Karla's Kronicles #8

Greetings Kronicle Readers!
A Farewell to Marblemount - We are "ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!!"

(Photo Right: Lupine in Bloom in Marblemount)

(Below Left: Back in the RV at Marblemount; more Lupine in Bloom; Below Right: Fox Glove)

(Photo Above left: Larry and the Beamer at Diablo Lake Overlook; Photo Above right: Karla w/Beamer with Early Winter Spires and Liberty Bell formations in background - North Cascades Hwy. 20 - Washington State)

The moving truck was 1.5 days late arriving which kept us from attending MSRA luncheon in May. By the time we finished sorting, tossing, packing that unit, we were beat. Two big trips to the landfill station in Rockport and then we could finally begin to relax. The Friday before Memorial Day weekend we decided that a motorcycle ride to Winthrop over the North Cascades Hwy was in order. It's a bit unusual to have the pass open as early as May; last year it was past mid-June before it opened. The ride was perfect. Perfect weather, ahead of a lot of weekend traffic; lunch at 3-Finger Jack's Saloon and then a ride back "home".

(Photos below: "Downtown Winthrop" - Western Town on East Side of North Cascades Hwy; 3 Finger Jack's Saloon - great lunch!)

Our Challenge for the Alaska trip will be the lack of using our Motosat for Internet and TV reception. The further North we go, the less chance of any signal; in fact, after we leave Cache Creek, BC 6/17, our communications will be iffy. But go ahead and email or leave messages on the cell phone and when we do get communications we can get back to you. Many of the RV parks will have Wi-Fi, so we are hoping to keep in touch. The "Alaska Kronicles" will be journalized as we go along and published this Fall. In the meantime, keep in touch via our email address at kldayhuff@hughes.net. All of you have a wonderful Summer and Keep in Touch.

See the USA the Internet Way!

The Karla Kronicles - June 2007
Greetings Kronicle Readers! A Farewell to Marblemount - We are "ON THE ROAD AGAIN!!!!"
Greetings from Birch Bay Washington State; our base until we cross over into Canada on our way to Alaska. Departure is Saturday 6/16/07; returning to the lower 48 states 8/15/07. We just returned from 5 days visiting (Karla's) Mom in Walla Walla and now we are making our last minute preparations for the big trip North. As usual, the days went much too quickly even getting up at 6:30 a.m. and going to bed at mid-night, we still didn't get everything done or visits in with family and friends in W2, but maybe in September???
	Before we head out and do this Alaska Adventure (approximately 8,000 miles round trip to get back to the lower 48), we must bid farewell to Marblemount; our beloved land which will always be "SCO-HEDA-KEBLA" to us...but now is American Alps Ranch for the new owners. We wish the Palmer family many wonderful times and special memories as they develop their pastures for their small herd of miniature cattle and build their Log Home. They are facing lots of hard work, but it will be very rewarding for them, too. We couldn't have left "our land" in better hands! It was very interesting to spend the past 14 months committed to one location, but for us it defined that we were not quite ready to settle down in as remote a location as Marblemount. We still love it there; the trees, wildlife, peace and serenity, gorgeous scenery, but it was a bit confining as well. The frequent power outages and rain were probably the hardest things to cope with; shopping and making various appointments "down river" being the next most challenging. We thought we may start dreading our day of departure, but are pleasantly surprised that our excitement to travel again and just have our memories, videos, and lots of Marblemount photos is just fine. We already have our travels planned out well into November 2007; when we should arrive in Florida in time for Thanksgiving dinner with Larry's Family. (Photo Left: Our Entrance Sign at Marblemount; the beautiful Purple Lace Rhody was a gift from Jeff and Penny Scott, the "SCO's" of SCO-HEDA-KEBLA)
Preparing to leave Marblemount for the "last time" had it's own unique set of situations, but we managed to get almost everything taken care of and had time for 2 days of fun! We had a Banks Power Pak installed on our truck (more torque, better fuel economy) and we wanted to "test drive" it pulling the 5th wheel up something steep before heading to Alaska, so we headed out one day just to pull a ways and went to the Diablo Lake Lookout (25 miles East of Marblemount). Packed a picnic and made a day of it, stopping at Gorge Creek overlook and Newhalem where we discovered new "trails" at both locations. (Photo Right: Lupine in Bloom in Marblemount)
Gorge Creek has a very easy loop hike that provides an overlook of the dam then comes back around to the parking area. It's probably a 10 minute hike and we had never done it before; never knew all this time that it made this little loop walk through the woods. Then in Newhalem, we crossed the Suspension Bridge for "Trail of the Cedars", but instead of stopping at the other side of the bridge, we continued our hike into the Newhalem Campground near the Visitor's Center; there are quite a few easy going trails networked together that we had never taken the time to explore before and we are glad we took a time out to enjoy more of our North Cascades National Park. (Below Left: Back in the RV at Marblemount; more Lupine in Bloom; Below Right: Fox Glove)

After that day, our time got rather hectic. We took the truck in for an oil change, discovered scarring of the torque converter resulting in them keeping the truck for 3 days and us with a rental car. At the same time, the RV was at Camping World where they could not determine what was wrong with our heat/air unit. 4 days later, I stayed and kept packing boxes and Larry took the rental back and retrieved our units. We had to get moved out of the mobile so the Palmers had time for repairs before they moved in, so we were in a big time scramble mode. We ordered a Freight Truck from ABF; you pack and they drive and store your belongings until you arrive at your destination. Well, our belongings are now in a Tampa Bay storage yard until we arrive in November. A weird feeling, seeing your things drive away for a relatively long time frame. Oh well, it's just all part of the adventure of full-timing again. Had we known we were going to sell Marblemount last August (2006) we would not have made a very long hard trip to Tucson to transport everything up to Marblemount in June 2006. Anyone have a Crystal Ball we can borrow? Aahh, water under the bridge...

(Photo Above left: Larry and the Beamer at Diablo Lake Overlook; Photo Above right: Karla w/Beamer with Early Winter Spires and Liberty Bell formations in background - North Cascades Hwy. 20 - Washington State) The moving truck was 1.5 days late arriving which kept us from attending MSRA luncheon in May. By the time we finished sorting, tossing, packing that unit, we were beat. Two big trips to the landfill station in Rockport and then we could finally begin to relax. The Friday before Memorial Day weekend we decided that a motorcycle ride to Winthrop over the North Cascades Hwy was in order. It's a bit unusual to have the pass open as early as May; last year it was past mid-June before it opened. The ride was perfect. Perfect weather, ahead of a lot of weekend traffic; lunch at 3-Finger Jack's Saloon and then a ride back "home". (Photos below: "Downtown Winthrop" - Western Town on East Side of North Cascades Hwy; 3 Finger Jack's Saloon - great lunch!)

More North Cascades Highway Scenery. (Washington Pass above and Liberty Bell on the right). Hey, Biker Buddies! Let's Ride!!!!!
Now the Bike is secured in our cargo Trailer and stored, awaiting our return from Alaska; then Karla gets to pull the Cargo Trailer and follow Larry all the way to Florida...our own mini-caravan. We were fortunate to pick up a pre-owned 1998 Lincoln Navigator that has a 8,000 lb towing capability, so we should be just fine and if we continue to stay as much as possible in our membership parks, they will have overflow accommodations for us. We hope that we can pull the bike out a few times on route to Florida for little exploratory rides, and our biker buddies in Tucson know we are coming in October with the bike, so the Rincon Riders will Ride Again!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!
The Palmer's decided to make some much necessary repairs before they arrived in June and we left, so they put new siding on the outside of the mobile; replaced a rotted front door got some windows repaired or replaced. New carpet and linoleum floors were installed. The week before we left Marblemount was a regular 3-ring circus. On one of our final days, we had the inside linoleum layers, the outside siding construction workers, Verizon phone service, DirecTV installers and UPS deliveries. So much for relaxing our last week at Marblemount! We did go back and visit them with extra keys after they arrived and we must say, the repairs really perked up the old Mobile. Now they will be much more comfortable until they build the dream Log Home in a few years. They will enjoy their Marblemount Experience as we did.
Come June 2007 it's "Alaska or Bust!" Our Challenge for the Alaska trip will be the lack of using our Motosat for Internet and TV reception. The further North we go, the less chance of any signal; in fact, after we leave Cache Creek, BC 6/17, our communications will be iffy. But go ahead and email or leave messages on the cell phone and when we do get communications we can get back to you. Many of the RV parks will have Wi-Fi, so we are hoping to keep in touch. The "Alaska Kronicles" will be journalized as we go along and published this Fall. In the meantime, keep in touch via our email address at kldayhuff@hughes.net. All of you have a wonderful Summer and Keep in Touch. We want to hear from you too! Let us know what you've been up to. More later...Karla and Larry