The first of July was wet, the morning of the 2nd was still wet,
catching the ferry to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and for the
next 2 days it remained wet. Prince Rupert was wet, heading east was
wet. The fourth of July spent in Hydra, Alaska was wet. My question at
this time, does global warming preclude summers as part of mans impact
on the environment or can we correct this by growing more grapes?
While on the trip on the ferry met a Canadian couple that have been on
the road for the last 8 weeks traveling via a Hog (Harley Davidson
motorcycle) and trailer. Their parting gift as we passed through
customs was the middle finger and the wife sticking her tongue out,
the Canadians are such a loving lot!
Another couple from Monterey, California I managed to meet at Prince
Rupert going north to Sitka with me where traveling a very fashionable
RV that resemble a bloody over ripe hot dog. Anyhow the wife had
planned the whole trip and the husband had promised not to make one
nasty comment but the expression on the husbands face at times was
worth the every bit of discomfort the poor lad was going through.
The temps for this past month has hovered around 45-52 (8-10) degrees,
my Hawaiian tan is gone but have faith, I've found a tanning salon
that guaranteed a well rounded glow at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Finally on the morning of the 7th of July, Mother Nature decided that
it was just possible to bring forth the sun and temps went from 45 to
84 in a matter of hours.
The seventh also brings us to the United States and cheaper gas
prices. By crossing into Washington State we have sun for the first 20
miles then the water bucket comes out and it doesn't look any better
for the weekend either.
Monies spent in Canada came at the 75% level just on petrol. It just
got to the point where I would park at a truck lay by or where ever
then pay for a RV site or a dry camp at a Provincial Park. Did not eat
out and the only purchases were goods as milk. As much as I bitch
about the truck camper, its still better then a 2-man tent or the
Honda Element. You really enjoy the camper when you stay at a spot for
2 or more days. At this juncture I should mention that the times
between showers are growing longer and longer to the point when I open
either the truck or camper I just wonder who died. My plan is to drive
through a car wash with all of the windows down in both the camper and
truck before I end this trip.
Two days in Seattle with friends, the wife a Hawaiian-North
Korean-Japanese-Pilipino-Polish-Chinese Jewish Princess who works 3
jobs to support the husband of sorts His claim to fame is sitting on
the coach drinking beer all day watching the re-run's of soap opera's
for the last 60 years with the occasional burp to let her know that he
is still breathing.
Monday morning its east on route 20 which takes you through the
Northern Cascades, a beautiful drive and not to be missed. A bit wet
in areas but worth every bit of miseries that when Geocaching you must
endure. The town of Winthrop (Facebook) is a stop you must make if all
possible. As it is so isolated on Rt 20 on the east side of the
Cascades that the yuppie Californian's have not found it so the locals
are still in a talkative mood!
Spokane, WA it is for 4 days at a military RV site, which allows me to
catch up on email, gym, food, reading, and spending your tax dollars
as fast as possible. It makes life so much bearable when the
Goatmobile is just in one spot for a day or two. Life slows down and
you are not worried if the next Geocache is doable or can we find a
spot to sleep without having to worry if the locals will cause
problems or Mr. Bear is going to make his presents known.
From Spokane its NE into Idaho for the briefest of time before we find
ourselves crossing the Montana State line, the land of the Big Sky.
From Spokane Washington, Idaho and Montana we are still in the Rocky
Mountains and the temps fluctuate accordingly. Once we cross the
Rockies and coming down into the flatlands of Montana the temps rise
just as quick. Ninety degrees then 100 (37C) are now the norm and this
will stay with me as I continue east regardless of the latitude (Up &
down for you living in Hawaii!).
Montana, in one afternoon, the weather goes from 100 degrees to rain,
hail, lighting, and 30 mph winds with gust up to 62, boring it is not.
Great Falls it is for 3 days before pushing east through the flatlands
of Montana, Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Once out of the
flatlands the increase in traffic, people, congestion and breathable
oxygen becomes a problem especially after being spoiled driving
through the southwest, west coast and Canada.
It is east on 87/200 through Montana and to give you an idea just how
isolated this area is, Geocaches are a 100 to 200 miles apart. After
passing through the town of Jordon, which rates 2 blinks, I turn on
route 24 north to Needle Creek Recreation site. It is situated around
a large lake, dry camping but with loo's, water and no fees. My luck
with Montana weather does not falter, its blowing 40 knots, raining,
hail (small) lightning and promises not to get any better. So the wind
is coming out of the south just knocking the truck back and forth so I
pack up and find a spot that will provide some protection. I no sooner
get setup and Mother Nature changes the wind direction and it's
blowing ever harder. Just knowing that the truck and camper are going
to be banging all night long, its out of there to a rest stop for the
night.
Minot, North Dakota for 3 days with the temps a nice comfortable 60-80
F. Minot just weeks ago suffered the 100 year flood with winter snow
pack, 7" of rain north of the border and breeched levee's. Down town
Minot was devastated, 4000 homes under water, farmland put to waste
and rivers still at record levels. One of the biggest concerns with
the locals right now is that within less then 6 weeks (September)
there will be signs of night frost, which add to the problems. The
Minot Air Force Base during the winter is usually isolated from the
town of Minot for at least 3 or more weeks due to snow and ice storms.
And to add misery to all of the nasty weather, the past 3 winters have
been the worst in history.
For the rest of the month I've stayed at Grand Forks Air Force Base,
North Dakota Geocaching in all directions. I must say one thing for
North Dakota; it has more bloody mosquitoes and ticks then the
whatever's. Even drinking DEET prior to leaving the base did not deter
the suckers.
Minnesota is just minutes away and I have been guaranteed that there
are no mosquito's, ticks or biting Horse Flies about by the young lady
that works the drive by window at McDonalds.
Be it a chilled glass of wine, heart burn over 3 day old pizza, the
last roll of toilet missing, you all have a great day……….
Aloha,
Greynomad
