And we still be surviving. Not necessarily stress free since I had a major mental breakdown on Thursday night. Guess it had to come out with a blast sometime—but everyone let me work through it and I guess I’m over it. And my friends all survived it.
So we move on—
Thursday we actually had a good day with walking the waterfront and seeing more of downtown Seattle. Yuliya saw a naked woman protesting—guess it’s pretty common here. No clothes and protesting see to be a west coast thing…rather strange to us but hey—who are we to judge?
And then Friday Kate had the day off work so we lazed around the house and that afternoon went on a 2 hr ferry ride—just to Bremerton and back. It was very relaxing and a very cheap way to get out on the water. No whales but did see some seals and some great views of the city.
Then we came back to the house by city bus and I made crab cakes for supper (eat your heart out Audrey & Terre!). We then went out for Yuliya’s and Stacy’s first high class Drag Queen Show (women impersonators). It was quite entertaining although we had to constantly remind Yuliya that they really were men—REALLY. It was not the normal West Plains entertainment but something everyone should experience at least once. And Henry--it brings new meaning to Karaoke!
Obviously it proved to be a full day and late night so we are moving a bit slow this morning (Saturday).
We will be headed up to Kate & Deb’s mountain home this afternoon which is about 2 ½ hours away. We have to pick up our trailer on the way so we can just plan on leaving from there since it’s east of here. We’ll probably stay up there a day longer than our hostesses, but we really don’t want to travel on the holiday weekend so right now our departure plans are for Tuesday. We’ll head east towards the friendly woods again to get back to our goal of finding bears & moose.
Appreciate all the notes of support and yes I know—PICTURES, more Pictures! They’ll come…
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
#17--Seattle
Thursday morning and all is well with the world—as long as you don’t look at my hands. The rash has really done a number on them and we are hoping our internet research is correct and it’s all stress related so it would make sense I would now start to see an improvement in the next week. We looked a bit for a doctor around here but the minimum was $210 to walk in the door—and that would just stress me more!
So I’m doing my best to block all my negatives in the world and enjoying the people and places around us.
After the exciting morning yesterday our friend Deb took us down to Pike Street Marketplace and to Seattle Center. Pikes market is an amazing place of meats, produce, arts, shops, and flowers. The flowers were everywhere and the smells were incredible! We enjoyed fish & chips, calamari and saw some familiar artists. A wonderful way to spend the day, especially when someone else is driving—thank you Deb!
And then we had to go to the Seattle Space Needle, although we just looked up from below. Charging $16 a piece was more than we wanted to spend to go to the top to look down on a city—we’ll go up in the east mountains of Albuquerque and look out over that city for free! We always have enjoyed the free views more than anything else anyway.
Now we are ready to be chauffeured again to places unknown, although just riding through a city of this size is an adventure. It’s a wonderful place to visit, but give me back my woods to live in! And that seems to the agreement of the 3 of us hillbillies. We are all now starting to look forward to heading to Yellowstone the first of the week. We will stay in Seattle until probably Saturday and then pick up our trailer and head up to Kate & Deb’s mountain home east of here for the rest of the weekend.
And then we head to our next adventure.
May it only involve bears and moose….
So I’m doing my best to block all my negatives in the world and enjoying the people and places around us.
After the exciting morning yesterday our friend Deb took us down to Pike Street Marketplace and to Seattle Center. Pikes market is an amazing place of meats, produce, arts, shops, and flowers. The flowers were everywhere and the smells were incredible! We enjoyed fish & chips, calamari and saw some familiar artists. A wonderful way to spend the day, especially when someone else is driving—thank you Deb!
And then we had to go to the Seattle Space Needle, although we just looked up from below. Charging $16 a piece was more than we wanted to spend to go to the top to look down on a city—we’ll go up in the east mountains of Albuquerque and look out over that city for free! We always have enjoyed the free views more than anything else anyway.
Now we are ready to be chauffeured again to places unknown, although just riding through a city of this size is an adventure. It’s a wonderful place to visit, but give me back my woods to live in! And that seems to the agreement of the 3 of us hillbillies. We are all now starting to look forward to heading to Yellowstone the first of the week. We will stay in Seattle until probably Saturday and then pick up our trailer and head up to Kate & Deb’s mountain home east of here for the rest of the weekend.
And then we head to our next adventure.
May it only involve bears and moose….
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
#16--Our exciting morning
Well I guess we had to have a final bizarre chapter—no disappointment there!
We were awaken at 7:30 this Wednesday morning with a phone call from Eric. They were sitting outside the house to pick up Kelly and gave us until 9AM before they were calling the police. I went and woke up Kelly and told her and she just rolled over and thought it a bad dream. But no—it was our reality.
So we gathered her stuff and although we didn’t quite make the deadline, they were kind enough to give her an extra 25 minutes without calling the police. And she headed out the door.
Eric’s final comment to us was “Seattle University is only down the street—all we wanted was 2 hours”. Now that confused all of us since that was never the issue—but it’s amazing how the mentally ill will fill in the blanks to make it work for them. I just didn’t realize how ill my sister was and she probably found the only man as distorted as she is—the perfect storm.
So I have closed the book on my sister. We have totally reassured Kelly we will always be there for her and she feels good that we are still willing to want a relationship. She will be 18 in November and then their bizarre behavior can no longer dictate our relationship. But she has had to pay a heavy price. We all have.
But it’s over and we won’t ever deal with her parents again. Because let’s face it—if they are this bizarre now, they certainly aren’t going to get happier as they get older. And they obviously get some sort of pleasure going to war with us.
I can’t think of anything more they can do to us on this trip so I will try to not mention them again. It’s time this blog just goes back to moose and bears (not smoky bears!) and times of pleasure. And believe it or not—we will move on and start to enjoy our life again. We already feel lucky we are who we are—we’ve definitely seen the other side.
So Janet & Stacy & Yuliya start their adventure again and we head to explore Seattle with our friend Deb as our tour guide. We’re letting someone else take care of us for awhile and are grateful for it…Love to all and appreciate you loving us…somebody’s gotta do it…
We were awaken at 7:30 this Wednesday morning with a phone call from Eric. They were sitting outside the house to pick up Kelly and gave us until 9AM before they were calling the police. I went and woke up Kelly and told her and she just rolled over and thought it a bad dream. But no—it was our reality.
So we gathered her stuff and although we didn’t quite make the deadline, they were kind enough to give her an extra 25 minutes without calling the police. And she headed out the door.
Eric’s final comment to us was “Seattle University is only down the street—all we wanted was 2 hours”. Now that confused all of us since that was never the issue—but it’s amazing how the mentally ill will fill in the blanks to make it work for them. I just didn’t realize how ill my sister was and she probably found the only man as distorted as she is—the perfect storm.
So I have closed the book on my sister. We have totally reassured Kelly we will always be there for her and she feels good that we are still willing to want a relationship. She will be 18 in November and then their bizarre behavior can no longer dictate our relationship. But she has had to pay a heavy price. We all have.
But it’s over and we won’t ever deal with her parents again. Because let’s face it—if they are this bizarre now, they certainly aren’t going to get happier as they get older. And they obviously get some sort of pleasure going to war with us.
I can’t think of anything more they can do to us on this trip so I will try to not mention them again. It’s time this blog just goes back to moose and bears (not smoky bears!) and times of pleasure. And believe it or not—we will move on and start to enjoy our life again. We already feel lucky we are who we are—we’ve definitely seen the other side.
So Janet & Stacy & Yuliya start their adventure again and we head to explore Seattle with our friend Deb as our tour guide. We’re letting someone else take care of us for awhile and are grateful for it…Love to all and appreciate you loving us…somebody’s gotta do it…
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
#15-Seattle and the final blow
Well the week continues to be a bit trying. We headed to Seattle after a long wait at the border but surprise, surprise we didn’t get arrested! Guess it’s more fun to threaten than to actually do anything…
We had a hard time but finally Kate found us someplace that we could park our trailer at a reasonable price north of the city and we dropped that off before we headed into the city. I had a brief mental breakdown (one of several throughout this ordeal) but finally we got with our friends and settled in for the weekend.
On a final note of the drama, Stacy finally called the college where Kelly was suppose to have her “important scholarship interview that couldn’t be missed”. Turns out that it is only a “meet and tour the campus”. Nothing to do with a scholarship and nothing that couldn’t have been done anytime—or by us. Terri is still telling her daughter that “she talked to someone that told her she could have a good chance for the scholarship” but I’m thinking it was nothing more than what we all know it was. Guess one can draw their own conclusions.
So I guess we will do something fun tomorrow and say our goodbyes Thursday night. And may they be proud of what they have done to us all.
And then we will try to regain our peace and sanity—this has been hard. And it’s been so hard to explain to Kelly that she wasn’t causing it—we were all victims. But again---enough about that.
But right now I must quit since it is still all I am thinking about and I’m tired of feeling the hostility. Tomorrow is another day and we will try to see as much of Seattle as we can…
We had a hard time but finally Kate found us someplace that we could park our trailer at a reasonable price north of the city and we dropped that off before we headed into the city. I had a brief mental breakdown (one of several throughout this ordeal) but finally we got with our friends and settled in for the weekend.
On a final note of the drama, Stacy finally called the college where Kelly was suppose to have her “important scholarship interview that couldn’t be missed”. Turns out that it is only a “meet and tour the campus”. Nothing to do with a scholarship and nothing that couldn’t have been done anytime—or by us. Terri is still telling her daughter that “she talked to someone that told her she could have a good chance for the scholarship” but I’m thinking it was nothing more than what we all know it was. Guess one can draw their own conclusions.
So I guess we will do something fun tomorrow and say our goodbyes Thursday night. And may they be proud of what they have done to us all.
And then we will try to regain our peace and sanity—this has been hard. And it’s been so hard to explain to Kelly that she wasn’t causing it—we were all victims. But again---enough about that.
But right now I must quit since it is still all I am thinking about and I’m tired of feeling the hostility. Tomorrow is another day and we will try to see as much of Seattle as we can…
Monday, August 25, 2008
#14--Civilization and reality
Well we are back in civilization—Vancouver, BC.
We found a reasonably priced RV park last night on the south side of the city. We drove through rain all day yesterday but Kelly got to see Whistler, BC, which is one of the sites for the 2010 Olympics and she was calling her skiing guy friends to brag about it. It was good she finally had friends she could call (after her Maine experience). Klamath seems to be a positive move for her although this last week has been hard on her—she doesn’t know how she can deal with her folks after this last ordeal. Although we are trying to ignore it all—it’s still the cloud that won’t go away—and a painful reminder of our shortened time together.
Ironically Kelly just started to read about this “unknown before now” college and it’s a Jesuit/Catholic college that in order to be even eligible for a scholarship—one of the things Terri was big on—she had to make an application first. Kelly has NO desire to go there but is totally realizing that this isn’t about college—it’s about screwing up our trip together—and nothing else. Hopefully someday her folks will realize how much damage they really did—not to us but to her respect for them.
But enough about that--
Today we took the Skytrain into Vancouver proper. It was much easier than driving! We had lunch in Chinatown, very expensive and it really didn’t compare to the San Francisco or Philadelphia Chinatown—but it was still interesting. We then walked the waterfront and picked out our yacht once we win the lottery. We then tried to find the ice skating arena where the Olympics would be held so Kelly could brag about that too, but no one really knew where they would be, so we finally gave up. She has picked up a couple of Olympic souvenirs so she is getting prepared. It’s been kind of cute…
And tonight we are just hanging in the trailer and resting. My friends in Seattle have been calling us and are welcoming us with open arms so we are headed that way tomorrow. Kate is a childhood friend so she is very familiar with my family—and she knows we need some lovin’. We plan on staying there until after the holiday weekend so we don’t have to fight any crowds. After that we just don’t know where we are going.
I do need to find a doctor since my hand rash is now way out of hand—pardon the pun. Whether it’s stress related or something else, it’s time to find out—it’s turning into an issue. Hopefully that will be also Seattle thing.
Well—got to go. Yuliya is promising us a margarita if we find her a pay phone—oops guess she has no money—but she knows once she mentions the margarita part we are hooked…how our girls manipulate us…And hey—it’s Monday night.
We found a reasonably priced RV park last night on the south side of the city. We drove through rain all day yesterday but Kelly got to see Whistler, BC, which is one of the sites for the 2010 Olympics and she was calling her skiing guy friends to brag about it. It was good she finally had friends she could call (after her Maine experience). Klamath seems to be a positive move for her although this last week has been hard on her—she doesn’t know how she can deal with her folks after this last ordeal. Although we are trying to ignore it all—it’s still the cloud that won’t go away—and a painful reminder of our shortened time together.
Ironically Kelly just started to read about this “unknown before now” college and it’s a Jesuit/Catholic college that in order to be even eligible for a scholarship—one of the things Terri was big on—she had to make an application first. Kelly has NO desire to go there but is totally realizing that this isn’t about college—it’s about screwing up our trip together—and nothing else. Hopefully someday her folks will realize how much damage they really did—not to us but to her respect for them.
But enough about that--
Today we took the Skytrain into Vancouver proper. It was much easier than driving! We had lunch in Chinatown, very expensive and it really didn’t compare to the San Francisco or Philadelphia Chinatown—but it was still interesting. We then walked the waterfront and picked out our yacht once we win the lottery. We then tried to find the ice skating arena where the Olympics would be held so Kelly could brag about that too, but no one really knew where they would be, so we finally gave up. She has picked up a couple of Olympic souvenirs so she is getting prepared. It’s been kind of cute…
And tonight we are just hanging in the trailer and resting. My friends in Seattle have been calling us and are welcoming us with open arms so we are headed that way tomorrow. Kate is a childhood friend so she is very familiar with my family—and she knows we need some lovin’. We plan on staying there until after the holiday weekend so we don’t have to fight any crowds. After that we just don’t know where we are going.
I do need to find a doctor since my hand rash is now way out of hand—pardon the pun. Whether it’s stress related or something else, it’s time to find out—it’s turning into an issue. Hopefully that will be also Seattle thing.
Well—got to go. Yuliya is promising us a margarita if we find her a pay phone—oops guess she has no money—but she knows once she mentions the margarita part we are hooked…how our girls manipulate us…And hey—it’s Monday night.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
#13--Running from the law....
Well I know you all are on pins & needles to see the next chapter. And this one will be kind of boring. We have just been hiding out at some really nice lakes.
Wednesday & Thursday we found Camin Lake and stayed right on the lake at the Ponderosa Resort. The weather was spotty on rain but we had some great neighbors that showed us what a good extended family acts like—and they welcomed us in. We enjoyed fires at night, played games, and christened the canoe. Yuliya and Kelly went on an extra long trip to an island that we started to wonder if they would ever make it back. Our neighbors took their fishing boat and we went out and rescued them. Towing them back was quite entertaining. We felt lucky we had picked that spot to camp.
Then on Friday we headed south again, but knowing we would have trouble finding a camping spot on the weekend, we once again looked at places way off the main road. And we found another paradise camping spot-Well Spring Resort on Loon Lake. Cheap and with wonderful owners--thanks Judy & Bruce, who happily traded us a turtle for a pontoon boat for the day. It was great. We fished illegally and drove around the lake. Kelly drove the boat and we thought the day a complete success although the fish were all safe from us. They would jump all around us but none fell for the power bait that everyone advised us was what trout liked.
But now it’s Sunday and we have to continue south. We have a deadline you know…
Kelly would like to see Vancouver and we will try to hit both the city and the island by the same name. And then see as much of Seattle together that the time left would allow.
We have all tried to block out her parents for the time being. I’m assuming they will back off on the law now that they have done their damage but I guess nothing would surprise any of us now. We would have liked to get Kelly back for the remaining days after her interview but Terri didn’t want to stay in Seattle by herself and told us we would have to fly her home at our expense on Sunday if we did that. As Kelly says—It’s just not worth the fight anymore.
We have had trouble finding internet but that should loosen up once we hit the states. We have been taking tons of pictures that we’ll starting posting again. Right now I should really be taking a picture of Kelly cleaning her pierced ears with Vodka—we have no rubbing alcohol so we got creative.
And believe it or not—we are still having fun in spite of all that has happened. Running from the law can be a great bonding experience!
Wednesday & Thursday we found Camin Lake and stayed right on the lake at the Ponderosa Resort. The weather was spotty on rain but we had some great neighbors that showed us what a good extended family acts like—and they welcomed us in. We enjoyed fires at night, played games, and christened the canoe. Yuliya and Kelly went on an extra long trip to an island that we started to wonder if they would ever make it back. Our neighbors took their fishing boat and we went out and rescued them. Towing them back was quite entertaining. We felt lucky we had picked that spot to camp.
Then on Friday we headed south again, but knowing we would have trouble finding a camping spot on the weekend, we once again looked at places way off the main road. And we found another paradise camping spot-Well Spring Resort on Loon Lake. Cheap and with wonderful owners--thanks Judy & Bruce, who happily traded us a turtle for a pontoon boat for the day. It was great. We fished illegally and drove around the lake. Kelly drove the boat and we thought the day a complete success although the fish were all safe from us. They would jump all around us but none fell for the power bait that everyone advised us was what trout liked.
But now it’s Sunday and we have to continue south. We have a deadline you know…
Kelly would like to see Vancouver and we will try to hit both the city and the island by the same name. And then see as much of Seattle together that the time left would allow.
We have all tried to block out her parents for the time being. I’m assuming they will back off on the law now that they have done their damage but I guess nothing would surprise any of us now. We would have liked to get Kelly back for the remaining days after her interview but Terri didn’t want to stay in Seattle by herself and told us we would have to fly her home at our expense on Sunday if we did that. As Kelly says—It’s just not worth the fight anymore.
We have had trouble finding internet but that should loosen up once we hit the states. We have been taking tons of pictures that we’ll starting posting again. Right now I should really be taking a picture of Kelly cleaning her pierced ears with Vodka—we have no rubbing alcohol so we got creative.
And believe it or not—we are still having fun in spite of all that has happened. Running from the law can be a great bonding experience!
Friday, August 22, 2008
#12-Dealing w/the dysfunctional insane OR MOM REVISITED!
OK—Now the trip has just gotten bizarre.
But first our tire problem—We had our trailer aligned, but of course that wasn’t the problem. All 4 new tires had separated and the only reason anyone could come up was just poor quality tires. Guess we won’t be buying tires again from our local guy (even though he ordered them special). So we bought four new tires and will probably have to eat the old ones since I refuse to carry 4 old tires for the next 1 ½ months so we can take them back to West Plains. So that little problem went up to $600.
We then headed south—slightly beaten but still enthused.
And then it got real bizarre. I guess Kelly had mentioned to her mom that we were thinking about stopping in Seattle at some point in time. Terri suggested that we should check out colleges although Kelly hadn’t even considered Seattle and already had one picked out that she liked in Portland, OR. But then Terri, without any consideration for our plans, decided she wanted to come up and see colleges (she loves an excuse to travel) and made an appointment for Friday, which would lock us into having to meet her in Seattle and cut Kelly’s trip short with us by 3 days. No one wanted to do that (including Kelly) but once Terri & Eric decide something, they don’t back off. It’s their power trip.
We offered to take Kelly to the interview ourselves since we have no desire to stand in the way of Kelly deciding on her college and then we wouldn’t have to shorten the trip, but then Terri wouldn’t have the excuse to go to Seattle. And the Friday before a holiday weekend was the ONLY time this could be done—according to them, (although Terri admitted none of this would have been happening if we had gone to Alaska). Little did we know that when we gave up that dream so we could actually have more quality time together, things would turn out like this.
So they demanded that we meet them and give them Kelly next Thursday night at 6pm. The vacation was “officially over” according to Eric.
Just a quick review of what they have put us through on just this trip-First Kelly had invited herself, which we were very happy she wanted to come, but I did think it fair that her parents split the airline tickets with us since the trip itself was quite an expense for us. Of course that was unacceptable and I would be “stealing my nieces college fund” if I paid for it out of the trust. They finally agreed to pay for half but we had to have the extra cost of flying her in and out of Klamath for their convenience and it costs $30 extra because Terri booked it through her travel agency instead of just doing it online. We also were given no choice on dates or times. It started it all off with a huge ordeal. Then they missed the flight and we were stuck for an extra 14 hours waiting for her—basically lost a whole day. And now this.
But it gets better.
Then the threats began. They actually called the police on us and said we had kidnapped Kelly! Even though she’s 17, she’s technically a minor, and they told us that we would be arrested at the border if we didn’t do everything they said. I am NOT kidding! I have the threats and the police calling me on my voice mail. Kelly was shocked that her parents would do this to us and it’s just been tearing us all up. It’s my bi-polar mom all over again and we just don’t understand how they could do this to Kelly, no matter how much they hated us. This is only the second time we have seen her in the last 6 yrs so we are all feeling pretty cheated. I can’t even describe what I feel. Ironically, Kelly is finally seeing the behavior that we have been dealing with for all of her life and we have protected her from, and it’s been a rude awaking to what her parents can do to us. The only positive, and believe me, we had to search hard for a positive, is that she is even more committed to keeping in touch with us and now knows, that if we are willing to jump through the vindictive hoops her parents make us jump through—we must really love her. And we do. She has even asked us “why didn’t we just give up on her?” But once again—we love her. And no child should have to ask that question. It’s still been shocking to us. And it is very sad.
But now we are curious to see if we get arrested at the border. It could prove interesting…on another positive note, going to jail would give me time to write that book everyone wants.
And I thought the threats of arrest had died with my mother…guess I shouldn’t be surprised by anything my sister & brother-in-law does at this stage, but I hope God is paying attention. This is not right. I did suggest to Kelly that from now on she might not want to stand too close to her parents during a lightning storm, just in case. The whole thing would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic. Although we are well on our way to finding humor in it all, it’s the only way to deal with it without killing someone!
Obviously the trip isn’t the dream vacation Stacy & I had originally planned, but we will still try to salvage what we can. Letting her parents wreck our trip even further would only give them satisfaction, so we are going to still have fun--come hell or high water.
After Kelly leaves us we will probably be going over to Yellowstone for a couple of weeks to recover from it all. Whether we are going for fun or running from the law still remains to be seen!
We’ll keep the soap opera coming…ain’t it amazing? And you thought this trip was just going to be about moose and bears. Welcome to the world of Janet & Stacy…sometimes it even surprises me.
And yes—they are insane…But as a couple family and friends have said, “Isn’t this what they always do?”
I know some would think it strange that I would share all these details on our blog. But all that know me, know I am very upfront with our life, the good and the bad. And this saga has been going on for years now—And, at this point in time, this BS is our trip.
If you have good family hug and kiss them now and be grateful…and start gathering up bail money in case we need it. Wish us luck…
But first our tire problem—We had our trailer aligned, but of course that wasn’t the problem. All 4 new tires had separated and the only reason anyone could come up was just poor quality tires. Guess we won’t be buying tires again from our local guy (even though he ordered them special). So we bought four new tires and will probably have to eat the old ones since I refuse to carry 4 old tires for the next 1 ½ months so we can take them back to West Plains. So that little problem went up to $600.
We then headed south—slightly beaten but still enthused.
And then it got real bizarre. I guess Kelly had mentioned to her mom that we were thinking about stopping in Seattle at some point in time. Terri suggested that we should check out colleges although Kelly hadn’t even considered Seattle and already had one picked out that she liked in Portland, OR. But then Terri, without any consideration for our plans, decided she wanted to come up and see colleges (she loves an excuse to travel) and made an appointment for Friday, which would lock us into having to meet her in Seattle and cut Kelly’s trip short with us by 3 days. No one wanted to do that (including Kelly) but once Terri & Eric decide something, they don’t back off. It’s their power trip.
We offered to take Kelly to the interview ourselves since we have no desire to stand in the way of Kelly deciding on her college and then we wouldn’t have to shorten the trip, but then Terri wouldn’t have the excuse to go to Seattle. And the Friday before a holiday weekend was the ONLY time this could be done—according to them, (although Terri admitted none of this would have been happening if we had gone to Alaska). Little did we know that when we gave up that dream so we could actually have more quality time together, things would turn out like this.
So they demanded that we meet them and give them Kelly next Thursday night at 6pm. The vacation was “officially over” according to Eric.
Just a quick review of what they have put us through on just this trip-First Kelly had invited herself, which we were very happy she wanted to come, but I did think it fair that her parents split the airline tickets with us since the trip itself was quite an expense for us. Of course that was unacceptable and I would be “stealing my nieces college fund” if I paid for it out of the trust. They finally agreed to pay for half but we had to have the extra cost of flying her in and out of Klamath for their convenience and it costs $30 extra because Terri booked it through her travel agency instead of just doing it online. We also were given no choice on dates or times. It started it all off with a huge ordeal. Then they missed the flight and we were stuck for an extra 14 hours waiting for her—basically lost a whole day. And now this.
But it gets better.
Then the threats began. They actually called the police on us and said we had kidnapped Kelly! Even though she’s 17, she’s technically a minor, and they told us that we would be arrested at the border if we didn’t do everything they said. I am NOT kidding! I have the threats and the police calling me on my voice mail. Kelly was shocked that her parents would do this to us and it’s just been tearing us all up. It’s my bi-polar mom all over again and we just don’t understand how they could do this to Kelly, no matter how much they hated us. This is only the second time we have seen her in the last 6 yrs so we are all feeling pretty cheated. I can’t even describe what I feel. Ironically, Kelly is finally seeing the behavior that we have been dealing with for all of her life and we have protected her from, and it’s been a rude awaking to what her parents can do to us. The only positive, and believe me, we had to search hard for a positive, is that she is even more committed to keeping in touch with us and now knows, that if we are willing to jump through the vindictive hoops her parents make us jump through—we must really love her. And we do. She has even asked us “why didn’t we just give up on her?” But once again—we love her. And no child should have to ask that question. It’s still been shocking to us. And it is very sad.
But now we are curious to see if we get arrested at the border. It could prove interesting…on another positive note, going to jail would give me time to write that book everyone wants.
And I thought the threats of arrest had died with my mother…guess I shouldn’t be surprised by anything my sister & brother-in-law does at this stage, but I hope God is paying attention. This is not right. I did suggest to Kelly that from now on she might not want to stand too close to her parents during a lightning storm, just in case. The whole thing would be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic. Although we are well on our way to finding humor in it all, it’s the only way to deal with it without killing someone!
Obviously the trip isn’t the dream vacation Stacy & I had originally planned, but we will still try to salvage what we can. Letting her parents wreck our trip even further would only give them satisfaction, so we are going to still have fun--come hell or high water.
After Kelly leaves us we will probably be going over to Yellowstone for a couple of weeks to recover from it all. Whether we are going for fun or running from the law still remains to be seen!
We’ll keep the soap opera coming…ain’t it amazing? And you thought this trip was just going to be about moose and bears. Welcome to the world of Janet & Stacy…sometimes it even surprises me.
And yes—they are insane…But as a couple family and friends have said, “Isn’t this what they always do?”
I know some would think it strange that I would share all these details on our blog. But all that know me, know I am very upfront with our life, the good and the bad. And this saga has been going on for years now—And, at this point in time, this BS is our trip.
If you have good family hug and kiss them now and be grateful…and start gathering up bail money in case we need it. Wish us luck…
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
#11-A turning point
Well we knew we couldn’t get through this trip without some crisis. It just ticks me off when the problems are ones we really tried to do everything to avoid.
But first the good stuff.
We headed up through Banff, Lake Louise, and camped Sunday night in Jasper National Park at a very nice campground. We were all disappointed in how commercial both Banff & Lake Louise were but did have a great bear experience north of there. A young grizzly bear was eating berries right along the road and we got some great pictures. (PS—I’ve started the picture page and will work on it more today). The bear was very, very cool and that brings our bear sightings up to 8!
At our camping in Jasper we were awaken in the morning by a herd of elk moving through our campsite. We needed milk and we tried to get Kelly to go out and milk a cow—an elk cow of course—but for some reason she didn’t want to. Kids today…
Since we had made Yuliya’s job title the dog’s au pair` we also decided Kelly could just be Yuliya’s au pair`. Yuliya loves not being at the bottom of the totem pole anymore and as she told Kelly when she arrived, “I’m so glad I’m not the youngest anymore, I feel for you Kelly”. But we all are having a good time together and have even gotten use to the closeness of 4 people & 2 dogs in a 24 foot trailer.
We left Jasper and drove up to Prince George, BC on Monday. Ironically we saw no wildlife in what would have been some of the wildest country we’ve traveled yet—but the scenery has been beautiful.
The downside of the trip is that camping has proven to be much more expensive in the parks than we were led to believe. Most nights in Canada have run $30-40 with some even charging extra if you use their showers. (we were paying half that in the states). We also are realizing that if we try to get up to Alaska on the schedule we have, it means that we are basically just driving, setting up camp, and then driving more. We are missing out on being able to just spend a few days anywhere to enjoy the area. And that would have to continue for most of the trip to get down to New Mexico by Oct. 1st. It is starting to get tiring.
So when we got into Prince George, which is that last place that has reasonably priced services, we checked all our equipment. In spite of having a brand new trailer, we had replaced all our tires in West Plains with 6-ply, to avoid the $300 they charge to fix a flat north of here. Of course, since it is our life, something is wrong with one side and even though they only have 3000 miles on them, two tires are wearing really weird on the outside and already need to be replaced. I’m afraid it’s a trailer problem but we will try to find out more today.
I also talked to a guy that is on his way back and he had bad news on distance, roads, lots of rain, (one of the rainiest summers on record) and little wildlife. We’re starting to reevaluate the trip.
I know—our goal was Alaska but actually our real goals were beautiful country, seeing lots of wildlife, and not spending all our money—all with as little stress as possible. But the tires are stressing me and I have a full blown rash on both of my hands that seems to be manifesting itself because of it.
So we are now thinking about heading back south, going to the national parks in the western US, spending more time in Seattle, a new place for everyone but me, but I have friends & relatives there, and then going down the west coast.
We would either fly Kelly out of Seattle or just drop her off in Klamath. Right now it’s all in the air until we find out about tires. I just know the stress of wondering if we would have further problems, in an area where even minor problems cost big money, is making it all a little less fun.
An update--We just got back from town and found out our trailer is probably out of alignment—and we are on the good part of the roads. We found tires for it and have an appointment for everything first thing in the morning—just an extra $400. And as if God wanted us to really reevaluate everything, we walked back out to the truck after getting everything scheduled and we looked down at our back truck tire and there was a big screw sticking out of it. We just turned around and walked back in. But by then the guys were feeling sorry for us and they patched and plugged it for free! Guess we even look needy in Canada.
But we do think we need to be reading the writing on the wall—Alaska might end up being a cruise next summer. We can still have fun doing things south—and it’s making more sense by the minute. I was just hoping with everything newer it would work out a bit better but I guess we are still dealing with the Janet & Stacy life--and we know it tends to never work out like we plan. Good thing we are adaptable.
And as Stacy’s dad just told her, “It’s a wise man that can change their plans, the foolish man can’t”. Guess this should work for women too…
But first the good stuff.
We headed up through Banff, Lake Louise, and camped Sunday night in Jasper National Park at a very nice campground. We were all disappointed in how commercial both Banff & Lake Louise were but did have a great bear experience north of there. A young grizzly bear was eating berries right along the road and we got some great pictures. (PS—I’ve started the picture page and will work on it more today). The bear was very, very cool and that brings our bear sightings up to 8!
At our camping in Jasper we were awaken in the morning by a herd of elk moving through our campsite. We needed milk and we tried to get Kelly to go out and milk a cow—an elk cow of course—but for some reason she didn’t want to. Kids today…
Since we had made Yuliya’s job title the dog’s au pair` we also decided Kelly could just be Yuliya’s au pair`. Yuliya loves not being at the bottom of the totem pole anymore and as she told Kelly when she arrived, “I’m so glad I’m not the youngest anymore, I feel for you Kelly”. But we all are having a good time together and have even gotten use to the closeness of 4 people & 2 dogs in a 24 foot trailer.
We left Jasper and drove up to Prince George, BC on Monday. Ironically we saw no wildlife in what would have been some of the wildest country we’ve traveled yet—but the scenery has been beautiful.
The downside of the trip is that camping has proven to be much more expensive in the parks than we were led to believe. Most nights in Canada have run $30-40 with some even charging extra if you use their showers. (we were paying half that in the states). We also are realizing that if we try to get up to Alaska on the schedule we have, it means that we are basically just driving, setting up camp, and then driving more. We are missing out on being able to just spend a few days anywhere to enjoy the area. And that would have to continue for most of the trip to get down to New Mexico by Oct. 1st. It is starting to get tiring.
So when we got into Prince George, which is that last place that has reasonably priced services, we checked all our equipment. In spite of having a brand new trailer, we had replaced all our tires in West Plains with 6-ply, to avoid the $300 they charge to fix a flat north of here. Of course, since it is our life, something is wrong with one side and even though they only have 3000 miles on them, two tires are wearing really weird on the outside and already need to be replaced. I’m afraid it’s a trailer problem but we will try to find out more today.
I also talked to a guy that is on his way back and he had bad news on distance, roads, lots of rain, (one of the rainiest summers on record) and little wildlife. We’re starting to reevaluate the trip.
I know—our goal was Alaska but actually our real goals were beautiful country, seeing lots of wildlife, and not spending all our money—all with as little stress as possible. But the tires are stressing me and I have a full blown rash on both of my hands that seems to be manifesting itself because of it.
So we are now thinking about heading back south, going to the national parks in the western US, spending more time in Seattle, a new place for everyone but me, but I have friends & relatives there, and then going down the west coast.
We would either fly Kelly out of Seattle or just drop her off in Klamath. Right now it’s all in the air until we find out about tires. I just know the stress of wondering if we would have further problems, in an area where even minor problems cost big money, is making it all a little less fun.
An update--We just got back from town and found out our trailer is probably out of alignment—and we are on the good part of the roads. We found tires for it and have an appointment for everything first thing in the morning—just an extra $400. And as if God wanted us to really reevaluate everything, we walked back out to the truck after getting everything scheduled and we looked down at our back truck tire and there was a big screw sticking out of it. We just turned around and walked back in. But by then the guys were feeling sorry for us and they patched and plugged it for free! Guess we even look needy in Canada.
But we do think we need to be reading the writing on the wall—Alaska might end up being a cruise next summer. We can still have fun doing things south—and it’s making more sense by the minute. I was just hoping with everything newer it would work out a bit better but I guess we are still dealing with the Janet & Stacy life--and we know it tends to never work out like we plan. Good thing we are adaptable.
And as Stacy’s dad just told her, “It’s a wise man that can change their plans, the foolish man can’t”. Guess this should work for women too…
Monday, August 18, 2008
#10-The Calgary Airport Drama
And once again we got surprised on how our day went. It was the Kelly arrival day—but it didn’t happen the way it should have.
We woke the morning feeling lucky that we could get another campsite in the same park for the weekend. The park isn’t one of the better ones but at least we had a spot for a busy weekend. So we just dropped our trailer in our new spot and headed to Calgary to pick up Kelly from her 12:30 pm arrival. We found the airport (about 1 ½ hours away) and went in to wait. After 2 hours we decided something was wrong and finally found an office to help us.
Now keep in mind Terri had insisted Kelly fly out of Klamath Falls because it was more convenient for them. And you would think that if you had a travel agent mother she would know about getting to an airport early and perhaps even have checked Kelly to make sure she had ticket & passport. But it wasn’t to be and Kelly had forgotten her passport and of course they didn’t get there early enough to absorb any mistakes—so she had missed her flight. Her new arrival was going to be midnight so we ended up having to kill 12 hrs in Calgary, a very expensive town. Needless to say it was a bad day.
But the good news is that she finally arrived and we ended up getting back to the campground at 2am and did a minimal setup. We slept til midmorning and spent some time reorganizing the trailer for the four of us. It is one of the hottest days so we decided it was going to be a rest day and right now we are watching a movie and plan on having our welcome dinner of homemade enchiladas tonight. We will head out north tomorrow and hopefully the time of full campgrounds and crisis is behind us.
We are going to do our best to forget our rough start and the four of us are looking forward to some great times.
We woke the morning feeling lucky that we could get another campsite in the same park for the weekend. The park isn’t one of the better ones but at least we had a spot for a busy weekend. So we just dropped our trailer in our new spot and headed to Calgary to pick up Kelly from her 12:30 pm arrival. We found the airport (about 1 ½ hours away) and went in to wait. After 2 hours we decided something was wrong and finally found an office to help us.
Now keep in mind Terri had insisted Kelly fly out of Klamath Falls because it was more convenient for them. And you would think that if you had a travel agent mother she would know about getting to an airport early and perhaps even have checked Kelly to make sure she had ticket & passport. But it wasn’t to be and Kelly had forgotten her passport and of course they didn’t get there early enough to absorb any mistakes—so she had missed her flight. Her new arrival was going to be midnight so we ended up having to kill 12 hrs in Calgary, a very expensive town. Needless to say it was a bad day.
But the good news is that she finally arrived and we ended up getting back to the campground at 2am and did a minimal setup. We slept til midmorning and spent some time reorganizing the trailer for the four of us. It is one of the hottest days so we decided it was going to be a rest day and right now we are watching a movie and plan on having our welcome dinner of homemade enchiladas tonight. We will head out north tomorrow and hopefully the time of full campgrounds and crisis is behind us.
We are going to do our best to forget our rough start and the four of us are looking forward to some great times.
#9-Glacier Park
Ok—I’ve now started to realize what an awesome trip we are on. We ended up staying in Glacier National Park an extra day. When we see 2 black bears and a grizzly on the hill above our campground, and then have a moose run through our campground our first night—how could we not stay?
It continued to be an animal extravaganza—Rocky Mountain Goats, Big Horn Sheep, the black bears again the next morning, and then the day we left, a cow moose and her twin calves right before us on our morning walk. Very, very cool.
We also made a good friend that gave us lots of travel advice, plus the Milepost book, so we left the states much more knowledgeable of what was ahead. And his advice of a route ended up wonderful. As we drove through the foothills towards Calgary Stacy suddenly yelled “BEAR”. And there was another, just standing in the middle of the highway. Again, very cool. The scenery is amazing and never ending. Just awesome. We might end up coming home penniless but we will have seen nature at it’s finest.
Right now it’s Thursday and we are at a provincial park outside Calgary. Yuliya & Stacy just came back from the evening walk telling of giant things in the woods that grunted—it was another memory for them, although a bit scary since it was almost dark. A bear, an elk, or a moose—but they survived and found out they could move faster than they thought. We have learned never to be without a camera and I think they have now added flashlight to that list.
We will pick up Kelly tomorrow and then we will either stay in Calgary or head up towards Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper National parks. Unfortunately it’s the last weekend before school starts so I’m afraid finding a camping spot might be difficult. Might as well break Kelly in right. But as Yuliya says “Don’t worry Janet, it will all work out”. She’s turned into the happy, happy person and now is our main cheerleader. Amazing what going to Alaska will do for one’s state of mind.
It continued to be an animal extravaganza—Rocky Mountain Goats, Big Horn Sheep, the black bears again the next morning, and then the day we left, a cow moose and her twin calves right before us on our morning walk. Very, very cool.
We also made a good friend that gave us lots of travel advice, plus the Milepost book, so we left the states much more knowledgeable of what was ahead. And his advice of a route ended up wonderful. As we drove through the foothills towards Calgary Stacy suddenly yelled “BEAR”. And there was another, just standing in the middle of the highway. Again, very cool. The scenery is amazing and never ending. Just awesome. We might end up coming home penniless but we will have seen nature at it’s finest.
Right now it’s Thursday and we are at a provincial park outside Calgary. Yuliya & Stacy just came back from the evening walk telling of giant things in the woods that grunted—it was another memory for them, although a bit scary since it was almost dark. A bear, an elk, or a moose—but they survived and found out they could move faster than they thought. We have learned never to be without a camera and I think they have now added flashlight to that list.
We will pick up Kelly tomorrow and then we will either stay in Calgary or head up towards Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper National parks. Unfortunately it’s the last weekend before school starts so I’m afraid finding a camping spot might be difficult. Might as well break Kelly in right. But as Yuliya says “Don’t worry Janet, it will all work out”. She’s turned into the happy, happy person and now is our main cheerleader. Amazing what going to Alaska will do for one’s state of mind.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
#8-Tueday morning in MT
Obviously the every day posting thing isn't working all too well. Probably good news to some!
Right now it's Tuesday and we are somewhere between Billings & Great Falls, MT on a secondary highway in a town park that deer outnumber people 10 to 1. Last nights walk was Bambi oriented and quite beautiful. We head to Glacier National Park for tonight with Banff national park our Wednesday night target. Then we will stay there until at least Saturday since we pick up Kelly in Calgary on Friday and we decided it's time to plant ourselves for a few days so we can actually use our canoe and appreciate the area.
Last Friday we did the Iowa State Fair. Decided most of our fond memories and fair pleasures are because we do so many old traditions there from our childhood. As an adult I tended to find the crowds way too big and the food more greasy than I knew I should have. And the bathroom lines were way too long. Fortunately Yuliya was again seeing it with new eyes and we of course introduced her to the double ferris wheel and the biggest boar. The visit with friends was good but we were ready to start our trip on Sat.
We found a wonderful state park south of Souix City Saturday night and Sunday night we made it to Custer State Park. There we saw Buffalo, lots of pronghorn, and of course deer. We got the last electric campsite so we were lucky. The next day we did the drive by of Crazy Horse and the Mt Rushmore monuments. Wanted Yuliya to see them but decided to save money and not go in--so we told her the story as we remembered it from our visit. We are also having her read aloud to us all the information from our road atlas about the states to help her with her English, it's actually been pretty interesting. She countered with reading aloud from her Russian book, not quite so interesting...
The bad news is that 3 people use more water than 2 and the phrase "Stinky B*tch" has turned descriptive for us on occasion. Buster (chihuahua) chose to jump out of our window as the truck was moving to get away from us (unhurt but scared us). Anyone that knows me, knows I am a shower fanatic, so we are going to have to improve on this point. OK--it really isn't that bad but I am wishing for those long showers we all love and Yuliya is learning to take shorter ones.
We will do our best to start posting some pictures when we get some down time.
PS--we are having a wonderful time in spite of the costs of gas.
Right now it's Tuesday and we are somewhere between Billings & Great Falls, MT on a secondary highway in a town park that deer outnumber people 10 to 1. Last nights walk was Bambi oriented and quite beautiful. We head to Glacier National Park for tonight with Banff national park our Wednesday night target. Then we will stay there until at least Saturday since we pick up Kelly in Calgary on Friday and we decided it's time to plant ourselves for a few days so we can actually use our canoe and appreciate the area.
Last Friday we did the Iowa State Fair. Decided most of our fond memories and fair pleasures are because we do so many old traditions there from our childhood. As an adult I tended to find the crowds way too big and the food more greasy than I knew I should have. And the bathroom lines were way too long. Fortunately Yuliya was again seeing it with new eyes and we of course introduced her to the double ferris wheel and the biggest boar. The visit with friends was good but we were ready to start our trip on Sat.
We found a wonderful state park south of Souix City Saturday night and Sunday night we made it to Custer State Park. There we saw Buffalo, lots of pronghorn, and of course deer. We got the last electric campsite so we were lucky. The next day we did the drive by of Crazy Horse and the Mt Rushmore monuments. Wanted Yuliya to see them but decided to save money and not go in--so we told her the story as we remembered it from our visit. We are also having her read aloud to us all the information from our road atlas about the states to help her with her English, it's actually been pretty interesting. She countered with reading aloud from her Russian book, not quite so interesting...
The bad news is that 3 people use more water than 2 and the phrase "Stinky B*tch" has turned descriptive for us on occasion. Buster (chihuahua) chose to jump out of our window as the truck was moving to get away from us (unhurt but scared us). Anyone that knows me, knows I am a shower fanatic, so we are going to have to improve on this point. OK--it really isn't that bad but I am wishing for those long showers we all love and Yuliya is learning to take shorter ones.
We will do our best to start posting some pictures when we get some down time.
PS--we are having a wonderful time in spite of the costs of gas.
Friday, August 8, 2008
#7-We've started
On the road again…
The long awaited departure has happened. We be traveling. Although thus far we aren’t going anywhere too far, too fast.
Wednesday found us stopping for lunch with Henry in Columbia, and then overnighting in Bloomfield, IA at my Weilbrenner cousins. They had other cousins over so it was nice to see some of my dad’s family that I have seen little of over the last 20 years. Although some have visited us, it was a long overdue visit on our part.
And now we have lit in Des Moines, at our friend’s Chris & Sandy’s house. The funny thing is that even though everyone has had ample guest rooms available, the three of us agree we like sleeping in our trailer—it’s turning quite comfortable. Although we do take advantage of their shower—we aren’t stupid!
While in Des Moines we are planning on showing Yuliya the Iowa State Fair, since it has to be one of the best state fairs around. We have other friends that are riding in the Iowa State Queen contest tonight so we will have a bit of a reunion. And of course we have already gotten $80 ahead at our local casino.
We plan on heading NW on Saturday morning and then our true trip begins. We need to go 1850 miles to Calgary before August 15th. No problem.
Yuliya is back to being the fun and relaxed girl we took to Albuquerque 2 years ago. She seems to be finding peace and it just all reassures us that this was all suppose to happen this way. We will admit adding her to our plans was a bit of an adjustment for us initially—but I honestly assure everyone—it’s all good. We travel well together and it’s nice to have 27, sometimes going on 15 year old eyes to see with. We’ve always tried our best to smell the roses along the way but sometimes you need someone else to point out all the other flowers—and Yuliya is doing that. We should all come home better because of it. But lacking any of that—we’re having tons of fun…
Pictures will be coming I promise…
The long awaited departure has happened. We be traveling. Although thus far we aren’t going anywhere too far, too fast.
Wednesday found us stopping for lunch with Henry in Columbia, and then overnighting in Bloomfield, IA at my Weilbrenner cousins. They had other cousins over so it was nice to see some of my dad’s family that I have seen little of over the last 20 years. Although some have visited us, it was a long overdue visit on our part.
And now we have lit in Des Moines, at our friend’s Chris & Sandy’s house. The funny thing is that even though everyone has had ample guest rooms available, the three of us agree we like sleeping in our trailer—it’s turning quite comfortable. Although we do take advantage of their shower—we aren’t stupid!
While in Des Moines we are planning on showing Yuliya the Iowa State Fair, since it has to be one of the best state fairs around. We have other friends that are riding in the Iowa State Queen contest tonight so we will have a bit of a reunion. And of course we have already gotten $80 ahead at our local casino.
We plan on heading NW on Saturday morning and then our true trip begins. We need to go 1850 miles to Calgary before August 15th. No problem.
Yuliya is back to being the fun and relaxed girl we took to Albuquerque 2 years ago. She seems to be finding peace and it just all reassures us that this was all suppose to happen this way. We will admit adding her to our plans was a bit of an adjustment for us initially—but I honestly assure everyone—it’s all good. We travel well together and it’s nice to have 27, sometimes going on 15 year old eyes to see with. We’ve always tried our best to smell the roses along the way but sometimes you need someone else to point out all the other flowers—and Yuliya is doing that. We should all come home better because of it. But lacking any of that—we’re having tons of fun…
Pictures will be coming I promise…
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
#6-Changes and Send offs...
And we thought Monday was just going to be another day of getting ready…
Instead it proved to be a full day of emotions, changes, and ordeals. Our favorite “Russian slave girl” slash “adopted daughter” Yuliya, has been having her share of marriage frustrations. Different goals, different type people, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. But she has had to do her own journey and it ended up Monday was the day she decided to drastically change her course. So between a whole lot of other stuff happening, I ended up moving her out of their place--on a very hot day. She needed to leave town to really find any peace, so to make a very long and involved story short—Yuliya is now going to Alaska with us!
Kelly is elated she will have a cohort while she is visiting and we figure we will use her younger legs to be our “go-fer”. Has she heard of gathering wood?? Actually we have traveled together before and had a great time. I’m sure 2 ½ months in our camper will test us all—but right now we are all looking forward to it. And she needs a bit of rejuvenation of her soul—and we have always loved the role of fixers.
So I guess the players have changed. It will now be J&S&Yw/K visiting. But it’s good. Our friends have spent the last several nights giving us various send offs. (We might have to spend the first couple of days detoxing.) Otherwise, most everything is packed, the wholesale orders done, the canoe loaded, and final load of laundry in the dryer. Of course I'm trying to ignore the puppy that was brought to us as a going away present?? Actually just because we leave town doesn't mean the strays stop--I'm hoping someone else will fall in love with it before we get back home--right now it's all our "village people's" problem--they are in charge to the castle.
I wonder what Wednesday will bring…
Instead it proved to be a full day of emotions, changes, and ordeals. Our favorite “Russian slave girl” slash “adopted daughter” Yuliya, has been having her share of marriage frustrations. Different goals, different type people, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. But she has had to do her own journey and it ended up Monday was the day she decided to drastically change her course. So between a whole lot of other stuff happening, I ended up moving her out of their place--on a very hot day. She needed to leave town to really find any peace, so to make a very long and involved story short—Yuliya is now going to Alaska with us!
Kelly is elated she will have a cohort while she is visiting and we figure we will use her younger legs to be our “go-fer”. Has she heard of gathering wood?? Actually we have traveled together before and had a great time. I’m sure 2 ½ months in our camper will test us all—but right now we are all looking forward to it. And she needs a bit of rejuvenation of her soul—and we have always loved the role of fixers.
So I guess the players have changed. It will now be J&S&Yw/K visiting. But it’s good. Our friends have spent the last several nights giving us various send offs. (We might have to spend the first couple of days detoxing.) Otherwise, most everything is packed, the wholesale orders done, the canoe loaded, and final load of laundry in the dryer. Of course I'm trying to ignore the puppy that was brought to us as a going away present?? Actually just because we leave town doesn't mean the strays stop--I'm hoping someone else will fall in love with it before we get back home--right now it's all our "village people's" problem--they are in charge to the castle.
I wonder what Wednesday will bring…
Sunday, August 3, 2008
#5-A Bear Warning Sign
A friend of mine sent me this bear warning sign. Couldn’t get it to copy so will just relay the message:
Warning
Due to the frequency of human-bear encounters, the B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch is advising hikers, hunters, fisherman, and any persons that use the out of doors in a recreational or work related function to take extra precautions while in the field.
We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by so you don’t take them by surprise.
We also advise anyone using the out of doors to carry “Pepper Spray” with him in case of a encounter with a bear.
Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear feces has bells in it and smells like pepper.
I found it amusing.
Warning
Due to the frequency of human-bear encounters, the B.C. Fish and Wildlife Branch is advising hikers, hunters, fisherman, and any persons that use the out of doors in a recreational or work related function to take extra precautions while in the field.
We advise the outdoorsman to wear little noisy bells on clothing so as to give advance warning to any bears that might be close by so you don’t take them by surprise.
We also advise anyone using the out of doors to carry “Pepper Spray” with him in case of a encounter with a bear.
Outdoorsmen should also be on the watch for fresh bear activity, and be able to tell the difference between black bear feces and grizzly bear feces. Black bear feces is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear feces has bells in it and smells like pepper.
I found it amusing.
#4-Three days left...
It’s Sunday and only 3 days left. We are feeling a bit guilty for cancelling our Chicago show since the evil heat they promised never materialized up there. Oh well—we thought we made the best decision at the time. And it has made this last weekend home easier.
Preparations are moving along. My biggest concern is getting one of my tomatoes to ripen so I can pick it and at least eat one of them. My garden looks great and the irony is that I will be gone during 90% of the harvest. We got some big ones growing but it looks like I’ll miss out. Oh well—others are waiting in the wings to nab everything. And knowing our friends, they will take great pleasure telling me how good it all was…
Starting to load the refrigerator in the trailer and pack our clothes. We are also taking a craft box, fishing poles, of course Stacy’s banjo and some other musical instruments, some games, and reading to catch up on. With all our supplies, extras, show stuff & inventory we are a packed group. It’s so nice to have a big ass truck…
Before we leave we still have 5 big wholesale orders to finish and pack up and we are still doing beneficiary work on everything we own with title or deed. Although I personally don’t think we will be eaten by bears, we did learn a lot through mom’s death and decided it was time to get everything in order—just in case the bears win.
We also have a pretty intense social schedule for the remaining 3 days. (Did go to “Mama Mia” matinee yesterday—it was excellent and highly recommend.) And then it’s gathering with friends for the rest of the evening’s home. Stacy’s dad is sneaking up for one last visit Monday. That is the main down side of this whole operation, leaving Stacy’s dad. She calls him every night and usually sees him once a week so if phone service gets sketchy that will be hard on Stacy. But they both realize the situation so they’ll get through it. He’s definitely all for us going and promises to stay well—and we do know by now time flies.
Realize this is a bit boring but let's face it--even J&S have to deal with the mundane day to day stuff. But once we are on the road...
Preparations are moving along. My biggest concern is getting one of my tomatoes to ripen so I can pick it and at least eat one of them. My garden looks great and the irony is that I will be gone during 90% of the harvest. We got some big ones growing but it looks like I’ll miss out. Oh well—others are waiting in the wings to nab everything. And knowing our friends, they will take great pleasure telling me how good it all was…
Starting to load the refrigerator in the trailer and pack our clothes. We are also taking a craft box, fishing poles, of course Stacy’s banjo and some other musical instruments, some games, and reading to catch up on. With all our supplies, extras, show stuff & inventory we are a packed group. It’s so nice to have a big ass truck…
Before we leave we still have 5 big wholesale orders to finish and pack up and we are still doing beneficiary work on everything we own with title or deed. Although I personally don’t think we will be eaten by bears, we did learn a lot through mom’s death and decided it was time to get everything in order—just in case the bears win.
We also have a pretty intense social schedule for the remaining 3 days. (Did go to “Mama Mia” matinee yesterday—it was excellent and highly recommend.) And then it’s gathering with friends for the rest of the evening’s home. Stacy’s dad is sneaking up for one last visit Monday. That is the main down side of this whole operation, leaving Stacy’s dad. She calls him every night and usually sees him once a week so if phone service gets sketchy that will be hard on Stacy. But they both realize the situation so they’ll get through it. He’s definitely all for us going and promises to stay well—and we do know by now time flies.
Realize this is a bit boring but let's face it--even J&S have to deal with the mundane day to day stuff. But once we are on the road...
Friday, August 1, 2008
#3-A Reservation
We made another commitment. But I'm thinking it's a good one. We just got reservations starting August 25 for a 3 night camping experience at Teklanika River Campground at mile marker 29 in Denali National Park--the furthest that someone can drive in. Very cool.
At home it's hot and we canceled Stacy going to her last Chicago show because of the heat. So we are just doing our best to finish up, as well as having a great last weekend with our close friends. It's the best way we could be doing it...
At home it's hot and we canceled Stacy going to her last Chicago show because of the heat. So we are just doing our best to finish up, as well as having a great last weekend with our close friends. It's the best way we could be doing it...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)