This was a flop! So, our next stop and next campground was at the famous Franz Joseph Glacier. Unfortunately, clouds and recent washouts made the adventure impossible. These photos/movies were the best we could do.

HOW DID 18 RV UNITS PULL OFF DRIVING 1200 MILES TOGETHER?

This is what 18 RVs looked like parked together. You would think that keeping them together, blocking the roads for every other car would be a miserable, and frankly probably illlegal.

But, this is how it worked. We each had a written turn by turn description of the daily route with the kilometre markers at each turn. Also, we had points along the route, like a MacDonalds for instance, that had kilometre markings in case we meandered off the route to visit something not on the route. That way you could recalibrate the kilometre readings, especially if you were good at math. Others, not so much.

Each evening or early morning we would meet and go over the next days or that days route with any changes noted from the same tour 6 weeks earlier. Each RV would leave when they wanted and take the route they wanted. Some would stop at zip lines, flower gardens, wineries or groceries. The ultimate target was for all units to show up at the next designated campground in the evening or at a specific time if there was something planned. By and large, all units did a great job!

So, at Franz Joseph, there wasn’t any Franz Joseph activity, so I tried talking to the cows across the fence from our RV. Their eyes were awful vacant so I gave up. Here is a poem I wrote years ago about that.

What Do Cows Do, Anyway?

Did you ever look into the eyes of a cow
Standing in a field, alone, chewing cud?
Ears striking vectors in the wind,
Tail cadenced with blowing grass.

If you wandered into a cow’s mind,
What would you find?
Thoughts of calves past,
or lovers pleasured or springtime
or expectations of coming feasts?
If left alone and unattended for time,
What would they add to the universe?
Hoof prints for young acheologists?
Cow pies for an explorer’s fire?

What DO cows do, anyway?

I don’t know what it is about cows, but here is one other poem I wrote about those beasts.

    The Cow

Standing heavily on all four legs
In the lush green of an irrigated summer,
She stands steady, solid, facing the north wind,
While her black leather thick coat quivers.

Her ears strike out at vectors in the wind,
Her tail counts cadence with the blowing grass,
She chews her cud, contemplating tomorrow,
While her black leather thick coat quivers.

Her deep black eyes circled by crescents of white,
Gaze out, past thin barbed wire strands,
Focused on the air before the mountain range,
While her black leather thick coat quivers.

Her mind wanders to places unfathomable to man,
Foggy space filled with golden heifer herds
And tall green alfalfa, and fields of dried corn,
While her black leather thick coat quivers.