August 27, Home

Wow. How do you write the final posting from the trip of a lifetime? We had so many questions when we set out…would the car and trailer make it? How many miles would we cover? Would all three family members make it from beginning to end (we always allowed how we may need to ship at least one of us back!)? What would be our favorite place? How many sucky places would we find? Could we handle a full month of being away from home, the shop and the routine? And most of all, could we all have the kind of experiences that bring us closer, and that we simply never forget?

So…answers. The car and trailer both made it. The only issue was the broken window early on, a broken awning (never try to take it down after Cosmos), and a few rock dings on car and trailer. Not bad! We traveled 4,968 miles on 318 gallons of gas, spending over 130 hours in the car. Our average speed was 44 mph. We slept 20 nights in the trailer and six nights in hotels. We drank over 10 gallons of water, ate six bags of goldfish, four bags of beef jerky, and two dozen string cheeses in the car alone.

All three of us made it – we sent no one home, although popular opinion has it that if I reminded Cal and Aus to close the trailer door (to keep bugs out) even one more time, I would have been Fed Exed that day. Our favorite places turned out to be numerous – Sooke, BC, Lake Louise, Breckenridge and more, but the true winner on everyone’s list was the Fat Broken Arrow Bison Ranch in Montana!

Sucky places numbered three: in order – Rawlins, WY (home of the State Pen), Fernley, NV (our last night’s stay in a yucky old RV park), and drumroll, please….that’s right, Hope, BC. All were way stations on our way to cool places and the cool places were so dang cool! Not only did we handle a month away, both Austin and I concur that we could have easily made it two months. Calvin, and the wonderful Julie Donaldson who took care of our home, shop and beast, both thought a month was just a smidge too long! Cal wanted his own bed.

And finally – did we end up closer and will we never forget our experiences? Unequivocally yes. Always tight, our little family tried new things together, saw beauty in wonderful places, met up with people we love dearly, and not only held it together, but flourished on our trip. You know it’s a good trip by how sad you are to come home. Our PVL (post-vacation letdown) will be the stuff of legends.

So that’s it for the Silver Towed. Thank you all for following our adventures, all your comments, and your interest. And thanks to the large number of you it took to keep us on the road, especially Julie Donaldson, and Laurie Hearne (our surrogate mother figure for Cal’s kindergarten orientation). We’ll see you all soon!

Dancing with the Sun!

August 23 – August 25, Sundance, Utah

After another long haul, we pulled into the beautiful Sundance Resort on Sunday evening. The trip was uneventful except for my slamming my finger in the trailer door and requiring Jameson’s the whole rest of the way as medication (Austin drove, people – I’d never endanger a child). Also, we stopped at a rest stop dedicated as a War Memorial where I got to force Cal to pretend the helicopter was landing on his head (some might say the door slammed finger was kismet).

Sundance is one of my favorite places on earth. It was a little rainy, but so gorgeous. We walked into our room (which Calvin quickly called an apartment) and were pleasantly surprised to find a freakin’ huge place with multiple rooms, a loft, and a kitchen right on the river. We also had vouchers for three massages and three foot scrubs. I asked Austin what the hell she booked, and while she couldn’t remember, we decided not to worry about what must be about $700/night.

First thing the next morning, Austin set off on her run, with Cal and I to meet her at the top of the chairlift and we’d all hike down through Stewart Falls together. The best laid plans…we got a walkie-talkie transmission from Aus that her course was impenetrable and she had encountered a snake and turned back. She also thought she had lost our car key – a sticky wicket. We ended up riding back down the lift, picking up the pieces of my girl, and starting off on our hike. The key ended up being in the car, which was still there, and the hike was beautiful (see pics of Cal with his favorite new thing: waterfalls).

Cal and Austin then set off on horseback, I sat on my behonkus before my massage, and we passed a lovely afternoon! Next day, quick driving trip in search of a lasso for our little cowboy, through Heber and Park City. Ended up ordering it online, much to his chagrin. Mallory (some kid we didn’t know) came to babysit our boy, and Austin and I had our second date night of the trip: massages, The Owl Bar and dinner at the four star Tree Room. A terrific night!

Out the next morning for the last two days of our trip. Highway 80 to Winnemucca, and Winnemucca (I like saying Winnemucca) to home. Hard to believe. Stay tuned for one last post, in which I will sum up significant stats, give you a quick run-down of life in Winnemucca, and try to find the words to sum up what has been a truly unforgettable road trip!

Motorcycles, Kayaks and Family!

Aug 20, 21 and 22 – Breckenridge, CO

Gorgeous Colorado and the International Women’s Motorcycle Conference (IWMC)! After three long days in the car, we finally pulled into Tiger Run RV Resort in Breckenridge. This place was a mile long, and a mile and half deep – by far the biggest park we stayed in. Of course I never saw any of it, as we had the first space, and never went beyond it! Integrated in our space was little camping cabin, where my beloved Aunt Susie joined us for the weekend. She is a phenomenal, self-made woman who raised three gorgeous, smart daughters on her own, and has quasi-retired to just outside of Denver. She rides a Harley (at age 62) and we had to interrupt her voracious vacation schedule for a few days just to get her up to see us!

Also joining us for the IWMC was Austin’s motorcycle Posse – up from the Bay Area. The indomitable Sheri Rogers, the courageous Callie, Cynful of the Broken Down Cycle, Shug “Safety First” Ahsia, and most impressively after only four months of cycling experience, Tonja the Dual Sporter (these words all mean something to people who ride motorcycles. I ride a scooter.)

First night’s activity – The Barn Dance! I forgot the camera, so must conjure up images of female cycle riders from the world over in free straw cowboy hats learning to line dance in a dusty corral. Fabulously diverse crowd of all ages, sizes and ilks. And of course, Cal – the lone male and lone child - roping steer, petting horses, dancing to cowboy songs and having too good of a time to eat!

Second day – The Expo at IWMC. Suffice it to say Aunt Susie spent her retirement savings, Calvin scored a “Save a Horse, Ride a Harley” t-shirt and the people watching was superb! Afterwards, Sheri swung by to pick up Calvin for a moto ride (see picture), picking up a dead trout along the way, and seeing his first real-life beaver dam. That night we went to the International Street Faire, watching even more suspect dance moves and catching up with the Posse.

Third Day – my darling cousin Daphne, her niece Katy, and her two boys, Tyler and Chandler joined us for a day on the lake. We broke out the kayaks, rented a paddleboat, had a picnic and spent a wonderful day together. I love that kid (she turns 40 this year – yikes) and she is raising phenomenal kids, much like Susie. Cal was in heaven playing with big boys and ordering new people around. At one point I had to remind everyone that they do not HAVE to do as he says!

We had dinner that night in the historic town of Frisco – really a gem! It was Sat. Night Music on Main Street (where else) followed by dinner at Vinny’s – another great meal.
Pulled out early the next morning, after a fond farewell to my dear Aunt. Next stop: Sundance Utah!

Validation!! Murdering Fugitives go to Hope, BC to die!

Okay, so a while back, I posted a rather negative piece on the town of Hope, British Columbia. In fact, I believe it to be the worst place we saw on our whole trip to date. So this morning, I read this article: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-08-23-jenkins-dead_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

...and find not only did this awful, murdering bastard commit suicide there, but the article included the following description of this crummy town:

"The dramatic end came at an isolated motel at the edge of British Columbia's mountainous interior, on the outskirts of Hope, a town known for its giant wooden carvings made with chainsaws and as the site of the first bloody Rambo movie."

I just LOVE that they used chainsaw and bloody in that description!! Hope-less!

And we drive...

August 18, 19 and part of the 20th.

Whew...we needed to make tracks in order to get from Northern Montana to Breckenridge, CO in time for the big Motorcycle conference so for three days, we drove 8-11 hours per day (nearly 1,400 miles!). That Towed got majorly towed. Along the way, we encountered the following fella in Yellowstone National Park:

We encountered this following fella in the back seat of our car (bug bitten, band-aided, wind burned, and bored shitake-less):

And we encountered heart-stoppingly, drive-off-the-road, stunning-ass scenery along the way.

That's Old Faithful at Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons from our car window.

About 9 hours later, we pulled into Rawlins, WY (for you travel-neophytes - that's the home of Wyoming's largest state penitentiary, which was a convenient stone's throw from our kozy KOA Kampground) for a well-earned night's sleep.

But here is the lesson of the drive: FEAR the FLAGPERSON! We hit probably four flag people, all of whom cheerily pulled us aside, and made us sit for 45 minutes to an hour while the road workers took their lunch breaks, then eventually got back to the unpaving, pot-hole making, bone jarring road repairs that plagued us fo miles and miles. We were pulling the Towed through the most unbelivable situations when we were moving at all. The only good thing? We were dragging our own bathroom. Huge.

The Best Day of Cal's Life!

August 18 – The Fat Arrow Ranch, Montana

We spent the next day and night at the Ranch (I cannot for the life of me remember the name – Broken Arrow or Fat Cow or something like that). 1,700 acres of Montana ranch land, 12 ponds, six horses, 150 bison, a tractor, an ATV, another big machine that does somethin farm-like, and yet another. Our boy was as happy as a pig in a poke. Let me just give you a summary of the day’s agenda, and tell the rest of the story in pictures!

10:30 AM – Silver Towed is dragged across an old wooden bridge and into a meadow

10:31AM – Cal is off like a shot to the authentic Conestoga wagon, complete with a dead snake near it.

12:00 – Lunch of Chicken Soup prepared by the wonderful Karen (co-Ranchess and hostess extraordinaire (is Ranchess a word?)).

12:30PM – Ride out in a bouncy old truck out to the Bison herd, shake the bag of BisonChow and they come running! I make light, but this was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. These animals can run 30 mph, are enormous and majestic. I was in awe. Then we ate one for dinner.

2:00PM – Saddle up the horses and ride! My nephew Nash and my niece Annie shared a horse and rode bareback – they are unbelievably good riders.

4:00PM – Jump in the swimmin’ hole - with a little help from Uncle Steve and jump back out like a little rocket ship (fed by an artisanal spring and about 40 degrees!).

6:30PM – Dinner of marinated Bison steak and herbed potatoes from the garden…unbelievably delicious! Zero guilt for eating the beautiful creatures we just visited. Oh well, when in Montana….

7:30PM - Don the dead animal hides and make like a coyote, bear and one other furry creature (that's Cal, Nash and Annie!).

9:00PM – Good night partner!

Thank you so much to Karen, Doug, Uncle Steve, Aunt Cynthia, Nash-Man and Annie-Girl – what a wonderful day we all had!

Montana's Glacier National Park - Glorious!

Aug. 16, and 17
St. Mary’s, Montana, Glacier National Park – East Entrance.

We pulled in on Saturday afternoon after bombing down from the Canadian Rockies, waving at Calgary, and crossing back into the US of A. It was rainy, sleety and freezing – all my fears about weather hotter than 75 have been allayed. Another lovely KOA Kampground (the “K” theme is a big thing with them) but this one had a pool and a little water park. 47 degrees and Cal is in his wetsuit running around and swimming. We caught up on laundry and groceries and had a wonderful dinner at the Two Sisters Café. And when I say sisters, I mean sisters. We got no gay discount, but it was really delicious food and a treat to see “our people,” even if they were of the Montana Outback ilk.

My brother Steve and his wife, Cynthia, their kids Nash and Annie all spend part of every summer in Montana, near East Glacier National Park. The only way we could boost Cal out of our fancy hotel was with the promise of seeing his cousins. They came over on Sunday morning and we explored Glacier National. We were on our 10th straight day of rain, but in the proper raingear – who cares? Well, we all forgot our rainpants, and the answer is, I care. It was frickin’ freezin’! And one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tall, jagged peaks, beautiful ice blue lakes, a marmot. We hiked over 5 miles – Cal’s longest ever (Steve only carried him 1 or 2 of the uphill ones. Steve carried me the rest). Steve’s kids are accomplished mountaineers, having conquered 10 or 12 of the peaks we could see, and we are not. We do have an endearing tradition around hiking though – The Dead End Dance (Having reached the end of the trail - we dance!)

Snow in August? Really?

Aug. 13, 14 and 15

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. We made this our first stay in a hotel, after 9 or 10 nights in the trailer…and what a joint! Built in the 1920s as a climbing chateau, this place sat right on the edge of the lake and was truly stunning! The lake is framed by three or four glaciers, and the Rockies – just unbelievable. We pulled up, parked the trailer, checked in, and Cal declared that he would like to live here. He also declared that he would like to do anything in the world that involved other kids, and off he went to “Art School of the Lake.” The kid hates art, but apparently he needed a break from us even more. We had our first alone time in nearly two weeks.

We had delicious meals involving fondue, bison and peanut butter and jelly; canoed on the startlingly aqua lake, which checked in at 33 degrees (gone was our dream of swimming in every body of water on the trip), and ambled around the Lake Trail. Poor Cal picked up about 40 bug bites (origin of bugs unclear, but very well may have been in the room – disgusting), and spent about 6 hours in the hotel’s pool. Aus and I got him a sitter (Jackie, no love connection, but she let him swim for three hours) and had a lovely date night.



Austin spent Friday morning on the “best run of her life (as you know, these words do not go together in the Margie vernacular)” and ran over 10 miles up a trail called “Plain of Six Glaciers” to Victoria Glacier, Lake Agnes, Mirror Lake and down. I need to mention here that it was snowing about 40% of the run, and about 36 degrees. Unreal. She was sore for four days.

We also spend an afternoon in Banff, the T-Shirt Capital of Alberta and bought Margaret potentially the most meaningful t-shirt of her young life. Friday night we tucked in, had room service and headed out the next morning, headed for Northwest Montana, Glacier National Park and my brother, Steve and his family.

Stay tuned...

Internet connection problems, but stay tuned for canoeing on frozen lakes, runs over glaciers, fancy hotels riddled with biting bugs, snow in August, Montana horseback rides, bison and moose sightings and more!

Revel in Revelstoke!

At last! The TransCanadian Highway! I drove this road about eight years ago, and remember it as just about the most beautiful place I've ever seen. In an effort to put Hope far, far behind us, we traveled about six hours up the Highway to the gorgeous little town of Revelstoke - felt very much like Park City, pre-Olympics.

We stayed about 25km up the highway (make no mistake, I have zero physical reference for what a kilometer is, I just know that if you pretend it is a mile, you get there faster than you thought) at a place called Canyon Hot Springs. Austin took this picture on her run - it's a stunning place, nestled in the Canadian Rockies.

Cal availed himself of the Hot Springs pool for about four hours total - the boy loves his water. I sat on my patoot and read People - my intellectual pursuit since the day it went into publication. It was a terrific stop - another place we could have stayed longer.

Hope Less

I have no pictures to document our brief stay in Hope, BC. And there are barely any words. Here's what I know: the Town Council is working hard to change the name of the town to the more appropriate "All Hope Is Lost, Ye Who Enter Here." Claim to fame - they filmed Rambo here. We did not take the Rambo tour. It was raining and miserable, so we toured the "downtown." We found out where all the guys who inspired the movie Deliverance decided to retire.

The town has no dentist, nor any need for one, as they have a collective single tooth. I believe we actually played some of wimmenfolk in softball four or five years ago - Nutbags, you know what that means. We took shelter in the general store - I believe it was called Freaks. We had dinner in the licensed bistro (mystery: licensed in what exactly?) and scooted back to our trailer, locking the door behind us! We blew out of town at our earliest time ever - about 7:30A...

Beautiful Victoria, BC!

August 8th and 9th (Can you tell we finally got internet access and are catching up on a few posts?!)

Let me say it for all the parents out there…The Victoria Bug Zoo is yucky. The bugs are huge, and contrary to the opinion of many youngsters, the fact that the tour guides pull the bugs out of the cages and let others hold them is NOT cool. Cal was entranced, but rightfully spooked at the massive, ugly mo-fo of a tarantula. Nothing cool there. Just hideous (see picture). We went on a lovely carriage ride after dinner, and Cal had an in-depth conversation, sitting in the front of the carriage with his new gal, Janelle. He explained his kindergarten situation to her and that Teddy is his best friend. She was appropriately enthralled. Austin an I may as well have been in Peoria. I think he had a crush.

But here’s the real deal…Zip Lining! We went early Sunday morning (well, 10:00A, but it felt awfully early) and headed up into the hills of Sooke, BC. There we found an incredible zip line park (is that what you call them?). They hauled us up the mountain in a very Jurassic Park-like ATV through the rainy fern forest up to a platform set high atop the redwood and maple trees. There we connected by safety pins to a wire the width of one hair (seemingly)and flew down a series of eight zip lines and one suspension bridge that almost had me toss my cookies. It was just about the coolest thing I’ve ever done personally, and to see the Boy Wonder exhibit zero fear, fight with a 16 year old to go first, and bomb on down the line was truly spectacular!
Austin loved it as well (see pictures of my two loves dangling 80 feet over rainy forest), and exhibited great style – lying flat for more speed or entering the zip line tuck…she was a natural!

Cal was the bomb! He never wavered, stepping right off the platforms and zipping right over to the other platforms, often as high as 80 feet up and 1,000 feet across. He was a little light, so often he didn’t make it to the platform (not an issue with me - I often sailed right into the tree), and the guides would have to perform a “recovery,” zipping backwards, hooking their legs around him and hauling him hand over hand to the platform. He was so incredibly jazzed and had the best time!

Olympic National Park

August 6th and 7th

The one truism…we are not spending enough time anywhere! We could have spent a week in Columbia Gorge and a week or two covering the Olympic National Park in Washington. Instead we spent a day and a bit on the North end of the park and were stunned by the scenery at Hurricane Ridge and overjoyed at jumping off the dock at Crescent Lake (see picture of Cal in perfect cannonball form!). We had a wonderful campsite right on the beach in Crescent – an accident because Sequim (pronounced Squim if you are a local – we are not) lost our reservations. A stunning campsite with sunset views through the fog and rain, and hardly anyone around – camping perfection.

We spent a lovely afternoon at this gorgeous lake and treated ourselves to dinner at the Crescent Lake Lodge. Out the next morning to catch the Black Ball Ferry to Victoria, BC Canada!

Of God and Rocks

August 5, 2009 – The logic of a five year, especially in the field of theology and geology is fascinating! As we hiked the beautiful Multnomah Falls in the Columbia Gorge, Cal asked the question, “Is God in the rocks?” Austin, possessing vastly more patience than I replied, “Yes! God is in everything…in fact God is a rock.” Cal thought for a moment and said he did not believe that God is in the rocks because he cracked one open once and it was smooth inside (apparently God is rougher). He went on to ask, “Do we eat rocks?” We both assured him only if times get tough. He said, “…then God is not in your tumack, because if He is in rocks and you don’t eat rocks, then He’s not in your tumack. So he’s NOT in everything.” Tough to refute, that one…

Cal saw his first waterfall that day (as shown in picture!), and got to walk behind one (Ponytail Falls). He was rapturous at the experience.

800 Miles down...

We are in the beautiful Columbia Gorge with a new window ($400) on the Silver Towed, duct tape removal service ($50 - who knew?), and a beautiful bottle of Mayacamas Chard (priceless).

Happy to spend two nights in one place, especially this stunning place. Cal fully recovered, and currently playing tetherball with his new pal, Trailer Trash Timmy, and Aus and I cooking up some Vicolo pizzas.

Shattering!

Hour thirty six on our adventure, and it's already been jampacked! First, know this...we love and adore our son. We love his inquisitiveness, his need to find out the way things work and his delightful curiosity. Now if he could just curtail that for the next month.

After a seven hour drive we arrived at gorgeous Trinity Lake (95 degrees - you'll soon find out this is a thing with me. I hate heat) in the Trinity Alps, pulled into our dirt filled campsite (I also hate dirt) and headed off for a swim. Got back for cocktail hour, gorgeous grilled steaks and the obligatory smores.

Bedtime, and Cal is playing with side window on the Airstream. Instead of operating both handles at once, he torques down on one handle and the glass blows out like an explosion, with fragments extending well into the next campsite. We are left with a screen. Which made for a cooler night (see heat note above). And an unscheduled stop in Eugene, OR tomorrow where a huge new window was overnighted from the Airstream factory in Wisconsin. I think they feel so bad for us that it will be free. I think. Did I mention how we love our son?

PS - I did the window repair myself with a handy roll of duct tape - it blew out on Hwy 5 30 miles short of Ashland, OR. Good times!