

A hand made card from neighbor Steve.
Hello and thanks for visiting the blog today.
Sadly, while trying to fix the RSS tonight, I crashed the site and lost the list of favorite blogs for now. Once the new list is functional, please let me know your blog’s name and URL and I’ll get it back up again.
As always… Oops, I digressed! (more like an ADHD ramble)
The card you see on the left was made by Steve W., a neighbor that I’ve gotten to be good friends with. He’s a terrific guy and we often hang out and drink soda, talking about the end times and how crazy the world has become.


Tac Art by Steve
The reason Steve made this card is that I had a very encouraging job interview on Wednesday and it’s all but a done deal. The position offers more money per hour, is closer to home, and the camping and fishing knowledge might come in pretty handy. I’m enthused about getting back to working again soon. Steve’s encouragement has really helped in recent days… and I had a chance to repay the kindness.


The best neighbor – I mean “pardner” – one could ask for.
Neighbor Steve is an artist and retired machinist who makes various sculptures using antique barbed wire, weathered barn wood, even horseshoes and other materials. Steve also crafts the most beautiful mobiles for hanging outside using peened (hand hammered) sheet metals cut into various horse shapes. The easiest way to describe the unique artifacts is to call them “cowboy art”. He sells them in a gallery in Anamosa, Iowa. Steve also writes “cowboy poetry” and occasionally entertains others with his drawl and down-to-earth stories – all from a Christian perspective.
So why is this horseshoe so lucky? I had called Steve on Tuesday to let him know that I’d purchased one of his works. He was happy. Right in the middle of the phone call, a “462” (local) number beeped in and it was a request to set up a job interview. We had a great laugh about the timing and good fortune. Whether or not it was divine intervention, karma, or just a bit of irony while keeping optimistic and doing the right things, the timing could not have been better.
It’s been a great couple of days and, as always, there’s hope on the horizon. With the weather being quite hot, camping wasn’t too desirable lately but Wednesday (today) the high temperature is only going to be about 80. After a few hours of sleep, we’ll have to see what transpires.
Take care and thanks for visiting!
Brad and Jesse
Jones County, Iowa
390 total views, 1 views today
Well, I think I’m caught up now… I’m glad my RSS is working but I’m sorry about the loss of some of your content. I may have found some of it though – I did a Google search and located a cached version of your site from last night at around 8pm; the blog names were on there and here they are:
2 Complete Spirts
Adventures of Avalair
Brian’s Bus Adventure
Caravan Camper RV
The Flying Tortoise
Haven 106
Incargonito
Little Sanitee
Over the Top Cargo Trailer
Plein Air Journey
Pro Hobo
Road Shredder
Stealth Vandweller
Swankie Wheels
The Good Luck Duck
Thoughts from a Lonely Place
Tippy
Vandweller Wannabe
Van Tramps
Moms Little Runaway
One Viking Girl
I don’t know how to include the URLs but maybe you can get them. Here’s a link to the page I took them from:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:q3nkd92Ug64J:vantrekker.com/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
If that doesn’t work try a Google search for “Van Trekker” and then when you find your listing (it was right at the top for me) click on the little arrow to the right of your blog’s URL. It should show a drop-down menu that had 2 choices for me – “cached” and “similar.” The cached version shows the way the site looked whenever Google cached it, which in your case was 2019 on 7/14/2015. I just did a copy/paste but at the top of the page there’s also the option to see the source code, which might save you from having to copy links for all those blogs.
Anyway – I hope that helps and isn’t too confusing.
Thank you so much! I needed to do some maintenance on that list. I really appreciate the time you took to help find the info. Take care and many thanks!
sorry about the loss but how nice for someone to find your list. The other day I went out and took lots of wonderful pictues and also due to operator error lost them all so I know how you must feel.
Wishing you the best on this newest job interview.
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the kind words. It looks like the new job will start at the first of the month. I really loved the old one and wish it would have lasted. Unfortunately, there was much I could not say other than it’s always best to maintain high ethical standards. The new job will be closer to home (literally, across the street!), the pay will be higher, and I’ll be selling camping, fishing, and other sporting goods… It’s a very good match.
Take care and thanks for following along. I’ll have the list up and running soon. Mom’s Little Runaway will be one of the links. 😀
VT