On the road

Day 1: Fairbanks to Tok Junction. Lots of motorcycles. I don't know if there really are a lot more or I'm just more aware of them. There are also quite a few RV's though not as many as previous trips.

Day 2: Tok Junction to Swift River, YT. Gas is $1.52/l or just a bit more than it is in Fairbanks. Camping out with lots of mosquitos. As usual, this section of the trip was absolutely beautiful. There was a little bit of road construction but less than previous years. The section along Kluane Lake was really improved though they moved the road away from the lake in many sections.

Day 3: Swift River, YT to Fort St. John, BC. Gas price hasn't changed. We saw lots of animals. (Black bear, stone sheep, caribou, bison, swans). It was a long day with over 1000 km covered.

Day 4: Fort St. John to Clinton, BC. Saw several deer near the Peace River. Shorter day than yesterday, ~800 km. Lots of traffic after going through Prince George. The traffic was moving very quickly and I was feeling "pushed along". Not as nice as the northern part of the trip. Clinton is a very nice, small town and the campground at the south end of town was great. Kind of odd to see it get dark so early in the evening.

Day 5: Clinton, BC to Seattle, WA. No wildlife unless you include drivers in Seattle. Today was only about 360 miles but it was a really long wait at the border. Gas price stated high all the way into Washington. The cheapest gas through Canada was in Haines Junction at $1.42/liter. Almost everywhere else was over $1.55/liter.

The scenery was gorgeous, as usual. I really enjoy driving through Canada, especially the northern section. Once I get past Prince George, it is less fun. Too much traffic.

Headwaters of the Missouri

The meeting was over yesterday mid-afternoon and one of the other engineers was going to the headwaters of the Missouri River to look around. It sounded interesting enough and he didn't mind me tagging along. We went to a state park around 30 miles west of Bozeman and there were trails up and down some hills overlooking the confluence of three rivers, the Jefferson, the Madison and the Gallatin. These form the Missouri River which heads north from there before winding south in eastern Montana. I hiked on the trails though it did feel pretty warm. I took some pictures but there isn't a way to post pictures directly from my phone without downloading to my computer first. Afterwards, met with some network engineers from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota for dinner. We found a small, local place which had great food.

Yesterday, I updated the firmware on my iPhone to version 2. I have been waiting for this as it has the ability to add third party applications which could significantly improve the device. The app support is what I missed after switching from my Treo. So far, so good. No crashes but it may be awhile before the apps I want are available. Well, almost time to board.

Update - i found open wireless at the end of concourse "B" in the Seattle airport so I uploaded a picture I took yesterday. It is the Gallatin River just before the confluence.

Bozeman, MT

I'm attending the summer meeting of the Northern Tier in Bozeman, MT. It is a very pretty area this time of year. I'm told that this is their 6 weeks of green. After that, everything is a bit dried out and I would assume, no longer green. It was really warm this afternoon when I arrived but I did get some walking in today. There was the now normal walking the concourses at the Seattle airport for a couple of hours between flights as well as walking around the airport here in MT while waiting for the hotel shuttle. The hotel has a real nice exercise room so I plan on using that tomorrow morning before the meetings start. Originally, I was planning on walking from the airport to the hotel since it is only about 8 miles but it was really hot plus there was some sort of reception this evening so I went ahead and called for the shuttle.

I started only entering my steps at the end of the week since finishing Startwalking IV. Still haven't requested my certificate yet, maybe lack of motivation. I really have to do a little more running this month. Over the last couple of months, the amount of running has been steadily decreasing. I guess I just like the cooler weather. I've noticed my WIN points have been steadily decreasing with each passing month. Maybe I should look at what the monthly goals are and see how I am doing.

Thursday Evening - I used the treadmill this evening to run a bit over 5 miles. I walked a couple of miles this morning before it got too warm but it was too hot this evening to do much outside.

Back from the 4th

Over the 4th of July weekend, we went on a camping trip next to the Delta River a couple of miles north of what used to be the Black Rapids lodge. I haven't spent much time in the area for quite a while. Years ago, I went on several hiking trips in the area including a couple of summer trips up the Casner glacier. Beautiful area. I rode my bike a little, some went up Donnelly Dome and I did get in some walking. It was miserably warm with temperatures in the mid-80s and the bugs were out in force. There was a dike along the Delta River that ran for a couple of miles and it was a nice place to walk. There was a nice breeze along the river which made for a very pleasant walk in spite of the temperatures. I didn't have my phone with me so no pictures. Maybe I should start carrying a better camera than just the camera phone. The pictures just aren't very good.

On Saturday, we went down to some lakes about 5 miles south of Rainbow ridge but we got hailed on so we went back to the campground. It was a great camping trip with a wonderful group from church and everyone seemed to have fun. I really enjoyed getting outside...