“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt.
Many were the years I dreamed of living on the road in this VW van that’s now on exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. — Photo by Pat Bean
Visions to Reality
And then along came Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road” vehicle, and my dreams got bigger. — Photo by Pat Bean
When I was in Ypsilanti, I visited the Henry Ford Museum in nearby Dearborn, Michigan. It’s a fantastic place, but one that left my wondering brain scattered all over the place.
One of these places focused on my dreams of living my life on the road, as I have been doing for the past eight years.
But it was Gypsy Lee, shown here shortly after I purchased her in 2004, that turned my dreams into reality. — Photo by Pat Bean
The modes of travel that I envisioned — from the green van of William Least Heat Moon’s “Blue Highways,” to the glorified Volkswagen van that has been revived (two of these camped at Lake Walcott in the past week), to Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road” RV — were all there.
Gypsy Lee finally became my reality. And I love her.
Book Report: Leave out all the boring parts is good writing advice. I’ve heard it often. But it sure takes a hit on word count. I did a complete read through of Travels with Maggie as rewritten so far last night and my 37,833 words to date dropped to 36,616.
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day
Bean’s Pat: The Open Suitcase http://tinyurl.com/8jc42k8 This one’s for wanderers. It’s simply a long list of travel blogs. And hey, even mine is listed.
Pat Bean's blog 
Great Post – Nothing Better than Hitting the Open Road:)
Thanks. I’m getting itchy feet as I’ll be back on the road in just about two weeks.
> Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:55:03 +0000 > To: patbean@msn.com >
I adore you! Dreams Change…this is so true in every aspect of life and how wonderful is that?! It kinda implies that they never die, they just ‘adjust’.
By the way Pat, a while back a friend recommended Blue Highways to me and I never got around to it, today because of your mention I’ve put it on hold at the local library! Thanks.
Can’t wait to hear if you liked “Blue Highways.” I gave that book to a lot of people as gifts. I think you would also like Tim Cahill’s “Road Fever.” Not everybody gets him, (perhaps only us weirdos), but he leaves me belly laughing a lot. Road fever is about a trip from the tip of Argentina to the top of Alaska.
> Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:52:13 +0000 > To: patbean@msn.com >
Wow, since I’m planning that same trip, but from Alaska to Argentina, I really think I need to read Road Fever!
Oh Pat, we had one of those VW pop top campers and we used it for years when our kids were little. Many, many happy memories of “rough” camping without improvements but lots of woods and streams and fun. thanks for the memories.
Gypsy Lee is a step up from those popups. But there’s something in me that still wants one. Perhaps because I never got one when I could have really used it for family camping.
> Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 16:58:33 +0000 > To: patbean@msn.com >
The VW van still inspires me, as do you. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂