Posts Tagged With: Hiking

Final Thoughts on our Trip to the Arctic

Posted on June 16, 2024 by lisablackwell

I love warm weather and sunshine.  I don’t like going into a pool or a lake or an ocean unless it’s around 85 degrees.  You can imagine Brad’s surprise when I said one morning, “I think we should go on an expedition to the Arctic!!”  Once I put it out there, the whole idea of the trip began to intrigue both of us.  We signed up to go on a National Geographic ship that went around Svalbard, far north of the Arctic Circle. Brad loved the idea because the trip had a focus on photography and it gave him a chance/excuse to upgrade his camera so he could learn with the best.  I threw in a few days of travel to Copenhagen and Oslo so we could see some new Scandinavian countries and experience new cultures.

After a long shopping trip to REI where we bought a pile of base layers and waterproof everything, we were ready to head to the Arctic.  We really didn’t quite know what to expect but went with eager anticipation and a willingness to learn about Svalbard!

Here are a few of our reflections on the voyage:

Experiencing the Wonder of the National Geographic Resolution:  We were on the Nat. Geo.  Resolution with about 130 of our fellow expedition travelers for seven days.    The vessel was a next-generation expedition ship designed for polar ice exploration and it was beautiful.  We were NOT on a cruise ship with a set schedule of events.   We went exploring looking for wildlife and ice and what we did each day depended on the weather, the wind, the ice, and the conditions on land.  The Captain changed his navigation frequently due to weather conditions.  We were the only ship in the areas we explored for virtually the entire trip.  

Our ship mates on the Resolution
Resolution on Ice

A Typical Day on the ship — there were no Typical Days on the ship: 

An example of a typical day started with a 7:00 am cheery wake-up call letting us know what “operation” we were trying to do that morning.  An “operation” could be a zodiac trip, a hike, or kayaking.  Our leader would then give us an approximate time that we might get to go ashore.  The reason that it was approximate was because the staff had to go on shore first-equipped with guns and search for polar bears before they would take 130 people to shore (Despite their cute appearance, polar bears are quite dangerous). They also made sure the conditions weren’t too icy or muddy.  We did have a few episodes with people getting stuck in the mud up to their thighs  (the mud was like quick -sand) and they were hoping to avoid any future mud-sucking events.  Of course, there was always a wonderful breakfast waiting for us as we waited to hear about our morning.  Some days things went as planned and other days we made other arrangements.  We all had to be flexible because as soon as we found out an operation was going to happen, we had to put on all of our layers  (I wore a LOT of layers as I was channeling my inner Mary Frandsen on a chilly day playing golf), our binoculars, our life jackets, and head to Base Camp to go out on a Zodiac.  We did a lot of clothes-changing in the week on the trip but we got good at it by the end.

A guide keeping a lookout for Polar Bears
Getting ready to go out onto a zodiac in Base Camp

After our morning “operation”, we would have a delicious lunch.  One day we even had a barbecue and people could sit outside on the deck of the ship!  Post-lunch, we would find about a new operation in a new location.  Again, flexibility was the key.  Sometimes the excursions happened  as planned and sometimes they didn’t.

Inside the ship in one of the dining areas

In the evenings, we had cocktail hours, a recap of the day, some great photographs of the day by the Nat Geo Photographers, trivia night, or a Polar Bear Party.  They even had a seven course meal with wine pairings that we attended with a small group.  The ship food and service were beyond our expectations!  We enjoyed our fellow travelers immensely who all had a sense of adventure and openness to learning.  

Fancy food at our seven course meal
Don’t think I’ll be making this back home!
Fun at the Polar Bear Party

Excitement on the Bridge: When we weren’t dressing or undressing to go outside, Brad and I loved to hang out at the bridge.  The bridge was where the action happened and the Captain navigated the ship.  The fun days, of course, were when we spotted polar bears or were going through ice.  It was a fascinating place to experience ship life.  We traveled 1200 miles on our voyage and even made it to 80 degrees north.  Look it up. That’s very, very far north.

Our Captain showing us where we were when we hit 80 degrees North

Yes, A Bird Lecture can be Funny:   We loved the lectures and went to them all.  The naturalists on birds made every topic interesting and entertaining.  Who knew you could laugh so much at a bird lecture by Javier or learn all of the secrets of the iPhone camera with Bryan or see amazing underwater sea life by Annie?  Nat Geo. Ships use their platform to educate the public about all things wildlife but also on the serious issue of global warming.  Those lectures were very enlightening and sobering.

Our very intelligent, impassioned naturalists, guides, and photographers

Polar Bears are getting more and more rare to find:  Polar Bears are not as easy to spot as we thought when we signed up for the trip.  Their numbers are decreasing annually due to melting icescapes and the ships are not allowed to get close to the fast ice.  We were very lucky to see that mama and her cubs. It doesn’t happen on every expedition.  Normally, they see a lot of “pixel” bears that you can only see through a strong binocular or very large camera lens.

Polar Bears have now become a vulnerable species due to melting sea ice

Polar Plunge:  One afternoon the brave and hearty in the group were invited to do a Polar Plunge in the frigid waters of the Arctic.  I think the water was about 31 degrees Fahrenheit.  Brad joyfully went down to take his turn while I happily went to the fifth deck to photograph him and cheer him on with the other sane people.  (Reference the part about 85 degree water in the first paragraph.)  There was lots of cheering and whooping-it-up and shot-taking with the Polar Plunge Party.  The patch Brad received was certainly warranted.

Brad jumping in to 31 degree weather
Brad celebrating with a fellow polar plunger!

Life Without a Sunrise or Sunset:  Never seeing a sunset or  sunrise really messes with your biorhythms.  The sun has not been setting since April 19 and will not set again until August 21.  Being out at 11:00 pm in a zodiac with bright light is something that is hard to get used to.  On the flip side, the  2700 residents who live  in Longyearbyen  year-round have complete darkness (and frigid temps) from Oct.19-to mid-February.  No sunlight  at all ever during that time.  Not sure how they do it but we met many young people who love living there and studying at the University Centre of Svalbard.

Land of the Midnight Sun

Go Now:  An Arctic Expedition may not be for everyone but if you are considering it, plan your trip now in 2024.  New regulations will take effect in 2025 that will make it even harder to get close to the polar bears.  The regulations will also only allow about 40 people on shore per operation to do hikes.  That regulation would have greatly impacted our ability to all get out on the islands as well as would have slowed down the trip dramatically.  Nat Geo ships are stewards of the environment but sadly not all ships are so careful and have been disturbing the polar bears and getting too close to them hence the new regulations.

Nat Geo Ships:  I can’t say enough good things about  Nat Geo Ships and am already looking at where we can go in a couple of years.  Their mission is to teach their passengers about the environment, wildlife, geology, photography, and, of course, global warming.  We came home a lot more educated and aware of the Arctic landscape.  The ship was luxurious in a very under-stated way.  There are no kaoroke bars or all-night buffets or limbo dancing!  There is simply fantastic service and really, really smart people on board.  (Big thanks to smiling Adrian, who always greeted me at cocktail hour with my glass of chardonnay!  It’s the little things).  There was no need for the Dramamine we brought or any of the motion sickness pills or patches.  The ride was smooth (except for the ice-breaking earthquakes) and we slept like babies every night as we were gently rocked to sleep.

Our Seven Day Voyage

Home:  As the saying goes there is no place like home. We are looking forward to getting home to see the dogs and the grandkids and family but also I can’t wait to see a sunset and a sunrise again and feel the warmth of a summer day!  Life in the Far North was fascinating  and we will miss our fun, adventurous traveling companions but it’s time to celebrate summer back home!

Made it home in time for Father’s Day!!
Categories: Arctic, Norway, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Walruses, Whales, Glaciers and Auks

Posted on June 9, 2024 by loansbrad

Lisa and I boarded the National Geographic Resolution on Friday. We departed from the town of Longyearbyen and started our counterclockwise circumnavigation of Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island. We’ll explore the island’s fjords and bays. We’re told there is quite a bit of sea ice on the eastern side. The resolution has good icebreaking capability so it should be interesting to see that area. Sea ice is often where polar bears hang out in search of their primary prey, seals.

A map of Svalbard. We’re sailing counterclockwise around the island of Spitsbergen.

Our first day was sunny and warm — almost too warm for the heavy clothing we were wearing. By the second day the temperature had fallen and the wind came up. We know we’re in the Arctic today!

Since Svalbard is mostly uninhabited (a total population of 2500, most of them in Longyearbyen that we just left behind), there are no places to dock. So, we get to shore on Zodiacs, small inflatable motorboats.

Lisa eagerly awaiting our departure to shore by Zodiac.
The Resolution with Zodiacs coming and going.
A Zodiac heading to shore.

We came to shore in front of a large glacier. We had a chance to see the geologic impact the glacier has over ages. It was a beautiful site. We were shown photos of the same glacier over the past hundred years. It has receded noticeably over that period. Apparently, global warming is occurring three times faster at the poles than it is in warmer climates. Not a good omen for the retention of sea ice.

The glacier we visited on our first day at sea.

An adjacent mountain with its reflection in the water below.

Wildflowers emerging in the Arctic summer.

As we left the glacier and sailed back up the fjord, we came across a herd of walruses lounging on shore.

Walruses hanging at the beach.
Note the size of the tusks on the big one in the middle.

We then left for another fjord where we hiked up to see one of the world’s largest colonies of Little Auks. These small birds are cute, squatty little creatures with plump bodies (for diving for their food) and small wings. They come to Svalbard every year to mate and nest, preferring steep rocky areas. So, to see them, we, of course, climbed up a steep rocky area. As we approached, the racket of birds in courtship got very loud. Apparently, little auks are relatively silent except during their mating season when the trills and shrieks are impossible to miss.

We came upon thousands of birds on the mountainside. They didn’t seem to mind our presence. We sat and watched them for about a half hour. It was fascinating.

A Little Auk
The Courtship
And, um, success.
There were thousands of birds at this site.
The tundra in the area was beautiful.

The landscape in Svalbard consists of mountains, glaciers and fjords. The views are breathtaking.

A view in the wake of our ship.
Cloud adorned mountains.
Many of the mountains are step and jagged.
A panorama of the area around that same mountain.
Blue ice at the terminus of a large glacier.

And, finally, this morning we had a chance to sail by a gray whale in one of the bays.

He came up and dove down for us several times. A beautiful animal.

We still haven’t found that elusive polar bear. We’ll hope to see one soon. When we do, you’ll be the first to know!

Categories: Arctic, Norway, Travel | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

It Takes Two

Posted on July 2, 2022 by lisablackwell

There is a song in the musical “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim called “It Takes Two”. It’s a song sung between the baker and his wife when they go out for an adventure in the woods and realize that facing their challenges together would be more successful than doing so individually. Its main refrain goes like this, “It takes two, I thought one was enough but it takes two of us.” The married couple realize how much they have changed in their adventure. Instead of always doing things independently they learn to team up as they face life in the woods.

That song kept playing in my head while we were on our 18-day adventure “Into the Woods” up to Canada. Brad and I are both fiercely independent and some might stay a little stubborn. Just ask our friends and family. At home, we have our individual lives and tasks and to-do lists (Well, I make the to-do lists for Brad). We have also been happily married for 37 years on July 6th so we do know a little about working together and getting along as well, but, a small Sprinter van can test that togetherness very quickly.

We do almost everything together in the Winona Rider. We planned the trip together, we did the menu planning, we organized the van, and we packed our things together. Each day on the trip we have to make the bed, do the dishes, make the meals, do the grocery shopping, and do the laundry together. I think you get my point. We each have our own jobs even in the Rider but we have to work together and do a dance at times around each other to make it all work in such a small space. We even write the blog together. I often sit down and just put down all of my ideas with very little attention to grammar or facts in the evening. I am a bit of a night owl so that works best for me. Brad, on the other hand, likes to get up earlier than me so he looks at my draft and “cleans it up” as we like to call it. It’s a team effort and it works!

That being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that Brad does the lion’s share of the hard work. He is the man who does all of the hook-ups at our various destinations (including manning the dump station) and also the man who does a combo of gymnastics and yoga trying to make our bed every night. He is also the man who deals with the dogs when they need to get up early and go out! He, of course, does all of the driving while I entertain him with my intellectual chatter about the news of the day or my research about what we should do that day or where we should go to lunch. And, most importantly, he is the man who makes the coffee in the morning and pours the wine in the evenings and I am forever grateful to him for that.

Brad’s Nightly Bed Making Skills…A little bit yoga, a little bit gymnastics
Doing the Laundry…Travel is not alway glamorous

Before we sign off for another year, I thought I would leave you all with a few lists of what we learned and discovered on our trip. We went almost 4000 miles, spending time in five states, two provinces, and one new country over 18 days. It was the trip of a lifetime and possibly our favorite Winona Rider trip to date.

Places to put on your Bucket List

Banff, Banff, Banff! And then really all of the other places we visited. We didn’t have a dud. I would consider going in September next time because we did have cold temps sometimes and had to forego a couple of hikes because they still had ice and snow.

Lake Louise at Banff National Park

Places/Things that Surprised Us

Blind Bay in Canada. One of the most serene lakes we have ever visited. Such a lovely evening and it beat our expectations!

Low Tides, ferries and the Winona Rider don’t mix well.

The overflowing waters in the rivers and lake in the Pacific Northwest and Canada

The genuine kindness of the Canadian people, including drivers on the highway.

Blind Bay Sunset. Ahhhh!

Places that Disappointed Us

Nothing really disappointed us but it was a bummer to have needed reservations to get into Glacier and to be turned away. It was also disappointing that the parking lot was full at Lake Louise the first time. Our advice — plan ahead and do your research when visiting US national parks. Their rules change frequently. It is also sad that we can’t hike with our dogs in the United States national parks. Canadian national parks let you hike with your dogs on leash. Oh, but don’t forget to bring bear spray!

The dogs in the morning

Things that Bug Us

Lack of recycle bins in RV parks. What is with that? It’s really hard to be eco-conscious at places without recycling.

Loud trucks and people who run their generators at night.

Bad Wifi/Cell Reception. We have a blog to write and Wordle to play. We need our internet. (Although I felt a little silly complaining about that fact when one of our RV neighbors was chatting with us and told us he hasn’t watched anything live on a screen in 24 years because his house in Washington has no cable or internet. I stopped whining after that.)

Things in our Van that we still don’t understand:

How our power system works. Seems to be no rhyme nor reason.

How we sleep so amazingly well every night in such a small space!

The day we lost our power and waited 2 1/2 hours for the solar to kick in.

Things to do to be happy for 18 days in a Sprinter Van:

Book a hotel for a few nights at the middle and end of the trip.

Take showers in the camp sites if they have a good one

Laugh at each other’s jokes (sometimes that requires effort)

Play Farkle

Stay off Twitter

Drink good wine nightly

Don’t look in any mirrors

Spend time with friends that you normally wouldn’t get to see and have friends you see often meet you somewhere. We are forever grateful that our friends met us and opened up their homes to us along the way.

The Cohens in Portland
The Hoffbergs in Vashon Island
The Frandsens in Bend

And, lastly, Things we Can’t Travel Without in the Winona Rider:

French Press Coffee Maker

Our dogs

A Sense of Humor

Good Wine

And, most importantly, each other

Our 2022 blogging days have come to an end and we’ll see you all next year! We are always ready to take suggestions of where we should go and what we should see. Thanks for all of your feedback these last three weeks. We have enjoyed staying in touch with you, our friends.

Categories: Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Our Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day — Glacier National Park

Posted on June 26, 2022 by lisablackwell

We woke up on Thursday morning at the West Glacier KOA RV Park. The thermometer read 37 degrees. Lisa hates the cold.

Every trip has a day that just doesn’t go as planned or doesn’t come easy. We’ve all experienced it. Sometimes it’s a major medical issue like the time Lisa broke her wrist on a remote doctor-less island in the British Virgin Islands. Sometimes it’s a major inconvenience like Brad being detained by Chilean Security for having an apple in his backpack and being interrogated so long that we missed our flight to the Atacama Desert. Other times it’s nothing major. You just have a day where nothing seems to go right.

Our first day in Glacier National Park was the latter.

The entry sign looked so inviting.

It all started early in the morning with a text and a photo of a Covid test. Our youngest daughter, Stephanie, had just tested positive for Covid. She took a few more tests and indeed, she had the dreaded virus. She wasn’t feeling too badly but, nonetheless, we were concerned.

While Lisa was texting with Steph, we got the early morning breaking news alerts informing us that the Supreme Court had reversed Roe v Wade. We felt punched in the gut and the news immediately put us in foul moods and we went on a few expletive-laden rants. Lisa suggested we turn the RV around and head back to Canada, find a nice place to live and send for the kids and grandkids. We pondered that idea as we headed off to Glacier National Park.

We arrived at the West Entrance of Glacier and were confronted with electronic signs that told us to have our vehicle passes and ID ready. We had no idea what that meant. As we pulled up to the nice but official looking park official, Brad asked, “We don’t know what a vehicle reservation is.” She smiled and succinctly ushered us off to an area for cars without park reservations. There, a lovely woman explained to us that we could not go into the west entrance of the park without a reservation. That reservation needed to be made months ago. She did say we could see the park from the East side without a reservation and enthusiastically explained some of the sights we could see along the way. She also gave us hope by saying that we could come back at 4:00 and enter the west side without a reservation, This woman has a hard job telling people who didn’t do their research (like us) that they can’t visit the park yet she handled it with a lovely attitude.

A few other things she mentioned ever so nicely were: 1) Our dogs weren’t allowed on any of the trails in the park except one short paved one. 2) We couldn’t’ take our RV on the infamous Going-to-the-Sun-Road because it was too long. 3) It didn’t matter anyway because most of the road was closed because of ice and snow. 4) Have a Great Day! Things she forgot to mention: 1) The two east entrances to the park are an hour-and-a-half away.

As we turned around, Lisa mentioned that there is an old wives tale that bad things happen in threes so we had just had our three bad things for the day. Again, off we went with hope of seeing the sights the park ranger had suggested. As we drove along, we watched the temperature drop to 45 degrees and it started to rain. It had warmed to 60 degrees on the west side. OK, well, maybe four things and then we were good to go.

The day continued to confound us. We did see the cool sight at Goat Lick Overlook. — a family of mountain goats rock-climbing and yes, licking rocks. That was cool. We think our luck is changing.

Goats licking rocks, of course.
Goats on rocks.

We got to the Glacier’s Two Medicine Lake entrance at noon. Great! We can have a nice lunch at the lake. We pulled up to the gate and the ranger said sternly, “This entrance is closed. Come back at 2:30” Really?!?

Ugh. This is becoming a very bad day.

As we drove away we found a pullout and stopped to have lunch. As we pulled in a guy had stopped to pee. I’m sure we embarrassed him. He was also having a bad day. There was, however, a nice little waterfall and the view of the mountains was pretty good. So we stayed and ate lunch.

The view at lunch

The drive to the other east entrance — St. Mary — was a slow winding road. It took us a while to get there.

The high and winding road . Don’t look down or take your eyes off the road.

We got to the St. Mary entrance and were allowed into the park. Yes! But, we only got six miles in before a sign informed us that only vehicles under 21 feet could continue. The Winona Rider is 24 feet long. We stopped to walk along the lake a bit but because it was 45 and raining we didn’t stay long. We took a few pictures, saw some bear poop, we think, and figured we could at least check off Glacier National Park on our map at home.

St. Mary Lake
The view from our long and winding road.
Our short walk in the rain even had grizzlies.
A cold Lisa walking our bear attractant.
Maybe we’d better get back in the van.

The St. Mary entrance was about a hundred miles from our campsite and it was now 4:30. We decided it had been a long day and we should head home. There was a lot of road construction on the way up so we decided to go home on a different route. About 20 miles in, we came upon a very serious accident that blocked both lanes of the road. We sat for a while but realized it could be closed for a long time so we turned around and back tracked to the winding road with the heavy construction. It took us another two hours to get home. We were tired and in bad moods. Even the gnocchi dinner we made was mushy and not too good.

Yeah. It was raining.

We went to bed vowing that our second day would be a better day.

Day 2: Our Wonderful, Beautiful, Not Bad, Very Good Day

We woke up on Day 2 and the sun was shining with a forecast of 73 degrees. It was already a better morning than the day before. Daughter Stephanie, although having Covid was feeling reasonably fine and was mostly just bored. The Supreme Court decisions of the week still infuriated us but we resolved that we would get more politically involved when we get home and start doing what we could to take action (instead of moving to Canada), and lastly we had a plan to get into West Glacier at 4:00 pm.

With such a beautiful day at our beckoning, we had to take the dogs on a hike. We found an area that accepted dogs near Kalispell and drove 30 minutes to the West. It was a beautiful hike with lots of wild flowers and good views. Sophie and Ralphie were quite happy, maybe even giddy, because they could be off-leash for much of this hike.

We’re hiking and it’s sunny!
Beautiful views along the trail.
Lots of wildflowers

We went to the quaint town of Whitefish for lunch where we indulged in a post-hike beer and some pizza at a local pizzeria. It was some of the best beer we have had in a long while! While at lunch we talked about the day before. Those goats on the rocks were pretty cool. Remember when we were on that winding drive? Wasn’t the view amazing? Oh, and lunch by the waterfall. How often does that happen?That lady that told us we couldn’t come in was so sweet. It was interesting how we remembered the highlights. Maybe yesterday wasn’t such a bad day after all. Then Lisa noticed a sign on the street at our pizza place.

Wisdom and perspective from Jersey Boys Pizza. Oh, and their beer is really good.

On the way back to West Glacier, we just had to stop at the Huckleberry Land and buy ourselves some huckleberry pies for dinner. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a huckleberry before. It’s a bit like a blueberry but tases more like a blackberry. They grow them here. Huckleberries are everywhere.

I’m sure this place is for locals.

The 4:00 hour arrived and we got in line, holding our breath that we would be let in to the park. They waved us through and we were in, just like that! We took a scenic drive along Lake McDonald and stopped whenever we could to take pictures. We did have to turn around about 14 miles in because of the size of our RV but we were thrilled with what we got to see.

The mountains overlooking Lake McDonald.
Beautiful mountains
Avalanche Creek was flowing and had many waterfalls.
Parking to see the waterfalls.

We spent our last evening at our RV Park by getting a delicious meal of huckleberry chicken and huckleberry ribs all served with some delicious homemade mac and cheese and cornbread. We even shared some huckleberry pie for dessert. Our RV Park was a KOA near the entrance of West Glacier. At first, Lisa thought it was a bit too crowded and busy (she hates crowds of all kinds) but we both grew to love it. The spa-like showers won us over at the beginning of the stay but the homemade meals, the attention to every detail, the kids who were having the times of their lives riding bikes and making tie-dye shirts made this place unique and special.

The dogs enjoying our campsite.

Our stay in Glacier was a tale of two very different days and attitudes and experiences. But that’s the magic of travel; every day tells a different story and no day is like the other. Perhaps our first day wasn’t really a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day after all. And, really, a bad day traveling is better than a good day anywhere else, right?

Next we’re off to Blackwell Island Idaho.

Categories: Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Banff Canada — It Took our Breath Away

Posted on June 23, 2022 by loansbrad

We left Shuswap Lake at around 9:30 and headed west toward Banff. We thought we were in the mountains until, about an hour later, the real mountains appeared. It was one of those moments when your breath catches and you marvel at the beauty of the view.

Now, we have seen mountains before. After all, we met in Colorado and got married there. And, we love Colorado mountains. These mountains, however, were different. They went straight up. They had craggy cliffs and jagged peaks. It’s hard to describe. And, the photos clearly don’t do them justice. But, let’s just say we were awed. And, for these world travelers, that’s hard to do. We now know why Lisa’s mom and dad so wanted us to visit, as they did thirty years earlier.

The Canadian Rockies overlooking Lake Minnewanka.

We only had two days to explore Banff National Park. So, we knew we couldn’t possibly see all it had to offer. But, if we could get in a couple of nice hikes, see some of the key offerings, and enjoy the views, we would be satisfied. We arrived at our camp on Monday evening. It was stationed at the base of the towering Mount Kidd. We set up camp and then set out to explore the area.

Sophie and Ralphie posing before Mount Kidd
If the dogs get a photo, well, then so do we.
The Blackwell Campsite Bar and Grill

Those hikes we mentioned? Well, we were constantly being warned about bears. Not those friendly black bears we have in California. Grizzly bears. Signs told us not to go hiking without bear spray. That’s like super, ultra, extra-strength pepper spray. You’re supposed to carry it with you and have the presence of mind to pop off the safety and spray a charging bear in the eyes before he eats you. Even our campsite had constant reminders along with a big fine if you left bear “attractants” out overnight. Attractants are anything a bear might want to eat — leftover food, an ice cooler, Ralphie. That kind of thing.

We had many opportunities to be educated about bear behavior.
The sign as we entered our camp.
There were four of us but two were dogs. Hmmm.

Fortunately, we keep the Winona Rider equipped with bear spray so we were ready. So, off we went on two beautiful hikes. One began at Lake Minnewanka and headed up the canyon on the river that feeds it. And, one hike was from Tunnel Mountain to “the Hoodoos.” We learned about hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park so this hike held promise.

Before we show you photos of the hikes, we need to explain the aqua blue water you’ll see in the rivers and lakes. The landscape at Banff National Park is largely influenced by glaciers carving the stone in the mountains. As these glaciers move down the rock, they grind the stone into a super fine powder called rock flour. This rock flour flows in the streams, rivers, and lakes creating silty water. The stone isn’t bright blue, rather, it absorbs all incoming light except this aqua color giving the waters a magical turquoise appearance.

The shore of Lake Minnewanka
Lake Minnewanka
The Cascade River flowing through Stewart Canyon and feeding Lake Minnewanka.
A ranger let Lisa holding a bighorn sheep horn. She learned how they get their name.
We hiked along the Bow River on our way up to the hoodoos.
The view on our way to the famed hoodoos was spectacular.
If you look closely you can see rock climbers scaling this wall. No, thank you.
The hoodoos. Needless to say they were underwhelming. But, the hike itself was incredible.
No bears, but, we did see a pair of Canadian Geese with their baby.

Lake Louise

Lake Louise is the most famous site in Banff National Park. So, of course, we wanted to see it. We got up on our first morning and headed out to the lake. It was an hour-and-a-half drive so it took us a while to arrive. Once we approached the turnoff to the lake, signs informed us that the parking lot by the lake was full. We needed to go to the park and ride lot. Lisa, never deterred by these things said, “let’s just drive up and see if we can get in.” So, we drove up. And, we didn’t get lucky.

So, we drove back down to the park and ride where they summarily informed us that dogs were specifically not allowed. (I think they read our blog about Ralphie.) So, we drove home with the beautiful mountain views as our consolation prize.

The next day, we decided to head up at the end of the day. While we wouldn’t be able to get in a hike this way, we might be able to get in to see the lake. As we approached we got the same no parking available signs. Lisa, still not deterred, said we should drive up and see if we could get lucky.

We got to the top by the lake (You can’t see the lake from your car, by the way), and the same people that waved us back down the mountain appeared to be doing so again. But, no . . . They were sending us up to another lot right by the lake. We’re in!

It was worth it. The lake is all that was advertised. It was a bit of a cloudy day so the blue wasn’t as iridescent as it could have been. But, no matter. It was spectacular.

Lake Louise
The dogs mugging it up by the lake.
Shameless Lake Louise selfie.
A bit of sun caught this corner of the lake to give you a sense of the color.

We went into the town of Banff one afternoon and, as we always do in a new place, bought a Banff Christmas ornament for the tree. While it was clearly aimed at tourists, it was clean and beautiful.

Downtown Banff
Lot’s of clean public transportation.
The Fairmont Banff Springs. We had lunch here. It was really nice.

Canadians

We’ve spent the past week in Canada and, while the country is beautiful, our lasting impression will be of the people of this country. They were polite, kind, friendly and accommodating. Not just some of them — but, everyone we met were plain good people. Even the drivers were polite. When Brad mis-communicated an order at lunch, the wait staff were so apologetic that they got the order wrong, they brought out this amazing dessert for free and offered coffee and tea and water for the dogs. Now that’s hospitality, eh?

Not sure what this dessert is, but it had a Twix bar on top and in the middle. And, it was delicious. Sophie’s not impressed.

This trip so far has been an incredible experience. We highly recommend both Vancouver and Banff National Park for your future travel plans. On our way out of town we did, finally, stop at a Tim Horton’s. We do recommend Lake Louise. Tim Horton’s — well, you’re on your own for that.

Glazed donut and black coffee at Tim Horton’s

Next, we’re back in America at Glacier National Park, Montana.

Categories: Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lessons from the Road, Lessons in Life

Posted on July 28, 2021 by lisablackwell

The last load of laundry is put away and the mail is all opened. Before we move on to our next project and say “What Van Trip?”, we thought it would be a good idea to share our lessons learned from our second month-long trip in the Winona Rider. We visited 14 states in the past month. I checked off two new states; South Dakota and Minnesota and we both checked off two new National Parks; The Badlands and Wind Cave.

We have been to 19 states total in the Winona Rider–14 on this trip!

Here are our lessons learned from Round 2 on the Winona Rider:

  •  Trust your van (and driver) and have an optimistic outlook about being on the road.  

We had three things go wrong before we got out of Danville.  I thought they might be omens for the trip.  Brad just concluded we got all of the mistakes done at the beginning.  Brad was right.

  • ‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple, ‘Tis a gift to be free

Keep it simple and downsize.   Don’t worry about hair products or blowdryers or shaving.   Make-up is a thing for a different world.  We wore a lot of the same clothes because it’s just easier. Wear sunglasses in all of your selfies. Our dinners were very simple ones with minimal dishes and plastic wine glasses.  Yes, Hall Wine still tastes as good in plastic glasses…almost.    Simplicity is freeing.

  • Be a planner and spontaneous at the same time. 

I am a planner and sometimes a bit rigid with my schedule. It is necessary to have reservations during peak travel times but there are also times when you have to be ready to be spontaneous and make changes. We changed a few locations during the trip and that allowed us to visit with a childhood friend in Ketchum, Idaho and stay at a farm house in Montana. We went off our route to see Lake Winona in Minnesota and Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. It added an hour to our day but it was totally worth doing. New rule for me: Be a plan-taneous person or a spontaneous-er.

  • Be aware of the number of days you are on the road and the days and dates when you are driving.   

We kind of blew some of our travel times by traveling through Chicago on Fridays and coming home from Nevada/Tahoe on a Sunday. You get the point. Also, we undercounted the days we would be on the road and ran out of wine on the last night (the horror!) and you can ask Brad about his mis-counting of his underwear.

  • Audio Books and Podcasts make the driving through long stretches in Nevada and Wyoming more tolerable.

We listened to the book “Running with Sherman” and enjoyed the Podcast from NPR, called “How I Built This”.  We found a station on Sirius Radio called Road Trip Radio but Brad nixed it after hearing the country song “She thinks my Tractor’s Sexy” for the fifth time.  You can never go wrong with Spotify.  We were in the Van together for over 5500 miles.  It’s good to have other things to listen to besides our own voices.

  • Routines save us from ourselves.  

We follow a lot of routines when we get to a new spot and when we leave.  My favorite personal routine is the one where Brad makes me French Press coffee before I get out of bed.  Brad’s favorite routine is when we share a beer when we get to our camping spot after a long drive.  Routines also help us from driving off with our awning out (well, we did that once), leaving the dog bowls, or even worse leaving Ralphie.  We make our bed every morning, do all the dishes, clean and vacuum daily.  It’s a small space and will overwhelm you if you don’t keep it tidy.   We do ALWAYS forget to turn on the Hot Water before we shower or do dishes so we still have room for improvement.

  • Nature is Healing.  

When we weren’t driving, we were out in nature. Some days we were outside 90% of the time. Our times on screens were minimal except to write this blog or text our kids and friends. Hiking on new trails is good for the soul. Sleeping in our van with neighboring rescue goats, fireflies, chickens, and chipmunks was peaceful. We slept like babies almost every night.

  • Dogs are joyful traveling companions.  

Our dogs really got into the lifestyle.  They found their spots in the van when we traveled and were thrilled to run around as soon as we parked.  Every new location had new smells and places to run and explore.  Harvest Host spots are better for dogs because there are few people and the owners usually have dogs as playmates. Yes, sometimes they can be a bit stinky (Lookin’ at you Sophie) or wander to other campsites and go missing (that would be Ralphie) but overall they made the trip a lot of fun!  Just be aware that there is virtually no hiking with dogs in National Parks so you need to find trails in nearby State Parks.

  • Harvest Host is our favorite but there is a place and time for RV Parks.  

When we stay at Harvest Hosts, we get the privilege of staying in grapevines in wineries, a beautiful meadow, or near a fun brewery.  We are usually the only RV there.  Sometimes there is one other van but no more.  The dogs don’t have to be leashed and everyone is free to stretch out.  RV Parks are less private and and a little noisier but they have the advantage of having all of the amenities like water, power, dump stations, and cable.  It’s good to do a combo of both and both in moderation just like in life.

  •  Slow this Thing Down

Life is busy and full of to-do lists and meetings and events back home.  On the road, you have a chance to go slower and simpler.  Slow mornings drinking coffee and relaxing evenings looking at the sunset are part of every day.  Eating lunches at parks in small towns like North Platte, Ashland, Anita,or Schereville gives you a chance to see a small sample size of the people who live there and what they do for fun and recreation.  Playing the dice game “Farkle” or working on a crossword puzzle together are luxuries we don’t do often during our busy life at home in Danville.  It is really nice to live the slow life for a few weeks out of the year.

Hope you enjoy these lessons we learned from Round 2.  We thought we might only keep the Winona Rider for one season but it seems now we are hooked on traveling in our 6ft by 20ft long, 120 sq foot Van.  We aren’t exactly turning into Fern from “Nomadland” but we do feel like “One of those lucky people that can travel anywhere” 

Categories: RV, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Badlands, Black Hills, and Buffalo Jams!

Posted on July 24, 2021 by lisablackwell

The main destination of our trip this week is South Dakota. I have never been to the Dakotas. Brad spent two years of his early high school years in Rapid City and was anxious to show this beautiful area to me. None of it disappointed and we had many delightful surprises along the way.

We started our journey at Badlands National Park. We drove from the Eastern end of South Dakota starting with fertile farmland to arid prairies to this unbelievable force of nature called the Badlands. The Native American tribe — the Lakotas — named this area Mako Sica meaning very eroded or bad land and the early French fur traders called the badlands ‘les mauviases terres a traverser’ or bad lands to traverse. Imagine early settlers traveling across the flat grassy plains and coming upon this magical geologic mystery of towering rock spires. We drove the scenic Badlands Loop and got out at as many scenic overlooks as we could. Dogs aren’t allowed to hike on the trails of most National Parks so we had to stick to the overlooks. We were fine with that because by the time we went sight-seeing the temps were in the mid-90’s. Here’s a few of our favorite Badland scenes. In a place like this, pictures really don’t do the area justice.

Brad does all of the planning for our RV trips.  Some of you might enjoy that little detail because until we got an RV, Gracie Forman, his right-hand person at Wells Fargo and I have done all of his travel planning.  He pre-warned me that our RV spot for the night might not be up to our standards but it was in a GREAT location because it was close to the Badlands.  Suffice it to say that if all of our overnight spots were like the RV spot near the Badlands, we would probably be selling the Winona Rider when we got home!  We made the best of it and enjoyed our air-conditioning and really good WiFi and called it a night.  

The next day we were off to the Black Hills but first we had to make a stop at Wall Drug. What a crazy place that is. You have to visit it to be able to describe it. Wall Drug Store began in the 1930’s as a place that offered free ice water to travelers. You can’t miss the location because there were at least 100 billboards telling us where it was and what they offered. We really wanted that 5 cent cup of coffee they advertised but the line was so long that we decided to pass and just enjoy the spectacle. There were cowboy hats, ice cream cones, coffee mugs, buffalo-skin coats, little license plates with your name on them – pretty much any cliche souvenir you can imagine.

Wall Drug goes on for blocks and blocks!

From Wall, we drove to Rapid City and stopped at Brad’s high school—Douglas High. Brad attended school there his freshman and sophomore years. The façade had changed but after walking around, he still remembered certain classrooms and areas he used to hang out as a young 15 year old. We drove by Ellsworth Air Force Base where his Dad was stationed and stopped quickly to look at the outdoor Air and Space Museum at the Base.

Brad re-living his youth at Douglas High
A Huey helicopter similar to the one Brad’s Dad flew when stationed at Ellsworth AFB

Next we decided we were up for Mount Rushmore. We weren’t sure how busy it would be but were delighted to see that the lines were short and the parking was plentiful. We did a quick Chevy Chase tour of the Monument. (Dogs aren’t allowed up close) We took a selfie and patted ourselves on the back for our lucky timing! It really is impressive and worth your time to visit.

Quick selfie at Mount Rushmore
Close up of the Presidents

Time for lunch and Custer State Park in the Black Hills. The Black Hills were named by the Lakota tribe because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered with evergreen trees. Until I visited, I had always thought they were named that because the hills were actually black. Duh! Of all of the parks we have seen, Custer State Park has to be one of the finest. There is so much to see and do and such variety of terrain. Our first day we had a picnic lunch at a lovely lake and then headed towards the Visitor Center to get our bearings. Funny thing though when you are driving through Custer State Park, you never know when you will get stuck in a buffalo jam. And stuck we got!!! There were at least 100 buffalo when we turned a corner on our path. They were everywhere—in the pasture, on the road, in the hills. None of them were going anywhere quickly. In fact, they seemed to relish in the fact that they were stopping lines of cars on both sides of the road and they were not about to move. We sat there for about 45 minutes wondering how we ever were going to get through but one-by-one each car took their turn navigating through the bison.

Buffalo Traffic Jam…These guys weren’t going anywhere fast!
A field of buffalo

The Native American term for buffalo or bison is Tatanka. The buffalo are held in high regard by the Lakota people and the species are respected as a symbol of the divine. After seeing these creatures up close, you really do understand their magnificence. Of course, my husband just wanted to sing the CU Fight Song and call out Ralphie every time he saw them because that’s what Buffs do.

A Retired Ralphie?

After our buffalo jam and a few more walks in the park with Sophie and Ralphie, we headed to our campground for the next three nights. I know that Brad was holding his breath that this one would get my approval and luckily it far exceeded it! We got one of the most picturesque spots in the place and have enjoyed a very peaceful, private camp site these past three nights. We were surrounded by pine trees and a real shower! I know I shouldn’t mix nature with a modern facility but when you are showering in a tiny wet bath in the Sprinter Van, a real shower is akin to heaven. I think I have enjoyed my three showers here a little too much!! We have been able to walk the dogs outside of the campground and see the sunset every night. We also have fun seeing everyone’s different RV’s and tents. They certainly do come in all shapes and sizes from Monster RV’s that are up to 45 feet long to Retro ones that are complete with a white picket fence and matching outdoor furniture to small pup tents that can only fit a single person. Our neighbors at our campsite are from Boulder and live in the area Brad and I bought our first condo. (What are the odds?)

Peaceful Big Pines Campground
Sophie and Ralphie going on a Sunset Stroll
Cute Retro RV…We really need to up our game!
Can’t even imagine driving and parking this monster

The last two days we have had slow mornings and leisurely evenings with some great morning hikes, picnic lunches at lakes, and a little sightseeing thrown in. We did another quick Chevy Chase tour of Crazy Horse Memorial (they were building this memorial well before Brad lived here and are still not close to finishing) and we did a couple of lovely picturesque drives on Iron Mountain Road and Wildlife Loop. Our excursion on Iron Mountain Road was averted when we got caught in some pea-sized hail (and Brad hates peas). We quickly turned around and felt great pity for all of the motorcyclists who were finding cover under the trees. On our way to Wildlife Loop, we got caught in a shorter Buffalo Jam- these guys were on the move this time. We also got to see Pronghorn antelope, Prairie Dogs, more Buffalo and delightful, playful Burros.

Lover’s Leap Hike!
Lost Trails Hike…Just a man and his dog(s)
Beautiful waterfalls on the Lost Hills Hike
Crazy Horse Memorial…Will it get done in our lifetime?
Another Buffalo Jam…These guys were on the move this time.
Brad, Can we bring this cute donkey home?
Hail Storm!

The Black Hills and Badlands are one of the most awe-inspiring places we have been. It has been so nice to “drop anchor” here for three days and take our time seeing the sights and enjoying nature. And, yes, I’ll never forget the great showers and my husband calling all of the buffalo on the road “Ralphie”. Go Buffs!

You lookin’ at me, Brad?
So True!

Categories: RV, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One Year Later: We’re Still Doing This?!?

Posted on June 29, 2021 by loansbrad

We bought our 24-foot Airstream Interstate motor home almost exactly one year ago. It was the middle of COVID lockdowns and we were desperate to get to Winona Lake, Indiana to see Lisa’s 91-year old father. We named it the Winona Rider, watched a bunch of You Tube how-to videos, and set off on an adventure that was memorable, but, in our minds would last only until the pandemic ended. I figured we could sell our motor home and recoup most of the money we spent to buy it.

Well, the pandemic is largely over for those of us who are vaccinated and here we are driving across country on a month-long trip to Winona Lake and back again with scheduled adventures along the way. Today is day four of this trek. We’ve already experienced reunions and, uh, misadventures. Let’s rewind to last Friday.

Ready to leave (we thought).

Lisa and I had spent the previous three days preparing for our 9:00am Friday departure. We were pros. We had this down. Fill the fresh water tank — check. Empty the black and gray water tanks — check. Groceries loaded into the van — check. Engine fluids filled — check. Packing cubes efficiently assembled — check. Dog food — check. Reservations at every stop along the way — check. I even bought tire pressure monitors to ensure we knew immediately when we had a flat tire!

Lisa gave me the new insurance card and I opened the glove box to put it in the folder with the vehicle registration. Hmm. I know the folder was in here. I clearly remember placing it there. But, the registration was nowhere to be found. We started to search everywhere. Did I really ever have it there? If we can’t find it, how quickly can we get a copy? Lisa went into the house to search and I started looking through the van. The Winona Rider has a lot of drawers and cabinets and cubby holes so this took some time. Finally, I looked under the passenger seat and, on a ledge below the seat sat the little folder we keep the registration and insurance in. How it got there we’ll never know. But, whew. We found it.

OK, well, that only took 20 minutes. Our first night was to be with Mike and Mary Frandsen at their home at Lake Tahoe. Mike and Chris Dittmore had scheduled a 2:00 tee time for nine holes of golf and wanted me to join them. No problem. We still have plenty of time to get there. Except . . .

We opened the back gate where we park the van and were ready to pull out. I leaned over, gave Lisa a big kiss and said, let’s go on an adventure!. I inserted the key, turned the ignition and — nothing.

The battery was dead.

Now, fortunately, the Boy Scout in me was ready. I jumped into action like the father in a “A Christmas Story “ when he got a flat tire. (Note: Lisa never hollered “Fuuuudge” during this process.) It was fortunate that I had purchased a new lithium battery jump starter and I opened the back door to the van, pulled it out, and attached it to the battery. Unfortunately, this process was not quite as easy as advertised and the charger needed to be hooked up for a while until it transferred enough power to the battery to start the van.

While we were waiting, our friend Susan Reckers strolled by. “Are you guys leaving? Have a great trip!” We had to embarrassingly explain that there was a slight delay. She said she hoped she wouldn’t see us here when she came back from getting her coffee.

OK. I got the van started. My Amazon purchase paid off! Here we go! We pulled out of the driveway and started on our way. Lisa drafted a text to Susan that we were on our way when an alarm interrupted our elation. It was the new tire pressure monitor telling me that we had a very low tire on the right rear inside tire (we have dual tires on the rear). We had made it exactly 1/2 mile and we had experienced our third mishap. I pulled over in front of St. Isidore School and went to work again.

Since I didn’t trust the new monitors, I pulled out my trustee old-school tire pressure gauge and learned that yes, in fact our tire was very low. But, Mr. Boy Scout was ready. I went into the back of the van and unpacked the tire inflator. I plugged it in and put another 10 pounds of pressure in the tire. Ready to go. Only 40 minutes late now. I am certain we can make that tee time in Tahoe.

Onto the highway and we’re off. Except the tire pressure monitor is telling me that the same tire is getting low again. At this point, I can’t definitively say that Lisa didn’t say Fudge.

I removed the brand new tire pressure monitor from the inner right rear tire and we took off for Tahoe. I was certain this was the issue because this tire had always held pressure and the only thing that had changed was this stupid gadget I just had to have.

Here we go again, off on our adventure. I must say, however, I was a bit nervous about the rest of the tires and Lisa kept reminding me that the tires were a really important part of the van and we should be mindful of the pressure.

About halfway to Tahoe, I noticed the inner left rear tire was gradually losing pressure. “Fudge,” I said (Only I didn’t say Fudge). It was a slow leak so we soldiered on since I didn’t want to miss that tee time. As we got closer with my attention divided between the road and that stupid tire pressure monitor, I felt a sense of relief. The tire would hold enough pressure to make it.

We arrived at the Frandsens. Mike met us in the driveway, grabbed my clubs, told me Mary had made one of her signature peanut butter sandwiches for me and we needed to leave. You see, he had a new driver and needed to try it out before we teed off. I explained our entire harrowing experience. Mike didn’t care. He wanted to get to the driving range before 2:00. We all have our priorities.

The trip has been a total pleasure since. Golf was fun despite my time spent looking for lost balls. We drove to Salt Lake City the next day where I got to hug my sister Vicki for the first time since the pandemic began. She took us on a beautiful hike and we had quality time to catch up. And, here we are now in Boulder, Colorado, our home away from home.

Our hike with Vicki above Salt Lake City
Vicki and I toasting our reunion. Sophie eying the food.

Our travels will take us to goat farms in Nebraska and wineries in Iowa (?!?) before our two-week stay at Winona Lake, Indiana. We return through Wisconsin, Minnesota and then to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. We’ll even visit my old high school near Rapid City.

After our travels last year, Lisa and I didn’t think we would write a blog on this year’s trip. After all, we are experts now and nothing exciting will be worth writing about. The first hour of our trip humbled us and we decided writing about the trip will be fun and may give you something worth reading. So, join us along the way as we have adventures, misadventures, and, hopefully, experiences worth remembering.

Boulder Creek
Posing in front of the Boulder Flatirons

Categories: RV, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Lessons we Learned on the Winona Rider

Posted on August 22, 2020 by lisablackwell

Now that we are home from our maiden voyage on the Winona Rider, I thought I would share some lessons learned about traveling around the country. Brad and I traveled 5600 miles in four weeks and went to 13 different states racking up over 150 hours in our Sprinter Van. Although we spent some time in our Boulder condo and at the Winona Lake cottage, we did have enough time on our own in the Winona Rider to learn a thing or two.

Simplicity is freeing.  It was unbelievably freeing to live life simply while in the Winona Rider.  Brief showers, no makeup, hair in a ponytail and a hat, and rotating between three or four outfits.  Our dinners were simple with very minimal clean up. Even though we had some really good wine, we used plastic wine glasses so Brad didn’t spend hours shining up his wine glasses like at home.  Yes, you heard me right….plastic wine glasses!

Conservation is necessary and important.  We had to conserve everything because we were  not going to RV Parks and were not plugging in anywhere that we camped.  Conserving fresh water was key so we didn’t have to keep stopping to find water.  We did the shower routine we learned on The Andiamo in our sailing days.  Turn on water.  Get wet.  Turn off water.  Lather up.  Turn on water.  Rinse off.  Minimal water used….minimal time!  Our tiny bathroom converted into a wet shower so you didn’t want to spend that much time in there anyway.  

Our biggest issue was battery power.  We didn’t have enough to feel comfortable each night plugging in devices and using power around the van so we were very careful.  One night we left the refrigerator door slightly ajar and woke up with Zero Percent Battery Power with warning lights flashing at us.  Never a good thing.  We patiently waited for the sun to come up to get some solar to help power up the RV.  It was a race between the refrigerator running and the sun shining that morning.  I really got into all of the solar power vs. battery numbers after that day!

Routines are Good.  We figured out our roles and routines early on and then refined them along the way.  We had a morning routine where Brad got up and took the dogs out and made me coffee and then I slowly got up!  Everyone who knows me knows of that truth.  We figured out the timing of cleaning up breakfast and dinners, making and un-making the beds, when to take showers, and when to charge our devices.  Our best new routine that we developed was having a beer together when we first got to our new camping spot.  We started doing this after the harrowing drive in Kansas with the wicked thunderstorm and decided it was a worthy routine after that!

One of Lisa’s birthday presents. And, it’s true.

Dogs are great traveling companions….most of the time!  Sophie and Ralphie really did well on this trip.  They assumed their positions in the RV and were very patient on the days we had long drives.  They slept like champs and loved the wide open spaces wherever we camped.  We did have a few issues, however.  For one thing, Ralphie is a wanderer and we frequently had to go searching for him as he slowly wandered off to check out a venue that looked more interesting.  We nickname Sophie the Velcro Dog so we never had a problem with her wandering off.  Unfortunately, Sophie got a little case of diarrhea when we were in Boulder the first time and poor Brad had to take her down three flights of steps to the nearby park every two hours for two nights in a row.  Luckily, after some rice and pumpkin added to her diet, all was well.  Our only other issue with the dogs was when my Dad announced he didn’t allow dogs in the Lake Cottage upon our arrival.  We did our best to do a dance where the dogs went out to play or on a walk when my Dad was in motion.   Ralphie and my Dad ended up being fast friends so it was almost a win!

Sophie got tired of posing after her many photo sessions.

You meet really interesting people even during a Pandemic.  Although our main goal was to go to places without people because of Covid, we did encounter some really interesting people and their stories at the Alpaca Ranch.  We met one woman who is the founder of the African Library Project and has started over 1900 libraries in sub-Saharan Africa.  She lives in the Bay Area and, of course, we connected to see how we can participate in the future.  We also met a few other couples who had sold their homes and were living in their RV’s for the foreseeable future and traveling the country.  We met a few novices like us who bought their vehicles during the pandemic and were on their own maiden voyages.  People were from all over the country and were trying to travel the safest way they could figure out during this troubling time.  We also re-connected with some good friends and family along the journey.  We appreciated them all for welcoming us into their backyards with our two crazy dogs and a van that scraped up their driveways.  We book-ended our trip with the Frandsens and Dittmores in Tahoe and can’t thank them enough for their hospitality and we are thankful that their neighborhood bears didn’t want to have a midnight snack in our RV.

A nice visit with Gracie and Arthur Forman
We stayed with Chris and Brenda Dittmore (and new puppy Rimy) on our last night of the trip.

We Loved Our Wide Open Spaces.  Wow, this country really is beautiful.  We loved waking up every day to a new place for a sunrise and sometimes a different place for a beautiful sunset.  Almost every place we stayed at had Wide Open Spaces and we felt so fortunate to just sit outside by our van in the mornings and evenings and look at the beauty around us.  The beauty wasn’t only in Montana but we also enjoyed our stays in Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa.  There is a lot of beauty to see everywhere in the United States.  It felt good to appreciate it and not be in a hurry or fly over those places.

Sophie in Montana

Ralphie in Kansas

Masks should be federally mandated everywhere.  We were very aware of the mask issue in each state we visited.  Places like Colorado who have one of the lowest infection rates in the nation had 99% mask compliance.  People even wear masks while cycling and hiking in Colorado.  Other states seemed to have very optional mask-wearing ordinances.  Sadly, most of the states with the worst mask compliance were also those who were seeing surges in cases.  We saw large weddings, a large party, and people in stores without masks. Hard to believe that wearing masks has become a political issue and not one about health… but I digress.

Lisa and Joan hiking in the mountains near Boulder

We slept like babies.    We both haven’t slept this well since before Trump became President.  Our bed was very comfortable but there was something about the fresh air and lack of distractions that made us both have the best sleeps of our lives.  The dogs slept amazingly as well.  Ralphie slept with us and Sophie was right by our feet and would only get up and start pawing us when the sun rose.

A sense of humor with your spouse is helpful.  Things went wrong.  We both made mistakes.  I kept leaving the light on in the bathroom draining our much-needed battery.  Brad mistakenly left the water running in the sink somehow filling up the grey tank and over-flowing the shower.  We went up some harrowing roads with hairpin turns and we backed out of a few driveways and made our mark in the streets. Sometimes it got hot and buggy inside the van and we wished for air-conditioning.  And yet, we enjoyed figuring it all out and laughing about it.  We laughed and sang and talked a lot.  My phone never seemed to work so there were no outside distractions or negative news about the world.   It was nice to take a break from it all for once. (Although we did make sure to catch the Democratic Convention whenever we could find it on one of our devices.  Some things are worth the exception!)

A month is a long time to be away from home and the grandkids.  We loved our time away but couldn’t wait to get back to see Max, Maile, and Noa.  (Oh, and their parents, too)  

A lot changes in a month. California has had record heat and lightning strikes and now fires, smoke, and unhealthy air. Kamala Harris became the Vice Presidential Nominee.   Steph moved into a new apartment in New York.  I announced my retirement from the Town Council.   A rat decided to take up residence in our home while we were gone.  Sophie has doubled in size. Noa has changed dramatically with his moving and smiling and cooing.  Maile is in the process of starting remote pre-school and learned how to swim across our pool and jump off the diving board while we were gone.  Max turned three and has become even more curious about the world.  His favorite word is “Why?”  We FaceTimed almost daily but as everyone now knows, FaceTime or Zoom is not the same as being there in person.  It felt great to arrive in smoky Danville this afternoon.  I was filled with gratitude about being able to go on this journey with Brad.

A smoky Lake Tahoe. Normally you would see mountains and crystal blue water.

The first thing we did after unpacking was to take a really long shower and start planning our next (shorter) trip!  We may not blog in the future now that we are thinking we are pros but we will post some more sunset pictures along the way this fall.

Categories: Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Itty Bitty Living Space, Great Big Backyard

Posted on August 18, 2020 by loansbrad

We spent the past week in Boulder. On Sunday we started the final leg of our journey by heading north to Montana.

I went to Kindergarten in Great Falls and did a family vacation to Yellowstone as a kid. But, I haven’t been to Montana as an adult. Lisa has never been here. So, we have been looking forward to our quick tour of the state as we work our way home.

It took us about eight hours to get to Billings in Central Montana, our first stop. On the way we found a spot by the North Platt River in Casper Wyoming for lunch. Most lunches involve almond butter and jelly. Since the food isn’t much to speak of, we go for atmosphere.

Amoco Park in Casper Wyoming

Billings became a town because it was a convenient railroad stop in the late 1800s. It has grown because it sits upon a rich reserve of coal, oil, and gas. It is situated among long cliffs called rims. We had a pleasant evening, staying overnight at a golf course. We dined on cheese and prociutto, had a nice bottle of wine, and got another beautiful sunset. Our friends Neil and Dave will be disappointed to hear we had no RV disasters to deal with.

Sunset over Eagle Rock Golf Club in Billings

The next morning we got up, and, since we only had a three-hour drive to our next destination, we went for a hike. It was an easy 2-mile hike but we got up high enough to see Billings. Max and Brodie called as we arrived at the trailhead, so we took them along. The place was teeming with grasshoppers and, upon seeing all the action, Sophie started catching and eating them. Max thought this was very funny (we didn’t).

A selfie with Max on FaceTime
A view of the cliffs

After our hike we hopped back in the Winona Rider and drove to Sentinel Ranch near Bozeman. This unique Harvest Host stop is an alpaca ranch. Yes, hundreds of alpacas. And, we are parked overnight in what they call the back 20. That’s 20 acres at the back of the ranch with lots and lots of alpacas. Alpacas are much friendlier than llamas, although we understand they will spit if in distress. But, then, I have a few friends that will do that too.

Lisa is fascinated by the fact that alpacas use a communal dung pile. She insisted we include this fact in this blog entry. Now I need to get up and walk over to take a picture of a dung pile so you can see it. Be right back.

An alpaca communal dung pile. Apparently the males are far tidier than the females.
We guys have that going for us.

We took a tour of the ranch and had the chance to feed the mothers with their new babies. The ranch family keeps the new mothers all together close to the house so coyotes don’t get the babies. Speaking of coyotes, there is a ranch sheepdog that protects the herd. His name is Falcor after the dog in The Neverending Story. Nathaniel, one of the owners, told us it is because this face looks just like the dog in that movie. I couldn’t tell. We couldn’t really see his face.

Falcor, the ranch guardian
Falcor meets Sophie and Ralphie

The babies are cria. We saw one that had just been born that morning. He was a little wobbly but otherwise looked a lot like the other babies. Our guide reminded us that prey animals are essentially able to run away from predators at birth — an important survival characteristic. Lisa, who is endlessly fascinated with these animals, reminded me that alpacas have two sets of eyelashes. I hadn’t noticed. But, they’re very cute.

The newest baby alpaca, born that morning

Lisa feeding a mother

A Harvest Host guest met this one and bought her. I hope she has room at home.

Alpacas only have bottom teeth. This gal needs hers straightened

Lisa examining the double eyelashes

It was 96 degrees during the tour so we quickly retreated to the gift shop (that was their sinister plan all along). Alpaca wool is much softer and more breathable than sheep’s wool. We’re suckers for soft and breathable.

After dinner we walked through the back twenty and watched the sunset. We have been having the dogs pose at sunset each night. They’ve done really well. But, tonight Sophie was not having it. She wouldn’t stay long enough for me to get a good photo. I scolded her not realizing that Sophie is a very sensitive girl. She decided she would stay, but, she moped about it the whole time. Photo shoot ruined.

We slept well since, at 10% humidity, it cools down nicely. We have developed a very nice habit of taking our time to get ready in the morning. Coffee, breakfast and relaxation. We then headed off for a hike in the nearby mountains. It was a beautiful 5-mile journey along the Cottonwood Creek as it wound down a valley in the mountains.

As I was writing this entry the alpaca herd came over to take a look at us. It underscored our experience — itty bitty living space, great big backyard. And, sometimes, with unusual neighbors.

Categories: Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com.