Oregon Bound!

 It has become painfully obvious (literally) why I am in constant pain. I have not one, but two people out there with voodoo dolls of me manically laughing as they poke needles into me. At least two that have come forward, there could be more. 

The first to come forward was none other than Dino, who claims himself as somewhat of an expert in the field. He claims that in order to have an effective voodoo doll one needs some sort of artifact, or better yet, DNA from the person they want to afflict. He then asked me if I remember when Lisa cut my hair last September. He went on to tell me that Lisa had kept some of my hair and given it to Dino for his nefarious acts.

The second person was our not so innocent and sometime wicked daughter in law, Somer who recently tried to blackmail me asking me to send a large sum of money in unmarked bills if I wanted to her stop her sorcery. If you recall, they stayed at our house for almost 9 months a year or so ago and could have easily taken something with them to be used for evil. 

But fear not, I will not give into to their demands. Instead, we fled South Dakota westward in an effort to put more distance between us and them. But before I get to that I would like you to meet Jade with whom I had a brief encounter with before we left. 

I was at the end of our road when out on the highway what do I see, but a dog standing on the centerline. I get out of the vehicle, and it runs up to me tail wagging like I was a long-lost friend. I have never seen this dog before in my life. I was on my way to town to run some errands and could not live with myself if something happened to it who I later learned was Jade if I did not do something. So, I opened the truck door and invited her into the truck. She jumped right in and sat in the passenger seat like she belonged there. Luckily, she had a collar on with her name and a phone number. I called the number. No answer, so I left a message and thought, "Now what?". She seemed content, so off to town we went!

I bit later I got a hold of the owner, and she asked where we were and she would come get Jade. I told her we were on a road trip of sorts and would be back in about 40 minutes. Judging from her condition, I am pretty sure she is an outside dog. A fact that Barb did not appreciate too much when she saw all the dirt and grime on the seat later in the day.  Jade was having the time of her life watching the world go by from the passenger seat. 

On our way back home, I called Jade's mom and got direction to their house and dropped her off after our playdate. The woman was thankful and apologetic for her getting the truck all dirty. Upon arriving home Dakota and Zoey were on me like I had a strange woman's perfume lingering on my clothing. Sniffing me as if asking, "What the hell have you been up to?". With a quick treat from the cupboard, all was forgiven and the day went on as though nothing had happened. 

And the next day we were off! Camper on the truck, everything packed, we headed into northwest into Wyoming, through Newcastle, Gillette, Buffalo, Sheridan and into Montana. Five hours later we landed for the night in Billings Montana at a new to us brewery. Canyon Creek Brewery. They were a Harvest Host that allowed partons to camp in their parking lot overnight. The only thing was though, when we got inside, Barb and I looked at each other and said, "We've been here before". Perhaps a sign that you have been to too many breweries when you cannot remember which ones you have been to!

They had a nice outdoor patio, so the girls joined us for a beer as well!

Regardless, after a couple of beers and some Nachos from the food truck, we settled in for the night. The next morning we were up with the sunrise and continued on west. Had we planned better, we would have scheduled a stop with some RV friends along our route but we were in too big of a hurry to see of the power of voodoo had a limit. Our next stop was in Missoula which was kind of a repeat from the day before (Big Sky Brewing), beer, Mexican food truck and bed.

One of the things we love about traveling is seeing the scenery along the way and wondering what it would be like to live there. Once in a while, one of us will turn to the other and say, "I could live here". Western Montana is one of those places. The mountains, hills, trees and just the overall feel are right up our alley. I think it is also one of the more expensive places in Montana to live so there is that as well. 

Continuing west, we crossed into Idaho, (equally as beautiful) for a total of 74 miles which is all it takes to get across the state on I90. By now we had filled up three times and were having sticker shock with the prices of diesel. 

I realized something else about this picture even more significant than the total price. Any of you observant enough to see what it is? The diesel fuel tank capacity of a 2022 Ram 3500 is 31 gallons; we were cutting it close! I sent this picture to a California friend of mine and he said something like, "That is cute, our diesel prices are $2 a gallon more than that well into the mid $7/gallon. I think we have seen $5+/gallon diesel prices 4 times in our lifetime, 2008, '14, 21 and now. What really shocked us though was when we crossed over into Washington where it was $1.20/gallon more less than 3 miles away! While we have seen prices over $7/gallon in some places, we have been able to fill up right around that $6 range. 

The other thing that shocked us was the contrast of eastern Washington to western Idaho where it went from mountainous with trees to flat desert just outside of Spokane. This is a new to us route, and did not know what to expect. We did not expect it to look like Wyoming, that was for sure. We spent the night at the fairground in Ritzville, Washington. $20 for the night with no hookups. Nice and quiet though!

As you can see from this picture, we have our trailer with us. An empty trailer. While we are in Oregon we are going to empty Forrest's storage unit in Klamth Falls and bring it back to South Dakota. How it is going to get from South Dakota to Tennessee has yet to be determined. I hate hauling the trailer across the country. We put new tires on it and greased the bearings but even so, I check the temperature of the hubs at every fuel stop. So far, so good. 

This terrain gave way to more hilly terrain the further west we went. We got into the cherry and apple growing territory and eventually into the mountainous terrain again outside of Yakima. Talk about some beautiful country! We took US12 between Yakima and I5 spending the night at a scenic overlook along the way. The views of Mount Rainier were incredible! This is someplace we could live!

There are really so many across the country where we have said that. We spent the next night at a campground in Fort Stevens State Park where we walked along the beach with the girls and saw the remnants of an old shipwreck from 1906. 

We made it down to the beach okay, but Dakota was struggling so we took a break on the beach and watched the waves roll in. 

On the way back, there was a time or two when we did not know if Dakota was going to make it, we lagged behind Barb and Zoey, but in the end we made it back where she laid beside her water bowl and caught her breath. 

So, we made it to Oregon, great trip so far. The first few days were all about putting on the miles. Now it is time to slow down and enjoy ourselves. That's enough for this post; we have moved on from Fort Stevens and carried on down south but that is a tale for another time!

Voodoo!

 Do you believe in black magic? Curses? Spells? I typically don't, but every once in a while, I get a not so gentle reminder that maybe it does exist. During those times I swear someone has a voodoo doll of me and is having fun at my expense. 

I'll be walking along and all of a sudden, I am on the ground, my knee will go out. No warning, just me stumbling because my knee forgot its important role in keeping me upright. Or, I am sitting there minding my own business and someone jabs a pin into the side of my voodoo doll. Again, no warning, just a sharp pain and a yelp as Barb looks over at me as though I have lost my mind. 

Ah, the joys of getting old. Luckily, whoever has my doll does not know how to create cramps. Whoever has Dino's voodoo doll specializes in cramps as that is all I hear about when I talk to him. Unlike Dino, I am able to "man up" and carry on a normal life, not curl up in the fetal position whining and sucking my thumb. 

One of the first things I did upon arriving home was to check the trail camera on the small critter waterer that I had put up just before leaving for the farm. My intention was to provide water to the turkeys, rabbits and other small critters that could not reach the water in the bigger tank. The actual results are a little different than that. It turns out it is more like a glorified bird bath providing a place for the local bird population to come and get a drink. 

Robins, bluebirds, finches, chickadees and crows. Not a single turkey or rabbit. Well, there was one rabbit, but it looked like a hop-by and it did not drink from the tank. 

One unexpected visitor was a pair of mice who seem to spend almost every night near the waterer. 

As far as big critters go, there was one deer who checked it out and a couple of calves from the neighboring ranch which is particularly interesting due to the fact that they are not supposed to be over here. 

The neighboring ranch has about 100 head of cattle, cows, calves and heifers. All kept in by electric fencing. Despite that, there was two pair (two moms and two calves) that spend more time on our side of the fence than they do on their side of the fence. How, we have no idea. The way is obvious, as everyone knows the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It does not bother us, and we just let them do their thing on our side of the fence. 

The other day however, there were 40 or so head on the wrong side of the fence. Not our side, but on the road. That is not a good scenario, and the rancher was out of town for the weekend, so Barb and I jumped in the side by side and jeep and got them wrangled up and back into their proper pasture. No pictures as it was too action packed to take pictures. They had pushed a steel panel away from one of the sheds on their property creating an escape route where they could enjoy the green grass in the field and ditches adjacent to the road. 

In fact, here is a picture I took a day or two ago. Not the best picture as it was taken through the screen, but a lot going on. The first thing you probably noticed is the three deer enjoying the green grass. Beyond that you can see the two pair of cattle under the windmill getting a drink of water. What you probably did not notice was the dozen or so goldfinches on the ground in the foreground. I could not help but think to myself "It doesn't get any better than this" to look out and see this from your living room window. 

What else did we do this week? After being gone the last 3 or so weeks, I had some spring maintenance to take care of. First up was draining, cleaning and refilling the hot tub. 

Then it was up on the roof to clean the chimney. Not a task I enjoy as I have to climb a 16' ladder and climb onto the roof. 

Then it was time to spray weeds. They are popping up everywhere in the driveway and patio area. If we do not take care of them now, it will be a mess by the time we get back from our next adventure. 

I installed a pair of lithium batteries and a wireless rear-view camera on the camper. I am looking forward to seeing how these perform on our upcoming trip.

There was a camera on the back of the camper when we got it, but it never worked and was not wireless.

I also worked on the boat getting it back together after removing the old carpet and recovering it with marine vinyl. As you can see from the "before" picture, the carpet was worn and torn. This was a long process, and I am so happy to have it at least this far for now so we can get out fishing soon!

Before

While I was doing that, Barb was working in her workshop making a frame for the painting our friend Greg gave us recently. He is such a talented artist, and this frame is perfect for it!

She then put up some peg board and went about organizing her tools. 

Speaking of Greg, we went over to his house for happy hour followed by supper at Kevin and Cheryl's. While we did not take any pictures of that event, we did take a few of the day that Ryan, Alana, Dan and Bonnie came over for an afternoon. 

Ryan and Alana of course brought Sophie and Loki for a doggie play date. What they did not realize was that it was dress up day and were going to be totally humiliated!

We played Shake-a-day and sh#tbox with many laughs all around. The highlight of the day is pictured below. If you look in the background, you see Bonnie laughing her ass off. If you look in the foreground, you see the reason. Look at the bottom of Dan's glass.....was when it was Dan's turn for shake-a-day and after his first shake, instead of putting the dice back into the dice cup, he deposited them into his drink glass! 

I did treat myself to a new shotgun the other day. A new 12 gauge over/under pheasant gun. Much lighter than my old one. I cannot wait for this fall to get it out in the field!

Last, but not least we made some venison sausage on Sunday afternoon to take with us. This is our first attempt at this type of sausage. After a couple hours of smoking and cooling off, it was ready to package. It is delicious!

 I will leave you with this picture that Chris sent me from the farm. He was out checking fields with his drone when he came across the moose with two calves. How cool is that?!?!?

The past 10 days have gone super quick as we had a lot to do before we head out again. Our next post will come to you from somewhere out west where will be spending some time in Barb's old stomping grounds on the Oregon coast! Now if you will excuse me, I need to grab my Dino doll, I think a cramp is in order!