RoadTrip: enjoyed a wonderful lakeside home in Michigan

7AM 10/12/2012

Hi Sandy, & Keren & Michael, et. al.

I got your message about you now having a greeting for your cell phone (reminds me that I need to update my google-phone msg...)

In Michigan, (a few days ago now) I did go up to Bob's house and got some shots of the awesome autumn foliage there - though it was cloudy at the time) and ran into Linda and we talked for a few minutes (she showed me some of her daughter's framed photo-prints of the Sawtooths and described the remodeling that Bob had done on the ground floor.)  That was sure a nice place you stayed at while here in Michigan!

Karen & Michael made me a delicious two-cook meal. Karen did the salad and Risoto, and Michael made the salad dressing & roasted the chicken, while I just had my hands in my pockets asking "is there something I could do or contribute to?"  I did offer my trail mix... and copied to their thumb-drive a bunch of picts I had  taken of Karen's garden in autumn-garb.

I left the next morning (yesterday) taking with me a bunch of cherry tomatoes and two books from the boxes of books that didn't sell at an event she had donated the books to (we drove somewhere during the day to retrieve the remainder - gave us a chance to talk - and do a bit of grocery shopping...)  I really enjoyed my stay and the chance to meet your sis and Michael.  I'll have to create an excuse next spring to veer from my planned return-route to revisit ...if only to take a closer look at all the plant books in Karen & Michael's collection!  

Thanks Karen & Michael!

Gary

Hi Gary,
I'm so glad you had a good time at Karen and Michael's and got a chance to meet Linda.
Sounds like you had a stroll down memory lane in Cleveland. Did you get a chance to visit your mom's grave? Is your dad buried there, too?
Well, at least you have family to see in CT and it looks like there still might be some fall color when you get there. Let me know when you arrive safely. I guess you're getting a taste of the cold weather back east. I personally dislike it after the leaves fall off the trees.
I've got a mild cold and still recovering from that surgury last week, but I did go for a hike at Armstrong Woods with Kathrin, Darlene and her friend, Randi.
Sandy

RoadTrip: Rapid City... Cleveland

1PM 10/5/2012
I'm much farther east now , in Rapid City, South Dakota, after "blowing through" Yellowstone just one day too early to catch some snow, unfortunately.  two half-day drives later (stopping briefly at Devils Tower yesterday morning and MT Rushmore this morning) I plan to visit a "Geology Museum" this afternoon in Rapid City and some stops in Wall along Hwy 90 a bit east of here then look for a place to overnight around the Badlands, which I hope to spend some time in tomorrow.  I've been snowed on about an inch or so each of the past two nights and expecting a third night of light snow tonight, but supposedly it will clear up tomorrow so hope for some good light in the badlands.
I may then spend another night in the area in order to have a full day's drive (about 10hrs) all the way to the National Forest lands between Lk Superior and Lk Michigan. I may spend a day or two driving along south shore of Lk Superior & Lk Huron, before heading south to visit Sandy's sister Karen in Manchester, Michigan.  May spend a day or so there maybe, then head to Cleveland and onwards eastward along the lakes I think.  So I might be in Ct as soon as end of third week of October?
Gary

3PM 10/5/2012
Hello everyone.
I just added money to my AT&T phone.  depending on how I make the call, it may appear to be from my Google#... (I will normally try to call this way) or, directly from the AT&T#...
Gary


8PM 10/5/2012
Hi Gary,
I got my cell phone fixed so it's ...; haven't gotten a voice mail greeting yet or put any numbers into it. ...
Be safe in the cold, wind and snow. Don't freeze to death in your sleep! I'm not sure if the fall color is through in Michigan, but my sister said they were going to get a frost tonight. Lake Superior wind and weather can be furocious! I'm glad you got out of the mountains in time. I've been to the Badlands but not to Devil's Tower or Mt. Rushmore -- send me a photo of Crazy Horse, ok!

Hey, while you are in northern Michigan (the mitten) look up my mom, Gloria and John ... I'll send her an email telling her you might stop in if it's ok.
They live on the south side of Higgins Lake (which is north of the largest inland lake, Houghton Lake), a short distance on a dirt road with other homes on it in the pines.
She will want to give you a hot meal, I'm sure. I'll give her your phone numbers, too.  From their house, it's about a 4-5 hour drive down to Karen and Michael's. Stop in and say hi to Bob - Karen will tell you how to get there; it's a short walk up from her driveway. Watch out for hunters this time of year in MI.
Please keep this information! ...
Sandy


2PM 10/5/2012
Thanks for the update. Now I know approx when to expect you. Are you visiting Maine and NH and VT?
Liz

7PM 10/5/2012
Hi,
When you are in Cleveland, you can look up Mom's grave at the cemetery. Ann went once on a day the office was open and they helped her find the location. I have the info somewhere but have no idea where I put it. If you email Ann, she may have it handy. I remember the grave is in an area where a tall brick or stone wall marks the boundary of the cemetery. Maybe you can google for info???
We also found the house, the street is still brick! and the house is still there, also the Lutheran/ German church up the street. The neighborhood has changed to mostly black people but much of it is the same, except more tired and run down. Even Grovewood?  swimming pool is still there, but it looks sooooo small! Everything seems small. The Paul Bellamy Elementary School is now a community center, almost like a salvation army center. The pedestrian bridge across the highway with the spiral access is also there, but it looks pretty dirty. Oh, and we stopped at the hospital too. I did not remember this, but the lawn (where we used to play while waiting for Dad to visit Mom), comes right up to the the sea wall at the edge of Lake Erie. I have no memory of that...weird.
We also found the beach we used to go to, that still looks pretty much the same, lots of parking and the tall narrow trees. We also went to the river area, ?Squaw Rock? Park closer to Shaker Heights??? I vaguely remembered certain things, like the cliffs.
I'm sure you will remember more things because you were older. Have fun exploring.
Liz

7AM 10/10/2012
Hi Gary,
Got your phone message yesterday.
I sent this last week, maybe you missed it...has suggestions on what to do in Cleveland.
If you go to our old beach on Lake Erie, please bring me back a few small pretty pebbles. Thanks,
ps   This is from an email I sent to you on Oct 5th:
just googled Lake View Cemetery. They have all the info you need on-line, incl a map, so just google the name of the cemetery. I searched the record and Mom is buried in Section 51, lot 1-88. Good luck,
I remember when we looked for her grave it was in a smaller lot which butted up to a tall stone or brick wall separating the cemetery from a side street. Her grave stone is very small and was a bit overgrown w/ grass. Dad had put on a Bible verse from Thessalonians: "The dead in Christ shall be rising first" . You should be able to find it. It's a very pretty cemetery with lots of trees and curvy roadways.
See you real soon,
Liz

noon 10/11/2012
Hi Liz,
I'm now in Ohio a bit west of Cleveland and have been catching up on email and studying the maps for the cemetery etc.   I'll probably pass through Cleveland today, but hope to find a spot to camp nearby to maybe have another go wandering around tomorrow.

Leaves around here look a bit early, so my guess is in upper-NY Adirondacks may still be close to prime, so I may swing up that way.  But I may decide to save some gas and time and take a more direct route.  I'll let you know within a day or so.  Sorry I'm still so bifurcated on that. I may just be eager to catch the leaves around CT?
Gary

6AM 10/12/2012
Have fun in Cleveland. Don't pass up the highland beach park, because I think you will enjoy hanging out there for a while. Hope the weather is nice.
I recommend you come home through the Adirondacks because the roads thru the park are very nice and the trees should be very pretty now. You can then come down the main highway south of the park, switch to the Mass Pike and then take rte 8 south into CT. Bethany is close to Rte 8. If you come as early as Sunday btw 10:00am and 5:00pm, stop in Litchfield, CT. I am exhibiting with a group of artists at the firehouse. I'll forward the invitation. Otherwise, enjoy yourself and I'll see you whenever,
Liz

7AM 10/12/2012

Got to my old home on Nottingham Rd in East-Cleveland/Euclid in the early-evening after a long accident-caused traffic on the highway through the downtown area.  Took some drive-by snaps of the old house & neighborhood, (nicely maintained neighborhood tucked away inside an otherwise very run-down area of town.)  Drove past OH Perry Jr High school - I recall going to school there with a bunch of rude punk kids, taking the bus thru an "ugly" commercial street to get there - it is indeed ugly and now very run-down with mostly abandoned businesses.  I drove along Lakeshore Drive to the hospital on the shore where mom had stayed, then drove via Euclid Ave through an extremely run-down area with mostly boarded-up store-fronts (stopping at an auto-parts store to replace my again-burnt-out headlamp)  to Lakeview Cemetery which is at the edge of the up-scale "museum district" of downtown (I remember going to concerts in Severance Hall there with my dad  - I had been taking violin lessons from someone who played viola with the Cleveland Orchestra.)  Unfortunately the cemetery gate was closed with tall impenetrable fence all around, so I decided to try to find somewhere to camp around the town of Mentor near Headland Beach that we used to frequent in the summertime.  Ran across a small town park after dark with a bunch of very tame deer and overnighted there.  This morning I made it to Headland Beach before dawn and took a few pre-dawn atmospheric picts of the beach in bone-chilling-cold wind and picked up a few pebbles.  Now I'm working my way back up the coast to have another chance at mom's grave.   

RoadTrip: 2day Overnight at Prairie Reef in the Bob. May traverse a snowy Yellowstone? then continue east

One last? backpack planned for next few days, then probably heading east

4PM 9/30/2012
Hmmm....  I thought I had sent this earlier.  Just found it in my drafts - will update it soon.
Hi everyone,
So I'm back in Choteau, MT after a pleasant 5-day backpack to the northern portion of the Chinese Wall in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.  I've enjoyed the continued above-average temperatures and dry conditions for this time of year, though much of the time it has been quite smoky from fires nearby - and much through forest already burnt just a few years back, though it was a varied mosaic of burnt and mature-growth forest. On the way in the aspen leaves and forest undergrowth were at the peak of their fall bright reds & yellows.  On my return, many of the same trees had dropped half their leaves, remaining leaves brown spotted black, and the undergrowth leaves were drying out and dulling to tans & browns.    

I had managed to wear out my tires on all the gravel roads I've been driving, so today I bought a new set of tires here in town (a locally popular brand purportedly good on the gravel roads in this area.)  I had gotten a quote from a shop near Great Falls for about $600 and these came to $560, though no wheel alignment was included as in the other quote.   Probably missed out on an excuse to visit Great Falls (unless I start heading east from here...)

Tonight I hope to drive a bit further south to Augusta, MT and tomorrow begin another backpack from the Benchmark trailhead back into "The Bob" to take a look at the southern portion of the Chinese Wall - Benchmark seems to be the more popular starting point to the wall, and there is a good vantage point on a hill called Prairie Reef early on in the hike, in case the weather turns nastier than expected sooner than expected on me.  The weather has been changing some and I hope for somewhat better atmospherics this time.  About mid-next week a more significant "pattern shift" is forecast, with rain and much colder temperatures.

After this backpack, I'm considering making it down to Yellowstone for a second brief drive-through, anticipating maybe some snow due to the weather shift, and in any event, fall conditions.  But I may skip that if the weather becomes too nasty.

Then I will be heading east.  Not sure what I should/could see along the way/out of the way in the midwest.  Any suggestions of oughta-see things?  I had thought I would have much more time to look around there, look at some of the tall-grass prairie lands, the major rivers, historic POI's like following the Lewis & Clark trail, etc., but I guess I spent extra time around the northern rockies, which I guess is OK.

I will likely take advantage of an invitation to visit Sandy's Sister who lives in Manchester, MI which is a bit east of Detroit.  I also do want to pass through Cleveland.  I may want to touch other areas around the great lakes.  Not sure what the state of the autumn leaves will be by the time I get east of the great lakes, but passing through northern NY & Vermont has been on my agenda.
Gary


4PM 9/30/2012
Hello again...
So I did follow through as planned and spent just two days up to the "lookout" on Prairie Reef with still disappointingly hazy views of the southern portion of the Chinese Wall.  Unfortunately I was there just a day too soon, or rather, didn't stay another day, because it did start to clear up just as I was driving away from the trailhead!

Now I'm in Helena on my way back to Yellowstone.  I plan to enter at West Yellowstone and leave a few days later via one of the two east-bound roads.  I expect to be there during the first winter-like storm to hit this area (tue-fri Oct 2-5) so it could be interesting, depending on how much it snows.   I'll be trying to find out whether they might close the east-bound roads for the season if there is significant snow - both of these roads go over high elevation passes.  I do have new tires AND two sets of chains (4 total, for both front and back, since I have AWD)  I plan to update you of what I've learned later today or in a day or two.
Gary

6PM 9/30/2012
Hi Gary,
Heard about the cold front that is supposed to move in back your way. Be careful. Hope you have enough warm clothing and a warm sleeping bag. According to the weather channel, the fall foliage has already peaked in the northern great lakes and northern Maine and NH and VT. We're beginning to get color here but peak in CT is mid to late Oct, although I think there is always a lot of nice color into November.
When you get here, we have a good local garage in case your car needs a tune up.
Have fun!
Liz

2PM 10/2/2012
Liz:
I do have warm clothes and sleeping bag at the ready, and just rearranged my car to make it easier to just crawl into the back to sleep without having to pitch a tent and deal with the wind and rain - except - I don't yet have a good solution for keeping windows open a crack without rain getting in - probably will use duct tape to attach a "rain-flap" of some kind.

Forecast is saying most of the snow will be north of Yellowstone, so I think I'll just need to contend with some wind and cold & rain.  (Too bad... no really awsome picts of snow in Yellowstone as I had hoped.)  I probably will still head through there, assuming I can get confirmed that the fax I just sent to take care of some important business (loooong story, groan!!!) did indeed make it and is acceptable...  So at the moment I'm still stuck at the library in Bozeman north of Yellowstone.

RoadTrip: add visit Karen in MI to agenda. Bought new tires in Choteau between backpack trips into The Bob

8PM 9/25/2012
Hi Gary,
I'm at Bud's. Where are you and what have you seen?
Karen, my sister in Michigan said she hasn't heard from you yet. She's off work until November so you should really try to stop in. They will welcome you. Do you still have her phone and address? Let me know if you need it again.
Bud says when you come back you can stay with us if you want to. We can come and go whenever we want to for our travel pursuits. He says he might want to drive up to Alaska with his trailer in June. I had told him I was considering the ferry. Like driving up to Bellingham ... I want to see Mt. Baker and the Northern Cascade National Park on the way up.
...
Let me know what's going on!
Sandy

7PM 9/27/2012
Hi Sandy,
I'm back in Choteau after a nice 5-day backpack to the northern half of the "Chinese Wall" in the Bob Marshal wilderness just west of here.  Since the weather still keeps being "sunny" (though smoky as well most of the time) I may do another several day backpack to the southern portion of the wall starting from Augusta - the Benchmark trailhead, to be exact.  The southern portion seems to be the more popular destination.  I may just go as far as a prominent peak that has a good view of the wall - depending on time and weather.  

I decided I have to bite the bullet and get new tires. one of them is bald and the other three nearly so.  I got a quote from a shop in the Great falls area but decided to go with a local shop here in Choteau - he sells a tread design popular in this area with all the gravel roads - seems appropriate for me... ...and the price is slightly cheaper than the other quote.  I'm getting that done tomorrow afternoon.  Only wrinkle is I can't get an alignment done unless I wait a week - so - I may decide to do that later at some point - which works out with my budget constraints because that's an extra cost...  

So, I'll have limited funds for October for gas & food and my "lodging costs" will have to continue to be near-zero - not a problem so far as long as I stay away from towns.  Tonight, alas, is an exception - $15 for a campground right here in town, convenient since this library is open til 8 and the "tent-city" at the CG has power!!! (Sort of a hexagonal shed arrangement with a "counter-top" etc near the center and 6 "partitions" delineating the different camp-sites.  Also, I'll be doing laundry there (coin-operated - I've gotten to rinsing out  socks & such during my backpacks, but still find the machine and drier hard to wean myself from - along with occasional hot showers...

Anyway, approximately: $600 gone for tires. 1700 miles from here to Karen at $4/gallon and 22mpg on my subaru, or about $300 to drive straight here to Karen's - google maps says it would take 30hrs.  I had about $200 left over from last month so I have a "discretionary" $400 to spend in October.  Ordinarily about $300 of that would be food, but I still have a lot of uneaten food I've been carrying around.  so lets say $200 for more food leaving $200 worth of extra driving I could do.  That could get me back for a 2nd look at Yellowstone in autumn.  hmm...  Or, Michigan to Connecticut by end of October - that was my original commitment.

I don't believe it! several times now you've told me Karen's name, address, email, phone, etc but I STILL don't have her in my contact list, and apparently all of those times were verbally over the phone written down on random scraps of paper, because searching my emails I find NO mention in any of our email conversations of her contact info.  SORRY - all those times I've "intended" to add it to my contacts as soon as I get back to the computer, but alas, I haven't.  (Actually, I do have her phone#)  Would you please be so kind and tell me again - IN WRITING BY EMAIL all in one place - maybe even with an email subject like "Karen ____'s contact info", her full name, mailing address, phone, email.  Thanks.  <end melodrama>

Bud's offer and travel plans sure sound attractive at this time.  Hopefully things won't have soured too much between you and him between now and then! Be sure to be good to him!  

What's Peter up to these days?  Do you two have any travel plans upcoming?

7PM 9/26/2012
Hi Gary,
Glad to hear from you! Be sure and get out of the mountain area before it snows and blows.
Suprised you are still in Glacier area -- ya, it was my favorite of the parks too.
Bud and I get along great; he's positive and mellow.
I don't have any plans to travel with Peter. He's in Venezuela with a friend.

Karen & Michael info ... Manchester, MI
Take I-94 (I-80 turns into I-94 in Chicago) to Chelsea/Manchester exit. Go south until you get to a red light (about 10 miles), turn left that will be Pleasant Lake Rd.
When you get to Schnieder Rd. turn right (it's the only way you can turn) follow until you get to a stop sign with a stone church and graveyard. Just past that about half a mile, look for Bemis Rd. on your right. Follow along the dirt road through the woods and when you come to the top of the hill, turn left down the dirt driveway. If you pass a big beautiful white farm house on the right, you went to far -- that's Bob's house! Stop in and say "hi" to him and or Linda.
Sandy

Hi Sandy,
Thanks.  Finally added it to my contacts (also can search for it in my emails.)
Does Karen have an email address?

Now I'm off to get new tires. will be back in the library later this afternoon before heading south to Augusta and find a camping spot on the way to tomorrow's trailhead - hope to be backpacking again for a few more days.
Gary

I think Karen's email is ... but she responds better to phone since she isn't at work now.
Where is Augusta?
Sandy

3PM 9/30/2012
Hi Sandy & Karen?
Thanks for Karen's email address.  Unfortunately at the moment I've still had virtually no phone service using my providers (AT&T or TMobile) so I haven't had a reason to activate either of these pay-as-you-go plans. But that may change in about a week when I expect to be spending nearly full-time on the interstate heading to Michigan as fast as I can (Or so is my current intention, subject to getting way-laid by any compelling distraction along the way.)

First, though, I'm heading for a 2nd pass through Yellowstone, timed to coincide with the upcoming winter storm due to hit the Rockies this Tues-Fri (Oct 2-5.)  My plan is to enter at West Yellowstone and exit on one of the two east-bound roads.  Hope to have a look at some of the geysers with extra-large clouds of steam due to the cold weather, and if I'm lucky, snow on the ground or at least with snow-covered hills as backdrop. Hopefully it won't be too much snow to keep the roads closed for the season.  (I'll be researching the past history on winter closures etc while I'm here at the Library in Helena, MT.)

Then I plan to head straight east to Michigan.  I expect that'll take me at least 4 days (I guess I'm allowing for some detours to take a peek at on-the-way POI's and/or to find a "free" spot to overnight in some Nat. Forest or such.

Sandy, assuming Karen won't see this email for a while (or at all if the address isn't right)  would you please call her for me and tell her the gist of my plans to indeed come her way within the next two weeks, (and let me know whether this would or not inconvenience her at this time.   Thanks!

I think it would be nice to visit for maybe three days or so - see some things in the area, but I then want to also move on asap to my sister's in Connecticut (with only one specifically scheduled stop in Cleveland) though if I have time I would like to maybe veer north hugging the great lakes and northern NY into VT before turning south thru Mass into CT.

I'd be curious what the state of the autumn leaves are at this time - it's already past-prime as far as rthe aspens here in the Rockies, but that may precede the peak for eastern forests....

Karen, if you are reading this before I've managed to contact you more directly by phone, It's nice to have the opportunity to talk to you, and I'm looking forward to meeting you soon.
Thanks both,
Gary

6PM 10/1/2012
Hi Gar,
I left a message for Karen on her cell phone that you should be there in a few weeks.
...
Please be careful with the snow and road closures!! I know that Wyoming closes I-80 when snow hits and if you don't have chains you get a big fine if they catch you. The wind blows like a bastard through MT, WY and the Dakotas. I don't know about Nebraska or Iowa.
I'm gonna hike to see the tule elk with Darlene, Kathrin and other women tomorrow.
I booked a one month trip to Guatemala to study spanish and see the mayan ruins and such. I return on Thanksgiving day.
Sandy

RoadTrip: Back in the USA after Waterton. Eyeing the Chinese Wall in The Bob.

9PM 9/17/20112
After a few days of good hikes in Waterton, I made it back across the border with hours to spare before my deadline to leave Canada.  I asked whether I would have trouble reentering Canada later if I wanted to take the northern route around the great lakes and the guy said no, now that I have shown myself reliable, that would be in my favor.  Well, that's good to know!  hmmph!

Rather late at the moment here in Browning, Mt (the town on the Blackfeet Indian reservation with the internet access in the cafe' attached to the grocery store.) Got gas, food, have been researching access to the Chinese Wall part of the Bob Marshal Wilderness where I hope to head next (after maybe one more hike in Glacier Park.)  Have a roadside turnoff in mind back towards Glacier to overnight tonight.

Weather still holding up for "forseeable future" next 5 days, so I hope to get to "The Bob" within that timeframe.  Then I'll need to decide whether I start heading east or squeeze in some more Rockies, will probably go back through Yellowstone & the Tetons again, maybe visit the Library in Salt Lake City which I've read is awsome...  Probably that's as far as I go before heading east.  Colorado will have to wait...

RoadTrip: a week in the Crows Nest Pass & Castle Spcl Mgt areas, heading to Waterton

9PM 9/13/2012
Hello everyone,
I'm back in Pincher Creek, the town just nothnortheast of Waterton, after spending about a week in the Crows Nest Pass area and the Castle Special Management Area just northwest and west of Pincher creek.  Had a few very frosty mornings and some very blustery days, some hail & snow, with high's reportedly around 11c, but now it's warming up again, at least next day or so..

Wish I had enough time to sort thru some picts, but again, not this time...

Plan to spend a few more days in Waterton, then back into the US, to hang out some more in the rockies, at least while the weather is good..  Still uncertain when I'll be seriously heading east.  Probably in another dozen days.
Gary

RoadTrip: been in the Crowsnest Pass Area, heading back to Waterton, then US

6PM 9/10/2012
Hi Gary,
I'm in Port Townsend on the Olympic Penninsula right now.
They don't have a card reader so I can't send photos.
I loved Mt. Rainier and also went to Mt. St. Helens.
Where are you?  Hope you are safe and having fun!
Sandy

4PM 9/12/2012
Hi Sandy,
I've been hanging out in the Crowsnest Pass area in the Canadian Rockies north of Waterton,  Today I think I'm heading back to Waterton for a few days before crossing back into the US.

Hopefully I'll be let back into the US!

Into Canada I got a bit hassled, they searched my car.  The guy said they were concerned because I was "rootless" (no obligations that would keep me from potentially staying in Canada.)  They gave me a special certificate that said I could not take a job or go to school here, and I would have to leave within 10 days, which is 5 days from now.

Sheesh!

After you headed west, I stayed in the Many Glacier area a few more days, doing all the hikes as far as I could in one day - to two of the same passes as I did from the Going to the Sun road, and Redrock Pass that is further west on the ridge as the "tunnel" (forget the name) towards Lk Elizabeth.

When I get back into the US I'll probably spend a few more days in Glacier then head a bit south into the Bob Marshall Wilderness hopefully doing a two to four day backpack along the "Chinese Wall" that's supposed to be a spectacular part of the Continental Divide Trail.

Then I'll have to decide whether I have time to head south again into Colorado or start heading east.   I suspect I will have to go east.
Gary

10AM 9/20/2012
Hi gar bear,
I am using a touch screen at bend Oregon visitor center.
Looking at the town as place to settle some point.
Canada sucks at the border. They hasseled me, too.
I just finished circumnavigating the Olympic peninsula.
More later and photos.
Sandy

RoadTrip: stuck on this GV + SIMcard tarnologybaby - throw me a briarpatch!

8PM 9/7/2012
aaargh!

I seem to be able to find my way around in the woods ok but computers and tech stuff I cant deal with anymore!   What a curse technology can be! what a waste of time!!!!

Been sitting here at McDonalds in Pincher Creek trying to figure out how to receive and or make phone calls using any one of a number of options I thought I had - that I SHOULD have, that SHOULD work.  But don't.

Not in the order that I've tried things, but maybe in some "logical" order:  If anyone of you has any helpful insights into this the first to chime ip will be the first to be appreciated, (but all help aprreciated - no need to be the first!  ;-)  (and thanks for reading this far...)

1.  I've discovered that I cannot seem to change the forwarding options on my google phone number.  Since at least Stephen is using this, may be Stephen has some insights:
The symptoms:
no matter which of my forwarding options I have checked in gvoice settings (ATT Cell, TMobile Cell, old EC work land-line, google chat, sipgate)   when I call my number 7076364468 (either from Skype-out or from my "new" not-yet-completely working canadian speakout7eleven pay-as-U-go # - more on that below)  I always get the answering msg "you've reached Gary hundt's Cell Phone"  which I think is the msg I have for my ATT Go-Phone - the first cell phone I used (on my TMobile cell I know I mention its my TMobile phone)   I now suspect this has been going on for ages and I've been unaware of it, because somehow any voice messages left there get forwarded to my gmail email and I can hear them there.)  Oh, except when I did have access to my EC work phone I could get calls there, so - not sure why whenever that is unchecked it goes to ATT even it ATT is also unchecked.

2.   Used to have skypeout subscription recently expired. Have about $9 of skype credit left - been using that a bit today for testing.  Been trying to call my CSAA car insurance, but cant get past the phone menu because via skype the touch-tones don't seem to be recognized - I seem to hear them, but other end doesn't seem to respond appropriately.   Otherwise I might try re-upping my skypeout sobscription - but skype seems to have changed subscription plans - more expensive - not sure it's worth it fior me.

3.  Totally confused about using google talk/chat.   Doesnt seem to work for me at the moment for forwarding - used to work at some point for me earlier, so maybe its because I'm now in Canada?

4.  can't add my new speakout7eleven phone to my gvoice forwarding phones because its not in same country - get a msg to that effect when I try.   probably moot anyway due to problem #1, though if would have been nice because I seem to be able to receive calls to that#.

5.  OK, now for the new speakout 7-11 sim card I bought for $10 and $25 usage credit. Was able to activate the sim card, am able to talk to customer service using their 3digit# from the phone, was able to receive a test call from cusomer service (presumably from a local canadian #), and am even able to call MY google phone number seemingly using my cell-phone's "normal call" option (as opposed to via skype or via google-voice-callback options), but trying to call stephen's google voice#, or any other number (local Pincher Creek# or long distance) I get message "could not complete the call, please try again".  Customer Service seems to be at a loss - telling me I should wait up to 24 hours, or to take the sim card & try it in another phone, or to find some option in my phone settings to use only GSM- not 3G.  in the latter case, I do see an option on my android phone to use 2G only, and I've tried it with & without checking that. Haven't yet tried another cell phone...

Any suggestions how I should proceed?

I've in the mean-while left an email msg with CSAA about my car insurance issue, and I suspect if I just go back and do some hiking this weekend while the weatehr here is still nice (actually missed out on lots of picts today of new snow on the mt tops from the recent cold-front that came thru...   Pissed to be getting myself stuck onto this tarnologybaby!
gary  

9PM 9/7/2012
Didn't read or understand it all, but just a quick FYI that may help for getting a hold of your insurrance co:  almost always you can bypass touchtone menus and talk to a real person by saying "operator" at any point (or push 0 if touchtone is working).
Good luck! All else fails, just use a payphone (if you can still find one these days!)
Rebecca

2PM 9/10/2012
Hey dad,
I should have responded earlier tell you that I received your messages on my google voice account. I was at school late on Friday and then had a bunch of stuff planned for this weekend so I didn't have a chance to try you back.

As for the problems you've outlined below, I can't offer any advice of 3-5 and don't have any sure answers for the others.

1. Are you trying to use the 711 phone and skype out to make outgoing calls with google voice, or are you calling your google voice number just as a test to see what is encountered when others try to call you? If its the first one and you've entered your 711 and skype numbers into your list of phones then I'm not sure what is happening, but I suspect this isn't what you are trying to do. If its the second one here are some thoughts, all of which are speculation since I'm not going to actually take the time to research the specifics about google voice.

Is the message "you have reached..." from the phone's voicemail or is it a google voice message that you recorded? If its a google message, well, then, this is what is supposed to happen. If it's the phone's voicemail maybe calls made to your google voice number are being directed immediately (or after some number of rings) to that phone's voicemail as would happen when that phone is turned off. This would definitely happen if the ATT phone were the only forwarding phone selected but may also happen if it was one of many since that phone's voicemail would be answering the call before any other phones had a chance to. However, it sounds like you still have the problem even when the ATT phone is not selected as a forwarding phone. Have you tried to delete it altogether? If deleting the ATT phone from your forwarding list doesn't eliminate the problem maybe the message is actually from another phone's voicemail. You could try deleting those or just calling them directly to see. What result were you expecting?

2. I remember having a problem with using touchtones on skype at one point and I remember being able to change some option that allowed them to be recognized by the automated menus. What worked for me on my computer was to have skype display a dialpad that was different then the one I made calls with and which you could click on to produce the tones. I just read some forums in which people were having the same problem using the Skype app for the iphones and androids and some people suggested muting the mic when you want to produce the dial tone.

OK. I doubt much of this will be helpful, but maybe it will cause you to discover the problem yourself. Try not to let all of this bullshit ruin your trip.

8PM 9/13/2012
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for the time you took to help with this.

Finally had a chance to play around with this a bit more, and think I solved some of the issues:  (so the below is just "fyi" in case your curious - no need to read if you're pressed for time.

re: 1.
 I was just testing calling my GV number via Skype to see what others heard.  I don't have a skype number (I had a "Skype-out" subscription but that has expired and I think they no longer offer the same feature.  Though, maybe I ought to consider getting a skype number as another option for me to forward GV calls to.

Turns out I was mistaken about the message I had set up for Google Voice messages.  (Not sure how I screwed that up )  For the time being I changed it to the default system msg, til I get a chance to say a new greeting. (Cant talk where I'm at now.)

There is still something I don't understand what GV is doing when it's somehow mediating my outbound calls from my cell phone. OK let me think this thru... it's causing my phone to call a google number rather than the # I dialed, then redialing (forwarding to) my desired number but "spoofing" the callerID to be my google number.  Does that sound correct?

So at any rate, I'm now able to use the 711 cellphone to call out.  I needed to go into the "Google Voice" app on my phone and change a setting from "always use" to "always ask".  I was looking for this app but it was "sort of hidden" where I wasn't looking last time. I also have a "similar looking" app called "Google Voice Callback" which in conjunction with another number I have via a "SIP" protocol provider that works via the internet, that allows me to avoid calling out via my cell phone #, to make free calls.  It's a bit complicated and I think I somehow messed something up because it's not working right (anymore...)  Will take a chunk of troubleshooting time to sort that out, I fear.  At any rate, that app also has a similar setting re "always use" vs "always ask" etc that I initially thought was the problem.

re: 2.
Muting the mike may have been worth trying, because at the time I was at McDonalds with a lot of background noise!  But I'll still plan to look for that touchtone option before I have to use it again.  I managed to email CSAA and they replied - assured me my account was payed up thru October.

Thanks again for taking the time,
Gary

[note: I think some time later I found out that I had two levels of GV-callback "indirection" active and I was still making calls "through" the google voice system when I thought I was using "bare" cell phone calling.]

RoadTrip: from Glacier NP to Waterton in Canada

6PM 9/2/2012
Hi all,
Last I wrote I was heading from the Sawtooths near Stanley,Iowa to Glacier NP with Sandy in her car.  The "in her car" part was short-lived. We decided before the end of the first day to go independently in our own vehicle, with only vague plans to find each other.  Nevertheless, we ran into each other by sheer chance on three separate occasions on trails in Glacier.  I suppose that's not quite as improbable as it sounds since we sort of shared the same short priority-list of must-see locations along with everyone else that visits the park. Began to recognize a number of other visitors who seemed to be using the same list.

We've shared dinner on those evening's we met, but have been overnighting at our own favorite (mostly free) spots just outside the park. In my case I "based myself" longer on the west side of the park on BLM or NF land near Hungry Horse Reservoir before shifting to the east side on Indian Reservation land just outside the park border on the Many-Glacier Road.

Sandy is now on her way west into Washington then Oregon then California. I'm "taking a break" from the rather brisk very windy weather of the last few days  to re-stock at a "real" grocery store in Browning about 40mi east of the park, which happens also to have a little cafe' with wifi, so I'm researching the "dispersed camping" situation in Alberta, Canada. (In Canada "Queen's Land" corresponds with US BLM land, it seems.) Not sure yet how long I'll stay on the Canadian side - there are still lots of areas on this side I want to see...

I may need to make a decision about how much backtracking I have time to do.  I have been intending to explore the Bob Marshall Wilderness area south of Glacier on my way back down for a 2nd go at Yellowstone & the Tetons before continuing south through a bit of Utah into Colorado, but an alternative is to spend more time in Glacier and maybe a bit further north on the Canadian side.

Hope everyone is doing well.  Would like to know any news.  Email seems to work best - cell phone coverage pretty non-existent (for TMo or Att at any rate, and so I haven't "bothered" keeping my pay-as-I go plans paid up, tho I may do so later..).
Gary

7PM 9/6/2012
Greetings from Pincher Creek, Canada
...the nearest big town to Waterton, where I'm doing some grocery shopping, laundry, and of course using the free wifi.   I happen to be using the library's wifi now, but the campground in town also offers free wifi, as does, surprise surprise, the McDonalds inside the Walmart at the shopping center here!  No such connectivity at the Waterton Park, as there wasn't on the US side in Glacier NP.  There to, I needed to drive 40 miles to the nearest "big town", Browning, on the Black Foot indian reservation east of Glacier.   Cell phone reception, likewise, is described as "spotty" in Glacier NP, and then only Verizon anywhere in the area.  So now in Canada, I would need to get a Rogers phone plan, though at least that would be compatible with the radios in my phone, so, one reason I'm in this town is to see how much that would be and what kind of reception I could expect in these mts maybe including up to the Banff/Jasper area.

Haven't even done any hiking in Waterton park yet, so why with my limited time left am I considering Banff/Jasper???  Not really sure but one theory stems from my experience this morning finally getting around to crossing the border.

This is actually my second time crossing the border.  First time was a few weeks ago, late in the afternoon and was only asked a bunch of interesting questions to which I gave interesting answers, such as to "so you're traveling with all your worldly possessions?" explaining that I was trying to "track down" my friend who was "somewhere between" the Many-Gacier Campground and Waterton, but now since it was later in the day than I had planned to get this far, I would probably just drive a few miles toward Waterton, then turn around.  "So you're going to spend the night at Many-Glacier Campground?  No, it's full, I'll probably stay on the Indian Reservation Land just outside - I bought an environmental pass that permits me to "recreate" on indian land.  I've scoped out a few locations.  "Do you have any weapons or things could be used as weapons?" Um, some kitchen knives, some tools, a trowel.  "A trowel?"  Yeah, a small shovel/pick-ax I use to dig a cat-hole.  "So you're a real mountain man."  I guess I'm trying to be.

So the border agent let me through.  I actually just drove into Canada about a mile or so to a nice view along the Belly River.   Decided to turn around, worried I might have trouble getting back into the US.  That went more smoothly, after I explained I was only "gone" for about a half hour.

So after that brief trial-excursion into Canada I spent the next week or so back in Glacier NP USA systematically hiking to all the mt passes from "both sides" of trails (much like last spring I did portions of the PCT that were "near" roads when I was "with my car" only this time it's portions of the Continental Divide Trail and pretty much all the other trails in all directions from the Many Glacier Road ant the Going to the Sun road.

But last night and into this morning it rained, so I did my laundry and then decided to head for the border again.  This time, same interesting questions & answers to a different agent, found me directed to pull over for further inspection.  They inspected my car thoroughly, then told me the main reason I was pulled over was because I was not "rooted", (no Home, no Job, no Obligations. No reason I might not stay in Canada.  I pointed out the irony that I used to live in Canada.  He checked some online records, then printed out some formal looking form that allowed me to visit Canada for up to 17 days.

Hmph!  Well, I was only thinking of staying about a week to begin with!

Hope I can get back into the US.

Library's closing.
Gary


10AM 9/5/2012
Hi Gary,
You seem to be covering a lot of ground and seeing a lot.
Do you have an estimate as to when in October you expect to be in Ct with us? I'm trying to make plans.
you wanted some news...
Andy's Eagle court of honor will be Dec 29th, not after Thanksgiving, so you may be able to go, if you are still with us.
Mark is almost done covering all the fabric parts of the plane. We (Mark's Dad and me) started painting the primer on these parts, next comes light sanding, then I think he will try spray painting the next layer of primer.
Erik, Andy and Gretchen seem to be settled into their school routines. No major problems so far, none expected.
I've started back with my portrait and figure drawing groups, and may sign up for a watercolor class with a new teacher. That's partly why I want to know when you plan to arrive in CT.
Hope you enjoy Canada, etc.
Liz

2PM 9/7/2012
Hey dad,
It sounds like you're having a lot of fun. That's great to hear. I don't have much of an idea of where you are exactly or what the landscape is like except that it is in the Rockies near the border, so it's probably cool, mountainous, and beautiful. Those are some things I could use right now.

You asked for news, and I guess I do have a little:

On Wednesday night we returned to Tucson from another short trip in California. This time I was back to be in my friend Thomas' wedding, where my role was to be he and his fiancee's officiant. I was a little nervous about standing and speaking in front of my friends' families and feeling the pressure of having such a visible role in the ceremony, but there were no embarrassing screw-ups or mishaps and I ended up having a lot of fun being up there with them. I had also scheduled an informational interview with a small hydrology firm in Oakland, and because a candidate they were looking at didn't work out for them the meeting became a formal interview. Just like the wedding I was nervous about it until I was actually there, then I felt comfortable and prepared. The company seems like just the type of thing that I am looking for and I really hope that they offer me the job. They are a small firm made up of some very good hydrologists, they have a good variety of projects, and they specialize in working on water management and water supply projects rather than on environmental assessments and remediation for companies that are just trying to appease regulators. Most of there work is local too, so I'd get to learn more about different issues around the Bay Area. The interview itself seemed to go really well and now I'm waiting for them to contact my references and get back to me. If they did offer me the job I would be moving back and starting in January. I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime I'll be continuing to work my ass off on my thesis. The work is going well and the project has remained interesting, but I'm certainly ready to be finished with school and to get the hell out of Tucson. If you ever feel like giving me a call I'm around most weeknights (especially Tu-Thu) after 7 pm.

Happy travels,
Stephen


9PM 9/7/2012
Hey Stephen,
Cool! ...how your "public speaking" experience at the wedding may have prepped you psychologically a little bit for that next challenge.

My gut feel is you will have the job - although you may well have a few more hoops to go through - firstly be sure to follow up promptly with a thank-you letter!  You should also expect more interviews with different people for example, some maybe over the phone.

Good luck in the mean time on keeping your cool enough through that process to stay focused as well on completing your thesis!  Doesn't that also involve a series of presentations with proffs & others? You might also be asked to make presentations to interested citizens groups or such - some of the CNPS" general meetings" featured grad students presenting their research results they were working to complete - in fact in Santa Rosa if you were interested you could probably do a presentation of your work to the Water Coalition.  Doing that sort of thing get's your name around and can connect you with other people in your field.

So, a big (hopefully not overly premature) CONGRATs on having a job lined up as you get your diploma!

Will I have to plan on being in the Tucson  area with my camera for some ceremony?
Gary

RoadTrip: Heading for Glacier NP

Heading for Glacier NP
1PM 8/21/2012
all,
Heading for Glacier NP ...in sandy's car. My car left at Sandy's friend Bob at Iron Creek rd in Stanley Idaho. Hope to update details soon.
Gary

4PM 8/21/2012
all,
...so actually, sudden change in plans, looks like Sandy and I will be going separately on our own steam... and schedule/itinerary.  will update as soon as I'm re-sorted...
Gary

noon 8/22/2012
Hey Gar,
 I'm heading up to Glacier now (Wed). My friends in Garden Valley aren't going to be available until next week. Let me give you their # in case you want to call them late next week to see if I arrived: David and Lois  (208)...
Maybe see ya in Glacier.
Sandy

9AM 8/23/2012
Hi Sandy,
I'm also headed to Glacier. I'm in Salmon now, will follow 93 thru Missoula, etc.
Gary

RoadTrip: enjoying... fires in the Sawtooth Mts of Idaho

1PM 8/18/2012
I guess it's been a while since I've updated you-all.

Taking a day-off today after a nice hike yesterday on the Iron Creek trail to Sawtooth Lake just west of Stanley, ID.  Real spectacular scenery in the Sawtooth Mts. Every bit as spectacular as the Tetons in my opinion, though some of my photo's are back-dropped by smoke from fires all around. Inversions kept the smoke at lower elevations so we did enjoy healthier air and sun, though we started and ended the hike in smoke.

 There's a big fire-fighting camp here in town, a fire very near to the northeast and another a dozen or so miles west of here. I drove here from Montana two days ago, along & down the North-Fork Salmon then up the Salmon past the South-fork, encountering smoke so thick the sun was a dark-orange cinder - the thickest smoke I've ever experienced (though unfortunately the sun was still too bright relative to the rest of the scene for my camera to properly capture - I'll have to manually "fix" the color...)

Staying for the next few days at the house Sandy's former landlord in Michigan is building here. We may do another overnight cross-country scramble up a nearby Mt this weekend.  Then Sandy & I plan to head west passing by Hells Canyon at the border with Oregon before heading northeast to Glacier.  We may do that in her car, returning here before she heads west and I east.
Gary

RoadTrip: CNPS: web site fix, trip update

WE had a meeting last night about the web-site and about recruiting new Board members.  The web-site is going very slowly, but I am using it in the newer advertising for the plant sale.  However, the old site is in a lot of advertising so I appreciate your help with the up-date.  I saw that the date had been changed.  Thank you.  Also thanks for the up-date on your travels.  Sounds like you are really enjoying yourself.  I will let others know about your exciting travels.  The picnic is Sunday at Pat Sesser's house.  We will miss you.
Liz P

On Aug 16, 2012, at 2:58 PM, Gary Hundt wrote:
Hi Liz,
Just to let you know I just got this msg and will make the plant sale date updates now while I have web access.  

Since you're probably curious and I haven't been updating Facebook with this as I "should":

I'm in the library in Salmon, Id. Very smoky from fires today, as it has been off&on wherever I happen to be in Wyoming, Montana, & Idaho over the last few weeks. After leaving the group of CNPSers at the Ruby Mts, I headed north from Elko, exploring the Jarbage Mts for a few days then passing thru Twin Falls, ID, stopping in Craters of the Moon NP abt 2 days en route to the Tetons where I met Sandy and her friend Peter. We wnadered around there a few days getting in some good hikes and wildlife photo-ops before moving on to Yellowstone where we spent about a week doing most of the standard attractions - felt like Disneyland must feel to a kid!  I think I took more video clips than still photos there!  Peter then headed home while Sandy & I were planning on caravanning to Bozeman, MT  to take care of some car-maint errands, then head to Stanley, ID where Sandy had some friends. But we got separated in Bozeman, with her cell phone not working in this area. I assume she's already there, and I'm just taking my time getting there, thinking she might eventually get some email access or something....   Anyway, after that I'm planning to go to Glacier NP and the Canadian side as well - with or without her... then she's headed west into Washington/Oregon while I plan to head south to Colorado, probably doing a 2nd take of Yellowstone & the Tetons on my way there. By end of Sept I should be heading generally east by way of the Great Lakes - poking around my old neighborhood in Cleveland where I grew up, before arriving at my Sister's in Connecticut mid-October. So is the plan... 

But now back to work.  If you see this within the next hour or so you can probably squeeze in a few specific plant-list updates - and I'm "sure" I'll have more opportunities to do updates before the plant sale.

Curious how the new web site design process is going.

Gary   

On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 11:14 AM, [Liz] <...> wrote:

If you get this message before the plant sale, I would appreciate it if you would up date the plant sale information in the old web site.
The date is now October 13, 2012 and  and there is a list of plants that is headed with the date 2011, could you change that to 2012.  If you know of any other places that the date of the plant sale occurs, could you change that too.  A lot of our information has that old web-site, so I would like to get the information correct, but you are the only one who can change it apparently.  On the flyer for the sale I will put up the new one web-address.

noon 8/18/2012

Liz,
Hopefully not quite as slow-going as the last few years ....  (The layout looks good - maybe an additional page under conservation discussing invasives?) If you do have a poster you could send me I can probably post it within the next few days.

For some reason I've missed the last few picnics anyway...  Wish I could be in more places at once.  

Maybe I can get some picts up today that you-all can look at.  Saw an interesting Calocortus yesterday on a nice hike to Sawtooth lake - real spectacular scenery though some of the photo's are backdroped by smoke from fires all around. Inversions kept the smoke at lower elevations so we did enjoy healthier air and sun at higher elevations, though we started and ended the hike in smoke.

I'm still in Stanley, will be for the next few days.  There's a big firefighing camp here in town, a fire very near to the northeast and another a dozen or so miles west of here.  Sandy I I plan to head west passing by Hells Canyon at the border with Oregon before heading northeast to Glacier.
Gary 

RoadTrip: chasing Sandy somewhere between Bozeman and Stanley

[After Peter had to head back to Moss Beach, Sandy & I planned to head to ID to visit her friend in Stanley, but first, she needed to check out a mechanical issue with her car in Bozeman, while I wanted to linger longer in Yellowstone, before catching up with her at a Co-Op in Bozeman that she said she would be at.]

3PM 8/13/2012
Hi Sandy,
Just in case we don't find each other before you see this...
I looked for you at & around the two coops on Main St...

So I got my check-engine code read (some kind of emission/efficiency issue that I'll just ignore for now) and an oil change etc, had lunch at Subways, went back to the library where I'm at now, in the lobby, and may stay til it closes at 8pm.   I'll try to identify some reasonable campsites in the area but won't "book" anything yet.

If we don't find each other ...  I'll probably head a little way toward Stanley along the route you described, and maybe I'll call whatshisname and lv msg or see whats up...  
Gary

6PM 8/13/2012
so it's a bit after 6pm and I'm getting a bit anxious about finding a campsite, so I think I will head west on hwy 84 then south on 287 and if I haven't found a reasonably inexpensive campsite by the time I get to Ennis I'll try heading east on backroads out of Ennis into the National Forest there.
Gary

6PM 8/14/2012
Hi Sandy,
 It occurred to me that you may have left a msg somehwhere at the Coop, so after camping on the Madison River about half-way to Norris last night I decided to do a small "loop" hitting some of the State Parks in the area, including Lewis & Clark Caves, Missouri Headwaters, and Buffalo Jump, before heading back to Bozeman to check at the Coop for any msgs - didn't see any on the outside bulletin board and asked a clerk who knew of no other msgs left there, so stopped at the Rocky Mt Museum - browsed the bookstore, checked out the Montana State U campus a bit, and now checked for msgs at the city library and checked my email & phone for msgs - one mysterious attempted call two hrs ago, tried to return that call - no answer.

So I'm going to go back to the place I camped at last night along the river.  Expect it to be raining tomorrow and may just lay low a while before heading slowly towards Stanley.
Hope to talk to you soon...
Gary

to me,
Mt 287 n for 43 mi. LT my 41 s for 27 mi.   Rt i15 bus n. I15 s for 20 mi. Xit44 Clark cyn reservoir.  Rt mt324 for 34 mi gravel. Ctu id29s rr cyn rd 13mi. Gravel. Rt id28n 45mi paved. LT us93s 60mi. Rt id75s 55mi. Rt hwy21 Eva falls Ave. In Stanley.
Gary

1PM 8/15/2012 [from Ennis]
Hi Sandy,
Got your phone msg from Bob's in Stanley.  Tried calling that # but someone answered who didn't seem to know you or why I would be calling.  Will also try calling your cell phone before I leave Ennis in a few minutes.
Looking at google directions I will take a shot at the route involving a few tens of miles of gravel roads. Expect it to take me all day, so should arrive around 8 or 9pm this evening, or else I'll have overnighted somewhere along the way.  See you soon.
Gary

4PM 8/16/2012
Hi Sandy,
I'm still on my way to Stanley, will probably try calling you and/or Bob later this afternoon when I get done here with some cnps website update chores, and hopefully a few email updates to family etc.
hope to see you soon - still plan to arrive early this evening...
Gary

5PM 8/16/2012
Hi Sandy,
OK, I'm done here at the Salmon Library and will head down to Stanley.  Will ask about closures first... sure is smokey here...
OK, from www.155.idaho.gov I see that hwy 75 between us 93&Stanley has reduced visibility due to smoke.
Not sure I will get there before the library in Stanley closes. Um... looks like it already closed. so you'll probably not get this msg til too late.
oh well, will try calling...
Gary

5PM 8/16/20112
I left you a written message at the desk at the Bozeman co-op (the  larger one outside of downtown) and waited there until 4:30pm
I'm in Stanley now.
Sandy

5PM 8/16/2012
I found a nice free place in Virginia City, MT to camp the night by a creek. But you are in Salmon now.
Sandy

RoadTrip: billing for Ruby Mts CG fee. Update from Coulter Bay, WY

7PM 8/2/2012
So are you all OK with Peter's idea just to dun everyone for $32? If not, speak now or forever hold your peace pipe.
ML

1PM 8/6/2012
OK by me - Thanks for all the footwork to make this great outing happen!
I've made out a check but need to find an envelope and a post office...

I'm Currently in Coulter Bay in the Tetons doing my laundry - heading to Yellowstone after a hike-filled several days in the Tetons with Sandy & friend.  Need to find campsite asap between here & YP while they're still available.
Gary

3PM 8/6/2012
When you get a chance, tell me about the Tetons experience. I didn't get a chance to talk to you about your PCT time either.
ML

RoadTrip: update after Craters of the Moon. Where was Becca's Sage Grouse project?

noon 8/1/2012
Hi Rebecca and all,
First an update. I spent yesterday and surrounding nights at the Craters of the Moon NM in Idaho. [After Leaving the Ruby Mts, I spent a few wonderful days in the Jarbidge Mts north of Ely NV on my way into ID, stopping briefly in Twin Falls before continuing northeast to Craters of the Moon.]

Currently I'm in a little library in Arco, ID, expect to spend this afternoon & maybe tomorrow along the Snake River upstream of Idaho Falls before moving on into the Tetons where I'll meet up with Sandy & Peter initially at the Gros Ventre CG south of Jackson.   I'll be tagging around with them through Yellowstone then back into Idaho before heading off on my own again when they decide to head west into Oregon.

My tentative plans beyond that are to hit Glacier NP, and maybe a bit further north into Canada, then back south into Colorado.  Generally exploring the northern Rockies is the idea, though anything interesting in the area, I'll try to fit in.  Been reading a lot about the geology of the north west.

Rebecca, curious, where was it you were working on that Sage Grouse project?
Gary

9PM 8/1/2012
Central Wyoming. Near Lander.
Rebecca

RoadTrip: trying to accommodate me this Oct-on in Ct

6AM 8/1/2012
Hi Gary,
Hope you are enjoying whatever mountains you are hiking in and time with people you are with. And that the weather is good. It seems the horrible hot weather is still stuck in the middle of the country.

I'm really looking forward to your visit in Oct.
I still need to figure out your space for when you are staying with us. The boys will be coming back from college occasionally and so will not want to give up their rooms. We have no extra bedrooms, so I'm trying to figure out what will work out best for you, either the basement, which is not so nice, or the sunroom, which is not private because my studio overlooks it. Mark spends a lot of time working in the basement so that is not very private either. Or, you can use one of the boys' bedrooms while they are gone, then move into another space when they are here, but that's disruptive to you.
Ann and Bill have a small apartment and no extra space at all. They may even have moved by then if Bill finds a job further south, to be closer to Gretchen's college in Wilmington, SC. Ann ... with her painting business ... I have been hiring to do stuff here at our house.
The airplane should be completely out of the basement and into a hangar very soon, next few weeks, certainly by Oct, so I hope to start reorganizing and cleaning things down there.
I'm really hoping you will be willing to help me with some projects around the house and yard (as long as the weather holds and there is no early snow) while you are here. There are so many things I would love to do that require more physical strength and energy than what I have these days, but Mark and the boys are always too busy with their own projects to help me.
Also I look forward to some day trips and hikes with you.
I generally have all my art stuff (classes, portrait and figure drawing sessions, art support group) going on Mondays and Tuesdays and some Wednesdays, so that gives you time when nobody will be home.
I will try to help you organize your pictures, as you asked, but I may get so confused when faced with too many choices!

So please let me know what you think of these arrangements.
Time flies...see you soon!
Liz

11AM 8/1/2012
Hi Liz,
Thanks for trying to accommodate me...  I think i can be very flexible as far as where I stay - I could even sleep in my car - or even in a tent - I've brought three sleeping bags along (a "summer bag" that I'm using now, a very warm down bag I haven't had a chance to use yet, and another heavy bag I've been using as a quilt back when I had a bed in a room.  Also, I think I'll look at room rentals just in case things begin feeling too crowded or for some reason I decide to stay longer than planned.

I'm currently at a little library in Arco, ID on my way from Craters of the Moon where I spent yesterday and the two surrounding nights, heading towards the Tetons meeting up with Sandy and her friend Peter in a few days, after possibly looking around the Snake River area SE of Idaho Falls this afternoon or tomorrow.

I'll have to remember to exercise my upper body a bit more for the next two months so I won't get too sore the first few times I do some real work around the house & yard. I can probably do some pretty strong kicking, but not boxing, at this point.
Gary

2PM 8/1/2012
Love Craters of the Moon! We saw it a few years ago on our Yellowstone, Teton, Wyoming trip.

I am looking forward to seeing you and your photos, I just did not expect you to stay for so long. Sleeping in your car or a tent in winter is too darn cold and simply not necessary.
Wish we had an extra bedroom. The house is roomy it's just that every space is being used. The sunroom is really the nicest space but a pass-through and  below my studio, so not very private. Maybe we can put up some curtains or privacy screens.
I want us all to be comfortable esp since it's for so long. We'll figure something out.

But if you do stay a while, I'll take advantage and put you to work! So get those arms strong, cause we'll be cutting trees, hauling rocks and building stone walls and patios, etc. Maybe I'll have you cooking too...gee what else can I have you do...I hate cleaning...I better start that list...hmmm
Have a great time with your friends. Watch out for bears in the Tetons and Yellowstone!
Liz

RoadTrip: now converging on the Tetons from Mi, Ca, Id

2PM 7/31/2012

Gary,

Sandy left for the Tetons this morning. I will leave tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

See you there, at Gros Ventre campground, the only one likely to have vacancies.

Peter H

11AM 8/1/2012

Peter, Sandy,

Thanks.  I'm in a little library in Arco, ID at the moment, on my way from the Craters of the Moon were I spent the last day and two nights. May spend tonight and maybe tomorrow along the Snake river SE of Idaho Falls before heading to Jackson the next day, tho that is all very tentative, depending on what  I run into.  

Looking forward to seeing you both soon,

Gary 

RoadTrip: Hot weather forecast, and I'm running late

Hot
2PM 7/20/2012
Hi everyone - just checked the weather and it looks like 90's all week, 50's at night, occasional T-storms. Wells (5600) is a bit higher than Elko (5,000 ft). Angel Creek is at 6,800 ft so hopefully cooler!
Betsy

2:30 7/20/2012
Yes, I confirmed our reseevation at the Motel and she said it is unusually hot  ;-(   But we're tough...right?
Judith

4:30 7/20/2012
The vagaries of weather forecasting -- I once wanted to be a meteorologist but felt the risk factor for incorrect prediction was less in reading crystal balls.

NOAA-Weather Service site shows high temps above 5000 ft. in the Wells area as topping out about 80 deg.F next week. It will be what it will be.  I hope there's water to immerse into, somewhere.


4:30 7/20/2012
Welll....  I guess this is the opening to admit that I'm STILL in SRosa CITY!  Hopefully Ben & Vishnu haven't wasted too much time looking for me since I SAID I would be up there in the Santa Rosa MOUNTAINS about yesterday...

Anyway, yeah, I am still stuck-in-the-mud taking care of enough of the last minute details to make sure I can be on the road for a full year including winter in New England...  (hah!)  -actually mainly still making sure I have good backups of all my picts - last chance for a while...

In case anyone's interested, I have a full set of my picts on my computer that I'm leaving at the EC (in the little room with the printer/fax machine) - you can log in as user "open" password "enter" (same as the "public" account on the Mac at the EC)  The picts are distributed over 3 disk drives, ordered chronologically in a file folder tree under root folder "photos" on each drive, then a subfolder tree by year, month, and day.  Most of the "day" -folders have a very long descriptive name beginning with the date, then the "host-org" (eg, CNPS for "our" outings) then a description of the locations and/or occasion.  (I've split the 2012 branch between two disk drives due to space constraints - months 04-April thru 07-July are in same drive as the 2003-2008 picts.)  

Anyhow, I WAS on the verge of leaving (stopping by my daughter's in Woodland near Sacto - taking the back-road route by Lk Hennessey & Lk Berryessa to try to avoid the Friday afternoon rush-hr traffic.

 But I hadn't yet checked the weather... hmmm... maybe I'll wait another day...  Nah.  I'm tough (as long as my car air conditioner works...)
Gary

RoadTrip: Ruby Mts trip arrival plans

8PM 7/13/2012
Hello All,
I'm just writing to share the current plan that Ben & I have for Nevada travels. Our plan is to leave Ukiah on Thursday 7/19 and return from Nv on Friday 7/27. We will take Hwy 20 to just beyond the Grass Valley area where it meets I-80. From there we'll drive to Winnemucca and then north for an hour or so into the Santa Rosa Mts. We'll camp there Thurs. night and explore the area on Fri. and, if there's enough to see, on Sat. also. We have talked about visiting the museums in Elko and if the timing is right we might meet up w ML & Judith there on Sunday. By Sunday evening, if not before, we'll make it to Angel Creek Camp and join with the group.

I am wondering about cell phones. Neither Ben nor I have one but we could call you, if need be. I have Ann's # & Peter but none for Judith, Betty, Betsy or Gary. If you 4 could send me (or to everyone) your number I will add them to my list. Are there other things like rain gear - if there are any thunderstorms, that might be good to think about bringing? I hope to make room for my spotting scope which has been good for birds & planets & also for sunspots recently.

I have spoken with Kerry Heise a few times about the Nv area, which is one he knows very well as he lived in Truckee and then worked in Nevada (basin & range area) for a number of years. He has given me some descriptive materials to read and I will bring that along on the trip. He also has maps of much of the area and I will be bringing a few of them. He speaks highly of Nevada's mountains as a whole, including the Nat. Park near Ely although he thought visiting there might be too much for one trip. I am hopeful we can enlist him as a participant (& guide) in another year.
Vishnu

11PM 7/13/2012
Hello Vishnu, Ben, et al.,
My Phone# is ...
I plan to head up in that direction around the 18th.  I intend to take my time getting there.  I may stay overnight here: http://freecampsites.net/dog-valley-california/  or here: http://freecampsites.net/water-canyon-blm/   or here: http://freecampsites.net/sonoma-canyon-primitive/   I suppose that would be Wednesday night.  Hope to then intercept Ben & Vishnu on Thursday night if I can guess their route. (Would that be hwy 95 north from Winnemucca?  Would you be heading for Lye Creek CG?)
I potentially have have more time to linger after the 27th, but hope to be in the Tetons around Jenny Lake no later than Thursday, Aug 2.
Gary

1AM 7/14/2012
Hi Gary,

I really don't know as Ben had looked it up but Lye Creek Cmpgr. sounds like the only one around that I can see. We'll try and be in touch as it would be good to connect with you out there.

Vishnu

8AM 7/14/2012
Sounds like a great trip. Betsy and I will be meeting up with Judtih and Ml in Elko on Saturday evening, hopefully. 415... Cell:...
Thanks, Betty Sent from my iPad

8AM 7/14/2012
Hi Gary,
Everyone seems to be leaving on Thurs or Fri. but I'd like to stay a couple more days to check out Great Basin and Lehman Caves.
ML

11AM 7/14/2012
You lucky ducks!  I've always wanted to visit the Jarbidge range.  It'll be good to hear about it.
My cell phone is ...
Hasta Luego
Judith

1PM 7/18/2012
Well, the hour is getting late so I should let you all know about my plans, which don't amount to any real plan.

I'm overwhelmed with work, and on the one task that I have to complete before I would leave, I've had little to no help from my 2 colleagues (grrr...), but my name is the only one on the contract (they're subs, but that's only for contracting and payment purposes).  So, regardless of their forthcoming participation, I must get this one document completed before I can go away.  I just don't know if that's going to happen in a timely fashion yet.  Item 1 on my list of why I prefer to work on my own....

I've lost track of where all of you are convening at various junctures of the trip.  Please let me know the locations of camping on which nights, as I might not be able to join you until sometime later in the trip.  All I have right now is a Nevada road map.

If I can't get away by early Monday, I probably will need to pass up the trip entirely.

To confirm, my cell phone number is ... , but use my land line, if you need to contact me, until at least Saturday.  If I do get away, I plan to drive straight through to the appropriate campsite in one day -- I expect this will take about 12 hours maximum.
Peter

6PM 7/18/2012
Hi Peter,  The only campsite you need to remember is Angel Creek CG #13.  To get there all you have to do is take state route 31 south of Wells for 6 or so miles.  We'll be there from Sunday at least thru Tuesday.  I'm in charge of beverages, and already bought a 16 pack of Lagunitas IPA, and besides, you need to put your Great Basin flora to use!  But, we'll understand if you can't make it.  Hope you can make it,  Ben

RoadTrip: family: leaving this Weds for Ruby Mts then Tetons, Yellowstone, Idaho, Glacier, Colorado-wards, then northeastwards

Dear family & close friends,

Just FYI on my immediate plans. I'm leaving this Wednesday to join CNPS folk in the Ruby Mts of Nevada, before heading on to the Tetons, where I will be meeting up with Sandy and her friend Peter after all.  (We thought we were going to miss each other by a week heading in opposite directions, but Sandy decided to enjoy the Michigan weather for another week before leaving for the Tetons.  Yay!)  I may be tagging along with those two through Yellowstone and then west into Idaho, before heading off in opposite directions again - I may head north to Glacier NP, then work my way back south along the Rockies into Colorado, then vaguely onward probably northeasterly to the Great Lakes and Northern New England by October, then hope to stay at Liz's home over the winter months (formally renting a room for the duration probably) then by Feb or sooner head south to Florida and other southern states working my way back west, ideally getting to CA by April to continue my Pacific Quest Trail hike.

Gary

8AM 7/16/2012

Oh, good... we are going to meet up. My sister still needs somebody to water the plants and feed the cats at the end of August while on their honeymoon.
I'll miss you this winter,but will try to keep busy either studying spanish in Guatemala and/or going to Hawaii with Bud and Michael. I had hoped you and the three of us could share a room so you and I could go hiking and snorkling. I'd like to hike the PCT in spring with you.
I plan on leaving MI on July 30th for the Tetons.

Sandy