99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Take one down
and pass it around

98 bottles of beer on the wall

Take one down
and pass it around

4,420 fish in the sea

Rocking and a rolling

in the deep blue sea

coming back to see

all the fish

in harmony.

Veronica Page

The reason I'm staying in Anchorage a couple of days and not heading straight back home is my good friend Aneda's birthday is today.

Tonight we are going to Blues Central http://www.bluescentral.biz/index.html and having dinner before the Veronica Page Band starts at 9:30pm.

I got a sneak peek earlier. She's got a powerful voice and a great band behind her. Her performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" reminded me of Kacey Jones (one of my new found favorite singers thanks to Whole Wheat Radio).

More on her keyboard player coming up soon.

Whenever I get a chance to listen to live music I do. I've been told I'll be allowed to take pictures of the band, too!

Sooooo Happy Birthday Aneda!

Sweet Home Alaska

Thanks to Taxi cabs, Greyhound buses and Alaska Airlines (in a little under 24 hours travel time) I'm posting from a friends computer in Anchorage, Alaska.

With all my stuff!

California Here I Come

My sweet sister is giving me a ride to California to pick up my stuff. It will be a quick turnaround trip. I'll try and post from the road and give updates.

It is really nice of her to do this on her long weekend off. Sisterly love, can't beat it.

The Night Before Thanksgiving

I am so happy to be spending this Thanksgiving with my family in Boise. Mom arrived today and brought the turkeys. I can remember years where she would fly to Alaska and carry a big turkey on the plane with her. This time she brought 2 smaller turkeys from Las Vegas. She is so funny.

Tomorrow I will wake up to Mary's Breakfast Ring which is sitting on the counter for rising overnight. I will savor the day and be thankfull for good food, lots of fun, laughter and Coronas with Lime.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone where ever you are at!


Deep Fried Turkey

Bone-In Hickory Smoked Ham

Mashed Potatoes

Giblet Gravy

Crockpot Dressing

Pecan Topped Sweet Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Buttermilk Biscuits

Blueberry Cheesecake

Cherry Cheesecake
~~~~~~~

Ticket to Ride

FishTaxi.com

Fish Taxi Sportfishing and Boat Charter call 1-800-593-1234
http://fishtaxi.com/

Oceanside Harbor is a great Deep Sea and Sportfishing destination in San Diego county Southern California.
Please join me, Capt. Don Nelson on my 6 passanger [6 pack ] charter boat, a 32ft. Radovich Sportfisher, the Fish Taxi, in pursuit of :

the Tuna; Albacore, Big Eye, Blue Fin and Yellow Fin

the Shark; Mako shark and Thresher shark

the Jack Fish; Yellow Tail and Dorado

the coastal collection; Calaco Bass, Halibut and White Sea Bass just to name a few.

You will not be needing tackle because along with the action is plenty of equipment like Penn and Shimano reels and poles, live bait, and lots of proven jigs like Tady, Bait-o-matic and Rapala .

So hook up and join us on the beautiful pacific for an offshore or coastal adventure.

Welcome aboard mate !!!

oh. my. goodness. I need to save my money and go fishing on a real Fish Taxi boat!

Missing my Suitcases

Sure hope I get my stuff soon. After hearing no word from the "motorhome people" she finally called Saturday. Appears they are in Reno with my suitcases still on board. I asked about meeting them half way and she said no way. It was my fault because apparrently she thinks I left all my stuff on purpose.

What a mess. We talked about putting them on a Greyhound bus from Reno to Boise but I'm worried about my laptop. That could walk away easy. Then she never called back anyway.

Every day that goes by I'm getting further away from getting my stuff back.

FishTaxi Wins

$4 dollars in the Idaho Lottery! Thats right, folks. I can cash in this ticket at any store that sells tickets for my big winnings. I've been playing since I got here and this is the first time I won. I hit the powerball number plus one.

Now if I could just hit the powerball plus five.

Niki's Tent

My sister is camping out in her "cool" Girl Scout tent in Kenny Lake, Alaska this winter. Check out Niki's Blog at http://nord.twu.net/acl/news.html . Her website, Anti-Communitarian League, is on my links at the right. It is the most in depth, comprehensive resource on Communitarianism on the web. Her blog tells a lot about living in a tent, in the winter, in the interior of Alaska.

The weather should be partly sunny and a high of 54 degrees in Boise this weekend. I'll be raking. I won't be heading back to Alaska til the week after Thanksgiving so I will enjoy the balmy weather while I can!

The Man Who Gave Away Mountains

In my trip around Idaho I saw some beautiful country. Since I don't have my laptop to download and upload my pictures (its in California with the rest of my stuff) I researched some of the places I visted and came across Virgil McCroskey.

by Andrea Vogt

The requisite scenic drive up to the top of Steptoe Butte is a ritual for students and their families arriving for the start of school or football games, for foreign students eager for a bird's eye view of their new home, for couples searching for the most romantic sunset, for paragliders learning to take flight, for professional photographers from all over the world.

The pool is shaded by maidenhair ferns and thirsty red cedars, but his initials, “VTM 1964,” are still visible, etched in shaky script at the bottom of the concrete basin that captures spring water off the mountainside.

Virgil Talmadge McCroskey, a Colfax pharmacist from one of eastern Washington’s most prominent pioneering families, carved his initials into the bottom of this concrete basin at age 88.

Though he passed away a quarter of a century ago, the spring and the forested ridge from which it bubbles up are part of the legacy of land left by a man ahead his time: The wheeling, dealing Whitman County bachelor—one the first graduates of Washington State University—spent his life and fortune amassing thousands of acres for the rest of us to enjoy.

In the beginning, the odds were overwhelmingly against him—state legislators repeatedly refused his gifts, locals gossiped about his eccentric ways, family members were convinced he was squandering their wealth, and there was no end to the red tape and backbreaking labor the parks would require. But by the time he died in 1970, McCroskey’s visionary conservation efforts had made headlines in Life magazine, which heralded him by the nickname locals had been calling him for years: The Man Who Gave Away Mountains.

Today, most residents of the Palouse have benefited at least once from McCroskey’s gift of Steptoe Butte. A narrow road winds several times around the naked peak, which rises abruptly from the soft folds of farmland between Colfax and Spokane. The view from the top spans 360 degrees—from the Palouse Country’s gentle hills, quilted in a colourful patchwork, to the mountains beyond. The requisite scenic drive up to the top of the butte is a ritual for students and their families arriving for the start of school or football games, for foreign students eager for a bird’s-eye view of their new home, for couples searching for the most romantic sunset, for paragliders learning to take flight, for professional photographers from all over the world.

“Steptoe Butte could be developed. There could be houses on top and at the base of it, says heir Lauren McCroskey, who works as an architectural historian for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Center for Expertise for the Preservation of Historic Buildings and Structures. “Instead it is something for everybody to enjoy.”

For the whole story and pictures go here to Washingston State Magazine.
http://washington-state-magazine.wsu.edu/stories/2006/August/McCroskey.html

Whats New and Exciting in my life

Last night I got out of the motorhome to get some beer and when I got out of the store the motorhome was gone! Thats right. They took off with all my stuff. Luckily, I had my purse or I really would have been screwed. I found some nice kids and they drove me to a hotel that was 10 minutes from closing. The kids also had a cell phone so I could call my sister in Boise. My brother called my hotel room this morning and since there is no bus from here (Milton Freewater, Oregon) he is driving 4 and a half hours to come pick me up. The lady at the front desk is nice and she said I could stay here and hang out.

Yukon, if you read this, I hope you are alright. Mr. Yukon sure pulled a fast one. If he wanted me out of there he could have dropped me off at a hotel WITH my stuff and preferably in a town with a bus station.

So that is what is new and exciting in my life.

Wild Taxi

We left Thompson Falls, Montana yesterday and took Hwy 200 west to Hwy 95 north through Ponderay all the way to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. It was cold raining and the heater motor in the motorhome went out last night! A guy in Bonners Ferry told us about a reputable RV repair place in Sandpoint so we headed there this morning. Took the repairman 3 hours and almost $400 to get our heat working again. We are very thankful for the heat to be working again as a big snow storm hit Northern Idaho.

Left Sandpoint on Hwy 95 South and it was getting dark and nothing but pastures in high desert country when suddenly around a bend in Worley we came upon a giant, lit up Indian casino. Right in the middle of nowhere! We got gas and asked about a nearby RV park and they said we could park in the parking and hook up to electricity free!

Wild Taxi is the name of the slot machine I've been playing the last few hours.

Heading further south to tomorrow (Tues) for warmer climes.

Slow wireless connection

I am sitting in the hallway of the Rimrock Bowling alley trying to get a strong wireless connection. So far I tried the bar, the bowling alley, the cafe and now the hallway. My friend has a Verizon wireless card on hers and she has no problem. That might be what I need because this is frustrating. If uploading pictures doesn't work tonight I will try an internet cafe tomorrow.

We are now at a full hook-up RV park that is really nice. We are thinking about staying another night so we can celebrate Veterans Day here and head back to northern Idaho Sunday. Its starting to get a bit cold and there was even some snow on the chaser car (the car that RVers pull) windshield this morning.

Nope, pictures won't work and I'm tired of this. If this does post HELLO WORLD!

Sac's Pot

We are dry camping tonight at the bottom of Mosquito Mountain next to the bridge crossing the Clark Fork River. We are in Sacajewea country. Where the deer and the buffalo roam.

I took over a hundred pictures today.

America the Beautiful!

Pictures coming soon.

Mooontana!

Just a quick note since I'm on my friends laptop since mine won't pickup wireless here. Its night and we are getting settled in. We are 17miles from Arlee so tomorrow we'll be heading north on hwy 93. I'll try and find wireless connection and post some pics. I left my camera/laptop connection at my sisters in Boise so I picked up another one at Radio Shack in Missoula today. yeah! Been taking lots of pictures and can't wait to share them.

We are having a great time through some beautiful country.

Moon over Boise

My friends from Alaska, whom now live in California, arrived in Boise today in their 1989 Fleetwood! They are here to meet my Boise family and to pick me up to go scouting out Idaho, Montana, Washington and Oregon with them. My sister had them and my brothers family over for dinner tonight. We made a pork roast, scalloped cheesy Idaho potatoes, a green salad, steamed cauliflower and baked pumpkin. For appetizers Sue made guacamole and I made salmon dip. The dinner was a success with great company, lots of Coronas with lime, and to top it off the Nanooks won their hockey game!
Took this shot of the full moon over Boise from my sisters balcony.

These last two weeks sure have gone by fast. In the short time I was here I got to know my brothers wife and son, hang out with my brother and sister in their new life in Boise, and play the Idaho lottery. I wish Alaska had a lottery. Its fun to fantasize about winning!

Lamp of Life

House

When I was in Anchorage I picked up the Season Two DVD set of House, MD.

I'd caught a few of the first season shows before I started working nights and loved it. Hugh Laurie, who plays House, is excellent. My brother and his family have enjoyed watching the DVDs with me.

Here is some of what Wikipedia has to say about House.

House, also known as House, M.D., is an American medical drama television series created by David Shore and executive produced by film director Bryan Singer. It is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning medical drama that debuted on November 16, 2004 on the FOX Network. House stars British actor and comedian Hugh Laurie as the titular character in a role for which he received a 2006 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama. The third season of House premiered on September 5, 2006 in the United States and Canada.
Laurie plays Dr. Gregory House, a maverick medical genius who heads a team of young diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Each episode typically starts with a cold open somewhere outside the hospital, showing the events leading to the onset of illness for that week's patient, then features the team going to extraordinary lengths to diagnose and treat unusual ailments.

~If you get a chance, try, and watch it. In the USA it airs on FOX: Tuesday 9:00pm and on the USA Network: Friday 11:00pm.

Captain Punk & Little Brothers First Tooth

Remember Captain Tanner from last summer at Lake Louise? Well, here he is at his school Halloween partay where he won Most Original Costume. His mom said it was totally his idea to be a Punk Rocker. Could this be the shape of things to come?!?

And Little Brother Jayce is sporting a new look these days with his first tooth. His mom says he is mobile now and crawling all over the place. He is even pulling himself up on the furniture to stand...yikes, how did that happen so fast!

Thanks Rachael for the pictures. I hope you don't mind me posting them on my blog.