Depression…..

36 hours ago….up 9000 feet camping in the mountains, heard 1 jet fly over, and ran into a traffic jam consisting of about 90 head of cattle free ranging on a forestry road. No TV, no cell service, no politics, no people, no emails, no grief….only concern was if I had enough gas left in the atv to get back to colorado from where we made it up into WY.

Now
Blood pressure is off the charts, phone blew up, enough emails to last me a month, everybody chattering about Trump this and Trump did that….and suddenly it sounds like I live in the median of I894 in Milwaukee.

4 days of vacation is never enough; I need to go home to the mountains

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_0587A.jpg
   

2. 

   20180728_145137A.jpg
   

3. 

   20180728_121501A.jpg
   

few more to add salt to the wound

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_0672A.jpg
   

2. 

   IMG_0632A.jpg
   

3. 

   IMG_0621A.jpg
   

4. 

   IMG_0606A.jpg
   

It is honestly the worst feeling coming home from a camping trip or hiking trip with no phone and contact to the real world. Only to come back to reality and work. The only escape is to start planning the next one

Forgot to mention that is a beautiful area. I love the pictures

Well at least you came home to life being good. Nothing wrong with how the good USA is being ran. Things are good. No GREAT!

I’ve been out west many of times. Very relaxing. They also face their own real world out there and I’m sure they take vacations and appreciate the time away from the life they live.

1 was out there muzzle loader season elk hunting when 9/11 happened. No sounds at that time of planes. Long way from home when you hear that news.

riverruns wrote:

Well at least you came home to life being good.

little do you know about my life

It’s the choices in life we make that define us.

Dutchboy wrote:

It’s the choices in life we make that define us.

and also affect many others. Only reason why I don’t move

Was just on a remote flyin to Canada last week. Only 5 days I get a year where I am totally disconnected. When I was back in the office Monday my coworkers made comments like “bet you’re rested and ready to get back to work!”

Coming back sucks and all those comments did was make me angry. Already booked for next year so I’m tracking with you Randy.

You wouldn’t be able to post about your depressing arrival back home without internet access. I haven’t had cable in 5 years or ever had snapface to pay attention to any of the meaningless garbage that is spewed every day. Basically I really don’t need to be plugged in to everything that goes on and I haven’t missed it. When I unplug for days, nothing really changes since I ain’t plugged in to begin with. More people should try it but too many are absorbed in this self fulfilling age we live in.

Imagine the rage if we actually had to wait more than 2 days for a package!
Sad sad generation unfolding.

Randy Wieland wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>riverruns wrote:</div>
Well at least you came home to life being good.

little do you know about my life

really Randy?? You could eat spam, drink Hamm’s and fish for catfish!

Awesome pictures by the way.

Randy….. really glad you got to enjoy the time there. Wish I could do it and see all that. Hope being back gets better for ya!

Along your line of thought…. short story, had friends in the mountains of Wyoming when the September 11 attacks happened…. they came down totally oblivious to it all of it three-four days after…. to an all new world. They were shocked, but looking back think they had those extra days before so much changed. The days of perfect peace, balance and happiness where others were mad, scared, and all full of pain for what had happened.

Hold on to what you experienced and treasure it.

eyeguy507 wrote:

Sad sad generation unfolding.

Said every generation ever.

And nah, this generation will be just fine, will probably fix a lot of problems caused by the previous generations though.

philtickelson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eyeguy507 wrote:</div>
Sad sad generation unfolding.

Said every generation ever.

And nah, this generation will be just fine, will probably fix a lot of problems caused by the previous generations though.

Stop making sense, you’ll ruin the internet for grumpy people!

Randy, I get the same feeling every time I’m tearing down my tent and packing everything up. Hang in there!

philtickelson wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eyeguy507 wrote:</div>
Sad sad generation unfolding.

Said every generation ever.

And nah, this generation will be just fine, will probably fix a lot of problems caused by the previous generations though.

Totally agree Phil!

Randy my story isn’t exactly the same but I know how you feel. I was camping in August during the last election. Went 5 days with no social media. Had to run to town, logged into Facebook for 10 minutes and people with me could literally see my mood change.

Last day of camping always felt like the last day of summer vacation when you were a kid.

Matt Moen wrote:

When I was back in the office Monday my coworkers made comments like “bet you’re rested and ready to get back to work!”

Ready to get back to work? Some people don’t understand that not everyone lives to work. There are those of us that work to live. Cue John Denver song at this point.

“Ready to get back to work? Some people don’t understand that not everyone lives to work. There are those of us that work to live.”

Amen to that, brother. Like when the HR lady starts talking about your “career” and you point out that Kirby Pucket had a career, and that you have a job. Big difference. A job is what you do to get the money to do the things you want to do.

Where it hits me is on the drive home. I like driving out in the country. People wave at each other, the scenery is nice, it’s relaxed. And then as you approach the cities, it’s seems as though you cross this magic invisible barrier and all of a sudden you have old ladies flipping you off and ditzy 20 year old cell phone addicts wandering into your lane and people tailgating you. It’s intense, and I hate it. “Ready to go back to work” ? Nope, I’m ready to turn around and go back!

S.R.

glenn57 wrote:

little do you know about my life

really Randy?? You could eat spam, drink Hamm’s and fish for catfish!

Some people just don’t know how good they have it!

Monday is my Friday and heading back to North & South Dakota to finish up on the prairie dogs that got away in June. Only cell service is in the evening at the bed without breakfast we’re at.

Between Brenda @ the Tumbleweed Cafe and her “in your face” attitude and Phil Collins at Crooked Joes for chicken dinner each night, I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to the people or popping the dogs!

Cat’s were bitting good when we were out there last time. No Spam but plenty of Hamm’s to stay hydrated with!

And like you Randy, I’m not looking forward to the following Monday…but I can’t think about that yet. Pierce County Fair and the FGD come first!!

Brian Klawitter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
little do you know about my life

really Randy?? You could eat spam, drink Hamm’s and fish for catfish!

Some people just don’t know how good they have it!

Monday is my Friday and heading back to North & South Dakota to finish up on the prairie dogs that got away in June. Only cell service is in the evening at the bed without breakfast we’re at.

Between Brenda @ the Tumbleweed Cafe and her “in your face” attitude and Phil Collins at Crooked Joes for chicken dinner each night, I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to the people or popping the dogs!

Cat’s were bitting good when we were out there last time. No Spam but plenty of Hamm’s to stay hydrated with!

And like you Randy, I’m not looking forward to the following Monday…but I can’t think about that yet. Pierce County Fair and the FGD come first!!

go get’em!!!!!!!!

AUTO_5 wrote:

<div class=”oembed-wrap”><div class=”fluid-width-video-wrapper” style=”padding-top: 56.2353%;”><iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/fpdQs7FnMBc?feature=oembed&#8221; allow=”autoplay; encrypted-media” allowfullscreen=”” id=”fitvid184984″ frameborder=”0″></iframe></div></div>

Cool video!

“Ready to go back to work” ? Nope, I’m ready to turn around and go back!

AMEN!!!

I have really under-gone a significant change in my life over the last decade. I lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the residential market crash, lost most of my retirement plans, really learned who my friends are, and feeling the affects of physical labor from the last 39 years of farming, carpentry, LV cabling, roofing, siding…. and for what??? I’m in pain 24 hours a day, seldom sleep for more than 3 hours at a time, don’t like where I live, and the progression of people that don’t share a common view of life with me are sprawling out of the cities and into my back yard.

I find the most difficult part is my ties to those I love the most and my source of income to live. I’m the only one around to take care of my parents who are both in failing health. My wife has similar ties to her family. I operate 3 businesses of which only 1 can easily be relocated and start over. I know I’m growing much more cynical of people and many other businesses. Some is age and experience, some is just a simple attitude change.

I don’t need the extreme off grid living. What I do need is the peace and solitude of genuine friends/neighbors getting along, the acts of kindness that restores faith in humanity, and an easier venue to step into remote areas and not experience the anger and selfishness of most people I encounter. I truly do look for the good in people. We all know there are A-holes everywhere. But it seems as soon as I cross the imaginary line to the front range and all the way back to WI, the concentration of anger, intensity, and selfishness increases.

I hear ya. We’ve been having a lot of no electronics/internet weekends this summer. been awesome.

The trap begins with…….

Car payments
House payments
wife
family
in-laws
job

pretty soon you are locked in to where you are regardless of what you think you are or want to be. Other then selling off everything and telling everyone to get in the truck and being willing to leave those who don’t we are stuck.

Dutchboy wrote:

The trap begins with…….

Car payments
House payments
wife
family
in-laws
job

pretty soon you are locked in to where you are regardless of what you think you are or want to be. Other then selling off everything and telling everyone to get in the truck and being willing to leave those who don’t we are stuck.

I have ALL of those commitments. But even without ever making the choice to marry, have kids, take out a mortgage and a car loan, or being tied to a career, I would still feel “stuck” simply by my strong desire to be around FAMILY, care for my aging parents, etc. I think this is just part of the human condition. When I daydream about leaving it all and living on a boat, it doesn’t take long to remember why I’m here.

No doubt family is a strong pull. So is the knowledge that your life on earth is very short. The question becomes how do you want to live it?

This is an interesting discussion. More and more I feel myself distracted at my job because of my desire to do a couple of things – focus on my hobbies and the things I get true joy out of, and spend time with my wife and daughter. Some of those things overlap, and some don’t.

I really appreciate what you shared, Randy. I won’t begin to equate what you’ve gone through to my situation other than I think we all come to a point where we realize what we really want in life. For most, it comes a bit too late because as @Dutchboy mentioned, life gets shorter every year and your obligations don’t decrease.

Matt Moen wrote:

For most, it comes a bit too late because as @dutchboy mentioned, life gets shorter every year and your obligations don’t decrease.

I’m 36. In 25-30 years I’ll be getting to retirement. My parents will be either deceased or in their mid-90s by then. Just as those two “obligations” come off the books my own kids will likely be raising whipper-snappers of their own, which I’m sure the FW and I won’t want to miss.

We have already started to talk to our kids (11 and 8) about balancing the commitment to family and the commitment to one’s self. We will not be pressuring or guilting them to stay close to home as our parents did to us when we were 18. It will be interesting to see which direction they go when it’s time!

Just move ????

Next time you come over Randy, the frying pan will be hot!

Attachments:

1. 

   Randy-Steve-and-Sharron.jpg