Days 2-3: The Great Basin

One of the best things about RV travel is how it absolutely shakes up what is "normal." There are unexpected delights (and challenges) around every corner. One moment one is exhilarated at the scenery or weather or interesting cultural phenomena in this great country; the next, one is just tired, cranky, and ready to stop driving. But if you're on US 50--the "Loneliest Road"--you kinda gotta keep driving whether you like it or not.

The other aspect of shaking up what is "normal" is what that does to a puppy who loves him his routine. The past 3 days have been an interesting mix of training opportunities, frustration, and delight. We just loved seeing him figure out his first
(a) snow
(b) buffalo (just like old Nicky boy--he barked his head off!)
(c) road work flag person (again, more barking. Mom, why is that lady in the middle of the road?)
(d) flopping fish (that pup jumped 3 feet in the air and 3 feet backward--brave GSD....)

But we think he's getting it. Today's drive was a lot less stressful (although we had about an hour of stress--that's about 3 hours less than days 1 and 2). He slept more, didn't chew up TOO much of the RV (we have lots of chew toys with which to distract him), and he didn't try to open the coach door or climb over the passenger's lap to get out the window TOO much, today. We have learned to find city parks or empty fields in the middle of the day and throw tennis balls, sans leash. We have been diligently training that pup, and while he's not 100% reliable yet, he's just about 99.9% if I've got a tennis ball in my hand. I make sure and always have an extra in my pocket....

So, on to the photos. Right before we left, we upgraded to iCloud (after upgrading to Microsoft Office 2011 and Lion OS X), which means that all the photos we take on our iPhones automatically sync and download to the laptop if we're on wifi. I think we're happy that the National Park CG was full and we're here at a commercial park with free wifi :-)

Day 2: Truckee to east of Ely, NV about 350 miles (too many for pup)
Boy, oh boy are we ever rusty RVers. We got to Truckee and completely forgot to do anything about the fact that it was going to be 25 degrees overnight. No pink stuff in the drains, no cabin curtain up to keep out the drafts, no ceramic heater plugged in, and the Travasak was turned to "summer" side. Geesh! Oh well. No harm, but a lot of rustling around in the middle of the night to get the ceramic heater going.

Turns out that Donner Memorial State Park (a gorgeous gem of a park) doesn't open till Memorial Day. (I'm also rusty on my pre-trip research), so we had to stay at the only commercial CG in the area. (Thank goodness we didn't boondock on night 1--we were just too rusty!) Turned out great, though, because that place is awash in pine cones and branches, pup's two favorite things to play with. He got hours of play at night and in the morning, hauling HUGE branches and chasing tons of pine cones in the forest bordering the park.

The next morning we were up before 6AM, but felt like it took just forever to get going. That rust just keeps showing up.

Once we finally got off, we hit the worst traffic jam in Reno. Road construction (exit ramps closed) plus two bad accidents equals an hour's delay.

Then we hit the road construction in the middle of nowhere (or close to it) on US 50. Sign said "Expect delays of up to 30 minutes." Yup. About right. So, we arrived at Cave Lake State Park close to 6--late for puppy's dinner and ours, too, for that matter. No matter. It's a beautiful place. Let's go for a walk and shake it all off.

Day 3: Cave Lake State Park to Torrey, UT (about 300 miles--better, but still long)
We had hoped to camp in the Fruita campground inside Capitol Reef National Park, set amidst apple orchards, but no soap. All full. First come, first served and we didn't get there till 3:30. But no matter. We've returned to Torrey and a commercial cg with lots of grass and room to play and wifi so we can update the blog and plan the next few days, which are likely to yield no room at state/national parks (weekend). So, we booked a commercial cg in the middle of Moab, Utah--walking distance to the brewery, a killer BBQ place, and probably a town park. We will take in Canyonlands NP, which we somehow missed on our last swing through here (in a car), and we might revisit Arches. But probably not. It's not dog friendly, so we'll probably go to Dead Horse Canyon SP--a gorgeous spot. We may even move on Sunday night to a winery's grounds--there is a Harvest Host in Moab, but we haven't confirmed this.

Then it's eastward bound again on Monday, making our way to our dear friends' home outside of Boulder. Can't wait. Bago has no idea what awaits him. Jim will wear. him. out.

But before I sign off today's blog, a few more pix, including the most unusual campground bathroom ever. My mom used to distinguish between one and two holer bathrooms, but I'm sure she never meant THIS for a two-holer. Talk about forced intimacy....

More Capitol Reef pix tomorrow when we take the 2-hour scenic drive on our way to Moab. I'm betting there will be a lot of red rocks....

Tailwinds

We got a late start yesterday and only traveled to Bakersfield, and then we decided to make the trip to Phoenix in two days, rather than one long one. Turns out that was a good idea.

We passed through four different kinds of weather today:
Fog in Bakersfield but lovely wildflowers
Snow atop Tehachapi Pass
Bright sunshine but huge winds through Barstow
Back to snow in Kingman, AZ

The little iPhone tried to keep up with it all.







The best part of today was the tailwind. As we glided across the California desert, pushed by steady western winds and barely having to use the gas pedal, I was reminded how very many tailwinds we have in our lives. Like our lovely neighbor who offered to bring in our trash cans yesterday after we waited and waited for it to get picked up (and our guy forgot us!). Like our families who gently (usually) push us to become the people we are today. Like our spouses who tackle the jobs we hate to do and thus make our lives so much easier.

Now I understand the Irish blessing even better:

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Impromptu Camping Close to Home

What a great use of the coach! We had a workshop to attend up in Marin County on Sunday--about a 3 hour drive each way. Turns out that we also have a tire appointment in Salinas Monday morning at 8AM. Doing the math...smarter to camp overnight off 101 before Salinas than to drive through Salinas and 20 miles to home, then turn around in morning and drive back in rush-hour traffic those same 20 miles. So, we save 40 miles and irritation to commuters who'd be behind us on our "home hills." (We're a little pokey crossing Laureles Grade's 10% slopes.)

It's a bit odd camping without a fully loaded coach--for example, the one outfit I packed isn't warm enough this morning. It's 55 and verrrry foggy, and I packed for the 80 degree temps we'll be having this afternoon after the summer fog burns off. Oh well. But it's fun to camp 40 minutes from home. Sort of feels like camping in the backyard as a kid....

(Who am I kidding? I never camped in the backyard.)

Of Pies and Men

What a glorious day!

5:30 AM: Time to take the dog out. Sunrise over the lake. 60 degree temps. Gorgeous.
6:15 AM: Post caffeine hike around lake. Got to watch a fisherman get into his "personal fishing vessel"? (not sure what they're called, but the fisherman puts on a wet suit on the bottom + fins and then kind of leans back on an inflatable arm rest kind of thing--half of an innertube--and paddles around fishing. Way cool). Here's our site at 6:15AM--huge sites, paved, full hookups, fire rings--everything!


8AM: Take off for parts unknown: US Route 60 and Julie's personal pie mecca, the Pie-O-Neer in Pie Town, NM.

10:30-noon: Spent a most delicious (in all senses of the word) time in the Pie-O-Neer, a restaurant started by a woman who had been vacationing in the area with her family and found out that Pie Town, NM had no pies. She has wonderfully remedied that problem. Chatted with everybody in there, had gorgeous pie and coffee, got lunch to go (green chile stew and a NM chicken salad pita), and felt like we had known the folks there for years. The place has been the subject of Sunset Magazine articles, Travel + Leisure, Food Network, and even a documentary. Great stop. Plus, US 60 is the most beautiful and empty road we've ever driven on. Pie Town sits on the Continental Divide, and folks there seem fond of saying that "everything is downhill from here." They have a Pie Festival the 2nd weekend in September, with FREE RV camping right across the street. Geesh. We gotta come back--in 2010. (We'll be in Seattle that weekend in 2009.)



But I digress. And I shall digress more, as we keep being confronted this trip by folks who get a wild hair and do something amazing rather spontaneously. Yesterday, we found out that a place in Arizona--"the best preserved impact crater in the world"--had been a state park but in budget cutting efforts had been sold to a private party, who now owns this place which was once a training site for Apollo astronauts. There's an RV park, a gas station, and the once-state-museum. It looked nice, but we balked at the $15 and weren't in the right mood for the tour. So we carried on. Found out from our new friends in Holbrook (Joe and Aggie's) that we should've done the tour. We want to support that person's sort-of-crazy dream. Next time we're through, we will. That and the La Posada Hotel in Winslow. I know we'll be back on I-40 again.

So, Lisa and I are now officially looking for our "Meteor Pie"--that is, a state park with an amazing history that's for sale (who knew that was even possible? It's a metaphor for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity) or our pie, which means, something so obvious that no one has done but that would be something we love. So, Meteor Pie--we're open to finding you.

Back on US 60, we headed down, down, down across virtually nothing till we saw an amazing site: giant parabolas marching across the desert landscape. It was the "Very Large Array"--what kind of scientist named this place? Isn't there a Latin term that's more precise? When I think of science, I think of precision. And "very large" strikes me as not all that precise. But that quibble quickly fades as we tour the amazing, free, and open site. That's the "men" part of the title, as I imagine that most of the inventors of this site (in the 1960s and 1970s) were men. But what vision, creativity, and know-how they had!



America is amazing. You can walk right up to these multi-million dollar (and 230 ton) pieces of equipment and it's free. They ask 25 cents for the walking tour brochure. We donated a dollar because the 9-minute film was killer. After 25 years in the textbook business, I know a good explanation when I see one--and that film explained GOOD (sic).

So, out we walked on the walking tour, being careful to avoid rattlesnakes (lots of signs warning about this). Reached the telescope at the end of the tour. Lisa was feeling queasy about how very large this piece of equipment was when it started to move. ALL of them started to move. Goose bumps, skin crawling, stomach turning.



It makes noise when it has to move a 100-ton parabola (which is being cooled to -437 degrees F all the time). So very cool, so very creepy.





Spending tonight outside of Albuquerque, in a subpar but OK place. Nick hates the desert. We have to drag him out to do his business. (As opposed to him dragging US out at the last campground on the lake).

And Kate, of Cholula Red--ARGH! When I first saw your post (on my iPhone), I didn't read carefully--I read San Antonio and thought "Texas" not San Antonio, NM. Now that we're settled for the night, I see that you meant NM and we were JUST THERE. ARGH! Sorry we missed you by just a few miles. We had our "make miles" blinders on.

But that's nothing like the poor ladies we tried to help today in Pie Town. They needed to get to Durango and thought they were an hour away (and we wondered whether there was a Durango, NM?). Oy vey--they meant Colorado. Look on a map. It's a long, indirect way. They came into the pie shop looking to buy a map, but how did they end up in the middle of US 60 by accident? We all tried to help them, but then had a good chuckle imagining how they ended up in their pickle.

Tomorrow we expect to be pretty boring--just getting to Amarillo. But we may try a Roadfood find for BBQ dinner. It is, after all, a cow town. We're trying to do 300 miles or less per day, so as not to make ourselves sick of driving at the beginning of this long tour.

Maybe we can turn off the (loud) A/C now and have cool mountain air....

Lessons Learned in the Desert

As we usually do, we'll wrap up the trip with reflections and acknowledgments now that we're safely home....

Julie has definitely had enough of the desert for a while. While I do love sunshine, I get that I need/crave/must have green grass and blue water regularly. Crossing the last set of mountains today and heading down toward the Salinas Valley was just such a relief--green hills, even greener ag fields, and trees--real trees. Nick is pretty happy to be out of the desert, too.

However, I am also proud that we stuck with the desert on Friday and didn't let our mutual discomfort with what seemed like bleak terrain and kinda crappy accommodations stop us from doing what we had planned. Bringing yoga practices to the discomfort helped--deep breaths and acceptance of what is. That day ended up being one of our favorites.

Where else could we meet Down Under Barry-- a 50-something (60-something?) time-worn cowboy from Australia who showed us his bio-diesel engine, high performance air filter, and gave us other assorted and sundry tips about driving a diesel?

Where else could we be serenaded by the frog chorus all night long in the middle of one of the driest places on earth? All while walking to and from the star-lit hot springs baths for a mere $33 a night....

And what about that meal at Pastels Bistro? I just finished writing and submitting my Roadfood.com review of it. Hope it gets published. This little place deserves as much business as it can get. Getting to experience someone's commitment to excellence is always a privilege.

I think we might even have to go back to Tecopa Hot Springs. It's such a hoot to hear folks who look sorta like car mechanics or some such shouting out to each other, "Did you do your Watsu appointment already?" or "Didya walk the labyrinth today?"

Just goes to show you that the old saw remains true: you cannot judge a book by its cover, whether that's a person OR a place.

Wed., 11/26: RV "Resorting"

There's a new game in town when it comes to RV-ing. We had no idea. It's the RV uber-resort. The kind of place that has a concierge. Where the pea gravel (not just any old tacky rock gravel) is raked meticulously at each site. Where there's an outdoor fireplace and lounge area. Where the laundry room is also the library and a place you'd actually want to hang out (with a fitness room next door). Where the shower rooms are personal dressing rooms and are so clean you wonder if you're the first person to use them. Where you get a free USA Today and free breakfast. (You can't imagine how good toast tastes when you haven't been able to make toast for 3 weeks.) Our place last night in Las Cruces is a "destination resort" and a snowbird destination--folks are there for months. But we, as overnighters, were welcomed warmly and given card keys (card keys!) to access the various amenities 24/7.

Actually, this isn't really our cup of tea, but it was fun to try. Tonight, we're in a 55+ community (!) with 700+ sites (40 of which are reserved for us overnighters, who don't have to be 55+. Actually, no one asked me my age. Now, I'm wondering if I need to buy more expensive face cream and get my hair colored more regularly....)

It really is neat to learn about all of these alternative communities. The lady who checked us in said that she's a "Camp Host." We've seen these folks at state parks (they get free parking in exchange for helping check in folks), but never at a commercial park. Turns out that she and her husband started full-time RVing right when Katrina hit and drove up the price of diesel, making their dream unaffordable. So, they started hosting. The gig works like this: Work 1 week (mostly checking in late folks like us) and then 2 weeks off. Park gives you free hookups (water, electric, sewer, DSL) and free propane--everything you need to live. What a deal. Something to file away for future years. (I keep telling Lisa that if she meets an untimely end, I'll be a camp host in one hot minute--my favorite thing is hosting ;-)

At any rate, we're in Casa Grande, AZ tonight. We figured out last night that we should rejoin I-40 up in Needles, CA and head home, avoiding LA traffic AND the mudslides and bad weather down there. All we knew that we wanted to do today was to bag another National Park, which we did. Saguaro NP. These plants are amazing--so huge, so old, each one distinct from the next. Here's our favorite "girl" Saguaro:



The desert is beautiful. We toured the eastern part of the park, and it felt like driving through a botanical garden. I wish I had had a macro lens (yes, Jim, I will get one eventually) for the beautiful colors:



And here is a photo that I've sent our rental folks (who asked for photos of where we've been):



So, the BEST part of the day came tonight when we got settled and on email. We had no idea what we'd be doing tomorrow on Thanksgiving--thought we might eat turkey sandwiches in some state park, or maybe a pathetic turkey meal at a Denny's or Cracker Barrel. Here's the wonderful email we received tonight. Another reason we love RVing--the people are just great:

Hi Julie,
Thank you for choosing our resort for your overnight stay. Since you are arriving on Thanksgiving Day, I would like to invite you to our Thanksgiving Dinner that we will be having. We have social hour at 4:00 pm and Dinner is at 5:00pm. If you do not want to join us that is fine but I wanted to invite you anyway. Have a safe trip out here. Mary Bek, owner

Isn't life great?

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. We are grateful to be out in this amazing world of ours, meeting amazing people, and appreciating all the people (that's you) and things that life has to offer.

Love,
Julie & Lisa

Sat. 11/22: Being in the Bayou

Today was a blessedly low-mileage day. The day dawned warmer than recent days, but we were presented with a challenge. Lisa, who is always the first showerer, returned from the facility and said, "If it's not an emergency, I wouldn't recommend the showers." So, I bravely tried the shower on board the RV. It worked great! Skylight above, plenty of hot water, and I generated lots of gray water with which to flush our hose later ;-) Really nice not having to wear shower shoes and do yoga poses to get barely dried off feet through legs of pants without rewetting foot or dragging pants leg on wet (and suspect) bathroom floors.

An aside: I have decided that when we get back we need to film a "Yoga for RVers" video clip to post on YouTube. I will write the script, direct, and film, and Miss Lisa (who is much more advanced in yoga than I) will star. Here is a preview of some of the poses, for those of you familiar with the ancient art:

Stretching Poses:

Cat and Sphinx poses for making the bed from on top of the covers and scootching out backwards. (You can't walk around the bed)

Standing toe balances to reach things in high shelves

Twists when getting underneath the vehicle to hook up sewer hose

Balance Poses:

Tree pose (at least balancing on one leg) for getting dressed in public shower areas

Warrior Three for reaching the odd item in hard-to-reach places

Strengthening Poses:

Half-Moon for turning off lights over the bed without getting into the bed

Downward dog for reaching items in cab of truck from higher-level RV platform

Lunges to try to reach things in cabover area

Warrior One for handing things back in the cab whilst avoiding stepping on dog

OK, you get the drift. We're trying to maintain our yoga practice on the road....

Back to our regularly scheduled day:

We met Lisa's sister and neice for breakfast before departing Morgan City. Witness genetics at work:



Then we traveled north, up the Acadian Trail through real Cajun country. I'm afraid the roads were so bumpy (mostly yesterday) that we had to call our rental company to ask how to repair the roof A/C unit, which was starting to dangle (and rattle) ominously overhead. Lisa affected the necessary repair, of course!

We were attempting to follow a 2004 article from Hemispheres magazine (Three Perfect Days in Acadiana), but found that alot can change in 4 years (and lots of places are closed on the weekend). So, we relied on our tried and true strategy. I went into the Cajun Hall of Fame (I had to buy a CD, of course) and asked the lovely "seasoned citizen" lady who worked there where we should eat.

We took her advice and ended up at the Krazy Cajun. (Our Roadfood gurus would have us believe that one should never eat at restaurants where the "C" has been changed to "K", but this is an exception.) What a hoot. Got there after 2PM (no more lunch plates), but the ladies just chatted our ears off and brought us the most delicious food. I had a Grilled Shrimp Po-Boy on THE best bakery roll ever. Lisa had a 1/2 and 1/2 (catfish and shrimp) and we had the freshest, least greasy, most crunchy onion rings ever. Followed by banana pudding--"it's included with your dinner!"



But you really couldn't beat the ambience of the place, which was created in large part by our hostesses (such Cajun accents!) AND the actual physical decor. What fun! Did Santa bring the present under the tree OR is this fella one of Santa's bayou helpers?



Tonight we're in Westlake (near Lake Charles), LA, preparing for our big drive home. Westlake is apparently a very proud town. Have never seen a sign so big.



Did some loads of laundry and soaked more local color from the camp host. As I was walking back from the laundry house in the dark, which happened to be across his back yard, he called out, "Don't fall in the poo-poo pit" (pronounced "pee-it" since we're close to TX border). I was walking on top of the septic tank.... Hah hah.

But I didn't fall in. Whew. Such adventures we have ;-) Off to a vegetarian, non-fried dinner. It is much needed after a few delicious days of Southern food!

Day 35: The Last Day (and Reflections on the Donner Party)

Spent a lovely Monday at Donner Memorial State Park. What a difference a day makes--no crowds, had the place to ourselves. Contemplated the pioneers once again. First, at the museum during the cheesy 1970s era film and secondly back in a canyon (where dogs were allowed) that was an actual part of the Emigrant Trail. We didn't see any iron marks on the granite, which apparently are still around some 160 years later, but we did see and walk in some swales in the hardpan. Then we dipped our toes in Donner Lake--gorgeous (but brrrr!).

Lots of lessons from the ole Donner Party:
1. Don't believe everything (and everyone) you hear. The Donner Party believed that the Great Salt Desert was 40 miles across.... We can attest that it is not.
2. Sometimes, a shortcut is not a shortcut. (Or there is no such thing as a free lunch.) They went over 100 miles out of their way in the brutal Nevada desert.
3. When it matters, hire an expert. The other wagon trains had professional mountain men guides. Guess who didn't.
4. Don't dawdle or you'll spend the winter ill-prepared in the mountains.
5. Get along with people, or at least have a competent leader who can ensure that people get along. George Donner was in his 60s (back then, an advanced age. Of course, quite young now ;-) and had zero, zilch, nada experience leading such a party. When the families started feuding (as would be natural when so many things went awry), ole George couldn't get things resolved.
6. Good luck is important. Apparently, the winter of 1846 when they were all trapped up in the Sierra eating each other was the earliest and worst winter in 100 years. This base of this statue shows how high the snow was that year--22 feet.



Pretty good lessons to apply to just about everything in life, I'm thinking. Didn't feel too inspired to take photos today, as we are really eager to just get home now. Spent a good chunk of the day cleaning what we can clean until we unload, filling the propane, dumping, um, other things. Getting ready to prepare the last night camping feast--plan to poach some fish on the grill!

Here's our white-trash-with-master's-degrees still life photo. Nice champagne (the upscale part). All-Bran Crackers (the good for you part). Squirty cheese (the white trash part).



Stay tuned for one final post--a review and what our next trip will be.

Day 22: Thoughts on the Human Condition

I now understand the well-spring of all stand-up comedy. People are dolts. I have been pondering this the whole trip, but really for the last week, because the number of signs telling people what NOT to do have been increasing to the point where you just stop, scratch your head, and say: Are people really that dumb? Do they really need to be told what to do and not to do down to the last little thing? Apparently so. This morning, Lisa took Nick out for his morning constitutional. Two truckers started to approach. Lisa told them that Nick wasn't very friendly (our nice way of telling people to back off). They ignored the warning and kept coming, at which point, Nick did his job. The men backed off, acting offended / surprised. Therefore, the need for signs on every square inch of the lovely motel properties we have been calling home these past few weeks. (Boy are we looking forward to a campground soon.)

I wish I had actually captured the language of the signs, but these will give you the flavor:

Do not remove the window screen.

Please protect yourself and us. Call the front desk to dispose of hypodermic needles.

Do not cook in your room. Doing so will result in expulsion. No refunds.

[at the "free" breakfast bar, where there was no real food, just powdered eggs, fake sausage, and high fructose corn syrup laden "goodies"]: Please take only as much food as you can eat. Control your children. Leave food for others. Do not take food back to your room. (These admonitions were actually a full paragraph of text.)

And so many more common sense kinds of things that it's just stunning. I wish I could channel George Carlin for some biting satire, but you'll need to supply that. I'm just sort of amazed.

On the brighter side (I think. It could be viewed as scary, too), there have been a series of white billboards with giant black text that say things like:

Be Grateful.
Be Kind.
Smile.
Be Polite.

Maybe those are correlated with the "don't do stupid things" signs. Not sure.

Off to shower now. Just had to share. We'll be eager to hear any of your theories.

Day 20: North Dakota is NOT for Weenies

Here's the Sunday sunrise (note the oil derrick in the distance) at 5AM from our camper at the Ell's 690-acre North Dakota ranch.



Nick got to enjoy the acreage again and then we went to church—but this Sunday it was a service in the park by Lake Trenton. It was the annual church picnic time. Despite being coated in Avon Skin So Soft mosquito repellant, Herbal Armor, and 98% Deet Off, we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Then one of the parishioners brought a spray bottle of Listerine. It actually worked! Marianne gave an amazing sermon about the gospel parable of the sower. We need to cultivate our lives to allow seeds to grow--be open-minded, be teachable, and not have a too-crowded life. I'll let Lisa share about what else happened that day, once we get the photo to post....

We sure enjoyed spending time on the ranch with the whole extended family. We were welcomed so generously into everything--the home, the church service, and just everywhere we went. It was interesting, too, to learn about the farm/ranch, too:

--Work never stops. The phrase 24/7 was invented during the Internet era, but it is practiced on the farm without any to-do. It just is the way of life.

--Those big round bales of hay we’ve been seeing everywhere (it’s haying season) weigh 1200 pounds. Each. 100 cows eat 3 of those a day. Hence, the endless fields of hay out here. One never knows how long that winter will be.

--Owning land is key out here. It can be rented out (to the oil companies, to cattlemen), it can be lived on, it can be recreated on, other businesses can be built on it, etc. It seems such a part of who everyone is (at least the country folks).

--History is just everywhere. North Dakota wins the prize so far for most awesome interpretive centers. Gorgeous displays, very well-written and engaging text, and knowledgeable teens who are eager to share what they know. We really liked seeing all of the abandoned homestead houses. Wish we could’ve photographed some of these structures, but the roads were narrow and shoulderless. No where to stop. But we enjoyed seeing them and thinking about the hardy souls who lived in those drafty wooden houses out in the prairie wind for 5 years till they owned hte land. Makes you realize what weenies we are today with our insulation and central heat (and defined work weeks).

Off we then went via scenic back roads back to Minot. And for a chuckle, check out the comment on Day 18 from, I presume, the Minot Chamber of Commerce or tourism department!

Day 18: A Morning Thought

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough.
- Mario Andretti

We'll see how this, one of my favorite quotes, plays out today, as we head north to Minot, ND and our motel with a (get this) 48-person hot tub and a 3-story water slide. Whoo-hoo!

Days 11-12: Happy Fourth and Fifth

A retroactive post, as we sit in a comfy motel room, sheltered from a powerful summer thunderstorm, here in Casper, Wyoming....

We arrived at Lee and Mary's gorgeous home in Jackson, Wyoming on Thursday afternoon. We were amazed to learn that they had bought the land in 1969 and renovated it a number of times. It just seemed so perfect the way it is now. Their home is so clearly a labor of love, from the lovingly tended plants and trees outside to the perfectly decorated and scaled interior (fellow lovers of The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live, a book we followed in renovating our house last year). Just lovely.

Here are a few photos from the front yard out to the view (and Mr. Nick was--for the most part--a very good houseguest. Lee and Mary generously allowed us to put Nick in a basement room for a few times so we could enjoy the area and Nick could not boil in the sun. Nick's only offense was shedding--and we vacuumed--and eating a pile of Post-It notes, his personal favorite snack).





The best part about spending time with old friends is how time disappears. These friends attended our wedding in 1996 and we had been friends for a few years before that (including all the electrical help Lee gave us with our first house), but we really hadn't seen each other since 1997--11 years ago. Even though we have all grown and changed, we just caught up and then carried on from there. There really is no "goodbye" in life--just "see you later" to good friends. And here we are at Dornan's Tipis--a really special outdoor eating experience in the Grand Tetons:





Lee and Mary treated us to a tour de force visit. (Some of these photos are just from my iPhone, not the "good" camera. I'm sort of amazed....)

The Fourth of July parade and a stroll around historic Jackson (and please note that I finally was forced into being in a picture!)







The National Wildlife Museum:


Music in the Hole Fourth of July concert. (And, Josh, if you ever read this, we are SO sorry to have missed you in Jackson this year. We were really looking forward to catching up with you, too.)



Backroads and a lovely hike/picnic that included a stop at this gorgeous little Episcopal church (check this out, Reverend Ell!). Here's an exterior and interior shot. The interior shot of the altar strikes me as THE most appropriate altar I've ever seen--exalting the glory of the Creator with a window onto Creation. Very inspiring.





Other thoughts:

Does the Fourth of July make anyone else cry? I get all weepy listening to the Sousa music and the songs for all the branches of our military. I feel both proud of the amazing character of the people who serve us and sad for how our country has chosen not to take the high road--the road of our Constitutional ideals--so many times these past 7 years.

Why does it take visitors to make most people enjoy their own areas? We found this to be true in May when we had a friend from Chicago visit. We so enjoyed hiking in many places around Monterey County and wondered why we didn't do it more often. We heard the same refrain from our friends in Jackson. Why do we let "chores" and "work" restrict our enjoyment of the every day? Ponder that.

I used to love when my mother used to say "You can't get there from here." It was so rarely true in the Midwest, land of the grid roads, that we were amazed. Now, out here in the West--that saying is true more often than it isn't. Jackson Hole really is a hole--surrounded by enormous, gorgeous mountains at every turn. The only way out of the "Hole," or valley, is over a mountain pass. Makes a person appreciate the Midwest.

Some learnings:

--The sign "Break Matches" in Montana that we noted earlier means, we think, that after one lights a match, one breaks it in half with one's fingers. That means the match is cool enough to be tossed on the ground--if your fingers can touch the hot part, then it won't set the woods on fire. Best theory we've heard.

--The signs all over OR, ID, MT, and WY that say "Control Noxious Weeds" refer to things like thistles, which all the grazing cattle can't eat. (We were wondering which weeds, why, and how--now we have at least an inkling. Thank you, Lee!)

That's it from Jackson. We could keep posting photos of the Tetons, but it's just ridiculous. I took a billion photos--the mountains are the most beautiful I've ever seen--but the photos don't capture the mountains.

Day 8 (or Day 1 of Week 2): Rural Montana

How very cool is it to drive through snow-capped mountains, meadows, lake districts AND—get this—a real herd of cows being herded across the road by 2 cowboys and 1 cowgirl on horseback with their 2 herding dogs? We had to stop on the 70-mph 2-lane highway to let the dogs do their jobs. The cows were herded right past Nick’s window. He barked a kind of bark we had never heard before. Must be his shepherding nature. Lisa is bummed she didn’t capture the whole thing on video. Now the cute little Flip video camera is in the front seat, readily accessible, should we be part of another cattle drive or anything as interesting (and as noisy).

The other big news of the day: the heat wave broke. Hallelujah, and I know it’s due to Aelred’s prayers ;-) Every time Lisa drove the heavens opened up, lightning struck, and the air cooled. Nothing like driving over the Continental Divide in a downpour in a 22’ vehicle. But she did great.

Many of you have commented on liking the brain droppings, so we’ll drop some more as we sit happily in our camp chairs, next to our noble steed, in 70 degree weather, surrounded by amazing mountains in every direction (we’re south of Bozeman, MT tonight).

More thoughts about Montana:
--In some places, the road signs say “Game Crossing.” In others (notably national or state wildlife refuges), the signs say “Wildlife Crossing.” Context is indeed decisive.
--How many anti-meth billboards have we seen? Very scary. The main message appears to be “Not even once.” We’ve seen professionally designed billboards and handpainted ones. We’ve read that rural Missouri has the highest rate of meth addiction, but we’re betting that rural Montana is right up there, given all the signs.
--Oh, and does anyone know what a sign saying “Break Matches” means? We saw this multiple times driving down beautiful MT 83, along Swan Lake (gotta love that). Why would a person want to break their matches? Is it after lighting? (which would make some sense, we guess) or Before lighting? (which makes no sense) Please let us know if you know what “Break Matches” means in a forest context. It’s driving us crazy.
--And what is it about casinos (keno and poker) in every bloody gas station? It’s not as if gambling is only allowed on the rez (which it is), it’s as if gambling is as legal everywhere in Montana as it is in Nevada. Can’t find anything in our AAA literature or Montana tourism literature that explains this. Any light you can shed would be much appreciated.
--We generally spend time before we get to a destination reading aloud about it from our various sources: AAA books, state tourism books, clippings, the web. But today we stopped at a historical site to go to the bathroom and eat lunch, After we left, we read about the place where we stopped. Turned out it was a national historic site and we missed all kinds of neat tour opportunities. Got this cool photo, though. Couldn’t capture the lightning in the mountains, though.

--Contemplate this. We passed a drive-in movie theater. Its sign said: Open 9:45 PM, movie starts at dusk. Think about it. It's not even dark at 10PM. The campground we were staying in had quiet hours starting at 10PM, and it was still light. Just amazing how far north we were (farther north than Seattle, although tonight we're about even with Portland).

Day 7: Montana, It Really Is Big Sky Country

Well, we have made it a week on the road. Only 30 days left! In honor of George Carlin--a major influence on me as a child (many of you have heard me recite his bits word for word), I'll just do what he called "brain droppings" today:

--Idaho is the place to be for cheap gas. $3.79.

--Motel 6 is interesting. People drag their cheap room chairs outside and chat with others. I used to joke that I my idea of camping was "Motel 6"--and it's true. It's just like camping--everyone is outside chatting.

--Glacier National Park is nice, but (and maybe we're just not seeing the best parts) it's not our favorite park. Going-to-the-Sun Road is still closed at the pass for a few more days and, we learned kinda late in the game, that we're too wide to go all the way on it anyway. Yosemite and Crater Lake are still favorites. Can't wait to see Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in a few days.....




--The notion about limits (see Day 6) keeps unfolding and getting deeper. Both of us are facing a life right now without too very many limits; we're actually looking for what kinds of limits to choose. It is very clear that the whole conversation around "limits" is what makes them empowering or disempowering. That is, if we say that limits are "restrictive" or that they restrict our "freedom" or some such, then that's what we get. But if we embrace the limits, then they are fun challenges--sort of like how doing a crossword puzzle with its limits is fun. So limits can be a burden or a game; it's simply a choice.

--Usually, I want to live everywhere I visit. I am just a sucker for the grass being greener, and I get all enthusiastic about places--what if I lived HERE? How cool would that be? etc., etc. Well, I have to say that it's pretty clear that Idaho and Montana are not places we would want to live. (Walla Walla was a contender, though ;-) These states are beautiful, but are just full of different kinds of conversations. We have seen more Ron Paul for President posters than anywhere else (and no ads for any other candidates). Gunsmithing and taxidermy--very big occupations out here. Libertarian (which does appeal to me sometimes) and macho (which does not appeal--we passed on the opportunity to have "swinging steak" (i.e., bull testicles) the other day....) So, it's good to know that I don't have to want to live here!

--There's the law and then there's the letter of the law. We needed to find a place to exercise Nick today and we just kept getting thwarted. So, we turned off a state road to a marked fishing spot. What a great find. Public restroom, nice parking lot, along the water, and no one around. We put Nick on his long line leash and then ran him ragged chasing balls. Of course, no one was actually HOLDING the leash, but he was "on leash"....



--I forgot to note the other day that my new favorite sign (and I couldn't pull over to get a photo of it) is this, from Crater Lake:
WARNING:
Falling will cause injury or death. Stay away from cliff edges!
(Nice, obvious lesson in cause and effect.)

Day 6: Heat Brings Contemplation

One good thing about a heat wave--it is predictable. Mornings are cooler than afternoons, so we seized the morning and walked around the Lake Coeur d'Alene at 7AM. We realized that our only opportunity to have a real meal in a restaurant today would be breakfast (since Nick couldn't be in the car during the heat of the day), so we asked a local for a recommendation--always a good idea. The Blue Plate Cafe did not disappoint. Truly delicious breakfast. So then we tooled up the road to Sandpoint and found a lovely state park, Round Lake, to set up camp in for the day in the shade.

Used the time and space to read and make some phone calls. Favorite odd moment of the day was calling Susan Andrews (former HR director of Hampton-Brown). Talked with her for a good five minutes before she said, "I never worked at Hampton-Brown" in response to something I said. Turns out she is Susan Andrews, but is a retiree from Phoenix, not Carmel, CA. Such a weird conversation. I never did find HB Susan, unfortunately.

But sitting in the woods on a hot day, watching great blue herons circle over the deep blue lake, allows for a certain amount of contemplation. Today's riff was on the importance of limits, of restrictions, in creating satisfaction and, possibly, happiness. Many people recommended that we leave the dog at home on this extended journey. And we would really have preferred to leave him at home, but we couldn't. So, we have a trip with a lot of limits and challenges. And the realization is: that's not a bad thing. It actually creates coherence and focus in the kind of trip we create each day. And creating what we do, where we go every day takes a lot of energy. It's actually a bit of a relief to have a certain pool of choices, rather than unlimited choice. We made the analogy to our recent house remodel project. If everything was possible, then any kind of coherence would be very difficult. That is, we like Craftsman architecture, rustic style, modern style, lots of different colors and textures, but wanted a low-maintenance, relaxing home. Choices had to be made from within one style, rather than all styles, or we wouldn't achieve our primary goal of low-maintenance and relaxation. (Nothing like a mix of styles to create interest, but not relaxation, usually.)

It's like that with our trip. We could do something different every day and end up with a hodge-podge of a trip that might be notable for its eclecticism, but wouldn't be a satisfying road trip with the dog, our primary goal. What is satisfying is finding all kinds of interesting places to walk and just being out in such beautiful places. Just being. If we didn't have the dog with us, we'd be doing this, trying that, and missing out on the opportunity we have now. Something to ponder.

Off to Montana tomorrow!