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This log is current to August 1, 2006
After traveling almost continuously for more than six years, we have found a place to consolidate many of our possessions, which we had scattered not just across America, but as far away as Thailand, Laos and Nepal. Finally, the thousands of miles of driving and all the reorganization is nearly completed. Soon we’ll even be unpacked. This doesn’t mean the Expedition is over, it just means we have Without question, we looked like Gypsies as helpers delivered our belongings on a flatbed trailer, since no rental trucks were available. Our biggest discovery is Red Lodge itself. It would be This area reminds us a bit of Austria, with homes and barns in idyllic settings at the base of huge mountains. This barn is alongside the road between Columbus and Red Lodge. Some of the musicians are Don’s dearest lifelong People came to bathe in the music and the warmth and clarity of a perfect Montana early summer afternoon -- and to then gather around the Mobile Beer Unit from the Red Lodge Ales As music filled the barn, some people jumped up and danced to tunes both contemporary and from decades past. We have been searching the world’s nooks and crannies for many years. We have found one of the most fascinating and rewarding of all. This area is sparsely populated. But Billings, sixty miles away, provides a wealth of talented people who are only too happy to come to the Red Lodge area to perform and to take in the Big Sky vistas. Montana is America’s fourth largest state physically, although less than a million people live here. Much of the area near where we now live is protected by Wilderness designation, forever protecting the environment and the vistas. This summer a series of events will draw people here -- as they do every summer. It is hard to overstate the range of interests and the community spirit we are finding here. Photo: open range land at the base of Montana’s highest mountain range. Don’s grandf A terrific opportunity in Cambodia: We learned of the urgent need for a volunteer teacher to initially help teach English to five Korean children (aged 12,10,7, 5 and 5) in order to enable them to then be home schooled in English. Then to home school using an English language curriculum. This would be a wonderful opportunity to taste Cambodian and Korean cultures and provide a much needed service. July 2, 2006 in Red Lodge J July 8, 2006 in Montana Some of them depict the most moving and haunting experience of Don’s life. They are now inserted in his story in our Mind and Heart sec Please read about the Boat People of Galang Island. Olympic class liar Andy Mathis came to mind when a Montana judge ordered a different man, one who also lied about being a US Marine, to wear a sign saying, “I am a liar. I am not a Marine.” On the back, the judge ordered the words, “I have never served my country. I have disho July 17, 2006 in Montana Becky has been elected one of three directors of the housing association governing the subdivision where the Gypsy Wagon headquarters has been recently reestablished. When Don isn’t working on the Al Simps Next: The Expedition will journey to Emily, Minnesota for an event Becky is organizing. Watch for the photos. July 22, 2006 in Red Lodge, Montana (Photo: redelvises.com) They’re on tour in the western USA and had Red Lodge rockin’ last night. (Their site and sc We’re finding an amazing variety of activities in this little town. There are more cultural opportunities of all kinds than we dreamed possible. What a total gem of a town. August 1, 2006 on the road This statue of Sacagawea, of Lewis See photos of this, and of a terrific gathering in Emily, Minnesota in our Next Log |
We are now living under Montana’s Big Sky.
a terrific base from which to operate.
hard to imagine any small town with such cultural opportunitie s. We arrived during the week-long Red Lodge Music Festival, which drew talented students and professional musicians from across the
country. Other special events fill the summer schedule.
friends, others are new friends. Everyone had a great time at an event called “Live at the Barn,” an annual event at a ranch near the tiny town of Fishtail. A retired trumpet-playing airline pilot and his wife (a drummer) make their ranch available to musicians who fill the barn a
nd the surrounding hills with the sounds of music -- mostly marches and jazz.
brewery.
ather visited to this area from Germany in 1889 and never left. He married Don’s grandmother in Red Lodge in the spring of 1917. 
at a school on the Thai Burma border (Thai side). This is a Christian boarding school for Karen young people. The school is Christian (Anglican run, interdenominational staff). There are about 180 students, 120 of whom board. They need a minimum of two teachers and can take up to six, ASAP, preferably those who can commit until March 2007. 
uly 7, 2006 in Red Lodge
tion. 
nored veterans of all wars.” 
on biography, he can be spotted as a new member of the Alte Kameraden band, a town band in Red Lodge since 1896. It emphasizes Finnish music. Next gig: the big Festival of Nations here in early August.
hedule: 
and Clark fame, was on display at the site along the Yellowstone River where William Clark carved his initials into a rock 200 years (to the day) before our visit.