Well things have calmed down a bit

here at the Gypsy Caravan, as my sweet sister refers to us. We are located at a wonderful RV spot and that includes great owners of this RV park. Like I said before things happen for a reason and we are happy it did. And I might add the owners are happy we are here too.

The fridge that died because of electrical problems was repaired today YAY!!! The inverter that died because of electrical problems will be replaced Monday or Tuesday.....so yep life is good.

Now about Gunnison Colorado - we are eleven miles from town situated on Blue Mesa Lake. Gunnison is a funky old mining town with nothing but mom and pop stores. Oh there is a WalMart but it's probably the smallest one WalMart has in it's chain of stores, I mean it's really small. But the town of Gunnison is fun, during the summer months they have all kinds of activities like a music festival, arts and crafts shows, quilt shows, rodeo woo hoo!!!. The lake we are on has tons a fish and boating for us to enjoy. So lot's for us to entertain ourselves, we won't lack for something to do for the next three months or so.

Now there are some things I really miss ...........................Trader Joe's, Costco, WalMart....cannot believe I said that,
Panera Bread and of course family......BUT.........I can keep in touch with them by phone and emails.
But Trader Joe's cannot email me my favorite things....dang!!! Also I miss going to the movies cause the closest one here is fifty miles away. We'll travel to see a movie once in awhile but not often. In the town with the movies is also a super WalMart as well as some good shopping so one can only hope I will get Mr Doodles to drop his fishing pole and venture that way once in awhile.

Don't think I'm whining cause I'm not, but occasionally I have my Princess moments.

I also should update y'all on Buudy our cat. He has an appointment at the local vets office (pray for them) for a blood test to follow up on the one he had a month ago in Southern California with regards to his hyperactive thyroid diagnosis. He takes his meds and seems to be feeling better and actually adjusting to the altitude here as we are. He is drinking his water and keeping well hydrated.

Just thought ya should have a bit of an update now remember photos are to follow when time permits. Mr Doodles is into bird watching as there are some quite pretty species living in this area.............stay tuna'd

Good News and

this could be any town in the USA......we saw this display of US flags in many small towns we drove thru

some not so good news.....nothing earth shattering tho so not to worry. We landed in Gunnison, Colorado Memorial Day late afternoon. That was after a very long day of traveling. Poor Mr Doodles had to fight side blowing wind for a few hundred miles....not fun and quite tiring when you are dragging an RV behind ya. But the scenery along the way was quite nice so it was not all that unpleasant. The RV park we are in sits on sixty acres, on a hill overlooking Blue Mesa Lake. The owners are wonderful and quite laid back just like us. They have supplied us with full hook up, which consists of sewer, water (good water too) and perfect electric. Couple a drawbacks one of which no cell phone service, I guess due to the mountain range here of 7500 feet. Lord only knows where the towers are. The owner is a retired guy from the phone company so he knows phone connection and how to get around the problem. Their wifi service her is not too bad but as always not secure. Owner has installed a huge antenna on the roof of the office so if I sit on the front porch I can use my phone and probably my computer with the aircard.......we'll see. Now to the not so good news.........our fridge died.......due to the on going electrical problems we incurred in Montana. CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!!! I say but all things can be fixed and it's not the end of the world.

Following are some photos taken along the way.

A nice warm welcome to the gypsy caravan


The last of the snow capped mountains.......melting quickly

Lots a mesa's in this part of Colorado

A very special day

Today is my sweet Niece's birthday.....wishing you many happy birthday's darlin.

Now go read her Mom's very touching blog about her daughter.

By the way, sister has a dog named Buddy not to be confused with Buddy the cat their cousins ya know.

On the road again

So yes I hear Willy Nelson singing that song every time I utter that phrase. Now let me say thanks to all who have emailed and called your good thoughts are appreciated. My sister calls us the Gypsy Caravan...how true .

Our trip to Gunnison, Colorado is taking place on Memorial Day weekend. Now we are on a major hiway and folks there is not that many cars or trucks on the road. When you come upon a major city you encounter a bit more traffic but not like you would expect for a holiday weekend.

OK I have devised a new game while on the road. Ya know how when we were kids our parents would find something to entertain us to make the time pass, like count cows, license plates or even train cars. Well I have started counting SUV's.......I know kimmy you still have that big blue bus.

Might I also add that driving thru Southern Idaho on our way to Colorado we have noticed how lush and green the hills are since the snow melt we saw on the way north. The mountains are glowing in the sun a brite emerald...........Idaho is a very pretty state.

Our trip to Colorado takes us back thru Salt Lake. another interesting city we visted a couple a weeks ago. A funny side note.....when we went on a tour of Mormon Square at the end of the tour the ladies handed out comment cards for feedback, Mr Doodles filled his out and handed it back. About a week later he gets a phone call from the nice folks at the LDS asking if he had any questions or could they provide further assistance. No thank you he says, yes our visit was very enjoyable and hangs up. WTH I say was that..............he tells me and then I tell him when I put up on my blog about our visit to the Mormon Square they came to visit, see I have a stat counter that shows those things. To me it's a bit odd but then again they probably want to know what's being written about them. Glad I was nice. But to call visitors is just a bit much in my opinion.

Back to Colorado, well not actually back cause we are still in Utah but Utah will be in our rear view mirror Sunday. Dang we are gonna miss the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indy 500. But we will be stopped in time to see the NASCAR race in Charlotte.

Check back in a day or two and I'll fill ya in on Colorado. Oh by the way Buddy is really confused cause we told him we would be stationary for a few months.......sorry Buddy, "S" happens ;)

We are OK

But man how things change in a matter of moments......hours.....days....whatever. And to say both our blood pressure peaked a bit would be putting it mildly.

So ya know that we canceled our trip to Alaska due to the extreme high cost of fuel, thank you very much oil dopes. Anyway we heard about the opportunity to work at RV parks around the country, these folks are called workampers.

Well Mr Doodles and I had a discussion about such a venture, went on line at a particular web site where you post a resume and wait for folks to contact you .

Well heck within two hours we got several calls and emails. Now remember we don't have experience doing this, all we have is life experience as business owners and in general dealing with people and oh yeah knowing how to make a bed, clean a toilet, mow a lawn or even clean a pool.

Well knowing that these positions go rather quickly depending on location and compensation, which can vary widely.

Anyway we narrow our choice down to two locations one in Moab, Utah and the other in West Yellowstone, Montana. After speaking to the owner/manager at each location we decide on West Yellowstone. The location had a lot to offer such as good hours, a decent wage, days off together as a couple, and fishing lots and lots a fishing. Oh and yes we are guaranteed a spot for our RV that included full hook up meaning power, water and sewer hook up as well as a spot to park our vehicle. Sounds good to you cause it surely sounded good to us. And ringing in my brain as I type this is "it's too good to be true", hell yes

Now we arrive quite on time in spite of the snow on the ground, which was quite beautiful I might add. We are told where to park our RV which was as described in our agreement.......perfect you say. HA!!!!!!!!!! The next day we are told "ahhhhhhh we are overbooked in our RV spots and we need to move you just for a bit". No problem we are there to work as a team and we are quite flexible, no big deal.

Well the spot was nothing just plain old mud and gravel. Well as long as it was for a day or so we are still ok with that even tho the water hookup required a few lengths of hose and the electric was a couple hundred feet of extension cords. Now it was heavy duty type cord but still a very long extension. That evening we are noticing that the lites in the RV were a bit dim. So Mr Doodles goes to the powers that be and explains this is not a good thing and we need to move to a more safer spot. Now Mr Doodles knows electric and knows whats needed. See where I'm going with this.........that manager knows nuttin, nada, no way.

To make this epistle a bit shorter......the electric that we were hooked up to fried our electronics in the RV. Oh now you don't wanna hear the words that came out of Mr Doodles mouth it was not pleasant. He goes to explain the situation to said manager......response was "that's too bad". Not one offer to move us or make any accomodations of any kind.

Mind you now we have NO HEAT and it dropped to 33* that nite. Down comforters AND wool socks surely helped a lot. Needless to say that very next morning or not till around 11 a.m., we left. Mr Doodles had told the manager the nite before unless you can hook us up to proper electric we are leaving in the morning. Response........"that's too bad". Oh my now you should have heard my mouth....actually no you shouldn't have it wasn't nice.

No one likes to be taken advantage, that isn't the way to keep a cohesive employee group. One of the other guys that works there came over and begged us not to leave. Sorry to disappoint this lovely man but we be outta there right fast.

Now what you say............the power was quite low so we kept everything off including the computer. Well I turned it on using the battery, checked my emailand low and behold there is a request from an RV park in Gunnison, Colorado, asking us if we had taken a position and if so could we recommend anyone. Hello!!!!!!!!!

Now about the fuming, we have calmed down a lot and gotten the attitude of things happen for a reason so stay tuna'd...........there's more!!!

There is no education like adversity

Everything happens for a reason

Won't go into any details right now..........but we will be on the move. Rest assured we will be watching the moon rise at a different location that's for sure.

Where are we going you say..........stay tuna'd!!!

Hot Springs in Yellowstone

there are many hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, this is just one small one on the side of the road. Look how crystal blue clear the water looks. And yes I admit Mr Doodles drives and I hog the camera ........


Now see this photo above.............if you click on it I think it will enlarge for you so see this rather husky Grizzly Bear. We were a fair distance away hence the bear looking like a blog dot. There were ranger on the road keeping us back and safe of course. But Mr Doodles saw him thru his binocs and said the bear was a bit large. There was quite a crowd on the roadway viewing this creature. When we saw him he was using his paw to dig for grubs and as he was he was picking up an enormous amount of dirt so those are some big paws he was using. It was quite interesting cause it was our first bear sighting. And how did we know it was a grizzly.......the Ranger told us as he said he knows all the bears in the park.


So what's next you say........I haven't a clue stay tuna'd

Around ever bend in the road

we see wildlife everywhere we turn.......baby bison suckling on her momma....

OK where'd my momma go lady........... OH there she is giving ya the evil eye!!!

and there
happens to be Daddy Bison looking on and making a very guttural sound.







It was a very cloudy day for photo taking, so very few of the scenery shots came out that well.

It was an exciting day for Doodles and Mr Doodles in Yellowstone.........look for more later, with a few over on the photo blog. So look for the grizzly bear and some young elk and a couple a baby moose............stay tuna'd it's gonna be a fun summer!!!

Did I mention the altitude???

right now we are at 6,500 feet. Now having said that we have been at much higher elevations but mostly driving or just taking short hikes.

For the summer we will be here at this elevation working, walking here and there, checking on cabins to make sure they are in perfect shape for arriving guests. Going down to the marina to make sure the boats are tied up properly or send someone off for a day of fishing on the lake. Taking people to their cabins or directing RV folks to their spot. We do have a our disposal a cute little Polaris off road vehicle to maneuver around the property.

Could also be a way to lose some much needed weight and tone up the old body some.

So the altitude has hit us both some............what happens is that it makes you sluggish. Drinking water is an important aspect of being in a high altitude as you can dehydrate fast. Yes we are doing that.

Needless to say we are taking it slow to acclimate as it does take awhile, a few weeks "they" say. Right now I could go for a nap............stay tuna'd

signs, signs everywhere there are signs

and ya best be paying attention to them.............

the trip

The trip from Butte, Montana to our destination of Kirkwood Resorts, West Yellowstone, Montana was relatively short but by no means short on beautiful scenery.

Mr Doodles thinks y'all should see where we are moored as you will appreciate even more when I update photos of the summer melt.

We went thru a couple of rather quaint towns one of which was Ennis. First thing I noticed was how many antique stores were situated in town. Second thing I noticed was how extremely friendly everyone is. Ennis happens to be about fifty miles from where we will be located for the summer so it won’t be a place we will just run to for culture and shopping.

Being that the booming metropolis of West Yellowstone is only eighteen miles from our summer location, that’s where we’ll be spending our hard earned dollars and hoping to find a vet for Buddy.

I’m putting up some photos that I took while cruising down the road in Big Louie. I’ll post more over on my photo blog. The link is over on the left……….click that.

Let me share their web site with y'all cause it shows some of the things going on around here. If you aren't doing anything this summer we are about 1700 miles from Southern California.

The view out our back window...that's Lake Hebgen and yes that is ice you see...but it will melt soon after the next storm comes thru. But can ya see the trout in that lake........that's what is moving Mr Doodles heart around.

This is the Madison River that feeds into the above Lake.




These are big horn sheep just having a snack by the side of the road. Shot this out the window so it is not the best photo and all you can see is their butts.

We understand there are a lot of critters, wild critters, that live in the mountains behind us and they come down at nite so one must beware/be aware.

OK I gotta go wipe the drool off Mr Doodles cause he sure is liking the looks of this countryside………stay tuna’d.

A late Mother's Day post

I have the very sweetest niece and sister you could imagine. Go read this post over on PBE and see what I mean.

OK we are pulling up anchor and moving to West Yellowstone....clear beautiful skies as I type so it's looking promising I think.

for those interested

the weather and the extended forecast.......HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!

It's snowing as I type..did ya hear me IT"S SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!

OK I'm done whining now cause I know they are a lot a folks worse off than I am at this very moment, what with all the tornado's a the country. Those folks have been thru an awful lot. I'm being a princess huh???, so sorry for the bitching........I'm done now!!! But stay tuna'd for more weather alerts HA!!!

Buddy

Bless his heart..........he had to have some blood work done when we were still in Southern California. They found a hyper active thyroid so he is on meds. He's fine but must have follow up blood work in the next couple of weeks.

They had to shave a spot on his neck. Amazing how long it takes to grow fur back on a cat. Well I went into the bedroom last nite and saw him all wrapped up in one of my scarfs. Maybe I should go find a kitty turtleneck for the poor baby. And to think he posed for this photo.....gotta love em!!!

The gold rush era

Saturday we pulled into the tiny little town of Dillon in the Southeast corner of Montana for an over nite stay. Weather was sunny in the 50's with clear blue skies. The nice lady from California, who just purchased this property a year ago , was just full of all kinds of information about the area. The saying 'ya can't tell a book by it's cover", is so very true in the case of this town. Old Victorian style homes scattered here and there tells you at one time there was some important folks with serious dollars lived here at one time. Back to the owner of the RV park, she told us about a place we should go visit while we are here. Bannack State Park is certainly worth the trip, approximately 30 south of our stopping point at the RV park. Bannack, MT is called the "toughest town in the west". It was Montana's first territorial capital and had a major gold strike. So when ya say gold and tough town I'm sure you are forming the image that we did....wow!!! They even had a gallows erected in the hills to take care of all the vigilantes that frequented the area. Think I read they even hung the sheriff.....nice place. But this little place was tucked away in a canyon called Grasshopper Valley. What a view they had. I think also residents were here for the gold obviously, but had an idea that maybe Geronimo and his merry band of men would engage in some form with the residents. That never happened after the Battle of Little Big Horn.

This town has been preserved by locals and knowledgeable experts. Think that's what makes this Bannack so interesting, you see the town as it was not glitzy adornments at all.

So if you care to click on the Bannack link above and learn a bit more. But while here enjoy the photos that Mr Doodles took while we visited. We really enjoyed our few hours here and felt the ghosts of the town, because this is a true ghost town. I believe since this is a state park they are able to receive significant funds, and they just received a half a million to do repair work. Most of the standing building were open for visitors to poke around. Hard to believe how all the floors were of rough wood or linoleum still in tact a hundred and thirty some years ago.

this hotel is quite large for the town of only three thousand or so residents

can't ya just see the ladies waltzing down that staircase

must have been some fancy cooking on that stove

Yep they had a Church

one of several jails

the school house
a functional playground with it's original fencing

inside with the school desks that were in pretty good shape

this was taken thru the window of the general store and merchant shop.
Sure wish we could have gotten in there

Hope you enjoyed our journey thru the preserved ghost town of Bannack, Montana...we had a blast.

How nice of them..........

Edited to add...........we are sitting in the RV looking out the window at seven Elk grazzing in the field behind the RV park we are in tonite. They are too far away for a photo.....dang.......BUT what a site!!!

Thank you very much

to my beautiful Niece for knitting, yes knitting me a pair of wool socks!

We pulled into Idaho Falls, ID yesterday stepped out of the RV to slushy, sleety wet, white SH*T!!!

Now you are gonna wonder why I have not posted any photos of this stuff cause it couldn't make up it's mind.........knowing y'all could give a big rats A** about seeing a picture of rain...I didn't even bother. But by looking at the forecast of our impending destination of West Yellowstone, Montana you'll be seeing a photo or several.

Y'all know or maybe not Montana is called Big Sky Country..........so let's see some sunrises and sunsets............cause I could care diddly about that white stuff.

OK time to hook em up and head North...........stay tuna'd........................love ya lil bird ;)

I never would have thought

I would be subjected to spring allergies along the way of our travels. Oh my Allegra is certainly getting a workout. And I might add not living up to it's supposedly expectations.

First it was Bakersfield wow big time sneezing, even Mr Doodles. Then we were just in Salt Lake and dang if the pretty posies weren't just popping out looking all pretty and polleny, not a word I know.

So as ya know we are headed to Montana and there is still some snow on the ground. Ya know what that means don'tcha HA!!! they are gonna have their sweet ragweed and posies wait till we get there to bloom...........ahhhhhhhhh what a welcome!!!

But look on the brite side............photos could be spectacular....stay tuna'd!!!

Weather alert....

Oh lordy we could be hanging in Idaho for quite a few days. Storms a brewing north, with heavy precipitation of snow and rain.

Stay tuna'd .................cause I hear there is a Casino in Pocatello, Idaho.

Who would have thought wilderness such as this existed just a few miles on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Well the Great Salt Lake consists of many islands, one of them we visited yesterday was Antelope Island State Park

This is the seven mile causeway leading to the Island..........very shallow lake with between 12 and 16% salt content.

After our visit to just one more Air Force Base Museum I think that makes six or seven in the last year. Sorry I just had to share that info. We found our way to the Great Salt Lake. Causeway driving on to Antelope Island, named for the Pronghorn Antelope that reside on the island. It actually should be named buffalo island cause there are a ton of them.......600 +/- and we came across a few. One of which was on the beach of the Salt Lake......quite curious because what would he be doing down on the beach??? all by himself see that little black dot in the photo...that's a lonely buffalo.

Close up of one of the many resident buffalo's....you know it's spring when there coats start to shed. I got closer than this shot and the dude just kept on munching. Guess they are really used to people taking their pictures.

My turn with a few photos

The Temple in sepia tones......the weather turned quite cloudy. Photo was taken from the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where we had lunch in the Garden Room.

Temple in the foreground with the Tabernacle in background where the world famous organ and choir reside.

On any given Saturday and especially during this beautiful spring that is going on here in Salt Lake, there are as many as eighty weddings, Mormons refer to weddings as Sealings. Yes eighty weddings.......there are fourteen rooms of various sizes for families and the wedding party. General public is not allowed in for obvious reasons, however in the museum there are some photos of the rooms and to say they are stunning is an understatement. They ask that you refrain from taking photos of the wedding party.

The flowers are just gorgeous

A view of the Temple in the reflection pond

A small glimpse

Mormon Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah
photos courtesy of Mr Doodles

a few flowers to greet you on the way to the small Chapel on grounds.

The famous Salt Lake Temple

And the ever so world famous Mormon Tabernacle Organ, 11,623 pipes to be exact. Yes this is where the Mormon Choir performs and you would not believe the acoustics.

The gardens on grounds are just abundant with color everywhere

It is a small world

Here we are sitting at the top of Bryce Canyon, elevation 9110 ft.

So Mr Doodles and I are sitting at a picnic table having a snack, I look up and a man walking by has on a sweatshirt that has Durham on the back. I wasn't sure where it was from so I jumped up and went after him. "excuse me sir what is on your shirt? He tells me it is the logo of his business in Durham, CT. Ha really we used to live there. No the guy says where? I tell him and he lives just a short distance away. He knows all the folks we know, knew where we lived, recognized Mr Doodles because the man never changes.

So we go on to tell him another strange coincidence about selling our home in Florida to a lady in Durham. He knows her and heard about her buying our house. How bizarre is this.

So the moral of this story is ya never know who you are gonna run into in this small world.

Big Rock Candy Mountain

That is the name of a song that I remember hearing as a child. Sorta a bluegrass kinda tune, banjo and the like,

Well Big Rock Candy Mountain exists in Utah I think the town is called Marysvale.

Here's the mountain..... don't see no candy, doesn't look like a lollipop, rather nondescript and a rather depressed area but when I saw the name the tune came right back in my head.