Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Fear & Loathing On The Road From Yellowstone

6/15/16: Some clown said, "No pain, no gain."
Well, enough already with the pain:
Yellowstone National Park, June 3rd , 4PM Mountain Time, Ann steps on a loose, stone paver, and snaps three bones in her right ankle. For Ann, the 6-day 2000 mile trip back home at +- 350 miles per day, in a single-seat pickup (pulling the EGG) was akin to Dante's Inferno. Me too, for that matter, though I was lacking the pain; the ratty Yellowstone Clinic cast & the throes (pun intended) of a walker, then later a wheelchair bought in a Wyoming drug/medical supply/grocer.

And how do you eat when your mate can't ambulate? Ans: Motel breakfasts and Mickey D's salads, fries & once 'n a while a Big Mac. What the hell! Honest to
god, we tried restaurants from Northern
Wyoming to Car-Lotte & Mickey D's. won out. Once, we ordered a pizza (decent/too costly) & there was that Chinese delivery that had us both in the Jonny a good bit.
But when you look on the sunny side, we got back in time (just barely) for to have orthopedic surgery this AM at OrthoCarolina. It went well. She's zonked out in bed at the moment. Recoup, rehab June, July, Aug. then walking again by September.
I've got a second book in the works. By now, the editor has saturated the manuscript with I.T./ editing thing-gummies, demanding protracted spans of time to incorporate or reject. Being the two-legged one of the duo, I'll be hanging close, shopping, cooking, doing v. minimal cleaning. Think I'll hire a maid to come in every 10 days or so. Upshot: I'll have tons of time to work on the book. Funny how things turn out, but poor Ann. She's cared for me through several awful medical "trips." Now, it's my turn.
I'll attempt to tag on an assortment of photos from this trek. In closing, let me go on record as saying, "More Gain, Forget The Pain." Oh yeah, during 4000 mile EGG saga we met some some terrific folks---nary a surly one in the bunch. And GOD....you wouldn't believe the CORN!!!
"From the crooked timber of humanity not a straight thing was ever made."
---Immanuel Kant
Later......




































Saturday, June 4, 2016

More Pictures from Yellowstone





RODEO, THEN YELLOWSTONE

6/3 Following, are assorted photos from the Cody, Wy. 6/2 PM Rodeo, followed by sundry Yellowstone photos taken 6/2. It would be nice to present a caption beneath each photo but the Bluetooth/IPhone format makes this too difficult & detracts from party time. The upshot is that Yellowstone is nothing short of pure-T sensory overload. Everywhere you turn your camera (I-Phone) there is a mind boggling photograph. Which one do you take? Which one do you save and share? It'll drive you nuts. Mark Twain said "Yellowstone is where God went nuts." This is spot on.
One over-arching feeling is how tentative---how fragile---how apt this spot on earth could, with a moments notice, blow the hell up. You'll see more evidence of this wth maƱana's photos showing the steaming cauldrons.













Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Grub, Cleve. Pop-up, Big Pipes, Fighten Bars & Rodeo Promo

6/1 Went to Cody, Mal-Wart this AM to stock up, then took a hike along a cool, Cody greenway, and have been chillin and rubbernecking stuff at our KOA.
There's a lot of money in Cody. They say the billionaires have replaced the millionaires in Jackson Hole, Wy. & the millionaires have moved to Cody. Whatever.....Trailering folks are hard to top.
Five photos from today are:
1. Typical dinner in the EGG. Annie's the best.
2. Cleveland Pop-up crew just set up next door: Grandpa, Gramma, Divorced Daughter, Kids & a dog. Whew!!! Where do they all sleep?
3. Big Pipe Dude hauling the '92 JUMBO Airstream with three axles. He needs a big pipe if it'll give him even a 1/2 HP more, as that unit must weigh 3 tons, easy. Whatever turns you on, huh?
4. Yours Truly Ready For de Bars.
5. Rodeo Promo Clown tooled around the KOA in an '87 Cadillac Eldorado with speakers blasting out promotion for this year's FIRST CODY RODEO, tonight at PM. We be going. How exciting in this?!
Later.....











Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Cody Wy. Via Granite Pass

5/31. Some fourth gear, but mostly third- gear- & -third- gear- and- brakes- type- territory through Granite Pass, traversing Bighorn Mountains---8300-9000' at the top. Truly breathtaking vistas, though too busy driving to take but a few photos.
At Cody KOA till June 2nd when we report to Yellowstone Campground. No fire rings; no picnic tables; "at dusk, you go in your (hard sided only) trailer and close the door 'cause the Grizzlies tend to cruise around. And if your "hip", you'll get a canister of Bear Pepper Spray that clips on your belt. "You don't have to spray it on the bear. Just put up a pepper spray barrier." This is the sort of stuff you hear from campground reservation people & sundry old (and young) farts with Yellowstone on their mind and maybe a taste for embellishment.
Later.....





Sunday, May 29, 2016

Devils Tower & Big Horn Mountain

Photos of Big Horn Mountain (Sheridan, Wy.) , & Devils Tower (Devils Tower, Wy.) speak for themselves. Coming over a rise, Big Horn Mountain looked like a mirage---a string of clouds on the horizon. But on top of the next rise these magnificent snow-capped mountains materialized for sure & we pulled over & did our normal "goober tourist" photo routine. Our gut told us the Rockies & Yellowstone are getting close. Tonight and tomorrow night we're camping at Big Horn Mountain KOA mostly for a mediastinal layover, as we're both still a bit puny with the sinus/bronchial stuff. We unhooked for the first time since shoving off & tomorrow AM we'll truck in to Sheridan,Wy. , an old, somewhat spiffed up western town for breakfast. What'll it be, Jackrabbit hash and eggs or beef jerky and eggs. We'll see. Then there's the saddle shop & some other good rubbernecking sites.
Last night we stayed at Devils Tower KOA. No hot water; no water at the dump station to wash out the sewer hose, but the looming, Devils Tower made up for it. I imagined the red, forked tail, horned ole Nick, himself, standing up there giving us sinners down below a thumbs up & then realizing that it was Donald Trump!
Later......







Recuperating at Bighorn - photos



Friday, May 27, 2016

Eat Steak, Wear Fur, Carry a Gun

5/27 This was on a billboard as we entered South Dakota. But first, back to the CORN scourge that has overtaken Ohio, Ill., Indiana, Kansas & a good bit of South Dakota: according to Google (so it must be right) consumption of corn goes sort of like this: 33% livestock food, 40% ethanol, 13% exported & what's left, human consumption. What the hell's this all about!!?? From all reports, ethanol is a foolhardy, nasty, waste. And with half the world starving, growing corn to fuel (inefficiently) U.S. SUV's don't look too cool. Huh?
Bustd our chops today & drove 5.5 hours on a straight, good, interstate running for as far as the eye could see. Set up camp at Belvidere East KOA, Midland,SD. Good digs. (I.T. Meltdown.
Gotta go.) Later......








Thursday, May 26, 2016

Urgent Care, Tonic (& gin), Onawa Blue Lake Iowa

5/26/16. Yep, the autoimmune bronchia crud reared its ugly head again necessitating a Z-Pac antibiotic. Should be good to go maƱana. Ann has the same crud but a different antibiotic. Every time we head out West we get this's stuff, probably due to the new flora and the stuff it gives off.
Summing up our reaction to Illinois & Iowa: the people are kind, the countryside vast, boring, and corn, corn, corn, as far as the eye can see. It's tiny this time of the year, but the tens of thousands of acres of this stuff blows your mind. We saw no other crop, just corn. Animal food, people food---some of a dubious nature I.e. high fructose corn syrup in practically everything & of course ethanol---proudly advertised on gas pumps. There must be mucho "bread" to be made with corn---no pun intended.
At Onawa Blue Lake KOA. Great site on the beautiful Blue Lake. Last PM's camp site, a few hundred yards off I-80 was the pits. Endless 18-wheelers & their awful rumble strip & "air breaking" noise. Thank God we had AC & could close up the EGG a mask the noise.
Off to South Dakota maƱana and phase one of the trek to the The Badlands, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore; etc.
Believe me, what we're doing takes a toll on you, but it's worth it in the grand scheme of things. No pain no gain & all that tripe, but often the pain trumps the gain & you simply hope for a better maƱana.
There may be a couple of photos---one of boring Iowa corn fields & one of the EGG with Blue Lake in the background.
Later.....

Onawa photos

Great spot. Looks like rain.



Tuesday, May 24, 2016

REVERSE ELITISM

I THINK I'M SPECIAL BECAUSE I HAVE THIS LITTLE GOOFY EGG AND THESE DUDES AND DUDESSES HAVE THESE JUMBO RIGS THAT CAN'T GO ANYWHERE ESCEPT BIG CAMPGROUNDS, KOA'S AND STUFF. Then again , I don't.......just different and with less money. That being said (for some reason)....maybe it's my fascination with juxtapositions and how we all perceive things differently and how this is cool.

Day three: Arrived at Kickapoo State Pk. Close to Peoria, Ill., which is on the Strip Mine River---so named because they once had coal mines and barged it down this river. It's a great spot. I'm going to wait until just before dark and the warden has left and flick a few lures out in the Strip Mine. It has a reputation: large river catfish
Getting into the trailering groove. It takes a couple of days. Note the photos of Kickapoo and how they relate to paragraph one, above.
Later......






1111



Monday, May 23, 2016

The Badlands (How bad are they?)

5/22/16-- Day one of the trek to The Badlands,Yellowstone & vicinity was a bummer: Two hours in gridlock at Va./W.Va. line due to flipped 18 wheeler. Lots of angst all-around; bozos riding on the shoulder trying to butt in line; screaming babies; hollow- eyed, dehydrated, old folks looking at you from their rear window. Alas....it finally occurred to the highway patrol that a simple detour would get the traffic moving, so two hrs later, off we went----not to our planned campground, but instead, to the Hampton Inn and their swimming pool.
5/23--Made it to Cowan Lake State Pk. Ohio, which is just east of Dayton. Whew...I'm very, very tired. Too much caffeine during gridlock; too little sleep last PM.
Later.....

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Kerfluffle Wake-Final Sequel

Freddy, the widower, adores $50 single malt scotch. It was time for the wake. The setting was a gazebo at the end of a long pier extending far out over low kuntry marsh grass---the place Freddy and Coleen had spent hours at dusk for years and years. Thirty or forty people were on hand. Lots of subdued, pre-wake chatter. No laughter.
A fellow eased up next to me and whispered, "Where the hell is Freddy? I saw him going in a liquor store about an hour ago. Surely to God he'll show up for his own wife's wake won't he?"
"Yep. He'll be here. What sort of shape he'll be in is another question."
A half- hour passed. Two folks left. Those left were milling about, irritated, and mumbling"
"There he is!" The fellow dispatched loudly.
Approaching the gazebo, I couldn't help from noticing the high-end, canvass, leather-trimmed man bag hung over his shoulder.
Pumping his hand endearingly, I said, "What's in the man bag, single malt?"
"It's Coleen."
"Whoops..."


Saturday, March 5, 2016

THE WAKE LIVES!!!!!!!

   In the preceeding blog I mentioned a wake and a kerfluffle (sp?). To get the whole picture you need information I'm not at liberty to convey via the "blob-o-sphere" or any other medium other than:
              NEWS IN BRIEFS
             (or, read my shorts)

     Fear and Loathing--The Wake Lives

   Thinking the wake was dead, we'd thrown in the crates, hooked up the EGG, and were about to head home. Then low and behold, we learned early this AM that the "kerflufflette" had sorted things out, somewhat, and the wake lives!!! She's heading up this ashes- spreading confab and she said on her phone she's en route to Hunting Island,SC where she's AIRBNB'ed a house for us near-do-wells, and where our dear, dear friend is to have her ashes  spread.  
    I can't imagine how it's going to go down. Again....I'm guessing the dead lady---a sweet, kind, saint sort of a person---is watching and chuckling. More about this in the next blog.
     I've attached a couple of Low Kuntry photos. Glad we're too early for mosquitos and noseeums. That's why they call it the Low Kuntry--'cause when it heats up and the bugs get holt of ya, you be feeling mighty Low. 
Later.....


Thursday, March 3, 2016

SHAKEDOWN CRUISE 2016

   Whereas, having spent far too much on the "Medical Conveyor Belt"...a spot ole farts unwittengly find themselves...being shuttled first to one doctor, then another, and still another ad infinitum, we cast ourselves off, threw some crates in the truck, hooked up the EGG and got the hell outta Dodge. (Note: there is no brake on this conveyor belt and the leap off can be deadly, thus placing one back on the belt) Alas.....
   So here we are at Edisto Beach, SC. Temp. 65, NE Wind 15-20. Invigorating for beach walking but a small price to pay in that one forgets Donald Trump, all goofy current events, and dwells on subjects like: Where is the good seafood? I asked a park dude raking the sand (for some reason) and he said, "You go out the gate, take a "rite", go for 7.2 miles, and thar's this seafood shack that cooks out back on Thurs. & Fridays. You gotta set at a picnic table though, but it's the best seafood in these-here parts."
We're gonna check it out, but first a good long walk on the beach to work up an appetite.  More later about this.
   This Sunday, we're supposed to tag a friend's wake on to the end of our stay here at Edisto Beach. It's to be held at Hunting Island State Pk, SC, but it seems to have morphed into a kerfluffle and my not occur. I'm guessing the dead person is having a chuckle over it all. What a dear soul she was & like us all, soon to be lost in the vast expanse of time. Pardon this Billy Shakespeare quote, for I use it a lot, but as he put it: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and oue little life is rounded with a sleep."
Later.....