I awake after my restless boondocking night to see Debbie outside my window walking her dogs, the ever-entertaining Rupert and Elliott. I have originally announced my plans to do a “solo acclimatization” hike on my first day, but Debbie assures me the group hike will be “doable,” with plenty of photo stops along the way (READ: Opportunities to gasp for breath, slow my pounding heart, and steady my dizzy, swirling head.) Continue reading
Boondocking is an interesting exercise for someone fresh out of the corporate structure. I have never been much of a “color outside the lines” person. Much to my chagrin, I have been a rule-follower all my life, which made me a good data analyst. Left brain stuff, I am really good at….Right brain? Not so much. Continue reading
I feel it is important for me to get back on the road and resume my original plans as quickly as possible. I have heard lots of stories both good and bad about the “post-retirement syndrome.” The general consensus is, it takes a while for things to level out. Continue reading
As if I don’t have enough going on during the current convergence…dealing with the my little Tracker, the “automotive heart transplant candidate,” I have also been helping move my 86 year old Mom and 93 year old Dad back down to the farm. Turns out, they aren’t city folk after all…
Throw in one more simultaneous life-change, and you have the makings of what I have been calling “The Perfect Storm,” as all these things converge during the same week. Coincidentally, sixty days ago, I could not have known about the first two “storm elements” when I announced my intent to retire Continue reading
There have been a few tense moments here at the Highland Village Hospital. I have tried to stay occupied outside the “waiting room” by doing a few menial tasks of my own, like changing a couple of burned out blubs in the Winnie, changing out the air filter and cabin filter, and cleaning and washing her inside and out…..just short of pacing as the two “smiling surgeons” keep assuring me that everything is progressing nicely in the lane next to me. Continue reading
I send “email postcards” to friends and family along the way with jokes about towing “The Hearse” behind me for 1,760 miles. A steady week of blacktop camping has me wandering the aisles to count dead animal heads in Cabelas, trying to sleep while the Winnie’s walls rumble all night in the Flying J advertising “over 150 Truck parking spaces,” and being woken up at 2:00am in the Walmart parking lot so they could repaint the yellow stripes beneath me. All while working a full 40 hour week. It was a memorable week, to say the least. Continue reading
Life on a Sprinter Chassis is both a blessing and a curse. The rig drives like a dream. Hardly more struggle than driving a regular-sized van. For a solo-RVer, it’s both comfortable to drive and easy to maneuver. But placing an entire 24 ft house on a van chassis also means we Sprinter squatters must “watch our weight.” Not only are we limited in how much we can carry on board, but also on how much we can tow. The maximum towing capacity is 3,500 lbs, fully loaded. Continue reading
My original plan was to hike to Iceberg Lake on my last day in Glacier National Park. The weather forecast predicts an ideal day for it. But it’s Friday with the weekend closing in, so I think instead the more “responsible” thing to do is to get the little Tracker in for a diagnosis. Continue reading
I awake in Many Glacier Campground to what my boating friends would call a “snotty day.” It’s thick pea soup fog, cold and gray out my rain-streaked window. I have done a “big hike” yesterday, and I have another one planned for tomorrow, so I do not feel guilty for taking a day off and being lazy.
It has now been three days without any internet connectivity, and I am starting to exhibit signs of addictive behavior. Continue reading
I consider the hike to Grinnell Glacier to be the pinnacle of my Glacier National Park vacation, and the only part on which I have actually done research. I have been looking forward to this day for months.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there were 150 glaciers when the park opened in 1910, and now there are only 25 remaining. Scientists expect by 2030, there will be none, at the current rate. So I really want the chance to hike up to the foot of the glacier, stand and contemplate the evolution of our species. Continue reading