Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.

We're here! Got in at about 8PM Tuesday at the end of a 400+ mile day.

It seems we got behind our daily schedule by stopping in Eureka and Ely, Nevada and ending up in Pioche rather than Las Vegas. Hence the 400 miles the last day.

We could have stayed out another day but got caught up in "get-home-itis."

Like I said, we got home about 8PM and walked into the house and said "Wow!" It's beautiful! You see, Cheryl had hired a young lady to do a top to bottom house cleaning and to finish the job just before we got home. So the whole house was shining like a new penny.

We brought in just the few items we'd need in the morning and then put on our buffs and jumped into the pool. After that we collapsed into bed and zonked our way through the next eight hours.

In the morning I treated myself to a fifty-gallon shower. It was pure heaven. The trailer provides 6-gallons of hot water at a time which means 3-minute showers. Doable, but not relaxing.

After that we unloaded all our clothing and the food from the trailer. Then I took it up to the dealer to wash out the tanks and to buy some replacement and upgrade parts for fixes and changes I decided to do while on the trip. Each time we go out I come up with new ways to make the camper just a bit better. The fun never stops.

Today I washed the trailer. I've found that there are only two days when a trailer looks really good. The day before a trip and the day after a trip. Other than that it only ever looks as good as Moma Nature wants it to look.

So that's it. Unless Cheryl wants to post something.

The trip is over. Bikes are coming into the shop. Business is ramping up and drudgery and boredom are looking at me from around the corner. I swear that becoming full timers is looking better and better each day.

'Till next year,
Love,
Yodar, Yodera, and Yodette the Wonder Pup.

More Photos.

The Loneliest Highway in America – Nevada Route 50

“The Loneliest Highway in America.“ We didn’t make up that name. Life Magazine dubbed it thus back in the 50s when they wrote a story about it. Nevada adopted the name in hopes it would attract tourists to the state. It worked! Route 50 runs from Lake Tahoe all the way across Nevada and into Utah. We picked it up in Austin and traveled as far as Ely where we turned south on Route 93 and ended our day in Pioche. It’s cool and quiet here, and we plan to sleep good tonight.

Today on “The Loneliest Highway in America,” we saw about six cars, two motorcycles, a truck, and for some strange reason, a bicyclist! We all got together and formed a support group for lonely drivers with annual meetings to be held in Austin, Nevada. We bought a bottle of champagne to be opened by the last surviving member of the group.

In actuality, Route 50 is incredibly beautiful with rolling hills, giant mountains and a few exceptional twisty-turny roads like you’ll find up around Jerome. There are all sorts of small towns full of buildings that hark back to the days of the Pony Express. In fact, this road follows the Pony Express Routes very closely. We can’t imagine how the riders rode a 10- mile leg followed by a four-minute horse change and continued this routine for 10 hours a day.

We had breakfast in Eureka and went through the town museum full of old newspaper equipment housed in the Nevada Sentinel newspaper building, and dating back to 1864. It produced papers using hot lead and flatbed presses up until the 1960s. Then it was on to Ely where we visited the old train depot and saw an amazing old steam engine chugging away on the tracks next to the station. We even got see the stoker shoveling the coal into the firebox and hear the wail of the whistle!

So here we sit in Pioche (Pee oach). It’s a little town firmly caught in the middle of a time warp, half 1800s and half 21st Century. It’s absolutely fascinating to drive from one end of town to the other and see the centuries change!

Love from the Whistle-Stop Kid, Lucy the Loose Caboose, and Peanut the Hobo Wonder Pup

Austin, Nevada. At the opposite end of the spectrum.

Remember when I said some of the best RV Parks were the ones we didn’t plan or reserve in advance and just found by accident. Well, that holds true for those few parks we’ve stumbled into that reside on the other end of the “nice” spectrum. Welcome to Pony Express RV Park in lovely Austin, Nevada. All seven spaces. Well, at least they are all pull throughs

That’s the highlight of the day. The good old PERV Park.

The rest of the day we just drove through a whole lotta seriously empty Oregon and Nevada.

Tomorrow we’re going to drive some of Nevada Route 50, known as “The Lonliest Highway” in America. It runs from Sparks, Nevada to Ely, Nevada, and then into Utah.

We’ll enter it here in Austin at just about the halfway point and follow it to just past Ely and pick up Rt. 93 down to Las Vegas. The next day the plan is to do Vegas to Phoenix.

That’s all today.
Love,
The Desert Rat, the Foxy Desert Fox, and Peanut the Prairie Pup.

By the time we get to Phoenix

Howdy!

Looks like we'll be showing up in Phoenix on Tuesday!

We're in Burns, Oregon, waking up this morning to a terrific sunrise over a meadow. It was balmy and breezy last evening and this morning it's crisp and feeling like fall. Yesterday we almost ran out of gas when we spotted Hampton Station with two gas pumps and a cafe. So . . . as the saying goes, we ate and got gas. Har, har. Anyway, while we were eating we noticed a table surrounded by honest to goodness cowboys. They had dusty boots with spurs and were chowing down on rhubarb pie with gusto. I think that's the first time I've seen "real" cowboys. They sure looked like they knew their way around a horse.

Today we hope to make it to Nevada. These back roads are fascinating. We're loving seeing these slices of Americana, and amazed at just how much untouched land still exists.

Love, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Bullet

Experiment. A Spruce Goose Video

Extra Photos

Photos

Aircraft Overload and a Sucessful Kite Fly.

(Frank) Problems uploading photos. I'll try them seperately.

(Frank) The plan for the day was to get up at a normal time, 7 AM give or take an hour or so, and to be at the Evergreen Aviation Museum when they opened at 9 AM. Then we would see the Spruce Goose and do a quick blast through the rest of the displays and be on the road by noon. Ha, ha, ha, oh foolish me. Seven hours later we finally physically PULLED ourselves free and DRAGGED ourselves back to the rig and FORCED ourselves to get on the road to make a few miles. We made it as far as Idanha, about 50-60 miles from McMinnville, although it seems farther because we’re tired from the several miles we walked while in the museum.

Now we’re parked in the Mountain View RV Park under tall pine trees right next to a pretty little river. It’s a small park run by a nice couple. I swear I think the best, most comfortable, friendliest, most personable parks are the ones we don’t plan on and just find by accident. When I walked up to the Park Office there were three men and a lady sitting on the front porch. I had on my Air Force cap and immediately one of the guys said, “Air Force! Well we won’t hold that against you.” Then he shook my hand and said, “Navy”. Then the second guy stood up, offered me his hand and said, ”Marines”, then the third guy stood and said, “Army!” Just like that we had four of the five services represented. I asked the lady if she happened to be Coast Guard and she laughed and said “Nope, I’m with the Marine.” It turned out that she and her husband own the park and when I asked if she had a pull-through spot open she said, “Not really, but I’ll move my car and give you the one next to us here.” Later Cheryl said to me, “That hat of yours sure lets you meet some really nice folks!” And I have to agree. By itself it sets up an instant camaraderie between folks who otherwise would simply be strangers passing through life. Later I went over and kibitzed with the guys, and the Soldier and the Marine both agreed it was really nice of the Navy to take them to the fight and it sure was helpful of the Air Force to supply air cover before going back to their hot meals and comfortable beds. The Navy and the Air Force both agreed that yes, it truly was so.

OK, back to the museum. It’s HUGE! It’s magnificent! It’s actually two museums, the Aircraft Museum and the Space Flight Museum. It also has an IMAX theater and we saw the movie “Fighter Pilot”. It was filmed at my old base, Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, and just seeing the base, the aircraft, the pilots, and the ground crews in action actually and honestly brought tears to my eyes I missed it so much. I swear I should have stayed in the Air Force. But that’s the road not taken and I just gotta let it go. But after seeing that movie and all those airplanes, it’s hard!

Both museums are packed, just PACKED with old airplanes, new airplanes, rockets, space craft, and military and civilian hardware, to the point where sensory overload sets in and you just sort of become numb. That’s the point where you have to force yourself to leave or at least take an extended break.

One last point, the Spruce Goose (Howard Hughes HATED that name, he called it the “H4”) is in perfect condition and is beyond belief. It’s called the “Oh my God” plane because that’s the reaction of people who have never seen it. I’ll post a few photos of parts of the plane as it’s not possible to fit the whole thing in one photograph.

Tomorrow we head southeast to Bend, Oregon and then farther east to Burns and Burns Junction and pick up Rt. 95 into Nevada.

(Cheryl) “Wait just a dag-gone minit,” Frank! What about the bottle with the note inside? What about the kite? What about the RV park with the trash compactor and combination locks on the laundry and shower rooms in McMinnville Thursday night? Yeah, what about all that, you ask!

Well, here’s the story morning glory . . . we got up to a dreary cloudy morning on the coast, but we two intrepid old salts and one young pup staggered out to the beach with our kite and bottle as the thunderheads continued to build above the foamy brine. Alas, the landlubber Vodka bottle insisted on returning to us time after time, and we recalled Tom Hanks’ and Wilson’s efforts to paddle their homemade raft beyond the breakers in the movie, Cast Away. Failure landed on us like an Albatross.

But wait, you say, what about the kite?

‘Twas a stellar accomplishment! The instant I unrolled that sorry-looking, sodden and sand-covered parcel, it took flight! The wind caught our tethered sail, and away we went to the very end of the rolled up string! Sweet, sweet success – “Let’s go fly a kite up to the highest heights and send it soaring – Up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear – Ohhhhh, let’s go fly a kite!” This new foil is a stunner in the sky, and when we take it in and roll it up, it fits inside a neat little pouch for storage in my truck where I’ve kept the old San Francisco Chinatown kite for 20 years! Now to keep a log of all the places where this one has flown starting with Long Beach, Washington - I know, I know, Frank and I are both obsessive-compulsive, but we DO so enjoy our obsessions!

Dauntless romantics that we are, we drove our Vodka bottle with note safely tucked inside over to the bridge leading from Washington into Oregon. On the approach to that amazing 3-mile long bridge into Astoria, we spotted a turn-out next to the fast moving Columbia River. Frank gave our “pirate flask” a fling and flung it way out into the current. We watched it bob along for a bit as it headed for the mouth of the Columbia River on the heels of Lewis and Clark! It was a breathtaking moment in the history of these great United States of America! You could almost hear the brass band playing in the background. Sweet success #2! Hooray! Now, I just wait for an email from the person who finds our treasure. Seriously, wouldn’t that be fun if someone did find it and take the time to let me know! Yes, I’ll always be a dreamer – life is more fun that way.

And that, our dear followers, is that!

Till later,
Howard Hughes (don’t I wish), Mary Poppins, and Peanut the Red Baron.

Extra Photos.

We went to see “Jake”.

(Frank) First things first: We went to see “Jake”. Jake is cool. Jake is interesting. I wonder what Jake is exactly. Second things first: We had pizza at Chico's. The pizza was great. The atmosphere is more for kids than old geezers, but it was nice and once again, the pizza was great. Third things first: We had ice cream at Scoopers. The ice cream was Dryers rather than the expected home-made and the waffle cone was too thick and hard. Jake passes. Chico's passes. Scoopers flunks.

(Frank) I never thought it would happen. I have found a town that hasn’t done anything to p*** me off! (Other than Scoopers.) Long Beach is a tourist town, but it’s not too touristy. There are lots of interesting shops, but they’re not too posh and uppity to be obnoxious. They have fun stuff at reasonable prices. The town provides free parking on all the city streets, free access to the beaches with large parking lots at the ends of each of the beach access roads. The city allows you to drive your car or truck on the beach if you want to because the beaches are huge, wide, long and very sparsely populated. There are picnic shelters with wind screens and picnic tables along the upper reaches of the beaches and paved bicycle and walking paths through the beach grass. AND not only that, the town provides public restrooms that are clean and actually have hot and cold water in the sinks. And that, by itself, is a miracle.

(Cheryl) We ate lunch at a deli and bakery in the middle of the town of Long Beach. The Italian wedding soup bread bowl was delicious, and we came home with a loaf of cinnamon bread, a bear claw, and a sweet flat swirled crispy for breakfast tomorrow morning. We walked all that off hiking up to the North End Light House and then to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Of course, when we returned to town, we ate an ice cream cone at Scoopers as we had been instructed by our grandchildren. Frank climbed to the top of the North lighthouse while I hiked along the lighthouse keeper’s path and took pictures of him talking with the docent at the top of the lighthouse. We found out that you can rent the lighthouse keeper’s residence and the assistant lighthouse keeper’s residence. Each sleep six and rent for around $300 a night. Frank will post pictures of these elegant old houses above the ocean. These days the lighthouses are completely automated so there are no more keepers. Frank will tell you about the old fort up at the Lewis and Clark exhibit and lighthouse at Cape Disappointment.

(Frank) The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is built on the site of Fort Canby. The fort was originally built in 1863 and rebuilt in 1941. We walked around in the old ammunition bunkers and saw the original cannon mounts. Everything about the fort is massive and it was built to protect the mouth of the Columbia River from foreign ships. Also on display at the Center was the original 1822 Fresnel lamp assembly that was formerly installed in the North Lighthouse. It is huge, large enough for the lighthouse keepers to go inside the light to clean the lenses and it’s a work of art. Interestingly at the base of the North Lighthouse are two stone structures built to store the oil used to light the original lamp. They built two building to house the oil in case one of them caught fire. That way they’d still have oil left to keep the light glowing for the ships.

(Cheryl) I had this brilliant idea! I found a Vodka bottle in the surf so we wrote a note on the back of our Long Beach map to anyone who might find the bottle when we tossed it back into the surf. This proved to be problematic as each time we flung the bottle into the ocean it came right back to us! Tomorrow we’re going to try again. If it won’t work, we’re going to attempt to toss it off the Astoria Bridge without getting arrested. If we’re caught, please send cash for bail. We also failed to launch my new kite which is a virtual impossibility on a windy beach! We really wish we had brought some teenagers with us. We did manage to ride our bicycles a long way on the paved path through the beach grass. Frank rode with Peanut tucked inside his Sturgis jacket with just his little head sticking out.

Love from,
Captain Ahab, the Mermaid, and Moby Peanut

Long Beach, Washington.

(Frank) T’was an easy day. We slept in until 8:30 this morning, lounged around the “house” for another two hours, decided we never want to go home, hit the road, stopped for breakfast, and meandered south. Destination: Long Beach, Washington.
Well, we made it. We’re here. Easy drive. NICE ROADS! Washington Route 101 is very, very nice. Scenic and well maintained. The rig pulled beautifully.

We had Googled RV Parks in Long Beach and selected Andersen’s as sounding the nicest. Last night we called and reserved a slot for tonight and tomorrow, and now that we’re here and have driven past most of the others have decided we made the right decision. This is a very nice park and although all the slots are “back-ins” the center aisle is sooooo wide I had no trouble at all getting Ali-the-Gator back-slid in.

I have unhooked KB Truck and as soon as I can drag Cheryl and Peanut off the beach (they left me as I was unhooking the rig almost 2-hours ago!) we’ll go downtown to Long Beach for some dinner. We’re under strict orders from grand-kids to have pizza at “Chico’s”, and ice cream at “Scooper’s” while we’re here so those are our destinations. They also said we have to see “Jake, the alligator man”, the “half man, half alligator” skeleton at the local museum so we might see that also, if not tonight then tomorrow. I mean, I went to see Sylvester the Mummy so how can I pass up a half & half Skeleton? Right! I can’t. (www.marshsfreemuseum.com)

(Cheryl) Peanut and I arrived back from our stroll down a nearly deserted beach to find Frank typing away at the computer inside the trailer! He missed the magnificent yellow bird kite with streamers and the KB trucks happily plowing down the beach next to the surf. He missed Peanut rolling on the dead crabs and odoriferous fish remains while I busied myself beachcombing and lolling in the sand staring out at the breakers. The beach directly behind our trailer park suits me to a T. No swimming allowed due to rip tides, just walking, thinking, and enjoying the sound of surf on sand and watching the sun paint pictures on the water.

While our stretch of sand today seems almost like a private beach, Long Beach hosts many events like the annual kite festival and a sand-castle building festival that draw large crowds. I was lucky enough to stumble on the kite festival when I was here with my RV in 1998, and this year my daughter Stacie and her family won a prize in the sand-castle building in their division. Be sure to add Long Beach, Washington to your list of places to visit. It sure is one of my favorites!

That’s it for today.
Love to all,
Laid Back Frank, Sandy Shoes Cheryl, and Peanut the wayward pup

Isle of Vashon TT

(Frank) OK. Great Britain has the Isle of Mann TT, and it is older and world famous but the Isle of Vashon TT is closer and the ferry ride is only 20 minutes. So there we went and it t’was fun. They had a Poker Run on which we did not ride, a Concourse Bike Show in which we did not enter, and bike field events at which we did not attend. It was wonderful. We walked around downtown (all of) Vashon and watched bikes and people, bought two Vashon 27th Annual TT T-Shirts and BTP’s and went to son Michael’s house for lunch. Daughters Kimberly and Stacie and clans came over for the day and we lounged away the afternoon.

(Cheryl) Ok, I admit it. I enjoy seeing the crowds of motorcycle people and hearing the various sounds of the bikes. It’s a rush. The ferry ride was especially fun because on the way over we got to go around the line of waiting cars and form up with the other bikes on the dock. We roared onto the lower interior floor of the ferry, hopped off the bike and Frank immediately had several bikers gathered around him asking about Nortons and his in particular. Great way to start the day. Getting off the ferry was a bit trickier for some. It turned out to be a free for all because the ferry people forgot their protocols and just let ‘em rip! One lady got tangled with the guy next to her and scooter and all went down on the ferry dock. Luckily no injuries, and she was soon pulled over to the side recuperating from the mishap while the rest of us roared on to downtown Vashon. It’s a pretty ride through the trees and along the water from the south end ferry dock. We took it easy and let people pass, so we had a gentle ride into town where we parked front and center to begin talking bikes.

Of course, Frank cleverly parked next to a nice café where we had a great ham and eggs breakfast. Michael and his two kids found us there and soon Stacie and her clan showed up. After breakfast Kimberly dropped Rowan off and all of us took a walk down the street sizing up the bikes and taking pictures. While the rest of us drove up to Michael’s, Frank stayed in town a bit to kabitz with fellow enthusiasts. On the way home last night the Norton started running badly, so Frank stopped to assess the problem and off-loaded me to Stacie’s car for a ride home. It turned out to be a loose wire, and Frank wasn’t far behind my arrival at the trailer.

Today we’re just kicking back watching movies and loading the Nort back into the toy hauler. Tomorrow morning we head for Illwaco, WA, and a nice RV park on the ocean at Long Beach. Thursday morning we’ll see the Spruce Goose not far from Portland, Oregon, and that’s as far as the planning goes!

Love from the intrepid travelers,
Steve McQueen, the Biker Chick, and Peanut the wonder dog

Eight Days!!!! A Family Affair . . .

(Frank) Eight days! That expression comes from the movie “Defending Your Life” with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. We use it whenever we have any period counted in days. Sooooo anyway, this blog will be a recap of the missing week+1.

This morning dawned wet and soggy after a full overnight rain. Did you know it rains in Washington!? Me neither! Anyway, I bounced cheerily out of bed and whupped up a nice breakfast of pancakes and fried eggs. Then I flounced stylishly over to the Laundromat and washed, dried, and folded clothes while Cheryl blogged for you our faithful readers. Now it’s time for me to peruse that which she wrote and add insightful and pithy comments.

(Cheryl) Yesterday we took the most amazing hike on the Natchez Loop Trail very near the famous volcano, Mount Rainier. From our vantage point on the hike Rainier’s glacier-covered peak looks like a scoop of vanilla ice cream glinting in the afternoon sunshine. Our daughter, Kimberly brought son Rowan (10) and daughter Hailey (5) from Carnation down to the KOA in Kent where we’re staying. We all rode in KB truck through Enumclaw and nearly 50 miles into the Snoqualmie National Forest to meet son, Michael, wife Shannon and daughters Daalny and Aine, and daughter, Stacie with her daughter Madison, son Kyle and Madison’s boyfriend, Kyle.

(Frank) I promptly tagged son Kyle, “K1” and boyfriend Kyle, “K2”.

(Cheryl) Our group numbered seven, 16 and under, and seven adults and one passing hiker thought we were a hiking club! The two missing from our number were Nathan, Stacie’s husband, and John, Kimberly’s husband. Both were doing something called work on Friday and couldn’t join us. Michael was our hike leader so he snagged a day off of this thing called work!

The little girls, Hailey (5), Daalny (almost 5), and Aine (2) plunged into a shallow mountain lake popping up like little frozen popsicles to run around making muddy footprints along the shore. That’s a memory picture Grams won’t soon forget. The boys, Kyle (K1 almost 13), Kyle (K2 16) and Rowan (10) spent time chasing after salamanders, skipping rocks, and launching water-logged driftwood into the middle of the lake. Pop-Pop got lots of hand holding and secrets from the little girls along the trail as did Grams. All in all, it was a day we’ll relive again and again when we eventually take up our rocking chairs – like possibly tomorrow! We were bushed after the hike, but stopped by Stacie’s house for a good ol’ wiener roast and some burgers and salad. Luckily the kids cooked, so Frank and I could crash. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to another family day as we ride the Norton down to the Ferry dock, (Frank. Weather permitting) and land on Vashon for an antique British motorcycle rally.

Monday will be a day of rest for us before starting out Tuesday morning on homeward bound highways with our first stop at the Spruce Goose in Oregon.

A few tidbits about our Seattle Family Affair:

• Rowan getting turned upside down by “Silver Man” on the Seattle waterfront

• (Frank) This was the day we went to see the Paul Allan collection of WWII fighter planes. Afterwards we went to downtown Seattle to see the Pike Street Market (WOW!) and to visit “Ye Olde Curiosity Shop” in order to press some Sylvester the Mummy pennies. http://www.flickr.com/photos/baggis/2440492786/

• Hailey, Aine, and Daalny running upstairs to play with Madison’s stuffed animals

• Kyle and Rowan wrecking Kyle’s miniature racecar and reconstructing it

• Frank and Rowan fixing “N-Sect” the robot for 5 hours.

• (Frank) This was a kick! We had that thing on its back and in a hundred pieces. It looked like the bug alien autopsy scene from the movie “Alien”. I kept expecting Sigourney Weaver to show up and shoot up the house.

• Hailey and Daalny hiking hand in hand on the Natchez loop trail

• Michael and Shannon serving dinner on their deck overlooking the water with Mount Rainer in the distance at their house on Vashon

• (Frank) I could get used to this.

• Picking flowers, strawberries and green beans at Jubilee Farm with Kim and kids

• Watching Boone (Stacie’s boxer mix) chase Peanut around and around the yard

• (Frank) and watching Peanut cower in abject fear under Cheryl’s seat until he figured out that the huge seven foot monster towering over him just wanted to play rather than eat.

• Watching the moon glow dance on the water while crossing on the ferry from Vashon to Point Defiance

• (Frank) Yeah, yeah, yeah. “Moon glow” fer heaven’s sakes…..

• Taking Rowan to see the WWII fighter planes at Paul Allen Museum in Everett

• (Frank) Yeah. That was fun. Fighter planes! Manly stuff! http://www.flyingheritage.com/

• Riding on the Snoqualmie train with Kim and family and staggering through the old train cars to the back of the train as we rocked along the tracks above the riverbank.

• (Frank) That was cool. The passenger cars got older as you walked from the front of the train to the back. It was like walking back through time.

• Watching an old Bogart movie, Treasure of the Sierra Madre at Stacie’s; groaning at the slow story and laughing at the line about not needing “no stinkin’ badges.”

• (Frank) And giving Kyle (K1) the “Stinkin’ Badge” I bought over in Montana!

• Killing time in beautiful Point Defiance Park among the flowers and Japanese gardens while waiting two hours for the ferry when we misread the schedule.

• (Frank) “WE” misread the schedule! Excuuuuuuuse me!

• Grinding out “Sylvester the Mummy” smashed pennies at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Seattle waterfront and elbowing our way through Pike Street Market.

• Sleeping late while listening to rain on the trailer roof this morning! Sweet peace!

So, until later, yours truly,

Sylvester the Mummy, Silver Woman, and Robo-dog

Train Ride Photo

Train Ride Photo.

Carnation, Washington. Kids, Grandkids, Trains.

We spent the day with our daughter Kimberly, her husband John, and our grandkids Rowan & Hailey.

We went to see some trains! Cheryl was in Train Heaven.

We also took a really neat ride on an old train.

I took some great pictures but then left my camera at the restaraunt where we had lunch. (Deep sigh.) Oh well, Kimmy is going to go back there and rescue said camera.

By the way, did you know that if you click on the photos in the blog they get really, really BIG! No? I didn't either. I just found out by accident.

Try it. But not on todays pictures because they're still at the restaraunt.

I'll get the camera back Tuesday and I'll post them then.

'Til then,
Forgetful Frank

Brewster, Washington – A Diamond, A Bear and a Bug

Some days you win, some days you lose. Some days are diamonds, some days are stone. Some days the bear eats you, some days you eat the bear. Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug.

Today we won a diamond, delivered by a bear we ate, behind a bug-free windshield, so this turned out to be a good and sunny day.

First, we made it to Grand Coulee Dam just fine and had a nice tour of the visitor’s center. We saw the “How we did it” movie, and bought our BTP (Been There Pin). Then we decided we were all natured and scenic’d out and decided to blow off the North Cascades National Park and instead make tracks South towards I-90 West. We made it as far as Brewster, Washington where we fell into a bed of roses.

We are now camped in the Brewster City Park, which we found by accident. It was going on 4PM as we approached this small town and we decided to just watch for a “RV Park” sign and if we saw one, check it out, and if it was nice we’d stay over. Well, we saw a sign, we checked it out, and it’s WONDEFUL. It’s a city owned recreation center, park, swimming pool, and RV park all located on the edge of Lake Pateros. Most of the folks camped here are fisher-people and have really neat fishing boats. A couple across from us just showed me two 30-pound Salmon they pulled in today. I was amazed and told them so as the only Salmon I had ever seen came in little round cans at the supermarket. Yup, city boy, that’s me.

So here we sit. Cheryl’s outside in her lounge chair, with Peanut in her lap, a cold drink placed conveniently by her right hand by yours truly, and is reading a Kindle book we downloaded yesterday. Life is good, so I think I’ll shut up, take my own chair outside and kick back for a few minutes.

Love,
Andy, Barney, and Gomer.

Beautiful Downtown Wallace, Idaho

(Frank) We spent the last two days in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. It’s not the smallest town in the west, but it’s a close second to Wallace. We ended up in Bonners after driving west out of Glacier National Park. Upon arrival we both just sort of “crashed.” Because Blue Lake RV Park seemed very quiet and restful we decided to extend our stay for an extra day to unwind, rewind, re-boot, and recoup. That was before we realized a train track was 150 yards from the camp. Gee, trains are really noisy! Ask me how I know.




The high point of the two days was us doing laundry at a very nice Laundromat and each of us getting our hairs cut at appropriately gender-specific hair cutting places. My barber shop was called the “Barber Ship” and looked like a boat about to founder. Cheryl’s Beauty Shop was more traditional and very nice. The funny coincidence was that each of our stylists, mine and hers, had a father who “used to ride a Norton.” We think they might be sisters, but don’t know for sure and will never find out.

As I was de-camping Ali-the-Gator this morning, the guy from the camper next to us came over for some small talk and mentioned that his hobby was model trains and real trains and that he was heading for Wallace, Idaho the day after next day just to visit the Great Northern RR Line Museum located there. He described it as “Huge” and “Loaded with neat GNRR antiquities.” Since I like old trains and Cheryl LOVES old trains, we promptly changed our day’s destination from Grand Coulee Dam, Washington, to Wallace, Idaho. The two destinations are in direct opposite directions of each other, but I figured a little backtracking wouldn’t really hurt us. Well . . .

Boy is he going to be surprised!!!! The miniscule museum resides in a very small restored train station. It takes a grand total of 20 minutes to “do” the whole thing. That’s it. The rest of the town can be “done” in another 20 minutes. We did have a very nice dinner at a local restaurant, but now we are sitting in the local no-name-RV park wondering a) what to do next, and b) how did this happen to us?

Oh well, tomorrow we’ll make it to Grand Coulee unless Homer’s Sirens lure us to some other God-forsaken small town black hole. Be sure to catch the next installment of Frank & Cheryl’s Excellent Western Odyssey.

(Cheryl) Frank forgot to mention we visited the Bordello Museum, and found it just as whelming as the train museum. He also forgot to say that the no-name-RV-park is on the road to the local mine with a constant stream of HUGE dump trucks coming and going (easily as noisy as the Bonners Ferry Choo-Choo’s). Last, but in no way least, the 90 degree temperature, accompanied by 150 percent humidity makes walking around town a lot like taking a sweat shower. I told Frank, “We’re paying our trailer dues.” He knew exactly what I meant because when he first started taking me out on the motorcycle he said, “Always remember and never forget, riding in the rain pays the dues for all the sunny days.”

Let’s hope our dues are paid in full at this point and tomorrow is once again a sunny day.

Love, Homer, Marge and Bart

We got electrons. More leftover photos.

We're connected to a wi-fi system.
We got fast electrons!
Here are some more leftover pictures.

Some photos of Nevada City, MT

We spent 6 hours in the "rebuilt" ghost town of Nevada City, MT.
T'was neat!
Here are a few photos.
F.

We got electrons. Here are a few photos.

This blogger seems to limit me to 4 photos per posting.
So I'll try to do a few separate postings and post some past photos.
Here's the first.
The truck crash in Yellowstone, in reverse order.
F

Glacier National Park - A Million and a Half Pictures Later

Yahoo! Back in the land of electrons.
We're on our way to Bonner's Ferry.

(Cheryl) Once again I ran out of memory on my camera! My hobby for the rest of my life is all set, editing pictures and video of Glacier National Park. The mountains here win the trip prizes for most craggy, most ice capped, most lake and river kissed and most narrow twisting roads around. The photos don’t come close to showing them to you. You gotta take this trip, somehow, someday, sometime! Rob a bank if you have to.

(Frank) Beautiful! Yadda, Yadda. Magnificent! Yadda, Yadda. Beyond belief! Yadda, Yadda. Incredible! Yadda, Yadda. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I see much more nature my head is going to explode. The only thing keeping me going is the anticipation of seeing the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington and the Spruce Goose in Oregon. And frankly, the most beautiful things I saw in Glacier were the circa 1930 Red Busses originally built by White Coach Company. These 8-door touring cars ran continually until 1999 when they were shipped off to Ford Motor Company for complete frame-up restoration and all new drive line components. They returned to service in 2002 and they are beautiful!

The other scenic sight to catch my attention was “Goat Lick.” I figured I’d never licked a goat so I turned in, and it turned out, to be a natural salt deposit the Mountain Goats liked to lick. Of course there were no goats there. Booooorrrrrring! Another group was there and I said “Goat Lick sounds like a Mason Williams poem.” All the youngsters (less than 50) looked at me like I was crazy out of my mind but the other old fart there smiled and said “Yeah, it does.” So, in homage to Mason Williams (Google: “Mason Williams, “Toad Suckers” and “Moose Goosers”), here is my Goat Lick poem.

Goat Lickers.
By Frank (M. Williams) Del Monte
How ‘bout them goat lickers,
Ain’t they a card!
Lickin’ they Mountain Goats
In they yard.

Ya’ wanna be a Goat Licker
Well here’s the ticket!
Grab yourself a Mounty-Goat
And ‘rair back and lick it!

Love from three Montana goat lickers. (Mmmmm. And tasty too!)

8:30 a.m. – Monday, August 17, 2009 – Glacier Meadows RV Park
(Cheryl) We are currently in the technology wilderness, so we’re blogging in Word until we can get to someplace with electrons.

Both of us have been experiencing sensory overload and now understand why some people only spend 45 minutes in, say, a four-day park like Yellowstone. The vistas across miles of flowering land to the tops of craggy mountains followed by lakes and rivers of majestic proportion soon limit our ability to comprehend what we’re seeing. Such beauty must have to be processed in small doses in order for us to do it justice in filing it to our metal landscapes. All the adjectives we can muster like awesome, brilliant, majestic, out-of-sight and beyond belief don’t come close to describing what we’ve seen and continue to see of this seemingly endless array of western states. Of them all, so far, my all-time favorite is Montana. I now get the meaning of wide-open spaces. Wowzer!

We can’t even capture what we’re seeing with digital photos and videos. You just have to come here and experience it. I encourage you to somehow make the time someday to travel this broad expanse of jeweled landscape. We are thrilled to think of our children, our grandchildren and their children inheriting all this WEALTH! Thank God for those who had the foresight to put in place our national park system. By the way, we got a “senior pass” for $10 that gets us into all the national parks for free. However, don’t wait until you’re 65 to see all of this!

Speaking of God, we’ve seen all sizes and shapes of churches. A little white tent set on a hillside not too far north of Ennis, MT, caught my attention, The Cowboy Church – All are welcome. I don’t know about you “pardner, but that appeals to me in a grassroots kinda way. Stained glass may excite the Lord, but he met His flock on hillsides if I recall my childhood stories accurately.

Today we’re setting out to tour Glacier National Park on a rather wet and misty morning. The kind lady in the office of our RV Park loaned us a CD with a complete audio tour of the park. One side is East to West (the one we’ll use) and the other is West to East. We had thought we’d take the “Red Bus,” but $80 per person seemed a bit unreasonable. So KB Truck and indestructible “Frank the driver” will continue to facilitate our transportation deluxe. As I remember, the “Yellow Bus” in Yellowstone was almost as expensive at $60 a head.

Glacier Meadows RV Park is 16 miles from the East entrance of Glacier and one of the most scenic parks we’ve ever experienced. Vast meadows stretch out to woods on either side of our meadow perch and impossibly high mountains surround us in this small valley. Peanut runs around in the meadow catching little winged bugs, chomping them, depositing them on the ground and then rolling on them. Evidently they smell really delightful to doggie noses. Freedom to roam is a wonderful thing and Peanut took advantage by wandering away from me while I took a picture. He paid a visit to a Class A Coach, the home of a pretty little Sheltie. He’s such a Romeo! Man, I panicked when he disappeared so quickly.

More Later, F&C&P

Technical Difficulties, please stand by.

We're in (near) Missoula, MT. in a Jellystone RV Park.
I usually avoid this type of "Theme" park as they are full of kids.
(I subscribe to W.C. Fields opinion of kids.)
Anyway, I can't seem to upload photos.
The Alltel Quick-whatever keeps kicking me off.
Oh well. Maybe later.
We're on our way to Glacier Nat'l Park.
Maybe I'll get a good connection there. Ha!

Later,
Frustrated Frank.

Montana: Huckleberry Jam, Fly Fishing, Vigilantes, Old Friends, Trains and Buster Keeton

(Cheryl) Yellowstone seems like a distant memory, and I can’t believe we haven’t blogged since our visit to the Fishing Bridge where I managed to get a picture of a large beaver in the water. On our way out of the park we made a lunch stop on a sweet little scenic road next to the Yellowstone River. We had this spot all to ourselves and a deer peeked out of the trees on the other side of the river. Frank fixed chicken and cheese tortillas in the trailer while I dangled my feet in the cold, clear waters of Yellowstone.

(Frank) While we ate our lunch on the river bank, a scene directly out of Apocalypse Now replayed as five green, completely-unmarked, conspiracy-theory helicopters in tight formation thundered directly over our heads. There were three transports and two Blackhawk gunships. The only thing missing was the Ride of the Valkyries being played over loudspeakers and Robert Duvall enjoying the smell of napalm in the morning. The copters passed directly over our picnic at low altitude as I sat there with my camera in the trailer. About an hour later I heard the thunder again and ran to the trailer just in time to grab my camera and get a fuzzy long distance photo as they returned from whence they came. Later I found out they were secret service helicopters and part of the preplanning for President Obama’s visit to Yellowstone.

By the way, about the river; Cheryl got to dangle her feet in it, which is a “girl thing”, but she wouldn’t let me take a whiz in it, (even down stream) which is a “guy thing.” Now I’ll never be able to say I peed in the Yellowstone River. Women just don’t understand the significance of these small manly gestures. Sigh, what an opportunity missed.

(Cheryl) We got to Ennis, MT around 3:30 p.m. and caught up with our friends, Pam and Richard Lessner, just as they were heading out to their home 20 miles outside of town. They met us at the Ennis RV Park, and after hooking up the trailer we all headed out to “The Grizz” (Grizzly Bar & Grill), their favorite place to eat hereabouts. I munched down on some of the best ribs I’ve eaten in ages accompanied by beer battered onion rings (to die for) and tenderly grilled asparagus. We both slept like well-fed hogs when we returned to the trailer for the night.

Pam and Rick suggested we take in Virginia City and Nevada City the next day so on Thursday morning we headed out. We were so fascinated with Nevada City’s collection of over 60 pioneer buildings and contents that we didn’t even make it to Virginia City on Thursday. All but about a dozen of these log buildings were moved to the site, content and all back in the 40s before vandals had a chance to destroy things. It seems that when better opportunities came along, people would just lock up their store and all its wares and head to a new city to start again. Most of the buildings stood like that for years until an enterprising guy here collected them all and moved them to Nevada City.

There were rooms full of goods still in their wrappings, buttons, fabric, candy, tins of cookies, celluloid collars, shirt studs, razors, corsets, period clothes and all sorts of firecrackers and other goods, some wrapped with Chinese markings in the China section of the little reconstructed town. We paid the $8 bucks each to get in thinking it was too much, but by the time we finished looking and taking pictures until late in the afternoon we decided it was well worth the money. It was a self-guided tour so we were free to linger and walk through houses all on our own. Trust is a major factor here in the wilds of Montana and our friends don’t even lock their house. Pam said, “If you get there before we do, just go on in, make yourselves at home, and we’ll be along.”

We toured Virginia City on Friday and took in a silent movie featuring Buster Keeton. The film was accompanied by a photoplayer , a combination piano and sound effects unit played by a talented guy who may be the only person left who knows how to handle such a machine. This photoplayer is the only one in the world still in operation housed in a theater. The one other known to reside in a theatre was moved to a museum in Australia recently.

(Frank) In Montana’s early days the local folks were vexed by highwaymen, claim jumpers, thieves and killers. It got so bad the local Virginia City good folks got together and formed a vigilante committee. They posted warnings of their intent and then followed through. On one major occasion they hung five scoundrels from the center rafter of a shop that was under construction. Now the shop is open to the public and has the ceiling exposed to show the rafter, complete with rope burns where the bad guys swung their last dance step. Cool! I just love frontier justice. We need more of that.

We spent last evening out at Pam and Richard’s house having a cookout and great conversation as a rainstorm passed through their valley and the sun behind the clouds put on a great light show on the surrounding mountains. Thunder boomed and Peanut curled up in a fuzzy kitty bed in front of the fireplace content to be “home on the range.” Thanks Pam and Richard for such a lovely and memorable evening.

There is so much more to tell, but we’re going to the Farmers Market in Ennis this morning to get a rhubarb pie and other yummy local produce along with breakfast at a local pharmacy café. We’re heading out to Missoula, MT, today and possibly on to Glacier National Park. We hope to be in Seattle next weekend to visit with our kids. Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose is now in Middleville, OR, at Evergreen Aviation, so that is now on our agenda after Seattle.

Love to all of you from Roy, Dale and Trigger

Geezers, Geysers, Bicycles and Boats at Yellowstone Lake

After a breakfast of cherry turnovers and a batch of bacon, we mounted our trusty bicycles and headed down to the Fishing Bridge Visitor’s Center. We talked with the ranger about bicycle paths in the area and chose to ride the one by Bay Bridge which goes out to Natural Bridge. It’s only a three-mile round trip and it is right next to the marina where we were to take our cruise on the lake.

There were several people walking and riding bicycles to Natural Bridge. When we got there we decided the steep path to stand on top of the bridge wasn’t worth it. The ride back was mostly downhill so we had nearly an hour to kill before our cruise. After a short hop over to the marina we bought a sandwich and some cheese and crackers for lunch at a covered picnic table overlooking all the big boats moored there. We both agreed it would be cool to be able to say that one, “keeps a boat moored at Yellowstone.”

Our hour ride around the lake was on a 40 passenger boat captained by a young woman ranger, who handled the craft like a pro. We were impressed with her energetic, friendly manner and frankly, she was cute and petite and one of those irresistible people. We talked with her after the ride and got a picture of her posing by the boat. We told her about the mini-submarine tour we took in Hawaii that was also piloted by a woman. She said to tell our granddaughters, “Just don’t settle. I never have.” It’s great to see someone doing something she loves so much, especially when that means taking on a role normally thought of as male. She told us she has only been doing this for three months, and hopes to drive a tourist snow cat this winter.

The afternoon was still young so we decided to return to camp and do some “down time laundry.” The camp Laundromat is huge with 12 washers and 12 dryers. We figured that early afternoon was the time AFTER most folks leaving the park have left, and most folks coming into the park are busy setting up, so the Laundromat would probably not be busy. Turned out to be true. Only saw one other couple in there. T’was wonderful.

It is fascinating to watch camper rigs come and go through this camp/park. A rig will pull out at 11 AM and another will pull right into the same slot at 3PM. It’s sorta like running a hot-sheet motel. Tonight will be our third night here and we’ll be pulling out at 11AM tomorrow to go to Ennis, Montana. I think I’ll leave a mint on the power box.

It’s 5:30 now. We’re going to unlimber the bicycles again and ride down to the “No Fishing, Fishing Bridge.” We found out why it is now a no-fishing-fishing-bridge. It seems that it once was a very popular fishing spot but the Park Service realized it was also a popular spawning spot for the local trout. Working on the theory that if you want to keep a healthy fish population you shouldn’t catch and eat the spawners, they declared it off limits to anglers.


Tuesday, August 11, 2009 – The Geezers Watch the Geyser


(Cheryl) Yes, I know it’s only 4:00 a.m., but we were so tired last night we were in bed by 8:00 p.m. and seriously looking forward to sleep by 9:00 p.m. I’ve been reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society to Frank while he drives, but with no TV or other diversions last night, we read for a couple of hours before going to sleep. I’ve already read this book, and it’s just as enjoyable the second time around. If you haven’t read it, pick up a copy or download it to your Kindle.
The altitude is well over 7,000 feet here at Fishing Bridge Campground, and yes, there is a bridge named “Fishing Bridge.” It has a nice, big sign on it that says, “No Fishing.”

The altitude has really slowed both of us down a bit. We left Peanut in the trailer long about 10:00 a.m., and took off for Old Faithful geyser yesterday. On the way we walked around some pools of boiling water and took some pictures. About three-quarters of the way on up to Old Faithful traffic halted. We figured there were bears on the road, but unfortunately we discovered a pickup truck had gone over the side of the road and down an embankment about 100 feet. They had already airlifted the two passengers to the hospital and arrested the driver by the time we joined the line of cars on the road.

According to the “Rangerette” at the head of the line of cars, the driver ran off the edge of the road on the right, then over-corrected to the left, losing control of the car and plunging over the edge of the road next to an overlook, missing the guard rail by a foot or so. He must have been going much faster than the posted park limit of 45 mph. We pulled over to the side of the road out of the line of cars and walked up to the accident scene to watch the truck being pulled up the hill. It was quite an operation, and I’ll let Frank recount the process and post a picture.

(Frank) I figure he was clipping along at speed plus too much when he passed the overlook, decided he wanted to stop, slammed on the brakes, tried to turn in, decided he wouldn’t make it, tried to straighten out, couldn’t do it, and ran straight off the road past the end of the guardrail. I don’t know why the recover troops decided to pull the truck up and over the guardrail, but that’s what they did. I’ll post a few photos.

(Cheryl) After the road-stopping event, we didn’t have far to go to reach our destination and eat a forgettable lunch at a fast food place in the Village near THE geyser. Feeling every bit our ages of 64 and 66, we huffed our way over to the front of the pack waiting to see Old Faithful. I suggested we sit under a tree in the background, but Frank urged us onward to a spot on the boardwalk in front of the crowd sitting on the benches. I can remember clearly when I could just plop on a ledge, dangle my feet and think nothing about it. Now, I have to get down on all fours in an unladylike pose to sit myself down. Sigh! Those WERE the days, we just didn’t know it!

Three young boys (probably 8-12 years old) sat easily down beside us, and Frank immediately struck up a conversation with them, telling them how the geyser plays with us by sending up little short bursts of steam and water several times before letting go with the “full banana.” He also talked about pipes and the guy who turns the valve that lets the geyser spout. They knew he was joking but loved his banter and kept up a steady stream of comments. They were really well-behaved kids, and we enjoyed talking with them.

(Frank) “Old Facefull” is impressive. Everyone should see it once. I carefully shot video as it erupted. Unfortunately I shot it with the camera rotated to vertical so I could get its full height. This puts the whole video laying on its side. Now I gotta figure a way to rotate the video. Dumb.

(Cheryl) On the way back to our campsite, Frank stopped at the marina on Yellowstone Lake to make reservations for today at 1:00 p.m. We’re going to go for an hour cruise on this mammoth mountain lake! I’m thrilled beyond belief. I’m a water bunny, and getting out on a lake is high up on my emotional fun scale. Yellowstone Lake really surprised us with its enormous size and the fact that it is 8,000 feet on top of a mountain! We both were ignorant of its existence and fascinated when it came into view on our way to Fishing Bridge when we arrived.

I hope we see some animals along the shore today. Yesterday we did see two elk leisurely munching grass near the lake as we drove over to see the geyser. Other than that, we have seen no bears, lions, tigers or zebras. Not even a puma. We keep telling each other, “It’s not a puma!” Some of you may remember a Schwarzenegger line from Kindergarden Kop, “It’s not a tumor!” Oh well, I guess you had to be there.

Our plan is to leave here Wednesday in route to see our friends, Richard and Pam Lessner (I met Pam and Richard at the Republic and Gazette Newspapers where we all worked in the 80s and 90s). They “retired” from a stint with the government during the Bush admin in D.C. to the wide open spaces of Montana. Their cabin has a wrap around porch and sits in the middle of a valley surrounded by enormous mountains. They watch large herds of elk wander past their windows and fish for trout in a nearby river. Pam now drives for a fishing outfit (12 hours a day during this high season) while Rick manages some sort of foundation in the little town of Ennis near Bozeman, MT. The trip up there should only take us a day, and we’re looking forward to visiting their place and catching up after not seeing them for at least 10 years.

Love from three intrepid high altitude explorers,
Frank, Cheryl and Little Toot