15 Years on the Road - Our Epic Journey

On December 11th 2006, Brenda and I drove our new motor home through the snow heading south from Ohio on what we hoped would be an interesting life traveling the country.   15 years later, we now know that we've been on a life-changing journey that exceeded our wildest dreams.

Our time on the road has flown by so fast.  I was able to put it in perspective when I realized that in my first 15 years of my Air Force career with Brenda, we lived in Tucson, Altus OK, Galena AK, Alexandria LA, Las Vegas, Tacoma, and Belleville IL.  Our travels to 35 states have flown by - It seems that it was only a short time ago that we were celebrating our first Christmas on San Antonio's River Walk.

2006 was our first full year of travel and looking back; it was a year of new experiences in nature that changed our attitudes.  After the holidays in San Antonio, we worked our way to the west coast, passing through desert and coastal beauty.  We spent the summer as volunteers at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge with a staff that introduced us to a new world of wildlife management.  We helped visitors identify birds, participated in bird banding, taught children, and became "birders".  Our stay opened up a new world for us that we explored over the next years.  

 In 2007 we toured New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, visited McDonald Observatory and the "Marfa Mystery Lights", climbed to Northern Idaho's "Palouse", and volunteered in Oregon teaching "Junior Rangers" (6-12 year olds).  But the highlight of the year was our daughter Kim's wedding to Bill, held in Newport CA.  It was a joyous time with amazing people.

2008 saw us touring the west with a visit to Billy the Kid country, visiting Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone and the Tetons, and friends near the Air Force Academy.  We spent the summer back at Lee Metcalf NWR where we upgraded our motor home to our current 40' Itasca Ellipse.

In 2009 we skipped volunteering and traveled.  We started our year in the hill country of Texas, and traveled west into Big Bend, north through New Mexico and on to a huge RV rally in Albuquerque where we and a thousand other senior citizens rocked to a performance by Neil Sedaka. From there it was east to Ohio and a visit with family, then Johnstown PA to visit old friends.  We then headed back east with a stop at the RV Hall of Fame, the Mall of America, and an item on our "bucket list", the Field of Dreams in Dyersville IA.  After walking the base paths, it was on to Forest City, the home of Winnebago, for the Grand National Rally.  Then west through Nebraska, into the Dakotas, and a visit to the Custer Battlefield.  We cruised through Spokane and turned west for a stop at another "bucket list" spot, Rosyln WA, the film site for the series "Northern Exposure".  We had a burger at the "Brick", saw Ruthann's store, and even danced on her gravesite!  After visiting Mount Rainier, the Olympia National Park, and Astoria, OR, we headed down the Oregon coast, into California for a visit at Yosemite, then back east to San Antonio for the winter.  Whew!  

2010 was a year that we returned to volunteering.  We left Texas in late April and headed north for a visit in the Black Hills (and the casinos in Deadwood).  Then we were off for a visit to the Oregon Coast and a volunteer opportunity with the Shoreline Education for Awareness (SEA), where we became marine mammal interpreters and dug invertebrates with local school children.  Unfortunately, we had to leave early to return to Ohio and help Brenda's mom.  We remained in Ohio until November, and after a visit to the "Christmas Story House", we headed back to Texas for the winter.

We returned to volunteering in 2011, a new location in Spearfish, SD for the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery.  It was a beautiful location with RV sites on a trout-filled creek, great facilities to show the public, and fellow volunteers that we still maintain contact with.  We visited the Sturgis Rally (I especially enjoyed watching the "bikini bike wash"), explored the Black Hills, and Brenda had the opportunity to stand in the geographical center of the US!  We also traveled to Lone Pine CA, the site of many movies including "Tremors" where Brenda got to pet a "Graboid"....or maybe it was an "Assblaster".  They sorta look alike.  We even visited the site of an authentic alien autopsy in Roswell, NM.  Who knew?

In 2012 we traveled from Texas to the red rocks of Sedona, stopped at the Atomic Energy Museum where Brenda hit on Robbie the Robot, and stopped at Crater Lake.  We spent the summer at Humbug Mountain State Park on the Oregon coast, teaching the "Junior Rangers" and hosting evening programs.  After Labor Day, we made a trip through the Cascades, then up to Mount Saint Helens (we lived in Tacoma when it erupted), ending up in Port Townsend and the Coastal Artillery Museum for a volunteer stint during the winter.

We were back to traveling in 2013.  After finishing our time at the Coastal Artillery Museum (which was REALLY interesting for the first 20 minutes) and took the ferry across Puget Sound.  But not before visiting Forks WA, the home of "Twilight" so that Brenda could meet Edward and Jacob.  We climbed Mt Hood, revisited "Cicely Alaska", and found the perfect moose near Spokane.  After another visit to Devil's Tower and a stop to visit friends in Montana, we breezed east for a visit with Brenda's mom and another visit to the Christmas Story House where we basked in the glow of the original "Major Award" (from the Mediterranean country of Fragile).  But the real reason we came this far east was for another "bucket list" item - the Little League World Series in Williamsport PA.  The best word we can find to describe the experience is "Joyous"!  Children everywhere, from countries all over the world laughing and playing together, learning each others language and culture, and playing some pretty good baseball!  We're so glad we went!  But then it was time to head back Texas, but not before stopping in Nashville and Opryland.  We managed to keep moving fast enough not to be covered in kudzu, and arrived back in time for another Christmas on the River Walk.

In 2014 we traveled back to Humbug Mountain State Park for another summer of "Junior Rangers".  On the way, we spent time in New Mexico exploring the Sacramento Mountains, stopped in Las Vegas and visited near the place I once worked at that doesn't exist, and fed the donkeys at Oatman.  That summer we picked blueberries, ate crab, and tried hugging giant redwoods.  It was a great, fulfilling summer! 

We started 2015 in Patagonia AZ, just 20 miles north of the border volunteering at the Sonoita-Patagonia Nature Conservancy Preserve.  A premier birding location, we assisted visitors, led birding tours, and were thrilled while watching Javelina, Coyote, Bobcat, and Coatimundi in their natural habitat.  In the spring, we traveled north to Bandelier National Monument, drove past the "Longmire" cabin, and spent time in beautiful Sheridan, WY.  At a stop in Montana, our friends and family completely surprised Brenda on her 70th birthday.  Back on the coast, we started a new volunteering job at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, a large BLM facility with huge visitor center, the best lighthouse on the coast, and amazing tide pools.  Brenda took over the visitor desk scheduling lighthouse tours and answering questions while I was trained on being a tide pool guide.  Spending time on the tide pools almost every day was the experience of a lifetime - so much incredible beauty and marine activity!  The staff was great, our site overlooked the surf, and we explored new areas of the coast.  And no trip to the coast would be complete without a visit to world famous Langlois for one of their amazing hot dogs!

2016 was another year of travel.  We began in Southern Arizona then headed for Southern California for a month where we explored the Salton Sea and Slab City.  This is one of the strangest places we've ever seen, and "Salvation Mountain" and "East Jesus" are unique to this country.  And maybe the planet.  From there we worked our way up to Las Vegas for a visit with our daughter.  Then it was back roads north to the Black Hills, west to Sheridan and the Big Horn Mountains, and back to Montana for a family gathering in the Bitterroot Valley.  From there, we wandered north and east back to Ohio, then up through Michigan to the Upper Peninsula.  We'd never been here before and are glad we visited, but Lake Superior wasn't much different than where we grew up on Lake Erie and the scenery was just OK.  But boy, were the mosquitoes impressive!  We crossed northern Wisconsin and dropped down through Minnesota to the state's cultural mecca - the Spam Museum!  No joking, it was amazing; great displays, lots of interesting history, and even a continuous loop of the Monty Python Spam skit.  Back in the west, we stopped in the Black Hills to view the fall colors, then it was back to the Oregon Coast where we spent the winter volunteering for US Fish & Wildlife as marine mammal interpreters.  

We spent the early spring of 2017 on the Oregon coast, then drove to Pahrump NV for a month in the sun.  We spent time in Las Vegas, visited Death Valley, and found that you can't buy eggs at the "Chicken Ranch".  Then it was back to the Oregon Coast, this time just north of the California border where we volunteered for US Fish and Wildlife as shorebird and marine mammal interpreters.  It was here that we had a life-changing experience when Brenda had a heart attack and was airlifted to Springfield for a Sunday morning triple bypass operation.  In the end, everything was successful and three weeks later we were back on our deck overlooking the ocean.  In July, we were evacuated from the area due to wildfires, and decided to visit friends in Star Valley WY, south of Jackson.  After a great visit, we slowly worked our way back to Oregon for another winter at Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.

We started 2018 on the Oregon coast and once it warmed up, moved east to explore the John Day Fossil Beds and the Painted Hills before checking in at Farragut State park near Coeur d'alene ID for our summer volunteer job as program hosts.  It was a fabulous summer with great people, an opportunity to teach children and develop evening programs, and relax in one of the best RV sites we've had.  At the end of summer, we made a maintenance run to Iowa, then back for a week at Lone Pine CA exploring movie sets before reporting in for another volunteer position as visitor center hosts at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.  

 

2019 started with a cold winter in Las Vegas.  We left in early spring, returned to Oregon until the weather warmed, then headed back for our second year as program hosts.  Unseasonably cold weather kept us from visiting Montana, so we headed to southern Washington and the Tri-Cities area for a visit.  Following that, we explored Northeastern Oregon's Wallowa Mountains and the town of Joseph.  Then it was back across Oregon for another winter on the coast.

2020 for us has been a year of decreasing activity.  We started the year on the Oregon Coast which had single-digit COVID-19 cases at the time, and were able to spend the summer again at Farragut State Park.  We curtailed classes and only presented evening programs with social distancing and sterilized seating.  Numbers were low there also, but we limited our shopping and dining trips.  After Labor Day, we rushed back to Spearfish SD to renew our driver's licenses as required every five years, then it was back west through Montana and an early return to the coast.  We'll be staying here for the winter and possibly well into the spring depending on the pandemic.  

After 15 years of life as the "semi-affluent homeless", we've no plans to change our lifestyle and hope to resume travel in the summer of 2021. As much as we've tried, we just haven't found "the place" where we want to settle down.  So we'll keep looking, and hope you'll follow along with us.  Thanks for following us - have a healthy and happy holiday season! 

Another Visit to Montana

 Leaving Buffalo, we headed up I-25 to join I-90 and head west to spend a few days in Livingston, a historic Montana town of 7000 on the Yellowstone River. 

It's another one of those towns that we've driven past many times and always wanted to visit.  We stayed at Osen's RV Park, a nicely maintained park on the outskirts of town.  You can see our review here.  Livingston is a popular tourist destination for both visiting Yellowstone National Park (about 55 miles south) and fly fishing the Yellowstone River.  While it has a historic past, it's now a mix of Western and California cultures with upscale restaurants and high-end gift shops.  It's become another one of those Montana towns where the locals can no longer afford the price of a house due to the influx of refugees from California.

The downtown area maintains the look of an old western town:

Since we were so close, we decided to take a drive down the valley along highway 89 to Gardiner, the northern entrance to Yellowstone.  Some of the scenery along the way was by itself worth the drive:

Since the traffic was light, we decided to enter the park and go only as far was Mammoth Hot Springs.  Entering the park, we passed the historic stone gate, now bypassed by the new road.  

It wasn't long before we realized our mistake....despite it being a weekday in October, the traffic was bumper to bumper, crawling along at a snail's pace.  Every parking lot was full, every building had a line to enter - and God help you if you needed a to visit a restroom.  And all this in spite of the lack of foreign visitors, which are usually half the crowd.  We finally reached Mammoth Hot Springs, only to turn around and get in line again in a slow crawl to escape the chaos.  

Back in Gardiner, we decided to take the road above the town towards Jardine, once a gold mining area.  We didn't see any wildlife and there wasn't much of the old town to see, but the view from above the town was worth the drive:

Back in Livingston, we left Osen's and headed west again, off the interstate to the small town of Ennis.  We visited here four years ago, and the beauty of the area and history of the old gold rush towns made us want to return.  

Ennis is a trout fisherman's dream - the Madison River, one of
the nation's premier trout streams runs through here and the town is packed with guide services and fly shops.  We 
stayed at the Ennis RV Village, a large, well-managed and maintained park with mountain views in all directions.  The little town of Ennis is another one of those picture-perfect Montana towns:

While Ennis is an interesting little town, the real attraction here for us is visiting the historic gold rush towns of Virginia City and Nevada City.  Just a few miles over the ridge from Ennis, Virginia City tries hard to maintain the look of the 1860s.  A history of the town is worth stopping to read:

Most of the town had closed down for the season, but one of the unique sights here is that some of the original stores are always open and display the contents as they were left when abandoned.

Just up the road is another gold rush town, Nevada City.  Never as large as Virginia City, it's now mostly abandoned but still worth a visit.  Here's the sign describing the town's history:

We wondered who George Ives was - here's a video that talks about his hanging, shows some of the historic buildings that were moved here, and even includes a ghost story.  Click here.  Like Virginia City, the town was closed up for the season but that made it look even more historic:

The gold mining boom here was centered in Alder Gulch, which runs about 14 miles from Nevada City west to the town of Alder.  The center of this activity was Adobe City, a small community in the gulch where the population numbered over 10,000!  

Looking across Alder Gulch today, nothing remains but the rows of rocks formed by the gold dredges.  It's hard to imagine that this narrow gulch once held so many people and so much activity.

Places like this, with so much history that is no longer visible, is one of the reasons we enjoy exploring the back roads.  And there's often a surprise.  On our return to Ennis, we ended up as part of a cattle drive, complete with real cowboys!  In case it ever happens to you, the technique is to slowly ease your way through the herd as the cowboys guide the herd away from you.  

Coming down the hill back into Ennis, we were treated to one last look at this beautiful valley:

We've always enjoyed our time in Montana, and believe that the state tourism motto is the most accurate in the country:  "Montana - The Last Best Place"

We're back on the Oregon Coast for the winter, but check back with us - we're always looking for new adventures!

Buffalo and the Big Horns

 Another one of those places that we've driven by while traveling through Wyoming and wanted to spend time exploring is Buffalo and the surrounding Big Horn Mountains.  Buffalo is a charming town with roots in the old west, and the town works hard to keep the look of the 1800s.  The downtown area is small but busy with shops and restaurants.  

A visit to Buffalo isn't complete without a visit to the Occidental Hotel and Saloon.  It's a place that many of the famous and infamous visited; the guest list on their web site is impressive.  We opted for an evening burger in the saloon where everything is much the same as it was when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were here.  The bar has the original tintype ceiling and to put you in the mood, there's a TV playing old John Wayne westerns.

Our first trip into the Big Horn Mountains was to Crazy Woman Canyon.  It isn't known who the crazy woman was, but I'm sure we all have someone in our families who we think would qualify.  We started at the high end and worked our way down the winding, rough gravel and rock road.  Here's some of the scenery:

The next day we went further up into the mountains.  The roads here travel over an area from 7000' to 9000' elevation, and the landscape varies from forest to large, open meadows.  This is the view from one of the Forest Service campgrounds we visited:

Driving to the point as high as we could, we came across this fire lookout tower, closed for the season.  The sign in the parking lot said "15 minutes easy walk to tower".  At our age, there's nothing easy about a 15 minute walk at 9000' - especially if it's uphill.  So we didn't.

Even at this altitude, there were streams that were still running:

And at 8500', Meadowlark Lake probably is a bit cool to go swimming in:

We were, as always, looking for wildlife, especially moose.  Unfortunately, it was hunting season for moose and elk and they were nowhere to be seen.  But being in these mountains reminded us of the last time we were here, in the northern section during the spring, when it was too early in the year for the willows to turn green.  As a result, moose where grazing in the meadows.  We saw this young bull grazing, and because their legs are too long for them to bend over and graze, they get on their knees.  As with me, it was the getting back up that was difficult to watch:

We're heading for Montana and some new places to visit.  We'll be back soon!