For those of you fortunate enough to travel 94 through ND, this might be a familiar sight.   More about ND shortly.

Out of Wendover…

…so after the 400 mile run from Reno to Wendover on Sunday, it was on to Salt Lake City and points East.  Thought more about it and decided I had unfinished business in Bozeman.  Called Linda and she agreed as long as I’m home by the end of September.  Took a left turn at SLC and headed north.  This was Monday morning, and it would take me two days to get to Bozeman.  Arranged for a guide and drift boat to go down one of the many rivers around Bozeman all day Wednesday.

Road from West Yellowstone to Big Sky to Bozeman

This was one very beautiful stretch of highway.  Will want to drive it again!  SIDE NOTE – The State of Montana puts crosses on all the highways where there were fatalities.  This particular stretch of HWY 191 north from West Yellowstone to Bozeman had such a disproportionate number of crosses, I had to ‘use the Google’.  It turns out:

“U.S. Highway 191, the north to south, double-lane route running between the suburbs of Bozeman by way of the ski resort community of Big Sky to the national park gateway town of West Yellowstone is often a perilous, ice-covered deathtrap in winter. Winding along the banks of the famous Gallatin River, hidden in the shadows of two mountain ranges, coated with humidity that wafts off the river and then ices over, favored by semi-trailer-truck drivers who always seem harried for time, it is heart-palpitating.”

Skiers take note!

Bozeman Campground ‘Locals’

Stayed in the same campground (with the hot springs) and was chatted up by some of the guys in the tent camping area of the RV park; they remembered when I came through a few weeks before.  The building boom is so great in Bozeman that there is no housing for many in the trades building these places.  When I walked around the campground this time, I realized about 50% of the sites were long term folks.  Those without an RV are subject to living in ‘tent cities’ in RV parks.  One fellow (from Hastings MN) was doing siding work and another was a hardwood floor specialist.  Interesting fellows – young and chasing the money.

Fly Fishing the Madison River

Dario, my guide, and his dog Jake picked me up at 7:15 AM and off we went into some of the prettiest country east of Bozeman.  There also was quite a bit of BLM land that you can camp on and be right next to the stream.  Most of the rest of the land heading toward Big Sky is owned by Ted Turner and don’t be caught on any of his land.

Caught 6 trout with the largest being a 16” Brown and a 14” Rainbow.  I only missed a couple to three dozen, but I am committed to fishing this way.

Dario explained he fished the same river the past 3 days.  Day 1 was great (of course).  Day 2 was horrible.  Day 3 was hard fishing, but we (I) caught and the other guides said it was tough also.  We fished beneath the surface (rather than on the surface with dry flies) and on your fly line, you will have (from the top) a small bobber, a split shot (weight), a larger fly, a smaller fly and if you were in Colorado or Idaho, a 3^rd fly.  This way, if you catch a fish, you will know what they were attracted to and modify your flies.  Dario had thousands of flies and the combinations are limitless!  He had over a dozen boxes like you see here.  Every couple of minutes, he would try different combinations.  Also, truth be told, a few of those changes were required as I screwed up with my fly fishing technique and created a few rats nests.

Note the sleeping pooch here 🙂

Karma and the Fly Rod

In all transparency, I did something I now regret when I was younger and it has paid me back in fish karma.  40 years ago, there was a store in Minneapolis called LaBelle’s.  It had everything from Jewelry to Sporting Goods to Appliances.  Back then, before barcodes, they simply put a sticker with the price on the product and that was it.  I thought the fishing rod that I bought was certainly worth the $8.99 price tag I put on it.  Bad Boy!!!  40 years later, I am fishing with this rod all morning and doing very poorly right when it really counts.  Dario suggests a change in rods and the rest was documented.  I will pay full retail for my next rod.

Friday

Stopped in Dickenson, ND a bit earlier for a conference call and could not find the city park, but, since I was early, got my haircut and then set up for the call across the street from the shop.  $20 haircut – actually more than I pay in NYC, but it was worth it with the use of  the vibrating massage on my shoulders and neck!

Couple final thoughts I wish I had my camera for…

…in Eastern Montana, the cute Japanese family that all had to have a photo taken with the bus.  No English was spoken but a good time by all!

Most interesting English spoken today…comment by what I would think a bachelor farmer would look like…’I had no idea they are still making that vehicle’.

Farmer Tweet…I would think most farmers or farm produce haulers do not have twitter accounts and they must use their own methods of social communication.  That would explain the very clean letters rubbed out from the caked-on dirt on the back of a sugar beet truck going across Eastern Montana…F##K THE NFL.

Home stretch coming up!!!

 

Those two weeks certainly flew by quickly and now Linda has returned to MSP, flying out of Reno Sunday morning.  It will be fair to say Linda has been smitten by the travel in the bus.  We had such a dang sweet time and our plans worked out beyond our imagination.  We’ve got ideas for improvements for the next journey, but it is fair to say this uber mini RV traveling allows for so many options…enjoyably, all of them slow.

Tourist Selfies Abound

Decided to stay one more night in SF so we could see the latest iteration of Beach Blanket Babylon.  We’ve seen this iconic revue the past 4 decades and it is always incredibly entertaining and current.  If you’ve never seen it, please start.  Walked and cable car’d around the city for 10 hours and got our SF fix.

Bus Lab – Berkley Friday Morning

Cool shop in Berkley, the Bus Lab has been around servicing the VW bus community for many years.  Oil change, valve adjustment, some nice conversations about busses and we were heading over the Donner Pass on I-80 to Reno.  Bailed on Susanville – nobody left to see there.

What’s In A Name?

OK, the hotel spa could not accommodate massages for Linda and me, so I started searching Saturday morning in the Reno area for a place for both of us later that day.  After a couple of no’s, I land on Mei Li Massage and make two appointments for 1:00 PM.  Now, they had 4.5 stars, but the woman didn’t want my last name, phone number or any CC info.  Linda also was concerned that while they offer a variety of massage styles, they also offer these services on an out-call basis.  So, we decided to read the reviews and saw that the ONLY negative review was from a woman who inferred it was a place guys would rate high for the ‘happy ending’.  Moving on!  Fortunately, we got lucky (bad pun) and had wonderful massages elsewhere.  Now, while I love massage and have had them regularly for a hundred years, I do a really bad job of not calling these folks by their professional name of Massage Therapist and instead as a Masseuse (which is defined as ‘a woman who provides massage professionally’).  It bugs Linda to no end.  Sorry dear.

Sunday push to Mountain Time Zone

The upper desert from Reno to Salt Lake City is simply stunning with the landscape and sky constantly changing.  Made it to West Wendover, NV (MDT) by sundown Sunday, a border town with Wendover, UT.  400 miles covered, scooted along nicely above 60 MPH for most of the time.  Called ahead for an RV spot from Wells NV – the nearest town to Wendover with NOTHING in between.  The fellow at the RV campground had spots for $25. and when I wanted to make a reservation, he said ‘no need, we’re almost completely empty’.  Asked him how far I was from his campground mentioning that I was in Wells (again – the nearest town to Wendover on INTERSTATE 80 with basically NO SERVICES between the towns and he said, ‘hold on, I will get a map and mileage chart’.  Wait a minute…you work at a campground that caters to RV’s on the only road running east and west and you need to look this up?  Decided to search hotels (and hope of finding intelligent life in Wendover).  The Wendover Nugget (the largest casino of 7 in this border town with Utah) had rooms for $35/night, so I jumped at the opportunity to play 3-card poker one more night and call in for the Monday morning meeting at Hendlin.  Sadly, another bad choice.  One example only…walked into the ‘upscale’ steak house at 7:30 PM with my $100 winnings from playing 3-card poker J  About 8 employees are sitting in the dark and they ask if I would like something.  ‘Sure, how about dinner?’, and they tell me it was slow so they’re just sitting there but are supposed to be open until 10 PM.  ‘Do I really want to eat here or could I go next door to the main restaurant and check it out and if I didn’t want anything from over there, they could make me something…if they had to’, they suggested.

WTF?

After 4,000 miles, I have only seen ONE Split Window VW Bus so far.  This is very disappointing to me in some respects but also lets me appreciate what I’ve built even more.  Really thought I’d have seen a couple dozen by now.  But since we’re on the subject, I’d like to reach out to a specific group of individuals…the 30+ year old totally zoned out male hitchhikers in northern California that would throw up their hands in the air in absolute and utter disbelief that a VW Bus would pass them by.  As if you were entitled to an all access pass on an iconic modality.  Sorry fellows, it don’t work that way.

Rest Area Encounters

So I get out of the bus at the rest area and want to stretch and hit the can and back in the bus.  This fellow starts to approach and doesn’t say anything, but gets about 10’ from me and just stares at the bus.  His wife comes from the other side and stares at the back.  Not sure if I can go to the can, so I kinda stand there and face that direction and turn around again and wonder if I should start a conversation as he is not.  So I mention it’s a 67 VW, and he immediately interrupts me in a heavy German accent ‘I know very well what it is’.  Then he and his wife look at the sticker on the back and start laughing in German.  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.  I felt left out as they did that a few times while looking at different parts of the bus.

The KOA at Idaho Falls, ID Bathroom Lighting

Coming back from the ½ mile jaunt to the Outback Steakhouse (I brag about what I can make on the bus, but I simply can’t make that meal on my bus).  I hit the can before I go back to the bus and a fellow is coming out, and I can see it’s dark as he exits.  He tells me the lights don’t work, even though he tried them.  I reach in and notice the lower button on this light switch is missing, so I press the area the button typically is, and voila, the lights come on.  I look over at him, glance at his IBEW vest…yes, his International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers vest…and he looks at me and says, ‘I’m not from this area’ as he walks away.

 

 

Spend a couple days surrounded by Sequoia and Redwood trees and you realize how small we are in the big picture.

It also makes you think how our lives impact their continued existence.    Absolutely stunning to walk through the forest.

Linda always loved the hot chocolate at Caribou more than Starbucks, so when we were coming through Oregon, I was able to stop at the Caribou.

The air was finally clear for a couple of days, and then we looked ahead.  Fortunately, it was small by comparison and resources were deployed in short order.  Planes, helicopters, trucks and lots of brave firefighters tackled it quickly.  If only all fires were within a mile of the highway!

Spent last night in the Sonoma region of the wine country – right by the Russian River. Found a great cottage in Guerneville for $100/night where every other one was at least 3 to 4 times that cost!  Lovely place / host and even sat around the fire pit with peeps from all around the world making s’mores.  Side note – since arriving in California, we have had some of the worst service in coffee shops and restaurants.  The food and beverage is great, but the service is so unprofessional and lacking any personality.  It’s as if the interview rejects got the jobs that were customer facing!

One of the special treats of the trip was arriving in the Bay Area today in time to have dinner with Steph and Jared.  Steph is our daughter Becca’s best friend and lives in Oakland with Jared, her husband of almost a year and their dog Ryder.  They’ve both been involved in the inner-city education system and do really great work…hopefully reaching many young kids through their commitment and dedication.  Steph recently got her Master’s Degree and is working toward a license in family and marriage therapy.  They live in a carriage-type house above Oakland on the property of a woman, who was quite the Bay Area lawyer, working on the Pentagon Papers as part of her very illustrious career.

Extending one more day in SF tomorrow and hope to hit the road Friday (after another oil change and valve adjustment) for Chico, Susanville (where I spent 3 years at a 2-year college) and Reno, where Linda will hop a flight back home.  This leaves me with 1,700 miles in 7 days…a manageable time frame, but still about 250 miles per day.

Upcoming – the story about building the bus, but I’ve put it off as it might be the kiss of death if I praise the team that worked on the bus before I make it all the way back!

Retiree at rest.  Sweet.

Putting words in Linda’s mouth here.  Travel is great, but having more cell signal so she can facetime grandkids would make it better.

Honey Bear Campground

We’re 2 nights into a real cute campground on Hwy 101 about 50 miles north of the California border.  Best campground for overall scenic beauty and not jammed on top of each other.  Walked to the meadow last night to see if the elk would be there (negative).  We are directly across the street from the ocean and the nearest town is 8 miles away.  Simply beautiful shoreline and country around this part of the US.

Dandy dinner with a view!

Chatted with the new owner yesterday (they’ve had it for about 6 months and are doing some very nice upgrades.  Asked him why he purchased it and he said, ‘since you asked…the Lord told me this was my mission.  Me and my partners all feel the same way.  Not that we don’t like to drink and party and all, but this is our mission’.  Cool.

Small town, flashing lights

Traveling through Port Orford, Oregon yesterday (population 1,146), we were pulled over by the local constable.  After our greetings and pleasantries , he informed me my left brake light was out.  ‘License, registration and insurance please’.  I was pretty sure it wasn’t since I check the bus over most every day.  He returns and I offer to check the wiring, so we go back to see if there was a loose wire.  All wires intact, I go check the brake lights again.  It works.  Except now, the cop notices the difference between the brightness’s of brake lights.  Here is the part that is my fault – on day 1 of my journey,  my right rear turn signal went out.  Got a replacement bulb (2 to a package) and installed it.  I noticed that the brightness difference was pretty significant between them but wanted to wait before I changed out the left one in case the right one went out again.  We shook hands and I promised to change it.  I changed the bulb today

The Best Crab Cakes in Lincoln City, Oregon

Not.  We were really hoping that it’s the real deal here and every restaurant should have killer crab cakes.  As a baseline, when we think of a good crab cake, Oceanaire comes to mind.  Lots of crab meat nice and tall, very little fillings, pan fried just right.  To be fair and maybe I really don’t know what a crab cake should taste like, the restaurant is highly rated on Google (4.2 with over 300 reviews).

Our campsite in Lincoln City

Compared to how our neighbors fit in, we’ve certainly got space all around us on our little slab of concrete we called home for the night.  Lots of sweet folks traveling, including 3 older couples that we sat with around the fire pit the other night.  Conversation turned to where we all come from and they all knew where Minneapolis was because their Idaho State Senator was arrested in our MSP bathroom a number of years ago.  Larry (I have a wide stance) Craig.  One fellow said, ‘we all knew he was gay for 20 years before that happened’.

Trying to get into SF / Oakland by Wednesday.  Redwoods  tomorrow!  Wine country after that.

 

 

Long day of travel (okay, it was only 160 miles) and we arrived into Portland mid-afternoon Thursday.  The drive was mostly uneventful; however we did go to a gallery that is so underrated in areas outside of the PNW.  I mean, we go to galleries in Minneapolis and NYC and have never seen these artists get their due.  Love the pearly whites on Sasquatch.

There was a song released in 1961 called ‘Who Put the Bomp’ …

Who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp
Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong
Who put the bop in the bop shoo bop shoo bop
Who put the dip in the dip da dip da dip
Who was that man
I’d like to shake his hand
He made my baby fall in love with me (yeah)

Well, I immediately thought of that song when I took this photo.  You can make up your own lyrics, but I’m giving you the opening lines.

Went to dinner last night with our nephew, Carter Steinhagen.  Carter is a freshman at Lewis and Clark College outside Portland and is an incredibly engaging young man.

After dinner, we toured the campus, met his roommate Nic and now wish we could enroll in college once again!

Check out Nic’s white board behind him – who has that kind of handwriting???  Carter calls it Nic’s font.  He also said he and Nic get along sooo well because they are both neatniks and their dorm room proved it when we walked in unannounced.

Lift Driver Zoe

So, leaving the restaurant last night we had a Lift driver named Zoe.  Young fellow, and while I would prefer to not generalize about people (I will anyway), Zoe was the quintessential young Portlander.  Here’s what we learned in 10 minutes.  He’s been to the University here, taken additional courses on robotics, is currently editing a video for MIA (not determined if it was an authorized version, but he has 4 months into the production), and is an expert on absinthe, including distilling his own brew.

I mean, I was down with his MIA love – I also have her on my iTunes play list:

Time to spit new shit
I’m rocking on this new bit
I’m hot now you’ll see
I’ll fight you just to get peace

Linda is so dang cute – let me give you one more reason.

Who remembers Saturday Night Live with Chevy Chase doing the news?  Well at the end of the news, he would repeat the headlines and Garret Morris would appear in a little circle in the lower corner and repeat the headlines for the hearing impaired.  Not simply repeat, but shout the headlines.

This is Linda with her GPS sharing directions.  I can hear perfectly the voice from the phone, but Linda must repeat (and step on) the other voice.  Love it!!!

Heading back to the Oregon coast to a spot that we were turned down because our vehicle was too old for their campground.  Once I sent a photo, they reneged and welcomed us J

 

Tuesday morning, September 12^th (our 36^th anniversary) we headed out of Seattle to enjoy the Washington Pacific Coast.  Found an RV campground with direct beach access in Ocean City, WA.  Decided to slow it down and spend two days here.

 

Meet Susan (not sure if this is her real name).  She is the owner of the place and moved out here from the Jersey Shore 15+ years ago.  Says she sold her sanitation business to Waste Management (‘they made me an offer I could not refuse’) and she decided to go west.  Now, let’s get real.  Jersey sanitation business.  Made me an offer I could not refuse.  Hmmmm – who runs the sanitation business in Jersey?  I am certain she is in the Witness Protection Program.  Please do not share these photos with anyone because evidently you can see where they were taken and she might be discovered!

Anyway, she runs a sweet RV park.  You walk through the park onto a little path and within ten minutes you are on a beautiful stretch of beach.  Susan owns all the property to the ocean and considerable Pacific shoreline.  Yeah – ‘made me an offer…’

In the months leading up to the trip, every time we had a great meal at home, I told Linda…’I can make that in the bus’.  Well, last night was no exception.  Salmon dill hash, veggie and wine on the Camp Chef stove.  Side note on salmon dill hash…I found this recipe years ago and started making it for Mother’s Day for Linda’s and my mom.  Years and years of it and it was always delicious – and the compliments flowed.  About 2 years before my mom passed, she said to me…’Gaaaary, you know I never really liked your salmon hash’.  WTF?!?!?!  Well, Linda does (I think), so I will continue making it!!!  Plus, the salmon is fresh out here and frickin good for you, so eat it.

 

Check out Linda’s dual glasses mode.  Her optometrist has told her she should get glasses, but this method seems to work out just fine.  This is the sun glasses and reading glasses combination.  Look for her line around the holidays this year.

So, we had the hash (not that kind, although we’re in Washington and it’s another legal state), cleaned up and played cribbage in the bus after dark.  Since it was the inaugural game, I totally smoked Linda and skunked her.  She won the next two games, so we are even heading into tonight.  Please see the cribbage board.  What would you expect?

Tomorrow, we’re heading to Portland and will see if our nephew Carter is available for dinner.  He just started at Lewis and Clark University in Portland this fall.  He’s also our Cutco Knife rep, so we must stop by to show him how the ‘RV Knife Set’ he sold us is working out.  So far, we still have all our integers, but those knives are so dang sharp, and only time will tell.

One more photo from Seattle from David – remember he was our personal tour guide AND photographer.

OK – Linda arrives later this afternoon, but first I need to get the bus ready for the next part of the journey.  Gotta find a mechanic that knows air cooled vehicles for an oil change and valve adjustment, pick up special oil (Castrol GTX 20-50), fix that shelf that fell off the door and of course, get to the truck wash.  Check.  Check.  Check.  Do some laundry, shower and get cleaned up and head to the airport.

Linda arrived early from Minneapolis and we immediately headed to the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle to connect with my cousin Keith and David, his husband of 26 years.  Then we got Lenny, Keith’s mom and had a wonderful dinner in the Ballard neighborhood at Staple & Fancy.  Dandy dinner and the whole place / city oozes hipness.  Not that I would really know, but it certainly felt that way!  (David took the photo, so you will see him shortly)

Monday morning, we need to be at the mechanic by 8:00 AM so the bus will cool down by 9:30 AM when he opens.  Great gig – work out of your garage and I guess you can call the shots on start time!  9:30 AM – who works a job that starts that late!!!  Anyway, the bus is ready for another 2,000 miles.

Connected with Erin Murphy (formally Dolan) for coffee and visiting for a couple hours.  Erin is a family friend from Minneapolis and her siblings went to school with our kids at Annunciation and Holy Angels.  She moved to Seattle and met her future husband here.  For the past 15 years they’ve owned a restaurant / sports bar in the Ballard neighborhood and also just opened a country bar in the same neighborhood.  Thanks for getting reconnected Erin.  Now get out of the bus J

Met up with our tour guide, David, for the majority of the afternoon.  Linda has never been to Seattle, and thus not the Pike Place Market, so off we went.  Saw all the hot spots and locations for the best photo ops.

And, a Molly Moon ice cream – YUM!!!

Stopped by to see Lenny at her senior living residence.  Loved her front door…didn’t quite understand it, but loved it anyway!

David is a wonderful guide and photographer.  Will post more of his photos once he sends them along.

Before I do that, it is important that you see David’s collection of Godzilla / Japanese Sci-Fi characters.  He has an entire room dedicated to this very serious passion.  He’s even made trips to Japan to document a reunion of actors that participated in the filming of many of these films.  Who would have thought!?!?!

 

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we head south out of Seattle and down the coast for some camping along the ocean.  We’ll be able to test out all the gear we’re schlepping and see if I can make good on my promise to Linda that I can make most any meal we can make in our home kitchen on our Camp Chef stove, griddle and grill!

Livable Wage Observation

Washington has passed a livable wage bill that give workers a $15/hour wage.  Will consumers see the impact?   When I ordered a Subway once into Washington a couple days ago, I was certain there was a mistake on the total.  1 – 6″ sub and a bag of chips.

See photo.  Still in favor if it helps add a few more dollars to their paychecks each month.

 

 

When I was looking for the right bus for me, there were a few factors that influenced which one I ultimately purchased.

First and foremost, I really wanted a 1967, as this was the last year of the split front window.  Significant changes occurred in 1968 and, while I owned two 1969’s (and the 1964), to me, the splitty (what they call pre ’67 busses) epitomized the spirit of a particular era.  I mean, this is the 50^th anniversary of the ‘Summer of Love’!

It had to be an original Westfalia camper.  There were many US aftermarket camper companies, one of the most familiar was Sundial (which I owned in ’69).  The Westfalia camper was VW’s official camper company.  My particular Westy is an SO42 and the manufacturer’s plate bears the serial numbers.  The pop top in the middle was also part of this package and there were options for walkthrough or bench seat, but I wanted only the walkthrough.

The bus had to be in better than average condition as my modifications would also cost a pretty penny and I didn’t want to go backwards dealing with body rot, lots of welding and repainting.  These busses do have a tendency to rust, so finding one with a sound frame and body is critical.

Almost 2 years ago, I found my dream bus by a builder in the SF Bay area, but by the time I could put the deal together (interpret as convincing Linda and what she calls the ‘I need to find my wanderlust’ conversation), he had a firm commitment to sell to someone else.  8 months later, I came upon a fellow in the UK considering selling his beautiful 1967 SO42 Westy with an all original interior.  The bus had a bare metal restoration about 6 years earlier and it was a stunner (on photos)!  It totally checked all the boxes and we discussed finding a way to get together to see it in the UK.  He was interested in a 1959 bus and was willing to wait to sell until he was able to close on that one.  This went back and forth over the next few months and Linda was still warming up the idea so I could purchase knowing it was blessed.

What could go wrong here?  Right before heading to the UK in mid-October, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Life. On. Hold.

The seller understood my backing out and I was hopeful that he would take longer in finding his new old bus.

Nothing takes the wind out of your sails quicker than the love of your life requiring surgery, chemo and radiation.  But nothing else makes you more determined to not let an illness define what we will do to celebrate our life together.

Halfway through treatments, Linda and I started to look forward once again and discussed her eventual retirement (June 1^st, July 1^st, August 1^st, September 1^st).  We also discussed moving forward with the bus, so in February of 2017, I contacted the seller once again.  He found his bus and was ready to post and sell his ’67.  Pressure on, I could not fly to the UK to personally inspect the bus, but Dave and Dorothy Mohr’s ‘adopted’ son Gildas lives in France and he would fly to the UK to inspect, photograph, video and generally know that the bus does, in fact, exist.

The good news was it was the bus I wanted.  The bad news was the seller also got an offer from a chap in Germany and that deal would close fast if I didn’t move faster.  Interesting process coordinating wire transfers with banks, freight brokerage, customs agents and everyone else involved in importing a vehicle and getting their ‘handling fee’.  A very hectic two-day process, but all went well and my bus was awaiting shipment to the port NYC, where it would clear customs and go via ground transport to my office.

Long story, but on April 10, 2017, my Westy arrived!

I was very happy, but on the drive home, I realized that it was going to be quite the process getting it the point where my dreams and reality live.

You know how you make a small fortune?

Start with a large fortune and buy a vehicle to restore.

2,050 miles and eight days later, we’re (the Westy and me) in Redmond WA!  Great trip and all systems performed as hoped.  Only exception was getting off an exit today in the greater Seattle area and my shelf on the side door broke loose.  Everything on that door rolled all over the bus until I could eventually get to the hotel and clean up the mess.  Dang it, I knew it was a weak spot going in and should have taken care of it before I left.  Sunday morning project at Home Depot will take care of it in short order.

Nate Hendlin – Brut Man

My dad passed away last year in his one hundredth year and when going through all his things, one of the items I kept was his bottle of Brut.  I can remember even as an 8 to 10-year-old seeing his bottle of Brut on his dresser (next to his NYC Playboy Club card and in the lower drawer his Playboy collection since the inception of the magazine).   Anyway, today at a truck stop in Central Nowhere, WA, I saw in the rest room a vending machine with a shot of Brut for only 10 cents!  Shy on a dime, I thought I would pass on honoring my dad at this truck stop, plus having to touch the machine.  Then I noticed the OTHER machine and began to wonder…which is usually purchased first…the shot of cologne or the condom?  If you’re like me, and I know I am, once you have your Brut on, do you naturally want to purchase condoms?  Or if you think you’re gonna get lucky, do you buy the condom first and as an afterthought splash a bit of Brut to guarantee success?  Way too much open road thinking time.  One last thought here…who thought it was a good idea for these machines in truck stops?  How often do they run out? Who services them?  (Who services the truck drivers) Is it a franchise and we could produce their annual business conference?

Friday photos – the haze continues!

See the photos from the drive on Friday.  Haze as near as you could see.  New statement since you could not see far – duh.  Focused on covering as much ground as possible on Friday and also needed to take a 3-hour break in Missoula MT for conference calls and lunch.  Ahhh Missoula, small town, big-time rules.  Found a city park in Missoula to spend a few hours but was concerned about why this park would have access to the river, beautiful riverfront, benches, parkland, etc but all the parking was reserved – AND nobody was parked in any of the spots.  Well, I parked in one of the spots and started to work on email.  Sure enough, in 20 minutes a 3-wheeled meter maid vehicle virtually pulls a shitty in front of my bus and is now pointing at my front door in an attack position.  Realizing we now have a ‘situation’, I jump up to the front seat and exit the bus to chat with Lovely Rita.  I greet her and explain my situation and she says ‘There is no public parking here.  If you want to go to a pay lot, there is one about a ¼ mile down the river’.  ‘Understood’, I say.  Can I have 5 minutes to finish my work and I’ll mosey over?  ‘Absolutely not’ was the reply.  ‘What kind of message would that send to the others?’  And I offered ‘nobody else is in this lot, who is there to send a message to?’  Her final pleasantry was ‘Move it now’.

 

 

Friday night in Coeur d’Alene

Here are a couple photos from my RV evening in Coeur d’Alene.  Cute couple on their ‘deck’ with their two dogs.  And another shot of a tricked out campground with LED lighting AND the illuminated star at the top of their flagpole.  Linda and I will need to figure out what our ‘look’ should be pretty soon!

 

Meet some peeps along the way

At a random truck stop, I met Melody and Eric, Washington retirees who wanted to chat about their former bus…a 1959 VW Transporter with a flatbed behind the cab.  Those were very cool and command a pretty penny today.  Well, Melody and Eric commit 6 months of every year to volunteering at various lighthouses (yes, lightghouses) around the country.  Mostly on the west coast, but they are really champing at the bit to get to the east coast to work some lighthouses and, in particular, one that will be closing in the next couple of years.  Totally lovely couple and I just LOVE meeting people like this.

OK stonies – this next one is for you

Meet Tara, formally from the Midwest (Ohio), moved to LA to get into the marketing agency biz and wound up producing video projects as part of her work.  She told me she moved up to PNW and I thought she moved up to go to work for P&W, a marketing agency up in the Pacific North West.  HEY – PNW, I get it.  I’ll start using this term tomorrow with Keith, David and Lenny.   Anyway, she is part of an agency here where she is producing a number of videos for their client…wait for it…BOB MARLEY branded and approved pot.  She was just filming in a growing location that is approved to carry the BM name.  We chatted quite a bit about the growing issues around legalization, one in particular from our experience in Denver this summer.  Lots of consumers love the idea of legalized pot, but from the business owners’ perspective, if you are running a construction or telecom firm that requires drug testing to be on a job site, they lose applicants who can’t pass the piss test.  Lots of great tax dollars for the state, but not great for biz until a comprehensive test can be developed for THC.  I would think with all the money the pot industry is raking in, they should be on the forefront of developing testing that can determine when a person last consumed pot.  Either way, I am not at liberty to say if Tara had samples of the product she represents.  (Hey Tara!)

Linda arriving tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the meantime, drinking beers in an aLoft in Redmond, thinking about applying for a programmer position at Microsoft tomorrow.  Do they still have stock options for employees that make you rich in 5 years?

Woke up frozen and unmolested by grizzlies at 5:50 AM.  Broke camp quickly and went to the bakery in Cooke City that opens at 6:00 AM to warm up, get coffee and a sausage and egg and cheese ‘mc’muffin’ on a fresh biscuit.  It was a dandy!  The bakery also shared space with a guide service and I chatted up the guide.  My original plan was to fish the stretch from yesterday (no thanks!) but to get to the highway that connects with the Gallatin River, I’d have to go 4 hours though the park to the northwest entrance / exit.  He suggested getting up to Livingston and over to Bozeman and fish the Gallatin River between Bozeman and Big Sky.  Done and done!  See photos of the bison on the highway and when anyone see anything of interest in the park, they think the entire road surface is a parking lot.

Found an RV park in Bozeman that also had a hot springs and spa – what a dream come true!!!  Maybe fish, have a hot springs bath and a massage and sleep like a baby.  Called and made a reservation and beat cheeks over on interstate 90.  So, it was and RV park and there was a hot springs that was across the parking lot.  But, a massage?  No.  The hot springs had 9 different tubs of varying temperatures, but none of it a natural ‘hot springs’.  It was run by the Seventh Day Adventists and there is no alcohol sold and they also close at 4:00 PM Friday and open again at 7:00 PM on Saturday.  Before I learned it was the Seventh Day peeps, I was sure an orthodox Jewish family was running it.  Now here’s the kicker – on this particular evening, they had a University of Montana ‘back to school’ mixer complete with DJ and thumping music past 11:00 PM! TOGA TOGA TOGA  The good news is this RV park was not on a train line J

In the Gallatin River by 2:00 PM and tried 6 flies and only one produced a couple hits.  The fish are eating some hatch on the surface and are popping up all around me.  Fished a little more and finally thought about moving on.  Chat up a fellow (Scott) and he happened to be a guide and inspected what I was using.  He suggested a combination of two flies on one line (legal in fly fishing country).  See photo of flies.  So I took my ‘hopper’ and on to that hook, I tied another line about 18” below (the dropper) with an ant.  The ant would sink while the hopper floats.  He suggested another spot 10 miles down the road and off I went.

Well, that did the trick!  Within the next couple hours, I had over 8 hits and caught 3 fish.  Played the fish for a brief time and all eventually rolled and spit the hook out.  When you are using fly fishing gear, it is a completely different fishing experience from traditional spin casting fishing.  See photo of rod bent in the sky – the best I could do with while keeping tip up for playing the fish.

Why Fly Fishing?

I lost my dear friend (and fishing buddy) Dave Mohr a few years back and he and I planned on taking a trip to Montana to fly fish.  While Dave and I had 40 years fishing time together, we always were on a time crunch and we chose to pursue quantity over finesse.  Mind you, it still takes plenty of knowhow to find and catch fish in moving water.  Dave and I longed for the day when he would retire, move back to the US from Europe and we could make this trip.  Dave retired and passed away a year later and left me alone in the stream to fish his way and shout his name once I had a fish on.

Dinner with Eli Hogan

The son of my good friend and colleague, Tim Hogan, moved to Bozeman about a year ago and Tim shot both of us a text to maybe get together.  What a way to finish off a great day.  Eli picked me up at the park and off we went to a trendy spot near Bozeman.  Check out the photo of us on the rooftop bar with the mountains in the background.  Oh, sorry you can’t see the mountains because of all the smoke from the fires.  Eli is a great kid (late 20’s) raised well and grounded and a pleasure to spend a couple hours chatting over beers and good food.  Oh, Tim, I heard you have not been to Bozeman yet.

In Missoula MT right now getting ready for some conf calls.  Note the photo of my dashboard.  Look closely and you can see the fine ash that has been coming through my air vents.  Most cars today have filters for your ‘comfort’.  Not this baby!

Happiness from the trout gods and Dave.

Gary

Let’s start with something that happened a day or so ago leaving a small town in Wyoming and like all small towns, the speed slows to 25 before the highway opens back up to 70 or 80 or whatever unimaginable speed I cannot attain.  I’m almost through town and to the left of me is a confederate flag, basically covering the entire front porch of this home.  On the porch is a young boy and as I drive by, he starts pointing and telling his dad to look.  Well, dad and I exchanged looks that clearly were not friendly greetings.  It made my hair kinda stand up as we passed.  I would have liked the ‘photo’ I observed as part of my journey.

One more side bar…in order to be efficient about my travels until I connect with Linda, I am staying at RV campgrounds.  These are pretty funny places in strange locations.  All so far have been near railroad tracks and had trains blaring horns at all hours.  Maybe it’s like trailer homes and tornados, but intentional.  Anyway, each of these campgrounds have their own special rules, usually dictated by the house madam.  At the one in Wall, she walked me through the procedure of using the restroom by going in one door and exiting at the other end.  Inside there were sinks, toilets, showers, but no reason for a one-way trip through!

On to Wednesday.  Once again, froze overnight but this time with the windows closed – maybe time to get a small heater before Linda arrives, although we will be mostly at sea level.  Hit the road early to get a jump on all the other cars crossing the Beartooth Highway into Cooke City and the Northeastern entrance to Yellowstone.  Stunning drive and scenery!  Did really well on the climb to 10,900’, although I was in second and third gears for most of the 62-mile run! Speed limit is 45 on most of this road and with all the switchbacks, climbs and descending, 25 and 30 mph is standard for most everyone.

Met Dan, see photo in front of his white Porsche.  Also note the GoPro mounted to the roof and what you can’t see is two other GoPro locations inside the vehicle.  Naturally struck up a conversation since our cars are related.  Dan is on a 12-day run and will cover 5,500 miles.  About half way through and he struck a deer last night.  Deer and car were only slightly grazed and he is rethinking nighttime driving.  Interestingly, he also owns over 20 pre-1985 Porsches.

Made it into Cooke City and thought – great, now I might have cell service and can call Becca to discuss some biz, do email, etc.  Ahhhh NO!  The entire town of Cooke City is without any cell service.  Pretty cool actually, but would have been good to know in advance.  So, I ran to the Chamber of Commerce, along with everyone else, for the free wifi and a facetime with Linda.

Wednesday after catching no fish in Yellowstone (Soda Butte and Lamar rivers), I thought ‘well, I sucked at fishing, maybe I should treat myself to a room for the night’.  Only one place had a room, but the wifi was so bad the caretaker quit using it as well.  If I’m gonna pay, I want my wifi!  Off to the US Forest Service campground ($4.50 a night on my senior pass) that has no services besides toilets and potable water, but plenty of Grizzly Bears!  See photo of proof that the bear indeed does shit in the woods (and specifically in my campsite).  NOTE – All my food items are now in the steel box next to my campground and shortly I will go and spread peanut butter on the rest of the campsites (an alt version of the Passover story).

UPDATE after I wrote the above: The campground host (even in the US Parks) just came by to welcome and inform me my pop top has to be lowered as a grizzly would make quick work of coming in!!!

‘In the still licking my wounds department’, maybe the reason I got skunked today was there were a friggin million fishermen /fisherwomen fishing every spot.  I’ve never seen this many people fishing at one time.  That kind of pressure on a stream certainly will not improve chances of a catch.  Some get pretty angry if you drop into a section of stream and they are working downstream and come upon you.  A young couple with their 6-month old (strapped to the chest of the father fishing!) got a big lecture and some f-bombs.  Not the way to enjoy the National Park.

Hope to fish my way through Yellowstone tomorrow and possibly get a bit aggressive and get to Livingstone MT before sundown – I don’t do after dark and will stop before if necessary.  I’m feeling it’s a long way to go to Seattle if I’m picking up Linda by 4:00 PM and then having dinner with cousins in Seattle.

Will send this and photos if I ever have internet service again.

Best wishes, no fishes (yet),

Gary

So who woulda thunk the temp would drop to 37 degrees last night?  Sheridan is only 3,750′ high and it was a nice warm day on Monday.  I did make the bed with both Faribault Mills wool blankets Monday night and kept the windows and pop top screens open.  By 4:00 AM, I realize that I’m totally and completely freezing but all I can muster is to try to keep every part of my body / head under the wool covers.  By 5:45 AM I cannot stand it any longer and get up.  My fingers are all white (thanks Dad for the Raynaud’s Syndrome) and I can barely slide on the pants that are still wet from the shower last night.  All good.  I’ve got a conference call with a client at 8:00 AM, so I decide to get out of Dodge and find a unique place for the call.  (See photo of the Westy in scenic turnaround)

Left Sheridan heading west (photo casting a long shadow on the road in front of me) till US HWY 14 that cuts through the Bighorn National Forest. Spectacular drive and views that got even better when I turned onto US HWY 14 Alt. This was a bit more serious driving and at times I never left 2nd gear climbing to 9,400′.  The way down was crazy with 4 – 10% and 1 – 8% downhill grades over 15 miles.  Add in the switchbacks both up and down and the 2,500′ drop offs on the way down, it was a good time!  (photo of route that you are required to memorize if towing a vehicle).

Made it to Red Lodge MT this afternoon and getting ready for a major climb on the 62 mile Beartooth Highway connecting Red Lodge and Cooke City MT.  Supposed to be a simply spectacular ride and one that ends at the Yellowstone northeast entrance gate. From there it’s onto a fly fishing outfitter to chat streams for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.

See a few photos of Dave, the farmer.  His stand was along the road and I picked up some great veggies and melon for the next couple days.

Will write a separate post about a fellow I met yesterday.   Ed Carpenter.  US Air Force during Viet Nam days and a genuinely fine human being.

My best – Gary

Arrived about 30 minutes ago in Sheridan Wyoming. Lovely KOA 🙂 Needed to make sure I had a site with internet connection for Tuesday morning conference calls and email. Loved the first comment by the grounds keeper while we’re both looking at the bus and the license plate that says ’67 Westy’…’So, that looks like a ’74…am I right?’ Well actually…

About a hundred miles back, in a gas station in Sundance, WY, a young couple (late 20’s / early 30’s) pulled in next to me in their small SUV hauling a mini camper trailer. One of those cute ones like a Scamp or similar. The woman with purple hair gets out and stands in front of the bus with this big smile and says ‘That is just so…’ and starts to make 3 circles with her hand in front of her face and walks on. I’ll take that as a compliment.

Let’s see – got to Wall SD Sunday afternoon after making the loop through the Badlands National Park.  Got to show my LIFETIME Senior National Parks Pass and in I went. Unfortunately, there was a tremendous haze everywhere due to fires in Montana and points west.  Still it is amazing how one minute you are seeing the normal landscape around  you and in the next minute the terrain changes drastically.  I’ll try to post more photos, but the wifi here is, I believe, a 28.8 dial-up modem.

Last night had dinner in Wall and this morning breakfast at the world famous Wall Drug. And, that is all there is to say about that.  Today’s route to Sheridan was on Interstate 90 from Wall.  I wanted to see how the bus would do and if it would get a chance to get above 65 mph.  Pretty uneventful day with a cross wind that sometimes pushed me along to hit that 65 mark.  Drafted a bit on a few semis that passed me and I was able to get sucked into a spot right behind the trailer for a half mile or so.  Strange feeling when you are increasing your speed, but lightening up on the throttle.

Tuesday I hope to cover about 125 miles and be outside Yellowstone and meet with a guide shop for tips on fishing the streams that run from Yellowstone up toward Bozeman Montana.  Maybe fishing on Wednesday and Thursday!  Also need to get the bear juice so when a Grizzly shows up, I can spray this stuff in my face and not know when the bear eats me.

Hopefully I will have photos and not die in the process.

Best wishes, best fishes,

Gary