The pictures are fixed now
I didn't realize they didn't blow up when you clicked on them until this morning. That makes them practically worthless, so I fixed them all.
New Years Day (imaginary football)
We had an amazing New Years Day. My original plan was to uphold the great American tradition of watching football all day. Since I don’t have a TV set, I thought perhaps I might induce my neighbors to participate in a game of ‘skins vs. shirts’ whilst I sat on the sidelines documenting the action. I got up (briefly) to go out and start knocking on doors, but at that moment I realized that we probably had enough rheumatism, arthritis and lumbago between the all of us to disable the entire Chinese army, and it would be more in keeping with the couch-potato nature of the day not to actually DO anything. Instead, I decided to enjoy a long afternoon of watching imaginary football. Unfortunately, just after kickoff on the first game, I fell asleep and napped the entire day away. I don’t even remember who was playing. :(
Here are my neighbors:
The incredible vanishing lake(s)
OK, I know these pictures are nothing special, but I simply HAD to post them, just to prove that the cascade lakes do exist. It took me an hour to find a lake even though I was basically right on top of it the whole time. Consulting the map, you see that the road goes right beside one of them, but in fact you cannot see even the tiniest glimpse of water from the road. Nor is there a sign to be found anywhere. So I just started driving up every gravel road I came to until, finally, I encountered the lake. Was it worth all that effort? Not really.
It appears that a Viking funeral might be taking place on the shore in the background. Of course, I did not SEE a body, but what other reason could there be for lighting a fire by the lake?
I only posted this because it is abstract-looking...two skies?
Sunriver - something sinister going on there?
As we were trying to find the road to the Cascade Lakes in the mountains southwest of Bend, OR, we made the mistake of entering the resort community of Sunriver. It turns out that there is only one way into Sunriver. If you are foolish enough to take this road, you find yourself in an endless maze of circles and winding roads that seem to be going in the right direction, but then twist back on themselves to dump you out where you started. You can't tell any of these roads apart, as they are all heavily forested and lined with little 'cottages' painted the same tasteful green color that is supposed to blend with the surrounding woods. So you are constantly asking yourself: "have we been here before?" and never getting an answer.
I took pictures of Sunriver, but none of them came out. Coincidence? Perhaps...
After we tore ourselves loose from Sunriver, we found this camping spot beside a river. According to the map, it is close to the lakes, and after the Sunriver debacle we were not in the mood to search for anything else. We needed to kick back, knit, and contemplate our navels.
Farewell Bend
We left in October this year, and, with our usual lightning speed, travelled the 450 miles to Boise in three days. We stayed at the Farewell Bend state park on the Snake river near Ontario, ID. Or Is it in Ontario, Oregon?
The most interesting thing about Ontario is that it is the home of the Ore-Ida potato factory, where they synthesize potatoes and chip them up into little flakes to make boxed mash potatoes, etc. We ‘toured’ this factory, with great interest, from the freeway as we raced past at 55 mph. That was enough of the Ore-Ida potato factory.
As a side note, Ore-Ida potato flakes make excellent ‘snow’ on the Christmas tree. You can mix them with water if you want them to stick to the branches.
Farewell Bend is quite nice, and we stayed there for three days.
Home
This is my home in northern Idaho in June. We hung out here for four months this summer until it started to get cold, and then we fled for more temperate climes. Of course, it's now all buried under 2 feet of snow, but I'm not there so it doesn't upset me.
I've posted this so that those of you who are living in suburbia can get all envious. You may have modern conveniences such as fire hydrants, sidewalks, and paved roads, but we have lovely clouds.
Additional Staff
In June, I took on an additional staff member, an Associate Navigator by the name of Shadow. He looks nice and normal, right? Negative. He is a maniac. Not the kind of maniac that jumps happily around knocking people over; the kind of maniac who guards his food against his own body parts. Below are some lovely images of Shadow's handiwork. The blood spattered all over the RV resulted from him catching his tail and ripping it open. The bites, of which I've suffered 15 since June, happened when I tried to stop him in the middle of a psychotic episode. The Vagabond Tourist is a family-oriented site, and I should warn you that the gallery contains elements of graphic violence, not suitable for the youngsters.
Vagabond Tourist Has Moved!!
Aren't we all excited? And if we aren't, shouldn't we be?
Here are the beautiful pelicans at the Salton Sea from VT's old Facebook page. The Salton Sea has many beauties: 1) pelicans, 2) other birds, 3) nice view of mountains across the lake, 4) heaps of jagged dead fish bones cluttering the shore...Oh wait. Maybe that doesn't qualify as a beauty.
I advise you to wear stout shoes when visiting the Salton Sea, because it's not the sort of place where one can caper happily across the beach, playing volleyball and such like. Unless you want your feet shredded.