Back in Oregon....
After having the water pump and fan replaced on the Durango, it was still overheating so we towed it back to Madras where we can bum a car from my sister while having it fixed. It goes in for a radiator today, and if that doesnt fianally fix the problem, I am not sure what the next step it going to be!

We spent a week around Spokane, which seemed nice enough but we didnt get out and about too much with the overheating problem on the car. We are planning on eventually going back and spending some time in the mountains north of there, near Colville. Not sure when that will be, however...

We still havent decided where too next, but we wont be sticking around the high desert here too long after getting the car fixed and other chores done...The company is good, but if we wanted to be in the High Desert in the summer, we could have stayed in Farmington!

Movin' on...

We have just spent another week in Bonners Ferry, this time looking for a home or a place to build, and have concluded that if this is the place we are going to end up, it's not going to happen right now. Which might just mean we won't end up here; the "Resort" market has spread up from Coeur d'Alene through Sand Point and is inflating prices all the way up here. Weather wise its pretty moderate here, this week while "Back Home" has been in the 100's, the high here has been upper 80's, with a nice breeze. Cathy was talking to one lady who said the winters have become warmer also; There were only two days last winter that were below zero; it usually didnt get below 20 degrees! Of course, that means its drier than normal also, not as much snow as they used to get (I think 67 inches is normal!)

So now, after replacing a water pump and fan on the Durango, and spending a few hours digging gravel out of the condenser coils for the car air conditioner (never would have guessed I'd become a dentist for a radiator!) , we are ready to move on. Monday we are on our way again, this time to Fairchild Airforce Base in Spokane for a bit, and we are looking at spending a Day at the Solar Fair in John Day, Oregon, at the end of the month. Long term looks like a return to Farmington in later September to consolidate the storage units, getting down to one unit, while digging some things out we would like to have with us and storing away some things we dont use often. We're still considering wintering over on Whidby Island...but it might just be by way of the Coast Highway in Northern California and Southern Oregon.

Jim and Cathy
first part of the journey is recorded at
http://home.earthlink.net/~thegeekandhippie/

We’re at the entrance to Glacier National Park, Listening to Prairie Home Companion on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, and enjoying the light rain that is falling, while we are making plans to return to the Bonners Ferry/Sand Point, ID, area. We’re thinking that may be the place to alight after our travels, so we’re going to look at real estate for a bit, while we experience the summer weather. And make plans for getting the car fixed. Seems the Antifreeze doesn’t like staying on the inside. I am guessing a water pump, since we have over 140,000 miles on it, but we’ll be taking it to the Dodge dealer in Bonners Ferry to see what they have to say. Good thing we don’t have to drive it to get it there…we’ll be heading there on Monday Morning. So stay tuned for further developments…

Well, we are back where we can afford to use our cell phones. After a month of wandering in the Canadian Rockies, we are back in Kalispel, MT, for a couple of days before heading over to Browning, MT, for a Pow WoW. We are thinking of staying in or near the northern mountains for the rest of the summer!

Hey from Canada...we have been around Revelstoke about 10 Days now, and tomorrow we are heading back to Montanna. There is a Pow Wow we want to go to...then it will probabaly be down to Butte and then Yellowstone, then back to Idaho for a bit.We are expecting to get back to Madras, Oregon mid-to- late Aug.

We are staying in a neat little campground (The Lamplighter) that is walking distance to down town, (about 1 1/2 miles....) and have spent the time seeing Canada's glacier national Park and Mount Revelstoke National Park. Also took a short drive over to Sicamouse, just to find out what that name is all about! Thought it might have something to do with a long winter and nothing but Moose meat, but that wasn't it. Along the way, we stopped at Canada's equilivent of Prometory Point, where the Canadian Pacific drive the final spike. Not being as prentious as their southern neighbors, they used a regular steel spike...but there is a nice park...

Canada is great! 

Our new home, Jan 2004

With this posting, I will begin to try to keep our friends and family updated a little better about our travels...after starting our website last year, it became more difficult to keep update when we didnt have a decent connection, and so we got out of the habit of keeping things up to date. Perhaps with this Blogger format, I will be more diligent it keeping it updated...

Anyway, for those who are interested, our original web site is on an earthlink site,
thegeekandhippie.

Not many pictures there, I will try to be better at posting pictures here. Wonder how much space I can have for free...

Anyway, I will try to bring everything up to date from last year, and keep it better updated. Our goal is once a week, and that should be achievable. Especially if we can find WIFI RV spots. Of course, once we are back in the states, when I have Verizon Home digital service, it will be easy, and that is pretty common in the North West, where we plan to be for a while.

Currently, we are in Revelstoke, British Columbia, visiting the Candian Rockies and watching them celebrate Canada Day. So far, no fireworks, which may be appropriate since it didnt take a revolution to create Canada, but we'll see this evening...