Did a few chicken sketches while visiting Hummingbird Ranch.
Took Highway 203 to Monroe and Highway 2 to Lake Wenatchee State Park. Scenic drive and no traffic. Good traveling during the week. No troubles. Stopped in Index to let dogs stretch and take water. Young unshaven guy in store told me sandwiches were 3 or 4 days old. I couldn’t tell if he was telling the truth or maybe he was bored and playing a game with me; Will the hungry old man still buy overpriced old sandwich? He had a wry smile on when he delivered the information, like take it or leave it buddy. I made my own fresh chicken and tomato sandwich from RV fridge contents and ate chased with a Red Hook in the park in front of big sign that said: NO ALCOHOL IN PARK. My thought was...Well good thing I have this RV to have beer since there was no beer in the park. Fridge working well. Left propane on while traveling. Asked some experienced campers for advice on this. All polled travel gas on. Found way to North Campground site #178. Got camp set up with cousin Jim watching over me, an experienced camper himself. Retired from Coast Guard. He recommended this campground. Jim & Kristin in travel trailer with family and friends in tent on site #172. The North grounds are on two loops. Easy to maneuver for a novice like me. The place is beautiful gorgeous and open with feeling of space and privacy. Wow, this is real living in Northwest Forest experience. Everything perfecto!
Walked with leashed dogs on down trail to Lake Wenatchee, just five minutes to a nearly pristine Cascade lake panorama. I walked out into the clear water, bottom mix of sand, clay, and gravel. JP did his thing where he paws at the water and digs furiously. Very entertaining and I wonder what he’s thinking. Is he trying to dig out an imaginary rodent? Why does he do this everytime he sees water. Could be a mud puddle, a river, a lake. He’s learned to swim but kinda precarious. Sometimes his head will go under so I keep a leash on him. JP has seizures and I need to watch for that. Does GG understand what her brother is up to? She acts so non-chalant about it. Not the least interest in finding the invisible whatever. A new feeling just overcame: hey! I can really do this Nomad thing; the reward is perfect serenity. Recharging creativity inspired by natures creativity is goal. Beauty so compelling here, cannot be truly experienced without complete immersion (though RV enabled). ...so many layers of shit to sort through when immersed in culture. You know, right and wrong. good or bad. Social grace-thoughts versus camping thoughts could be explored here a bit more. Hypothesis: If I continue this camping by logical extension I may very well become a hermit. Grow a gray pointed wizard beard, wear raggy layers of clashing plaids, prefer company of twittering birds and chipmunks instead of twittering meanish gossip twits trying to upstage or win popular credits. Survival in nature requires some realistic evaluation. On the other hand, survival in urban America requires some delusional self-perception. Are hungry bears watching me walk through these berry bushes? ...Are hungry hackers phishing for information to steal my name? ...I’m so cool with these unstereotypical tattoos and jewelry. Nobody can label me because I’m a unique person consuming quirky brand names. ...my awards, my furniture, my car, my address: Oh my look at me. Social symbols of association are often used to manipulate and control circumstance for personal benefit. You may be doing this and not even realize it; living so fast in the city there's is the illusion there’s no time for reflection. Ok, so I got heavy. I’m sure that will happen again. So blogs. Isn't that a milk bath for the self-absorbed? I ask myself why I'm doing this. The truth is my memory is so bad I want to have a record for my later years. Could be a bit of self-absorbancy too. 😀 How about this new scientific variation: If a fart occured in the forest and nobody laughed, was there really a fart? Tell me why we need mosquitos? I guess frogs and fish like them. I took a big dump and showered at the facility which is a pleasant walk about 1000 feet from campsite. The shower was clean and tiled. Little bugs were doodling about, but it was cool. 3 minutes for .50 was great. I needed more time but could do it in 3 next time. Very hot water. Loving to feel the clean. Nobody around to peek at my sagging ass. Think I'll cop a shave. Dogs are staked out and relaxed and we’re listening to Jethro Tull. Finishing second pot of coffee. It's going to be a great wonder filled day. Saturday heading for La Conner. June 15th
Used the phone navigation to find Tall Chief RV Resort. Set up camp. No problems. Found a spot (#27) easy to back into. Neighbors all around. Most have dogs, sort of a worry. Mine not dog friendly. Tried to find homes for them with no success. So here now, trying to work it out. Doing my best to think ahead to avoid “situations”. Spoke to one neighbor, gray haired guy like me. Baseball cap with more advanced belly than mine. His dog is old and blind. I let him know our dogs must not meet or there would be blood. JP would get the worst of that encounter. This place is beautiful with plenty of wilderness. Cedars, firs, Maples galore. Nice stone firepit and table. Nice to have the folding bike to scoot around on. Going for a shower and later drive into Fall City to check out Snoqualmie Falls, go shopping, and beer at local dive bar, The Last Frontier. There is a pool here crammed with of screaming children having fun. I’ll have to wait for evening. Really I’m a hermit and should start seek out knowledge catering tofor hermit like people. Soon as I can get Wi-Fi I’ll google some "how to hermit" sites. Replaced my RV tires at Les Schwab in North Bend ($600 ouch). LS was great. Did all four RV tires in about an hour. I donated to a cancer fund raising group of Junior High level kids. They washed my rig. Felt good about that. Raising $ for cancer research and getting clean too. Group was called Relay to Life (relaytolife.org). Left the Tall Chief Resort and arrived at Snoqualmie River RV Park. The park is on the river without much privacy. I’m on an end-cap where road splits, RVs all round. Took dogs to river about 100’ from site 75. They loved it. Had an encounter with a wolf looking dog and black lab which were unleashed. The dogs came over in a friendly good natured way to meet JP and GG. I reigned JP in but the wolf dog came right in to get bit on the neck. Of course JP attacked and latched to wolf dogs neck. The woman was obese and slow about getting over to pull her dog away. She was laughing as I pleaded for her to call her dog. She also had a black lab, both were friendly dogs. Hard to shake JP off. GG joined in by attacking the dogs haunches. Wolf dog then got into fight mode and sank his teeth into JPs head. In a way I was glad JP would get the worst of it. The violence was too much for me! I wonder if this dog thing is going to work out. My friend Kim (namesake) and Jan Holler with Michael Rose were visiting at the time. Jan is very animated. I’m amazed at her ability to read lips since she is deaf. Her speaking voice is more clear than my own. Her husband Mike, a retired Boeing engineer good natured low key gentleman. The dogs kind of ruined our should be pleasant little outing to the river beach. Maybe it added some excitement? Kim took GG’s leash and started using some dog whisperer techniques. Letting me know how to keep them feeling safe with me in charge. To protect them so they don’t have to be protectors. That bit makes sense. Kim took GG swimming (against her will) and I let JP do his thing pawing the water and mud like a crazed lunatic. I reined him in after 10 minutes while catching up with friends whom we knew in common. News is 40th class reunion was flat (since I wasn’t there). Also got reports of the previous two Issaquah High class reunions of Class of 1974. I hear there was over the top drunk puking idiocy at the 20th Reunion. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy drinking to a point. These guys were puking on the carpets of the Holiday Inn. Quite a proud legacy to leave. Guess its who you ask, like anything else. You’ll find someone who thought it was great. They say Rich Payne once owned the Black Dog in North Bend. He’s a very cool guy, nicest you’d ever want to meet. Guess he sold it. Stills plays in a band for charity events. He use to play his keyboard in my cabin down on Lake Sammamish. Living on the lake was some the best times in my life. Boating the rounds of lakefront friends: Corky, Dean, Vance, Dale, Jan, Judy, Mark, Lynn, Bucky, Steve, and Terry. I was most unlikely member of bunch since I was from less fortunate circumstances, living on my own without plumbing in a 6’ x 12’ horse shed converted to a boat house. I had a place for these teenagers to gather and vent, compare notes and stories around the campfire. Many more from Issaquah High visited my cabin in the summers of 1973 and 1974. The spot came to be known as Kims’ Cabin. It’s amazing how many people you can cram into a space like that and have a great time. Once got 4 man band with amps cranked up playing in there. Yes, really! Of course there was a keg or spoolie. We smoked a lot of pot back then, before it was legal. There was a phat rope swing off the cabin roof tied high in one of the mighty Cottonwoods. I remember watching Scott (my half brother) shimmy up that tree and tie it up there. Rope swing, tree and cabin have been replaced by 2 million dollar home. My mom sold the property back in the eighties for 40k. I wanted to buy then but had no resources. Just a poor starving artist. Still a starving artist, but not starving for food. I Got the rig all ready to roll and pulled out about 2pm. Michael got out early from his real estate seminar and saw me off. I felt relieved to be rolling yet a bit sad leaving new friends. Life marches on. Must embrace our own destinies. Still feeling sad about leaving new friends in Wallingford Changes. John, Dana, Colleen, Marc, Allen, Tim, Jake, and Felippe. You guys rock!!! I want to Discover a meaning I can embrace. Open up to the thousands of galaxies and to trust there is some sort of meaning to it all. Already studied what main world religions offer and I don't quite accept it all. This is what my road journey is all about. Slowing down to a pace where I can process sensory input as it comes through these feelers. I don’t like the way I was living. Gotta find a new one! The serendipity thought occurred to me: June 6th is my deceased mothers birthday! How cool of a coincidence. Launching on moms birthday. Wish I could talk to you mom. I know you’d be proud of me to have made a living from selling my artwork. You didn’t get to see that, leaving too soon. Dad? Well that is an all together different story. Took highway 18 east toward Snoqualmie and the worst imaginable thing I could imagine actually happened! Everything was going well and I was about 45 minutes along when I looked back in mirror at small black pieces bouncing along behind me. I also heard a flapping noise. It was when a truck passed with a young woman wildly waving her arms and screaming: your tire! your tire! (lip reading) Then the Adrenalin kicked in. I steered the rig off to side. There was just barely enough shoulder to squeeze along with cars and semi trucks zipping by a few feet away at 60-70 miles per hour. I got out, dogs ready to jump out and be squished on the freeway (didn’t happen) and saw right front tire had stripped apart, shredded like. The RV rocked as traffic whooshed by. All blood ran out of my face. I fumbled around, mind racing, what to do, who to call. Noticed a little memorial with bright fresh flowers and a white cross that said Glenn. Apparently he died on this obscure spot between thick blackberry vines and meadow grass. I must not die today. So I called AAA. Since it was a “busy Sunday” it would take 3 hours to get to me! Thought for sure I’d end up like Glen only instead of a cross they’d have to erect a paint palette and an easel, fittingly saying “Drew”. Luckily I had a nice spare tire. I unbolted it quickly to be prepared for help in 3 hours. A Washington State Patrol showed up and he saved my bacon! My experience with cops has taught me not to trust’em. He suggested I drive rig to safer spot just a mile up the way. Think his name was Chris and he escorted me going about 15mph to a gravel dirt turn off space. I thanked him like I have never been so grateful to a cop. I would’ve given him a big kiss but then he might not like that. From there a Goodyear tow truck showed up. How appropriate since it was a Goodyear tire that blew! He quickly changed it and just like that I was on my way to the Snoqualmie Casino. The SC has 6 spots for RVs to stay over and I slowly winded down to lower parking lot to snag one. I took the easiest one on the end. A big space easy enough to navigate. Right? Well, that’s if you know how to back one of these suckers up!!! How confusing is it when everything is backwards. Its like looking in the mirror trying to pluck a nose hair with tweezers for the first time, only there’s much more at stake besides social graces. There was a hippie dude, my age, (long hair and happy friendly) who saw me struggle and helped get me her straightened out. Thanked him and talked a bit. Whew! After dogs were pooped I went up to Casino and proceeded to play Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory slot machine. I watched the guy next to me hit one spin after another getting up over $200. I was reluctant to let my bank go below $20, but managed enough wins to stay close to original bank. Then it happened. I hit a nice one and landed $320. At that point cashed in, happy to pay a month of camp rent, and hit the sack for my first night of RV adventure. Not a great place to camp by the way, though not bad. Free is good. In the morning had an omelet at casino. Food at SC is very lacking. Food should be a big draw on its own. Omelet had 3 ingredients built like a subway sandwich. Factory style. Gift shop did not seduce me either. Could use some K.Drew Edition souvenirs. Games were fun to watch, though didn’t play any cards this time. I like to watch the people and make up stories about them. Hard not to be entertained by all the bells, eye orgasms, and human drama unfolding. Many desperates hoping to hit it big. Some casino lizards. Some passing thru. Most I would not want to emulate. Highwa(Note to readers: I don't know if anyone is reading this (Hi John), but I hope to keep up once a week.) In a sudden flurry I had to clear out remaining furniture, paintings, glass art and clothes. House sold! First listed March 20th. Took 6 weeks to sell. My 12 year plan is working. Probably could have got more money but didn’t want to risk losing offer. Since house is no longer mine buyer wants to take possession May 1st. Made several trips to Goodwill. Readjusted two storage lockers and managed to stuff in wide screen HDTV and a wood chest.
Had a backup camera installed on RV. Thursday, May 7th I’ll hitch up trailer and find a large parking lot to practice backing up. Everything so backwards when trying to position a trailer it has me shaking my head. I’ve tried it and both attempts were disasters. Had to have Michael step in and do it for me. I need to learn this skill and quick. Took a day and planted a small garden. Created a wall sculpture on the shed facing the garden using rusty broken junk which was strewn about. Turned out kinda funky cool. Snagged the hummingbird trellis sculpture from my own garden at the Fremont house and installed it as garden entry. Michael traded his fold up bike for the hummingbird trellis, which has a personal significance for him. This garden is ready to enjoy! I had some red tires put on the bike. Michael said they look gay. To me that means they must be cool. That’s an accident since I’ve given up trying to be cool. Held a bonfire ceremony featuring the cremation of my Pike Place Market green monster cart which I used for 10 years of selling at Pike Place Market. Attending were Michael, Rimma, JP and GG. People from all around the world used my cart as a photo opportunity, posing in front of the graffiti-style doodles. Now it is ash. It is no longer and I’m feeling a twinge of nostalgia. This is my last week staying at Michaels’ in Summit-Waller. Shared many meals together, played dice and board games, and got to know each other over the 3 months I’ve stayed here. Playing tennis with Michael I smacked my left calf with racket. Right when we were making some good rallies. Dogs were tied up in grass field where other dogs pass, so I was a bit nervous about a dog encounter. Smacked the muscle dead on and immediately my leg gave way. I was hobbling around for an added week and a half, living in the RV in Michaels driveway. Michael was wondering if I’d ever free up the driveway but he never said anything about it. I could tell by the vibe or maybe my own . Dogs have stabilized adapting to living in RV. Will be faced with tough choice if they don’t peacefully co-exist with other dogs along the way. They seem at home and relaxed here. The dogs like a daily routine. They are friends with big red, Michaels pet chicken. He added 7 more chicks to his yard. They grow so quickly. He chose the Silkies, a smaller chicken with feathers that look more like fur. They look like grunge birds, something that would work as an accessory in the 80s. Michael has JP in top shape from running with him 6 miles a few times a week. GG gets her exercise chasing the jet water spray from the hose as Michael waves it around for 15 minutes. GGs mission is to subdue the water snake. The weirdest behavior from a normally calm dog. Watching TV can also get her hyped up. Especially shows with any kind of animals. I’ve been making modifications on the RV. Built a rolling shelf to take advantage of bunk storage space. Installed a TV mount on a shelf to use the space better. Ready or not, the day for launching my RV Mystery Adventure is coming fast. In two months I’ve changed the propane tanks twice. Gas alarm inside has gone off twice. The monoxide alarm went off once. Crock pot cooking to great success. Long as one is hooked up to electric. On Michaels birthday I made a delicious chicken stew. It lasts a few days. That will be lunch today. Enjoyed moments of creativity with snapping shots and pounding big drum in hypnotic chant. Life’s about to change for this critter. I’ve never met Mauve but I guess she likes my house. She has good taste! Got me a bit miffed even though I don’t know her. The house looks like a MILLION BUCKS and Mauve has made a low-ball offer. She intends to pay cash but that doesn’t really help me. My agent Ellen says she checked her bank statement and sees the money is there. I countered with a price of about a third of the discount she requested. If she has cash, why not pay me what the house is worth? I worked hard for 12 years to bring that house to fruition. The backyard is a sanctuary. Why shouldn’t I be paid. So hard to get ahead between all the parties taking their piece. I’m happy to sell it now. Looks like we have agreed on price. Good riddens. Now I can ramble on with the Mystery Tour. If anyone is reading this they may wonder if and when I will hit the road. I wreckon to be headed for my first camping destination, North Bend, around May 1st. In the meantime, I’ve been living in my fifth wheel with the 2 terriers as a dress rehearsal, in a friends driveway, perfectly fit for an RV. GG has an urge of wandering out towards the road and JP will run off if he hears something of interest. I completely lost him for 45 minutes a week ago. Early one morning it was still pitch black when I panicked that he was gone. There have been coyotes running through these pastures lately. Took one of Michaels chickens the other dusk. Was it possible they snatched up JP? I searched surrounding fields with not a sign. My last resort for finding him proved successful. I used his sister to track him down. By pointing at JPs dung and saying “wheres JP? Find JP!!!” It was like some Lassie/Hollywood movie. GG sniffed the ground and she took off towards Waller Road! I followed her a few blocks and looked down the street to see a little white speck darting back and forth across the street. Cars were going by and I held my breath each time they passed without hitting him. As I ran towards him he runs up to a gate where 2 enormous German Shepards look ready to tear him apart. JP jumped right up to the gate, jumping aggressively at both dogs. No gate and JP would be bloody dead. Picked him up and dragged dogs back to RV, glad no harm was done. I gave GG lots of petting & kisses for her role in finding JP. She has become a bit aloof and doesn’t come when I call her. Between the two, I don’t see how I can take them to camp grounds with their aggressive streak. Lately I’ve been pondering my life ahead. Hoping there is happiness to be had. I do find happiness in the small things. That just may be all there is to it. Can’t depend on anyone to make it happen for me. Seaweed crisps, chocolate cookies, red wine, and Farkle with Michael is giving me satisfaction in these days of semi-limbo. Been checking into campsites where I want to travel and studying up on how the RV camp circuit works. Many have websites. They make it easy but charge as much as a cheap hotel room. I need to find the dry campsites where its’ less than $20 a night. Now that would be cool. Looking forward to meeting people on the way.
Have had a stretch of cold rainy weather. Watching how rivulets of rainwater flow over the Nomad. The roof has a few small gutters at corners and water drains from these. If Nomad is not level rainwater (which runs straight down) will spill onto outside walls and down window seams. Looks like an opportunity for leakage. Maybe there’s a gutter product fix for that. I’d like something to keep it away from RV body. Camping down south rainwater won’t be so much an issue as here in Northwest. Its time for first visit to Campers' World in Fife. Learning this stuff is not natural to me but the promise of freedom is attractive. Been pacing my learning about living in RV so as not to be overwhelmed. Yesterday I refilled propane tanks at McLendons Hardware and was caught up in a few nostalgic moments.
Memories triggered were from age 8 -10. My very favorite thing to do with my dad was go to the Renton store. The Original McLendon store had all big wood plank floors. I remember seeing a lot of old guys in cover-alls talking up a storm to customers about everything but what they came for. Trips to McLendons back then gave excitement about imagining creative possibilities envisioning larger sense of the world. Seeing all the products and colorful labels neatly in rows in contrast with other areas of utter chaos; tangling ropes, tubes and bundles piled high. Now the McLendon brand has grown and spread like bamboo into so many stores; that success is exciting too. Now these memories are loaded with extra sentiment since I’ve just learned of my dads passing. He did show me off back then and I was proud to be his son. How things change! On Super Bowl Sunday I found out about my dad dying. He died in September 2013. No one thought I’d care so no one bothered to tell me. Not even an email. I have 2 sisters, Paula and Heidi and a brother (oldest), Scott. Dysfunctional, judgmental, selfish. I would trust a stranger before I’d trust any one of them. My youngest sister Heidi who I haven’t seen in a decade or so came by my Fremont house out of concern. She said she was worried about me. It was good at first to see her until the realization kicked in of why I hadn’t seen her in 10 years. The issue was never properly resolved and I was waiting for her to simply ask me what was bothering me. She offered flimsy apologies like “ I’m sorry for the way you feel”. She didn’t understand to just ask me how I was feeling. Assuming she knew how and what I was feeling was her way. Then her carefully worded apologies so she never takes responsibility. What brought her to my door was a little clay sculpture. As I was packing and moving out of house I found this bright orange little clay head which her now deceased husband Phil had made during one of our clay play days. The fiery face being super expressive: shocking, and almost frightening. I boxed it up in bubble wrap and sent it to Heidi since I figured she would love it as a memory of Phil’s creative prowess. So she shows up at my door, two hours before Super Bowl (Seahawks vs. Patriots) which I had been dreaming about watching for a year. She was worried I was about to commit suicide and this clay head was my way of reaching out to her. If you live in a dysfunctional family you may understand. No communication here. Writing this down in words is a catharsis. I love writing because I can’t be interrupted. (A bit self-absorbed perhaps) So just as I was feeling ok about clearing up this 10 year sibling aggravation and able to explain to Heidi why her ultimatum to me to install a handrail on front steps (or she wouldn’t visit again) was an attempt at sabotaging my happiness (something she’d been doing the entire time of our youth). Right at the point where I had felt a sincere apology she says “By the way, Al Carlson died”. She said it with same delivery as weather update. Somehow she had managed to bully me all over again. But it was time for Super Bowl; it was easy to send her away. Turns out the game was totally amazing and the Seahawk loss was a better show than Heidi trying to get a dig in. Later in a rare moment of introspection she confessed in an email she was jealous of me. Jealous of my freethinking creative spirit! Guess it'll be another 10 years before Heidi will ask how I feel about not being told of my dads death until nearly 2 years later? I won't be waiting around for that. So on this gray rainy day I offer this entry as a little taste of the family discordant cloth I’m cut from. Oh, and by the way, I did not like my father as a person. He was a racist bigot. I must admit, it's a relief knowing he's dead. He can no longer threaten me. Those beatings made a life long impression. Once again, Heidi was attempting to sabotage my happiness by not sharing the information. Enough of family drama. New blogs will focus on discoveries of RV living, traveling new places, findings and observations, dog life, art, wine, music, fun, and serendipity. I go into the world as a man searching for nothing and everything. I have an appointment on Friday to bring in RV for wheel bearing repacking.
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