Looks like it is a monthly blog

Greetings, take me to your leader. (fly fishing humor) OK, I know I promised to post more often, but sometimes it just doesn't strike me. I notice the last post was June 19, today is July 19, I apparently have the monthly muse.

The past month has been fun, hardly seems like a month has passed! I mentioned previously that we found a great Vet for Koda. He seems to think so too, brought him in and he walked right up to the door! Then in, sniffed around and sat to wait his turn. We may have to move here for this Vet.

Finally found some potted basil for Jolene at the local florist. Very nice lady, she pulled the last three basil plants out of 3 herb pots (containing a garden of herbs) and re-potted for me. We may have to move here for service like this.

As you can see by my picture the fly fishing bug has hit me, why else would I be dressed so goofy. The typical wind pants and shirt are really comfortable! The waders are fun to be able to walk that deep into a river without getting wet. The fish catching is a bonus.

This past week I rode my motorcycle up to the Lamar Buffalo Ranch for four days of fly fishing instruction. What a great time. You know the old small world thing, well, one of the guys in the class was raised in the next town over from us back in RI. He and I graduated the same year from high school. We were probably at the same football game on opposite sides of the field. (our schools were in same division) We both left RI about the same time for the military, (different branches), and neither live in RI any longer. Had some fun talking about things there. Del's, Newport Creamery, chowder the right way etc...

During the fly fishing course, we learned all sorts of new things. How to read the stream, looking at the edges, or changes in the appearance of the water. Indicators of current, eddys etc. Places where a fish would wait for prey. Prey being a floating caddis or a swimming nymph. How to cast to get your fly just upstream, letting it float down to the fish. How to attempt to outsmart a fish with a brain the size of a pea. I think hey may use all of their brain, we only use a small percentage of ours.

After 2 days of practice casting we were finally deemed ready for water and hooks. Off to the Soda Butte, and casting, wading, casting, finding edges, cut banks, casting, drifting. Just no fish. After talking with others on the stream we found that they had no luck either, the fish just weren't rising. Oh well, that's fishing.

Later we headed to the Lamar River, for the 'Magic Hour'. Couple of the other guys an I headed to here we were sent. Quite a walk, but magical place. Still no fish, but just being there, looking around, working on getting the cast to where we wanted it. Didn't work on the fish, but it was Magic nonetheless.

Last day of the class we went out to the Slough Creek. (pronounce it Slue Crick) We finally got things to crick, I mean click! Up and down the creek fish on! I caught a nice cutthroat trout. Others in the class caught their share as well, a cutbow, a rainbow, a brook. Nice way to graduate!

After returning to the Ranch Rhea presented us with our certificates and a talisman for our fly gear. Rhea has fished all over the world and when in these exotic locations she collects a small remembrance in the form of stones, and rocks. I received a beautiful piece of obsidian collected on a river in California near the Oregon line. Appropriately it looks wet. (wet stone, get it?)

Well, my class was done, and time to get back to Old Faithful. Repack the bike for the journey and ride the 70+ miles. (all IN the park).

One last little bit. As I have mentioned, the wildlife is wild here. On the way I found a small gang of elk ladies relaxing comfortably in a meadow, just watching the traffic go by.

That's all for now. I PROMISE I'll try to make it less than a month.

Long Time, No Blog

June 19, wow, been about 3+ weeks. Lots going on, and I guess the muse did not strike.


OK, in the intervening period since my last post we have been having a pretty nice time. Lots of rain, just about the whole time we have had rain. Daily. Ugh, reminds me of New England weather. However, a rainy day in Yellowstone can be a lot more interesting than a sunny day someplace else.

We have done a bit of in and out of park travel. Bozeman, MT one day, joined Costco. Found a cool little thrift shop for Jolene to browse and a sporting goods pawn shop next door. Found my water boots for fly fishing there. Great deal, they were still new and about 20% of what I had seen them online for. Costco had the waders I needed. Just about done setting up my fly fishing kit. In July I will go to a 4 day novice course lead by Rhea Topping, a recognized expert in fly fishing.

The following week we just hit the little town of West Yellowstone, found a great vet for Koda. He was sure excited.

This week we explored Jackson Hole. What a cool town, good shopping, closer than Bozeman, and a real neat drive. About 95 miles. Good grocery store, Sports Authority, and Orvis shop. Gotta stay away from that place, the $ signs have $ signs on them! Ultimate fishing store though.


In Park travels. Lamar Valley, this is where we will be taking courses, me the Fly Fishing, and Jolene to be determined. LV is THE place for wildlife viewing.. This is where the first rangers kept the bison herd to increase it. It is now used as a learning institute by the Yellowstone Association. Many small log cabins and a big one. Big one has the kitchen and classrooms. While in the area we saw many bison, elk, a black bear, a big horn sheep. Unfortunately the bear was only recognizable thru binoculars, and the zoom on my little digi camera was enough. Getting camera envy out here. Not far from here we saw the females with the babies on a cliff side.










On our drive back from Jackson Hole, a big grizzly (probably 800 lb) crossed the road about 8 cars ahead of us. I was ready for a good picture, but he went off into the brush. Never had a decent shot.

With us being in such a central location, hundreds of visitors a day passing before us, we meet many people. State of origin comes up a lot. I look for clues, like a Gators jersey, pretty sure they are from FL. Red Sox hat, pretty much New England. One Red Sox hat was on a family , (not the whole family), who happened to be from our old hometown in RI and of course we had acquaintance's in common. Always a kick to have this happen.

All for now. Hope you don't give up on reading, I'll try to post a little more often.

First Week

This is Memorial Day Weekend, a tribute to our Vetereans who have served and those that made the ultimate sacrifice. If you are reading this in English, thank a veteran. Thank them anyway, the vets are those that took time from their life to serve our country. Put off college to serve, put off starting a career to serve. Thank you, and welcome home.

End of our first week here at Yellowstone. Monday we drove up to Gardiner, MT for training, first day was getting acquainted, some paperwork out of the way, (completely painless), and meet our fellow worker/campers. Finished the day off with a nice barberque up on the rim of Gardiner, a rental place called 'Above The Rest'. This is the view we had for eating hamburgers. Life is goood...

Our second day we joined the Park Rangers for their training, touching upon many items, including the Wolf Project, where the wolves had been reintroduced to the park. Learned about how they are managed, where they go etc. Very interesting.

Last day we learned about the retail side of our jobs, the register, products, how thy are selected for the stores. We also learned more about the membership, the value to the members, what the membeship does for the Park. If you visit me at the Visitors Center, be prepared.

Back to Old Faithful, a day off when we visited West Yellowstone, and visited this display. The town's Chamber of Commerce commissioned these buffalo and invited artists to paint in various themes. They have been on display for a while, and now they are being presented for auction in August. This one is one of my favorites.

Our first day was fun, met many people, sold many books and a couple memberships. The diversity of our visitors is amazing, so many countries in just the first 2 days. Second day, (don't worry, this won't be a day by day diary), we were a little more relaxed. Worked our whole shift including doing the open by ourselves. Getting out at 1:30 leaves a pretty good sized afternoon, so after lunch we drove over to see Grant Village and West Thumb. Even with a good sized afternoon we didn't see as much as we would have liked, so saving this place for another day off.

Have a wonderful weekend, 3 day for most of you. Our weekend arrives on Weds.

We Have Arrived

I just noticed that the last post was on 4/29. We were having fun, and not always good internet speeds.

We left Phoenix on April 30th with the destination Buckskin SP just north of Parker. Beautiful campground, could have stayed a week, but we had a schedule.

From Buckskin to Bullhead City, AZ. Davis CG in Bullhead is another state park, on the Colorado River, short hop over to Laughlin, NV. We headed over to NV and checked out a couple casino's. Not much luck at the machines, but pretty much stayed even. Bullhead City also has a big Sam's club, we decided to get new tires. The techs checked out or set and we decided to replace all the rear tires, the front tires were in good shape.

Laughlin to La Vegas. We stayed at the campground at Circus Circus. Vegas has a pretty nice transit system, you can buy a pass that i good for all day. Runs you anywhere in the city, and with the traffic it s a little faster than walking. We got to see all the casino's from the bus. In the evening we headed to Fremont St. Still on the bus. Now behind the immigration rights march which ended at Government Center. Woohoo. We finally got to Fremont St in time to be blocked by the Gay Pride parade. (not there is anything wrong with that) Aside from the blockades to our progress, Fremont St was great. Jolene won some at the Golden Nugget, enough to cover our dinner OR our camp fees.

I was a little concerned about what the noise level might be at night on the Strip, but it was fine. Actually much quieter than our stay in Phoenix.
We left Vegas for, get this, Virgin Utah. Yeah, ironic, we know. Virgin is the town on the edge of Zion NP. We joined up with our RV Forum 'Framily' for the first leg of their Hop, Skip and Jump rally. Because of our schedule we could only Hop. Zion is beautiful, and we will come back to it again.

The picture here is of the formation named 'The Prophet'. Most of the rock formation in Zion are biblical references.

We left Virgin, UT on May 4th, headed to Ogden, UT. Jolene grew up in Ogden and this is where we met and were married. Our plan was to stay the firs night at Antelope Island, really cool place in the Salt Lake, however the ranger warned us that the biting gnats were out in full force. We decided to skip that stop, we instead headed straight to Willard Bay. The bugs were there as well, just not biters. Back when we were married in 1972, our first purchase was a camper. Willard Bay campground was the site of our first overnight. We didn't remember the bugs. Two nights there in the buggy site and we decided to head to a campground found on a motorcycle ride. This one was up at the top of Ogden Canyon, Anderson Cove, another state park. This campgound overlooks the Pineview Reservoir, and it overlooks the point.Point is a weekend destination for swimming etc. This is the place that Jolene and I met, back in 1971.

Ogden stop was wonderful, we caught up with Jolene's family, spent some quality time with her Dad.

All too soon it was time to leave, but it was time for the last legs of our trip.

Last night on the road we stayed at Red Rock RV, just outside Island Park, ID. Friends of ours are workamping there this summer. Nice park situated on Henry's Lake. This lake has quite a reputation for trout fishing. Lake is still frozen, so fishing was out, but there was enough clear water for the eagles to find a meal.

Still lots of snow on the ground here in this part of the world. Doesn't show in this picture but looking the other way? Hoo Boy. We had an enjoyable evenng with Dan and Carol and headed out in the morning. It started snowing as we were getting ready to leave.

The drive from Island Park to Yellowstone was not even an hour, only 24 miles. The distance from the entrance of the park to Old Faithful is 30 miles! This is a huge place. I know this, but the reality of it is somewhat overwhelming.

Saw a roadsign I had never seen in my life. "Caution Buffalo may be in Road". Son of a gun, they were right.

On The Road

April 29th. (Happy Birthday John) We hit the road this morning. Accomplished quite a bit Monday & Tuesday, installed the slider shelf and freezer, got the trailer reorganized, everything packed, and ready to go. Freezer is an awesome addition, it will help greatly for extended times between shopping. Already, I was able to buy 3 1/2 gallons of ice cream! In the little freezer in our fridge there is only room for that much ice cream, so all that ice cream plus all the meat, etc is a bonus.





Our first night out, we are at Buckskin State Park. Situated on the Colorado River, a little south of the Parker Dam. The river is clear, and not as cold as I would have expected. We took Koda for a walk down to the boat ramp after dark, he was quite intrigued by the water. He is NOT a water dog, he doesn't care to jump in like other dogs, so having him near never concerns us. Well it must have looked different in the dark, cuz in he jumped. Out he climbed! It might have been dark, but he still doesn't like it.





Great dark skies tonight, stars very bright. Nothing like being away from a city to see stars. Big dipper, Orion's Belt, OK, that is it for my ID-ing. Need to study this a bit more.



So quiet here. After the time in Phoenix, just off a main street, with traffic, fire trucks etc, this is heaven. A lot to be said for the stillness of a night by a river.

Good night, I am going to sit and watch and listen.

Good Morning! Great Bargain!!

Been a week since the last post. In this past week, we left Quartzsite and set up in Phoenix. We are camped next to friends who have moved to Phoenix. Nice having friends around. This park is noisy! We are in the front row on a major road. Traffic all night. Plus is next to a friend, negative is noise. We are only here a few weeks, we can deal with it.

Been working at the main store in Arizona, filling in for the guys away at the big show in New Mexico. Not too busy, but enough to keep us going. Big advantage to being at the store is getting some things done. For instance, our freezer is very small. We can't really stock up on frozen items. So, we decided to get some sort of freezer, either a small home style and put it in the trailer, or get an RV style, runs AC or DC that will fit in a storage bay. As our luck (and you know who) would have it, the store had a 'take out', or an item that was in a coach being sold that the customer did not want, in the shed. A new, although some slight scratches, cooler/freezer. I was able to buy it at about 25% of the retail price. This will work as a cooler or a freezer depending on the thermostat setting. This was a major find. With grocery stores an hour away, a good freezer is invaluable.

We have a large shopping list to get items we will need for the summer. Items we didn't just naturally have or have with us. Hiking boots. Haven't had any for quite awhile, so a trip to Cabellas was in order. Sleeping bag. Need one for our courses, and a bag is always handy to have around. Got these items the other night, and had a really cool vsit to the store. Cabellas is like LL Bean up in Freeport, or Bass Pro Shop. Huge, every outdoor activity imaginable. Fun place. Hard to leave without spending a chunk.

Well, three more days on the sales lot, then quick fligt to Florida and back, a couple days hre and we hit the road!

Que up Willy Nelson, 'On the Road Again'.....

Blessed Easter

Easter morning, beautiful dawn and sunrise. Clear skies and promises of a warm day here in Arizona. Nice day for travel. Today we leave Quartzsite. We have been here since New Years Day! Some interludes away, but mainly here. It is a quaint little town of less than 2000 in the summer, swells to over 1/2 million in January. I arrived early December, flew back to pick up Jolene and the coach at Christmas.

We had rain about 4 times since Jan 1. This is the desert. However, Dec and early Jan there was enough ran to nourish the desert plants and the spring has been beautiful. Prickly pear cactus, ocotillo, suguerro etc. The prickly pear blossoms are brilliant.

Wildlife out here. Coyotes are unseen, but heard at night. Not every night, but what a chorus. Spooky but what a natural sound. Very different for an eastern boy like me. There are Mountain Quail hunting around for food. These are cool looking birds with a tuft on their forehead.

Road Runners on occasion so can the Coyotes be far behind? I keep expecting to see an Acme package lying open on the desert. Beep beep...

On to our travel. Today we move over to Phoenix to an RV resort. Pool, spa, laundry facilities within short walk. Grass, palm trees, real stores nearby. This should be different. Of course it comes with a price. Actual $'s, we have been in a free spot for the past 3 1/2 months. Lot to be said for that. We will be next to one of my friends from back in Florida. Ed moved out here after Lazy Days, now lives and works in Phoenix. Looking forward to hanging with him a bit. For the first week I will be working at the main store for the company I have been with out here in Q. Then a quick rip to Florida, and back. We will be at the park until the 29th, then get a real start on this next adventure.

Path Stays True, Route Changes

For the time being, no longer looking for a truck. Started actually seeing trucks in the range I am willing to pay, but not trucks we are willing to buy. Should have known, but they looked pretty good online. Didn't mind paying a bit more, but after outfitting it for the job it is intended to do, the cost just went beyond what we were willing to pay. Still need a vehicle for our work up at Yellowstone, so now looking at renting. We can get a car for the entire time we are there at a fraction of the cost of buying. No added insurance, no worries about an older vehicle and maintenance, no extra items needed to set it up. PLUS, we still have our enclosed trailer to use, this works as a garage for the motorcycle, transport for the extra "stuff".

Fly Fishing
I will be taking the novice fly fishing course with Rhea Topping in July. Really looking forward to this. Good old eBay, got a new rod, reel, line and vest at a very low buy in price. Everything for less than the retail value of the vest! I will wait till I get up in the area to get other items.

Native Plants - the Indian Store
Jolene will be taking this course. Identify and find the plants the Indians used for food, medicine etc. Learn how they were used, and customs of the native Americans. This is right up Jolene's alley, she is fascinated with what happened in history. Natural cures, herbs etc. She gets to take her class in June and stay in a log cabin!

www.yellowstoneassociation.org if you go to Take a Course, look these up. Really cool offerings! Come out to Yellowstone and take one.

Time in Arizona Ending Soon

I have been here in Quartzsite, AZ since early Dec, flew home for Christmas, then Jolene and I came out at the end of December. Arizona has been great, the sky shows every night have been awesome. The desert, after some heavier than normal rain is green, there are flowers. The Painted Lady butterfly migration has come and the stragglers are still fluttering by.

The RV selling season is about over out here. We are looking to put on one more show, down in Yuma. We shall see. If we do it, I hope it is successful. Our last sales are all getting deliverd now. Would be nice to have another one in the chute before we head out.

Little flight back to Florida to take care of some issues and then on the road.

We Believe in Angels.

We believe in Angels. We have always been guided. Blessed. Lucky. Way back. Just newly wed, just out of the Air Force, heading back to RI from Utah. Pulling our first RV, a 1967 Starcraft Vacationer Deluxe with a Chevy Van. Van having trouble running cool, tried all sorts of work arounds, but it just ran real hot. Finally, in western PA, a bearing seized. Meant the engine had to be torn down, bearing, and as it turned out rings as well, all had to be replaced. Bad situation, but our angel was in the form of John Wilson in Zelienople, PA. Just inside the border with Ohio, between Rt 70 and Rt 80. We limped off the exit, stopped at the busy service station, and was told, no they couldn't help, but we could set the camper up across the street, and in the morning ask the station owner across the street. Next morning, first thing, I asked, and his door was open to us. John let us use a service bay, (I did my own work), he also let me order parts I needed at his cost. Took a week, between tearing down, assessing needs, ordering, etc. John would not accept anything in return, what he has in return is my eternal gratitude. Not only did he help us out, he cemented a lesson I learned growing up, you help others. Golden Rule, now commonly used term is Karma. Whatever. John helped with no regard of how it would impact him. We accepted with open hearts. This event seemed to set a form for us in our life. I had a job awaiting me after the service, I had worked for NCR before enlisting. I had the job reserved to come back to. I had visions of a long career at NCR. Didn't happen. In early 1973, NCY, reacting to market conditions laid off a large percentage of their employees I was one. My angel stepped in and I was recruited to a bank I had done work at in my NCR raining. Big career change, from a tech to a computer operator. This lead me through training, kicked me into getting my college degree, and gave me my career for the next 30 + years.When I left that career I flew to Florida to see my folks and while driving back from the airport we stopped at Lazy Days RV. Dad had asked what I had thought of doing next, I mentioned, maybe sales. We walked in and it popped. RV sales! I have always liked RV's, had a good understanding of RVers wants, why not turn that into selling? Dad knew one guy there, as we walked into the building, Dad spotted him. As it turned out, he had been promoted to General Sales Manager. 3 Days later, after numerous interviews I had an offer. My angels were still watching over me. Karma, luck, whatever. My angels watch.Without hitting every occurrence in our lives, let me just say again, we believe in angels.Of course, our latest has been finding this position at Old Faithful. All the positions had been filled, however one couple had to back out and we were lead to the opening. A cool thing s also happening in getting to Yellowstone. To get there from here we pass through Ogden, Utah, Jolene's hometown. So we will be stopping of course to see family. While there, either on the way out, or our place to stay in the motorhome while there, we will be at Willard Bay. This is the very first place Jolene and I camped in that little tent trailer, 37 years ago, to the month. This went a bit long, but there ere a couple events I felt compelled to share. If you got this far,, thank you. When your angel nudges, go with the feeling.

Looking for a truck

Well, our plans are moving along. Currently we pull a utility trailer with 'stuff' and our motorcycle. Being in Yellowstone at 7200', the temps and weather not always be bike weather, hence, we need a vehicle. Truck works best because it can carry the motorcycle as well as our bicycles. The stuff will get distributed between the motorhome and possibly storage or a yard sale. The truck can be towed behind.

Have been scouring Craigslist to find the right one, have found a couple good ones, but have to act fast. Haven't had the time to act fast yet.

Good candidate will be a Ford Ranger, extended cab, 5-speed, long bed. Mazda, Chevy, Dodge will also all work just fine in this configuration. Like to get something 99 or older, mainly to keep the cost down.

We want a manual transmission because it would not require modifications to tow with all 4 wheels down. An automatic would need a driveshaft modification, this gets expensive.

Why is it that all the trucks that match most of this description have been red with red interior, and with the year requirement, they all seem quite faded.

Looks like I shouldn't have too much issue selling my trailer, I had two offers on it today! Just not ready to sell it yet. DIdn't even have a For-Sale sign on it!

We Got the Job

Jolene and I found out about the opening at the Old Faithful Visitor Center Bookstore, applied, interviewed, and accepted the offer. We are looking forward to May when we arrive. This will be a new experience for us, the workamping thing is something we have wanted to do since we first heard the term. This is our first time.

We will be 'Kamping' in our 1997 35' Southwind. A great older motorhome, we bought it back last May. Somehow we were guided it seems. It is funny how life leads you down paths, you just have to be willing to be guided and follow your guide. Opportunities abound, be adventurous!

We will be Working in the Yellowstone Associatins bookstore at the visitors center at Old Faithful. http://tinyurl.com/58lvr4 This link is a live webshot of Old Faithful.

My plan is to update this weekly while getting ready go, and hopefully daily when we get there.

I will be taking some fly fishing lessons and Jolene will take a class on native plants and how early americans used them in medcine, food etc. We will both take a class onb the geology of Yellowstone. These will help us working with customers in the bookstore.

Some of my blog will focus on my attempts to learn fly fishing. From getting some equipment to learning knots, to maybe even landing a trout in a clear mountain stream.

Jolene is not comfortable as a computer person, so I will update her thoughts as related to me on the classes she takes.

Koda, our chihuahua is along for the ride, and how he loves rids, whether in the car, the motorhome or on the motorcycle, this pup loves travel. So, for this summer, he will be where the wild things are, on a leash and not left alone outside. To us he looks like our faithful companion, to the wildlife in Yellowstone, probably just a between meal snack.

Our plans for the time between now and May include finishing out the RV season here n AZ, then some us time, meet up wth friends in Zion for a few days, then up to Utah, stopping and camping in the Ogden area. We will spend a day or two atAntelope Island. I usually visit this island whenever visiting Jolene's family, and always wanted to camp there. There is a bison herd on the island as well as the antelope. They roam freely, so you may end up having one walk by your campsite. Our next campsite will be at Willard Bay. This is in north Ogden, and this is the first campground we visited, way back in 1972 in our first camper, just after we were married. This has been a long winding wonderful path.

From Willard Bay we will likely stop in the Idaho Falls area, get smoe food stocked up and be our last stop before arriving in Yellowstone on May the 12th.

All for now. Hope you enjoy our journey as we will.