Thursday, Dec 3, 2009

Things have been really busy here in Sisters for me. I've made an important decision ... I'm moving back to Salem in search of a job!

I've given my 30 day notice for my 2 bedroom house, and I'll be looking for a place to rent in Salem.

There are several different jobs listed in Salem, so I don't think it should too difficult to get a job there, although I know that a lot of people are looking for work right now, so there will be lots of competition.

I'm also trying to sell a few things on Craig's List before I move. If I can sell a few of these items, I won't need as large of a moving truck and I can save a little money. Check out these postings on Craig's List:

Oak Dinette Set with 4 chairs
http://bend.craigslist.org/fuo/1493246929.html

47" round Dinette Set
http://bend.craigslist.org/fuo/1493254153.html

Beige Loveseat
http://bend.craigslist.org/fuo/1493264994.html

1990 Ford Conversion Van
http://bend.craigslist.org/cto/1490474446.html

17' Coleman Canoe with paddles and 2 life jackets
http://bend.craigslist.org/boa/1490555918.html

If you need any of these items, let me know!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

When I woke up in the morning, there was about 2" of new snow that fell overnight. The street is covered in snow, and it looks very slick! I decided to travel back about 4 miles to the town of Burns to find a place to eat breakfast, then I'll travel slowly back home to Sisters, Oregon.

It's great to be home again!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

I made it to Burns, Oregon tonight. It was a long drive, and I'm tired. Stopped at a drive-in restaurant and ordered some Fish and Chips ... an odd meal to have out here in Burns, so far from the ocean!

Just outside of town, I was able to find a nice place to pull off the road and camp in my Ford van for the night. It will be another cold night, I'm affraid!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Arches National Park, just outside the town of Moab, Utah.

This is an amazing place. The rock formations are incredible. I stayed last night at the Lazy Lizard Hostel in Moab, and it was the perfect place to stay. They had nice showers, and the price was very reasonable. I went to the grocery store and bought a "you bake" pizza. It was great!

This is Landscape Arch ... one of the longest natural arches in the world.

Later in the day, I took a group hike to the Firey Furnace area, and it was a great thing to do. We hiked for about 3 hours, and I was amazed by the narrow passages and arches along the way!

Earlier in the morning, I met another hiker by the name of Jason, from California. He invited me to camp in his campsite, and another hiker by the name of Clay also camped there. It was a great evening by the campfire, enjoying chocolate chip cookies!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

I'm still in Moab, Utah, and it's a wonderful biking and hiking town. It got very cold last night, but the sky is blue and the sun is shinning, so I know it's going to be another beautiful day.

Before I forget, I want to put in a plug for a great web site for bikers called "www.warmshowers.org" . This is a site where people sign up to host bikers, and they have over 10,000 members all over the world. You can also read stories from world cyclists. I've used this site to find a host, and I'm also a member that will host other bikers when I'm at home. Check it out, and if you like a bike riders, sign up to be a host. Oh yeah, IT'S FREE!

Today, I'm thinking about going to Slick Rock to mountain bike, but I'm a little worried that it's too much of a challenge for my skill level. If it gets too bad, I'll just walk! Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures to post later!

Happy trails!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Vail, Colorado to Moab, Utah! Another beautiful day with clear, blue skys and cool tempatures.

I took a little hike today near Arches National Park. The canyon trail was called the Courthouse Trail.


I didn't get started until late in the day, and the trail wasn't very well marked. I could have hiked further, but there was a point on the trail when I should have crossed the stream. I didn't cross, but followed a trail that stayed on the near side, and I could only go about 1 mile before the trail ended as a sheer cliff wall fell into the creek below. I wish there would have been a sign saying to cross the creek, but I just decided to hike back out at that point. I think I hiked about 5 miles total, or maybe just a little more. It was beautiful, and I'm looking forward to going back to Arches National Park tomorrow or the next day.



This is a great little town. There are a ton of restaurants and bike rental / ATV rental / Jeep Rental shops and tour guides.

I was told that this is the slow season, although I think the weather is perfect for hiking. The trailhead had one other car, and I didn't see a single person on the trail.

There is also some great Mountain Biking Trails near here, so I'm planning on checking that out, too.

I'd like to be back to Salt Lake by the weekend, so I can spend a few days here, seeing the sites and exploring. I took all these photos with my cell phone. I'm pretty happy with the way they are turning out. At some point, I'll need to get another Canon Camera, but for now, these are just fine.

Monday, November 16, 2009

This is a shot I took on my cell phone of Vail, Colorado ... You'll have to read below to find out how I got there!


But first, back to my story ... when I got out of John's truck, I was at a rest stop in Iowa, not quite to Des Moines. It was cold and a little windy, but there was a lot of traffic, and I didn't think I would have too difficult of a time getting rides ... NOT THE CASE!

After trying for a long time, I decided it was time to head on down the road. This wasn't easy because I had my bike, my backpack, and my large yellow duffel bag that fits in my trailer. If I had my trailer, it wouldn't be so bad, but without the trailer, I have to balance my duffel bag on my handlebars. It's a challenge, to say the least.

I made it to the next exit and tried to hitch-hike there, but still no luck. There was a small town about 3 miles away on a side road, so I headed that direction. In the back of my mind, I thought that I might try to buy a cheap car rather than waiting for rides. I went to a Chevrolet dealer, but they really didn't have anything. They sent me to another small auto lot, and I looked at a Ford Explorer for $1,285 ... a lot more than I wanted to pay, but I was kinda stuck there. I was headed to the bank to get the cash while Jim, the salesman, tried to find the key. He searched all over and couldn't find it. I took that as a sign that it wasn't the right thing to do.

So, I'm off on my bike again!

Along Highway 6 though this part of Iowa is a fantastic bike trail called the Raccoon River Valley Bike Trail, and it goes about 56 miles. I rode for about 20 miles until it started to get dark. I know that it's impossible to get a ride after dark, and the trail is fairly remote, passing farms and pastures, so I decided to try hitch-hiking again.

To my surprise, I actually got 4 rides that night, all the way to Omaha, Nebraska.

Nebraska ... what can I say? It is NOT very friendly for hitch-hikers! Nor for bike riders for that matter! Early the next morning, I tried to hitch again at the I-80 on-ramp near a bunch of gas stations and truck stops. I sat there for a very long time, but no one would stop. There were plenty of pick-up trucks, but no one willing to pick up a guy and a bike sitting along side the road with a sign that read "North Platte". Back on the bike, riding.

I worked my way about 15 miles to Highway 6, a nice route that runs parallel to I-80 through several states, and even though there was a lot of room to pull over, no one would give me a ride! I had pick-up up a newspaper at the McDonald's Restaurant where I had my breakfast, and there was a 1990 Ford van listed for $800. Not quite the $500 I wanted to spend, but at least I'd be back on my way again. I called the number, and the owner was willing to come and pick me up, even though it was about 20 minutes away.

My new van is a real beater! I'm too embarrassed to post a picture of it! It starts, it runs, the tires aren't too bad, but it sure does use the oil. I can't tell if it's burning it or just leaking it, but I have to add at least 2 quarts with each fill up!

Made it all the way to Denver last night, and there was snow in Denver! Today, I've continued on to the mountain town of Vail, Colorado. (I'm up-dating my blog from the Vail Public Library!) It is so amazing here right now. About 12" of new snow fell over the weekend, but today the sun is shining and the sky is bright blue! All the green trees are covered in white snow! It's very cold today, maybe about 25 degrees or so, but I really love it here!


There are a lot of hotels and resorts here. The main downtown area is all foot traffic only ... cars are banned! I wish more towns had the same policy. In fact, the buses are free to ride, so you really don't need a car here in Vail.



I should make it to Salt Lake City by tomorrow to get my bike trailer and the rest of my gear, then I'll be heading South towards Tucson, AZ. I think I'll stop at the Grand Canyon on my way. If there's not too much snow, I'll try to do some hiking there.

I'll up-date my blog again from Tucson. Stay tuned! Happy Trails, everyone!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

It's been a while since I've up-dated my blog, so here it goes. Mostly I've been sending up-dates to www.twitter.com/stephen_fosdick and www.facebook.com/stephen_fosdick, so check those out if you want the most current news about where I'm at and what I'm doing.

I was back in Sisters, working at the ACE Hardware Store when I was offered a job with a trucking company in Des Moines, Iowa. Since I wanted to have my bicycle with me, I set out with my bike and trailer for Iowa in late October. On the way, though, I received an e-mail from CR England in Salt Lake City. They seemed to have a pretty good thing going, so in route to Des Moines, I stopped in Salt Lake City to check them out.

They offered me a 2-week paid training, both in the classroom and out in a truck with a trainer. The 4 days in the class went very well, and they even provided dorm style housing at no cost! Then I got matched up with a trainer named John Fenty from New York City. He was a good trainer, except he was on his cell phone all the time. I had a difficult time hearing him because he spoke very soft, he has a New York accent, and the truck makes a lot of noise (from the road). Often, I thought he was talking to me or asking me a question when actually he was on his phone talking to one of his friends or to his wife back home.

For the most part, I thought I was doing OK. I still have a difficult time with the shifting (It's a 8-speed). Once on a slight downgrade, I had it in 7th gear when I should have had it in 8th gear. I tried to shift into 8th, but because of the turck's governor set at 62 mph, and my speed at the time was about 68 mph, I wasn't able to shift into 8th gear until I slowed back down. This is called "coasting," and you have less control of your vehicle when it is not in gear. John got really upset with me for coasting.

Later, while we were driving in Chicago at night, I missed a turn. I was trying to follow the instructions from the GPS, making sure I was shifting properly, and making sure I wasn't running over a curb or another vehicle. John flew off the handle at me and said that I wasn't paying attention, yet he was on his cell phone rather than helping me with the turn-by-turn directions.

At that point, he asked me to pull over and he took over driving. He also just stopped talking to me. I didn't feel very safe being in his truck any more, being he wasn't talking to me, so the next morning while we were in Iowa headed for Colorado, I decided to get out of the truck and find my own way home.

John was really up-set at me now! But in the end, the experience showed me what this company was like, and I didn't want any part of it. I'm SO GLAD that I hadn't signed a 6-month lease for a truck like they wanted me to.

Now I had to find a way to get my bike and duffel bag back to Salt Lake City, and I need to find a job somewhere ... stay tuned!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

It's been a long time since I've up-dated my blog. Sorry about that.




This is my new scooter! It gets about 100 miles to the gallon, and I really enjoy riding it. It's a 150 cc scooter, and can easily go 55 mph, so riding it on the highway here in Central Oregon is not a problem.


I bought my scooter from the Scooter Station in Portland. I wasn't planning on buying it, but after I took it for a test drive, how could I pass it up?


After working at the Catering Company in Tucson this summer, I came back to Sisters and returned to work at the ACE Hardware Store. I'm still trying to purchase my own Semi-truck so I can drive long-haul. This is the truck that I'd like to buy:

It's a good time to be buying stuff right now ... prices are low and for used equipment, there's a good selection to choose from. This truck is a 2005 Volvo (one of the best trucks on the market for safety!), and it has a large sleeper unit behind the cab. I could see myself driving this around the country for the next couple of years.

I did some more hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail this summer, and while I still have not completed the entire 2,600 miles yet, I know that I will soon.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Another day, another adventure.

Started riding my bike to San Rafael Park, and then up McCarran Parkway to the East Keystone Canyon Trailhead. There's also a West Keystone Canyon Trailhead, but this location is mostly for off-road vehicles rather than bikes.

This shot is looking back to the parking lot at the trail head. There's a porta-potty at the trail head, and the parking lot is linear rather than circular.

I stayed on the wide track up the center of Keystone Canyon. There was a single track that branched off to the right, but it went back to San Rafael Park. There was also a single track that branched off to the left. I'm not sure where that trail went. The main trail was very easy to follow and not a difficult trail at all. Soon, you could see the power lines that lead all the way to Releigh Heights Park.

This looks up the canyon. The sky was nice and blue. It was warm in the morning, but not too bad.

The trail is a nice trail ... good for someone like me that is not as experienced as most when it comes to Mountain Biking!

I took a short break in some shade near this part of the trail.

This is up near the top, looking back towards the radio towers.

I ended the ride at the top of the canyon, near where I hiked yesterday at Releigh Heights. I wish I had gone the other direction (down hill vs. up hill). Oh well! Still a great day of riding!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

I'm still in Reno, Nevada, waiting to get dispatched to a forest fire. It's been pretty quite, and a little boring!

Today, I rode my bike to Releigh Hights Park, not too far from the condo, and went for a nice hike up Peavine Peak. Didn't make it all the way to the top, but it was a great place to hike. Mostly fire roads criss-cross this area. It was a little difficult knowing which road to take to get to the top. The views back to town and back to the condo were great.

I found this scorpion near where I stopped to take a break.


This is from the high point on my hike, looking back towards the condo and North Valley Regional Park.

I left my bike by the three water towers at the end of Wellington, otherwise known as Releigh Heights.

This shows Peavine Peak, 6,600 ft elevation to the NW of Reno.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Went for a nice bike ride near the condo here in Reno. There's a large park near the condo, and behind the park is a small pile of rocks to climb. This shot shows Lemmon Valley:

This shot is looking towards the North Valley Regional Park and our Condo is just on the other side of it. In the background, you can see 395 that runs North of Reno. It's about 6 miles to downtown on Hwy 395.

Later, I found some great flowers to snap some shots of:

I'm still having a little trouble getting shots from my camera to my phone. I did buy a 4 gig micro-chip that I can transfer directly from my camera to my phone, but it turns out that most pictures on my camera are t00 big for my phone to process. I can view them, but if I try to send them or use my phone to post here to blogspot, it just doesn't work. I still have to get on a computer, like I'm doing right now.

By the way, if you are trying to send me mail, the best way to do it is to send mail to my Post Office Box in Sisters. The full address is:

Stephen Fosdick, P.O. Box 1596, Sisters, Oregon 97759

I have someone checking my mail about every two weeks and sending it to me where ever I might be. I'm expecting to receive a bundle of mail tomorrow. Of course, if you just want to send me a text or e-mail, those go straight to my phone so I get them right away.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The sunsets here in Reno have been amazing. I was on a short bike ride near our condo, when I stopped to snap this shot.

It's been warm here, but not too warm to take a nice bike ride.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Went to a nice concert in a park by the river in Reno. Richie Havens played his guitar and sang songs.



In the background, there was an awesome sunset behind the stage:

It was a nice evening for a concert. I'm guessing about 3,000 people came to hear him sing.

The weather has been great here in Reno, but everyone is getting bored and it will be good to be out in the field working.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Today was a great day in Reno. Beautiful sunshine, the Truckee River bike trail that runs from Sparks through downtown Reno, and a nice lake and marina at Ledgend's Casino.

Then it happened ... my camera slipped out of my pocket while I was riding my bike.

A woman walking along the river saw it fall out of my pocket and tried to catch me, but I didn't hear her calling for me.

I spent most of the day on Friday trying to track down where someone would go if they found a camera and wanted to turn it in. I stopped at the Reno Police Department, the Parks Department, the Street Department, and the Bus Central Office. I left my name and phone number with all of them.

I called the local newspaper to place a "LOST" ad, but they wanted almost $40. That seemed like a lot, so I didn't place the ad.

Craig's List is a good place to put a "Lost and Found" ad, and it turned out to be the ticket. The woman that was looking for me had just called the newspaper. The clerk told here that I had just called to place an ad.

Barbara is a local resident of Reno, and she's a wonderful representative of her community! We met at Meadow Wood Mall. I tried to pay her for all her trouble, but she would not accept any money. Thanks again for returning my camera!

This is the bike path that goes along the Truckee River near Downtown Reno.

This is the marina near the Legend's Casino in Sparks.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

It took two days, but we finally arrived in Reno, Nevada. This will be our new base of operations. Now, we are just waiting for the fire season to start and that first call from the forest service saying that they have hungry fire fighters out there waiting for us to come and fix them dinner!

Word around the house is that we might have a few days off. Some of the crew has been talking about going up to Oregon, and I might go with them. Otherwise, I might try to go to LA for a few days. When I went through LA at the end of the Aids Life Cycle a few weeks ago, I really didn't get to stop and see anyone there, and I really wanted to. This might be the perfect time to take a quick trip there. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Meanwhile, I'll explore Reno some and post some pictures of the place.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

I went for another hike to Pima Canyon today. This time, I went in the late afternoon. It was very hot, but I took lots of water, so it wasn't so bad. These were very unusual red flowers:

As the sun started to set, the view was awesome! You can see some of the city lights as the sky grew darker.

Remember, you can find out the lastest about me by going to my twitter site: http://twitter.com/stephen_fosdick . I've been trying to send up-dates via my cell phone with the lastest information about what's going on with me!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

After working for a few hours making lunches with some of the other crew members, I met a friend here from Tucson and went for a hike at Sabino Canyon, on the East side of town.

We hiked about 8 miles, then it was a 10 mile bike ride back to the house. It was a warm day to be hiking, but that helped to keep the crowds away. As long as you have plenty of water, the heat is not too bad.

Monday, June 15, 2009

I got up early and went for a great hike at Pima Canyon, not too far from where we are staying.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, there was less shade to find on the trail.

I ended up hiking about 4 miles total, and it was a great time out on the trail. I wish I'd had enough time to hike farther, but I had to go into work today to make some lunches for fire fighters, so I had to cut it short.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Well, I'm still here in Tucson AZ. I really thought that I'd be on my way to Reno by now, but there is a fire somewhere near by, and 5 of us went down to work to make 250 sack lunches. Others have been going in to make dinner and breakfast. Until I hear something different, we'll be staying here.

I saw this tribute to a fallen bike rider here in Tucson. It reminded me of a similar one I saw last year on my coast-to-coast bike ride:

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Almost every night, there's a wonderful sunset here in Tucson. This shot was from a couple of nights ago:

Today was another beautiful day here in Tucson. I rode downtown, in search of some additional bike components. I needed a front brake and I also needed a new front derailer.

On the way downtown, I rode through the University of Arizona Campus. It's very bike friendly.

It was another warm day today ... probably about 85 - 90 degrees or so. I rode about 20 miles.