2000 Miles

Our odometer says that we have traveled 2200 miles while our GPS shows us in Billings, MT.  That's right, we're no longer in Ripton.  For no apparent reason, after some frantic button pushing by Bucky, Samantha rejoined us in North Dakota.  Although her voice can be irritating, it was nice to have her aboard.  I was also able to get my computer and the hot spot joined with the wonderful help of a Verizon techie.  Why would anyone want to do that job?  This girl, Tina I think, was so polite and spoke clearly and slowly guiding me through every step needed to get the technology working.  I really appreciated her patience with my mature ears, eyes and somewhat clumsy keyboarding skills. 

Other than the usual traffic slow down around Chicago, we have moved smoothly through NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, WI, MN, ND and now reside in our first campground, a KOA in Billings, MT.  The United States is indeed a large and varied country! The "heartland" of America never ceases to impress with the beautiful white farm houses and red barns of Ohio to the huge cultivated farm fields of Minnesota and North Dakota.  I find it easy to envision the past when the buffalo and native people roamed here.  We stopped at a rest area in North Dakota where Bucky learned that years ago, farmers were paid to plant trees for harvesting.  Some of these planted trees existed today and created a shady grove surrounding the rest area facilities.  Fisher and I enjoyed a long walk here accompanied by a chorus of song birds.  Bucky wanted so badly to get a picture of a yellow headed blackbird, but moving along like we do just doesn't allow for that.  We really need to slow down and " photograph the black birds".  But, we do have miles to go.  Driving through Minnesota, refreshed my memory of the Midwest being a flyway for migratory waterfowl as well as a state of, what do they say, 100,000 lakes?  Every pot hole of water and small pond along the highway was filled with ducks, geese and white pelicans.

Now the grasslands and unusual land forms of Montana have me with my camera on my lap.  Unfortunately, shooting through the window and competing with the side mirror and antenna doesn't make for high quality shots.  Despite having driven I 90 and I 94 numerous times in the past, there always seem to be new sights.  We were surprised to see no wildlife, but perhaps the warm weather was keeping the animals lying low.  The Red River in MN and the Missouri River were running full as was the Yellowstone in Montana.  The grapes in NY and PA were flourishing.  In North Dakota the corn was knee high and extended as far as the eye could see.  Quite a difference between the dairy farms of VT and the crop farmers of the Midwest.  It was delightful to see the beef cows with their young calves enjoying themselves while grazing in knee deep grass.

I enjoy seeing the old homesteads, some in poor shape, but still operational.  Life must be a struggle for these farmers.  Other homesteads, surrounded by mature trees and well manicured lawns seem to have found a way to succeed.  What must it be like to own the huge acreages that they plant each year. 
 

I liked the way the pavement followed the dirt road

Western dust

 

 

                                       I  have never known what these pinnacles are called.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

 

 

We spent a few minutes at the visitors center of Theodore Roosevelt National Park located in North Dakota near the Montana border.  Here we were once again reminded of Roosevelt's foresight in preserving American land for the future.  He spent time here as a teenager and was already concerned with conserving unique land such as the painted canyon seen below.

 

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a destination that requires more of our attention in the future.  Within he town of Medano, ND is the house once owned by Roosevelt.  There is a driving loop but also hiking trails within the park. We were surprised to see signs warning of Bison. 

 

 Blooming cactus looking over the Yellowstone River

 

The plants are green and the small streams hold water, perhaps it has been a wet Spring in the West.

 

90 degree heat leaves Fisher panting



A steady breeze, at times was strong enough to send us running for articles not weighted down, has kept us comfortable despite the temperature.  It's predicted to cool down tomorrow, but traveling with air on, we hardly noticed the heat until we set up camp tonight in Billings.  Warnings are now on TV for flash flooding and violent thunderstorms.  I think we'll sleep well with the breeze blowing in the bedroom window and perhaps the sound of rain on the Greyhawk roof.  Tomorrow we'll head for Canada and since the hotspot is too expensive to use, it might be awhile before I post again.

 

 



2

RECALCULATING

We're off!  Or are we?  It seems that after a full day of travel and despite our odometer showing over 400 miles of travel, our GPS locates us still on the Wagon Wheel Road.  Despite hours of sporatic button pushing by Bucky, punctuated with me screaming,"both hands on the wheel", the best we can get is "Samantha" trying to turn us around and return to the Wagon Wheel Road.  How frustrating.  We slept in the Greyhawk at the top of the driveway last night so as not to dirty our now overly clean house, carefully perpared for our future renter.  Maybe this confused Samantha, or is it a message from some higher being?  I do hate to leave Ripton at this beautiful time of year, not to mention leaving behind 3 wonderful little people. 
Exhibiting unusual preplanning, Bucky recently purchased our new GPS.  Miraculously, our former GPS girl, Samantha, with her calm reassuring voice also arrived in the Magellan box.  It would be good to have our old friend with us in our travels.  As soon as the new GPS arrived, Bucky spent time fussing with the settings and frequently urged me to witness the many new helpful features.  I did so with little or no interest.  He assured me that the difficulties encountered with our old GPS would no longer infuriate us.  No longer would we need to enter "recreation" then scroll down a long list... horseback riding, sky diving, water park, all in an effort to find camping.  Now, with a simple touch of the screen, a modern well erected tent appears leading us to the nearest camping area.  No longer will we need to enter "pharmacy" to find Walmart, so often our hotel parking while on the road.  Now, just hit W and the round, yellow smile appears beckoning us to spend the night.  I agreed with Bucky that these seemed like great improvements over our old GPS with its outdated software.  Too frequently it had , sent us to boarded up restaurants and defunct gas stations.  Once, when trying to find a new Walmart in the suburbs of Calgary, Samantha was forced to frantically "recalculate", r"ecalculate" and "recalculate", until I thought I sensed our own frustration come through in Samantha's usually calm voice.  Our new GPS would make traveling sooo much better.  So, why are we showing no progress? 

Exhibiting no advanced planning, two days ago, Bucky suddenly realized the need for a Greyhawk oil change.  Fortunately, the "we take anything in trade" folks at G Stone Motors were able to sneak the RV in.  In hind sight, our new GPS might have made a good trade!  The time spent at the garage gave Bucky a chance to inquire about synchronizing our Bluetooth technology, all of which is beyond my comprehension.  Bluetooth, what a lame name, how does that term relate to anything technical?  It seems more closely connected to an absessed tooth than to making our phone, GPS and radio somehow inexplicably linked.  We were both surprised later, somewhere near Seneca, Ny to hear Levi's voice arrive in surround sound from our GPS!  Yay!  We can now speak ot our GPS, but still have no clue where we are on I 90.  The GPS'd inability to move beyond the Wagon Wheel Road turned out to be just the tip of our technology iceberg.  Hoping to keep the Greyhawk afloat, I used Google search on Bucky's phone looking for much needed answers.  It was then, as the phone began to die, that I searched quickly for the car charger only to realize I had neglected to bring it..  No biggy, I would use our nifty hot spot to connect my laptop to the internet and continue to solve this GPS mystery.  Hot spot on, computer on, connection made, Google hit, nothing!  What the heck?  Giant red X between hotspot and computer!  As the hotspot's battery diminished I went to the back of the Hawk to retrieve the power cord or the inverter.  Hmmm, where could they be?  Oh, I know!  Right where I left them both, sitting at home.  Did Samantha know all this?  Is this why she didn't want us to leave?  At present, Bucky's phone is our only working piece of technology because it unexplainably can share a cord with the Kindle!  Sometimes I feel there is a higher being.  We're not going down, but I feel the Hawk listing.  I guess in the future more thought should be given to packing cords and connectors than the adequate number of socks and underwear.  Or, maybe Samantha would like us to return to the days of accordian folded maps and, yes, I can fold them on my first try, and find our way by stopping to ask directions.  There is one motto that Bucky and I have lived by  when traveling, "whatever we have forgotten can be found at Walmart".  This once required a 8 mile walk in flip flops to the Windham, ME. Walmart to buy the running shoes that Bucky had forgotten. 

Now, as daylight fades, I hope these tired eyes can see that tall, big, blue sign!  

 

Walmart, on our fist night, Erie, PA

Summer 2013

Bucky, Fisher and I are once again looking forward to the "long drive", feeling fortunate to again be heading to Alaska in the Greyhawk with cargo trailer in tow.  What began in 2008 as a "once in a lifetime" trip has now become somewhat of an obsession.  Last summer we established roots by building our cabin in Talkeetna.  That August, with the cabin near completion, we headed back to VT.  When we arrive this summer, Bucky will apply siding and and build an attached shed.  We have not yet spent a night in the cabin, something we look forward to doing.  In 2011, we purchased a cargo trailer to carry a freezer loaded with caribou back to VT.  This summer the trailer will return to AK loaded with building supplies, hand split cedar shingles for the cabin gable ends, timbers for the shed framework, tools and other items deemed too expensive to buy in AK.  Hopefully, the trailer will once again return to VT loaded with caribou.  It is our plan to end the summer with a September caribou hunt similar to our hunt in 2011.  Bucky and I also have grizzly tags which could make for an interesting Fall.  We'll see what happens, but for now the focus is on getting to Alaska safely.  Our departure date is set for the weekend of June 15.  We look forward to having you along on our journey.

Freedom and Finishing Touches

We have been so lucky to have had a prolonged period of beautiful warm sunny days.  This allowed Bucky to wrap up work on the cabin for this year, Carlisle to take Talkeetna friends and some visiting Vermonters fishing and for me to move my lawn chair around our property chasing the sun.  Carlisle and I had been scouting the river when headed fishing, looking for an appropriate island on which to give Fisher a taste of Alaskan husky freedom.  She and I located a small sandy space with fast water on all sides to keep Fisher corralled.  A few days ago we made the trip upriver.  Fisher has not been in many boats so we were not sure what to expect.  She settled in like an old seafarer, nose in the wind and ears laid back.  She assumed the stance of an experienced seaman and not even the occasional chop of waves could knocked her off her splayed legs.

                                                        Getting underway wearing double harnesses.

                                                  Yay! They took my harness off, now to get this collar off!

                                                                        Beach bums

                                                      Do we have to leave so soon?

Our estimated time of departure from Talkeetna is in three days, Thursday August 16.  We will have been in AK two months, which at times feels like forever and at other times feels like only a few days.  Bucky is pleased with how the building has gone and we both leave with a feeling of accomplishment.  What once seemed like perhaps too big a task in too short a time has worked out as planned.  We are now waiting for MEA (Matanuska Electric Association) to lay wire from their transformer to our pedestal which is wired to the cabin, throw a switch and give us power.  We're still hopeful that this will occur in the next two days so we can have the satisfaction of turning on our new light fixtures.  Today, Bucky is installing an exterior fuel barrel (55 gallon steel drum) on a wooden rack so we can fuel the Toyo stove inside the cabin.  Down the road we may have a more sophisticated system, but for now this will be fine----- and possibly forever.  We still hope to cover the outhouse with tin, but most everything that needs to be done is done.

                                                     The "beefier" posts in place waiting for carving.

This past weekend, we invited folks from Talkeetna, who have helped make our cabin a reality, to a cookout with Denali Brewing Company's Mother Ale on tap and caribou wieners on the grill. It was a beautiful evening which ended by seeing the first stars of Autumn as darkness arrived around 1am.  With the Mother lying empty, we slid into the Greyhawk feeling lucky to know such a unique group of generous Talkeetnans.

and more fish!

Here it is, August 5th, and the Sockeye are just starting to turn off the Talkeetna and into Larson Creek.  This has left the whole bank of the Talkeetna open for fishing which has at times produced large crowds.  The charters have also found this fishery.  Yesterday we headed up around 3 pm with Pete and Anja, two fun-loving fishing companions.  Anja mentioned having seen the police boat being dragged to town so we weren't too surprised to see him land on the shore behind us.  We were however surprised when Bucky could not produce his fishing license!  Fortunately, he hadn't put a line into the water so he became a spectator and line rigger.  No one loves to catch Sockeye more than Bucky so we all felt badly for him, but appreciated his bonking and rigging services, both of which helped us keep our spots on the bank.

                                                                               Motley crew!

Anja had a surprise when she pulled in a nice Dolly.  We saw one other caught as well as Pink and Chum Salmon.

Bucky jumped back into the game to help fillet and the we all enjoyed some much needed late afternoon sun and refreshments.

Note how Anja, despite being German, now enjoys Genny Cream Ale!
The cabin continues to take shape.  With the foam now on and the windows in, it is becoming a home.  And, Carlisle and I are busy decorating, much to Bucky's dismay.

Just Fish!

Pictures of Fish and only Fish.....

                                                             Broken foot Ninja move!

                                                                  Big Sockeye, turning.

                                                                   Anja and Carlisle