Flathead Lake, MT

Now I am at Flathead Lake in Montana. It is quite beautiful here - and HOT! I thought it would be nice and cool this far north - no way. It's still in the 90's and humid. Another suprise. This is the life though - I'm sitting here in my camp chair with my feet up, blogging, relaxing and enjoying a nice breeze.

So I rolled into the area yeasterday and went up to Kalispell to get an oil change (must keep the Subbie happy!), and to check out the town. It was a hoppin place. I don't know if it's like this all the time or because it's full on tourist season and very close to Glacier, but it was busy busy busy. I was glad to get back down to the lake to relax a bit.

The lake was so blue when I first saw it. It reminded me of Lake Tahoe. Very clear, very blue and BIG. I was shocked when I came over the hill and saw it for the first time. It was completely different today with the cloud cover. Very steely and dark.

When I woke up this am is was cool and cloudy and I was relieved and so was my left arm. It's been getting the blunt of the sun with all the afternon driving I've been doing. I hopped on Eddie the bird killer and went to Finely Point on the south end of the lake. It was a scarey experience. I am glad to me alive. Apparently scenic Highway 35 is a logging route...and loggers don't have brakes and can't turn??? or so it seemed as they buzzed past me at top speed w/o moving so much as an inch. I would get a mirror and motor if I lived here. After the first 5 miles of the 60 mile ride I was looking behind me like a stalked animal and racing for driveway cuts to dive into when I saw one of those trucks coming. Not sure why I didn't just turn right back around and finish my coffee...the things I do so I can eat excessive numbers of cookies. Anyway, there are a lot of cherry orchards along the east side of the lake. It got me thinking about cherries so I had to go get some after my ride. I also saw these little blue flowers in several of the wetland areas. Very dainty little things - I wish I knew what they were. I must say, the ride smelled wonderful. There were all these shrubs with big white flowers. I think they were dogwood but I'm not positive. It was a treat to have such a pleasantly fragrant ride.

I had planned to swim this afternoon but since it was too chilly I decided to make myself a good dinner. I am now suffering from a severe food coma. I had steak, grilled corn on the cob, and grilled mushrooms and red pepper and a salad. Then I went and took a shower because I thought it smelled pretty good while I was cooking it and decided that I probably smelled a lot like it. Hector can only do so much.

off to Missoula

After my 6 hour ride around the Lewis and Clark trail I headed off to Missoula. It was a beautiful drive. I was shocked by the Bitterroot Range. It was a very intimidating mountain range. It was very jagged and abrupt and the valleys that could be seen from the road were so extreme. Something about it was very unsettling.

I saw this bird along the way that dive bombed the car and then I thought I heard a little THUD and looked in the rear view mirror - no bird...uuut ough. I thought it may have hit the rocket box - I wish. When I pulled into town I found the little dude mangled in my wheel. GROSS!!!! I guess it's a hazzard of having the bikes on top. Eddy is a bird killer.

Lewis and Clark Trail

Today I went on an adventure along the Lewis and Clark Trail. I took the scenic byway / tour. I saw the first place that Lewis and Clark camped in ID, then I saw the Red Stone Stage. It wasn't uncommon for stage coaches to over turn on the road I was on. Then I went to the top of Lehmi Pass (named after a king in the Book of Mormon), and I stood next to the headwaters of the Missouri River. I wanted to take the "original trail" back down, but couldn't find it so I ended up taking the entire scenic byway. On the way back down I decided to take the "original trail" back to the top because it was supposed to take me back to the canyon that I started in. Well, I must have taken the wrong path because I ended up back at the top of the switch backs in the same canyon that I came down. I was pooped, out of water and it was in the 90's. I rode about 50 miles on the moutain bike today. After riding a tiny portion of the trail - I can't believe how hard it must have been to travel back in the day. I was bush wacking for a good portion of the "original trail", but at least I had cow paths to follow. I'm scared of cows so I was horrified when I came over the second big ridge to find an entire herd of cows. I kept an eye out for the bull, but luckily didn't have to deal with that one. Anyway, all I had was my bike and I was struggling. It would suck to walk and carry an entire expedition worth of stuff.

Paris, ID

Since there wasn't any camping at Bear Lake, I headed towards Paris, ID. It was nothing like that scarey picute I'm sure you've all seen of Paris, Kentucky - shew! Anyway, I found a beautiful place to camp up in Paris canyon and there were ice caves! I've never seen such a thing. The sign said there would be ice in the caves all year around.

Bear Lake Wildlife Refuge

From Flaming Gorge I headed to Bear Lake. I thought there would be camping there, since it said so on the map, but there wasn't. Too bad because it was beautiful! I got there in the evening and the light was glowing. The lake, canals and wetlands were full of interesting birds. I saw a few things that I haven't before so I need to try to figure out what they were...somehow.

Sacajawea Scenic Byway

From Paris, ID I went up through Pocatello and Idaho Falls. I stopped and checked out Pocatello because it actually surrounded by some hills. It was a very sleepy town and I was shocked by how there was nothing going on downtown, even on a week day.

The Sacajawea /Lewis and Clark trail was very interesting and informative. There were educational signs along the way so I stopped a lot and checked them out.

Flaming Gorge

I met the family in Faling Gorge for the weekend. It was a fun weekend. We took a spped boat out one day and played on that and the Seadoo. The next day we took a tour of the dam. It was very interesting. Check out some the factoids at http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/dams/ut10121.htm.

Wasatch National Forest

It's been a week since I've had a connection strong enough to actually upload pics so I apologize for the delay.

This has a been a great first week of traveling. After Steamboat I headed out to Park City. It was quite the tourist trap and I was discusted to find out that there was no camping to be found. WHAT?!? It's in the mountains!!! After asking the tourist info lady, with no luck, I decided to stop at the sports store. The lady actually said - "camping - as in a tent???". I got a chuckle out of that and thought that Hammer would too. I was disappointed, but I didn't get to sample Park City's 300+ miles of single track, but I did find a beutiful place to camp along HWY 150 where there were also several trails so I quickly got over it. I found a great place to camp right across a trail called Shingle Creek. It started out great! However, about 2 miles into the 5+ mile climb things changed. It was at that point I took my bike for a hike...It was a beatiful day and so nice to be out on the mountain bike. I had this huge loop planned out but decided that I had better take a short cut because there was no way I could ride most of what I had walked up either. I couldn't tell you where I was, but it had been a logging road at one time and it dumped me out onto a nice gravel road that went down, down, down for miles. I have never been so thankful to see a gravel road.

Tarn and I named the voodoo doll while we were at the Whalers concert. Great time by the way. Tarn thought he was scarey so his name is now Hector the Protector. He's riding shot gun on my adventure. He keeps watch and scares off the bears while I sleep.

Steamboat (and surrounding area)

I'd have to say that Steamboat and the area surrounding it is one of my favorite places in CO. I am so glad that I decided to kick off my journey here. The rest of the country has a lot to live up to! I rode the Eddy out to Oak Creek today. It was a beautiful ride and I was pleasantly suprised by how few cars there were. Maybe because it was Tuesday morning??? I am going to get used to this mid week, trafficless riding and really be unhappy with the weekend warrior life style. I need to find a way to make this a life style... It was was a beautiful ride. When I got to Oak Creek I had a coffee and a kolach and sat outide of the local coffee shop. Some fellow travelers sat with me - nice folks from Denver who were on a BMW motorcycle adventure. Oak Creek was a different place. It looked a wild west scene out of a movie. All the roads were dirt too and they had just sprayed something all over them, which I thought was water but wasn't because whatever it was didn't dry. The "mud" we'll call it, was dripping off of my bike this am. NASTY!

Miss Erin and I went for a mountain bike ride yesterday afternoon on the Spring Creek Trail. It was a beautiful night and a nice refreshingly cool break from the heat in Steamboat. I am excited that Miss Erin is turning into a mountain biker too. She bought herself one of the new Juliana's and I can see they have changed the rear triangle quite a bit. Hopefully it resolved the lateral flex issue that my version has. We had a nice ride until some jack ass ran right into me. It kind of threw me off a bit, but luckily my body and my bike escaped w/o injury. I don't think the guy who came flying down the trail and then off the trail as we were going up was as fortunate. At least he was able to ride away after laying on the ground moaning in pain for several minutes.
Today I took the Eddy out to Columbine, which is above Steamboat Lake. It was an incredible ride! I thought I was really tired because I just couldn't seem to find the right gear and was hoping that I just thought the road was flat, when I was really going uphill. Come to find out on the way back that in fact I was climbing and it wasn't even close to being flat. I was relieved because by the time I got back I really was tired. I was hoping for a coffee stop in Columbine but no such luck. I had to stick with the Margaritta flavored blocks and a luna bar. The views were spectacular and it was nice to have minimal traffic.

The entire town of Columbine can be rented out. I thought that was interesting, and rather random. It felt more like a camp ground with cabins than a town and the whole renting it out part only reinforced that feeling. The paved road ends here though so I turned around and headed back to Steamboat.

todays Sag horoscope...hmmm

Even if the past few days have had their share of emotional turmoil, there is no reason to avoid the good feelings now coming your way. Your key planet Jupiter is receiving sweet blessings from lovely Venus, so the joy in your life will likely outshine any lingering negativity. This is not a good time to doubt people's intentions; just be open to the love that surrounds you.

more good byes but my 1st hello

This weekend was Grayson's memorial service. A few of us went on a ride in his honor. We were very lucky with the weather because it appeared to be raining everywhere except where we were. Too many thoughts about that to even begin...

Today I left Denver behind and am happy to report that I an in Steamboat with Miss Erin and Tarn. It hasn't sunk in that Denver is in the rear view mirror so to speak, but I do find this trip rather symbolic. It didn't dawn on me until I was driving into Silverthorn, but the last time I made this trip was at the end of December. I spent that trip doing some soul searching on what home is and why it is so important to me. Now that I think about it, Steamboat is the perfect and only appropriate launch pad for this journey.

good byes...

Anyone who has been in any social situation with me knows that I am not fond of nor good at saying good bye. I am very thankful for the opportunity that I've had over the past few weeks to say good bye to many, but certainly not all, of the people that have been a part of my life during the past several years. I've enjoyed the process and preparation for this trip, but at this point I am exhausted.

it's official

Well, it appears that I am officially on sabbatical. Monday I kicked it off by sitting for section C of the LARE. The LARE (landscape archtecture registration exam) is a 5 section test that is administored twice a year. I passed 4 of the 5 sections lasst year so this is the last one - I really hope that this was it because as of Jan '08 we will be required to be licensed professions. More information about the new CO law can be found at: http://www.asla.org/membersonly/pdf/Advocacy/COSB107.pdf

my most unique shoes to date

Check out these fancy flip-flops. I was pleasantly suprised to find these hot little numbers sitting on my chair when I got back from lunch yesterday. One of my clients left them for me as as a thanks and sabbatical kick-off present.

Academy Sports (academysportsturf.com) is leading the charge in synthetic turf so it's only appropriate that one of their marketing materials is flip flops with sythetic turf beds, a squooshy heel support that looks like a golf ball, golf tee holders on the side and those snazzy snaps in the front actually snap off so -ball markers. They are very comfortable too - suprising for such a novelty item.

Thanks for the great flip-flops guys!