troahsmidliferoadshow-blog

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Total solar eclipse!

So, lots of us are gearing up to see the first total solar eclipse visible in the USA in a century. I'm headed down extremely early tomorrow morning to the umbra band. Be careful, folks. Just because it's dark, the sun is still kicking all sorts of UV and other radiation around the moon. You won't feel the same discomfort as staring at the sun on a bright day, but it's still gonna fuxor your eyes. If you can't get your hands on ISO 12312-2 certified glasses, do NOT attempt to look directly at the eclipse. Even if you do have certified glasses, take ample breaks. And, for the love of God, if you have an optical viewfinder or camera, do not, even with glasses point it at the sun. Don't use a mirror (it's not a basilisk!), don't use the reflection on your coy pond, don't look at your phone while facing the sun, and don't think that even polarized, prescription sunglasses will do it. Be safe, be courteous, be good to each other. Bring water, food, first-aid, etc. And share it with your fellow travelers if they need it. We've had too much anger and hatred this year. Let's all just be kind to each other and enjoy a once in a lifetime show!

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Oh, hey, but don’t use the front facing camera!  Your phone won’t protect you from the UV rays that come off of the sun.  Turn your back away from the sun and use the camera over your shoulder in selfie mode.

Be Warned!  I’m going to BLACK OUT THE SUN!  Mwuahahaha!

I shall be using my magical powers to black out the sun across the nation from Washington state to South Carolina to prove to everyone that I am the most supreme sorcerer in all the lands!  That grand wizard of the KKK can eat my shorts!  He can only summon uneducated white folks to harass normal folks who put their sheets on the bed, where they belong.

Weep, repent, and send me 50 bucks.  If so, I shall spare you and your livestock and children the doom of the after darkness! <rubs fingers together in a cunning and evil way />

Okay, okay, it’s just a shadow from a big chunk of the Earth that got chucked off by another big chunk of space junk a billion years ago getting in the way, but heck, let’s watch it, right?

Can’t promise live streaming of the Umbra, but I am taking video.  It will be up as soon as I get home for sure.

I’m a little confused about the whole glasses issues – people waiting in line and paying 50 bucks a pair.  The sun is generally there.  It’s not like staring at it during the eclipse makes it magically extra harmful.  Stare at the sun for 4 hours when it’s not an eclipse, and I guarantee you’ll have a worse time.  Moral of the story, don’t stare into the sun, kind of ever and certainly not for long.  But your phone can’t generate the photons and other issues that the sun can.  If you can’t get glasses, just turn backwards, put your “selfie” camera towards the sun, and watch your phone.

You’ll look like a dope, but you won’t go blind.  Oh, and your friends wearing their eclipse glasses also look like dopes.

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Be Warned!  I’m going to BLACK OUT THE SUN!  Mwuahahaha!

I shall be using my magical powers to black out the sun across the nation from Washington state to South Carolina to prove to everyone that I am the most supreme sorcerer in all the lands!  That grand wizard of the KKK can eat my shorts!  He can only summon uneducated white folks to harass normal folks who put their sheets on the bed, where they belong.

Weep, repent, and send me 50 bucks.  If so, I shall spare you and your livestock and children the doom of the after darkness! <rubs fingers together in a cunning and evil way />

Okay, okay, it’s just a shadow from a big chunk of the Earth that got chucked off by another big chunk of space junk a billion years ago getting in the way, but heck, let’s watch it, right?

Can’t promise live streaming of the Umbra, but I am taking video.  It will be up as soon as I get home for sure.

I’m a little confused about the whole glasses issues -- people waiting in line and paying 50 bucks a pair.  The sun is generally there.  It’s not like staring at it during the eclipse makes it magically extra harmful.  Stare at the sun for 4 hours when it’s not an eclipse, and I guarantee you’ll have a worse time.  Moral of the story, don’t stare into the sun, kind of ever and certainly not for long.  But your phone can’t generate the photons and other issues that the sun can.  If you can’t get glasses, just turn backwards, put your “selfie” camera towards the sun, and watch your phone.

You’ll look like a dope, but you won’t go blind.  Oh, and your friends wearing their eclipse glasses also look like dopes.

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End of the road, not the show!

So, for those following along, I am happy to say that both Vash and I have safely returned back to our home in Durham, NC.  I am also happy to say that we have TONS of pictures and video stuff to upload that we haven’t while on the road.  Part was time -- part was dearth of intertubes.  In general, I’m quite happy with my Virgin Mobile / Sprint service, but out west, it goes to hell.

*Image courtesy of sensorly.com, and flag showing my home base.

You might notice that there’s kind of a west hole, and this is where I was for the last couple of weeks.

There were times I had to drive 20 to 30 minutes away just to get a text to my mother to let her know where I was (I choose to find it sweet that she wants a text from her 35 year old son and his 100lb shepherd mix whenever we stop for the evening . . .)

So, yes, safe and sound.  Lots of stuff to clean and restore.  Lots of sleeping in a real bed and showering in something not covered in ick.  And lots more pictures and videos (including my baby brother’s defense and graduation).

Stay tuned :D

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I'm the king of the ferry! I know, out of time order, but I had to...

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Adventures in Kent

So, it’s been a few days since I posted.  I am not dead or incapacitated, but I have been exceptionally busy.  I arrived in Kent (just outside of Seattle and where I would camp the next 4 nights) a day early, but I was so wrung out from the extent of the trip and the Internet service was SO slow, I just went to the grocery store and turned in early.

I only intended to stay 3 nights because A) it was a fairly expensive KOA B) it was populated by the most obnoxious of guests C) I wanted to see the dissertation defense but not really hang around in the city this trip.  I ended up extending it for a night just to try to catch up on some rest.  This, in hindsight, was a mistake.

In addition to the high cost that didn’t match the amenities, they had some sort of plumbing malfunction that had machinery going and the bathhouse littered with hoses and such.  Kids ran around all through the campground screaming and playing with cap-guns while completely neglecting a pretty decent looking playground or the rule about going into other people’s campsites.  People had apparently never heard of headphones.  All in all, I can say with certainty this was the first KOA to ever really disappoint me.  Most you kind of know what you’re getting.  This was a shock. 

So despite paying almost 50 dollars for my extra night (even with my discount card), I woke up quite unrested and set off for somewhere, anywhere, other than the KOA in Kent.  The only good thing to come out of my stay there was a tween or young teen telling me about Mt. Baker.  Despite the bad wi-fi, I had excellent LTE on my phone, so armed with a 5″ screen, I found a campground and set off.

The campground was run by the USDA Forest Service (Hmm, seems like another recent time that the USDA came through for me when others did not...).

Now, I don’t think I’d classify what I’ve been doing as exactly “glamping” but I have enjoyed generally having some access to electricity and generally some amount of wi-fi.  Or at least cell service.  Or at least running water.  None of those were present up in Douglass Fir, but it was 18 bucks a night and really reminded me of my favorite campground back home (lots of stonework, nicely built out tent pads, etc. -- probably all depression era CCC efforts). Figured I could rough it for a few days then feel alright about staying somewhere a little pricier to get showered, charged, dishes washed and clothing laundered.

More on my days at Douglass Fir in a future post as well as pictures.

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David’s Dissertation Defense - video coming soonish (probably when I get home and have the fiber not random campground wi-fi)

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Wut? Guess not your father's got married. I sense a new beer/ice cream concoction (Tracy, man the ice cream maker for apple pie a la mode)!

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My version of Seattle coffee...

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My destination, or something like that . . .

Sorry, no pictures since lunch in Idaho.  The drive was scenic, but not noteworthy enough to stop for a photo op.  Stopped in Spokane last night, and despite my brother’s warnings about the city, I found it quite pleasant at the KOA.  I even got a little gazebo to sit and do my blogging in.

Vash tried to make a new friend, but she was having nothing to do with it.  I’m afraid we kind of ran her and her owner out of the puppy park where they can run around without leashes.

Today, though, I reached the Seattle area.  This is where I will linger the longest on the trip for my brother’s dissertation defense and commencement ceremony.  I’ll be at the KOA until after his defense on the 2nd, then I’m going to try hitting some of the assorted little islands and such in the area.  There are lots of state parks to choose from.

My mom will fly in on the 6th, Dave graduates on the 9th, and then all of us, including Dave’s parents-in-law who are also flying in from the Asheville area, will be heading off to some sort of family island trip for a couple of days.  Then I start the drive in reverse back to Durham and normal life on the 12th bright and early.

I don’t know how much of a show it will be on the return trip.  I’ve only budgeted five days to get home, and the timezone changes that helped on the way out hurt on the way back.  I’ll try to keep posting regularly, but I don’t intend to stop to sight see nearly as much as on the way out -- certainly no “destination” sites like the Badlands or Glacier.

So expect lots of Seattle area stuff for the next week then potentially fairly quiet from the road show.

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My Idaho lunch -- house made potato chip nachos and yummy beer!  Cool place, Kootenai River.

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North Cackalacky Representin’

So after a very disappointing run at the Glacier National Park, I wandered into breakfast (free and a nice spread) at the Whitefish KOA.  The manager, Pat, and I got talking, and he mentioned that there was a place I might want to go with Vash where the pup would be welcome and some great sights.

Any conversation that starts with “What are you driving?” has to end in awesome.  “Ford Ranger,” I said.

“Eh, don’t count out a Ranger.  Let’s look at the map, and I’ll show you.  This is mostly a locals place.  It’s a dirt road after here, and most of the tourists turn around here.” (paraphrase)

“I grew up on dirt roads.  We’ve got this.”

“You can throw a stick and play with the dog, and nobody will bother you.”

BOOM!

I knew there was a reason I grew up riding a bike on a gravel road, and it finally came to fruition.  The loop was a little over 100 miles, and it was ROUGH in spots.  I don’t recall the last time I had to exercise so much situational awareness of where my tires were.  Some of the potholes were 4 or 5 inches deep, and Vash was in the back.  Plus there was some serious washboarding going on, and the conifers were casting shadows all over the place that made the bad parts hard to spot.

The Jeeps and big Dodge Rams and such never overran me except when I pulled off to take a picture or see a sight (my thanks to the fishing guy who stopped so I didn’t get dust in my picture).  The bridges made of rough hewn timber gave me a bit of pause, and there were several spots where the back of the truck and front were not doing the same thing.  But I rode through like a boss.  Only really dicey spot was the first bridge where washboard + potholes + downhill + plus 40mph gave me 0 traction.

Vash claimed most of the forest by his urine :)  Alas, we didn’t see any bears -- well, maybe saw the back end of one going into the brush, but it may have been a deer or elk or something.  It wasn’t around long, but it was big enough to push the brush aside before disappearing.

I wish I had a Go-Pro or something.  The views were amazeballs.  And they always seemed to come in a narrow stretch where I couldn’t pull off and take a picture.

Now I’m in Spokane and about to finish off the first leg of the road show.  Today, I make my way to Seattle.

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Even more than the Badlands pics, these do NO justice to the scenery.  This was the national forest around Hungry Horse (which if anyone other than my friends were watching this blog, I would redact the name).  It was about 80-85 miles of gravel road, pull offs were limited, and it was almost my private mountain wonderland.  I think I passed maybe 2 dozen cars in 103 miles of travel.  Perfect, beautiful, and free of charge.  There were tons of side roads and camp grounds and things.  Could probably have spent a week here without any problem, but alas, 1 afternoon was all I had to offer.

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Now is the glacier of my discontent. . .

So I woke up around nautical twilight in Missoula to start my trek to Glacier National Park.  It was taking me a couple of hours out of the way, but everyone, I mean, everyone, was telling me that it was the bee’s knees (yea, I’m bringing that back!), the most breathtaking and beautiful thing ever.  So I left the KOA in Missoula before 7am and headed up 93 towards 2 and the West Gate to Glacier National Park.

Now, admittedly, I didn’t give the park much of a fair chance.  First, it’s May, and snow that high up won’t be cleared for another couple of months.  Second, it was a holiday weekend, so of course the crowds are going to be abnormally large.  Third, I had, based on the comments of friends, family, and even random other campers, an unusually high expectation for this site.  The fourth problem is intrinsic to the National Parks Service.  They are notoriously un-pet-friendly -- even leashed and well behaved dogs are only allowed wherever you can put a car.  Same was true in Badlands, but they at least were actually open for your 20 dollar admission.

So about 72% of the Going-to-the-Sun was closed.  The parking lots and pull-offs were jammed because of the holiday.  The ranger told me to take the shuttle from the visitor’s center -- but it’s a no-dog scenario.  I couldn’t take Vash on any of the trails, and rangers were everywhere -- couldn’t even cheat.  Of course, bicycles are just FINE, but walking with your dog on a leash, no sir!  Plus admission was 30 bucks for what (at an exhaustive list of what I could do without leaving Vash in some parking lot in his crate) amounted to 4.5-5 hours of crowds, traffic, and a few photo ops.  It was basically like paying 30 bucks to go down the Blueridge Parkway for 14 miles during leaf season.  I’d have rather spent that 30 bucks on a nice meal, a couple of movies, or something.  If your park is 3/4 closed, maybe charge 1/4 the admission :/   

So Glacier National Park was kind of a big “No” for me.  Maybe at a different time of year, without a holiday, and without a dog, it might have been worth it.  As it stands though, bust, through and through.  I don’t plan to touch any additional National Parks this trip or the foreseeable future.  They’re just too touristy and icky about pets. 

But what the Dept. of the Interior takes with one hand, the USDA gives with another.  Hopefully tomorrow, I’ll share pictures from the Glacier National Forest -- which, btw, was free entrance and 10X better than the park!

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Just some road-side shots as I went up 93 and 2 towards Glacier to show the MT countryside