Day 4

We were talking yesterday about winning a lottery and what we would do. I said that I would buy a Chevy pick-up and a trailer and go to Alaska!

So we are living the dream!

Today we did sight seeing and left the trailers in the campground. The climb up the mountain was breathtaking! We followed the fast running river with some stops along the way for pictures and of course coffee.

One place we stopped was the spiraling train tunnel. Instead of climbing straight up a mountain the trains use a spiraling climb so they manage the steep climb with reasonable efficiency. Quite an engineering feat. On our way to Lake Louise we saw a car stopped on the other side of the road and a guy looking up the hill on our side of the road. Half way up the hill were two grizzly bears. We could not stop for pictures because of traffic, but it was quite a big deal for us. We went into the village for lunch and fought the crowds to get some amazing pictures.

We took Bow Parkway to Johnson Falls. On the way we stopped and visited with a friendly (from a distance) black bear. We did manage to get some pictures of him. The walk to Johnson Falls was too much for Hedda’s feet so she and Molly stayed by the truck. The rest of us climbed the paved trail to the lower falls. Watching the people was almost as interesting as the spectacular views.

I was feeling pretty bad for Hedda so I stopped and bought a Dutch chocolate/vanilla ice cream cone for her and hurried back to the parking lot. I was almost there when the top heavy scoops fell right off of the cone. It was a good idea, so I went back and bought another one.

The drive back down included spotting some elk, and a heavy rainstorm.

We stopped The day was capped off with a great Mexican dinner provided by Cathy and Bill’s special chocolate chip cookies.

We are living then dream!!!

Day 3 - Nicholson, BC

A beautiful day through Northern Idaho and into British Columbia, Canada.  After a quick stop at our last American Safeway with a list of things to top off our cupboards we crossed into Canada.  Customs was really easy and quick.  She checked our passports, asked a couple of questions, and sent us on our way.

There was a nice sign to remind us that the speed limit signs were in KPH and not MPH!

We stopped at a visitor's center and got some maps and information.  We asked for some ideas for a place to have a picnic.  They sent us to Jim Smith park.  They said there was a big parking lot so we would have plenty of room for our trailers.  They were right, there was plenty of room to park our trailers, but....we also had to turn them around.  I politely asked a couple of people to park farther down so we would not be blocked in.  After a fried egg sandwich and some coffee, we managed to turn both rigs around with no dents or scratches!

We followed the Columbia River through some spectacular scenery to our camp sites Golden Echo Adventure Ranch.  Nice place, with lots of mosquitoes.  Our screened in tent worked great and we had BBQ'd pork chops salad, and baked potatoes.

  

Day 2- Sandpoint, Idaho

An interesting story about the air mattress.  Last year we had a slow leak in an air mattress, so we bought a new one.  The new one (a blue one) came with a special pump that is battery operated and will inflate and deflate quickly.  We decided it would be a good idea to buy a spare in case we have a problem late some night with a leaky mattress, so we bought one.  We checked it out with one of my pumps that works on 12 volts.  Everything worked good so we put it in storage under our bed.  I found the old leaky one in the storage bin and threw it away.  When Hedda was getting things ready she looked for the blue one in the storage under the couch.  It wasn't there!  I looked everywhere and could not find it!  Maybe it was the one I threw away.  We went to WalMart and bought another one so we will have a spare.
Last night when we opened up the couch, there was the blue one folded up under the couch!
Of course now I can't find the special pump, so we pumped up the newest one. (In case you lost count we have 3 of them)

 We planned on leaving at 9:00 AM, but we didn't get rolling until 9:10.  Hey we are on vacation and schedules are flexible!

It was a long drive to Sandpoint and we ended up going through Spokane/Coeur d'alene right during rush hour.  389 miles in about nine hours.  No close calls and except for a small navigation error no big problems.  We got some camping spots right next to each other.

Hedda and Bertha made a pasta/sausage dish and a super salad for supper and Cathy had some fruit shortckae left over for dessert.  Great meal!

Tomorrow we are crossing the border into Canada!

Day 1 - Baker City, Oregon

After a full year of planning and waiting it is finally here!  We are on our way! We had a BBQ with Lisa, Dean, and the boys last night and a good night's sleep and we were all up and moving.  Loading the truck and trailer with last minute stuff.  Aris and Bertha seem to be adjusting to the jet lag pretty well after arriving from Holland late Tuesday night.  I was heading for the shower and noticed the distinct lack of hot water.  I found that the pilot light would not stay lit in the water heater.  I made a quick trip to P & C Plumbing and got a  new thermocoupler. It didn't help.  It is probably the gas valve, but I will have to work on it when we get back.  We will get hot showers tonight in the trailer.

We rolled through the POE scales and our total rig was 17,000 lbs.  Not too bad for 4 people, a dog, full water and gas tanks, and two months of provisions.

After a quick lunch at the truck stop in Ontario, we made it to Baker City just in time for a rain storm.  Molly was happy to get out of the truck and immediately found the canal and some mud and water to nullify the bath I gave her yesterday.  Bill guided me to our parking spot and we had electricity and water hooked up in no time.

We decided that we would take turns doing suppers and Cathy volunteered to be first as she already had tonight's supper planned.  Shrimp, chicken, and beef shish kabobs with rice and salad and strawberry shortcake for dessert sets a high standard for the rest of the trip.  We will see what we will do for tomorrow.

It was great to see Bill Sr. again and he entertained us with lots of stories during dinner.  He also provided our hook ups for the trailer and we might be frugal with the electricity use if it doesn't get too cold.

Our plan is to leave here at 9:00 and see how close to Canada we can get.

I have to look up a you tube video of the "North to Alaska" song to wake everybody up in the morning!

This is an updated version:

“Steve, wake up!  My water just broke.”

I must have given her a sleepy uncomprehending look because she went on;

“That means the baby is coming.  You are going to be an uncle again.”

That got me up and moving fast.  I had been up earlier and did the morning chores.  Milked the cow, fed and watered the horses, chickens, rabbits, and turkeys (We had two turkeys, Hobble for Thanksgiving, and Gobble for Christmas.) I was living with my sister, Janet, her husband, Roger, and their three daughters.  We lived in an old farm house on forty acres in northern Minnesota on the Iron Range between Virginia and Hibbing.  We got our water from the pump house with a hand pump.  We had a really nice pump house and a mediocre outhouse.  The old unpainted outhouse had cracks in the walls that allowed snow to seep in on those cold windy winter days.  It was a two-holer which is something I never did quite understand.  In all my years of using outhouses, I can’t remember ever sharing that intimate sit down time with somebody else.  Maybe in times gone by the old farm hands would use that restful break as a social opportunity similar to the water cooler conversations that occur in office situations.  The two-holes always made for interesting decisions.  Left or right?  Was the chance of splinters more on one or the other?  In the coldest times you would look for which one had been defrosted by a previous user.  I once came across a three-holer!  That brings up a whole lot of other questions.  Maybe it was in case of emergencies.  A contagious stomach bug or everybody shared that week old tuna casserole.  And they say times were simpler then!

Roger and the girls had already left for work and school.  I was only home that September morning because my old Ford was out of gas and I was out of money and could not make the 15 mile trip to attend my college classes.

The nearest neighbor was about a mile away, so with broken water haste I saddled up Lady and headed for help.  Of course, nobody was home.  The next farm was across the river another mile down the road.  They too were gone.  Where was everybody?  I thought about breaking and entering to use the phone, but a couple of growling farm dogs deterred me.

I took a short cut through the woods and forded the river just below our house to find Janet still calmly packing a bag.

Now all northern Minnesota farms worth their salt had a few old cars sitting around.  These cars were sometimes used for spare parts; some were used for chicken coops or snow fences, some were on blocks while others rested on flat tires sunk in the pasture.  We also had our share of vehicles in different states of discomposure.  Some farm yards had these cars just scattered wherever they died.  Ours were neatly and orderly lined up on the edge of the pasture.  We had standards!  I grabbed a length of garden hose and a gas can and started siphoning the dregs of each gas tank with various levels of success and finally put together just under two gallons of questionable quality gas.  I poured the fuel in my ‘56 Ford and ran to the house to see if I was going to be a chauffeur or a mid-wife.

Janet was ready to go and not deliver so we set out down the gravel roads.

In 1956 Ford had equipped some of its modern vehicles with a two speed automatic transmission.  Low gear was used until you got up to around 30 miles per hour, then it automatically shift to high.

My Ford had a slight problem.  Low gear would slip badly under any load.  On flat roads I could nurse it up to speed and when it shifted to high gear everything would work fine.  About two miles down from our house there was a tee in the road and it didn’t matter if you went left or right, the road was uphill from the river.  We could not climb the hill in low gear.  When I was alone in the car I could take the turn in a power slide and keep the speed up enough to make it up either hill.  I did not think that was a good idea to try with “Mrs. Broken-water” sitting next to me.  So we just turned around and backed up the hill.

If you look in the dictionary under the word “calm” there is a picture of my sister Janet.  She had taken all of this excitement with a big smile, but when I looked at her now she had a terrible look on her face and was bracing herself between the dashboard and the seat.  My natal education was progressing.  Already this morning I had learned about breaking water and now I was learning about contractions.

We made it to Dale and Phyllis’s house and of course they weren’t home either, but their dogs knew us and invited us in.  Janet phoned the doctor and he said to get to the hospital as soon as you can.

Gee, thanks for the advice!

Janet had raided the change jar so we stopped at the CO-OP and bought $2 worth of gas.  In 1966 that was enough gas for a couple of trips to the hospital.

We made it to town with no more problems except for a couple of more contractions.

Memories from a few decades ago are always suspect and times and details are always vague, but my understanding of events are that I pulled up to the emergency room door and got a couple of nurses to bring out a wheel chair and collect the smiling calm mother-to-be.

By the time I parked the car and got back inside my nephew Scott was wailing and Janet was still calm and smiling!

It was hard to leave Germany

August – September 1972

It was hard to leave Germany

I mean really.  It was hard to leave Germany, because the USA would not give Hedda a visa.  We had filled out all of the forms in plenty of time and sent them in through the base personnel office.  We had ordered our new car to be picked up in New Jersey.  We shipped off all of our belongings.  We moved out of our house and were living in the base hotel.  But we did not have a visa for Hedda.  There was a problem with the background investigation.  They never started one!

The consulate said they had all of the paperwork, but for some reason they didn’t start the investigation.  Even after we identified the problem they just went looking for the one they never started.  Now Hedda had lived all of her life (seventeen years) until we were married in the same town, on the same street, in the same house!  She had never traveled out of the country until I took her to Germany.  The OSI for the Air Force had run a background investigation on her when we got married.  It would seem to me that they could drive someone up there, talk to the local cops, interview her teachers from school, run a check through Interpol and give her a visa.

The consulate said there were no shortcuts or waivers allowed.  They said I could leave with the kids and as soon as they got their stuff together in a few months they would give her a visa and she could join us. I rejected that plan.

The base hotel was not real expensive, but we did have to pay for our rooms.  There were no cooking facilities, so we were eating out, mooching on friends, or eating sandwiches in the room.

The Air Force gives you ten days of temporary living allowance (TLA).  My commander extended the TLA to thirty days which was the maximum of his authority.  We ended up staying in the hotel sixty days.  It was some tough times with a three year old and a nine month old baby.

One day when we were coming back to the hotel I let Hedda and her friend out of the borrowed car with the kids.  They went upstairs and the friend took Lisa straight to the bathroom to wash her up.  Hedda hung her purse on the door and brought a sleeping Steve straight to bed.  When she walked back to get her purse and close the door, alas the purse with over three hundred dollars in it, was gone.  We reported it to the police and they found the purse with all of her ID’s etc still in it, but the money was long gone.

It was pretty depressing.

About that time I got a letter from my dad with a copy of a letter he sent to Senator Hubert Humphrey.  He laid out all of the problems that we were encountering and asked for his help.  I still have a copy of that letter someplace.

A few days later we got a call.  “Please come up to the consulate as soon as you can.”

I needed to borrow a car to get to Frankfurt to the consulate.  Because of friend’s work etc. we were having some problems finding one.  My commander called the motor pool and authorized me to get an Air Force vehicle to drive.  Thankfully, I rushed over to the motor pool.  The only thing they had for me was a ¾ ton crew cab 4WD pick-up truck.  But of course there were some more problems.  My Air Force driver’s license said I was qualified to drive a bunch of military vehicles and even tow jet aircraft; it did not specify a ¾ ton 4WD crew cab pick-up truck.  I made a quick return trip to my commander’s office.  He taught me a lesson that would come in handy later in my career.  He put the old paper drivers license in the typewriter, typed in ¾ ton 4WD crew cab pick-up truck, signed it, and sent me back to the motor pool.  A little while later we were on our way to Frankfurt.  I’m sure glad my commander added that vehicle to my license; because I needed all those driving skills as I had to maneuver the ¾ ton 4WD crew cab through the crowded streets of downtown Frankfurt with all of its traffic and small European roads.  When we walked in the door of the consulate and identified ourselves to the desk, we were immediately met by an official escort and we went to the head of the line at each of the stations where our paperwork was waiting.  A process that usually takes a few hours was completed in less than half an hour.  We were then escorted into the office of the vice consulate.  He apologized for all of the problems and hoped that we and Senator Humphrey were satisfied with the “special exemption” that they made for us.

In less than ten days we were on our way.  We took the base bus to Rhein-Mein AFB to catch our flight out to the good old USA.  Flying with two little ones is not easy.  We had a plan on how to carry everything that would be needed for the eight hour flight to McGuire AFB, New Jersey.  We had baby food for Steve, and snacks and toys for Lisa.  We were ready to go!

The announcement came that there would be a short delay.  A few hours later there was another announcement.  Then another.  They finally said that we might want to get a room at the transient quarters and tell the desk what flight we were on.  They would notify us with enough time to get ready.  It was already late at night when we got settled in our room.  Less than two hours later came the call that they were ready to go.

After months, days, and hours, we were airborne and on our way to the good old USA.  Hedda, Lisa, and Steve Jr. were on their first ever airplane ride and would be on American soil for the first time of their lives!

By the time we landed, we were exhausted.  The kids were really good travelers, but even adults get tired and crabby after eight hours in an airplane.  It was early morning when we landed.  Hedda had her passport with her hard fought for visa and of course she had some extra processing to do.  After we cleared customs and immigration we made our phone call to the car dealership.  “We desperately need our car.  Is it ready?”  They had been waiting for us for a couple of months and the car was out back.  They gave us directions for the taxi, and when we got there we still had to wait a few more hours to get on the road.

We only drove long enough to get out of the big city, found a hotel and crashed for our first night in America!

We called Minnesota and told Mom that we would arrive in three days.  The plan was to get there in two days, but if you told Mom the exact time you were expected she would start worrying about twelve hours before you were due.  This way we could head off most of the worrying!

To be continued….

Stuck in Genetics Part 2

Stuck in Genetics part 2

When I last left you I was climbing out of Little Fiddler Flat in the dark.  I finally made it where I could actually see where I was going.  By the time I made it home, I was a few hours late.  I always told Hedda approximately where I was going so she would know where to send the rescue team.  I also told her that when I was elk hunting that if I got one late in the day I would spend the night and not to send help until the next day.  I was surprised when she greeted me with “Where were you?  We were looking for you?”  “Who’s we and why were you looking for me?”

It seems that my dad took bad sick while visiting my brother in Arkansas.  My friend Bill and Hedda went where I told them I would be, but I wasn’t there.  I was way farther in than I said I would be.  In fact I was way farther in than I should have been.  They gave up looking for me.  I called Paul and found out that things didn’t look good for Dad.  The next morning we got the devastating news that he had died. 

Somehow I have the feeling that he was watching me and all my problems.  I bet he was laughing and saying, “You needed just a little more momentum!”

A few years later Steve Jr. and I went back down the same road, but this time we were on mountain bikes.  When we got to the really bad spot, Steve kept going at his naturally crazy speed.  I stopped and waited.  Pretty soon I heard him yell “Don’t try to ride this!!”  I was smiling as I walked my bike down.  Apparently he had a little too much momentum and his bike stopped in the washout, but he kept going.  After a fun day of riding trails and finding an alternate way out, I decided I would never try that trail again on anything with wheels.

 The winch on Jimmy really came in handy.  One day we took a ride through the almost snowless mountains near Prairie, Idaho.  There was so little snow that we thought we could make the complete loop and come out at Black’s Creek.  It was late afternoon when we crossed the river and headed up the slope out of the canyon.  That side of the mountain didn’t get as much sun and there was a lot more snow.  We followed some tracks and were actually driving on top of the snow crust until we came to the spot where whatever made those tracks broke through the crust.  The rest of the trip consisted of run the winch out to a tree or fence post, winch her forward, then do it again.  The winch was burning hot.  The sun had set quite awhile ago.  The boys and I were tired from wading through the deep snow to find an anchor point and Hedda was getting nervous.  We took a break and made some hot chocolate and chili on the camp stove before it was back to work.  By the time we got out and went to the rest stop where we could put on some dry clothes and call Chris’s mom, it was after midnight.  The boys and I thought it was quite an adventure.  Hedda and Lisa weren’t as impressed.

“Old Blue” was a 1964 ¾ ton 2wd pick-up that took me places 2wd trucks should not go.  We knew of a swimming hole in the San Bernardino mountains that was down a trail that the Forest Service had marked as “hazardous – 4wd vehicles only”.  Of course I had to see how bad it was.  We found that if we went to the bottom of the canyon and loaded a bunch of rocks in “Old Blue” it would give us enough traction to get back up the hill.  We used the rocks to build a barbecue in my friends back yard.

One time a buddy and I were on top of a ridge and saw what must be a short cut down to the desert below.  We figured that “Old Blue” was up to the task and we followed the trail down the mountain.  Later we guessed that it wasn’t really a trail.  Someone had probably pushed an old car or truck off just to see it fall.  We made it safely to the bottom.  There were a couple of times when we kind of lost confidence in “Old Blue”.  We held the doors open and were ready to jump if I lost control.  Now “Old Blue” was old.  The starter had given out so we had to push start it.  The gas gauge didn’t work.  A friend said that “Old Blue” had good vibes.  I told her that was probably the worn out king pins.  We were so excited about living through our latest adventure that we were a little over confident as we headed out through the washes and dry creek beds.  Oops! We got hung up on a particularly steep exit from a wash. Probably not enough momentum.  No real problem.  We just had to jack up the back end and put some stuff under the wheels.  As we were working we couldn’t turn off the truck as it didn’t have a starter.  I noticed a change in the idle of the engine.  It started running a lot smoother.  I told my buddy that I think my carburetor was set to rich.  He asked “What makes you say that?” “I think we are out of gas.”  About that time the engine died and we had a ten mile walk to get help.

The Mohave River spends most of the year under ground.  Sometimes in heavy rains it will run above ground.  The road between Apple Valley and Hesperia, California crosses the river.  There is no bridge the road just drops down and crosses to the other bank.  There is a culvert under the road that allows a small water flow.  If the weather combines melting snow and rain the river turns into a torrent and runs over the road.  We crossed the road in the morning and there was about a foot of water across the road.  That afternoon on our way back, I figured it was better to take the long way around and not risk the crossing.  It was a good idea!  This picture shows the worst stuck ever.  The two guys who were in this pick-up tried to cross a few hours after we did.  The river had washed out all the sand out from under the pavement and it collapsed.  Both guys got out ok, they were just wet and without a truck.  I don’t think momentum would have helped.

River crossings can be fun.  We were on a sight seeing trip in Iceland to look at glaciers.  We had family from Holland with and we wanted to show them a good time.  We were following a gravel road that skirted a glacier.  There was river crossing.  We watched an Icelandic Bronco in front of us who went through the cold deep water with no problem, so we tried it.  My Blazer was doing fine but then the engine died. I laid on the horn and the Icelandic Bronco came to our rescue.  The water was deep enough that with the strong current it was coming in the passenger side door.  I crawled out of my window and out on the hood.  The rescuer threw me a rope.  I had to lean over into the water (did I mention that this was glacier run off?  The water was COLD!) to reach the tow hooks under the bumper.  The Bronco pulled us out and asked if we needed any more help.  We thanked them and sent them on their way.  I found that the air intake hose ran to the front of the grille and had sucked in enough water to stall the engine.  We pulled the spark plugs and cranked the engine until it quit spitting water.  We dried and WD-40’d the distributer cap and wires, cleaned the plugs, reinstalled them and we were on our way.  I took the air intake hose and routed it so it was to the back of the engine and high enough to keep it out of the water.  We continued our trip and had a great time.  On our way back out everybody was a little concerned about the river crossing.  My modifications worked and we made a successful escape.  Our plan to give Hedda’s relatives a memorable trip worked.  They always talk about getting stuck in the river when we get together.

It will be fun to watch our grand kids and see if any of them carry on the tradition.  My bet is on Derek.

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