So off I went in search of solitude. Getting closer, but nope, this is not it. Water in the man-made Galesville Reservoir was depressingly low and I didn't need anything else depressing in my life right now. Onward. 
Not a bad place, that Galesville Reservoir and it might be fun to kayak, but I don't have my kayak with me. And no overnight parking is allowed anywhere but the campground, which had only a few closely-packed sites with no privacy for $15 a night. I can do better... onward. 
But I am beginning to see more wildlife... wild turkeys, geese flying south... etc. OK Swankie still flying south too... While waiting in Washington for my van, I became driven to get away from the cities, the pollution, the people, the traffic and find some solitude and a mountain. Well yesterday morning sunrise, through the smog... sun is off to the left still... was o.k. but I can do better.... need mountains. Air in OR down Rt. 5 was awful, burning my throat in spite of having windows closed, A/C on and wearing a mask. I had to get out of this. Onward... need a mountain.
A Swankie-style home. I challenge any of those WINS members to wake up to this view.. they could not even get their rigs up here. They are camped literally on the highway in Junction City, OR in an RV Dealer Parking lot. Would you trade this for that? 
So here is my new camp. I can't make a fire and probably wouldn't if I could, but I have a very nice and clean fire ring, and I can sit out there in the morning and enjoy more sunrises. 
The road coming in to my camp. Only the last little stretch of the road was off pavement. Been on roads much worse. And there is one low area I would want to get back across if rain threatened, but skies are clear and dry. https://www.google.com/maps/place/42°22'56.9%22N+123°38'12.5%22W/@42.3820346,-123.639298,439m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en 
Here I will finish this painting for a friend in Paso Robles. Last commitment I have to anyone else. I will then be free again. I have solitude here, to think, to find myself again. I don't know how I got so off track back in March, but I vow to work hard at never letting that happen again. Only ONE thing could make this day better and that would be if there was water here and I had my kayak. So it can get better than this, but for today, this is all I want or need. I have plenty of food and water and a cell signal. I am blessed. 
As you may know, in the spring of 2013, I tried to become a driver/guide for a tour bus company in Alaska, training in Phoenix, AZ, but my eyes didn't work good enough to insure that I would be a safe driver (that was Plan A). They are 20-30, but I couldn't make out things like railroad crossings, caution yellow signs, etc. from 1/4 - 1/2 mile away. So I had to give up that Plan A and go to a heartbreaking Plan B in order to met my goal to kayak my 49th state in 2013. Goals are important… but WHY? I’m not sure. It was just important.
Had I gotten the job, I'd have been forced to live in a hotel and prevented from even sleeping in my camper van at night (after paying $1,200 to get it up there on the Ferry). It would only have taken a week or two of that arrangement before I'd have end up in a hospital from breathing inside air anyway. Even in Plan B, I became sick from just spending a few hours in my sister’s home, and a few more hours driving with them (they smoke but not in the vehicle with me in it) so I was forced to limit my stay to only four nights, and I spent those nights sleeping in the back seat of their truck, my choice, as I don’t sleep inside anymore. It rained the whole time I was there – my sinus are not too fond of that either.
It’s been awhile since I have flown… and I still marvel at the views out the window. First time I’ve been on a plane with a curved wing tip. Thanks to my son’s friend, a pilot for Alaska Air who was able to give me a discount coupon.
It was a very uncomfortable flight, due to this chubby fella who took up his full seat, 1/2 of the isle, and 1/2 of my seat. After a couple of hours of that, I had to ask to change seats. My leg was going numb. Good grief.
But finally I did make it to Alaska on 8/19/13 and kayaked there on 8/20/13. READ ABOUT THE PADDLE.
An eagle my brother-in-law spotted along the road to Seward.
By 8/21 I was getting sick and on 8/22 I headed straight back to WA state so I could sleep in my own bed. It was a dream come true and an awesome paddle and I don’t regret a thing other than the getting sick part. READ ABOUT THE PADDLE.
But I came, I saw, I paddled Alaska.
Returning to Seattle was bittersweet, I didn’t want to come back, but I did want to come home, home to my van and my own bed. On the return flight the gal with the window seat had closed the blind, and was asleep, she just climbed five mountains. The guy on the other side, had just returned from a fishing trip in Russia. As we approached Seattle, I reached over and opened the blind and was once again awestruck by the beauty from the air.
Thank you Cheryl, Troy and Keith for the good times and all the laughs. You all rock.
Kayaking on Lake Union, Seattle.
God I love my blog… a place where I can say whatever I wish!!!
I’ve spend time this summer reconnecting with my kids and their families… at least giving it my best shot. But I feel disconnected.
Revisiting places (right photo, house on right, used to live there) I have lived in the past sometimes brings good memories, but mostly bittersweet memories… and really, who needs that? I’ve spent a couple days in West Seattle where I used to live and found myself thinking about people I knew here, thinking about getting in touch, driving past where they used to live, looking them up online, sending emails to some… but then just parking someplace I felt safe and enjoying the waterfront instead of making human contact.
I was even able to locate on line a good friend of mine from the past (college in Indiana) who moved out here in the 80s? I think, and sent her an email but have not heard anything. Come to think of it, most of the people that I knew here, I really have nothing in common with, except our lives crossed paths briefly back then. I guess I am just curious but don’t seem to have any steam to actually follow-through on reconnecting with them again. So here I sit a few blocks away from the lighthouse on Alki Point, West Seattle, just wondering what I will do next to pass the time before my plane leaves for Alaska on 8/19.
Maybe I am just becoming an old hermit or ol’ crone for real?? I had even added some new events, pages, people to my Facebook but realized this morning, that all that just seems to be cluttering up my life, so I am in the process of removing them for now. I’ve lost desire to be with people who either don’t like me or don’t want me around. There is no fun in that for me.
Left: Richard and me in Europe (Chris behind me) in 1968. Right: Richard in 2013.
My son is so exhausted from overwork and too much partying(i.e.fun) to have much time for me, though he has spent some quality time with me and made me feel very good.
Left: Tori and me in 1991. Right: Tori in 2013.
My granddaughter, Tori, has shown little interest in me or my life for over a decade now, though I am hoping she will give me some quality one-on-one time before I go to Alaska. I sent her this message:
Is there any chance of you giving me any one-on-one time before I go to Alaska to kayak? It would have to be fun/good for both of us... and if you think it's something that just can't happen... of course with all that you are doing during your visit, I would understand, I am o.k. either way.
Maybe I have nothing left in common with my own relatives/ descendants except that our lives crossed briefly for a short time????
Kayaking with my son, Richard Bailey,
on Lake Union, Aug. 7,2013 (houseboats in background).
But I am here now, I am available now… my kayak is here now. All anyone can do is be available… for a short time! It doesn’t get any better than that! Others lives seem so structured and they have so many rules to live by… makes me very happy I have simplified my life.
I’m really ready to get on up the road, visit other “vandwellers,” see Alaska, have a nice leisurely drive down the WA-OR-CA coast, visiting more friends and vandwellers on the way and then returning to my winter home in Quartzsite AZ to relax, to make jewelry for the winter and to attend the annual Rubber Tramp Rendezvous there in Jan. 2014 where I will get to reunite with my tribe… people I have developed life-long friendships with, people with whom I do share many common interests.
Left is a ring I made last winter, right is a ring that was my mother’s which I am going to duplicate this winter. Looking at the two of them, I realize mine is much higher quality than my mom’s. She probably spent a lot for her ring, but mine only cost about $15 in materials, and I cut and polished the stone myself, and did all the silver work myself. Once the duplicate is done, I will send my Mom’s ring to my sister in Florida. (My mom’s was not even Sterling Silver and mine is.)
Also this winter, I plan to begin dancing again to get in better shape (I stopped dancing the year my granddaughter was born – 1991, because my knees were so bad and unstable). I have to begin seriously training for the Arizona Trail which I will hike in 2015… 820 miles from Mexico to Utah. I am very excited about this next phase of my life. I feel 20 years young than I felt 10 years ago.
Yes, my feet are itchy again.
7/21/13: This morning I headed up the mountain from Alpine Lakes Wilderness Trailhead where I have been boondocking a couple of days. Planned on a 1-3 hr. hike. In the words of C.W. McCall… the trail was a bunch of Zs and Ws all strung together. Geez! And a great gain in altitude in a very short distance.
Location : Alpine Lakes Wilderness Trailhead
First thing that occurred to me was that my lungs were congested. Second thing that I noticed were giant heat-seeking mosquitos. The trail was much steeper than I realized and after 45 minutes going uphill, I realized I was very out of shape and ill-prepared…. i.e. no mosquito repellent. I had not seen ONE mosquito in my camp in two days, so I assumed there weren’t any. I know my limits, and as soon as I came into contact with something that will make me itch, some internal panic alarm goes off… so I decided to turn back.
I ran into one gal coming down the mountain, who had just hiked 9 miles from Lake Augusta… with her dog. I ran into an elderly couple heading up the trail… who looked to be older than me… judging from their sunken eye sockets… but were lean and moving pretty fast. They were heading out for a could days of backpacking and headed toward Lake Augusta and Big Jim Mountain. Looked very experienced and I envied them their fitness level. They said that gal must have left Augusta at 4am to get this far this fast. She was flying. Will I need to be able to go that fast to hike the Arizona Trail??? Can I hike that fast?
Poison Oak… I don’t know?
The trail was steep… with a number of downed trees to climb over. In places the underbrush was so thick it covered the trail… and was taller than me (5’7”). There was a 3-leafed plant with some white berries on I, and some turned bright red… and I wondered if that was Poison Oak??? I checked at the trailhead and there were no warnings or photos posted. I’ll have to check online. Took some photos. Just in case, I returned to the van, removed all my clothes and bagged them up. And then scrubbed all my exposed skin.
Other thing I was unprepared for… wearing cotton. While it is cooling, it holds the water… and I was surprised how much I sweated and how much humidity was in the air. In just 1 hr. and 15 minutes, my cotton items were soaking wet. I did have fleece pants on… so they were dry, but if I had been a long way from safety and weather had turned or it had gotten cold… I would have gotten chilled to the bone very fast. So, even in good warm hiking weather, I need to take this “cotton” lesson seriously.
Roots forming steps on the trail.
Final item/lesson… feet. I’ve been sitting in a boat, kayaking all over the place and by back and shoulders are in good shape….however, the ol’ doggies aren’t in very good shape. The balls of both of my feet were really hurting before I got back down the trail. On a longer hike, I’d have gotten blisters for sure. I need to ALWAYS carry either duck tape or mole skin. I should also see a podiatrist about the left foot as I think there could be a bone spur that is causing a problem. It’s been a chronic issue for a long time… but facing an 820 mile hike, I need to pay more attention to this and resolve it if possible. I need to toughen up these feet.
And bug repellent… being a person very sensitive to insect bites, I MUST ALWAYS have repellent and a head net. ALWAYS.
Nothing to do but return to camp and eat banana bread and a banana.
I left Hatchery Creek and pushed on in search of a trash can. Finally found one at the restrooms at Stevens Pass. Then driving a short way I took another side road… a dead end.
It went right past the Cascade Railroad Tunnel entry. Neat-o! Going up the Old Cascade Highway to the end and a turn around, I found a bike bridge crossing the Tye River? I’m parking there tonight, maybe a few days if there isn’t any traffic. Very peaceful.
…or What a difference a day makes…
I use that term lightly – escape to the wilderness. I left Wenatchee, WA early this morning (7/19)… and thru Leavenworth, WA.
Finally found a closed trailhead where I decided to try to spend the night, just to decompress. I can hear road traffic, but there won’t be any sounds close around me. I can see Rt. 2 just a few yards away. I have a 3G signal (varying from 0-2 bars). Soon that spot got too hot… 94 degrees inside the van.
In Leavenworth, I explored a little… bad memories there for me… as that’s where David Swankie and I had planned our wedding in June 2001, but he died June 4, and we were married in May in the hospital instead. I found the B&B my son used to manage, I found the KOA (hell on earth) campground were our families met (David’s and mine) after his death, on the date that was suppose to be our wedding date.
What a horrible place – the KOA. I can’t see why anyone would want to camp there. People are bumper to bumper, not to mention dozens of vehicles… like being in a very crowded city parking lot. I made a loop through there and could not get out fast enough. So, I left Leavenworth and found the below spot.
So this little snippet of road at a closed trailhead seems like heaven to this boondocker and I enjoyed walking around looking at all the plants, especially after urban-vandwelling for over a month. I sent a SPOT signal out from here (https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.64968,-120.72269&ll=47.64968,-120.72269&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1) and may just hole up and watch movies or take a hike. Warning signs everywhere of Poison Oak… so I may not??? And I am in the shade which means my batteries will not be getting a solar charge today, but they are at 12.5 right now, but this spot soon became an oven with temps reaching 94 degrees in the van, no air flow… and so I moved on thinking driving with A/C on was better than baking in the van… even if it meant I had to drive all the way to the Ocean.
July 20 - What a difference a day makes... only 63 degrees in the van at 7:45am and I'm high in the mountains and have an internet signal. And I hear water running nearby. Will have to hike to the water today – Hatchery Creek. Slept well last night for the first time in weeks. 47.67081,-120.75569 https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode&q=47.67081%2C-120.75569&ll=47.67081%2C-120.75569&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1 . And at 11am it’s only 80 in the van… so the rest of the day should be comfortable. At 3pm it was 89 in the van and beginning to cool off. The sun has already gone behind the trees… and shade is now hitting the van.
Night before last I had to sleep with the sounds of the city, sirens, trains, cars, doors opening and closing, cars driving across manhole covers, people talking, kids screaming, dogs barking.
Last night all I could hear was the sounds of the breeze blowing through the treetops, the babbling brook not far away…and a few birds. That’s all, not another sound (except my fridge kicking on once in while). So very relaxing and air so clean and fresh, unlike the pollution layer that settles into Wenatchee each evening with the Columbia River Valley inversion effect and burned my throat. Ick. Oh, I enjoyed my sleep last night.
Three cars were parked in at the Trailhead yesterday, two more just arrived, but I have the best spot… and checked the water out awhile ago, fresh clean water coming down out of some rocks…. and a nice level spot to stand. I’m going to have a little bath today… no place to sit in the water and it is way too cold to sit in, but I can sure splash it all over myself.
The solar oven is set up and I’m fixing to bake the rest of the cookies I didn’t have time to finish with my grandkids. Yum.
Life is good, and truly, it can’t get any better than this… no, wait, let me go check on the cookies. Whoops, I almost burnt them. So,then I mixed up some banana raisin bread and baked it. It will be nice for breakfast tomorrow.
Today, for breakfast I had Fritos and Rainier Cherries. Oddly delicious. It was handy. What can I say? I have decided to try and live off what food I have on hand, until after I return from Alaska. I can do it. I can do it.
Here I sit near the top of a mountain in the wilderness and still find a way to "do genealogy." Have I died and gone to heaven?
http://story.sharing.ancestry.com/people/637770?h=20468c
By 3:30pm I am in full shade so the evening should cool off nicely. I haven’t really walked yet, but think I will hike the trail tomorrow and check it out. I am so relaxed… am off the extra meds I had to take while I was urban-vandwelling. Yeahhhhh!
