Wicked Weather Not Wonderful

When we left Saskatchewan, the frost was thick on the ground but the roads held true. Crossing the border back into the states, we had little issues coming back state side. As we approached our destination for the day, a truck passing the other direction kicked up a rock which made a small crack on the windshield; driver side. It quickly started to spread making it near impossible to fill for a temporary fix. The night was spent sleeping in the Subaru at Al's Mini Storage but don't tell Al. We figured it would save us an hour of driving and was the most secure camping we had ever done due to its padlock and barbed fence. In the morning, we hitched up the rig and headed to our next adventure. Travelling on Thanksgiving, the roads were fairly clear of other motorists for the length of the 7hr drive to western Montana.

The pr

oposed campsite for our stay outside of Missoula MT was about 15 miles outside of town at Johnsrud Park. After driving for 6+ hours with the gnome in tow, we reached what we thought would be our campsite for the night outside of Missoula Montana. The site at Johnsrud Park Road provided ample signs to say, day use only. Being the abiding campers we are, we followed signage for the campgrounds further up the road; only 5 miles.

With daylight dwindling and a light coating of snow on the ground, we pressed on. The paved road quickly turned to dirt and then to dirt with ice sheets on top. The road remained flat for some time until it then abruptly narrowed to one lane with a hill to the right and river on left. We pressed on with no turn around to name.

Then the hills started. The first had some grip issues but Subaru AWD held tight. The second hill had some good old jersey barriers to prevent falling into the river below. As I began the attempt, momentum was not my friend and about half way up, we slipped. The car begins to roll backward being pulled by the gnomes weight. I panic and hit all brakes which stops us quickly.

Option 1. Reverse down the icy slope with little control and see what happens.
Option 2. Floor it and see how it goes.

Well we try option one and I quickly begin to inadvertently and uncontrollably jackknife with the trailer heading to the rock wall and the Subaru to the river. BAD NEWS. We break again and then commit to option 2. Liz hops out to help guide the rig as I use the 'Floor It' option to slip, slide, then grip inch by inch up the 4% icy grade. The wheels spin with stress as the engine whirls in first gear. Its a last ditch effort with a lot to loose and no one around to save you.

The car holds ground and slowly works its way left then right then left again up the path. As we near the small summit, it trips and quits moving forward. I thrust my body forward towards the steering wheel and gain an inch. Again and again I repeat the moving till finally we are at the top. Out of breath and shaking, we decide our fate. Continuing is not an option so in the remaining daylight, we use the narrow space at the summit to turn around. I miscalculate the turn radius and bust a small hole in the bumper.

The rig is turned around and eased slowly down the hill it just worked so hard to get up. Luckily we had a plan B in place only 11 miles up the road. In darkness we drive and find the turn off easily enough. We take no chances and unhook the trailer in a flat parking area. We scope out the area and find a fire ring to call camp.

The next few days were wicked cold with chance of light snow. We managed to make the best of a chilly Missoula and do some window shopping along with a trial of some local brews. After a hefty flight at one brewery, we decided to enjoy a nearby park with swings, slides and amazing places to run and play. Sometime in the darkness at the park, Liz's cellphone fell out her pocket and was picked up by some tweens who preceded us. All we found left when we returned to try and find the phone was the case on the ground by the swings. Mega upset since phones are not cheap and we are very budget conscience at this point in our travels.

View of Missoula from a hilly hike

The weather decided to continue its flight into unfavorable and as we continually checked the weather forecast, the call for snow made us increasingly more nervous. We decided to move on before it all started. The next driving leg out of Missoula was a windy wintery mess as we hurtled over the i90 passes in MT, Idaho and Washington. The drive was completed at our next site which we made work. Tinkham Road, which is about an hours drive from Seattle, was our home for the next few days. It runs parallel to i90 but surrounded by thick woods which provided a great natural blanket from the rain and snow that continued to fall in the region. A tarp we saved from Dinkey Creek days provided a great rain repellent to keep the gnome dryer than not. With our weatherproof rig, we hunkered down and waited the weather out.

The next few days were spent exploring the Seattle area including a trip to their Ikea which was in a bizarre old trucking hub, a trip to Pikes Place market (the one where they throw the fish around), and a walk around some of the local gardens and parks including Kubota, a Japanese inspired garden.

We were very excited about our Pike Place visit because Liz was able to get her squished engagement ring reshaped and the stone reset. We had visited numerous jewelers and all of them said the ring would have to be sent out and the fix costing more then worth. Well this local jeweler was able to mend the issues in moments and charged a measly $15 for the service. I also purchased an opal set ring for my love since she is amazing.

The weather once again was calling for snow at our Seattle digs so we decided to move on a bit earlier to our next site. The destination was less than desirable since upon arrival, we noticed signs stating closed for the season; Dec.1 – May.1 It was the second time we had miscalculated the stay. Now with one phone between us and limited connectivity, we frantically searched for the next best thing. A swath of national forest to the north would do the trick. We pressed on making our anticipated 2.5hr drive into a 5 hour trek but what cha gonna do? We set camp at a fire ring, once again not sure if we were allowed to camp there but we never received warning to remove our rig.

Our explorations around the Olympic Peninsula was divided into two days with a night of car camping spent near Port Angelas. We headed clockwise through the dense coastal rain forest with the mighty Pacific to our driver and Mt. Olympia to the passenger. We made sure to stop at some of the beaches to appreciate the incredible views. 

Carrying on, we ventured through Forks, the town known for the Twilight saga, and traveled to La Push, the western most town on the 48 continental states. Cool. We really enjoyed being in such a lush, dense, mossy green world. Things were starting to look up for our trip. That night, we bedded down on a forest road to awake to a frosty morning.

The remainder of the trip around the peninsula had few attractions but we settled on seeing the Hamma Hamma trailhead. The road quickly showed signs of the snow the night before but had tread marks from other adventurers. As we passed the trailhead, all tracks stopped but the road continued. Feeling curious, we continued up the snowy road. With no camper to weigh us down, the AWD held fine on the road. That is until we reached the ruts. The snowy surface had filled some previously made ruts and the car was finally deemed out of its element. We tried to K-turn but the ruts got us stuck for the better part of a freezing 45 minutes as we tried all tricks in the book to free the car from the slippery snowy ruts which held us tight. Using sticks, sweat, and perseverance, we freed ourselves and headed back down to safety. Not willing to risk anymore hardships, we stayed smart all the way back to the gnome for the night.

The next leg of the trip was accomplished before a heavy snow was to roll through. South we pressed towards Portland. The next site was a sure bet with numerous reviews and what we though would be easy access. As we arrived in the dark, the road split and we were to take a near %10 grade on gravel up to the sites. I backed the rig up and then gave it gas. The car had momentum but it just wasn't enough and it quit %70 up the hill. All brakes were used and I cautiously backed the load down the steep hill with Liz using flashlights to help the descent from landing us in a stream or down the embankment. What to do when you cant make it to your destination? Once again we hit emergency mode and find a nearby RV park which set us up for the night at $25 per slumber. Not ideal but we needed a place to crash.

The next morning, we woke to weather forecasts of strong wind gusts and snow for the area. Feeling defeated, we were packing up to leave Portland when Liz made a call. Her father gave great insight as to our plight and with a gracious gift, gave us a hotel for the night near Portland where we could have a warm bed, shower and place to put the camper. We are ultra thankful for this lifeline which might have seemed small to him but saved our butts from the ice storm that paralyzed the city in the next few hours. Sheets of ice, snow mix and high winds caused trucks to fail on small inclines on the highways. Traffic was a mess and apparently, Portland's single plow truck was nowhere to be found. We buckled down for the night to stay safe and warm.

The next day, we met with Lauren, another one of Liz's friends, and did lunch in the city. Lauren invited us to stay the next few nights with her while we figured out post-Portland problems like our inability to make it to Bend OR. While we were able to spend time in Portland, we made sure to check out some awesome, unique shops, try amazingly delicious foods, meet interesting folk and also got to a craft convention where a hundred or so craters displayed their beautiful artwork, jewelry or brilliant gift ideas. Unfortunately, our budget couldn't afford most of the things our eyes desired.

Up next is more coastal cruising south for Xmas. Hopefully, the weather will warm, nothing breaks and sites work out fine. Fingers crossed our luck improves.

A Roamin Q & A

Recently, the Roamin Gnome team asked the world (or at least those who are looking) if they had any questions for us about our journey thus far. The questions will be answered today in addition to some that we thought the readers might gain from.

Sara K. asks: "What was your favorite and least favorite hike"

• My answer might be a bit biased but my favorite hike was in the precursor to the US road trip. Our three day backpacking across the beautiful mountains and lakes of New Zealand's South Island on the Routeburn Track was bar-none the best. Accommodations were well set in advanced, the weather held out JUST long enough (despite the downpour on our last day) and the company was pretty great. Oh yeah, and of course I was able to propose to Liz on top of the highest point, Conical Hill, with both fathers as witnesses during the second day of the hike.

• Our least favorite hike was to Cliff Lake near the Courtright Reservoir in the Sierra's. Sock related issues led Liz to form a seething blister which hurt and hindered the hike. On top of it, we trouped out too late and were unable to reach the destination. The dog continually tossed in the tent and it was a fairly sleepless night. We struggled on the sandy granite soils and the tiny rocks kicked into shoes frequently. In addition, the road to and from the trailhead was a sickening serpentine which made things just a touch worse. We told ourselves we would attempt another go with better gear and better time management but instead opted for other adventures. Maybe one day...

Robin S. asks: " Do I miss Hillmann Consulting (former employer)"

• I sure do. A few times of week, I will take a moment to remember the past including employment. Hillmann Consulting was and is an amazing company to work with and I do miss the people that worked in the friendly environment. Every so often, we will see doppelgangers or a last name of those in our past and it will remind us of where we came from and what we have learned in those times since then. I would not oppose to working with Hillmann and Co in the future [undefined] but have NOT missed the indescribable frustrations of commuting into NYC on the regular; sometimes night/weekends and always rush hour.

Daniel K. asks: "Have you done any WWOOFing and if so, how was it?"

• Liz and I spent only two weeks total WWOOFing in this great country. To start off, our options are greatly limited due to the fact that the dog must be welcomed. Our first farm, Sylvanaqua, located outside Charlottesville VA was run by a small but growing family on two plots of rented farmland. They had been working in animal raising for a few years and were not new to having WWOOFers work along side them. Unfortunately, the week we worked with them was an absolute washout and each day we returned soaking wet and tired. Luckily, Annie was an amazing chef and her food would put a smile in your belly and back on your face. Additionally, Ziggy got along quite well with their spunky pups Mini and Beebop. We hope to have Sylvanaqua help with the wedding dinner in the future [Free range Hog Roast anyone?]
• Our second week of WWOOFing was spent with Pepper and the gang at Stone Feather Farms located outside Purceville VA. We obtained a more agricultural side of farming with hopes of growing killer veggies for her organic Salsa she made and sold locally. Weeds were pulled and baby plants placed in soil to align with the lunar cycle. Big Jim, another WWOOFer at the farm, followed these cycles religiously in order to provide Pepper with an amazing bumper crop for the two years they have worked together. Once again, Ziggy got along swimmingly with their Corgi Catie and luckily the Virginia rains didn't hit us as hard.

• To read more details about our WWOOFing adventures, please follow the link below to my prior posts on the subject.

Sylvanaqua Farms

Shayna K. asks: "How have you changed since you've embarked?"

• I am still the type A/B person on the inside but with practice and opportunities, I have learned to let things slide a bit. Our adventures have led me to say "YES" to certain things that would have normally been outside my comfort zone such as inadvertently ordering cow brain tacos in Las Vegas or noshing on a fresh killed rattlesnake that was hand delivered, still dripping blood, by a machete wielding man in the hills outside Ojai California. We have also come across many people in this country who have a story to tell and with this opportunity, we took the time and chance to hear what they have to say; weather the quotes are a bit nonsense or right on target, the open-minded ability to talk with strangers about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has led us to a better understand of the world and its many facets. We have all been raised differently in different environments and to taste and explore the options of this world has been a thought outside the box.
• Additionally, with a free floating agenda, we have the time to actually see and learn about places that most would fly by. Some days we are in hard travel mode and destinations need to be reached but when relaxed, we can explore new places, learn new facts and meet new people. The hustle bustle of NYC taught me to walk swiftly and don't talk to strangers. Now I have to time to saunter and chat.

Daniel V.K. asks: "When are you coming back to the east coast?"

• This is a loaded question. Post New Years, we will be heading back east bound to continue our journey. Texas and the Southeast states will take some time to explore and we hope to do some more WWOOFing opportunities in that region until spring. We have also been given some good tips on places to see on the east coast including Asheville NC. I don't think we will come back to the NYC metro area to settle but will be around to visit relatives, parents and friends as we can. Come summer, we would like to try and reach the New England states (*New Hampshire and the lot) and might have to settle for some more seasonal work at that time before the next chapter unfolds. We still have a lot of unknowns but we have found attraction to areas of Virginia and of course MOAB, UT stole my heart.
• We will be back in Moab in a few weeks to keep exploring and hopefully get in on a folk music festival on the 4th. I have also been looking at property to buy. Moab is expanding fast and a 10 acre parcel of undeveloped land can grow from 50k to 75-100k within a few years when the developers come to plant the next communities. The town captured out attention with its diverse and colorful people, the amazing desert atmosphere with climbing/quads/mountain biking galore and the quaint co-op, beautiful library and even a hand spun thread store for Liz. Its a unique, non-cookie cutter / sans big box stores atmosphere on par with Flagstaff and a few other places we have seen that have the potential for personal growth in a caring community.

Here are a few more self asked questions from the gnome to the gnome

Favorite National Park Visited: Capitol Reef was a huge unexpected trip. We only planned to over night near the Park but as you drove down highway 24 which runs through the park, you realize that CR is very different from the rest of the lot. When we attended this park, the campground was full but that's OK because CR Visitor Center has a board of local free or cheap places to stay nearby including maps of BLM (public use) lands so you don't end up trespassing on someones desert. VERY HELPFUL :) Also, the park is both hiker and car dweller friendly. You can explore via your car fairly well and will still enjoy the beauty of the area but the short hikes are tempting to get your feet dirty. It is not over populated (yet), there are free-to-pick orchards onsite with a donation bin, a store that sells local made pies/pastries, jams and pickled items. Did I mention that the landscape is truly amazing! 

Also, make sure to buy an annual pass to the parks if you plan to visit 2-3 parks that year. The $80 pass paid for itself and we have no regrets since most parks charge $30 admission.

Hardest Challenge on a daily basis: Food consumption. As warm blooded creatures, we feel the need to feed every few hours. When you are a busy bee like us, it can be a challenge to muster the ability to make a meal three times a day; especially with limited road supplies. Liz has done a fantastic job as chief chef making sure we get the meals we need. One challenge is finding fresh fruits and veggies that aren't GMO and Pesticide ridden or shipped from around the world. We usually dont stick around enough to find and get to the farmers markets. 

Another challenge is spicing it up. We have a spice cabinet on board that Liz utilizes to its fullest but in addition to spice, its important to have varied meals. We have been in burrito mode for a while since its an easy handheld meal with minimal ingredients and little clean up. It's also versatile as you build to desire. We like having snacks in the car for those long stretches of highway with nothing in between. Costco has provided a bounty of nature valley peanut bars and fig bars which are delicious and sort of healthy. Better than chip bags each day. 

--Additionally, we consume ALOT of water; both in/on our bodies and for cleaning. Living in a house, you have little idea of your daily consumption. Run the sink or shower too long; NBD. It can be a struggle to have enough freshwater but we have managed by using a 5 gallon flexible water jug in the trunk (we like the flexible ones since it adds space as it empties), in addition to numerous 1 gallon jugs in the foot wells of the back seat. On board the camper, we have a 10 gallon holding tank for washing dishes and hands but this reserve is only available when pop'd up.

Financial Battles are another thing to keep in mind before you hit the road. When you have no income, every penny counts and making sure your bank accounts are working with you and not against you is important to track. 

• Liz realized that her bank, Wells Fargo, would charge $25/month for a 'maintenance fee' when her account was below a certain threshold and to avoid such a charge, she needed to either have X deposits per month or 10 debit charges a month. This isn't common knowledge and so when these charges popped up, she inquired and with a local branch and found the small print stipulations that might not affect someone with a steady income and spends regularly. If we are stationed and supplied somewhere, we could go a week or two without spending a dime and living off our stock.
• One trip to the grocery could cost a couple hundred dollars so its important to weed out the snacks and cereals you might want but not need to survive. Buy the generic/bulk version of just about anything but make exceptions from time to time (we like to treat ourselves to Black Label Bacon every once in a while). We buy from the bulk store to refill stocks on board including canned goods and the Dogs Food. Meals might be meager at times so make sure you eat your moneys worth when a bounty is present; I call this opportunistic eating. 
• Have an emergency stash (or multiple) of cash on hand. Credit cards are accepted most places now but its worth it to keep a few hundred on hand just in case. Additionally, make sure you have enough money to bail out of your adventures or get it going again. Determine your threshold in your bank of when you might need to call it quits, settle down or ship back to mah and pah.
• Consider the price of gas. When you add miles like there's no tomorrow, you will inevitable have to fill your rig and your wallet hurts. Use an ap like GasBuddy to help you find the cheapest rates in your area. Once again, every penny counts and can save a lot of money in the long run. We tend to hit Costco if we can since its bar-nun cheapest gas in town. Not every place has Costco gas though so we take what we can get. We also run with a 2-gallon spare can on board as a safety net. It has saved us a close call and also got it down the road to a better gas price.
• Spend the money to secure your success. This might seem counter intuitive to our spending sector here but we made sure the Subaru was in top condition before initial departure and after leaving Dinkey Creek 4 months and a couple thousand miles later; we spent a small fortune reconditioning the camper to a livable, movable space including a new axle to the tune of a grand (Estimated $2,300 spent on the gnome including purchase price and numerous modifications). We purchased a GPS and other numerous gadgets to help us live a mobile life which all cost a pretty penny.

Some Things We Quickly Learned as Campground Hosts

As previously stated, the Dinkey Creek Campground in the Sierra Mountain Range in California is home to 122 non-hookup sites. It is the fun zone for many families, friends and long time visitors. As you can imagine, a campground of this size requires a full time team of cleaners, greeters and maintenance. In the last two weeks of our employment at DCCG, we have come across many things that most would find bizarre and yet to others, this is the norm. Heres a short list of our ongoing discoveries of the human camper psyche.

A large portion of our work is spent making sure the facilities are well stocked and clean for the guests.

1. If someone knocks on the bathroom door and you are inside, reply with "occupied" or "Im in here" or even "Go away". We understand that what happens to us in the bathroom can be considered a private matter but we all poo and when no response is given, we assume you are incapacitated or mute. I dont automatically go in for the handle shakedown like most do, a knock is more pleasant than hearing frantic handle tugs at the door. Just please respond so I know we can move on with our tasks and we know youre in fact not dead on the toilet.

2. We all poo in all shapes, sizes, colors, smells. . . But there is something special about the camping feast. While camping, folks eat food they might not normally chow on and thus their bodies produce an output that is weird to them. Some like to bask in the glory of their creations and thus think that other will want to see, smell ... their business too. We do not. Please flush it down. DCCG is blessed with enough flush toilets to keep all campers happy so there is no reason to let the sh!t sit in the bowl for my discovery. We understand that some behemoth bowels consume the entirity of the bowl and overwhelm the flushing capacity. Please dont press press press the flush button. It only makes the matter worse. Our 'manual grinder' which is usually a stick from the wild will do the trick to unclog the beast and let the action continue down the drain.

3. If you do clog with your log, dont hide it under TP. Other guests dont need that surprise in their daily deuce. The other night on rounds, a lady flags down our golf cart to warn us of a potential log clog. We investigate to find a bathroom with a trickle coming from under the door amd out to the sidewalk. As we open the metal door, a surge of toilet water pours from the room and the bowl is seen gushing water like something from the exorcist. Luckily, we were not on the duty of fixing this doodie and radio'ed it into the next guy. The mess was solved with the manual grider and a squeegee to get the water out.

4. Toilet paper can be flushed. To my understanding, alot of other cultures use the waste bin as a recepticle for all TP generated. This includes ones used for number 2. Often enough, the trash bin will be a container for peoples poopie papers instead of flushing it down the loo. I dont want to touch that so please flush em down. Luckily gloves are provided for our hands to stay 'clean'.

5. People love to make their mark. There is something about sitting in a stall that makes folks want to inscribe their name, number  and relationship status into the walls, sinks, doors, toilet seat etc to let the world know they found the bathroom. Im sure they could invent a graffiti proof bathroom, resistant to all spray and scratch marks, but people would still find a way to leave 'Bill ♡ Sue in '92' on the walls. No one wants this so please dont do it. Also, name carving in trees is not cool. That is unless you tattoo an image of the tree on your body; scar for scar. The tree will outlive your relationship.

6. Dont steal things. Most everything is hard fastened to the walls and is made of prison style stainless steel yet guests find a way to fiddle with whats loose. Five gallon buckets serve as the trash bin and in the past, they would go missing as people used them for filling water from the spigot or hauling trash to he dumpster.  Holes were drilled in the bottom of each pail to prevent water from being toted and this detered most but theres always the few who snag the bucket and use it for other deeds. A pail was found outside a tent that was know for its late night party the prior evening. Upon confrontation, the young man proclaimed the bucket was his but with inspection of the drilled holes in the bottom, his story carried as much water as the bucket did. He did manage to use the bucket as a pee pot and thus earned himself the glory of cleaning it out and throwing his waste away in a proper manner in his hung over stupor.

-- Additionally we have had numerous thefts of the sink handles. The push button to operate the water flow has been somehow mehanically ripped from the faucet making the sink unusable. If they left the handle there, a fix might be possible bit of course it is never to be seen again. The reasoning behind this action is still unknown since the handle provides no worth or merit to the theif. Since DCCG workes on a stickt budget, we dont have the option to head on down to the hardware store and buy a new one. A incident report will be filed and submitted and maybe by next season, funding will be alotted for the fix. This means this sink is out of order for everyone for the rest of the season. THANKS.

7. Drop toilets are NOT dumpsters.  In addition to serving the two dozen toilets on site, we also clean a handful of pit/drop toilets on and off site. The pit toilet is a simple device that only requires two things of you: Close the lid when complete. This allows the stink to air out via the exhaust pipe up top and not back flow into the stall. Second, do not dump trash into the pit. It is extrememly difficult and messy to extract and no one wants that. I would rather you leave your bag of trash out front the door for retrieval instead of dealing with an upset pump truck operater with a grabby claw and elbow-length gloves.

8. If you muck up the seat with your backdoor business, use some TP to wipe it down. Dont let it set and stick on as a dry crust. Once again, no one wants that. Our industrial clean and get it off but we have to provide the muscle and mental strength to complete the task.

9. Use the whole roll. Most restrooms are equipped with three if not four tp rolls. When restocking, I will position the rolls with less left closest to the hand that will be grabbing it. Of course folks dont want to use the scraps so instead will go for the new roll. This leaves four rolls in limbo with little left to use. The roll will remain in place until used but if all little rolls are left, it is surely the case that new tp rolls will have to be added in a short amount of time. It boggles my mind why people wont just use the last of the roll and be the victor for its demise. The world my never know.

Thats about it for now. More lessons learned to come including check-in/check-out times and what that really means.