My Old Kentucky Home

November 5
McCreary County, KY

As you can probably guess by the title I've moved back to KY, commiting for a year of volunteer service with the Christian Appalachian Project, and reuniting with my old housing crew leader Kevin B., and former Mt. Vernon housemate Kristi. I'm staying in the newly built McCreary Volunteer House, which is quite an improvement over the trailer I lived in my first term here. The salon I was working at in Idaho Falls closed Oct. 26th, and there was very little business at the nail salon, so I decided to get the hell outta Dodge before the snows set in. I had an uneventful drive across the country (which is a good thing) arriving here Friday evening. I started my first day of work today, finishing some underpinning on a house trailer, putting a metal roof on a porch addition, and coating the trailer roof with sealer. It was almost like I'd never left.

Vacation

October 5
Idaho Falls, ID

My two sisters, Rose and Leona, and a friend Vernita arrived Monday evening for a visit. After camping in my basement overnight, I cooked them a five-star breakfast of fresh Idaho fried potatoes, and toast, and we took to the road to explore Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and parts of ID, MT, and WY. We spent the first night in West Yellowstone, MT, the second in Jackson, WY, and arrived back at my place on Thursday morning. We managed to travel nearly every road in the parks, as well as taking an adventurous trip across a mountain pass in the snow en route to Cody, WY. Lots of good eateries were encountered along the way, as well as lots of wildlife, and fall scenery.

Fall In The Tetons

September 29
Idaho Falls, ID

I took a day off on Tuesday to utilize my National Park Pass, and take in some fall colors in the Grand Tetons. I started with a hike in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, followed by another shorter hike to Taggert Lake. The fall colors are at their peak, and hopefully will stay so when my sisters come to visit next week. The temperatures have been in the 70's lately so I'm trying to enjoy them before winter arrives.

Streams and Steam

Sept. 10th
Idaho Falls, ID

I made it up to Yellowstone yesterday. It was still a little crowded, but I manged to find a few out of the way spots to enjoy some solitude. I checked out some of the geysers, and hot springs, as well as taking a back country hike. I also got to experience the obligatory wildlife traffic jams on the drive out, as tourists were stopping to view the animals, namely bison and elk, which were coming out for their evening feeding along the roadsides. I purchased an inter-agency pass, which entitles me to free admission to any national park for a year. I will be putting it to good use.

Fire On The Mountain

September 3rd
Idaho Falls, ID

It's been a hot, dry, smokey summer. Lots of wildfires burning throughout Idaho. On some mornings there's a light dusting of ashes on my car, and the hazy skies remind me of Midwestern summers. We had some rain over the weekend which has cleared things up a bit. On Sunday co-worker John and I traveled to Lava Hot Springs, and Bear Lake in southeastern Idaho and northern Utah. The water in the lake was clear and blue, and a nice cool temperature for a refreshing swim. A few weeks back I camped in the Caribou National Forest near Pocatello, and checked out the sand dunes near St. Anthony. Other than that I haven't been up to too much. I still haven't made it over to the Tetons and Yellowstone, but with the tourist season winding down, and the temps. moderating I plan on taking in some late summer and early fall scenery there. I also have some family coming to visit at the end of the month.

Teton Canyon

July 9,
Idaho Falls, ID

Hello, I'm still alive and well. Haven't done much post-worthy lately. I picked up a second massage gig at a nail salon. The owner and employees are all Vietnamese. As one of my clients put it "You're the first Caucasian I've ever seen working here." I hang out there when I'm not busy at my other job, (which is quite often) and do chair massages. It's entertaining listening to them talk to the customers in broken English, "You want massage? He very good." On Sunday my co-worker John (from the other salon) and his roommate Brian, and I drove back out to the Jedediah Smith Wilderness area and hiked along the Teton Canyon trail. The cool breeze blowing through the valley felt like outdoor air conditioning. It's been a little on the warm side here lately, but not nearly bad as y'all in the Midwest. We also stopped at Falls Creek along the Snake River on the drive out and saw this neat waterfall.

A Stroll In The Snow

June 10
Idaho Falls, ID

This weekends expedition took me across the state line into Wyoming and the Jedidiah Smith Wilderness. Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer and explorer of the Rocky Mountains. What I originally intended to be a short, leisurely walk turned into a five hour hike. Once I sighted the snow capped peaks I couldn't stop until I reached the top. On the descent I decided to leave the trail and go straight down the side of the mountain...it was a lot steeper than it looked. The snow, loose rocks, mud, and bushes didn't make matters any easier, but I managed to slip-slide my way down without any broken bones or muscle strains. I think even ol' Jed himself would have nodded his approval.  By the time I made it back though my legs felt like a couple of rubber bands. As I walked to my car a couple of hunters in an SUV pulled up and asked if I'd seen any bears. I replied no, the only game I'd seen was a red fox with a freshly killed bird in its mouth. Satisfied with my bear sighting abilities, they drove away confident that there were indeed no bears in the area.

Last Sunday I camped in the Targhee National Forest. I found a nice spot on a ridge to set up camp, and just as I was about to slumber for the night, I was greeted by a nearly full moon rising over the mountains and the serenade of some owls hoo hoo hooing in the distance.

Eclipse

May 28
Idaho Falls, ID

We had a partial eclipse of the sun a week ago Sunday. Mark and I drove out to the hills overlooking town and watched the event unfold. It wasn't too impressive, actually we didn't even notice except for a little dimming of daylight. Not too much else has happened lately. I'm starting to get a few clients, and they all like me so that's encouraging. I've been volunteering at St. Vincent DePauls thrift store on my days off, going through donations and sorting clothes. I still have lots of free time for reading and watching movies. This weeks recommendations are Tom Brown Jr's "The Quest" (book), and Stephen King's "The Stand" (mini-series and book). I tend to go hiking on the weekends. Last week I drove out to the Targhee National Forest. Today I had planned to drive to Mt. Lookout, but the rains (and snow in the higher elevations) we had over the weekend thwarted my plans, turning the unimproved roads a little too muddy for my Sentra's taste. So I decided to ad lib and find another hiking destination. So down the backroads of Idaho I traversed, taking a right at a likely looking intersection, and less muddy than the previous road. As I gained in elevation the snow got deeper. The tire tracks on the road were clear, but the snow in the middle kept dragging up under my low clearance carriage, so I found a suitable place to turn around, and back to the crossroads and another right. A few miles down this road and my progress was again impeded, by some cowboys on a cattle drive down the roadway. Not having a particular destination, and no set time to get there, I chose to turn around and explore the last remaining option at the crossroad, another right. This time success. I drove a ways and then pulled off and ate the lunch I had packed, and as I was relaxing a convoy of about a dozen semis with livestock trailers rumbled by, on there way to another roundup I suppose. I finally found a decent spot and spent a few hours hiking, seeing a couple of mule deer, and hearing the "drumming" of several grouse. On my drive back I saw a lone moose as I was descending the hills toward town. It's dark coat really stood out against the light color of the wheat field it was in.

Shadow Days

May 13
Idaho Falls, ID

It's been a discouraging week. In my first week at the salon (three days) I tallied a total of 0 clients. I expected a slow start, but this is ridiculous. In spite of my special introductory offers, no one seems interested. I've gotten settled in and am learning my way around town, including a nightly trip to Walmart to pick up my housemate Mark, while his truck is in the shop. I also filled out some paperwork for Habitat for Humanity, so on my days off I might do a little volunteering. On a side note (no pun intended), I stopped at the music store (ha ha) featured in John Mayer's new "Shadow Days" video, and saw the chair he sat in during the filming. I'm not exactly rubbing elbows with celebrities, but its a start. Today I drove out to Jackson and Teton Village, WY. If things don't pick up here maybe I can get a job at one of the resort spas there.

Idaho Falls

May 6
Idaho Falls

I've decided to hang my hat (for a while anyways) in Idaho Falls. I'm renting a room in a house in a nice subdivision and will also be renting a space at the Root Forest, a friendly salon in town, doing massages there three days a week and then going full time when the other therapist retires in July. I'm excited to be only an hour and forty-five minutes away from both the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone. I believe I'll have to get a seasonal pass to the parks so I can recreate there frequently.

"Back In The Barn Again"

May 1
Hansen, ID

"When I was a younger man I got lucky with a rock 'n roll band, struck gold in Hollywood all that time I knew I would. Get back to the country, back where it all began. Get back to the country, back in the barn again."
Neil Young - "Get Back To The Country"

My headquarters for my job search this past week has been a remodeled 100 year old barn on the outskirts of the small town of Hansen, ID. Other than dropping off and emailing resumes, going to an interview, making lots of phone calls, and doing some gardening / landscaping, and remodeling projects, I've been pretty much a bum. I did check out a few local attractions though. I went hiking in the Sawtooth National Forest just south of here; although it didn't have many trees. I also went to the Hagerman Fossil Beds west of here, and walked in the wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail, and I viewed Shoshone Falls on the Snake River, which winds itself through most of southern Idaho and provides lots of water for the farmers irrigation systems. Hopefully I will find employment by week's end either in this area, or somewhere else in the state.

Spokane

April 24
Hansen, ID

I spent last week at the Brick House farm in Spokane, WA. My main project there was rebuilding the chicken coop, named "Alcatraz", so the fiendish fowl could no longer escape and vandalize the nearby garden, and to prevent Nym the egg stealing dog from eating their precious bounty. There were also sheep and a horse on the farm. Liz, my gracious host provided some delicious meals, and lent me a couple of books to read, "The Hunger Games" and it's follow-up "Catching Fire", which I highly recommend. Friday night we toured downtown Spokane and had some sushi and saki. On Sunday we drove to nearby Mt. Spokane and did a little hiking in the snow. I checked on a couple of job opportunities in the area, but not being too impressed with their potential, I've returned to the Twin Falls area to see what it may hold.

Gem State

April 13
Twin Falls, ID

Yesterday morning I left home at 6 am. Sixteen hours and nearly 1000 miles later found me in Limon, CO. I had intended to camp overnight, but high winds and the chance of storms made me choose a motel instead. Today I traveled up eastern CO, across southern WY, and into southern ID. I had originally planned on taking my time and spending four days driving out and doing some sightseeing along the way. Due to the lack of sights to see in Kansas, and the chance for snow this weekend in the mountain passes I decided to keep pushing on. I did drive through some snow showers on the high plains of WY, and saw a lightning flash as well...thundersnow. And yes Katelyn, there might have even been some gropple mixed in with the precipitation! Tomorrow evening I should arrive at The Brick House farm in Spokane, WA, where a soft, warm bed awaits me in the bunkhouse.

Deja Vu All Over Again

April 11
Lamar, IN

After remaining sedentary the last six months I've packed my belongings and am prepared for another journey west. Destination ID/WA. With the excitement of going new places comes the sadness of leaving old places and familiar faces behind. On Sunday morning I said goodbye to my housemates at the Mt. Vernon Volunteer House and my neighbors at the Rockcastle House. My roomies and I, ( I like to refer to them as my harem :) have shared many laughs over the last half year. Kristi, Carrie, Sarah, Karen, and Whitney, you will be dearly missed.

Tomorrow morning, the God Lord and my Sentra willing, I will be plodding across the heartland.