Since I was going to be gone for so long, I drove across country, taking the scenic route that meandered through Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, ...
I started back on January 6th and having decided to take my chances with snow, drove as straight as I could back across the country. The only place I had any snow issue was in Colorado, Friday evening, just after the Continental Divide. After driving downhill for about two miles, I took the first exit I could in the hopes of letting the snow plows do their thing for better driving the next day. I had forgotten that it was ski season. The lobby was packed and everyone I spoke with in the rather long line to check in had reservations. I did get a room, a quite nice room, in point of fact. With a rush of relief that swept all of the adrenaline fed anxiety right out of my system, I slept very well, even without my memory foam pillow, which I had left in the car. (I mention this because sleeping well allowed me to get an early start the next day, when it was just nine degrees. My memory foam pillow was as hard as a rock. It thawed well though as I was able to use it the next night.)
The early start also allowed me to really make distance the next day, all the way to Ely, Nevada. I was even there early but decided to stop anyway, after all, gambling is legal in Nevada and was available right in my Hotel/Casino. The room would have been inexpensive except for the gambling. As it was, I also got to bed early that night as well. This again allowed me to get up early. In fact, I drove by Reno too early to stop and decided to drive all the way home. (After my gambling experience in Ely, I'm sure my not stopping in Reno saved me a lot of money.)
Then there was the commemorative ski trip with my daughter Andrea. She had me post-holing up a steep cliff just to see the sunset. She had me on skis dawn to dusk and then after another half day of skiing to catch all of the trails, she had me back out on snowshoes to go out on a couple trails that were closed.
Next came the Pacific Crest Trail hike preparation. Other than my house looking like a food warehouse for a while and preparing what seemed like an endless supply of chicken jerky, my part wasn't all that much. Andrea and Neil, the actual hikers stopped by and taste tested my sample batch of chicken jerky, taking the sample with them across country to finish their training in West Virginia with my parents. There they helped reinstall some electric fencing that had been substantially removed during the logging a couple years before to allow my parents' 22 goats the illusion of greater freedom and walked.
Then when they once again returned to Pacifica to finish their packing, we walked. Finally, all of their planning came together. They had all of their packages ready with instructions on when to ship them to where using what service and they were ready to start. I had the distinct pleasure of being able to deliver them to the trail head at the U.S.-Mexican border on April 30th. In the brief time we were actually at the border, we had three separate, friendly, border patrol agents come up to speak with us and check us out. Then, they were off and so was I. As I was still in the car, my speed was considerably greater.As they reached the Los Angeles National Forest in May, they were able to take a day or two away from the trail with Andrea's sister Elisha and her husband Ryan. Since the hiking on the PCT burns up to 5,000 calories a day and they carried only 3,000 calories, Elisha met them with some prepared food in what looked to be a decorated bottled beer six-pack container. She called it a Mackey Meal.
I also got a chance to play Trail Angel a couple weeks later at Tehachapi. Our first stop was for some food they could eat right away. We must have hit every "all you can eat" place in Tehachapi and Mojave, after they got cleaned up. In the relatively short time that we were there, we also managed to see a movie, "Up," and I made a couple extra trips to the trail head to pick up and drop off hikers. Believe me, dropping off is better. It's amazing what eight days of no water for bathing while walking through a dusty dessert can do to body odors. At least the hikers get used to it. (You can read about most of their hiking experience at: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=9044. You can also see their SPOT recorded progress at: PCT Progress.)Then it was my time to rush to get ready as I had an opportunity to ride with my parents to Alaska. After my successful car trip across the U.S., I decided that this time I would ride my motorcycle. To see if I could even go the distance, I rode down to visit Elisha and Ryan in Pasadena a couple of times. While that didn't prepare me to do it day after day for five or six days, I was convinced that this additional 1,600 miles of riding after barely riding twice that in the previous ten years would be enough. (Since I made it back, it must have been. If you want to read a little more on my riding my motorcycle, I've posted a Toastmaster speech I gave on it at: http://doingsomething-aboutit.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-do-i-do-it.html. )
On one of my visits to Elisha and Ryan, they took me to Huntington Gardens. Of course I had to take a lot of pictures, some of which are posted here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008189&id=1288023430&l=6df59e2daf
They also visited here and once again hiking was involved. While I'm jumping ahead chronologically, this is the best place to put my last visit to Pasadena. It seems that hiking has become a tradition in our visits with each other. In my last visit just before Thanksgiving, they took me on a walking tour of downtown L.A. With the reputation L.A. has about their use of cars, this was certainly a unique experience that I'll treasure. Elisha, the person who avoided all musical instruments growing up has decided to learn something about the violin. She has also continued in her CalTech Choir. I'm hoping to catch one of her concerts.My son Sean and his wife Amanda made it to my house just before I left. They were only going to stay in New York for a certain length of time and that time was up. Even though I only saw them for a week or so before I left, it's been great having them around since I've gotten back. Amanda is going to school for her teaching credential. Sean is taking after his "old man" in being gainfully unemployed.
But back to the Alaska trip. Counting my motorcycle miles, the total trip covered over 16,000 miles. There were spectacular scenes throughout, even the long ride through Canada after the Rockies. The large fields of yellow canola oil plants intermixed with alfalfa fields were truly spectacular in this stretch. (It's given me something to mull over as to whether or not I really want to ride my motorcycle around North America. I'm leaning toward yes but it really requires a lot of other things to come together as well. From this Alaska run, I do know that I want to have specific plans, and reservations, in place.)
We saw Mount Rushmore, Glacier National Park, Banff National Park, Lake Louise, Hyder Alaska, Denali National Park, lots of glaciers, all of which were spectacular. My sisters, Gail and Joy, joined us in Juneau for about ten days. In fact, they flew out of Fairbanks and we drove out the weekend before Sarah Palin's resignation picnic in Fairbanks. We were in Fairbanks three nights, before and after Denali and after the Arctic Circle. Yes, we were on the road made famous by the Ice Road Truckers. We didn't get a stone chip until we were within a couple miles of being off of the gravel portion, just when we thought we had it made. We had looked into renting a car for the trip but surprise surprise, none were available.
A few of the many pictures I took on this trip, which I've uploaded into albums on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012968&id=1288023430&l=12fe066478
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013233&id=1288023430&l=39d47500db
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013531&id=1288023430&l=422b56dd9e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013730&id=1288023430&l=c578b7af2b
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013928&id=1288023430&l=7d6e848873
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013977&id=1288023430&l=43273174f5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2014346&id=1288023430&l=f7be62e8cf
I have lots of notes in my 2009 "At-A-Glance," but have only transcribed them, so far, into one story at: http://doingsomething-aboutit.blogspot.com/2009/10/camping-and-not-on-road-to-alaska.html.
After Alaska, most of my time has been spent seriously and non seriously looking for a job. The serious looking happens when I see something that I think might be interesting. The non serious looking is just to fill out my quota for unemployment, which is going to expire soon anyway. The real problem has been my own lack of direction, especially knowing my own desires, well that and the economy whose improvements still haven't reached us.
But all in all, it's been a truly great year, even with heartbreaking news that I haven't included in this "letter." In addition to all of the above, my first grandchild, Sophia Kalina Westbrook, arrived on December 1st at 8:24 AM PST, weighing 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 inches long. I've been able to hold her, feed her, and only once had to do a diaper change, so far. With all of these adults around so much to give her lots of attention, she will certainly have every opportunity to be spoiled. In point of fact, her Aunt Andrea made a special trip down to see her. Even her Great Aunt Joy stopped in for a visit. More pictures can be seen in an album I've uploaded to Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024292&id=1288023430&l=bda6c7b3c5.I hope your holidays are great and wish everyone the best throughout the new year and beyond.
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