We are still camped at Apgar campground at Glacier NP. This campground is a very pleasant place. It is filled to capacity each day but it remains very private and quiet. It is situated right next to Lake McDonald. Each day children are out playing in the water. We dipped our toe into it and found it to be like ice water.
Yesterday we drove into Columbia Falls to get the oil changed and to do the laundry. The laundry has been piling up for two weeks. It is the only dreaded job we have out here on the road. We put it off longer than we should. The last time we did laundry it was back in Washington state a couple of weeks ago. We have discovered, however, that you can do four loads just as fast as two.
Our normal routine is for Darlie to go do the laundry while I clean the MH from top to bottom. Yesterday I was not able to do that sitting in the parking lot of the laundromat. So this morning I fired up the generator so I could do my vacuuming.
For you guys who have thoughts of doing what we are doing, let me give you some advice that is vital to a happy pleasant experience on the road. You had better do your share of the house work or you may find you wife wanting to get back to home base.
Doing your share doesn’t mean picking up a few dishes, cooking out on the grill or polishing the golf clubs. It means vacuuming, wiping down everything inside from cupboards, walls, mirrors and floors. You vacuum first. We have a small but powerful hand held vacuum. Not one of those cheap battery things. You have to plug this one in.
After vacuuming, you begin cleaning everything. It is best to start at the top and work down. Floors are the last thing you mop. You will not believe how much dirt clings to everything. We are always amazed how dirty the wash rag is after just wiping down a few surfaces.
Cleaning the toilet is my next to the last job. I use those Clorox wipes. They sanitize as well as clean. This job makes you appreciate how many yellow stains your wife has cleaned up after you for years. I never realized how much you spatter urinating from a greater height with an open bowl. I do tell it like it is, don’t I? (Go kiss her feet now.)
This entire job takes me a couple of hours each week. I know Darlie appreciates it. After all, she is retired too. Sharing the work really makes the bond between you stronger. I have always been one to help around the house, especially when we had five kids at home. But out here you are in vacation mode. It is easy for us guys to overlook something like this, then wonder what went wrong later.
We have been having an absolute ball. We have not seen TV in nine weeks. We have not had the radio on or played the CD player. We talk, walk, ride bikes, cook, sit outside, read, pray, eat, play games and talk some more. It never gets old. Frankly, I hate the thought of ever going home. The only thing I really miss is my beautiful new shower our son Peter tiled for us. Showering in the MH is not the same. Less water pressure, limited water supply, and a bit more cramped shower area makes this joy less pleasant.
We have been quite proficient at cooking over an open fire. Of course I start my fire the way the cowboys did, with lots of cardboard, match light charcoal and store bought bundles of wood split and packaged.
Today Darlie reminded me that tomorrow is my birthday. I remember when I couldn’t wait to get a year older. Not so today. I would just as soon forget the birthday. We had a couple more beautiful boneless rib steaks in the freezer. We have enjoyed the western beef. It is very favor full, tender as a mouse’s ear and inexpensive compared to home. We decided to grill them for my birthday.
The steaks were marbled beautifully. They should melt in our mouths like all the others we have had lately. To our surprise these steaks were very chewy. Rubbery. I think what we got was an old rodeo bull that had been ridden hard and put up wet too many times. They must have slipped him past the meat inspector. It was juicy and flavor full but after chewing it until it was dry you ended up with something that looked like a well chewed plug of tobacco. All we needed was a spittoon.
That reminds me of an incident I found hilarious when I was in school. It was the seventh grade, I believe. Our teachers back then weren’t the gorgeous young dolls that teach school today. They were old and tough. We gave them names like Old Iron Sides or Hatchet Face. They were mean too. They didn’t mind twisting and pulling your ears until you looked like a rabbit.
One day old Hatchet Face eyed Gary Hibbard chewing gum in class. Gum chewing in her class was a major crime. When she called out Gary for chewing gum we all began to snicker under our breath. It was old Hatchet Face’s routine to have the offender come up to the front of the class and spit the gum wad into her wastepaper basket. Gary didn’t chew gum. He was a big strapping farm kid who chewed Red Man tobacco just like his Dad. Gary obediently walked up to her basket and expelled the wad of tobacco. It hit the bottom of her basket with a big BONG. The class cracked up. Old Hatchet Face was as shocked as I had ever seen one of those old gals.
Where was I? Oh. We usually only eat one meal a day. For breakfast we have fruit, toast or a bagel. On a cold morning we may cook a hot meal. We try to have our larger meal mid afternoon. Then we eat something light in the evening. We have not used the oven one time. Darlie brought an electric skillet that we have used one time. I brought a small pressure cooker that we also used one time. I successfully turned a pot roast into black beef jerky with the thing. I didn’t use enough water so the thing boiled dry.
We have been getting reports from other campers that Yellowstone is a nightmare. It is worse than Disney on a holiday. One couple told us to avoid the south loop where all the big attractions are. It is almost impassible. They drove the upper loop which had few people on it. They saw all kinds of wildlife from bears to wolves. We like seeing the wildlife. So we will definitely do that loop. We would like to see Old Faithful spout but if we don’t it is a small thing compared to all we have seen and done.
We love just being together. Sharing new experiences over each hill or around a bend in the road has become more satisfying than anything we have ever done together. It is not so much what you see but who you see it with.
No comments:
Post a Comment