Seattle

Mixing business and pleasure. We went to Seattle for the national sleep conference known as APSS. We made it to Snoqualmie Pass on the first day and spent the night at Denny Creek Campground. For the next four nights we stayed at Dash Point State Park in Federal Way. It's about half way between Seattle and Tacoma. It's a nice little oasis in a sea of traffic. We went to Pike Place Market. We had a glass of wine in the Space Needle. We had lunch at the Crab Pot. Kimo got a tick on his face and was stung by a bee. His eye nearly swelled shut. When the conference ended we headed for the Olympic Peninsula. We spent a night at Hamma Hamma and hiked up to Lena Lake. We had dinner in Port Angeles and spent the night in the Hoh rain forest. Kimo ate a slug (his second) and gagged on the slime for nearly an hour. We played in the Pacific at Ruby Beach and headed back to Snoqualmie Pass. Before hitting the road we hiked up to Franklin Falls. We learned some lessons. We had some fun. We need a shower.

Seattle

Fairmont and Lake Louise

The Captain's Blog is being expanded to include trips in my new Honda Element, Ella Dorado. We went to Fairmont Hot Springs in the interior of British Columbia. We got the Romance Package for our fourth anniversary. Two days of soaking with dinner and champagne breakfast. We went for a short hike and watched the water cascade into the creek. We also walked up to the old bath house. Next, we drove across the continental divide to Banff, but not before we had to stop and take a picture of a big horn sheep. In Banff we went to the home of the Canadian National Park system, the Cave and Basin. It was a really stinky sulphorous cave. As we left the park we saw two elk in somebody's front yard. In Lake Louise, we stayed at the Lake Louise Inn. The room had a great view, and a really nice jacuzzi tub. We made some early season turns and I was happy to find out that a fair amount of the resort was already open. My legs weren't ready for three thousand vertical feet. It was pretty busy, but what do you expect when the World Cup Super G race is going on. The drive home was a little slow due to the falling snow, but Roxanne handled it like a champ.

Fairmont and Lake Louise

Congratulations, Obama!

God Bless America, and every place else.

Roadtrip 08: Going Back to Cali

Wow, we packed a lifetime into our vacation. I don't know where to begin. We started off by driving to the Columbia River Gorge. We were waterfall rich. Then, we went to the Redwoods in Northern California. It rained for two days and stifled my hiking/biking aspirations. But we had a great time at Patrick's Point with Tyson and his son Ian. We then drove down to Point Reyes, just North of San Francisco. The campground I had in mind was full, so Roxanne wanted to sleep in the trailer on the side of the road. Forty Five seconds later the sheriff informed me that it was illegal. He was fast. We drove out to the Point Reyes lighthouse and then kayaked in Tomales bay and drove to Santa Cruz. We enjoyed the hospitality of Steve, Anji, and Rawly for three days and then headed up to Tahoe, but not before, stopping in to see Grandma and Pop in Sacramento. Three days in Tahoe included a full day at the beach doing nothing but kayaking with the Cap'n. We drove for a full day to Wells, NV and camped at Angel Lake, in the Ruby Mountains. Shortly after breakfast and fairly close to town I drove over a cattle guard and snapped the tung on the trailer. We had the mirthship towed into town and hired ourselves a welder. His name was Chris Otto and he was a man of few words. The incident occurred at 9:30 in the morning and we were back on the road by 3:30 in the afternoon. Our last stop was Shelley, Idaho. The little RV park had showers and a disc golf course. It was just outside of Idaho Falls.

Polebridge and Bowman Lake

We tried to camp at Avalanche Campground along the Going to the Sun Road, but it proved to be tourist town and we weren't able to secure a spot. However, a good captain doesn't leave port without a backup plan, so we drove up the North Fork of the Flathead River, along the western boundary of Glacier Park. Fifteen miles of washboard, bumpy, at times one lane, deliverance style road, led us to the Polebridge Mercantile. We enjoyed their fresh baked goods and Huckleberry Margaritas. After driving up a more narrow, more bumpy, less than one lane road, the banjo playing started. Bowman Lake campground was home to a herd of six deer. They liked to nibble at the leftovers that campers threw into the firepits. We hiked 7.2 miles to Lower Quartz Lake on Sunday and halfway around Bowman on Monday. Our little trailer survived this trek, but our adventure was not without casualties. Due to the rough ride, it looked like a photon torpedo went off inside, and somehow our water container was punctured and leaked into the galley.

Polebridge

NAID and 2 Med

Touched down at the North American Indian Days in Browning, MT. This is one of the biggest pow wows in the country. We really enjoyed the Traditional style and the Chicken Dance style competitions. We also watched the tiny tots and the Golden Age dancers. We completed the experience with an Indian Taco and some of the greasiest curly fries I've ever eaten. We spent one night in Browning before heading into Glacier Park. We took a boat ride across Two Medicine Lake and hiked to Upper Two Medicine. Although it's mid-July the wildflowers are still in bloom and the hike was a rainbow of colors. Before the return boat ride we stopped at Twin Falls and I hiked around on the rocks and posed for some photos. The Mirthship Halcyon is making all of Montana our home.

NAID and 2 Med

Many Glacier

Co-pilot/Astrogator, Roxanne "Rabbit" Taylor, has been wanting to go horseback riding since we moved to Montana. Last week was her non-birthday so I took her riding in Glacier park. We drove around to the other side of the park to a place called Many Glacier. After a lengthy discussion if the correct pronunciation was a homonym with "mini glacier", we arrived at my new favorite part of the national park. The old hotel built on the lakeshore was one of the inspirations for "The Shining". Not because it's haunted, but because it had a year round caretaker in a very remote area. The horseback riding was a big hit. Rox said it was as cool as the dolphin swim, the dolphin swim, swim with the dolphins.

Many Glacier

Captain's Lag

The captain's been lagging on his log. The crew has made three memorable trips recently. First we went to Farragut State Park. It's a really nice place with disc golf courses and 45 miles of Mt. bike trails. Next, we went to Priest Lake. Another awesome place with loads of bike trails. Lastly, we visited the Goat Lick Overlook on the south end of Glacier National Park.

Farragut,Priest Lake,Goat Lick

Whirlwind Dreamers

Took Hal on a 2,200 mile 5 day trip to Kalispell Montana. Stopped at Craters of the Moon National Park. Camped along the Salmon River. Saw a 6 foot tall jack rabbit (Roxanne nearly ran him over). Got new jobs. Drove back really fast to get to work on time. Averaged 24 mpg. Spent $20 on campsites and slept in two rest areas. Spent $113 on groceries. Total trip cost was $478.99. If we would have flown, plane tickets were $600 each. We would have had to rent a car, get two nights in a motel, pay for parking at the airport, and eat all our meals at restaurants or fast food. Rough estimate $2,000. I think the Mirthship Halcyon saved us $1,500.

roadtrip

Fallen Leaf Lake

Captain's Blog Stardate 20070604
Spent two nights at Fallen Leaf Lake campground in S. Lake Tahoe. This is probably the best campground I've ever stayed at. Over two hundred campsites but they are well spaced and lots of trees. We chose one in a little aspen grove. We had friends visit us, and hang out around the campfire. We roasted marshmallows. We laughed. We drank beer, wine, port, schnapps and brandy. It was fun. Only mildly bothered by Kiosk Mary and Neighbor Larry. Good times. We put new bike racks on the Forester, and they worked well.

Davis Creek

Captain's Blog, star date 20070528
Spent a night at Davis Creek Park in the Washoe valley. Due to the holiday weekend, we saw signs indicating the campground was full. I led a landing party up the Ophir Creek trail to pass the time. The trail was a grueling climb in the hot sun. About three miles up the trail we crossed the creek and shortly after that we turned around. When we got back to the campground we saw a couple loading up their popup camper. We got permission to pull in and secured the site for the evening. Sleeping on the four inch memory foam mattress with sheets was a huge upgrade from sleeping bags on blue backpacking mats. On the way home we stopped for a tongue box picnic at the rim trail parking/picnic area, at the top of spooner summit. We hiked around spooner lake on the nature trail before docking the mirthship at the cabin. One small incident occurred before the journey was done. Neighbor Larry (I think his name was actually Carl) saw me locking the gate as we left. He wanted to know why I was messing with the lock. I guess Larry didn't see us parking and tarping the trailer for the last half hour. He was nice though. Nice and drunk. After chatting and smelling his breath for five minutes, we headed home declaring the voyage a success.

Grover

Captain's Blog, star date 20070514
Took a short trip to the Grover Hot Springs Sector. We didn't soak in the hot springs but enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Engineering completed interior carpet on the walls and the vent fan. Crew members had to put up with noisy Larrys in the next site breaking camp at 0700. Once the Larrys were gone we slept til 1145. Checkout time is noon so we got to see how quickly we could prepare for launch. We weren't ready in fifteen minutes but departed shortly after 1200 hours. We piloted the Halcyon around the corner to a trailhead parking area where we opened the galley and prepared coffee and bagels.

Yosemite

Captain's Blog, star date 20070507
The ship and her two person crew have spent the last three days exploring the Yosemite quadrant. The Halcyon docked at Hodgdon and we were greeted by , Shari and Anthony. The weather was cool, make that cold. Environmental controls were offline due to recent ship construction. Snow and ice outside made temperatures in the sleeping quarters less than optimum. The crew fought off the chill and endured with smiles. We spent the night cloaked in a parking area not intended for overnight camping. The small size of the Halcyon went undetected by patrolling rangers. After coffee and bagels we secured a legal dock at site #64. Then we joined Shari and Anthony for a short hike at Hetch Hetchy reservoir to Wapama Falls, followed by pizza and beer in the valley at Curry Village. Engineering had the heat on before lights out and crew members were able to warm hands and feet in a cabin that was probably close to 80 degrees. Warmer temperatures and no threat of Ranger Larry made for a more restful sleep. After parting ways with Shari and Anthony we visited the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias near Cedar Flat. The size and beauty of these ancient life forms was breath taking. The hike to the grove was only a mile, but descended 400 ft in that short distance. After hiking back up to the trailhead, and some grumbling about the transporter being non-operational, we headed for home. The Halcyon pulled like a dream and despite some chilly temperatures her maiden voyage was a huge success.