Our Travel Blog
No, we aren’t talking about belly buttons😊
We are talking about volcanoes, or what is left of an old volcano.
‘Devil’s Tower’ in Wyoming is an outie, a solid core plug being all that is left of an old volcano.
‘Hole in the Ground’ in Oregon is an inie, a huge hole from an old volcano that sunk in on itself because it erupted under water…so we were told.
A very simple analysis, but all in all a lesson in how cool Mother Nature is😎
We had heard the west coast had a large homeless population, but we were not prepared for the reality of it. We have a small homeless population in Vermont, small perhaps because of the harsh winters, but out here the mild weather and the resources for the homeless, so we have been told, make it an attractive place for the homeless to be. Everywhere there is a gathering of population, there is also a population of homeless and you can’t not see it. People asking for hand-outs on corners, people living in makeshift shelters under roads and overpasses, people sleeping in parks and behind garbage bins, signs warning you not to leave anything valuable in your car or bikes on car racks and on and on. You would have to be blind not to see it and heartless not to be affected by it.
When we flew to Florida last fall, we had just started to see the homelessness and we talked about how we felt homeless; our house rented and the Wee Rover and all our camping gear in storage. We had 2 backpacks and that was it. We felt adrift and somehow a bit more sympathetic to those without (and then felt totally foolish because we shouldn’t relate at all since we had the money for a flight and rental car….).
But, when we arrived back in Oregon and the Wee Rover went to the garage for her engine transplant, we again felt displaced. We didn’t have our home, or our home on wheels, we were still living out of 2 backpacks and going from place to place staying in other people’s homes and motels…and along the way fully realized the homeless plight and population in the area. Again, we felt we could relate (and then felt awful since we had a rental car, a roof over our heads and food on our plates…).
We handed out a few batches of peanut butter and crackers when we shopped, some shampoo and soap samples from motels and clothes and shoes we could leave behind. A very small bit thrown at a very large hole. We couldn’t in anyway fix the problem, but perhaps we helped someone have a better day.
Fast forward and we are back in the Wee Rover. The past is behind us. We have our ‘home on wheels’ again and a friend has reminded us of our home waiting for us in Vermont and the skills we have to be employed again when we return…but the homelessness still haunts us. It has crept into our journey and is hard to shake.
Today, we are sitting in a beautiful place with amazing views and blue skies, but we still talk about the homeless and how we felt a bit of what it must be like, but not really.
During a recent stay at a Comfort Inn, we met the most remarkable young man with an amazing goal in life; he just wanted to make the world a better place. He found the best way he could do this was by being in contact with people every day, and what better way to do that than to run the front desk of a hotel. By doing this, he could have a direct one on one impact with people and through small acts of kindness, and lots of smiles, make the world a better place. I must say his strategy is spot on. During our stay he certainly made a positive impact on us.
It is time to refresh our souls and unplug, so to the woods we go to camp and be.
Just added an “oil catch can” to the valve cover vent circuit. Normally the Benz venting goes into the air filter, since we didn’t use the Benz system we added the $18 amazon system and it works great, no more puff of oil smoke on start up!
Here is a crude map of our travels over the last year. A testament to the unplanned plan our journey has taken us on.
April 2018 – we left Vermont, drove to Virginia and took the auto train to Florida
May 2018 – left Florida and drove northwest to the Arctic Ocean and Alaska
September 2018 – took the Alaska Ferry from Whittier, Alaska to Bellingham, WA, and explored the northwest
November 2018 – flew to Florida
March 2019 – drove from Florida to Vermont in our truck, and took Amtrak back to Oregon
April 2018 – explored Oregon
The future? We’ll let you know 😀
Some times the universe tells you to stop and breathe when all you want to do is go, go, go. But, then you stop, take a deep breath, and realize its not so bad…it is actually pretty darn nice😎
Don’t you hate when the universe is right?
We have a few thousand miles on the new motor now and it is time to change the oil due to the break in process. Very simple but for 1 thing. The custom oil pan from the conversion is sloped to clear the front differential so we had to jack the Rover to get the last few drops of old oil from the pan. Motor runs great so far!
We walked around the top of a volcano at the Newbury National Volcanic Monument, a very old volcano with its lava field flowing out and around, cool “holey” rocks, and a fire tower on top. The views were amazing and the crater was huge. And, it is only one of several in the area. I can’t imagine what it was like when they were all actively blowing off steam:)
We are on one of our last hikes in the Columbia River Gorge and are climbing steeply to Ponytail Falls. We come around a switchback and pass a family heading down. Their small child is in major meltdown. We move a few yards up the trail and spot a small stuffed bear hanging precariously below the trail over the gorge. I look back and through hand gestures with the mom understand the reason for the meltdown. I get a good hand and foot hold, and using the backpack as an extension Melissa scrambles down to rescue the stranded bear! We broke all of the rules of rock climbing anchors (sorry Chris B. you would have been pissed!), but sometimes you need to do the right thing.
