First RV outing

We decided to take the 1991 Fleetwood Flair, 25-footer, out for a trial run over Easter weekend just to make sure everything worked. (Everything checked out OK.) You may recall a previous post "Time to Quit Sleeping on the Ground."


We stayed overnight at Jim and Mary's RV Park on the outskirts of Missoula. The place was just about deserted except for the year-round campers. We invited my step-son Rob and two grand-daughters, Emilee and Maddie, to join us.
The girls hard-boiled a couple dozen eggs and decorated them. We added some plastic eggs with prizes and had a terrific Easter Egg Hunt outside amongst the trees and the snow. The girls (and Rob) had a great time, we think. We plan to go out again this weekend and venture just a little further...maybe 30 miles this time. It is pretty cold for camping right now, and the forecast for Saturday's HIGH temp is only 38 degrees.

We love the privacy curtains and swivel seats.

Everything is poly-plastic, unbreakable, and very lightweight...just as the helpful hints all suggest.

Wow! Well, we have new snow this morning (Thursday, 3/27), so we will have to see how much snow is still on the ground at Jocko Hollow Campground on Saturday before we decide to run up there. (And it could be pretty chilly too.) Will have to think about this...maybe too early in the year to go RV camping.

See my other feature pages including videos and book reviews at Doug's Blog.

Gain the Advantage over What Bugs You

Take five minutes to calm your mind. Five minutes when you allow yourself to NOT think about WHAT ELSE you should be doing. (Even a Gemini should be able to do this.)

Be aware that your emotions affect you physically as well as mentally. Awareness is ninety percent of the battle; acceptance is the other half (with apologies to Yogi Berra).

Learn to resist impulses, remain calm, practice clear thinking.

Understand what your strengths and weaknesses are and learn from mistakes.

Approach endeavors with the end result in mind – always see the goal you desire and keep it in the forefront of your mind.

Anticipate potential problems – don’t let every little thing be a surprise. (part of learning from your mistakes)

Be open to change, (think outside the box), be ready to adjust when events take a different turn, (is there a new way to look at something or to do something?)

Accept responsibility for your own performance, good or bad; don’t look for ways to assign blame to others.

Make your own decisions. Don’t be dependent on approval of others.

Take a risk now and then; it brings some zest to life.

Remain optimistic. About yourself, your life, your value and self-worth.

Call upon Spirit. It’s right there—your Higher Self—the “you” that is aware that you are thinking about your Higher Self. The Power is within you to know what to do to help yourself.

Have a great day! --Doug

See my other feature pages including videos and book reviews at the blogsite at Doug's Blog.

Deer on Missoula Hillside

Hi! Here is a little video of a herd of whitetail deer enjoying the first green spot on a hillside near our home. The deer are alongside Miller Creek Road just south of the intersection with Trails End Road. Earlier in the day we had a snowstorm, which quickly melted off.

TRAIL AND BIKE PATH ETIQUETTE
The warmer weather is nice. Lots of people who spent winter indoors are now out walking, running and biking.

Those who use in-town bike paths and hiking trails owe some common courtesy to other users. So here is a list to think about:

Keep your voices down; particularly if it is a “nature” trail.

At the very least, don’t litter with your food wrappings, etc. And, even better, carry a plastic bag and a napkin to pick up other litter you find along the way. Not only are you getting fresh air and exercise, you are doing a little something for your community.

Bike paths and walking trails are shared. And the traffic goes in both directions. Four people don’t need to walk side-by-side in order to share conversation and the exercise. Keep to the right. (You think it’s pretty silly that I deem it necessary to say that? Just go out on a walk and watch.)

Bicyclists need to remember that this is a trail, not a raceway. If you are out for a “burn,” there are lots of appropriate places for that.

Bicyclists and joggers need to give a verbal heads up when they are overtaking walkers. And don’t wait until you are six feet behind to yell, “Watch it!” Better that you speak up from about twenty feet back and say, “bike overtaking on your left” or “jogger coming up on your left.”

Pets along too? Keep them on a leash and keep it short. This is particularly important in areas with bicyclists and other wild animals. A local Missoula man recently witnessed a near-collision between a bicyclist and a leashed dog. The dog leash was too long and the owner wasn’t paying attention and perhaps the bicyclist wasn’t being careful enough, but the leash became entangled in the bicycle.

Most dog owners doo pick up after their dogs. If you don’t: doo. Carry the plastic bags and dispose of properly. (Why do some dog owners put the doo in a bag and then leave that beside the trail? Oh, they will pick it up on the return leg? Uh huh. I must just be in the wrong place all the time.)

Finally, keep your voices down. Yes, this one is repeated for a reason.


Have a great day.


Additional features are at the complete blogsite at: Doug's Blog

EXTENDING OUR TIME FRAME

I’ve read about how time flies as you get older. One theory about this is that we have fewer and fewer “events” in our lives to anticipate. Children, on the other hand, anticipate EVERYTHING. Excitement about an upcoming event helps a child learn to plan and to delay gratification. (Instant gratification is the enemy of pleasurable anticipation; and as children age they MUST learn to delay gratification or they will be almost impossible to live with.)

As we age and mark fewer and fewer future events as “something to look forward to,” we deprive ourselves of pleasurable anticipation. This anticipation is what seems to make time stand still: it drags by day-by-day as we eagerly await the event’s arrival. (Perhaps you can relate this to watching the clock at work, or waiting for the water in the tea kettle to boil.)

Anticipation has more than one meaning, of course. Not only is it an emotion involving pleasure when we think about some expected or longed-for event, it can also mean anxiety, as in stage fright, for instance.

Anticipation can also be developed as a skill. For example, a hockey player anticipates and “skates to where the puck is going, not to where it is.” (Wayne Gretzky).Anticipation is also a term used for prediction; as a physician anticipates the progression of a disease or condition based on his experience. Before it begins to use language, a young child learns to anticipate both pleasurable and undesirable events as part of normal development. In this way, anticipation serves as a bridge between instinct and spoken language.

But these usages are more about reasoning than emotion.I want to think about the emotional use of anticipation.

In music, anticipation often involves wanting love, as in the lyrics to Carly Simon’s song, “Anticipation” written as she waited to begin a date with Cat Stevens:

"And tomorrow we might not be together
I'm no prophet and I don't know nature's ways
So I'll try and see into your eyes right now
And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days"

Or, waiting for love, as in as in the song “Perpetual Anticipation” from the Broadway musical “A little Night Music:”

"Perpetual anticipation is good for the soul
But it's bad for the heart.
It's very good for practicing self-control,
It's very good for morals, but bad for morale.
It's very bad.
It can lead to going quite mad.
It's very good for reserve and learning to do what one should.
It's very good.
Perpetual anticipation's a delicate art"

Or, promising love for the future, as in RiHanna’s hit song “Umbrella:”
"An anticipation for precipitation
stacks chips for the rainy day
When the sun shines
We’ll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath
I'mma stick it out 'till the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my Umbrella"
(She shares credit for lyrics with Jay-Z)

In religious music, anticipation often includes eternal happiness in heaven, as in “Bright Anticipation”
"There's a voice full of sweetness and love,
It is speaking so kindly to me:
"I will lead you to bright realms above,
Where the spirit forever is free."
Refrain:
"I am waiting, I am longing for the summons to come,
When from sorrow and trouble I'm free;
When with Jesus I am reigning in that heavenly home,
Where forever its beauties I'll see."

And in these lyrics, also from gospel music, “When it’s Over” by Jeremy and Adie Camp, anticipation seems to have come full circle:
"Revealing grace’s final call
I can’t comprehend at all
My hope will be completed
Seeing you with eyes unveiled
Knowing without you I’d have failed
I’ll wait - come soon - I’m waiting
My anticipation turns into desperation
When I think of when I will be with you my Jesus."

Anticipation is a pretty large concept. It can be rejoiceful, hopeful, anxious; a matter of faith, of learning, of expression, of prediction. It is a big word.

For my purposes, I want to use anticipation as a tool; a tool for extending my personal concept of time. I want to mark more future events to anticipate—like when I was a child. Whether it is as imminent as “This coming weekend,” “March Madness,” Easter, or a grandchild’s birthday; or more distant, as spring break, a summer vacation, my spouse’s birthday, the World Series, Christmas; or just a special television program that we enjoy watching together, I am keeping an entirely NEW CALENDAR, the “Anticipation Calendar” which will keep me interested in planning and anticipating the next noteworthy event.

Even writing a Blog involves anticipation. (Both anxiety and pleasurable excitement I might add.)


Life. Let’s enjoy it while we have it!

The complete blogsite is at: Gruggersblog

COUNTING MY BLESSINGS

Every once in a while I breathe in deeply and let out a breath and think, “Wow, that felt good. I am so fortunate.” And then I wonder...why?

I can recall family gatherings on Thanksgiving Day when, just as we were all sitting down to dinner, someone would suggest we all say what we are most thankful for. I dreaded that moment. Unless I was first to speak, I always felt pressure to come up with something that hadn’t yet been mentioned. I never planned ahead by making up a list of what I was thankful for. Who Would Do That? How often do any of us LIST our blessings?

So, again, why do I feel so fortunate? First of all, life itself is a miracle, so I am fortunate #1: TO BE ALIVE. It is a big universe.

2. I am healthy, not overweight or diabetic or taking medication just to stay alive. I am 61.

3. I feel loved: by a wonderful woman, by five great kids, by numerous grandchildren.

4. My mother and father are both still alive. They too, in very different ways, are among my blessings.

5. My family is supportive, including siblings and in-laws. A true blessing.

6. I am out of debt. That is the most incredibly satisfying and comfortably secure feeling imaginable.

7. I no longer hunger after any material things. At 61, those things no longer matter. What a relief!

8. I am able to write whenever I want, without feeling like I ought to be doing something more productive (well…most of the time).

9. I have found enjoyment and contentment in exercise, yoga, and meditation. A simpler life.

10. I am alive.
I am indeed fortunate. So I have arrived at this place at age 61. Why am I sharing this? Because what I have listed today as my blessings would NOT have been the same list as when I was 15, or 25, or 35, or 45. But I submit to you, and I share with you, these things WILL be among what you WISH you have when you reach my age. Had I discovered earlier in life what would be important to me in later years, I may have had a better perspective on my life, a longer term perspective, and in that way, may have been able to impart different values, goals and perspectives to my children. Giving my children a larger perspective on life would have been a good thing. I always wished that my children could learn from my mistakes; that they should be able to learn it all in an easier way, and not have to make the same mistakes I did.

I’ll bet a lot of us older folks would like to believe that.

I will never know whether it would have made a difference or not. But for today, at least, I am feeling fortunate, and am counting my blessings.

Time to Quit Sleeping on the Ground

The time has finally come; I am tired of crawling around on the floor of a tent. I am tired of setting up the tent, pounding stakes in the ground, adjusting and then adjusting some more, hauling gear from the van to the tent, getting wet, being cold, night-time peeing, hauling gear from the tent to the van, pulling up stakes...you get the picture. We have been looking for a small RV, an older one, but well-kept, and, after nine months, a salesman (George Waters) at a local Missoula RV dealer, Gull Boats and RV, called us and said he had something coming in on a trade that we might be interested in. This was about the fifth call from various salesmen in the past nine months, and none of the other offerings panned out, but still, from George'ss description, "37,000 miles, with only 82 hours on the generator, and has been kept in a heated garage the past three years," I was moderately hopeful. OK, maybe a little more than "hopeful."
So we looked, we drove, we took the kids and grandkids for a ride, we climbed Evaro Hill at full speed, stopped for fast food and ate in the RV, talked it over, bargained and wheeled and dealed (my wife is the BEST!), and we PURCHASED.
We will take delivery in a couple of weeks, and plan to try it out right away, with a near-by camp-out on Easter weekend. We don't plan to drive too far the first time out. We do need to learn a lot of new terminology, and find out just how stuff works. LP gas, 120V generator, gray water, fresh water, black water, etc....
The test drive was the FIRST time I had ever driven an RV, although I have driven a 24-foot U-Haul truck in town. I have to admit to being nervous the first few miles. So we are going to travel! And...we can take the dogs! (Something we couldn't do with our van already filled to overflowing with gear and "stuff." We even had to buy a Yakima Skybox from BackCountryRacks in Missoula to haul all the stuff. I think we will still use the all-wheel-drive van and Skybox when we need to get up in the wild country, but the RV will give us another option when we will primarily travel on the highways, and of course, need a place to sleep. By the way, I have found that parking (to sleep) in a large motel parking lot raises no suspician at all, since those lots are filled with cars all night anyway. So, unlike a shopping center or theater or restaurant parking lot, the cops and crazies don't come around to see what's up. So I will post just a couple of photos here.


Have a great Montana day!

Missoulian Trails Guide

I've really slacked off and haven't posted an entry the past few days. I have found that a web blog can be very time consuming and there are so many different ways to modify the pages...much of it just too technical for me.

I do want to share a local trails webpage that I recently found on our local newspaper's site, the Missoulian. This is a terrific resource when you are planning a day outing in the Missoula area. I didn't know we had so many local trails, both for biking and hiking. It's a cool page, I think, and now I want to climb to the top of CHA-PAA-QN PEAK. (Used to be named Squaw Peak. The highlighted hyperlink takes you to the Missoulian's page on that particular hike.)

It looks so intimidating from Missoula. The very top is almost always white with snow. One of my personal goals is to climb a mountain over 10,000 ft, but at just under 8,000 feet, Cha-Paa-Qn doesn't qualify.

Now...I must get on to improving my personal fitness level in the next few weeks to make sure I am ready to tackle the mountains, trails, and fishing streams this spring.

We have new snowfall in Missoula this morning. Perhaps two inches out where I live, but there was quite a lot more in the mountains last night. One of the problems this time of year is that the snow falling during the day is pretty wet because the temperature is above freezing, but as the snow continues and evening temperatures fall, the roads freeze slicker n' hell. Interstate Highway 93 from Missoula to Arlee was closed to all but emergency traffic last evening due to the icy conditions.

It's warming up today and temps should be above 35 the rest of the week. I'm really looking forward to spring. Speaking of "spring," this Sunday is the "spring ahead" day into Daylight Saving Time. What that means to our family is that the morning walks will again be in the dark for the next month. Oh well, at least we will have some daylight to enjoy in the evenings. Have a great day.

Madison and Gruggers on Mount Sentinel

We did it! We got outside and enjoyed a beautiful 56 degree spring-like day in Missoula, Montana! Eight-year-old granddaughter Madison will only be visiting for a few days but she suggested a climb to the "M" on Mount Sentinel, high above the University of Montana campus.

Along the way she mentioned that she felt "Like we are on the Amazing Race and we are STRUGGLING!" There was still some snow on the trail, but melting quickly, so much of the trail was either muddy or covered with melt water.

We made it to the top with only a couple of resting stops along the way. The view was terrific, even though Missoula hardly looks like the "Garden City" during this time of the year. After shooting a few photos and even a video, we carefully made our way back down.


Grandfather and granddaughter spend the day climbing a mountain. The moments that make life worth living.