Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:44:57 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: this past weekend trip report
In-Reply-To: <49392517.162108.1364261745981.JavaMail.root@sz0063a.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net>
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I can understand and sympathize. I am fortunate that my wife likes the kind of trips we end up having, these logging road explorations for instance. When I sit down with the photos and write the quick notes for the blog post I can't help but think that the trips end up seeming strange. They are more than just bashing over (this last time very rough) logging roads and ending up camped in a logged area. No, really, they are :)
We both share the idea that finding a spot that has an outlook, a view, is nicer. Even if that does mean being perched at the end of a logging spur*. We find great vistas, and are completely alone. A surprising amount of wildlife is still around, birds, small mammals, deer, wolves, bear, and cougar. The latter we never see, and having 2 large dogs (small dogs are cougar bait) we probably won't see. My wildlife fear are wolves. Not for myself, but the dogs. I've seen a lot of wolves when hiking without dogs and have not had a problem, but I have this worry about coming across them with our dogs. As a further aside, the wolf population on Vancouver Island really goes up and down (classic example of predator-prey relationship) and currently the population on the southern part of the island is just coming out of a low (I think).
Solo trips have their own rewards too. You don't have those nagging thoughts about destinations and road conditions. My wife does have a little anxiety when we drive up some of the rough and steep roads, the ones that have extreme penalties for mis-judgement (you know the kind). She doesn't say much, just goes quiet and tense :)
She is also not the type that likes motorhome type travel (and I'm not dissing that mode, believe me).
cheers
alistair
* I keep using that term without explaining. A spur is usually a dead end road used as an access to a cut block (and setting up a high line down to a parallel spur below).
On 2013-03-25, at 6:35 PM, J Stewart wrote:
> Nice! I always enjoy trip reports. I also envy you guys with wives who support and participate in the Vanagon thing. My wife (I guess now on her way to being my ex-wife) did somewhat support my Vanagon obsession, but refused to ever go along on camping trips. OK, she went twice but hated every minute of it. Is there an eharmonyvanagon.com?
>
> Jeff Stewart
>
> Wife and I made an overnighter, just to get away from it all.
>
> http://shufti.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/trip-stopped-by-snow-but-fun-anyway/
>
> No, didn't see any motorhomes :)
>
> But man, these trips sure are hard on the old van. Roads are rough with the snow melt and heavy rains.
>
>
> alistair
>
>
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