Saying yes

An extremely helpful graphic to choose a day hike option Happiness about a friend and candy at the Holden store   On a hike to the Copper Basin. It was up a steep mountain(and then all down). Jesse rocked it. Justin and I have very sore knees. It was Stunning  There are deer everywhere. This buck is having breakfast outside our lodge  Also cougars. View from the village The copper basin  Copper Basin hike   

On Friday Justin and Jesse dropped me off at the ferry to go up to Holden Village.   The village is only accessible by ferry (and once you get off the ferry a school bus Holden uses to transport visitors), or by a multiple day hike in on the Pacific Crest Trail.  I got on at the first ferry stop on the south side of Lake Chelan.   I learned that  Lake Chelan, surrounded by the Cascade Mountains is the deepest freshwater lake in the US, even deeper than the Great Lakes. While we were waiting for the ferry a woman’s elderly dog fell off the dock.   A man driving a Fed Ex truck came bounding out and jumped in the water, shoes, cell phone and all to rescue the dog.     A reminder of the kindness of strangers. After that exciting start I hugged Justin, Jesse and Jesse’s stuffed animals (Tucker had stayed behind in Yolo) and the ferry took off. The smoke made it impossible to see what was ahead, and while I would like the world not to be on fire, in a wa...

Yesterday we left Spokane, WA, and a fabulous place called Hidden Acres Orchard, which we found on HipCamp. Hidden Acres is a working farm, and people can camp or RV anywhere on the farm.  Staying there was a highlight of the trip so far.  It was the first time we connected with other families travelling full time and the kids had a great time with the other kiddos.  We feasted on cherries and plums we picked.  I had hoped we could pick fresh peaches, but they weren't ripe yet. Ah well.  I woke up early to greet the day, and the rooster, ducks, pig, sheep, and song birds greeted me. I wandered through the orchards, and was delighted to find a ripe peach that had fallen from the tree. I savored each bite.  After breakfast, we hit the road for our final stop on this leg of the journey. Hot and sweaty, carrying the leftover stress chemicals from a harrowing drive up mountain passes and down into river canyons, we arrived at Lake Chelan, Washington. We are stay...

This will be night three in Missoula. The last time I (we) were in Missoula, Juliana and I were on our Honeymoon, 14 years ago. I have sweet memories of that time. We spent two weeks camping in Glacier National Park, and then after we left the park, we drove down Flathead Lake into Missoula (fresh Flathead cherries from the market were a highlight). At the time, I (we) could scarcely imagine the two boys we’d soon have, the ways our lives would unfold, the paths we’d travel together, and what it would feel like to be a family, to invest so much in our careers/vocations/jobs, and then leave those jobs to travel across the country. Fourteen years ago, I couldn’t imagine that we’d be back in Missoula someday, in an RV, but here we are!  It’s been good to catch our breath in Missoula, to slow it down, to do laundry, to not be driving. (I knew the RV miles would be different from regular car miles, but I didn’t quite understand how different they’d feel, and how mentally and physically ...

Since our time in the Badlands we’ve stopped in Spearfish, South Dakota, Crow Agency, MT and are now in Bozeman, MT.  Spearfish was a surprisingly lovely town. We stayed at the city campground where we could walk/bike into town and there was a free outdoor concert ¾ of us enjoyed. The town was developed around a trout fish hatchery in a Black Hills mountain stream that is now operated by the USGS.   We enjoyed watching the trout from an underwater viewing area. Crow Agency was remote and we stayed at a sweet and immaculate campground owned by a Mennonite family. The free ice cream and baby goat/calf feeding were big hits with both kids.   We were close to Little Big Horn National Monument where we stopped this morning and learned a lot. Today we made an unplanned stop in Bozeman. The only available spot we could find was an overnight parking place at the county fairground.    It’s just a parking lot, but there is a view of the mountains, it’s walkable to d...

We arrived at Badlands National Park yesterday evening.  It's not that far from home, but feels like another world.  My favorite part was the solid quiet.  Little J loved climing and jumping (his favorite part of everywhere), T liked climbing a steep ladder on a hike and walking along a cliff with a deadly drop-off. I woke up feeling ungrounded. I think my spirit needed time to catch up with my body.  The past few weeks we've been moving at a frenetic pace.  My particular brand of disregulation feels like bad food poisoning with a side of dread.  Most of my life it's felt like a curse, but I can now also see how it forces me to slow down.  I am a long way from feeling gratitude for this experience, but am trying to make peace with what this body requires of me.  Justin took the boys for a hike in the morning and I enjoyed some quiet time and felt restored afterward. We all went scrambling on the rocks to watch the sunset.  Little J said it lo...

 Made it to Montrose, SD (pop 400). Very relieved  everything went well! Went to phenomenal sculpture park and had a swim at the Montrose city pool.   Saying goodbye to g and g J drew lots of pics during ‘homeschool’ which consists of him and 8 stiffed animals