Glasgow, Montana

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 97 miles from Culbertson to Glasgow, Montana.

We continued traveling along U.S.Highway 2 West.

With less than a mile behind us, we ran into a major road rebuilding of Highway 2 that ran about 10 miles…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

This is a frequent sight along Highway 2 which for many miles runs along side of the railroad tracks of the Great Northern Railway that runs from Seattle, Washington to Chicago, Illinois. The tracks are just to the left of this grain storage facility…

Arriving in Glasgow, we stopped at the Pioneer Museum. Here are some of the photos that I took…

To see the other 19 photos that I took, click this Picasa Web Album link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/PioneerMuseumGlasgowMontana

Then up the road a short distance where we parked overnight at VFW Post #3107…

Here’s the usual dinette window photo…

Yesterday was a lousy weather day. 81 degrees with high humidity, high winds and a couple of thunderstorms. Today’s forecast is for 96 degrees with a real feel of 100 degrees! YUCKKITTY! Tomorrow is forecast 94 degrees.

We’ll continue our westward travel later this morning.

Enjoying friendly VFW Posts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Montana. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Please Help Us With A Decision…

After much deliberation Mary and I have been considering a change of the photo of our Blog header.

The new photo in now in the Blog header.

In case you have forgotten…here’s the old photo…

For your information the new photo was taken in October, 2011 at the Avenue of the Giants in the California Humboldt Redwood Forest. The old photo was taken in October, 2009 in the parking lot of Camping World in Rocklin, California. Since that time we’ve put 18,000 miles on the motorhome and it’s still running just fine.

PLEASE VOTE RIGHT NOW AS THE POLL WILL CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!

Here’s the poll…

Thanks for sharing your opinion with us.

Jim and Mary

PLASTIC BAG BAN

I celebrate every gift I get. This one is a biggie. I believe  Berkeley, CA was the first city to ban plastic bags in grocery stores. San Francisco followed.  Coastal North Carolina did the same. Now, Seattle follows Bellingham, WA  but their ban does more.

The Seattle City Council passed a broad ban on plastic bags Monday, outlawing them not just in grocery stores, but in department stores, clothing stores, convenience stores, home-improvement stores, food trucks and farmers markets.

The bill goes further than bans in other cities, which have largely banished plastic only groceries and sometimes drug stores. Customers in Seattle will still be able to get paper bags from retailers, but for a 5-cent fee.

Monday’s bill exempts customers on food assistance and other government benefits from the bag fee. The city will also make free or reduced-cost reusable bags available to poor people.

The ordinance applies only to single-use, checkout bags, and not to produce, bulk-ban and dry-cleaning bags. Plastic bags for take-out restaurant food are also still allowed, because they help protect health and safety while transporting hot food and liquid.

Read more:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Plastic-bags-banned-in-Seattle-2412950.php#ixzz1h5V777oN

I shop with my own bags and my little grocery store, Sierra Hills Market,  will reward you with a $25 gift certificate, for using your own shopping bag. People who use their own bags are allowed to mark their name and phone number on a small paper by the checkstand and put it in the draw box. I’ve won the certificate, once. I regularly see about four others using their own bags.

A chain grocer in nearby Angels Camp tried the “recycle” your plastic bags idea. The container was always stuffed full of plastic bags and was emptied regularly in the dumpster. The bags are cheaply made, tear easily, don’t hold much and the only person I ever saw taking recycled bags on their way into the grocery store was-ME.  It just doesn’t change habits.

“A study a few years ago “found that the inks and colorants used on some bags contain lead, a toxin. Every year, Americans throw away some 100 billion plastic bags after they’ve been used to transport a prescription home from the drugstore or a quart of milk from the grocery store. It’s equivalent to dumping nearly 12 million barrels of oil.”

So, I celebrate it as a gift to our common environment. I’ve seen pictures of animals entrapped and dying from plastic bags drifting into their environment. And, just a reminder, there is a huge glob of plastic bags the size of the state of Texas in the ocean vortex where water circulates and keeps  miles of  plastic  afloat.  Other countries have banned bags in some cities.  Mexico City, twelve towns in Australia, Rangoon, Burma, Five major cities in India, London, Rawanda, the whole country is bag free.

It seems to me this is an opportunity for college students across the country to collectively  push for plastic bag bans in their communities. Hey, they know how to solve the deficit.  Over and again, they have proved to be smarter, and more effective than our do nothing government.

Driver Kills Bicyclist…Gets $42 Fine!

On October 4th of this year I wrote a Blog entry about witnessing an accident where two bicyclists were struck by an auto in Oregon. In case you missed it…here’s the link…

otrwjam.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/a-sad-blog-today/

In the above accident I’m pleased to report that we very recently heard from one of the two gals who indicated they are on the road to recovery. Still no word whether charges will be filed against the driver in that accident.

Yesterday I read about another accident where a driver who killed a bicyclist got off with a $42 fine. Here’s the link on that story…

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/2011/10/14/driver-who-killed-bicyclist-escapes-charge-gets-42-fine/

That just doesn’t set well with me…how do you feel about it? In my view some kind of charge should be filed against the driver. He killed an innocent person. Just having to live with it for the rest of his life does not seem enough punishment to me.

In other news…

Yesterday Mary went off to be in the Occupy Wall Street protest in Sonora. Here she is with her messages…

I took the day off and had a do nothing day. Played on the computer and did some reading.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Famous Roadside Sign In Chehalis, Washington

Since the early 1960’s there has been a very interesting Uncle Sam billboard sign alongside of Interstate Highway 5 in Chehalis, Washington. We are currently camped at a Thousand Trails RV Resort just a few miles away…so we decided to visit this famous roadside attraction. Chehalis sits about half-way between liberal-Democratic Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington and is heavy-duty conservative Republican country. You can click upon the images to make them larger…

Southbound view of sign…

Northbound view of sign…

The following two links will give you a lot of interesting background in formation about this sign…

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/6002

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E1D9133EF93BA15752C1A9629C8B63

Another joy of the full-time RVing lifestyle is seeing the many unusual roadside attractions.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Some Thoughts On Life Expectancy…

I’m not sure how I got to thinking about this topic a couple of days ago…perhaps it had something to do with my, then upcoming, annual physical examination at Seattle’s VA Hospital which happened two-day ago. Thankfully…no problems.

I think it was also because when you reach my current age (70), you become aware that friends, and friends of other friends your age, are dropping like flies and in the natural progression of things…as far as my family is concerned…I’m next in line.

It got me to thinking, I wonder what the current life expectancy is in the United States…so, I posed the question to my Internet search box and came up with this Wikipedia informational link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

I’m not sure what I expected to find…but I found out the average life expectancy in the United States for males is 75.6 and for females is 80.8. Some how I thought it was longer than that. I was particularly surprised that the United States ranked 36th in the world…once again I thought it would be higher that. What country is number one????…you’ve got to click the link to find out. I never would have guessed it.

I realize these number are averages…and that there are lots of factors involved. In my family, my father died at the age of 65…but he was a welder (inhaling all those welding fumes and asbestos in the shipyards) and a smoker as well. My mother died of cancer (the only cancer victim in our family that I’m aware of) at the age of 84.  A couple of my grandmothers lived until well into their 90’s.

I am very fortunate to have inherited my mother’s good health…for I have never suffered a major illness or broken a bone in my body in my entire life. Every day I wake I am thankful for my good health.

Another thing I really like about myself is that money has never been that important to me. I’m not wealthy…but I’ve enough to live my life the way it makes me happy.

No matter how wealthy a person is, no amount of money can buy you more than your allotted time. I remember many years ago watching the life story of Sam Walton (a man who worked all of his life and seldom took a vacation) die a shriveled-up old man at the age of 74. All of his money couldn’t buy him an extra day.

It’s a well stated fact…stress kills. When I retired at the age of 55 in 1995…my goal was to de-stress my life as much as possible. I have a long-time close friend who has told me…”I’m so envious of you…you have managed to so simplify your life!”

Another way that I have been very lucky is…way back in 1968…in my Dale Carnegie class…they taught me how to live my life one day at a time. In other words…you cannot change your yesterdays and tomorrow will take care of themselves. For 25+years this license plate, which currently is bolted to my Ford Bronco II, has been there to remind me to do just that. In the last 40+ years…I’VE WORRIED ABOUT NOTHING! I truly have peace-of-mind.

So, I guess what I am saying is, that I (barring an unfortunate accident) expect to beat the averages and be around for a long time to come. Another factor is…suppossedly…only the good die young…so that’s also working in my favor! 🙂

So the moral of this story is…

If you find yourself struggling with life…my recommendations are…

1) Buy the Dale Carnegie book “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” and use the appropriate principles that apply to your life.

2) Try to eat healthier.

3) Get moderate exercise.

4) Quit smoking if you do.

5) Use alcohol moderately.

I’ve been a full-time RVer and on perpetual vacation for the last 16 years. In my travels, I’ve met many people who have said to me…”God, I envy the way you live!”

I reply…”You can do it too…there are only three easy steps”…

1) Retire as early as you can.

2) Sell everything you own.

3) Bay an RV and hit the road. (Disconnect your TV and bring lots of books along.) And immediately they start to stutter…”Ah, but in my case…dah, dah, dah, etc…

If you really want something bad enough in your life…it can usually be attained…if you are willing to give what it takes. Most folks are not willing to do so. For instance…I wish I could play a guitar like Willie Nelson. Am I willing to practice five hours a day…every day of my life… like he does???? Nope…so needless to say…I do not play a guitar like Willie Nelson.

RVing is essentially a stress-free life. All one needs to be concerned with is obeying basic vehicle laws…other than that… you have little interface with all the rules, regulations and taxes of the world.

Life is very short…each and every day we are given is priceless.

Go Rving! Try it…you’ll like it!

Oh, I forgot to tell you the one goal I have left in my life is…I hope to be the world’s first 100-year-old active RVer!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust