23 SEP 98

In San Antonio, after my last update, I met Storm. Storm is a strange woman who talks to spirit people and can see several realities. I spent a few hours with her and learned just how weird some people can be.

That night I took two of my passengers out to a real urban cowboy bar. Everybody had cowboy hats and did all sorts of western dancing on the huge dance floor. The bar even had a rodeo. After a group prayer for the airplane crash victims and the United States of America, we watched bull riding and barrel racing.

The next day we headed over to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and watched the thousands of bats fly out for their nightly feed. The next morning we headed back up to the Cavern and walked around.

After two days of driving and a stop at the Four Corners Monument, we arrived at Monument Valley. We went on a horseback ride with the Navajo Indians. We slept under the stars in the middle of a good sized canyon and they sang while we danced around the fire. The next morning we galloped around the valley some more before driving to the Grand Canyon.

I started one of my favorite Grand Canyon hikes a little before sunrise the next day. I walked about four miles down into the canyon. Then I took a small trail that parallels the Colorado River along the plateau 1000 feet above the bottom. For these middle four miles of the hike, I have never seen another hiker. In the middle of this deserted section, there is a small river that, in the past I was able to sit in and enjoy the afternoon. This time, however, the water level was too low so I was only able to soak my feet while I read my book. I really like this place because it is a little deserted oasis in the middle of a pretty harsh desert. After lunch, a little reading, and a nap, I hiked up the normal crowded trail back to the rim.

My muscles were sore from two days of horseback riding and a good 13 mile hike, so it was off to Lake Powell. We jumped off of the cliffs and swam a bit before heading over to the Paria Canyon Guest Ranch. There was about eight other Trek groups there and so, naturally, there was a big party.

After a slow start the next morning, we went on a small hike up to some mushroom shaped rocks. It had been raining a lot so we took off our shoes and hiked in the river and in the mud. It felt good on our feet. I think, in southern Utah, you can stop the van and start walking anywhere and you will see amazing things. It rained the rest of the day, so instead of renting a boat and cruising Lake Powell, we went bowling.

That night was another party, so the next day was another slow start. We had lunch at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and played in the pink sand for a little while. It was good, but off-road vehicles were allowed to play there also. It was strange to roll down a sand dune while watching for traffic.

We continued on to Zion National Park to discover that the week of rain we had been camping in had washed out the road to the main part of the park. This meant that we got to hike in a seldom visited portion of the Park that I was curious about anyway. We hiked along a stream bed for a few hours until the canyon got too small to continue up. Hiking small canyons is one of my favorite hikes, so I enjoyed it a lot.

On Monday morning, we drove along Lake Mead and in Boulder, Nevada, a few of the passengers went skydiving. That evening we pigged out at the Rio Buffet in Las Vegas and then cruised the strip in a Limo. It was a pretty good birthday for the now 54 year old Jean.

On our free day in Las Vegas Jean and I went to the Startrek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. We spent four hours and it was not enough. They have a museum of the future which details the future history of Startrek. We looked at phasers, costumes, and relics of the future. They also at a timeline that detailed the future as explained in the four Startrek series and eight movies. This was followed by a shuttle craft simulator ride that was easily the best simulator ride I have ever heard of.

After the ride, we shopped in Garak's store and then had dessert in Quark's Bar. Jean drank a Warp Core Breach and then had one of the most impressive drinks I have ever seen. She ordered a James Tea Kirk. It was pale blue, had gummi worms in it and was easily 1.5 liters. Everyone at the bar took pictures of it. Jean and I had our picture taken with her drink and one of the Ferengi when he came around to check on his bar. Then a big Klingon woman told me to go back to the bar and not leave until I was unable to leave.

I didn't drink too much, but Jean - oh boy. After two hours of sipping two big drinks without getting up - she was in a state. I had to offer her considerable help during our walk to the van the pick up the others and head out on the town for the evening. Jean and I both decided that we would like to live in the Startrek Experience.

On Wednesday, we drove to Los Angeles, toured Hollywood and finished the trip with a Thai dinner. With six mostly fun people and several excellent chefs, this was a great final trip for the year.

I spent the next three days cleaning all of my equipment and the van before returning it all to Trek. By Saturday night I was finished and it was time to retire again.

I have worked for 15 of the last 16 months, and all nine months of this year so far. That is more than anyone should ever have to work. I plan on taking about eight months to recover. This year I have driven around 40,000 miles in five countries from Belize to Alaska, the entire North American Pacific coast and over to the Atlantic coast as well.

Sunday morning I flew to Boston and my luggage arrived Tuesday night. The flight from Los Angeles to Denver was incredible. In under two hours I flew the same route I drive in ten days with Trek. We left L.A. at sunrise so the shadows on the ground were perfect the whole flight. We went over Las Vegas, Red Rocks State Park, The Valley of Fire, Lake Mead, Zion National Park, Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP, Grand Canyon NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument, Boulder Mountain, Lake Powell, Arches and Canyonlands NP, the Rocky Mountains, around Pikes Peak, over the Coors Brewery in Golden, Colorado and over many other towns and places I have been in the last few years. I sure got Trek's money's worth out of that flight.

In Denver I got to look at the new airport. It was nice, but Atlanta had the same trains between terminals over ten years ago. The voice of the train was nicer in Denver, though. When I got to Boston I took the train out to my father's place.

When I got off of the train I walked down a new street in a strange city with a heavy backpack on my back. This was the most comfortable I have felt since I left Australia almost a year and a half ago. Walking with a pack on my back in a new place with no particularly pressing schedule may be my definition of happiness.

Cousins Susan, Alan, Liana, and Bailey were visiting my dad, Elizabeth and Emily so we all went out to eat. On Monday, Milo (my brother) came down from his summer home in Maine to visit for the week. This week my dad, my brother and I are just hanging out and visiting old friends.

21 SEP 97

I seem to get Internet access all the time now. Last week we went on a great mountain bike ride in Moab. Then it got cloudy, so the moonlight hike was cancelled. The next day we did the same six mile hike to the Needles in Canyonlands that I did a few weeks ago. This group is a bit more hardy, so we added a five mile loop to the middle of the hike and explored Chesler Park. There were some great canyons to squeeze through and it is still one of my favorite hikes, only more so. Then we went on a few short hikes in Arches and then drove the scenic way to Mexican Hat. We went to Slim and Cody's cowboy camp for some more horseback riding, roping, dancing, drinking, shooting, and swimming in the river and mud. Then down to Monument Valley, The Four Corners Monument and up to Mesa Verde. The next day, after a lot of rain, we explored the ancient Puebloan ruins and then drove up to Ouray. Today we did a very nice and very muddy bike ride down the valley and then I went over and saw my cousin Susan. Soon we will go have dinner and then go soak in the nice hot springs.

The latest word from the head office is that I get a week off after this trip ends. I plan to spend the week in Telluride hiking, visiting, and reading a lot of books. Then I should get a ten day trip from Denver to Los Angeles. Then - ???

16 SEP 97

Since my last update - I have rafted the Royal Gorge and been knocked out of the raft, played on the Great Sand Dunes, hiked in ice cold water to a waterfall, visited Mesa Verde, camped between a muddy river and a cliff in Utah at a Cowboy camp, swam in the muddy river, shot a rifle, ridden a horse, mountain biked in Moab, Utah, hiked to the Needles and bounced around in a jeep in Canyonlands N.P., hiked to Delicate Arch for sunrise, visited my cousins in Telluride, camped in the mountains next to a lake and watched the moon set, soaked in some nice hot springs near Ouray, saw a movie in Steamboat Springs (Conspiracy Theory - I liked it, hiked up and slid down a glacier in Rocky Mountain National Park, watched Elk graze, bugle, and mate, went on a tour of the Coors Brewing Company and hung out in Downtown Denver.

Then the two week trip ended and I started the same trip again with new passengers the next day. This time we are going counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise for you foreigners). We hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park and then soaked in some nice hot springs near Steamboat Springs. Then we drove over to Moab, Utah and I took the Shafer trail into Canyonlands National Park. We bounced up the dirt road for a few hours and then ate dinner while the sun set at Grand Viewpoint. Today we took some short photo-hikes in Arches National Park, and later we mountain bike, and maybe a moonlight hike in Arches.

As you can probably tell, I am enjoying my month in Colorado. In early October I should return to California and hopefully will be able to work through the winter for Trek - someplace warm.

4 SEP 98

After my last update we went over to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. The roof is falling down, but they played baseball in the rain anyway. The game is just as boring as I remember it, so I had to make it more exciting by cheering for the visiting Colorado Rockies and being silly.

The next day we went to New York and, thankfully, the trip was over.

For the next couple of days I did a little shopping, hung out with Fiona, worked in the New Jersey office and had my van repaired after it broke. After a 5000+ mile trip and a few days in the office I was more tired than I had ever been in my life.

Then I started my current trip. My passengers range in age from 15 through 54, and there are only six of them. They have the best attitude about travel and are incredibly appreciative of my efforts. So far, this has been the dream trip I needed after my last group. After a few good nights sleep my appetite returned and I am having fun again.

We spent a few hours in Philadelphia and then headed down to Washington D.C. For the next couple of days we went to museums, ate ice cream and Ethiopian food, went to Arlington and spent some time in Georgetown.

Then we drove through Virginia and looked at the Shenandoah National Park. In Tennessee we went white water rafting on the Ocoee River. It was much better than I remember it and we all had a good time. After a night stop at Noccolulla Falls in Alabama we went down to New Orleans.

We had a good night out on the town despite all of the sand bags. Hurricane Earl was expected so the night life was a bit slow. Earl missed us, as did Hurricane Bonnie last week, so we went on a swamp tour with Mr. Denny. We saw spiders, an alligator, birds and plants.

Yesterday we drove for eleven hours to get to San Antonio. It is very hot here and everybody is a bit tired, so we are having an easy day in the city and will go back to camp early for a swim.

My e-mail is not working, so I will have to write everybody some time later. Downtown San Antonio, America's 10th largest city, does not even have an e-mail cafe. I am at the library, but only get 30 minutes so time is up - bye.

20 Aug 98

On Sunday, August 2nd, twelve passengers and I left Seattle and spent the day in Vancouver. I had a few free hours so I went and watched the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Parade. There were many interesting floats, participants, and spectators. I learned that there is a gay campground near Vancouver that is not listed in the notes I get from Trek America. I wonder how a group would react to camping there.

The next day we drove to the Buffalo Ranch near Wells Grey Provincial Park and looked at a big waterfall. On Tuesday we zipped over to Jasper and saw a few waterfalls on the way. Jasper was disgustingly over crowded and only a preview of Banff. We swam in the town pool and I worked on my diving ability a little more. We also took a nice hike up to an area I had been to in early June. The snow was all melted, so we had to walk down instead of slide down.

On Thursday, we took a five hour guided hike up the Athabasca Glacier and learned a great deal. The next day we went white water rafting on the Kicking Horse River. After a few more water falls we went over to Lake Louise and I finally got to see it on a clear sunny day. It looks just like the post cards.

Then we went down to Banff and used that as a base for two days of hot pools, helicopter flights, hikes and shopping. This is the busy season and I had trouble driving through town and not hitting anybody. The good part, though, is that many of my tour leader friends were also around. Since we left Banff, we have not seen a single other Trek group.

The next day we drove for 520 miles and slept in a couple of rented trailers. The next day we drove for 420 miles and looked at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museum. The next day we drove 460 miles and looked at Kakabeka Falls. The next day we went to Old Fort William. After looking at the reconstruction and re-enactment of Frontier Canadian life, we drove 350 miles. That was over 1800 miles in four days. I had a lot of un-used energy left over by the time we got to Wawa, so I hung from the roof and stayed up late.

In Wawa we were supposed to go canoeing, but the lightning made us change our minds. I went puddle stomping instead and eventually a few passengers joined me for a rainy water gun fight. At two in the afternoon we decided to move on and drove for the rest of the afternoon.

We spent the night in Blind River. I was all ready to go to bed early and then the neighbor struck up a conversation. I ended up talking to her until one thirty in the morning. I did not get enough sleep again, but I did learn a lot about being a sixteen year old party girl.

We hoped to catch a one pm ferry, but when we got to South Baymouth, the holiday traffic had already filled the Georgian Bay Ferry. We took the six o clock ferry and arrived at Niagara Falls at one thirty in the morning.

At Niagara, we rode the Maid of the Mist boat and got pretty wet. After lunch, we went to Toronto. My friends Mark and Ingrid live in Toronto. Angela was also visiting Mark and Ingrid and so the four of us hung out for the evening. I met the three of them on the ten week trip I took in Africa a few years ago. They are putting together a newsletter for all twenty people on that trip so we can all get updated on each others lives. They are also trying to plan a re-union. That would be great.

So, the next day, after another late night, we hung out in Toronto for the day and I went to the camping store. The Canadian currency is so weak right now that camping gear, and most other things, are incredibly cheap to someone thinking in US dollars. I bought some fleece pants and a water bottle, for my upcoming Asian trip.

After Toronto, we went to Kingston. I fell asleep at nine thirty in the evening and caught up on some sleep. Ottowa, the capital of Canada was on the agenda for the next day. I checked out the Supreme Court, ate lunch at an Egyptian place, read about President Clinton's sex life, and did some paperwork.

After Ottowa we went to Quebec and ate Pizza. The next day, for the first time in well over a week, I did not drive at least four hours in one day. This concluded a nine day and over 3000 mile portion of the trip.

For the free day in Quebec, I wandered around the town with Fiona, one of my passengers. We walked along the walls of the city and watched one of my fellow country men make a big scene in a restaurant over the poor quality food he received. Mostly we just talked and waited for the city day to end. That night all thirteen of us went out on the town.

I put on the nicest clothes I have and we went to the cool part of town. There I received one of the best compliments of all time. I went up to the door of a club to see if we could come in and dance. The door man told me something in French and I was confused. Then he translated himself for me. He told me that it was a dance club, but it was classy and I could not enter. Here I am wearing my Sunday best and still being looked down upon by a quasi-French snob. I had a smile on my face for the rest of the evening. We went across the street to a bar with pool tables and did bar things until one or so.

This morning we came over here to Montreal and are hanging out in town until we go see a baseball game.

This trip is three weeks long and covers well over 5000 miles. Also, people had different expectations of the trip and the group has never really gelled properly. They are pretty nice people, but this has been a bit of a rough trip for me, trying to please all their different wishes and still drive what seemed like all day, every day. Oh well, such is life.

I never realized how French, French-Canada really is. In Quebec, 96 percent of the people speak French as their first language. Also, all of the street signs and writing is in French in the whole province.

No more for today, time to go watch Baseball.

1 AUG 98

After my last update in Anchorage, we went out to dinner and then hung out in Chilkoot Charlie's bar. The motto is "We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you." It was a tremendous bar and I think most of the twenty-something Alaskans were there.

The next day we drove a lot. The day after we also drove quite a bit and went back into Canada. We split up in Haines Junction and all did our own thing in the Kluane National Park for the day. That night was our final night of camping.

The next day we drove back into Alaska. We got on to the ferry in Skagway. The M/V Columbia was our home for the next four nights as we cruised down the Inside Passage along the Alaska Marine Highway. The boat made stops in Sitka and Ketchikan for us to do a little sightseeing.

The boat ride was an excellent way to end the trip. It was the recovery vacation that everybody always needs after a hard three weeks of camping. We napped during the day, played cards, read books, hung out in the bar, and generally relaxed for three days. We slept on deck chairs on the deck and ran to the side of the boat whenever the captain announced the presence of orka whales.

On Friday, we went to the Boeing airplane factory and then went to Seattle for the day. We had a nice dinner near Pioneer Square and thus ended a great trip.

I forgot to mention one of the highlights of the trip. At Moose Meadows, in Canada, the mosquitoes were very bad. When I got into the van to go to bed, there were several hundred mosquitoes waiting for me. I rolled up a company brochure and spent about one hour killing the bugs. There were little bug bodies smashed all over the windows, floor, ceiling, seats, and every other surface in the van. I finally got too tired and went to sleep. In the morning I finished slapping mosquitoes and made sure the doors were never left open the next day.

After the Klondike trip, I had eight days before my next trip, by far the longest turnaround between trips I have ever had. I worked for three days and goofed off for the rest of the week. One day a bunch of us went to Mt. Ranier and did a long hike. I was sore for days.

Mostly I have been hanging out with other tour leaders. My friends have been coming and going all week and last night there were ten tour leaders hanging out at the hotel. I felt like I was back in college this week. I slept late and hung out with friends all evening. It has been a good week.

Tonight I meet my thirteen new passengers and tomorrow we start our three week trip to New York through Canada. Right now, the plan is to spend four days in New York and then do a three week trip to Los Angeles along the southern U.S.

I should finish working on the 20th of September and fly to India on the 14th of October, after a brief visit with my mother and with my father.

16 JUL 98

Hello from Anchorage, the biggest city in Alaska. I am having a great time up here in the Northland, even though I have not seen a star or a dark night in a very long time.

After we left Vancouver, we went rafting with Herbie on the Thompson River. As always, he gave us a good wet ride and we all had fun. The next day we drove north and prepared to celebrate Canada Day. Unfortunately, Burns Lake, British Columbia was not prepared to celebrate Canada Day. Instead, we walked along the train tracks (a first for most of my passengers) and put pennies (Canadian pennies) under the train wheels. Now we all have flat pennies.

For the second of July, we drove to Hyder, Alaska. They are only accessible from Canada and use Canadian money, telephones, and schools. They don't even have a border crossing, you just drive off of the paved road and land in the USA. There are about 90 residents in Hyder and as you would imagine about a town at the end of the road, it attracts some interesting people.

We drove out to bear creek, but were too early. In late July the bears stand all up and down the creek and eat salmon. We just saw mosquitoes instead. The next day we drove up to look at the Salmon Glacier. It is the third biggest Glacier in Alaska and is very impressive.

At Moose Meadows we camped and looked at the meese. We also took some canoes on an all day paddle and saw beavers, meese, eagles and a little bit of rain.

Then we went north even more to the Yukon Territory of Canada. We stopped at the signpost forest at Watson Lake and then went to Whitehorse. Whitehorse it the capital of the territory and home to about 22,000 of the territory's 34,000 people. In Whitehorse we went on a horseback ride above the treeline. We spent many hours crashing through brush and enjoying the scenery.

From Whitehorse we headed up to Dawson City. Dawson is an old gold rush town on the Yukon river. We went to the Gaslight Follies (a silly show about the history of the area), played on some old gold digging dredges and enjoyed the town of 2000 people.

From Dawson, we took the long, unpaved Top of the World Highway to Alaska. (We will take the long, paved Alaska Highway back to Canada in a few days.) At the border, a U.S. customs agent gave us some really cute caribou stamps for our passports. Then we passed through Chicken, Alaska and stayed in a nice lodge on a lake in the middle of nowhere.

From there we blazed west on the unpaved Denali Highway. We were lucky enough to see Mt. McKinley (the highest point in North America) along the way. The next day we hiked in Denali National Park and looked for wildlife. That night we went to a local Bluegrass festival and got to see a bit of real Alaskan culture. It was nice to see people camped all over the hills around town. I didn't even feel out of place for a change, almost all of the men had long hair and a beard.

Last Sunday was the World Cup Finals, so while my group looked for more bears in the park, I watched France demolish the overconfident Brazilian side. Then I drove to the end of the road and took a nap for the rest of the day in an effort to catch up on some sleep.

On Monday, we drove to Talkeetna and took our plane flight. It was truly amazing. The weather was perfect and we flew through the mountains and looked at Mt. McKinley from the air. The plane had skis, so we landed on a glacier and played in the snow. I am told that the Mountain is visible about 30% of the time and the fact that we saw it perfectly clear on two out of four days is truly something special. Many people come and go from the area without ever having seen the mountain.

That night we drove down to Seward and my friend Gillian was there with four of her travelling buddies. I hung out with them for a few hours, then went back to camp and ran into a former Trek leader and caught up with him for a while.

The next day we (Me, my group and Gillian) took an eight and one half hour cruise into the Kenai Fjords National Park. We had a salmon lunch on Fox Island, saw Orca whales, Humpback whales, sea lions, puffins, other birds and dolphins. We also watched the giant Holgate Glacier. It reaches all the way to the water and pieces of it break off and splash into the water and it is all very exciting. After Gillian left, we went back to camp and waited for the drizzle to stop, it never really did.

Today we went to look at the icebergs that fall of of Portage Glacier and then came up here to Anchorage.

Most of my current passengers have been on previous treks before and every thing has been going pretty smoothly. They are a nice group of people and we have been having fun.

Up in Dawson the sun rose at about three am. Then it set at around 11 pm. This was followed by about two hours of dusk, which led into about two hours of dawn, followed immediately by sunrise. This gave us about twenty hours of daylight and four hours of bright twilight.

In the beginning I felt silly going to bed before it was dark, even if it was one in the morning. Now I realize that if I want to sleep, I have to invoke a sunset by tying my t-shirt over my eyes. Apparently, the extra sunlight causes my body to produce more melanin and this reduces my physical need for sleep. I think this may be true because I have been feeling okay while getting what would be way too little sleep down south.

Goodbye for now from the Northland.