truk rambles – Page 26 – truk tends to ramble on and on about stuff

Travel

Two Medicine, or Medicine for Two?

Post author By truk
Post date 7/9/2010
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We spent part of the day exploring the region around Two Medicine, which is in the southeastern section of Glacier National Park. The drive down 49 to the entrance to Two Medicine was one of best of the trip thus far, with barricade-less switchback turns overlooking a 1500-foot cliff with spectacular views.

The centerpiece at Two Medicine is a lake, and we walked around a bit of it to better catch a peek at a waterfall that started at the snowpack above and ended at the water’s edge.

Later on, we stocked up in Browning, taking some time to see the Museum of the Plain Indian and witness the first day of Indian Days, a gathering of the Blackfeet Nation that takes place annually.

We’re having a great time, fortunate to have such great weather.

Tags 2010, glacier, Travel

Travel

Into Canada, and Back

Kath and I drove north from St. Mary’s to the Waterton Lakes area in the Canadian side of the park, which is in a gorgeous setting, with a clear, off-blue lake beside a jewel of a town surrounded by snow-capped peaks.

The quote of the day from the Canadian customs official, who said: “So, how much beer is some beer, eh?”

We also looked around the Many Glacier area, including a hike up to a waterfall.

For dinner, we stopped at the Two Sisters Cafe, recommended by Mac. They make a tasty bison burger!

Today, we will go explore the Two Medicine area and visit the Blackfeet Indian Days festival, which happens to start today.

Tags canada, glacier, Travel

Travel

Good Morning from Glacier

We pulled into the KOA on the east side of Glacier National Park about 11 last night, after over 15 hours on the road from Rapid City. Along the way, we stopped off at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (bad weather; couldn’t really see it) and at the Little Bighorn Battlefield; interesting and definitely worth it).

After dodging cattle and horses in the road for the last 20 miles to St. Mary’s (very dangerous), we put up our tent in the dark. The morning revealed the beautiful mountains of the Park, beneath a cloudless sky and 60-degree perfect day.

Tags 2010, glacier, Travel

Travel

Rolling Through the Black Hills

Post author By truk
Post date 7/6/2010
1 Comment on Rolling Through the Black Hills

After catching up on some sleep this morning, we took the back roads up to Sturgis from Rapid City, ahead of the many thousands of bikers that will take over the place a few weeks from now. Frankly, you might think that the rally was going on now, given the sheer number of bikes in the region. Motorcycles are everywhere here, and I love it! (It’s like Memphis with SUVs.)

Deadwood was a bit of a bust, unless you like the tightest slots you’ve ever seen and a manicured Disney-esque Main Street. It is likely that Wild Bill would just keep on going through town, if he was passing through today.

Custer State Park proved to be the highlight of the day, providing the best collection of the different ecosystems of the Black Hills, as well as grazing bison and other animals plus easy ways to get away from the throngs of people stopping to look at animals.

We attended the nightly lighting event at Mount Rushmore, which was meaningful, but I’ve definitely taken my patriot pill for the month.

Tags 2010, black hills, Travel

Travel

July 4th in Rapid City, SD

Post author By truk
Post date 7/4/2010
2 Comments on July 4th in Rapid City, SD

Fireworks viewed off of the top of a downtown parking garage. We thought that would be the best place to enjoy the celebration, and apparently half of the town had the same idea.

Tags july 4th, rapid city, Travel

Travel

Kath in the Badlands

After a day-and-a-half of traveling, kath and I have made it to the Badlands. A fascinating, quiet, dry place, the Badlands exist due to an ancient shallow sea and a lack of modern precipitation.

We are heading into Montana soon, trekking up to Glacier NP and then on to Yellowstone and points south.

Tags 2010, badlands, south dakota, Travel

General Travel

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 7

Post author By truk
Post date 6/6/2010
1 Comment on Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 7

OK, this is the last day of the Jeff Parker Retrospective. This shot feature JeffÂ riding a chairlift while on a snowboarding trip to Tahoe in February 2003. (You can see Lake Tahoe in the background.)

More shot from this trip can be seen here.

Tags 2003, Jeff, tahoe

General

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 6

Post author By truk
Post date 6/5/2010
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Kath and I visited Jeff and Katy in New York City in 1999 on our way to South Africa.

I’m not sure if we were about to head out for the evening or working our way back to the apartment when this was taken. I do remember that it was August. And hot…

Tags 1999, bryan, Jeff, nyc

General

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 5

Post author By truk
Post date 6/4/2010
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(Facebook users: Several have mentioned that you can’t see the pics. Go to http://www.truk.com to view the images. Facebook is retarded and doesn’t show images in RSS feeds any longer. They used to. Now they don’t. Go figure.)

This picture was taken in July 1997 at my wedding. Notice that Jeff now is sporting shorter hair, indicating he has reformed his hippie ways. (Yeah, right!)

Also pictured are Aaron and Scott.

Tags 1997, aaron, Jeff, scott

General Travel

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 4

Post author By truk
Post date 6/3/2010
1 Comment on Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 4

I think that this photo, which like the ones before it predate digital cameras and had to be scanned from a print, was made in New Orleans during Mardi Gras 1996. Behind Jeff and (now wife) Katy, you can see the future Megan Douglas and Dave Hanson.

I think we all look a little hung-over, for some reason…

Tags 1996, dave, Jeff, Katy, megan, new orleans

General Travel

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 3

Post author By truk
Post date 6/2/2010
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I’m not exactly sure what Scott, Jeff, John, Aaron, and I were doing in Warsaw in late-1994, but I seem to remember that it had something to do with sightseeing, locating the Warsaw subway (hint: there isn’t one), and getting our first taste of Taco Bell in months.

In this photo, Jeff exhibits the cool confidence of a world explorer, sporting a Parker Construction t-shirt and trademark flannel. Good times, good times.

Tags 1994, Jeff, poland, scott

General

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 2

Post author By truk
Post date 6/1/2010
2 Comments on Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 2

You think you might know Jeff Parker, the man, or Jeff Parker, the father, but did you know that there is also … Jeff Parker, the farmer?

I don’t exactly remember what what going on in this photo, but Jeff appears to be tilling up the dirt around one side of the House of the Rising Sun to plant a garden. Who knows how green Jeff’s thumb turned, but you can tell that he is either a master tiller or he is just getting started, because he is still mud-free…

Tags 1994, Jeff, memphis

General Travel

Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 1

Post author By truk
Post date 5/31/2010
2 Comments on Jeff Parker Retrospective – Day 1

I just got back to Memphis tonight after yet another wonderful Memorial Day weekend at the Parker Lakehouse. (Thank you, Parker Family, for the fun, fellowship, and food!)

Anyway, when we were getting ready to leave, I randomly got the idea to post a week of photos of Jeff Parker. The first one covers a trip we made to Montana and Wyoming in 1992. In this photo, we’ve made it to the Canadian border, somewhere around Glacier National Park. Jeff, in the hat, has crossed over to Canada, and I think Sarah Doering (then, Cooper) took this picture.

Today, the trip is a bit of a blur in my memory, but I remember this scene clearly. The brilliance of the day, the width of the sky, and rapidly changing weather.

Tags 1992, Jeff, montana, sarah, truk

General

Douglas Family on Mud Island

Post author By truk
Post date 4/28/2010
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Walking the concrete Mississippi River model on a beautiful day.

Travel

truk and Dave at the End of the Road

Post author By truk
Post date 4/3/2010
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Two weekends ago, Dave and I traveled to the end of the road near Fort Pillow State Park north of Memphis. It’s a spot where the Mississippi River is slowly eating into Tennessee Highway 87.

I’ve been coming here for 20 years, since Sarah Cooper showed it to me, but I haven’t been back to the spot for about 5 or 6.

Tags motorcycle

Travel

Under the Waterfall

Cherokee Village has a nice waterfall near its community center.

Travel

Good Friday by the Spring River in Northern Arkansas

Post author By truk
Post date 4/2/2010
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A weekday off and (some) warm sunshine usually means you will find on two wheels, hopefully off-road. I’m enjoying all of those things today…

General Travel

Blast from the Past – truk and a Crocodile in 1999

Post author By truk
Post date 2/24/2010
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We visited a crocodile farm near Victoria Falls, which was actually pretty boring, but I did get to simulate what it would be like on the business end of one of these things.

In short, I didn’t even like putting my head in the mouth of a stuffed one of these monsters.

We got a chance to spend some quality time with a few of these in the wild a few years later, and my appreciation had increased by that time.

Tags 1999, crocodile, truk

General Travel

Blast from the Past – Meeting a Wild Elephant in 1999

Post author By truk
Post date 2/23/2010
No Comments on Blast from the Past – Meeting a Wild Elephant in 1999

Taken on the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls, this is a photo of an elephant preparing to charge us while we are on a horse riding tour of a park near the river.

We got a little too close to the elephant, who turned toward us and started to act aggressively. Thankfully, our guide was there to help us slowly back away from the situation.