The ABCs of Starting Over- OR to KY Roadtrip + WDW 50th Ann. Trip 9/28-10/4; Day 6 and REPORT COMPLETE!

[Steppesister]

Hey! Great news! Very happy for you.

Thank you so much! It was a HUGE relief and load off of my mind.

Oh, of course. Silly of me.

Oooh, shiny... LOL!!

 

[Steppesister]

Great news about your job! Things are starting to fall into place! <3

Very nicely too! I have found stopgap health insurance, got my contract signed and returned (still need to do a TON of credentialing/onboarding) and even found time to have my son and his family over (and cook!!) last night.

 

[Steppesister]

Very good news! Glad to hear it!

Thank you, Alison!! There's been a lot on my plate, and that was a HUGE piece of stress off of that plate.

 

[Steppesister]

That is great news! Do you have to get a new nursing license to work in Kentucky? Our daughter had to get one when she moved to Illinois.

I actually had applied for and gotten my KY license a few months ago so I could be ready to dive right in once I got here. So, that is one less thing I have to take care of! So glad I did that ahead of time! And now, I can also apply for my Compact State (multi-state license) so I can work in the 34 states that are part of that.

 

[Steppesister]

Okay, All, I'm all caught up on this thread and need to get back to work/doing stuff. Hopefully, I can find the time and energy to write another chapter for this TR in the next few days. Meantime, there is a fresh chapter on the Flower and Garden TR. Enjoy your day Mi Amigos!

 

[pkondz]

Thank you so much! It was a HUGE relief and load off of my mind.

I bet!

Oooh, shiny... LOL!!

Okay, All, I'm all caught up on this thread

Not any more. Lol.

 

[MeghanEmily]

From what I hear, fly fishing is a millions times harder and patience testing especially if you tie your own flies. But a good creative outlet as well as relaxing. LOVE kayaking too!!

I've heard the same! And we'd have to invest into some new equipment, I'm sure. Different rods, waders, flies or fly-tying stuff, etc. But we may delve into it someday! We also mainly have done freshwater fishing in rivers/lakes, but we now live near a lot of tidal water, so we may also give that a try at some point soon.

The power of nature is sometimes terrifying and beautiful at the same time. I adore a good thunderstorm which I think is another great example of that.

Yes! Good comparison!

Thanks! The haziness kinda adds a little mystery to it. Maybe? Still wish it'd been clear.

I think the haziness definitely adds to it.

Always, and ya just learn to roll with the punches. The good usually outweighs the bad.

I finally was able to find a doctor accepting new patients on my insurance plan and am going in today.

Things are nicely falling into place and I am becoming more and more certain this was a very good move for me!

Very nicely too! I have found stopgap health insurance, got my contract signed and returned (still need to do a TON of credentialing/onboarding) and even found time to have my son and his family over (and cook!!) last night.

All great news! Things are coming together nicely! I'm so glad this is starting to feel more and more like the right move, and that you've been able to get some things going with your health issues, etc.

 

[Poolrat]

Boo! I think I was just lured back in. ; )

 

[Steppesister]

Not any more. Lol.

It never lasts long!

 

[Steppesister]

I've heard the same! And we'd have to invest into some new equipment, I'm sure. Different rods, waders, flies or fly-tying stuff, etc. But we may delve into it someday! We also mainly have done freshwater fishing in rivers/lakes, but we now live near a lot of tidal water, so we may also give that a try at some point soon.

But it does sound fun!! All such different settings.

I think the haziness definitely adds to it.

You know, a lot of folks liked it on FB, and I didn't love it.

All great news! Things are coming together nicely! I'm so glad this is starting to feel more and more like the right move, and that you've been able to get some things going with your health issues, etc.

I still have quite of work to do for onboarding but little by little it'll get done.

 

[Steppesister]

Boo! I think I was just lured back in. ; )

Well, looky here!!! I'm glad I lured you in... muahaha....

 

[vamassey1]

I'm finally caught back up on this report. I'm still so far behind from not have power and our trip happening back to back.

I'm so happy we finally got to meet face to face! I really enjoyed our visit. I hope we can meet in the bubble in the future.

Congrats on securing a job! I can't image all the details you need to take care of since your move .

I loved following along with your 50th trip on FB. Can't wait to hear the details of your road trip and 50th trip and of course see all the fabulous photos.

 

[docsoliday1]

Admittedly, I ate nary a single one. But will on occasion eat one- I do like black licorice.

I'm with @pkondz on this one. Yuck!

And it's bad for you. Did you hear about the guy that black licorice killed?

https://gizmodo.com/too-much-licorice-stopped-man-s-heart-and-killed-him-d-1845168547
Of course the moral of that story is not so much licorice, but everything in moderation including moderation.

dunno, probably not (the C130), but it's also the largest *I've* ever seen.

Interesting. After being stationed at many bases and going to numerous air shows, I consider the C130 the baby. Interesting factoid about the C130 in case you didn't know...the engines only have one speed. Either they're on or off. The speed/thrust/reverse thrust are entirely controlled by the props (variable pitch)

Very true, but most roadside locales probably didn't get the same traffic flow with needs to pee.

Tree #1: "I miss the old days! Used to only get a couple folks stop in every few months."

Tree #2: "I know! Had 500 folks take a leak on me already today."

 

[docsoliday1]

I"ve learned a TON of really helpful advice here from fellow travelers. Saved me TONS of time

Sedona is nice. Too bad you weren't able to go North to Zion and Bryce. Both beautiful.

I finally was able to find a doctor accepting new patients on my insurance plan and am going in today.

That's wonderful.

It was VERY cool! The music and light show effects are really great on this one!

I didn't see a video @Captain_Oblivious was talking about. Must've bern the one I heard about several folks watching online.



FINALLY caught up though. I think.

 

[Steppesister]

I is for: Into the Past- Day 1 Continued and the Start of Day 2

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Day 1- Continued...

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The day was wearing on; we’d been on the road since 7:00AM and both of us were just ready to be out of the car. I’d left off with us just leaving Crater Lake on a smoky, hazy day with our night’s destination Klamath Falls. As we drove by Klamath Lake, the large birds I didn’t often, or ever, see in Salem caught my eye, which begged a few photos. Which didn’t turn out very well. But it was fun to see giant pelicans in the Pacific Northwest as well as some other water-type birds.

​

We pulled up to Tammie’s home right about 5:00 or so, took some of our bags in, and the four of us took off for dinner a one of their local favorites, The Pikey. Here’s the FB website and menu in you’re interested.

https://www.facebook.com/ThePikeyKlamathFalls/menu​

It is very casual and low-key and we all enjoyed a beer, wine, or cider as we looked over the menu. Not being a huge burger aficionado, I opted for a salad and filched a bite of burger off of Zach. Jim, Tammie’s hubby, ordered some Irish Nachos for the table to nibble on as well. The burger menu is fairly extensive with some not-so-common options and Zach chose the peanut butter burger. I was a skeptic. I am not anymore.

I sat across from Jim having just ruined my dinner by putting the jalepeno ranch on my salad that I’d ordered. I think the person who did the cooking/saucing made a horrible mistake and got carried away with the chili oil/powder/whatever and I literally choked on the first bite. It was totally inedible. Sometimes I wish I had more guts to send stuff back, and I just asked for some plain ranch to dilute the rest of my drowning salad. Such a bummer.

​

I found the signs on the bathrooms… amusing. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as it was Zach who brought them to my attention in the first place.

​

Dinner finished up, we headed for the car passing an evening tweaker doing what tweakers do on the way.

I slept okay and we were up and out fairly early after a quick picture together. But not before Tammie rustled up a pillow to replace the one I’d left on Marcia’s bed back in Salem. Not everyone loses and forgets stuff as expertly as me- it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

Day 1 Wrap up:

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304 miles give or take

5.5 drive time

Start 7AM; Finish 5PM

Highlight- Crater Lake despite the smoke and haze, Dinner with sweet DISFriends, the beautiful Umpqua River

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Bummer(s)- The fires destroying our chances of seeing a planned stop and the view that should have been at Crater Lake

Day 2-

No day starts off quite as well as when coffee and cinnamon rolls are involved. Nibbley’s Café is not to be outdone with their rendition of a giant, fresh baked, dinner plate-sized “roll” that Zach and I grazed on for the next 4 or 5 days. It was a great suggestion from Greg and Marcia that we’re glad we followed up on! The goal was to make it to Virginia City, NV and that cinnamon roll certainly helped speed us along.

​

As planned, we headed towards the 395, but took a detour on a less-tourist traveled road to get there. Along the way, we made a couple of stops WELL worth your time if you want quiet places to contemplate some of our more ugly history. My intention isn’t to bring negativity here, but simply to give my thoughts and feelings as we visited the sites we stopped at.

Warning: I’m going to give a little possibly unpopular, personal opinion. Happy to discuss but won’t argue here.

Just south of the Oregon-California border I spotted some old, weathered buildings that looked like a ghost town. I am one to never pass up browsing around a ghost town and quickly pulled the car over to read the signs along the road. Everything was gated and barbed wired, but here is what we stumbled on (This was not planned, and we happened upon it wholly accidentally.):

​

I know there are some who would like to see all traces, or ones that only fit the current PC narratives, of the past taken away or erased; I disagree. As Zach and I stood there a great melancholy washed over me and I was able to share with my son this terrible time in our history in which he had no idea had happened. It’s just not taught anymore, but here stood a tangible testament that served to remind us that there was a time that terrible things happened, and one group of people was singled out for the sole reason of race. We need places like this to continue to provide concrete reminders where one can go and be led to places of deep contemplation and fresh realization. Even if they are of figures who committed unsavory acts of hate. There not to celebrate, but to commemorate. And learn. There is no better teacher than seeing things with one’s own eyes; reading in books just can’t do the same thing.

At the same stop a giant antique harvester stood as an altogether different testament to the area’s past. While not as emotionally evocative, it was interesting to learn about the large numbers needed on a crew to get the crops in for this community. It’s too bad that it can’t be put covered in some fashion. I’m sure the weather is pretty brutal to it.

​

We didn’t linger too very long here as the day was marching on and we had other things we wanted to see….

Our next stop was in the Lava Beds National Monument and Captain Jack’s Stronghold.

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Captain Jack was a Modoc Tribe Native leader who took his people to this area of lava tubes and natural (small) caves to seek refuge from the US Army after the Modoc War. For their numbers, they held out surprisingly long. If you want to read more about this area and its history, you can HERE. I, for one, LOVED the little self-guided interpretive trail about 0.5 miles long that Zach and I did tons of exploring on. A lot of the landscape, located inside the Lava Beds National Monument, is rough, jagged landscape covered with basaltic lava and ʻAʻā with numerous collapsed and intact lava tubes. While not really “desolate”, this area is remote and very unique.

Before we even got started on our hike, we came across a herd of grazing White-tailed Deer. They seemed wholly unconcerned but curious about us and stood for quite a while half keeping an eye on us and half nibbling on the high desert grasses in a little low area near the parking lot. We took quite a few pictures until they decided they were done with us watching them have breakfast and disappeared over a hill and we continued on our way in the opposite direction. ** Warning: Excessive photos of deer to follow **

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We moved along... every little while there were numbered signs that corresponded with a trail guide which we didn’t have. I suppose had we come into the Lava Beds National Monument through another entrance we might have been able to get one. I also might have gotten to gloat a little when they asked me to pay. I’d have whipped out my handy-dandy little AP card and said, “In yo’ face!”. When we came out the other side with no entrance kiosk in sight, I confess, I was a little deflated. Anyway, the absolute highlight of this little stop was finding the petroglyphs left by the Modoc People. Super cool! They are a bit of work to access with some rock scrambling involved but totally worth risking a broken leg or neck. Well, okay, maybe not a broken neck, but certainly a broken leg.

(Zach's photo)





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Thankfully, both of us made it out unscathed from this short, but sturdy little cave area. I pictured food being cooked over open fires, cozy blankets to keep people warm during the winter months, stories being told, hunting plans being made… Then again, it’s probably a wholly romanticized, inaccurate picture; who am I to know? I do know that it was a part of history I had no idea happened (this particular Native American injustice) and was thankful for the chance to come to that place to, again, contemplate and learn.

​

I took a few photos along the trails, and you can see that it was still quite smoky here as well. It didn’t clear up until we reached as far as Virginia City, but from there on, for the rest of our trip, we were able to enjoy bluer skies and better air.

(Some odder sort of volcanic rock)​

After our nice little morning hike, it was time to make some serious tracks on the drive to Virginia City. For the few days prior to our road trip I-395 was closed near Doyle due to the Dixie Fire, but the day of our departure it serendipitously was open again, so there was no need to make a lengthy detour off of the more direct route through Reno. Zach drove about an hour of his grand total 4 hours for the entire trip. There were many reasons for that, but let’s just say I was more happy driving myself.

Until Reno.

Navigating through Reno sucks. I can’t remember a time I got more turned around, missed more turns, or swore with more punctuation. Miraculously, I eventually managed to steer us up the right road and we headed up the steep and winding grade on our last leg from Reno to Virginia City- the Geiger Grade Rd where I'll pick it up next time...

 

[Wood Nymph]

I sat across from Jim having just ruined my dinner by putting the jalepeno ranch on my salad that I’d ordered.

Why did he do that?

As Zach and I stood there a great melancholy washed over me and I was able to share with my son this terrible time in our history in which he had no idea had happened. It’s just not taught anymore,

What happened during World War II was something that I hadn't learned about until I was out of school. It needs to be remembered so that it will never happen again.

the absolute highlight of this little stop was finding the petroglyphs left by the Modoc People. Super cool!

I like to imagine how the people were living when they made the petroglyphs. The Modoc people are another group I haven't heard of.

 

[Steppesister]

Why did he do that?

Sorry! I wasn’t clear. (Poorly written!) I put it on myself.

 

[Steppesister]

Why did he do that?



What happened during World War II was something that I hadn't learned about until I was out of school. It needs to be remembered so that it will never happen again.

I like to imagine how the people were living when they made the petroglyphs. The Modoc people are another group I haven't heard of.

I agree with you Sue. It really needs to be remembered and tangible evidences preserved. I wish more of the history of that era were being taught maybe some of the problems of the present wouldn’t be happening.

 

[pkondz]

The day was wearing on

Oh? What were you guys wearing?

Sorry.
Are my puns wearying?

which begged a few photos. Which didn’t turn out very well.

I disagree!

some other water-type birds.

This is why I come here. For the highly accurate, scientific jargon.

I really like this photo.

The Pikey. Here’s the FB website and menu in you’re interested.

I see lots of stuff that I'd be happy to order.

Not being a huge burger aficionado

I'm sorry... what?!?!?!?

Zach chose the peanut butter burger. I was a skeptic. I am not anymore.

Huh!
Well, I'm skeptical too... doubt I'd ever try that.

I think the person who did the cooking/saucing made a horrible mistake and got carried away with the chili oil/powder/whatever and I literally choked on the first bite. It was totally inedible.

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

I found the signs on the bathrooms… amusing. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as it was Zach who brought them to my attention in the first place.

​

Dinner finished up, we headed for the car passing an evening tweaker doing what tweakers do on the way.

I remember you mentioned this term before and I had to look it up. I forgot and had to look again.

Tragic.

But not before Tammie rustled up a pillow to replace the one I’d left on Marcia’s bed back in Salem.

Very nice of her!

Not everyone loses and forgets stuff as expertly as me- it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

You're an expert at it!

Very nice shot of you guys... but I think you lost your shoes.

Nibbley’s Café is not to be outdone with their rendition of a giant, fresh baked, dinner plate-sized “roll” that Zach and I grazed on for the next 4 or 5 days.

Whoa....

The goal was to make it to Virginia City, NV and that cinnamon roll certainly helped speed us along.

Sure! You could use it as a spare tire in case of a blow-out!

Don't know why, but I really like this shot.

I know there are some who would like to see all traces, or ones that only fit the current PC narratives, of the past taken away or erased; I disagree.

I too disagree with that sentiment.
Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

As Zach and I stood there a great melancholy washed over me and I was able to share with my son this terrible time in our history in which he had no idea had happened.

And right there. That's why.
"Hey! Let's do this thing."
"No we shouldn't. They did that back in ____ and it was terrible."

We need places like this to continue to provide concrete reminders where one can go and be led to places of deep contemplation and fresh realization.

There is no better teacher than seeing things with one’s own eyes; reading in books just can’t do the same thing.

For sure.
It's one thing to read about something, or to even see a video. It's a whole 'nother thing to actually experience it with your own eyes.

A lot of the landscape, located inside the Lava Beds National Monument, is rough, jagged landscape covered with basaltic lava and ʻAʻā with numerous collapsed and intact lava tubes. While not really “desolate”, this area is remote and very unique.

That sounds really cool.

we came across a herd of grazing White-tailed Deer. They seemed wholly unconcerned

Sure. They know they can outrun you.

They can't outrun a bullet, but... you haven't shot them by now, so... probably safe.

** Warning: Excessive photos of deer to follow **

Oh deer.
Thanks for the warning.

I also might have gotten to gloat a little when they asked me to pay. I’d have whipped out my handy-dandy little AP card and said, “In yo’ face!”.

When we came out the other side with no entrance kiosk in sight, I confess, I was a little deflated.

Well, dang! Better luck, next park.

Anyway, the absolute highlight of this little stop was finding the petroglyphs left by the Modoc People. Super cool!

That is cool.

They are a bit of work to access with some rock scrambling involved but totally worth risking a broken leg or neck. Well, okay, maybe not a broken neck, but certainly a broken leg.

Um... uh... okay?

I pictured food being cooked over open fires, cozy blankets to keep people warm during the winter months, stories being told, hunting plans being made…

Nice picture.

Zach drove about an hour of his grand total 4 hours for the entire trip.

4... hours...

There were many reasons for that, but let’s just say I was more happy driving myself.

I prefer driving to being a passenger, myself.

Navigating through Reno sucks. I can’t remember a time I got more turned around, missed more turns, or swore with more punctuation.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Sorry! I wasn’t clear. (Poorly written!) I put it on myself.

I think I tripped over the dangling participle.
Now I see why you tried to save the salad