Pullin' Chocks

Hello NE, WY, MT, ID and WA!

Gari and I have been dreaming and scheming for 10+ years on getting ourselves to Idaho, this week we finally achieved that goal :-)

First night out we stayed on a Nebraska farm in Big Springs. Second night we made Glendo, WY and stayed at a RV park overlooking Glendo Lake. Third night we made Billings, MT and stayed in the busy Walmart parking lot there. The weather was finally cool enough that we didn’t need air conditioning. The next day we rolled into Great Falls, MT where my old high school buddy lives. He relocated to MT right out of high school and studied Forestry at University of Montana. After 30+ years working in our country’s forests, John is among our country’s top forest fire authorities. John married his high school sweetheart from Ohio and it turns out I was friends with Terri too. It was fantastic to be able to reconnect with these two high school best friends. What a wonderful life these two have carved out in Montana. Our visit this trip was short, but we know we will be back to stay longer in Montana and experience new adventures.

Sadly we departed Great Falls after two nights and continued our route west making Coeur d’Alene, ID. Idaho at last! This is the day we were informed of the death my longtime NASA mentor, our true friend Wayne R. Powell. We were stunned by this devastating news. We were so happy to finally arrive in Idaho after 10+ years of dreaming, then the sad news came. I felt both great happiness and simultaneously great sadness. The feeling was odd and powerful and completely overwhelmed me for a few days. Now after three days in central WA near Moses Lake I am starting to feel like myself again.

Later this week we will finish this trip with a last leg into Union Gap, WA just outside Yakima. We are excited to see Gari’s dad there and her step sister Sandi and husband Sam, plus many other relatives on Gari’s dad’s side of the family.

Nebraska - Castlerock