Sometimes in this colorful world we live in you just need to step back and reflect…
Reflect
Month: June 2012
Fathers Day
Steph showed me three photo albums this morning, containing all the photos of my life. She’s been putting them together over the years.
I scanned a few of my favorite Riley pictures for today’s post…
Happy Fathers day!
SlideShow (Fathers Day)
Jack and Jill
My new truck has announced her gender and name to me. Meet Jill!
Big Jack is heading back to Seattle with Riley at the end of the summer, so I’ll have two girls, both Mazdas, hanging out in the garage this winter. (Lucy is my other Mazda :-)
In the meantime, Jack has a playmate. When Jack and Jill went up the hill to get that water, did they do so as siblings, friends or lovers?
Answer: The roots of the story, or poem, are in France. Jack and Jill are said to be King Louis XVI – Jack, who was beheaded (lost his crown) followed by his Queen, Marie Antoinette – Jill – (who came tumbling after). So they were lovers.
Menan Buttes
The Menan Buttes are the remains of the only volcanic eruptions that have occurred in freshwater within the United States.
My travel truck needed a new windshield and the shop in Rexburg was only a few miles from the Buttes so the trips were combined today. There is a correlation here because the window erupting inward would have certainly sliced my head off!
Shot from Hwy 33.
On the backside.
A cool watering system.
Rock formations like this were all over the place.
Oh yeah, my new windshield!
On the backside.
A cool watering system.
Rock formations like this were all over the place.
Oh yeah, my new windshield!
SlideShow (Menan Buttes)
Truck Fixed
That noise from my truck that caused me to bail on the Oregon Coast has been identified and fixed. It was the catalytic converter which had crumbled apart internally and was impeding the exhaust system. Also, the vehicle has no muffler and the exhaust pipe sort of ended in the middle of the truck.
Took it down to Driggs Tire and they installed a new converter and welded in some spare pipe to extend out the back. It’s really quiet now and my mileage should improve.
The spare pipe…
Extending out the back!
Extending out the back!
SlideShow (Truck Fixed)
Brye Dog
I used to be married to a very nice Japanese lady named Marci. She put up with my stuff pretty good (but not as good as Steph).
One evening she went out for some reason, and left me home with her dog. He was an Australian Sheep Dog, really sweet and very smart. His name was Brye and he was the greatest Frisbee catcher of his time, launching himself 20 feet into the air to catch!
I was into milk based cocktails at the time and that night I got Brye and myself drunk. We spent the evening fetching a rubber ball on the kitchen floor, with Brye dog sliding around and both of us laughing.
I don’t remember Marci’s reaction when she got home, but she did take Brye dog with her after the divorce…
Heat Map
This is a screen capture of the current gas prices in the U.S. as of this morning, provided by gasbuddy.com. Click on the map to go there.
It accounts for my $100 a day gas habit as I recently bounced against the Pacific Coast.
I need to rethink my timing. I’ve heard gas prices are going down as the summer progresses and this site is my new best friend. Also check out my new menu option Fuel.
Driggs To Beach
Having come within one hour of the Oregon coast, I’ve ploted a straight line from Driggs to it’s exact vertical position on the coast, and I’m making that my special destination…
Missoula Run
Woke up this morning along the majestic Columbia River and headed down to the sleepy town of The Dalles, OR for fuel and to launch yesterdays post.
The destination today was my favorite Montana town, Missoula. I had never driven the route I was embarking on and I figured it to be just a straight shot. It turned out to be far more.
Overall it was beautiful country, huge waterways and land formations combined with Walla Walla onion farms that stretched as far as you could see. The onion smell was amazing!
The stretch from Louiston, OR to Missoula, MT was 210 miles. I assumed a flat road and was ready to rock. It turned out to be 190 miles of sharp curved roads that followed a large raging river through incredible forests and if you didn’t do 55mph you would be run over. At the end I felt like I’d just run a Grand Prix…
The Columbia River.
Looking back on the Columbia.
My truck is waiting for me to quit shooting photos.
More of that cool formation.
Looking back at the raging river. Pretty calm here…
My truck is waiting for me to quit shooting photos.
More of that cool formation.
Looking back at the raging river. Pretty calm here…
SlideShow (Missoula Run)
East Oregon
I asked the gas attendant what Hwy 20 heading to Bend was like and he said “typical boring Oregon highway”. Halfway there a large cougar crossed the road in front of me, the scenery was sparse but powerful and there’s a little town called Riley along the way. Not too boring…
Bend, OR was twice the size since my last visit about 9 years ago and I just blasted through there as my destination was the Oregon coast, west of Eugene. I should note that a Bend Arco had all pumps going at $4.09 a gallon because everyone else was at $4.29.
The surprising town was Sisters, OR, just north of Bend. What a tourist industry they have! Great little shops had the sidewalks jammed while traffic just crawled through town on this very pretty Sunday. I thought of what Driggs could be…
Arrived in Eugene around 4pm and located the road to Florence which is right on the Pacific Ocean, 90 miles away. Unfortunately, the rattle in the engine was getting worse.
Coming over the mountains down to Eugene the engine begin rattling when I let off the throttle. This was a new sound and had me concerned. Since it wasn’t going away I had a very hard choice to make, pass the point of no return and head south all the way to San Diego, or turn north just in case I had to limp it on up to Riley in Washington.
I went north, through Salem which has become a ten mile stretch of strip malls. Veered East of Portland along the Columbia river on 84 and traveled to Hood River where I grabbed a loose LinkSys for quick updates to Riley and Steph.
It’s 8:15pm and I’m hunkered down in a spot along the river with no internet, writing this for a post tomorrow.
I’ve changed my plans. In the morning I’m heading to Lewiston/Clarkston, WA and then to Missoula, MT along another route I’ve never been on. Hey, summer vacation is what it becomes!
After that, back home for a brief stint. I’ll get one of my local bro’s to track down that noise, and then onward…
I need to say something about gas prices before I put the netbook away. They really, really suck!
My mind is blown by how many people out here on the road are driving huge motor-homes, pulling large trailers with big trucks, and basically just putting in the vacation miles to get where they want to go. I thought we had a recession going on, how can they afford this?
I’m shelling out $100.00 a day and I drive a Mazda four banger with a five speed…
Breakfast = Shredded wheat, granola, bananas and powdered milk.
This view is better than sitting in front of my office monitor. :-)
Ok, the road is a bit boring…
This view is better than sitting in front of my office monitor. :-)
Ok, the road is a bit boring…
SlideShow (East Oregon)
Ontario, OR
I’m at a rest stop just East of Ontario, Oregon. This is the place where Jack blew his original engine when we were moving to Driggs, and where he got his new boxed 360.
This is my first night in the new canopy layout and I have to say, pretty comfy! I truly have everything I need here, except a shower :-) I’m using an 11 Mbps connection called roadconnect and I’m assuming it’s a courtesy wi-fi for travelers.
Heading straight across Oregon tomorrow, through Bend and on to Eugene. I’ve been to both those towns before, but never taken this route. It should be beautiful country so I’ll grab some shots and post them tomorrow evening. Next day, the Oregon coast!
The Nursery
The nursery is all ready and all we need now is a baby to occupy it.
Oh, did I forget to mention that’s Riley’s and Jessica’s nursery? :-)
SlideShow (The Nursery)
Home Away
Steph and I have been prepping my new Home Away From Home for the last couple of days. The bed of the truck has a gnarly ribbed surface that has been totally negated with a nice piece of Mahogany. The tailgate ribs were replaced with a hand-made knee pad.
The sleeping unit consists of multiple foam layers. There are containers for my stuff, a shelf, with water and a single burner cooking stove rounding out the back.
It’s an extended cab so the back contains food, clothes, coolers and charging units.
The cab is comfortable and I’ve installed some steering wheel security.
All the windows in the canopy have been completely blacked out. It should make for some good sleeping.
Now if I just had a roof for all three of my vehicles…
SlideShow (Home Away)
Seattle Clips
Here’s a little composite video from my Seattle trip.
It starts out with an old couple posing with the Gold Guy. The man spots me video taping him so he figures he better offer up a tip :-)
Then there’s a brief look at the early Pikes Place Market crowd followed by a couple of clips of the Komen Puget Sound Race for the Cure that was happening up on 2nd.
Finally I do a walk through of the Market with camera held casually in my right hand. That handsome, broad shouldered young man at the beginning is my son Riley. Notice how he spots my camera (at 2:20) and smiles :-)
Anniversary One
My blog is one year old!
So busdriverjim.com, as of today, now contains:
- 443 Posts.
- 1,664 Photos.
- 177 Photosets.
- 103 Videos (65 Flickr, 38 YouTube).
- 495 Comments.
- … and a lot of love, code and soul.
If you’re going to blog, be serious about it! My thanks to everyone who has participated in this very fun internet adventure.
I’ve developed a huge amount of code to support and compliment this project. Please explore the menu options above and the links on the sidebar to your right.
If you put a WordPress template in the hands of a programmer, cool things happen :-)