What happened to Ziggy?

I met him shortly after I retired in 1997. Things evolved slowly but the more time we spent together the closer we became. As I learned more and more about his internal workings we developed quite a close relationship. I knew just what buttons I could push to turn him on but too often he would overheat and I had to stop just to let him cool back down. He let me down every once in awhile but then I always forgave his troublesome ways. We traveled together often and some years spent perhaps 5 months out of the year together. People talked about us and pointed at us but we did not care. I would sing at the top of my lungs while he purred like a kitten. There were hills and valleys, backroads and main roads, large cities and small and we stuck together through thick and thin. Other than when he would have his breakdowns life was always happy when we were traveling together. I would talk to him when there was noone else around. He had good friends like Snow White and Old Blue.

In 2002 I met Hernando and Ziggy soon moved to Texas. Sure Hernando and I had new friends like Mildred and Chiquita Rosita and had a lot of good times together. But Ziggy was not happy in Texas. Although I was pleased with Hernando it just wasn't the same. After six years Ziggy purred no longer and did not get out much if at all. I knew some day I would go to Galveston and bring him back home. But I waited too long!

Late one Saturday night in the fall of 2008 Ike came along and gave him a real beating. He probably dumped him in Offut Bay never to be found again! He deserved better.

Charleston, SC - November 2001

A single RV group to which I belonged, the FreeRoaders, met in Charleston for a week of fun, eating, visiting, and touring. Marley, Vi, Robbie, JB, Susan and Mary vw seemed to linger in Charleston longer than most and spent one day touring the old historical town of Beaufort and the lighthouse on nearby Hunting Island State Park.

There was plenty to do in Charleston to keep everyone entertained. We spent most evenings gathered around our small campfire in my grill just visiting and planning the next day.

Not far from our campground was Drayton Hall which was built between 1738 and 1742. It is the oldest preserved plantation house in America open to the public. A drive along a winding road overshadowed but live oaks led us to the plantation.


Vi, Marley, and Mary admired the place from an upstairs balcony.

One night we went on a ghost tour in town. The tour wasn't much but the ironwork in town was certainly worth a look.

The group went to Bubba Gump's for supper. Vi was impressed with her dessert while Joyce looked on.

What better thing to do when on the coast than stop at the local seafood market. Kay and Robbie picked up some oysters. Robbie showed us how to open them and Kay knew what to do next.

A drive to the Citadel , a nearby military college, to watch a parade was most interesting. As we drove in I saw on a sign advertising the school and basketball program a giant photo of a student I had taught.

We made a special drive one day to visit the Angel Oak. This is one large oak tree! Frances, Robbie, Kay, Mary, Joyce and Marcia stand in the shade.

We were riding along on a trolley in Old Charleston but Clark thought we should walk instead! He waited while we shopped at the Market, a place with great buys and souvenirs.

The Wedding Cake house is called such because it was a wedding gift from a father to his daughter.

The Edmonston-Alston house was one of the first houses built on the High Battery in 1825. Gen. Beauregard watched the bombardment of Ft. Sumter from the second floor piazza.

The touring group this day was Mary, Maryvw, Clark, Kay and myself. Here we are on the High Battery.

The French Protestant (Huguenot) Church built in 1844-45. As early as 1687 French Huguenots who had fled France were worshipping in a church on this site.

16 of us managed to get into an Old Towne carriage for a ride through the streets of Charleston

Philma, Mary and I stopped for a rest overlooking the bay.

In this cluster of shops I managed to find the Birkenstock store.

Nancy joined us for her first get together and I was glad she did. It gave me a chance to look at her Roadtrek and realize that was what I wanted to replace Ziggy.

The Joyce from Georgia joined in and we were glad to see her again.

Frances and Holly were new members and this was also their first visit with FreeRoaders.

The Oak Plantation campground where we stayed did not allow campfires so ours were quite small.

Clark makes a mean margarita and Robbie agreed.

The Festival of Lights at the James Island County Park was an enjoyable evening drive and let us know the holidays were nearing and it was time to say goodbye to friends and head home to spend time with family. This was the last trip I made with Ziggy. I soon located a Roadtrek that took his place.

Yaak, Montana - August 2001

(This week falls in the middle of the northwest trip. I entered it separately after I located my photos.)

The four fishing buddies spent August 26 - Sept. 5, 2001 at the Yaak River campground in the Kootanai National Forest near Troy. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. It gave us a good place to return each night after a day of fishing or exploring or we could just walk down to the river and fish nearby.It was not easy traveling this road to find the trail to Lake Hawkens. The scenery was absolute worth the trip.We were sure glad we found the lake also. It was full of little brookies and we took our share.

We made several scenic drives and the scenery was always spectacular. Here we were in the Purcell Mountains.

I grilled steaks one evening in honor of a visit from Maryvw. She was headed back to Florida from Canada and we were delighted that she stopped for a visit. It just happened to be her birthday so we celebrated.

Grizz, Maryvw, Marion, and Don look at her card and gift.

Marion teaches a Cajun cooking class. Here we are learning to make a roux.

For me this was a good day fishing near our campsite.

We drove into Bonner Ferry, Idaho one day so Marion could check out the casino (make that slot machine). It was quite a small casino!!!

You haven't seen a small town until you visit Yaak, Montana and we did.

They do have a country store where we had ice cream. Grizz, Marion, and Don are enjoying their cones on the front porch. There is also a saloon and a gas pump.

Marion on her favorite rock on the Kootenai River.

Grizz observes the Kootenai River below the falls before he wanders across on the hanging bridge.

This was our last campout for the 4 of us before we scattered in different directions.

Northwest U.S. - Summer 2001

Oklahoma

Summer had come to Arkansas and it was time to head west to the mountains and cooler temperatures. Red Rock Canyon in Oklahoma seemed a good spot for the first night.

I enjoyed hiking the red rocks along the old wagon trail left but early settlers moving west.

Oklahoma

I knew as I left Red Rock Canyon something was wrong with Ziggy but I did make it on to Texas. A lot of time was spent in Amarillo at Laura's house while I waited for Ziggy to get a new motor. I enjoyed visitng the old route 66 portion of the town. This is where I met up with my fishing buddy Grizz to caravan to Montana for a summer devoted to fly fishing.

South of Amarillo is Palo Duro Canyon, where we dropped off his granddaughter for summer camp.

Eventually we left his daughter Laura's house and continued the adventure west. She and her family were perfect hosts while I was "broken down." Thank goodness it happened in a town where I knew someone.

Colorado

After crossing the Continental Divide on Monarch Pass the first order of business in Colorado was to camp in alongside Cebolla Creek. It was great fishing but hard to access from the side. This was the first time I went fishing in gloves. The morning were already chilly .. make that cold!

A stay at Pleasure Park on the Gunnison River provided an opportunity to fish the river with a guide. We rode up the river in a jet boat and then hiked back downstream fishing all the way.

The Grand Mesa provided cool summer temperatures at a higher elevation and an opportunity to fish many small mountain lakes.


The summer wildflowers alone are a good reason to visit Colorado in the summertime.

Upper Eggleston Lake is one example of the small mountain lakes we found. Some could only be reached by a usually steep hike.

Wyoming

In Pinedale, Wyoming we attended a rendezvous and a parade in town. This was also the home of the Museum of the Mountain Men where I visited with Chuck, one of the participants in the parade.

The nearby Bridger National Forest campground at Fremont Lake outside of Pinedale was home for a few days.

In Cody we spent two days touring the Buffalo Bill Historical Center which had marvelous displays and information pertaining to the west.

Not far from the campground we had little luck fishing the Shoshone River as the water level was drastically low.

The North Fork Campground at Buffalo Bill State Park was convenient and peaceful at the foot of the mountain.

Boondocking at Jackson Dam on the Snake River provided a gorgeous view of the Grand Tetons.

It was a quick visit to the Flaming Gorge as we passed through headed to Montana.

Montana

Marion, Don, Grizz and I planned to meet in the summer at Red Cliff Campgound in the Gallatin National Forest near Bozeman, Montana. We were here from August 1-21.

Don, Gypsy, Marion and I huddle under Marion's awning for supper in the rain.

This is a portion of the Gallatin near the entrance to Yellowstone.

Marion and Don stirring up some supper.

Don

Gypsy Joan came from Oregon for a visit

Marion

Grizz

Susan

The Gallatin River which flows alongside Red Cliff Campground was the reason for our being in Montana.

Gypsy, Don and I spent one day touring a portion of Yellowstone National Park.

Old Faithful

The Upper Geyser Basin and the Mudpot boardwalk.

Mudpot geyser

The Lower Geyser Basin and the Fountain Paintpots

Gypsy and Don caught in the mist.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Upper FallsLower Falls

Firehole Falls

Firehole Cascade

We saw plenty of wildlife including this elk.

This deer was crossing the creek as we drove by.

The tan spots are elk grazing in the lush grass.

A herd of buffalo grazing.

Don, Grizz, Gypsy and I took a 50 mile scenic drive to West Yellowstone to visit the Grizzly Discovery Center.

West Yellowstone is a small town with a population of 900, and an elevation of 6,667, and at least four fly shops. This is where I found my fly rod.

Big Sky, Montana is a ski resort and year round village created by Chet Huntley near the Gallatin National Forest. There are quaint shops and it has a relaxing warm feel on a sunny day in the cool temperatures.

Grizz, Don and I made a daytrip to a mountainman rendezvous held nearby. This is a reenactment of the fur trading days.

Then we visited Quake Lake, a lake that was formed when an earthquake blocked part of the Madison River.

This is one of the slide areas. 28 people were killed in the quake.

The Madison River continues to flow north from the area.

Many houses were shaken from their foundations and wound up in the lake.

This was my first knowledge of a buffalo jump that was used by Indians as many as 3,000 years ago.

They would herd the buffalo to the edge of the cliff where they would perish when they fell below.

The old Gallatin Hotel, 1868, is located at the Missouri Headwaters State Park. Old Gallatin City died in the 1880s when the railroad bypassed it.

August 21 was a traveling day to Drummond, Mt. where we stopped in a campground for the night, ate supper, and planned the next day with the Street Atlas or was it Map 'n Go.

Don led the way to Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park. We stayed there Aug 22 - 26.

We passed by Flathead Lake and through scenic countryside with the mountains rising in the distance.

We were excited to finally arrive at the gateway to Glacier National Park.

The North Fork of the Flathead River provided a beautiful place for some fly fishing. I think I gathered more pretty rocks than the fish I caught.

This was Grizz's day to cook breakfast for the group.

We spent one day making a loop drive thru Glacier National Park.

We observed mountain goats at a salt lick thanks to Don's binoculars.

This artwork of two Indians was created entirely from car parts.

It is hard to grasp how breathtaking the scenery is.

St. Mary's Lake

From Glacier we went further northwest and spent time on the Yaak River. I seem to have lost the photos. Mary vw made a swing through the area on her way home from Canada and we had a fine visit. (Then I found the photos!! See the separate post under Yaak, Mt.)

Afterwards we all headed in our own directions. Grizz and I continued west to visit friends.

Washington

We stopped to visit Mari and James in Olympia, where we spent several weeks due to 9/11. James took us fly fishing on the Deschutes River. It was a safe place to be not knowing what would happen and we enjoyed the company.

Mari enjoyed showing us the parks in Olympia which were filled with lush giant ferns.

On the Skokomish River Mari took up fly fishing and even caught some small ones.

We went down to the bay and bought fresh clams to go with the vegetables from Mari's garden and the blackberries picked while fishing.

Mari's pig wore her best hat for this hike and was helpful in pulling me up the hills.

Oregon

The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport provided me quite an education for my initiation into sealife. I had always wanted to see a Puffin and here I saw plenty. They weren't as pretty as I expected.

The public fishing pier at the South Beach Marina in Newport was the perfect place to catch dungeness crabs. After a late night dinner in the parking lot we moved down to the end of the road where we could boondock looking out over the bay. This guy showed me how to pick up my catch!

At Seaside I took my first walk along the beach of the Pacific Ocean after a bowl of clam chowder.Driving down the Oregon coast was a most scenic route with excellent views of the Pacific Ocean.

A long and winding road took us to a scenic overlook and the Cape Mears lighthouse.

The city park in Nestucca was peaceful and pastoral across the street from these cows.

California

Traveling through California could have been an entire new experience but on this trip it was just the route home. When I turned south and east I had visual overload from all the beautiful scenery I had seen. This lighthouse was on an island at Crescent City. When the tide is down you can walk out to it.

Next to the lighthouse was a campground that provided a beautiful view of the ocean. I did explore the area a bit from there while Grizz stayed in his rig with a cold.

The coast of California is easily viewed from the highway and makes it hard to keep your eyes on the road.

While stopped at a construction site the worker advised that a campground on Hat Creek was just down the road and that this was a world class trout stream. Who knew? Time to fish again!

Bishop is one of the premier tourist areas in California but this campground was just a place to spend the night. Little gnats invaded the area at sunset and I stayed zipped up inside the van.

Mono Lake surprised me as I rounded a curve and I was in awe at the crystals that rise from the base and create this blue lake.

Ziggy in the Redwoods. Oh what a treat!

I have always wanted to see Redwood trees and this was the perfect place in northern California.

Wandering along the paths among the giant redwoods was perhaps the most peaceful and rewarding day I ever spent on the road.

I was shocked at how large these giants actually are. I chose to walk the Simpson-Reed Discovery Trail. And I thought I was wide!

It was difficult to take a photograph of a tree. You might capture the base, the middle or the top but not the entire tree in one photo.

Nevada

What better place to overnight in Nevada than the Walmart parking lot in Reno.

The Atlantis provided a little casino fix.

Arizona

An overnight stop at Grand Canyon National Park seemed like a good idea.

The Aspens north of Flagstaff make it one of my favorite drives.

Not only were the Aspens changing colors but snow on the mountains let me know fall was on the way.

I crossed into New Mexico as the sun set on a great four month adventure wandering in the northwest while I headed back to Arkansas.