Author: Matt (Page 3 of 23)

It is hard to fathom that four months have passed by since we launched out on this journey. We have progressed steadily northward but our goal of Glacier NP now looks doubtful as it’s begun snowing up there and we still have a commitment here in the Bitterroot Valley til mid-October. It’s been a really great place to “camp” though and we will find it hard to leave the area. Montana has grown on us for sure. We had originally thought we would be pursuing business interests along the way but that has not really materialized as the last decade or so of work-related stress has slowly melted away. It has been interesting watching the body and mind relax and let down into a less stressful routine. In short, life has become more enjoyable and sharing it with my lovely wife makes it even more so.

Saturday mornings have often taken us into Hamilton to the local Farmers Market where we have enjoyed the local produce and arts & crafts. Rhonda enjoys sampling all the home grown veggies and we end up bringing bags of the stuff home. I am usually happy sampling some baked goods but resist bringing anything home since I spend my money on a pound of locally roasted coffee from Big Creek Roasters. One morning I spent a little bit of time chatting with a local knife maker (Ron Panko) and left wishing that I could find something like that to take up as a retirement “hobby” that would still produce some income. He makes the knives from scrap metal like chain saw blades, barbed wire fencing, steel cables, etc. and they have some very interesting patterns to them. He also makes the handles and leather sheaths. If we end up staying in the area I might have to see about “apprenticing” with him.

On Tuesdays we have a farmers market right here in Darby so there has not been any shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables on the table lately. On the short walks into towns we have visited other local stores as well but choices are limited as Darby is a small town and has not seen much economic prosperity in a while. It is a shame really and somewhat curious as a major US highway runs right through town and there is quite a lot of traffic. What the area needs is some industry. Since the mill shut down there is no significant employer.

Friday nights have recently become more interesting as school is back in session and we are located right next to the high school football field. The Darby Tigers have won the last two games, the most recent one being Homecoming. There was a nice Homecoming Parade that went right down Hwy 93 much to the chagrin of any motorists traveling through. Amongst all the fire engines and other vehicles there was a black 1961 T-Bird which made me think of Dad’s Lost Bird. It overheated right at the end so I was able to get a picture of it cooling down.

Which reminds me…we made a trip up to Helena the other day and stayed overnight in a small community called Deer Lodge. Deer Lodge happens to be the home of the Montana State Prison and they have a museum (several actually) of the old prison and part of it includes an amazing Auto Museum. We toured the auto museum and really enjoyed looking at the 150 plus cars that date back to the beginning of automotive history. It was a bit of a shocking find…apparently it is one of the top ten auto museums in the country. There was totally restored example of Dad’s Lost Bird too. Even the special edition.

The telephone is not ringing. The silence is undisturbed by ringing, chirping, melodies, and other noises which are generally lumped into a category these days known as ringtones. I actually find this to be a very pleasant sound…the silence that is…and over the years have developed a mild case of telephobia. Well, ok…maybe not a phobia but dislike of phone communication in general. If you know anything of my past you would find this ironic to say the least. Until recent years I have always been a fast adopter of new technology and always knew what the latest computer processor was and how fast the data transfer rate was for such and such technology, etc. Not to mention that I spent eight years of my career as the Telecommunications Manager for the Iowa Army National Guard.

Eventually, I will get around to telling you that I have a new phone and a new phone number but I am going to digress for a bit as I reflect back on why I’m even having this dialog. You can skip to the end if you are in a hurry. This gets a little long. Continue reading

Workamping, a contraction of “work camping” is a form of RV camping involving singles, couples or families who work part-time or full-time. The people who are Workamping can be called Workampers. A Workamper combines part-time or full-time paid or volunteer work with RV camping. Workampers generally receive compensation in the form of a campsite, usually with utilities (electricity, water, and sewer hookups) and additional wages. Each situation varies.

New digs, a few responsibilities, and lots of new places to explore! We have landed at the Travellers Rest Cabins and RV Park in Darby, MT, until mid-October. How did this happen you ask? Well, Glacier NP, MT was our next planned destination but a series of events occurred that created a diversion in our plans. First off, we became aware of something called workamper through a conversation RHonda had with one of our camp hosts, Ed at Heise Hot Springs.

Ed gave us a couple of websites to learn more. A few days later as I was perusing the various opportunities, I found one in Darby, MT which was along our planned route to Glacier NP. About this same time, Rhonda was having another conversation with a family in the local tire store. When RHonda asked, “What things should I not miss in the area?”, the lady replied, “The Salmon, ID/Darby/Hamilton, MT area. So, when Rhonda got home and we compared notes there was one of those ‘celestial harp’ moments…hmmm…maybe we should call and check on this. Well, a long story short we called, arrived the 2nd, took the job and are helping out part time here until mid-October. Jim and Mary (the owners) are super-nice folks and we get along well. We are getting settled in and becoming familiar with the procedures and routines necessary to run the operation when we are on-duty. It is a smaller resort with 6 RV sites, 3 log cabins, 3 hotel rooms in a log cabin, 1 cottage, and some tent space. Nice place to rest. Ha ha. We are impressed by how Jim and Mary serve the community and its travelers.

Darby is in the beautiful, serene Bitterroot Valley with the Bitterroot mountain range on the west and the Sapphire mountain range on the east. We are listed in the hard core back backers ‘go to’ book as a nice place to stay so we are visited by those coming off The Continental Divide Trail and bicyclists who are traveling down the TransAmerica Trail. There were a pair of cyclists from France who came through the other evening and stayed with us. There is a lot to do here and we plan to get started exploring pretty soon. I am waiting for my new hiking shoes to arrive at the sporting goods store as they did not have what I wanted and had to order them.

FINALLY! Our first hike in the Tetons started with a drive into Victor, ID and a stop at the Emporium for second breakfast; a Huckleberry Milkshake. This idea of “second breakfast”, which is a Hobbit line from the Lord of the Rings, is starting to have favor with me. 😉 The Emporium is an interesting little tourist shop with a soda fountain and the usual trinkets. They also have a nice hat selection one of which ended up leaving on my head. The huckleberry milkshake is a local specialty and was quite good. Suitably fueled up, we headed towards the Teton Pass on the way to Jackson, WY looking for the trail head. I missed it the first time and we ended up making a trip over the pass to Wilson, WY. I had to ask someone on the other side for directions. Heading back up the pass with its 10% grades and switchbacks, I was grateful I was not one of the drivers I faced coming up the pass with a trailer! At the bottom of the pass, we eventually found the trail head and prepared to head into the Wilderness. We had driven right by thinking it was only a chain up station for semis.

Coal Creek heads up into the Teton range and is classified as moderately difficult. Primarily, I suspect, due to the elevation gain as the trail is quite nice and well maintained. It starts out in a small, forested canyon with a bit of a primeval feel to it but soon breaks out into a more open riparian zone with tons of wildflowers. I have never seen such a display of wildflowers as in this area. The vegetation is quite robust and the flowers have grown from chest to over shoulder high for at least 1.5 miles of the trail. RHonda was euphoric, stopping often to admire them, exclaim about their size and mumbled to herself constantly about them. The trail diverged from the creek bed and ascended up and across the side of the valley through a mixed forest dominated mostly by aspen trees. The amazing display of flowers continued as we climbed steadily towards the saddle from which Coal Creek flows south and Mesquite Creek flows northward. Continue reading

Our boondocking eventually came to an end and we pulled out of the Routt National Forest headed for the Yampa River State Park near Craig, CO. Our first stop was in a little town called Oak Creek where we had seen an old-fashioned drug store with a soda fountain on our way back from Steamboat Springs a few days ago.

A Real Soda Fountain

Bonfiglio Drug was a real flash from the past; what a general store is supposed to be like. Wood floors, a little bit of everything, and most importantly a working soda fountain. I have this thing for vanilla malts and about the only place I will indulge this passion is at a bona fide soda fountain. I think the last one I had was last summer in La Veta, CO at Charlie’s General Store. It was a marvelous treat and we were soon headed west out of Oak Creek on County Road 27 taking the back roads to Craig. This turned out to be a great decision as we soon found ourselves in a wide open range land which couldn’t help but make me think of how the land would have looked to the pioneers as they traversed the territory.

We made an unexpected stop along the way in a valley by the Middle Creek Ranch to have a bit of lunch and let the left-front brake cool off. It seemed to be having a problem overheating. Continue reading