A Different Life II

[Fly at Night]

Originally Posted by ColoradoLady

Maggie, I am always impressed by your deeply insightful prospective on life. IMO, you have a very strong soul with an intense desire for historical knowledge. If one were to truly believe in such things....you would have had an equally strong soul back then....whenever that may have been.

Have I said it before? I LIKE that in you. A strong soul...an old soul...my kind of people!

Well said. "A Different Life" puts everything in perspective.

Keep going Maggie and Lily. Just keep going.

[Fly at Night]

P.S. "In a Sunburned Country" is a great read.

I wish I read it before going to Australia. I can't remember if Bryson covered this in his book, but there are many things there you do not see in N. America like....

- bare feet beyond the beach. (In the shopping malls and on the ferries)
- beets and fried egg on the hamburgers
- liquor stores where you can purchase just one can of beer if you'd like vs. a six pack or case
- men habitually greet other men (strangers) on the street with "How ya doin' mate?"
- "flat white" means coffee w/o cream and sugar
- ketchup is called "tomato sauce"

[ColoradoLady]

F@N,
I will be meeting Maggie soon, at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. ( I am not going to be surprised if you here is a bit of a halo floating nearby!)

I read A Walk in the Woods and found it most enjoyable. The movie did not do it justice. I intend to read "Sunburned Country" . The synopsis looks appealing.

[GinaNBob]

I would agree with the Bryson books. I have read most of them ( there are quite a few) and he definitely has a different perspective on things.
Gina

[Lily&Me]

All well.

Heading to DuBois


M

[Lily&Me]

Campsite in the Wind River Mtns last two nights.

M

[DIR1]

isn't that a beautiful area.... I love the colors.... hugs and love from here... keep having fun!!!

[DIR1]

good morning Maggie!! I'm sure you're having a great time there... I heard from our friend.. I'll email you... hugs and love to you and the pup.... and the rest of the gang too!!! ... gail

[Rocinante]

Looks like a lovely voyage of exploration, Maggie. So glad you're out there going for it and having a good time. The pictures are great, too!

[Lily&Me]

Not all good things come to an end, but many do.

We were down to 8 rigs in the GWA this morning, and I left the group a couple of hours ago.

I really enjoyed meeting some new folks and spending time with others I already knew, including many from last years trip, but navigation to each new point has become increasingly difficult for a number of reasons. It was time to let them go on without me.

We are camped for the night next to the Grey's River, not far outside the town of Alpine, where I will be able to hear the rushing water all night long....I do love that.

I've had a hot shower and a glass of wine, and will return to civilization in the morning, do some laundry, and figure out where to go before my due date at the Jackson KOA next Thursday.

This picture is from yesterday, after a heavy hail and rainstorm came thru our site at Double Cabin in the Shoshone National Forest.

The sky was absolutely beautiful once the storm passed, the not too distant mountains were newly dusted with snow, and prior to the storm we had had a good hike and found some beautiful petrified wood nuggets in and near the river that we forded on foot.

I didn't fall once.


Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

But a good adventure non the less and getting ready for the next one. Enjoy

[Lily&Me]

We spent a quiet and peaceful night on the river, and are in Alpine at the KOA doing a couple of loads of laundry.

When I asked to purchase 10-15 gallons of fresh water to top off my tank, they offered it for free, which was very hospitable of them.

Have decided to return to our riverside spot at least til tomorrow, as it is beautiful...and free.

Signal is present but spotty out there, tho, so I'll be back when I can.

All is well.


Maggie

[ColoradoLady]

Maggie,
I'm so glad you had a good adventure. I understand, as I have made the decision myself, to move on when my instinct advised me to. You, being much younger, are certainly more physically capable than I. I would have liked to join, but, the boondocking expedition did demonstrate my limitations. I have learned...begrudgingly....to my body when it says..."enough for you now!"

My montra has become..."nothing ventured, nothing gained"! However, I have also learned to listen when my body lends a bit of advice! Aaaahhhh, some wisdom does come with age! LOL!

Safe travels, and I'll see you soon. Evelyn.

[DIR1]

Hey Maggie!! good morning... reading your thread answered all my questions in the email.... continue with the fun there.... hugs and love... gail

[Lily&Me]

It was nice to get a week of laundry done up...and to have clean bedding last night.

I shook the rugs out, did some cleaning, and opened a new bottle of wine late afternoon. Storing the remainder of a bottle in one of those collapsible flasks has worked out very well.

We had another peaceful day on the beautiful Grey's River....but for nearby skeet shooters, which Lily did not care for...and I even slept in a bit this morning...for me.

In Alpine for Sunday Skype with darling daughter, a stop at the coffee and fresh donuts place here , and a few groceries, before starting to meander toward Jackson.

There are several NF sites along 26 between here and there, where I will spend at least a couple of nights....may go into the Jackson KOA a day or two early.

Don't know if there will be signal between here and there, but I'll be back when I can.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

As I was leaving Alpine yesterday morning, I spied Gearheart's trailer in the campground there where I did laundry on Saturday, so stopped for a quick chat with them.

I am certain they were looking forward to hookups, hot showers, laundry, and other such amenities not available in the wilderness we had been in.

We then spent a decidedly un-peaceful day and night at the Station Creek CG just off 26 between Alpine and Jackson.

Just off busy Hwy 26 is the absolute truth, and like camping on a street corner in Manhattan or downtown Chicago....but for the honking horns.

Very noisy from vehicles, helicopters overhead, etc. Even with the windows closed last night, truck traffic disrupted sleep and had substantially increased before first light this morning.

However, hard to beat at $7 a night and, just for yucks, I filled my solar shower from the water fill there, warmed it on a rock in the sun, and gave myself a good outside shampoo with enough water leftover from that 2 1/2 gallons for a light (indoor) shower.

Decided last night that I would just bite the bullet and come on into Jackson, where the KOA cannot get me in today but can add Tuesday and Wednesday to my reservation.

So, after treating myself to breakfast in a restaurant, I am in the ridiculously expensive Virginian RV park right in Jackson ...but, I have all the amenities and the Interstate has had a long and luxurious scrub at a nearby car wash.

It is not spotless, nor is all mud even off the undercarriage, but it is passably clean as is appropriate for a few days in town.

Doug would say it needs a good hand wash and wax...and he would be right.

One of the many advantages of being small is that one can get into the little back-in spaces that are almost always the last ones left vacant in a busy campground.

The sign at this RV park said "no vacancies", but it never hurts to ask, and one of the tiny sites was becoming open in about an hour, so I snagged it, ran some errands and was settled in here shortly after 11am.

I am going to catch up on the news and enjoy a long, truly hot shower in their bathhouse this evening.

I enjoyed the wilds with a great group of folks, but civilization definitely has it's upside.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

About 40 degrees here in Jackson this am, and the Optional Heat is running on the AC unit.

The joys of electricity.

After 9 days in the wilds, being in Jackson is somewhat assaultive to one's senses...vehicle traffic, motorcycles , lights and sounds until well into the night.

However....I really, really enjoyed a lengthy, hot-as-I-wanted, shower last evening, and have caught up a bit on what is going on here in our country and elsewhere in the world. Floods, bombings, politics...

Am going to do some cleaning of screens and filters this morning, empty my tanks, and move on a bit later to the KOA here for the remainder of the week.

Then, on to Oregon.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I have clean screens and windows, and tanks are emptied.

There is a worn gasket or something at my sewer connection, as lately there is a small amount of accumulated leakage when I unscrew the cap...going to have to have that looked at, as I certainly can't see up in there.

Stopped for a few things at the huge and beautiful Albertsons in Jackson, where almost anything is available and which clearly caters to those picking up meals to go. Deli with a large assortment of hot and cold food, salad bar, gourmet meats and cheeses, fresh seafood, etc. Nice.

We are settled into the KOA on the Snake River near Hoback Junction....this campground and the last are way more per night than I like to pay even for a hotel room, tho I have spent little the past month on the road so I guess it all evens out. Still. Makes one choke a bit, signing that slip.

They offered to move me from my original site to the end one near the patio, which means a neighbor only on one side, plus close and easy access to the bath house. Very considerate of them. Wifi, tho no tv of any kind.

The road north of Jackson into Yellowstone is closed due to fires, so am glad that touring was not part of my plan.


I had an email, wanting to know more about recent adventures...

Our diverse group got along well, doing some hiking and rock hunting in small groups, one day at Sawmill Creek, I think, going several miles in search of an old cabin we could not find. We looked, and hard.

I stopped and turned back that day, near the top of what seemed like a mountain to me , when I had just gone uphill long and far enough, and also noticed my nail beds were a bit cyanotic.

At Double Cabin, we hiked alongside and thru the river, and found a fair amount of petrified wood nuggets, large and small. I found one about the size of a tennis ball, in the river as I was crossing it coming back.

We gathered together every evening, celebrated a couple of actual birthdays and then an un-birthday for the rest of us....goodies and baked goods were brought out by various people, as always happens, and I did a loaf of Dutch Oven bread in Gearheart's oven one day, which was then consumed to the last morsel.

I enjoyed the group, seeing folks I already knew and meeting some for the first time.

I drove switchbacks, at high elevations, didn't panic, lose my head, nor go over an edge.

I hiked up and down, across rivers and terrain of various degrees of difficulty, did not fall once nor otherwise injure myself.

I saw spectacularly beautiful scenery and baked a loaf of DO bread at 8,000+ feet.

If I sound less than wildly enthusiastic, it's because that is the case. There were some problems, which I will not go into here. Extraneous, but noteworthy, and putting a bit of a damper on the experience.

It wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed most of it.

One can't have everything, and things don't always turn out the way we expect them to.

Life. Ain't it the truth.


Maggie

[Hittenstiehl]

Sounds like you had a great trip with nice people. Such a beautiful part of the country.

Like you said life always has some unexpected bumps.

Jackson is a beautiful crowded touristy little town. Had always wanted to see it. We stopped and spent a day there as we left Glacier. Had lunch in a European chalet style place in the edge of the mountain after we road the tram.

Enjoy your next stop.

[skitique]

Maggie
If you have time go into the visitors center. It is on the road headed toward the Grand Tetons on the edge of town. They have a lot of animal information there & really interesting.

Safe travels!
Jane