Our intent was to sell the RV as we hit Colorado on the return - which we did - but we enjoyed this form of travel so much we  bought another RV that provided us with much more living space without increasing our length!

So, for those of you who have visited this site in 2009, we’ll be back on the road this coming January - headed to work for Habitat for Humanity in Tucson, AZ - I always wanted to paint the desert!

You can also check out our summer 2010 plans to lead 2 Habitat Global Village teams to Botswana. Although we won’t be floating across the ocean in the RV - we look forward to learning how Habitat houses are built in Molepolole and Mahalapye!

Blessings for a happy holidays - Dave & Susi

With no trails and some pretty steep and overgrown banks along the way, I walked on the road for a while and then cut back to the river once I got past a swampy looking area. Needless to say, I was on the lookout for moose, since they seem to enjoy standing in the water and eating — as I was lucky enough to capture this one doing. It was quite a thrill to see him because the wolves and bears have driven almost all of the moose out of Yellowstone and we were hoping our chances would be better in Teton.

My trek proved rather fruitful as I closed on the river and saw these three pelicans come in for a landing. They continued swimming my way, and then eventually took off and soared away. I also captured a couple of cormorant and thistle photos that you can see in the album titled 09-01 Grand Teton National Park at the right.

Eventually I began working my way back south, and, not wanting to get too far away from the wildlife action on the river, I pushed a bit further before turning back to the road. With no trails, I was relying on the sounds of cars on the highway to give me a general sense of direction, and, after a bit, I found myself looking across this swamp. The reedy grasses hide an array of dry land fingers interspersed with wet areas and small streams. The willow bushes are very thick along the ground and nearly impenetrable. Everywhere there were moose prints, sometimes sunk 3, 4, or more inches into the soft ground.

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to retreat, I moved gingerly toward the sounds of traffic. Finally, I came across what appeared to be a last little stream, this one a bit better formed than most. I worked my way toward it’s apparent source and what seemed to be some firm ground at the edge of a willow patch. “One wet step in the stream and I can reach the other side,” I thought.

With camera and tripod on my shoulder I took the plunge — and my foot just kept going down into the muck. Quickly I took the next step and tried to pull free, only to leave my shoe buried about 18″ deep as my second foot sunk into what felt like quicksand. I lunged for a piece of log with the stocking-clad foot, and, as I pulled myself onto it, I nearly pulled my foot out of the other shoe as well.

Needless to say, there are no pictures of this part! I capped the lens and did my best to keep the equipment out of the muck as I balanced on that log and tried to think my way out of the mess. Slowly I was able to push one foot back into it’s buried shoe and then very gradually pull it free. With both feet on the log, I could reach back and pull the first shoe free. Once I put it on, you can bet that I tied the laces very tightly and doubled the knots!

From there I was able to stay on dry ground by hacking a path through the willows and a short while later I finally reached the road. Susi was good enough to “record the moment” as I walked up to her painting spot.

Was I scared through this little adventure? Well, not really, once I realized that the log would support me and the sounds of cars were not far away. I sure did wonder, though, what possessed me to take a few thousand dollars worth of photo gear into the swamp?!?!

Although road hazards here in Wyoming aren’t quite as large - we do get the idea of how intimidating it can feel to be surrounded on all sides by the local traffic. So, here’s a little video to let Kevin know that we empathize with him, and are glad to hear that he and his banged up car are back on the road.

Unfortunately, I have very few memories of our time in Yellowstone or the Tetons because the severe headaches I experienced every time we changed elevation a few hundred feet, which was a precursor of the brain surgery I underwent when I returned home.

The upside is that I’ve been having a blast exploring this park this time! I have particularly enjoyed the area near Fishing Bridge - in spite of the bison road delays. This is a part of the park that doesn’t have trees  ravaged by either the 2003 or 1988 fires and the pine beetle. There’s plently of open grasslands that support a diverse animal population - wolves, elk, bison, and deer are all easily seen by visitors along the road. Check out all the photos in the albums titled 08-29 Yellowstone National Park and 08-30 Yellowstone National Park at the right.

To say nothing about the upper and lower falls, Yellowstone river and lake…

Mention Logan Pass and a big smile appears on both our faces. Just check out Dave’s (and a few of my) photos in the album labeled 08-25 Logan Pass at the right  to see the beautiful, flower-covered meadow through which we hiked up about 1 1/2 miles to Hidden Lake.

In fact, Dave took so many pics on the way up that I had almost finished my painting when he arrived at the top!

We also were thrilled to see  marmots along the path, in addition to multiple creeks, lakes, different colors of rocks and wonderful wildflowers. Thank goodness for the camera - it gave me an excuse to stop and catch a breath on the up-hill, high-altitude climb!

Of course, Dave thinks I added way too many goat pictures - but they sure were cute! The goats seemed to be curious about us humans; while I was painting, another hiker let me know that there was a goat 3 feet behind me watching - or was he deciding if he was going to eat my brushes??!!

Logan Pass was indeed a fantastic day whose memories we will long cherish!

On the other hand, the impact of vehicles and people in these parks is very significant. Global warming issues are a major part of all the parks educational programming. So here’s the rub -  even as we’ve enjoyed our travels, we cringe at the impact that traveling in this RV for the past 4 1/2  months has made on the environmental problems these parks struggle with.

The only problem with all those brilliant blue sky days we’ve had is that I’m too exhausted in the evening to document them online. Most of our campsites have been without electricity. We’re not sure why, but my computer really drains the battery so I usually wind up reading for about the 15 minutes I can stay awake while Dave works to convert his gazillions of photos to the 5 to 10 he’ll keep.

Today, our last day in Yellowstone, is the first rainy day we’ve had since we hit the Canadian Rockies, so I’m finally processing a big batch of my paintings and photos from Jasper, Banff, Glacier and Yellowstone.

What a life, when the worst thing we have to complain about is having too many pretty pictures to process!

Well, some of you may know that I occasionally suffer from a bit of tunnel vision, and I’m afraid I have to plead guilty regarding this project.

The opportunity to highlight one of Susi’s beautiful paintings, to help explain one of the challenge she faces, to show a few of my photos, and to learn a bit about designing and building slideshows captured my attention and held me hostage inside a stuffy RV on a beautiful, sunny day at one of the premiere places in all of Canada. Call me crazy if you like, but I sure hope that you enjoy watching this slideshow as much as I enjoyed creating it!