The Horse is IN the Barn!

Well, dear friends and blog followers, after exactly 5 months and 18,000 miles "Imagine" is home in sunny, steamy SW Florida. What a marvelous, fun, enthralling, interesting, awe-inspiring, truly special journey we had! From one of our favorite places, Soldatna, Alaska--on the Kenai Peninsula--where it curreltly is 48 degrees and rainy, to Punta Gorda, Florida, where we are "enjoying" 94 degrees of tropical charm; this trip has truly been a TRIP !!!!

Tomorrow "Imagine" moves to an rv storage facility right here in town for a well-deserved hiatus until her next really big adventure--hopefully departing next spring for the Southwest and all the way up the Pacific Coast to Vancouver.

Thank you for riding along! We loved having you with us. Hopefully we have inspired and motivated you-all to get out any way you can and, in the words of Nike, "just DO it!".

Until we meet again....be well and happy,

Gretchen & Bill

The Horse is Starting to Head for the Barn!

Our daughter Kristen Louise Steingrandt from Alexandria, VA., and her fiance Leo Seferlis drove like mad to spend two all-too-short-days visiting Gretchen's mom on her 100th Birthday on September 2nd. Due to the dedicated care given by Gretchen's brother Peter, Edna Louise Rusch is able to happily remain in her own home. The doggie with Kristen is her one-year-old Pug, Franklin. He was a big hit with both Edna and Edna's sweet doggie, Penny--a malamute mix.

Gretchen spent over a week by herself in Rochester, MN., while Bill flew to FL. to help move his mom Dorothy to the Arbor, an Assisted Living Facility at Shell Point Lifecare Community in Fort Myers. Bill & Gretchen lived in Rochester from 1969 to 1979. This is our home at the end of a cul-de-sac on Telemark Lane high on a hill overlooking the NW part of town. Oh, how we loved seeing the "twinklies" at night! The week was spent getting re-acquainted with the marvelous city of Rochester; as well as dear, priceless friends Carolyn & Tony Stanson and Judith & Bill Taylor, Jan & Eric Skuldt, and Jan & Larry Tarnow. What a blessing they are, and what FUN we had!!!!

We are currently in Bedford, PA, on our way to the DC area to visit daughter Kristen for a few days. This is the first time since we left the mountains that we've had internet. We really are on our way home to Punta Gorda, but are reluctant to give this trip up!!! We hope to spend a few days on the ocean at Hunting Island State Park near Beaufort, SC,--weather permitting! If you don't hear from us for a while, hang in there--hopefully there wil be a few more entries before Imagine is put to bed until our next Great Adventure! Thank you all for riding along with us on our first RV experience!!

Where the Buffalo Roam

Well.......... tomorrow we leave the mountains and head east into the prairies over the Montana "High-Line" which is US-2 going east/west just south of the Canadian border. We'll be sad to see the Rockies in our rearview mirror, but we'll find a way to get back soon. Flathead lake was majestic!

Mystical Montana Mountain Farewell

Our cozy campsite at Big Sky RV Park, Rollins, MT. We are ensconced on a rise across and above Flathead Lake--the largest freshwater lake (28 miles long, 15 miles wide in places) west of the Mississippi. This glorious lake also boasts some of the most pristine water of any lake anywhere! It is clear as a bell. Alas, our week here (ending on Wednesday, August 9th) will probably be our last experience with lake and mountain scenery. We have been blessed to have been part of so many unbelievably breathtaking places.
An "official" record of William J. Steingrandt falling off the fat-free wagon train. The marvelous cafe here at Big Sky RV Park serves THE most decadent comfort food (Gretchen really likes the Buffalo Burger with The Works), among which is the dreaded Huckleberry Milkshake. The pictured shake was Bill's third in about as many days!!! What next, you ask! Keep tuned.
Chillin' at the little marina which is part of Big Sky RV Park. The vessels pictured belong to the summer residents of the park--avid fisherpeople all! There are a myriad of marinas on the lake--most of which contain only sailboats. Makes us really boatsick for our beloved "Imagine." Would that the air here could be bottled!
Our "perch" at Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier Park. If you aren't at the parking lot here by 10 AM you ain't gonna get a spot! We sat here and read and enjoyed a picnic while soaking up all the glorious scenery. That very afternoon massive forest fires at the eastern end of Glacier closed the road for days. Next week we are off to Rochester, MN, to visit dear friends.

Incredible Icefields Parkway and Glacier Park

Bill and Gretchen on out "Bataan Death March" to the headwall up from Lake Louise("another fine mess you've gotten us into"). That's the lake way in the background. Actually it was a great hike, and we had lemonade at a tea house at the top.
The Lake Louise Hotel from part way up the lake toward the glacier headwall.
View of Lake Louise from the hotel site. Bill's opinion is that this is the most beautiful spot on earth(at least of the ones he's seen). That head wall is about 4 miles from here and we walked up to it. We were pretty tired when we got back.
On the "Going to the Sun Road" in Glacier Park. This road goes about 50 miles through the heart of the park with about 15 miles on the edge of a cliff with spectacular views. The crowds were pretty big. It must be about peak right now.
Bill resting after 2.5 mile hike around Swiftwater Lake in Glacier Park, Montana. A beautiful lake with lots of bears spotted on the trail, but we didn't see any.

Back On-Line

Gretchen at the Banff Springs Hotel. This place and the Lake Louise Hotel are really high-end! We had a simple $60 lunch at the Lake Louise Hotel. Worth it though.
Bill at the Salmon Glacier up a steep gravel road out of Hyder, AK. The perspective of the picture makes the glacier look muck smaller than it really is. Its miles across as you are looking at the glacier.
Gretchen at the Bear Glacier on the road to Stewart, BC
Fireweed on road from Meziadin Lake to Stewart, BC. Fireweed likes to grow on virgin ground such as along roads or after a forest fire has burned underbrush - thus the name. The weed is really beautiful in Alaska and BC.
The trip down the Cassiar Highway was an experience! Potholes, construction, frost heaves, etc, but at the southern end it was worth it. We stayed at this campground(Meziadin Lake) that was beautiful. Took day trip to Stewart/Hyder that was great.
We have been in the wilds of BC Canada for the last two weeks and off the net. We are in Whitefish, MT till August 2, then down to Flathead Lake for another week. I can only update a limited amount per day on the blog so I'll describe through Banff, then more tomorrow.

Heavenly Haines

Along Portage Cove at charming little Haines, Alaska. Beyond this view lies the longest fjord in North America. Down this water runs the Alaska Marine Highway--a state-of-the-art vehicle and passenger ferry that stops at Skagway, Juneau, Sitka, and all the major communities along the SE Alaska Peninsula--accessible by only plane and water. You can travel in an outside cabin with full facilities all the way to the end-of-the-line at Bellingham, WA. It'll cost ya'!!
The Small Boat Harbor at Haines, Alaska. We just did a 150-mile (one way) drive from Haines Jct., Yukon, so we could both see Haines and call from our cell, which doesn't work in Canada. You should inhale the sea air here--it sure is good for what ails you! Tomorrow we are headed to Teslin, Yukon. The next day we'll get on the Cassiar Highway and travel deep into the wilds of British Columbia. We'll be wifiless for about ten days; so be patient--more exciting adventures to follow!