My beautiful grandson....

New stuff coming up.....

I have been hanging out in Lolo with Kit for about a month and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Lots of good times with Kit, good eating and some fun weekend camping trips. The last one was to the Big Hole area in Montana. Really nice country and checked out a couple of hot springs. Soaked in the one near Polaris and it was quite nice.

Two very nice camps in Forest Service CG's. The first was free and the second cost $5.00....
I love public lands!

Happy Trails...

ManyWheels

Lolo.....

I am currently in Lolo...spending time with Kit and enjoying the local area. Last weekend we took a drive through Yellowstone Park and saw bison, elk, lots of raptors and water birds and a pair of wolves as we drove out toward West Yellowstone. Two nights of camping and Kit was finally able to give me a tour of the site of her two season stint as a "FredHead" (Fred Harvey employee) at Mammoth Hot Springs Inn. On the way home we had a nice dip in Bozeman Hot Springs...

What an amazing place and so close to Missoula.

I made a visit to the bus and sidecar rig where I have them stored and they are resolutely waiting a duty call which will be a while yet....they weathered the winter just fine although I found that a family of mice took up residence in the bus....not too much damage. Deja-vu from the old GMC bus in Alaska when I came back to a litter of squirrel babies that I took to the local elementary school for the kids to nurse, raise and release back into the wild...comical....

My next move after the 14th of June and a doctor appointment, is to head out in the Chinooky for the coast, perhaps a quick visit with my sons and families and a couple of friends. Then south for a niece's wedding in San Jose, CA.

After the wedding I will head east through Tor C to drop Dina off with a friend and then on to San Antonio, TX for a huge family reunion. Kit will fly down to the wedding and then over to San Antonio and we will be enjoying those things together. Since I have the dog and don't like to fly, I will drive.

After the festivities I will head back west and north to end up back in the Pacific Northwest for the rest of the summer.....

Be well all,

ManyWheels

I love my state.....

As poor as my chosen home state of new Mexico is, we have not had to shut down the highway safety rest areas nor our state parks.

Even though we share a border with Mexico, we haven't started profiling Hispanics. For that I am grateful.

Did I mention that I love this state?

Missions....

These are photos Kit took while we were visiting together in Tucson...a great couple of days out catching some local history and beauty

Onward....and toward Jah....

After leaving the group at Wayne's camp in Pahrump, I visited Death Valley briefly again, then Organ Pipe Cactus Monument and had a camp in Coyote Howls Campground in Why, AZ where a couple of traveling monks live...Steve and Carny Buzz are two very dear friends of mine that I have met along the road and they camp in C.H. C.G. every winter. Neither would like to be called monks but that is how I think of them. Very active participants in their own lives and a pleasure to learn from.

So then to Tucson...

I had a visit with Kit there where she was teaching a dispatch class. We had a great time visiting old missions and re-connecting with each other. I also took a visit to the Pima Air Museum which was very rewarding, especially listening to an old WW II pilot's tales as he reminisced to me.... they were a tough breed...those who came before us.

I headed home to TorC to attend Leroy S.' s funeral. He was a very dear, old friend of mine and a wonderful example of humility in action. I spent some time with the various members of his family and friends that knew him and shared stories of his life...very healing.

I was able to attend to some vehicle upgrades and maintenance as well as yard maintenance at Rancho Cielo Azul...our TorC base camp. Also took care of some doctor stuff and got another 6 month reprieve from worry. I was told I'll see 80 by the PA there...yikes...that is not a little scary!!!

Now I am back in the Vandweller fold at Wayne's camp. Wow, these folks are so awesome! Love in action...total harmony as we live our separate but similar lives and share new tricks, treats and experience....the ego level is pretty low here...in fact so low that my ego has nothing to react to.. ;^) I love it....it really is something that cannot be planned or philosophized about but has to be lived....in the moment...just like life..;^) I will wait a bit and enjoy the days and see if my friend Jon will make it over from TorC and if not, will leave in a few days to continue the trip north...I have been kind of caught in the southwest vortex....

I think if I did not have family up north and want to see them quite badly, I would stay in the southwest regardless of the heat of summer...I do love the desert.... the heat in TorC is really not that bad....

Latcho Drom,
ManyWheels