I am trying to perfect this technique myself. I used to collect all kinds of stuff that I expected to come in handy…someday. Occasionally one of these parts would come in handy for a project and of course that reinforced the hording instinct.

When we went full time traveling things had to change. Everything had to fit in a 17 foot trailer and weigh less than 7,000 pounds gross weight.

The other argument for just in time inventory is that you can easily waste a whole day trying to find that gizmo that you know you have…somewhere. The good news is that while you are looking for that gizmo you are likely to come across something else you misplaced some time ago, so the exercise is not a total bust.

So here is today’s adventure: We got ready to move this morning and there is this small puddle on the floor under the kitchen sink.

Stop me if you have heard this story before.

As I was saying, a small puddle under the sink. I assured Judy that I could fix it once we got parked this afternoon. When we got to our new camp in Mojave, California we went to move the kitchen slider out and now there is this largish puddle.

A quick inspection allowed me to identify the leaking fitting on the hot water heater. This did happen before and I did a jury rig fix that time because I didn’t have the correct parts to fix it then. Now in the interim period I did go to the hardware store and lay in some real just-in-time parts for the inevitable second failure. Only now I can’t find them. They are somewhere in the drawers, or in the cargo bay, or in the trailer or maybe in the junk box…

I removed every likely bin and box and tray and looked thoroughly for those gaskets without any luck at all. I did, however, find a bag of crutch tips that I bought just-in-time to fix the feet on one of the camp stools a few months ago. I was unable to find them when I went to do the repair.

All was not lost, however. In my search I located a bin of old parts from the garage on Bonneville Drive in Scappoose from six years ago. It had a collection of plumbers washers that I had stockpiled long ago. One gasket was just the right size.  It turned out to be too old and brittle, it split when I slid it over the fitting.  One was over-sized but still pliable.  I slipped it over a mandrel and chucked it in the drill press and turned it to the correct size with a rasp.

Yes it worked, no leak. Now I will stop at the hardware store and buy another set of gaskets and put them where I first looked this time. That way I will have two chances of finding one of them when I need them.

Oh yes, I got the legs on the camp stool repaired as a bonus.

As I finish this up I am looking out the windscreen of the motor home in the waning daylight. Just showing up through the trees are Venus and Mercury, side by side in the dusk. They are such a glorious sight. Look to the west just as the sun is setting to catch them tomorrow evening. Venus is the very bright “Evening Star” this month and Mercury is to its right and it is fairly bright. They will be side by side for a few more days and then Mercury will be lost in the glare of the sun again.

Love to all

Gary and Judy

Brazos Bend State Park is a large park, we rode bicycle over twelve miles on the paved roads inside the park. On subsequent days we rode another 20 miles on graveled trails alongside the several lakes and the Brazos River itself. Two different mornings we joined birding walks lead by knowledgeable volunteers. Now we are rather novice birders, we have only been at it since 2004. I began logging our sightings two years ago and we have a little over 100 species on our so called “Lifetime List.” This week we added sixteen new species to our list. Of course it really helps to have an expert at your elbow saying, ‘yep that is an Orange Crested Warbler all right. You can tell because it has no distinguishing marks at all.’ I our eyes it was a “LBB.” That is a little brown bird, or in this case a little greenish yellow brown bird. The leader kept promising us a Cinnamon Teal. Even gave us directions to where to find it. We hopped on the green dragon and galloped right over there. When we arrived we found this cinnamon colored duck like bird running with the blue-winged teals just like we were told. We whipped out our bird book and tried our best to make him into a Cinnamon Teal. Even took his picture at maximum zoom. Back home we used the internet to get all kinds of photos that would give us the positive identification we needed to put him on our list. No go! This “duck” had a stripe on his bill that just didn’t fit the mug shot of a Cinnamon Teal. Suddenly it dawned on me, this “duck” had the beak of a chicken; a Pied-Billed Grebe.

Tired of bird stories, how about a telescope story. We are very casual amateur astronomers also. Our telescope is a typical $100 backyard refractor telescope with a 60 mm objective lens. Brazos Bend State Park boasts the George Observatory. Now the big observatories are mostly on high mountains in remote locations away from people and light pollution. This observatory has three modest sized telescopes. The largest is 36 inches or 900 mm which is 15 times greater diameter than my telescope. However the light gathering power of a telescope varies as the square of the diameter, so the big telescope in reality is 225 times bigger than mine. (Actually not quite true because it has a ten inch hole in its middle but who is counting.) This telescope is unusual in several other points too. First it is open to the public most Saturdays from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm. For $5 you get a ticket to a viewing time slot with about 15 other people. Second, you actually get to put your eye to an eye-piece and look through the telescope. Today most viewing is done by camera or video. On our watch the telescope was turned toward Rigel, a double star in Orion with a huge blue giant and its companion. The star was so bright it hurt your eyes. The other telescopes were focused on the Nebula in Orion’s sword and on Saturn and its moons. Besides the three domed telescopes local amateurs show up and set up their telescopes and all are willing to show you the skies and talk shop all evening. What a blast!

To round out Saturday evening the Brazos Bend Pickers came by the amphitheater and gave us a two hour Bluegrass show.

If you go to our web site you can see a photo of the Observatory domes and also a photo of an alligator crossing the trail right beside Path, the green dragon.

As always, we are having the times of our lives. We are in La Grange, TX tonight and they are saying scary things on the news. Things like tornado watch. On the bright side, however, it isn’t snowing like it is back in Scappoose this afternoon. “Don’t worry, be happy.”

Gary and Judy

Three Domes at George Observatory, Brazos Bend State Park, TX

Alligator Strolls By "Path" the green dragon

Tonight I am at peace with the world. We are camped out here in the Sonoran Desert near Quartzsite Arizona. There are thousands of people dispersed over miles and miles of the desert but each has carved out their own place. We are camped near friends, some old friends that we met two or three years ago. Some are new friends we met only a few hours ago. I sang songs for over an hour around the campfire, and then Judy and I walked away from the camp hand in hand into the quiet desert in the twilight of the sunset.

Later, just before the moon came up we walked back to the coach from the dying embers of the group campfire. We looked up into the inky darkness and stared at the beauty of the Milky Way spread out from horizon to horizon. We could make out the golden color of Mars and Orion was spread eagle over our heads. Then we watched the loom of the impending moonrise began to take form over the hills to our east. First a little sliver of gold; now a half round globe with a pinnacle of a mountain top framed in the glow; finally a great golden orb sliding diagonally across the jagged hilltops and climbing toward a bank of high Sirius clouds near the horizon.

Tonight I am a richer person for the experiences of the day. My friends I implore you to seek out beauty wherever you are. Find a calm moment to observe what is around you. And seek out experiences that will enrich your personality.

With love from Gary and Judy

As usual we visited all the picking tents and did some bluegrass jamming during our stay. The diehards kept at it until two or three A.M., but we cut our losses around midnight. Gary joined a scramble band that placed second in the scramble band contest. We watched the blue moon on a clear cloudless night and then visited the observatory that is just at the outskirts of town. The observatory is hosting a NASA exhibit and Gary got to try on an authentic Apollo Astronaut training helmet. Photo will be on the web page below. It is exactly like wearing a fishbowl and you must speak very quietly or the sound of your own voice will deafen you.

The observatory has a 24.5 inch reflecting “Cassegrain” style telescope. We were there in the middle of a sunny afternoon but to our amazement there was something in that clear blue sky that we could focus the telescope on; Venus. Venus was very bright and crescent shaped.

We welcome some new readers to our blog with this episode. They are Bluegrass enthusiasts and are learning mandolin and banjo. Dale and Sharon live in the Dales Oregon.

We are getting very close to heading out for Alaska later this week. Watch for our far north adventures. We will try to keep focused on our motto, “It’s the Journey that Counts,” and not on the cost of fuel.

Watch for us in Colville, all you relatives in that part of the state. We are headed your way. With love, Gary and Judy.

Gary Tries out an Astronaught's Helmet

I-IV-V Scramble Band Takes Second Place

We got an early start this morning from Benson Arizona, one of our Escapee Co-Op parks. We planned a short drive, and we pulled into the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, just after it opened. We spent most of the day looking over the museum airplanes. We also took a bus ride tour to the Davis-Monahan Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center. That is a big name that boils down to an acronym, AMARC, and is a parking lot for over 4,000 military airplanes of about every type you can think of. Red Bearon, my Beanie Babies aviator bear, got to get up close to several airplanes and get his picture taken. I think his favorite was the Super Guppy built in 1962 to carry Apollo space craft components. Check out the photo below. You will have to squint to see him, he is pretty small.

We send our New Year’s greeting so all of our friends and relatives.

Love from Gary and Judy.

By the way, you can hardly call this roughing it. We have cell phone, internet and electricity. It might get down to freezing tonight, however.

Gary

Red Bearon Checks Out the Super Guppy

Cactus Trail in Tucson Mountain Park

To top that off, I am looking out the south side of the coach and I see a Great Blue Heron, dowitchers and at least two species of ducks in the swamp area a hundred feet away. There is a one kilometer nature trail that starts right here and leads down to the Petitcodiac River. That is connected to the Bay of Fundy so it can be full or empty depending on the tides. We walked on down and it was brim full.

It has been very windy today and it was a relief when the wind died down just at sunset. It looks like it will be clear tonight. Perhaps this will be the night we see the Aurora Borealis. As I look south over the pond I am looking at a gibbous moon floating in a sea of sparkling stars. I just walked down to take a picture of the moon light reflected in the water. Just as I was steadying the camera for the shot about a thousand mosquitoes settled on my head, neck and hands. What I got was an abstract photo with squiggly light streaks. I have heard that if the wind is over 8 miles per hour the mosquitoes cannot light on you so I beat an eight MPH streak back to the coach and jumped through the door and slammed it behind me. No mosquitoes got in with me….I hope.

September 13, 2005:
Again no internet, so I will keep going. Today we visited Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. This is a mile long stretch of beach on the Bay of Fundy where the sandstone washes away leaving columns capped with conglomerate rock “flower pots.” They are adorned with trees that almost make them look like people with funny hats. At the surf line at the base of a 70 to 100 foot cliff we were able to gradually work our way around the base of each outcropping and into a new cove as the tide receded. We eventually got to traverse the entire formation and return to the Interpretation Center. Then we went back at low tide and did it again. By then the beach was a hundred yards wide.

After we wore ourselves out with that we put Arcturus in gear and made our way to the Cape Enrage Lighthouse. This was perhaps the most challenging road yet. The switchbacks were so sharp I needed to take part of the opposing lane. I used my dad’s technique from when we used to drive crooked logging roads around Colville Washington. Blow the horn before you go around a blind corner. Arcturus has a beautiful deep throated air horn, and we sure announced our intentions on two different switchbacks. Arcturus actually downshifted into first gear to grind his way up one hill. Getting turned around proved to be interesting also. I had to pull into one parking lot and then back across the road into a second parking lot to get headed back toward town.

We send our love to all. Bye for now.

Gary and Judy.

Abstract Photo of Hillsborough NB Pond

Gary and Judy at Hopewell Rocks, NB

We found helpful people everywhere we went. Whenever we stopped to study our map, it seems like someone would stop to help us get oriented. I even found a library branch with free internet access. I was able to download a file I have been trying to get from my son, Glen, for over a week now.

As long as the sun was high in the sky, the ‘sketers stay hidden. Once the sun goes down, however, they are just vicious. I set up the telescope this evening, (we aren’t having an evening thunderstorm for a change,) and Al and I focused on the full moon and then on Jupiter. The mosquitoes just ignored our repellent and went straight to work draining our reserves. It is 10:30 PM Central Daylight time, and the sky is just now getting dark enough to see Jupiter and its moons.

Tomorrow we are going to enter Ontario and it looks like it will take five driving days to cross this Province. Everyone I talk to here says the same thing, “Watch out for the Moose.” We are going to try some longer days and we will be looking for some boondocking experiences, so we have no reservations for the road ahead. First stop will be one of the “Information” booths just inside Ontario, and we will load up on literature about camping and the roads ahead.

The adventure continues. Judy and I send our love to all our friends and relations back home.

Gary and His Biker Buddy

Looking Up, The Winnipeg Esplanade

We did lots of last minute things as we went through Scappoose and St. Helens, so we arrived at Tacoma just at the 5pm rush hour. It took about an hour to get from I-5 across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. As we turned north from Gig Harbor we could see a stripe of blue on the horizon. By the time we got to the Hood Canal Bridge we could see the blue sky starting to spread over us. We have arrived in Chimicum WA. and we are parked near our bicycle/RV buddies, Henry and Judy. We will be busy riding and planning the trip across Canada for the next couple days.

Tonight the sky is clear, the crescent moon is out and we can see “earth shine” on the dark face of the moon. This is light reflecting off the earth back to the moon. We are supposed to get a couple days of nice weather. Besides, we are in that unique part of the Olympic Peninsula that is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. This is known locally as the “Blue Hole” as in a hole in the clouds that the blue sky peeks through.

Let the adventures continue.

With love for all, Gary and Judy.

Neil's Jeep Towing the "Shop Annex"

That very afternoon we cruised down to the Lake Sonoma Winery and tasted their wines and watched the sun set from their veranda. On Tuesday we did a more through job of tasting wines. So many wineries, so little time! We did find several that we liked and even bought a bottle of Clos du Bois, 2001 Merlot.

Wednesday we all drove in Ed and Sarah’s car over to Bodega Bay on the California Coast. With Ed driving and Gary riding shotgun with the GPS and Topo USA playing on the laptop computer. We revised our route several times as we found short cuts and long cuts and alternate routes. We looked in on several campgrounds and sized them up for the Arcturus. This is low season for them, and we could have our pick of sites just about everywhere. Surf was heavy along the coast this day. On the beaches the waves were spilling over about ten foot high and crashing on the rocks and sand. In Bodega Bay we found two crabs to bring home with us. In a few minutes they will grace our table along with the new bottle of Merlot. Our philosophy is Merlot goes well with anything.

Both of the days have been sunny and warm, the nights cold, crisp and clear. We did some great star watching and Howard is going to be so pleased with us. We found M-31 and M39 and about froze our tooshes off. Each morning we have frost on the picnic table.

Thursday we will part ways. Ed and Sarah will return to Portland Oregon and Judy and Gary will find their way back to Gilroy California. Who will come and visit us next?

Thank you Ed and Sarah Daugherty for joining us this week. It was fun.

Love to all, Gary and Judy

Each evening Judy and her sister Sonja have been working on a big, two sided quilt. I think the project has grown beyond all rational bounds. They are trying to get several more yards of fabric for a bed skirt and pillow shams. At this moment they are trying to decide whether to machine or hand quilt the finished product.

We are staying in Windsor Beach State Park, right here in the middle of Lake Havasu City. A few yards from our front door is Lake Havasu, and behind us is the city. The sky has been clear and we have very little light pollution here in the park, so this morning I dug out the telescope at six a.m. mountain time and set it up in the dark. Venus and Jupiter were shining brilliantly. By the time I got the finder telescope lined up with the observing telescope the sky was lightening significantly with the impending dawn. Still I was able to observe Jupiter and see the four principal moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. As the dawn filled in I switched to much brighter Venus and I was able to track it until the sun was well above the mountains. Long after I could no longer pick it out in the sky with the unaided eye.

It was also interesting to watch the wild life wake up as the dawn came. I was startled by the whirr of wings as the Mourning Doves flew out from under a nearby bush. Soon the Gambal’s Quail came boop-ety booping across the road in their fast stepping dash. After that three bunnies came along and they stopped to watch me for a while before resuming their browsing on the low bushes.

Now the time has come for us to move on. We will take the next few days to drive to Gilroy California to be with our son, Glen and his family, Barb, Cody, Patrick and Bryce.

Tonight we expect to be in Boron California. It will be about a 225 mile drive. We are at the moment in a rest stop on I-40 about half way from the California border to practically nowhere. The sun is shining brilliantly in a clear blue sky and there is lots of high desert to watch as we roll by. Judy is fixing us a nice lunch.

Bye and lots of love from Gary and Judy near Barstow California.