The Art of Puppy Scooping

Odometer: 75,352.2

Good evening! We are back in Bozeman, or still in Bozeman depending on how you look at it, and we love it here! The weather is beautiful; the views are spectacular, with mountains on almost every side; and we love the feel of the place as well.

First of all, Bozeman is home of Montana State University, the state Agricultural school, so the college here has a similar feel to Davis. Second, with half the population of Davis, Bozeman has twice the square mileage. What does that translate too? Everything is spread out, with plenty of space, and there are mini-parks everywhere.

The people here are very nice, too, on average, and, as I said, the weather is awesome!

So, what has been happening recently? Well, we took a trip up into Hyalite Canyon, where we stayed for several days. The first night we made soup over our fire pit, and got back into the RV just as it began to snow.

It was a brisk night, but not unpleasant, and we woke to a light dusting of snow across the forest. It was pretty amazing. That first day, we wanted to hike up to the nearby Palisade Falls, so we packed our backpacks, as well as our lunch, and took off.

Now, you have to understand that we are 12-14 miles down a forest road, the last half of which is gravel, so when we arrive at the trail-head, and find it paved, imagine our surprise! The hike turned out to only be ¾ of a mile. We decided that that was not nearly enough, so we scouted around, and found a deer trail leading away from the falls, and around back to get above them.

The ascent was almost rock-climbing, though it was varied enough to make the puppies traversal quite easy.

At the top, we were greeted with fabulous views that our cameras refused to capture adequately.

We, then, decided to follow the river/creek which fed the falls up further into the mountains. We followed it for nearly a mile past many mini-waterfalls before deciding to head back.

By that point we had forded the river a couple of times, and found that the deer trail scaled many a muddy slope that people would do better to go around.

The trek back down the river/creek was uneventful, and once we reached the falls we turned to begin our reverse climb down the steep grade; herein lies the art of puppy scooping.

You see, with Naga well ahead and moving easily, I was in the lead of the three beings following. What that meant was that when Cal would get too ambitious and start running down the mountain, unable to stop, a look of panic on his face, I had to reach out, and scoop him from the mini-avalanche he was perpetuating.

This resulted in a series of scoops that went something like this:

Calcifer makes eye contact with me, his ears back, his eyes sorrowful, as if asking, “Must we do this again?”

I would smile and say, “It’s ok, buddy, I got you.” And he would lower his head, let out a little breath and dive down the mountain. Inevitably, he would choose a bad path, and his speed would increase past the point of his control, so I would reach out, palming his chest and directing him to the side.

Then, safely at my feet, he would look up at me, excited and glowing with happiness, before looking down the mountain and grinning, almost asking, “Again! Again!”

When the hike was at an end, and all scooping behind us, we returned to the RV with no injuries and enjoyed the rest of our time in the National forest without significant event.

After another day or so in said forest, we realized that we really like Bozeman, and if we are to truly see if this is the place for us, we must actually spend time in the city.

Back down the mountain!

Thus, we have spent the past couple of days in Bozeman proper, exploring, walking the streets, meeting random people, and in general getting a feel for the culture and environment here.

Result:

We love it! We have not found a single thing that turns us off of here, and there is so much to love. We haven’t fully decided yet, but we are ever so close to making a decision; please be praying that God leads us to the best choice! :-)

So, with that in mind, we have chosen a church to try out tomorrow, and are excitedly seeking out more and more info about this place. Who knows, our next post might name Bozeman home. ;-)

May your mountains be snow covered, and your roads clear and dry. Good night, and God bless.

Helena-Butte-Bozeman!

Odometer: 75,264.5

        So, since the last post, we have had a whirlwind journey. We went north, back up the 15 and found that, on second pass through, the area was very lovely, but didn’t grab us in the same way. After spending some time there, we decided that it was not where we were to be, so we were off south, to Butte!

        Now, Butte is an old mining town, high up in the Rockies, and…not for us. Though it was pretty in its own way, we were not enticed to stay on. Thus, on to Bozeman!

        Bozeman, now that’s a city. Here we are, nestled between 3 mountain ranges (or so). Snow topped peaks tempt us in every direction; there are parks around every bend; trees are everywhere! At this very moment, we are parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot, directly next to a park. It is pretty amazing, actually.

        Bozeman is a college town, home to Montana State University, and full of modern amenities which we are accustomed to and spoiled by. We managed to fit in several errands before stopping for the night, including Costco, Lowe’s, and the Gallatin National Forest Office. We spoke for a while with a very nice forest ranger, who pointed out some great camping spots in a canyon by some trailheads leading to waterfalls. We are at around 5,000 feet elevation, and the cool, brisk evening air is so refreshing!

        So, what’s the plan? We are heading up into the Rockies to the south, and will likely be out of communication range for the next few days. (Don’t expect to hear from us before Friday, at the earliest.)

        Did anything interesting happen? Aside from beautiful mountains and sweeping vistas, not really.

:-D

        So, with no further ado, I bid you all a fond goodnight. May your plans coalesce into bright happy things before you!

Unusual Montanans and a Change in Plan

Odometer: 74,981.5

So, we aren't in Missoula anymore. We have, in fact, ventured forth, traveled through the Great Falls and trickled on down to Helena...Well, I guess trickled up to Helena, as we are up river, now.

We have passed through our absolutely favorite part of Montana (and the US) so far, in the stretch of interstate 15 in the middle 1/3 of the journey from Great Falls to Helena. The Missouri River was beautiful; the oaks, aspens, and other not-pines were gorgeous. The mountains were rocky (pun intended), jutting, and stupendous! Both Morgan and I felt like we could live among that landscape. Thus, starting tomorrow, we will be venturing back north to explore that region further. :-D

Now, the odd Montanans:
1. Whilst still in Missoula, we were parked at a Pilot Gas station for the night, and a gentlemen walked up to the bush/bark/grass bed beside our RV. He made eye contact and nodded to me, I assume, though what happened next makes me doubt this is the case.
     After said suspect eye contact, he turned, undid his fly and relieved himself on one of the bushes. I quietly put up the privacy screen, using it, for the first time, to keep private things out.

2. This very evening, but moments ago, whilst parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot, a bus labeled "Bozeman Health and Rehabilitation Center" pulled up next to us, but we think nothing of it. When the occupants begin to return from their run to Burger King, we realize that they look perfectly healthy and young. It was, in fact, a bus rented for a 21st birthday party, and, as such, we had the following conversation through the windows, accompanied by their hip-hop beats, making our RV a "mini," remote sub-woofer.

"Hey! Theirs a guy in there, and he's cool."
Other guy: "What?"
"There's a guy in there"-points to us-"and he waves!" He waves enthusiastically, and I wave back. "SEE!!!!!"
I smile and go back to what I was doing.
"Hey! WHERE ARE YOU FROM? SPELL IT OUT WITH YOUR HANDS - oh, he's opening the window."

We had a short conversation, during which I learned about the Birthday nature of their venture, and wished said celebrator a happy birthday. The one I was speaking to temporarily got his head stuck in the small bus window, but, thereafter, went back to party with his "crew."

A little while later, they kindly left us two beers on our front step, knocking to let us know of the gift, and my new friend loudly proclaimed his affection for me, as they drove off.


Now, you may think that this turned us off of parking lots: heck no! Both of these unusual experiences will provide laughter to my wife and I for years.

That is all I have, for now, but I couldn't pass the day without telling you how wrong I was about our time-frame in Missoula, and how much we are enjoying our stay to the east of that fair city.

May your random encounters be entertaining, and the scenery which backdrops your life be a showcase of wonder and excitement.

Missoula!!!!

Well, hello!

We are, in fact, still in Missoula. We have met some very nice people, one of which told us that it would be a very strange thing for Thanksgiving to come around, and not have snow on the ground.

This is, in point of fact, a place of snow. February 2014, there was a day that got 3' (yes, feet) of snow in one night. :-D In 1996, there was a 48hr period in which it snowed 6'! That's crazy, but cool. ;)

Also, due to the shape of the valley in which Missoula rests, winter is apparently almost entirely sunless. (Another tidbit from friendly locals.)

So, what do we think, could this be our permanent home? Probably not, though 9-ski resorts in the area makes it more than tempting, for the winter activities as well as the holiday rental market. :-P

Is it on the short list? Well, technically, yes. It is the most appealing place we have visited so far (with regard to long term potential). Still, it doesn't feel quite right. We will be in this area another few days before heading on to Helena, then to Bozeman!

God is taking us on a rollercoaster, and I have definitely found myself alternately elated and stressed over the last couple of days. But He is good, all the time, and we are both excitedly looking forward to what He has next for us.

That is all for now. May your wanderings yield fruit and the strangers in your life be kind, interesting, and memorable.

Fear Not; We are Alive! :-D

Odometer: 74656.7

Hello! We have been having a whirlwind adventure over the past few days, and service has been sparse, so I have much to convey. (Hurray!)

First, I was able to add an accumulator to our water system, and it has increased its usefulness, while decreasing the water pump’s on-off cycles, tremendously.

In addition, we have found a car charger for the laptop, which avoids the 12V to 120V to 20V process, which was required before. Now, we simply get to go 12V to 20V. It charges our laptop ridiculously quickly, and with sooo little power, it’s amazing!

On our way to Glacier, we passed a beautiful, little lake, which I cannot remember the name of:

We spent time in Kalispell and Whitefish, and learned that, since Glacier is a huge tourist destination, things that are free in most places (fresh water, dump stations, etc.) are, for the most part, not free in that region.

We have had some great camp sites:

Camped near a pretty little lake:

We took the Going to the Sun Road (the first half, at least). Sadly, the road was closed from Logan Pass down to the east side of the park for road work. Nevertheless, we were greeted with amazing vistas (Photos by Morgan):

Tons of mini-waterfalls:

And kind strangers who took our picture:

After Glacier, we headed down to Missoula, taking most of the day on a scenic route beside the Rocky Mountains. That night, we accidently parked next to a golf course, and were asked by a very kind officer to move several more miles down the road. Early the next day, we were able to run a bunch of micro errands and still visit the Ranger Station to inquire about good dispersed sites. They informed us that Rock Creek was riddled with dispersed camping sites, as well as many “closed” campgrounds. Apparently, in this neck of the woods, when a campground is closed, but not gated, it is free to use! :-D

So, thus informed, we headed off to Rock Creek:

After much investigation, we found a great, nearly private site at which we cooked dinner over a campfire!

And over coals. ;)

We have learned that Naga loves the feel of river currents. (At least, this is what we assume, as he jumped back in, several times, allowing the river to carry him a couple hundred yards before easily navigating back to the shore, running back towards us, and repeating the process.) And we have found ourselves more and more enchanted with Montana.

Both Morgan and I have realized that we greatly prefer what we have come to call “Not-pines.” In this, we generally include aspens, oaks, maples, etc. On the other side, we somewhat ignorantly lump all conifers into the “Its another pine” category. :P

Morgan really wants a tree identification book for Christmas. Perhaps something that has detailed pictures of leaves and bark, as well as maps of where they grow, and paragraphs about their life-cycles… Or something like that. ;)

The sunrises over the Rockies are spectacular. Sadly, where we have watched ours have been gorgeous, but not technically picturesque. i.e. it wouldn't have been a good picture.

All this to say: we are happy, healthy, and believe that we are narrowing in on where God wants us to be. :)

What does the future hold? Well, once we have found our new home town, I am seriously considering getting a teaching credential, hopefully to teach Physics as I have quite a fascination with the subject. I will continue writing, and working towards a career, whether full or part time, in that industry.

And Morgan? Well, she is considering working for a short time, but I think that we both want to start our family as soon as it makes geographic and financial sense and, more importantly, as soon as God wants us to. So, who knows?

God has been, and continues to be, good all the time, through that is amazing as well as stressful.

May God bless your adventures in the coming days, and may He stress you just enough to bring out your best.

Happy Sunday!

Odometer: 74,264.0

We are just outside of Whitefish, and have been for a couple of days. We have been hiking forest roads, playing with our dogs, and spending time together. For various reasons, Morgan and I hadn’t been taking the time we want to together: just talking, playing games, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company. God has given us the time and desire to dive back into our relationship, which, sadly, we had allowed to take a backseat to other concerns. No more!

So, aside from reveling in each others’ company, and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation, we haven’t been up to much. We will be heading into Glacier, tomorrow, hopefully missing any weekend surge from locals.

We had a funny thing happen, Friday. As we were working around our campsite, a strange dog came wandering up the road. He was an older yellow lab. I went outside to see what I could discover, and he immediately started jumping around, wagging his tail, and loving having a person about. He had a collar, which named him Titus (a pretty cool name, actually). We were going to call the number on the tags, but there wasn’t an area code, and we have no idea what the area code around here is.

So, I whipped out my handy dandy phone and plugged in the address that was also on the tags. It turns out it was just at the head of the forest road we camped on. Thus, we ventured forth, new puppy in tow.

We arrived at the house, which seemed to be undergoing a remodel, and found it vacant. Music playing in the shop next door led us that direction, but, alas, nothing. We knocked on doors, looked about, and called: “Hello?” but to no avail. There wasn't anyone around.

So, we leave Titus at the house, hoping he will stay, and head back to the campsite. As we go, I hear a weed-eater off in the foliage, so I walk that way. The source of the noise was a rough, but kindly, old man, working away.

I told him that we had found his dog, and he said that they often walk around in the National Forest, so Titus probably considers it part of his home. I informed him that I left his dog at his house, he thanked me, and we parted ways. Thus, our little adventure ends.

Funny added note: We were sitting in the RV yesterday, when the man with his wife, and Titus in the back, drove by. We had our windows, open, and so did they. So, after I waved, and the man waved back, I was able to hear him say, “That’s the guy who brought Titus home.”

It wasn’t a big thing, but it was entertaining to me. :-P

Well, that is all, for now, good reader. The lack of truly revolutionary, or entertaining, tales might explain the long expanse between posts. We are enjoying life, and settling into the new normal.

May the little adventures of your day leave a smile on your face and warmth in your heart.

A Wonderful Morning

Good Morning!

We are still near Libby Montana, and still having a blast. We took a couple lovely hikes, ate a small picnic, and had a lovely day of rest, during which both Morgan and I got over little bugs. (Nothing major was wrong;we were just a little under the weather.)

Thus, when this morning dawned a brisk 39°F, you can imagine, we were ecstatic! Cold is our bread and butter! (It was 51°F inside our rig.)

Calcifer and Naga shot out the door to do their morning business and were happy outside for a couple of hours .Then, our little one came back and wanted in; he had gotten wet and was chilled to the bone. :-( After a short time with the towel, and a longer time in front of our furnace vent, he was as good as new.

So, with nothing truly novel, or humorous, to share, I will take this short post to update you, fair reader, on the Almond wonder as a whole.

A non-renovated, empty Sunrader weighs in between 7k-8k lbs, depending on the model and year. This is humorous, as the axles are only rated for about 6k lbs (4k before ’85). Thankfully, starting our year (’85) they upped the back axle to a 1.5 ton, thus reaching the combined rating of 6k. All this is to give context to the following:

We, fully loaded and fully renovated(basically), went through a scale(well, two, to ensure accuracy) and found our weight to be a wonderful 6850lbs! :-D All our work improved the beast and dropped our full weight to less than an unmodified Sunrader’s empty! :-) (Keep in mind this is with 500lbs of person, dog, and dog food in the mix, not to mention our “dirty” tanks being on the full side.) ;-)

So, needless to say, we are excited about that. :)

As a side note, I was sitting near our furnace (which can raise the internal temp from 50 to 60 in 20ish min while it is 39 outside) and realized that it works in a really clever fashion. It lights a fire, and heats up a plate which air passes over to, in turn, heat the camper. So, it heats the plate until it is very hot, then puts out the flame, allowing the air to pull all the heat from the plate, only then relighting the flame and beginning the process once more.

Now, I am not that familiar with furnaces, so this might be common place, but it seemed really clever to me, and a very efficient way to not have a constant flame.

Anywho, those are just the latest things we have learned about our little camper that could.

We pray that your discoveries, this day, are exciting, and may your work prove fruitful beyond all hopes.

The Heralds of Rest

Odometer: 74131.9

Hello, good readers. I write to you from the rolling hills and lush forests of Montana! We are just outside of Libby, MT, and we are loving it!

But let me backup:

Yesterday, we drove up to Sandpoint, ID, and walked through the town, drove through many neighborhoods, and, in general, experienced the place the best we could.

Last night, we settled in a Wal-Mart parking lot, because the couple of locations we scouted out didn’t look promising. It is well we stayed there, though, for around dinner, a man came walking around our RV, looking closely at it. When he noticed us inside, staring back at him, he jumped in surprise, waved, and motioned towards our door, and then as if to knock. I went outside and what followed was an hour long conversation with a fellow Sunrader owner.

He looked over all we had done and was amazed. He took some notes, saying that he needed to make similar changes (in some cases) to his RV. We discussed the road ahead, for us, since he had just come out of Glacier National Park, and we are headed in that direction, and he recommended an alternate route. In the end, we parted happily.

So, today: We crossed into Montana, and it is gorgeous. The alternate route turned out to be incredibly scenic, and we saw fantastic views.

We stopped to have lunch at a day use area (The Big Eddy), and the dogs ran around, having a grand ol’ time.

We rolled into Libby just after 5pm, and everything was closed. (Small towns, eh?) So, we ventured forth into the charted wilderness, settling on a lovely spot with a great little view.

We hope to be here for a few days, enjoying our time, hiking, and finishing up a few tasks on the RV itself. Cell service makes this prospect all the more agreeable. (Hurray for posts and contact with the outside world!)

I will leave you with this simple thought: Is Home a place? A group of people? Or a feeling when all is right and comfortable? I say Home is where God wants you to be, be it a place, with a group of people, or in a certain emotional state.

Thus, I say goodnight to you, from Home.

Stress and Not-Russia

Odometer: 73970.9

Stress is an interesting thing. It can assault us when we least expect it. I, for one, have been stressed off and on since last night. The first reason: our inverter, which allows us to charge our laptop, camera, and several other things, broke. I tried to fix it, without success. Walmart, Best Buy, and Target all proved to not have good replacements, so we had to settle for a lesser substitute. (This is why we were not able to post last night. Our laptop was dead and, at the point it was realized that it would not be fixed, I didn’t feel like typing up a post on one of our phones.)

That aside, I foolishly have allowed other things to stress me, when I shouldn’t, but that is water under the bridge, and not of interest!

To our travels!

Yesterday, we departed Walla Walla, and drove up to Clarkston (and Lewiston) and took most of the day driving around, walking the downtown and looking in on houses for sale. (This was for fun, not because we want to live in C/L). In the evening, we took a walk down a greenbelt boarding the Snake River, allowed the dogs to go for a swim, and enjoyed a sporadic sprinkling of rain drops.

Today, we woke early, tried a new cereal, and headed off in search of a dump station. We found one easily, emptied our dirty tanks, filled our clean one, and were on our way!

We scaled the steep grade to get out of the C/L valley and were rewarded with an amazing view.

We drove through Moscow, without leaving the continent, and made it up to Coeur d’Alene. We stopped through a park near North Idaho University and one of the many lakes that fill these mountains. The park was lovely, and the puppies had a blast playing in the lake.

Finally, we finished our day with the acquisition of a temporary inverter, a wonderful meal, and a not quite as late as usual post.

So, as you can see, we are having fun and doing our best to not let the little things get us down.

We hope that this finds you in management of your little stresses and enjoying the larger things in life.

Uneventfully Beautiful

Odometer: 73711.5

The last couple of days have been relatively uneventful, but quite fun.

Yesterday, we had a minor tire leak repaired, and the technician sent us off, insisting that the fix wasn’t worth any payment, and that was just the first item of the day.

We drove a “back” way along the highway 84 corridor, near the Columbia River, heading east, and it was gorgeous.

We worked our way along the river, finally stopping in a National Forest roughly 15 miles south of the river valley, and stayed the night in a great spot.

Sadly, it didn’t have cell service, hence no post. :P

It began to rain during the night but that didn’t stop us from taking a short hike and running the dogs until they (and we) were exhausted.

This morning, we did a second reorganization of the RV, installed a couple of lights (both fixtures and bulbs) that we had been considering, and reveled in our work.

Just after lunch, we set off for Walla Walla Washington.

The Columbia River was beautiful, but, sadly, the surround country side, slowly slide back towards the golden brown we are so used to in California. Don’t get me wrong, that is beautiful in its own way, but Morgan and I were loving the green, and we are looking forward to it, again, as we head further north.

Well, it is late, and my lovely wife is already asleep as we rest here in the first Wal-Mart parking lot of this trip. So, I will bid you good night.

Sleep well, and may the beauty you find in the coming day speak directly to your heart.

Potable Water? Meh.

Today has been an interesting day.

To start, we flew up the coast, though we never truly left the ground. The views were gorgeous and the times we stopped revealed amazing scenery and yielded fun experiences.

We reached Portland in good time, and went in search of a dump station. Much ado later, we were able to dump at a local municipal plant.

We ran through a Costco for dinner (hot dogs) and to pick up a special item, which they didn't have. So, after finding that another Costco did have it, we went there. Mission accomplished.

At that point, we were ready to call it a day. So we went to a Love's travel center to fill up on fresh water, and stay for the night; little did we know what we had in store.

First, this particular Love's does not allow overnight parking. Second, their water isn't potable... No big deal, there is a Chevron a little back down the road, and a TA travel center besides, surely one of them will have what we need.

What followed was an hour of searching and besides one: "I've never heard anyone say it wasn't potable." and a: "They told me it wasn't potable, but I've been using it anyways. I'm not dead yet, eh?" we did not find any water for our tanks, despite visiting three gas stations, two truck stops, a Camping World, an RV park, and Googling all the surrounding rest stops. (I should say that there was a rest stop, forty miles south-east of us, which did claim to have drinking water... we were not inclined to take that drive after dark.)

Thus, all our wanderings were for not, and we were left with the distinct impression that everyone in Portland drinks suspect water, or water that is actually perfectly fine, but no one is willing to legally claim it is potable. Thus, when pressed, they will say something along the lines of: "I doubt they still used pipes with lead in them when this place was built, what? Twenty years ago? They knew better by then, right?"

*Sigh*

So, here we sit with our fresh tank at 4%, hoping the dawn will bring an outpouring of drinkable water.

That is all for now. May your water be truly drinkable, and your quests meet with better success than ours.

Short Renovation Montage

Pause the video to get a closer look. My slow connection speed has limited me to this, for now. ;) Enjoy!

A Day of Rest

Odometer: 73186.1

     The Lord blessed us with a day of rest, today. We woke to what sounded like rain, but wasn’t. Fog was thick on the forest, and it was condensing in the trees above our RV and dropping down sporadically. It was a glorious start to a wonderful day.

     We continued with breakfast, quick showers, and the unexpected pleasure of a call from Morgan’s dad. She was able to catch up with him while I buckled down the RV for our departure (on foot).

     When food was eaten and call completed, we took off down the road with nothing but ourselves and our puppies.

The puppies loved the trek.

We passed under many beautiful trees,

walked down a road that seemed to be from an Arthurian tale,

and let a helpful tree take our group picture. (He didn’t know how to zoom.)

All in all, it was a beautiful walk, and when we returned, we set about a multitude of little tasks, mainly the reorganization of the RV. Such things take several days to perfect once on the road, no matter how well they are done beforehand.

And that is it. We stayed close to home and found ourselves enjoying a true, unhindered day of rest.

May your own Sabbaths be plentiful, restful, and fulfilling.


P.S. I apologize to disappoint but network connection out here is such that my short compilation of the RV Renovation would not upload. Thus, I must wait to upload it another day, hopefully tomorrow. Thank you for your patience!

Day 2 – Into the Wild

Odometer: 73186.1

     So, as can be assumed, we are alive and well. Our adventures have continued apace, and I am writing to you from just off of a forest road in the Suislaw National Forest. Where off that road? Well, let me tell you how to find us:

     First, you turn onto the well maintained gravel road and begin your trek up to the mountain ridge.

     Then, once you have lost all faith in the road, and find yourself on a thin path bordered by steep down-slopes, you know you’re heading in the right direction, at least you hope you are; there is no turning back now. Fear not, you only have 3 miles to go.

     The road rises and falls, ferns and blackberry bushes kindly cleaning the outside of your vehicle. Are you in the National forest yet? No.

     After three miles of sporadic potholes and the rise and fall of the mountain ridge, you enter the “forest” despite the thousands of trees you have already passed.

     Are we there yet? Nope; you see, as soon as the National Forest, and legal camping, starts, the occasional level sections cease to appear. The search begins.

     Finally, the trees open on both sides, revealing a view of the valley to the west and a nice little pull off to the east, and you will have found our spot! :-D

     So, was it a mini adventure getting here? Yes. Is it lush and green? Absolutely! (Now, for the ringer) Would any normal RV have been able to get in here? Hahahahahahahahahahaahaha! No.

     The Sunrader outdid itself traversing a rather unfortunate road and found us a temporary home unavailable to the standard motorhomer.

    Other than the off-road-ish trek into the mountains, we dealt with sediment in our gas, because Costco was filling their underground tank while we were pumping. (Side note, Oregon won’t even let RVers pump their own gas. Costco has attendants that do it.) This led to a sputtering engine, a frantic search for a mechanic in small town Oregon that was open on Saturday (there was none), and finally a trip to Auto Zone, where they recommended an additive to dissolve the sediment and help it pass harmlessly through the engine. (They are also the people who figured out that that was the likely cause.)

Thus, our adventures continue. God helped us fix our problem (the additive worked perfectly), found us a good campsite with 3G(this post stands as testament), and we are happy, healthy, and super excited to be on the “road,” again!

That is all for tonight, I do hope that this begins a new trend of nightly posts, in which case they will be short (shorter than this on average) and hopefully informative/enjoyable.

May all your problems be solved easily, and your mysterious roads lead to promising destinations!

P.S. RV Renovation pics will, hopefully, be posted on the morrow, sometime before midday. :)

Renovation at 99.99999999999999999%

Odometer: 72607.1-72896.0

Well, we did it.

Finished!

Completed!

The Exodus begins!

Wait… that sounds like a beginning, not an ending… I really need to work on these plot elements; I always seem to get them mixed up.

So, have you guessed what I am referring to? I suppose the title was a clue. I firmly believe that nothing is ever fully done, but this sucker is as done as it’s going to be, and we are on the road again!

Where are we?

-North of Redding.

That’s not specific; where north of Redding? There’s a lot of land up there.

-South of Yreka.

…

-That’s as close as we’re gonna get, so deal with it.

So, tired self-dialogue aside, we are excited to be in the northern half of California and hopeful to reach the Oregon coast, and our first multiday campsite, tomorrow!

Do we have pictures of the completed RV? Why yes we do, but you will have to be patient, as internet connections are slow, and I am in need of sleep. We shall have a more detailed post tomorrow, a true kickoff, if you will.

Good night, fair reader, and may your own, personal, eternal projects creep closer to that ever elusive goal, called completion.

Beginning Another Phase, Again

     Well, fair reader, we are back in Sonora, as you have likely guessed. We are busying ourselves with clerical work, doing necessary things like denying grand jury summons, and sifting through the labyrinthine maze that is health insurance. Even so, the Sunrader is, once again, up on blocks, rendering it at least passingly level.
     We will be here for 4-ish weeks, doing the last modifications to our beasty. In that time, I would like to be posting the occasional update, but my track record makes me less than hopeful. Thus, I will leave you with this promise: I will post again when the almond wonder is complete. Therefore, any post before then will be a bonus. ;)

These are a few of my favorite pictures, featuring my family:

The road is long, which brings us home
But it is good to pause the roam
Resplendent journey, yet to end
Gives tales to tell to you, my friend
And when we leave again to zoom
We will, at last, have a bathroom

:-D

The Signs of Ending

Well, our little almond wonder has begun to say: "Enough! Get home and finish me, already!"
Allow me to elaborate: today, we have blown two fuses, fried our inverter (leaving our laptop dead and me to type this on my phone), had our new radio cease working at a very intense place in our current audio book(fear not, I fixed it), our water run out(this was planned), and the big dog puke in the rv. Sigh
We are, currently, in southern California, hoping to arrive back in Sonora, our current base of retrofitting, late tonight or mid tomorrow.
As a post that was phoned in (pun intended), it is quite short. I hope you have enjoyed it;have a great day. :)

A Cold Night at a Great Site

A cold night at a great site

        First, to catch up:

        I forgot to mention, in Tucson, we saw a huge, tornado like dust devil.

        We had a scare with our transmission, mainly that, while in Flagstaff, it refused to engage reverse, forcing us to push the RV out of its parking spot. As it was Saturday, when this happened, we stayed in the local KOA, testing out that experience, until Monday. The KOA was awesome, and we were at the AAMCO bright and early on Monday, at which time the rv decided to behave perfectly, and the AAMCO people seemed to think we were crazy. (I swear; it was broken! Yeah…I’m sure it was…transmissions fix themselves all the time.) Sigh.

        That brings us to yesterday, which was the day of AAMCO. We headed West, to Williams and the ranger station there, to get information on dispersed camping, in the area. After meeting with an affable ranger, getting many, gigantic maps, and swinging through Safeway to stock up on food for the next week or so, we headed north towards the Grand Canyon, talking and having a grand old time.

        We decided to stop short of earth’s biggest above water crack, so we pulled out one of the handy maps and decided that fire road 688 was our lucky spot.

        Sure enough, roughly half a mile in, on road 688D, we found this wonderful campsite.

        Nearby is a large section of turned up earth with many fallen trees, so we decided to walk there to gather our firewood. Cal and Naga chased a rabbit and were, in general, ecstatic to be off leash.

        After much playing, wood gathering, and general settling in, Morgan and I were sitting out by our fire pit, the little pup having wandered off, when said little one comes gallivanting back, following his genetic programming to a tee, a cow leg griped tightly in his jaws.

        Did Cal kill the cow? Most likely, no. Did he let that keep him from the biggest stick of meaty goodness he had ever found? Absolutely not. And, most importantly, did we let him keep it? HECK NO! Who knows how long that thing had been dead, flesh and fur not withstanding.

        So, Cal’s unexpected find behind us, we settled into our evening, enjoying surprisingly tasty white cheddar pasta with beef. Eventually, after a beautiful sunset, jumbo marshmallows, and a roaring fire, we let the night wind down and were left with a stunning array of coals that, to me, looked like a continent, viewed from space.

        Thus our evening came to a close and, as the low last night was to be 27F, we revved up our furnace.

        It took much longer than it should have for us to realize that the furnace wasn’t heating…

        We were out of propane!!! :-O That’s right, we had a freakishly cold night ahead, and nothing with which to heat the RV. Now, you may be thinking: “I’ve camped in colder than that, you’ll be fine.” Yeah? Well I’ll bet you had a sleeping bag, and other such niceties to keep warm with. Our accoutrements were meant to keep us comfortable in a cool RV, not keep us warm on their own.

        Thus, I slept in many layers, disliking every compound wrinkle, and Morgan wore heavy pajamas as well, keeping close to multiply our heat.

        This morning we woke bright and early to drive back, away from the Grand Canyon, to a KOA that told us they couldn’t, legally, fill our propane tanks…

        They directed us back up the road to a gas station where the kind woman filled our tank and we, once again, had the liquid of life: that which heats our home, cooks our food, keeps our ingredients cold, and warms our water. It’s important stuff.

        So, fair reader, we have had yet more hiccups which left us with funny stories to tell, and a renewed realization that stuff happens.

        On a side note, I have, for the last six months or so, been trying various protein bars and rating them, for my own use. I have decided to share such! So, if you see a flurry of posts, here, fear not, I have not gone insane, I have just decided to share a little of what I have learned. Don’t worry, there are only 14 so far. ;) I may, also, do reviews on other things from time to tim.

        Thanks for reading, yet again, and may you be safe and warm, unless it would be better for your personal growth to be otherwise.

Power Bar, Performance Energy Bar -Vanilla Crisp

Smooth, mild pleasant taste, very chewy, no discernible aftertaste

****

I'd definitely eat another.

Luna Protein - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Sweet, a little grainy, kind of odd middle tongue taste, mild not unpleasant aftertaste

***+

I am glad I tried it, and I might eat another, maybe.

Catholes and Progress

        For those of you who don’t know, a cathole is a hole you dig to answer nature’s call, whilst camping away from any developed restrooms. Also, for those of you who don’t know, you should never wait to dig such until it is needed; doing so leads to much frantic scrambling for a good spot and great frustration at uncooperative soil. You have been warned.

        With that aside, we have had several notable accomplishments, over the last few days:

1. Our transmission rebuild was a resounding success, and our little sunrader is happier than ever.
2. Believe it or not, we have found a way to, occasionally, be paid to attend all you can eat buffets. Quick version? Many casinos have free players’ clubs which, upon signing up, grant you a free trip through their buffet, and some free play on their machines. So, as long as you stop when you use up all your free play you can, generally, come out at least a few dollars ahead. (i.e. with more than $0, since that is how much you came in with.) Note: If you wish to take advantage of this awesomeness, two bits of warning: First, not all casinos offer this, look on their website before making the trip. Second, never bet what you aren’t willing to lose, casinos make their millions by making people feel lucky, or like they have a clever system. ;)
3. Since there seems to have been some confusion, let me clarify. I was not hurt during the dog fight mentioned in the last post- that is unless you count mildly sprained fingers. Also, as a point of order, the bulldog in question was roughly the size of Naga, so I am left wondering where such a giant beast came from.
4. I installed a new car radio into our motor-home, allowing the linkage of our phones, and the playing of music off of thumb drives. I am left with a enduring irritation at manufacturers for not using standard plugs, even across like brands, and a satisfaction that I can, in fact, figure out wiring on the go…especially when each wire is conveniently color-coded.
5. Morgan dug a cathole, for the first time, as we disperse camped, for the first time, and was exceptionally proud of the achievement. I, on the other hand, thought it a simple matter, until I found a need to penetrate the incredibly rocky, root-filled soil while in a hurry.
6. As hinted above, we disperse camped for the first time, last night. (i.e. we stayed in a national forest, in undeveloped terrain, and I happily made a roaring fire with countless innocent pine-needles.)
   
   
7. We are, currently, east of Flagstaff, AZ, and plan on visiting the giant meteor crater on the morrow.

        Now, I feel that I should have some, further, funny story to brighten your evening, but, instead, I have a summary of what we have learned, yet again:

        God’s timing is perfect. We may not understand why He allows our transmission to break, or delays us in some other way, but His way is always the best, and I am ashamed how often I am fool enough to fret at delays, which, as stated, turn out for the best.

        May God’s timing be evident in your lives, in the coming days, and may you never cease to marvel at how much better it is than your own.

Dog Fights and Our Brave Little Sunrader

        Today, I broke up a dog fight, and that wasn't the most costly choice I made.

        Now, with the melodrama aside, here we go!

        First, we have been in the Tucson (sorry about earlier misspellings), AZ area for a little over a week and a half. We spent much of that in the pleasant company of one of Morgan’s sets of an aunt and an   uncle. (I swear, I couldn't think of a better way to word that.) They were incredibly hospitable, and we enjoyed our time with them immensely. The primary reason for our extended stay, however, was that our gas tank was leaking profusely, and needed to be re-welded. Sigh

        During that portion of our time, we saw Saguaro National Park, Biosphere 2 (Earth is Biosphere 1, how human-centric is that?), some beautiful caves at Kartchner Caverns, Sabino Canyon, and a lovely casino, which proved a gambling methodology, which I had been itching to try, was very sound…so much so that the casino directly blocks its implementation…sigh - no free money for me. :-P

        Now, not to move on from such wonders, but that phase of our stay ended on Tuesday. Ah, Tuesday, we were so young and innocent, then.

        I will call this next phase: “The Little Engine that Could.” (Please don’t sue me, it just fits so well!)

        Our transmission has been slipping lately. Cue groans from the audience. Yes, there are issues, but here are the amazing parts:

1.      We have AAA trip interruption insurance, thus our hotel/meal/rental car bills will be paid, until the car is fixed. (I cannot recommend AAA more highly. They have been fantastic, in every regard.)

2.      We have been getting 18miles/gallon. (Remember this for later.)

3.      We have been able to do some dirt road camping, and take some steep grades. (Again, remember this for later.)

4.      Looking back, the first indication of transmission issues was, likely, as we were leaving Sonora, back on March 5. After that, we drove all the way to Texas, and, then, all the way back to Arizona. That is a long way.

5.      The AAMCO, here, decided to help us out with a big discount on the whole rebuild, and to double the usual warranty. (Hurray!)

     Now, the information that makes #2-4 above, amazing: (I apologize, in advance, if I get any of the mechanical terms wrong.)

1.      The mechanics that disassembled our transmission said that they have rarely seen a transmission in such bad shape.

2.      It looks like people tried to repair it before, but just sort of jury-rigged it. (There is even an internal part that looks to have been spray painted sky blue, for no particular reason.)

3.      The accelerator cable, which tells the transmission how fast the engine is going was shot…completely.

4.      The valve plate, which was described to me as the “heart” of the transmission, was warped to the point that the technicians are baffled that it could fit were it was mounted.

5.      Several springs were completely unwound, not in the correct place whatsoever.

6.      A “handful” of ball bearings were free floating inside.

7.      Now, combine #3-6, and understand why the AAMCO manager had no idea how the thing was still running. He said that it should not have been able to drive…at all. He has seen transmissions in twice as good a shape, kill their engines on start-up. (i.e. Start the car, put it in gear, engine dies.) This is because of how much resistance the transmission is giving.

8.      Remember #2 above? Yeah, we were getting 18miles/gallon on this baby, and we are assured that the transmission was “killing” the engine’s efficiency.

9.      Remember #3 above? So, with the transmission fighting the engine so hard that it really should have killed it, very, very little power was actually making its way to the wheels, yet we were still able to do all that we did.

     So, there we have it. Our little engine that could, fought through a bleeding gas tank, and ornery transmission to carry us nearly 2.5k miles. The human analogy that comes to mind is a man with a gut wound and an active taser trying to bring him down, carrying an old lady so that she wouldn't get her skirt dirty. WE LOVE YOU LITTLE SUNRADER!!

        Side notes:

        If you are ever in the Sacramento area, and need a mechanic, Exclusive Motors is a fabulous place. They have helped us out so many times, and they are always up for fielding questions, even a year after we left the area. They are amazing! Give them business! ;)

        The most costly decision of today was to go ahead and do the complete transmission rebuild. :)

Now:

        Was I silly enough to stick my arm between our Akita mix and a bulldog as they went at each other? Yes.

        Did I find my arm in a mouth, surrounded by sharp teeth, on multiple occasions? You bet!

        Did my martial arts training kick in, with God’s providence, and allow me to slip around the snapping jaws of unhappy dogs as I pinned the bulldog (who was the aggressor, by the way), in a sort of one handed, shoulder lock? Oh yeah. :-D 

        The important question: Will I, now that I have had time to think about it, ever interfere in a dog fight, again? If I am sane: no…but who knows what I will do in the moment? :-P

        May God bless and keep you all, through what life brings your way and the silly decisions you will, inevitably, make.

More Marvelous Mishaps

More Marvelous Mishaps

     We awoke, Monday morning, in the lovely City of Rocks, ready to head off into Arizona. We had a breakfast of berries and yogurt, but, unfortunately, the berries had frozen. Josh was able to enjoy the ice-cream-like breakfast, but I, Morgan, wanted mine to thaw. So, I decided to shower, first.

     While I was away, Josh received an urgent call, and had to step out. When he returned, he heard something heavy hit the floor, thus rushed inside. Everything looked in order, so he returned to his seat. Cal, however, started acting overly affectionate; this almost always indicates that he had done something wrong.

     While petting Cal, Josh noticed something white on his nose. That was odd. Then, he saw my breakfast, almost devoid of greek yogurt. Cal had climbed atop our counter, and tasted the sweet creaminess that is Kirkland brand. Needless to say, I had cereal instead.

     So, that was an interesting way to start the day.

     From there, we went back into Deming, NM, where we ran through three automotive stores, Walmart, and the Dollar Tree, doing various errands before returning to the interstate and continuing into Arizona.

     I take responsibility for the following events; Josh spoke of his concerns, and I urged him to ignore them.

     I had found a dispersed/primitive camping location in the Rincon Mountain Wilderness, a short ten or so miles off of the interstate. The road began paved, but then went to dirt. Encouraged by our short stint on dirt roads up at Bluff Springs, and somewhat at City of Rocks, I was confident that we would make it through. Josh described the road with many words, including: horrible, painful, and washboard. We got five miles in, going no more than 10 mph, finding the road to be inconsistent in both texture and terrain, when we heard a loud crash behind us.

     We both immediately looked, and saw two dogs moving about, seemingly started but unharmed. Josh asked, “What fell?” and, noticing the lack of anything above our counters, I stated, “The shelf”. Besides those words, I believe we were silent for at least ten minutes. Josh pulled off the road, onto a shoulder which was surprisingly flat, and I climbed into the back to inspect the damage. Our shelf had done a 180 flip, pulling out the wall and landing upside down on top of all of its contents.

    As I began pulling stuff out from under the shelf, I was surprised to find that nothing had been damaged. I only had games, towels, and lightweight cereal boxes up there, but nothing was squished, dented, or even open. Praise God! I arranged all of the contents to the side of the table, noticing some slight dings to our counter and the shelf itself. Josh came into the back at some point during this time, at which point I noticed he had taken care of the dogs, letting them out and giving them water, as well as checking the RV to make sure it was okay. We filled each other in on our prospective findings, and I was finally able to laugh.

     We called my aunt and uncle, asking if we could come a day early, since we had no means of resecuring the shelf, which had pulled all six of its screws clean out of the wall. It took up the entire length of our counter, so we could not easily cook. They very generously opened their home to us, and we are here, now, figuring out how to overcome these new problems, enjoying time with family, and marveling at the adventure we are having.

Sacramento and Beyond!

     Yes, you read correctly, we stayed the night in Sacramento! To be perfectly accurate, we stayed in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, in a little, out of the way camp ground called Bluff Springs.

     Let me back up and give you an overview, as I have yet to perfect the art of daily posting. (I’ll get there, eventually.)

     Thursday, we left Lake Lavon and headed for the new Mexican border… I think I forgot an important capitalization in there somewhere… it was a long, long day of driving, hopefully our last such for quite a while, and we finally finished the 48hr long audio book, which we were listening to.

     That night we stayed in the Roswell, NM Walmart parking lot. This came about because Google seems to not know when a road to a state park is just that, and when it is a gated dirt track across some farmer's land. We did not take that road, and decided not to risk further such "miscommunications" in the dark.

     I learned that the dogs will come to me, even across a goat-head-thorn filled, vacant lot. (I only learned of the thorns, after: Sorry puppies!) Also, I cooked dinner. :-D

     Friday, Morgan and I discussed how we want to travel, and decided that we want our driving time to be between 10am and 4pm, leaving plenty of time for both morning and evening activities. We left on that day’s travels just before noon. As we had some birthday cards to send, Morgan was keeping a weather eye out for a post office, and, as we passed through Ruidoso, NM, she saw one, and asked if we could stop. As we hadn’t seen it, from the highway, until abreast with it, it was passed before I could react.

     Shortly up the road, before I had found a good place to turn around, I saw a gigantic building with the words: “Tools, Furniture, and Consignment.” This, coupled with our postal needs, convinced me to turn around.

     Lesson of the Day: The sunrader takes more that the width of three lanes to do a U-turn.

     Result: New Mexican drivers are kind enough to stop and give the poor fool trying to U-turn on the highway room to do a three-point turn.

     We came back to the consignment emporium, and pulled up before the enormous, vertical log and concrete construction. Each trunk that made up part of the wall was, easily, 4-5ft across. We spent an hour and a half of our driving time walking through the surprisingly interesting, and well stocked, show room. And, after seeing a sign naming it the #1 consignment store in Ruidoso, I was left wondering, how many can there possibly be, here?

     A quick trip through the post office later, and we were off, once more. Here, fair reader, is where we come to Bluff Springs, high up in the Sacramento Mountains. How high? Roughly 8,500ft. The sunrader did not like the climb.

     We arrived outside of our ideal driving time, but only by about 1.5 hrs, so it was understandable. The last 1.5 miles of road was dirt, which was expected, and the sunrader did very well. There were only two other groups in the entire place, to which we breathed a sigh of relief, for, as everyone who has used a back woods camp ground knows: if there is only one other group, they are probably serial killers. ;)

     We had plenty of time, that evening, to take the dogs on a romp through the snow and mud, and up to the top of a nearby waterfall. They loved it. Unbeknownst to me, Morgan has been teaching Cal to fetch sticks, and she demonstrated this skill. I must say I was impressed when Cal would retrieve the same stick thrown, even when it landed among a pile of others… this merits further testing…

     After a wonderful dinner, a great night’s sleep, and a filling breakfast, we took the dogs on a 4 mile hike through the forest. The pups loved the snow, eating it and ignoring the water we tried to periodically offer them.

     We returned to a deserted camp ground, and began cleaning and packing up. In the short time we were still there, more than fifteen cars arrived, carrying families, puppies, and ATVs. This, apparently, is a popular place, on Saturdays.

     We drove out, thankfully not having to pass anyone on the single lane, dirt road, and chugged up, out of our little valley. From there, we headed off, towards The City of Rocks, a cool little NM state park.

     On that trek, I slept a little, and Morgan had her fist experience driving the somewhat remodeled RV. I have two things to say, which should cover it:  No laws were broken, and I was able to sleep through the whole thing.

     That night, which was last night, we stayed at The City of Rocks, which reminded me, somewhat, of Utah. They have great rates, campsites, and showers, though I have never used a push-button shower. (i.e. you push the button, water comes out for 15 seconds, then stops, unless you have pushed the button again. There is no temperature control, but that was not an issue.)

     This morning, we woke up to Umpqua, Kick Start, oatmeal, and it was amazing! After a brief period of waking up, we took our pups on a 5 mile hike to the top of a nearby tabletop mountain. It was hot, but fun!

     When we returned, I took a quick shower (use it while you have it, right?), and then we ate lunch, and laid down for a short, 3 hour nap. Apparently, we are pretty tired. ;)

     Now, we are here, writing about what is actively happening, and I wonder how long I can continue, before it becomes oddly self-referential.

     Tomorrow, we are off to Arizona, as we have some family to see, south of Tuscan, and a deadline. ;)

     I almost forgot! At one point, over the last couple days, Morgan and I were talking about nature, and wild life, specifically how species’ populations will grow and decline over time, and this phrase came up. Can you guess who said it? “Humans were not sufficiently hunted, so we took over.”

    Take a guess! You have a 1-4 shot. ;) I’ll give you a hint: the “we” disqualifies 2 of our number. :P

     We hope this finds you all happily progressing on your own adventures, and we pray God blesses you with fun detours along the way.

Photos! (If you want to see them bigger, zoom in, with you browser!) :-D

Family Picture:

On the Forest Hike:

Our Dogs Love Snow:

Morgan, at the Top of the Table Top Mountain:

The Pups and I, also on the Top: