Sunday, 09 June 2013 through Monday 16 September 2013

Immediately after checking the mail, I drive off of the island and head back onto the mountain. I have been spending time on the nearby mountain of late for several reasons. First of the reasons is that it is much cooler at night when you are in the higher elevations. Second, it is good for me not to be too far away from the island as much as I can so that I may still take care of my business. Third, and probably the most important, there are so many less distractions than there is on the island and I can spend much time reading and studying the Bible and then have the time to meditate on what I have been considering.

I do make a stop at the outfitter mart in Bellingham where I look for a tarp. Not having one, I go outside and notice that it is raining with the sun shining and immediately notice a double full rainbow. I retrieve my camera and take several photos and later upload the best photo to my rainbow gallery. Then I head away from the coast upland along the Nooksack River and stop at the Excelsior trail head and park for the night.

Upon awaking, I think to myselƒ, Now that was much better! After having to deal with hot and humid conditions on the island for the last few days, I do so enjoy sleeping in the cool, almost cold nights on the mountain.

Then I drive to Heather Meadows only to find that the top of the mountain is gated because they are still removing the snow off of the roadway; which will not be open until the first of July.

I take photos of the boreal forest, lake, waterfalls and snow melt in the streams.

After spending some time today on the mountain, I then head back down off of the mountain and go next to Fidalgo Island for some ocean scenes and stealth camp in Anacortes.

Upon arriving on the island, I drive to into Washington Park at the far western point of Fidalgo Island where I drive part way around the loop, past Fidalgo Head to an overlook that I refer to as Wayfarer′s Point, one that I have always enjoyed, park at the overlook and set up the jammer to spend the day.

While I am here, I prepare my meals, work on my journal, take photos, clean up the jammer and even take a nap.

Too, I talk with several people who also stop here and witness to as many as I can. One man who I witness to at length, even takes a Bible study book to look at later.

Early in the morning, I rise, start the jammer, return to Washington Park and set up for another day camp. I repeat the routine from yesterday and late in the afternoon, I pack out and drive back to Whidbey Island.

While back on the rock, I take care of some business and then begin preparing for another tour which will be all the time I will have left before I can pack out for a much longer journey on trip.

Awake, drive to the w-mart for coffee, com and computer and at eight this morning, I put on my suit and head for the hall for the ministry meeting.

After spending most of the day working in the ministry, I drive to the d-mart and park for the evening.

When all the noisy sea gulls awaken my, I rise and drive to the w-mart for coffee and com. Not long after that, I pack out, put on my suit and drive to the meeting for the meeting.

When the meeting is over, I go out to eat with some of the friends, after which, I return to the w-mart to work on the computer for a while longer before retiring for the evening.

Awake, drive to the w-mart for coffee, com and computer. I have work to complete for a customer which takes most all day, after which, I drive to the city beach for a hot shower. The nice thing about this work is that I get paid up front before I even start. Now, I have some extra money to travel with.

The evening comes soon after that and I retire to the local d-mart for the night.

Awake, drive to the w-mart for coffee and com but do not spend too much time here but rather, drive to the city beach and begin going through the jammer once again before my upcoming tour. I end up getting rid of several things and by re-organizing the rest, have cleared up a little space in the jammer.

At eight this evening, I put all my stuff back into the jammer and drive to the car wash to clean up the engine and outside. Finally, I drive to the d-mart and park for the evening.

By late afternoon, I have everything ready to leave and finally drive off the island at about six pm this journey to Glacier National Park in Montana commences.

This morning, I awake at a trail head on state highway 20 and then continue my tour east towards Montana. The Going to the Sun road opens on this Friday, the 21st of June and I would like to be in the park during that time or soon after.

Driving west on state highway 20, I drive through Oakanogan and Omak, then south along the Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway and the Coulee Dam to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area before connecting with US highway 2 and then Interstate 90 to Montana. The drive through Montana takes me through towns such as Paradise, Hot Springs and Elmo but these communities are on an Indian reservation and there is not too much there to write about. I arrive at the national park at seven pm and stop at the gift shop for an embroidered patch.

Then I go to the Lake McDonald Lodge to take photos of both the inside and outside. Inside, I talk to the clerk in the gift shop and find out where the other lodges are in the park. Also, I find out that the Going to the Sun road will open tomorrow in the early morning. Afterwards, I go back out to the parking lot and get in the back.

Awaken by the gathering sunlight but pull the pillow over my head to sleep until seven. After a couple more daylight photos of Lake McDonald lodge, I drive to the park visitor's center where Ranger Doug standing at the relief map is giving a short talk about the different lodges in the park and I join the audience.

After he finishes, I begin asking him about the dates when the lodges were built. Next, I ask him if there is a junior ranger patch, he tells me that it has been discontinued and no longer available. I then tell him, That is too bad, I am a patch collector and have been for over fifty years, ever since I began collecting them in the scouts. He then asks me to wait here for a few minutes and leaves the front area. Upon returning, he gives me three patches from his collection, ones from the park including the junior ranger patch. Wow, what a nice ranger.

Leaving, I drive south to reach the west entrance and then drive to the next grand lodge in Glacier, this one being called a Chalet. Upon arriving, I stop to visit Belton Chalets at West Glacier and take photos both inside and outside.

Next, I travel east on US highway 2 to the south end of the park and stop at Izaak Walton hotel and the train yards of the Great Northern Railway.

Not one of the Grand Lodges but built early on and has been serving visitors to the national park right with the Grand Lodges. Driving along the southeast park border and cross the continental divide along with the Great Northern railway at elevation 5220 feet over Marias Pass. As I continue down on the east side of the divide, I enter the area where rain drains to the Gulf of Mexico.

Turning the corner, I arrive at the east park border and stop in East Glacier Park to visit the Glacier Park Lodge. This is one of the Great Lodges completed on 15 June 2013 and is celebrating it′s one hundred year anniversary this week.

Next, I drive north to the Two Medicine Lake road and then west to the lake to see Two Medicine Store which was built in 1914 along with several chalets, but now, it is the only remaining old lodge structure at the lake but used as a store.

Finally, I head northward once again to St. Mary′s to find the large lodge, restaurant and store complex. This lodge was not build until a much later date but the original general store and five rooms were built in 1932 and much was added during the years to follow.

Tonight, I park in the large mostly empty parking lot at St. Mary′s lodge and I am able to get a photo of the Super Moon.

Tomorrow, I plan to drive further north to visit Many Glaciers Hotel, another one of the original Grand Lodges in the park and after that, I will drive back to St. Mary and take the Going to the Sun road from the east side back to Lake McDonald. Some time in the next few days, I will endeavor to upload some of these photos to my web site.

Again this morning, I use the pillow to subdue the light from the early sunrise but still get up before eight am and go right to the visitors center. Upon entering, I find a relief map of Glacier National park and it has several button features that I really like. First, there is a button to push to show all the lodges and chalets built in the park. When the button is pushed the green lights are the ones still in use and the red ones are the ones that have been destroyed or removed for some reason.

A second button, when pushed shows first the continental divide through the park and next the Hudson Bay divide. The point where the two divides meet is called Triple Divide Peak, which I learned about yesterday. I had crossed over a 6000 foot ridge just before coming into St. Mary, checked my map and discovered this divide. Previously, I did not know that the pass was the Hudson Bay Divide and all rain that falls north of of that divide will flows down the Nelson River and into Hudson Bay of Northeast Canada.

I leave the visitors center, return to US 89 and continue north again to another park entrance, this one called Swiftcurrent Lake and then drive west to the next lodge. After parking I take a few photos while walking to the front door of Many Glacier Hotel. Inside, I take many more photos and then ask at the information booth Was the main lodge and the annex built at the same time? (The annex being just south and is connected by a hall way.)

The host′s answer lasts for some time while she tells me the history of not only the lodge, but also of the red busses and the lake boats. Nevertheless, her answer was no, the main lodge was built in 1913 and the annex and the walkway were built two years later in 1915. I tell the information booth host, That is the kind of answer I would give. and she laughs.

I drive back over the Swiftcurrent Lake spillway which appears to be the original spillway but only changed so as to add a bridge across the top. Then I drive further west around the lake and find a spot to take a wonderful landscape photo of the entire lodge complex. Finally, I drive to the trail head at the end of the road and stop for lunch.

One of the reader boards gives information about the continued melting of the glaciers and states that Only 25 glaciers remain from the 150 glaciers that were here in 1850. From what I have seen in the park, there is still a lot of snow on the mountains, but the reader board says that they are mostly snow fields, which melt each summer and are not glaciers that remain year round. When I leave Many Glaciers, I head north along the Chief Mountain highway towards the Canadian border but soon return to St. Mary and turn west onto the Going to the Sun road heading back over the continental divide.

I have traveled this road once before but it was during Episode One, Part Two which was during my 1980 journey and I traveled east on the road that time. Also, this time, I did research about he road before traversing it and what I found out was that it was built in the 1920′s with primitive tools compared with the technology we now have.

As I drive along, it keeps coming to my mind that there was a lot of sweat and blood spilt building this road. Often, the roadway side walls go straight up quite some ways and many places there does not seem to be room enough for two cars to pass. Still, in under four hours I make the turn at the loop and begin the home stretch, when suddenly the traffic comes to a complete stand still.

I sit there without moving behind five cars for several minutes; then the lead cars pulls away but the second car only moves up to the same position. I think, What is going on? and it never occurs to me until I get into the pole position that we are having a genuine Bear Jam. However, before I do realize this, I see the person in the car ahead holding a camera out the window. Within seconds, my camera is lit up and ready to click photos.

When I see a large black bear twenty feet from the road eating some fresh salad and get to work taking photos but then I notice a movement and see another bear further from the road so I move the Windjammer up several feet to get a better shot of the second bear and see that it is a brown bear, not a grisly, but a brown colored black bear commonly called a cinnamon bear. Wow, this has made my day!

Then I drive towards Lake McDonald and when I see a ranger on the side of the road, I stop and tell him about the Bear Jam and show him my photos. He make a u-turn and heads back up to the sight.

I continue on to the Lodge where I walk over to Synder Creek and take a bandana bath. I was prepared for the water to be much colder but it turns out to be just right to clean up with. Maybe that is why I have been taking cold showers at home for so long. Since there is two hours before the sunset, I drive south looking for a WiFi spot and this time find one about four miles west of the park at a private campground. I just drive by outside the gate checking for signal and find five bars of unsecured internet. Nice find.

After doing an upload of photos and files, I head back into the park and stop at the lodge parking lot for the evening.

At the lodge, I see the same woman I met on an earlier day who is a journalist reporting on conspiracy theories and who has documented the governments covert efforts to do away with all Christians. She tells me that there is a large community of Christians who have moved to Montana to avoid the upcoming one world government destruction of religion. She also tells me that the US government has already begun building huge underground detention facilities for those who do not want to give up their religion and stop worshiping.

I talk with her for a while, sharing a few scriptures endeavoring to shed some light on the real truth in God′ Word, but she is confirmed that all Christians need to work at stopping this government takeover and she tells me that this is the reason she does her blog. The conversation with this woman peaks my interest when she said the government is now planning the total destruction of religion.

This is something that I personally have known about for several decades now from my Bible study but I truly believe from that same study that as one of the disciples of Jesus, we are to be no part of the world, neither fighting against nor for the governments. (John 18:36)

Still, even when sharing the above verse with her, she continues persistent in trying to get me to join her efforts against the government. I thank her for her concern and take my leave.

Today is my last day in Glacier and plan to head south to other parks. I drive first to Big Fork, Montana where I stop at a Hall for the meeting and afterwards to Wayƒarers State Park for a couple photos, but decide not to camp here because they have non-resident fees which make the camping too expensive for me.

Then I head south on state highway 83 through Lolo National Forest and along Swan creek enjoying the view of many unsullied lakes. The highway takes me over 5000 feet at Summit Lake and there is a nice view of snow capped mountains to the west.

All along, I can see the Great Divide in the east with many of these mountains topped with snow. Lastly today, I arrive at Deer Lodge, Montana, stop for the evening and find a place to stealth park.

Awake at seven-thirty am and drive to the coffee mart for the WiFi. An hour later, I begin the drive to Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site and upon arriving, tour the park. This park is all about Cowboys and Cattlemen with the theme being A Home on the Range. During the tour I get the impression that all the work was done by the cowboys while the cattlemen lived in the home, married, raised a family and got rich.

Today, in the park, things don′t seem to have changed much, especially after I met Ranger Willie and his helper. There are those who do all the hard work on the ranch, digging, painting, roofing and repairs and then there are those who get paid for just telling stories. Of course, I am sure there is a lot more to this story, however, this is what I observe when walking through this ranch.

Next stop, Custer′s Last Stand. It takes all day to drive across Montana and arrive at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument at seven-thirty and find the gate still open with a lot of cars in the parking lot. Upon driving up to the gate, I find that the park is open until nine, well, at least the driving part so I get a map and drive the eight miles to the end of the park road.

Once at the back end of the park, I begin to read the exhibit signs and slowly piece together what happened here back in 1876 on a hot day on the 25th of June. According to the information signs, the Lakotas, North Cheyenne and Arapahoe had made camp in the valley along the river. On the morning of June 25, Custer divided the Seventh Calvary into three battalions of eleven companies and a twelfth company which was assigned to escort the pack train of provisions and ammunition.

Two of the battalions were to scout the bluffs on the south side of the Indian encampment in the valley below by the river, and Custer moved into position on the north side above the encampment. Custer was totally in ignorance as to the size of the native village despite being told by Crow scouts that the village was the largest native village they have ever seen.

As it turned out, the Indians who out numbered the Seventh Calvary 2000 to 600 were able to over run all attempts by the Seventh to attack. After the Indians defeated Custer′s 210 men, they joined the other tribes who were attacking the other two battalions, forcing them to retreat hastily back towards the pack train.

Those of the company assigned to remain with the pack train had entrenched on a hill top and with the remnants from the two battalions, were able to hold off the Indian repeated attacks for a day and a half. Finally, upon learning of the approach of the two additional columns that Custer had conferred with only days earlier, the Indians completely left the area. A forth column was knocked out some time earlier and forced to withdraw.

Had all of the Calvary been there at the Little Bighorn, it would have been an easy rout of the Indians, but the circumstances caused the comparatively small group of the Seventh to fight the battle alone and they were overwhelmed. Most of the Indians fled the scene and returned to the reservation which kept the Calvary from pursuing.

The Indians had won the battle but they lost the war. This conflict and all the killing was about the right to have the freedom to live an independent nomadic way of life in this country. Even to this day, it is almost required for a person to have a residence, or in the minimum, a place of reference, so that the government knows where to find you. For someone to go off the grid as it is so often called is virtually impossible, unless you forgo having a drivers license.

Suddenly, I realize that tomorrow is the anniversary of Custer′s Last Stand and that this park will be teeming with celebrants, but I want no part of that as my ongoing desire is to remain apart from the world′s parties and their hoards of party goer's.

So, I choose to depart tonight, even without a patch. I think back at the tour guide′s comments of the first owner of the ranch I visited early today. She said that Grant (the first owner) sold the ranch to Kohrs and went back to his home in Canada because there were to many people in Deer Lodge for his liking. The other tour guests laughed because the population in the town of Deer Lodge has never been very many. Methinks that Grant and I are of a feather.

When I leaven the Little Bighorn park, I drive through the Crow community and what immediately comes to my mind is that the people on this reservation, the Crow Indians, live in poverty and dwell in shambles very much like the majority of the people in Mexico do.

Some may choose this lifestyle to keep themselves apart from the Rocks and Roots and Ruts so common in the white man′s villages today and if that is in fact the reason many live as such, more power to them, but it highly more likely that they were born into this poverty conditions and remain in it because they have no means to get out of it.

So, it remains a sad commentary for this government, in fact, any government, that does not take care of their residents. As I drive north on interstate 94, I watch the water of Yellowstone river flows north towards its confluence with the Missouri near the North Dakota state line.

I stop at a d-mart not far from its banks to spend the evening. Tomorrow, I will continue to follow the river downstream to the next park located near the confluence of these two mighty rivers of the west.

It is definitely summer here on the high plains. I continue my northwest trek towards Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site.

Once I arrive at the park, I walk up the bluff and enter the fort and immediately I come to the trader′s office where I take the guided tour. I find out that this was never a military fort but a commercial trading post located at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers and traded European goods for buffalo robes and other furs.

These furs left Fort Union to make the 1800 miles boat trip to St. Louis, a trade route that dominated the fur trade industry for about forty years until just after the Civil War ended in 1865.

The next leg of the drive today takes me right through the heart of the North Dakota gas fracking frenzy and what should have taken me less than an hour to drive, instead takes almost four. The oil boom is changing the landscape of the earth here to what I believe is to its detriment. Not only had the drilling increase hundreds fold, but as I drive in this rush hour traffic in the middle of the afternoon, there are one new trailer park after another lining the highway.

All are filled to capacity with more being built as fast as possible. Also, high rise motels are going up everywhere and billboards advertise their discounted rates, some as much as $2000.00 per week. As I drive through the small community, I can only imagine the troubles the locals have to put up with from the large influx of oil workers not to mention all the services and utilities that go with a boom such as this.

Higher prices for food, gas, rent and all have to be paid by the local, even those on fixed incomes. Yes, there is money to be made in North Dakota, but how many will suffer from this booming industry.

Afterwards, I drive south to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, arriving two minutes before the visitors center closes. I get my park brochure, stamp it with the park date stamp and even buy a fully embroidered park patch. What more could a guy want?

When I ask, the ranger tells me that the gate stays open all night because there are people in the camp ground; so I drive the fourteen mile road through the park. Everywhere I see amazing erosion mounds, eroded from millennia of rain and wind in the Little Missouri river valley. It does not take long to drive to the end of the park road even stopping often to take photos but during the drive I see only one bison.

Finally, I drive east and camp at Knife River Indian Village National HS.

It is already a warm day when I awaken and go inside the visitors center of the national historical site. This is an archaeological site which has a reconstructed earth lodge home and I find it really interesting because of the references to this locations in the journal from two of my fellow wayfarers, Lewis and Clark.

After viewing the earth lodge, I return to the road west back to the southern unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and drive the loop in this unit.

While I am touring this park, I see several bison, a few deer, numerous feral horses and many prairie dogs.

Lastly, I head out of the national park and set my GPS to take me south away from this oil boom area and into northeast Wyoming. It is at sunset when I check into a park campground, light a fire, prepare a meal and then get ready for sleep.

I get up early and go to the base of the Devils Tower to walk the one and a half mile trail around the base of the tower. Then I stop at the visitors center to get my map and patch. Here, I find out that this is the first national monument.

Afterwards, I drive into the Black Hills and visit the parks here. First to Jewel Cave National Monument, then to Mt. Rushmore National Memorial where I just drive by the parking lot for the visitors center because it is so packed with tourist, and next, stop at Wind Cave National Park. From my visits to the two cave visitors centers, I learn that both caves are maze caves, caused by water trickling down from above, and not by a river of water flowing underground like most other caves. Also, the two caves sit on either side of a major fault line and run in opposing directions. I also drive by the Crazy Horse Memorial which has developed considerably since I was last here. Then, totally hot, I make a stop in Hot Springs, South Dakota to get into the pool for a swim. After my cooling swim, I head east towards the Badlands and stop in Wall South Dakota and park in the Wall Drug parking lot. Even though the parking lot is huge, there are almost no overnighters.

Sunlight wakens me at five this morning but I go back to sleep. However, at six-thirty I get up to move the Windjammer into the shade as the temperature inside is quickly becoming uncomfortable. At seven, I go into Wall Drugs to use the men′s room. Also, because I am a Viet-Nam veteran, I get free coffee and a donut.

After my breakfast, I drive east on the interstate to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site and then south into the Badlands National Park driving west through the Badlands loop route. Afterwards, I drive back through to the Black Hills and then head south to first Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and then to Scotts Bluff National Monument arriving thirty minutes before it′s closing. I choose going into the visitors center to get the map and patch instead of driving to the summit. It is really hot today and I don′t wish to risk overheating the Windjammer.

After my visit to Scotts Bluff National Monument, I decide that this is my turnaround point for this tour. So, as the park closes, I exit the gate and begin the return drive to Washington and then drive east into Wyoming.

My first stop in Wyoming is Fort Laramie National Historic Site a short distance off of the highway, but it is also closed so I just drive through before returning to the road east and while driving, enjoy a beautiful sunset. Continuing into the evening, I arrive in Thermopolis, Wyoming and find a place to stealth park for the night. Shortly after I park, a cat climbs onto the top of the windjammer, making a lot of noise, so, opening the side window, I hiss at him to send him away hoping he will not return.

Up early today even with the late night and locate the Thermopolis Hot Springs State Park. After finding a men′s room, I tour the park to find that there is a pool, a bath house and several motels with hot pools but the park is closed. However, I also find an above ground discharge stream and take a bandana bath from the walkway. The hot water is refreshing but it sure does stink.

Then I drive north out of town towards Cody, Wyoming arriving here at ten am. I go first to the hardware store and begin working on my door window which stopped working after touring the Badlands. Knowing that I might drop another bolt in the bottom of the door, I wanted to have hardware available. That repair takes about two hours and now the window works even though still not perfectly.

Next, I drive to the department store and buy a new pair of shorts so that I will have something to wear later while doing my laundry, which is the next place on my list of places to stop today. Upon arriving, I see several people working on their computers and ask if there is WiFi and one guy tells me that the password is dirtysock. I load my wash and go back to bring my computer in to check my emails.

After finishing my laundry, I continue driving north on US 26 towards Yellowstone and drive through a very narrow gorge going through several tunnels before coming out above the Buffalo Bill Dam and lake. I continue west through some very beautiful rock formations and I take some photos; one formation is call the Holy City on the North Fork of Shoeshone River. Then at just before six pm, I arrive at the East Gate and show the ranger my senior pass.

Yellowstone is the one park that I have been looking forward to for a long time and I plan to spend much time here working on my journal. A short ways into the park it begins to rain while I drive up to Sylvan Pass at 8700 feet. Driving slow in the park allows me to spot the wildlife and I do see several birds species and two buffaloes. Too, the flowers are everywhere along this drive.

I continue driving and arrive at Fishing Bridge where I stop for a patch and then drive on to the Lake Village to search for the Lake Lodge because I have learned that it was built in 1903 and I want to see if I will add it to my list of Grand Lodges. After driving pass an enormous Yellow Hotel (Yellowstone Hotel) and hundreds of yellow cabins I come to realize that there are a lot of people here in this park, as there are cars filling much of the parking lots.

I sit in the Lake Lodge at a window which looks out on the lake and watch as the rain continues in the dismal gray light but then the sun begins to shine through to the opposite shore where above, the eastern sky begins to clear. Methinks, this is a nice lodge but it is not Grand.

As I work on my journal, my eyes continue to look up to watch and I see first the sunlight rise up off of the water, then the trees and finally light from the sun can only be seen on the top of the mountains. All too soon, the light leaves even the mountain peaks as the gathering dark envelopes the park. I walk out to the Windjammer and retire for the evening because it has been a long consuming day for me.

Today, I drive the outer loop of the park looking for and photographing animals and some of the landscape of the park. Starting at Lake, I continue to Canyon, Hayden Valley, then to Tower-Roosevelt, next Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris, Madison, and stop at Old Faithful. After finding a parking spot, I go into the Inn and ask about the time of the next geyser. I am told that it should begin at five minutes after eight this evening, so I walk the boardwalk to Old Faithful Geyser, take a seat and wait for the geyser show to begin.

The conditions are favorable for a geyser bow today, in that the last daylight geyser is about an hour before sunset which means that the sun will be at about ten to fifteen degrees above the horizon, ¹ there are practically no blocking clouds in the sky and the wind is blowing out of the north from left to right across the geyser. (I am unsure if the wind direction will affect the geyser bow.)

The geyser begins right on time however the rainbow is very faint, hard to see and does not show well in the photos, so I will try for better photos of the rainbow tomorrow evening. I stay on the boardwalk for the next geyser which takes almost two hours to begin. I meet a lot of nice people while waiting for the show and we make jokes about the geyser′s delay. My favorite one is that the geyser has been turned off due to the sequester.

Finally the first evening geyser begins and it blooms out in all directions with steam hiding any water column and unlike the earlier one which was mostly a column of water with a lot of mist drifting to the south. Later, I ask the ranger about all of the steam and his answer is that after sunset, the air cools and the much of the water turns to steam.

Up at seven am and go into the lodge to use the men′s room and get a cup of hot. Then I drive back up to Madison Junction and while driving out the West exit I notice two things. First, there is an unbroken procession of cars coming into the park and second, there are no herds of buffalo and elk grazing in the numerous grass meadows along the Madison River.

Actually, today, I see no elk and only one buffalo along the Madison, a place where there are traditionally large herds. When I get to the park entrance gate, the reason for the constant cars becomes evident, the gate is five lanes wide and there is a backup of almost a hundred yards; easily a hundred cars or more waiting to enter. A ranger told me that on any given day, there is an average of forty thousand people in the park, totaling more than three million visitors annually. What amazes me is that almost every car pays twenty-five dollars to enter and at three people per car, that would be about 25 million dollars a year.

And that is just entrance fees and does not include camping, hotels, restaurants, gifts and tours. Methinks, this is truly big business, a grand money maker for the government. And yet, the government complains that there is not enough money to keep the roads repaired.

I ask myselƒ, what is happening to this National Park? Is Yellowstone becoming a large resort stop instead of an out of the way wilderness refuge. With so many people constantly overrunning the park, it leaves no doubt why there is a scarcity of animals here. When talking to other visitors, I keep hearing comments like Wow, can you believe all the animals in the park! and Did you see that large herd of buffaloes at Haden Valley? In fact, there is a herd of bison at Hayden Valley, but when I go there, I see a herd numbering only a hundred animals or possibly a few more.

Methinks that these park visitors, most of whom have never visited the park, when they see a few buffaloes, they think they have seen a large number of animals and when they see a dozen, then they believe they have seen a large herd. Little do they know that it would take hundreds if not thousands to make it an actual herd, or even close to the way it was when I first visited Yellowstone in 1980.

In my opinion, the animal population here is not like they once were; during my first visit in June of that year, I saw in multiple locations, vast herds of buffalo and elk both of which numbered into the thousands along with numerous other types of wildlife. In late May of 2009 when I returned for my second visit, there were still herds of buffalo and elk but the herd sizes were much smaller.

Upon my arrival this year in June, there are no large herds of buffalo or elk in the places they once were, only small groups or occasional solitary animals. I can not understand how everyone continues with the apparent mistaken belief that the buffalo and elk are doing just fine, that the herds are not diminishing and that there is no problem with the animals or this park.

This also makes one think about the sign that Jesus gave his disciples marking the last days of this system, how that sign has now been completely fulfilled and yet still most people say Where is that promised coming? Why, from when our fathers fell asleep in death, all things have been continuing with a bit of change. It is undeniable that we are living in the last days, however most people refuse to see it or even acknowledge it.

Nevertheless, about the herds, could it be that the hot temperatures now in the park have caused most of the animals to move to higher ground to find greener and cooler pastures. I am not a zoologist, but in my humble opinion, there is something wrong in Wonderland.

Upon returning to Old Faithful, I go inside, locate a desk on the second level near the grand piano, plug in my computer and begin working in my journal. A short time later, a pianist comes up to the piano sets up and then begins playing. The very first song is Piano Man by Billy Joel and I walk over to let her know that Piano Man is my favorite song. Some time later, I put the computer back in the van, grab my camera and then walk the boardwalk to near the geyser to take a seat and await for this evening′s geyser bow. The geyser is fourteen minutes late and has a dozen false starts, or as they are called, Burps. As I have experienced it, the number of burps is normally limited to two. Finally, it erupts and rises to almost one hundred feet but there is no rainbow to speak of.

I awake before seven and go inside for the men′s room but return directly to the Windjammer and begin driving. On the way out of the area I stop for cup of hot at the gas station because I learned yesterday that the cup is larger and cost less than at the cafe in the Inn. I also take a photo of Hamilton′s Store. Then, I drive south to Grant Village and go into the visitor′s center and attend a ranger program.

Ranger Chuck talks about animal safety and I learn that currently there are two herds of buffalo in the park, one in Hayden Valley and one in Lamar Valley. He says that the number of each herd is upwards of two thousand. (When I drove thru that Haden Valley, I one saw only one small herd of which I counted less than two hundred.)

While at the visitors center, I am able to finish my junior ranger program and receive my junior ranger patch which I immediately find a place for in my patch binder. I also stop at the general store and find a nice Yellowstone Park patch which I purchase to add to my Yellowstone collection, now numbering six.

Afterwards, I drive back to Old Faithful Inn, eat my lunch in the parking lot and then go into the lodge just before noon to work on my journal. The lobby is packed with people and there is a long line waiting to get into the restaurant but the people are soon seated for their noon meal. This being the Forth of July week, the estimate is that there is upwards of fifty thousand people in the park each day and this is so evident from all the filled parking lots and exhibit areas.

Normally, I don′t like to be in a place where there are so many people but I will make an exception this time and endure it. After most have their noon meal, these same one populate the large wide open lodge lobby and there is hardly an open place to sit on any of the balconies overlooking the lobby floor; and there are a lot of sofas, chairs and desks available here.

As I sit here on the second level in the southwest corner by the piano, at a desk with my computer plugged in to the electric outlet and working on my journal and organizing my photo directories, I observe the different features of this old Grand Lodge and especially enjoy all of the angle braces that were made from all the freeze broken tops of the trees. ² Some of these log angle braces are 18 - 24 inches or more in diameter which means that from the time the tree was less than three inches in diameter many years of growth had past before the logs were cut in Yellowstone National Park to build the Inn.

I have estimated that the lodge pole pine in the park grows one foot every three to five years and these trees could have been one hundred years or more old when they were cut down, making them sapling during the late seventeen hundreds or early eighteen hundreds. Another feature that interests me is the tree house on the sixth floor complete with a hinged door windows and a roof. It looks to be about eight or nine feet square and is accessed by the stairway going up to the roof landing above it.

The fifth floor has a landing with a connecting gang plank leading to a viewing platform for looking out the dormer windows on the north side of the lodge. Access above the third floor is no longer open to the public but how much would I love to go up to explore the upper levels.

At an hour before sunset I put away my computer and go out to the geyser field to wait for the geyser eruptions and possibly a rainbow but the rainbow never happens. I guess it is so true that you can never fully predict what a geyser will do. I do however talk with a couple from California who drove up here in their VW Vanagon and are living in it here in the parking lot not unlike myselƒ. They told me their names but for the life of me, I can not remember what they are.

Also, yesterday, at the Nez Pierce exhibit at Nez Pierce Creek, I met The Wanderer, a woman from, if I remember right, Oregon who like myselƒ has dispossessed herself of most all her possessions so that she can travel full time in her motor home which is a full size van. There seems to be others who like myselƒ have left the grid to live a nomadic life, one that involves spending time traveling to and in the beauty spots commonly know as the parks.

After sleeping through the first three awakenings, I get up at six-thirty and go inside to the men′s room after which I drive to the Old Faithful service station for a cup of hot. Then I drive to Grant Village to finalize my Junior Ranger booklet and turn it in to the ranger who says that I did a good job with the program and gives me my Junior Ranger patch.

Next I stop at the Grant Village service station for a ninety-nine cent cup of hot refill and a breakfast sandwich. After which, I head south to Grand Teton National Park where I stop at the first visitors center for a map, a patch and to inquire about the Junior Ranger program. The ranger hands me the booklet and says that when I complete the program, I can choose from a cedar wood badge or an embroidered patch. Well, as tempting as the wood badge is, when I do finish the booklet and sworn in, I choose the patch.

Continuing south through the park, it is so crowded that not only are the parking lots full but visitors are parking along side the road which leads to the parking lot. This is so not to my liking and I keep heading south through the park to Jackson, Wyoming where I stop for Wifi and lunch at a favorite fast food sandwich mart.

Then, I drive west to Craters of the Moon National Monument, driving hard to arrive there by four-thirty only to find out that the visitors center is open until six pm. Who would have known, every park is different and I have not had access to the Internet to gather such information. Still, I am glad to have over an hour to tour the museum, the outside walkway and to complete my Junior Ranger booklet for the Lunar Ranger patch. After getting the junior ranger booklet, I walk outside to where a ranger is giving a program and ask if I am too late for her presentation and the ranger says that no one has showed up for her program.

I tell her that I am working on a Junior Ranger badge and ask her if she will give me the short version. She points to the board on which there are six questions and says Can you answer these question? I look at the six questions and begin with the first, using my knowledge base of volcanic and other experiences and give it my best answers. I get five of the six correct and the ranger says that she would be glad to sign my Junior Ranger booklet for attending the program. Then, in trying to complete the rest of the booklet, I take a walk on the tail adjacent to the visitors center and complete two more pages of the booklet.

Next, I go to the center′s inside displays and find all the answers to the remaining pages of the booklet. Finally, I present the booklet to the ranger an after swearing me in, she gives me my Junior Ranger patch. That was so easy!

Upon leaving the visitors center, I enter the park and drive the same loop that I drove back in 1989 when I was on my way north to find a small town to move to where in I could serve. Shockingly, this same park drive is nothing but a completely new experience to me.

I arrive at the cinder cone with a foot path to the top and remember that I walked up this path in 1989 to view the vast lava beds but this is not something I wish to do today. After driving the entire loop, I exit the park and head west, arrive at interstate 84 and continue west through Idaho to Oregon just at the setting of the sun. I stop at an Oregon state park to camp free for the night.

Then, while I let the Windjammer cool off from the days travel, I pound the keyboard to make today′s journal entry. I have rolled oats and coconut milk for supper and finally hit the sack. The wind is really blowing so I open the rear lift gate and a side sliding window to cool if off inside and fall asleep quite fast.

Up at the crack of dawn, there is a red sky in the east and walk to the bath house to take a shower and then set up my stove to boil water for coffee. Then I continue to work on my journal and it is nice to be able to plug my computer in for a change instead of running the engine to charge it. I will say here this morning and enjoy the cool breeze.

Later, I drive to a town for some shopping and WiFi to upload the new photos and recent changes to the Grand Lodges gallery. Then I get back on the road and bear the heat yet another day while driving across Oregon, arriving at Deschutes River State Park by six pm and find it completely full. This is the campsite that I so enjoyed on Day 19 JO, (19 March 2013) and again on Day 62 JO (01 May 2013), however, I gave it two different ratings, one for winter without water and another rating for when the water is turned on.

I suppose there are many other people who enjoy this campsite as well, so I drive to the next one along the gorge and find it has one campsite still open so I take it, even though it is a hundred feet from Interstate 84.

I then begin to cook some of my Wayƒarer′s Repast with just brown rice, onions, garlic and spice, just the basics. Then, while eating I begin to hear a low rumbling from somewhere to the north and wonder what it could be, but then I hear the whistle of a train and immediately I know what it is. Let′s see, minus one for the noisy highway, minus one for the loud train, this park really not going to score to high.

After I eat, I clean up and then continue working on my journal until it gets dark, then I pack it all up and get vertical.

Up at the crack of seven am and take a shower. Since Memaloose State Park allows reservations, I will have to leave because my space is reserved for tonight. Therefore, I drive west on the Interstate to the next state park and check for an opening. Since this park does not take reservations, there are several campsites available. So I choose one close to the bath house, set up my camp so I can work on my journal all day.

It seems that I have built up a sleep debt and so take a long nap through the noon time. Then I get up and begin working on my journal and keep working well into the evening, cook my supper, eat, then clean up and get horizontal by dusk.

Up at this new campsite and begin my routine, shower, toilet, cup of hot and today pancakes with molasses syrup, two large ones. (For the egg, I substitute flax seed soaked in water.) Then I turn on my computer and begin working on the journal going through more of the photos taken recently.

I asked the ranger if Viento is Spanish and if so, what does it mean in English. Wind! he said. I should have figured that one out because of the constant wind at this point in the gorge plus this park is filled with wind surfers.

Then I watched the ranger give a program about Dutch Oven cooking during which I learned several things about Dutch Ovens, such as how to cook pancakes, brownies, and biscuits. Even though they are so versatile and come in many sizes, I don′t plan on obtaining one soon primarily because it requires fire with charcoal and that means a lot of smoke and soot of which I am pretty much done with these days.

Too, I have gotten really good using my backpacking stove with the foods that I prefer to eat, which I believe are somewhat healthier. At dusk, I retire to the back of the jammer and get horizontal.

Up at daybreak, take a shower, begin driving and a short ways to the west arrive at the Bridge of the Gods, pay my dollar toll to cross into Washington where I drive to Stevenson and stop for breakfast. Next, I drive into the National Forest on the forest roads and arrive at the back entrance to Mount Saint Hellens National Monument where I enter and drive to the end of the road at Windy Ridge taking photographs all the way. What a clear sky during this drive and got some great shots of the monument.

Continuing on the National Forest roads, I drive north to the southeast entrance to Mount Rainier and the National Park, enter and then drive north to the Sunrise Ridge road where I begin the climb up to Sunrise Ridge where there is a visitors center and day lodge. I go into the visitors center to get the map and patch and then go on a ranger guided hike and get some really great photos on the mountain, glaciers and valleys.

Finally, I drive north and stop at a d-mart to park for the night.

Arrive in Oak Harbor, go for coffee and then check mail after which two of the letters need to be taken care of, one at the county office and the other at the bank. When that is done, I drive to the shop but no one is home so I take a nap. When I awake, Mark and Cheryl are burning some scrap lumber and I join them at the fire. Afterwards, Cheryl invites me in for a sandwich and asks where I went on my trip.

Today, I replace the brake pads on the Windjammer′s front wheels and do one more sort through of the items remaining in my Burden. Then, I call the property management company (pmc) to set up and appointment to finish the transfer of the rental property and get an appointment on Friday the twelfth.

So I will wait for that appointment by working on my journal, cleaning the windjammer, or just relaxing until beginning the next tour of the journey on.

Awake, drive to the w-mart for coffee, com and computer.

After a short while, I drive to the real estate office and sign over the rental property for their caretakership which completes all of the tasks necessary to allow me to begin my actual journey on. I have so been looking forward to this day, a day that has released me to be footloose once again in my life. Still, I hold off from beginning because I want to share one more meetings with my friends here on this rock.

I go to the park to look to see if it is a Rainier day.

After awaking at six, I go into the w-mart for a cup of hot and to wait for the bank to open but become so occupied with the photos pages that it is after ten am before entering the bank. What needs to be done is to service the candy vending machine, collect any coin and fill the machine so that it might possibly last until my next visit to the island. When this is complete, I fill the gas tank and then drive across Deception Pass bridge, leaving Whidbey Island.

This proves to be such and uneventful occasion whereby methinks that it should be marked as an important celebratory passage, especially since I am leaving the island today totally free and unfettered. It is true that there are two vending machines and several bins in the attic at the shop that I must needs return and tend to. Still, leaving the island at this time is noteworthy to me in that I am no longer required to return for any mundane pursuits.

After an uneventful drive, it is nearly five pm when I arrive at Fort Stevens State Park campground and check in for the evening. I set up my site and begin cooking my Repast, which tonight includes brown rice, onion, garlic and Parmesan cheese. I eat my meal with some jazz playing on the radio. Afterwards, I walk to the nearby campsites to meet the neighbors and returning to the Windjammer, I resume working on the photo pages and complete several of them. Now, there are blues playing on the radio and enjoy the loud playing tunes until ten, when it is quiet time in the park.

After that, I turn the volume down so that I can still here it but only in the jammer and continue listening to the music. While I work on my computer, I notice that the darkness outside, like swaddling on an infant, swathes this coastal forest and only the moon, now very small in size being in the first quarter, attempts to breach the cloak of total darkness. All along, the blues keep wafting throughout the evening.

These state parks are a bastion for families fleeing from the cities and cost only thirty dollars a night to park your big white box on wheels, which methinks, beats the current cost for a motel room any day.

Yes, there seems to be fewer and fewer who come to these parks to set up a tent, their number being about twenty percent, which myself determines from a comparison of the number of electric hookup sites to the number of tent only sites. Methinks that more and more are getting into big box camping and the state parks are catering to them.

I am just glad that I am able to have free access to a space with the electricity while in Oregon, especially since the price of camping in the parks is from seventeen upwards to over thirty dollars a night in some places.

Up early to take a hot shower and then pack out and begin driving by seven this morning. Arriving at the first park, I find that the campsite is full so I drive further south past several more and stop at Hug Point State Recreational Area, just a day use site along the coast highway US 1, but one with some nice shoreline cliffs and offshore rocks.

Afterward, I continue south and arrive at the South Beach State Park at noon and find it has a vacancy so I check in, buy some ice and set up the jammer for the evening. After greeting a couple of the neighbors, I begin working on the journal and photo pages.

In the distance, there is a harbor horn that sounds every fifteen seconds and the sound of both dogs and birds can also be heard often. Still, there is a quietness about in this coastal forest while the sun is held back from piercing through the fog. In the early afternoon, I climb into the back of the jammer and take a nap.

Later, I return to working on the photo pages completing a couple more. Then, I call Robert and find that he has left Oregon to visit family in Colorado for this week. Finally, I unplug and get out of the vertical.

Repeat the shower routine of yesterday and begin driving south before seven today stopping in Florence for coffee and WiFi at the local f-mart. Continuing south on the coast, I notice that the coastal view is wholly new even thought I have traversed this way numerous times. When I come upon Battle Rock Wayfinding Point, I stop and find this view for the first time.

No, I will never tire from driving on this coast highway! Today′s journey takes me to the southernmost coastal campground park in Oregon, Harris Beach State Park where I stop and find that there is only one space left, the ADA accessible campsite. The ranger says that since I am a disabled veteran, I qualify to have the space, especially since it is the last campsite available.

Normally, I would ask for a space near to the rest room but this space is the absolute closest I could ever get. Too, it is also close to the laundry mat. Not only is it odd for a state park to have a laundry mat, but the cost per load is less than half of what I normally pay. Earlier this year, on Day 51 JO, I stayed here in this campground, but it was in a whirlwind fashion in that I came in during the evening and left early the next morning.

Even though I was in the space directly east of the one I am in now, I did not learn of the extent of the amenities that this park has and with the quick visit, I gave the campground a CRS of 7.0, however, with this visit I raise the rating to 9.0 which puts this campground at the top of the list. In the future, I will make it a point to stop here at Harris Beach whenever I travel the Oregon coast.

At six pm, I begin cooking my evening meal, brown rice with onion, garlic and a foil package of tuna steak. After it is done, I drain the broth into my cup, add some spice mix and a little soy sauce. After eating, a ice cream truck drives by ringing a bell and I call out for them to stop. I buy a bag of ice and an ice cream cone.

This is just another one of the amenities of this park which gives it the high rating that it deserves. Never in all my years of wayfaring has any campsite been given what I have always considered the unattainable ten in my rating system, but this one in it′s impeccability has come ever so close to that currently unreachable rating, maybe even a 9.9 rating. Later, the ice cream truck comes around a second time and makes me want to increase it to ten points, but I don′t even though I do buy a second ice cream cone.

I continue in my work on the photo pages until well after the sun sets and finally go to sleep exhausted.

Driving southward early this morning and soon cross into California to begin making miles on US highway 101 through the Redwood National Park forest stopping at several of the locations where there are groves of big trees.

I take quite a few photos of trees with their crepuscular in the forest (others call this the marine affect or marine layer) and some of the beach scenes. I even acquire the new national park patch (which is dated with the year 2013) at one visitors center. As I continue south on the Redwood highway, methinks that this area has grown crowded since my previous traverse of it in June of 1980.

Too, it is my desire on this tour, as it has been for a long time, to relocate the Kingdom Hall that I visited during that first passage along this coast. Also, that was the very first hall that I had ever visited and joining the friends at their meeting convinced me that I had found the truth.

Along the highway, I see signs for Driving Through a Redwood Tree and when I see the entrance to the Chandelier Tree, I turn in, pay the $5.00 entrance fee and upon arriving at the tree, realize that the jammer will not fit the small width of the opening, so I get out and take a photo.

Too, it is apparent that many others found out the hard way that their vehicle would not fit. The staff must have to often come out and push the stuck cars out of the tree.

Upon arriving at Leggett, California, I turn onto California State Highway One, the Mendocino Coast highway, drive over the coast mountain range and down to the coast. Upon arriving at Fort Bragg, I stop at the Kingdom Hall located on the highway to find that there is a meeting going on, so I dress in my suit and walk into the hall. Upon entering, I find that the meeting in progress is in Spanish so I excuse myselƒ and leave.

I think to myselƒ, This looks nothing like the hall I stumbled upon thirty-three years ago. So I return to the jammer and head south along the coast highway looking for another hall that would more match my memories and one in English.

Upon arriving at the town of Mendocino, I drive out to the headlands for the sunset. Then I cruise through town looking for a location to use stealth mode for parking the jammer and without much trouble find a suitable spot. I work on the journal for a short while but then climb into the back to get out of the vertical.

Sleeping in this morning, I finally get up at seven am to begin driving south and soon after stop at the Point Arena Lighthouse to brew a cup of hot. It is closed and the fog prevents me from getting a good photo.

I also open the bin containing my original journals to find the red journal, the journal dated May through August 1980. Upon finding the entry on the day that I visited the Kingdom hall for the first time, I find it was on Sunday, 29 June 1980 which entry has the header of Big River. I go to my map and find that the Big River is just south of Mendocino, California.

Too, that means that the hall that I am looking for is only a few miles north of that river, so I decide to back track to the Big River bridge and upon arriving stop to take photos of the location where I camped on the river shore near that bridge, one which spans the gap some fifty feet above the water.

Then, checking my odometer, I begin to drive north again and after not finding a hall in six miles, pull over and wonder if the building could have been removed. However, I have come this far, there is no sense stopping now as I have been searching for this hall for many years without finding it. Methinks, Maybe it is just a little further north and so, I continue driving north to find in less than a mile, the city limits of Fort Bragg.

Then at seven point five miles from Big River, still on California SH 1, I arrive at the Fort Braggs, Kingdom Hall. Methinks, Wow, this is it, the same hall that I walked into thirty-three years ago! I pull into the empty parking lot and sit here alone for some time reading the entry in my red 1980 journal.

After reading the journal entry for that day and the entries before and after several times, my conclusion is that I have finally found the first Kingdom Hall that I ever visited. Near the front door is a meeting schedule and the next English meeting is Sunday morning at 10, but there could be a meeting for the ministry on Saturday morning.

I take my backpack, the same one I wore thirty-three years ago and place it on the front porch right where I put it back then and take a photo of it also.

Then I drive to the w-mart to work on my journal and contemplate how so much has changed here. It is no wonder, the entire world has changed drastically, especially since we are now in the final days of the Last Days. I drive back to the hall, park and try to decide if I will stay in Fort Bragg for the weekend.

Noticing that a contractor is beginning work to seal the asphalt, I walk up to him and ask if he is a witness. He tells me that he is not but works for a witness, one, who, he says, is in San Francisco at the convention for the weekend. Decision made, all those in the local English congregations are at the district convention. Therefore, I head out and continue my drive south on California SH 1.

At seven-thirty pm, I arrive at Point Reyes National Seashore, drive to the town of Inverness and go into stealth mode for the evening. At nine-thirty, another Ford van pulls up behind me to do the same thing.

Sleep in until seven and then drive to the Bear Valley visitors center but have to wait here until it opens at nine. I go inside get a map and a nice ten color patch. The fog here clears nicely so I drive towards the lighthouse thinking maybe it will be clear there as well but was I wrong; it is so thick that visibility is down to forty feet.

I hang out at the lighthouse visitors center hoping it will lift but it is still just as thick when I leave at two pm. I do earn a junior ranger patch at the visitors center and the park ranger at the visitors center tells me that a National Seashore has the same requirements as a National Park, they both need an act of congress to create them.

Then I set my GPS for Muir Woods National Monument and drive the twenty or so miles but upon arriving find that today is not a good day to visit this park because it appears as if everyone from San Francisco thought it would be nice to go for a walk in the woods. Upon arriving at the entrance, I make a u-turn and drive right back out of the park watching bus load after bus load heading into the park from the city. I would say there are ten to twenty thousand people in Muir Woods.

I drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, through San Francisco and continue on California State Highway One South to Half Moon Bay, California, where I find an all night g-mart and go stealth mode in the parking lot. Also, there is WiFi in the same parking lot so I am all set for the evening.

I open a couple of cans for my supper and eat the food cold out of the cans. There has been a lot of traffic on the highway today and I will be glad to get further away from the city tomorrow after first stopping at the Kingdom Hall here in town. It is hard to find sleep after I get horizontal.

Even thought sleep did not come early last evening, I still get up and begin moving before seven this morning. I buy a cup of hot, drive to the hall and while waiting for the meeting to begin, work on the Bible study for today which deals with communication between marriage mates.

Later, I drive south on highway one, notice that the headlands are much lower below San Francisco and more like low bluffs. Too, there are a lot of beaches with many people in the water on surfboards. Upon arriving at Santa Rosa, I head inland to Hollister and do not go too far before noticing that the temperature is getting much warmer. Turning south on California Highway 25, I drive the last leg to the newest national park.

By the time I arrive at Tres Pinos, California, the temperature is in the low nineties and I stop at the small grocery to buy some ice and two cans of a margarita flavored beverage. Continuing for another fifteen miles, I arrive at the junction to the park and then drive the three miles to the entrance only to find out that the park still bears the name, Pinnacles National Monument. Stopping at the visitors center, I get a map, a patch and pay to camp for the evening.

This campground has all the normal national park amenities plus a hot shower, a pool and electric hookups in the campground. However, the fee, somewhat higher than most for a RV site is thirty-six dollars and for a tent site is twenty-four dollars. My choice is the RV site and get the senior price of eighteen dollars so that I will have an electrical hookup.

After a quick splash in the pool I retire to my campsite to cook supper. While eating, I watch a herd of wild turkeys gobble through the campsite and later a covey of quail cross near by.

Afterwards, I spend time working on my journal entries while enjoying the two beverages. I look out now and notice that the day is approaching even but still has a small amount of light remaining from the retreating sun.

The annoying flies and other bugs that caused me to rub my deet repellant on my face and neck are all gone now but the sound of crickets still roar into the darkening night.

Up early and see the herd of wild turkeys are back in camp and take a few photos.

Pack out and drive into the park the short distance to the trail heads. I walk up the Condor Gulch trail taking photos of the Pinnacles and some wildlife including a black-tailed jackrabbit, a scrub jay, some California quail, and several turkey vulture in the area but return only after a couple of kilometers.

Then I drive back to the visitors center to turn in my junior ranger booklet and the ranger tells me that my drawings are the best that he has ever seen. I tell him that the drawing of the wild turkey was done after it got dark and is really not to good. He then gives me kudos for my drawings of the live oak tree and the Bear Gulch Nature Center. I thank him for his compliment and then he gives me not only the plastic badge but also a junior ranger patch.

After leaving the visitors center, I drive south, cross the mountain and then north to the west side visitors center. There I watch the video presentation and browse through the Pinnacles museum. Following that, I drive to the trail head parking and take additional photos of the Pinnacles.

Finally, I leave the park and head to Marina, California so that I may go to the meeting and look up Mel, Lisa and Nathan, who I now sit with and we talk for a while, just before bed time.

Arise as seven thirty, drive to the w-mart to use the internet to locate the hall, and then drive there for the ministry meeting. Joining in the car group with four other, we do calls all morning. After that, I return to Mel′s home, climb into the back of the windjammer and take a nap.

Later in the early evening, Mel takes Nathan and myselƒ out for Mexican food. After visiting for a while, I return to the jammer to get dressed for the meeting and Mel asks if he can join me. I tell him that I was hoping that he would.

At the meeting, I meet Tim who has been studying with Mel, along with many of the other friends in the congregation. Then Mel and I return to his home and after a piece of cheese cake, I go out to the jammer to sleep.

Up again for WiFi, coffee and some breakfast before going to the ministry meeting. Today is a repeat of yesterday as we just make calls as the group is trying to catch up after spending all of the previous four weeks in the convention tract work.

Then I return to Mel′s home to bid him good bye before heading south on California highway 1. While I drive through Big Sur, I stop and several stores looking for an embroidered patch and after the fifth stop, find one.

Continuing on my way, I notice how the coastal headland is steep mountains all through Monterey county but then flattens out in San Luis Obispo county.

I arrive in Lompoc, California shortly before eight pm and park for the night in a d-mart lot. I get out a couple of cans for supper and then catch up on today′s journal. I will go early to sleep so that I can get an early start in the morning and hope to arrive early at the visitors center in the next National Park.

Up at six and on the road after a couple quick stops and arrive at Channel Islands National Park right after they opened the front doors and I watch the lights go on as I enter. After I get a map and purchase an embroidered patch, I walk around the center.

One display draws my attention and when I first look into the water of the recreated tide pool, I notice some sea stars and a few fish but I suspect there is more to this exhibit.

I walk back to the information counter and ask about the junior ranger program and the ranger gives me a booklet, one that has about twenty pages. After looking through the booklet, I tell the ranger that this may take a while so I will go right to work.

The junior ranger program here takes me all morning to complete and in the early afternoon, I turn my booklet in for the ranger to grade. When he tells me that I did a good job, I tell him that the tide pool exhibit here is the best exhibit I have ever seen in a national park visitors center.

Upon leaving the park, I drive to US highway 101 and head south to take a couple cross city highways, CA 134, I-210 and I-10. Driving through the city in the mid afternoon puts me in traffic much of the way and then I leave out the east side towards the mountains taking the Yucca Valley exit off I-10.

Driving on state highway 62 to Yucca Valley, I stop first at a w-mart and then at a d-mart to park for the night and enjoy the sunglow. Tomorrow, I plan to drive in to Joshua Tree National Park.

Up at seven-thirty am, drive into the Joshua Tree National Park for my first time, arriving at the visitors center and go for breakfast and WiFi at the Park Rock Cafe, a part of the Joshua Tree National Park Association. I have the egg and vegetable sandwich with fruit on the side, a meal I really enjoy.

Next I go into the visitors center to pick up a map, a patch and to have my questions asked. I learn from the exhibit at the center that the park is divided into two deserts, the upper elevations of the Mojave Desert in the northwestern area of the park and the lower elevations in the southern and eastern areas consisting of the Colorado desert which is a park of the larger Sonoran desert.

Another answer is that the Joshua Trees live only in the upper desert in the higher elevations of 3000 feet to 5000 feet.

Then I go out into the desert and I find quickly that the temperature is high, nearly 100 degrees. I stop to take numerous photos of the Joshua Trees as well as the rock formations. There is a subtle beauty in this hostile place, however, I can not envision myselƒ alone afoot is such a place even with a fully supplied pack.

Maybe I could have done it in my youth, but now, it would take a lot of training and preparations for me to backpack in this kind of terrain. Also, I don′t have any desire whatsoever to backpack in the desert, nor do I even want to camp for a night at one of the campgrounds. Still, I am glad that I did come to this park to see the subtle beauty that was unknown to me prior to arriving.

After traveling through the Mojave desert section, I leave for a short while and resupply my water and ice at the Oasis of Mara visitors center and find out that the oasis here has been dry for years. Then I reenter the park and drive to the south entrance, stopping for photos, but without the Joshua Trees, it just does not seem the same. At the southern visitors center, I stop to see the oasis there but it too is only a shadow of its former glory.

Finally, I get on interstate ten and head west to Yucaipa to visit Richard and Kim, good friends for many years. I call, and Richard tells me that they are expecting me and have a place for me to park the jammer. Upon arriving, I find Richard setting up a portable carport in his back yard. He tells me that it gets really hot during the day and the carport will help keep me cool.

Later, we all go for a walk to the city market and afterwards return to retire for the evening.

Awake much later this morning, after seven and get up to make a cup of coffee. Then, I go to the water hose to take a bucket bath and the cold water feels so good on my body. Returning to the shade of the carport, I study for the meeting and shortly after, Richard comes over to talk. He says that he wants to pay me for some work on his home and I tell him that I will do the work but I want no pay because I am retired and would have to claim it on my taxes. We walk around his home and he shows me the areas and jobs he wants done and it all looks very doable. As the temperature soars into the nineties, I think about the cold shower earlier and wish I had time to take another one, but it is time to get dressed and head out to the meeting. ³

Upon returning to the Outback, I quickly remove the dress clothes and don my nylon shorts, the coolest clothing I own. Then I continue to work on the park photos. There is several flocks of red-crowned parrots that fly by each afternoon and they are very noisy as they fly. There are about thirty that are twelve inches tall and all green except for a red crown on the males. I try to photograph them but they fly too fast and don′t stop in the near by trees. At sunset, they slow down somewhat and I am able to take a couple photos of them.

Today, after putting the wheels back on the jammer, I drive out of the back yard and head for a couple of grocery stores in town to find some dried seaweed but none of the places have any. When I stop at the car repair mart and ask how much for a brake check, the manager tells me that theirs is free. The jammer is put on the rack and all the wheels are taken off. After some time, the manager comes back and tells me that every thing is in good condition except there has been some fluid leaking from near the master cylinder. Now I know what has been causing the brake fluid loss and can correct the problem.

After several more stops, including one at a Mexican restaurant for some fish tacos, I head back to the RV space in Richard and Kim′s backyard, which I now call the Outback, and get ready for the meeting tonight.

I called Joe in Tennessee and tell him that I had thought that there was nothing else to go wrong with the jammer and ask him, "Guess what I have to replace now?" He replied, "What, the rear end?" I told him that I had just purchase a master cylinder with a life time warranty. We talked for a while and in the conversation, decided that it might also be good to replace the power booster, so I go back to purchase the power booster, also with a life time warranty. The total cost is one hundred and forty dollars; the repair mart wanted two hundred and twenty with a one year warranty. I save eighty dollars by doing it myselƒ and the warranty is much better. I do have to buy some fluid and a wrench which will not cost more than ten dollars and I will still save seventy dollars.

In the afternoon, while Kim is away at a dentist appointment, I go inside and install quarter round trim to cover the edge of their newly installed flooring. I am able to almost complete the living room before she gets back and then she prepares a nice supper for both of us. Afterwards, I retire to the jammer and work on the web site and photos.

The parts that were ordered yesterday came in today, so I drive into town to pick them up, purchase some new roll pins, and stop by a couple other stores before returning to the Outback campsite. While Kim is sitting out in the pagoda, I go inside to finish the living room trim. After this, I retire to the jammer and begin looking at the new parts to figure how to do the installation and see that it will not be to difficult, however, I will not start the repair until I have a full day to work on it.

Kim cooks breakfast for the three of us and afterwards, Richard and I work on replacing the master cylinder in the jammer. After getting every thing back in place, we test the brakes and they feel spongy so we decide that the four wheels need to be bled to remove the air from the brake lines. However, it is late in the afternoon and I am wore out from being in the heat all day, so I tell Richard that I would rather wait until another day to finish the brake job. He then suggests that we go to the lumber mart and get the wiring for the home repairs that he want to do while I am here; to this I agree because it would be a break from working in the heat. Once we have purchased the materials, we returned home and find out that Kim is busy cooking supper for the three of us.

I go to the jammer to clean up and then return to join Richard and Kim for a very nice evening meal. By the time we finish eating, the sun has set and both Richard and I are exhausted so I say good night and retired to the jammer for the evening.

Richard left for work before I awake and Kim is in the process of leaving when I begin moving from the jammer so I spent the day alone on the property. I choose to work on installing the quarter round trim today and start right after Kim leaves. I am able to complete the kitchen and part of the hallway before Kim returns for the evening. I then stop working, take a bucket bath and began working on my website.

At six, Kim comes to tell me that supper is ready and I join her to eat a nice meal of vegetable pasta and salad. During the meal, the topic comes up about how I learned the truth and I tell her my story which is a synopsis of Episode Two. Soon after, Richard arrives from work and we all sit and talk for a couple of hours. At ten pm, I retire to the jammer and soon after get horizontal.

Up early to do my study for the meeting and then at eight begin working on bleeding the brakes. At nine, I see Kim out to walk Jane, their Fox Terrier and ask if Richard is up, She says no and I say, "Yes, he need to catch up on his sleep." After a while, Richard walks into the outback to help with the brakes. We gravity bleed the brakes first, finishing about an hour before the meeting begins and then stop to get ready for the meeting. I go to where the water hose is, spay myselƒ down, lather up with soap and then spray rinse. I also shampoo and rinse my hair and then return to the jammer to dry off and dress. Richard and I arrive at the hall in time for the prayer. Directly after the meeting, Richard, Kim and I go to a Thai restaurant for a really nice meal and they insist that they pay for it. This is a really nice treat and a good meal!

Upon retuning to Richard and Kim′s home, Richard and I return to the jammer and continue working on the brakes. We proceed with the brake bleeding and this time do it the convention way but we keep getting large amounts of air bubbles. When I start the car to check the brakes, it is much better but still has a little bit of a spongy pedal. Richard calls Mike, a local mechanic and asks him what he suggests and he tells Richard that we probably need to bleed the brakes again. Also, I call Joe in Tennessee and he tells me the same thing.

After sunset, Richard comes out to the jammer and he asks me how long I will be able to stay here in the outback. (He suggests that I can stay for several more weeks.) I tell him that I plan to stay until next Sunday after which I will be heading for the Mojave National Preserve, then to Great Basin National Park and next to Moab, Utah to visit the friends there. He asks me when can I come back and I tell him that it will most likely be next spring during the month of March when I will be back to Washington to pick up more of my possessions at Mark and Cheryl′s home.

I awake at six am and check the temperature but return to sleep for a while longer. At eight, I leave from the outback to drive through town on Yucaipa Boulevard to Interstate Ten and there fill up my gas tank at the lowest price gas mart in town. I start up a conversation with a man who is filling his tank and ask him where I could find a car wash. Then I drive to the car wash and pressure wash all the underside of the jammer and then the engine compartment to remove all of the leaked brake fluid splattered about the car parts.

A short way from the car wash is a RV mart and I stop to see if they have the RV electrical power box that Richard and I have been looking for and they have a catalogue listing for the exact box which can be shipped in one day. Just before arriving back at the outback, I call Kim to see if she is home so that I can continue working on the floor trim in her home. When she answers her phone I ask her "Are you at home?" to which she responds Yes. I tell her that I will be there in a few minutes to continue working on the trim. She then asks me about the brakes in my car and if I was able to have them fixed to which I told her that the brakes are now working just fine.

Upon arriving at the outback, I go inside to take the first measurements and begin working on the floor trim. Kim is working on various things and then she leaves to go to the post office to send out the monthly bills. I wonder if she knows that she can pay almost every one online or with bill pay at most banks. In working on the trim, I finish the kitchen, the hall and the door ways in the second bedroom which means that there is only three walls in the bedroom that need the floor trim to complete the entire house and I finish those too. Afterwards, I find that Kim has prepared supper for both of us and we sit down at the board to enjoy a meal. Then, I retire to the jammer to work on the computer. Later, Richard calls and I tell him that the brakes are doing well and he tells me that he will be arriving from work at nine pm.

A short time before sunset, Kim leaves for the park to walk Jane leaving me alone in the outback and I continue to work on my website. Then Kim returns at nine pm and goes inside to continue the work of painting the trim that I have installed. At nine-thirty pm, Richard arrives and we talk about the work we will do in the upcoming days, future visits next spring and other general topics of interest. At ten-thirty pm, I retire to the jammer and work late on my website.

Another day of working on the house, but under it and to first understand how the tube and knob system is wired and then to determine what supplies will be needed for redoing all the wiring under his home. The work is both extremely tiring and dirty as we have to crawl through the low crawl area in the basement.

At five-thirty, we stop to clean up and get ready for the meeting at the Hall.

Up at seven-thirty am to make coffee and have something to eat when Richard walks up. I make coffee for two and ask him to cut open the mango that I purchased earlier at the dollar store. Then, I drive to the lumber mart to purchase the electrical supplies while Richard climbs under the house to work on the receptacle wiring. Returning, we both continue on the wiring for all the receptacles in his home; Richard under the home and myselƒ in the breaker box. After stopping for a late lunch, we both return to the work. After the sun begins to set, we stop work, clean up and then head into town for a few items at the market and to gas up the car. Upon returning, we sit in the pagoda to eat and have a beer.

While talking to Richard tonight, we determined that it is going to take a lot more time than we thought to upgrade the electrical in his home so I offer to stay longer to help complete the work. Finally, we both retire to our births to get horizontal.

Awake at seven something and pack up to run some errands in town, Recycle the used brake fluid and the used bottles, stop for breakfast at the Oak House and do my laundry. Then I return to the outback to relax and work on my website.

The evenings and mornings here in the desert are cool making it easy to sleep; I even have to use my sleeping bag to remain comfortable. During the midday, however, "the heat is hot and the ground is dry, but the air was full of sound." I awake at five-fifteen and check the temperature, then I go back to sleep until seven am when I get up and make a cup of coffee.

Kim comes outside to walk Jane and then I go inside to begin working on the last three pieces of quarter round trim. When she returns inside, Kim offers me an egg sandwich using spelt bread. Wow, I didn't even know there was spelt bread and the egg sandwich tastes very good. I finish the trim, caulk around the trim and then go outside to work for a while on the breaker box. In the mid afternoon, I drive into town to get an electrical box and a couple other items.

Awake at eight and take a shower with the hose, get dressed and go with Richard and Kim to the ministry meeting at a brothers home. It is interesting that the custom here is that the brother who hosts the meeting provides coffee immediately after the meeting is over. After discussing the topic about the ministry we then have coffee and talk about the territory and car groups. I work with Richard and Kim and we not only go to several of their calls, we also stop at a conservation park in the territory for a bath room break and Richard and Kim show me some of the hiking trails that they often walk and where there are many large oak trees. Afterwards, we pick up some supplies for the home project and return there to begin working.

The project for today is to install the new wiring for the kitchen circuit. First, Richard goes into the crawl space to install the lower wiring and after joins me in the kitchen to cut out the old extension wires and install the new wires. Kim removes all of her dishes from the bottom cabinets and Richard climbs into the cabinet to install the new wires. Then, while Kim goes for some additional boxes and wire nuts, Richard and I continue working on the circuit. When Kim returns with the parts, Richard and I continue until after sunset to complete the circuit. Finally, I go out to the breaker box and do a temporary installation of the circuit. Coming back into the kitchen, I tell Richard to watch the circuit while I turn the breaker on and to call me if it catches on fire. After, tuning on the breaker, I return to the kitchen and Richard tells me that every thing is working fine. We call Kim and tell her to come and see her new kitchen circuit. When she walks in, she immediately see the little green light on the GFCI receptacle and smiles. I tell her to open the refrigerator to see that it is on and she says that it is running. Then I press the test button on the GFCI and the refrigerator light goes off. Next, I press the reset button on the GFCI and the refrigerator light comes back on. I then tell her that this GFCI receptacle protects all of the kitchen receptacles and that the kitchen circuit is completed.

However, it the process of installing the new wiring, we had to remove the dishwasher, which bent a copper tube and caused a leak in the water plumbing. This required that we turn off the hot water to the kitchen sink to stop the leak leaving Kim to have to wash the supper dishes in the mop sink in the utility room. I told Richard that we need to get the hot water line fixed as soon as possible so that Kim would not be inconvenienced for very long. He told me that we will get to that soon enough. We then retired for the evening.

At eight-thirty, Richard comes to the outback and tells me that Kim suggested that he take me out for breakfast, which we do and go to the Greek restaurant for a Fat Greek Breakfast Burrito which I learn is quite tasty. Upon returning, we discuss what we have left to do in order to replace all of the old Knob and Tube wiring, determining that we have the receptacle circuit to finish and the light circuit to begin, which we should be able to complete these during Monday and Tuesday of this week. However, we still have the RV circuit that we need to install and that will take and additional day to complete. The problem is that Richard has to be back at work Wednesday morning and his next day off would be next Saturday. I offer to stay for another week so that we can complete this electrical upgrade project.

By noon-thirty we get ready for the meeting and arrive with several minutes to spare. After the meeting, we return home and determine what we need to fix the hot water leak and I draw and floor plan of his home so that we can create schematics for the electrical and future pluming upgrades. Later, we get in the cube and drive to have supper and then to the hardware mart to purchase the parts for the hot water repair. Finally, we return home and while Richard and Kim go to walk Jane, I do some gravel raking and take some photos of the waxing crescent moon and Venus in the sunglow.

When they get back from the dog walk, Richard gives me two gift cars and tells me that these are for me in appreciation for all the help that I have been in getting the several jobs done on their home. I thank them for their generosity and then offer Richard a margarita flavored beer from my cooler and he says that he will split one with me since they are twenty-four ounce each. By the time the sunglow has left the sky and evening has cloaked the night, we all retire to our births.

Up at seven am and after a shower, light my MSR stove to make coffee. As the water begins to boil, Richard walks up to see if I am awake. I tell him that I have been awake for some time and ask him "where is your bowl and milk that I asked you last night to bring to breakfast." He says that he will be right back and when he returns, he brings his milk and a bowl of strawberries and raspberries. He splits the fresh fruit with me and then I give him a cup of coffee and begin to prepare The Wayƒarer′s Daystart for both of us. He says that if this is what I normally eat, then I will be loosing weight really fast to which I reply, "except for the fresh fruit, yes, this is what I eat almost every morning, sometimes twice a day." After breakfast, we go into the house and begin work on the electrical upgrade. We first finish up the work in the crawl space, change our clothes and then move into the home to work as well at the breaker box outside near the front corner of the house. I know that we are making a mess inside but Kim is a real trouper cleaning up behind us and keeps her house spotless.

By noon, we have finished and tested the light circuit and then begin on replacing and connecting the new receptacles and Kim tells us that lunch is ready. She has prepared us a very nice tuna salad sandwich with fresh tomatoes. I go to the jammer and cut a thick slice of onion to put on my sandwich and tell Richard that I eat a lot of onions for their health benefits. When he asks what they are, I tell him when I examined the information, I found that the health benefits are many but don′t remember then. He then says that he will look it up on the internet later. I have found that eating onions every day helps to keep me disease free and I try not to let a day pass without eating a slice or more. The yellow onion, the one with the most eye tearing properties are the best heath wise.

Upon returning to the job, we finish the receptacles, connect them to the breaker and after checking, find that all of the receptacles are working. However, when checking the bedroom lights, neither of the two switches work. Going into diagnostic mode to determine why, we reconnect the old Tube and Knob circuits and the bedroom light come on. So, we figure that we must have missed one or more connections in the crawl space and go back under the house to search and find both missed connections. Even though the two connections are in the area with the most head room, we decide that since it is after six pm, we would stop for the evening and go out for supper, opting to go back to the Fat Greek restaurant. The lemon chicken meal is the best chicken that I have ever eaten and I will have to add lemon to my chicken recipe and hope it tastes half as good. We return home and I retire to the outback to get some sleep for another day of work on the electrical upgrade.

Up again shortly after seven and turn on my computer while I drink two cups of hot. By nine it is already seventy degrees and I begin looking on the internet for the next park that I would like to visit. Richard walks to the outback and soon after we begin working on repairing the dish washer plumbing and find that even though we have installed it correctly, the dishwasher that was in the home when they purchased is defective and leaks. We then go to the hardware store to get a valve for the line so that the washer can be turned off to stop the leak. Afterwards, we began to run the wiring for the RV service outlet box, pulling a fifty amp 220 volt wire with a twenty amp 110 volt wire through some oversize conduit that Richard had installed some time earlier. Pulling the wire was not too hard but it took a several attempts to get the pulling line through the longest run. Finally we succeed in having the one hundred and twenty-five foot lengths of wire sticking out of both ends of conduit. To finish the job, we need to connect one end of the wire into the breaker box and other end to the RV service box. (This box has been purchased but we still await it′s delivery on Friday)

At six pm, we put away the tools, clean the work area and then retire to our separate bathing facilities. ⁴ Using the hose to shower, I notice that the water is warm, probably because the heat of the day has made the water in the hose warmer than usual. About half way through my shower, the cold water begins coming out of the hose spray nozzle and immediately I think "e;Now, that′s better!" I dry off and put on my suit for the meeting tonight and then meet Richard at his car and head for the Hall.

After the meeting, Richard and I stop to buy Margarita flavored beers and he also buys a peach flavored one. We sit in the outback and talk about the electrical work which is not yet complete and I offer to stay through the weekend so as to get it completed. He drinks the peach beer while I have the Margarita beer and it is not long before we are ready to get horizontal.

After sleeping in late, I drive to town for breakfast, laundry and ice. Then upon returning to the outback, Kim suggests that I go up into the mountains to where it is cooler because today′s heat is exceptionally hot, reaching the triple digits. I sit in the heat for a while and then choose to go to the d-mart in nearby Beaumont, California to buy some supplies. After shopping in the cool store, I then drive up into the mountains to Oak Glen, California, an apple tourist area to nearly five thousand feet where the temperature is at least ten degrees lower. I want to eat there but all of the restaurants are closed so I take the road back to Yucaipa for supper before returning to the outback where I work on cleaning and organizing the jammer. After the sun sets, I turn on my computer but soon after it starts, the screen goes blank. It must have something to do with the heat and the dust. I will try to see if it works when the temperature cools down later.

It is after ten pm when the temperature drops to the mid sixties which is comfortable once again. I turn on my computer and it works long enough to check my email and then add a few words to my journal. At midnight, it is cool enough to sleep so I turn of the lights and get horizontal.

Another very hot day, up into the nineties before noon and triple digits by one pm. Later in the afternoon, I drive back to the d-mart in Beaumont to get my hair cut. The return route takes me through the Oak Glen area which does not impress me at all. Wanting to stop here to eat, but now sorely impressed with the unclean conditions of the restaurant and the fact that there is no air conditioning anywhere. Again, I choose to return to Yucaipa for my evening meal and go to the Japanese restaurant where it is not only very clean but has air conditioning. The food is very good and the salad dressing was the best. I tried to determine the ingredients for it′s taste: parsley, sesame seed oil, vinegar, lemon, pepper with pureed parsley and onion. Then I return to the outback for the evening.

The heat continues today and I begin working on digging the post hole for the RV outlet box service. When the RV outlet arrives by delivery truck, I determine that it is the wrong amperage for the breaker and wires that we have already installed. I go back to finish the post hole and also dig up the water, telephone and gas stub up pipes, thinking that we can use concrete to clean up the RV utilities service area.

At seven pm, I shower and then go into town for my evening meal and upon returning to the outback, Richard has arrived but it looks like they are already in bed for the evening. It is almost ten pm so I try the computer again but it goes blank right away so I go to sleep.

Awake at six am and turn on the computer hoping that with the cooler temperature, it may work but it goes blank very quickly. While waiting for Richard to get up, I try raising the concrete form that I built but need some bricks. I remember that there are some in the basement so I open the basement door trying to be quiet but immediately the house alarm goes off. Richard calls out "What happened?" and I tell him that since the basement door was not locked, I was going in to get some of the bricks. Also, I say "Now I know how to get you out of bed." He tells me that he will be out shortly and when he does, we talk for a while what we need to do today.

However, first, we go out in the ministry until noon, to eat lunch, to get some supplies and finally back to begin working on the RV power outlets and we nearly complete it but run out of daylight. Kim then call us for supper, another great meal and soon after we all retire to our spaces. Tonight, I begin putting my daily journal entries on paper since I have not been able to use the computer. Methinks that it must be the heat and desert dust that has caused this problem and that I may not be able to use it again.

I awake just after six am, make coffee and enjoy two cups while studying for today′s meeting. After finishing my study, I see Kim walking their fox terrier and a little later, Richard comes to the outback and asks if I would like to do some electrical. I tell him yes, begin right away and we finish setting up the RV power service. Then we clean up and get ready for the meeting. Afterwards, we go to the Thai restaurant again to eat.

Upon returning to the outback, I ask Richard if he has called for the rough-in inspection and he tells me that he will go in and do it right then. I retire to the jammer and continue writing my journal entries in the paper journal.

I sleep in until nine am when I hear Richard calling my name. He tells me that he had been checking on me since before eight. I then tell him that he should have awaken me. We have breakfast together, cooked by Kim and then get right to work on the electrical and will try to complete the last few runs before the inspector comes some time between one and two pm. All of the electrical runs are completed by one pm and because the work is in the crawl space, I have need for a shower and use the hose to take one and then put on clean clothes. As I finish dressing, Kim tells me that the inspector is here so I go to the basement door and see the inspector Mike with Richard in the walk in space. I join them and see that he is looking at the box that I had just finished. He asks a question about it and Richard tells him that it is existing work. Then I tell him that I took one of the circuits in the box and used it for a GFCI circuit. Mike then says that it all looks good, begins walking out of the basement and says "e;I am going to give you the final today."e; I look at Richard with the expression on my face that says "e;Did you hear that?"e; and he replies with a large smile.

Mike then tells us that he wants to check the kitchen receptacles which only take a few minutes. Then he asks to see the main breaker box and RV power service. After he looks at all these, he asks Richard for the permit, signs it, hands it back to Richard and then leaves. Richard then looks at me and says "I can′t believe what just happened!" We go inside and tell Kim that he signed the final and that he kept saying "That looks good." during the entire inspection and did not find one discrepancy. Then Kim said that she would fix us some lunch and while we are eating, Richard tells me that Kim told him to take me shopping to buy me a new computer to replace my dying one. He also tell me that because I have been doing so much on their home, they wanted to do something to help me. We went to the same electronics mart where I have purchased the last one and buy a new Toshiba laptop.

Returning to the outback, I begin setting the computer up but since the internet is not working, I turn it off and go to sleep.

Richard gets a call in to work so I get up early and go to the w-mart to set up the new laptop and it takes me until noon after which I return to the outback. Kim tells me that she has the internet technician coming but has seen a couple of breakers that are not turned on and asks me if that is the problem. I look at the breaker box but the two in question are just spares. Then I go into the basement and see the problem right away, the internet box is not plugged in because I did not install the new receptacle so that the cord could be plugged in. I get right to work and in no time, have the green light glowing on the internet box. The technician shows up shortly after that, checks it out and says that every thing is running just fine.

Then, I do a few other things to complete the job and then take a shower for the meeting. Richard arrives, gets ready and the we all drive to the Hall arriving just in time. Afterwards, Richard and I have a beer and chips covered with melted cheese while we talk.

Richard wakes me up at five am, about two and a half hours before sunrise and we say our good byes as he leaves for work. I get up, get dressed, finish packing and leave shortly after. First stop is for a bath room as something I ate last night has given me cramps this morning. After cleaning up, I return to the road heading toward Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma in San Diego. The monument namesake is the Spanish explorer, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who on September 28, 1542 was the first European to set foot on the West Coast of what is now the United States. The monument also houses the old Point Loma Lighthouse, the newer Point Loma light station, and the remaining structures and gun batteries of Fort Rosecrans. Too, there is access to tidal pools as well as trails through the coastal Mediterranean Ecotype. At the visitors center, there are exhibits from all of the above features as well as a viewing area to see the many types of commercial and military shipping that pass through the harbor entrance channel including submarines. Not too far from the center is the Cabrillo statue also overlooking the harbor. I thought that the temperature would be cooler here on the coast but instead, it is in the mid-nineties. I do get two patches and the stamps for the monument map.

Leaving before noon, and not wanting to drive the same route that got me to Point Loma, I drive east on Interstate 8 and near the vicinity of the PCT, turn north on state highway 79 through the Cleveland National Forest. When I arrive at Julian, California, I stop at a sandwich mart, buy lunch and a glass of ice water with numerous wedges of lemon. Turning east on state highway 78 I then begin crossing the Anza-Borrego Desert as the temperatures rises into the triple digits. I have to drink a lot of water because the heat is so hot. Also, the heat causes me to become sleepy so I begin eating the squeezed lemons, peal and all to stay awake. The lemons last until just before turning north on state highway 86, the Salton Sea highway and here buy gas, more ice water and a bean burrito. While driving north along the sea, methinks of the last time I drove this highway, back in 1970 when returning to Texas with my wife, Becky Rose after my medical discharge from the Marine Corps. Too, I remember that during that first drive, it was exceptionally hot and today is no different as the temperature soars into the three digit high teens. One hundred and eighteen being the high for the drive today.

Stopping at Salton Sea Beach, I drive to the water and take several photos of the numerous types of water foul. Continuing north and arriving at Interstate 10, the direction changes westerly for a short distance and when I arrive at the Palm Springs exit, I head north to state highway 62 to Yucca Valley, California, park at the d-mart and begin working on my computer before going to sleep.

It was late last night before it cooled off enough to obtain sleep and it is just after seven when I awake and walk into the d-mart to grab a cup of hot. By seven-thirty, I am driving east and stop by the Park Rock Cafe at Joshua Tree visitors center for breakfast and to upload the journal entries that I did last evening while waiting for the cool. When I ate here last month, I was really impressed with the high quality and good taste of the food so much that I made a mental note to return to see if a second time would be as good. Upon arriving, I order a veggie omelet and then began to upload my files. As I am finishing and shutting down the computer, the plate is put before me. If presentation counts toward a good meal, then for the slices of fresh fruit and whole grain toast, I give the presentation a ten out of a total possible score of ten. Then I began to eat my breakfast and for taste, I also give it a solid ten. However, quality on the other hand was no where near a ten, rather with all of the fresh just picked vegetables, (probably organic) I give it a twelve. The best part is it all came to under eight dollars. Enough about food!

Leaving Joshua Tree, California, I drive through the National Park which takes about one and a half hours because I do stop and take a few photos and out the south entrance and turn east on Interstate 10. From there, I travel through the desert towards Arizona with temperatures in the three digits. The high for the day, near the Arizona border is one hundred and six. Continuing east I turn north of US highway 60 and follow a northeast route over state highways (71 and 89) toward Prescott, Arizona. Slowly, the desert begins to have more and more green plants, mostly cactus and succulents but when I enter the Prescott National Forest, there is a lot of small bush like plants which begin to take the place of the cactus. Then, just before Prescott, the ponderosa pines appear. I drive through town and come out the other side on state highway 89A and return to a heavily forested area and through some very beautiful winding roads. Each time I entered the National Forest, a sign would state " Curves, Mountain Grades" and was it ever true. Then I crest seven thousand feet and arrive in Jerome, a copper mining town founded in 1876, turned historical destination tourist town. State highway 89A drives through a narrow switch back ridge and the town was built right on either side of the highway. Now, this is one town that I would like to explore some day, one which greatly differs and far surpasses the apple tourist town of Oak Glen, California that I visited a few days ago.

No, I did not stop for I want to make it to two national monuments before they close today. At three thirty, I arrive at Tuzigoot National Monument not knowing what to expect and when I walk into the visitors center, I find out that this is the ruins of the ancient inhabitants who lived here and built there homes beginning around 1300 CE. From what I have learned, when inhabitants in other area on the Colorado plateau moved from their dwelling for what ever reason, some of them came here to live. The second one, Montezuma Castle National Monument is the ruins from the same natives, now called Sinaqua from the Spanish words which mean "Without Water" lived in this area and around Flagstaff during the 1300 and 1400′s. And I thought I had learned all there was to learn about the ancients. Was I wrong!

Upon arriving in Flagstaff, I park in the parking lot at the d-mart some twenty feet in front of another motor home, take out a can of beans, a can of green chilies and begin to eat with a beer to drink with my supper. Then I get out my bucket and cup to take a bucket bath on the grass next to where I park. After bathing I continue to enjoy the beer while the man in the motor home gets out to walk his two chihuahua dogs. He greets me and says his name is David and tells me that he has been in Arizona since hurricane Katrina. He begins to tell me about what has been doing since the hurricane. When he pauses, I tell him that I was born in New Orleans and he says "Wow!" We talk for a while and notice to the south there is lightning and soon after it begins to rain, lots of it and we both retreat to our vehicles to close the windows and doors. While I am shutting the jammer, Richard from Yucaipa, California calls and I am not able to get to the phone before he hangs up. I call him back and he asks where I am and I tell him the above story which is good for me to help me remember it when I try to write the words in my journal. Outside, the lightning comes within two miles and continues flashing in the distance for several hours. I do enjoy watching lightning but it has been years since having this kind of night time display. Still, hope is that it will stops soon so that I can open the windows again for the evening. Lights off at nine.

I awake at six am, grab a cup of hot and get on the road north to Sunset Crater National Monument arriving at the visitors center just after seven am. There is no map available outside but I drive into the park to explore. I come to a exhibit parking lot and find a exhibit map of the park showing a walking trail along the bottom of the crater which I spend a while taking photos. At eight am, I return to the visitors center to get a map, stamp and patch. Here I learn that this crater was created about one thousand years ago during the time when the ancient natives lived in the area. From there I travel to the next park, Wupatki National Monument which is adjacent to the Volcano Monument. Approaching the entrance, I have no idea as to what to expect here but suspect that this is the ruins of the ancient inhabitants. Upon arriving at the visitors center I find exactly what I thought, this is a site where the ancient Sinaqua people live. I visit several of the ruins, all of which are not in cliffs but instead built on rock outcropping′s similar to Hovenweep in Utah. Afterwards, I travel to back south and east to Walnut Canyon National Monument which is also a Sinaqua ruin but these are built into alcoves in canyon cliffs.

Leaving from the Flagstaff area, I travel west on Interstate 40, stopping in Williams, Arizona for a meal. Then I continue west for a while until I become ready to take a nap so I stop at a truck stop and snooze for an hour or two. Back on the road, I watch a summer storm cause a downward crepuscular rays display after which pull off again in Kingman, Arizona to locate a d-mart and park for the night. Tomorrow, I hope to return to California and drive to Kelso, California in the Mojave National Preserve to see the train depot which was built in 1924 to provide lodging and food services for the railroad crew and sometimes food for the passengers.

Awake at seven am and go first for coffee and then to the throne. Next, I head west for Mojave National Preserve arriving in the park before nine am, drive up to the visitors center and begin observing the many displays. Two of the original bed rooms are restored to look like original worker rooms; equipped with the bare necessary. At one display, I learn that during the years to follow the building of the depot, there was need for more workers and additional housing was set up in the nearby area. When the railroad switched from steam locomotives to diesel electric ones the need for the workers came to an end at Kelso and the depot went into disuse, after which the Union Pacific wanted to tear it down. However, that met with opposition from a hoard of people who worked on getting the property out of the ownership of the railroad and into that of the Bureau of Land Management. In 1994, an act of congress created the national preserve and the depot′s responsibility became that of the National Park Service. As much as the ranger here stresses that it is not a national park lodge, I still think it is as important as any built during the pre-depression era.

You may ascertain from the above that I am more impressed with this building than the features of national preserve. Yes, I think the Kelso Depot is a National Parks Lodge in it′s own right but that is not all that I explored while in the preserve. A National Park by any other Name; Mojave National Preserve. To this concern, after viewing the park video, I tell the ranger that this park should be a National Park instead of a National Preserve because it clearly has the qualifications for it and then asked the ranger "What is the difference between a national park and a national preserve."

He looked back at me with discerning eyes, as if this is a topic he has given reams of thought to and said to me, "I think the main difference is a legal one." Interrupting, I ask "Do you mean that it requires and act of congress to create a Park and not a Preserve?" He replies "No, actually, both require an act of congress, but what I mean is that a Park is more protected." "In what way?" I ask. He then goes on to explain that because previously in the same area, there was mining, off road vehicles, hunting and other pursuits, that when there was word of creating a National Park, many of these activists protested, not wanting it to be a National Park because that would then eliminate their access to these pursuits.

So, even though the national park service initially wanted it to be a national park, they settled for a national preserve and by doing so would allow the pursuits but in the same manner would still have control of all of them. As his own opinion, the ranger said that he would rather it not be a National Park because then it would draw increased local and international attention which could then cause the park to be overrun with visitors and thus possibly do more harm than good.

I then have lunch in the dining room, a self-called beanery by the owner and cook Mike. I choose a vegetable sandwich and a glass of iced coffee which comes to twelve dollars which normally I would balk at spending for such a meal but it doesn′t look like Mike is making his fortune here, in fact there is a sign that states that his contract is up on the 31st of October of this year and he will not be renewing it. It follows that the park is taking bids for a new contractor for the restaurant. It seems that because this is a Preserve and not a Park, the number of visitors is very low and that is why Mike got the bid initially, possibly because no one else bid on it. Therefore, I think that if I was not enjoying my retirement so much, I would low ball this bid, probably get the position and then I could share many of my recipes with the park visitors in this restaurant. It is an interesting thought, however, I am so enjoying my retirement to ever consider this endeavor, that is going back to work.

With the day not even half over, I leave out of the northeast exit and pass through the largest groves of Joshua Trees I have seen with many of the trees larger than those I saw in Joshua Tree National Park. In fact, the largest known trees are here in Mojave National Preserve. Soon, I am on Interstate 15 heading north only to exit and follow the roads to Lake Mead National Recreation Area and stop at the visitors center. I find that this park has both a park patch and a Junior Ranger patch and when I tell the clerk that I an a long time patch collector, he gives me the Junior Ranger patch for my collection and I buy the park patch. I also watch the video before I drive into the park and my first stop is Boulder beach where I get totally submersed in the lake water and work on cleaning my entire body. Next, I drive northward on Northshore Drive, stopping at many of the overlooks to take photos. However, the water is at such a low point in the lake that many of the park amenities are closed.

I continue out the north entrance to reconnect to Interstate 15 and then drive northeast through Nevada, then Arizona and finally into Utah where I take exit 16 and drive to Hurricane, Utah. Then after gassing the Jammer, I look for a w-mart to locate the Kingdom Hall here in Hurricane. It is still very warm when I stop for the night and wait until after eleven until I can get to sleep.

After a late evening, I still arise at seven and begin cleaning up with a bucket bath. The meeting today is at one-thirty pm so I will have some time this morning to catch up on some of my reading and study. Also, I return to the w-mart and check my emails. At noon, I drive to have lunch and afterwards go to the meeting. I meet Ron, the brother that I had met the last time I was in Hurricane at which time we went out in the ministry together. I meet many of the other friends and then go with Ron, the visiting speaker and a couple others for a lunch buffet. I don′t eat due to lack of hunger but do visit for a while and upon walking outside find it raining. Then I head to the w-mart to upload the latest journal entries.

Soon after, I head east again, this time to Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and arrive just as it is getting dark. I drive into the park finding out that today is National Park get in free day and soon I am in a parking lot of a large resort complex. The rain today really lowered the temperature but the humidity makes it uncomfortable tonight. I can still hear the raindrops on the top of the jammer, so I don′t open the windows very much. The ranger at the entrance gate said that it will rain today and tomorrow and by Tuesday will dry up again. As I write in my journal, I am having a Scam, a new drink that I have invented and will reveal it′s recipe as soon as it becomes copyrighted.

Tomorrow, I hope to first stop at the visitors center for my stamp and patch. Since the Pipe Springs NM was closed when I arrived, I will return along the path I took today on the way here to return to that Monument. Today makes the second time that I have arrived too late to view the Pipe Springs National Monument. Afterwards, I will head north and west to Cedar Breaks NM. I did some reading online about Cedar Breaks and found that the park has some Bristlecone Pines which may satisfy my need to see these remarkably old living things. I was hoping to return to Great Basin NP, drive to the top of the roadway on Mount Wheeler which is just over ten thousand feet and then walk the rest of the way to the Bristlecone groves at eleven thousand feet on top of the mountain. An interesting fact about these trees is that at very high altitudes, these trees can live for thousands of years. However, plant these at lower elevations and then these trees are no different than any other and only live for a couple hundred years. ⁵

After driving to the visitors center and spending a little time checking it out and taking photos of the sights, I drive back to Pipe Springs National Monument and this time it is open. I take the tour of the Winsor Castle and learn about the spring which is still running. Finally, I head northwest to Cedar Breaks National Monument approaching from the south and the entire trip is a long uphill climb. I drive over two summits, both over eight thousand, then another at nine thousand. When it seems that I had gone high enough in elevation, I turn onto the approach road and the climbs begins again. Upon reaching the park entrance, my GPS shows that I am over ten thousand feet and soon I arrive at the parking lot for the visitors center. A sign shows that the elevation is ten thousand three hundred and fifty feet. I purchase a patch, get a map and stamp it and then ask where the Bristlecone pines are. Then I drive to the view points, walk the hundred yards to the grove and take some photos. Methinks that my need to see these trees have now been fulfilled.

Driving out the north end of the park, I connect to Interstate 15 and head north to Interstate 70 on which I take the west exit and drive for over two hours to arrive at the exit to Moab, UT and pull into town long after dark. Then I find a place to park for the night and get horizontal just before midnight.

Up at seven, take a bucket bath and put on clean clothes. Next, I head for the hall, but when I arrive the service group is gone. So, I then go to find a shady spot and hopefully one with WiFi to work for a while on my web site. I end up parked in the shade at the burger mart and go inside for WiFi during which, talk with Jerry who is taking the summer to tour the western national and other parks. While at the mart, I receive a call from Estella who says that George and her just got back from the convention and are Zonked so they will not be at the meeting. I tell her that I will look for them this week in the ministry. Then, I go back to the jammer and prepare for the meeting tonight.

In the early evening, I change clothes, put on a tie and go to the meeting. Moab congregation is a small one but has some very friendly and spiritual friends. Tonight is the school review and as I sit and listen to the many well studied comments, I couldn′t help but think "This would be a wonderful place to live." You know how the friends are with visitors, usually the first and most frequent question that they pose to you is "Are you moving here?" Of course, I tell them that I want to move to the South of Mexico. I also ask about the territory and find that there is a variety of religions in this desert oasis many of who have moved from Colorado or other parts of the east. Another question that I often get asked is "How long are you staying?" Most times I would say "A day or two", but here I want to stay for a few more and may even stay until the meeting on Sunday. As for the actual day of my departure, I am not sure.

The sun rises over the rim of the valley walls at about seven and shines into the jammer waking me up. Moab is situated in a somewhat deep valley that is a side channel connected to the Colorado River which is just north of town and a another mile north is Arches National Park. I arise and prepare for the ministry and wait until nine but only Randy shows up. He does not have any territory nor access to get any so we go to breakfast instead.

Afterwards, I go to the w-mart and pound on the keyboard for the rest of the morning until I get tired of that and drive up to Arches National Park and get a map and some patches. Then I fill up my empty water bottle. Next, I drive west on state route 279 along the Colorado river and stop to watch some rock climbers, then photograph some petroglyphs and a lot of river cliffs before finally driving back into town to work some more on the computer. I am still trying to do the complete remodel of the Episode Four Photo Gallery but still in the design stage, which means that I do not know yet how I will arrange the many galleries. Currently, the galleries are listed in one long list which I want to change to multiple sections accessed by a menu; a design which will be more in tune with the rest of the web site.

Like yesterday morning, no one shows up for the ministry so today I head west to Capital Reef National Park which is about a two hours drive. When I arrive at the park entrance I begin to remember my first visit here and how after driving the entire park, taking photos of each and every turn, I then inadvertently deleted the photos. Well, this time I will make sure that I do not delete them. This time however, I stop in Fruita and visit the homestead, which is now a museum and store specializing in jellies, pies, sauces, and snacks. I do not purchase anything, one because most of it is loaded with sugar and two, all are over priced, as much as triple what they would sell for at the d-mart.

After leaving the park, I return to Moab, have a beer and wait for the temperature to drop to where it is comfortable enough to sleep. I have to wait until midnight before I can get to sleep.

Up at seven-thirty, take a bucket bath and then get ready for the ministry. Today, however, there are three others who come to the meeting for the ministry and we go out for most of the morning. After that, I change clothes and head down to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park, an area of the park that I have never been to. I only stay for a short time before I need to head back to Moab for a dinner invitation from George and Estella.

I arrive a few minutes before so that I can take a quick bucket bath of my hair, face and upper body, and then change into a clean shirt. We share a nice meal and then talk until the sun sets, after which I leave and return to my camp to have a beer while waiting for the temperature to drop.

Despite being up until after midnight waiting for the cool which never came, I get up at seven am and take a bucket bath. Then I drive to the w-mart, have a cup of coffee while my computer battery is charging. Today, I drive out of Moab and the first stop is Canyonlands National Park to go to the Island in the Sky visitors center, watch a movie, listen to a ranger program, buy a patch and stamp a map. Next, I drive east and into Colorado, stopping first at Colorado National Monument and repeat the visitors center information and patch gathering. Leaving Interstate 70, I turn onto US highway 50 and continue east to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park for yet another visitors center ingathering. Finally, I drive east on US 50 a short ways more and stop at Curecanti National Recreation Area to see what it is all about. I surmise from my short stay and what I do see is that most of those there are boaters by day, partiers by evening and all weekend warriors who lug there big toys from the city for the thrill they can achieve during the time they have off from work.

Leaving the last park as the sun sets, I drive to Gunnison, Colorado for a bite to eat and call Richard in Yucaipa to see how he is doing and to tell him that I met his childhood friend Mark while in Moab. Finally, I drive further east on US 50 to near the continental divide arriving at Monarch Pass, elevation 11,312 feet before I stop for the evening. Methinks that this is the second highest elevation, the highest being 12,183 feet on Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mountain National Park. I get into the back and use up some battery power typing today′s journal entry. It is much cooler here than it has been for a long time and I should be able to get right to sleep.

Now this is so much better, I had to cover up all night long and when I got up, I felt a little bit of a shiver. Crossing the high point in the pass means that I am now on the Atlantic side of the divide, a place that I have not been for months. However, this crossing will find me remaining on the Atlantic side of the divide for quite a while now, possibly as late as February 2014. I drive down off of the summit and to my first park for the day, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Previously, I had not wanted to go to another bone pit but I had heard two of the park rangers at Colorado National Monument talking about Florissant and what they were saying made me decide to stop here. Besides, it was not to far out of my way. Upon arriving, I walked into the visitors center and asked the ranger, "What do I need to know about this monument?" Her reply was so interesting as she told me about a prehistoric landscape here in the park which was populated with giant redwood trees, yes, the same ones that we understand today only live in wet coastal areas. "So, there was an ocean in the middle of the continent?" Yes, and there was also a range of active volcanoes, whose eruptions caused several major lahars to cover the landscape, including many of the redwood trees with as much as twelve to fifteen feet of mud. This of course killed the trees, but the stumps buried in the mud began to petrify due to the high content of silica in the mud. The Monument has dug up and preserved many of the petrified redwood stumps and has most of them for display under canopies. This one feature of the Monument totally impresses me!

But wait! That′s not all! These same volcanoes caused more lahars in a different area which dammed up the local river causing a large lake to form. Then in the process of more eruptions with constant ash settling in the area together with the flora and fauna dying and settling to the bottom of the lake cause many layers of sediment laden with plant and animals to be deposited on the lake bottom. Ultimately, this caused the area to became a large depository of fossils. During the last one hundred years, there has been thousands of species identified, catalogued and are now on display in many museums. Even the visitors center has many on display. This is what the Monument has become most famous for, the thousands of fossils of insects, fish and leafs that have been found and continue to be found at this sight. Still thinking about how I enjoy this park, I leave the site to travel further east to the next one.

Bent′s Old Fort National Historic Site is in reality not an Old Fort but a New Fort with the reconstruction completed in 1976. Still, it is a very close replica of the original Fort built in 1833 on the north bank of the Arkansas River near a ford in the river which at that time the border between the previously acquired Louisiana Purchase and Mexico. It was on the Santa Fe trail, bringing to the fort not only the westward travelers but commerce with Mexico.

It was close enough to the Rockies to entice the trappers to come to trade here. Further, it was near the hunting grounds of the plains Indians who showed their willingness to come here to trade their buffalo robes as well. Charles and William Bent were drawn to the area as young men and here capitalized on the enormous trade potential. Despite the great success of the Fort, it was burned in 1849. Sole surviving owner William Bent moved his trading business downriver forty miles where he constructed Bent′s New Fort.  

Finally, I drive to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historical Site arriving at three forty-five pm shortly before the park closed. However, the rangers were already getting in their vehicles to head for home. One ranger comes over with the park brochure to give it to me and another visitor who arrive at the same time. The ranger said that we should come back tomorrow but I told him that it was not possible since I like most people today are on a time schedule. He shrugged his shoulders in a way that indicated tough luck for us latecomer′s. Were is the compassion, where is the concern or fellow feeling for neighbors? Couldn′t they have stayed an extra half hour to accommodate us, especially since, one, the park′s posted hours shows the park is suppose to be open for fifteen more minutes and two, the normal park hours are from nine am until four pm, just seven hours that the park is kept open. It is a sad thing that people seemingly do not try to help others any more. I know that we all have a life after work, but really, an office that is only kept open for seven hours. I am not impressed with this park, nor the park personnel here. I leave the park, drive into Kansas and for several more hours to arrive at the town of Larned, Kansas which is close to the first park I will visit in the morning, Fort Larned National Historical Site.

After looking back at the travel and number of parks visits today, methinks, that with a good night′s sleep, much more can be done in this endeavor. However, these days, a good night′s sleep depends entirely on the temperature. At ten pm, when I am ready to sleep, it is still in the low eighties. Well, I suppose that is better than the triple digits.

Awake at seven and begin looking for a w-mart and find one in the down town area, a down town which is not much to speak off. I check my email and the latest news, upload my latest journal entries and then stop for some coffee before heading to Fort Larned National Historic Site. I arrive just after the gates open and walk over the new bridge into the compound, during which I meet one of the costumed volunteers. Since today is Labor Day, there will be quite a few that are dressed in period, demonstrations and other events throughout the day.

I don′t plan to stay for the whole day but do tour the entire fort, which was built in the 1860′s and served as the guardian of the Santa Fe Trail until the railroad replaced the trail in about 1878. George Custer served in this fort in his early days and Kit Carson and other famous western cowboys came through this fort during the fort′s hey day.

Nicodemus National Historic Site is located in the small township of the same name in north central Kansas where many African Americans moved from the post Civil War south to take advantage of the American Homestead provisions. By the 1880′s, hard working, strong willed settlers transformed the all black Nicodemus into a prosperous town.

However, to maintain prosperity in the Great Plains, the presence of the railroad would be required and despite all the efforts of town boosters the railroad went far to the south. Thus the town began to decline and Nicodemus suffered with the rest of the country during the 1930′s Great Depression. Driving from Nicodemus, I head southeast and arrive at Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve shortly after sunset.

Methinks traveling across this state on back roads reminds me how much I have been traveling in stealth mode, because I see so few other cars along the highways I travel. Then, when I come out of the back roads, I drive into town, stop at a w-mart for Internet, then a g-mart or d-mart to buy groceries, and then disappear again onto the back roads heading to the next park. Even the location where I park at night, sometimes at a d-mart and sometimes on a town street most often goes unnoticed.

Last evening, I was in the town of Larned on a side street across from a home but parked adjacent to a vacant lot. Tonight, I am in the parking lot for the visitors center at a national preserve, only because the park allows overnight parking for those visitors who would camp on the prairie at night. (I learned later that the park backcountry is open 24-7.)

At about ten pm, I step outside of the jammer to look at the stars; it is a new moon and find the sky to be cloudless. The first thing that I notice when looking up is the Milky Way, but upon looking a little closer I see all the north circumpolar constellations: Ursa Major (big dipper [bear]), Ursa Minor (little dipper [bear]) Draco (the dragon), Cassiopeia (the queen), Cephas (the king) and the faint Camelopardus (the camel-leopard). Too, I notice the Summer Triangle, an astronomical asterism, high above composed of the stars Altair, Deneb and Vega.

I have not been keeping up with the stars and planets as much as I would like to but I do so enjoy peering up at the wonders of the night sky when they present themselves. Methinks that viewing the night sky keeps me appreciative of how insignificant my existence really is and ever so grateful that Jehovah cares for me. It is now ten-thirty pm and I am going to get some shut eye.

Awake at the break of day with the sun just below the horizon. I walk to the visitors center to check to see if the throne is open and walk right in. Afterwards, I drive to a shady spot and set up my stove to make coffee and my Daystart.

By the time I finish eating, there is a ranger going around to open the different buildings of the ranch, first the barn, then the chicken house, carriage house, the residence house, out house, smoke house and finally the ice house.

Interestingly, most all of these buildings were built using limestone blocks during the 1880′s. Much later, the entire 7000 acres ranch was acquired by the National Park Service and became the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in 1996

By ten am, I am on the road moving east again and arrive at Fort Scott National Historic Site with plenty of time before it closes. However, I do not have enough time to drive to another park today, so instead, I drive to St Louis tonight so that I may go to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois tomorrow. I drive on the back highways this afternoon and make it through Jefferson City, the Missouri state capital, and down along the north side river road until I find a suitable road side park to stop at. It is nine pm when I turn off the motor and get into the back.

Since I was able to get to sleep early last night, I awake early this morning as the sunglow is just beginning to shine on the eastern horizon. I get up, walk to the out house and then return to the jammer and drive to along the Missouri River. The Katy Trail is an old railroad bed that has had the track removed and then gravel added to make a walk, bike trail. Someone told me that it was called the Katy Railway in it′s day and that it ran from St Louis all the way to Kansas City.

Now it is just a extraordinary path for biking and foot travel in the state of Missouri. The road that I take is the Old Missouri River Road which is now named State Highway 94.

Early in my drive, I come upon something odd, the burial site of Daniel Boone and his wife Rebecca. What is odd about this is that I have already been to their burial site in Frankfort, Kentucky. I stop and check it out to find out that this is where they were first buried and then there remains transferred to Kentucky.

I take it from the capital all the way to the where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi River. Part of the highway 94 drive takes me though the Frenchtown suburb of St Charles on the north bank of the Missouri River. (St Louis is on the south bank.) In St Charles, I drive down the old Main Street French Quarter, view the Lewis and Clark boat exhibit, and afterwards stop at a riverside park for my daystart. Near the confluence of the two rivers, I cross the Mississippi River into Alton, Illinois, from which I drive south to the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site near East St Louis, Illinois.

Upon entering the visitors center in the park, I immediately tell the park personnel that I think that this park should be elevated to a National Monument or National Historical Site status. He tells me that not only is it an Illinois State Historic Site, but that it has been named a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and a World Heritage Site in 1982.

The park protects 2200 acres of the original site 4000 acres, and of the eighty original mounds, seventy still remain. Monk′s Mound, the largest on the site and the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas is estimated at 22 million cubic feet of dirt. The base covers more than 14 acres and rises to a height of 100 feet. The principle chief would live in a large dwelling on the top of Monk′s Mound where he would conduct religious ceremonies and govern the people. These ancient people likely crossed the Bearing Sea on the land bridge and settled this area around 700-800 CE which probably grew to over 20,000 inhabitants before declining sometime after 1200 CE. By 1300 CE the area was completely abandoned. What caused this large metropolitan area to be abandoned, or where the people went, or what tribes they became today are questions left unanswered. (more can be found at www.cahokiamounds.org) I do not climb to the top of Monk′s Mound because there is just too many steps. I do go to the Woodhenge, pace the diameter of the circle and find it to be close to four hundred feet across. Counting the posts, I find there are forty-eight. Six of the post were marked with white paint indicating the sunrise and sunset of the two equinoxes and two solstices. Other posts would indicate the beginning of seasons, moon rises and moon sets, as well as could predict eclipses and comets.

After, leaving Cahokia, I drive by the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (in downtown St Louis) and also to the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site which was his home ten miles southwest of St Louis. This was the childhood home of his wife, Julia Dent and where the couple lived from 1854 through 1859 and which home was a slave farm. Finally, I drive south on interstate 55 and stop at a d-mart for the evening.

This morning, when I stop for gasoline, I see that there is a laundry attached to the gas station. I go in side to check the price and find it very reasonable. I knew that the cost of living in Washington is way to high but here I am beginning to realize just how high it really is. Methinks that here in the east and in the south (although I have not yet arrived in the south), that no matter where I go, the cost for everything continues to be much less; I could give many examples but will not do so. The decision to do laundry is because I do not have a clean shirt for the meeting tonight. After the time in the l-mart, I continue the drive to Ozark National Scenic Riverways and stop at the first river crossing where the water is deep and swift, perfect for a swim. Afterwards, I dry off with my towel and return to the drive west through the park. I look for a visitors center but can not find one; at least not one open because the summer season is done even though it is still very hot out during the day. In the late afternoon, I head out of the park towards Springfield and the next national park.

I end up stopping at a d-mart near to the park that I will visit tomorrow.

Up at day break and go for coffee first and then to the throne. Next, I drive to Wilson Creek National Battlefield and find that this was part of the Civil War battles. Normally, I would not be interested in the nations battlefields and war memorials and have not included them in my photo gallery but I stick it out, watch the video and learn why this battlefield is important enough to give it National Park status. It seems that this battle was early in the war, one which the South won and doing so by killing one of the North′s Generals. After this battle, the North began to take serious the South′s ability to fight. I drive the circular park road taking photos of a few locations and then head to the George Washington Carver National Monument.

George Washington Carver was born a slave and at a very early age, he and his mother were stolen from their owners by bandits. The owner then hired men to locate his slaves and return them home. When that was done, the owner paid the men by giving them a thoroughbred race horse. George learned one thing from that account, that someone thought enough about him that he sent some men to retrieve him. Soon after, the Civil War ended and he began searching to find a way to gain schooling. He went on to college and studied the peanut to find hundreds of uses for it. He obtained a Masters of Agriculture degree in 1896, accepted an offer from Booker T. Washington to head the new Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute, an all black college, where he taught and helped many blacks to go on to accomplish much in positive ways. This National Historic Site is the first that was created which dealt with a black person, even created before Nicodemus National Historic Site.

From the Carver park, I drive south into Bentonville, Arkansas and to my surprise find that one of the d-mart′s has a visitors center in the same location where Sam Walton had his very first five and ten store. What is more, the company has large warehouse locations for all kinds of research and development. One of the warehouses is entirely for the development of store layout. I suspect that the entire warehouse is a duplicate of a their store interior where they determine how best to make the interior look.

After leaving Bentonville, I head east to the Buffalo National River and arrive at the boat landing not far from Gilbert, Arkansas. Upon arriving at the landing and driving right up to the water, I get out my two buckets, draw water in both and take a cooling bath. After drying off, I drive back up to the parking area and set up for the evening. I get vertical by ten pm but the warm weather keeps me up until after midnight.

I awake at seven and go directly to the vault toilet. Then I begin driving to town but the left rear tire goes flat, so I stop and put the spare on. While I am tending to the tire, a man in a truck stops to help and I thank him but tell him that I am just about done. He says that he will leave his truck there so as to keep any cars from hitting me. He also tells me that his name is Ron and that his great grandfather ran the ferry at the river before there was a bridge and that the landing still has his family name. After tightening the lugs, I clean up and continue my drive to town stopping at the Gilbert Cafe for breakfast. I arrive fifteen minutes before it opens at eight am, and within minutes, there is a full house here for breakfast.

After breakfast, I continue to look for a visitors center for the Buffalo National River and when I cross the bridge heading south find one on the west side of the highway at Tyler Bend, but is closed. After retrieving a park brochure I head west on Interstate 40 to the Oklahoma line where I stop at Fort Smith National Historic Site. This fort has been almost entirely removed, all of the walls and fortifications, all of the barracks and the only thing that is left if the courthouse and jail house with much of the interior of it having to be rebuilt. Even with all the restoration, I remain unimpressed with this site. South on US 71 and then east on US 270 until I arrive at Mount Ida where I turn north on state highway 27 looking for a river in which I can get wet and wash off some of today′s perspiration. On the way to the river I see a Kingdom Hall and since there is a meeting tomorrow morning, this is where I will stop for the evening.

Methinks that not only does the temperature increase the further south I drive but I have also found that the water in the rivers increases both in temperature and in cloudiness. Just a few days ago, in fact this past Thursday, when I was in the Ozark National Scenic River, I found the water to be quite clear in my bucket and very cold. Then, when I took a bucket bath at Grinders Ferry landing, the water was warmer but still somewhat cool and it looked a little off color in my ivory bucket. Tonight, when I take a bucket bath in the Ouachita River just north of Mount Ida, Arkansas, I find the water in the same bucket very dirty, even a bit green and with no coolness at all. Methinks that when I arrive in Texas, the river waters will be warm and brown even thought I hope not. Too, it is here in Arkansas where I hear the first warnings about the water, that being there are contaminants within it and that I should be careful about getting in or using water that is not treated.

When driving back to Mount Ida, I see the waxing crescent moon and it is the first night. It is four fingers above the horizon right after the sun sets and drops to the horizon quite quickly as I watch. After parking for the evening, I sit outside because it is way to hot to try to sleep and rub deet on my exposed skin to ward off the insects. I will need wait until late tonight before it becomes cool enough for me to sleep. The moon drops below the horizon and it is quite dark but I still await for the temperature to drop.

I awake at seven, get up, get dressed and drive to the hall to begin my study for today when about a half hour later a car drives into the parking lot. When the brother rolls down his window, I greet him and then he gets out and walks toward me. I tell him that I am here for the meeting and he tells me that there will not be one here today because the congregation is in Hot Springs, Arkansas for the circuit assembly. I ask him where it will be held and he tells me at the convention center and then I tell him that I will see him there. It is about 30 miles to the center and I arrive with plenty of time to get dressed and put on my tie before it starts. Inside I find a place to sit down and enjoy the assembly, God′s Word is beneficial for Teaching. The program last through the morning and we break for lunch. Then it resumes for the afternoon session until three-thirty pm.

After the program, I drive up to Hot Springs National Park and walk into the visitors center where I get my map, stamp it and then two nice park patches. Then, I walk around the bath house row to take photos of the display springs and well as the bath houses. I also see a percussion band an join in for a short time. Next, I drive to Happy Hollow cold water spring and fill up all of my water jugs with the mineral water after which I drive to the second cold water spring where I look at the specifications of the two springs. That is where I determine that the Happy Hollow water is very acidic with a pH of 4.5. Upon checking the ph of the water at the Whittington Spring, the ph is 7.25 and slightly alkaline which is so much more healthy to drink. In my previous research, I have found out that an acidic environment promotes cancer where as alkaline water helps to check cancer. A simple fact in the fight against this disease is that cancer can not live in an alkaline environment so drinking alkaline water is very important for health. Testing the pH of water is very easy, just pick up some pH test paper and before you drink put a small amount of the water in a spoon and dip a piece of the test strip in the water for a second and set it aside. Never dip the test strip in the glass that you will be drinking because the test strip contains chemicals you do not want to ingest. Also, wash your hands after handling the pH test paper. It′s funny, that just talking about the pH test paper makes me want to wash my hands.

Also, I drive up on top of the mountain that provides the collection of the water that seeps down into the below ground fissures to the geothermal area and then back up through the springs. The time involved for the round trip of this water is over four thousand years. No, that is not a typo, it take four millennia for the water that falls on the mountains in Hot Springs National Park as rain for it to return to the surface as heated water at 143 degrees in the form of a hot spring. Another interesting fact is that the water coming up at Happy Hollow spring is only underground for no more than one hundred years. The water from the Whittington spring however, emerges from the Big Fork Chert and has been underground for over 6000 years. I suppose that the longer it stays underground, the more filtering it receives making it closer to neutral ph.

Finally, I drive off the mountain and east on US 70 to Interstate 30 and head north to where I can park in a d-mart for the night. At the store, I purchase ice to chill my newly acquired alkaline mineral water and I will not readily give up this alkaline water to just anyone. Shortly after sunset, I see the moon again, just a little bigger tonight. Upon arriving at the d-mart at about nine-thirty, it is way to hot to sleep, being in the low nineties and I have to don some deet to hold the mosquitoes at bay.

At midnight, a police officer shines his flashlight at the rear of the jammer which is open and I stick my head out. He asks me if I am alright and I tell him that I am overnighting here on my national park tour. I show him all the water bottles I filled at Hot Springs and he asks me where I am going next. When I tell him Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, he tell me that if I am going to overnight there, to watch out for the gangs. I tell him that I will just be there for the morning and will then drive to the next park.

Up at seven-fifty and set up the GPS to take me to the high school in Little Rock, arrive at eight-thirty and wait for the visitors center to open at nine am. Once inside, I watch the video and then look through the museum which shows all the turmoil that Little Rock Central High School had to go through in the late 1950′s. When school began in September of 1957 there were nine blacks that wanted to go to the "All White high school" The controversy was the first test of the Federal Government′s resolve to enforce African-American civil rights in the face of massive southern defiance during the period following the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka supreme court decisions, which concluded that "separate education is not equal education." The white mob violence became so bad in Little Rock, that President Eisenhower had to use federal troops to ensure the rights of African-American children to go to the school of their choice. By calling out the US Army, Eisenhower became the first president since the post-Civil War Reconstruction period to use federal troops in support of African-American civil rights. The visitors center has done a great job displaying the recordings of the many voices that had a role in that national conflict.

By noon, I am back on the road, and just before crossing the Arkansas River I stop at a w-mart to get out of the midday heat. I also use a free drink coupon for a pumpkin latte. At two pm, I resume the hot road trek on US 165 to the next park, Arkansas Posts National Memorial which previously I had not even heard about.

After viewing the museums, I walk along the long pathways leading back to the area where all that remains of this post are some foundations, stoping to take photos of a great egret, a green darner dragonfly, some of the water plants and the Arkansas Posts Cannon cira 1762 that is displayed.

I leave the memorial and head first south along US highway 165 and then east on US 82 across the Mississippi River and across the state of Mississippi until I arrive at the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is already dark when I begin driving north on the trace and stop at the first historical marker with a parking lot. However, the location is surrounded by a thick forest and in a low spot. With the very hot temperature and because I am sweating profusely, I decide to drive further north on the trace. I keep driving until after midnight and finally stop on a high spot that has a bit of a wind and overlooks a large prairie. I take a bucket bath, dry off, put on clean clothes and then get horizontal and try to sleep.

I get up well after sunrise with the sun over one hand high. I drive north and arrive at the turn off to the first national park, Tupelo National Battlefield which is only a small plot where there is a park sign, two cannons and a monument. I don′t stop at the park but do stop at a f-mart for a cup of coffee and then continue on my way north along the trace. In only a short drive, I arrive at the visitor center for both the Natchez Trace Parkway and Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, stopping for my regular wants: map, stamps, patches and to view the park video. I really do learn a lot by viewing the park video at the visitor centers. Then leaving the trace, I drive to the next national park Shiloh National Military Park and go into the visitors center for the video, which is forty-five minutes long but very well done. I have never been very interested in the civil war, unlike so many people in the south with all the full dress re-enactments. However, I find this video very informative, even causing me to want to root for the home team a little but I keep reminding myself "I already know the ending of this story!" After the video, I get a map, stamp and patch but do not stay too much longer because I want to get back to the trace and find a campsite for the evening.

Remembering the last time I drove the trace, the Meriwether Lewis site on the trace has a free campsites but when I arrived back then after dark, there were not a single site open. I want to arrive a little earlier tonight and so head directly there. Arriving about an hour before the sun sets, I find the campsite to be totally empty except one fifth wheel camper. I put into the campsite directly behind theirs because it is closest to the bathroom and I go to work setting up camp for the evening, As I am about to take a bucket bath, I see the woman walk out of the trailer and when she sees me looking her way, she waives. I wave back and she goes back into her trailer and I get busy with my bath and washing of my nylon clothes. Later, I walk to their trailer and call out a greeting and when they answer, I say "Please forgive me for not coming to greet you earlier but I had to take care of some chores before it got dark." I find out that they are from Conroe, Texas and I tell them that I use to go camping in Conroe as a youth in the Boy Scouts. Ron invites me in, introduces me to Beverly and we continue out discussion for a little longer before I excuse myselƒ to resume my evening chores.

A little later, they come out to walk Honey, their dog and when they walk by we begin talking again. Beverly mentions how bad the conditions are in the world today and that opens the way for me to talk about the paradise earth that is soon to come. So as to show them that there will be a paradise earth, I quote a couple of scripture and stop to let Ron finish the verse. I start with the scripture "Thy kingdom come, the will be done on ______." and Ron says "Earth." Next, I say "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the _____." and Ron says "Earth." I tell them that the paradise earth will come, that it is what God wanted in the first place. Then, I offered Ron and Beverly a "book that will help them learn this for themselves" and give then a copy of "What does the Bible Really Teach." Finally, I ask them "If you listen to a man tell you what the Bible says, do you know that he is telling you the truth?" Beverly says no. Then I say, this book lets you look up in your own Bible to see that what it say is really from the Bible. They take the book, thank me for it and return to their trailer. I just hope that they will look at the book. I don some deet to keep the bugs off of me and write words into my journal which I hope to upload tomorrow as soon as I find a w-mart. Too, I have not been able to see the moon for a couple of day, mostly because where I have been camping has been heavily forested.

Upon awaking at six-thirty am, I notice that despite the sun haven risen, the forest keeps it′s brightness at bay. The numerous bird songs continue to fill the air; last evening there was one, the likes of, never heard by me before but distinctive in it′s oddity. I arise, open up the rear of the jammer, get out my stove and begin boiling water for coffee and hot oats, to which I add molasses and blueberries to sweeten the meal.

While eating, I hear but do not see several woodpeckers, some in close proximity. The forest still drips from yesterdays rain and I can only imagine what it would be like camped here on this ridge during the heyday of the trace, (the late 1700′s through the 1820′s.)

After cleaning up and packing out, I explore this wayside still thinking about what I have learned about the wayfarers back in the day of Meriwether Lewis.

At that time, many Kaintucks on log barges from the Ohio river valley floated crops, livestock, or other materials down the Mississippi River to Natchez or New Orleans where they sold their goods as well as their barge for lumber and then walked or rode a horse back home by way of this trail. These must have been some great journeys that they talked about with friends and family for weeks or months afterwards. Soon, I pack out and return to the trace on my journey northward.

The very northern forty miles of the trace is a section that I have never driven due to the fact that I usually get off at the Duck River exit and travel to the homes of those I know in central Tennessee. This time however, I drive those last forty miles of the trace and find several interesting features including waterfalls, overlooks of the valleys below and the famous twin arches bridge. The end of the trace empties onto state highway 100 which is one I traveled often between Centerville and Nashville when I lived in Centerville in the late 1980′s. Upon turning onto highway 100, I drive only a short way to highway 96 which I take through Franklin, Tennessee passing the Franklin Hall along the way. Upon arriving in Franklin, I turn south on US highway 31 and drive to Spring Hill, Tennessee where I stop at a restaurant for a dinner of trout, brown rice and a tomato, onion and cucumber salad. There is also two biscuits with butter that come with the meal. The portions are so small that there is no where near enough food for me but it is such a wholesome meal so remembering my Life Lesson Fifteen, I drink a lot of water to help fill me up.

After dinner, I call Joe to let him know that I am close and ask him if it is alright to stop this evening. He assures me that it is and gives me directions to where his new home is being built. I arrive, park near the bridge and the help him gather the scattered trash piles into two burn piles and then get them both ignited. Then he pulls out a bottle of fine bourbon and we imbibe while we keep the fires chucked. Sarah come home shortly after the sun sets bringing us something to eat. Joe and I sit at the patio table and enjoy the meal. Then we check the fires, chucking them one final time and retire to our separate births.

For about a half hour, I wrestle with the option of getting up but finally do get up at six am. The day is barely begun and I go directly to the fire pits to see how they are doing. The one in the front yard still has coals but the one in the back yard is done. Therefore, I grab the shovel, return to the front yard pit and flip over the coals to rekindle the fire. Then, I add a little diesel fuel to get the fire going again to burn the remaining amounts of debris to which I add several pieces of cardboard to get the fire going strong again.

Next, I begin working on cleaning up the trash around the home beginning with the front yard and working around the side yard toward the rear of the house. As I continue picking up the trash, I add it to the fire to keep it burning strong. By the time that I am more than eighty percent around the house, Joe walks out of his fifth-wheel and asks me if I would like some coffee. Absolutely, I reply but because I am already hot from working, I take the cup of hot coffee and put it in a glass of ice and enjoy iced coffee and then we enjoy a second cup. I tell him that I am almost finished with the outside cleaning and then we begin working of sweeping the floors inside his home. He begins sorting through the sweepings to remove the copper while I keep at the floor until about two in the afternoon. Together we complete the cleaning of the inside and separating of all the copper materials and then head to town so that Joe can pay a couple bills and acquire a car title.

However, our first stop is for a burger and fries, which he says is a low carb burger, one wrapped in lettuce without a bun. I choose the same meal that Joe orders and we enjoy the meal together in the restaurant. There are a couple a things that I eat that I have previously decided not to eat, which include the French fries with catsup and the soda to drink. I have found that there are always exceptions to the rule, and today′s meal has become one of those exceptions.

Later, we return to the job site and finish the cleaning which we complete at about six-thirty. Then I clean up myselƒ and get inside the jammer.

Up again early, at six am and walk up to the home site and first look at the fire pits. The rear pit is completely dead but the front fire pit still has coals under the ash. I chuck the fire pit and the flames reach upward. I then walk around the property picking up all the debris and trash and add it to the front fire pit. Not too long afterwards, I hear Joe inside and I knock on the door and he invites me in for coffee. While we are drinking the coffee, a large delivery truck arrives with half of his brick order. We talk to the driver and he is impresses with the fact the owner had a wide bridge providing access to the property. Later, we drive to town to take care of a couple of errands and then we go to the auto shop to take care of some of his business concerns. Then Joe asked me to help him deliver a car to one of his customer. We drive to the home and then get out to talk with Scott unbeknownst to me, Joe has been witnessing to for a long time. Previously, I had picked up a Bible Teach book and have the book in my shirt pocket. When I walk up to the door, Scott says "I recognize that book that you have in your shirt pocket." I immediately take that as a que for me to talk about the Bible and only then find out that Joe has been calling on Scott for a long time. Joe and I then talk for quite some time with Scott trying to encourage him to continue in his study of the Bible as well as make it to the meeting.

As Joe and I are returning to his home construction site, he asks me where I would like to go for supper. I tell him that I would be happy to cook our supper and he says " Sure, if you want to." When we arrived at his home site, I get out my cooking equipment, spread it out on his patio table and get busy. Shortly thereafter, we were eating brown rice, tuna steak and an avocado, tomato, jalapeno and onion salad with vinegar and oil. Also, we have the Wayƒarer′s Spice and some of my favorite brand of hot sauce to put on the meal. We finish with a pint bottle of some 12 year old Scotch. Joe tells me that he has never had good Scotch before and thought that all Scotch was nasty tasting. I reply "Wait until you try the 18 year old Scotch."

During the middle of the night I have to don my down sleeping bag because the temperature drops into the fifties. It is hard to get out of the bag this morning when I first awake at six am so I go back to sleep but then get up at six-twenty.

I get dressed with jeans and a clean number 3 cop shirt and then get all of my RBC equipment ready: hard hat, safety glasses, work boots, ID, safety booklet and Health Care Directive. Joe drives down shortly there after and we are on out way to the Lewisburg, TN Hall build to do the pre-construction set up. Joe works with Randy who is in charge of the Trucking Department and Joe is heading up the deck and stair building for all of the trailers. Each RBC trailer, including the kitchen trailer, freezer trailer, office trailer and others trailers need to have safe access to the equipment, tools, materials or work space inside so we set up walk ways and stairs with handrails at all the entrances. Most all of these structures have been previously built, set up and then disassembled for moving to the next Hall build for reassembling. When we arrive this morning, we first unload the structures and work to reassemble them to be used at this current Hall build. This work takes us all day to complete and at just before five pm the crew of six meets with Randy for a discussion of the work completed and then Randy tells us that he can see the tail lights on the Camry.

The drive back to Spring Hill takes about thirty minutes and once in town, we stop to get some Chinese food and a bottle of the 18 year old. After enjoying the meal outside at the patio table, Joe pours us both a glass of the 18 year old Scotch. I take the first sip and say "Smooth as cream!" Joe takes a sip and says "Amazing!" We both then head to our births for the evening.

Up again with the sunglow and first fill my water bucket to wash up and even thought the temperature is 54 degrees, it does not prevent me from taking a full body bucket bath because the lower temperatures are a welcome change. Afterwards, I do today′s study and then I drive to town to locate a w-mart. Once caffeinated, I check my email and then upload my recent journal entries. Soon it is time to leave for the meeting and I return to my van to get dressed and head to the hall.

Up at six-fifteen and can not go back to sleep so I read. At seven, I notice that Joe is outside and working so I decide to get up and walk up the hill to the construction site. The builder will be arriving soon with an excavator to dig trenches for the utilities. I work with Joe at first to set up the meter box and the metal conduit that will service the home. Next, to contain the wires from the pole, we install the conduit, however, a part of the foundation needs to be removed so Joe and I go to a rental mart to get a concrete impact hammer. When we return to the construction site, I start in with the removal of the foundation to allow the conduit to be installed. While I am working with the impact hammer, Joe, Jason and Charles go to the other end of the conduit to install the conduit on the power pole. We all spend the entire day in the trenches and only climb out some time after five pm.

Joe and I have a beer and sit on the patio furniture while waiting for Sarah to arrive and finish preparing supper as she had previously put the ingredients into a crock pot. We share a nice meal and afterwards, I retire to the jammer.