RV52.com finally produces a book worth reading! The Spartan RV

Last updated on September 25th, 2016 at 09:02 pm

August 10, 2014 by Marlan at Rv52 Leave a Comment

It only took me the better part of 2014, but I finally answers some of my readers questions.

A few of the readers of RV52.com wrote in and said that they struggle with downsizing their lives.

So instead of writing 1 or 2 lame sentences, I took the easy way out and wrote a 200 page book!!!!

Crazy, I know.

I’m sure it is a confusing read, but I still think it is some of my best work yet (other than the cool SW tools I make for RVers – see the Goodies section)

Check it out and tell me what you think: The Spartan RV Book

Comstock Nebraska – Centennial Garden

July 28, 2014 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

Earlier, I wrote a post about RVing in a place where time might not go to fast, Comstock Nebraska. I wrote about the Dowse Sod House, and I mentioned a garden called the Centennial Garden.

As tourist attractions go, Centennial Garden would be considered very small.

But if you look at it objectively, realizing that it is a volunteer project in a very small town, then you can see that the Centennial Garden is a splendid project. On a per capita basis, it is a HUMONGOUS project.

I know how things GROW and get out of control in a garden and this place looks great.

Since we’ve already established that if you are going to visit/RV in central Nebraska, you are going to slow down and smell the roses, why not have your morning coffee in Centennial Garden.

I’m sure you can walk through it in about an hour. But what if you use the place as a place of peace and stopped and sat down in the Friendship area of the garden. Maybe if you spent some time here as part of your morning routine – you just might find a deep well of power you didn’t know you have.

I took a few pictures… enjoy…

Hydroponics at Industrial Country Market

July 17, 2014 by Marlan at Rv52 Leave a Comment

2014 is shaping up to be a wetter and more normal year in Texas. Last year when I stopped by the Industrial Country Market along Hwy 71, their hydroponics area was turned off due to the severe drought in Texas.

This year when I stopped by the hydroponics area was in full swing. I’ll keep this article short, but this is such cool stuff.

If you don’t see the pics, click on the title of the article and you should be able to see the pics.

If you are RVing in Texas, this is one of the coolest places ever… ok, it is at least pretty cool. Worth the stop.

Timing IS everything – The Disk Camera

July 10, 2014 by Marlan at Rv52 Leave a Comment

When I was going to college there was no such thing as a digital camera.

The camera was still a chemical affair – exposing a treated “film” to a glint of light through a lens and then a complicated chemical process of developing the film.

My college was a wonderful place, with tall trees lining sidewalks, blue skies everyday, and finely manicured green grass.

Naturally, I would want to chronicle such a splendid time and place.

As a kid, I never had much money, so any possession was the BEST possession because I worked hard to get it and whatever it was, it was a true sacrifice.

And so it was with my new camera.

This wasn’t just any camera. It was a Kodak Disk Camera, which was the newest hottest thing in the camera world at that time. At least for cheapo-kids it was the newest hottest camera thing.

I thought I was the bees-knees with this thing.

So much so, that I can remember CLEARLY the very first day I had the darned thing.

I walked to school – a chilly fall morning and along the way, I picked up a good college friend, who if memory serves me was Boo Boo Hahn.

I was going on and on about my new disk camera and at one point we were just standing on the sidewalk talking and I was showing him my camera.

And then a bird crapped on the shoulder of my coat.

Not your normal tiny baby wren or sparrow crap.

No. This was more of an industrial age, nuclear mutant, large bird, bucket load of crap in full color.

I look at Boo Boo.

Boo Boo looks at me.

Boo Boo says – “Hey Winter, mind if I take a picture?”

Timing is everything.

Got a funny bird poop story? It has to be true. Leave it in the comments.

Willing to get off the beaten path? Consider central Nebraska

July 7, 2014 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

When visiting my 81 year old mother in a small town in central Nebraska (Miller if you must know), I found myself fading in and out of sleep on her incredibly uncomfortable couch.

I was alone in the house.

I had plenty of rest.

So I wondered… why was I fading in and out of sleep.

Then I listened.

And I heard.

I heard absolutely nothing… Nothing man-made. No cars. No lawn mowers (it was after lunch). No engines. No “road noise”. No yelling kids. Absolutely nothing.

What I did hear was the ebb and flow of the wind that is so ever-present on the Nebraska prairie. I heard the birds – tons of song birds.

It had been a long time since I had no man made stimulus. Just me and nature – ok – I cheated – me and nature from my mom’s couch with tons and tons of open windows. But there was nothing else. Honest.

It was amazingly restorative.

Which got me to thinking. Maybe all the cool places aren’t the ONLY places that are cool?

Consider Comstock Nebraska.

In a short afternoon, or maybe even an hour you could see the whole town. But that isn’t the point. The point is to literally stop and smell the roses.

Visiting Comstock this summer I noticed a little RV park. It wasn’t much, but the point isn’t that the park has to be the fanciest place on the planet – just a place for a little peace and quiet.

There are some really neat water features like the Calamus Reservoir State Recreation Area where you can get some fantastic fresh water fishing without having to deal with any other people. Many fishermen know that it is hard getting to fish by yourself anymore. Well, it is still possible in Nebraska. Another closeby dam is Sherman County Reservoir.

Not only are there local lakes, there are two really nice rivers called the Middle Loup and the North Loup Rivers.

You would also have access to the sandhills which are pretty darned fascinating all by themselves.

Comstock itself has a yearly music festival (see the picture below) as well as the video gallery below.

The ladies (and probably some men) of the community have created an amazing community garden called the Centennial Garden.

Comstock also has a wonderful park with beautiful big fluffy trees that have wonderful shade.

Go see the Dowse Sod House. I mean really, a sod house. With a history and kept up by people who really care.

There are other things too – like a few businesses, but I really wanted to focus on the cool things.

The coolest thing

But the coolest thing is this… If you would be willing to forgo some of the fancy big-attraction things and spend a couple months in central Nebraska, perhaps just thinking, being quiet, being still, and enjoying the peace, then you might find yourself looking back at you.

Imagine mornings with moderate temperatures, crisp blue skys free from ozone haze, smells of summer, birds, and sometimes, just the ebb and flow of the wind. Imagine coffee from your Keurig (I still love mine), getting up with the sun and going to bed with the sun, stars so bright they hurt your eyes, and just imagine the power and energy of the natural energy of the universe seeping into your soul.

That was kind of what I was thinking when sleep and wake washed over me like waves when I was laying on my 81 year old mother’s couch.

What do you think?

P.S. pictures below.