Tales from Kansas

♫ ♪  "Aaaa-OOOH...werewolves of London..."  ♪ ♫

Do you know that one from Warren Zevon?  Well, that would be an appropriate theme song for one of our camping overnights on our road trip from the west coast to the east coast about 8 weeks ago.

Our "Werewolves of London" camp out was one of my favorites from the trip.  Which is a little surprising, considering it was Kansas.

Nothing against the sunflower state, but come on - what's Kansas known for? The Wizard of Oz.  And...tornadoes.  Not exactly a top destination for R&R.

But Wilson Lake?  Beautiful!  We scored a prime spot right on the lake, and it was by far our best camp location on this road trip.

You couldn't beat the view, and the breeze off the water was perfect.  Actually, it turned out to be super windy overnight, but it was so fresh and kept the bugs down.

I loved the landscape and our view, but that quickly took a back seat once the sun went down.  I only wish it was because someone was playing Warren Zevon too loud.

Alas, it was more mundane than that.  The short answer?  Rednecks.

We're talking an impressive barrage of cursing, fighting, yelling, and literal howling at the moon by our remarkably inebriated camping neighbors.

Yes...actual howling.  It was sumthin' alright.  I wasn't bothered as much by all the commotion because I had earplugs to block out the nonsense.

The hubby wasn't so lucky.  He got the full brunt of all the angry hollering and f-bombs.  Till about 3 or 4 in the morning.  Nice, right?

But, did I mention the beautiful view?  Ha.

We were ranking our campsites as we traveled, and despite the evening's yokel-tastic entertainment, we decided when all was said and done that Wilson Lake was the winner on this road trip. 

A lovely campsite, a welcome break from the road, and another step closer to our new home on the east coast.

Rowdy rednecks be damned.

♪ ♫ "I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand..."  ♪ ♫

Ta-ta for now.

The Loneliest Road in America

Final mileage count

We're on the other side of our fifth Coast Guard move...hallelujah!  It wasn't nearly as long as some of our other massive, cross country road trip moves over the years, but it was still quite a haul.

We made a slew of stops along the way to visit family, took out a bird and a snake in the road kill tally, and ogled at this massive, geographically diverse country we call home.

We started our journey on the aptly named  "Loneliest Road in America."  Also known as US-50.  That nickname was news to me, but after traveling on it, I can't argue.

These road signs were dotted periodically all along the way through Nevada & Utah

As we trucked along, the word that continually went through my mind was isolated.  There isn't a damn thing anywhere around you on the loneliest road except the sage grass and distant mountains.  Think High Plains Drifter scenery.  Minus Clint Eastwood.

Not a whole lot out here!

It was a little less lonely with these characters, I have to say.

The landscape in Nevada and Utah was a departure from most of the other incredible scenery we've seen during our time traveling and moving around the country - and just as awe inspiring as the green mountains of Kodiak and stunning blue mangrove shallows of Key West.

The take-away?  We live in a beautiful world!  Cliché, sure.  But, that doesn't make it any less true.

On this trip, we alternated between camping in the Cricket, spending the night in hotels, and plopping down with family along the way - which was from Sacramento, CA to Arlington, VA for those who may not know. 

Our first stop was in Eureka, NV.  That one was...unique.  It was a strangely dead town.

And I don't mean that it didn't have entertainment.  I mean it was literally like an old west, abandoned town.

The main drag was deserted, forgotten storefronts, neglected buildings, and an eerie sense of a place that's been cast aside.  The kind of main street where tumbleweeds blowing down the road wouldn't seem out of place.

We managed to find one spot open for dinner called The Owl Club.  First time in a long time I'd seen a place that still allows smoking inside.  I forgot how gross that can be.  Guess it jives with the whole wild west vibe they had going on.

So naturally, we got take-out and brought it back to our room. Plus, we had the boy and I don't think The Owl Club would take kindly to Pugbulls at dinner.  Despite the fact that they have excellent table manners.

Along with the deserted old west feel, there were some beautifully restored and historic buildings.  Talk about dichotomy.  I think this one was a courthouse, or town hall - some kind of government building.  It was striking amidst the dilapidation surrounding it.

On our way out of town the next morning, we found a cute little coffee & breakfast joint right at the edge of town.  We had a few surprisingly good egg sandwiches at their picnic table before hitting the road again for day two.

Not a bad start to our trip.  And now I have to share the Nevada-tastic roadside art we saw.  Yes...that's an Elk, a Bighorn Sheep, and a bench all sculpted from horse shoes.  It was pretty cool!

After our first overnight in Eureka, it was back to the loneliest road toward Utah.  Whoever gave US-50 that nickname was was spot on.  I think Clint Eastwood would agree.

Ta-ta for now.

The Top of the Slide

Man, I'm starting to sound like a broken record.  Why?  Because here I am spouting the same shpiel about being on the verge of moving.  Again.  Tough to believe we're staring down that barrel.  Again.

This time is slightly different, though.  We haven't even lived here in Sacramento for a full year, and we're already prepping to leave.  Sacramento has been many things, but mostly...fleeting.   

A normal Coast Guard tour is usually 4 years, but since the hubby advanced to a new rank, this tour was cut significantly short.  So here we are again...at the top of the slide.

Just a little more time and we'll be pushing off, gliding down to another cross-country road trip, another life overhaul. I'm hoping that easygoing playground vibe follows us on our trip down the slide!

The prospect of doing it all again - only 10 months or so after our last move - is slightly daunting.  But I will say that my love of list making has helped me get a handle on it.

Between my pre-move checklist, my post-move check list, my master PCS packing list, and my road trip itinerary spread sheet...I've got this shit down.  Let's hear it for fastidiousness.

So now it's just a matter of pushing off the slide.  Wish us luck!

Ta-ta for now.

I'm sure this exceptionally cute travel companion will boost our morale!

Got Stuff? Cause We Sure Do.

Well, I got my wish.  We got our couch back.  Our couch, our bed, our coffee table...and all manner of stuff that had nice little places to tuck themselves in our last house.

This house?  Not so much.  Let's just say that we've made more than a few donations to the Goodwill over the last few weeks.  We just don't have the space.

The movers converged on our tiny, empty house and filled it right the hell on up!

Giant crates upon crates of all our worldly possessions, soon to be unloaded...

This house was built in 1951, so it's a little sparse on closets and storage.  Plus, a legit pare down of non-essentials is always good.  I feel lighter already with fewer things clogging up our space.

It really is incredible how much crap we have the ability to collect as the years go by.  Knick-knacks, chachkies, trinkets, brick-a-brack - what do you call it?

I call it time to go.  But it's not just the trinkets.  It's the accumulation of items over time that adds up to unnecessary STUFF.  And it's time to say goodbye to a chunk of it.

I think it's easier to adopt this mindset when things don't necessarily have their spot to live carved out yet.  Well that, and the fact that some of our belongings are looking a little shabby these days.

Move number 4 has taken its toll. We even took a run to the dump last week to get rid of bulky, lived their life items that needed to be replaced with less trashy looking equivalents.

We tossed broken, beat to shit metal filing cabinets, our T.V. stand that had gone through enough moves that it had war wounds and inexplicable water damage, and our dining room table that couldn't possibly be donated in the condition it was in.  And others!

The start of the pile boxes everywhere party.  And Cheety?  Not impressed.

We're getting there.  It's slow, but bit by bit we're making our way to a functional household again.

I've said it before, but I think I blocked out how draining and drawn out the whole move process is.  I'm pretty sure I've purged it from my memory because I don't recall feeling this...over it.

I must have been, though.  I just don't remember the numbing details. And. All. The. Stuff.

Once we unpacked all the boxes, we were left with this lovely yard art as evidence.  On the up side, the moving company came back to pick up all the cardboard - so I only had to gaze out at le sculpture du box for about a week.

And now the unspoken challenge.  No new chachkies allowed!

Ta-ta for now.

PCS-a-Palooza

I'm not sure what it is about this PCS (Permanent Change of Station for you non-military folks).  Somehow it feels...prolonged.

In reality, it isn't.  But for whatever reasons, it still feels that way.

Boarding the ferry in Kodiak, AK seems like a lifetime ago.  Okay fine, maybe not a lifetime.  Perhaps I'm exaggerating.

We left Alaska on June 11th.  As I'm writing this, it's about 7 weeks, and 4,000-ish miles later.

I guess it makes sense that I'd be feeling tired.

We spent about 3 weeks in an extended stay Marriott while we house hunted. It was exactly what we needed and wasn't a bad spot to park ourselves while we started the process of finding a new place to live.

Our temporary digs

While we scoured the area for Pugbull friendly housing, we managed to clock our first California hike.  It was...hot.

We thought the trail would lead us down to the river where Cheety could take a dip to cool off, but it wasn't quite close enough for him to take a swim.

We'll just say that this family isn't quite acclimated from Alaska weather just yet!  We didn't almost kill the dog.  I swear.

We finally secured a rental property after an unexpectedly competitive 3 week search for a house. Who knew Sacramento rentals were such a hot commodity?? We sure didn't.

So, I'm thankful we found the place we're in.  It's a cute neighborhood & it's walk able and bike able to restaurants, pubs, live music, and Trader Joe's.  I can't tell ya how happy I am to be back in the land of Boar's Head.  That's one of those items you don't know you'll miss until you can't have it!  It's the little things.

Our cute, little house in East Sacramento

 
We've been living as temporary minimalists while we wait for our household goods to be delivered. It's the old house camping scenario, with camping cookware, fold-up camp furniture and an air mattress to tide us over.

Which brings me back to my original point.  The short of it is - I'm ready for this PCS to be done now.  I'd like to get my life back together.  I'd like to get our stuff back.  I'm tired of living out of a duffle bag. 

I want my couch.  A bed would be nice.  Maybe a normal-sized chair or two.  I know...wah, wah.

When this whole 'rip up my existence and relocate' party starts to get old, I remind myself of something very simple.

It's all temporary. 

And this unfamiliar place that's supposed to be home will slowly start to feel like home.  And this sense of prolonged transition will end.

And most importantly, I'll get my couch back.

Ta-ta for now.

Ahboot Canada, Aye

Muncho Lake

We spent about 9 days in Canada on our road trip from Kodiak, AK to Sacramento, CA - so I'm obviously completely qualified to dispense my version of a little Canada 101.  Four things:

1 - Canadian pronunciation of the word about = ahboot.  It's kind of annoying.
2 - Canadians love to use the long o sound.  So, words like progress becomes PRO-gress, & sorry becomes SO-ree.
3 - They call their dollar coins "Loonies" because there's a picture of a loon on them
3 - It's perfectly acceptable to add the word "aye" to the end of any and every sentence.

Examples:  "Have a good evening now, aye." or, "Beautiful day today, aye."  It's a question, it's an exclamation, it's a versatile non-word that if you're Canadian must be added to the end of all sentences.  It's the law.

Anyway, enough of my commentary - back to our international travels.  Not too much to say about Whitehorse, Yukon - it was a short overnight spent mostly in the hotel. Much overdue laundry-doing and beer experimentation was the theme. 

We ordered take out and a few beers from the hotel bar, and I had a cranberry wheat, called Deadman Creek from Yukon Brewing.  Their slogan is perfect:  "Beer Worth Freezing For."  Heh.

Accurate slogan, though! That cranberry wheat was so good, I wish I could find it somewhere in the U.S. - but it's strictly a Canadian beer.  Fine Canada.  Be that way.

On the road, somewhere between here & there

After Whitehorse was Dawson Creek, British Columbia.  What a hole that place was.  Not even worth writing about. We stayed at a place I would describe extremely loosely as "campgrounds."  It was like a Cops episode waiting to happen.

I really wish I took a picture of our Canadian Joe Dirt neighbor.  Highly entertaining.  Dawson Creek is known for being mile zero - the start of the Alaska Highway, and they've got a sign to prove it.  Not worth the stop, trust me.  The town, or the sign!

Once we left hole-in-the-wall Dawson Creek, we headed to Jasper, Alberta and arrived safely without any hitches.  What an improvement!  Gorgeous scenery along the way and the entire time we were there.

We split our time in Jasper between a Best Western and Whistlers Campgrounds.  Both were fantastic. Especially in light of the less than classy accommodations we came from.

After checking in to our room, we walked around to check out the town with the boy.  It was surrounded by mountains, & had a quaint, alpine village vibe.

Of course, we had to hit the Jasper Brewing Company for lunch when we saw it on the main drag. And I had to try their Blackeye Blueberry Vanilla Ale.  It was crisp and fresh, not at all as sweet as you would expect it to be.

Poutine was a must, because we decided we needed to find the ultimate poutine while we were in Canada.  Poutine is french fries covered in brown gravy and cheese curds.  It's so bad, but oh, so very good.  It's totally a Canadian thing.  Jasper Brewing Company's was good, but the hunt for the best was still on.  And we still had some more time!

Tasty beers & poutine!

Oh, and by the way - if you've indulged in poutine, it's inevitable that you'll get hit with the irresistible urge to nap anytime within 1-3 hours after eating it.  It's inescapable. Case in point.

Post-poutine naps in the Cricket.  Although - Cheety didn't indulge.  He's just game for whatever.  Nap? Hike? Sure.

I loved our campsite in Jasper.  And not just because there were no horseflies!  It was beautiful and quiet - well, besides the chirping prairie dogs.  Which Cheety wanted to say hello to. Possibly with his teeth.

Fixated!

And I may or may not have had campfire s'mores for dinner. For those of you paying attention - yes, I did indeed have poutine for lunch followed by s'mores and wine for dinner. Those good food choices just kept on comin'. Ha.

So we continued on down the road, inching closer to our final destination.  Sacramento or bust, aye?

Ta-ta for now.

Horse Flies, No Extra Charge

We're talking horse flies the size of quarters - no exaggeration.  That little gem of reality a few weeks ago at our campsite at Watson Lake in the Yukon was by far the worst part. We got chewed up!

More like "Gateway to Horse Flies"

By the way, this is what happens if a horse fly bites you near your eye.  It's super sexy.

Of course, my joke is that I got a little mouthy and the hubby gave me a fresh one.  Calm down sensitive Nellies, it's just a joke.

I don't know if you can really tell from my picture, but my whole eye was blown up and swollen.  Like I had a full on brawl with someone.

Super itchy, full of fluid and weeping for a few days. I had this eye whopper, and 3 other bites on my arms and body.  The hubby was chewed up, too with half a dozen bites of his own.  It was awesome.  Freaking horse flies. 

But aside from the damn flies, the site itself was picturesque with a peaceful view of the pines.  We upped our camping game and got an indoor/outdoor rug to catch all the filth before dragging it into the Cricket.  Festive and practical.

Along with our uninvited flying guests, we had another unexpected scenario at old Watson Lake.  One of the trailer tires had a piece of shale lodged into it, which caused a flat.

Not too surprising considering the conditions of some of the roads.  We had a tire plug repair kit, so the hubby macho-ed it up and took care of business.

Oh, and another notable:  a 6 pack of Coors Light cans was about fifteen bucks out in the Yukon sticks!  Granted, it's Canadian dollars so really only about 11-12 U.S. dollars, but that's still ridiculously inflated.  Whatever, those frosty cold Coors Light were worth it!

Our theme for today's camp:  Coors Light & bug spray - with the mascots, of course

It was funny, at one point on the road we stopped to get gas at a combo cafe/gas/campground type spot, and got to talking with an old codger who was at the campsite.

He asks, "So, are you guys heading outside?"  Once he saw the looks of confusion on our faces, he clarified, "You know what outside means, right? It means you're traveling outside of Alaska and the Yukon."

Consider us schooled.  So, I guess that's exactly what we were doing.  Heading outside.

Onward we went on our journey to the outside - minus the horse flies!

Ta-ta for now.

Sourdough & Cottonwood

It feels like a long time ago that we had our first legit, on-the-road experience camping with our new Cricket trailer.  It was only about two weeks ago, but I've decided that a massive road trip has the tendency to warp perception of time.

We're coming to the end of our journey at the time that I'm editing this post - but two weeks ago?  We were Cricket camping rookies.

So I have to say...not too shabby for a couple of newbies.  

Our first two campsites on the road were way nicer than I expected. I had a preconceived notion of, well to be blunt - dirtiness.  I imagined moldy showers, questionable bathroom facilities, and too close for comfort camping neighbors.

Granted, this is coming from someone who has pretty much no experience with camping, campsites, RV's, etc.  So I'm not exactly  working from a vast knowledge base here.  A long winded way to admit complete ignorance!

I'm happy to report that my assumptions were dead wrong. Let's hear it for busting uninformed expectations with reality!  Hooray, enlightenment!

The first campsite was Sourdough Campgrounds in Tok, AK.  We're a little further down the line in our trip as I'm writing this - with several more campsites under our belt at this point - but I can easily say that Sourdough has been my favorite so far.

Our first campsite at Sourdough Campground in Tok, AK

Each campsite was secluded and tucked into the pines.  It was quiet, serene, and relaxing with the cheeps and peeps from the birds and the crisp, clear air. 

Sourdough was a fun little atmosphere, and you could tell that the owners put a lot of love into the place.  There was a self-guided outdoor historical museum, and all sorts of antiques, historical artifacts, & vintage decor displayed all around the facilities. Made for a unique stay.

They also do a pancake toss each evening, but we were a little road weary and didn't make it over to see what it was all about.  We did hear the hoots and hollers, though so I'm sure it's good, clean fun.

The must-do sign photo-op and morning snuggling with the Pugbull in the Cricket

We had breakfast at their cafe in the morning before hitting the road to cross the border into Canada and head into the Yukon.  While we were eating, I couldn't help noticing a yellowing, 1970's era board game on the shelf.

Went along with the whole vintage theme the campground had going on.  Ready?  It was called Alaska Pipeline: The Energy Crisis Game.  How funny.  Fun for all ages!  I wish I grabbed a picture.

Our second for reals-y on the road campsite was across the Canadian border at Cottonwood RV Park in Destruction Bay, Yukon.  Good Lord, the views!

Cheety enjoyed the views, too.  I'd like to think.

The campsite was right on Kluane Lake.  Imagine a startlingly blue lake bordered by snow capped mountains with a truly unbelievable reflection.  Striking!

The hubby wasn't crazy about how open the campsite was.  Not enough trees to hide in for him.  This is a man who values his privacy.  But, I was digging the scenery, and there were plenty of trees for me!

We settled in to relax and cook up some camp dinner - Spaghetti Bolognese a la the hubby.  Tasty and such a satisfying belly warmer after driving all day. We threw in a little vino and we were some happy campers.  Heh.  Couldn't resist.

Our campsite at Kluane Lake & our road trip mascots - Jesus & The Dude

After too much wine and bellies full of pasta, we tucked in to get some sleep.  Destruction Bay isn't hugely further north in Alaska than Kodiak, but I was completely taken aback when I woke up at around 2am to go to the bathroom, and it was full on sunny out.

I thought it was somewhere more like 6am because it was so freaking bright out!  Thank God for sleep masks, I tell ya!

We enjoyed some easy breakfast by the lake before getting back on the road again to Whitehorse, Yukon.  Not much to complain about when the day starts like this.

A little oatmeal, Cheerios, fresh cherries & bananas and coffee to fuel us for another driving day

Our next driving day was a short one of around 3 hours to Whitehorse.  We've been switching it up between camping and hotels, and Whitehorse was a camping break at the Westmark in downtown.

Another day of about this...

So I guess we can say we're not quite Cricket camping newbies anymore.  More like salty road warriors.  Too much?

Yeah.  Too much.

Ta-ta for now.