All Gussied Up

During my lifetime I have reinvented myself a number of times. 

 

Once again, I find myself adjusting the sails of life and moving forward in an altered direction.  When I first began full timing I started out in Lolita my vintage trailer.  I knew that it would not be a forever living situation, but I was not ready to make the change....so I just began.  I knew when the time was right I would make the change.  Circumstances with the back pain, have dictated  now is the time so ready or not....it is time to make the change.

 I found this hanging sign on our first outing in the RT

At different times in my adult life, I was a military wife, mother, childbirth instructor, foster parent and, single parent and for the last 28 years that I worked at a non-profit helping parents with children with disabilities learn about educational and legal rights within the educational and community systems.  At home, there was always a houseful of children and a barnyard full of animals. 

During each period of my life, changes needed to be made some complete transformations.  Some life modifications are easily made while others are met with fierce resistance.  Currently, I am certainly struggling with the implications of my spinal injuries and resulting limitations but it is what it is... so I have been moving forward with changes that will simply our travels and give me greater comfort to do the things I love......... Travel still calls to me.

Once I make a decision, I have always plunged ahead and begin the work needed to make the decision a reality.  While my heart still feels attachment and a sense of longing with the vintage trailers groups,  reality is pulling me another direction.    

While waiting for the weather to warm I have immersed myself in  some redecorating the RoadTrek and making it my own.  I have made curtains and sprinkled some dark red accents through out the RT.   There was nothing wrong with the curtains....except they were pink, dusty blue and minty green.  I am just not a pink kind of girl so the curtains became a neutral beige strip with red trim in the bedroom area.  The cushions are all in perfect condition and I want to keep it that way so I also made a cover for the bed cushions from a comforter that I cut to fit the odd shape of my bed area.                             

                         Before                                                                                              After

 

                                                                                                                              

                                                                                             
                                                                                               

I decided on using the U-shaped bed set up which gives more width at the shoulders and hips for the greatest comfort and the cutout allows greater access to the cupboards above the beds and the drawers below the beds.  The beds are actually wider than the picture shows as the cupboards block some of the sleeping space.  Elastic straps hold the cover in place, but it is a bit like wrestling an alligator to get it in place.

I made sleep sacks using two king sized fuzzy blankets, folded in half and stitched around the bottom and up to the knee area.  Each sack cost $20.00.  I carry an additional blanket for each bed and store them in the pillowshams.


From the back looking forward.

I think the curtains with the contrasting ruffle turned out nicely!

I store a folding captains chair at the foot of each bed with the sleepsack and blanket held firmly in place, still allowing for a place to lay down when needed.

In the bathroom/closet, I have mounted a small set of drawers to house the stuff that had no home..... The basin is used for a bathroom sink since this model of RT did not have a bathroom sink.

I am reusing many of the items and decor from Lolita which I love.

This pillow was the inspiration for Lolita and I am using it again in the RT.   It pulls all the colors together with the green without looking like Christmas!

                 "Cowgirls Just Want to Have Fun"       

 The "Lounge Area" up front

                        Before

 

                                                                                                                   









                                 After

 The drivers seat is so difficult to turn around and we don't really need the extra seat, so it will probably be used to store the outdoor captains chairs overnight.  Nothing else really needs to be moved overnight.


Everyone is staking out their territory and finding their own spot to call home

                             .............to be continued.

Making the changes in the Roadtrek are making it seem like MY cozy home.....

                                                          What do you think so far?

~ Happy Trails ~

Medical Test Results

This year the normal winter doldrums were punctuated with getting caught up on medical tests and procedures.  It certainly makes sense to get it all taken care of during the time of year that I am housebound.   Rather than focus completely on the medical aspects, I'm choosing to focus on the promise of spring.... the emerging brightness that punctuates my day if I only look.

The irony is not lost on me.  Within the scabland of Eastern Washington is emerging beauty that can easily be lost if you only look at the basalt rock and sagebush.

 

I won't bore you with all the details but I am generally in good health though aging takes it tole on the old bones and the Doc's are watching a number of issues.  A little tinkering with meds and I am good to go again for summer.
 

I have been waiting for the results of bone scans (I have the beginnings of osteoporosis which explains the recent broken bones) and the MRI on my back.  I have a wedge deformity in the mid back.  It's location makes any treatment difficult and risky (as in move my heart and lungs to get to the  collapsed area.) without promise of any improvement.   The bottom line is to keep doing what I am doing to strengthen the support muscles and rest often to relieve pressure on the nerves when needed.  Prolonged upright activity produces pain so moderation is necessary.

It is not going to get better, rather it will become more painful as the scoliosis progresses. 

If I were looking for reasons not to travel, I guess I would have them.  But I'm not. I'm looking for ways to adjust and look forward to a future that still includes exploring and travel as part of the plan.   The new Roadtrek is just such a modification.  (So nice to have a bed handy to lay down when pain dictates the activities for the day.)  I will need to adjust my activity levels.... my desire to see beyond the next bend of the trail will need to be tempered with reality.

There is so much to see, so much to experience, I want to see it all.  

Life often requires us to adjust our sails to the wind.... 

 and so I shall.

A shattering week......:(

If things happen in three's I should be covered in the broken glass department.  Last Sunday, I took Auntie and Hailey for a good ole fashioned Sunday drive, like I remember when I was a kid.  After church we loaded up and headed out to the Colfax Fairgrounds where they were plowing fields with teams of horses. 

It was a sunny day perfect for a trip down my Aunties Memory Lane, so we hear the stories of my grandfather who worked the farm with horses. 

Auntie told stories of riding on the various equipment with her Dad.  Some of the stories I had heard before and a couple I heard for the first time. 

I have always felt that I was born past my time and I always identify with the stories of early pioneer women.

Auntie doesn't enjoy camping and traveling as much these days but still loves a good day trip!

I love finding activities that start the stories flowing.

 

Strike One

When we arrived home, the first thing I noticed was the umbrella which was housed in the stand on the real of my little trailer......was no longer in the stand, but was smashed through the glass and screen on it's back door.   (A trip to the glass repair shop came in at a mere $70.) 

I can't come up with a satisfactory explanation.....which in the end doesn't even matter.  It just is what it is.  The more I looked at it....vandalism seems to be the culprit.   If that's the case, I choose not to dwell on it.  Stupid people do stupid things.  

I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of the shattered window..... 

but here is the trailer, good as new!!  It goes to show me, I certainly can't keep up with the upkeep on two rigs... Ugh!

 Lolita, returned to her former glory!

 

Strike Two

I visited an old friend this week... She fell a couple of weeks ago and broke her hip.  We have shared so many good times through the years and have so many shared experiences.  This is one experience I hope not to share with her!  On the way home on the interstate a truck passed me by leaving a rock  flying chipping my window (sigh, complete with a spider run )

 

Back to the glass shop, but this was not repairable, it would require a whole new windshield.  As much as I hate it, I am not going to repair it at this time.  The run is small and who knows after the summer trip other chips might be added.  

 I will probably wait and do the replacement before winter.  Now, I'm not a suspicious person... but even I was becoming a bit gun shy....Twenty odd years without visiting a glass shop and I've been twice in one week..... 

 

I decide to take a little weekend trip to one of our favorite little lakes.  Hog Lake. 

It's on BLM land and Free, (did I say FREE!) with great weather for a little paddle about on the lake with a water fall for a destination.  There are a few hundred thousand people in Spokane to watch and participated in a jogging event called Bloomsday of 7.2 miles.  In my younger years I participated until I came to my senses and have since found all kinds of creative excuses to get out of town.   

I made a good choice.... no people except the occasional fisherman, hiker or kayaker. 

 

It is a perfect day for a kayak float.....

 

 

 First CampFire of the season

But you would think I'd be walking a wide birth around anything glass....nope not me!!  I know you are waiting for it.....

 Strike Three......

While helping Hailey make the fire.....my new phone dropped out of my pocket...... and you guessed it.  The glass protector broke.... lucky for me the protector was on, as I had only bought it on Monday.

As I started writing this post, I was in a pretty grumpy mood....I'm feeling much better now....thanks for listening!    :)

I hope this means I am done with breaking glass.....  If not I will be in hiding until this passes.

~Happy Trails~

RoadTrek Shake Down Trip - Part Two

We went in search of Sand Cranes but found only Canadian Geese, lots of ducks and Koots.  There was a Sand Crane Festival located in nearby Othello the week before our arrival.  I was really hoping I could find some Sand Crane hideouts by checking out some local ponds and preserves.... No luck, I guess they had it with the Looky Lou's and moved on to more private accommodations.  Maybe next year I will check out some of the Bird Watcher tours and learn where the birdie's hang out.

 
But we did find another nearby campground at Scootney Lake. (A Bureau of Reclamation preserve that is located about 35 miles south of Moses Lake.)  It was a beautiful place to spend a night listening to bird chatter. ($7.50 with National Senior Pass)

             With no competition for campsites we easily snagged a beach side campsite.


Campsites are placed along the reservoir as well. All of the sites are primitive. Each site includes a picnic area, fire rings and tent pads. Some parking spaces can accommodate RVs. There are no hook-ups for RVs. There is a dump site, however. Drinking water and bathrooms with running water are available.

          
 The only other neighbors!

The evening while ideal gave way to a night to remember.  Hailey had not been feeling well earlier in the evening and finally the nausea won the battle during the night. People get sick no matter where they live but it is different when you are away form the comforts of home.... Time to give some thought to what would make those moments better. Not exactly ideal in a small space but we got through it and she was feeling much better the next day.

We started off mid morning, heading out to Palouse Falls. 

Palouse Falls State Park is a 105-acre camping park with a unique geology and history.  We arrived mid week to a slew of park visitors.  Parking near the falls was a 'wait for a spot to pull into as someone to leave there parking spot.  By dinner time the day use visitors had leftm leaving a quiet park for the evening.  We visited the viewpoints, fixed dinner and turned in for an early night among the tenters and small motor homes.

 Back Porch View

This is the view from our camping spot......but there is much, much more.  The park offers a dramatic view of one of the state's most beautiful waterfalls.   Palouse Falls drops from a height of 198-feet with high volumes of water flow in spring and early summer.  this is the perfect time of year to visit Palouse Falls. ($10 to park with a view of the Falls) Pit toilets and garbage only.)

The campground(parking lot and large grassy area for tents) is located on top of the bluff overlooking the Falls. The trail follows around the bluff and down a steep trail shown in the top left of center. 









Everything worked beautifully in the RoadTrek.  The amount of driving we did on the trip from place to place kept the batteries charged with more than enough for lights and recharging.  I do need a new pure sine inverter so that I can recharge the computer but everything else was perfect!!

We carried jugs of drinking water and used the water tank for all other uses. We had more than enough water for the week and it is great to have water that pumps on demand.

 I even managed my first black water dump without any problems......except....boy can people be disgusting!  Washington State has many rest stops that provide for free RV tank dumps complete with water access to ensure a tidy emptying process.  If RV owners have an incident of sewage not dumping into the sewer, HOW can they just leave it and drive off? 

We followed the canyon for a bit....

The Roadtrek is excellent for a road trip....

By keeping our interior picked up we were able to ready for departures quickly and without any heavy lifting.  It sure was easy on my back!!

I think I like it!!

The landscape was lush and green due to spring rains...but it won't last for long before turning brown for summer.

After the short days of winter...... the sun is a wonderful thing!!

 Another wonderful journey!!

                      ~ Happy Trails~                         

Road Trek Trial Run, Part 1

Spring break was the test run for the new to us Road Trek.  My vintage trailer was a basic homey little sleeping quarters with a propane stove for cooking and an ice box.  I had solar to run the lights and recharge batteries and I liked that it had few issues to go wrong.  Realizing the RT has a more systems we had a learning curve ahead of us to learn how and when to operate all the systems.

Prior to leaving on our week test run, I had it visit an RV shop to check out the systems and have a walk through to learn how to operate the systems. The night before leaving I slept in the RT to be sure we had enough blankets to stay warm and adjust the furnace for comfort.  I could not get the water pump to pressure equalize so we ended up staying and extra night to have the RV tech show me what to do to release the air lock.  Simple now that I know!!

The day we left it snowed…..rained…..sleeted…..blew….. a typical Northwest Spring day.  But we left and headed out for a few days..  Fortunately the snow was only a one day event and melted before afternoon.

The inverter blew a fuse so I had the opportunity to figure out a few things along the way. I can see that I will need to have an inverter hard wired to accommodate the laptop as the inverter plus the computer draw to many amps to use a 12 volt plug.  So many lessons.

We traveled the first night to Spring Canyon in Central Washington and spent the first night at one of our favorite spots.  With only one other camper/fisherman we had all the peace and quiet one could want.  Set up was a breeze and we settled in for a quiet night.  We explored the beach area before heading out the next morning.

         Nightly price for seniors during the off season, $4.50now $9.00 during the summer months.  

I have never seen the water level during the winter or spring.  It is much lower revealing long sand bars and exposing the beach and dock area.

That is a whole lot of beach front exposed!

Then we were off to drive down the Coulee Corridor on our way to the Center of the state at Vantage.

What a gorgeous drive during the spring.  Most of the center of the state is arrid and dry.... but for a few short weeks in the spring it is full of green. and some wild flowers to brighten up the landscape.

We did some sight seeing and some hiking along the way.  I have lived in Washington State all of my life except for 12 years.  I have crossed the state many times and never stopped near Vantage for the Wild Horses Statues.  Oh sure I looked from a distance but never stopped to hike up the bluff.  It was never a good time or the weather was bad, or, there was always a reason, an excuse, or a procrastination .  NOT THIS TIME!

The sculpture, ca"Grandfather Cut Loose the Ponies" was created by David Govedare from Chewelah, WA in 1989–1990 and is situated across the river from Vantage, WA.   It consists of 15 life-size steel horses which appear to be galloping across a ridge above the Columbia River.
 

The designer envisioned the horses emerging from a 36 foot tall tipped basket.  Funding restraints have prevented the basket from joining the wild horses but the horses have become one of the most viewed art installation in Washington State.

Presented as a gift for the Centennial Celebration of of Washington's statehood, the sculpture was conceived as a memorial to the wild horses which roamed the region.

While the horses can be seen from the highway from viewpoints when traveling East and West on I-90 they can only be accessed from the East bound interstate at a viewpoint that also overlooks the Columbia River.  It is well worth the short hike.


We also crossed over the Columbia River and made lunch at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest, another stop I had never made before.
 

The visitor center is only open on weekends this time of year though there seemed to be plenty of folks who were stopping.  There were several trails to explore and beautiful views of the magnificent Columbia River.

I guess I will need to put it on my be sure to stop again when the Center is open.

I am in awe of the size of the Columbia River.  It is certainly backed up here by a dam downstream but it's volume is mind boggling.  Last year the river was down a great deal as the Wanapum  Dam was repaired due to cracks in the dam structure.  This year it is back to the regular volume and the campground is back open.     

Stay tuned for Part 2 and the Road Trek Review

~Happy Trails~

A Cross Country Marathon Trip

Floating around the internet for some time has been a map of the US that shows a route to the best roadtrip around the US.  It lacked something viewers desperately wanted....A listing of an itinerary. When you followed the link it didn't go anywhere.

http://bit.ly/1GxXgAG

Today I found a new map, created by one person, a Michigan State University doctoral student Randy Olson,  that hits one destination in all 48 continental states.  The route allows  visiting the 48 states

Clearly they may not be the destinations anyone else would choose nor represent the vast variety that is across the breadth of our diverse country....but it covers many big ones.  To see everything would take a lifetime.....For a shorter time frame this seems to be a more reasonable road route.

Here are the stops, representing a interesting mix of history and natural wonder. If you had the road to yourself, it would take 9.33 days of driving, Olson calculates, but in reality you'd need at least 2 to 3 months to make the journey.    

(which we just happen to have :) )

1. Grand Canyon, AZ
2. Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
3. Craters of the Moon, ID
4. Yellowstone National Park, WY
5. Pikes Peak, CO
6. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
7. The Alamo, TX
8. The Platt Historic District, OK
9. Toltec Mounds, AR
10. Elvis Presley’s Graceland, TN
11. Vicksburg National Military Park, MS
12. French Quarter, New Orleans, LA
13. USS Alabama, AL
14. Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL
15. Okefenokee Swamp Park, GA
16. Fort Sumter National Monument, SC
17. Lost World Caverns, WV
18. Wright Brothers National Memorial Visitor Center, NC
19. Mount Vernon, VA
20. White House, Washington, DC
21. Colonial Annapolis Historic District, MD
22. New Castle Historic District, Delaware
23. Cape May Historic District, NJ
24. Liberty Bell, PA
25. Statue of Liberty, NY
26. The Mark Twain House & Museum, CT
27. The Breakers, RI
28. USS Constitution, MA
29. Acadia National Park, ME
30. Mount Washington Hotel, NH
31. Shelburne Farms, VT
32. Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
33. Spring Grove Cemetery, OH
34. Mammoth Cave National Park, KY
35. West Baden Springs Hotel, IN
36. Abraham Lincoln’s Home, IL
37. Gateway Arch, MO
38. C. W. Parker Carousel Museum, KS
39. Terrace Hill Governor’s Mansion, IA
40. Taliesin, WI
41. Fort Snelling, MN
42. Ashfall Fossil Bed, NE
43. Mount Rushmore, SD
44. Fort Union Trading Post, ND
45. Glacier National Park, MT
46. Hanford Site, WA
47. Columbia River Highway, OR
48. San Francisco Cable Cars, CA
49. San Andreas Fault, CA
50. Hoover Dam, NV

I find this fascinating as I am researching for a cross country trip this summer.  While I'm not looking to hit all 48 states, I am looking at what sights (and areas) do I want to add to our itinerary.

I'm thinking at this point we will not do into the deep south (will do another time) but heading across the picking up and traveling parts of Route 66 through the middle section of the country with a few zigs and zags.  I will also save most  of the southwest and California for another dedicated trip.

Last summer we dedicated 2 1/2 months to seeing Washington State.  There were so many awesome destinations we saw and yet so much yet to explore.  I would be hard pressed to choose just one destination for Washington....but I am sure that it would not be the Hanford Site......

There are so many great spots along the way....I couldn't bear to spend a few short hours in each state or location.....so hard choices have to be made.

There are so many great possibilities, 

I can't wait to see....

What would you add....or subtract?

  

~  Happy Trails ~