Well, here’s what’s happening today. I talked to the folks in Cordova, and they definately need me to come up to Alaska for a month to set up the instruments and to train people to run them. I purchased a ticket with Alaskan Airlines today that will take me from Seattle, WA to Cordova, AK on the 28th of April. From there I’ll work through the month of May, and fly to Palau to meet up with the boat. Hopefully I’ll have my replacement camera by the time I get to AK, and I can start posting some of my pics again.

We were all born with winning tickets — and cashing them in is a simple matter of altering our cadence as we walk through the world. – Rolf Potts

Well, No Alaska for this boy. I made it official tonight, and emailed the people in Cordova. I’ll be flying to Palau with Laura around the middle of May to live on a 1968 53′ Wood sailboat. It will be for 2 months, with a potential to sail the boat to Thailand afterwards. The pups will be flying soon to live with Grandma and Grandpa in Wayne, ME for a while (THANKS MOM!!!). That will be the hardest part for me, shipping my pups off on an airline w/o me. But, they’ll have a wonderful place to stay and should be very happy. This came up so suddenly, and seemed too interesting to pass up. Why stop such a great vacation if I don’t have to? And, I’ve got the greatest support group of friends and family saying “GO!” I’ll be posting a picture of the sailboat soon, but need help since I can barely operate a macintosh. Stay tuned.

Today, by the way, turned out to be one of the best of my trip so far. Let me say first that I’ve learned to ride on the back of a motorcycle and give up all control. This is a major thing for me, and definately a positive feeling. We rode the Kawasaki to Hillsboro, and worked on Laura’s older ’75 CB550, to get it ready to sell. Once that was running, we headed into the hills on the west side of Portland and it was amazing! I’ve never seen such curvy roads, for such a long distance. I got so into the turns! The CB550 is similar to the bikes I’ve always ridden, and I was very quickly comfortable with it.

Oh, that guy. The one who ate my cyclinder head gasket at the Canadian border! Well, now I’m in Blaine, WA, parked at the RiteAid. Hopefully I can stay here all night w/o problem. Since tomorrow is Easter, I’ll probably have to wait until Monday to order parts. Then, I need to find a place to fix it. What does this do to my schedule? I believe I’m in need of a new one. It’s unlikely that I can make it to Valdez in time to catch my ferry if I stay here and wait for parts. I’m thinking of possibilities:

1. If parts are available in Bellingham or Seattle, rent a car and go get them
2. Sell this thing to the first person that makes an offer, and buy another vehicle
3. Buy another vehicle and park this
4. Park this and catch a plane

Any ideas from the audience? I’m open to suggestions.

On the positive side, I’m very happy, there’s a rainbow overhead, and the small town I’m stranded in has a really neat looking harbor that I’m about to go explore! Things are good! Maybe I’ll even find some good eats.

So, I’ve had the most amazing past few days in Portland, OR with my new friend Laura, who I met at the most unexpected time in my journey. Isn’t it funny how things work out? This morning, after a coffee and a walk, I loaded the van back up and continued north. I should be crossing into Canada within the next couple of hours. I found Portland to be a very welcomed distraction, but now it’s time to boogey so I can make the ferry on the 24th.

It was so much easier to leave Portland than I expected it would be. Maybe I’m finally focused enough to know where I’m going, and that I really need this time in Alaska.
Once I cross the border I’ll likely be incommunicado until I reach Valdez on the 24th. For sure I won’t be using the cell phone in Canada due to huge roaming charges. The long, last stretch begins!

After nearly 7500 miles on the road, I’m discovering what it is that makes travel fun. Here’s my list so far;

1. All the wonderful views and photo ops
2. A hot meal at the end of the day
3. No schedules
4. Meeting new people, mostly with similar interests
5. The freedom to sleep in, stay up late, go to sleep early, or get up at sunrise
6. Cold beer at the end of the day (or the middle)

Here’s tonights Hot Meal:

After ~150 miles of I-5 North the other day, through northern CA and southern OR, I had enough. In Green, OR I detoured on 42 across Coo’s Canyon, all the way to Coo’s Bay, and stayed the night at the Umpqua Lighthouse S.P. Yesterday I had a leisurely drive along US101, and camped out at Beverly Beach S.P., just north of Newport. Today I’ll try to make it up near Manzanita. The west coast is a wonderful place, very similar to the NorthEast. This would make a great destination for someone needing a weekend getaway. You can rent a really nice Yurt in these S.P.s for 29$/night, and you could schedule to hit one each night. So, what are you waiting for!!

Well, Death Valley has been on my list of parks to see, but I’m not sure why. I guess it just sounded cool. I didn’t really do any research on it, and never realized why it was called Death Valley. Reason? It’s dead. It looks like a huge gravel pit. I arrived late in the day, and the first 2 campgrounds I stopped at were literally gravel parking lots. The only thing that distinguished sites from each other were cement curbs. I lucked out at the 3rd campground and got a really nice campsite under some trees. It had been reserved, but nobody had showed up to claim it. Given more time, I hear there are some very interesting sites within the park. The picture of the cactus below was taken on the north side of the park this afternoon. Tonight I’m staying in Big Pine, CA on Forest Service land. My next destination is Eureka, and then up to Redwoods N.P. It will likely take me 2 days to get that far.

Well, last night was my best night of camping so far on this trip. I spent the day driving and hiking in the Valley of the Gods. I stayed at Gooseneck State Park, in SE Utah, along with several other campers. The first picture below is a view from the front of my VW. The weather was perfect, about 65 degF. I ran 5k with with the pups, showered outside, and watched the sun go down. This morning I got up and decided to drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim. The second picture is of a sandstorm I drove through for hours, near Monument Valley. When I arrived at the Grand Canyon, I found it closed for the season. Blahhh!!! So, I found Zion N.P. on my map and decided to head there. It’s located in SW Utah, and it is absolutely amazing! That’s the third picture. I saw a fellow Westy driver already camped, and went a knocking. There was plenty of space in his campsite, so I convinced him to let me split the fees with him. So, very nice campsite for $8. BTW, it’s been snowing and cold here; quite a change from where I woke up.

I finished my visit to Mesa Verde N.P. today. I saw a lot more than I thought I would, and did a lot of hiking (~8 miles!). My feet are sore, and we’re ready to head somewhere else. We’ll go to the 4-corners National Monument tomorrow, and decide where to go after that. I have lots of pictures that I’ll try and post as a slide show. Tonight I’m camped in the San Juan National Forest, between Durango and Cortez, CO. I’ve got a nice campfire going, with wood I’ve been collecting along the side of the road. The picture below is of 2 butterflys mating. Can anyone identify the species?