My Journey

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Las Vegas over that? No way! Maybe a brief fleeting thought. But I have no doubt she will be very happy to get back on the road again.


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smlobx

Wanderer
Just spent the last couple of hours catching up from the last time I visited your post. As a recently retired General Contractor I have to commend you on the quality of your work! I haven’t seen anything that I would have done differently. You have certainly found a slice of heaven there.
Thanks for taking us along.
 

TheDeliverator

New member
Jerry...

Thank you.

Yukon, Montana, Tanner and Trapper...

Thank you.



I have reached the latest post for the Second time.

Like someone mentioned ( @ITTOG ? @tgil ? - someone else?), I started reading a bit before Montana departed. After her passing, I went back to the beginning of your thread and organicly read through up to March of last year and stopped 'cuz life\COVID.

The last few days I have caught up to today.


It feels like each time I read a page of your journey... I learned, I pondered and yes the most cliche, I laughed and I cried. You are a wonderful professor, even if you do not believe it.

I've lost count of the bookmarks I've made of your posts in this thread. Little notes, in case I ever find myself in the neighborhood of the places you've explored. I do not recall creating a single bookmark elsewhere on XP.



A hearty thumbs up to all the commenters\contributors so far... what an enjoyable read.
 
Alan.....I think all three of us will be glad to get back on the road again. Living in the truck camper is my connection to my other life. I work all day and then retreat back to my tiny truck camper and it's my daily reminder that these days spent here are just a small part of My Journey.....

smlobx.....I appreciate those words that are a form of encouragement but the honest truth is that there are several glaring issues that I've yet to resolve. When we had that big snow in late May, it soaked the flooring and the seams swelled up badly. I'm hoping to sand it out but it's significant and it's around all the new seams. For some reason the tongue & groove boards would not fit.....new to old. And then the new Perlins & new roof line are far from straight. I've hired a guy to come have a look and hopefully fix my mess. Hopefully the fascia will cover it. I often say "good enough" while working on this project and often it is.....but sometimes it just ain't.....

TheDeliverator.....well dang, that's a real nice thing to say. You and people just like you are what attracted me to XP initially.....& you point out a key reason why this thread has lasted so long.....the commentors & the people here are really what keeps it going.....thank you so much.....



June 14, 2021.....Like much of the United States, Montana had a heat wave too.....probably not near as long nor near as bad as much of the country.....but it still got hot. June is typically the second wettest month of the year here but as I type this post I can tell you that it's barely rained a drop in June. I was hoping for a little drier weather than May.....but nothing like this was on my mind. To the north of us I spotted the first forest fire of the season.....

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It doesn't take long for these fires to get out of control fast.....fortunately this one was contained rather quickly.....

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For a couple of days here it got it really hot.....

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I can't tell you if that's right or wrong.....that's just what the truck said to me as I was cruising down the interstate on my way to the county landfill.....

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Now it was the temperature that made me go that day.....you see we don't have air conditioning but the truck sure does and it felt so good that afternoon just cruising down that highway. I drove as slow as I legally could.....I and the dogs.....we just never wanted to get there.....

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June 15, 2021.....The following day was another hot one so we headed into town and sold all our metals & wires taken from the house.....

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Once again we drove slow.....and it felt so good.....

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The dogs each laid in front of a cool vent while I unloaded our stuff.....

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After that we headed to Lowes to browse lumber & hardware (the truth is we only went there cause dogs are allowed inside and as you know Lowes has air conditioning).....and it felt really good in there too.....

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About that horse in the Lowes store.....I'm thinking only in Montana.....what you thinking.....

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Riversdad

Active member
Jerry, I remember how much you wanted to get a piece of Montana and a house. Now that you finally have one what's your rush to get back out there? If you are that much happier on the road then why the house? Inquiring minds want to know.
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Regarding the horse. It’s says animal trainer on his shirt. Maybe there is such a thing as guiding eye horses?


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tgil

Well-known member
Living in Texas, it rarely surprises me to see a horse (even in a Sonic "drive" through), but I can honestly say I've never seen one inside a store! On the A/C topic, why not have a window unit, at least? I thought I was going to die a slow, hot, death in a Colorado rental last year. I'm spoiled, and the last couple of weeks have come to realize I'm getting "soft", the older I get!
Trapper's "thoughts" cracked me up!
 
Riversdad.....I wish I had an easy, simple answer to your question but honestly I myself don't understand it. Sometimes I'll find myself sitting on a mountain top and looking out over the valleys and my mind wanders.....and I'll think about having an actual home of my own.....the easy lifestyle and all that comes with it.....

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But the truth is that I'm happiest when I'm climbing those mountains and when I'm sitting on those mountain tops.....

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So maybe sometimes dreams are better to remain dreams.....

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I've worked really hard here for the past two months but every additional day that I'm here, I can feel my heart missing the road more & more.....

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That's just who I am.....

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longhorn1

Observer
Hey Jerry, I've been out and about here in Alaska, just catching up with your current endeavors, looks as though you've got your hands full, and then some, but in the end,,,,, it will all be worth-it for sure,,,,, and that VIEW you've got, looks an awful lot like the Bridger Range to me,,,,, used to Hunt Elk there and in the Crazies as well, still got some good friends in Big-Timber,,,,, anyway, Best of Luck to you and the Dogs, going forward..... Murphy said to say "Hey" as well..... :cool:
BD and Murph in Alaska.....
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Be in Big Timber over Labor Day. My great-grandfather was one of the first Norwegian settlers in Big Timber. Have a boat load of cousins and friends with large cattle and sheep ranches. Love going there.
 

longhorn1

Observer
Got caught up and the house is looking great. When I look at your dog pictures, I just smile and then look over at Sarah laying on her back on the sun with a smile on her face. Gotta love our dogs. Can't wait for August, Hoping to get some good fly fishing in. Lewis & Clark State Park, Flathead Lake, White Fish, Big Sky, Yellowstone, day trip (s) into Glacier, Big Timber, then looking for dinasour bones near Glendive. 4-5 weeks should give me a good Montana high. jd
 
tgil.....a/c units aren't necessary in Montana although they're not unheard of. I didn't have a/c in my last house here and we did just fine. I enjoy having the windows open and breathing the fresh air.....

Alan / vintageracer.....what I don't get is how you house train a horse ? I don't recall ever seeing a horse owner pick up after their horse. Often I find myself bitching about horses that leave miles of manure on the hiking trails.....

JD.....time flies except for when you're planning to visit Montana.....seems like you've had these plans for years.....not months.....



June 18, 2021.....So I finally made it back to the barn to begin a task that I'd really been excited to do.....the first step was to remove the stone walls that surrounded the base of the barn.....

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Things started out a bit rocky (pun intended here).....

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.....but once the rocks were out of the way, and I grabbed my newly purchased paint sprayer, the barn took on a whole new look.....

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I have to tell you.....I was really pleased with the new look.....

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I went to the local nursery to pick up some wild grasses to plant around the perimeter.....as I looked at those wild grasses in the plastic containers priced at $11.95 each I realized that these plants actually grow in my field so I put my shovel back to work.....and there you go.....the barn is done for now.....total spent on barn landscaping.....$0.00.....

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My hoarder / Instagram star buddy from across the road has stopped visiting me now.....his cancer treatment seems to be getting the best of him and he's unable to make the long walk any longer. It's just a reminder to me that I always need to take the time to be thankful.....

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Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
At least when you’re hiking you can step around the horse manure. But when you’re mountain biking it’s not always possible to miss. But if I’ve got to ride through crap I prefer horses over cows.


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