Travels with Ralf

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A funny sign on the way to West Virginia. I am told its arry Bird's home town. The St Louis Arch. Only thing I saw in Kansas. The shadow of the *Limited* cast Kansas farmland. My fellow traveling companions. Pueblo Lake at Pueblo Park in Pueblo, CO. Sun, snow, trees, and water near Monarch Pass, CO. The snow slide near Monarch Pass, CO. Monarch Pass, CO. The huge Blue Mesa Res. near Gunnison, CO. The majestic Blue Mesa Resevoir. After wading in the cold lake. A warm dog. more of Andrews Lake near Silverton, CO. Andrews Lake near Silverton, CO. A burnt tree in Mesa Verde. The burnt hills of Mesa Verde, CO. clockwise: 75mph I just love this country. Beautiful sunset. One guess what this means - yuck. Schools out Postcard of a Nevada tunnel I went through. Nevada sunset - evenings were a good time to drive. Near Coaldale, NV. BLM land everywhere. Natural caves off the BLM Needles road near Moab. Perfect camping spot on the BLM Needles road. Ralf resting in *my backyard*. Taking a walk in *my backyard*. My backyard off the BLM Needles road near Moab. BLM Wilson arch /w a Wilson. BLM Wilson arch /w a Wilson 2. The publically accessible Wilson arch. The natural *billboard* waiting for graffitti. Arches National Park - ho hum. more Arches NP. the *Limited* at Arches. what the NP service fears. The Green River near Green River UT. Ralf stuck in the Green River. The hot Green River. *looks brown* Green River. Coming back from 9 Mile Canyon hike. The bugs get worse, believe me. Mini Maude Creek off BLM 9 Mile Canyon road. more 9 mile canyon hike scenes. The *Limited* at Bonneville. Wanna race ? Surface like a hot Krispy Kreme doghnut. Bonneville salt flats mear Wendover UT. The sleek lines. the aerodynamic design ! postcard - Memorial to the first atomic bomb in Wendover NV/UT. what I saw across the border from Utah. What the Utah side hotel hands you as you walk in. Driving off into the sunset. A bristlecone and Ralf in my backyard (US Forest Service road near Ely) The road to my backyard. To the north of my backyard - open spaces. To the south of my backyard - freedom. Illegal Great Basin hike - not so interesting. Postcard of what they wouldnt let me see at G Basin. A bristlecone at G Basin (ho hum - they are everywhere). A piece of G Basin that we didnt get to visit. On the way to Cleve Creek BLM - Cows literally everywhere. Desert flowers around Cleve Creek (on the way to G Basin). There was water and cut firewood waiting at the Cleve Creek BLM site - how nice. Last dip before we leave Wildhorse Resevoir BLM (north of Elko NV). Wildhorse Res swiming. More swiming. From the top of a nearby hill we climbed. Feel the breeze. Looking for gophers. more pics of Wildhorse Res. Blah... Blah Blah...hey it was real nice ! Very few places where Ralf can run free like this. All I saw in Winnemucca, NV. Black Rock Playa near Gerlach NV (northwestern corner). 60 miles from anywhere thats nowhere. The Limited on the Black Rock Playa Limited pic 2. Wasnt as hot as it looks. Very gentle breeze around 65 degrees. Something in the far distance comming at us. The mirage effect - cant even see whats comming at ya. Without this one streak on the floor, Id be lost. The dust clouds all vehicles leave - looks like you are going fast. A train lost in a mirage. The floor. Thought it would make good wallpaper for my screen saver. Thats really all you see for miles and miles. Most bars in Nevada looked like this one. Someday I shall return to try them all. The only sign on the dirt and sand road for Dago Bay on Pyramid Lake (on the way to Gerlach). Lots of driftwood along the beach. Getting a little hot on this Indian reservation. The sand road I got stuck in. Another fine Nevada Cocktail Oasis (so it says). Whats in the cactus ? Ralf on NV state assembly lawn in Carson City NV. NV statehouse. Ralf on statehouse lawn. Ralf in front of NV Supreme Court. Nice lawns everywhere. A quickly drying up BLM Walker Lake north of Hawthorne. Had fish in it but also a rusty film (bottom of picture). Camping is alowed anywhere. Hawthorne NV - where most of the Army Amunitions is stored. Kaboom ! Hawthorne Cemetary with a monument to those who died in amunitions. Tonopah - nowhere miles from nowhere. clockwise: Clown Hotel, Requisite gas station, Mitpah Hotel, The Tonopah garage. Not much else. BLM Burro reserve Marrietta NV (near Bishop CA). My Christmas Jack ball seemed out of place. Ralf drank down a 1/2 gallon of water. Man, it was hot there and nothing but a salt marsh. Burros are curious. Very curious. After chasing some burros. A burro hidding in the bush - they actually were hard to find. The begining of US 6 Bishop, CA to Provincetown (Cape Cod), MA. I spent a lot of time on US 6. Fish Slough BLM dirt road - camp where you like (north of Bishop). Unprotected petroglyphs along the road. Note: no one has defaced them. all that stopped by while we camped. Our camp. Did you know you can lite a sagebrush fire with a single match ? Ralf found a little cove for himself from which he just whatched me from a distance. Only came to join me at my camp after I broke out the steak tips. Salt and mud covered Ralf on the shores of Mono Lake. The Tufa formations appear to be the only attraction to Mono Lake. Otherwise, its like the Great Salt Lake but smaller and less stinky. Less salty too. 9.5% versus 34% - no fish though. postcard - this is the way I like to think of Mono Lake. postcard - the beauty here belies the stench. On the way out of Lundy Lake road. Quite creative. Ralf and I above Lundy Lake (near Yosemite but BLM) Lundy 8 Lundy 7 Lundy 6 - waterfalls everywhere. Lundy 5 - very windy up high - I like this Ralf picture. Lundy 4 Lundy 3 Lundy 2 Lundy 1 - Start of the hike. Ralf playing with something on Zephyr beach. View from Zephyr cove NV. Neat little one man island/peninsula at Zephyr. My attempt at art 1 My attempt at art 2 My attempt at art 3 The dock at Zephyr. This was not the season for the nubile crowds (so I am told), but Ralf wouldnt have had the run of the beach otherwise. Zephyr flags. From the mini cabin at Zephyr I was staying in. Swiming in Lake Tahoe - man its cold. Another Tahoe view. Angora Lakes near Tahoe - now we are having fun. The isolated Angora Lakes. Reflected mountains around Angora Lake. Emerald bay on Tahoe. Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe in the distance. Resting near Angora. On the 6 mile hike to Angora. The view from the Burlingame Embassy Suites - dual runways at SFO. Do Not Disturb sign modification - Essential for hotel staff safety. Cactus Flowers near the hotel. more of the same. What we saw as we pulled into SF from the north. Puppies at Skansen Kennels where Ralf was born. Puppies - more baby Ralf's. Puppies 1 Puppies 2 The one loose Shnauzer that got sprayed by a skunk. Not Ralf. Mama and puppies. Skansen is in Sebastopol CA in the middle of farms with lamas, horses, and cows. Ralf seemed disinterested in the other dogs. Didnt like the continual barking - guess he is a solitary animal. The closest looking one to Ralf. Some awesome views and land off Hwy 1 in northern CA. To grandmothers house we go. Gualala Regional park - well worth the $3. The town of Gualala, CA where my fax number and fine cheap wine live. The Gualala beach - quite even on a Saturday. Local plant life. The bluff off Gualala. More inviting paths. Ok, silly but I just had to. Legget, CA. One stop shopping in Shelter Cove CA. Nice hair and bait - what could be more attractive. The Lost Coast - Northern CA coast. Black beaches like I was looking for in Hawaii but much nicer temperatures here. more .. blah blah. A black dog on a black beach just shows up better in pictures. Ralf 2 Ralf and I on the loast coast. I gotta get a pack for the dog ! Ralf 3 View from the campsite - looks like hell (or Ireland) but climate was actually very nice. No rain and not hot. Making tracks back. Morning trek to the watering hole. local flora. Resultant view from a scramble up a cliff. Morning view from our tent. Yeah. Could be a shot from anywhere but...Lost Coast , CA. On the moon. Our campsite. Another sunset. Sunset 2 Sunset 3 Sunset 4 Last light. Evening. Finished camp. Ralf playing with one of the many sticks we will bring back to home. First step onto the beach. On the way to Shelter Cove, CA. As you decend onto the beach you are above the fog/cloud that covers it. Mt Shasta hike - such blue skies. Snow - the ideal temerature for Ralf. My combination loafers-snowshoes. Enjoying the scenery halfway up the hike. Ralf and I in the foot deep snow. Still very warm. View from where we both layed down in the snow till heading back down. view from start of our hike - McBride trail. Weed, CA a town near Shasta - why would anyone call a town this ? A hike up Mt Mcloughlin off Rt 140 near Klamath Falls, OR. Hot snow. The entrance to Portals to the Past off US 97 - oooooh. Ralf was really afraid of this paper mache beast. The evil warm during the day, icicles at night area where we camped near Crater Lake (Diamond Lakes, OR). The actual camp. the frozen almost tomb. Ralf at Crater Lake Another visitor at Crater Lake postcard - Since most of the Crater Lake road was closed and others take better pictures than me, here is a postcard montage. postcard - Really is a pretty lake. Not sure how you could get to the water though. postcard - Crater Lake looking like Hawaii. Maybe in the summer months you can go boating. postcard - my favorite time. Not much to see here but a great BLM office CB travel pamphlet CB postcard Coos Bay - nothing but nice weather. Land south of Lincoln OR that I will own soneday ;-) Proof that I can drive on the beach Cloudy and dark but aluring direction The smooth ride on the beach to nowhere. Driving on the beach again ! Near Astoria OR. postcard - a better picture a realy cool bridge A mess of birds - but only one per piling. Ocean Shores dog 6 Ocean Shores dog 5 Ocean Shores dog 4 Ocean Shores dog 3 Ocean Shores dog 2 Ocean Shores dog 1 I cant believe this ! Driving at 15mph and dragging thier dog. Lazy bastards. The Limited Edition on Ocean Shores oceanshores - worn out oceanshores - romping in the dunes oceanshores - on the hunt oceanshores - on the hunt 2 oceanshores - on the beach happy dog on ocean shores Bye bye Seattle Seattle