So I think I am officially from Wenatchee now... apartment, driver's license, voting registration, and season pass to ski area. It has been a busy few weeks as I went back to DC for the PMF orientation and to visit Pipa, but I have settled into my new town.

Since I got back from that trip I have been working to make my apartment to feel like home. It is funny when you move into a new place, what makes it feel personal. A big key for me this time was spices; so far I have salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, curry, chipotle powder, and a generic italian spice. I figure I will get other spices as recipes call for them. I've already made a few meals at home and am really liking the space on a full-size range and the freedom to create dishes that having a dishwasher brings.

Another thing that makes it feel like home is setting up my stereo system to listen to NPR as I get ready in the morning or as I wind down at the end of the day. The stereo is now set and ready to go for tomorrow morning. Seems like the Northwest Public Radio will be okay; in addition to the standard news programs it has This American Life. However, it does not have Wait, Wait, so I guess I'll just listen to the podcast. Big bonus though, Wenatchee has a great community radio station that does BBC news in addition to playing amazing music.

The final piece that I need to fall into place is furniture. Originally, I thought I would get stuff off craigslist, thrift stores, and yard sales, getting rid of the stuff when I move again. Just to investigate, I went to a rental place and checked it out and then started to think that it would be nice to just get all the stuff at once and in good condition and not have to worry about finding a new owner for it come August. This week I'll make the final decision...

Work has been going well. Lots of time getting up to speed on the travel management project. The more I learn, the more compelling the project is.

Cool photo taken from the Supervisor's office two weeks ago when we got snow in the mountains (the snow is melted away now). The low cloud cover obscured the summits of the soaring mountains and gave a roof to the valley. Not sure I could take it for a week on end, as it made me a little claustrophobic, but it was a pretty neat effect and I would like to be high enough in the mountains to look down on the clouds

If you have suggestions for what spices to buy next, please post in the comment section.

I've been settling into Wenatchee. I am learning a ton very quickly at work and the size and beauty of the mountains amaze me everyday.

Got a cold on Thursday, so mostly laid low until today. I had some adventures in lodging. I had been staying at a wonderful bed & breakfast in Wenatchee that fulfilled its dual mandate (bed & breakfast) excellently. However, it (like every other hotel in Wenatchee) was booked up this weekend, so I headed north to Chelan for a new venue, the Apple Inn Motel.

The Apple Inn Motel was a nice place located in the town at the base of a deep man-made lake. However, it did not have a very good hot water heater. I only discovered this after I had filled a bath in order to try to knock out my cold. The water in the tub was room temperature, if not a little colder. So I looked around to see what I could use to make hot water to add to the tub to make it the sauna to sweat out the germs... it had bathroom sink facet, but it produced water that was just as cold... microwave, but no microwave-safe container... then my eye settled on the 4-cup coffeemaker.

I thought the coffeemaker would be the solution to my problem. However, turns out that 4 cups of heated water really does not do much to heat the tub. This is true even if you add 4 cups of hot water repeatedly. The tub water cools back to the original temperature by the time you make another 4 cups of hot water. So, I abandoned the effort and just consoled myself in college football and the linens of the king-size bed.

I felt much better this morning, so went to check out Lake Chelan. I found a great public beach on Willow Point on the north shore of the lake and skipped rocks for a good while, enjoying the sparkling sunshine and the gently lapping waves.

I drove back around the lake and headed south to Wenatchee, taking a back road through the mountains rather than returning along the Columbia River. The road was in pretty good condition, but took slow, careful driving to ensure that I did not bottom out my car. However, the coolness of a dust-covered car and the vistas from the mountain tops more than made up for the treacherous road:

I'm back in Wenatchee now and spent the evening reading Jack Ward Thomas' (a former Forest Service Chief) journals. He is describing the play between politics and science during the development of the Northwest Forest Plan. It is particularly interesting to read about the different reactions to the controversial issue given my experience in DC and my current location in areas covered by the plan.

I will hopefully find a place to live tomorrow. There is one apartment that I like, but it is a little big and a little far from downtown. I am looking at one more apartment that was built and is managed by the same folks. Hopefully that will fit me a bit better. If not, then the first place will end up suiting me just fine (it does boast a second bedroom for visitors.)

250 miles today to finish the trip to Wenatchee. Coeur d'Alene was as pretty in the morning as it was the night before:

Yesterday, I-90 in eastern Washington was closed for a 40 miles stretch due to a dust storm. As I drove through the area today, it was easy to see why; there were no rows of trees to disrupt the wind and there was a lot of dry bare soil exposed. Even this morning I could see the dust kicking up from some harvested fields:

I arrived at the bed & breakfast at which I am staying around noon time. I spent the early part of the afternoon unpacking the car into a storage unit south of town. The storage place was surrounded by an apple orchard, which seemed a fitting place to store things in Wenatchee. It is a little sad though because the farmer made the economic calculation that they could generate more money with a storage business than the acreage of apples.

At the storage place, the manager asked me why I moved to town and I explained that I will be helping determine ATV, off-highway, and other transportation issues for the Forest Service. She said, "That issue is just starting to brew," and then we had a ten minute conversation about how recreational ATV use destroys roads, making it hard to access hunting locations in the fall. I had not been in town for an hour before I heard one strong opinion. The preview makes me look forward to the task ahead.

My rig seemed glad to have shed the weight of my life's possessions. I really appreciated the increased visibility and handling from emptying the car out. It had been packed to the brim:

I returned to the bed and breakfast and sat out on the back porch looking into places to rent on craigslist. I visited a few this afternoon, but nothing feels right yet; too loud, too far from work & town, too funky. As I looked through the apartments on my laptop, the B&B's dog was on the other side of the backyard fence and it very much wanted to say hi. He was a pretty cute companion as I went about the work of finding a place to live:

Tomorrow I start work at 8AM. I took the ten minute drive tonight, just to make sure that I could find the Supervisor's Office. I am really looking forward to getting to know a new team, a new set of challenges, and a new part of the Forest Service as it will help me settle into life here, just like emptying my rig and looking for places did.

I plan on updating the blog less often now that I am in Wenatchee, but will still try to get up a few postings up every week, waiting until I build up some stories and pictures. Thanks again to everyone for following the blog this far.

650 miles today from Miles City, MT to Coeur d'Alene, ID. And I thought North Dakota was long.

The plants were looking a little sad, so I watered them this morning. I think the cold at night has been tough on the orchids, but they appreciated the water:

Today was all about driving with a few short breaks rather than one extended break. I stopped at a rest area with a short hike to an overlook in eastern Montana:

East of Bozeman, I stopped at the Montana Wheat Bakery for a Reuben. I made my lunch sandwiches with Montana Wheat bread during my detail to the B-D National Forest, so it was cool to check out the bakery that the bread came from.

I drove on and eventually crossed the continental divide east of Butte, which I think is the highest point of my drive:

My rig has been doing a great job, especially climbing to the pass out of Montana and into Idaho. As I descended from the mountains into Coeur d'Alene with the sun setting, the light cast dramatic shadows on the timbered hillsides and sparkled on the serene lake. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures, and my attempt at a description falls short. I would like to come back and will take pictures then.

Wenatchee is about 200 miles away and I plan on getting there by midday. Hopefully check in with the Bed & Breakfast and then find a storage.

Thanks to everyone for their posts to comments and facebook as well as emails. Everyone who has posted a comment to my blog by the time of my next post (tomorrow if I keep having good luck with wireless) will get a free beer (lager, ale, or root).

700 miles today driving from Minneapolis to Miles City, MT. North Dakota is a long state.

I put most of the driving early, not getting to Teddy Roosevelt National Park until late afternoon. It was starkly beautiful with vibrant reds, sparse vegetation, and dark skies:

I was very thankful for the 1 mile long loop through Painted Canyon. It included a wonderful overlook that was a breath of fresh air, giving me pause and perspective as I am largely confined to the small driving space of my car:

Some of the hike was difficult, not for terrain, but because of soil. Earlier rain had turned the clayey soil into gumbo that layered onto the soles of my shoes and slipped out from underneath me as I walked:

Despite the slick trail, it was well worth the walk both for the time off from the drive and opportunity to check out the Badlands up close and personal:

Tomorrow's goal is Coeur D'Alene, ID. No planned stop yet. I'm going to call some folks in MT to see if they are around and up for lunch or early dinner. If not, then I'll look to get to Coeur D'Alene early and check out the city and surrounding woods.

Ice cream dessert goes to whomever identifies what liquor is made from berries of the tree in the last photo of this post.

600 miles today. Drizzly off and on for the trip from Altona, IN to Minneapolis.

All the time on the road gets my mind thinking about alternate ways of interpreting some of the phrases I see on the journey. For example, the pizza box reads:

I imagine that this is intended to mean that if you want to be a driver for them, they are hiring people. However, I reread it that Howie's Pizza changed policy and rather than their former policy of hiring unsafe drivers, they have now decided to hire safe drivers. Probably had some bad experiences that led to this policy shift.

Another example, this orange road sign:

This fairly common road sign is intended to indicate the end of the area in which road construction is occuring. However, for all the people whose travel this work disrupts, it becomes a protest phrase, demanding the end of the oppressive road work.

A good way to otherwise distract my mind has been to stop somewhere along the way. Today I did an hour hike at Devil's Lake State Park in Bonaboo, WI. The outbound part of the loop had beautiful overlooks of the lake and it was nice to get one more hike in eastern hardwoods (though there are pines in this picture):

I have loved the upper midwest - particularly Wisconsin. Great NPR throughout the day and the Black River Falls rest stop had a half-mile hike with environmental education signs about the importance of fire in maintaining ecosystems.

Goal tomorrow is to cross the Montana line and then a bit more (Miles City maybe). The planned stop is Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

PS First to post with the call letters of the radio station which brings us "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" wins a burger dinner (beef, bison, or veggie) to be claimed next time we hang out. Hint, I heard the mother station today.

550 miles today in order to make it into Indiana. Traffic on the beltway was light when I left around 9:15 and the only other traffic I hit was the toll at the end of the Ohio Turnpike (weird that EZ Pass was backed up, but the cash lines were flowing quickly).

However, even before the drive started, the day was off to a good start because I hung with Catalina the dog this morning. Her most energetic time of day is the morning and we had a lot of fun playing in the backyard running through the bushes. This picture of her makes her look really anxious with my hand looming to pet her:

I'm trying to take an hour each day to break up the drive and have some extra fun on the trip. So on the way through Ohio, I stopped at Cuyahoga Valley National Park to visit my former boss Lisa. We had a good time catching up, comparing agencies, and I got to meet the Acting Park Supervisor.

It sounded like they've got a couple big projects ahead of them to revisit their park-wide trail plan as well as figure out how to manage their deer population. And with me working on travel management for the Okanogan-Wenatchee, we talked quite a bit about how the most effective planning specialists and efforts include an understanding of the particulars of the natural resources issues they are dealing with (ie not just doing NEPA the same way it is done for highway projects) and integrate knowledge of problems faced and addressed in similar planning efforts in other locations. Lisa and I hanging out in her office and talking about stewarding the public's lands:

Cuyahoga Valley HQ is right off of I-80, so I was back on the road and out of Ohio around sunset. So here I am, settled into the hotel room, watching the Senate Finance Markup (I can't believe they are still chugging along at 9 at night after 7 days), and with more dinner than any one person can eat:

Tomorrow the goal is Minneapolis/St Paul. If you have any ideas for the 1 hour near highway stop between Altona, IN and the twin cities, please post to the comments - I'll check them tomorrow morning before I leave.

PS If you suggest the place that I end up visiting, you win a free Indian food dinner for four (I must be one of the four for you to claim the prize).

So, the journey to Wenatchee has begun. With a honk goodbye from a fellow driver as I left the district and a traffic jam at 8:30 PM on I-66 in Virginia, I am safely in McLean staying with the Elias' for one last night in the DC metro area.

It was a good day. I had my last ad hoc presentations branch meeting:

And most everything got in the car (thanks Miranda), except the fan. This made one person in Columbia Heights that much cooler, but Miranda was sad:

Tomorrow, it will be up to Cleveland and then over to Indiana/Ohio line hopefully. Maybe even to the home of the Irish.

Finishing this post with a paraphrased quote:

It's 2500 miles to Wenatchee. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.

Hit it.

PS First person to comment with the correct movie reference gets a free pizza. I must be with you for you to claim the pizza.