We’ll be coming through the mountain....

Ok, so now we have a P.O. Box, an apartment, and a working car. Does this mean we can start finding a life???? Yea, but I still don't want to have to have to do wash.
Sometimes our conversations will fall a little on the strange side. Other times they are just downright weird. Perhaps that stems from being raised by the circus and living in a barn. Or it could have something to do with the water. Lately I am very suspicious about the water. I think it may have given me an ulcer, but that is a whole other story.....

Today we decided that we needed to throw snow balls at each other and learn how to fish with dip nets. My real motivation was to wash my hands in a glacier fed waterfall. I have heard it is good for your skin. So off we went. We headed south, not sure of exactly where we were headed, or when we would arrive. All we knew is that there were supposed to be glaciers to the south and we were hot on there trail. The views were amazing. We drive along the Cook inlet for about an hour passing snow capped mountains and open prairies. Eventually we came up to hundreds of cars parked along the side of the 2 lane road. At first I thought that they were giving away fee a/c units, but later realized that they were actually fishing...Well, sort of. What they were actually doing was standing shoulder to shoulder with dip nets, trying to scoop fish out of the water. I had never seen ANYTHING like this before. Fishing with a dip net. Not just any dip net, but 10 foot long dip nets. This is something I just have to try. I have fished with poles, lines, reels, nets, but never a dip net on a 10 foot pole. I have this nagging feeling that I may be in need of some new fishing gear.....

Next, on to Portage glacier. As we discovered, to get the best view you have to take a ferry. Unfortunately the ferry only has 2 schedules. One is for a 5 hour trip, the other is for 10. We did not have that much time to spend, but decided that we would have to come back another time and take a ride. The pictures of the glacier cruise are amazing. Since we were surrounded by mountains and there was still snow on the ground, we decided it would be a good idea to have a snow ball fight. Off we went, hiding behind the shrubs, ducking for cover, and hitting each other with hard packed snow. What fun.

On we pressed, past the hundreds of dip netters, beyond the gorgeous mountains, past the ice filled shores, onto the world’s longest tunnel - Over 2 miles long. I actually had heard about this before. This tunnel is only open once every 30 minutes. It is a one lane road that goes right through a mountain. Not only is it used by cars, but also by trains. Yes, you drive on train tracks to get through the tunnel. Luckily it has been designed so that both cars and trains can travel through with few problems. As I guessed, we arrived at exactly the wrong time. We had to wait 30 minutes to get through. I was really starting to feel like this may not be worth it. I would later be proven wrong - very wrong. So we are finally let through the tunnel. Before being let through, we are instructed to keep our headlights on at all times, drive no faster than 25, and leave at least 100 feet between you and the car in front of you. Ok, not a problem. As we enter the tunnel, it seems just like what I would have expected - Dark, tunnel like, and wet.... Then it all changed. There were no longer smooth tunnel like walls. They were replaced by rough stone walls. The wet walls soon gave way to waterfalls flowing down the sides. The roof dripped from water seeping down through the rock. Driving on the railroad tracks caused the car to veer from side to side. Needless to say it was not only an amazing drive, but slightly nerve racking.

Once on the other side we were greeted with more amazing scenery. We had arrived at Whittier. The Princess cruise ship was in port and the town was filled with tourists. We decided to turn around and start home since it was getting late and we needed to secure our hotel. As we were waiting to get through the tunnel, we were greeted by not cars coming through the other side, but a train. We sat and watched a train coming through what we would have to pass through in several minutes. On we went, through the tunnel, past the ice, next to the mountains, on to home....

Linkage, hoses, hotels, and so much more….

Do ya, think you could give me a ride home?
That was the question that the driver for the repair company asked me. They had repaired a leaky radiator hose for slightly less than all the money in my wallet, and I was feeling slightly guilty for getting such a great deal – So I said “yes”. I should have known that nothing good ever happens when you decide to give a total stranger a ride home. Starting the car I should have known that something was wrong. It took about 5 minutes to find N just to start the car. It refused to start in park. I figured that it was just the linkage acting up – I should have known better. So we head off to a gas station where Skippy goes to get cash. I decided it would be a good idea to get out and grab a few packs of cigs for Dianne. I grab the cigs, we both hop back in the car and I start the car – yea, at least that was what was supposed to happen. In real life the linkage decides that this is the perfect place to call it quits. My hitchhiker decides to head for greener pastures and hit the high road. I tried for over half an hour to get the car started. It just was not going to happen. So I decide that calling AAA is a really good idea. Back into the store I go, ask for the phone and call the cavalry. They gleefully tell me that a tow truck will be there in just one hour – not a problem. I am now in a city that I have no clue about, stuck in a gas station in an area that seems slightly less than desirable. Amazingly the tow truck driver only took 2 hours to arrive. In that time I had plenty of time to think about what I should have done differently. Needless to say, I did learn some valuable lessons.

The tow truck driver was amazing. He had lived in Alaska for 10 years and was a wealth of information. He came from the Orlando area, but decided that he wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle. From what he told me, the area that I was stuck in was actually not that bad at all. I was still not happy about the car. We dropped off the car at B&B transmission, and he even gave me a ride back to the hotel. On the way back, he advised me where to fish, and told me stories about the moose that wander around town.

The problem with the transmission was that the linkage was broken, or at least that was what they told me. The work took until early in the afternoon, but was not expensive at all. The new linkage worked great, and I was able to drive away happy. We had now lost 2 days in Anchorage, but were ready to make up for it. The sun sets at around 12:00 and we had some catching up to do. For the next 2 days we were out exploring the city and trying to find a new home.

As it turns out, finding a new home is not as easy as it sounds. I kept telling Dianne that sleeping in the car was a good idea, but she kept yelling and screaming about rooms and showers, and kitchens. You know, all that useless stuff…. So we kept looking for apartments. Alaska has some interesting features. One is the fact that we are almost totally surrounded by mountains, another is that the sun almost never sets in the summer, and the most interesting is that this state does not have any air conditioning – none. That includes ALL apartments. Now some of you may be saying, “Quit whinning – that place is cold”. Yea, lets just see what happens when you have the sun beating down on you for, oh, say 20 hours a day. Things tend to really heat up. And the a/c units are no where to be seen. I found that even most houses are without a/c, or central heat. Yea, I can hear you all now….. “This is Alaska, the last frontier, what did you expect”? Yea, yea, yea, I hear you. I knew that things would be a little different, but no a/c? What kind a place is this!!?? I may have to go a month or two without a/c. Perhaps I should head to a place that knows a/c – like VEGAS BABY!!!! I don’t think so…..

Life and times in Anchorage

Well, yesterday we pulled into Anchorage – Barley. As it turns out, the van was waiting to give us some surprises on one of the last legs of our journey. Going through the mountains to get to Anchorage, the linkage to the transmission decided it was time to relax and get nice and loose. It is now not possible to manually get into 1st or 2nd gear. Finding N or R is also quite a challenge. Everything feels like mush and there are no distinct gear feel notches when manually changing gears. This makes for a real fun time when one parks, and then has to find R to get out of a parking space.

Now we are in Anchorage and the van decides that the transmission linkage just isn’t enough. So what might it do to keep us awake now? Well, it decides that it should spring a leak and start to overheat. Yea, that’s the ticket it said… So now, here we are in a town that we have no idea about, with a trailer, loose transmission linkage, and now it is overheating. Did I mention that we did not pre-book a hotel?

Oh yes, a hotel in anchorage was not needed because we were not supposed to be in Anchorage. You see, we were going to stay in Denali state park and have a night or two there to relax and take in the scenery. As it turns out, summertime in Denali is like prime time at Walt Disney world. In fact, it actually looks similar to Disney. There are enormous hotels lined up and down the road. Some are perched on the side of mountains so high up it would take a rocket to get to them. The do all have one thing in common though (aside from parting you from your money). They all do not take pets. Yes, and of course we have Nick our lovely Schnauzer. After driving 4 hours and finding that nobody takes pets, we thought about leaving him in the car, but even we couldn’t be that cruel. So we press on to find a hotel that is vacant and that takes pets. Every single hotel within 100 miles did either not take pets, or was totally full. We had to drive another 250 miles to get to Anchorage.

We arrived at 9:00pm. It was still light out, but we had no reservations and I had no idea where to stay, or where to go. As it seems, the hotels in anchorage are much like the ones in Denali. They are either totally full, or do not take pets. So after much screaming, yelling, and many threats (to each other….) we pulled into a super 8 that takes pets, has rooms available, and would take our money. We had a place to stay.

We are now waiting on the van to get repaired. It is currently 3:30pm and they have not looked at it yet. That is ok says the manager – they work till 6!!! Oh boy, I sure hope this little leak is simple to fix, and cheap. I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow at 8am to have the transmission looked at and hopefully repaired. The young lady that I spoke with said that it did indeed sound like loose linkage and that if that was the case, it would not only be fairly cheap, but very easy to repair. Hopefully she is correct. Luckily the transmission is under warrantee and I will be reimbursed for any charges, but it is still inconvenient to have to deal with.

The other order of the day was finding a furnished apartment. It seems that they are kind of hard to find in the summer time and really not that cheap either. Luckily I did manage to locate one that was not charging an arm and a leg. It also included all utilities, has pots and pans, and comes with all the Rolaids you can handle. I figure we can do a 1-2 month lease, and in that time decided where we want to rent an apartment. That should give us plenty of time to look around and get to know the town. This is a much larger place than Fairbanks, and will take much more time to get familiar with.

Dianne and I are both leaning towards the Mat-Su valley area. It is much less crowded than the city and seems to have all the amenities. Hopefully I will be able to find work there and get a good paying, stable job. Like the guy that drove me home today said, “There are jobs out there, but you have to have skills”. Yea, right….

Fun in Fairbanks

Pulling into Fairbanks was a welcome relief. We were supposed to stop at Tok and spend the night, but after getting into Tok, we decided to press on. It seems Tok really is as small as I had thought. I had one hotel that looked ok to use to spend the night, and about 2 gas stations. Other than that, it did not have much. We pressed on and drove another 2 ½ hours to get to Fairbanks. The drive was not too bad, and we were happy to get into a larger town.

We stayed at the Regency Fairbanks. This was a very nice place. It had a refrigerator, stove and microwave right in our room. This made eating quite simple compared to what we had been doing. The staff was friendly and always ready to help at a moments notice.

Our first real meal was breakfast the next day. I woke early (very strange for me) and decided we needed to go to breakfast. I forget the name of the location that we ate, but it was very nice and seemed to have quite a few locals. We sat down and were immediately greeted by our waitress. She was very pleasant and helpful with our selection. The only thing that unnerved me was when we sat down there was something the size of a large wasp that landed on her hand. She looked at it, let it land and then…..Wack!!!! At first I thought she had killed a small bird. I was a bit horrified, but then realized it was a mosquito. I figured it was the largest mosquito that I had ever seen….I would later recall that mosquito as being “average” size…. Seems they have some really large mosquitoes up here. The locals seem to be used to them and are not as bothered by the large size and bird like structure. I must admit, after 4 days, I did start to have fun with them. When I would have one land on me, I would grab it by one of its legs, and act like it was carrying me away. Dianne did not find this nearly as humorous as I did. She really didn’t like it when I would grab one and attempt to give it to her as a gift. Seems we do not have the same sense of humor….

Fairbanks is a small town, but has a thriving arts community. They seem to have every hobby, or interest that one might want to get involved with. They even host the national Ice carving championships here. It is a pretty big event, and the contestants fly in from all over the world to compete in this elaborate show of ice carving skill. The carvings are amazing and the work is flawless. We were able to see some examples of there work, and actually able to see an ice carver in action. It was quite impressive.

Mosquitoes aside, the town is extremely friendly and very open to strangers. Everyone we met was willing to help in some way, and they all wanted us to say in Fairbanks. It is a very nice place with some incredible people.

Proud to be an American

From beaver creek to Fairbanks had much to offer in the form of wildlife. We were able to see a Grizzly bear, a moose, and one really cute field mouse crossing the road. It seems that quite a few animals like crossing the road....



The hotel we stayed at in Beaver Creek was a cross between a cottage from the Psycho movie and a bad dream. It was a straight throw back from the 60's, but that was not the worst part. The place looked like it was built by hand by the guy who was renting the place. I think he built it 40 years ago. The door did not have any locks what so ever. We used a chair to barricade the door. It probably did not help, but at least it was something. I really don't think they have a problem with crime in that area anyway....


Getting back to America was wonderful. We had been in Canada for 12 day, but it might as well have been 120. Canada has some incredible scenery, wonderful wildlife, and friendly people, but it is not home. Getting back to America was a very welcomed event.


Fairbanks is a great city. It is small enough to get through the entire city in 15 minutes, but big enough to have everything one would want. The people are very friendly, and everyone is always willing to help with any questions. It is very strange getting used to the wonderful attitudes, and personalities of the people in this great city. When we first arrived, it was rather cold. We went to the store and found that many people will leave there car unlocked and running while going into the store. This attitude of trust is something that is a breath of fresh air. In just a few days we will be off to Anchorage - Alaskas largest city. It is just about the same size as the city that we are from. It will be interesting to see what the similarities are and what the differences are.

Elks, and Bison, and Beavers, Oh My!!!!

Today was like driving through a wild life safari. We started out by clocking Elk. We found that they can easily do at least 35 mph on the highway. We clocked (chased) them for at least a half a mile until they decided it was time to go across the road, through a stream, and on the the far bank. Elk may be fast, but they are not very smart.










We then went through part of the Canadian Rockies. It had just snowed the night before, and everything was covered in a fresh blanket of snow. It was gorgeous. We did not see any animals on this leg of the trip, but the scenery was truly amazing.











Exiting the mountains, we were warned of bison crossing the road. Several miles down, we saw one stopped by the road, just grazing on tasty grass. We stopped about 10 feet from it and had a discussion about where the best grass was located, and how loosing ones winter coat is always a messy proposition. We were so close that we could actually hear the bison ripping the grass from the ground. I was a little nervous being so close to an animal that weighs 1,500-2,000 lbs., but it was amazing none the less.

Coming into town we were greeted with a small black animal that was hopping (squirming) to cross the road. Neither Dianne nor I knew what it was. I was able to stop about 5 feet in front of the animal. We then discovered that it was a beaver trying to cross the road (so many jokes there….). We were unable to get a picture of the beaver crossing the road, but it was very interesting to say the least. We now know that beavers do cross the road.

Two of a kind

Rain was the order of the day today. Not much more than an annoying constant drizzle and about 43 degrees. Just the type of weather that makes you want to drive oh, say about 260 miles. If only I knew what lay ahead, I might have just stayed in bed another day. Then again, probably not….

Today we experienced 2 things that we have never seen before. The first was seeing a large black bear up close eating beside the road. The other was almost hitting an extremely large moose. I am still trying to forget the latter. I think the moose is also.

While traveling down the Canadian Rockies, we spotted a large semi tire that was discarded by the road. As we drove closer I slowed down and discovered that the tire had transformed into a small black bear. We drove closer. It was now no longer a small black bear, but a rather large black bear. It had a brown muzzle and bright shiny eyes. Its whiskers and nose twitched in the rainy wet air. It was a perfect example of a healthy black bear (I know that because I am a bear expert…). At least that is what I remember as we accelerated to get away. It seems that large black bears have less fear of humans then we do of them. Either that or I just ran across one very friendly bear. Either way I decided that it would be a really good idea to get, oh, say, about 200 yards between me and the cute “little” bear that tried to hitch a ride. Dianne wanted to go back and feed it breath mints. I pondered the idea for a while and then decided that I needed her to continue to balance my check book for a few more years. I denied her the opportunity to pet the wild bear, but I am sure she will forgive me. Someday.

About 45 minutes later we were driving into the outskirts of Ft. Nelson. Dianne and I were both looking out for bears on the side of the road eating grass. We had just about come to the conclusion that we were all “beared out”. I was coming down a hill at about 65 mph. Train tracks were quickly approaching. I was thinking about how fast we were going to go over the tracks. Dianne screamed. I mean REALLY screamed. I looked in front of me. All I saw was an EXTREMELY large moose. It was black and grey. Just the color of the road. The perfect disguise….. Just to give you an idea of how large this animal was, my eye level is about at 5 feet while sitting in the van. When we passed within several feet of the moose, I was looking at its stomach. This was a very large full grown moose. I could only imagine what it was thinking….

Me: Oh my God – That is a moose!!

Moose: Oh my God – They are going to run me over

Me: Wetting pants…..

Moose: Wetting pavement

I guess we kind of shared a moment. I am pretty sure that me and the moose are both very thankful that we didn’t meet on a whole other level. Later that day we went searching for the moose. I really didn’t think we would find him, but we had to try. We searched for about a half hour, but no signs of the moose were to be seen. I felt a little safer that Dianne was driving this time….

Except for the mountains, the animals, the traffic, and the clean air, this place is just like Florida…..

Ok, today was simply amazing. We spent a second day in Dawson Creek to get some well earned R&R. Today we decided to do some exploring. We decided to travel on the original Alcan highway about 20 miles out of town. On the way we saw our first moose grazing right next to the road. It was “small” by moose standards, but cute none the less. Dianne tried to take it home, but Nick refused to move over.

We drove to the last wooden bridge built for the Alcan and drove in the back woods. The wooden bridge was huge. Driving in the back woods on the original road was amazing. There were no cars, no noise, just the sound of wind passing through trees, and birds singing.

Driving back we were greeted by an entire family of deer that was grazing by the side of the dirt road. We turned around and went back hoping that they would still be there. As we drove back, the deer had not only not run away, but had gotten closer to the road. I started to wonder if they were somebodys pets, but they were not penned up and looked very wild. One of the deer thought that our car was made of pure grass. It kept looking at us and getting closer, and closer. I think I saw it look at our car and drool once. At about 10 feet we decided that it was time to keep moving and make sure that our car was not nibbled on by a deer.

Something else I discovered today. People really do have and use out houses. I was amazed that in some places there really is no plumbing. I suppose I am somewhat sheltered to have that notion, but it was a revelation for me. We passed house after house with an out house. I suppose you could say we were truly in the wilderness.

Animals seen today:

Moose – 1 Live!!!
Deer – 9 Live!!!

Maple leaf road maps....

So, have you ever wondered what happens when you get lost in a country that has very few roads, bad road signs, and no traffic lights. Well, this picture pretty much describes what happens. We took a "Shortcut" through the back roads of Canada yesterday to get to Edmonton. It was only about 15 miles long, but felt much longer. The good/bad news is that we did get to Edmonton. It was an extremely busy town (Dianne thought she was in NY). I thought I had died and been sent to hell. The town is a cross between New York City and San Francisco. It has the traffic of NY, and the hills of San Francisco. One really interesting thing is that the streets are barely wide enough for a bike, much less a car. We decided not to stay there and kept driving to Whitecourt. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the hell of Edmonton had quickly dissolved into the relaxed life of a much smaller town. Whitecourt is very nice and has many dirt roads that we explored. Everyone in town knew that we are the new people due to our van not having an inch of dirt on it (literally). This town is run around oil and gas exploration. There is a large amount of trucking activity going on, but other than that, it is a very nice small town. Today we will be driving to Dawson Creek, and hopefully we will have many more adventures and pictures to post. Ya think, eh?

Just me and Mr. Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost - The Road Not Taken -

We arrived in Yorkton, SK today. While traveling that poem is all I could keep thinking about. I have definitely taken the road less traveled.....Much less traveled. There are no pictures with this post. No picture could adequately describe the isolation that we were in today (and will probably be in days ahead). Just to give you an idea of how far away from anything we were, I let Dianne drive today while I ate lunch. Of course I was still in the drivers seat and she was still a passenger, but doing a fine job of steering the car while I ate. We drifted to the left, we drifted to the right. We drove in oncoming traffic for 15 minutes. Not a problem. We saw about one car every hour or so. The scenery was non-existent. Imagine driving 6 hours while watching grass grow. That was about the excitement level of today’s trip. Even North Dakota ranked higher on the excitement scale. I realize that it is not the destination, but the journey that is important, but I would really like some scenery. I suppose that will come in time. Give it oh.....a thousand more miles or so....

A moment of reflection

From time to time one realizes how well they have it. Sometimes all it takes is a split second. Other times it takes loosing everything. I usually fall into the latter category. Driving through North Dakota and staying in Grand Forks brought that to my attention yesterday. There is basically nothing in this area unless you are a farmer, farm worker, or farm animal. Basically you have 2 choices - To work on a farm, or just not work. Farming is hard work. For anyone that knows me, they know that I do not like farming (hard work). I would prefer to sit behind a desk, pounding keys, looking at the screen and wondering why I can't do any better. It probably sounds like a lot of people. We are caught up in our own little lives, wishing we had it better, never realizing how hard it could really be. Perhaps if I was born somewhere else, I would have to work on a farm. Tilling the soil, sowing the seeds, reaping the harvest. Perhaps I would be happier, perhaps not. I am sure I would be a bit smaller.....

A day at the Falls

We stayed in Sioux Falls for a second day today. It was nice to relax and take a much needed break from driving the 8,000,000 or so miles from Kansas city to here. Ok, so it may not have been that many miles, but it sure felt like it. The highway to this place ranks as one of the most boring in the known universe. People have been known to fall asleep and wake up 90 miles later still on the same road. I spoke with several truckers that confirmed that story and one that said that this was his preferred method of driving. I tried to stay awake, and found that the falling asleep method was probably much easier and made the trip much faster.
Once in Sioux Falls, we quickly bedded down in our new home and found it quite nice. The rooms were quite well appointed and they had ceilings that were about 15 feet tall. The staff was friendly and did not laugh at us for wearing shorts and a t-shirt in 40 degree weather. We were quite comfortable. The people in the city were quite nice. They all wave and smile, something that we are not used to. At first we thought that perhaps they spike the water around here, but after further investigation, we decided that it is that they are just really friendly sorts.On the second day we decided to go visit the falls from which the town gets its name. When we arrived, we were quite impressed with the scene. The falls fall over pink quartzite. This is the second hardest mineral know next to a diamond. After telling Dianne this, she quickly started collecting loose rocks and talking about how I was, soooooooo gone..... She then tripped over one and concurred that they were very hard rocks. After explaining that the rocks were not worth anything unless they were called diamonds and she could make someone believe it, she threw the rocks back and stomped off in a huff muttering something about stupid pink rocks.

Gates BBQ and other great things about Kansas city

Ok, Kansas City has 2 things. The Kansas City Royals and BBQ. That is about it if you don't include traffic. I prefer the BBQ. I believe it is a BBQ that has a vinegar base sauce. I really didn't think much about that type of BBQ until today. It was sweet, tender and very tasty. I was quite impressed with the ribs. We went to Gates BBQ, and from what I understand, it is a local legend. After tasting the ribs, I can see why.When you first enter the restaurant, they greet you with, "Hello, how may I help you"? It is a long story, but we entered and exited the restaurant about 4 times. Each time we were greeted with, "Hello, how may I help you". At first it kind of freaked me out wondering if they were talking to me or not. Usually I am greeted by, "Hello - oh, it's just you, Get the hell out". This new spirit of friendship was new to me and I am still getting used to it. Needless to say, we received our ribs, took them back to the room and proceeded to get sauce over everything. The maid will love us....

Fun with Wildlife

Today we stayed in beautiful Marion, IL another day. We needed to get the oil changed in the car and I really was not in the mood to drive today. We went on a wild journey through the back woods of Marion County. Actually it is turkey season here, so in fact I guess you could say we were hunting turkeys. We did see a wild turkey in its natural habitat (the woods…). We chased it in the car and caused it to get scared and run off. Unfortunely we were not able to capture it and sell it at the local flea market or stuff it for dinner. We were both very excited to have scared away our first glimpses of true wildlife. Later that day we visited a Christmas tree farm. Yes, there are farms for Christmas trees. It was actually quite disappointing. The farm was closed until November. The Christmas trees looked rather small, and needed to be trimmed. I never realized until today that you needed to groom a Christmas tree before you sold it. While heading back to the main road we spotted a group of turkeys (so many jokes there…). They were wild (meaning they were not penned up) and looked like they were really enjoying life. The only problem was that they were in somebodys garden. I am not sure if they belonged there, or if they had just decided to take up home for lunch. At least I think they are turkeys. If anyone knows what they are, please let me know. They looked tasty, but I did not want to steal another mans turkeys or pets as the case might be.

Wild animal count so far:
Opossum – 1 dead
Deer – 6 dead
Coyote – 1 dead
Turkey – 5 all alive!!

Life on the edge (of a mountain...)

“The Mayor is an asshole, and nobody likes him”. That was the answer I got when I asked the bartender why she was doing inventory on the liquor cabinet. Well…..Ok. I did not bother to ask why, but that did not stop her…. It appears that there is some corruption in this county and the restaurants owners are not too happy about it. That is all I really heard before I tuned out and tried not to listen to anything else she had to say. Oh, by the way – we were in a restaurant getting take out for the evening. All I wanted was a club sandwich, but I got an earful of political mumbo-jumbo from a bitter waitress that really did not like the fact that the mayor was cutting into her tip money. This was not a woman that I ever wanted to cross. She really had some serious opinions about her county, and had no problems telling total strangers.
Other than that, the only thing that really got to me today was going up dead mans hill. It was in Tennessee. To give you some idea of what it was like, imagine going up a roller coaster incline. It made that look calm. I started out by passing 3 semies. I was going at least 55mph at that time. The grade was only about 45 degrees at this point. I knew there was a problem after we reached the summit and I was doing 30mph. The car was floored and sounded as though it was straining for dear life. I relaxed and began to get up to speed again. That was the point that I saw the sign…. It read, “ trucks check your brakes”. What the hell did that mean? I went a little further and saw another sign. It read, “Cars, don’t worry about checking your brakes – check your parachute and life insurance policy…..” Ok, at that point I got a little scared - ok, really scared. I put on my brakes. Nothing. I felt a little shudder and saw little pieces of metal that used to be my brakes brake pads fly out from the sides of the van. We were now on the downside of dead mans hill, and I finally realized why the trucks were going so fast. They really had no choice. Brakes did not work. Downshifting did not work. Screaming for dear life did not work. I started to prey. I think it worked until Dianne made me open my eyes. We finally made it down dead mans hill, or drop, or death wish. I forget what the actual name of the mountain was, but I will never forget the impression it made on me or my weak heart. I had survived the ordeal, and that will be something that I will talk about for a long time, a very long time – at least until tomorrow….