Oh my god, it's finally over. I am out of LA. This is it. I never have to go back!!

My plan to use my Dodge truck to carry the few items remaining in LA as well as tow my Scout to Taos unravelled when I had my little forklift accident.

So instead I embarked on a highly uncertain adventure.... using my 1979 Scout to tow approximately 4500 pounds of robots, shelving, motorcycle and trailer from LA to Taos. And you know what... it made it! Barely.

There was something much more visceral and more adventurous about this trip than any of the others. Maybe it was the constant threat of a breakdown, or the lack of air-conditioning in the 100-degree desert heat, or the encounters with the nice folks at NAPA Auto Parts in both Kingman and Winslow, AZ where I performed repairs, or the 50 MPH average speed, or the actual breakdown in Flagstaff, or the super-cramped sleeping quarters in the back of the Scout, or the fact that I only slept for two of the first 38 hours of the trip... It was sort of like a dream and a hallucination and a tour of the auto supply stores of the Southwest all in one.

Before leaving LA I determined that the trailer hitch on the Scout was not sufficiently stiff to support the tongue weight of the trailer, so I devised the auxiliary support scenario seen in the bottom picture. I wrapped chain around the hitch and passed it over the tailgate door before fastening it to the roll bar. Worked great.

So now, finally, I can devote myself fully to being in Taos. Oh, except that Christina and I are going to San Francisco for our first joint art gallery opening on the 14th. This is the opening I mentioned way back at the beginning of the blog. We'll be back in Taos by the following weekend.....

LET THE BUILDING BEGIN!