October 21st Update - Arrival Salt Lake City

I arrived at my good friend Steve's in Salt lake City Friday afternoon. Dropped the trailer in the driveway and took a drive on a beautiful day for some fall colors.

However I also processed a couple panoramas I took of the Tetons a few days ago.





Spent the night along the highway RT -I-80 and stopped at Little America for the night with all the truckers....awoke to an amazing sunrise, the scenery was not the best but the morning light was beautiful, knowing it only lasts for a couple minutes I grabbed a shot.



Then in Salt Lake City I managed a few fall color shots.









Now a little blast from the recent past. I had two really great guys for my end of the season at Yes Bay. We had a great time and today I received a couple pictures that one of the guys took...Spencer is a good photographer and snapped a couple really nice shots of one of our last few days of fishing.





I took the liberty of adding the frames but other than that they are as he sent them.

This week is a waiting week. I have some Lodge work to get completed and a little getting ready for Pat my imaginary (soon to be real) girlfriend. She arrives on Friday from Ohio and then we depart on a Southern Utah Adventure trip. Including a 4 day raft trip down Labyrinth Canyon near Moab, we are meeting some old friends who will join us on the raft trip and it should be fantastic.

Stay tuned for more updates as the adventure continues. Tonight an Alaskan Seafood BBQ with some old friends here in Salt Lake City!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

October 18th - Yellowstone & The Tetons

I left Dillon a few days ago and headed down to West Yellowstone for a few days to explore the park and take some pictures.

The weather did not cooperate very well, with cold wind and rain for two days. I still managed some decent wildlife pictures.









There were plenty of fall photographers around...didn't see them take any pictures just stand around with their big lenses on display!!



And a few landscapes in spite of the weather...







Typical Buffalo holding up traffic!









Yesterday the sun came out for my drive from West Yellowstone to Jackson



I stopped for the iconic view of the Grand Tetons!





Today I left Jackson and drove a nice easy drive down RT 191 to Rock Springs and on to Green River where I am stopped for the night. Will head to Salt Lake tomorrow.

Stay in touch everyone!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Time for a little Therapy! October 13th 2012

It was time for a little fishing therapy, so I checked in with my good friend Steve Carter from Salt Lake at the Clark Canyon Clinic and was rewarded in short order with some fantastic trout fishing in the Beaverhead River.

We had a wonderful day ending with a fantastic dinner at the Buffalo Lodge near Dillon!



My friend Steve fishing!













I also had a little time to take some pictures around the ranch...













Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

October 12th - Travel day!

Leaving Kalispell Montana this morning and heading down state to Dillon Montana where I will rendezvous with my good friend Steve Carter of Salt Lake City fame while he recuperates at the Clark Canyon Creek Clinic (He is trying desperately to get over weeks of not fishing with intensive therapy) I intend to try and help him get over his anxiety!

Yesterday was a pack and load day and one last final repair. The awning on the trailer was an absolute bitch to open and close, one part from my ignorance and another part from the previous owners abuse, obviously like me had never read the instructions! But with a little effort and studying got it open and fixed a couple bent parts and all is like new now!

Awning Fixed!



New Luggage Rack packed and ready to travel!



Hitched up and ready to go!





Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

October 10th - Packing to leave!

Well, finally the USPS delivered all my stuff from Alaska...thank goodness I spent the last few days making room and the luggage carrier for the back of the camper! Amazing how a couple totes worth of space can free up some space in the truck and the camper!

The luggage rack came out beautiful and it works great. Mounted it yesterday on the bumper and painted it to match the camper. Today I unloaded the totes and sorted out what can be put out back! Totes are loaded and secured!

Here is my stuff from Alaska! Too much crap!



Here is the rack mounted on the bumper!



Totes Loaded and secured for travel!



My plans call now for leaving on Friday morning - October 12th. Head straight down to Dillon, Montana and meet some friends for a little stream fishing and good food, drink and laughter!

Then after a couple days I will head to West Yellowstone and do some exploring and take a picture or two in Yellowstone. Then arriving in Salt Lake City on the 23rd.

The 26th my imaginary (soon to be real) girlfriend arrives from Ohio and we leave for a two week adventure in Southern Utah...4 day raft trip - 4 or 5 National Parks and some out of the way exploring and camping!

Stay tuned for details and photos!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

October 8th - Productive Day!

I had several goals with regard to the camper for this coming winter. Last year was get acquainted and figure out what was missing and what improvements I could make to make living full time in a small RV a little better.

Well, most if not all of my goals have been met. I got the trailer brakes fixed, new tires on the trailer, new tires on the truck, and solved some of my storage problems with some compartmentalization and re-distribution and the dumpster. But today we embarked on a huge solution to some storage issues...see below.

Freezer space was also an issue and I purchased a small freezer which should arrive tomorrow which should eliminate that as an issue. We'll see how it fits where I propose to put it...but I have other options if that doesn't work.

There were two projects for today, one was to smoke some of my Alaska salmon and the other was to fabricate a rack for the back bumper on the trailer to hold a couple storage containers...great headway was made on both, actually the salmon is done!

Adding some lemon pepper to the brine'd salmon before putting it in the smoker.



In the smoker!



The finished product and Ohh is it good!



Happiness is being with a good friend who has a complete fabrication shop...cutting steel, welding all a easy job with the right equipment! Jim Flinchbaugh is amazing and a great friend...

Starting fabrication!



More welding!



And the nearly finished project - one more brace to install, then weld it to the back bumper of the trailer, mount the spare tire and load it up!



My plans have not changed a whole lot, still waiting for the USPS to deliver my containers from Alaska, then a day or so to get organized then off to Yellowstone for a few days, then Salt Lake City by the 23rd or so...then a two week adventure to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona!

Stay tuned for more details as they happen!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

More work in Kalispell - October 1st 2012

I am in Kalispell Montana and will be for a couple weeks. I got here last Wednesday and have been busy getting the truck and trailer squared away and ready to travel. I am waiting for several containers of things I shipped down from Alaska, so I will more than likely be here until around the 12th or so.

Yesterday was a highlight! I managed to apply a new decal I got to the truck. I personally hate those little stick families people put on their cars, so when I saw this, I just had to buy a couple for the truck!



I mentioned in an earlier post that I would post a photo of the generator I put in the bed of the pick-up truck to power the camper when remote camping or when I need to charge batteries or whatever. As you can see, it fit nicely in front of the 5th wheel hitch and other than not being able to run it when sleeping (exhaust fumes might kill me), it will power the entire 5th wheel including A/C if needed. I would just un-hitch and park the truck away from the camper enough to avoid fumes.



Here is a closeup of the generator. It is electric start with a remote so I don't even have to leave the camper to fire it up!!



More detail on travels over the next couple days. Taking a trip down to the Bison Range for the annual roundup tomorrow. Should be fun and a few pictures!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest