Goodbye Yellowstone... Hello Great Lakes.

Happy Birthday me, since it is midnight in the mid West! I've been getting the Facebook and text message pings for the last hour or more from all of my lovely friends back East. I'm wide awake, with internet connection, and of sharp and active mind... so I decided to report on the current state of affairs. Very currently there is an amazing lightning storm coming our way here in Jamestown, North Dakota. I can see the flashes in the distance from the window, and I'm hoping the pending rains will cool the air enough for me to get some sleep. It is very hot here compared to the 10 cold nights we spent in Yellowstone bundled under sleeping bags and thick blankets. The front air conditioner where I'm sleeping doesn't work and my mom and brother always shut theirs down because it gets too cold in the back bedroom. Such is life in the RV. My mom even said today, "We are going to need a new roll of duct tape soon" while fixing another fallen piece of the 38 foot puzzle we are living in. We all looked at one another and laughed. We have utilized, to capacity, the adhesive powers of the mighty gray-wonder tape to keep this boat a-sailing! Tomorrow we get the vehicles serviced and re-lubed so that we are ready for our return trip through the mighty North of Canada, skirting the north side of the Great Lakes as we trek back to Buffalo.

Yellowstone was fantastic. We swam and paddled crystal clear glacier lakes. We saw tons of wildlife including grizzly bears, black bears, moose, elk, fox, bobcat, deer, hawks, eagles, falcons, bison, and the tiniest little squirrels you ever saw. It is a most splendid piece of this earth and if you have never been, please treat yourself and go check it out. There is a variety of natural phenomena at work and if you are lucky, and up early or late enough to see it without a mass of humans, it is extremely rewarding. We traveled most of the park and saw many of the famous landmarks, but were also able to enjoy some spontaneous finds in Grand Teton and just outside of West Yellowstone in Gallatin National Forest. It felt like we were the delta force of bear watching with my mom constantly urging us to keep a sharp weather eye out for them. She is the best spotter I know though not always accurate. Cries of, "OH Look!!! A Cougar!!!" yielded deer, twice. John got a kick out of the bison we almost ran into in the middle of the road while looking for bears one night. He scared the souls out of my mother and I when he screamed and pointed straight while we were both looking out the side window with a spotlight. There were plenty of things to get our adrenaline pumping.... and it seems his has just dissipated tonight. The boy is finally sleeping. He's been up almost every night with a light on, for fear of bears and Bigfoot and now that he knows we are officially out of bear country (he showed me the map today in his wildlife book), he's out like a light. This is good, because he's been acting more silly than normal with me in the car and he's got my mother a bit ragged from lack of sleep. She's enjoying a peaceful slumber as we speak too.

I feel so blessed to have this wonderful opportunity to travel and seek out great experiences and this trip has been no exception. We live in such a complex and fast paced world today and it is a pleasure, nay, a necessity for us to take time to reconnect with the important things in life; family, nature and love. I've gotten all three on this trip thus far. Here's to you, and me, and all of us.... from the RV, in the middle of nowhere to wherever you live.... that we may all be blessed and realize what wonderful gifts we already have. Thanks for checking in..... Jeremy

Not all traveling is peachy! Bad, bad, Badlands.

After a night in Sahlem, South Dakota at a small RV campsite that had the dirtiest pool I've ever swam in, but bathrooms so clean you wouldn't mind eating cereal out of the toilet, we were off for Piedmont and the Black Hills. Everything started out ok, except that my mother was driving a steady 55 in the 75 mile per hour section of interstate 90. All of the sudden she's conscious of the wind, which is funny to me since I have watched the ass end of the 38 foot monster she's driving swing back and forth on the road like a southern woman's hips after she's had too many grits for a week straight. Even my brother, who is 8, and has never driven a vehicle (well, i did let him steer for a bit in Iowa) has been commenting on how erratic our mother's driving was. Either way... we are experiencing safe mode now, which is kind of worse for us because we are following her in the car and have to watch the traffic behind us come barreling down on us while we go 20 mph under the speed limit.

We make it to the Badlands exit and pull over to discuss logistics. Do we take the Winnebago? Maybe we park it and just take the car. The road is slightly out of the way, but puts us back on 90 a good 70 miles West, which is where we are going anyway. A guy we kept running into at rest stops sees us and tells us to go for it... it would be stupid to double back, and it won't be much more costly in gasoline than driving the highway. We mull it over shortly, look at the maps, and decide to do it.

I'm in the lead this time, since I'm barely two weeks removed from my last visit to the park with Sarah. We stop at a few hikes and scenic overlooks. Mom is a concerned with the hills and expresses to me that the RV feels like its stalling out while going down the steep hills because she's on the brakes hard and not giving it any gas. I tell her to drop it into a lower gear and let the engine do most of the braking, this way she'll have more power to the engine and most likely won't stall out. Everything seems fine. The Badlands of course, are incredible. We had to stop and let a small deer pass. There were big herds of cattle and bison in the distant plains. The weather was perfect. Soon we get to an elevation where there is a prairie dog field. The prairie dogs are out and dancing around on their hind legs. My little brother is oozing with excitement so we slow down to a creeping crawl during this section of the road. Unbeknownst to me, my mother is behind us cursing me out. She's stalling out and afraid of rolling backwards in the RV. I had no idea this was going on until she pulled off an exit a few miles away to close a window that I didn't completely secure that was flapping in the wind. There we were in a fireworks store parking lot in the middle of nowhere with her cursing like a sailor at me about the "fucking window you stupid fucking idiot!". Face red, hot as hell, and screaming she was. I rolled up the window and headed back to the highway.

When we got to Piedmont and settled in, she blew a gasket about the Badlands. "Stop at another fucking overlook you stupid ass! I was stalling out!" I swear I didn't know and how could I? We started arguing. I told her I would just leave. I didn't need the aggravation. "Go home! I don't care. It will be peaceful without you," she said. We were really getting annoyed with one another at this point. Some serious downtime was in much need for both of us. Luckily, mom and John didn't want to go anywhere today, so I took the car for the entire day and explored.... more to come on that!

Here, There, and Every-freakin-where!

"You are a traveler at heart. There will be many journeys." This statement, found in a fortune cookie many years ago, stares me in the face every morning when I open my refrigerator. There was a time when I lived in Derby NY that half of my diet was sustained at the local chinese take out joint. As you can imagine, I've seen a lot of cheesy fortunes in my day. This one immediately struck a chord and I carried it in my wallet for years, just recently taking it out and putting it on the fridge. Nothing could be more true about my life and personality.

Having been home from Puerto Rico for about six weeks now, I hear the faint voice of my backpack calling me from the closet.... beckoning me... "Jeremy.... Jeremy... there's soooooo many places for you to go, so many adventures to be had. Just take me along and let's go." My backpack and I are well acquainted this day and age, and like a good wife she tells me where and when to go... and makes sure I bring a toothbrush and a clean pair of underwear as well! When I ran into my mother at the bank today, she introduced me to her friend as "her Hobo son, you know the one who is always traveling all over the world.." I'm branded a Hobo. Thanks mom. The point is... I have the permanent itch to travel and lucky for me the next scratch is coming in a few weeks....

While strolling the cobblestone streets of San Juan on a fine, sunny day a few months back, my "Coastie" friend Sarah mentioned that she was getting transferred to Alaska late in the month of June. She also mentioned that she would be picking up her vehicle in Orlando Florida and driving it all the way to her new post on the complete opposite side of the North American continent over the course of a few weeks. An amazing road trip, funded by the government of course, and over 80 hours of driving.... much of it in the Canadian wilderness. Now.... if she only had somebody to help with the driving.... I could barely hold back the rapid fire response of "I'll go!", to which she responded calmly, "Ok, cool. We'll talk about it over a beer later" Friggin' military brat! She kept walking like we didn't just make plans to DRIVE TO ALASKA FROM FLORIDA! It felt like she asked if I wanted sandwich or a burger for lunch... there was hardly an emotion. She was cool as a cat all the way.

I was jumping out of my clothes with excitement. I kept imagining the long, winding highways, cities, mountains, lakes, changing geographical features... Alaska! I've never been to Alaska, or most of Canada for that matter. Most of my Canadian exploits have never passed Toronto, with the exception of a trip to whitewater raft in Ottawa many moons ago. My mind was racing with all the possibilities. Of course, there was a TON of driving involved, but I'm a road trip junkie.... the deal was sealed over a few cold Medalla's later that evening. I leave June 22nd in the morning for a direct flight to Orlando. Rock on!

The excitement doesn't stop there however. Once said road trip is complete, I will be flying home to Buffalo only to get back on the road with my mom July 7th for a trip across the US in her 20 year old, 38 foot Winnebago. Our first stop will be Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio for 3 action packed days of roller coaster madness! Indeed we are a roller coaster family, and there is no better place in the world from what I've been told. From there we head west to such places as Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, The Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park! Our loosely held plan is to return sometime mid-August... a gypsy woman, her Hobo son, her 9 year old son, and possibly Grandma (if she's feeling up to it). Unbelievable.

As of now, my plan is to work the end of the summer and early fall... then I'm thinking of a solo trip to India to visit all my old roommates and buddies! Who knows what will happen.... that is the exciting part! I will have lots to talk about though, that is for sure! Keeping it moving...... Jeremy

p.s. For those of you following the "Secret Psychic Life of Sammy Nichols".... I'm sorry for the lapse in writing. I will make it up to you!