[IRCA] Non-TPs from Orcas Island

["John H. Bryant" <bjohnorcas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I had my worst TP morning of this trip.... mainly because I packed my 
radios yesterday. Today is final packing and then tomorrow we head 
down I-5 to Bakersfield/Barstow and hang a left. We are going to try 
to break the trip up some this year, with a day here and half a day 
there, so it will likely be about a week before we make it to the 
South Prairie in Oklahoma.

Thanks very much from all of the help from the other members of the 
NW Gang. One of the real pleasures of DXing out here is having such 
close friends to enjoy this insanity along side.  My only regret is 
that I got to see so few of you in person.  I totally missed the 
Victoria guys this year and saw far less than half of the Seatac 
crowd. Still, we've been doing this together long enough that is a 
good visit, if only by e-mail. It was exactly twenty years ago this 
February that Guy and I made that fabled first tip to the Grayland 
motel. We heard almost every Pacific Island nation, including Tuvalu 
and were hooked on TPs on MW. In March of 1990, there was a massive 
DXpedition at the Grayland Beach State Park with Dave Clark from 
Toronto and more than half of the NW group that is still making trips 
down there.

I got a real laugh a couple of months ago when several of us were 
discussing a lovely campground west of Port Angeles on the Washington 
side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It looks like a perfect place for 
fall DXpeditions for Asia. Nick Hall-Patch pointed out that the worst 
thing about this place was that one had to CAMP OUT. He allowed as 
maybe the soft beds, flush toilets and complete kitchens in the 
Grayland Motel units had spoiled him for the vagaries of CAMPING 
OUT.  Why I remember full well the DXpeditions in the 80s and first 
half of the 90s when Nick drove his little pickup truck to various DX 
sites and DXed mosta the night from the cab and then slept half the 
day in the seated position.... all in the cab of that little truck. I 
also remember going potty in the deep brush while keeping watch (both 
ways) for the local mama bear and her cub.

Time marches on, eh????

It's been a fabulous Fall Season... I hope that each of my 
co-conspirators enjoyed it at least half as much as I did!

John B.
WinRadio 313e + Ultralights
Wellbrook Phased Arrays, SW and NW
Grayland, WA, USA

_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx