Blog Update - Around Kalispell 6-28-2014

Just an update to showcase some pics from the past few days! Things have been busy around here and the weather has NOT been cooperating.

Thursday Jimbo and I took the boat out to see if we could find some fish - no winds when we left but light rain, the new top on the boat worked great - amazing engineering feat by Jim - he made the frame and sewed the fabric cover....it was nice a dry and worked well! Sadly the fish did not cooperate and we got skunked...bagged it early when the wind came up and the rain continued even harder...at least the boat got washed.

Jimbo at the helm and under the cover!!



Rainy day on the water!



Went for a short drive to take some pics of the Canola fields and some barns and stuff on Friday morning before the rain and managed to surprise a deer and her baby in the Canola....sadly the baby was hiding at picture time!

The deer!







Weed in front of the Canola Fields



Watering Wheel!



The field!



Montana Fence Post!



Spliced barb wire caught my eye!



Storm clouds over a Montana barn!



Old Homestead - wonder what lives began and ended here??



Storm over the farm!





Tons to do over the next couple days in preparation for our next adventure up the North Fork - will be up there about 10 days or so, fill up the camper with water and food and fishing gear etc...grocery shopping, laundry, load firewood in the truck. Hopefully this weather will clear up and get nice - have to load up the rafts and frames.

The trailer is a mess with cottonwood seeds, need a good pressure washing before I leave. I'm just happy my new camera is due to arrive on Monday, thanks Toni Ard for shipping so quick.

Stay tuned, still lots of adventure and picture taking to come!!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Flathead Lake Test Ride and Summer Snow!

Been busy the past few days -helping Jim get the boat ready - needed new gimbals in the outdrive and rebuild the carb and finish putting the top on the boat...all finished except the top on Monday so took an evening cruise to check things out and also scout some fishing locations!!

We had a great evening boat ride!



Jim even dropped a line for a few minutes but no bait or jigs!



Only in Montana!



Beautiful evening!



In Black and White!



Summer Snow - the damn Cottonwood trees are shedding big time!!









The good news - fishing gear rigged and ready to go!!



Plan to take the boat out tomorrow - rain predicted - so digging out my Alaska rain gear! Then next week leave for a trip up to the North Fork and float the river for some fish and fun - will be up there at least a week and maybe more!!

Stay tuned for some fishing fun...Oh and added to my arsenal of camera gear - a friend was selling her E-5 Olympus and I made a deal - Thanks Toni Ard - can't wait to try out the upgrade!!

More later!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Kalispell Montana June 22nd, 2014

Finally the weather has changed and the rain stopped and it has been beautiful the past couple days. Been busy working on Jim's Camper getting ready for our trip up the North Fork of the Flathead River, leaving on the 3rd and of course as soon as the camper realizes it is almost time to go the fridge takes a dump and needed replaced...not a cheap fix to be found, so a brand new Dometic got installed then the front window showed a small leak during the monsoon, so removed that, cleaned all the old caulk off and reseated - just like new now.

We will be spending this week setting the menu and getting things packed up and ready to go...have to get the rafts ready and the fishing gear all in order and the RV's ready!!

This morning I went for a short drive to take a few pics of the Canola fields - some are in bloom and it is amazing....

Also found a few wildflowers along the road!!





Saw a pheasant along the road and he took off as soon as I got out of the truck!



In Flight!



What I went to shoot!



Another!



Stay tuned for more adventures!!!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - settled in for the summer - Kalispell

Well, I arrived at my friends Saturday mid-morning and got settled in for a while.

Trailer is parked in my old spot and got electric strung and finally found a spot where the sat dish could get a clear signal - that was a challenge.

Great News today - you may recall when my tonneau cover blew off the back of the truck when I was camped in Fruita in Canyonlands National Park - well I had asked the company Bestop to replace it and they agreed, after I sent them pictures of the part that failed and what was left of the top!! Hoowever, I had discovered that when the top was in the folded position I could not see the hitch in the bed of the truck to hitch up the fifth wheel and it was a pain to get in and out of the truck twenty times to line up, so I asked the company if they would replace it with the roll up model. They told me that they had to replace with the like kind...I did not argue, figured I would get the new one and sell it on Craigslist and then buy the roll up one...but I missed the delivery of the first replacement and it got returned - I contacted Bestop and they could not re-route the shipment so sent another one to the address here in Montana. When it arrived today I discovered this shipment was the roll-up model - very pleased with Bestop - great company, great products and they stand behind them and offer fantastic customer service!! If you need a tonneau for your truck or a top for a jeep - buy from Bestop!!

No fancy pictures today - but here are a few!

The new tonneau!!



Camper Location! Nice and shady!



Sat Dish location - on the roof of the shop! Yep, had to build a platform!



I have certainly gone from one extreme to the other 107 degrees in S Utah and now have a winter storm warning for the mountains here around Kalispell and could see 2 feet of snow in the passes...Ironically the road crews just reached the summit parking lot from the west side on the Going to the Sun Highway and was hoping to get it open in a few weeks....that may be delayed, they are still plowing the parking lot up there and the East side of the road! They have about 15 feet of snow up there on the roads!! And more to come on Thursday!

Planning a week or so get-away to the North Fork of the Flathead river around the 4th of July with Jim and some other friends - going to float the river and do some fishing and should get some good pictures!

Stay Tuned - More to come!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - On the road to Kalispell!! June 14th, 2014

Great being back "On the Road"...I love the feeling of freedom and just passing the time seeing the sights along the way.

I left Salt Lake and my good friend Steve's on Thursday and had a wonderful easy drive to Dillon, Montana - trip leg was about my max for driving while towing - I try to keep it around 300 miles - it was 367 miles - truck did great made it on one tank of gas, love the bigger tank in the new truck (except when filling it) - and managed to get 12.8 MPG which I think is a record while towing! Checked in at Southside RV Park my normal spot, great people and they gave me a nice discount since I stop in all the time! Back in site but they helped direct me in which is nice! Unhitched and off to dinner...that is a whole story itself, but anyway had a great dinner and back to the trailer for an early bedtime - traveling again in the morning.

Up early - hitched up and headed closer towards Kalispell. The drive was fine for the early morning but hit terrible hard rain and high winds on route 90...at one point following a big truck we were doing about 45 MPH - played hell with the gas mileage but it cleared up after about 50 miles. I have been "Jonesing" to take some pictures, so decided since I would get near the Bison Range around lunch time - I would check in at a nice small RV Park and take a drive through the range.

So dropped the trailer - topped up with gas - 10.16 MPG - weather and wind makes a big difference.

Took these two the road at the "Continental Divide" rest area!





Then the Bison Range!













This is for Millhoff!!



I was disappointed in the Bison Range, usually a ton of antelope around for some great pics - but not one yesterday?? The Bison typically don't cooperate and get real close, but saw some deer a black bear a few distant bison and of course the flowers and birds!!

Now I got a hankerin for some ice-cream - watch out Flinchbaugh's, I am just down the road and will be there soon!

Stay Tuned!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - June 12th, 2014 - Sometimes things are meant to be!

I sometimes question my decisions, however many times I realize that there is a higher force driving my decisions! This week has been a perfect example.

I had a couple minor health issues which helped me make the decision to leave Lake Powell, so I packed up and headed to Salt Lake City and stay at my good friend Steve Carters place for a few days and rest and see if everything was OK. I arrived on Friday the 6th of June with plans to leave on Tuesday after resting and having a few tests done.

The other force!

Monday morning Steve and I were just finishing coffee and he was testing out his new IPhone - asked me to call him and make sure it was working correctly and while standing less than 10 feet away from me - suddenly collapsed! Of course I jumped up to see if he was alright and he was out cold...training kicks in, check breathing and pulse and quickly realized I would NOT have to do CPR, but he was slow to come around, I had my phone in hand and was just about to dial 911 when he started to come around, a minute or two later he was up and walking around however had some severe short term memory loss. Had no idea he had just passed out, so into the car we went and spent the next 5 hours in the ER! The docs could find nothing wrong, but put him on a heart monitor to wear at home for the next 48 hours. Had that removed yesterday - needless to say, I did not leave on Tuesday I was staying until I made sure that Steve was OK! I think there was a reason for me to be here! It scared the shit out of me, thought for a minute he had gone toes up!

I had some things checked as well and will get some further tests when I get to Kalispell.

In the meantime my other host "Tootsie" made some picture opportunities!







And her friend the "Bluebird"









Steve has been fine since his incident on Monday so I am heading further North to my good friends in Kalispell, Montana later this morning. The heart monitor was removed yesterday and the results sent to his Doctor who he has an appointment with on Monday and hopefully they can figure out what the issue may have been.

As for me, it looks like my foot may be an issue and will be seeing a podiatrist in Kalispell and also want to have a good check-up with a heart Doctor due to my family history - no real issues, but time for a thorough check.

Stay tuned for updates on the road - I will be in Dillon tonight and then on up near Kalispell tomorrow. May stop at the Bison Range weather permitting.

Thanks for following along!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"


Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Movin' On!! Blog Update June 8th, 2014

No need for a long winded explanation - have some issues I need to deal with in the big city, so Lake Powell and I parted company on the 6th of June and I hitched up and drove to my friends in Salt Lake City - will be here for a couple days taking care of some personal business then more than likely head to a colder climate in Montana.

It was a great experience working at Lake Powell and interesting to see that environment. I think I am more happy in the mountains and where there is more to photograph, so hence the change in plans.

A little recap and some pictures!
Here is a labeled photo of the marina at Bullfrog!



A more distant view!



Driving out across the high desert!



The morning mist on a flower in Salt Lake City!



The plan is to try and get my business taken care of in the next few days and then head North!

Stay tuned - I will update more often now from the road!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"


Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!