Who We Are

We sold our home in June, 2007, and spent the next 7 1/2 years traveling full time in a Cross Roads Fifth Wheel. (We had been traveling during our summers for several years before going full time.) We loved the full-time lifestyle! Each summer we spent a month or two volunteering in State Parks, first in Indiana at McCormick's Creek State Park, near our family, then in later years as the grandchildren got older, at the Bluewater Lake State Park in New Mexico. We spent 6 months each winter at Cactus Gardens RV Resort in Yuma, AZ, where I worked mornings in the park office. The remaining months were spent on the road, seeing this great country of ours. Our favorite places are our National Parks. Anita loved photography and the freedom of digital photography, taking sometimes hundreds of photos in a day. We hiked as much as our legs will allow. We also really enjoyed square and round dancing as we travel across country, and meeting all the wonderful people who dance and/or travel.

But as in all things, there comes a time for change, and we decided it was time to create roots once more. In the fall of 2014, we purchased a home in Cactus Gardens, and in the spring of 2015, sold the 5th wheel. Anita also retired in the spring. We will continue to travel each summer, but for a shorter period of time. We hope to continue blogging about those trips, but it will obviously be on a more limited basis than in the past.

Please explore our past posts if you are interested in traveling this great country. You'll find an index in the left column. We hope you enjoy our blog, and appreciate all comments

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Marias Pass, Montana

mp1 As you come near to the lower edge of Glacier National Park in Montana, on Highway 2, you cross over the Continental Divide at Marias Pass.  The pass is named for the nearby river, and it is believed the river was named by Meriwether Lewis after his cousin, Maria.  The Blackfeet called the pass, the “Backbone Pass”, and used it to cross the mountains into the plains to hunt bison. The pass, at 5,216 feet, is the lowest crossing of the Continental Divide in Montana.

It’s hard to realize that water flowing west from the Divide eventually finds its way to the Pacific Ocean, and water flowing east eventually flows all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Monument Square sits at the Marias Pass rest stop.

mp2 The largest monument is in commemoration of Theodore Roosevelt, the president who made forest conservation a national policy.  Other memorials commemorate John F. Stevens, a civil engineer for the Great Northern Railroad, and William H. “Slippery Bill” Morrison, who donated the land for the memorial.

When we stopped here on our 2004 trip, we photographed our rig with the monument in the background.mp3 Five years later, here we are again.  What a lot has changed in our lives during that time, including the rig.  We have gone from land based homeowners to full timers.mp4

The road from Marias Pass west is very scenic. 

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The end of the road today was in Hungry Horse at the Canyon RV park where we will spend a week with friends.mp10

 

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