My Journey

[parkkitchings]

Jerry....I'll be following along. I'm headed back out for a short stint pretty soon as well. Looking into heading down to Central America this summer. I too, love being out on the road. Not sure what it is but the older I get the less stuff I want and that includes a house. Have fun out there.

 

[motom]

Thanks for sharing!

The photos are amazing and I show them to my kids in hopes they will persuade the missus to go traveling with me

Looking forward to your next adventure...

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hey Park......I've been following your blog for the past few months. Looks like you're having a great trip. I also hope to make it to Central America at some point this year.....but I'm headed north now. We will stay in touch I'm sure. Be safe....

Motom......thanks for the nice comment. Good luck.....

So Wednesday was my first night in the camper and so far so good. I'm hanging out waiting for the deep freeze in northern Canada to end so we can finally get on the road again. Spent a few nights in George Washington National Forest camping with a friend, then back to the city for a few nights. I'll be headed back to the forest on Tuesday.....



On Saturday we drove into town for a sandwich, coffee and a slice of cake. Found this cool art piece.....

 

[ABCanuck]

What are your plans north of the border jerry?


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I'd like to drive up the James Bay Road and possibly the Trans-Taiga Road. But it's really, really cold up there right now. Just checked the current temperature in Chisasibi, Quebec and its 10 degrees.

Check out jamesbayroad.com

 

[ABCanuck]

Ah i see. That is why I was curious. We have had beautiful weather here for a few weeks. 65-75 daytime. And then it snowed a couple inches today. I'll definitely check out the road site. Never been up there.


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[chuppie]

Jerry,
I never have anything to offer to these reports so I don't post much. I have really enjoyed yours. I keep hoping this will be the year I can make the Deadhorse Alaska Trip that I have wanted to do since I was 14 (43 years ago) when I first learned of the road being built.

Thanks again for letting us travel vicariously through you.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Wow Chuppie.....I think it's about time for you to hit the road ! You'll have a blast and thanks for following.....

So nothing much happening here. The weather on the east coast sucks with lots of heavy rain and constant cloudy skies, and it's still too cold to go up north, although things are improving a bit. Highs are reaching the lower 30's so that's almost doable. We've been staying busy in the city and looking forward to getting back to the national forest once the rains quit. Thanks to Walmart for allowing me to live in their parking lot. Hopefully we will be on the road in the next week or so cause I'm so ready.....

Nice not having the distraction of television. I started reading my first book...."The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein. If you're into dogs (pets) it's a good read.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Rain, rain, rain.....every day.....every night.....it rains.....

Honestly I'm not complaining.....I have plenty to be thankful for. It's been a week now that I've been holed up in this parking lot.....just waiting for the weather to improve here (then I'll head for the mountains) or for it to improve up north (then I'll head for Chisasibi). As usual, this is hardly an expedition, not really an adventure.....I guess it's just an alternative way to live a life. And I'm good with this right now.....

From the "Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein.....

"In Mongolia, when a dog dies, he is buried high in the hills so people cannot walk on his grave. The dog's master whispers into into the dog's ear his wishes that the dog will return as a man in his next life. Then his tail is cut off and put beneath his head, and a piece of meat or fat is placed in his mouth to sustain his soul on his journey; before he is reincarnated, the dog's soul is freed to travel the land, to run across the high desert plains for as long as it would like."

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

So the friend that camped with me last week suggested that we head back to the mountains before I head north. What a great idea that was and shortly thereafter we were packed and on our way to the national forest. Unfortunately we didn't escape the rains, but we made the best of our situation getting in some hiking here and there, but I swear every time we went hiking we got drenched. There was just no way around it. It was still way better than that Walmart parking lot (which is getting really old right about now). I immensely enjoy hanging out with this particular friend.....he loves my stories of mountain climbing and wreck diving and I never get tired of telling of those adventures and he never seems to tire of listening.....

My memories and my future plans are my possessions these days.....

Hiking without the rain.....







Views from the Woodstock Fire Tower looking west with rare, somewhat clear skies.....



And lastly, the fire tower the following morning enshrouded in a dense fog.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Twenty third night in the camper and I'm back in town after another stay in George Washington National Forest. Last year after (23) days I was sleeping in Fairbanks, Alaska. But this year is different.....I have no plans to return to this area and I really have no long term plans for this trip, therefore I'm just not in any hurry to do anything. Temperatures are slowly rising up north so maybe I'll be leaving for Canada in the next few days......

I saw my first black bear ever in George Washington National Forest last night on my evening walk with the dogs. I've never seen a bear run so fast.....

And another comment on the weather.....I think yesterday was the 20th straight day of precipitation. Just unreal but we were able to get one fire in before it started again.....




The forest is so beautiful with the dense fog.....



And Montana always loves relaxing in the streams.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Woke up yesterday and thought that it's the first day of the rest of my life and I needed to get going to somewhere that I'd never been before. So after having lunch with my oldest son and my grand daughter, the dogs and I hit the interstate north, headed to Canada, as planned. I'm nursing a sore back which I have no idea how I acquired so we called it a short travel day in Frederick, Maryland. Weather is looking good today so soon we will be back on the road.....Interstate 81, possibly making it into western New York this evening (probably not)......

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

So it looks like I'm transitioning from "an alternative lifestyle" to "an adventure" as we got off the interstate (actually Interstate 81 is a beautiful drive) this morning and hit the back roads. Last night as I was planning today's route to Canada I realized that there was still one of the Great Lakes that I had never visited. I wouldn't consider myself a bucket list kind of guy but it just seemed right to see the last one. So we took Route 3 along the eastern shoreline of Lake Ontario and what a beautiful drive it was. We stopped for lunch in a wildlife management area which was awesome......




After we had lunch and the dogs took their mandatory swim in Lake Ontario, we took a long walk through a forest and down a road to a small community on the lake.....





We then continued north on Route 3 and made our next stop in Cape Vincent. It's a really, really old New York village on Lake Ontario. We stopped off at a lighthouse which was pretty cool and took another long walk along the shoreline.....





Some of the old waterfront homes were amazing. Here's a picture of one built in 1850 and recently restored. I loved this one......





It was good to get off the interstate and spend some time exploring. We've been homeless for a month now and still no regrets. I wonder what my thoughts will be in three months, six months......I often wonder about that.....

 

[fisher205]

Jerry,
Glad to see your rolling again. Have a good trip.
Brad

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hey Brad.....it feels good to be back on the road and in the camper again (as you very well know). Maybe we will cross paths this summer when we venture west. I have no schedule at the moment so I have no idea when that may be.......



So we are still in New York and making our way along the beautiful, scenic St. Lawerene River. Last night we overnighted in Ogdensburg, New York. There's a bridge here linking the U.S. to Canada so I'm thinking of crossing over this afternoon. Upper New York is so beautiful and clean that I really hate to leave it right now. But then the weather in Chisasibi has greatly improved and I'm hoping to time it so I miss the insects as well as the cold weather......

The dogs took an early morning swim in the St. Lawerence River.....



The bridge to Canada.....



Cargo ship sails by in the early morning......