‘Get Up, Get Out’ with help from author

“Well, what are you waiting for?” queries John Tartaglia near the end of his paperback, “Get up and Get Out!”

And by the time you’ve gotten there, you’re ready to take off if there is any spark of wanderlust within you.

Tartaglia has been living on the road as least five years, with occasional time out to visit family and friends.

His picture’s on the cover of his book, an eager man with bright smile and a slight graying beard.

In his cupped hands, thanks to photo miracles, he’s holding a small copy of his road — transportation, a red pickup truck with a white camper shell.

He’s was schedule to appear at the Tubac Community Center on Tuesday night to talk about his adventures.

So if you’ve decided to line on the road, what do you do? What’s the first step? Where will you park?

In a short interview, Tartaglia said there are lots of free places. You can park in a National Forest for up to 14 days, but other federal (and some state agencies) are a little more lenient. For instances, the Bureau of Reclamation, state lands, Bureau of Land Management are among the places that say it’s OK to camp.

Just clean up after yourself.

Maybe you’d like to tow a boat and combinine fishing with camping. Boats are fun. . .but sometimes trouble.

In a chapter, “A Barnacle Ate My Dinghy” he recalls the words of many experienced boat owners, “The two happiest days in my life were when I bought my boat and the day I sold it.”

Tartaglia has many helpful rules about getting started and what to do on the road and in a campground. Don’t argue with a ferocious looking chap with biceps out to here over who gets the camp site.

And the rule some might find most compelling: “Store all food in proper bear-proof containers.”

In a fever pitch to fish in Canada’s Bow River once, I parked my car, left some of my gear beside it when I went off to the water.

Gulp! A bear soon got between me (with fish and bait) and the car (with good smelling food alongside.)

To say the bear killed me and ate my fish may be a little exaggerating, but not much.

Other motorists driving by perceived my plight, pulled up to the bear and shooed it away until I was safe inside.

One of the wonderful things about living on the road is the chance to write about it.

He’s always urging to keep logs, journals and scraps of paper nearby to write what you see, smell, experience.

It may someday be part if a book. . . Or maybe not. There are no rules about what you may or may not want to write.

Making friends along the way are surely some of the most rewarding part of your trip to nowhere. . .and everywhere.

Friends are everywhere, just waiting for you to offer to help put up a tent, lend them some eggs or answer questions about the road ahead.

There are chapters telling you what you absolutely must have, things to take care of before you leave, and miles posts to watch for.

To order his book call 1-800-AUTHORS, or contact www.iuniverse.com.

John’s phone number is 818-414-5308. We're not sure if you can reach him in the Rockies, but it sure works in the Sonoran Desert.

jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749