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Archive for the ‘Adventures With Pepper’ Category

Green River and Sandhill Cranes

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , on September 20, 2012| 6 Comments »

            “In rivers the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.” Leonardo da Vinci

Adventures with Pepper: Day Six continued

View of the Green River from the Dinosaur National Monument quarry overlook. — Photo by Pat Bean

            My detour off Highway 40 to Dinosaur National Monument on a rural back road followed the Green River as it flowed down to join the Mighty Colorado River.

Not a slouch in itself the Green, which begins in the Wind River Mountains of  Wyoming, is 730 miles long and a major tributary of the Colorado.

I had rafted this section of the river, through Split Mountain Gorge into Dinosaur National Monument, back in the late 1980s, and I had canoed a section of the river from Ouray to Sand Wash in the 1970s.

So while I have a fondness for all rivers, I have a special fondness for the Green. It was an expected pleasure to watch its passage from behind the wheel of Gypsy Lee this morning.

What wasn’t expected was the flock of sandhill cranes in a meadow near the river. I had to stop for these.

A flock of great blue herons in an irrigated agriculture field just outside the entrance to Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah.

The herons were an unexpected sight, the kind that continues to make travel so alluring to this wondering wanderer.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie now at 50,402 words. Over half-way there. Yea!

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Running with Scissortails http://tinyurl.com/8q45ucg One of these things is not like the other. Personally, I hang out with scissortails at every opportunity, but I’ve never seen scissor-tailed flycatchers anywhere but Texas.

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Dinosaur National Monument

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , on September 19, 2012| 8 Comments »

            “Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.” –Henri Frederic Amiel

Where dinosaurs once roamed — and died. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day Six

            My last stop before exiting from Utah was a quick visit to Dinosaur National Park.

The monument had gained a new visitor center since my last visit, and a shuttle took one up the hill to the indoor quarry where dinosaur bones were on display, still half buried in rock. The quarry had also undergone renovations, including the addition of this exhibit since my last visit. — Photo by Pat Bean

I should have lingered longer but I was in one of those moods where the day’s destination seemed more important than the journey. I hate it when I get like that.

Evidence of a world we can only imagine in our minds, or scientifically try to explain. — Photo by Pat Bean

Part of my day’s rush was that it was Friday and I didn’t have reservations for the weekend, and I was remembering how crowded Lake Walcott State Park always was on weekends. .            Fortunately, it was not my first visit to Dinosaur Monument. It was one of those places I visited a couple of time when wanderlust hit me on a weekend. Like past visits, the landscape interested me as much as the bone fossils. I always tried to imagine living dinosaurs waddling across my view.

My mind’s eye let me see them. Can You?

Book Report: Travels with Maggie, 49,606 words. Did almost as much cutting as rewriting. I kept remembering the writing advice to always eliminate the boring.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Texas Tweeties: http://tinyurl.com/9y59htv I never get tired of seeing vermillion flycatchers.

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Steinaker State Park, Utah

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Favorite Hikes, Favorite Places, Lakes, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

“If travel is like love, it is in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” – Pico Iyer, “Why We Travel.”

A view of Steinaker Reservoir through the trees on an early morning hike. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day Five

            Today’s drive down Highway 40 from Jordanelle State Park to Vernal was one I’d driven quite a few times before. The fact is there are very few roads in Utah that I haven’t driven.

As usual, Pepper is waiting for me to catch up with her. My daily walks with my now nine-month old Scotty-mix puppy help keep this wondering/wandering old broad healthy.

I lived in the state for 25 years, and many were the times an itchy foot would attack me early on a Saturday morning. I would throw a few things in my car, gather up my canine traveling companion, and take off for the weekend. The road was always calling to me as far back as I can remember. After a divorce and after my children had fled the nest, I started answering it back every chance I could.

Highway 40 might haven taken me to Heber, where I might ride the Heber Creeper to Bridal Veil Falls; or to Rockport State Park, where I might set up my tent for the weekend; or to Flaming Gorge, where if I had timed it right, I might watch ospreys feed their chicks.

Highway 40 held the key to many of my memories. There was the tiny town of Myton, which recalled my float trips down the Green River and the rough, unpaved road trip back from the Sand Wash take out to Myton, where civilization began again.

Just past Roosevelt, I thought of the fancy Bottle Hollow Lodge, which I discovered no longer existed. The tourist attraction was a joint business project in the 1970s between the Ute Indians and Utah State University’s Extension Services.

I was working as a writer for USU at the time, and wrote about the venture as part of a marketing campaign. I recalled sleeping one night in the huge round beds that were the standard in the motel’s unique round rooms.

Up the road from where Bottle Hollow had been, there was a neon-lit motel, a bare step above a Motel 6, that now provided passersby overnight accommodations. I was glad I wasn’t stopping there.

I ended my day instead at Steinaker State Park, located just seven miles up Highway 191 from Vernal. It was my virgin visit to the park – and it was awesome.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie, 49,387 words.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day. Bean’s Pat: 23 Thorns http://23thorns.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/frog/ Ribbit. A long blog, but I loved it. I was hooked when the writer began to explain why his family wasn’t like other families.

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Fall Color Showing in Utah’s Mountains

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Nature, Travel, Travels With Maggie, Writing, tagged , , , on September 14, 2012| 6 Comments »

“We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.” Zhuangzi

It’s turning to fall in Utah’s northern mountains — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day Four Continued

I left the summer of the valleys briefly yesterday to find autumn already blooming in the higher elevations. Thought you would enjoy sharing the colors with me.

Book Report: I needed to get on the road early but got up early to at least write for half an hour on Travels with Maggie, which is now at 45,312 words. The number might have been higher if my Internet connection for fact-checking hadn’t been so poopy.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day

Bean’s Pat: Margaret’s Miscellany http://tinyurl.com/99nqldk A Death Valley story that’s G-rated.

 

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Devil’s Slide

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Art, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , on September 13, 2012| 9 Comments »

 “The journey itself is my home.” Basho Matsuo

Adventures with Pepper: Day Four Continued            

Devil’s Slide as viewed from the far side of the Weber River. — Photo by Pat Bean

When it comes to interesting landscapes, the Devil too often gets the credit.

For example, Colorado has a Devil’s Playground, New Zealand has a Devil’s Bath, Wyoming has a Devil’s Tower, Norway has a Devil’s Valley and Oklahoma, Idaho and Arizona all have Devil canyons. And this is just barely scratching the surface.

Wandering/wondering minds are curious about this name phenomenon. Aren’t you?

Utah’s Weber Canyon, which I passed through, was what got me thinking about this.

Near the mouth of the canyon I passed Devil’s Gate, and near its end I passed Devils Slide.

The gate was named by early explorers to the region, and later illustrated by Thomas Moran for a railroad tour guide. He also did an illustration of Devil’s Slide.

I was on the wrong side of Highway 84 to get a picture of the gate, but Pepper and I stopped at the scenic turnout to admire Devil’s Slide for a while.

Artist Thomas Moran’s etching of Devil’s Gate, a rock formation in the Weber River that daunted early pioneers who came down Weber Canyon. This spot on the river now offers kayakers a major challenge.

The limestone sides of the slide were part of a sea floor about 175 million years ago. The sea drained away, the reef bed tilted and the softer between layer of rock eroded away to create the unusual geological site.            I wondered what was on the mind of the person who named it Devil’s Slide instead of Angel’s Slide, or simply The Giant’s Slide.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie is now up to 45,422 words. I got up early this morning so I could write.  

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day

          Bean’s Pat: Take a hike http://tinyurl.com/8fk88m8 Along the West Coast Trail. I would be envious if I weren’t having my own, less strenuous, but still fabulous journey right now.

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The Wasatch Mountains

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 10, 2012| 4 Comments »

“Keep close to Nature’s heart … and break clear away once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir

The view out the window of my RV, which is parked in a friend’s Ogden, Utah driveway. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day 2            

Mount Ogden from downtown Ogden. — Photo by Pat Bean

Once I crossed Rattlesnake Pass on Highway 84 in Northern Utah, I began watching for a sight I knew would lift my already high spirits even higher.

I recognized the canyon curve that would let me get my first glimpse of the Wasatch Mountains. My heart beat accelerated and my eyes dampened when these awesome peaks finally came into sight. It’s the reaction that always happens when I’ve been gone from the mountains for a while. It’s as if they share a piece of my soul.

I was raised in flat-country Texas, and was 14 before I ever saw my first mountain. Since then I’ve seen many mountains, but none that have left their mark so deeply on me as the Wasatch. The awesome peaks, which include Mount Ogden on which the 2002 Winter Olympic downhill races were run, are the western edge of the Rocky Mountain chain that stretches 3,000 miles, from northern British Columbia in Canada to New Mexico in the United States.

 

The view of Ben Lomond from my friend’s backyard. — Photo by Pat Bean

I first lived in their shadow in the early 1970s before returning to Texas. I missed these mountains so much that I jumped at the chance to leave my job at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to accept a job at the Standard-Examiner in Ogden, Utah in the early 1980s. I then lived in their shadow r shadow for 25 years before I left them behind once again in 2004.            I’ve returned to visit them every year since, and each reunion has been precious to me. Now, as part of my road trip home, I will get to spend five days within their sight as I renew acquaintances with old friends. It makes for a slow start for my journey back to Texas but also the perfect start.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie is now at 44,372 words. Not much accomplished but it’s still moving forward.

The Wondering Wander’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: A Woman’s Story  http://tinyurl.com/97a9zr9 Eat the damn cake. This one’s for my women readers.

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City of Rocks

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Dogs, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“If you see a whole thing – it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives … But up close a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day-to-day, life’s a hard job.” – Ursula K.Le Guin

This photo doesn’t do City of Rocks justice but it was the best one I took because of being so pressed for time. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adventures with Pepper: Day One

            I took a longer detour than I had expected yesterday when I visited City of Rocks State Park in Southern Idaho on my way to Ogden, Utah, where I’ll be staying for the next few days before the real start of my journey begins.

But I was quite pleased with the shot I got up an osprey hig up in a tree over the Snake River. — Photo by Pat Bean

The reason that it was longer is that a bridge was out, and I had to double back to continue on my journey. It also made me pressed for time because I needed to get into Ogden in time for a party and a play my friend, Kim, had planned for our evening activities.

The City of Rocks is just that. It was a landmark for early pioneers traveling the California Trail. Just as impressive as the jumble of rocks that today are a haven for rock climbers — sadly I didn’t have time to do much exploring or picture-taking – was the City of Rocks Back Country Scenic Byway that encircled the Albion Mountains. And I got to see it twice.

My lack of time was also due to the fact that I had dawdled earlier in the morning, taking Maggie for one last long walk in Lake Walcott, and then spending a bit of time beside the Snake River to watch the parade of pelicans that lazed below the Minidoka Dam. And then there was the awesome osprey that was also hanging out beside the river that stopped me for a while, too.

Book Report: Travels with Maggie has grown to 43,888 words. I got up early and wrote this morning.

Bean’s Pat:  Since my internet connection is acting like a pouting brat who won’t come out of her room today, I haven’t been able to do much blog browsing. So the only Pat the Wondering Wanderer is giving out today is one to me for getting up early and writing, even though I partied until late last night.

Well, maybe also to the crew and actors of Avenue Q, the play I saw at the Rose Wagner Theater in Salt Lake City. I had never seen a raunchy puppet show before, and my friend was afraid I would be offended. I wasn’t. I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my seat. Despite its X rating, the play had a positive upbeat message. I mean how can you get offended at naked puppets, whose bodied ended at their midriffs, having sex.

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Good-bye Lake Walcott State Park

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 6, 2012| 4 Comments »

     “On the road again – Just can’t wait to get on the road again …Goin’ places that I’ve never been. Seein’ things that I may never see again …” – Willie Nelson

Hello the Road 

Good-bye Mr. Lake Walcott Bear. Have a nice winter. — Phto by Pat Bean

Today I start a 5,000 mile journey. I invite you to come along.            I begin by traveling from Lake Walcott State Park in Idaho to Ogden, Utah, where I will stay a few days with friends and have my RV, Gypsy Lee, serviced and checked out.

I retired from a 37-year journalism career in Ogden on September 1, 2004. Two weeks before my retirement, I bought a new RV, which I named Gypsy Lee. Gypsy is for my itchy feet and Lee is for my grandfather, Charles Forest Lee, from whom my mother said I inherited my wanderlust.

Good-bye willow tree with the split personality. I’ll miss nodding to you each morning when Pepper and I take our walks. — Photo by Pat Bean

Before the end of 2004, I had sold my rooted Ogden home, and took to the road. After this coming journey, which will be the subject of my upcoming blogs, Gypsy Lee will have over 137,000 miles on her, and I will have visited 49 of the 50 states. I visited Hawaii in the 1980s and Alaska in 2001 before I retired.

Traveling between Lake Walcott and Ogden is a familiar 160-mile trip for me, but my plans today are to take a backroad that will take me through City of Rocks State Park. I’ll try and tell you all about it tomorrow.

Taking the untraveled path is how I hope to travel as my journey takes me across Middle America east to Front Royal, Virginia, before it heads south toward Texas, where my children expect me for Thanksgiving dinner.

Good-bye Lake of Many Moods. I’ll miss you, too. — Photo by Pat Bean

Book Report: Zilch. I celebrated my leaving Lake Walcott with a bunch of mostly old broads like myself, a group of women who call themselves the “Bay of Pigs.” Many of them have been friends since childhood. I feel honored that I got to know them at their First Wednesday lunches this year. I’ll carry their warm wishes with me on my journey and hope to see them next year when my tentative plans are to return to Lake Walcott. While I’m sorry my writing got left in the dust today, I’m not going to beat myself up. It wouldn’t be me if at least occasionally I didn’t let life interfere. That’s been a very hard lesson for me to learn.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: It’s a Bird Thing http://tinyurl.com/bnvf333 Exploring the Rio Chama Wild and Scenic River. My kind of travel. I was fortunate to have met Judy on a bird outing to check out mountain blue bird nest boxes above Ogden.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Free Spirit

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , on September 1, 2012| 6 Comments »

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable” – Helen Keller

Always up for adventure, Pepper is telling me to hurry my lazy butt along — Photo by Pat Bean

I Live With One 

Pepper! Did you do this?

         “Properly trained, man can be a dog’s best friend.” — Corey Ford

In March I lost my beloved canine traveling companion, Maggie, a black cocker spaniel that I had rescued from a life of abuse when she was a year old.  She went from being scared of her shadow to a spoiled diva queen after I promised her no one would ever hurt her again.

Maggie’s replacement was a four-month-old Scotty-mix puppy that turned out to be as different from Maggie as a spoiled regal queen is from an exuberant pig-tailed tomboy. Of course I’ve come to love her every bit as much as I loved Maggie.

Pepper, who is now about nine months old, is a rowdy thing who enjoys nothing more than rough-housing with dogs twice her size. While there’s not a hair of aggression in her, she’s usually a bit too rambunctious for smaller dogs.

“Me?” Yes, you. “The cat did it.” We don’t have a cat.

She is truly a free spirit, although she prefers accomplishing her hijinks within my sight. She bonded to me the first second she saw me. It took me at least two seconds before I knew I had a new traveling companion.

 

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Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Journeys, Travel, Travels With Maggie, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on August 17, 2012| 13 Comments »

Hello World – Again

“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury.

Discovering My Voice as a Wondering/Wandering Old Broad 

This is an illustration that Laura Hulka helped me come up with for my Bean’s Pat, my way of paying back all the reader awards my blog has received. What do you think? Is it a go?

This is my 645th blog since I started my WordPress blogging journey with a blog called “Hello World” in November of 2009. I was taking that Gotham travel writing class I mentioned in my last two blogs, and the instructor said I needed to have a blog.

That first year, I blogged about 10 times a month, mostly about the places I had visited as a full-time RV-er.  Then in 2011, WordPress began its post-a-day challenge and I accepted. I’m so glad I did. .

Writing daily has given me the voice that the first draft of my travel book needed, improved both my writing and thinking skills, and garnered me worldwide friends.

At first I tried to disguise that I was an old broad when writing my blog, which was the same thing I did in the first draft of my book, “Travels with Maggie.” Maggie, as many of my readers know, was my canine traveling companion for eight years. She died earlier this year, and now I travel with an energetic, fun-loving Scottie mix named Pepper.

Don’t forget to smell all the flowers and be amazed at all the butterflies you come across. — Photo by Pat Bean

Recently, as I continued blogging and struggling with the rewrite of my travel book, I realized that being an old broad was one of the best things I had going for me. It set me apart from all those young travel writers out there in search of love. It’s not that I have anything against such a search. I certainly did my share of that. But that’s not me today. The person I am today, and which is my voice, is that of a wondering/wandering old broad.  It’s exactly what I do and who I am.

I wonder a lot about things but seldom have answers to the questions. The only advice you’ll ever get from me is to live in the moment and take time to smell as many of life’s flowers as you can.

I wonder if I would have ever recognized my true self without my daily blogging?

Book Report: Good rewriting morning. Travels with Maggie is now up to 35,726 words

Bean’s Pat:  Baroness Trumpington http://tinyurl.com/br6r7p2 Not a blog but a newspaper story about a great old broad I admire. I think society underrates us old pussies, as Agatha Christie called Miss Marple and others of such an age.

 

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