Shadowtracks

We pulled up stakes from Panguitch UT at the same time readytoride did, and then overnighted with them at the Walmart in Evanston, WY also! Panguitch was lots of fun and we really enjoyed hanging with Jerry and Janice and Mike and Julie, but it was time to go, and our "boss" up at Island Lake (ID) emailed that the snow was gone from our RV space and could we head up there now. And so we are heading that way, but we stopped for a couple of days in Daniel, WY, at a nice BLM campground, and who should we meet but Pa and Di!!! I hadn't read the forum for a while, seems, and didn't even know that they were here! Great folks! Today we're off to the Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale, and then up to Island Park tomorrow.

We will consider Millenicom after our Verizon contracts ends next year. Note that their different options resell different carriers' airtime, and by contract, they are not allowed to say whose networks they are using. but the folks on the Internet Access (SKP) forum say that the 20 GB option where you buy your aircard from them is on Verizon. The other plans seem to be on different carriers. When I called to ask about the BYO (bring your own card) plan, I had both Verizon and AT&T cards to potentially use, but they said that only Sprint cards could be used for that plan.

That was one of the questions we had...

We're still in Panguitch (next to Bryce), where the sun is definitely not shining (well, to be fair, it's nighttime...) But it didn't shine today, either. Frozen rain (S***) a lot of the day, and up in Bryce, it was white. All of this week it's been on and off rain, but in spite of that it's great to be here. Mountains! Hills! Elevation! NO dust storms and constant high wind! Last week was great, though, and we hiked Bryce and Zion with my sons, who apparently took the good weather with them when they went back east. Incidentally, one of my sons explained the name of this town (Panguitch) as a contraction of "penguin sandwich". This raised more questions...

It was indeed an excellent time with great food and company, and you're very welcome, and we clearly weren't supposed to find the Chinese place . My sons arrive for a short visit tomorrow, so we're taking them over to Page AZ to do Antelope Canyon, and then up to the Bryce/Zion area for a bit. We were supposed to be up in Island Park ID (near West Yellowstone) around the 25th to start our summer volunteer gig, but sadly enough, we just learned that the snow in Island Park ID is still much too deep and we need to wait until the first or second week in June. (Hearing this, we were confused about what to do for maybe 5 milliseconds. ) Just have to hang out with Mike and Julie and explore Utah some more... This life is tough, but we're doing the best we can...

We're headed up to ABQ tomorrow (Mon), and we'll be there until early Monday AM 5/9. We were going to head up today, but major winds all along the route made us (a little) more sane. Strange weather all over the country this Winter/Spring for sure. I'm really really glad that we did our East Coast circuit last summer. Let's see - diesel prices , tornadoes , hail , T-storms - yep. Right time to be out here, even if it snows a little.

Well we're finally about to move again :D ! Our volunteer stint at the Bitter Lake NWR in Roswell is over, and we're heading up to Albuquerque on Sun for a week, and then up toward lower Utah - Bryce/Zion) to hike and hang out for a while. Sure will be good to be on the road again! Steve and Carol - many many congrats on selling your house! Now please get out of Dodge while the getting is good! At the end of May, we start our summer gig, volunteering at a Nature Conservancy preserve (Flat Ranch) in Island Park, ID, which is pretty close to West Yellowstone, which is one of our favorite areas and pretty close to lots of our other favorite places, and did I mention that we really like it up there? So y'all come visit us there, you hear?

It's also windy down here in the FLAT part of NM, and with gusts to 60, we think we know what an earthquake feels like. Yesterday I saw a backhoe blowing down the road, followed by a stone fireplace.

Hey George, Didn't realize you were class of 09 too! (I'm class of 08, and Nancy is honorary class of 08.) The world is indeed small...

Well, I just figured out that the 2008 forum changed to 2008/9 ! No wonder there wasn't much action... AND BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO STEVE AND CAROL ON SELLING THEIR HOUSE!!!!!!! We're still at Bitter Lake NWR in Roswell, NM, and still loving it here. Working for the Fish and Wildlife Service is really great, and we would recommend it to anyone who wants to workamp. They are really laid back and also really appreciate volunteers. One of out major goals was to get much better about bird and plant ID and get experience running a visitor center, and the refuge has exceeded our expectations in all of those areas. Great staff to work with, great boss, RV site out on the refuge, and guiet here!. Maybe it's not for everyone, but it's just what we wanted. We didn't have many expectations for Rowell, but it's not a bad little town with great museums and much more to do in the area than we expected. Biggest problem here is that the closest Trader Joes is in Albuquerque -3 hrs away . Springtime wind in SE New Mexico is another story. We've had a number of days of 25-40 mpg w/ gusts to 50 mph, so we're pretty glad we don't need to use candles for light . We put up and take down the flag at the refuge when we're on duty, and in the wind, it's a 2 man job. We'll be here until the end of April, and then at the end of May, we're going to be volunteering for the summer at a Nature Conservancy preserve in Island Park, ID, which is right next to West Yellowstone, which is one of our most favorite areas in the US. Life is good!