Update for May and June 2018

Beautiful Spring in SoCal

May's update was going to be a short one as not much happened since I promised to be consistent with my blog updates. So I decided to wait and add it to June instead.

Warmer weather, sunnier days, scattered showers, gutsy winds, blooming flowers and plenty of family events were the background of my forced stay in sunny California.

On my previous post, I mentioned that I planned to resume the tour by June. However, my availability in California was key for many upcoming family and personal events. The majority of them being of such importance that I could not turn them down.

Healed

During the month of May I felt my body responded very well to the healing process. All that is left of my Shingles outbreak is some slight itchiness in a single spot on my back where the outbreak originated and a slight tingling of the skin around my ribcage. Other than that I'm healed.

Bulgaros

One thing I'm happy about is that "bulgaros" are back in my life.

Bulgaros is another name in spanish for kefir, a fermented milk product made by adding a starter culture, called kefir grains, to milk. The term "grain" describes the starter culture's cauliflower-like appearance.

Fermented food products often contain probiotics, bacteria thought to prevent the growth of unhealthy bacteria in the intestines. Alternative practitioners claim many benefits for foods high in probiotics. I love them and I have enjoyed them many times throughout my life.

If I leave the milk-kefir culture mixture on the counter for 24 hours it will be thinner and have a sweeter taste. I normally leave it out for closer to 48 hours, it is creamier and tastes more sour.

My favorite ingredient to add to my kefir is mango. I blend it together and the result is just like lassi, my favorite Indian drink.

Once a biker... always a biker

I'm so happy I kept and left La Bala de Plata (the silver bullet) in California, my back up bike. You know, just in case. I'm enjoying it a lot while I'm here. She's taking me everywhere and keeps me in shape.

Babysitting

My daughter and her husband booked a trip to Europe and asked me to babysit my granddaughter. So I had the blessing of taking care of this bundle of joy for several days while they enjoyed the journey. I count this as one more blessing in disguise from my shingles outbreak.

Birthday

May 13th came and I got to spend one more birthday with my loved ones. We had a delicious dinner enjoying Spanish food In a marvelous place called Cafe Sevilla of Riverside. We ordered a sumptuous variety of dishes from Spain and shared them among all my family members. We had a feast and a blast!

Service

The roof of my parents home has suffered years of neglect and I'm very happy that the final blow to this poor roof happened while a I was here to help. During the rainy season, a persistent and poorly treated leak finally caused substantial damage and a part of the kitchen ceiling ended up caving in.

I asked for several quotes and the average cost of repair was $20K to fix the whole roof. My parents are in their mid to late 80's, living out of their pension and fixing the roof would mean a huge set back financially. I decided to postpone my departure once more to help them out by taking on the project myself, with the help of family, instead of paying a contractor to have it done.

I began working on it around mid May at a very slow pace since it was only me.

Memorial day came and with it family members to pitch in, YAY!

There were 3 layers of old shingles to remove and if you have done roof repair then you know just how hard is to remove them.

Now, almost a full month later, the roof deck is completely repaired, free from rotten and broken wood and ready to receive the underlayment and new layer of shingles.

The main problem has been the inclement weather in San Jacinto, CA., with its desert-like climate where the average temperature is in the upper nineties and low hundreds during summertime.

As promised

Last update I mentioned I was working on a surprise. Well, I'm so excited with the results and I'm dying for you to see them.

This is a chance to be part of the dream.

Touring isn't free nor cheap.

Touring requires freedom to wander the world without constraints.

The challenge is how to generate income without being attached to a fixed location and schedule. While traveling I've been exploring ideas of how to gain sustenance for the tour.

The keyword is SUPPORT.

I hope to be able to provide things of interest for you with added value to procure your assistance.

Here are the first 3:

1. Promotional clothing

This is the image concept. The actual tees are printed, photographed and in the process of being up and ready for purchase.

2. Promotional items

This is the concept image as well. The actual coasters are BEAUTIFUL and will be ready for purchase very soon!

3. Donate button via PayPal

For all those who share the passion of roaming the world and would like to be part of the journey, a PayPal Donate button is at the bottom of every page of the website.

Resuming the tour

There is no doubt in my mind that everything happens for a reason. None of the things I shared with you since November could have happened if I hadn't fallen ill and paused the tour to be back with my family for a season.

I count all of the events that have transpired since then as blessings in my life. What is more rewarding yet, is that through these events I have often been able to be a blessing in the lives of others.

Nevertheless, the time has come for me to resume the adventure and if divine providence doesn't have another idea in mind I'm happy to report that I’ll be back in Hawai'i by the first half of August.

In the meantime, I have more surprises in the pipeline, so stay tuned!