The End (of 2025) 🎇

Rarely does the end of a year coincide with the end of an era in one’s life. Big Red’s retirement is only a few hours away, one last drive, I will put him in park. Despite people asking and emailing me, I have not determined Big Red’s future after over 370 nights camping in him, 120,000 miles driven most of scenic, remote country. And a few trips to Walmart and the transfer station to get rid of tin cans and glass. I washed him, but first before I can sell him, I need to get out all my camping gear, the solar and batteries, relays, switches, radio moved over to the new truck. Will the rims I have the 35s on Red be able to fit on a SuperDuty 8-bolt wheel? Things to investigate!

Some ways closure is good. It’s so rare in life you know when the end is coming to a close. I had planned to retire Big Red in April 2026, but the frame rust moved it up a few months. Too often people don’t know when to quit, don’t toss in the hat when they are at the top of their game. They just stick around, enjoying the high, and keep pushing it way past their prime. 14 plus years is a good run, it’s a similar period to which I plan to toss my hat in a work from now. Not because I have to but because I can, and I want to leave at the top, rather then the bottom of my game, still have time to do the things yet done in life.

There will be life after Red. I am looking forward to the adventure and experience of living in the suburbs without a car for now, though there is still somewhat passable bus service around to get me to work and to the grocery store as necessary. And I have my mountain bike, which I will continue to ride to work as much as possible, to the grocery store, etc. Laundry and trash will be more difficult but I figure out solutions. In many ways it would have been better if I could have pushed Big Red into the new year, but it’s been a good ride regardless. And maybe stuck in city except for bike rides to fringes of suburbs, will be a time to find a bit more sanity.

In many ways, I am excited about the year to come in 2026. I doing a lot of neat stuff in the office, building capacity that at times feels like building a superhighway to a vacant lot but one that will help prepare my agency for the future.  The car-free lifestyle this winter will be an experience, but I think the best is yet to come. For one, I am not permanently considering going car free, hell I’m looking at buying Ford SuperDuty Truck, though not one of the crazy big club cab, long ones. Get small, slow gasser model. Honest. I will get another cap, additional solar and batteries, and diesel heater for come next winter. And all this money I’m pouring into the new rig will go towards making a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and maybe in November I’ll head back to West Virginia for a week or two. There is a lot to look forward in my life, even if first I got to go through the 20 lbs of pinto beans I’ve stockpiled in pantry, and 10 lbs of brown rice. At least I won’t go hungry in short term without at ruck.

I was sitting in the cab, taking a deep breath, saying this is really over. It’s been quite the ride Big Red!