Changes in the Wind

Life seems for me to be full of twists and turns.

It has been four months since I embarked on my journey traveling full time.

My journey has been everything I have ever dreamed of...

Except it has not been long enough ..... nor have I traveled far enough.

I experienced incredible anticipation for what would unfold in each and every day.

I have experienced sunrises and sunsets that so moved me they have taken my breath away and leaving me wordless....

And humbled...

I've met new friends and felt as if I had known them forever.  The bonds formed with those who live  and love to wander seems instant and deep.

 I have challenged myself and grown.

When I started this journey this quote became one of my inspirations....

I worked hard to make my dreams come true and my dreams have become reality.  But life is a changing adventure and I find myself adjusting to a new reality.  So I am working on plans that encompass all that I love.  And I promise that it will still be filled with adventure. 

 

When I first got the telephone call from home that would alter my life, this posted on my Facebook....

I'M not laughing

But I embracing the changes in my life

One quote that I have pondered at many points in my life is a quote by Helen Keller

The words seem unfinished....  until now.

My understanding of these words for today tell me life is unfinished... I can choose to make it a great adventure in many, many ways.  It may not always be how I would like, but the choice for me is to live life fully....every single day.   

How it plays out is up to me.  

While my journey takes me in along a fork in the road I will be living in a three generational household with people you have grown to know as well.  My Auntie, Granddaughter and I are busy reorganizing a house to fit our needs and lives.   

Life continues to be full of adventure. 

I can't wait to see the next installment of .... AS THE WORLD TURNS.

Is it Good Luck or Bad?

I started the morning loading up the trailer after a gentle rain.

While picking up camp to better than new condition I found this.....

Now I'm not the superstitious type but even I know that tails indicates bad luck and I found 2, both tails up.  (Does that mean double bad luck?)

After fond farewells to beloved Priest Lake, I loaded up and headed down the highway.

Forty miles from the lake I hear what sounds like a gigantic blow out and huge bump coming from the rear of my rig.  The rig handles well while I pull our to the side of the road to check out the problem but I'm a mess.  First I checked all four tires on my truck, Little Hoss.  Every thing is as it should be.  I check out the tires on the trailer, they are fine also.

 So what could be the matter ?

Then I see the tail end of my trailer and damage that wasn't there before..

I'm searching through my recollections of the last few moments and didn't see anything on the roadway that I could have hit.  What could have happened.

I look down the highway from where I just was and see two cars stopped on the highway and they are standing around a tire mounted on a wheel on the side of the road.  I didn't see a wheel on the side of the road I went pas.  I consider myself an alert driver  and I can't believe I could have not seen something that large on the side of the road and then hit it.

A truck driver going the opposite direction saw me pull over and stopped to render assistance.   He went down and picked up the mounted tire that did not match any of my new tires and came back and checked out my rig.  The under side of my trailer had no other damage so we speculated for a bit what could have happened.  

I was still at loss to explain what could have happened.  He scratched his head and offered to take the tire and wheel to the dump on his next trip, so I agreed, not knowing what else to do.  He felt it was safe for me to travel on into town.  So on I went.

Later down the road I had a little thought of one last place to check...    I pulled over in a wide spot and checked the under side of my truck.

This is what I saw.....

Or rather what I didn't see.....
It took me a minute to realize what was missing.  What you should be seeing is a spare tire and wheel mounted on the under side of the truck.

It was gone...  zip....   nadda....  gone.

Somehow the tire came loose, dropped to the ground moving to the right corner of the trailer.  It appears metal bumper of the trailer frame cut the tire and kicked it up causing the trailer damage. 

Poor little Lolita.....

I guess I'm relieved that I am still what I consider an alert driver.  I was seriously doubting my driving abilities that I could have missed seeing something so large as a tire and wheel and then hit it with my trailer.

Geez, I couldn't make this stuff up.... All in the life of a vagabond traveler.

So I ask you.... was it bad luck or incredibly good luck?

Moving On

I awoke to the sound of the pitter patter of rain on the trailer roof.

A good sound for sure.... just not on moving day.

I am so glad that I folded the patio mat and brought in the chair before the rain.  It will save me the travel time with wet gear.  It is always hard to leave the lake and a dreary day just matches my mood.

I will be watching for lulls in the rain to finish up the pack up before moving on down the road.

Last night I went for a drive and viewed the campgrounds on the west side of the lake.  They are all forest service campgrounds.  The campsites range from $8 - $10 with the discount.  I drove the loops to identify the campsites that have solar which is scarce in the dense forest.  Once you are camped at one of the forest service camps you are able to use any of the day use sites without additional cost.

I look back at my time at Priest Lake this summer and have recaptured many nostalgic moments from my youth with this extended visit to Priest Lake.

I was able to find the elusive huckleberries and created yummy treats.

Hiked some new beautiful hikes while creating new memories.

 

Treasured the quiet times and the family times shared with Auntie and Hailey.

 

There have been mountain highs and valley lows and many moments cascading between.

The trick it seems to me, is to cherish every moment breathing in deeply all the sights, the sounds and smells.  Yes, I need to be totally present and one with each moment, then carry it's precious memory with me as I move forward.

~Happy Trails~

Kitties in the Dog House

Rules...... Rules...... Rules.....
Obviously, just because you don't live in a sticks and bricks house, there are still rules to be followed

And it seems we aren't doing a very good job of it.

We are staying in a National Campground and it seems one of the rules is that you can't leave your pets in the campground unattended. 

Not in your kennel.
                 
                       Not even in the trailer. 

 

For that matter they aren't welcome at the beach either but then my feline buddies lack an appreciation for water follies so they aren't to upset about missing out at the beach.

 

Rock Heart

 

 
Our hosts are really sweet hearts so I don't have a beef with them.
There are always reasons for rules.... Even if I fail to see them.

Like them or not, the rules mean, this week when we have appointments in town, the kitties are getting way too much kennel time in the truck.





Unhappy Kitties!

Don't you just wonder what kind of runkus our kitties caused while I paddled at the beach?

 

What kind of restrictive rules have you encountered in your travels?

A Blogger First for ME

That last few days have been a milestone for me.
I met up with blogger friends.  Brian blogs a couple of blogs.  I have followed have followed Brian's Blog, "Goin RV Boondocking", since before I started full timing.  I have enjoyed his RV/boondocking tips, occasion rants, live life with all the gusto you can muster approach to living, while he sprinkles in a bit of down to earth cowboy humor.

When I heard they were in the area we arranged a meet up.

When I knocked on there door there was no question I was in the right place.  The people occupants greeted me with western hospitality.  The canines not so much!  They certainly are a protective couple of dogs but definitely sweethearts when you get to know them. (The people were were great too!!)

I found a site and set up and before long they were down for a visit.

He is the first RV Blogger I have met so I can't make any generalities, but I can say there never seemed to be lulls in the conversation.   They came along on an adventure with me while I continued my search for Petit Lake.  (He wrote about it here http://daily-blog.rv-boondocking-the-good-life.com/2013/08/huckleberry-rustlers-strike-in-northern.html).      

Not only did we find the elusive Petit Lake on this adventure but we found huckleberries too.
Petite Lake is a serene and pretty a little pond that you will ever find.

 

The marsh seems to be settling into the shoreline and someday this will be another mountain meadow, but for today it is a destination worthy of an explorer on a summers day.

 We had lunch on this bench left at this campsite by previous campers.

If excitement for you is watching fish jump and dragonflies flitting from reed to reed and smelling the deep forest of pungent bark, punctuated with buzzing bees. Or if you just enjoy peace and quiet so the rattlings in your head come to a ever so slow end....This is the place for you.

But don't ask the ranger how to find it.... I am sure it is a deeply guarded secret designed to save the spot for the stubbornly diligent or the rest seeking ranger.  I hit it right on the third day after finding some roadside travelers in the mountains who described how to find it.

Yup, my sweet granddaughter had it nailed, it on the road 311c....the one you wanted me to try (don't bother looking on your fancy map, it's not there). There are no leveled, graveled spots here.  And it is probably not for your fancy RV (or any other RV for that matter).  But it is primitive bliss with a healthy dose of real WILD life.

Even the spots where roads are plowed shut go on to live another way another day.  This plowed in road now sports a daisy patch.  So what else was I to do... I stopped to pick some wild flowers.

While driving, I described to Brian and Heidi how to find the perfect huckleberry patch.  You look for them in a fairly sunny spot, often in  an area previously cleared by logging or a fire.  Often you will find thimbleberries (like a wild raspberry with flat big leaves) nearby ripening at about the same time.  Due to my hip bothering me, I also wanted it to be on a fairly level area.

 BUT THAT WAS NOT TO BE.

Here is the spot that we found our precious cargo.

Here they are.... and I described the location..... except that it was on the side of a mountain;

  But of course!!

 

It is easy to overlook huckleberries as they are located on the underbelly of the bush.  The best approach is to start down hill and work your way up the hill so that you can look up to see the bumper crop.  These little gems sell for $40 a gallon.

Huckelberry pancakes and syrup 

Brian and Heidi and I spent the rest of our time creating concoctions of huckleberry magic to consume.  Huckleberry ice cream with huckleberry syrup, Huckleberry pancakes, huckleberry drinks for happy hour....  Four packed days of huckleberry madness.

I shall for ever be ruined for blueberries.

    Daisies in the vase handpainted  by Hailey.

Happy Trails Brian and Heidi

 

The Perfect Picture

I realized when looking back over my posts that this post was not published.  So here it is

Hailey and I set out, ready for adventure on a rainy day 

We had three goals that morning.

1.   Find Petit Lake
2.   Get an awesome picture of Chimney Rock
3.   Pick enough huckleberries to make huckleberry pancakes
 

 

My Navigator takes her job seriously.

We set out looking for a tiny lake in Northeast Washington that I had camped at many years ago called Petit Lake.  The tiny lake is located on the Washington - Idaho border in the rugged mountains west of Priest Lake.  We asked about Petit Lake at the ranger station and discovered the road to the lake had been changed. So we received directions that sounded like 'to go past the road marked Petit Lake and take another one to the left and go several miles...
Let's just say the directions left a lot to be desired. 

We found the road marked to Petit Lake closed so we drove past as instructed.  The next road we encountered had 2 spurs to follow.  (This was not covered in the instructions per the ranger)  So off we went went feeling somewhat less confident that we were on our way....

We drove up and up and up. 

The huckleberries were sparce.

The views were incredible.

The distant mountains were mesmerizing.

 

I was easily distracted by the views.  It became hard to focus on our missions.


We continued
           up and
                 up and
                            up.

By now I was certain we had missed Petit Lake and the lake would have to wait for another day, the huckleberries were tiny and sparse so, our primary focus became getting the perfect picture of Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock is a Priest Lake Landmark.  When driving through the heavily forested road to Priest Lake, you are denied lookouts and vistas to gain a visual feel of the land.  You are afforded views of the river and land with trees so dense little light that speckles to the ground.  And then you see it.....
An opening with light coming through, framing a view of the lake with Chimney Rock in the  distant background.

You know you have arrived.
You are at Priest Lake.

I have felt the excitement every time I arrived at Priest Lake.

So I wanted the Perfect Picture.
I had to have it.

My Mission was  now solitary.

First glimpses of Chimney Rock

I knew I could do better!

Here Chimney Rock is lost in the foreground

Yet there is always another corner, another view.

The lighting was not the best on this day.  But here is our best shot.....

Chimney Rock in all it's Glory

It had been a wonderful day of navigating, exploring and having fun together.

Our disappointment in not finding enough huckleberries for pancakes was short-lived.

  On the way home we stopped at Nordman and they had huckleberry pancakes.  Yep, the perfect ending to our journey!

We had our Happy Trails...... Wishing your own Happy Trails.