Took a short ride in the North Cascades.

220 miles is a short ride on a Motorcycle... ain't it?

Ok... make a plan... shoot holes in it... reload... make another plan... pffffffttttt!

So... the current plan is to just 'wait' where we are, pushing the envelope on how long you're allowed to park your butt in one camp, until after the Labor Day weekend.

Day before yesterday we climbed on the Raider and rode over the North Cascades Scenic Highway, from Twisp up over Washington Pass to Marblemount. 

*Climbing Washington Pass from the East*

We'd thought of moving to a camp that sits near Newhalem... so we scouted that. The camp is in such heavy, closed canopy timber, it's like parking inside a dungeon... it's got good signal! :) but... dang! It's so dark... No Sun!... a couple of days of that and it would get depressing... so... we'll stay in Loup Loup pass, till we run to Anacortes, and the "Sunny" coast! :)

*Lil' Art on top of the pass*

A good thing about where I've been camped, is that I've completed "A Pair of Second Chances"! WooHoo! and a HooYa!

'course now, comes the hard part. Editing and re-write... and manuscript formatting... ugggghhhh. But... if I keep my nose to the grindstone, I can have this puppy buttoned up and on the shelf by the early to mid October!

*In the North Cascades*

Posts will likely continue to be every few days... till then. Signal here is spotty... so I'm running a mile up the road to where I can ship these off... and you know me... I'm gettin' lazier and lazier...

Back to the Editing Table
Brian

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Just a Quick Note...

Thought I should stick my head up... been sitting at the table bangin' away on my book... trying to hit the October publishing date I set as a goal. Down to just the final chapter/epilogue now... So I've made some considerable progress...

Even built the Cover for "A Pair of Second Chances" yesterday... at least, it's built, as long as I'm still likin' it a few days from now...

*Book Cover for the next ebook from BK Gore*

Wha'cha think?

Now, once that's done... a whole lot of tedious editing and rewriting, I have to make myself push through... to make it as good as I can... and then #2 will be on the shelf...

Had to run up the road a ways to make this post, and pay a bill or two... the cell signal, the past few days in camp has pretty much gone away, amplifier or not... So I'm sittin' in the truck atop 4020' Loup Loup Pass... tappin' the buttons... where there IS enough signal to get out...

So... my chores and an aggravating financial pot hole has slowed down our march to the sea... we'd only planned on a day or two... been here I think 6+?

yeah well... Life in the West, huh?

I'm thinkin' we're gonna defy accepted wisdom, and roll tomorrow. Yeah I know... travel mid week, and lay up on the week ENDS! ... What can I say, I've spent a lifetime, runnin' against the wind.

So... I better get on back to camp... and button up that epilogue...

Still Breathin'... and Whittlin' Words
Brian

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Sometimes It Don't Pay to Be An RV Boondocking Fanatic

Fantacism will tie your shorts in a knot... Ever ride a cruiser Motorcycle, 500 miles with a knot under your behind? Rubs holes where you shouldn't have any... Let me share a secret... shhhhhh..... It HURTS! :)

So, I guess the fact that I'm gettin' soft isn't ALL bad!...

When I find a nice National Forest Camp... that puts me at or below my $180 buck a month camp budget (and most months we've been well under $75)... I sometimes find it hard to find much ambition to take myself from the pay to stay NF dry camp and go to huntin' hard for a straight up no nickles RV Boondock camp.

I mean, when you and the camp host, waaaaay down at the other end, are 'bout the onliest ones around, and it's a nice camp like this one, that the host has cleared out the brush and weeds from... and sunny, well, till the clouds loaded up the past two days (but even I can't blame THAT on the Forest Service!) and though the signal ain't strong here in camp, I can make it work... and I only have to go maybe .8 miles to get good bars...

... and the host watchin' over things even sees eye to eye with me on most things... yeah I know, poor buzzard...

anyway... it makes it pretty hard to crank up the motivation to go do all the exercise required to find a full RV Boondock camp... just to save the 6 bucks! :)

So, yesterday, just to keep me honest, and to take a break from the heavy duty authorin' labors I was bangin' away at all day, we went and took a tool up the forest road that runs past this Loup Loup Camp...

And, truth be known, we did find a few decent camps. The views are fairly short, due to the heavy timber in this part of the world but, they privacy is pretty good... :) though, actually bein' closer to the road, maybe not as good as here! Since there's just been hardly anyone comin' in here.

We did spot one neighbor you'll have if you should make the choice to move in up that way...

He was a bit camera shy... and all I could get was this one fuzzy snapshot, as the truck was trying to roll out from under me on a steep grade! :)

and some of ya'll might could like the architecture of some of the construction back in those deep woods.

*I'd hate to be the twister that has to find cows in THIS country!*

I'm not sure what it is that catches my attention... maybe the old workin' pens just bring back memories of when I was young and purty.

But, if ya'll want more privacy and different accommodations than a dry camp in this NF camp allow, there are some of those, for zero dollars, just a few miles behind us, up that good forest road.

This 'round here is where they got the idea for the "Evergreen State" I suppose. The cows 'round here look to be carryin' calves near as big as them. A shortage of grass sure wouldn't be holdin' 'em back, considerin' there is no shortage... the place is just green... Leastways where the trees are thin enough to let some grass grow :)

Then... the water that, is, ever'where, can pump out the grass...

*Creeks and Lakes and Rivers... ever'where*

Well, after all that hard drivin'... and all the hard word whittlin' I carved out 'fore the drivin' part...

Come on! Punchin' them buttons and twistin' up your brain, to crank out 4,000 words of a good story is hard work! It's a tough thing for a crusty Ol' Buster with a lame motorcycle to calculate where to hang all them comma's... and to try to figure out should this'un be a "Then" or a "Than" on top of it is an almighty difficult task

anyhoo... after all O' that... with Lily standin' guard...

*Lily*

and Buck doin' his best at destroyin' another stick...

*A LandShark, Stick Killin' Dogs, Sunset, and Kickin' Back*

I figured I should kick back in this Tough to endure Camp... and see if'n I couldn't do some damage to to the contents of another bottle of Land Shark... as the sun sank quietly behind the western hills... er... trees!

And I did it too! Kilt that sucker dead. Wrassled it to the ground and swallerd it up whole! :)

Kickin' Back and Whittlin' Words
Brian

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Washington State, and a Couple More RV Camps.

We left Lake Pend Oreille, pulling west toward Anacortes. Made a couple of short hauls. Not really in any hurry.

Just to the west and in to Washington State, not too far is Kettle Falls. It sits in a location where the indians historically came to fish for Salmon at the falls... 'course, you can't do that any more, since we built a dam across the Columbia and the Salmon haven't been able to get up here, ever since...

Seems like all those do gooders would have pushed for some sort of fish ladders to restore the Salmon fishery... so they'd have something to eat... BEFORE they pushed to replace the Bears and such... wouldn't you? yeah well... just sayin'... it'd be a whole lot easier to feed those stinkin' bears... with less conflict... if their natural food stock was there first... just sayin...

So... anyhoo... spent a pair of nights in a no communication camp, nice as it was, called Canyon Creek...

*Canyon Creek near Kettle Falls, Washington*

Probably would have stayed there longer... but... what can I say... I'm needful of signal for my "work" :)

We did do a little prowling around the Roosevelt National Recreation area along the Columbia River...

*Above the Columbia River, where it flows through Roosevelt Nat. Rec. Area*

This NW country is a Boaters paradise. Huge lakes... Rivers that are backed up for 150 miles and more of navigable water... If you're a boater, Washington and Idaho seem like the place to be.

But... I don't have a boat... 'leastways not now! ;) so we rolled on...

Stopped for lunch in a campground called Bonaparte Recreation area, just west of Wauconda.

Now, the only reason we could stop there, is 'cause we knew it was there, from a previous trip. What the hell is the deal with the State map makers? Not ONE state map I've picked up in the last few years, has ANY National Forest Camps on it any more. What Gives?

Are they that mercenary, they're just trying to push everyone into the State Park systems they do publish? Makes me do just the opposite from pure obstinacy. I know that there's NF camps... so I go through the gymnastics of finding 'em... doin' NF searches on the computer etc...

My bet is, if they'd just put 'em on the stinkin' maps... we'd STILL be spending our dollars in their gas stations, their grocery, hardware, restaurants etc... just pretty short sighted on the map makers part, from where I sit.

So... after lunch I rolled the rig west a bit further. I was looking for a quiet place to set up and just work for several days, so I kept lookin' till we were passin' a sign for Loup Loup Campground on top of Loup Loup Summit.... and whipped it in here, since the phone said 3G! HooYa! ... Pathetic, huh?

*Loup Loup Campground Near Twisp Washington*

'course, as soon as we left the pavement and dropped into the campground... it went to "No Service".... arrrrgggghhhh! :) turns out there is... but weak and pretty unstable... only works 'cause I've got that cellular amplifier... and that would work better if that tree hadn't ripped the antennae off the roof back down in Idaho a few months ago...

I'm really gonna have to replace that! The lil' magnetic 'back up' just don't do a very good job. :)

This is such a quiet and nice looking camp, and still dry camp, so I'm thinkin' at $6 bucks a night for me, I'm unlikely to spend much effort hunting up a full boondock camp. Seems pretty fine right here.

 Good sun, workable signal, not too far to a lil' town for fresh beer... It'll do.

Maybe if I dig some discipline out of where ever I got it stored at, I can get that big new suspense Novel finished up here! :) That'd make for a fine Fall!

The thing I've found about a lot of this NW country, is, it's gonna take a guy a bit more scouting to find a good Boondock camp, of the sort I prefer. Open views, good sun and reasonable access back to the pavement for my Motorcycle! :)

It seems that the only "Open" stuff around here is the private land where the owner has thinned out the trees. If it be Federal Land... it's just thick.

The National Forest, since they shut off logging, and maintained their attempts at fire prohibition, has just gone to dark, closed canopy, overgrown thickets. Hard to set anything larger than a pup tent in a lot of it.

Kinda sad when you roll through a town that used to be a prosperous logging town... and they're now trying to make a living off of a couple of gas stations and a casino... from the travelers rolling through...

... and when you look up at the mountains, that sierra club and wilderness soh-sigh-uh-tee squal that the loggers destroyed... you can't SEE the mountain... it's covered with trees!... hmmmm.... curiouser and curiouser.

Kinda like politics I guess... It just swings from one crazy extreme... straight on over to the other... with little time in the makes-a-bit-of-sense, middle.

I'll sit here in this sunny lil' park, where somebody with a brain has opened it up, and  let the sun in... and write my stories... and just enjoy the day... with few of those extremists around to muck it up! :)

Sittin' in the Washington Sun
Brian

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Lake Pend Oreille Idaho... Water, Skiers, People, Boats and Wild Critters...

Lake Pend Oreille is an odd mix.

For one, it's a huge lake. So huge, if a a person wasn't knowing where they were, you could easily expect to see the tide go out, standing on the shore!

Another, it's really a busy place. It pulls in a Lot of Boaters. They come from Spokane, and from across the border in British Columbia and Alberta. It's so busy you'd expect it to be crowded, but, that's where that size comes in I guess. You look around and you don't feel crowded.

Even the Deer are pretty comfortable here... Maybe... TOO comfortable?

I'm not a big one for staying a long time in a developed camp, dry camp or no... but, we've spent five days here on the banks of Pend Orielle and it's been nice... even the one windy, overcast day that had the surf shovin' rocks up on the shore. Big, the size of your fist, rocks! :)

But then the front passed, the sun came back and there was a nice, soft sunset...

*Lake Pend Oreille Sunset*

... and a few Boaters hurried out to slip in a bit of end-of-day Sunset Skiing... before the light was all gone...

*Water Skier on Lake Pend Oreille*

It's been a pretty good camp. Heidi and the dogs have spent most of their days down on the "beach" collecting interesting stones for Jewelry projects and teaching Buck to Dock Dive...

First you get him comfortable, in the big water...

Then... you move to the Dock and he takes the "safe" way off the Dock... into shallow water...

... and slowly... ever so painfully slowwwwly...

 ... you keep inchin' him down the dock... jumping a lil' farther from the shore, each time...










... Until he's goin', pretty much... off the Deep end...

Now that's something I should likely stay away from huh? ... "Goin' off the Deep End?" :)

Yeah, well... I won't be holdin' my breath on THAT any!

Anyhoo... while they've been playin' at the Lake, I've gotten quite a bit more of the next book I'll be publishing put together... a couple more chapters closer to completion...

So... to keep from getting used to things runnin' smoothly, we'll be moving today! :) Heading into Washington State...

We'll be cutting across the Northern section, rolling toward the North Cascades National Park... and maybe turn a bit south toward Wenatchee... as always... I can say where I'm goin'...

... but the likelihood of it actually workin' out, just that way... is pretty darn thin! :)

My Dance card is fillin' up for the fall... Been wantin' to get back to the Olympic area since before last fall... Planning on seeing Mark and Bobbie around Anacortes... plan on clippin' Yellowstone again, on the way back through Denver for Heidi to go to a baby shower for our second grandkid... in October... and have to be in Phoenix... to be a NASCAR driver again :) in November...

... Sheesh!... I thought this "Full Timin' " gig was s'posed to be slow an' easy?

... and somewhere in amongst all that Goin' Slow... I have GOT to get that book buttoned up! :)

... maybe I can try some of those lil' bottles of energy pills they sell at the truck stops?

That's JUST what the west needs... a cranky old pussgut buster... roamin' 'round the west... hyped up on Energy Boosters! :)

Pickin' 'em up... and puttin' 'em down across the North Country
Brian

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Where Are We Going?

... and why?

I don't know. I've got less of a clue now, then a year ago. I suppose that should bother me. After a year of the "Healing Power of the Open Road" I should be well healed... Right?

Well... yes and no.

I breathe easier now. I know less, but I know more. It should bother me... but... It Don't!

Confused? Good! :)

Looky here. Ever'body claims they're lookin' for the Purpose, for the Reason... the Meaning of Life. Yeah? Well... Luck with that. I'm here to say, I don't believe me, you or anybody else is ever gonna find that lil' Holy Grail. The Human Critter just ain't equipped to see it. I swear, most the people I see would trip over it if you stacked seven of those Grails in front of 'em on a hike!... Including... ME!

Here's the deal, from where I stand, and since it's my own free opinion, you get your money's worth. It's not about finding some special, specific thing, and even if it was, that THING is gonna likely be different for each individual person in this Human Herd that's constantly thundering across the planet in its never ending search.

It's about finding the pleasure in each step. Pleasure, and Joy and Serenity gained, NOT at someone Else's expense... but from the simple act of Breathing in pure air, sipping cool clear water on a hot day, listening to the river, the wind in the trees... the freight train's wail across the valley deep in the night... the sight of a spring colt bucking across a meadow.

... That cool fresh breeze, and the scent of the pines that hits your face, as you come around the point of the mountain, from the hot, dusty trail, and enter into the dark thick grove that surrounds the base of the twin falls, where they come thundering off the mountain...

It's about listening to friends laughter across a mountain campfire... or the table in a local pub...

It's about the lost souls that have left gaping holes in your heart...

It's about having no where you have to be, and all day to get there...

It's about... whatever tickles your whiskers... right now, at this very moment.

... and if what Tickles, changes from what you'd Planned? If what you thought you wanted proves to NOT be your Holy Grail? Go with it. Don't get stuck in something that don't fit no more. Even, (Oh Blasphemy!) RV Boondocking! Try it for a while. Keep at it 'till it don't fit no more... then... Do something Else! Just follow your eyes and your heart, and find out where you end up.

Experience. Touch. Taste. Smell. Hear.

... and when folks ask; "But I thought you were gonna...?" You just reply; "I was... Now I ain't!"
... and when they say; "You can't do that" ... or ... "That is so foolish"... or whatever other stick they try to beat you with...

... just shake your head and tell 'em; "I'm sorry."

They'll ask you; "Sorry for what?"

... and before you turn and walk away you can tell 'em; "That you haven't yet conquered your fear, and it's crippled your ability to raise your eyes from the ground, to see the horizon."

I May be poor... But I'm Rich
Brian

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Hunting for Boondocking Camps in North Idaho.

Parts of NW Montana as well as up in the panhandle of Idaho are a bit of a tough go for finding good boondocking camps.

*Along the Cedars Trail in Glacier*

The timber is so thick, you know it's daylight, but ya'll sure ain't gonna get much sun! :) Just shafts of light slicing down 'tween the trees.

We walked a short trail just north of McDonald lake the day before we pulled out. They built a boardwalk back through the thick, Red Cedar forest. It's another of those places that's a beautiful place to walk through, but a miserable place to try and capture it in a photograph.

*Boardwalk through the Cedars in Glacier National Park*

Your skills for making pictures have to greatly exceed my feeble efforts for sure!

This Cedar Forest is a contrast to the long views and Far Country of most of the park. You walk through an area of cool and quiet, at least if you time your visit right. You can miss some of the crowds, and maybe even the likes of the One Fine Lady we saw, lead her dog up to and stare for LONG SECONDS at, the NO DOGS on this trail sign... before proceeding to take her dog on up the Trail... ANYWAY!

Lucky for me... and her... I was on my way OUT at the time... and managed to keep my mouth shut...

Ah well... some peoples kids...

*Cedar Forest in Glacier*

It's a different "Feel" down in this thick timber.

We loaded up and hauled the rig out the next morning, bound for the Lake Pend Oreille (Pon-der-Ay) area of Idaho. Being as how I'm slow and lazy these days, we only made it that first day, a bit south and west of Libby. A little place called "Bad Medicine" campground on Bull Lake.

... Just back up the road in from the highway is another Cedar Forest. The Ross Creek Giant Cedars Forest. There's a short trail through there as well, so I unhitched the truck, so we could take a toot back up there 'fore it went dark on us...

*Ross Creek Giant Cedars SW of Libby Montana*

No boardwalk here... but just as serene a sort of place... It can quiet some of the rattling in your head... if you let it.

If you'd never been to Sequoia or Yosemite, you'd call these big Trees. :) though they are a bit more sizable than those over to Glacier... We made the mistake of not grabbing some supper to eat sitting in the grove. There's benches and logs a person could sit on to take in the quiet for a while... you might want to use 'em.

Somehow those red berries on that unknown plant... look kinda lethal to me... I left 'em hangin'!

Yesterday, a couple hours after sunrise, Buck took his morning swim in Bull Lake...

 ...'fore we pulled the rest of the way to Lake Pend Oreille... where he got in another swim in the evening.

We ran a couple back roads 'tween here and Sandpoint yesterday afternoon... getting miles back in, and into switchbacks I'd rather not drag the fiver over... and haven't yet found a camp that toots my whistle... We may just sit here on the lake for a few days... 'fore we slide over into Eastern Washington...

No hurry either way... It may just take a bit more time to adjust to the "lay of the Land" around here.

The thing that is pushin' me is; That although a lot of people still labor under the misconception that we're "Retired", and use that word when talkin' to us... that just ain't so... Retired I ain't! To make matters worse,  I've been lazy for a month or more, and my Work is stackin' up.  If I don't get to that Work purty shortly, the beans we put on the table are gonna get fewer and fewer! :)

So... I'm needful of finding a long camp to occupy for a couple weeks anyway, to catch up on those Work Duties.

I can't complain though can I? I mean, I get to work in the Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming... backwoods... I get to earn my living, as I'm walking high mountain trails through far country, and riding a fine motorcycle on a never ending ribbon of highway...

So... Many thanks to SBI, Smashwords, Amazon and Most of All, to the many readers that keep me goin'!

My only real complaint is... I need to find a lil' more discipline to do a lil' more of my Work... rather than a lil' more playin'. :) But then again, I'm lucky that I have my Work, and not a Job!

So, gonna go do a lil' more exploing, a lil' more Work... and ride through another day...

Settled for a few days in Idaho
Brian

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Rolled Up Over Going-to-the-Sun Road...

... in just about the best weather we've ever crossed over it.

Took a late start which let the high country warm up a mite for us... and although by Colorado Standards 6646' Logan Pass isn't very high.... When you're this far North, I suppose it's roughly the same as 10,000 feet or so in Colorado...

*Logan Pass in Glacier National Park*

The road construction is in the same exact places it was when I rode the same bike through here at just about the Same time, last year... I guess, when you can only work for a month or two, the work goes slow. :)

They've been doing all the rock work for retaining walls, to keep the road from falling off the mountain...

*Work Station with a View! In Glacier National Park*

Looks like they're finishing up that work, so maybe, Next year, you'll be able to roll right along... or ... they'll go to working on a couple NEW sections :)

No matter, it's a sweet road to ride... even with all the folks in lil' cars that can't stay on their side of the road... On a motorcycle, you smell, you see, you FEEL that mountain... in ways you can NEVER know, moving through that country in a car... it's a glorious ride!

'course Mark and Bobbie would say; "Park the Bike and Walk ya Ol' Geezer!"

*Bikers on Going-to-the-Sun Road*

... and I wasn't the only one that thought so... Bikers, taking pictures of Bikers :)

*One of the Old Time Glacier National Park Touring Cars*

... I must admit... I did see two vehicles with more than two wheels that might not be a bad way to run this road... One was those Touring cars they've got in Glacier, with the roof rolled back... That would be a nice way to go... as long as you weren't the driver!

... and the other was a convertible with the top down :)

They still aren't motorcycles... but... they'd not be Bad!

*Glacier National Park*

With views like this last one, 'round every bend, and over every new ridge... it's a certainteed fact that if you're still whinin' and complainin'... your meds need adjustment... for sure and for certain!

Up on top... where they got the road open about a month late this year... there's still... Juuuuuust a lil' snow left here and there... clear down into August!

 at the visitor center, atop Logan Pass the boardwalk that goes out from the parking area... was still buried in places too, like just past here...

*Boardwalk to Heaven, atop Logan Pass in Glacier National Park*

Miss Heidi chose to NOT try to climb up into the snow... here boots got slick soles... that don't do so well on snow :) ... act more like skis... so we opted to exercise a mite of discretion and stay to the sunlit, drier parts.

... Which to tell the truth, isn't so bad...

*You almost expect to hear "The Sound of Music" atop Logan Pass :) *

One thing I do like 'bout bein' in areas like this... where they've got some fairly decent sized bears, that have particularly bad manners when it comes to itinerant guests wandering through the countryside...

*His paw is juuuuust a lil' bigger'n Mine!*

...Is that there's a whole lot of OTHER folks millin' around... and... Most of them, even though I'm stove up pretty good... are a Whole Lot Slower than me! :)

That's the best security for you in Bear Country... ONLY hike with folks that run SLOWER than you do!

We climbed back on the Raider, dropped off the Mountain into St Mary, and then over the twisty, broken lil' highway 49 that leads past East Glacier, stopped at the Roosevelt Memorial along the highway around the south end of the park for a late "lunch" of crackers and cheese... picking up wild strawberry stains on my butt...

... when I squished a couple of the lil' tasties... and then rolled on home to the Eagle...

I should go find out what we're gonna do today... 'cause tomorrow or the next day... we're gonna be moving on west a bit...

Goin' Slow... unless I'm on the Raider!... In the Montana High Country
Brian

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Glacier National Park, Homesteads, Roads, and Bears...

Made a run up the west side of The Glacier yesterday, to a lil' place called Kintla Lake. You start up a paved two lane... it turns to sorta paved two lane (no paint stripes)... which turns to gravel...

*West Side of Glacier National Park*

The road goes past Polebridge Mercantile... Which is a lil' country store out in the middle of No Where... with a Suh-Wheet lil' bakery in it... Bread, Huckleberry Brownies, Bear Claws, Cookies... Genuine Diet Wreckers...

*Polebridge Montana and the Mercantile*

 One thing about these folks in Montana... Seems like their attitude might have got changed a touch when the wolves got imposed on 'em...

*Dog discipline is Required in Montana!*

So... If your pup looks "tasty" when you're passing through Polebridge... I'd suggest ya'll keep the family friend on a leash! :)

On the way there, You'll pass right by a lil' homestead that the Park Service brags is still standing...

*McCarthy Homestead*

'Course... The part they DON'T tell you is... The family was LIVING on Their Family Homestead, on Deeded Private Ground... When it was Condemned and Seized by the Feds and Park Service... The Rest of the story...

Anyway... you roll up that gravel road... it turns to single lane, dirt road, with you pulling off in wider spots to let cars coming the other way pass the big Ol' wide flatbed Dodge... and you come around a corner...

Um... Not getting Whiny here... just wondering... If it's already down to a thin one lane... What does it become when it Narrows? :)

We made it through the Narrows, all the way up a lil' road I put the rig into 4X4 to idle over the rougher spots, and ended at Kintla Lake... With the Loons callin' as we pulled up... Awesome!

*Kintla Lake*

Stopped there for a couple hours. Planned on just having a late lunch... and ended up sitting at a table on the bank of the lake having a real fine conversation with the Decedents of the McCarthy's (The Homesteaders that lost their family home to Federal Seizure after generations of living there)... They were there celebrating their 25th...

On the way back down, we did spot a decent Black Bear... that actually almost Black for a change... but he wasn't cooperating for his portrait... Kept sliding behind brush and junk... so when I almost got an opportunity I jammed the shutter button so hard I made the camera shake hard enough even its vibration reduction system couldn't fix it... and only got this blurry pic...

Ya take what ya can get... right?

Today... If I get moving, we're riding the Raider up over Going to the Sun road... and then down around the south end of "The Glacier"... so... I guess I better quit tappin' the keys... and start putting my butt in gear...

In Montana for another couple days
Brian

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It's GOOD to be Back Home Again

Thunderboomers in Dubois the night 'fore last. I sleep well with rain on the roof. Got up to a wet truck and clear skies that made for an awful nice run up and over Togwotee Pass, through it's contstruction...

*Togwotee Pass Construction*

... on past the Togwotee Lodge and the first view of the Tetons from the point above it...

*First View of the Tetons from Togwotee Pass*

 and drop down to head into the parks, past Ox Bow Bend...

*Ox Bow Bend and the Tetons*

You know you're in trouble, when all you want to do is stand and look at the mountains... but ... you're supposed to be sixty miles away. :)

So... after we used up probably half an hour, doin' just that... we made ourselves climb back in the ol' Dodge and roll on up the road some more... to link up, only an hour late, with Big Sister at Fishing Bridge for a couple hours.

We could only make the short visit, 'cause the Eagle was patiently waiting in Seeley Lake and many miles separate Fishing Bridge and there.

The Ol' truck made good time and rolled us into the storage yard a couple hours 'fore dark to get hitched up.

The rig was in good shape after bein' left alone for so long... the propane hadn't run out so the fridge was still cold, no mice, no bad at all... A Good Thing!

Big Larch where we'd stayed several days, right next door was Over Full, so I just pointed the rig North for twenty miles or so, and found a nice wide spot (an overlook), along side what they call Summit Lake to spend a quiet night...

Tough place. The Loons were singin' late in the evening as the sun settled in... and this morning for the sunrise, though the Loons are quiet, we've a nice view out the window at our current front yard.

*Summit Lake... Home of a few Loons in Montana*

Today we'll move on for just a little, up past Big Fork, and on to Kalispell.We need to settle in, somewhere, and do a little "housekeeping" and kinda get our heads settled back down after a couple weeks of "confusion" and hoopla, in amongst all our people down in the Settlements. :)

It feels good to be back home, back in our own rig... It feels right. This wandering life, at My pace, is where I belong. Whether I'm content with the rig I'm running or not! :)

Bound for Some More New Country
Brian

Return to the main site of goin' RV Boondocking or Visit my Sister website Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road

Headin' Home... Which Currently, Is Parked in Montana!

But, not before we spent our last evening in Colorado, with Miss Jillian, and the "Kids" (can you still call thirty somethings, Kids?) at the county fair.

*Adams County Fair*

Wandering through the livestock barns and walking the Midway had Heidi remembering times long past... and many nights at "The County Fair"...

No one else volunteered, and I'm not foolish enough to climb on any of those neck twisting, gut inverting, liver churning Rides. Not a chance! I'm a LOT smarter than that.

Yes sir! I stick to the secure and serene safety of sitting on 113 cubic inches of rumbling Yamaha V Twin splitting the wind on two wheels at Nine-Oh! :)

Then we got up and got a good start this morning on our return run to Montana. Made camp, early this evening back in Dubois. We initially thought of heading up Cody way, and maybe putting up at Pahaska Tepee... but... the difference of $129 bucks there, and $70 in the same set of lil' cabins in Dubois... had us keep to the southern route!

Sheesh. I don't want to BUY the motel... just sleep there for a few hours.

We got in here at a decent hour, early enough to take a nice stroll down town for supper and a lil' tourista shopping. Went in to Horse Creek Station and had a real nice conversation with Monte Baker. He's a talented fella that was playin' the piano on the sidewalk out front when we walked up.

He and Heidi talked 'bout beads for some lil' while 'fore we took a turn through his Horse Creek Gallery. Besides making music and hawking old Beads, Monte takes Moose Antlers and carves them into the Most remarkable works of art. Follow the link and take a look! Really beautiful Art.

Since we were looking to find a new place for supper we asked Monte, and without a seconds hesitation he popped his thumb over his shoulder and said; "Paya's, right there!"

*Paya Deli and Pizza shop in Dubois"

So, that's where we went. Turned out to be a good choice too. A fella gets tired of the same old food, even if it's good, of the standard national chains... What the sense in traveling half way 'cross the country, to eat the same old thing... BORING!

It's nice, in the small towns you pass through, to take an occasional meal at one of the Local places, and try something you've NOT had before.

And this ain't no pizza parlor. The lady runnin' the show was a chef on cruise boats and other fancy sorts of Venues... and the Mr. was a pastry chef... twixt the two of  'em they've put an awful nice, comfortable lil' place together. And the food, was excellent. Roast Beef on Flatbread was my choice and Heidi had Pulled BBQ Pork on Flatbread. Very Good! :)

While we didn't have their pizza... it looked pretty fine. Cooked the old fashioned way in an open fire brick type of oven... Funny thing is, they do the pizza 'cause there's a demand for it... though neither of them much cares for it... but... they decided, if they're gonna make pizza, they're gonna do it right. Looked to me like they did!

*Pizza's in the Oven at the Paya Deli in Dubois*

... it's not often I give a recommendation on eateries. Some folks say I don't notice bad food unless there's things crawlin' in it... and then only if THOSE taste bad... so ... You can take Heidi's word for it! :)

A short walk back to our bunks and now to bed. Tomorrow's lookin' to be a long day. Meeting up with a big sister in Yellowstone... and we still have to make Seeley lake 'fore dark...

*Prominent Dubois Citizens*

But... I guess some of the more Upstanding citizens of Dubois don't really give a hoot for my itinerary difficulties...

So, I'll push the send button now and sign off to get my beauty sleep... :) I know, I know... it IS hard to improve on bald headed perfection... but I try!

Goin' Home
Brian

Return to the main site of goin' RV Boondocking or Visit my Sister website Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road