While we were in West Virginia, Jack Greenwood, my brother-in-law from Ohio came to see us!  It was wonderful.  Hadn't seen him for nearly 30 years!  He is still a kidder and fun to be with!

 I don't know if it is just our age or what, but nearly all of the people we see and talk to are Romney voters, I don't think they all started out that way, but the political clime of the last year or so have swayed them that way.  We shall see come November!

We got to DC, found our RV Park in College Park, MD and holy moly the traffic!  Hard to believe there are this many people with places to go in such a small area!  (Is my Wyoming side showing???)  There are more people on the beltway than there are in the whole state of Wyoming!  Barry is an incredible driver with the rig!  He just calls the silly ones names and keeps on keeping on!  I admire him alot, I would probably just pull over and bawl!!! 

So we found the Metro station, and as luck would have it, the Metro bus picks us up in the camp ground.  The bus takes us to the Metro (subway) station and we only have one train change between where we are in MD and where the reunion is in DC.  When we get to the stop for the Hotel, there is a tunnel to walk down that takes us directly into the hotel!  What a break!  Takes about an hour from our RV door to the hotel.  AND no traffic to endure!  The DC Metro system is very very nice, clean, and fast!  Mass transit is a good thing!  So we start 4 days of everything MARINE CORPS!  Two buses full of marines and their spouses going to all the wonderful locations!  Quantico, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the Vietnam wall, All the "old" Marines getting together is priceless.  Funny that as we age those old attachments mean more and more. 

So we finished up the reunion and spent time with Reid, Barry's son that lives in VA.  Very fun seeing him and his boys!  His mother Linda was very gracious and had us to her home several times. Reid is so much like Barry it is amazing.  Strong genes I think.  Reid's boys can't quite understand the connection between Barry and Reid, one of them just calls him Uncle Barry!  It is a relationship that may not be understood until they are older! 

So we left College Park and drove to Hampton yesterday (Sept 4th).  Hung around there until after the holiday weekend hoping the traffic would subside, and it did.  Yesterday traffic wasn't bad at all.  We are currently parked at Fort Monroe, in Hampton, VA.  President Obama named it a National Monument recently.  The fort's construction started in 1819  by employing the labor of slaves, who were gradually replaced by military convicts.  The fort covers 63 acres and was completed in 1834.  It is complete with a light house and a mote!!!  Robert E. Lee's quarters are here as well as the cell where Jefferson Davis was detained.  Lots to see and do here! 

2012 Big Adventure

Well, it has been a very very long time since I put anything on this blog, so we will see if I can keep up while on this trip.  We left Sundance today, August 10, 2012, commencing our long Eastern, Southern, adventure! As always Rally week in Sundance was very busy but fun.  Always a treat to see old friends that we don't see very often.  Makin' tamales with Marta was a kick and working with Jinx and Steve is always fun!   We traveled to Hazen, ND and found a great little RV park, (with Passport America it was a ten spot for a night!)  Sweet, leaves more room for beer in the budget!  Seems awfully quiet here with no bikes!  Saw a few on the road but not many. 

I was very surprised that we were able to find a site in Hazen, due to it being so close to the Bakken Field where all the oil activity is.  The camp manager said there are a few folks living there that drive 2 hours to work every day.  No place to live any closer I guess. 

Pretty uneventful trip today!  Hate to say it, but the scenery between Belle Fourche and Hazen is about as blahh as it can get, although we did see some grain being combined and some that was already done.  Seemed pretty early to me, but I haven't been in this neck of the woods for some time. Uneventful travel is really a good thing though for us! Drove to Minot to see John and Val's new house and spend some time with them.  Won't be able to be at Jessica's wedding over Labor Day so was good to see the Aftem clan now! 
Sunday August 12, 2012, finds us leaving Minot, ND.  Got to Minot yesterday, mid day and spent the rest of the day and evening with the Aftem family.  Old friends are sure priceless.  'Spent Saturday night in the Rough Rider RV Park.  Nice place, and all cleaned up from the flood.  Didn't have a problem getting a site when we called, but it was full Saturday night. 

Hard to believe the devastation to this town from the flood.  Many many people have picked themselves up again and either built new or redone their old places.  Parts of town are still pretty messy but for the most part, many many hard working hands have put things back to the way they were, or better.
Minot is growing at an unbelievable pace.  The Bakken Field has had a huge impact on this town.  Hardly anywhere to rent and what is available is ungodly expensive.  Those folks that had rental properties that weren't damaged in the flood are sitting pretty now.

Went from Minot to Sioux Fall, SD on Sunday.  Pretty rainy day, which it looks like will be much appreciated.  Paid 3.99 for fuel.  I know that NE, and neighboring states are in a draught, but the fields look great to me!  Goes to show you what I know about farming huh? 

Monday, August 13, drove to Oakland, NE to visit Dan and Linda Rasmusson.  Barry and Dan met in trade school then worked together in 1970-1971,  Hadn't seen each other since.  More old friends to appreciate!  Linda cooked us a wonderful roast beef lunch, and after a few hours of catching up, we continued down the road.  Spent Monday night in Victorian Acres RV Park in Nebraska City.  Nice park.  Today's temperatures were mild and pleasant, although it was a little humid for us when we landed here in Nebraska City.  Of course we are just wimps when it comes to humidity!

Called and made our reservation at an RV park in Maryland for the reunion.  Tailer is in luck, they have a dog walking service at the park!  Lucky for me I guess I should say, as without that I would probably have stayed home on those long days of activities. 

Here it is August 14, and we are settled in for a couple days in Columbia, MO. At a park called Cottonwood RV Park.  Not a cottonwood on the property! I gotta say, that is one popular name for RV Parks.   Had a flat on the truck today...(of course it was an inside dual!).  Tomorrow will get a new tire.  Called our trusty Emergency Road Service and they put the spare on.  Did I mention Good Sam's Emergency Road Service is the best ever???  Well, they are!  Not too hot and humid here so we are happy.  Will get some photos added to this soon, as it is pretty damn boring reading! 

We got to Lexington, KY to visit with friends Tom and Mechealle, and they took us out to eat at Butt Rubb'in BBQ. Really had to giggle at the name  Now when you are in KY, you have to eat BBQ.  Pictured are Barry, Mechealle and Tom before we gorged ourselves on damn fine BBQ!  Was fun seeing all the old tobacco barns and the tobacco fields as well.  Tom used to work in the tobacco fields so had lots of stories to tell!  KY looks just like the photos of it too.  Long white fences with horses behind! 

Tonight, August 19th, we are in Huntington, WV.  We are staying in an RV park that is on an air park, and all afternoon there has been a little plane taking people up and then they jump out, so there are people falling out of the sky with very pretty parachutes!  Ya just never know what you will find if you just look around a little!  Weather is pretty nice today so once again we are lucky! 

Merry Christmas

I have so dropped the ball with this poor blog. I will give you a down and dirty recap of our year.

We started 2009 in Pasadena, CA for the Rose Bowl Parade. We went with an RV tour group and had a wonderful time. They took us every where by bus so we didn't have to fight traffic. My favorite part was helping build the City of Sierra Madre float! What a kick that was. Flowers, flowers and more flowers! This was our float.

After the parade we went back to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge and volunteered until the end of February. Same place we have wintered the last 2 years. We hadn't planned to go back, but they called us and ask if we would. We're easy, so we said yes. So we spent the winter with about 12,000 of these silly Sandhill Cranes.

After the Bosque we went to AZ and NV. We fished the Walker River in Nevada. It is always fun to fish new water. Even caught some of those Nevada trout. We visited a brothel in Pahrump, NV, and I have to say, that was very very fun. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the working girls, although they were all beautiful. It was a very upscale place and we even got a guided tour of the place. It was awesome!

We fooled around down south until the weather warmed up north and got to Casper in April. We did the obligatory Dr. appointments, etc. before moving on to Dubois, WY for the summer just before Memorial Day. It was realy a great summer there. We lived in the KOA and volunteered at the National Bighorn Sheep Center. We worked 3 days a week and fished 4!! That was great. Jay and Kristy and the boys came up and camped with us twice, and that is always a treat to spend time with them. The fly fishing was a little slow to take off this summer as run-off was late, but it eventually got pretty good. Barry and Duck fishing Horse Creek on the left. We had such a great time, we even plan to go back summer 2010. We became friends with the people that own the KOA and met several great people in the campground. We hope to see some of those folks again soon. We so enjoyed all the friends that came to Dubois to see us.

I flew to Minot for Marissa Aftem's wedding in June. Had a great time with old friends.

Jay, Jevin and I floated and fished the Platte River in June with Jason Hamrick of Cowboy Drifters. It was a perfect day weather wise and the fishing just as good. Caught many large fish! We fished it the week of Rod's birthday so we named it the Rod Greenwood Memorial Float,complete with T shirts! He was with us in spirit.

We left Dubois right after Labor Day and headed to Kansas City for Barry's Marine Corps reunion. He had a great time. Most of the guys hadn't seen each other since the 60s. At left are four of the vets that Barry served with. Took this photo outside the World War I museum.

From KC we went to Minot for Hostfest. It was very fun. Hostfest is a huge Norwegian festival held annually in Minot. There are 1000 RV sites on the fair grounds, so that gives you some idea how big it is. We had a blast.

From there we went to Fort Peck, MT where we stayed at Jeff Robertson's and Barry and Duck hunted water fowl. By then it was mid October so we headed south to beat the snow and cold weather.

We spent a week in St. George, UT, Jay's birth place. St. George certainly has changed since what it was 40 years ago! From there we went to Lee's Ferry, AZ and fished. We were there two days, the first day the fishing was great, the second day the dumb fish would have nothing to do with us! Beautiful scenery though, and rich history.

Then we decided to go to the Bosque and help out the week of Festival of the Cranes. Well, they somehow talked us into staying until the end of January! We were doing just that when my Mom had to have surgery Dec. 8th. So, we came to WY. The trailer froze up on the way up and we got here just in time for brutally cold weather! Now we know why we don't winter here! Mom is doing very well and we hope we can once more head south around the first of the year.

So that is our year condensed into a few pages. We hope each and every one of you have a healthy and happy 2010, and a joyous Christmas. Hold those you hold dear close in your hearts and don't miss a chance to enjoy time with those important to you. We are thankful for another year we have been able to live this nomadic lifestyle and spend time with all those folks that are dear to us.

Dubois, your fun little town

Well, one thing is for sure, Dubois may be small, but there is always something going on! One of the highlights for us so far was the Packhorse Race. Now, I'm sure there aren't too many of this type event around. There were 5 teams in this years contest. It is held in the park just East of the National Bighorn Sheep Center. Here is a condensed version of the rules for this competition.

1. Each team consists of 2 people, 1 pack animal and 2 saddle horses.

2. Each team will compete with the following equipment. 2 western saddles for the riding horses. 1 pack saddle on the pack horse.

3. 1 canvas wall tent at least 8x10, equiped with at least 2 front ties, and 4 side ropes.

4. Minimum 6 tent stakes

5. 1 camp stove

6 1 axe

7. 1 shovel

8. 2 sleeping bags or bed rolls, each at least 20"x60"

9. 1 pack cover

10. Tent ropes and 1 lash ropeand cinch

Tent poles will be furnished. The race is a timed

event with all teams starting at the same time. Each team must take down their tent, gather their gear and load it on their pack horse. If anything falls off during the race, the team will be penalized, so securing the load is imparative. After the pack is set, the team starts on the predetermined route. The route is a 7 mile loop, and the saddle horses must not go faster than a trot, or they will be penalized. There are judges, along the route making sure that each team stays on the route. When the teams complete the 7 mile route, they return to the starting gate, unload their packs and unsaddle their horses. Time is called and a vet is available to check any horse that may be having problems.

After 10 minutes, each team is allowed to resaddle and pack their animal and run the 7 mile route once more. After returning the second time to the starting gate, they must unpack and unsaddle their horses and pitch their tent and put out all of their equipment. At this point their time is called. Both members of each team wore matching shirts, so it was easy to differenciate the red team, blue, yellow, etc. (The red team won!)

The team that won it this year won by a substantial margin, and we were told they were returning champs from last year.

There is a $100.00 entry fee for each open class team, $65.00 for each womens and old timers team. The women and old timers run on Sunday and the Open class is on Saturday.

It was a very fun event to witness. All of the participants were very adept at the task at hand and you could tell had practiced many hours. Ah, only in Dubois!!

Dubois, Our Summer Home

We got to Dubois, the Wednesday before Memorial day, as we had to start work the holiday weekend. The Big Horn Sheep Center is very nice, quite a nice place to spend a few hours. We have quite a few tourists that stop in. We are located right by the city park, so it is nice for folks to stop in and visit. This bronze stands outside the center.

We work 3 days a week. Barry is the "yard boy," he says he has to be the yard boy as he doesn't have the body to be the "pool boy!" He mows, sprays weeds, keeps the sprinkler system up to snuff, and just generally does all the outdoor stuff. I work inside in the gift shop and the center itself. It is kind of nice, as they use the same computer program as the Bosque used, so not much to learn, although I think this may be a newer version, as it is much, much easier!

The Whiskey Mountains near Dubois have the biggest herd of Big Horn Sheep found in the US.

The center is owned and operated by a private non-profit organization that supports the well being of the herd. There are many bighorn sheep mounts in the center like the one to the right. There are also heads from the 16 different sheep that comprize the world grand slam.

We live in the Dubois KOA. It is right in down town Dubois. Dubois has a population of about 952. There is a pretty nice grocery store, 4 or 5 restaurants and two bars and an active VFW. If an of you saw the movie Taking Chance, it was about a young marine from Dubois that was killed in Iraq. I was here in Dubois on the day they buried him in 2006. It is a great movie, although it wasn't filmed here, it was filmed in MT. The Rustic Pine bar is our favorite, I don't think it has changed an iota for the last 30 years. The VFW is quite active which is nice to see since most VFWs have fallen by the wayside in the last few years.

The Wind River, as well as Horse Creek run through Dubois. As you can see, the Wind is running pretty high. It is now much redder that when I took this photo last week, as there are red cliffs, rocks and soil near here. I think the river will run high for some time yet, as there is still a lot of snow up on top of the Wind River Mountains.

So, that is where we are this summer. We wish all of you could come see us!

Spring time in WY

Well, we made it to WY. We didn't break any time records because we were afraid we would get there before winter had gone. Of course, you never know it WY. It has been known to snow every month of the year!

We got into Casper and spent several weeks there, betting Dr., dentist and other appointments accomplished. The highlight of our stay in Casper was attending our grandson Jevin's piano recital. What fun that was! He plays really well for only having been taking lessons for 5 months.

We fished the Platte River some while we were in

Casper. We went out to the "Rattle Snake Hole", a favorite of our families to fish. Well, we didn't see any rattle snakes but we saw 6 bull snakes, among them, these two mating! First for us, we had never seen snakes mate before. You can see, the female is not as bright colored as the male. For sure it was spring time in WY!

I did manage to catch a nice 18 inch rainbow that day. It was a really beautiful day, nice and sunny and hardly any wind, which is so rare in WY. While Barry was fishing, I sit down and scribbled down my sentiments.

Spring Time on The Platte

When the morning brings the sunrise, and I stand to face the day,

I realize my "should dos", all seem to fade away.

With the wind only a murmur, my heart reacts with glee,

The river calls me softly, I know where I need to be.

I grab my gear and ponder, what those pesky boys might take,

My arsenal is ready, with flies of every make.

I don my waders, string my rod, and feel the quiver in my soul,

Now I'm only minutes from my long awaited goal.

The wild flowers nod and wave to me, and I smell their spicy scent,

When they speak of paradise, this is what they meant.

I gaze upon the water,oh could there maybe be,

a trout nose on the surface, rising up to feed?

A butterfly flits by me, he's a marvel to see,

A meadow lark sings sweetly, songs meant only just for me.

The trees have ceased their winter sleep, and take on their summer dress,

A black bird calls out to her mate, "Lets hurry, build a nest".

The sound of moving water, gently settles on my ear,

The sun's warmth softly tells me, spring is finally here.

I came to catch a brown trout, or a rainbow maybe two,

When finally I realize, its the whole experience I pursue.

This ol pelican was cruising down

the river, I think he was fishin' too.

So, we finished up all of stuff in Casper, and made our way up north to Dubois, where we will spend the summer.

One Night In Winnamucca

We drove from Walker River to Winnamucca the 19th. Nice easy day. We talked with Joe and Bonnie Nemmers and they told us about a fun little bar in Winnamucca. Joe said it was right on the main drag. Well, I think Joe was drunk, cause we found the "Players Bar & Grill" which he recommended and said they had great burgers.

Well, the Players Bar no longer has food, but they did in deed have a great little bartender, pictured here. Her name was Shyla and she recommended we eat at a basque place called Martin's Hotel. It is on the historical register and is a typical basque restaurant, but oh so good! a little expensive but you really get a lot of food! The picture at the left is at the Martin Hotel. Very rustic and fun with with wonderful old photos on the walls. They bring you a salad and beans first, if you are basque you put the beans on your salad. We were rookies, we ate the beans separate. All good! Then they bring you three sides consisting of mashed potatos, carrots and a hominy dish made with basque chorizo. I didn't know there was such a thing. We both really liked it, and I found basque chorizo in a little grocery in Wells. So, now all I have to do is experiment and see if I can replicate it. Yum yum. Barry had a rib eye that he said was one of the best he had ever eaten and I had sweet breads! I can't recall ever seeing sweetbreads on a menu before. They were delicious! Sooo, we ate too much and had a great time!

Aaawwww, fishing at last

So, we took off from Pahrump and made our way to Walker River RV Resort near Smith, NV. Long day of about 350 miles. Smith is a small town south of Carson City. The park is nice, but we have no cell service which means we have no internet service either. They have a pay phone that we have gratefully used. As far as the internet goes we go to Yerrington about 20 miles down the road and we have great service there.

We got to Walker River on Thurs. April 9th. We left the 5er there and went over the Sierras to visit our good friends the Richardsons in Pine Grove, CA on Good Friday. A lot of snow on the Sierras but guess it was to be expected as it is a little over 8000 feet. Earlier this month we were 200 feet below sea level at Death Valley! It snowed a little on us over the mountains but the roads were good. As always it was wonderful to see Pat, Rick and John. Barry served in Vietnam with John and they have remained great friends through the years. Rick will soon be 90 and Pat is 87. Rick has lost a lot of his sight but remains a treat to visit with, and Pat is an extremely young 87. We cooked Easter dinner and had a wonderful time. John's daughter came for Easter from Sacramento where she lives. It was all very enjoyable. We were very glad we went.

Came back to Walker Rive on Monday, April 13. We met my old friend Colleen from Minot in Carson City for lunch and had a wonderful visit. She looks great and seems to love living in Reno. She and her husband Keith relocated there a few months ago. It was great to see them and catch up a little bit.

Then, we WENT FISHING! Aaaawwww! We restored our souls. We hadn't wet a fly since last summer, so we were really eager to get back to it!. We fished the East Fork of the Walker River not too far from Smith. We found the Angler's Edge fly shop in Gardnerville and Liz gave us maps and the inside scoop on where the best fishing spots were. The first day we fished it was cold and snowing off and on lightly, but the fish cooperated fairly well in the cloudy cool

conditions. Barry caught 3 rainbows about 12 to 14 inches and I caught 2 bows about the same size and 1 brown. The bows were all chunky

solid fish and the brown a little thinner.

The Walker River is a gorgeous piece of water, and just the kind of water we love to fish. Easy wading with lots of riffles, runs and some deep holes. We were successful with pheasant tails, and san juans. They didn't hit hard and we didn't have a lot of strikes. I don't believe there are a lot of fish in that water. We fished in the regular regulation area where you can throw bait as well and flies.

The next two days, the weather was wonderful. Sunny and warm. However, the fish weren't on the bite near as much with the sun out. Once again pheasant tails and san juans seemed to be their choices.

We laughed a lot when we came across the mattress shown above. Must be someone's special spot, don't you think?

This was Duck's first fishing outing so he had a lot to learn. He did pretty good, but it was difficult for him, as he loves water and seems to think if he is near it, he is supposed to be in it! He would make a great "big air dog", as he loves to jump and launch himself into the water!

I don't know if you all know about Barry's uncanny ability to catch white fish!!! If there is one within miles, he will catch it! The photo of him above is with one of the whitefish he caught! I have never caught one in my life, but he can every time. But I told him to quote Bob Crum, "Any fish is a good fish if he is on your fly!"

So, Walker River treated us well. We were happy to have the opportunity to catch some Nevada trout!

Last days in Pahrump

Well, tomorrow we leave Pahrump and head toward Smith, NV. We will be at the Walker River Resort for about 2 weeks. Hopefully by then the weather in WY will be turning somewhat springy! Smith, however, is experiencing some snowy cold weather, so go figure!

Yesterday we went to Vegas and visited our good friends the Woodburys. Paul was the Regional Director for Ducks Unlimited Nevada. Anyway we had a good time, ate down on Freemont St. Barry had not been to the "old" area of Vegas so we saw the light show on the Freemont and that was fun!

Today we were back in Brothel mode! We went to Sheri's Ranch for lunch and a guided tour of the brothel. It was very fun. We ate lunch in the sports bar, (very good food,) and the "girls were all hanging around the bar doing the guided tours. They were all lovely and did not have on much! Sooo, after lunch we toured Sheri's ranch. A pretty young lady named Chirisa was our guide and took us from the sports bar into the Parlor. Very nicely turned furniture and atmosphere. This is where the johns see the "line up." After you choose your lady, then you view the menu, which included things I didn't even know what they were, like the Creme de Minte french......Guess that is a blowjob with a liquor of your choice in the lady's mouth. Found that different, how would the guy know what flavor she was using??? Ok, enough of that! From the parlor you could see out into the back yard of this facility. There was a beautiful pool complete with water fall and around the edge of the lawn area were bungalows and rooms where the ladies conducted their business. The bungalows are themed, Safari, King Arthur, Roman, etc. The grounds were all impecibly groomed lawn, which would take some work in this climate. The ladies sun bath topless there and they have access to a gym and hair and nail salon.

Then back inside the big building we proceeded down the hall to select rooms, most of which have a jacuzzi. One room had a lovely table for two, nicely decorated where you can have a gourmet meal with your "date." The next room was very fun, it had a jacuzzi and the whole room was decoraged in Budweiser stuff! Who would have known that Budwieser sponsored a room in a brothel. Choose that room and you enjoy a bucket of free Bud products! Then you come to the dominance and bondage room! Holy smokes! It comes complete with chains, a cage (for crying out loud!) a brass pole and other really weird stuff! I'm sure your friend wears black leather and boots for this one!

The girls all live there and in my opinion are pretty much inmates! They can only leave for 4 hours, if they are gone longer than that they must undergo another health check. They work 2 weeks then have 4 days off, and they are checked weekly by a Dr. there at the ranch for disease. They work 2 weeks on then they can get some time off, they schedule all their own work and all their own pricing. I dont' think you can go there for much less than a grand. It was a lot more up-scale than the other ones we visited! OK, then, that is your brothel update! Tomorrow we will hit the road again, it will be a long day, 360 miles to Walker River and that is a long way for us. We are hoping to find some fishing there. Until then.