The road home – the view Karl and I saw as we made the last turn for home – our road.
Where I sit…
The view is better from the rv spot than the house…and a lilac bush in bud right outside the window. The slight bit of blue that shows in this photo is the Swan Range through my woods.
This bush will not be in bloom before I move back in the house, but watching it daily is a joy.
Above: The second night home. Below: An afternoon (Wednesday) in the sunshine.
My mountain views.
It was love at first site. December of 1993, I was driving from Sandpoint, ID – having been making the rounds of mountain west towns from Taos, NM to Lake Tahoe, CA to Bend, OR to Sandpoint – looking for a new place to live. I was born in northwest Ohio and left to take a job in San Francisco area in 1979. In 1981 I moved south to Los Angeles where I lived, worked, started my consulting business – spending my young adult years in the “big city”.
The first time I saw the Flathead Valley and the mountains of the Swan Range, the Whitefish Range and the Bob Marshall Wilderness was after spending several days in Coeur d’Alene (south of Sandpoint) – liking that area enough to look at homes with a realtor. I was newly married at the time, 37, and we were looking for a family spot. As we drove west of Libby, MT and the road started flattening to the valley floor – with those ranges of the rockies rising out of the east side of the valley – that was it…I was in love and I knew that I had come home. It was NOT home for my husband and he departed Montana and the marriage. I stayed and have been there on my own since 1996.
Twice I have explored the U.S. to see if there was a spot I’d rather live – not out of unhappiness with Montana, but with the sheer love of adventure and exploration that is also part of me. Twice I got so homesick for Montana that I made a mad dash back.
This winter I left again – not for another place, but for another love – for a man. It is not a move that I regret, but that has hit a snag and I’m on my way to my home in Montana. Karl and I, in the Winnebago, are pointed west – we will take our time and enjoy the journey, but I will be glad to be back – home in Montana.
Above – Karl and I in Dillon,MT – first morning “back in Montana” – Dec, 2005 – after a month in Camp Verde, AZ. The interesting thing [to me] about this photo – I had the camera on a tripod and I intended to be looking at the camera with Karl next to me. As I walked out to where Karl was, he was looking toward the mountains in a way that drew me to look also forgetting entirely about the camera setup… I love this photo.
Details for the Winnebago (2003 Winnebago Adventurer 33V):
Living room with slide out – passenger dash area has a pull-out workstation where I set up computer, printer and external monitor on top of the printer. There is power (110 and a 12 volt outlet) under the passenger window.
Not a bad galley space – I cook the same things on the road as I do at home. I’ve cooked my homemade pizza, cherry pie and all manner of baked items in the gas oven. For Christmas in AZ (12/05) I baked a prime rib roast in the convection oven.
Dinette has under seat storage as well as making into a bed – for short people or kids! But the sofa is an electric multi-position which makes into either a double recliner with foot rest or a queen bed.
Nice shower! – separate from commode. The shower/commode area can be separated from the forward area and the bedroom by the pocket doors, thus giving 2 sleeping areas private access to all of the bathroom facilities.
Bedroom – RV Queen and a bedroom TV. Lots of storage and plenty of closet and drawer space. I especially like the windows on the ends of the slide which makes for plenty of fresh air.
Windshield shades – daytime, you can see out, but no one can see in. Additionally, keeping the heat off the windshield keeps the forward interior cooler in hot weather.
There is an awning shade which makes for shade and privacy under the awning.
Wyoming Sunset – Don’t ya just want to go RVING????
My folks’ dog Kiffor died this morning. He had been ill for several weeks and the latest was a biopsy for lymphoma. He woke this morning having trouble breathing and died in the vet office.
Kiffor loved people and people loved Kiffor. He had a joyful, exuberant spirit – jumping straight up and down in excitement on meeting someone new or someone loved – a good dog.
Yep, in Rockport they are speed humps …
