You only have one life: Live it.

We have been in the planning stages for our next road trip almost from the time we arrived home exactly three months ago.  One doesn't just hop into the car and drive off without a plan.

Sometimes we are referred to as "snow birds."  But we really aren't.   For one thing, well, uh.......there isn't snow here.

Second, we don't go to RV parks/resorts, park our camper, and stay for the winter.  Instead, over the winter months, we travel, go to different places, and above all---avoid RV resorts.

Instead of "snow birds," we identify ourselves as taking "road trips."  By that we mean we travel a lot, go to places we have never seen, and deal with the unknown.

We will basically spend seven months seeing nobody except each other.  Sometimes we will be in locations we love (Death Valley, etc.) and sometimes in places we have never seen before......and will possibly never see again.

In other words, the seven months are an adventure.  Full of new places, new feelings, new disappointments, and new delights.

We intentionally chose a pickup camper to be able to do this.  We wanted something small and nimble so we could get into places where larger RVs could not.  That has worked as designed.  FAN-TAS-TIC!

We wanted a 4-wheel drive pickup so we could get to places that were off the beaten track.  This has worked as designed:  FAN-TAS-TIC!

We wanted a camper that we could easily drop so we could drive to other places to hike for the day.  This has worked as designed: FAN-TAS-TIC.

We wanted to be warm at night, to have fresh and healthy food, and to have a comfortable bed.  This has worked as designed:  FAN-TAS-TIC.

Why are we doing this?  Because we have such a small window.  My body is falling apart.  I have had three foot surgeries and two shoulder surgeries since I moved to Whidbey Island.  I have a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder that eventually will need surgery.  I have two knees that I am keeping alive with "chicken shots" but will eventually need replacement.  Vicky has terrible arthritis in her toe and a back where there is a titanium disk--a back where the doctor said she would never be able to run or ride a horse.  Now she can run, hike, cycle, and dance.

But for how long can we keep going?  How long is our window where we can keep our bodies strong enough so we can do this kind of thing?

The window is small for the period after you retire and have the time and money to be able to do this kind of thing, but also have the health/body to be able to.  It is small for all of us, smaller for some than for others. 

DO NOT WASTE IT!  Use it, live it, celebrate it.  There are no guarantees for whether you can have it or for how long you can have it.

So we are using it.

To use it requires months of planning.  You have to get all of your equipment in order.  For us that has meant repairs to our camper and maintenance of our pickup.  You need to scope out all of the National Forests along your route.  Food, camping equipment, medicines (man, you ought to experience how much of an effort it is to get enough medicines for seven months when you are in your mid-60s), electronics, books, movies, clothing, poop bags, hiking supplies, food supplies, batteries, etc., etc.,  for seven months of on-the-road travel. 

AND you have to prepare your home for seven months of not being there.  This is a huge undertaking involving security, people to watch it, and how to anticipate problems that might occur in your absence (and when you might not be able to be reached).

The planning is enormous. 

Lots of time, lots of work, and lots of discussion.  But it's all worth it.

Why?

Because you only have one life.  And we want to live it.  And we know that we have that short window that I mentioned before.  We spent all of our adult lives being responsible people whose priorities were always their children and families.  And it was wonderful--it gives us meaning to our lives, and the foundation for the rest of our lives.  Now those people are grownups who are doing the same thing. It is their time. 

This is our time, our time exclusively.  And it will be gone so soon.  That breaks our hearts to realize it, but it is true.  Very soon we will be too old to climb to the top of Navaho Knobs and look out over all of Capital Reef National Park.  Too soon we will not be able to walk to anywhere we want in Death Valley, and see places where so few have ever been.  We cannot waste it.

We have to use this time, and use it well.  It has to be what we have as memories for a future where we know we will become weak, sick, and feeble.

One only has one life.  We choose to live this part of ours traveling and hiking all over the country, cycling so that we can every year do the STP,  and doing whatever we can to tell our grandchildren that we love them and think of them always.

You only have one life. 

Chicken Shots

Officially known as Synvisc.  It is made from the crown of chickens, of all things.  I have often wondered who thought to themselves: "let's inject knees with the crown of chickens." 

According to my Orthopedist, the studies indicate that 70% of people report some improvement in knee pain from osteoarthritis of the knee with chicken shots.  He said that his experience is that about 50% show some improvement.

Me?  It is a miracle drug.

My family physician told me today that Group Health Insurance will no longer pay for chicken shots because the effectiveness is not sufficient to warrant them.  They are wrong wrong wrong.

Perhaps they do not work for everyone.  But for me?  I can go, within a few days after a shot, from not being able to walk down a couple of stairs to being able to bound down a flight of them.

I have had two in my left knee and three in my right knee.  They have given me new life.  I would have to stop cycling and hiking without them, and probably start looking at two knee replacements.

What do I make of the studies that indicate that the effectiveness of chicken shots is minimal?  This stuff works for me.  I can do hard 100 mile rides, and the STP (205 miles in two days) only because of this medication (well, in addition to training like crazy).

I would sell my living room furniture, my car, whatever, to pay for them myself if my insurance company stopped paying for them.

Civilian Conservation Corps at Bowman Bay, WA

We took Ian and Adam camping at Bowman Bay.  Spent two days and nights there.  We all had a blast--hiked, played on scooters (them, not us), went to the beach, ate s'mores, had pancakes for breakfast every morning (yum, thanks Vicky), sat around the campfire.  Another visit to Grandparent Heaven. 

One of the primo features of this campground is that it is a fantastic reflection of the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, Franklin Roosevelt's program that got thousands of young, unemployed men out into the natural areas to plant trees and build roads, dams, structures, bridges, and trails.  Roosevelt's "Tree Army."

Without this program the parks in our country would be shadows of what they currently are.  

There are several structures in this campground that were built in the CCC style--massive wood beams and skilled rock masonry.   We have found that style of building all over the country, sometimes in the most unusual and unexpected places.  

But even the best construction is no match for years of weathering, and the structures here were beginning to show their age.  

So we were extremely pleased to see that the Washington State Park Service is investing in restoring these buildings.    The efforts can be seen in some of these photos.  

 

The caps of many of the beams are being replaced with new wood.  

New roof structure:

80 years later.  Good as new.

Statue erected to honor the young men who were part of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Trying out our new training regimen

This year we are training for the STP by doing more frequent, but shorter rides.  Last year we rode 1000+ miles in the three months prior to the STP.  We did these miles in 21 rides.

This year, with about three weeks left until the STP, we have slightly exceeded last year's total miles, but have achieved those miles in 45 rides.  By the time the STP rolls around (ha ha) we will have done 2 1/2 times more rides than last year, and two-three hundred more miles.

And it has been easier, and more fun.

But has it been as effective as what I have done for the past four years and we have done for the past two?  We won't know for sure until we actually do the STP, but this weekend was a good test.

We rode our first "century" (100 miler) on the relatively flat Burke-Gilman trail.  In previous years, I and we took our first century ride early in May, so clearly there is a difference in how we are approaching things.

We literally (for us) flew.  We beat our previous 100 mile Burke-Gilman speed by .5 mph.  That, for us, is astounding improvement because being at the age we are, and with all of our orthopedic problems, we have probably almost approached our ceiling for how fast we can ride, especially since we do no riding for about seven months because we are in our camper in places without roads.



We were actually shocked with how strong we felt at mile 90.  The only problem is discomfort from the saddle, but there is little to be done about that.  That is what it is.  A pain in the a$$.

King Prium, 555 per day, and Vicky's son Owen

Iraq is falling apart, just as so many of us predicted over 10 years ago when the US declared war on a country that was run by a tin horn dictator who posed no danger to us.

Despite the Bush government's assertions, there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction. 

And there was ample evidence, despite claims made by people like Hillary Clinton, that there were none. 

The UN inspectors provided compelling evidence to that effect.

Know what else?  The US lost that war.

Know what else else?  The US has not won a war for almost 70 years.  We suck at winning wars since The Greatest Generation won WWII against almost insurmountable odds in only 4 years.  4 years?  To win two huge wars against two massive countries who had built astounding war machines? In only 4 years?

And now, at a rate of 555 per day, the only Americans who were in the military in a war we actually won are dying, including my father two years ago.

Now, this is not to say that we don't send our young people off to die in wars.  Of course we do.

As King Prium said (one of my favorite lines ever) in an otherwise forgettable movie Troy:

"War is old men talking and young men dying."

So, old men like Bush, Rumsfield, Fleischer, Republicans, Generals, talk talk talk.  Even Colin Powell got into the act.  How awful for him.  An otherwise honorable man, someone who, unlike the other old men, really knew what war was all about, participated in sending young men and women to their deaths for a losing and worthless cause.

Meanwhile, my wife's son Owen was over there walking the walk.  None of these old men who wanted the war are worthy of licking his boots.  And none of them would ever have to wait for an appointment at a VA Hospital.

The United States spends as much money on its military as THE ENTIRE REST OF THE WORLD COMBINED.  And yet we can't win any wars.

The US military had almost three times as many years to win the war in Iraq as we had 70 years ago to win the wars against both Germany and Japan.  Since we, and everybody else, knows that the actual people on the ground are highly skilled and motivated, the only logical conclusion is that their leaders are incompetent.  To think that all of the Al-Qaeda, Iran, and ISIS combined could equal just Rommel's 7th Panzer Division is ridiculous.  And yet our military, 70 years ago, defeated him. 

If a CEO of any company was as incompetent as our military leaders since WWII have been, they would have been sacked.  I suggest, though, that instead of sacking, everyone from General on up is sent to Iraq, today, to solve the messes they have created.  This includes Bush, Rumsfeld, and every Senator and congressperson who voted for and/or was in favor of the Iraq war.  Let them deal with it. 

But by no means send Owen, or any other Owens, until we have a complete change in our leadership and philosophy about wars and our place in the world.  All of our professional military leaders, and many of our elected leaders, need to be fired, lose all of the benefits, and rot waiting for medical care at VA Hospitals.  (I'm kind of mad, can you tell, or am I being sufficiently vague?)

NO MORE YOUNG MEN DYING.  Let the old talkers die.



  

The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Camping, Hiking, and Cycling in Washington

The Good.

Vicky turned 64 last week.  To celebrate, we took our camper to a nice spot on the Cle Elum River, spent four days there camping and hiking, and then went to Wenatchee for the Apple Century Bike Ride with Jules, Jessica, Ian, Adam, and friends/cycling partners of theirs.

Our site on the Cle Elum River was lovely.  Peaceful, quiet, isolated.  Just what we seek. 

 

We took some nice hikes.  None were our favorites of all time, but they were relaxing.  Some beautiful views:

More "good:'  The Apple Century Bike ride.  It goes through miles of apple orchards, with views of the mountains the entire way.

 

Vicky and I did the 50 mile ride, while Jules and Dale (his and our friend) did the entire century.  They are much more powerful riders than we are.  But we knew that if we were comfortable on this hilly 50 mile ride, we would be ready for the STP, and that is our goal.  We felt great!

The Bad:

The ride is hilly.   When you are cycling, the scariest sight is a road named for a hill.  And the scariest of the scariest?  When the road name is Deadman Hill:

Here is a shot of Vicky, waiting at the top for me:

 

Actually, it wasn't as bad as we had remembered it from last year.  We are in somewhat better shape than last year.  We believe it is because we have altered our training regimen.  We do more frequent, shorter rides than we have done for the past two years, and it seems to be working.

The Ugly:

Here is what we saw one our hikes in the Cle Elum River area:

 

Hunters and graffiti "artists" who think that because it is public lands that they own it.  We saw dozens of mounds of spent shells all over the place.  The Forest Service needs to ban shooting in National Forests because those who shoot are irresponsible.  

Can anyone identify who did the graffiti?  It's against the law.  Report them.

OK.   That's the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of our week.  

Now for the "special" good:  

Ian and Adam got new bikes, and we got to watch them enjoy them for two whole days.  They are growing up.