Aug 11, 2020 - Glacier National Park

Today we got up early and headed out at 7:00am to the park. Fortunately we got in early enough that there were no lines. It was cloudy and cold but the scenery was beautiful. We headed up the Going to the Sun road towards St. Mary’s. The mountains and glaciers towered high over lakes and streams. There is a different view around each corner. Water cascades down the side of the cliff and crevices along the road. Snow and ice dotted the glaciers and cliffs along the road way. I didn’t see any bears today, but I did see a lot of ground...

Aug 11, 2020 - The refrigerator door fell off. Again.

. This has happened a couple of times before, maddening. The screw-in / screw-out lower binge assembly (using a metric #10 wrench) gets loose with use, and eventually it reaches the point that it comes apart, crashing to the floor, with everything stored on the inside door shelving flying in all directions. . I cleaned everything up and put the door back in, but this time the plastic locking handle separated and broke right in my hand as it headed for the floor. Dometic hasn't made this model in years, going to a better system (I wonder...

Aug 11, 2020 - The Big Muskie Bucket

We left Aaron today. It was very sad, I'm definitely going to miss being around him. But he's doing great things with his life and Zac and I are very happy for him. We took off to do some primitive camping on some free land in eastern Ohio, called ReCreation land. Last time we drove out here the GPS took us a not-van-friendly way on a narrow ridge line with a way too fast speed limit. This time I took us down a wider, nicer road that followed the Muskingum river the entire way. It was nice and relaxing. We had seen the Big Muskie Bucket in...

Aug 11, 2020 - Exploring campsites - Warren Bridge & Green River Lake

Date: August 11, 2020 Weather: sunny Temperature: start 37º High 82º Wildlife count: Mule Deer, Pronghorn, Chizzler, Coyote, Chipmunk Year List: 325 Birds: Left early with breakfast from McD’s and a fuel up at Smiths. Drove to the Warren Bridge Recreation Area, a BLM site. There are 12 designated camping areas, some with multiple sites. They were lovely, especially #7. Spent quite a bit of time driving up that road and into the sites, each down by the Green River. Dispersed sites as well. Next, we drove up to Green River Lakes, part way...

Aug 10, 2020 - Rustic Barn Campground

What a day. First the check tag light came on as we were ready to leave Leisure Lake but went off as Ray ran the engine. The routing from Rand McNally took us on back roads off the interstate that were good until we were in Wisconsin. We stopped for lunch and fuel at a Petro that had a Nussbaum truck parked there - we’ve seen them on the road but I was able to take a photo for Joel. Then the sky turned black and a tornado warning came on the phone as we drove out of Rockford, IL. There was some hail, torrential rain and the GPS put us on a...

Aug 10, 2020 - 5 Ways To Take an Eco-Friendly Roadtrip in California

With climate change being a major concern, many people are looking for ways they can live in a more eco-friendly manner. If you are thinking about taking a road trip, but want to minimize your environmental impact, California is a great destination. Here are five ways you can make your California road trip more eco-friendly. 1. Choose Eco-friendly Lodging From out of control energy usage, to wasting water and overuse of single-use items, such as shampoo bottles, many hotels and other lodging have a negative impact on the environment....

Aug 10, 2020 - Seeing Aaron in Ohio, visiting the zoo

In the last post we were in Kentucky staying at a beautiful spot along a lake, checking out corvettes. We were supposed to go see the Mammoth caves, but unfortunately they were all sold out, so we just drove straight to Aaron's hotel. All the animals have been adjusting to traveling very well, and as time goes on we continue to lighten our load or think of changes that we'll do once we're home. We have a lot in mind to change up. The hotel was nice, and Aaron had a few days off while the van was being worked on! He has this cool ass plague...

Aug 10, 2020 - Billings MT

Wednesday was another not-much kind of day. A trip to the airport where my brother works to get a front row seat to watch a huge Russian-made Antonov 124 cargo plane take off was my highlight. Seeing one is a unique opportunity and since the airport is only 15 minutes from the campground, it was an easy decision. It was carrying a firefighting helicopter from Billings to Anchorage then on to Malaysia. Other than a late afternoon supply run and some dinner, that was the extent of our day. The forecast for Thursday was for a toasty 97° in...

Aug 10, 2020 - Cops think we're human traffickers

Fun title, right? It was a fun day. So today is Monday, the day we left our campsite, and Zac and I thought this deserved its own post. Today we got all our stuff packed up at the campsite with a plan to do some shopping, then go to Aaron's hotel and hang out with him when he got off work. Our first stop was a motorcycle shop to get Zac new gloves, since his had developed holes. The shop didn't have what he needed unfortunately, it wasn't the right kind of shop. So then we went to Walmart. Both of us are always nervous leaving the pets in...

Aug 10, 2020 - South Park walk

Date: August 10, 2020 Weather: sunny Temperature: start 40º High 84º Wildlife count: Year List: 325 Birds: Enjoyed breakfast at Bubbas, then completed the morning work at the VC. The day was perfect, so we headed to South Park for a 3 mile walk around the ponds, finding several migrating birds. It was lovely. After lunch, read outdoors, then back to the VC around 3. Once home, John & Charma and Walt & Betty joined us for happy hour. Dinner was our own homemade pizza and a green salad. super day.

Aug 10, 2020 - West Glacier Park

It was a long drive, but we made it to West Glacier KOA. The drive was beautiful. We saw a little bear cub on the highway. The poor little thing was so scared. He was running from one side of the highway to the other. He ran straight towards our rv but turned in time and went back to the median. I hope the little guy made it back to the woods. Momma had to be close by somewhere. Further up the road was a Bison reserve. They were hanging out near a watering hole. Tomorrow we head into the park. They are limiting the number of people they let...

Aug 9, 2020 - Geocache

We found about this scavenger hunt type game called Geocache. Its downloaded to your phone and identifies locations where people have hidden containers near you. Containers can be small (1 inch diameter by one or two inches), some medium and others quite large. When locating these you get points. Some people even put bling in them. But if you take the bling you have to put new stuff in. Even though the phone locates them via GPS, they can be ingeniously hidden. Locations show up a green icons,, then change to happy faces when found.. Keeps...