I broke up camp on Thursday but ended up sitting under the tarp for a few hours until the rain stopped, which it suddenly did. The sun came out hot and bright afterward and made the air almost too muggy to breath. I was out of there soon, and headed toward Jim.






The weather was awesome!!


Selfie


Loads of geese in the grass



I got to Jim’s around 7 and set up my tent in the back yard again.
Grammy was happy to see me again, and Sherri hugged me and said welcome home!
Awwwww, to have a home away from home is pretty awesome!!

I heard back from Mel when I got back, and it looked like I was flying back to Kauai the next Wednesday.
Jim was getting ready for his trip west in his van. We drove around Bloomsburg getting this and that.

Every morning Grammy would bring me a cup of coffee and some fruit or snacks for breakfast, she also included a funny note with it. I saved them all.

Jim left the next morning and I spend the next few days booking a flight writing some of my RR, and buying a case, for my bow and arrows, which I modified to fit everything.
Sherri was very busy helping her niece move, but I cooked us a nice dinner on Monday.


Yep, I think I would like one of these as well one day!


Hmmm, I am sorry you’ve got them! There is medication for it however!

On Tuesday I spend the day packing everything up and getting a little backpack ready for my flight.
Sherri drove me to Wilkes-Barre where I spent the night in a motel.
This plan had a little hiccup as I had forgotten the name of the second hotel I booked (I had to as the first hotel did not have an early shuttle to the airport).
So In my head I still had quality in as my motel, but in reality it was the Best Western.
After Sherri dropped me off at the wrong motel, she went to a car wash, which was lucky for me, as she would not have answered the phone while driving home.
She came and picked me up again after, and drove me to the Best Western.






Awwwww

I had a nice relaxing dinner and decided to walk to CVS to return my Redbox DVD.
It was a short walk but it was getting dark already. Still, it was a nice touristy area with lots of shops and such.
On the way back I pause to look at some African clay statues in a shop window when big black young man stopped next to me to admire the same statues. We started talking about them and afterward as I walked away he followed me. He started talking about his passion and pulled a large Katana out of the scabbard he was carrying. Yikes! So I asked him if it was legal to carry it around, and if he needed a permit for it. He said he had one. Of course it was rather intimidating to have someone pull a sword out in front of you on a dark street which was now fairly deserted, but I decided to just act normal as if it was an every day occurrence and started talking to him about a friend of mine who was from Japan who also owned a few family heirloom Katanas.
Turns out that he is a black smith, hence his big physique, and had a business making swords that now hung by threads as the place he was making them was no longer viable.
I suggested that once he had things rolling again, that he should look into making faux swords for theaters. I told him that we always had a hard time finding swords for plays that looked real but weren’t. He thought that would be a great idea.
We parted ways as I got to the Motel and wished him a good night.
I called the desk to wake me up at 5, and double-checked that the shuttle would be there at 5:30.
Well, sometimes even though you dot all the I’s, things still go the way they want.
I waited for the shuttle for 15 minutes when the desk clerk decided to call the shuttle driver to ask where he was. Turns out he was never told, lol. My flight was scheduled for 7, and the drive there was about 20 minutes, so I told her I really couldn’t afford to wait much longer. She called a cab for me, courtesy of Best Western, which showed up 20 minutes later. To make a long story short, I got to the airport, walked through check-in, nobody in line, walked through the gate, only one other person going through x-ray and got to the gate waiting area with 10 minutes to spare.

The plane to Philly




I just love those little planes!

The flight to Kauai, including layovers, took more than 20 hours, I was pretty tired by then, as I just can’t sleep on planes.
Still, it went by pretty painlessly and I had good seats.

Mel picked me up from the airport, and I spent the first night in a B&B without the second B, and purchased a tent the next morning so I could set it up on the property I would be staying.


It was a nice tent I thought, but the first good rain we had showed that it wasn’t waterproof!
The rain came pouring through the zippered windows, which was cause for quite a wet night!!
I bought the bigger version, and wished I had done so earlier. So much more room, with windows, and airflow. So far so good




It’s like living in a house!


I also bought a shower tent: the hose, which comes from up the hill, has nice warm water when taking the shower at the right time of day. Otherwise it is a really cold shower!!


I found a target foam at Wallyworld, and enjoyed practicing whenever I had a chance
The two lower arrows are Walmart arrows, hmmm, don’t like them


Part of the deal of me staying there for free, is feeding the ducks.
They follow me obediently as I walk down to the river to where the food bucket is.

Mel has had me work every day so far, and long days at that.
We have also been shooting at several locations, and after having build the shoulder rest, being in the puppet is not as hard, but still tiring and extremely hot!!


This is one of the film locations


The father time clock I build

As for my riding………
Well, I think I have made a bad decision in agreeing to stay another month to build the hard costumes for Hawaii’s Children’s theatre. They couldn’t find anyone, and I felt bad for them, but again they weren’t willing to pay me what I thought was fair, and instead of just saying no, I agreed to a lesser amount. Someone hit me in the head please!!!
I couldn’t sleep the next night as I felt I had made the wrong decision, but I am not a person to back out of a promise. As it turns out, changing my ticket will cost more than they thought it would, so there is a chance I can still back out. I will find out more on Sunday.
Part of me is worried about riding so late through the northern part of the USA. I really wanted to ride through Montana, and Wyoming, and then enter Oregon through the Bend area.
We’ll see, I hope I can maybe make the costumes in Oregon, and mail them to Hawaii when done.

I am back in Pennsylvania, and picked up Spirit from JettnJim's dad's garage. She started right up!
Did all my food shopping to go in the cases, but still need to buy some Rotella-T for her oil change tomorrow. This way she should be good till Oregon.
I'm debating whether or not to replace her chain. I'll take a better look at it tomorrow. The chain was put on In Quebec when I was there with Jim last summer. I don't think I rode more than 6 or 7 thousand miles since then, so theoretically she should still be good for a while. I just noticed that I need to tighten it some though. Most of the time when I have to do that it means the chain is on its way out. Still, Oregon is not that far from here.
I plan on heading out on Friday, which gives me 3 weeks to make it to Oregon, and one week to find a place to live before I get flown back to Kauai to costume Mary Poppins. So anyone living in the Ashland area, if you hear of a little cabin in the woods for rent, let me know!!!

Where do I start?
I am sitting in one of the most unlikely spots you’ll find people hanging out to do their RR, namely in a bathroom at a campground! Why? Well, for three reasons, there is an electric outlet, the wifi is best near the bathroom, and it is cool in here, as I didn’t pitch my tent in the shade last night.
Let me go back though.
JettnJim got back home on Thursday, and I didn’t want to just leave the next day, which was a good thing too, as he suggested I check my drive sprocket after I told him the chain was still good. Yep, the teeth were definitely slanted! I started thinking back, and realized that the last time I replaced it, was in Haines Alaska, on my way to the bigger part of Alaska. So that sprocket definitely put on some miles!!
Thankfully I carried another one with me, so I put it on. It was less of an ordeal than I had thought. Spirit was good to go, oil change done, sprocket change done, two new brake pads from before I flew to Hawaii, new front tire from then too, all in all, she should be good to cross the country!
I slept my last night in Jims trailer, very comfy, and bid my farewells in the morning. First to Grammy, who again was sad to see me go, to Sherri who told me I always had a place to come home to, and then to Jim who was rushing off to his nephew’s football game.
I was happy to be riding again! It had been a long grueling month, and I was ready for some R&R. After the coagulated mess that many cities near each other cause, I was finally on a clear traffic free stretch.



The sky was blue, the weather hot (not warm), had enough money to make it to Oregon, and I didn’t have to work for at least another month. Life was good…


Buffalo behind a fence, hmmm, that just don’t seem right

I rode as far as Smithton, which is just south of Pittsburgh, and found the place I had found on freecampsites.net. It was a huge park with just a few tent sites, but I was only the second person there, so lots of room. I had pitched my tent and was just inflating my sleeping pad when a state official walked up to me and told me that this wasn’t really a campground for people driving through. You had to either arrive on a bicycle, horse or canoe, or have either of those with you to make use of the park. Hmmmm, a horse on the back of Spirit…. nope! A canoe? Nah wont work either, not will a bicycle. LOL
I told him that the website didn’t mention any of that, so he said that if it was only for the night I could stay. That was sweet as I had no energy to pack everything back up again.

A peek through my window.

I slept heavenly!!
The next day I took my time going, but was on the road by 10:30.
This time I was heading for Athens Ohio where another free site was listed.
As you’ve noticed by now, I am not really meandering this time, basically because I have to be in Oregon around the 25th, so I have time to find a place to live.


This is a historical prison in Moundsville that I happened to see while trying to find a way across the river.


Long view


Found the bridge! Sky blue, so it almost was invisible heading into Ohio.







I had contacted the owner of the property in Athens, as you had to ask permission, but hadn’t heard back from him yet, so while I was driving down route 26 I happen to notice a sign saying Ring Mill campground on a brown Forest sign. Hmmmm……
I made a U-turn and decided to check it out. Not having heard back form Athens yet, and having gotten tired, I was open to any other place to pitch my tent.

Well, the road was narrow and gravelly, and my handlebars were moving left and right of their own accord; needless to say a little freaky.
After about 4 miles or so I saw an old bridge with a sign Canoe ramp, but I kept going. After a while I noticed a house on the left, and decided to ask the owner if he knew where the site was. There where three guys looking at me as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Hmph!
Turns out I had missed it, and that indeed I was to go over the bridge and the campsite would be there.
So here I went, and backtracked a little, over the bridge and what? Up that steep hill?? Yikes! I hit the throttle and kept going up and up on a windy gravely road that made me wish I hadn’t decided to come this way. On the top I saw a house, grrrrr, not the campground.
Going down was just about as hairy, but once I made it I turned right toward the Canoe landing. Sure enough, there were three tent sites there, and bathroom. Yippee!!
It was a wonderful place and I got all of my luxuries up and ready to be used.




Best of all, it was free!!

A little while later a kid on a little Honda dirt bike comes racing into the campground and loops around. I walked up to him and asked him what bike it was and how long he’d been riding. He said I’d talked to his grandpa after he answered my question. Turns out his grandpa was one of the three guys I had asked for directions.
I have to say, I was being taken care of. Once in a while someone would drive in and loop around and drive back out. This went on every few hours or so, even in the night.
I hung around the next day, did some beading, and some knitting, and read a lot while hanging in my hammock.



It was a wonderful and quiet place and by the end of the day I felt fully rested.
Some time around 10 I heard another car pull in, and this time someone got out and walked up to the tent. It was the caretaker of the park, and he was just checking if I was okay. As I was pretty much undressed I didn’t hop out to say hi, but I told him though the tent walls that I was fine, and really enjoying the place. He asked if anyone else came by to stay for a while, but I told him no, other than some folks in the late evening and the middle of the night driving through. He then told me that was him, checking to see if I was alright. Awwwwww. I am guessing neither one of those men have ever seen a women on a bike camp by herself. It was very sweet.
He wished me goodnight, and left. I think I vaguely heard him a couple more times that night.
I packed up the next day and was out rather late but didn’t care.


This time the dirt road didn’t feel so bad. I guess I was just too tired on my way in.




Route 26 is just wonderful with lots of twisties



I got to Athens and headed west toward Indiana.


Before I knew it the land turned flat as can be, with miles and miles of cornfields.
The temp was hot, and even with my jacket wide open, and all the vent zippers opened, I was toasting! Spirit stuttered occasionally, she doesn’t like the heat either.
The ride west took linger than I thought, and I had to detour a lot as quite a few roads were closed, and bridges broken. I don’t remember hearing about this, but I am guessing some major flood must have hit the area a while back.
I kept looking for a place to camp, but only farms and houses where visible, no hidden dirt roads to sneak up on or anything like it.
I finally got too tired to go on, and near Sydney I found a state park.
It was $20 for the night, but was too tired to care.
I pitched my tent up and took a much needed shower. (the luxuries of a paid camp ground)
Made myself some dinner and crashed!


The tent sites are away from the RVs and it was quite a pretty place

Woke up to rain on the tent the next morning, and decided that I didn’t want to ride in the rain, so I coughed up another $20 for another shower and internet to write my RR.


Lots of squirrels!!

So here I am in the bathroom, scaring the dickens out of every woman who opens the door, but nice and cool and happy to be done with this RR.
Heading out tomorrow toward Indiana and then Illinois.
My friend Robert in Ames Iowa will be home he said, and I am welcome to swing by and stay. I am looking forward to it

My second night at the campground was peaceful, and it didn’t rain.


Had a gorgeous sunset
The next morning was sunny, and the tent dried fast. I think I was out of there by 11, but I didn’t really check.


Got to Indiana in no time.
I have to say that I mostly saw farms and fields in Indiana, so not to many pictures were taken here unfortunately.




I did see some amazing houses!


I do love those whoopdedoos!! Gets your stomach all weird, really fun!


The clouds were gathering, definitely some rain on the way, but that one huge ray of light was pretty awesome


Already in Illinois? Guess Indiana is a narrow state



The sun was setting, and it rained of and on, so I started looking for another campground, as I was unable to find a place to stealth camp.
I did find one on the map near LeRoy, so I kept riding.


The park was beautiful and huge. I could have chosen the $6 campground, but would have had to leave spirit in the parking lot, and hike in to camp. By that time I was just too tired to deal with that, so I paid another $20. This time however it included electric, so it was nice to be able to charge all my gadgets.
Even though the sky was clear as could be, and filled with stars, I opted to put the tarp up as well. Boy am I glad I did, it poured!!!! The campground caretaker drove by in the morning to see if I survived, LOL.
I slept great though, even though the temp dropped down to the low forties.
I don’t know why, but I utterly forgot to take a shot of my campsite, oh well.
I started packing up fairly early and laid my tarp in the sun to dry. By the time everything was done however it was 11. One peek in their bathrooms made me decide to take a nice hot shower before going; I might as well I thought.
I tossed my jacket on Spirits seat and my pants over the jacket, and walked to the showers. While showering I all of a sudden hear this loud noise on the roof…….
Rain! It was coming down in buckets! What the????? It was really sunny just a few minutes ago! I finished showering as there was nothing I could do about it anyway (other then running naked through the campground to rescue my pants and jacket).
The rain stopped just as sudden as it had come, but my pants were wet in the but, through the liner even. Oh well, it’ll dry I figured. My jacket was totally dry however, and I was glad I had put it down first.
Yeah, riding for half a day with a wet butt is not too comfy, even if it is warm.


The same lake covered in mist

I was really looking forward to the free campsite on the Mississippi, the sun was shining and I was in a good mood.


Crossing a bridge in Havana


Little rainbow on my lens

I finally mad it to Ursa and followed the directions that freecampsites.net had given.
Luckily there were signs stating Bear Creek Park, cause the guy had missed mentioning one turn off.
Halfway on the dirt road I got nervous, as the road was turning muddy. I have to admit, I do not like mud. But I got through unscathed and rode into the park. I initially checked out the right side of the park, and almost picked out a spot when I thought I’d better check out the left side too. There were quite a few folks on the right side, and I really didn’t want to hear a bunch of noise till late at night.
There was only one guy camped on the left, with an empty campsite at the very end.
The fire pit was still smoking, turns out the guys that had been angina out there fishing all day had just left. Awesome! It was the perfect site.
I pitched my tent and tarp, and kicked back.


The nice thing about this place was, that I didn’t need to worry about bears, and could freely cook and keep food in the tent.
I really enjoyed myself there even though it was really windy and chilly. This also meant no mosquitos, so I didn’t mind at all.
The nights got down to 45 degrees, but I was cozy n my sleeping bag and fleece blanket.


Getting better at the peyote stitch


Early morning mist





I was here at the perfect time I think, as twice a year the park gets flooded when the Mississippi dams bursts. Amazing how the water can rise 8 feet to flood it all.


found a punk caterpillar in my tent

I spend the weekend relaxing and planning my route to Iowa.
Seeing as I wanted to leave fairly early to do the long stretch to Ames, I ended up packing pretty much everything so the only thing to do in the morning was fill up my drybag and break down the tent.
Somehow it only saved me half an hour, as I still had to wait for the tent floor to dry.
Bummer, still, I was out of there by 9:30.
I was hoping that the mud would have dried out, and luckily it was. Unluckily I didn’t realize that the road was now a very rutty challenge, and I tried to stay in one of the groves the whole way out. I did pretty good, and even hopped over to another grove eventually.


I stayed on Illinois for a while longer, as I wanted to ride along the Mississippi for a while.






Rode through a historic little town of Mayfield.

I had seen on my GPS that there was a dirt road along the river, but had trouble finding it. I asked a local guy in a truck, and he told me that the road no longer goes all the way. Part of it got washed out. Bummer, that would have been a cool ride.


I got to Pella, a Dutch little town around 2.
I had been there years ago as well, and really enjoyed it.







I loved all the murals
I spend a couple of hours having a salad and an iced chai in a local coffee shop.
An older gentleman, a long-haul truck driver, asked if he could join me, and I said he could. We talked about all the places we had been, and there were so many that we had both seen, it was really neat. He however went to all of them by bicycle, so hats off!!
It was funny, he was in his seventies and was getting married on Friday. He told me his girlfriend told him to either marry him or get out of the house as he had been living with her for a while. LOL.

I arrived at Robert and Wendy’s place around 5, both happy to see me again.
Did my grocery shopping today, and have enough food for the next couple of weeks.
Tomorrow I’m heading out to South Dakota, then Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon.

How does that age-old saying go?
All good things must come to an end?
I really don’t like that saying so I am going to disagree with it.
Not only does it sound ominous and macabre, but limited as well.
I think I’d like to change the saying to: “No good thing ends, it just changes into something else that is good!”
So does this ending of my Ride, which started early June 2012, and ends more than 3 years later in this small city of Ashland, Oregon.
Do I feel like I’ve come home? Not really, but I feel it will be a good place to be for a while.
Anyways, let me continue where I left off, namely Iowa.

I had a great short stay with my friends Robert and Wendy. Robert is currently working on his third book, and I am excited for him. I can’t say what it is about, but I can say that the subject intrigues me!
I got packed up fairly early and hit the road, heading west.


I rode by lots and lots of soybeans and sunflowers


And corn


Wow, Iowa has water!


I hit South Dakota after about 4 hrs and headed towards one of the free campsites I had found online. This one seemed to be smack-dab in the middle of a town called Vermillion. Not normally my thing, but I figured I should be fine for one night.
On the bright side, if I was early enough I could snag an electric site!


Yep I was early enough


My neighbor



There was a grocery store across the road, with a Redbox, so I had a great evening with my laptop plugged in, watching a DVD and having dinner.
Traffic wasn’t too bad, but at 3 AM they started some sort of work across the road which involved a really noisy tool, and I ended up having to put plugs in my ears to be able to go back to sleep.
Needless to say I got out of there real early the next morning.
My next free site was near Hermosa, south of Rapid City.
I had seriously miscalculated the length of that ride, but the trip was beautiful, and the road I took pretty much deserted.




Amazing cloud formations




The landscape slowly turned more arid


Yeah I guess I can’t be looking up all the time, but the light through the clouds was just a joy to behold


Slowly turning into the Dakotas I was expecting









My butt was sore, and it was getting late, but I finally found the dirt road toward French Creek campground. Turns out it was a 14 mile dirt road, and some of it washboard and squirelly. I was tired and literally counted every mile I made.


I finally arrived to find a very beautiful and fenced in camping area with out house and shaded benches.
I opened the gate and snuck Spirit inside, then I found a great spot with a large bush that I hid her behind so that she was not visible from the dirt road.
I pitched my tent at just a little, and crashed. I was exhausted! Woke up in the night as it was really cold, tossed some Hothands in my sleeping bag and went right back to sleep. Occasionally I woke up to some nibbling sounds and hollered shooooo!!
I was too tired to see what was causing it.


I am guessing a little field mouse




Standing on top of the bench’s roof





Seeing as I was still tired from my long ride I opted to hang a day. It was peaceful and no traffic! Well, occasionally a car would drive by, heading to the agate beds.
I decided to go and take a hike there.


French Creek I presume




A lot of prickly growth there


Yeah, so not happening! The water and the weather were freezing, and I didn’t need to see the agate beds that badly!

I had a restful day but weird, as outside it was too cold due to the strong cold north wind, and inside the tent got really hot with the sun shining inside.
All I had to do when I got too hot was jump outside and stand in the wind for 10 seconds until I started shivering. Then the heat felt good for a while
It was another cold but peaceful night with the coyotes howling in the not too far distance, and my nocturnal muncher gone as I hid all the food.

Got up late the next day as it was too cold to crawl out of my sleeping bag.
But the wind had died down and it turned warm enough to get up and start packing.


This time the dirt road seemed easy! Amazing what being tired does to one!


Blurry shot, but in quite a few meadows a lot of colorful boxes had been stacked up. Maybe beehives??


heading to Wyoming


Got stuck behind a gang of Harleys riding toward Mount Rushmore





Took a little detour on wildlife road, well, not much to see, and the only wildlife I saw were donkeys!
Before I knew it the national park ended and I was heading toward a highway when all of a sudden coming out of a turn, I had to stop Spirit and let big guys cross the road. Go figure!






The little buffalo was the last to cross the road.




Wow, turned into nowhere land!! Did I mention the roads were deserted?


Made it to Wyoming


I have to say, it’s the nicest state sign I have seen









This time I did not have that long of a day to ride, but as I had left rather late, it looked like it would be close to dark before I made it to Ayres Natural Bridge Park.
I stopped in Douglas to stock up and water and some snacks.
Then I noticed that they carried some really cool stuff


I loved these hoodies, and wished I had just gotten one.


This one had a huge peace sign on the back.

Turns out I got to Ayres Natural Bridge faster than I thought.


Found the road


Awesome!!



I pitched my tent and walked around some


Humongous cliff wall


Totally ignored me!


Wasn’t allowed to park Spirit on the grass, but as they closed the gates at 8 I didn’t need to worry about anyone disappearing with her.
I was a noisy evening, and after having had two days of quiet I had a bit of a hard time dealing with the screaming kids and parents.
Around 10 everyone crashed so I finally fell asleep.
It was a lot warmer there, so I didn’t need any hothands

The next morning










This is really a nice place to camp for free if you want a more “civilized” campground instead of being in the boonies.
I packed up pretty speedily and left toward Idaho.



The funny thing about maps is, that you can’t really see by just looking at it, how huge a state really is. I guess if I really looked at it, especially the little scale on the bottom, I probably would have known that Wyoming was a big state.
Needless to say getting to the west side of Wyoming took me longer than I had thought. Still it was a great ride/


Had to pull over when I saw these on the side of the road




is that water?


Amazing in all this desert all of a sudden lots of water


Is that snow on those mountains?












All of a sudden it started to look like fall, I love the colors of changing leaves

I kept riding, but after a while it got colder as the elevation was rising. There was no way I was gong to make it to the free campsite, so when I saw the sign falls camp round I decided to take a look as to how much it was.
It was a really nice place and only $10, so I looped around the camping a few times to find a place I liked. I really wanted the view of the mountains, but some people were sitting at the picnic table and I wasn’t sure if they were going to be camping, didn’t see a tent, or if they were just having a picnic.
I walked up to them and asked, and they said that if I wanted the spot I could take it, they would be leaving shortly as they were done with their dinner. Awesome!
I went for a walk, to the falls.







When I got back they were leaving, so I pitched my tent near the trees, and had my view of the mountains.


Unfortunately I couldn’t ride spirit down there, but she was close.
There were also bear-proof food bins, Awesome!!


Even a bear-paw campsite number



I had bought some of Chester’s corn puffs, not as good as the curly corn ones that I had found in Canada, but still, very tasty.
I put the bag in my cloth grocery bag, and tied it on the strap of my drybag. It was bouncing around in the wind while I rode, but I figured it wouldn’t do the puffs any harm. Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong!!


Only a couple survived, and even those were diminished in size. Dang!!!

It looked to be a cold night, so I got my Hot Hands out.
Yep, it was freezing!! Literally!


Spirit’s frosty seat

Not only had it been cold, I also kept waking up to the sound of nibbling, even though I had put all my food in the bear-proof bin.


Some critter liked paper towels!! Really????


My hands were freezing, and the motorcycle gloves just too stiff. Guess socks can be used in other ways


I just loved this spot!


As I was enjoying the warmth of the morning sun, I noticed some dear walking in front of my tent. For me this is pretty much the main reason for camping in the wild (or in this case semi wild), seeing wild life!

The bummer about camping in cold weather is not being able to leave to leave around my usual time. First of all it’s just too cold to get up, so I hang in my sleeping bag as along as possible, second the tent get wet so I have to wait for the sun to be up high enough to dry it.
Leaving later definitely cuts into the riding time, and sometimes causes me to find a spot near dark, which I really don’t like to do.

It was fairly late by the time I left, but I was in good spirits.






Wow!




More fall colors


Getting nearer to Grand Teton National Park





I enjoyed the ride through Grand Teton, and landed in a town called Jackson afterward. The first thing I saw was a sporting goods store, and I looped around to find a parking spot. As luck would have it someone had just pulled out.
It was a really busy little place, full with tourists and shops. Quite a few people walked up and started asking the usual questions, so it was a while ere I made it to the store, where I bought some more fuel for my little MSR rocket stove.
When I got back to the bike, a few more folks stopped to talk. The girl who was with them had just bought a $10 warm weather shirt that looked really nice, so asked her where she got it, and walked there to get myself one too. I figured if the rest of the journey was going to be cold, at least I had a warm shirt for the night.

Getting out of Jackson was a drag though, it was hot, and lots of traffic. On top of that there was construction on the road so I spent more time than I was comfortable sitting on Spirit without moving in the hot boiling sun wearing full riding gear.


Yipee, finally made it to Idaho.





I have to say that Idaho surprised me!
I had been in Idaho 3 years ago at the start of my journey with JettnJim. We rode from Lewiston to Boise and then south to Moab.
I remembered really liking Idaho, but had forgotten how much.



I found a Wal-Mart in one of the towns I rode through, and bought some Rotella-T.
I was at my 3000 mile mark, and normally I don’t wait that long to change my oil.
This particular store had some great food, even the ready-made Indian food packages. So I did some major shopping
Of course, where was I going to the oil after having bought so much food??
No problem, strapped it under the bungee cords of the dry-bag.
I had wasted a lot of daytime today, so I hopped back on hoping I wouldn’t get myself in trouble now.

Looked like lava

As I pulled over to take some better pictures, I noticed another KLR had just pulled in as well. Of course curiosity getting the better of me, I had to go over and say hi.
Turns out he was from Poland, and as we got to talking it looked like he had traveled to the same places I had been in Canada and Alaska.
He was heading in the opposite direction. I told him my ADV name and he said he’d look me op and say hi online, which he did! Hi again viadrowiec!




I kept riding hoping to make it to my destination before it got dark.
The sun was setting behind the hills as I rode through Stanley and headed north on Hwy 21.
Forest road 162 was supposed to be the place with a lot of free camp spots, but I couldn’t find it.
Finally I had to admit defeat, and decided to find something on my own.
It had gotten dark, but the moon was out shedding quite a bit of light.
Then I noticed a bathroom off to the left, with a big parking lot looking like area, and I rode onto the dirt toward it. As I got closer I saw a little dirt road heading inland and I took it. Turns out it ended at a circle that people had camped on before, as there was a fire pit. I saw a clearing under the trees and pitched my tent.
Those headlights are an awesome invention, and it made pitching my tent in the dark a piece of cake.
The bathroom was a short walk away, which was wonderful, no need to dig a hole!
I was really tired so I crashed in no time.

Yep, another cold night, but not as cold as the night before.
As soon as I was able to face the cold I got up, and after a cup of hot Dandy-Blend (gluten free non caffeine coffee replacement) I was ready to tackle packing and changing the oil on Spirit.






Of course I didn’t have an oil pan, but one of my Tupperware bins would work.
I tossed everything out of it, and put one of the large2.5 gallon Ziploc bags in it.
Then I drained the oil in it after having let Spirit idle for a while


Worked like a charm


I had found a funnel at Wal-Mart as well, and used it to put the used oil back in the bottles. It was a very easy way to change the oil, so I was bummed I hadn’t thought of dong it this way before. Note to other travelers, having a small Tupperware bin and some Ziplocs comes in handy!!
By the time I was done the tent had dried, and I was ready to hit the road again.






Highway 21 was awesome!! What a delight this road is. Lots of twisties, amazing views, and best of all, not a soul in sight!


Highway to heaven





As I was riding I saw several campsite locations marked with just a tent, and then the picture of a shovel and bucket. I wondered if they were free sites.
Then as I saw another one of those signs my curiosity was piqued, and I rode into one of those sites to see if there was some sort of payment booth.
What I saw took my breath away




Yep, I was definitely not going any further today!
I loved the spot! Amazing view, and free.
I pitched my tent between the trees and strung the tarp above it to keep the sun, and or rain from getting to my tent, and hung up my hammock. I was gong to hang for a few days!!
The temperature was warm, but I suspected the nights to be cold as I was high up in the mountains.

As I ran out of Hot Hands I decided to take Spirit and ride to Lowman, about 10 minutes away. There I saw a little store and restaurant, and the guy talked me into staying and having a salad, which I did, Luckily he had something similar to hot hands, namely hot feet. The only difference was that these came with a sticky side.
This actually worked great, as they stayed where I stuck them in the sleeping bag.

On the way back to camp I noticed another campground, but his one had a bathroom. Not nearly as nice as my place, but seeing as it was only one minute away from where I was camped, I figured I could always ride down to use it.

The night was cold, so I was glad to have found the hot feet!

The next day I filled up 2 large zip locks with water and put them in the sun to heat up. It was time for a bath. My idea to just jump in was quickly dismissed after I put my feet in the water!! No way Jose!!!



The water was as clear as glass and very very very cold!!!!

Then I sat on a log in my bikini and washed my hair.
It felt great to be there and take a simple shower!
The rest of the day I hung around and relaxed.
I almost didn’t want to leave the next day, but I made myself pack up anyways.
As I was putting my jacket on, a guy in a truck pulled in and looked at me.
I told him I was leaving and that he should stay here as it was an amazing place.
He looked at me worriedly and asked, “What about wild life? Did you see any bears?? I almost laughed! Why was he worried about bears?? He had a camper!
I told him no, the only wildlife I had seen were chipmunks.
I left and headed toward Oregon.


This road is the Idaho version of the Tennessee tail of the dragon road I think. I lost count of all the hairpin turns. There is not a straight stretch for miles on end!!







I was nearing the end of the windy road and into the noisy city of Boise.
I styed on the outskirts, but still, it was very trafficky and noisy.
After an hour or so, I got to the Oregon Border






Yeah, Oregon is not just trees!

I had left rather late, and there was no way I was going to make it to Bend before dark, so I looked for another place on the website and found one near Unity off Hwy 26.
The area had been so dry and arid, that I was wondering weather or not I would be camping between the snakes and Scorpions. I hit Unity before sunset and after some wrong turns found the road heading to the campsites.


It was a long dirt road and the sun shone in my eyes a lot.


Hmmm, why did I pick this road?


I found a nice little spot, but noticed that there weren’t any bathrooms that I could see. There probably would have been if I had kept riding, but I was tired and decided that digging a hole was preferable over riding some more down this funky dirt road.
It was really quiet there, other than the sound of the little bubbling brook nearby. Only a few cars drove by on their way to the other campsites I imagined.
I slept great that night, and for the first time in a while I didn’t need the hot hands.


When I woke up in the morning and looked outside I was greeted by a deer!
It looked at me, and I at it, and neither one of us moved. Then he just ignored me and kept on munching. There were 2 other deer with him/her.


The little stream

I had picked a good spot, and the sun dried my tent in no time, it really wasn’t even that wet, just slightly dam with condensation.
I managed to get out of there before 10, which really is a feat for me!




On my way toward Bend I saw the smoke of a nearby forest fire




Then the scenery changed






Yay, trees again!!

I made it to Bend, and was overwhelmed by the amount of traffic.
Of course I missed the exit for road 372, or actually, I read the map wrong and turned left before I hit it. I just wanted to get out of town, as I got there around rush hour. I ended up taking the highway south, and then cut across using the lava cast forest road. I did end up riding the long way around, but Hwy 372 was really beautiful, so I didn’t mind.
What I did mind was that it was getting late again!
And cold!!!!! At one pint I started freezing up, so I pulled over to put on my nice warm $10 sweater form Jackson.
I saw plenty of signs for camp grounds, but I wanted to get to a lower elevation as I was sure I’d freeze my but off at 9000 feet.
Finally when I got down to about 5500 feet I started looking for those forest campsites. The first one I turned on changed into a road that I was not comfortable riding on, namely very sandy!! No way!! I turned around and tried my luck on the next dirt road that had a campground sign on it.
I rode for about 15 minutes, and I finally came to the conclusion that if there was a campground, it was too far for me. This time the road had gotten so narrow that I had a heck of a time turning Spirit around. I almost dropped her!!



On my way back to the main road I wondered if I had assumed wrongly that the campground was on the right side of the road where the sign was. Maybe it was no the left??
When I got back to the intersection I crossed it and turned to the right on the dirt road. Sure enough, the campground was there! What the?????? Why put the sign on the right if the campsites are on the left?
I saw a guy with a flashlight, who told me that the free campsites were behind me, so I looped back on the highway and made a left turn on the dirt road.
By now it was fully dark. I found a site that looked flat enough and pitched my tent. The bathroom was near, and so was a trashcan. What luxury!!

The night was really cold, but I was happy not to be at 9000 feet
When I woke up in the morning I saw where I was.







The sign on the right side of the road!

I left fairly early as I was excited to see Crater Lake again. I had been there years ago when my kids were little, and I had taken them across country in an SUV camping along the way and visiting national parks.


As I got to the entrance I noticed that they too had their share of forest fires.

At the booth the guy told me that there wouldn’t be a fee today, yippee, but that I had to stay on the west road as the nice windy road on the east was closed for the bicyclists. Bummer!
Oh well, turns out that the west road was nice too. And I could always go back in the spring and take the east road.









Amazingly blue water




A woman taking a shot of Spirit, turns out she was from Maui!!


Dead Indian road, leading into Ashland.


Mount Ashland! Beautiful now but must look gorgeous in the winter!


When I got to Ashland my dad treated me to a night in a motel!
I took a long hot bath and washed my clothes. Tomorrow would look for a place to camp, and for a place to live.

My dad talked me into staying a campground near Ashland, as I had reception there, and people could reach me, he even paid for most nights.


I didn’t tell him about the rattlesnakes!


I pitched my tent at Campground number nine and paid for a couple of days.

Then I went into town to explore, and I found an amazing little restaurant called Ruby’s that sold vegan and gluten free food, as well as meat and egg dishes.


I ordered a curried tofu dish in a gluten free chapatti.
It was delicious!!!

Ashland is pretty much a hippy-town, so I felt right at home!
I was in Ashland for 9 days, looking for a place to live, and camping out.
OSF (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) had posted on their website that they were looking for Wardrobe assistants, so I immediately applied for the position, and spend a couple of days typing my resume and the other junk that goes with it.
At the same time I found out that there is a Trucking school in Medford and that they have scholarships. So as a backup plan I might become a trucker.
I love to travel so I figure if I become a long haul trucker I still get to be on the road, see the sights, and make good money too.

Too my dismay I discovered that Ruby’s fries everything on the same grill, meat eggs and vegan stuff, so needless to say I didn’t order anything that required them to use the grill. Bummer


Sweet potato fries and salad.

I found an apartment that I could afford, but I got a bit claustrophobic when I saw it, One window looks out to a wooden fence and the other window points to the stairs of the upstairs apartments. On top of it all, the place smelled gnarly.
I am so hoping to find a cabin somewhere, but the woods are not exactly near Ashland, which I didn’t realize.
Then there was the question as to what to do with Spirit and my stuff when I was on Kauai. I found a couple of storage places but they didn’t want any combustibles in their units, so I would have to drain the gas and the oil .
Then I remembered an ADV member who lived in Ashland, Mofrid (Bill) and I PMed him to ask if he could store Spirit for me. Luckily he said that he had room behind his shop in the garage. Awesome!! He swung by to say hi one morning, and to tell me where his place was. I found it pretty easily.
Then Sunday morning I woke up to a text message from my ex, saying that our son was in the hospital with a perforated appendix. S….t!!
I called the airlines immediately to see if I could change the departure date.

Alaska Airlines waved the fee for changing my flight, but as the flight from LA was more expensive, my sweet dad paid the difference, hopefully I’ll be able to pay him back soon.
As I was on the phone with AA, I heard someone call my name, and I peeked my head out of the tent. There on the pull-in, stood someone with a truck waving. As I didn’t have my glasses on I couldn’t see who it was so I asked him to hold on a minute and explained what was going on.
When I hung up the phone and put my glasses on I found myself looking at someone I knew, but couldn’t place. It was Logan from Silver City New Mexico!!!! I didn’t recognize him! I was so surprised to see him in Ashland, that I was speechless…..
Turns out he has family nearby, and as he sees my Spot locations he knew where I was. Unfortunately he came at a bad time, as my flight was leaving the next morning, and I had to pack and get ready. We said goodbye and I packed rapidly and rode my stuff to Bills garage. Afterward I ran into town to get food for on the flight and some yarn to keep me occupied.
Bill was really helpful and let me spend the night in his office and got up in the middle of the night to drive me to the Medford airport. My flight was at 6 so I had to be there at 4:30. Thanks so much Bill, you are a lifesaver!!

When I got to Kauai I headed straight to the airport, my ex’s girlfriend came and picked me up. Travis was drugged out on morphine to kill the pain.
I spend 6 days with him in the hospital (they have this amazing chair that folds out in a bed) and the nurses were all very sweet and helpful.
He now is home with a drain tube sticking out of his side, to get rid of the infection around the appendix. I drain his bag in the mornings and flush his tube when needed.
The theater is letting me stay in a little room under the costume shop, which is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare as people are there day in and out, sometimes till 1 or two in the morning making noise.
I can’t wait till this is over, and my son is better.
Hopefully I will find a place to live when I get back, I long to make my own tofu and bake my own gluten-free bread.

Well…….. this is the end of my RR, and a new chapter of my live begins.
I want to thank each and every person who sheltered me, and took care of me while on the road. You are forever in my heart and memory. This journey would not have been anywhere near as great as it has been if it weren’t for you.
I also want to thank all my readers for reading and commenting. It has been a joy to get to know you even though we never met.
May there be another trip in the future, maybe New Zealand????

The photos will be visible again after November 9th when the bandwidth usage resets itself. using Photobucket has its drawbacks

Thanks for this essay. The photos and the crazy stories and the wilderness camping and all the rest have been great fun and make me look forward to my next cross country trip which perforce may be a few years away. And not with a tent I hope. Ashland sounds like it may do you nicely but I hope you keep riding not least as a way to refresh your own memories.
Cheers
Michael
Key West