Trading stories around the campfire

Two years of travel without electronics, save for some old-fashioned cell phones, is now a jealous memory.  Our first two years by bike are entirely undocumented, except for the stories we tell and a few photos that may exist, taken by others.  That is the way lives and experiences were memorialized for many decades, compiled in a meager photo album, or told as a story around the campfire.

On our first night south of the Grand Canyon on the AZT, a two liter bladder of water burst inside my saddlebag, dousing a small bag of clothing, my cookpot, and my computer.  The saturated laptop quietly whined all night, like the sound of a slowly deflating sleeping pad, but which is actually the sound of a dying battery.  I kept the computer in my sleeping bag to keep it from freezing, and I sunned it in dry Arizonan afternoons over the next few days.  It has yet to be seen by a professional, but the prognosis is not good.  I remind myself that we are happy, healthy, and much too lucky in all other respects.  Although inaudible, my sleeping pad is also losing air, again.

Until I can repair or replace it, I will enjoy more room for avocados, a half-dozen pounds less in my pack; more time for sitting in the shade, thinking; and a little bit more fun exploring Arizona, without a computer on my bike.  I am already wondering if I can squeeze into a smaller seatpack like Lael– she just seems to be having so much fun.  For the next few weeks, I’ll be on vacation from the internet, mostly.  If you want to know what’s happening, you’ll have saddle up and join us around the campfire.  The ride leaves tomorrow morning from Flagstaff.

I will make an effort to share words and images as it is convenient, mostly as a way to test the possibility of staying connected with a lightweight packable tablet, and a camera. 

This post was written entirely on a Google Nexus 7 tablet.  All photos by Lael Wilcox, from her miniature Olympus E-PM1 camera with Panasonic 20mm F1.7 lens.  The import process requires an OTG cable, USB SD card reader, and the Nexus Media Importer program.  Any suggestions for simple Android-based photo editing programs?