July 25, 2010 - 2 months away today!

View from the back porch.

We left Hawaii two months ago today. This is the longest I have been away from home - ever. I'm not homesick, but I am appreciating our stay in Harvey, being in one spot more than overnight and being in a house - a nice house at that - rather than an RV, and meeting Lisa's family. 

The landscape in Harvey and at Lisa's brothers is different from what we see in Hawaii and every bit as beautiful and serene. Yesterday, JoAnne and Steve got to have fun on the farm...

Lisa's Dad, Duane gives JoAnne tractor lessons.

Ben (Lisa's nephew), Steve and Kerry (Lisa's brother)

...and of course - Pancakes in Harvey

July 23, 2010 - From Harvey, ND - at Lisa's brother's home.

Yesterday the weather in Stanley was miserable, rain and thunder and the roads were not safe with all the big-rig traffic servicing the oil boom. So, instead of the guys riding we headed for Harvey. We got here around noon and as Kerry, Lisa's brother, said to do we made ourselves at home. No Harvey pictures yet, but here are a few leading up to Harvey...

We stayed the night in a motel parking lot. All the RV camping was booked - oil workers. This is a view from Lucy. The gray buildings are temporary housing.

Lisa plots our route...

Stevie B enjoys pancakes at Charley's Main Street Cafe, downtown Minot. Charley's was a step back in time, a gathering place for old timers.

A hui hoa!

J.

Hey everybody....if you have not read Steve's crazy guy on a bike blog....check it out. Just click on the link at the right and it will take you into it...go down to contents and start with the intro and it will take you through our whole adventure from the beginning from a riders perspective. And Steve has some amazing photos....you see a lot more when you are riding a bike...and it is easy to stop and enjoy it.

also I think if you click on a photo you can view it larger....try it. I can do that but it could be because I am set up to post. Check it out and let me know.

07/20/10 - Catching up from Williston, ND

07/11/10 - This is where we stayed in West Yellowstone. The camp host Jean was so friendly and helpful it made up for the cramped - cozy spaces.

Still in West Yellowstone - Here's Stevie B testing the pancakes at the Timberline Cafe. Click on the link to Steve's "Crazy Guy on a Bike" journal for more on our trip...from the biking perspective.

07/18/10 - It's not all fun and games. Here to the left you see Bobby at our campsite in Terry, MT. tending to Lucy. She really needed the attention.

07/19/10 - To the right, Lisa fills Lucy up for our journey on to Savage, MT. Lucy uses lots of fuel. Thankfully - it costs less here on the continent than on the Big Island.

07/20/10 - Today in Sidney, MT. we stopped at what is the fanciest McDonald's I've ever been to. How about you? Fireplace, lounge chairs, TV!


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This is the spot where we stayed last night. The parking lot of an agate museum. The owner, Tom Harmon, is a very nice and interesting fellow. Read Lisa's post for more on this.

Trixie - after being groomed today in Williston, ND
The bows are out already...she doesn't really like them. She tells me Jenny - the groomer was very nice, but nobody is as nice as Auntie Frances.








Somewhere on the road to Williston. The landscape is quite different from Montana.

I have been a little short on photos lately - maybe JoAnne will have some today. Last night we camped in Savage, MT. The campground only has about 4 campsites and they were full so the owner sent us down to his Montana Agate shop and told us we could camp in the parking lot.....so that is what we did. He had electricity for us and we were right along the highway with a lot of semi trucks passing by us at all hours of the night. Just a bit noisy but that is life on the road....you never know what you will get.

Tonight we are in Williston, ND at the Buffalo Trails RV Park. It is large and full of full time oil workers here in Williston. There is a big oil boom here and apparently not enough housing for everyone because a lot of them are living at the Buffalo Trails RV Park.

North Dakota is full of rolling hills, fields full of huge round hay bails, and cows and horses grazing in the pastures. It is picturesque in a pleasantly calming way. Maybe I will post some photos tomorrow. We should be in Harvey where my Dad and brother, Kerry, live in about 3 days....and we will take a little rest there and visit family.

JoAnne took Trixie in to be groomed and we are going to pick her up in a couple hours. She is going to look like a sheared sheep but she will be cooler. Hope everyone will recognize her....I guess she is the only dog we have with us so you probably won't have too much difficulty.

JoAnne and I were just talking about how nice it would be if we could get a "margarita" delivery here at the Wagon Wheel RV park we are staying at in Forsyth, Mt.....it is 92 with a projected high of 98....and a margarita sounds heavenly.

Everywhere we go in Montana there are trains. They seem to run all night long, tooting their horn and alerting everyone to their presence. It is a nice sound but not so much when it is at 3 a.m.

Some of the great things about traveling like this is seeing the countryside, seeing all the small towns along the way, looking at the other lifestyles.

Some things I miss at home are of course my bed and taking baths, the temperate climate (really didn't know just how much I appreciated our mild temps until I got here and am living closer to nature with no "house" to insulate me from the outdoors). I miss having a toilet just in the next room....when we are in our tent, we use a 5 gallon bucket for that convenience....and let me tell you, it isn't as nice as my toilet at home.

Yesterday there was no camp ground in Custer where we planned to stay but there was a city park with a hose.....I stripped down in the park and used that hose for a shower....didn't really care that much if I had privacy or not ......though the town was small and no one was around so not much chance of being seen. Life on the road gives you opportunities you just don't have at home!!!

I am so excited. JoAnne is letting me use her old blackberry phone and she just got it set up so I can get email on my phone....that is so high tech for me I am beyond myself. Now if I can figure out how to do it.

We are in Livingston Mt., which is a cute little town. I had a pedicure yesterday which quite a lovely pampering experience. We are going to Columbus Mt. where we stayed last year....for free, in a city camp ground on the river. Free is good as it has been a bit pricey staying in some of the RV parks lately. But for free you also do not get services so no water, electric or wifi tonight...just the basics.

It was so windy in Livingston we were not even going to set up our tent last night for fear it would go the way of JoAnne and Steve's tent

....which you can see on the main page....totally flattened it. And now they have to get a new tent...we did not want that to happen to our tent too...but then the wind died down in the evening so we did get it set up. It was so windy walking down the street yesterday I felt like I was barely moving as I took each step. Apparently that is common in Livingston.