Not this time!

Today, for the first time in many months, I got gas BEFORE the gas light came on. For whatever reason lately, I've been waiting for the light to make me stop for gas. Part of my theory on why - Mom always told me to never get below a quarter tank of gas, and I followed that advice for years. But the car I have now doesn't have a quarter tank mark, only half tank. So it isn't as obvious. Or maybe I'm just lazy...

How Bailey Enjoys the Christmas Tree

Bailey uses the Christmas tree differently than I do. Her preferred way is to climb up in the tree, remove one of the branches and sit on it, as you see here. In this case she pulled down a branch with the lights still attached. You can't really tell in the picture, but the lights are on, shining right in her face.

She also likes to run from across the room and scatter the fuzzy reindeer under neath tree. I believe she has help in that activity.

Perhaps Bailey needs her own blog. I'm not sure she has quite as much to show off as Maru, my favorite cat blog. Maru is Japanese.

Spatially Challenged

Phase 10 is complete! For those of you not tracking phases, that is the sheetrock on the ceiling. But this phase pointed out one of my most serious skill gaps. I consider myself a fairly capable person and I can figure most things out. But I am seriously challenged when it comes to "spatial" things. Not that I bump into things. But if one side of the sheetrock needs to be shorter than the other or one edge needs a hole cut out, I can not visualize the sheetrock going up to the bathroom and onto the ceiling well enough to know which side is which.

The only way I can make it work is to lay it down the exact way it will go up and face the same way. Then I can be somewhat sure I'm right, but I'm never confident enough. Now I know why Joey needs to be "in the map." (Strangely enough, I do okay with maps...)

I also now have a window that doesn't require a trash bag to cover it. Maybe I already reported that.

Escape!

This bathroom project is creating all sorts of adventures for Bailey. Last night we were outside installing the exhaust fan and I looked up and Bailey is walking around the deck. I grabbed her and sent her back inside. I couldn't believe she could have gotten out without us knowing.

Later I found out the back door and the outside door of the garage were open and she got out that way. At least she had the sense to walk up near where we were so I could seize her! Riley spent the next two hours growling, hissing, and being puffed about it.

Clearly Not Everybody Gets It

Today I went to Target and took one of my green bags with me. They even have signs up now that say you save 5 cents if you use your own bag. I laid my bag on top my stuff and the clerk asked me if it was mine. I said yes. I turned to put the pop in my cart and when I looked back, he had put my stuff in a plastic bag and was loading it and my empty bag in the cart.

When I told him he was supposed to put the stuff IN the bag I brought, he did it, but then put the now empty plastic bag in my green bag. I took it out and gave it back to him. I'm sure he threw it away. Good grief!

Taking Woolly Mammoth to New Levels

We have always joked that Bailey is a woolly mammoth because of how furry she is. Today she led her band of merry siblings in an adventure that caused her to be even more woolly than usual. Today's project was to work on installing a new exhaust fan and light. Dad was up in the attic trying to get above the bathroom ceiling. I went to pick up lunch. When I came back, he was going outside to brush himself off. Then we ate lunch.


After lunch we went upstairs and Bailey was just exiting the attic porthole. A few years ago, I had 16 inches of new insulation blown in, and Bailey had about six inches of it stuck in her fur. Then I looked in the hole and Riley was still in there. I got Bailey cleaned up, but Riley didn't want to come out. Here she is back in the attic, nearly up to her neck in insulation.


Eventually she came out and I had to wash her off with a washcloth.

In other news, the bath tub is in and I can shower! I was a little nervous that we weren't going to get the tub through the door, and then I wasn't sure how we were going to get it laid down. But it worked!

What's in Your Living Room?

Probably not a bath tub!


Luckily the old bath tub is out and the new one should be going in soon. How do you get a 400 pound cast iron tub? In a million pieces!

The Shower Still Stands

But that's it. Only the bath tub remains in the bathroom, with plastic around it so I can still shower. And there were no surprises, like water damage or a rotten window sill. Now I just have a garage full of trash to get rid of! Thanks to dad who did all of the work this week.

Project On! The Before Chapter.

Now that the red room is finally complete, it is time to move on to the next project. Next up: the hall bathroom. This bathroom has always been near the top of my list to redo but has gotten bumped to the top as the shower faucet started dripping, then the drip became more of a stream. So the plumbing needs to be replaced, so might as well redo the whole room, right? There is more urgency because this morning I couldn't even get the water to shut off in the shower!

The Before pics: (I'm not sure these adequately represent how lousy it looked and was before). Plus this pic shows the cabinet before I nearly set it on fire.


This tile floor was under the carpet (yes, carpet in the bathroom, glued directly to the tile!)

Dad and I kicked the project off officially on Thursday by uncovering the top part of the window that was hidden behind the tub surround. Yesterday we removed all the remaining tile, the floor, and the cabinets and toilet. The floor had to be removed all the way down, including removing a concrete subfloor and tile.


Only the shower is left because it is the only bath tub and I don't want to be Pig Pen. The trick will be to minimize the time I have no shower. Here's where we are now, minus the cabinet:


In case anyone is curious, I'll post a few pics. Stay tuned!

How Much Does a Scrapbook Weigh?

A ton, if it is in the form of years and years of stuff waiting to be put in a scrapbook. I have, on occasion, had bursts of creativity and gone all out with scrapbooking. However, this rarely happens. Most of the time, I just continue to collect stuff in shoe boxes, waiting for the day I feel compelled to get working, and never able to find anything in all the shoe boxes.

Well, this weekend I was relieved of much of that burden. I've decided it doesn't have to all be at the level of my other stuff. I just would like it to be in order and out of the boxes. So I bought a bunch of 2 inch notebooks and now I'm working on getting everything in the notebook in order. Some things get hole-punched, some things just go in plastic sleeves.

It isn't elegant, but it would allow me to find something if I was looking for it. The three-ring notebooks allow me to add things in if I find something, or move stuff into another notebook if it gets too full. And someday, if I have a burst of creativity, I can move up to something more fancy. And the pictures stay in their photo albums.

I feel like I've been freed from the weight of all these potential scrapbooks. I still have a long way to go to get everything in, but I emptied three shoe boxes and one giant box. So here's to my new plan!

Windmills are Coming!

(In my head this is said to the tune of "Santa Packs Are Coming...")

Apparently interesting things do not happen to me now that I am not traveling, so there has been a dearth of posts around here lately.

But as I was driving home from work, I crossed over the train tracks and there was an entire train loaded with the giant blades of those huge monster-ish windmills. Each blade had its own train car, and there were bunches. Maybe they were headed somewhere else, but somebody is getting a lot of them. They are much bigger than you would think. We passed the blades on oversize trucks on the highway once and they are BIG.

I have all the Europe summary to get written, but I'm not yet motivated to do it. I should before I forget it all...

Walnuts, Walnuts, Walnuts!

(For the full effect, the title should be said to the cadence of "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!")

I'm hoping we have reached the peak of the Great Walnut Drop of 2009. I can't imagine it could get worse than this. I do live in Walnut View, so I shouldn't be surprised. The walnut tree isn't even actually is in my yard. It just so graciously leans over my fence to drop its plethora of produce.

This morning I tried to mow. Last week was a little painful, but today was nearly downright impossible. The walnuts squish and get stuck under the mower, in the wheels, under the wheels. Plus my yard is a pretty decent slope. With my push mower, it was all I could do to keep going. At one point I stopped and considered going to buy a new self-propelled mower.

I figure I got a good workout at least. Too bad I had already done my hour-long Total Body Blast workout!

Retirement

As I have now officially retired after nearly seven years as a road warrior, I figured I spend a few minutes reflecting on where I've been. While I do not have detailed records, I estimate I have:

• Traveled through 37 airports, three of them at least 30 times (Memphis, Midway, Milwaukee).
• Traveled to 20 client sites in 13 states, including 5 in Illinois. (That doesn't seem that much when you look at it...)
• Traveled to three countries (Grand Cayman, Canada, and Australia).
• Only traveled west for work one time.
• Flown on 10 different airlines.
• Lived in two furnished apartments.
• Never missed a flight, despite two near misses, once to Canada and once to Milwaukee.
• Had four flights cancelled, three of them in Melbourne and one due to the Midway plane crash.
• Bailey and Riley made two trips during this time, one to live in Memphis and one to live in Overland Park while I was in Australia.
  
  

I have enjoyed traveling but grew tired of missing out on so many things during the week. Thanks to Bailey and Riley for their patience, and to mom and especially dad for paying daily visits to them for years. Now it is on to full-time cube life.

Rookie Mistakes

Last Thursday, my last work-related airplane trip for a long while (fingers crossed) I made two rookie mistakes.

When I went through security, they asked if they could re-run my bag. As soon as they asked, I remembered that I had a set of silverware that I had taken when I packed up my desk and had intended to put in my suitcase. Of course, I forgot that last part. They carefully examined my knife and finally decided it would pass but warned me that next time, I might not be so lucky.

Then, I left my journal on the plane, in the seat pocket. Of course I didn't realize this until I got home. After about 15 phone calls to the Executive service center, and baggage services in Milwaukee, KC, and DC (where it ultimately ended up), I tracked it down. Actually they tracked me down. Luckily I had randomly stuck my boarding pass stub inside, so someone from DC called me to say they had it. So Monday, my first Monday of not going to the airport this year, I had to drive to the airport and pick up my journal. But unlike losing my keys on the plane a few years ago, this one has a happy ending.

Milwaukee Summary

As of last Thursday, I am finished in Milwaukee. I figured I'd pull together some details about my nearly nine month stay there.

• 95 hotel nights in 18 different rooms, only having my room cleaned one day, and seven suite upgrades
  
• 31 rental cars, including 13 Ford Focuses (but luckily only one that talked)
• 31000 flight miles on 62 planes, with only one near miss
  
• An estimated 44 Midwest chocolate chip cookies
  
• A temperature swing of about 95 degrees, from January to August
• 4 Brewers games
• 2 shoe-related snafus (here and here)
  
• Long enough to see the Pick 'n Sa
  Publish Post
  ve completely remodeled and the Halloween store re-open for the season.
  
• Regrettably not long enough to see the Panda Express open in the food court.

If I think of more, I may be adding to this post. In the meantime, farewell to MKE!

Tiny Walgreens

On my way to work, I drive by this tiny Walgreens. Have you ever seen a Walgreens this tiny?



Well, it turns out the Walgreens is actually next door. This is a beauty supply store that is built to match the Walgreens, sorta like a play Walgreens in the backyard of the big one.

Deja Vu

I'm pretty sure that I had the same rental car two weeks ago that I have this week. I remember it had no remote and you have to push the lock button twice. But what sealed the deal was the radio stations. They are the same radio stations I program in every car, in order. It's a random selection of things, including NPR. Who else would do that?

I Broke My Own Rule

I have always had a rule, or more of a guideline I guess, not to wear or display anything that indicates my employer when I'm traveling. Too many people either work there, or want to talk about working there, and I don't want to talk about it. Today I was rushed because I couldn't wear what I had picked out to wear due to an unsightly and previously unnoticed spot on the front. So I grabbed a sweater bearing the logo of my employer. Bad idea. People on the shuttle asked me, people in the check-in line asked me, and people on the plane noticed. That's what I get for breaking my rule. Next week I'll just stay home ;)

Small Bathroom

It has been a while since I've had a bathroom-inspired post. It's about time. I wasn't going to write about this, but after being in the same room for the second week, it begs to be said.

Could the toilet be any closer to the wall? There is no room, and you have to hyperextend your elbow to reach the toilet paper. I can understand if it was just small and cramped, but there must be three and a half feet between the toilet and the bathtub.

Airport Obstacle Course

Today as I was passing through General Mitchell for the second-to-last time, I realized how much it seems like an obstacle course. From the parking garage, I go up the elevator to the third floor. Across the sky bridge, through the lobby. Bypass the couple with the books – “Free book on Jesus. He died to save you.” Down the escalator, past the baggage screening area, to the kiosk, back to the baggage screening area to drop off the bag, up the escalator. “Free book on Jesus. He died to save you.” Through security. Shoes off, sweater off, laptop out, zip computer bag. Walk through. Shoes on, sweater on, unzip laptop bag, laptop in.”

Past the shoe shine guy “Shine ‘em up, shine ‘em up. We do ladies shoes too!” [Can you polish patent leather?] Down the hall past the credit card hawker. “Midwest Mastercard – get a free round trip.”

Finally, arrive at the gate. Whew! Next week, repeat!

Goin' to Kansas City... Aren't We?

Last night on my plane home, the pilot came on and made his usual announcement. Sort of. "Hi folks - we're about 22 minutes from landing in the Milwaukee. The weather there is..." Of course, I had just departed Milwaukee so was definitely hoping we weren't landing back there.

The flight attendant announced when he was finished that we were in fact headed to KC, not Milwaukee. A few minutes later, the pilot came back on and said he had been informed that this plane was headed to Kansas City. "That's the way the plane's pointing, so that's where we'll go." That's a relief!

The Frosty Malt Threshold

A frosty malt, served with a wooden spoon, has always been my treat of choice at sporting events, especially baseball games. This is despite a strong campaign for fried cheese curds that my friend has spent this summer running. I firmly believe that ballpark food is overpriced. I know this, but I am willing to splurge for such things on an occasional basis.

However, Saturday night I learned that there is a price threshold for what I will and won't pay for a frosty malt. In my recollection, the last one I got cost around $4. Obviously a markup, but I price I could stomach. Now, however, the price at the K is $5.25, and I have learned that this is a price I'm not willing to pay. This 30% price increase may cost me my ballpark frosty malts.

Maybe I'll learn to live with it. I had a similar experience when I was in college. I always preferred to buy cans of pop from machines. They are cheaper, and I never wanted 20 oz of pop anyway. When my school signed a deal with Pepsi, along with that came the replacement of all the can machines with bottle machines. I boycotted for a long time, around a year or so, but eventually accepted they were there to stay.

I still miss pop machines that sell cans.

Day 9 - Home Again: The Summary

It was completely calm when we woke up this morning around 6. No sign of what went on last night. Luckily it was just wind and no rain, so everything was dry, and there was a beautiful sunrise. After our 14 hour drive on Saturday, we had a much shorter day ahead. We were on the road by 6:30 and quickly passed into Central time. We passed huge fields of sunflowers and tried to see the world's largest prairie dog but you can't see him behind the wall anymore.

We stopped for gas and I wasn't sure I could get back in the car anymore. We drove into my driveway about 1:45 p.m. As you all know, I like data, so here's a little summary of our trip:

• Miles driven: 3766
• Hours driving (according to my GPS): 55
• Times we bought gas: 13, for $374.57
  
• License plates found: 46, plus 8 Canadian provinces
• States traveled: 7
• Nights camped: 8, at a cost of $153.69
• National Parks visited: 3, for $50
  
• Moose seen: 5
  
• Bears seen: 0
  

Day 8 - Driving, Driving, Driving

We got off to an early start this morning. We had a long drive, and besides, it was cold so there was no need to linger. I'm not sure it was as cold last night as they said it would be. This morning we were out by 7:30, which was good because it took us about five hours to drive the first 200 miles. Luckily we did not run into Obama on the way out.

We did see a lot more buffaloes and two mooses. There was a ton of construction after we got to Grand Teton we spent a lot of time stopped and waiting, staring at the back of an RV. We ate lunch in an Alco parking lot in Lander, WY because all the tables were wet and we were cold. We had some mountain views as we were driving and saw some of the red rock in Wyoming, but a lot of nothing along a two lane highway. By this point we had listened to almost all of our CDs at least once and were trying to tune in radio stations, but we couldn't keep one for very long.

We finally got to the interstate and got on I-80 in Rawlins, WY at 3:00. We stopped at the Colorado sign and took a pictures because I wasn't for sure I had one. We are trying to get all the way to Goodland so opted to eat dinner at Quizno's rather than cooking our macaroni and beanie weenies. We stopped and ate a little north of Denver.

After we got on I-70 and it got dark, we could see a big lightning storm off to the northeast. We debated stopping in Limon or Burlington to stay behind the storm but decided to go on. The radar showed the storm was off to the north. We got into Goodland about 9:30 and set our tent up in the dark. Just as we were getting ready for bed, a huge wind storm came up and nearly blew the tent away. The rain fly was clear up in the air and flapping and the tent was nearly flat to the ground. We stood there staring at it trying to figure out what to do. We debated going to the holiday inn across the street, but decided there was nothing to be done except get in, so we did. The wind kept at it for about an hour I think, with huge gusts and then eventually must have died down. Of all the things I wish I had taken a picture of, it's the tent that night, flat to the ground. But it came away with no injuries (us too!).

Editor's Note: Apparently I took no pictures this day!

Day 7 - Yellowstone in One Day

Today we saw everything in Yellowstone we could see in one day, which turned out to be a lot. We woke up to a very cold but dry morning. I added socks and a hat to my winter sleeping gear and was reasonably warm. It is supposed to be colder tonight with a low of 37. Hopefully we will sleep better without a man snoring loudly in the next tent a few yards away.


We packed up and headed out first to Old Faithful and did a hike around there to see all the geysers near there. We saw Old Faithful erupt about 10:35 and then headed over to Yellowstone Lake. We stopped near West Thumb and looked at more geysers along the edge of the lake, then headed up the shore.


We had lunch at Gull Point where we had a very scenic picnic table. There was nobody there when we got there, but several people came before we left. There were some huge swarms of gnats, which ruined the atmosphere a bit. After lunch, we headed north toward Canyon Village. We had heard Hayden Valley was the place to go to see wildlife. We spotted two buffalo so walked over to see them, but they weren't very close.


Across the street was the mud volcano so we stopped there and hiked up the hill to Sour Lake. Most of the trees near there on the hillside died after and earthquake in the 1970s heated the ground to 2700 degrees. Once we got in to Hayden Valley, we saw several buffalo off by themselves, then rounded a turn and found the whole rest of the herd.


We went out to the Upper Falls lookout where we saw a rainbow, then down to the Lower Falls, which was really cool. We saw Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, then headed up to Mammoth Hot Springs and hiked around there a little. On the way there, we drove through a lot of the forests that have reseeded since the 1988 fire. Near the edge of Mammoth, there was a group of elk just hanging out so we took a few photos.


We drove the five miles to the park's north entrance, which was the original entrance, to see if there were any good souvenir shops but didn't find much. Lisa bought a stocking hat to keep warm in the tent tonight. We cam back in the park and drove to Canyon Village by way of Roosevelt Tower but didn't see any wildlife. All we hear about is bears and bear safety for five days now, but we have seen no bears. Our campsite in Canyon Village is nice and secluded, but it is cool here already. The low tomorrow night is supposed to be 29, so we'll be glad to move on.


Dinner was spaghetti again. We had a few sprinkles while we were doing the dishes but they stopped. We opted out of showers tonight and instead got organized and repacked the car. We just heard from the people next to us that Obama is coming to Yellowstone to visit Old Faithful tomorrow so we missed him by one day. Hopefully that doesn't cause any traffic delays for us getting out. We used the rest of our wood for a campfire and had s'mores again. Overall today we drove 168 miles in the park and saw just about every part. Not bad for one day.

Day 6 - Grant Village, Yellowstone

Our hope for no rain did not pan out. It wasn't cold but we did wake up to a steady drizzle and a soaked tent with puddles on the floor. Most of our stuff was dry but the edges of the sleeping bags were wet. I also discovered I had a sandwich with bag with some sandwich crusts in my pants pocket, but luckily no bears were interested.

We got everything into the car with the tent in a trash bag because it was so wet and we were on our way at 7:30, hoping to go to a drier Yellowstone. We stopped on our way out to take a picture of both of us by the Glacier sign. It rained all morning until at least past Missoula. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop somewhere before Butte. The afternoon was more driving. The big excitement was when we stopped at a grocery store to buy hamburger. The car in front of us when we pulled in was from Hawaii, so we marked that one off. Six are left - Washington DC, Delaware, Rhode Island, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Mississippi.


After shopping we made our usual mid-afternoon stop for ice cream, then headed down 191 to West Yellowstone. There was some construction but it didn't slow us down too much. We stopped in West Yellowstone to buy propane. It cost $4.79, but that was better than $9.09 at Apgar Village. It was about 4:00 when we headed into the park through the West entrance. To demonstrate what a small world it is, the car in front of us into the park was from Johnson County. Go figure. We saw two moose pretty soon after we got in the park. All the campgrounds are full so I'm glad we have reservations.


On the way to Grant Village, we stopped at Fountain Pain Pots. They are really weird! I don't remember really grasping how weird all of this is the last time I was here. We passed on Old Faithful for today so we could get our wet tent set up and drying. We are in a tent only loop so hopefully it is quiet. Lisa went for a run and I started some water boiling. We are at 7700 feet so figured it might take awhile. It is weird that we are so much higher than we every were in Glacier. There is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow so we'll hope for the best for our one day in Yellowstone. In other news, we've crossed the Continental Divide three times today. Where the fire was, there are now lots of young trees.


Dinner tonight was chili burger supper. I made way too much but it tasted okay. The best part was for the the first time ever, there were no beans! After we got all the dishes washed, we drove down to take our first shower since Monday morning. It costs $2 for six minutes of hot water. There were lots of showers and they were clean. After we showered we bought some wood and had our first campfire. We made s'mores and enjoyed the heat because it is already pretty cool. But so far it is clear and we can see an amazing number of stars. I'm hoping that means no rain!

Day 5 - Rainy Many Glacier

Last night it rained a little bit but stopped before we got up. This morning it was surprisingly not cold. We headed out for the other side of the park and Many Glacier to do the Grinnell Lake hike. We drove US 2 around the south of the park, which was a really nice drive. The speed limit was 70 but with all the curves I don't think I was ever close to that.


When we got around to East Glacier, the highway we had to take was scenic but really windy with lots of loose gravel. We did see both a cow and a horse standing right beside the road (not together). We drove through Two Medicine and stopped for groceries in St. Mary, then on to Babb, where we headed into Many Glacier. It took us about two hours to get there, and we were picking up rain as we went. By the time we got to the Many Glacier Hotel, which is the trailhead, it was pouring. We went in to take a look at the hotel and decided hiking was out. We sat in the car for awhile, trying to decide if we should wait it out. We toyed with the idea of going on to Yellowstone, but it would have been nearly 3:00 before we could get on the road. We opted to head back to our campsite and see if it was raining there. At this point we were about 10 miles from Canada, but Lisa forgot her passport so we had to skip that.




We stopped in East Glacier at the Glacier Park Lodge and ate our picnic lunch. Luckily it stopped raining for awhile and we walked around and took pictures of the really nice gardens. On the way back, we stopped at Goat Lick, where mountain goats come a lot. I think it was too late in the summer and in the day and we didn't see any. The drive all the way from Many Glacier took over two hours and most of the view was blocked by very low clouds. We did drive right through the part where the forest burned.


It was still raining when we got to Apgar so we did a lot of souvenir shopping at Apgar and West Glacier instead of our Avalanche hike. Lisa bought some huckleberry grizzly gummy bears, as huckleberries are very common here. We drove into the park further to see Lake Macdonald Lodge, which had a nice terrace out back. As I was taking a picture of the hotel, a mouse ran between my feet. I didn't see it, but Lisa did and she screamed. I jumped because I thought I was going to get hit by a car or something!

It was only drizzling so we headed back to camp to make dinner. Dinner tonight was chicken tetrazzini, which I had never made camping, but Lisa gave it a good rating.

The air is very damp and cool tonight so we can see our breath, but at least no rain. Our chairs and our tent are very wet. An RV has moved in next door that had a generator running for a long time. Just as I was plotting how to sabotage it, they shut if off. There was no ranger program tonight and since we spent the whole day driving, not hiking, we walked down to Apgar Village to finish our shopping for Glacier items. I bought a sweatshirt and Lisa bought a vase that reminds her of mountains. We walked back with our ice cream cones and even though it wasn't fully dark, the fog and moist air made it a little eerie.

The campground is not full tonight. I guess people stay away because of rain. Most of the license plates we see are Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Alberta, so people mostly come from nearby. We did pick up Maine and Vermont today, but have been stuck with the last ten or so for a couple days. Tonight the temps should be in the upper 40s but we will hope for no rain. Tomorrow, off to Yellowstone and our first showers since Monday morning! We didn't get to do much hiking in Glacier, but we saw a lot of the park.

Day 4 - Logan Pass and Hidden Lake

Our s'mores over the stove worked okay, although it wasn't quite as nice as over the campfire. We made sure to bear proof our campsite before we went to bed. If any bears came, they didn't say anything. It was a little cold sleeping but not too bad. Mostly getting up was cold.


We headed for the shuttle stop by our campground, which allegedly picks up every 15-30 minutes. We waited an hour for the Logan Pass shuttle, which didn't come. We finally got on the Avalanche Creek shuttle, which was a bad idea. Instead of going all the way to Logan Pass, the shuttle unloads at Avalanche and you have to get in line for a shuttle coming from Apgar going to Logan, which of course is already full. We had to wait another hour and weren't on our way to Logan until 11.


There is road construction along Going to the Sun Road and there are three places where it is one lane, causing some long delays. When we got to the top it was windy but not too cold. We hiked up the Hidden Lake Overlook trail. The views were good, but it was hard going, straight up the steps part of the time, and we weren't used to the altitude yet.


Out by Hidden Lake we saw lots of mountain goats. There was also a lady who gave us her binoculars to use to look at some bighorn sheep. They were pretty far away, but we could tell one had really big horns. We opted not to hike down to the lake, and sat and ate our lunch near the overlook. Going down was much easier. It is hard to believe all of it will be snow covered in a month or so!


We took the shuttle down the east side to St. Mary, which has more prairie near the park entrance. From there we turned around and came back to Apgar, which took three shuttles. We saw where there had been an avalanche last January. There was a 3000 foot drop and all the trees in its path were ripped out of the ground. Some were still alive but many were dead. We learned it was two fires in 2002 that killed so many trees by Lake Macdonald and up a ways.

Dinner tonight was macaroni. Tomorrow we will have to buy groceries, but we made it four days on what we had. We ran out of time today to do the Avalanche Lake and Trail of Cedars hike, but we didn't want to miss the last shuttle to the campground. Hopefully tomorrow we will get to see more parts of the park.



After dinner we went to the ranger program at Apgar ampitheater. The ranger's name was Teagan and she is a geologist. She talked about how the mountains were formed and then shaped by glaciers. To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:

Silt, tilt, slide, and glide

That's how Glacier formed...

She was interesting and made it fun. She also talked about how climate change is speeding up the melting of the glaciers. By 2020, the last of the 25 remaining glaciers in the park will be gone.

Afterwards we cooked more s'mores over our stove. The campground is full again tonight (we decided not to move) but all except one group are quiet.

Day 3 - Glacier National Park

Last night ended up being a lot cooler than we expected and I was freezing. I was not prepared for the cold. We got off to an early start because we thought it was 7:30 but it was really only 6:30. We packed, took showers, and were on the road by 7:30. There were some mountains along I-90, and we saw the turnoff for when we come back down to Yellowstone.

Along the way there were lots of cows in fields, and lots of deer mixed in. We went through Bozeman, Butte, and stopped for lunch in Missoula. There are lots of cherry orchards along the way and we stopped so Lisa could buy some. She said they were very good. We also stopped at Dairy Queen and waited behind a lady who was trying to order something with no fat or sugar. Perhaps DQ is not the place for that. The view out the back was great so we sat out there and ate.


We got into the park around 3:30 and Avalanche campground said it wasn't full yet. We drove along Going to the Sun Road by Lake Macdonald about 30 minutes. It turned out there was only one camp site left, right next to the bathroom. While we made the loop trying to decide if we should take it, someone else snagged it. We drove back out to Apgar Campground near the entrance and got a good site. There was a deer right behind the tent.



We took a walk down by Lake Macdonald. There was a guy there who used our cell phone to call 911 and report a sailboat had capsized out on the lake and the guys were having trouble righting it. A ranger did come but I don't know if they needed to be rescued or not.



We also saw another deer right along the trail. They aren't too startled by people. We stopped by the Visitors Center to get information on day hikes, and we browsed the gift shop. Dinner tonight was couscous. The temperature was around 70 this afternoon, but lows in the upper 40s tonight. It has already dropped a little as the sun is getting ready to go down. We had to put our tent really close to the fire circle so can't have a fire. We are going to try S'mores over the stove. I wrote my postcards so we'll see when they actually get there.

Day 2 - Big Timber, MT

This morning we woke up around 7:30 and showered and were on the road around 8:45, after driving the first few feet with the tail gate totally wide open. We bought ice and headed to Wyoming. We crossed into Mountain time zone about 10:30 so got an hour back. All day Saturday and today we saw tons of motorcycles coming east on I-90. Then annual rally in Sturgis was this past week so they were all headed home. We passed through Sturgis just before getting into Wyoming but it was pretty quiet by then.


All along I-90 there are signs for 1880 Town, but we decided we could see it well enough from the road and it wasn't worth a stop. We did stop at Wall Drug, and I bought a tiny buffalo. We also found a treasure trove of license plates, including Alaska. Just as we were driving through the Badlands, which only gets 16 inches of rain a year, we hit a monsoon. I think they got half their 16 inches today. It did wash the bugs off the car.


We (and luckily the rain) stopped for lunch at a rest stop in SD, where the temperature was pretty cool. After we got into Wyoming, more rain. At 3:00, we finally got our first glimpse of mountains, and at 4:45 we were into Montana, my 46th state. The Montana sign proved to be warmer than the Wyoming sign.




Today our ice cream was from Wendy's. It seemed to take forever to get to Billings. We finally stopped at KOA near Big Timber around 7:30. I cooked chicken noodle while Lisa put up the tent. The campground is nice enough, although very close to the highway. They offer ear plugs for the highway and train noise. I thought the water would take awhile to boil, but it was pretty quick. It's not too cool or warm here so should be a good night for tent sleeping. Today was a long driving day, almost 12 hours with a few stops, and I was ready to be out. Tomorrow we should (hopefully) get to Glacier around mid-afternoon.

Day 1 - Chamberlain, SD

We left my house about 8:30 this morning. The first casualty was my Esperanza water bottle, which I dropped in the kitchen as were headed out the door and the lid broke. We were faster and better at packing and we got out early. Our first stop was at Sapp Bros. which was a full service restaurant/chapel/gas station. The bathroom was weird with sinks in every toilet stall. We were hoping for a better lunch spot so kept driving.

We stopped and took our picture in front of the Iowa sign. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop in Iowa. We spent much of the day looking for license plates. We have found 25. There was an unconfirmed Hawaii sighting, but we didn't count it. Hopefully we will see another one.

We drove right along the Nebraska border but never actually crossed into it. We stopped at the South Dakota sign and got out in some itchy grass to take the picture. I got hives on my feet from the grass and that's we when discovered I hadn't packed the benadryl. We looked for and found a Hyvee and a Dairy Queen. Lisa parked in the expectant parent parking spot.


Once we were on I-90, we kept seeing signs for the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, and we figured we had to stop. It was about 10 minutes off the highway but fun to see. We just walked around the outside and took pictures. We went in only to use the bathroom. They have to replace the outside every year!

We targeted Chamberlain, SD as our destination. We are staying at American Creek Campground, which we picked from the book because it was half the price of the other two. It turned out to be really nice right on the Missouri River (go figure we drive all this way to sit by the Mighty Mo!). We were assigned to the tent area, which turned out to be a not-very-flat, not-very-big area already occupied by a few tents and a big group of mostly shirtless people. We cooked our spaghetti at a nearly table and waited until the group finished cooking in their electric skillet, with the longest extension cord ever. They cleared out and we moved in and set up our tent.

While Lisa was outside rolling down the window, Matty and Riley (11 and 5) came by to talk to her. They were quite chatty but luckily returned to their tent shortly.

It is super windy so we are hoping the tent does not blow away with us in it. Now we are sitting by the river watching the sunset. The tent area is filling up. One couple arrived and set up the biggest tent ever. I think they are fighting and she seems to be not very excited about camping. She has a giant roller suitcase that she rolled across the grass and into the tent. A bunch of people came down to the dock and we were afraid it might get a little noisy but they have all left.


It is a little later now and the wind has died down almost completely so hopefully our tent is safe. There are big rocks all along the edge of the river. It reminds us of the rocks Port Macquarie where we stopped and watched the dolphins.

As we were sitting by the river, this guy came up and started talking to us. He asked how old we were and said he was 18. His name was Michael. We said we were a lot older than him, and he guessed 34. Then he asked us how old we thought he was. We cleverly guessed 18, and he said that he was 18, but people usually thought he looked 24. We thought he'd leave but he stuck around a long time, sitting on the ground beside our chairs.

He said he made $100/hour working construction and had already saved $800 to buy a $19,000 bike with flames. He said he was single, looking for a nice girl, did we want to go for a walk? Then he asked us if we had any beer. We told him we had none. He said he had four kinds back at his camp site. Eventually he did leave, but only after filling every silence with, "So....." We went to bed about 1030 and it was pretty quite by then. A little bright from the fishing dock lights.

Trash Cans Aweigh

This morning we have had multiple inches of rain. I put my 65 gallon trash can out last night and looked out this morning to find it gone. I looked out all the windows but couldn't locate it. If it wasn't for the rain, I would have assumed it was stolen. But I decided to put on my raincoat and go in search of it. I found it at the bottom of the street, which is three houses down, trying to go into the storm drain. Of course it is a tad too large to actually go in, so I wheeled it back up the street.

They must have emptied them early, left it in the stream going by, and it washed away!

What Is Your Car Not Telling You?

After last week's incident of the car talking too much, this week I found out my own car had been keeping a secret for almost six years. Six years I've had the car and never knew that the back seats not only lay forward, they also flip up, creating lots more space for hauling.

Not that big a deal to most people, but I was dumbfounded that I never knew. I only found out when I was vacuuming. The dumb part is there is a three step picture that shows that on the back of the seats, but I always assumed it had to do with attaching the child seats. Why didn't my car announce that while I was driving down the road. "Hey, by the way, the seats fold up!" Who knew!

And then I found five dollars. No, really, I did. It was on the floor at the mall where I get dinner.

Waiting for the Plane to Roll Through

When I was in line waiting to go through security, there were two lines, which usually isn't the ase. I chose the shorter outside line. As we were waiting in line, three pilots come through and go to the front of our line. Then a group of flight attendants came to the front of the line. A few minutes later, a catering guy with a cart full of food went through. Then a gaggle of wheelchairs and their drivers went through. The other line continued moving and my line had to keep pausing for all these interruptions. The lady in front of me turns around and says, "I'm just waiting for the plane to roll through!"

ABCD or ACDF?

Last week when I was getting on the plane to go home, I had seat 3B. Turns out on this plane the seats were ACDF instead of ABCD. So all the Bs were homeless. You would think we could all just sit down in the row, but it wasn't so easy. We said something to the flight attendant and she said it wasn't her problem, it was the gate agent's problem, and that we had to go back and see the agent. I'm pretty sure it was her problem as the aisle was full of people who had no seat. She was by far the rudest flight attendant I've encountered lately.

The flight was also overbooked, again, not her problem, so we had to wait while they took volunteers to get off the flight. Despite all this nonsense, it might have been the closest we've been to departing on time!

What Does Your Car Say?

Have you ever heard your car talk? Probably not, because you would remember if it did. Today Erin and I were driving back from the hospital chatting away and all of a sudden the car yells "WOULD YOU LIKE TO RUN THE VEHICLE REPORT? CLICK OK TO CONTINUE." It was so loud and startled both of us. I can't imagine how scary it would be if you were driving along by yourself. It didn't say anything else the rest of the way home!

Bear Art - Can You Spot It?

After a very scientific study, I have concluded that all the art all over the hotel is the same. If a room only has one picture, it is the cursive L looking line drawing. If there are two pictures, it is some kind of leaf stencil. I can't think what the word is.

But this week, there is a third picture. This is actually surprising because I'm in the smallest room yet. It may be the same size as the tiny room, but something is different because the lone queen bed is shoved up against the wall. But I digress. I actually like the third picture because when I look at it I see a bear face. Can you "spot" it?

Green Keys

Being my bad green self, I like to think that all the things I leave in my hotel room, like card keys and the business cards they leave in my door, get reused. But every week I have to take one of the keys with me because I have to use it to get out of the parking garage. I usually bring it back the next week and leave it with the other key from that week. However, I have forgotten a few times and this week I have a stash of seven keys to leave behind. In case you were curious, the second one from the left is the infamous key from last week. Looks innocent, doesn't it?

I wonder what the housekeeper will think when she sees all these keys!

Things Bailey Does

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special feature, "Things Bailey Does."

In an effort to stop her from sleeping on the new comforter, I laid the plastic on top of it. Apparently that made it more appealing.


After tirelessly trying to open the item's clamshell packaging...

Bailey learned a lesson we have all discovered: it is impossible and it is better not to try.

Yaris, Car of the Future

Last week we had a Toyota Yaris, which has the unique feature of having the speedometer and all the other gauges in the middle of the dashboard. Hard to get used to - it felt a little like being on the passenger side of a car in Sydney (left side), only with a steering wheel. My co-worker said it felt like we were in a spaceship.