COFFEE TIME!
So, I left you, with your empty cup of coffee in Las Vegas. Well we caught up with our friend
from Shanghai, who now lives in Las Vegas. She treated us to an authentic Chinese dinner in that great town. We wryly noted
that we were the only non Asians in the bustling restaurant. Next morning, we then braced ourselves to negotiate the horrendous
traffic jams in and out of Las Vegas, it being a long weekend, and headed for the south rim of the Grand Canyon. As luck would
have it, we got the last camp site in the park and stayed for 3 wonderful days. We even had mule deer strolling through our
camp site. Hiked a little way down into the canyon, but as we were not really equipped for that more strenuous venture, we
returned to our bikes and continued a leisurely ride along the rim of the canyon which is truly spectacular. Walker met his
first Elk while we were out hiking. We rounded a corner and came face to face with a group of 4 adults who stood their ground
with authority. Fortunately, Walker was happy to listen to my guidance in Elk etiquette and kept his introductions to a polite
level. Golly they are such large animals.
We returned briefly to Las Vegas then with snow now visible on the higher
mountains, we headed west again, out of the desert and on towards those mountains and the Sequoia National Park. We subsequently
spent a day driving up into the Park to introduce ourselves to the humongous and ancient Sequoia trees, including the grand
daddy of them all, the General Sherman, reportedly the largest tree in the world (by volume) but a youngster at 2,000years
of age. At 6,000ft, as reported, we found not only the Sequoia trees but also the snow, complete with 10ft visibility in the
cloud. Undaunted we hiked around the area until our fingers and toes were frozen….well they felt like they were. The
conditions certainly made for interesting driving when combined with the roadwork going on along the narrow, corkscrew roads,
but the trees were worth witnessing.
Yosemite National Park was our next stop. Again no campsites available within the
park, so found a nice place just outside and did a day trip through the spectacular glacier carved valley, complete with numerous
waterfalls from the heavy snow melt this year. Spotted a brown momma bear and her very young cub strolling through the snow,
(yep, found the white stuff again) who appeared totally unfussed by the excited chatter of we tourists blocking the road with
our cars and sounding for all the world like a gaggle of geese as we oohed and aahed….wonder what these bears think
about the antics of we humans.
I don’t know what it is about Walker, but he attracts so many people wanting to
admire and/or pat him, take pictures of him, have their pictures taken with him (especially the Asian population). If I could
figure out how to extract a dollar from everyone who wishes to be sucked in by him, then I would have a wonderful source of
income. …still working on that one!
Back we headed to the west coast and into Pt. Reyes National Park and the
spectacular western coastline. In this breathtaking setting, I did a 3 day breath workshop (no pun intended) here with the
legendary Stan and Christina Grof. We realized with a little trepidation, however, that this wonderful dairy country, and
even our camp site was smack bang ON the San Andreas Fault line, so we were happy enough to enjoy the beauty of the area and
leave after the workshop. Headed to Sacramento and another visit to the RV dealership. Finally the replacement motor for the
awning caught up with us and was replaced, plus the bike rack repaired after I ripped its guts out on a particularly severe
and nasty dip coming out of a service station.
While Mandy was having her makeover, we did a wine tasting tour in the
Napa Valley. Being a hot day, they allowed us to tie Walker in the shade of the veranda while we did the tour. The tour finished
up in the wine tasting bar where we found our dog holding court with the patrons of the winery, complete with the lovely Glenda
at his side, the owner’s greyhound. The owner confided that it was too hot outside so he had invited Walker in….apparently
he did not need to asked twice.
With Mandy restored to her full splendor, we moved yet further north, negotiating the
major road works (which so surely needs to be done) and drove along the famed Avenue of the Giants, the home of the Redwood
Forests. These 3,000yr old trees are related to the Sequoias yet they outrank the Sequoia trees in height but not in volume.
Although they are claimed to be the tallest trees in the world (and very, very impressive), Google told us that the Australian
Mountain Ash has been recorded to have reached a greater height, but not age…..I have never personally met a Mountain
Ash, so I will take their word on that. Moving into Oregon, we did a side trip to Cradle Lake. The weather was outstanding
for viewing the lake and we were not disappointed. (photos attached). The country here in the north west is right up my alley,
thick, healthy, large trees, mountains, dense vegetation and lush, green pastures. Obviously all the rain they have ensures
this wonderland, yet we have been lucky to date with the weather……cool, in the low 60tys with little to no rain,
so far. Out next stop was Mt. St. Helens. We were astounded that 31 years has passed since she erupted…..seems like
only 10 or 15 years. Mt St. Helen was in no mood to reveal herself however, for she remained enshrouded in cloud so we did
not go all the way up. We were very moved by the massive effort that both the government and local enterprises had put into
removing the debri and setting out to reforest the entire area as soon as it was safe to return following the eruption. Within
2 years of the eruption, the native animals and flora were back and flourishing, aided by we humans…..so gratifying
to learn we did something right. The pyroclastic flow remains visible, but very much softened by nature herself.
Forever
onward we moved, Seattle looming in our sights. Either the truck’s braking box or Mandy’s brakes were voicing
their opinion, which is of no surprise considering the amount of climbing and descending we had been repeatedly doing. Camped
just out of Seattle and had the brake system checked out……of course the brakes operated perfectly when they
tried to diagnose the problem, and have done so ever since. Guess they shook something up in their trials……we
are strongly suspicious of the brake box.
Now the gun issue reared its head, for Canada seems to have a dislike of
firearms crossing their borders and in general have no sense of humor about it. While in Everett, north of Seattle, Richard
called gun shops, pawn gun shops, the border patrol, and the police enquiring where we could safely leave our gun for a week
or so……you would have thought we had two heads and had just arrived from another planet. Finally a shooting
range saw us as average people with a small problem and said "sure, leave it here in one of our locked boxes"……yeah!
I had an art workshop I wanted to attend in British Columbia, so found a camp site near the workshop…..we think
it rates as potentially the 3rd worst RV camp we have had the "pleasure" to experience. Workshop, however,
was great and even got to see a black bear materialize from the woods, complete with cub, about 50 yards from where I was
enjoying a quiet interlude during the workshop. We eyed each other for a couple of minutes, me mesmerized and she….well
who knows what she was thinking. She eventually decided I was not that interesting and she and cub moved on their way….that
was a "wow" factor for me.
Caught up with dear friends who live on Vancouver Island before Rick (the husband)
headed north for summer with his kayak into the wilds of Alaska. Rick has done this for the last 4-5 summers where he has
taken on the challenges of solitary life on the Yukon River, living off the land and river, paddling through areas few people
have ever ventured. He sure has some stories.
We returned to Seattle and were greeted by rain, cold and the 4th
July weekend….oops forgot about the holiday weekend. Everything is booked out in the way of camp sites, for these folks
up here take advantage of their brief summers and move outdoors as much as possible . It was our intention to hang out in
the Washington coastal region a little longer, to catch up with some friends of friends and generally explore this lovely
area more thoroughly, but the combination of the weather and the holiday weekend gave us pause We did drive the length of
Whidby Island, gawking at its impressive tidal pools and visiting another good friend from our yachty days, Virginia, who
we had not seen for many year. Also spent a morning at the Boeing Aircraft Factory seeing how they build their giant beauties.
This made Richard very happy. Then we officially turned south east, to begin the slow journey back to Florida.
Washington
State was a true surprise, from its coastal paradise, to the snow capped Cascades, on into the badlands (oh no it was desert
again), followed immediately by miles and miles of irrigated wheat fields then into areas of therapeutic salt lakes which
eventually became fresh water lakes and a boater’s paradise. Within a matter of hours we had moved from cold, wet weather
into a veritable heat wave on the other side of the mountains. We have decided that in order to answer all our questions we
should have our own personal geologist, botanist, biologist and agronomist on board……sadly we do not, so google
has to suffice. We need to start a movement that all crops farmers have to display a notice on the roadside telling the passing
motorist what they are growing. I don’t see why Congress should not be on board with this idea!
So with all this
traveling and sightseeing, I am not getting much done of what I had initially envisaged myself doing. The guitar has not made
it out of its case and equally the massage table has yet to see the light of day. The mountain of books that are anxiously
awaiting to reveal their contents, which I had with great intent, stuffed into Mandy before I left, remain for the most part,
unread. Yoga is a real hit or miss, mostly a miss, and the pile of educational DVDs carefully stored under the DVD continue
to hold their secrets. I could go on, but I am consumed by my own idleness. I perhaps have redeemed myself in one area, however,
for I have downloaded Rosetta Stone’s Spanish, but then sadly, all too often, bed looks more enticing then a Spanish
lesson. Isn’t this just a wonderful state of being…..for a little time.
We are now camped just outside
of Glazier National Park, Montana, for the next 3 days. I was out walking Walker this morning and met a guy with a 3 legged
dog which for all the world looked like a wolf. The two dogs spontaneously decided that their humans needed to talk while
they checked each other out. I looked at the somewhat retiring, middle age man before me and asked after "Bella’s"
breeding…..Husky mix was his soft yet curt reply. What happened to her leg, I asked…….she chewed her
foot off when she was caught in a wolf trap, we had to amputate the rest of the leg………..oh…I decided
to push a little further…..I have a book "The Wolf and the Philosopher" a true story of the relationship
between a guy and a wolf, truly amazing……….that did it, he opened up………..really,
I have not heard of it. Bella is my third (wolf), the last being a big male and we had such a relationship, we were really
joined at the hip…wistful pause then he shook himself, gathered up Bella, shot me a look and said, I don’t mention
the wolf word to many folks. Bella was just beautiful and coping fine on 3 legs. This guy was a forester who spends his days
in the forests, with his wolf, aging, measuring and assessing trees, the info which no doubt is gobbled up by some computer,
somewhere, hopefully in the interests of the trees and all those who dwell within and under their canopy in the forests.
That’s
it for now,
Diane
