Heading east out of Leavenworth, WA the Tuesday morning
after Labor Day in no hurry to get anywhere in particular, I thought about the pioneers
who headed west by wagon… They had no choice but to not be in a hurry… Many
times after travelling all day still camping within sight of their previous
night’s campsite…
I am grateful I could not see Leavenworth in my rearview
mirror as I set up camp Tuesday night at Hawk Creek campground… Hawk Creek feeds
into Roosevelt Lake, which was formed when the Grand Coulee Dam was built on
the Columbia River… Simon and I were the only ones there, camped beside a waterfall…
It’s on Native American land and they are now calling me… “Dances with
Labrabors”… Maybe if I had smoked a “peace pipe” with them they would have set
me up with the Chief’s daughter???
A needed quiet night to start our journey east and south…
The campfire ban, due to the dry weather, being the only negative…
While enjoying an early morning cup of coffee Wednesday
morning, we were graced by the presence of a very majestic visitor… As we
watched a Bald Eagle fish the mud flats of the creek for about 30minutes…
He was alone and free… Kind of symbolizes this life we have
adopted… The one we were meant for all along… Yet while we love our time alone
in the wilderness, a shout out needs to go to some of the wonderful people we
have met along our way especially the last two or three years…
While some only in passing… Some from one of my previous
life’s… The Navy… And some who have also adopted this “No Vacation Necessary”
lifestyle… The list is long… But you’ve all made our lives richer with your
friendships and we hope to see at least some of you somewhere on the road again…
Thank you…
Packing up and continuing east and into Montana Wednesday
morning we spent 2 days along the Clark Fork River north of Missoula… The
second day most of it inside due to rain… Something we hadn’t seen in central
Washington in months…
Breaking camp early Friday morning… We continued south on
Rte. 93… Stopping just north of the Idaho state line… Near the Lost Trail and
Chief Joseph Passes… Just west of the Continental Divide… Setting up camp again
at The Indian Trees Campground in the Bitterroot National Forest… It’s
primitive… No hook ups… Vault toilets… Potable water available… But it’s Quiet…
Alone… Dry… Warm… At least while the sun is out… It cools off quick once the
sun goes down… Can’t ask for more… We’ll be here until Monday…
For anyone thinking this sounds like an easy life… Breaking
down and setting up camp every few days is a lot of work… I’ve changed my
underwear, but I haven’t had a shower or a bath since last Monday… I’m not
tanned… I’m filthy…
The RV is dinged up and showing some wear… Yet I wouldn’t
trade this life now for much of anything else… This is a life that really
focuses one in on what’s really important in life… And it has taught me to be
very grateful for those things…
There’s no timetable here and many times there’s no cell
signal, the internet connection is weak at best… But let me assure you… The
connection with the Universe and the small still voice that it speaks in is far
superior… Forced to be alone with our thoughts… Not only to listen… But also to
hear…
I have been toying with the idea of sharing some of what we
hear… But for now it’ll just stay in my journal… For now that’s between me and
the Universe…
In a scene right out of the movie “Castaway” pine cones
instead of coconuts thunder to the ground and Simon has become my “Wilson” and
I lean on him for support as much as he leans on me…
Monday morning, a week after Labor Day, we headed out of
Indian Tree Campgrounds and south into Idaho… Pulling into Idaho Falls a day
earlier than expected… Spent Monday night at the Snake River RV Park…
Walked into the Roadhouse Saloon, a short walk from the RV
park for a late lunch early dinner and the Andy Griffith show was on TV… Yeah,
I got back to Idaho Falls and Mayberry was on TV… Never thought I would say
this about Idaho Falls… But it’s goddamn good to be home…
Dumped tanks Tuesday morning… Had two new tires put on the
RV and headed to Shelley… Going to sit here for hopefully only a week… Need to
finish up some loose ends and then head south thru Utah and into New Mexico…
TAKING OUR TIME DOING IT… There’s lots of beautiful and spiritual places to
visit and see in in the southwestern desert… I ain’t talking about the Salt
Lake Mormon Temple… That’s not spiritual… That's bullshit…
There’ll be lots more written and plenty of pictures posted
when we have a strong enough internet signal… We’ll have one while we are here
so I figured it was time to finish this blog and get it posted… Looking forward
to sitting on the porch here tonight to watch the sunset haven’t seen them from
here in a year…
You can enjoy the pictures of our travels on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/stevethenuclearguy
and stay with us for our travels… Our plan is to spend the winter in New Mexico
and we have a lot of ground to cover before getting there…
Thanks for reading…
