Category: Uncategorized

I have been quiet the last few days, out of respect for the tragic loss of Margie and Bruce, two people living the full time rv life and sharing that life in their blog.  Their sudden, senseless death, caused by a crazed driver in Pismo Beach, California, saddened so many and reminded us all how precious life really is. I haven’t really followed blogs until recently and I am just now discovering what a great community is here.  Thank you especially to the people who have added my blog to their list, who have made comments, and who continue to inspire me. Rick and Paulette, I am learning from you in leaps and bounds, but I’ll never measure up. Karen, I love the South, and your stories of kayaking in Florida make me want to get up and go there right now! CeiPui, is that your given name?  You are such a sweetheart, and so full of kind thoughts.  Laurie, you are my morning addiction, as you know. I’m so lucky to have met you and Odel in person!

What follows is just another piece of my story, an attempt to continue writing, sharing, talking, and learning. 

I was a mother, a wife, and a waitress for a gazillion years before I became a soil scientist in the late 1970’s. At the time, my career choice was based on a desire to be something OTHER than a waitress, and a vague idea that I wanted to “work outdoors in the soil”. I had a beautiful garden, loved being in the wild forests of Northern Idaho, and wanted to do something where I could actually make a decent living.

Hence, soil science. My journey from waitress to soil scientist is another story, much too long for this space, but the title “Soil Scientist” always brings up the same response.

“What do you do?”

“I am a soil scientist”.

“A what??”

“A soil scientist”.

“Oh” (drawn out silence that usually includes glazed eyes while the questioner envisions me in a lab coat somewhere hunched over test tubes filled with dirt.)

In reality, my particular niche in soil science is nothing like that. For 30 plus years I was part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey Program, an effort to map the occurrence of soils throughout the US. My work had two parts, collection of the soils information and managing that information.

…

Soils occur in the landscape as a natural entity, and soil in place is what I study. The maps I made were much like geology maps, and the soils themselves reflect not only the geology, but the vegetation, the landforms, and the climate. As a field soil scientist, I had to understand how all these factors came together to make different kinds of soil, and to use these clues to decide where the boundaries between soil types would occur. Then I dug holes, 5 to 8 foot deep holes unless I hit bedrock or water or some other limiting factor, and described all the layers of those soils in minute detail. And yes, most of the time those pits were dug by hand, by me, with a shovel! I marked the location on a map, filled in the hole and moved on.

The managing of this data has changed so dramatically over the last 50 years that it is nearly unrecognizable. In the 70’s, I drew soil boundaries on black and white aerial photos with a stereoscope so that I could see the landscape in 3D. Now I use sophisticated GIS and GPS tools to make soil maps and instead of handwritten soils descriptions, we now have one of the greatest databases in the world to store soils information. If you are interested, go to Web Soil Survey and you can actually see the soils mapped in your world, on your property, and see all the associated information that is part of the soil survey product.

My career was amazing, and gave me the opportunity to see the wild parts of the world in ways I never would have managed as a lay person. I also developed my understanding of the art and science of making soils maps enough that I could mentor young folks new to the field. With this in mind, I knew that continuing to participate in the process of soil mapping and soil survey was something I wanted to do.

My agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, has a great program for retired scientists that allow us to work part time and share our collective expertise. I am now working for the last two soil surveys that I managed, only with no management responsibilities and no stress. It is absolutely wonderful, and has the added benefit of providing extra income for me to travel. I don’t know just how long I will continue doing this, but for now it’s really great. Since sometimes in the blog I will talk about having to get back to Klamath for work, I thought it might be fun to share just what that work actually entails.

The rest of the photos for these days are linked here. and here

Most of this trip has been about traveling and seeing new sights and new  places.  However, along the route, we had several stops planned to visit friends and family.  Mo’s sister lives in the Denver area, with her two daughters close by.  In addition, Edna and her husband recently purchased a new (to them) motorhome and decided that a group camp would be a great way to check out all the bells and whistles.

Edna made reservations for both of us at Chatfield State Park, near Littleton, Colorado, a site only a few miles from their home and we both pulled in yesterday within a few minutes of each other.  The skies were heavy and gray and even though they looked scary, the rain that fell was just a spit here and there.  Tom and Edna were happy to have “experienced” RV’rs nearby to help with all the little details of setting up a motorhome and we enjoyed helping out,  and remembering when we were new at all this as well.

After setup, we brought out some snacks and wine, and because of the weather, snuggled into the MoHo for some catching up time.  As the evening wore on and cleared up a bit, Mo and I took an opportunity to try out the great bike trails that surround this very lovely, open park. 

Edna was excited about cooking supper for all of us and did a great job of grilled dogs and all the fixings.  The night was just cool enough to turn on the little electric heater and sleep comfortably.  I did a big breakfast for all of us in the morning while we listened to their happy tales about their successful first night sleeping in their new RV.  We all settled in to a peaceful day, with Tom and Edna hanging out and Mo and I driving to their home to visit Tom’s mother, who is a precious lady over 100 years old.  It was great to see her again. Later in the afternoon Edna’s daughters appeared, even in the midst of their busy schedules, and we visited some more and caught up with all the family newss.  Susan’s newest son is just 12 weeks old, so of course everyone had to ooh and ahh over the baby.

Edna’s dog, Abby, and Jeremy all got along just fine.  Jeremy especially liked this camp, with the open space and the many critters than must have been scooting around in the grass.  He spent a lot of the time out on his leash today while we sat around not doing much else.  The skies were gorgeous, blue and brilliant with no smog or haze anywhere.  Evening was perfect with a steak supper provided by Tom and Edna and a great full harvest moon to light the evening.  Tomorrow we will be on our way to explore the Colorado Rockies as we wind our way to my heart home at Capital Reff.  Soon, very soon, I will again be in my red world that speaks to me so deeply.  My kids keep saying, mark the spt with gps or something, Mom, how in the heck are we supposed to find this place. (the one where my ashes go!)  LOL

Camping at the home of friends has some delightful amenities, especially when the friends are so helpful.  Millie fed us breakfast, then opened her laundry room to five loads of musty laundry while Don pulled out his power washer to help Mo clean up the very grungy MoHo and Tracker. After our busy morning, Millie again brought out another meal, including her luscious potato salad, and Don suggested that we tour the Air Force Museum of Flight in Dayton, Ohio.

We spent the rest of the day at the museum, a most amazing place that I will need to talk about a bit later and having supper with the family.  For the moment, I must leave this McDonalds parking lot and head for the river!

Photos for this day are linked here

Just a quickie note for my family trying to follow along on our travels.  Today we are in Watkins Glen, NY, and still don’t have a good enough WiFi conneciton to upload the blog posts for the last several days.  The missing days include our travels through Canada, Ontario, Toronto, Niagara Falls, and back into New York state in the Finger Lakes District.  The posts are written, and hopefully before long I will find another good spot to connect and upload them.

In the mean time, all is well. We are in a KOA campground for the first time since 2005.  The advertised free wireless consists of a connection slower than dialup, and the advertised cable doesn’t reach to our site.  Ha!  Good thing there are amazing state parks and waterfalls all around us.  We also have a sunny day in the forecast after many days of overcast and rain. Looking forward to a day of hiking.

The photos for this day of travel are here.
I have so much to write about this day, leaving Montana and traveling through the wildly beautiful northwester portion of North Dakota.  However, time and internet connections have timed me out as well, so I am only posting the link to our photos for the time being and will hopefully add something to this day when I again have an internet connection.