishing, snow skiing in the winter times and I am sure I am forgetting something.
The town this week is filling up as the Jeep Safari event is taking place and yet the area is so vast that we can get away in other directions and find peace and tranquility.
Still cold specially in the early morning hours, we have yet to witness a sunrise in front of some red rocks glowing as on fire, but that will come soon. We are just exploring the different roads, trying to find some dog friendly lands unlike the National Parks, there are many.
Enjoy the Blog…
Be well… Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog…

As Life in Moab goes on…

So today I wrote a controversial Blog! So I have been told, all in a positive well mannered as always fashion. I generally do not dwell on situations, the words are there, they had to come out at the risk of offending some maybe which is not my style, but, it is in black and white, it is reality, nothing else. Truly nothing offending! Will there be a Lifestyle change or not… all I can say is once the words have been out I have felt filled again with much freedom as to the outcome of this Journey…
My tire is late, maybe tomorrow. We have been staying on black top discovering more and more many trails we will be able to ride without great difficulty. I have only seen them from the distance and the views are just spectacular as in “Dead Horse State Park”.
The pictures today are from a ride to Potash along the Colorado River, a salt mining plant and “that” start of more trails…
Enjoy the Blog…

Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog

Dead Horse State Park, UT

Moab is growing on us as every day, with the help of “chit chatting” with the locals, we are discovering some doable trails for us. We can ride better than a 2 wheel drive but not as daring as a 4 wheel drive! The best views are off the black top except for a ride to “Dead Horse State Park”, a natural wonder which only took 300 million years to achieve, and still under construction!
The town is filling up with the oddest 4 wheel drive vehicles, one could just sit on a corner and admire the parade going down the street. We waited for the right time to be here as this is going to take some time to explore!
Some great views today…
Be well… Ara & Spirit


Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog

Even better being here!...



Down on Potash Rd, UT

This is one road to mark on your map, you will need a 4x4 or a dual sport motorcycle, nothing too dramatic but rough in some places. A cattle trail established in 1917, constructed further into a truck route and finished in 1952 for the ore and uranium miners, it is now used for the lucky ones that can drive it, ride it and also bicycle it. It is so humbling to traverse the canyon with the thought that all this was started 300 million years ago, one day at the time, erosion slowly with no help of human hands or mind delivering this Artwork for us to be privileged to be on. It is a geology class, it is a photography class, a spiritual journey for most it is, you just need to experience it some day… soon. There is no doubt that we will be going back while here, so much yet to witness.
Enjoy the Blog… and be well.
Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog

Over my head in Moab, UT

Last night we had to tow the rig back to camp after some a bit to rough riding, a deep creek crossing and the engine dying a couple miles after. 24 hrs hours later with much help from friends, it seems that it is the HEC…
Hall Effect Sensor… ignorant me, never heard of that animal lounging around deep down somewhere in the midst of all the running parts. Seems like they only last about 50,000 miles, this one must be a record with 182,000 miles on it. Repeat moisture and finally much steam from a deep bath we think gave it its final spark! So we are leaving for Salt Lake City tomorrow, a new part is already on its way to meet us at the shop we are going to! The support on the road is incredible. After posting my trouble, not even an hour later that the diagnostic replies where coming in.
We will be back here in Moab when we are all fixed up!…
On the Blog, the last of the Potash Trail, definitely a road worth taking more than once as we will do again soon…
Be well… Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog

Repairs in Salt Lake City, UT

We arrived yesterday afternoon a bit ahead of schedule, and right away dropped off the bike at “Motorcycle Repair” and Rendezvous” where the Dr wrote all of his symptoms… Yet has to be seen if it is the HEC (sensor!). Either way that part is being changed anyhow, too old, and hopefully we will head back to Moab as early as Friday evening as they are fitting us in tomorrow. A great service considering how busy they are, everyone getting ready for the riding season.
“Hurray Pass” was our last ride before all systems failed, a pass geared more toward smaller dirt bikes and four by fours than anything else, worth the pictures?… the adrenaline rush?… Will try to avoid those difficult situations in the future!
Wish we watched television after receiving this e mail:
“I didn't see you guys in Moab, but I did see you guys on the rock crawling TV channel when we were watching it late one night.” Maybe next time!
So we are at idle… catching up on e mails, cleaning and… sleeping now that this afternoon the snow is melting and the sun has made its appearance.
You be well… Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog

Rolling back to Moab, UT

A record or what?… considering being 230 miles away from the shop! 72 hours later Old Faithful is running again and we are so ready for some long, did I say… long rides!
I guess I do not do too well without the rig at hand… kind of lost, feel a bit trapped, immobile… even Spirit gets into this lethargic mood, eats less and asks too many questions!
I just find it amazing that the “diagnosis” was done over the Internet, the part was mailed to meet us in Salt Lake City and THAT was the problem.
The weather here in Moab is now perfect, April seems to be very promising with a dry 60’s to 70’s during the day and a perfect mid 40’s at night.
The Blog has some photos of Onion Creek Trail, the Fisher Towers and Castle Valley, another ride we took not long ago.
Be well… Ara & Spirit

Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog

More of the Arches, UT

No April’s Fool here as we have fallen back into the slow lane of checking out the sights, looking for the opportunity for some good pictures after this dark weather that was hovering over us.
All is quiet now in Moab, Jeep Safari week is over and so is spring break and this feels like the last stretch for summer, right around the corner. Revived energy thinking about the long days with the cold replaced by higher temperatures allowing us to spend more time outdoor.
The immediate area of the Arches National Park is a constant discovery of shapes and colors taking on their unique personality with every phase of the weather. Patience is one of the common denominator for good pictures… and luck. Always luck to be there at the right time, at the right place and not 100 miles away or even being a mile away when the window of opportunity knocks.
I don’t think we will ever be tired of the Arches…
Be well… Ara & Spirit


Throw the Dog a Bone… Spirited T shirts… Mouse Pads… Photography…

www.theoasisofmysoul.com our website and Blog