OK, maybe some of the titles aren't as clever as others! This picture is from the Jackson Rodeo, held twice a week in the summer. One of our many activities in Jackson Hole (near the Grand Tetons). We also had a beautiful kayak on one of the many lakes. I should be uploading pictures soon. (links will be found to the left). Next stop Cody, WY
After writing this blog for more than 2 weeks the only coments I seem to get are...Did you know your GPS still shows you in Oregon? The answer is YES!!!!! The system works in conjunction with Boost mobile phone service which is not available in Montana, N.Dakota, S.Dakota, Wyoming and for some reason Arkansas. We will again be on the radar July 7th when we enter Colorado.
It has come to my attention that when driving thru a National Park, rules of the road as well as common sense can be thrown out the window. It's OK to go from 50mph to 0 in a matter of seconds if it means a picture of wildlife..... with of course a few minor unspoken rules.... stopping for a simple squirrel or other lowley vermon will get you the 'ol middle finger saluite... stopping for a picture of a buffalo in Yellowstone is ok, unless you are in the middle of the park and had ample oppertunity prior to this.... that will get you the "what are you, new" look. Elk and Moose are highly rated, each car is allowed a brief pause to take a picture next to the animal with out anyone honking (far be it from me to point out that this picture has been taken a kabilliion times). And then there's the Holy Grail.... a bear.... this will immediately scramble Park Rangers working traffic control with backups as much as 200 yards in each direction. Understanding these simple rules can save you a lot of stress as well as wear and tear on your brakes... By the way.... I am of course posting links to our Yellowstone and Tetons photos on the left. The will include, buffalo, moose and scenic shots that I'm sure no one has taken before.
-Number of miles we've traveled 2100 -Gallons of gas we've used 110 -Temperature at East Glacier Park 42 -Days on the road 15 -Parks we've camped in 9 -Times we've had to detour onto gravel roads 8 -States we've been in 5 -Number of rainy days 4 -Number of days we've had hotdogs for dinner 3 -Snakes we've seen 2 -Number of deer we've hit 1 -Days of regret 0
Today's traveling put us to the test more than any day so far. It started out pleasant enough in cour d'lane, Idaho. We finialy got a chance to put our map of the US on the Pleasurevan and fill in the states we had camped in. I chatted with our neighbors who were visiting from Denmark. It turns out that they were heading to Glacier National Park just like we were. They had talked with the people at the office in the RV park who suggested a more scenic route (I now suspect the office staff like Danes) They said the route was a bit longer (did I mention they probably didn't like Danes!) try 4 hours longer! The route was very scenic, but ...somewhere around the Montana border our luck turned. I was in the process of pointing out the beautiful doe on the side of the road when...it sprinted into our path! I hammered the brakes (hats off to our toad's brake assist) but to no avail. I'll spare you the gorey details, but suffice to say the deer exploded on the left bumper. Ok, I didn't spare you much. Needless to say I felt bad for the deer but was dreading looking at the front bumper. After pulling over I couldn't believe there was no damage... can you say "bujilt ford tough". Somewhat shaken the drive continued when I noticed every 2 miles or so a white cross on the roadside, these Donna had read, represented highway deaths. As sobering a thought as that was it really hit home when we came to a stop in traffic... an accident... that required a 45 minute wait for an emergency helicopter to land on the road. Add to that a detour onto a barely driveable gravel road and the car battery getting so low that our brake assist let out a warning scream and you have the rest of our day. I am now sipping wine eating a wonderful shrimp and rice meal in a beautiful campsite at Glacier. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings
I guess we're not in Kansas anymore. Well we haven't been to Kansas yet but you get what I mean. Currently in Dechutes River State Park, OR. We decided to go on a nice 7.5 mile hike today along the dechutes river. Ever the adventurers we decided to go onto a smaller path which would afford us a better view of the river.... wait a minute.... lets back up a few miles the the trailhead where a ranger warned us that rattlesnakes had been seen along the trail and to take care of our small dog (no mention of us being carefull). Anyway I volunteered to take point due to my keen eyesight and trailblazeing experience. One of the rules of being in the lead is that you actually have to watch where you are going and not look at the scenery. Just about the same time I heard Donna say "snake" I heard the warning rattle. Too late I had walked within 2 inches of a coiled ready to strike rattler. Donna was able to take a wider path with Dory. A little shaken in what I would later call my "near death experience" as well as my ability to forge a path, we continued on with no other catastrophies. This now becomes my highlight of the trip. BTW- stopped at the fish hatchery the day before.... but that obviously pales in comparison.
The Oregon coast was very spectacular, but somewhat windy. So far we have avoided any unplanned lane changes. We stopped for a break to walk along the beach and a hike up to the Heceta Head lighthouse. 45 minutes later we took a right hand turn and headed east for the first time... the next ocean we will see will be the Atlantic months from now! Currently we are visiting reletives in Portland. The RV park is right next to the final resting place of the Spruce Goose. Hey it's not the world's largest ball of string but I think it's worth a visit.
After 3 years of planning, it's T minus 0, we finally hit the road. But I'm getting ahead of myself so let's back up a few days to Friday. Our last days at work. Donna actually put in a full day, including a lunch break send off by her co-workers who made the great card pictured above. I promised to return on Tuesday on the way our of town to say final goodbyes. Heading into the weekend all we needed to accomplish was packing up the house, moving what we had left into storage, and packing up the RV, oh wait, the RV was still in Watsonville. So it was off to Watsonville Saturday to pick it up, and hey as long as we're there, dinner with Brother-in Law Kenny, and Donna's sister Lynn, to celebrate Kenny's 50th birthday. That would leave Sunday to pack and then move it all in storage Monday. I had gotten a 5X10 locker that surely would hold what we had left. Not the case! We packed it to the rafters barely having room for a last toolbox. What we thought would take 4 hours took 8 and we returned to an empty apartment exhausted and ready for bed. Moving the airmattress in from the RV to the floor we soon discovered that it had developed a leak. About midnight and 3 inflates later we strolled in our pajamas across the parking lot to sleep in the RV. Months of sitting unused had left the 12v battery dead so there was no power. We were awakened before 6am by the sprinkler hitting the bottom of the van but that was ok we needed to load up and start cleaning for a 12 noon departure. With 5 minutes to spare we finished loading and hit the road. Well sort of. First stop goodbyes at Oracle, where they had taped off 3 prime parking spaces just for us. After that we headed north in gale force winds across the bridge and stopped in Tera Linda for goodbyes to more friends. We reached the PetalumaKOA in time to park then head out to dinner and goodbyes with Amanda. So total miles traveled the first day 70. But we're ON THE WAY! "Chappy Trails to Us"
