Cheryl: It’s almost 10:00 p.m., and we’re safe and snuggled in at the KOA in Kent, Washington. The price here is outrageous, up $30 from last summer! The sign out front says UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. Well guess what, they just lost a couple of good customers. We’re here for a couple of nights because I’m looking for a RV Park with monthly rates where I can stay for a month or two. I want to be with my daughter right now as she goes though a family crisis and I can use our camper as my home base if all goes well with the RV Park search. Hopefully we’ll find a spot tomorrow and move into it on Thursday. Then after we do some sightseeing and visit with kids and grandkids, Frank will fly home to Phoenix leaving me, truck and camper here with the two puppies. He’ll use my truck back in Phoenix and fly back to pick me up . . . eventually.
We’d like to do the Seattle underground tour while Frank is still here and make more visits to kids in Carnation, Bonney Lake, and on Vashon Island. With six grandchildren among the three families, we keep very busy when we’re in town!
Today we drove here from Leavenworth over some staggeringly beautiful terrain. Of course, Leavenworth looks like an amazing Alpine Village, and the mountains around it make that idea seem very real. We gasped at the craggy snow-capped mountain next to a rushing river on our way out of town. Then we drove miles through very lush conifer forest. It was a lovely, read NOT BUMPY WITH POTHOLES, road, it seemed newly paved, and there was room to pass other cars and trucks. We love the USA!!! Ok, so Canada was amazing, but so is home. God bless America.
Frank: Our old Garmin GPS died last year so we bought a new one. It’s a Garmin “Nuvi something or other.” Naturally it was the top of the line when I bought it. We used to refer to the old Garmin as “Jill-Bitch” after she took us 10 hours and about 400 miles out of our way. Today we adopted my brother’s name for his Garmin as our name for the new unit. It’s “BIB” and stands for “Bitch in the Box”. That’s what I called her after she took us within spitting distance of a requested Walgreens Drug Store while carefully guiding us into the far left traffic lane with four lanes of rush hour traffic between us and the Walgreens over on the far right side. It all had to do with our requesting that she take us from point “A” to point “B” “via” “point C”, where the Walgreens was point “C”. It’s a new feature where you can add a “via” point to an existing stored route. What we didn’t realize that “via” doesn’t mean (to her) that we wanted to stop at the mid-point. To her it just meant we wanted to drive past the mid-point. So I guess we’ll try to get back to that Walgreens tomorrow, and do it as a direct one-stop trip. Gosh, ain’t technology grand!
While I’m complaining about Garmin, I wish they had three additional buttons on the main display. The first one would be a “Mute” button so I can shut the BIB up easily when she gets to being obnoxious about me being off course, the second would be a “Speak” button that would cause her to speak a course update, or repeat the last direction she gave, and the third button would be a “Reassurance” button that would make her reassure me that everything is OK and that we are on the right path to our destination, with words such as, “You’re OK big guy, you’re right on track and right on time, so just relax and I’ll get you there OK.”
Yeah, that’d be nice.
Oh yeah, about my Cricket 3G "go anywhere" modem. Doesn't work. No service anywhere, not even here in Seattle! Cricket Sux and I can't find a way to contact them to cancel the service! Clever! They let you buy and sign up but don't have any way to complain or cancel. Ya gotta love those marketing guys!
‘Til later,
Love, Grams, Pop Pop, and the Kissin’ Cousins Peanut and Cleo
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Folsome or Leavenworth, six of one, half dozen of the other
07-26-2010 Monday 6PM
Frank: We’re in Leavenworth. Not the prison, but Leavenworth, Washington. We took the much-talked about ferry ride (ho-hum, small open ferry, short ride, and boring) and ate at the Mushroom Restaurant (totally underwhelming, terrible food, but interesting photos on the wall.) We left Lumby, followed a circuitous route, drove for what seemed forever, and finally found a spot in Castlegrub or Castledorf or some small town like that. We left Castleding this morning, crossed back into the US in Oroville, had Customs confiscate two tomatoes from our refrigerator, picked up the guns from the pub where we left them, had two terrible hamburgers and greasy fries at said pub, and found our way to Leavenworth. The roads are great, the signs are in American, the scenery is beautiful with lots of ABL’s and ABM’s so I’ll let Cheryl add some pretty words here.
Cheryl: The little town was Castlegar, a nice town I’m sure, but we were both tired and grumpy. Tonight we accidently zipped past a KOA – “missed it by that much.” - and landed in Alpineland – not so good.. Anyway, did you guess the movie from yesterday or will I have to wait until Madison gets home from Paris to get a winner for the Name that Movie game? Ok, here’s another one for you – “Ees for goat” – a Tom Hanks winner of a movie called ____________.
I saw mountain goats today on a hillside just above the highway – Mom, Pop, and several little ones! What a sight. Frank missed the whole family show, but he was trying to drive the truck and trailer around a curve at the time. To be fair he saw a deer I didn’t see out of several deer we spotted on this trip. Canada seems to have more than its share of deer who just HAVE to get to the other side of the road. Really, we must have spotted at least a dozen or more deer on our trips from the campground to town, but the biggest thrill of all was seeing a big black bear cross the road about 200 feet in front of us. Wow!
It was my first time to see a bear outside of a park or zoo and Frank’s second time to see one. The first time, Frank told me, the bear was coming toward him, and he was on his motorcycle in a long line of traffic caused by people feeding the mama bear and her two cubs. He and his buddies finally pulled into the oncoming traffic lane to get away – better to be flattened by a Greyhound than a black bear, right? Right! We enjoyed seeing all the wildlife we did, including the friendly squirrel in the campground and the big hawks perched in huge nests made of sticks on top of electric poles with parallel crossbars at the top. It made me sad, however, that I didn’t get to see a Canada MOOSE. Oh well, next time, and I intend to get my tomatoes back, too!
And now we must require you to fill in the blue form, hold up your right hand and promise to really, really love your goat.
Mr. & Mrs. Navorski and our two goats
PS You can never count on having TV in the remote places where we travel so we bring along our own DVDs of old movies. “Ees for goat” has been our favorite phrase for the last couple of days after watching __________________, everything good “Ees for goat” and everything bad “Ees not for goat.”
Answers to the last two movie quiz questions will be forthcoming, but only if you email and ask what the answers were.
Frank: We’re in Leavenworth. Not the prison, but Leavenworth, Washington. We took the much-talked about ferry ride (ho-hum, small open ferry, short ride, and boring) and ate at the Mushroom Restaurant (totally underwhelming, terrible food, but interesting photos on the wall.) We left Lumby, followed a circuitous route, drove for what seemed forever, and finally found a spot in Castlegrub or Castledorf or some small town like that. We left Castleding this morning, crossed back into the US in Oroville, had Customs confiscate two tomatoes from our refrigerator, picked up the guns from the pub where we left them, had two terrible hamburgers and greasy fries at said pub, and found our way to Leavenworth. The roads are great, the signs are in American, the scenery is beautiful with lots of ABL’s and ABM’s so I’ll let Cheryl add some pretty words here.
Cheryl: The little town was Castlegar, a nice town I’m sure, but we were both tired and grumpy. Tonight we accidently zipped past a KOA – “missed it by that much.” - and landed in Alpineland – not so good.. Anyway, did you guess the movie from yesterday or will I have to wait until Madison gets home from Paris to get a winner for the Name that Movie game? Ok, here’s another one for you – “Ees for goat” – a Tom Hanks winner of a movie called ____________.
I saw mountain goats today on a hillside just above the highway – Mom, Pop, and several little ones! What a sight. Frank missed the whole family show, but he was trying to drive the truck and trailer around a curve at the time. To be fair he saw a deer I didn’t see out of several deer we spotted on this trip. Canada seems to have more than its share of deer who just HAVE to get to the other side of the road. Really, we must have spotted at least a dozen or more deer on our trips from the campground to town, but the biggest thrill of all was seeing a big black bear cross the road about 200 feet in front of us. Wow!
It was my first time to see a bear outside of a park or zoo and Frank’s second time to see one. The first time, Frank told me, the bear was coming toward him, and he was on his motorcycle in a long line of traffic caused by people feeding the mama bear and her two cubs. He and his buddies finally pulled into the oncoming traffic lane to get away – better to be flattened by a Greyhound than a black bear, right? Right! We enjoyed seeing all the wildlife we did, including the friendly squirrel in the campground and the big hawks perched in huge nests made of sticks on top of electric poles with parallel crossbars at the top. It made me sad, however, that I didn’t get to see a Canada MOOSE. Oh well, next time, and I intend to get my tomatoes back, too!
And now we must require you to fill in the blue form, hold up your right hand and promise to really, really love your goat.
Mr. & Mrs. Navorski and our two goats
PS You can never count on having TV in the remote places where we travel so we bring along our own DVDs of old movies. “Ees for goat” has been our favorite phrase for the last couple of days after watching __________________, everything good “Ees for goat” and everything bad “Ees not for goat.”
Answers to the last two movie quiz questions will be forthcoming, but only if you email and ask what the answers were.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
On the Road Again
07-25-2010 Sunday 11:00 a.m.
Cheryl: I just finished pulling off hundreds of the stickiest stick tights from the dogs’ fur. I took them on a walk this morning where we had to walk in the underbrush to skirt around a puddle. That did it. We were carriers of plant life instantly.
Last evening we went to the awards banquet, which was very good food by the way (salmon, roast beef sliced before your very eyes, along with corn, four kinds of salads, peas and tiny carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy), and Frank won second place in the Café Bike category. It’s a nifty trophy, but you have to see it to understand. Maybe we’ll include a picture here.
I spent yesterday morning hiking with the dogs along a thundering wide creek on a lovely stage coach road. At the best places along the creek, picnic tables were stationed strategically. What splendid places to have lunch or just a snack. There were white rocky beaches where you could easily walk next to the water and see how clear and clean it is. Because I was so enthralled with my hike, I missed the group photo back in Lumby where Frank had taken the bike earlier to get set up for the bike judging concourse.
When I finally got there around 1:00 p.m., only an hour late, we grabbed a burger at a food cart and then took pictures and salivated over all the bikes lining the concourse. After walking around in the sun and all that hiking I did, we came back to the trailer and slept a couple of hours before the banquet. Frank got to stand up for applause as the founder of the club, and for the very first time, I got to stand up as wife of the founder. Gee whiz, I didn’t do anything, but marry the guy. Oh well, it was nice anyway.
Today we are packing to leave, and Frank discovered he’d left a couple of things back at the other campground in Lumby that he needs to secure the bike. So, while he’s there I’m doing a couple loads of laundry for only 2 loonies for both wash and dry. They’ve got a laundry lean-to set up close enough for me to walk from the trailer with one washer and one dryer at a dollar each. We couldn’t pass up this opportunity to do laundry so cheaply. I wanted to get on the internet so I could post this along with some pictures, but for some reason there is no connection this morning. The campground is just in the process of setting up WiFi and having some difficulty it seems. Oh well, we’ll find some free electrons somewhere along the way.
We’re making a little loop so we can cross at the ferry we missed on the bike adventure the other day and eat at the Mushroom Restaurant where we’ve heard you can order all kinds of wild mushrooms with your lunch. They even reportedly have Morels! Yumm! Haven’t had those in years. After that we’ll stay somewhere over by Silverton or New Denver (named for Denver in the US). Don’t know how long it will take us to do this scenic loop, but after we cross into the states, we’ll be on our way to Seattle to see our kids and grandkids.
Update: We're in Castlegar, BC at a fairly nice campground. We're just happy to be down for the night as we'd planned a short day, and it's now 7:35 p.m.! Yikes!
We saw wonderful scenery again today with several ARRBL's. However, we're both so tired tonight, we'll tell you all about it in tomorrow's blog.
“Catch you on the flip side” – (You guess the movie)
Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan, Peanut Caruso and Cleo Chica
Cheryl: I just finished pulling off hundreds of the stickiest stick tights from the dogs’ fur. I took them on a walk this morning where we had to walk in the underbrush to skirt around a puddle. That did it. We were carriers of plant life instantly.
Last evening we went to the awards banquet, which was very good food by the way (salmon, roast beef sliced before your very eyes, along with corn, four kinds of salads, peas and tiny carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy), and Frank won second place in the Café Bike category. It’s a nifty trophy, but you have to see it to understand. Maybe we’ll include a picture here.
I spent yesterday morning hiking with the dogs along a thundering wide creek on a lovely stage coach road. At the best places along the creek, picnic tables were stationed strategically. What splendid places to have lunch or just a snack. There were white rocky beaches where you could easily walk next to the water and see how clear and clean it is. Because I was so enthralled with my hike, I missed the group photo back in Lumby where Frank had taken the bike earlier to get set up for the bike judging concourse.
When I finally got there around 1:00 p.m., only an hour late, we grabbed a burger at a food cart and then took pictures and salivated over all the bikes lining the concourse. After walking around in the sun and all that hiking I did, we came back to the trailer and slept a couple of hours before the banquet. Frank got to stand up for applause as the founder of the club, and for the very first time, I got to stand up as wife of the founder. Gee whiz, I didn’t do anything, but marry the guy. Oh well, it was nice anyway.
Today we are packing to leave, and Frank discovered he’d left a couple of things back at the other campground in Lumby that he needs to secure the bike. So, while he’s there I’m doing a couple loads of laundry for only 2 loonies for both wash and dry. They’ve got a laundry lean-to set up close enough for me to walk from the trailer with one washer and one dryer at a dollar each. We couldn’t pass up this opportunity to do laundry so cheaply. I wanted to get on the internet so I could post this along with some pictures, but for some reason there is no connection this morning. The campground is just in the process of setting up WiFi and having some difficulty it seems. Oh well, we’ll find some free electrons somewhere along the way.
We’re making a little loop so we can cross at the ferry we missed on the bike adventure the other day and eat at the Mushroom Restaurant where we’ve heard you can order all kinds of wild mushrooms with your lunch. They even reportedly have Morels! Yumm! Haven’t had those in years. After that we’ll stay somewhere over by Silverton or New Denver (named for Denver in the US). Don’t know how long it will take us to do this scenic loop, but after we cross into the states, we’ll be on our way to Seattle to see our kids and grandkids.
Update: We're in Castlegar, BC at a fairly nice campground. We're just happy to be down for the night as we'd planned a short day, and it's now 7:35 p.m.! Yikes!
We saw wonderful scenery again today with several ARRBL's. However, we're both so tired tonight, we'll tell you all about it in tomorrow's blog.
“Catch you on the flip side” – (You guess the movie)
Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan, Peanut Caruso and Cleo Chica
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Ferry Not Taken . . . Yet
07-23-2010 Friday, 4:30 PM.
Frank: We tried to ride the ferry but didn’t make it. We left about 9AM and rode about 40 of the 55 miles and turned around as we were freezing to death. I had on a turtleneck shirt over a T-shirt under a lightweight jacket and Cheryl had only a blouse under a windbreaker. It seemed like enough when we left camp but when we got into the mountains the temperature dropped, the dark clouds covered the sun and the cold soaked right into our bones. When we got back to the camper we sucked down some hot chocolate and toasted some of the biscuits left over from the other day. Then we wrapped up in our quilts and took a nap. When I got up a couple of hours later I was still chilled and actually still feel chilled almost three hours later. We decided we’ll “do” the ferry on the way back to the lower forty-eight by taking a rather circuitous route back to Oroville. The big rally dance at the Lumby Town Hall is tonight so we’re getting ready for that. Tomorrow, Saturday, is a full rally day with field events, the concourse bike showing, judging and awards and then the big rally banquet. I'll post a few miscellaneous photos.
Frank: We tried to ride the ferry but didn’t make it. We left about 9AM and rode about 40 of the 55 miles and turned around as we were freezing to death. I had on a turtleneck shirt over a T-shirt under a lightweight jacket and Cheryl had only a blouse under a windbreaker. It seemed like enough when we left camp but when we got into the mountains the temperature dropped, the dark clouds covered the sun and the cold soaked right into our bones. When we got back to the camper we sucked down some hot chocolate and toasted some of the biscuits left over from the other day. Then we wrapped up in our quilts and took a nap. When I got up a couple of hours later I was still chilled and actually still feel chilled almost three hours later. We decided we’ll “do” the ferry on the way back to the lower forty-eight by taking a rather circuitous route back to Oroville. The big rally dance at the Lumby Town Hall is tonight so we’re getting ready for that. Tomorrow, Saturday, is a full rally day with field events, the concourse bike showing, judging and awards and then the big rally banquet. I'll post a few miscellaneous photos.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Rainbow Falls Adventures
07-22-2010 Thursday 7AM. Gold Panner RV Park, Cherryville, BC.
Frank: This time it wasn’t my fault! There we were once again on a narrow, bumpy, pot-holed, rutted remote and scary dirt road, and this time it wasn’t my fault! Someone, who shall remain nameless, (Cheryl) read about two beautiful waterfalls both of which were on one concise day trip. That person (Cheryl) read the descriptions of the two combined trips and that person (Cheryl) decided that as the roads were described as smooth dirt, and the hiking trails were described as “short, smooth and well maintained” that we should take said roads and trails and see the beautiful waterfalls. The first waterfall was a bust as it was simply the overflow from a not so big man-made dam. The second waterfall was spectacularly beautiful, tall, soaring, roaring, wild wet and misty and we were right next to the edge of all of it. Once again I’ll let the nameless one (Cheryl) write the pretty words.
I was able to find a sidestand and all the bits and pieces needed to install it for the bike and it is being FedEx’d to the campsite even as I write this. With luck I should have it installed by noon. Then nameless one (Cheryl) and I are going to ride to a ferry (the longest free ferry in Canada) across a lake and have lunch at a nice restaurant we’ve been told about.
Nameless One. (Cheryl): The hardy Canadian people evidently don’t require asphalt or wheelchair ramps to visit the stunning majesty of their outback. After choosing the “road less taken” that traveled down a small hill and meandered dangerously close to the banks of Sugar Lake, we finally emerged to a much wider, but still gravel road that led us about 20 miles to a tiny road marker and sign to Rainbow Falls.
When at last the narrow cedar-lined road opened into a wide parking area, we were surprised to find a van camper and a pickup camper with BC plates there ahead of us. The two gray-headed Canadians from the van camper were just entering the trail to the falls with their trusty ski pole walking sticks in hand. They obviously had ten years on us, yet they were blithely taking what had been described in our booklet as an easy 5 to 10 minute walk to the falls armed with backpacks and walking sticks. I think they must have been there before because when Frank finally got to the falls, they were already on the viewing platform and told him about a less apparent higher platform up a rather rugged little root tangled trail. They were off into unmarked territory along the river before Peanut and I arrived to take in the grandly misty mighty rainbow falls.
My mouth hung open in awe, and I agreed, for once, with the description in our booklet, “it’s well worth the trip!” We took lots of pictures and videos so you can hear the falls if you want to someday when we catch you off guard with our computer in hand. And that my dear friends, pretty much sums up yesterday’s unexpected back roads day trip.
We arrived at the trailer to find our electricity out due to some incident just south of the campground. It was off until 9:00 p.m., so we read our novel, and since Frank fell asleep, I attempted to bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with walnuts sans a recipe, using Bisquick for the flour and baking powder part. Thank goodness for battery powered lights and propane stove! The cookies turned out great! I just had one for breakfast. It looks overcast today, so don’t know if we’ll get our m/c ride in or not.
Keep tuning in for more exciting episodes of Great Canadian Wilderness Explorers – Love, Frank, The Nameless One, Peanut and Cleo
Frank: This time it wasn’t my fault! There we were once again on a narrow, bumpy, pot-holed, rutted remote and scary dirt road, and this time it wasn’t my fault! Someone, who shall remain nameless, (Cheryl) read about two beautiful waterfalls both of which were on one concise day trip. That person (Cheryl) read the descriptions of the two combined trips and that person (Cheryl) decided that as the roads were described as smooth dirt, and the hiking trails were described as “short, smooth and well maintained” that we should take said roads and trails and see the beautiful waterfalls. The first waterfall was a bust as it was simply the overflow from a not so big man-made dam. The second waterfall was spectacularly beautiful, tall, soaring, roaring, wild wet and misty and we were right next to the edge of all of it. Once again I’ll let the nameless one (Cheryl) write the pretty words.
I was able to find a sidestand and all the bits and pieces needed to install it for the bike and it is being FedEx’d to the campsite even as I write this. With luck I should have it installed by noon. Then nameless one (Cheryl) and I are going to ride to a ferry (the longest free ferry in Canada) across a lake and have lunch at a nice restaurant we’ve been told about.
Nameless One. (Cheryl): The hardy Canadian people evidently don’t require asphalt or wheelchair ramps to visit the stunning majesty of their outback. After choosing the “road less taken” that traveled down a small hill and meandered dangerously close to the banks of Sugar Lake, we finally emerged to a much wider, but still gravel road that led us about 20 miles to a tiny road marker and sign to Rainbow Falls.
When at last the narrow cedar-lined road opened into a wide parking area, we were surprised to find a van camper and a pickup camper with BC plates there ahead of us. The two gray-headed Canadians from the van camper were just entering the trail to the falls with their trusty ski pole walking sticks in hand. They obviously had ten years on us, yet they were blithely taking what had been described in our booklet as an easy 5 to 10 minute walk to the falls armed with backpacks and walking sticks. I think they must have been there before because when Frank finally got to the falls, they were already on the viewing platform and told him about a less apparent higher platform up a rather rugged little root tangled trail. They were off into unmarked territory along the river before Peanut and I arrived to take in the grandly misty mighty rainbow falls.
My mouth hung open in awe, and I agreed, for once, with the description in our booklet, “it’s well worth the trip!” We took lots of pictures and videos so you can hear the falls if you want to someday when we catch you off guard with our computer in hand. And that my dear friends, pretty much sums up yesterday’s unexpected back roads day trip.
We arrived at the trailer to find our electricity out due to some incident just south of the campground. It was off until 9:00 p.m., so we read our novel, and since Frank fell asleep, I attempted to bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with walnuts sans a recipe, using Bisquick for the flour and baking powder part. Thank goodness for battery powered lights and propane stove! The cookies turned out great! I just had one for breakfast. It looks overcast today, so don’t know if we’ll get our m/c ride in or not.
Keep tuning in for more exciting episodes of Great Canadian Wilderness Explorers – Love, Frank, The Nameless One, Peanut and Cleo
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Wednesday Morning Musings
Frank: We just had a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, pan fried potatoes and onions, and fresh baked biscuits. I still marvel at how well the appliances in this camper work. The refrigerator and freezer are cold and efficient automatically working on either electric or gas, the microwave is quieter and easier to use than the one at home, the stove and oven get hotter than heck even though they are propane, and the water heater gives us (almost) boiling hot water within a few minutes of turning it on. The built in heating and air conditioning keep us comfortable no matter what is happening outside and we are as snug as bugs in a rug. All in all, RV’ing is not a bad deal.
Yesterday we went to the rally and registered. While there we found that the camp operators or the rally organizers had put the tent campers into the RV sites which have electrical and water hook-ups, and put the RVs into an open field with no hook-ups and are charging $15 per person in each RV to boot. For us that would be $30 per night with no hook-ups rather than the $28 per night we’re paying for a site with water, electric, and sewer. I don’t understand the logic at the rally site but I’m not about to ask, as putting on a National Rally takes two years of hard work and they don’t need my questions. I may be the founder of the club but I no longer hold any position to question how the club operates.
My Norton is vexing me a bit. The speedo died, the left side cover came unhooked twice (thankfully it didn’t come off) and the sidestand left for places unknown on the ride to Lumby. I think the sidestand spring came loose and the stand dragged on the ground and at some point snapped the pivot bolt. I heard it when it happened but thought the center-stand had lost its spring (it has happened before) and was dragging. So I was surprised when I finally was able to pull over and found the sidestand gone. That’s a new one on me. This morning I will call some of my vendors and see if anyone can FedEx me a new side stand and mounting bolt.
Cheryl: Today we thought we might go on a m/c ride to Needles and cross the river on the largest free ferry in North America, but Frank wanted to attend the INOA officers meeting, the chapter meeting and the tech session. We’ll probably do that ride east on Highway 6 on our own since we’re staying through the weekend (if I have my way!). There is a music festival Saturday and Sunday so I’d like to hang around for that.
The puppies have been waking us up with kisses about 5:30 a.m., so one of us is up and out walking the dogs fairly early in the morning. The dog walk goes up a hill and into the woods, so it’s a pleasant morning walk. This morning I spotted bear droppings on the trail and Cleo refused to go any further under her own power. After dog walkin' and checking out where the bear had his breakfast foraging in the trash right behind our trailer, I scurried home for coffee and breakfast.
Yesterday we took off for Lumby on the bike around 10:00 a.m. I’d much rather do Highway 6 on the back of the bike than in the truck. It’s very up and down and curvy, so it’s fun on the bike, but that Dodge truck just doesn’t have a smooth ride that I can enjoy on a road like that. Except for a tense moment when the side cover vibrated itself loose, the ride into Lumby gave Frank a chance to let the Norton just fly, and fly we did! The day was in the 80s, blue sky and just a hint of a breeze. We got our t-shirts, rally pins, maps, wrist bands, and info and met up with Susie Greenwald, the current and beloved president of the INOA. We strolled around the campground looking at bikes and then stopped at Anna’s Pizza for a quick lunch that we ate outside on a bench in the park where we could watch the Nortons zoom past.
We lolly-gagged the afternoon away back at the trailer and then decided to run back into Lumby in the late afternoon. Frank suggested taking the truck, but I wanted to go on the bike again. We stopped when the side stand decided to leave the bike and noticed some dark clouds looming above us. It was sunny all around, so we decided to continue on to Lumby since we were only 10 minutes away. Just as we entered Lumby the first rain drops hit, and by the time we parked the bike and ran for the registration canopy, rain was coming down in buckets. We stood for about an hour under the canopy talking with the Canadian organizers of the rally. Of course, we hadn’t brought our rain suits AGAIN, so we were worried about the trip back to Cherryville we might have to make in this deluge. And then the rain cleared, WHEW! So we walked over to a restaurant in town for supper while the bike dried out. We had scrumptious food at a German restaurant and brought our parsley boiled potatoes home in a piece of foil to frizzle for breakfast. Yummmm! Our dinner in the local pub on Saturday was splendid as well, so I’m thinking we should eat out as often as possible while we’re here, right?
The ride back to the trailer after dinner assaulted our senses with the soft air after the rain filled with the scent of new mown hay swirling around us. Sigh. “It don’t get no better’n this!”
Oh yes, I forgot to mention we ran into Josie our young friend who dog-sat for us at last year’s rally. At 18, she’s full of youthful exuberance and a pleasure to be around. At one of the recent rallies, Frank, Josie, Susie, and I danced up a storm. This year’s dance to be held in the Lumby Town Hall on Friday night promises to be even more fun. There are posters all over town offering tickets to the town folk, so it should be quite a large affair with live music of all kinds.
Well, I think I’ll find a woodland trail to keep the puppies and me busy until Frank gets home. More tomorrow from the exciting world of crazy cyclists, who sit astride 36 year old motorcycles on roads begging to be ridden flat out. Always remember and never forget, “Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.”
Love, Evel Knievel, Annie Oakley, Trigger and Buttermilk
Yesterday we went to the rally and registered. While there we found that the camp operators or the rally organizers had put the tent campers into the RV sites which have electrical and water hook-ups, and put the RVs into an open field with no hook-ups and are charging $15 per person in each RV to boot. For us that would be $30 per night with no hook-ups rather than the $28 per night we’re paying for a site with water, electric, and sewer. I don’t understand the logic at the rally site but I’m not about to ask, as putting on a National Rally takes two years of hard work and they don’t need my questions. I may be the founder of the club but I no longer hold any position to question how the club operates.
My Norton is vexing me a bit. The speedo died, the left side cover came unhooked twice (thankfully it didn’t come off) and the sidestand left for places unknown on the ride to Lumby. I think the sidestand spring came loose and the stand dragged on the ground and at some point snapped the pivot bolt. I heard it when it happened but thought the center-stand had lost its spring (it has happened before) and was dragging. So I was surprised when I finally was able to pull over and found the sidestand gone. That’s a new one on me. This morning I will call some of my vendors and see if anyone can FedEx me a new side stand and mounting bolt.
Cheryl: Today we thought we might go on a m/c ride to Needles and cross the river on the largest free ferry in North America, but Frank wanted to attend the INOA officers meeting, the chapter meeting and the tech session. We’ll probably do that ride east on Highway 6 on our own since we’re staying through the weekend (if I have my way!). There is a music festival Saturday and Sunday so I’d like to hang around for that.
The puppies have been waking us up with kisses about 5:30 a.m., so one of us is up and out walking the dogs fairly early in the morning. The dog walk goes up a hill and into the woods, so it’s a pleasant morning walk. This morning I spotted bear droppings on the trail and Cleo refused to go any further under her own power. After dog walkin' and checking out where the bear had his breakfast foraging in the trash right behind our trailer, I scurried home for coffee and breakfast.
Yesterday we took off for Lumby on the bike around 10:00 a.m. I’d much rather do Highway 6 on the back of the bike than in the truck. It’s very up and down and curvy, so it’s fun on the bike, but that Dodge truck just doesn’t have a smooth ride that I can enjoy on a road like that. Except for a tense moment when the side cover vibrated itself loose, the ride into Lumby gave Frank a chance to let the Norton just fly, and fly we did! The day was in the 80s, blue sky and just a hint of a breeze. We got our t-shirts, rally pins, maps, wrist bands, and info and met up with Susie Greenwald, the current and beloved president of the INOA. We strolled around the campground looking at bikes and then stopped at Anna’s Pizza for a quick lunch that we ate outside on a bench in the park where we could watch the Nortons zoom past.
We lolly-gagged the afternoon away back at the trailer and then decided to run back into Lumby in the late afternoon. Frank suggested taking the truck, but I wanted to go on the bike again. We stopped when the side stand decided to leave the bike and noticed some dark clouds looming above us. It was sunny all around, so we decided to continue on to Lumby since we were only 10 minutes away. Just as we entered Lumby the first rain drops hit, and by the time we parked the bike and ran for the registration canopy, rain was coming down in buckets. We stood for about an hour under the canopy talking with the Canadian organizers of the rally. Of course, we hadn’t brought our rain suits AGAIN, so we were worried about the trip back to Cherryville we might have to make in this deluge. And then the rain cleared, WHEW! So we walked over to a restaurant in town for supper while the bike dried out. We had scrumptious food at a German restaurant and brought our parsley boiled potatoes home in a piece of foil to frizzle for breakfast. Yummmm! Our dinner in the local pub on Saturday was splendid as well, so I’m thinking we should eat out as often as possible while we’re here, right?
The ride back to the trailer after dinner assaulted our senses with the soft air after the rain filled with the scent of new mown hay swirling around us. Sigh. “It don’t get no better’n this!”
Oh yes, I forgot to mention we ran into Josie our young friend who dog-sat for us at last year’s rally. At 18, she’s full of youthful exuberance and a pleasure to be around. At one of the recent rallies, Frank, Josie, Susie, and I danced up a storm. This year’s dance to be held in the Lumby Town Hall on Friday night promises to be even more fun. There are posters all over town offering tickets to the town folk, so it should be quite a large affair with live music of all kinds.
Well, I think I’ll find a woodland trail to keep the puppies and me busy until Frank gets home. More tomorrow from the exciting world of crazy cyclists, who sit astride 36 year old motorcycles on roads begging to be ridden flat out. Always remember and never forget, “Keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down.”
Love, Evel Knievel, Annie Oakley, Trigger and Buttermilk
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Photos: OK!!!!
I was usung the "New, Update" Blogspot Software.
I went back to the "Old" version and photo posting works OK.
Some Photos from the last few days. Not.
Here are a few photos we've been meaning to Post:
Oooops. It seems Blogspot has lost the ability to post photos.
I'll try again later.
F.
Oooops. It seems Blogspot has lost the ability to post photos.
I'll try again later.
F.
Dumb Decisions, Mis-Adventures, Surviving Same.
07-19-2010 Monday Revisited or Down the Rabbit Hole!
Cheryl: It’s 8:00 p.m. and Frank is snoring away peacefully because he drove for three hours on a really, really nasty forest logging road! It all started with an innocent left turn after driving 36 very curvy miles to visit the not so lovely marina at Mabel Lake (a very, very, very BIG Canadian lake that would be fabulous if you had a boat to take out on the water, duh, like we don’t). Anyway, the “warning” sign said if you go left here from the Mabel Lake Marina, you will be on a forest service road/not maintained/used heavily by logging trucks. However, on the map, the little black dotted lines show this road going easily from where we were to where we wanted to be next. Therefore, we turned left, trusting our sturdy Dodge 4-wheel drive truck to take us any damn where we wanted to go. So there!
Here’s where Cheryl lost it, about an hour and a half of curvy road with big tall trees crowding either side and an occasional view of a blue very large lake through the tree trunks. On and on went the intrepid pair and their puppies, bouncing up and down and swerving for pot holes, sometimes pulling over for very large trucks stacked with big, in fact, very big, long lodge poles with the bark still on. Whew! But, the really scary part when Cheryl actually shed a few tears happened when we passed not a single car or truck in a whole hour. Then the road got narrower and narrower, and my friends, Cheryl was ready to walk all the way back to the Mabel Lake Marina. However, ever the adventurer, Frank assured her that civilization was just around the next bend in the hmmmm road? Or was it now a path? Maybe a trail? Yiikes, the lake is lapping dangerously close to the left side of the road and then we spot a tent in a little triangle of land next to the lake, but no one is at home. “Can I yell and see if anyone is around?” Cheryl asks. “No!” Frank says, “That would be a sissy thing to do.” Well, maybe he didn’t say exactly that, but I knew what he was thinking. Then we saw a really, really old log cabin with empty windows and doors, so we took its picture a couple of times to make ourselves feel better. In fact, a couple of times we stopped to do things to make ourselves feel better, like when we spotted a rushing mountain steam cascading down the mountain and under the little bridge we drove over. The water looked cleaner than what runs out of our faucet at home. Then there was this little mamma bird on the road in front of the truck. Frank took lots of pictures of her. She wasn’t so little either, about the size of a Roadrunner, but more upright and she had five little guys following her across the road. She had a fan tail and a top-knot and walked sort of like a chicken on downers. It was a giddy moment for me since I temporarily put aside the thought that this road was taking us deeper and deeper into the Canadian wilderness and endlessly around and around this giant forested lake! Ye Gads!!!!
Frank kept reassuring me that the tire tracks ahead of us were fresh, that the little numbered mile markers (we assumed) on the trees were accurate, and that soon we’d hit highway 97 and be home by 6:00 p.m. Then, the real miracle happened since I’d been praying one would – a forest service truck showed up parked along that God-forsaken stretch of road. However, the ranger was missing and again, calling out would be “sissy-like.” So on and on the fearless adventurer drove with his hands glued to the steering wheel and a sure and certain confident expression plastered across his face, while I, clinging to the hand grip by the window and the center console of the truck, had given up being fearless after the first hour and a half, and rode on in abject terror at the outcome. I was sure we were to be the next headline that reads, “Old Man and Wife Found Petrified on Ancient Canadian Logging Road. The sidebar subhead reading, Both Identified as Yanks, It Figures, Eh. And then, just when I was considering what it would feel like to actually be petrified, up ahead a clearing loomed and a car whizzed by on a PAVED highway. Just when you think God is dead, He shows up! Not to mention my brilliant husband, who just kept urging our big Dodge Hemi down that dastardly winding cattletrack.
This posting courtesy of the Canadian Outback Lewis (Frank), who said, “I told you we’d be home by 6:00,” and Clark (Cheryl), who said, “Shut Up,” and their trusty guide dogs, Peanut and Cleo, who remarked, “alls well that ends well, eh.”
07-20-2010 Tuesday AM – A Small, Rough, Pot-Holed, Beat-You-To-Death Road and a Psychotic, Hysterical Woman.
Frank: Headline: "Lost Yanks Photo Rare Bird!" Cheryl was freaked out. She was sure we were going to die. I had made what appeared to be a logical decision to turn left onto a dirt road and take it about 30 KM to intersect with a major highway and then go onto the Canadian Glacier Park. It looked good on paper. It turned out the road, which started out as flat, smooth, well graded hard packed dirt & gravel, turned into a rough, narrow, bumpy, lost forever in the Canadian outback experience. There were long rocky sections with potholes that were axle deep followed by narrow stretches that were literally just two wheel tracks in the grass. At one point we came face-to-face with a humongous log truck and I had to pull over to the left side of the road so he could pass me on the right side. It was so close that after that I folded the side mirrors in against the truck cab to avoid losing them. I was never in doubt we’d make it to the highway OK as long as we kept the lake to our left and stayed on the “main” road. The truck did fine on what turned out to be almost 80 KM of hard four-wheeling, and even if we had had a mechanical problem the tire tracks in the dirt indicated that the road was reasonably well travelled and rescue would have come eventually. Anyway, it was a dumb decision and it will take a bit of time before it becomes a funny story. Remember, “Comedy is tragedy plus time.”
Cheryl: It’s 8:00 p.m. and Frank is snoring away peacefully because he drove for three hours on a really, really nasty forest logging road! It all started with an innocent left turn after driving 36 very curvy miles to visit the not so lovely marina at Mabel Lake (a very, very, very BIG Canadian lake that would be fabulous if you had a boat to take out on the water, duh, like we don’t). Anyway, the “warning” sign said if you go left here from the Mabel Lake Marina, you will be on a forest service road/not maintained/used heavily by logging trucks. However, on the map, the little black dotted lines show this road going easily from where we were to where we wanted to be next. Therefore, we turned left, trusting our sturdy Dodge 4-wheel drive truck to take us any damn where we wanted to go. So there!
Here’s where Cheryl lost it, about an hour and a half of curvy road with big tall trees crowding either side and an occasional view of a blue very large lake through the tree trunks. On and on went the intrepid pair and their puppies, bouncing up and down and swerving for pot holes, sometimes pulling over for very large trucks stacked with big, in fact, very big, long lodge poles with the bark still on. Whew! But, the really scary part when Cheryl actually shed a few tears happened when we passed not a single car or truck in a whole hour. Then the road got narrower and narrower, and my friends, Cheryl was ready to walk all the way back to the Mabel Lake Marina. However, ever the adventurer, Frank assured her that civilization was just around the next bend in the hmmmm road? Or was it now a path? Maybe a trail? Yiikes, the lake is lapping dangerously close to the left side of the road and then we spot a tent in a little triangle of land next to the lake, but no one is at home. “Can I yell and see if anyone is around?” Cheryl asks. “No!” Frank says, “That would be a sissy thing to do.” Well, maybe he didn’t say exactly that, but I knew what he was thinking. Then we saw a really, really old log cabin with empty windows and doors, so we took its picture a couple of times to make ourselves feel better. In fact, a couple of times we stopped to do things to make ourselves feel better, like when we spotted a rushing mountain steam cascading down the mountain and under the little bridge we drove over. The water looked cleaner than what runs out of our faucet at home. Then there was this little mamma bird on the road in front of the truck. Frank took lots of pictures of her. She wasn’t so little either, about the size of a Roadrunner, but more upright and she had five little guys following her across the road. She had a fan tail and a top-knot and walked sort of like a chicken on downers. It was a giddy moment for me since I temporarily put aside the thought that this road was taking us deeper and deeper into the Canadian wilderness and endlessly around and around this giant forested lake! Ye Gads!!!!
Frank kept reassuring me that the tire tracks ahead of us were fresh, that the little numbered mile markers (we assumed) on the trees were accurate, and that soon we’d hit highway 97 and be home by 6:00 p.m. Then, the real miracle happened since I’d been praying one would – a forest service truck showed up parked along that God-forsaken stretch of road. However, the ranger was missing and again, calling out would be “sissy-like.” So on and on the fearless adventurer drove with his hands glued to the steering wheel and a sure and certain confident expression plastered across his face, while I, clinging to the hand grip by the window and the center console of the truck, had given up being fearless after the first hour and a half, and rode on in abject terror at the outcome. I was sure we were to be the next headline that reads, “Old Man and Wife Found Petrified on Ancient Canadian Logging Road. The sidebar subhead reading, Both Identified as Yanks, It Figures, Eh. And then, just when I was considering what it would feel like to actually be petrified, up ahead a clearing loomed and a car whizzed by on a PAVED highway. Just when you think God is dead, He shows up! Not to mention my brilliant husband, who just kept urging our big Dodge Hemi down that dastardly winding cattletrack.
This posting courtesy of the Canadian Outback Lewis (Frank), who said, “I told you we’d be home by 6:00,” and Clark (Cheryl), who said, “Shut Up,” and their trusty guide dogs, Peanut and Cleo, who remarked, “alls well that ends well, eh.”
07-20-2010 Tuesday AM – A Small, Rough, Pot-Holed, Beat-You-To-Death Road and a Psychotic, Hysterical Woman.
Frank: Headline: "Lost Yanks Photo Rare Bird!" Cheryl was freaked out. She was sure we were going to die. I had made what appeared to be a logical decision to turn left onto a dirt road and take it about 30 KM to intersect with a major highway and then go onto the Canadian Glacier Park. It looked good on paper. It turned out the road, which started out as flat, smooth, well graded hard packed dirt & gravel, turned into a rough, narrow, bumpy, lost forever in the Canadian outback experience. There were long rocky sections with potholes that were axle deep followed by narrow stretches that were literally just two wheel tracks in the grass. At one point we came face-to-face with a humongous log truck and I had to pull over to the left side of the road so he could pass me on the right side. It was so close that after that I folded the side mirrors in against the truck cab to avoid losing them. I was never in doubt we’d make it to the highway OK as long as we kept the lake to our left and stayed on the “main” road. The truck did fine on what turned out to be almost 80 KM of hard four-wheeling, and even if we had had a mechanical problem the tire tracks in the dirt indicated that the road was reasonably well travelled and rescue would have come eventually. Anyway, it was a dumb decision and it will take a bit of time before it becomes a funny story. Remember, “Comedy is tragedy plus time.”
Monday, July 19, 2010
Cherryvale, BC – Canada, home of the defenseless
Frank: ‘Tis 6:30 in the morning and the Wi-Fi we found last night is nowhere to be found. Perhaps it will come back to life when the camp office opens. In the meantime here’s a little catch-up. The crossover through Canadian Customs was interesting. First we stopped at the P&D Pub just shy of the border and stored the weapons and ammunition. Then we stopped at the border and the friendly customs officer typed our license number into his computer and pulled up some type of display. Then he asked questions such as; have you been to Canada before (No), what did you do and who did you work for before you retired? (How did he know I was retired?). He seemed nonplussed when I said “Engineer and Motorola”). Do you have any gifts for people in Canada? (No) Do you have any fresh fruits (Only normal groceries). Do you have any weapons (No we left them at the Pub down the street). Finally he handed us a small yellow form and told us to park the rig in a large lot and to take the form into the customs building. We did that and a customs lady asked all the same questions except she really went into detail with the weapons questions down to asking if we were “sure you understand Canadian Law?” She even asked to see the P&D receipt for the gun storage. I have the feeling that their computer displays linked to Arizona and they knew I have a CCW license and they damn well wanted to make sure I was defenseless while in Canada. Then she went away for a while and finally came back and said “Welcome to Canada, have a nice stay,” and we were out of there like a shot. By the way, I’ve stopped wearing my U.S. Air Force cap. In the U.S. it gets nods and good comments, here it just gets stares that feel like “look at the war mongering show-off.” Maybe that’s just my imagination, but it’s staying in the camper for a while.
The drive from the border to Vernon was spectacular! I’ve never seen such BIG beautiful lakes and mountains! I think we may need an updated acronym like ARRBL (A Really Really Beautiful Lake). I’ll let Cheryl describe the drive as she is soooo much better at writing pretty words than I am.
Yesterday when we moved from the camp in Lumby to Cherryville I rode the bike from there to here. Its fifteen beautiful winding bike-friendly miles, and I let the Norton stretch its long legs a couple of times. I think I pushed the limits a little but I’m not sure as I’m still working out the km/h to mph figures. I got to the new camp, parked the bike and went in to do the registration paperwork. When I came out there were TWO RMCP cop cars parked next to the bike! I thought, “Oh Goody, time to be apologetic and stupid about speed limits,” but it turned out they were just stopping at the café next door. T’was an interesting adrenaline rush for a moment though.
Speaking of cops and such, I don’t think this “no guns in Canada” thingy is working out real well for them. The local papers are full of stories of armed robberies, car-jackings, and assaults. It sorta doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy and safe, don’tcha know.
Cheryl: My little ceramic bird whistle perches atop the coffee maker, testifying to a longer-than-one-night stay. I’m very happy we’re here until Saturday morning.
On the west side of us, our little corner of Cherryville has three big pines with “needles” that look instead like ferns. Lying abed I see both windows filled with green pine boughs. Since we really are on the corner, there won’t be another camper there blocking our view as the Cruise America RENT-THIS-RV one to the east of us does. Goldpanner’s campground rents gold-panning equipment to take along on the trails around the camp. Evidently gold mines, both old and new, reside in the hills around here. The maps of the trails on the signs around camp show many river and creek crossings and where to beware of and respect new mining claims. I don’t think I’ll be panning gold, but I’m anxious to walk these trails and see the sights. The puppies can’t wait!
Being 30 minutes from the rally site means I’ll be spending some time here alone while Frank kibitzes with his cohorts at “Norton m/c camp” in Lumby. I do hope to get a ride on the Norton when the rally rides get underway. These roads look like fun, and a guy who lives up here told us about hot springs to check out along the way on Highway 6 that runs right past Goldpanners. He takes his Valkery m/c group on rides here, partaking of the hot springs along the way. I’m in!
The lakes on the way up here took us by surprise. Crossing near Oroville stateside and near Osoyoos in Canada, we immediately found ourselves in the middle of masses of people on white sandy beaches stretched out under multi-colored umbrellas soaking up the sun on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The sidewalks and roads around this tourist Mecca teamed with “flip floppers” carrying coolers and all manner of beach accoutrements. It was a “sun’s-out-for-a-minute-finally-lets-get-in-it-before-winter-sets-in-again” frenzied crowd! I began to pray, “Lord, help us get farther north before we run over some of these pale-skinned Canadians with our trailer.” Making our way further up the road, we discovered this amazing lake goes on for miles and miles and miles, making Lake Powell look like a tiny puddle in comparison! Spectacular doesn’t even begin to describe the mountains reaching deep into the water, the big blue sky above, and the spray being sent up by hundreds of boaters and skiers. You’ve got to visit this area at some time in your life. You just won’t believe it. I thought the US had the corner on beauty. Not so. This area makes me think the Vietnam draft dodgers of the 60s and 70s didn’t really have it so bad after all! God blessed America, but evidently it spilled over the border to the north as well. This area of BC must be known as the land of the lakes because lakes are abundant. The ones running next to the highway make that clear and everywhere there are signs pointing to other lakes back in the woods.
Now on to more mundane pursuits. We did our week’s worth of laundry yesterday putting “loonies” and quarters into the machines. Three loonies in the middle slots flanked by two Canadian quarters in the outside ones marked as follows above the slots QLLLQ. Hmmmm . . . luckily a local guy in the Laundromat enlightened us. L stands for loonies (one dollar coins) and Q for quarters. I’m still trying to get used to the km/h and going 100 which really means 60 mph! So glad US vehicle manufacturers put the kph markings on the speedometer. Do you think, “Gee officer, I guess I must have been looking at the mph dial instead of the km/h dial.” would work on the “Mounties?”
Frank says to tell you that Peanut and Cleo are starting to bark, “woof, eh.”
Lovin’ our neighbors to the north,
Sir Frank, Lady Cheryl, Prince Peanut and Princess Cleo
07-16-2010 Friday (1798 total trip miles)
Frank: OK. So how many times do I have to learn a lesson? Well, obviously more than once, twice, probably thrice and possibly fourthly. For today I once again ran the truck down to fumes and a prayer. This part of the country is just too big to leave any town with less than a half tank of gas and be reasonably sure you’re going to find a gas station that is, a) open, and b) actually has gas. I can’t figure out how the people who live out here get their gas. I mean, if you’re down to half a tank of gas, and it takes half a tank of gas to go buy a full tank and it takes a half tank of gas to get back home, doesn’t that leave you with a half a tank of gas? But in the end it all worked out OK. Yesterday we saved ourselves twice, the first time by gliding into Blackfoot, MT, another of those three building towns out here and then later by stumbling into the Farkletown mini-pumper. And today we staggered into Colevill, WA with at least one and a half gallons still available. On the other hand driving these rural roads is well worth the emotional gas strain. We saw so many beautiful lakes we finally just started using last year’s acronym ABL (Another Beautiful Lake) when the next one drew into view. Do you remember the “PERV” park from last year? You know, Pony Express RV Park in God-Only-Knows-Where-Nevada, with all its seven RV spots on nice flat, no trees, rocky dirt. Well, tonight we’re parked in its close cousin, the Fairgrounds RV Park in Coleville. But it does have hook ups, and we can stand just about anything for one night.
Cheryl: I just talked with my daughter, Stacie, on my cell phone at about 5:30 p.m. and then Frank came back to the truck with news from the “teen” manager at the local Safeway, who told him about an RV Park at the Fairgrounds. To be fair, there are beautiful old cottonwood trees all around us and the grounds are watered and overflowing with nice green grass. The dogs and I have already taken a walk around the place to see the horse stalls and the community garden. All in all it’s a great place for $25 a night with full hook ups (better than last night!), and I’m just grateful we’re not out on some curvy mountain road watching for RV Park signs and worrying about running out of gas! It did break my heart to drive by all those amazing mountain lakes without finding a spot to park the RV and spend the night and maybe an extra day! Never mind, I’ll find a way to get back up here someday and spend some “water and me” time. So far, this trip has been eat, sleep, drive except for the great time we had with our friends in the Madison River Valley. I’m looking forward to crossing the boarder into Canada tomorrow and setting up camp for a week in the little town of Lumby, British Columbia. The rally doesn’t get going until Tuesday next week, so we’ll have a few days to settle in and scout out the area before all the bikers show up. Hopefully, we’ll hook up with old m/c friends and meet some new Canadian ones.
Stay tuned for more exciting “tails” from Maw and Paw Kettle and the two hound dawgs, Peanut and Cleo
The drive from the border to Vernon was spectacular! I’ve never seen such BIG beautiful lakes and mountains! I think we may need an updated acronym like ARRBL (A Really Really Beautiful Lake). I’ll let Cheryl describe the drive as she is soooo much better at writing pretty words than I am.
Yesterday when we moved from the camp in Lumby to Cherryville I rode the bike from there to here. Its fifteen beautiful winding bike-friendly miles, and I let the Norton stretch its long legs a couple of times. I think I pushed the limits a little but I’m not sure as I’m still working out the km/h to mph figures. I got to the new camp, parked the bike and went in to do the registration paperwork. When I came out there were TWO RMCP cop cars parked next to the bike! I thought, “Oh Goody, time to be apologetic and stupid about speed limits,” but it turned out they were just stopping at the café next door. T’was an interesting adrenaline rush for a moment though.
Speaking of cops and such, I don’t think this “no guns in Canada” thingy is working out real well for them. The local papers are full of stories of armed robberies, car-jackings, and assaults. It sorta doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy and safe, don’tcha know.
Cheryl: My little ceramic bird whistle perches atop the coffee maker, testifying to a longer-than-one-night stay. I’m very happy we’re here until Saturday morning.
On the west side of us, our little corner of Cherryville has three big pines with “needles” that look instead like ferns. Lying abed I see both windows filled with green pine boughs. Since we really are on the corner, there won’t be another camper there blocking our view as the Cruise America RENT-THIS-RV one to the east of us does. Goldpanner’s campground rents gold-panning equipment to take along on the trails around the camp. Evidently gold mines, both old and new, reside in the hills around here. The maps of the trails on the signs around camp show many river and creek crossings and where to beware of and respect new mining claims. I don’t think I’ll be panning gold, but I’m anxious to walk these trails and see the sights. The puppies can’t wait!
Being 30 minutes from the rally site means I’ll be spending some time here alone while Frank kibitzes with his cohorts at “Norton m/c camp” in Lumby. I do hope to get a ride on the Norton when the rally rides get underway. These roads look like fun, and a guy who lives up here told us about hot springs to check out along the way on Highway 6 that runs right past Goldpanners. He takes his Valkery m/c group on rides here, partaking of the hot springs along the way. I’m in!
The lakes on the way up here took us by surprise. Crossing near Oroville stateside and near Osoyoos in Canada, we immediately found ourselves in the middle of masses of people on white sandy beaches stretched out under multi-colored umbrellas soaking up the sun on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The sidewalks and roads around this tourist Mecca teamed with “flip floppers” carrying coolers and all manner of beach accoutrements. It was a “sun’s-out-for-a-minute-finally-lets-get-in-it-before-winter-sets-in-again” frenzied crowd! I began to pray, “Lord, help us get farther north before we run over some of these pale-skinned Canadians with our trailer.” Making our way further up the road, we discovered this amazing lake goes on for miles and miles and miles, making Lake Powell look like a tiny puddle in comparison! Spectacular doesn’t even begin to describe the mountains reaching deep into the water, the big blue sky above, and the spray being sent up by hundreds of boaters and skiers. You’ve got to visit this area at some time in your life. You just won’t believe it. I thought the US had the corner on beauty. Not so. This area makes me think the Vietnam draft dodgers of the 60s and 70s didn’t really have it so bad after all! God blessed America, but evidently it spilled over the border to the north as well. This area of BC must be known as the land of the lakes because lakes are abundant. The ones running next to the highway make that clear and everywhere there are signs pointing to other lakes back in the woods.
Now on to more mundane pursuits. We did our week’s worth of laundry yesterday putting “loonies” and quarters into the machines. Three loonies in the middle slots flanked by two Canadian quarters in the outside ones marked as follows above the slots QLLLQ. Hmmmm . . . luckily a local guy in the Laundromat enlightened us. L stands for loonies (one dollar coins) and Q for quarters. I’m still trying to get used to the km/h and going 100 which really means 60 mph! So glad US vehicle manufacturers put the kph markings on the speedometer. Do you think, “Gee officer, I guess I must have been looking at the mph dial instead of the km/h dial.” would work on the “Mounties?”
Frank says to tell you that Peanut and Cleo are starting to bark, “woof, eh.”
Lovin’ our neighbors to the north,
Sir Frank, Lady Cheryl, Prince Peanut and Princess Cleo
07-16-2010 Friday (1798 total trip miles)
Frank: OK. So how many times do I have to learn a lesson? Well, obviously more than once, twice, probably thrice and possibly fourthly. For today I once again ran the truck down to fumes and a prayer. This part of the country is just too big to leave any town with less than a half tank of gas and be reasonably sure you’re going to find a gas station that is, a) open, and b) actually has gas. I can’t figure out how the people who live out here get their gas. I mean, if you’re down to half a tank of gas, and it takes half a tank of gas to go buy a full tank and it takes a half tank of gas to get back home, doesn’t that leave you with a half a tank of gas? But in the end it all worked out OK. Yesterday we saved ourselves twice, the first time by gliding into Blackfoot, MT, another of those three building towns out here and then later by stumbling into the Farkletown mini-pumper. And today we staggered into Colevill, WA with at least one and a half gallons still available. On the other hand driving these rural roads is well worth the emotional gas strain. We saw so many beautiful lakes we finally just started using last year’s acronym ABL (Another Beautiful Lake) when the next one drew into view. Do you remember the “PERV” park from last year? You know, Pony Express RV Park in God-Only-Knows-Where-Nevada, with all its seven RV spots on nice flat, no trees, rocky dirt. Well, tonight we’re parked in its close cousin, the Fairgrounds RV Park in Coleville. But it does have hook ups, and we can stand just about anything for one night.
Cheryl: I just talked with my daughter, Stacie, on my cell phone at about 5:30 p.m. and then Frank came back to the truck with news from the “teen” manager at the local Safeway, who told him about an RV Park at the Fairgrounds. To be fair, there are beautiful old cottonwood trees all around us and the grounds are watered and overflowing with nice green grass. The dogs and I have already taken a walk around the place to see the horse stalls and the community garden. All in all it’s a great place for $25 a night with full hook ups (better than last night!), and I’m just grateful we’re not out on some curvy mountain road watching for RV Park signs and worrying about running out of gas! It did break my heart to drive by all those amazing mountain lakes without finding a spot to park the RV and spend the night and maybe an extra day! Never mind, I’ll find a way to get back up here someday and spend some “water and me” time. So far, this trip has been eat, sleep, drive except for the great time we had with our friends in the Madison River Valley. I’m looking forward to crossing the boarder into Canada tomorrow and setting up camp for a week in the little town of Lumby, British Columbia. The rally doesn’t get going until Tuesday next week, so we’ll have a few days to settle in and scout out the area before all the bikers show up. Hopefully, we’ll hook up with old m/c friends and meet some new Canadian ones.
Stay tuned for more exciting “tails” from Maw and Paw Kettle and the two hound dawgs, Peanut and Cleo
Sunday, July 18, 2010
We're in Lumby, stealing electrons...
We're not in Lumby anymore, Dorothy.
We've moved. We weren't happy with the campsite in Lumby so we packed up and moved to a much nicer place in Cherryville. It's about 15 miles and 30 minutes away from the rally site, but it's much, much nicer. So now we get to commute to the rally.
This just a quick post. We'll do more later. It seems this new RV park has Wi-Fi. Yayyyyy!
F.
We've moved. We weren't happy with the campsite in Lumby so we packed up and moved to a much nicer place in Cherryville. It's about 15 miles and 30 minutes away from the rally site, but it's much, much nicer. So now we get to commute to the rally.
This just a quick post. We'll do more later. It seems this new RV park has Wi-Fi. Yayyyyy!
F.
Friday, July 16, 2010
We're back !!! We found electrons......
We're in Libby, MT, parked on a side stree,t piggybacking on the wireless network of the Evergreen Motel. Here's a few days musings.....
07-15-2010 Thursday PM (1515 trip miles)
Frank: Greetings from Marion, MT., (aka Farkletown, MT) about 70 miles east of Libby, MT. We’re in the Moose Dropping . . . err . . . Moose Crossing RV (aka Farkletown RV) Park. It’s 9PM and we just got here. The old “In the park before dark” admonition just didn’t work out today. We didn’t see more than 4 or 5 RV parks since we left Helena and all of those were stealth parks tucked out of sight off the road with small non-descript signs that said, “You have just missed our RV Park and there’s no place to turn around for the next bazillion miles, ha, ha, ha!” We only found this place because gas stations are even more scarce than RV parks so we stopped at a little 2-pump Farklegas station and paid a bazillion dollars a gallon to bring the fuel gauge to up above the bone dry and dying level. I took a chance and asked the attendant if there was an RV Park anywhere around and he pulled the piece of straw out of his mouth, spat a stream of tobacco, scratched his ass and said, “yup, they’s one about half a mile down yonder.” Since we were heading yonder direction we put the truck in go-slow and crept past the “You just missed another one . .” sign and snuck up to the office before they had a chance to lock the door. So here we sit, in the woods, on top of a mountain with 4-engine mosquitoes pounding at the screens. Boy, it don’t get no better than this!
07-15-2010 Thursday
The two-hour Brewery Follies at the Brewery in Virginia City yesterday afternoon lived up to its billing with off-color jokes and insults for almost every political and ethnic group. We sat in the front row and became part of the show as the four actors launched themselves into the audience. The poor guy on my left got most of the attention and the actors gave tribute to his good humor at the close of the performance. Frank had a long-legged gal perched on his lap singing a song for awhile and during the second act I became part of a Tom Jones parody. One of the actors reminded us strongly of Steve Martin, and he nailed every impression he attempted like Lawrence Welk and Mr. Rogers, Bill Cosby among many. One of the gals did Sarah Palin to a T. We both had a great time and laughed our heads off. All the comedy routines were new to us, funny, both bright and bawdy, and exceptionally well performed. We’d also love to see the other troop of actors, who do the night show at 8:00 p.m. We’ve come to love the Madison River Valley and hope to return to see them another day. We didn’t hook up with our friends yesterday, but had coffee in a sweet cowboy coffee shop with them this morning before leaving town. We brought Brewery Follies beer glasses for them, and they gave us a bag of their favorite paperbacks to read on the trip. Thanks so much Pam and Rick for your Montana hospitality. I’m writing this around noon in a Wall Mart parking lot in Helena, MT, while Frank shops for various goodies. Still no electrons through our Cricket Internet connection so looks like email and blogging will have to wait yet again for another venue.
07-14-2010 Wednesday – Virginia City – Nevada City – Brewery Gulch Players
Cheryl: Today we slept late – ha! – I was walking the dogs at 6:30 a.m. However we did a slow “get-going,” and then drove the curvy road up to Virginia City where we got some smashed pennies for Frank’s grandchildren and some “not so very good” pizza for lunch. Then we drove a few more miles north to Nevada City where the smashed penny machine was broken, and Cheryl ate lunch having refused the heat-lamp pizza offered earlier. Since we’ve been here before, we skipped the tourist scene and drove up to boot hill and then the Nevada City Cemetery to read tombstones, exclaiming over the number of little ones who died in the 1800s. One family had three children buried there. After that sobering journey, we decided to book seats for some entertainment at 4:00 p.m. at the Brewery. The show is billed as a raucous “Saturday Night Live” performance where children must be counseled and adults arrive with a thick skin and a good sense of humor. More on the quality of the performance later when we have electrons to post our recent missives.
Thursday we plan to drive toward Washington taking the scenic route all the way from Ennis and crossing at (Oroville) a different place than we originally planned. We won’t make it to the boarder tomorrow (only to Kalispell, Idaho), and we’re planning to skip Spokane altogether. How’s that for “seat of the pants” planning! It will be great to stay off the boring freeway and see some pretty country on our way, and we have plenty of time to make our July 18th crossing.
Keep forgetting to tell you that way back in Utah we saw signs similar to the old Burma Shave jingles that read, “We played marbles We climbed trees
Today all the kids Need batteries.”
07-13-2010 Tuesday – Idaho to Montana
Cheryl: We enjoyed the exhibits and video at the Idaho Falls museum and learned that dogs evolved from wolves who began eating from the leftovers near the communities where humans settled. Those dogs fearless enough to come close to the humans got the most food, lost their fear of humans, flourished and reproduced producing over time domestic dogs whose DNA altered into various breeds hardly recognizable as descendants of wolves. As humans learned to use dogs to hunt for game and keep communities free from vermin, characteristics of the breeds altered to adapt to the best attributes for the tasks at hand. This traveling exhibit also had a set of “dog ears” to let us hear what dogs hear. We put our heads between the 18 inch tall fiberglass ears, and rotated. We could hear the sounds of termites in a case about 20 feet away from where the “dog ears” were stationed. Listening with human ears, we couldn’t hear a thing. The other exhibits told the history of Idaho and old panoramic photos showed the length of the half mile long Idaho Falls. While the falls are extremely wide, making their way through the center of town, they are not very high. A grassy park full of flowers extends the length of the falls from the central bridge along the river. A paved path gives tourists, bicyclists and joggers a place to enjoy the view of a stark white Mormon Temple rising above the river. We’ll include a picture here as I’m sure my words haven’t described it to your satisfaction.
We haven’t found any electrons to post our blog so I’m writing this on Wednesday morning. This morning we had French toast rustled up by Chef F. Del Monte and made from cinnamon bread purchased in Historic Old Town Pocatello, Idaho. We’re nestled into our favorite Ennis RV Park, surrounded by snow-topped mountains and green valleys cut through by trout-filled rivers. We met our friends, Pam and Richard, last night for dinner in Virginia City about 15 miles northwest of Ennis. The food was excellent and the conversation even better. After dinner we strolled along the boardwalk of this old western town and ducked into a store with racks of clothes newly sewn from Vintage patterns. There were vests and top hats for men and long dresses with tiny buttons, wide-brimmed hats and button up shoes for women. Pam and I fell in love with the delicate fringed capes made in China, but looking just right for the local dance hall. There were also handmade fans of lace and feathers perfect for flirting with cowboys. A good time was had by all, and it was still light outside at 9:30 p.m. when we arrived back at the trailer. It’s amazing how long the days are here in the upper Northwest.
So long until we can find some electrons to post this and Wednesday’s adventures yet to come.
Love from the Long Branch,
Matt, Miss Kitty, and Festus and Docett, the Gunsmoke puppies
07-15-2010 Thursday PM (1515 trip miles)
Frank: Greetings from Marion, MT., (aka Farkletown, MT) about 70 miles east of Libby, MT. We’re in the Moose Dropping . . . err . . . Moose Crossing RV (aka Farkletown RV) Park. It’s 9PM and we just got here. The old “In the park before dark” admonition just didn’t work out today. We didn’t see more than 4 or 5 RV parks since we left Helena and all of those were stealth parks tucked out of sight off the road with small non-descript signs that said, “You have just missed our RV Park and there’s no place to turn around for the next bazillion miles, ha, ha, ha!” We only found this place because gas stations are even more scarce than RV parks so we stopped at a little 2-pump Farklegas station and paid a bazillion dollars a gallon to bring the fuel gauge to up above the bone dry and dying level. I took a chance and asked the attendant if there was an RV Park anywhere around and he pulled the piece of straw out of his mouth, spat a stream of tobacco, scratched his ass and said, “yup, they’s one about half a mile down yonder.” Since we were heading yonder direction we put the truck in go-slow and crept past the “You just missed another one . .” sign and snuck up to the office before they had a chance to lock the door. So here we sit, in the woods, on top of a mountain with 4-engine mosquitoes pounding at the screens. Boy, it don’t get no better than this!
07-15-2010 Thursday
The two-hour Brewery Follies at the Brewery in Virginia City yesterday afternoon lived up to its billing with off-color jokes and insults for almost every political and ethnic group. We sat in the front row and became part of the show as the four actors launched themselves into the audience. The poor guy on my left got most of the attention and the actors gave tribute to his good humor at the close of the performance. Frank had a long-legged gal perched on his lap singing a song for awhile and during the second act I became part of a Tom Jones parody. One of the actors reminded us strongly of Steve Martin, and he nailed every impression he attempted like Lawrence Welk and Mr. Rogers, Bill Cosby among many. One of the gals did Sarah Palin to a T. We both had a great time and laughed our heads off. All the comedy routines were new to us, funny, both bright and bawdy, and exceptionally well performed. We’d also love to see the other troop of actors, who do the night show at 8:00 p.m. We’ve come to love the Madison River Valley and hope to return to see them another day. We didn’t hook up with our friends yesterday, but had coffee in a sweet cowboy coffee shop with them this morning before leaving town. We brought Brewery Follies beer glasses for them, and they gave us a bag of their favorite paperbacks to read on the trip. Thanks so much Pam and Rick for your Montana hospitality. I’m writing this around noon in a Wall Mart parking lot in Helena, MT, while Frank shops for various goodies. Still no electrons through our Cricket Internet connection so looks like email and blogging will have to wait yet again for another venue.
07-14-2010 Wednesday – Virginia City – Nevada City – Brewery Gulch Players
Cheryl: Today we slept late – ha! – I was walking the dogs at 6:30 a.m. However we did a slow “get-going,” and then drove the curvy road up to Virginia City where we got some smashed pennies for Frank’s grandchildren and some “not so very good” pizza for lunch. Then we drove a few more miles north to Nevada City where the smashed penny machine was broken, and Cheryl ate lunch having refused the heat-lamp pizza offered earlier. Since we’ve been here before, we skipped the tourist scene and drove up to boot hill and then the Nevada City Cemetery to read tombstones, exclaiming over the number of little ones who died in the 1800s. One family had three children buried there. After that sobering journey, we decided to book seats for some entertainment at 4:00 p.m. at the Brewery. The show is billed as a raucous “Saturday Night Live” performance where children must be counseled and adults arrive with a thick skin and a good sense of humor. More on the quality of the performance later when we have electrons to post our recent missives.
Thursday we plan to drive toward Washington taking the scenic route all the way from Ennis and crossing at (Oroville) a different place than we originally planned. We won’t make it to the boarder tomorrow (only to Kalispell, Idaho), and we’re planning to skip Spokane altogether. How’s that for “seat of the pants” planning! It will be great to stay off the boring freeway and see some pretty country on our way, and we have plenty of time to make our July 18th crossing.
Keep forgetting to tell you that way back in Utah we saw signs similar to the old Burma Shave jingles that read, “We played marbles We climbed trees
Today all the kids Need batteries.”
07-13-2010 Tuesday – Idaho to Montana
Cheryl: We enjoyed the exhibits and video at the Idaho Falls museum and learned that dogs evolved from wolves who began eating from the leftovers near the communities where humans settled. Those dogs fearless enough to come close to the humans got the most food, lost their fear of humans, flourished and reproduced producing over time domestic dogs whose DNA altered into various breeds hardly recognizable as descendants of wolves. As humans learned to use dogs to hunt for game and keep communities free from vermin, characteristics of the breeds altered to adapt to the best attributes for the tasks at hand. This traveling exhibit also had a set of “dog ears” to let us hear what dogs hear. We put our heads between the 18 inch tall fiberglass ears, and rotated. We could hear the sounds of termites in a case about 20 feet away from where the “dog ears” were stationed. Listening with human ears, we couldn’t hear a thing. The other exhibits told the history of Idaho and old panoramic photos showed the length of the half mile long Idaho Falls. While the falls are extremely wide, making their way through the center of town, they are not very high. A grassy park full of flowers extends the length of the falls from the central bridge along the river. A paved path gives tourists, bicyclists and joggers a place to enjoy the view of a stark white Mormon Temple rising above the river. We’ll include a picture here as I’m sure my words haven’t described it to your satisfaction.
We haven’t found any electrons to post our blog so I’m writing this on Wednesday morning. This morning we had French toast rustled up by Chef F. Del Monte and made from cinnamon bread purchased in Historic Old Town Pocatello, Idaho. We’re nestled into our favorite Ennis RV Park, surrounded by snow-topped mountains and green valleys cut through by trout-filled rivers. We met our friends, Pam and Richard, last night for dinner in Virginia City about 15 miles northwest of Ennis. The food was excellent and the conversation even better. After dinner we strolled along the boardwalk of this old western town and ducked into a store with racks of clothes newly sewn from Vintage patterns. There were vests and top hats for men and long dresses with tiny buttons, wide-brimmed hats and button up shoes for women. Pam and I fell in love with the delicate fringed capes made in China, but looking just right for the local dance hall. There were also handmade fans of lace and feathers perfect for flirting with cowboys. A good time was had by all, and it was still light outside at 9:30 p.m. when we arrived back at the trailer. It’s amazing how long the days are here in the upper Northwest.
So long until we can find some electrons to post this and Wednesday’s adventures yet to come.
Love from the Long Branch,
Matt, Miss Kitty, and Festus and Docett, the Gunsmoke puppies
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
07-12-2010 Monday – Bumphy Roads.
Frank: We’re in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Inspector Clouseau (Pink Panth(er) could never pronounce “Monkey” (Meenky) or “Bump” (Bumph). Today we drove some very “bumphy” roads. We made it from Nephi to Provo OK but then were greeted by a sign that said, “Caution – Road work ahead for the rest of your life.” And it was. The road beat us to death right up to the Idaho boarder where it magically turned smooth. So, yes, do come and visit beautiful Utah, just don’t go north of Provo. Actually it’s not that pretty up here anyway so stay in the lower half of the state below I-70. The rest of the state sucks rocks. We’re in the Snake River RV Park, and I guess that means the Snake River Canyon where Evel Kenevel drove his peroxide powered rocket bike into infamy must be nearby. I’ll try to Google it if and when I can get onto the Internet. Last night at Nephi the RV Park could best be described as “working class.” There were a few C-Class RVs, and the rest were 5th wheelers and campers like ours. Then Humongo-Mongo drove in. It was the biggest A-Class unit I think I have ever seen. I spoke to the owner and told him that when he drove into the park the average value of all the RVs in the place immediately doubled. Then we did the “Where are you from,” and “Where are you off to” exchange and found that they’re from about 20 blocks from us in Phoenix and are also heading up to Canada. I’m not thrilled with this Cricket 3G Modem. Idaho Falls is a pretty big town. You’d think it would be in the Cricket (AT&T I think) network. If anyone is reading these electrons please email me at FJDMJR@cox.net so I’ll know if they are worth continuing.
Cheryl: Yesterday was not our best day on the road as you can see from what Frank wrote. I slept through part of the terrible traffic around Salt Lake and Provo, but endured the bumpy roads without good humor after I awoke at the one and only Rest Stop open in Utah. My legs didn’t want to move as we walked the dogs in the grassy area, and I was groggy and grumpy. Frank got the worst of it yesterday with all that nasty driving in the wind and coping with the bumpy roads. However, we ended the day in a very nice campground with lots of big cottonwood trees and wonderful grassy areas under the picnic tables and throughout the park. They have a nice-looking pool here, but I felt as if I would drown trying to swim last evening. We took a walk around the campground, fixed a quick chicken taco dinner, watched some Firefly on DVD and hit the sack around 10:00 p.m.
Forgot to tell you that we stopped yesterday in Historic Downtown Pocatello, Idaho. It is basically an old 50s downtown trying to make a comeback. We bought a loaf of cinnamon bread at the bakery, walked a few more blocks and bought some sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and a cinnamon twist we ate for breakfast this morning heated up in our trusty trailer oven. It was yummy!
The puppies are being stellar travelers! They hunker down in their beds in the back seat and sleep or sit quietly on the console between us as we drive. I think they miss chasing each other around the house most of all. However, they seem to enjoy all the new places where they get to sniff and pee.
Today, Tuesday as I’m writing, we hope to see our friends, Pam and Richard Lessner in Ennis, Montana, just north of Yellowstone Park. We’ll get there late afternoon and hope to take them out for dinner and have a nice visit. We stayed in a cute RV park there last summer and will head there when we get to Montana. This morning we’re going to leave the puppies in the trailer and head over to the Idaho Museum in town and see an exhibit about the evolution of domestic dogs, From Wolf to Woof. I’d also like to get a picture of Idaho Falls in a lovely park right in the center of town.
Just another day with Willy, On the Road Again,
Frank and Cheryl, Princess Cleo, and King Peanut
Sunday, July 11, 2010
07-11-2010 Sunday - Beautiful Mountains & Red Sand Dunes
Frank: Hello from Nephi, Utah. OK. Can you say, “Spectacularly Beautiful”? Well, if you can you’ve just described Utah. It is magnificent, and even (dare I say it) prettier than Arizona. The mountains are tall and craggy like Arizona but the “desert” is green and covered in lush desert plants, flowers, and grass. We both think this would be a wonderful state to live in right up to the point when we think about the winter weather. I mean, the roofs of all the houses are steeply pitched so the snow will slide off. That means it gets a whole bunch of cold up here, and I don’t do cold well. It’s wonderful how Cheryl “rounds me out.” This morning she saw a sign for the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and said she’d really like to see it. For me pink sand dunes are about as exciting as a root canal, but surprisingly I had a good time. It was fun to take a break and just be a looky-lou-tourist for a while. Utah is a red, white, and blue state that wears its patriotism proudly. Just try to drive through these small towns like Kanab, Panguitch, Circleville, and Maryvale without counting 20 or 30 flags flying proudly from homes, businesses and the tops of bluffs so high you wonder how they got up there to build the flagpole. This is the America Washington, DC needs to come visit.
Cheryl: I have a dear friend, who grew up in Utah. Often she talks of Kanab, St. George, and Panguitch and of the delicate Coral sand dunes in the state park near there. Now I understand that longing in her voice and the faraway look in her eyes when she speaks of those places. We didn’t go through St. George this time although we’ve been there in the past. Driving through the nostalgic towns of Kanab and Panguitch we were struck by the neat and clean appearance of the houses, churches and yards, no doubt a result of the influence of the Mormon Churches which seem to fill a grassy corner lot in each little neighborhood. The streets are wide and clean and the downtown areas remind me of my own hometown during the 50s and 60s. Tiny movie theaters with marquees out front squat right in the middle of a downtown block of store fronts. Perfectly square red brick homes with hip roofs and neatly painted frame ones with pitched roofs mingled with lovely old Victorians with turrets. Wide front porches grace many of the homes and have spindles around their gingerbread roof lines. All this picturesque scenery sits in the middle of a lush agricultural valley surrounded by red sandstone cliffs.
Cheryl: I have a dear friend, who grew up in Utah. Often she talks of Kanab, St. George, and Panguitch and of the delicate Coral sand dunes in the state park near there. Now I understand that longing in her voice and the faraway look in her eyes when she speaks of those places. We didn’t go through St. George this time although we’ve been there in the past. Driving through the nostalgic towns of Kanab and Panguitch we were struck by the neat and clean appearance of the houses, churches and yards, no doubt a result of the influence of the Mormon Churches which seem to fill a grassy corner lot in each little neighborhood. The streets are wide and clean and the downtown areas remind me of my own hometown during the 50s and 60s. Tiny movie theaters with marquees out front squat right in the middle of a downtown block of store fronts. Perfectly square red brick homes with hip roofs and neatly painted frame ones with pitched roofs mingled with lovely old Victorians with turrets. Wide front porches grace many of the homes and have spindles around their gingerbread roof lines. All this picturesque scenery sits in the middle of a lush agricultural valley surrounded by red sandstone cliffs.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Frank: We’re in Kanab, Utah. Following my brother Greg’s sage advice, “In the park before dark,” when we saw a billboard for the “RV Corral” we followed the signs and pulled in at about 4PM. It’s a nice place. All pull-throughs which makes my life easier. It advertises “Free Wi-Fi” but as is with most RV Parks, “It’s not working right now.” I bought a Cricket 3G wireless adapter but it’s showing “no service.” It also showed “No service” when we were in Bisbee over the 4th of July weekend. I’m beginning to suspect Cricket may be big city bound and it’s not going to be of much use to use in all the Podunk towns we’ll be staying in. I’ll give it another try tomorrow.
These words are being written as a Word document. I’ll post them to the blog when and if I ever get on-line.
Cheryl: We drove through some “Monument Valley” type terrain today where the earth showed off all her layers and layers of strata usually hidden beneath the surface. There were giant wind-sculpted “statues” and craggy formations popping up all around us. In places the highway cut through solid rock walls and then snaked out across wide valleys. On the Navajo “res” we saw many hogans mixed in with the trailers and small houses. Lots of roadside stands lined the road with hand-crafted jewelry spread out for sale, and we made our “annual” stop at the Cameron Trading Post where I bought a sweet t-shirt with shiny feathers beaded down the front. It’s 100% cotton cool, and I love it! My goal is to come home with a whole new casual wardrobe purchased in “exotic” places. Instead of Paris, Rome, and Rio, I’ll boast of slacks sold in Kanab, shirts from Lumby, and unmentionables picked up in St. George. It’s just one of the many perks in the life of a trailer vagabond. Another perk is the swimming pool directly across from where we’re parked. I just got back from swimming 20 laps, and the water was more than a little bit nippy compared to our pool in Phoenix. Anyway, it sure helped beat the heat!
Cleo and Peanut have their own fenced area to run around at this RV Park. They met two Scotties and a Golden mix down there today. They’ve been great travelers all day and seem to feel right at home in both the trailer and the truck. They take turns riding on the console in the middle up front. At present they’re both asleep in their little beds.
We stared out our day at 7:30 a.m. with Willy belting out “On the Road Again.” A perfect beginning to a perfectly fine first day out, and we haven’t “killed” each other YET!
More to come from your intrepid wild west travelers.
Frank, Cheryl, Cleo, and Peanut, Esquire
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
July 2010. On the road again, or once more into the breech.
It's July 7th, 2010 and we're getting ready for our third long tour. 2008 was to Pennsylvania, Washington, and points south and west, 2009 was to Colorado, Sturgis, Seattle, and this year we're heading up to Lumby, BC, Canada. We just did a 4 day shake down trip to Bisbee for the 4th of July. All went pretty well and now I'm catching up on a list of "Honey-Do's" and "Wouldn't it be nice if's..."
We plan on leaving on the 10th and being in Lumby a few days before the Norton Rally starts on the 20th. We have our passports all ready, the dog's inoculations and Vet records are all in order, and I've found a place just shy of the Canadian border that will store our guns for us while we're in Canada, home of the defenseless.
We'll write more when we're on the road.
Frank, Cheryl, Peanut, and Cleo.
We plan on leaving on the 10th and being in Lumby a few days before the Norton Rally starts on the 20th. We have our passports all ready, the dog's inoculations and Vet records are all in order, and I've found a place just shy of the Canadian border that will store our guns for us while we're in Canada, home of the defenseless.
We'll write more when we're on the road.
Frank, Cheryl, Peanut, and Cleo.
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