I was on a bit of a time limit now. Seven days to drive 24 hours back to Phoenix. If I did four hours a day, I’d make it. It wasn’t just Christmas I had to be home for, it was my eldest niece’s annual ballet performance in the Nutcracker. Having know her nearly six years, I still hadn’t seen her dance on stage and I wasn’t about to miss it!

Welcome to America

After leaving Rob’s, I had a pretty drive along the never-ending Okanagan Lake under the grey clouds. It only took me a couple of hours to get to the border.

We stopped at a park just north of it so Cleo could leave one last mark on Canadian soil. It wasn’t the most leisurely walk with two off-leash dogs coming over wanting to get their butts kicked, but we managed to find our way to the water’s edge and enjoy a nice walk.

Next up, border crossing. I always approach with a bit of trepidation and it was well justified. The man in the booth asked if I had any fruit or vegetables and I stupidly said, “I don’t think so.” When I went to check the fridge and found a bell pepper, I confessed and he sent me over to the parking area and he kept my green card.

I waited patiently then was approached by a 20-something year old lady. There was no, “Hello, how is your day” or “Welcome to America”, just this. “This is going to be difficult because of the dog.” She instructed me to step out of the vehicle with the dog and wait inside while she searched the vehicle. Sure thing.

Once I was outside with Cleo, she was in the van and I offered to open up the drawers and cupboards for her. “No need, I can usually figure it out.” Ok then… “Are you sure? I can just show you a couple…” “I’m fine, you can go inside now.” I managed to at least tell her to slide the drawer latches, then push in on the drawer before pulling it out. Out of my hands. This chick obviously knew what she was doing with my customer drawer latches that she’d never seen before.

Inside, we must have waited more than five minutes when customs lady came back, with this, “I’m sorry to report that I’ve broken your drawer.” Well, I let my hands fall to my sides in exasperation. This is exactly what I’d been trying to prevent. She said more words, but I just started walking back to the van with Cleo. I tied her up to the wheel and customs lady showed me the drawer she broke. I opened the others with the magnet and she was so interested in how it worked!

She looked in the drawers, then I asked, “Is that everything?” “I need you to open all the drawers.” I looked at her with my best blank face. She’d been in my van for over five minutes and hadn’t managed to open a single drawer? Now I was pissed. I stopped speaking then and opened all the bloody drawers for her. I made sure I got my green card from her then was happy to see her exit the van. I have no idea what she said, I was seeing red. My dog was outside in the cold, I had a broken drawer latch, felt like a criminal in my “home” country and no one had so much as said hello to me. Fucking unbelievable.

I got Cleo inside and got to work fixing the latch. After another few minutes, customs lady came back. She’d obviously spoken to one of her superiors. “Are you sure you don’t want to fill out a report for the broken latch?” “No. I’m fine.” She fucked off. Sad that she’s so young and already has that attitude. Latch fixed-ish, we drove into America.

I calmed down as we drove away, grateful for Cleo’s company. “Welcome home Cleo!” I sang out to her. “Welcome home….”

We stopped in a small town of Tonasket for a much-needed shop that I hoped would get us all the way home. It was getting dark, but I desperately wanted to cook a meal in my van so I raced through the aisles.

Just south of town, I pulled onto a National Forest road and was annoyed to find someone int he first pull-out, then nervous when the road climbed up and turned to snow. There’d be no turning around so I was committed. It worked out well in the end, I found a nice little spot off the road before things got too icy.

I talked to Mum & Dad briefly, made a quick dinner, then had a very early night. It was much-needed after short-sleeping myself so much at Rob’s place. Despite the border experience, it felt good to be on the road again, especially because it was the road home.

Snow in Idaho

I slept in until 8am then took Cleo out for a spin to the top of the road. I was in Washington but it felt like Idaho. Very isolated with rolling hills covered in low brush for miles with a bit of snow dotted around.

She did the whole “I’m not getting in the car” thing so she ran out front while I drove out. That lasted about half a mile until we saw deer in the distance so she was back in.

I was grateful for more mild weather on this drive. There was snow all around but nothing on the roads so it made the going easy. It made for very pretty scenery with all the trees dressed in white.

We stopped in at a roadside waterfall to stretch our legs then continued our way south-east. It wasn’t long before we were in the northern sliver of Idaho, a piece of America I hadn’t visited before. I was driving up a winding road to Schweitzer mountain by lunch time.

Before heading up to the resort, I checked out the first ever resort dedicated RV parking area. Wow! A big flat carpark by the fire station complete with a toilet and bins! What a refreshing change from “No parking between 2-5am”. Bloody brilliant.

Up at the resort, I got a Colin Edwards park with a stunning view. We were above a lake but we could only see a blanket of fog covering it and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like higher up.

After a quick lunch and walkabout for Cleo, I got onto the slopes at 2pm. Only an hour and half of snow time but it turned out to be plenty and there was no pressure to go find camp! It was early days at Schweitzer, just like Cypress, so only the bunny hill and two other lifts were open. I did the bunny once to get settled, then went up the hill.

I tried the left lift first which was ok, but the money run was on the right lift. I got some freshies! The view was just gorgeous from every angle and the sky was starting to turn very pretty colors.

I was feeling good so I decided to try and hit the fresh stuff near the chair lift (the runs under the lift always look good!). I managed to carve a few new lines then had a big stack when my board hit something under the snow and I fell forward hitting my right elbow on a rock. At least it wasn’t the knee! I sat for a bit to let the pain subside then gingerly carried on towards a groomed run. That was my warning. This early-season lack of snow thing was new to me and I’d just learnt about the minimal coverage and that falling hurts. Noted, but that didn’t stop me flipping one more time before calling it a day!

I walked back through a bustling village to a happy Cleo and I was stoked we didn’t have very far to go. I de-suited and we parked up at camp with about ten other vans and campers. Wow.

With no one else around, I took Cleo out with her shock collar on and when we were out by the plough shed, I was terrified to hear and then see two big dogs sprinting towards us. I told Cleo to heel and she stayed stock still. I had just enough time to run to her and pick her up and she didn’t fight me. She seemed scared too. The dogs backed off before they reached us and I just stood there with my pitbull in my arms. There was no one around.

I started walking back towards the van but I couldn’t carry her that far. It took a couple of goes putting her down, trying to scare the dogs off, picking her up again when they approached, but we made it back fine. A mystery.

My heart was racing from the initial scare so I made myself a warm drink to calm down then settled in for the night.

Sun Above the Clouds

Oh what a pleasure a weekend is. We woke up to a beautiful morning and had another lie in until 8am. There was no need to be trying for the first chair but we moved off to the resort parking to make breakfast there. The parking directors put Berta in a great spot pointing right into the sun that had risen above the clouds. Cleo would be able to work on her tan!

I just couldn’t get over this view and now with a blue sky overhead? Stunning.

My arm was a little sore from yesterday but I wasn’t complaining. I did the same routine as yesterday, hitting the bunny hill for a warm up then getting onto the right-side lift. I was listening to Queen today. Great music to keep the smile on my face.

I called it around 11am. It was time to hit the road (four hours a day!).

We drove down the mountain back into the clouds and spent the rest of the day in them. Only a few times did I see that blue sky again and only for flickers.

Again, I was stoked for the dry weather. Any snow would have made this a hard drive. I loved the scenery and after crossing into Montana, it only got better. There must be a thing about vintage cars in this area because there were multiple places where they were lined up by the road, as if paying homage to the automobile.

I was always driving alongside a river or lake and so we stopped at Trout Creek for a stand-up lunch. Cleo got her jollies off running around and when I tried the water tap, just out of curiosity, I found it was flowing. I filled up just to be safe, to make sure I had enough water for the journey home.

I was back on mountain standard time which was nice because it meant a 5pm sunset instead of 4pm. As we approached that time, the sky turned a funny blue hue. The clouds were persistent but were still thin I guess. It was beautiful. With the white trees in contrast, it was like something out of a movie.

Despite the “extra time”, I was racing the fading light again to find camp. I’d pinned a camp not far off the highway but by the time we got there, it was properly dark and I wasn’t game to drive down a narrow forest road. I parked up at a fishing access point instead. There was a sign saying it was for day use only and that you need a permit but I ignored them. I was ready for camp, it was dark and I didn’t fancy going another twenty minutes down the road to a rest area that may not have had potential.

We had enough light to explore a little and I could see bloody icebergs floating quickly down the fast-moving river. Brrrr.

The illegal camp was the kick-up-the-butt I needed to get the voltage booster installed for my heater. The headlights automatically come on with the engine running so if I wanted heat with stealth, I had to install this booster so I didn’t have to run the engine to get it going. It took my all of ten minutes and worked a treat. It was a little dangerous that the output voltage was set at 60V out of the box but I was wise to that, testing it with my multimeter before blowing anything up.

Feeling victorious, I had an early night in preparation for my work week.

Big Sky

I was up at 5:30am and out of camp by 6am. It got down to -8*C overnight so I had to do some ice scraping but I was happy not to have had a knock on the door during the night. I pulled into the aforementioned rest area and was happy I hadn’t camped there last night. It would have been super noisy, lit up and illegal but it would serve as my morning office.

It was pitch dark until 8am when the sky lit up something gorgeous. That was my queue to hit the road. We drove three hours to Big Sky, one of the biggest ski resorts in the country.

It was amazing how snow-barren Montana was. December and there were fifty mile stretches without any white stuff. It’s unheard of.

The only interruption to our drive was when the engine light came on, but I cleared it on the go without issue. As long as it continues to happen only every 1,000 or so miles I can live with it.

As we skirted Bozeman and started south towards Big Sky, I did some camp re-con. I was pissed off Big Sky was anti-van after the pleasure camp of Schweitzer but I reminded myself that Idaho was the exception, not the rule. There was National Forest all around and though there were lots of “No Overnight Camping” signs, iOverlander found me a good spot a little ways up a dirt road. It was snow covered but well enough packed down that I could make it up there without issues. I did a test park in the pull-out and found it level enough and only spun my wheels a little bit turning around to get out.

With that done, we started the climb up to Big Sky. It is an impressive mountain as you drive up to it with a very defined, single peak.

After trying too hard for a park in them Ian lot (again, unrealistic expectations from Schweitzer), I went to the overflow and had a great level spot with Cleo in the not-sun but bright clouds.

I did a bit of work over lunch then got on a shuttle up to the mountain – it was a truck towing one of those people carts. I met a couple of locals and they told me about a new tram opening the very next day and suggested a run for my first Big Sky experience.

Big Sky certainly felt big, probably helped by the bigger crowd, especially for a Monday. I took the advice of my locals getting on the only 8-person chair in the country. Not only was it huge, it had heated bucket seats. Ooooh la la! When a liftie on his day off asked me how my day was going, I said, “Great! But I feel like I’ve peed my pants!” He laughed and gave me the run-down of Big Sky, telling me which runs would be icy at this late stage in the day.

I didn’t intend it, but I ended up on the icy run the liftie had warned me about. It was horrendous. I stayed on my back edge the whole time and even sat down for a little bit of it, letting my butt slide along behind my board. Early season!

Next, I tried a green run down and that was also icy. Trying another lift, I found my happy place on Mr. K. I could see the talked-about new tram running and some guys on the lift pointed out the limits of the mountain to me. This place was massive. They also balked when I told them Montana’s website reported that 39 runs were open. Every little piece of catwalk was obviously a “run” I the company’s eyes.

I enjoyed a couple of runs down Mr. K but found my mind was somewhere else, so I decided to call it a day before I hurt myself (again). I was a bit mopy on the shuttle back to the car but Cleo perked me up, wagging her tail at me and running around. I got changed and vowed to have a shower tonight – I could smell myself.

We drove down the mountain back to our camp, stopping along the way at another potential spot but it was posted so the original it was.

I put my blocks down to get level and with an hour or so of daylight left, I knew a walk would do me (and Cleo) some good.

We walked up the forest road and I’m glad I hadn’t been tempted to carry on and find a better camp – there weren’t any. It was nice to just do some simple trudging on the hard snow pack and I felt better with every step. I assume Cleo felt the same way.

As we turned back to camp, the sky was doing impressive things and without my laboring breath drowning things out, I could hear water flowing all around us.

I had a glorious shower listening to Robbie Williams (Candy!), cooked myself some dinner and felt renewed.

Big Sky’s New Tram

Out of bed at 5am, I worked until it got light, then we drove on up to Big Sky. I had better luck with parking today but it was still half-full on an early Tuesday morning! I’d hate to be here on a weekend with good snow. The sun was out enough to bake the front windscreen so I left Cleo to it after breakfast and caught a shuttle to the resort.

My goodness, the queue for the main lift took my breath away, then I took a deep breath remembering the singles line. I was up in the amount of time it takes me to strap my left boot in. Off the lift, I went straight to the base of the new tram where an opening ceremony was happening. I pondered a while then decided the snow wasn’t worth going after, I might as well have a new experience. I paid $10 for a ticket and joined the line.

I listened to the Big Sky big wigs talk history and say thanks to the people who made this new installation happen. A big bell was rung, a ribbon cut, and the tram was in operation! It was a lively atmosphere made more exciting for me when I got talking to a pair of locals in line who knew EVERYBODY.

The crowd cheered as the first tram lifted off and the we all remained buoyant as we waited our turn. When I got to the entry gate, I got chatting to the liftie and he seemed pretty stoked to have landed the gig. Mid-conversation, the call went up for a single to join the next group. Me, me, me! I raised my hand and felt as if I’d won a prize waltzing through the gate to join my fellow trammers.

Excitement was in the air as me and my fifteen or so fellow riders left tram base. Our pilot commentated the journey, welcoming us aboard and telling us when we’d reached our max speed of 22 mph. Like kids on a school bus, we all waved madly as the opposing tram swept past on its way down.

Everyone was super smiley at the top despite the bitter-fast wind that cut through us when the doors opened. For once I wasn’t the only chatty one, everyone wanted to share their experience. There would be no riding off the top thanks to the thin conditions (we’d all left our gear back at base) so we all wandered to the viewpoint for a look off the back of the mountain.

The clouds broke intermittently and wow was it cold. The valley below looked very, very far away and a bit weird to not have any snow.

There wasn’t much more wandering to do and after having my hands out to take photos of other people, I was properly freezing. I spoke to some locals looking down into Big Sky bowl and they pointed out the “easy way down” through a chute that looked like death by rocks.

Two trams later, I was heading back down and chatted with the driver. He’d said he strategically mentioned the “t” word during his interviews with the hopes of landing this position. He was a happy captain.

It was such a great way to experience Big Sky with views from all angles and on such a fancy piece of engineering.

The music was still pumping by the time I got down and it was time for me to hit the road. I rode down Mr. K and that was my day done! Not a whole lot of snowboarding, but I didn’t mind one bit.

I shuttled back to the car where Cleo and I ran around the carpark a bit. I got changed, happy with how efficient my system was becoming, then chomped on a muffin as I drove down the mountain.

We drove south and I pulled up for a late lunch on the side of the road to take a 2pm meeting. There was a little bit of truck noise but I got through no worries.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving through a white desert. It was stunning with the clear tarmac roads a stark contrast to the untouched, sparkling hills. Just beautiful. I gaped at every turn at just how beautiful frozen water could be. What’s more, the Tetons were in our sight the whole time, taking me back to my Astro days.

Towards the end, we were really racing the sunset. I did a quick stop for diesel and was nervous that each side road we drove past was covered in snow.

Thankfully, the road to camp was flat and well patted down by those who’d gone before us. Ten minutes after we parked, it was pitch black. I knew we were parked near a lake but I was buggered if I could see any of it.

I was stoked to get my piano out for the first time and give it a whirl. I quickly discovered that my idea of sitting between the seats and playing facing backwards wasn’t going to work – not enough elbow room. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when sitting atop the kitchen bench, the keys were at the perfect height for playing.

Pretty Good State for the State I’m In

I did my usual pre-sunrise work routine with Cleo enjoying a lie-in, then we took a walk down to the lake’s edge. It was pretty and we were putting fresh tracks in the snow all around us. Despite the car tracks, not many people had ventured this close to the water.

We were driving south towards Salt Lake City and the scenery was still beautiful as we crossed state line after state line. This is how it went: We’d camped in Idaho, then drove into Wyoming, back into Idaho, into Utah for the first time, then back to Wyoming, then back into Utah.

Once we were in Utah proper, the landscape became so barren compared to the tree-lined and mountainous roads of the northern states. The white desert was swapped for yellow with absolutely no snow covering this desert. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was late fall.

At Bear Lake, I needed a break from driving and decided I wasn’t going to try get to Salt Lake City today. I could snowboard tomorrow. Cleo hadn’t had a decent walk in days and my body was starting to hurt from sitting all day.

After stopping at a marina that wanted money to park (I quickly used the bathroom and took Cleo out), we stopped at a rest stop on the south end of the lake and went for a longer walk.

We stopped at a lone tree by the water’s edge and I did some serious stretching. It made me feel lighter as we walked back. 

Back on the road, I pegged a camp and finished Guenther’s book on the way so started on some F1 season review podcasts.

Rockport State Park cost me $25 for the night and was unsurprisingly totally deserted. I was grateful it was open for the winter. We parked at the campground closest to the water’s edge (we were upstream of Rockport dam) then walked back to the entrance gate to pay our fee.

I saw a guy in camouflage on the other side of the lake’s inlet with with a rifle slung over his shoulder. I didn’t feel very comfortable when he looked back at me. America.

Back at camp, Cleo slept while I finished out my work day and work year. I was happy to have my last day of work for 2023, but it was the first time I missed being “at work”. I shut my laptop and thought, this is the part where I’d normally go to the pub with everyone, or get on a plane somewhere. Not so. I cleaned the van instead. The dog hair was getting ridiculous.

Brighton

I woke up in the dark and started the engine straightaway to get things warmed up. I packed up camp and drove out as the sky turned pale. It took us an hour to drive to Salt Lake and it felt very strange to drive right on past Park City which had been one of my favorite snowboarding mountains of seasons past. Not this year. I would be on the other side of the mountain range.

Driving up Cottonwood Canyon, I thought the “no dogs” signs were a bit weird, especially when near the top they said dogs weren’t allowed anywhere in the town of Brighton.

At Brighton resort, the carpark attendants were great, one of them saying hi to Cleo through the window and saying that yes, dogs technically weren’t allowed up here but he didn’t think I’d get in any trouble. They explained that they’d be packing people in tightly so set me up in my own row out of the chaos pointing straight towards the exit. Thanks guys!

After a quick breakfast and suit-up, I was on the first lift of the day! How exciting!

The carpark looked stacked but it was a happy crowd. I was on a time limit today and enjoyed each run as much as I enjoyed my chair rides. I spoke to everyone and had great chats with some great people, especially a guy on the bunny hill who’d watched Youtube videos to teach himself how to ski. I told him he should make friends and learn that way, it would be more fun.

At the peak of the mountain, I enjoyed some beautiful views over the back side and it was the same story as everywhere I’d been – not a whole lot of snow to see.

The mountain wasn’t completely open but I hit every lift that was running. Listening to Aussie classics, I was smiling and loving each and every ride. I managed to find a few paths through the trees early on that meant I found some freshies.

I squeezed in one more run than I probably should have, getting down to where I’d started right at 10:55am. I logged onto my therapy call as I snaked my way through the carpark. They weren’t kidding – they’d packed them in like sardines. Poor Cleo didn’t get her usual run around thanks to the dog law so she posted up in front while I took my therapy call from the kitchen.

We drove down out of the canyon and stopped in at a shopping complex for Cleo to get some much needed air time, then we were driving out of Salt Lake.

We were on highway 15 heading south and it was the first time in the last couple of months that I’d done any miles on a major road. I didn’t enjoy it much and there wasn’t a single rest stop! What the hell Utah?

After a late lunch walking around a park in a small town called Meadow, it was camp time. I was happy to get off the big highway and onto highway 89, a nice single-lane jobbie that was popular yes, but stressful, no.

I left it a bit late (again) to find a spot for the night but there weren’t many options. If it was Spring or Fall, I would have had a plethora of campsites to choose from but not so in winter. Just before Bryce Canyon, I pulled into the three possibilities I had pinned and none of them were any good but I found a nice flat bit of dirt road that did us just fine.

We took a walk into the wash behind us then holed up in the van the rest of the night.

Home

Emmi’s ballet performance was tomorrow. We had a lot of miles to cover today and that’s what we did. We were up with the sun and drove off into our home state.

I didn’t use my phone for directions today. I knew where I was going and I didn’t want to be reminded how far away I was from my destination. An hour after leaving camp, I saw a sign for a rest stop (finally!) and pulled in to make some breakfast. The rain started shortly after that.

I turned the music up loud to appease Cleo – so much for my podcasts. We were in and out of pelting rain all day and it made the driving go quickly because I had to concentrate.

The landscape was familiar but not boring. Through northern Arizona, we passed Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon without a second thought, glad to carry on past without being tourists. At Glen Canyon Dam we got out to stretch our legs and have a look around. I’d been here before a few times but you always see something new. They had a “small” turbine on display and it weighed 8 tonnes. Wow! That much stainless steel will do that.

We drove through ore rain, then into fog as we entered Flagstaff and stopped for lunch. We donned our jackets and went for a quick tour around the trailhead but we were on the home stretch (literally) and wanted to get back before dark.

Descending from Flag was a nice familiar drive. I smiled as I came down fuel pump hill and spotted that first cactus marking the entrance to Phoenix proper. Before we knew it, we were on the multi-lane highways into the big smoke. We’d left the rain behind in Flag meaning a sunny welcome home.

When I pulled into the driveway on McDonald, Deb was out there to wave us in. Cleo nearly jumped out of the window to get to her. She knew what was coming – a lot of relaxation time with her not-friend.

Inside, the Christmas tree was up, stockings were hanging on the mantel and my feet were too warm in my winter boots. It felt like I was home.

I parked Berta in her spot under the tree of the side yard then ran into Deb’s arm. I was proud as ever of Berta for taking me and Cleo on such a fun ride. We’d been on the road over two months. She kept us warm, took us everywhere we wanted to go and impressed a lot of people along the way, but no one more than me.

 15 – 22 Dec 2023