Getting everything ready for travel has been hectic. I've been trying to reduce the amount of "stuff" in the house, figure out the best loading arrangement for trailer and truck, make reservations at the sites that need them for the first few weeks, and generally get my head in travel-space.
At the same time, my business needs to be tended to (released three books in the past week for three different authors), taxes are due by the end of the month, and this week is the PNWA Writers' Conference. I'll be at the SeaTac Hilton Conference Center Thursday evening pretty much through Sunday noon. I have a table advertising the business and will present twice on Saturday. Friday night is the autograph party from 8:30-10:00 with some great speakers at dinner preceding (Deb Caletti, Bob Dugoni, Stella Cameron, and Gerry Swallow). Saturday night is the awards banquet for this year's literary competition.
I've had a slight rearrangement of my first few weeks travel plans, which just goes to show that the journey will be in control, not the destination. Here's what the schedule looks like for August.
August 10-12. Daughter and I will leave Bellevue and camp at Daroga State Park, north of Wenatchee, just off U.S. Hwy 2. It's great that DD will join me for my first several days on the road. I'm looking forward to some hikes, some grilled steaks, and some time to adjust to life in the trailer.
August 12-26. I'll be at Spring Ridge Estates, just off Hwy 2 north of Spokane. Anna Marie and Gary Chantry are the owners and have been kind enough to offer me two weeks in their amazing vacation property. DD will be with me for the first three days and then I'll put her on the train back to Seattle. Over the course of the next ten days, I intend to do some exploration of the area, do a lot of writing on my newest book, and get Mark Sawyer's next book, The Shiva Paradox, released. I'm planning a loop up through Canada and down through Idaho, at least as far a Coeur d'Alene. I might even explore into Montana along Rt. 2.
August 26. I'll be headed back to Bellevue along (GASP!) I-90 and spending the night at Wanapum State Park along the Columbia River.
August 27-30. Back in Bellevue at Vasa Park. My old college friend David from Steamboat Springs will be towing his trailer and staying there the 29-31. Unfortunately, the park didn't have space available for me on Friday night, so I'll probably boondock somewhere that night. I have to be back in Bellevue on the 28th anyway in order to have the next step in my dental repair done. It still won't be pretty, but hopefully it won't hurt as much.
August 30-31. Unknown location near Bellevue.
August 31-September 1. David and I will be trailering down to Pendleton, Oregon to stay the night at the Wildhorse resort. I'm hoping to swing through Walla Walla on the way and touch base with Phil and Katherine. Don't know yet how David is about traveling backroads or if he's an Interstate guy.
September 1-3. Planning to be back on my original routing, pulling up near Baker City, Oregon to spend a couple days with my friends Ava and Ross. I plan to stock my trailer's freezer with their good beef before I pull out on Tuesday after Labor Day.
Well, it's a little more driving than I intended to do, but I'm glad that I get to spend time with friends along the way. Now you know as much as I do!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Hazards of the Highway
New hazards made themselves known to me this week. It's a sobering thought to think that this could happen when I'm in the middle of two weeks in the wilderness and a hundred miles from civilization.
I lost a fight with a hamburger.
That leaves me in doubt about my chances should my foe ever be alive, or even uncooked. The resulting first round knock-out left me missing my front tooth.
To be fair, it isn't the first time that tooth has gone missing (not even discounting the seven-year-old loss). It started when I was seventeen. That summer of 1967, I was at Senior High Institute, the Methodist version of high school youth camp. The minister at one of the churches was a cool guy who had once been in the circus. He juggled, did acrobatics, and balanced on a balance board. If you aren't familiar with these death traps, take a look at this happy kid getting his act together.
That one from SSG/BSN was listed on Amazon for just $47.49, but is no longer available. See those little stops under each end of the board? Imagine they aren't there. And that round barrel in the middle? Make it about twice that size. And for good measure, let's shorten the board about a foot, too.
Now you have the makings for the catastrophe that was the minister saying, "You can do this. There's nothing to it." My ride on the balance board lasted approximately three-tenths of a second longer than my fight with the hamburger. That was the time it took to face-plant onto a cement floor and lose half my front tooth. So I've had a cap on that tooth for forty-six years. Apparently the tooth just gave up in the face of a ground beef foe.
My dentist was most solicitous over the weekend even though there was nothing she could do. She called me every day to make sure I wasn't in pain and to give me updates regarding whether the lab was open or when I could come in on Monday morning. This morning I met with the dentist and the periodontist and had a cast taken for a temporary flipper (to be installed on Thursday). We discussed the options that will cost me between $2,000 and $4,000 after insurance based on which course of action I choose. (Rebuilding and crown or extraction and dental implant.) And the procedure will take months.
It won't delay my trip (I don't think) because the months part is healing one part before the next can be done. I'll just have to cycle back through Seattle periodically. But can you imagine what that would have been like if I'd been in Alabama when it happened? (So, what's d'problem, boy? the dentist asked with a gap-toothed smile.) Well, it's a hazard of the road and with luck, no one else is going to see the problem until I get a fix underway.
But at least two months' living expenses on the road, down the drain!
I lost a fight with a hamburger.
That leaves me in doubt about my chances should my foe ever be alive, or even uncooked. The resulting first round knock-out left me missing my front tooth.
To be fair, it isn't the first time that tooth has gone missing (not even discounting the seven-year-old loss). It started when I was seventeen. That summer of 1967, I was at Senior High Institute, the Methodist version of high school youth camp. The minister at one of the churches was a cool guy who had once been in the circus. He juggled, did acrobatics, and balanced on a balance board. If you aren't familiar with these death traps, take a look at this happy kid getting his act together.
That one from SSG/BSN was listed on Amazon for just $47.49, but is no longer available. See those little stops under each end of the board? Imagine they aren't there. And that round barrel in the middle? Make it about twice that size. And for good measure, let's shorten the board about a foot, too.
Now you have the makings for the catastrophe that was the minister saying, "You can do this. There's nothing to it." My ride on the balance board lasted approximately three-tenths of a second longer than my fight with the hamburger. That was the time it took to face-plant onto a cement floor and lose half my front tooth. So I've had a cap on that tooth for forty-six years. Apparently the tooth just gave up in the face of a ground beef foe.
My dentist was most solicitous over the weekend even though there was nothing she could do. She called me every day to make sure I wasn't in pain and to give me updates regarding whether the lab was open or when I could come in on Monday morning. This morning I met with the dentist and the periodontist and had a cast taken for a temporary flipper (to be installed on Thursday). We discussed the options that will cost me between $2,000 and $4,000 after insurance based on which course of action I choose. (Rebuilding and crown or extraction and dental implant.) And the procedure will take months.
It won't delay my trip (I don't think) because the months part is healing one part before the next can be done. I'll just have to cycle back through Seattle periodically. But can you imagine what that would have been like if I'd been in Alabama when it happened? (So, what's d'problem, boy? the dentist asked with a gap-toothed smile.) Well, it's a hazard of the road and with luck, no one else is going to see the problem until I get a fix underway.
But at least two months' living expenses on the road, down the drain!
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