Opening day - Whitefish Mountain

I had unpacked and laid out my gear the night before so I was ready to go first thing in the morning. I was up bright and early, had my breakfast and coffee and was out the door at 8:35am. I packed up my car and drove down the snow covered road to Haskill’s Pub, which is also the Snow Bus stop, to catch the 8:48 bus. My stop is the last stop on the way to the mountain so the bus was almost full by the time it got here, but I was lucky enough to grab one of the last two remaining seats. The bus arrived at the base lodge at 9:00 and I was on the lower lift by 9:20. Being a Saturday and opening day, the lift line was fairly crowded but no more than a five minute wait.

It was a beautiful day. Temperatures were around 20 degrees, the sun was out and there was no wind to speak of. Taking the chair lift to the top of the mountain for the first time was quite an experience. Looking up from the bottom it was impossible to see the top due to the inversion layer of fog. Once we passed about 6,000 feet the sun was shining bright with the backdrop of deep blue, cloudless skies. The peaks of Glacier National Park were visible off to the east as well as the Canadian Rockies to the north. All of the trees at the top were wrapped in snow which has earned them the nickname “snow ghosts”. The views at the top and of the adjacent mountain ranges were amazing but looking down the mountain was, in my opinion, even more spectacular. Standing completely above the cloud line, it was like looking out the window of an airplane over an endless sea of soft, puffy cotton.

I spent most of the day just getting used to making turns again after ten months of downtime. I was feeling pretty good towards the end of the day and began skiing a little too aggressively than I should have for the first day out. I twisted up my knee when I got sucked in to a tree well trying to avoid a collision with said tree. Fortunately it was my good knee so now both of them felt pretty well balanced out at this point. I took one more run after that and decided it was best to call it a day.

I caught the 3:57pm bus from the base lodge back down to my stop, loaded up the car and was home by 4:30pm. All in all, it was a great day. It was more crowded than I thought but for opening day that was to be expected. Hoping to get my new equipment in soon and looking forward to many more days on the slope. My door is always open!

Final destination: Whitefish, Montana

I arrived in Whitefish in the evening of Tuesday, November 30^th. After 81 days of traveling and just shy of 9,300 car miles I was finally in a town that I wanted to call home. After my original place to stay fell through the day before I got back to Whitefish, I had been searching for a place to live and not having much luck. That night, as a last resort, I placed an add on Craigslist hoping to find someone looking to rent out a portion of their house.

I started the next day with a stop at The White Room Mountain Shop. I had stopped their a few weeks ago looking at new ski gear. With the ski season beginning in a few days at Whitefish Mountain, the store was busy. When I walked in the two owners and the ski tech welcomed me back to Whitefish. They told me they had a feeling I would be back in town. Everyone working at The White Room is about as friendly as can be. But to be fair, that’s pretty much been my perception of people here in general. Anyway, I gave my credit card a bit of a work out today buying a new set of skis, bindings, boots and avalanche beacon. This is a La Nina year, so of course I needed a pair of powder skis. As I was leaving, they welcomed me back to the store for their happy hour starting at 5pm. Unfortunately, the rest of my day was to be occupied with trying to find a place to live, but first I thought I should try a few slices at Jersey Boys Pizza. Russ, the owner, came from Verona, NJ first opening a shop in Dillon, CO and now here in Whitefish a few years back. He makes a pretty mean pie. It’s always nice to know there is good east coast pizza to be found in town. Happy hour here starts at 4:30pm with $1.50 slices and $1.00 PBRs. I think I’m going to like this town. Next time I see Russ I’ll be sure to mention that I’ve slung a few pizzas in my day in case he’s ever looking for help.

I found two postings outside of a small market store advertising rooms for rent. After two phone calls, I had two places lined up to see. The first one was slightly nicer than a crack shack. The house was owned by a single father, his 10-year old son lived there and a young couple was renting out another room. Random people came and went in the 15 minutes I was there. A woman who lived across the street was over with her 7-year old daughter, smoking cigarettes in the kitchen and drinking beer at two in the afternoon. The rent was extremely cheap but this place was a downgrade from living in my Subaru. The second place I looked at was an apartment on the road that leads up to the mountain and only one block from the Snow Bus. The Snow Bus is a free shuttle that runs back and forth between town and the ski resort. The location was nice and the rent was reasonable but it was a mess too. This place was available to move in immediately. I almost took it on the spot as I was getting tired of sleeping in my car at night. A few hours later, I called him back and said I would take the room but would move in the following day. I wasn’t that thrilled with the living situation but at least it was a roof over my head. I spent one last night in my car. Around 11pm I received an email response to the add I placed on Craigslist from a girl who was looking to share her house. I called her first thing in the morning and within an hour I was out to look at it. She had recently moved here from Louisiana after coming out to Glacier National Park on a photography outing. She liked Whitefish so much that she decided to rent a house and was now looking for someone to share it with. After meeting Kelie and seeing the house, I decided this was where I was going to live!

It’s a pretty sweet A-frame cabin deep in the woods. It’s about 5 miles outside of town. A little farther than I was hoping but the remoteness and country setting more than makes up for it. The house is about seven miles from Whitefish Mountain and three miles from the Snow Bus / pub / tavern. The inside of the house is small and void of much of anything but a single chair in the living room. Both Kelie and I came from far away with only the necessities that would fit in our cars. The house sits on an acre of property and has lots of inside potential. Oh, and she adopted a 7-year old Australian Sheppard two weeks ago. He’s super friendly but deaf as a doorknob. Apparently his real name is Jingles but Kelie renamed him Rhette. Normally, you wouldn’t go changing a dog’s name, for the dog's sake, but he would never know the difference anyway.

Well, things are falling into place. I now live in Montana! Today I purchased my season pass and the mountain opens tomorrow (Saturday). There’s about 18 inches of snow in the yard and it’s been snowing almost nonstop for the past few days. Things are working out just fine!

Day 80 & 81 – On the road again

Monday, November 29^th, 2010

I have spent an enjoyable last two weeks relaxing with my sister and brother-in-law in Seattle. I thought I would have gotten out more to explore but after two months of being tied to a car I had a difficult time separating myself from their sofa. I didn’t want to overstay my welcome and the leftovers from Thanksgiving were almost gone so I figured it was about time for me to get back on the road again.

I have decided that I am going to spend the winter in the Whitefish – Kalispell area of northwestern Montana. Out of everywhere I’ve been, this seems to have the best combination of the things that I am looking for, minus the jobs.

For the past week or so I have been looking on Craigslist for a room to rent. I found a nice place in Whitefish, started some communications and left it that I would let them know when I was going to be in town so I could meet the guys and see the place.

The drive from Seattle to Whitefish is about 530 miles, a doable drive for one day but I decided to take my time and do it in two. I jumped on I-90 and drove east all the way to Spokane, WA. It was about 280 miles and a good stopping point. I called again about the room for rent. It was still available but I was losing my cell signal going over the mountain passes so I said I would call back when I reached Spokane to set up a time the following day to see the house. I called again once I got to Spokane and in the few hours from the last time we talked someone else came by and put a deposit down on the room. Bummer. I sent a few more emails out before I went to sleep hoping that I could find a place to live.

Tuesday, November 30^th, 2010

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check my email only to find that no one responded. When I pulled back the sheets covering my windows I could see that my car was covered in snow. I opened my door to step outside and it was cold and snowing hard, a perfect Tuesday morning. I had about 250 more miles to go before I was back in Whitefish. It snowed the entire way and I began to realize that it would be wise to invest in some good winter tires. Well, I arrived at my destination this evening, my new home if you will, but I am currently homeless. I’ll spend the next few days, or however long it takes, working towards getting a roof over my head. Ski season begins December 4^th so I still have a few days to figure things out.

Day 64-69 – Anacortes -> Seattle, WA

Saturday, November 13^th, 2010

Today I left Bellingham and headed south to Seattle to visit with my sister and brother-in-law. On the way I stopped in Anacortes. Anacortes is a small city on Fidalgo Island, covers 14.2 square miles and has a population near 17k. The majority of the island is surrounded by the waters of the Puget Sound but it is still connected by land to Washington State on its eastern shore. My first impression of Anacortes was that of a beach town. Marinas had their place on the shoreline housing motor boats and sailboats. Others marinas were tailored more to commercial operations such as whale watching and ferry services to the various islands in the Sound as well as British Columbia. Here it seemed like people trade their mountain bikes for beach cruisers and quads for kayaks. It feels like a pretty nice town. Other islands are visible from the shoreline, however as nice as that is the views are somewhat diminished by the plumes of smoke coming from the Tesoro oil refinery and pipeline across the water. It is quite puzzling why gas costs $3.20 per gallon here with it's own refinery in town.

It was a typical overcast day with temperatures in the low 50s. Being close to the water makes it always feel chillier than it really is. I felt I needed something warm to eat. Good thing I was close to Bob’s Chowder Bar. The sign in the window read “Voted Best Chowder” which I took as a challenge to my taste buds. I walked inside to a menu of different chowders but ordered a bowl of whatever was their famed chowder. I sat down at one of the few seats along the window facing the street and spooned into a bowl of New England style clam chowder. I have to admit that anytime I’m about to try something that has been labeled “the best”, I’m skeptical. Now besides fish tacos, one of my other weaknesses is chowder. This had the perfect balance of texture, consistency and flavor. Bob’s Chowder Bar serves the best clam chowder I have ever had. If you like chowder like I do, get some at Bob’s! Before I left I bought a quart to take with me to Seattle.

After fighting the traffic and trying to find a place to pick up some beer I finally got to Becky and Rick's place. I had to park on the street so I grabbed my two bikes from the roof and a couple of bags to bring inside. We spent the rest of the day drinking beer, eating pizza and watching football followed by a movie. It was the perfect way to relax. It felt good to be in a house again.

Day 65 - 69, Sunday through Thursday

I realize that I've been behind in posting for awhile. I arrived in Seattle last Saturday and have been spending time with my sister and brother-in-law. I've been enjoying the lazy days in rainy Seattle. It's been snowing in the Pass's nearby so I'll be checking the road conditions and planning a day trip to go play in the snow. Yesterday my sister and I found a butcher who sells rabbit so we could make some rabbit stew. It was pretty awesome. We also bought some wild boar so if anyone knows of a recipe for boar, let me know. Other than that, it's gonna be slow goin' for a little while and I'm quite happy about that!

Day 63 – Mt. Baker, WA

Friday, November 12^th, 2010

The sun finally broke out today. By the time I got out of my car it was already 50 degrees. It felt warm in comparison to most days and it was tempting to put shorts on but it would’ve been too much of a hassle to actually find a pair of shorts to wear. I ate breakfast at the McDonald’s that was attached to the WalMart. I surveyed the area around Bellingham on my phone while eating a #7 combo, a sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle, hash brown and several refills of coffee. In unrelated news, I finally got around to washing my hair and the 63 days of growth on my face in the back corner of the parking lot this morning. That alone gave me a nice recharge. I’ve gone without properly bathing now for longer than I care to share, so I won’t. I only mention it because I’m sure it will embarrass my mother.

Out of Bellingham I drove US-542 (aka Mt. Baker Hwy) to Mt. Baker. The total drive was about 75 minutes and almost 60 miles. On the way I stopped in at the Glacier Ski Shop. The sign out front said open Saturday and Sunday. There were no cars in the parking lot and when I walked inside to a dark shop I found out they were closed. Even though they were closed, I stayed and talked ski equipment for almost an hour with a guy named Drew, I’m guessing he was the owner? He could’ve shut the door on me but he was more than willing to talk shop. I’m going to give their website a plug here, www.glacierskishop.com. If you’re ever out by Mt. Baker, stop on by.

The drive up to Mt. Baker offered tremendous scenery as it passed through the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, which extends more than 140 miles from the Canadian border all the way south to Mt. Rainier. The two lane road worked its way up the mountain through a thick forest of old growth firs and pines to a base elevation of 3,500’, starting at almost sea level in Bellingham. In some places the trees formed a canopy over the road, creating a dark, shady environment. Views of 10,000' snow covered mountains could be seen in the clearings. The snowline came on at once with clear, dry roads and perfectly clean trees that quickly turned to burms of plowed snow and branches flocked in white. Mt. Baker has it all, the beauty of a PNW national forest and a ski resort which averages 647 inches of snow annually. During the 1998-1999 season they received 1,140 inches. That’s 95 feet of snow! There were probably 30+ cars in the parking lot at the base of the resort. Everyone was there for the same purpose. Men, women, boys and girls, as well as few dogs came to make their way up the mountain, just to come back down again, whether it be on skis, snowboards, snowshoes or sleds. I had to fight myself to leave my snowboard and related gear packed away inside the bubble on my roof. My car box is so perfectly packed that I would never be able to fit everything back inside again. It was hard to watch others make turns without being able to join them.

I finished the day back in Bellingham. I made it to the downtown area to visit another ski shop. Bellingham is a nice area, almost city-like, with views of both the mountains to the east and the Puget Sound waterway to the west. I walked around the downtown area for about two hours, or eight quarters worth of meter time. At one intersection I came across a protest, well not so much a protest but a group of about 20 people walking around waiving signs. I love a good protest so I went to find out what the cause was. Given where I was, I probably could’ve guessed what people were angry about. Here are a few of the signs I saw: “The RIGHT is WRONG”, “Jesus Christ was a Socialist”, “Free people, not markets”, “We want healthcare!” and “Eat your babies” to protest the end to federally funded abortions. Everyone there was peaceful and willing to talk to me, and even ask me for some spare change. Now, I’m not going to turn this into a political rant, those of you who know me, know where I stand. Let’s just say that it might be difficult for me to “fit in” around here.

Day 61 & 62 – Spokane to Bellingham, WA

Wednesday, November 10^th, Thursday, November 11^th, 2010

Not a whole lot to update for the past two days as I spent most of the time driving. I woke up yesterday and waited patiently outside of a Krispy Kreme Donuts for that red light to come on indicating a fresh, hot new batch of donuts. It’s more cost effective, per donut, to buy six rather than just one or two so the woman behind the counter filled a box with three glazed, two custard filled and one sour crème. The first two, ok three donuts were fantastic. Nothing beats a hot Krispy Kreme. I should’ve saved some for the road but I knew they were best hot. The last two I kind of had to force down, both from being full and because the sixth one, of anything, is never as good as the first. It’s the age old law of diminishing returns. I knew it going in but I wanted to try to prove it wrong, just this once. I was now caffeinated and over-sucrose-enated so I decided to just walked around Spokane for a few hours. It was crowded with both people and cars which is to be expected with a population over 200k, it’s just been a while since I've been in a town larger than 1/10th this size.

I left Spokane a little after 3pm and headed north on US-395. I made it as far as Coleville before I had enough driving. I don’t think it was more than 75 miles but it was about as much as I wanted to do for the day. I spent about two hours in Arby's reading some magazines and the local newspaper. I'm sure by now you all know where I spent the night, it rhymes with hallfart.

Today I got a decent start to the day. I stayed on US-20 going west just about the entire way to Bellingham. Most of the day was cloudy, with some intermittent snow and rain, with temps in the mid 40s. During the first hour I think I saw more logging trucks than cars. There were a lot of little towns and apple orchards along the way. Once I reached the Cascade Mountain Range it was a lot of up and down driving. After a while the pressure changes were starting to bother my ears. There is something about the Pacific Northwest. I don’t quite know how to describe it but every time it catches me off guard. I think it’s the combination of the high, rugged mountain peaks, the almost perfectly straight and tall varieties of firs, spruce and pine trees, waterfalls and flowing rivers and the abundance of lush green color. The route I chose along the northern cascades was beautiful but gas stations are few and far between. I filled up with the most expensive gas of the trip in a town named Winthrop. Regular gas was $3.40 per gallon and it took me a while to figure out how to use the circa 1940 gas pump.

I continued on US-20 until it connected with I-5 which I took north to Bellingham. It was raining and I was catching the beginning of the rush hour commute. I found a Barnes and Noble to kill some time outside of my car and write something. It’s almost 6:30 so I guess its time to find a place to get a bite to eat and to stretch my legs a bit.

Mileage update: 8,390

Day 59 & 60 – Montana -> Idaho -> Washington

Monday, November 8^th, Tuesday, November 9^th, 2010

Sixty days on the road! Before I started this trip I sort of thought that maybe I would have settled on a place by now. However, this journey has evolved into a little more than I expected, but in a good way. Initially my focus was set mainly on visiting various locations that I thought that I might like to live. That agenda, although important and the whole reason I left NJ, has taken the backseat to sightseeing. I have seen so many wonderful things and met just as many great people in the past two months. I thought that by this time I would be ready to hang up my car keys for a real bed, a bathroom and a kitchen. Instead, I’m having such a good time that I just want to keep going.

The past two days have been kind of aimless driving. Yesterday I left the Kalispell / Whitefish area and tracked north to Eureka, for no particular reason other than it was probably as close to the Canadian border as I was going to get. From Eureka I headed back south on SR-37 to the town of Libby. This was an absolutely beautiful drive through the colorful mountains and along Lake Koocanusa. I took US-2 back north again, crossing over the Montana-Idaho border to my next stop in Bonners Ferry to fill up the gas tank. I noticed a sign for “all you can eat” pasta for $5 at the restaurant attached to the gas station. After three plates of spaghetti with meat sauce, three servings of garlic bread and a side salad with huckleberry vinaigrette, I was ready to drive some more. It was already dark by this time and I knew I was missing a lot of nice scenery so I would call it a night once I reached Sandpoint, Idaho. It was almost 8pm when I arrived and I was pretty tired, (can you say carb crash?), so I found a WalMart parking lot and settled down for the evening. WalMart has been a good traveling companion for me so far. There has been a WalMart in most towns I’ve come across and they welcome travelers a place to stay. I know it’s not the most glamorous of accommodations, but when I’m sleeping in my car anyway, I really don’t care. And if it’s good enough for the couple driving a million dollar RV with a 50” flat screen TV, well then it’s good enough for me too.

This morning I drove around Sandpoint for a bit. It’s a nice town. It had an older feel to it, but the people didn’t give off the sense of being as welcoming as most other places I’ve been. Granted, my population sample was so small that it’s hard to form an opinion so quickly, but sometimes you just have to trust your gut. Schweitzer ski resort was only 12 miles away so I headed up to see what that was like. I have to say I was impressed. 2,900 skiable acres, 92 named runs, 300 feet of snow annually and apparently some of the best tree skiing in America (1,200 acres of trees). Anyway, it looked a lot nicer than I was expecting. From Sandpoint I drove south to Coeur D’Alene but first I had to get my fill of “all you can eat” pancakes for $2.99. I’m pretty much a sucker for anything “all you can eat”. Find me an “all you can eat” fish taco joint and I’ve found my spot! After breakfast I was treated to a nice visual in the parking lot. How do you like them apples?

Coeur D’Alene is the largest city in Idaho with a population over 35,000 and it’s often referred to as Lake City. The lakes and mountains make this another beautiful place. If it wasn’t an hour away from skiing I would have given it a little more of my time to look around. I set my sights on Spokane Washington and the GPS did the rest. Somewhere along the way I crossed over the Mountain-Pacific time zone and gained another hour. I’m now at a Barnes and Noble in Spokane and I found a mall across the street so I think I’ll go and do some people watching.

Mileage update: A few miles short of 8,000

Day 58 – Glacier National Park, Montana

Sunday, November 7^th, 2010

Glacier National Park map

I stayed the night again in Kalispell, MT. It rained all night and it was still raining when I woke up. I decided to stay in Kalispell because of its proximity to Glacier National Park. I wanted to take it easy today so the only thing I put on my schedule was a visit to Glacier.

It rained all day long. It’s kind of unfortunate because the landscape here is fantastic, but with all of the fog it was almost impossible to see, and it’s so close. From Kalispell, I drove north to Whitefish and then east on SR-40 into Columbia Falls, from there US-2 north lead directly to the west entrance of Glacier National Park. The park was still open to visitors but with limited access only. Again my Annual National Park pass allowed me to enter without paying the $25 entrance fee. I saw a few whitetail deer immediately upon entering so I was hoping that was a good sign of more wildlife to come.

Glacier National Park covers more than 1,000,000 acres and borders the Canadian Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. It has over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants and hundreds of species of animals. Unfortunately, the majority of the park was already closed for the season due to both construction activity and weather. I was able to drive the “Going-to-the Sun” road which leads to Logan Pass for nearly 17 miles before the park closed at Avalanche Creek. Even with the crummy weather, I could tell immediately that this was a park that I will have to come back to. The drive along the road ran parallel to the beautiful Lake McDonald for the first few miles and then pierced through this incredible deep, thick and dark, mainly coniferous forest with stops along the way to view gorgeous waterfalls and fast flowing rivers. I only stayed for about two hours. I had wanted to do some hiking but the rain was coming down too hard to make it worthwhile.

Since I had wanted to take it easy today, I drove back to Kalispell to have dinner at a Bajio Mexican Grill. I had the two fish taco platter with rice and black beans. These particular tacos were made with lightly fried and seasoned Tilapia on one white corn tortilla, topped with cheese, tomato, slaw/dressing, sprinkled with cilantro and served with a wedge of lime. These were excellent but the truth is I’ve never met a fish taco I didn’t like!

Later that night, I met a guy walking his dog in the coffee isle of WalMart. This wasn’t your typical Golden Retriever or Labrador service breed, it was a stocky mix of what looked like pit bull and a bullmastiff. Being a dog person, I started a conversation about his dog. The owners name was Eddie and his dog was a rescue and he was training it to be a service dog. Eddie was a very high functioning man with Autism, but all outward appearances and even a thirty minute conversation with him revealed only sheer intelligence. He is in the process of writing four books, with one close to being published. He is also in the process of changing his name to “One Man” and is writing about his trials and tribulations of growing up in America from “One Man’s” perspective on living with Autism. I exchanged email addresses with Eddie and hope to keep in touch and wish him the best. Should he ever publish his books, I will be sure to read them. It’s really amazing to think about all of the people that we choose to walk by every day. Granted, we can’t stop and talk to everyone, but every single one of them has a story!