Time has just flown by – Paisley and Griffin keep us hopping. They greet us every morning with incredible enthusiasm; jumping up and down and lots of noise – even though we usually were there the night before. Julie has started her home pre-school. Right now, it has just Paisley and Griffin for students, but after the baby comes, her friend’s children will be joining. I serve as Teacher Aide Nana while Doug does double duty as Grandpa Lunch Lady and Janitor. The children have already adjusted to their new routine. Learning and activities meld with some playtime. We all enjoy school!
Learning all about apples in pre-school home version
Jake thought the baby was coming on September 8th; I think maybe today September 10th. Doug says maybe tomorrow – Friday. Of course, the baby will come when he wants to. Julie has had a tough pregnancy primarily complicated by COVID and now the wildfires have made the air quality so bad the kids can’t play outside. Everything seems harder. So, in some manner she wants Beckham to come but there is still an underlying worry that she is bringing a newborn into a pandemic. How scary is that? But she and the baby are doing well, and we are confident that soon we will be cuddling another sweet one.
Smoky days from regional wildfires
We are keeping as safe as possible – doing grocery pick-up instead of going in the store. Wow, I am horrible at this. Apparently, I am a visual shopper. I need to see the items and touch them – I try but every trip I miss something. And because we are at Julie’s most days, I find that even with the greatest effort on my part whatever I’m trying to make for a meal is lacking an important ingredient that is at the RV or vice versa. My confidence in being able to produce meals for my family is waning.
We did manage to have a small socially distant, mask-wearing family gathering in Julie’s backyard. To keep everyone safe, I made everything in individual portions in cups. We gave everyone an aluminum tray and they went around the table and picked up their food – little tacos, tiny pizzas, deli wraps, cream cheese swirls, and s’mores, brownies, pineapple cake and strawberry short cakes. It was great to see everyone and the food turned out to be a bit hit. Jake and Julie have decided not to have their usual welcoming party for the new baby so this will be the last family interaction for a while.
Julie’s friends hosted a “Sprinkle” for her – a small, intimate “baby shower” with six attendees. I felt lucky to be with her and meeting her friends was wonderful. What amazing young women, coping with raising children during this difficult time. Their struggles are hard, but they manage to come up with creative solutions to give their children a good life even in a weird time.
We had a small 98th birthday party for Doug’s dad. We stopped by in the afternoon and Doug’s sister stopped by later. We spent some precious time with him. We also celebrated our 33rd anniversary COVID style with a car picnic!
98 today!Celebrating our anniversary in style!
We have been getting out on some adventures about once a week – walks in the woods, a morning at the river beach, picnic lunches at Champoeg State Park and a few other places. Lots of neighborhood walks and scootering. Jake works from home most of the time with occasional meetings at school so we can mostly all be together. We are all enjoying this time and know that we are lucky to be able to do this.
Swimming at a river beachJunior Rangers on a trash pickup hike
Griffin eats a lot of goldfish crackers and Paisley loves unicorns and tutus. We play with kinetic sand and magnatiles. We paint, color and create with play-doh. It’s a beautiful life!
Our next post will announce the birth of the baby!
We are in a 14-day quarantine to make sure we are not carrying coronavirus to our daughter Julie’s family. We were careful traveling here, but we expect to be integrating with them until after her baby is born in September, so we are taking no chances.
Our campsite at Olde Stone Village
This is going to be a short blog. Our daily routines are boring. We sleep as long as we want, we eventually get up, shower and dress. I usually make breakfast but sometimes Doug comes up with something special. Lunch is a sandwich of some kind. I try to devise good dinners but more often than not, it’s just something I pull out of the freezer and heat up. Our newest innovation is that when I cook dinner, Doug has to pick out something for dessert. We buy a lot of pudding cups and other things that are portioned-controlled so Doug just has to make a decision between a couple of pre-packaged choices. There are usually moments of snacking and we reach for something simple – sweet or salty does the trick.
I wash clothes by hand about every other day in order to keep up – the loads are tiny. We both clean up the RV when we see a mess. This is such a clean site that we don’t track in much dirt or grass so our floor is pretty clean.
Doug fixes things. As I am writing this, Doug is once again blasting out a clog in our kitchen sink. No matter how careful we are with washing dishes, we seem to get clogs on a regular basis. Doug also fixes things like my OverDrive Account, his old phone, the lift over the RV engine, and all the things that happen in our everyday life.
I have lots of crafts projects to keep me busy. I just finished a christening outfit for Beckham and I am working on matching vests for the other two grandchildren. I have starting crafting textile blocks for the Violet Project – an art project designed to show bipartisanship. Look it up – it’s really cool.
We are both working on projects for Kartchner Caverns. We are collaborating on an information/newsletter for staff and volunteers and are just waiting for final approval. Doug has some computer projects and I am helping with the Adopt-A-Bat program.
There is still plenty of empty time which we fill with tv, naps, and checking our phones. One day we watched a sappy Christmas-in-July Hallmark movie, The Birds, and some shark attack videos because it’s Shark Month.
It’s a quiet time for us. We are trying to embrace the serenity of this simple life. We know that once our two weeks are over, we jump right into the chaos of busy family life. Paisley and Griffin are already planning things for us to do and adventures for us to go on. Julie and Jake have a few house projects for us. By September, we will be exhausted. But we can’t wait to hug them all and see our new grandchild!
We are a little nervous being on the road during this coronavirus pandemic. It is especially hard because we felt very safe while we were at Kartchner Caverns. It was just the two of us in our RV. The other volunteers and Rangers we were with were being as careful as we were. The only possible exposure was grocery shopping and even that was done with gloves and masks and as much social distancing we could make happen.
Our trek from Kartchner Caverns to McMinnville
GILA BEND
So we left with some trepidation. But it was comforting to see that our first stop in Gila Bend went well. When we arrived at Gila Bend KOA the gate was locked with lots of signs on it. Only self-contained RVs were welcome. To enter we called the posted phone number and the attendant was on his way. He came in his golf cart – masked – talked to us only through the driver’s side window. He was efficient with his information – and led us to an easy pull-through site. That was the last we saw of him. The restrooms were closed; no laundry; but the pool was open – just had to bring your own chairs. There was almost no one else there and it was too hot to walk around so we were happily isolated for the two-night stay.
NEEDLES
Needles KOA was pretty much the same. And we only stayed there one night. The heat was the highest we’ve ever seen it – 107 degrees at 7:35 am. It only got hotter. The weather forecast for Needles was 120. I guess it got that high but it’s probably a good idea not to actually see the thermometer when it gets up there. It just makes you feel hotter. Of course, it’s a dry heat – exactly like putting your head into an oven. This is not the first time we’ve stayed in Needles. Every time the lack of a breeze of any kind is memorable. Maybe it’s because we got so used to the constant wind in Arizona that the absolute stillness is just remarkable. The campground has huge cottonwoods and I looked up a few times and it’s eerie to see that not one of the thousands of leaves up there even wiggle a little.
SIERRA TRAILS
We just spent one uneventful night at Sierra Trails RV Park. We were starting to see less and less masks. But we just stayed on our site or in the RV. We wore masks and gloves to throw out the garbage. Yes, we are being careful.
COALINGA
Our next stop was a two night stay at Almond Tree Oasis in Coalinga, CA. We didn’t see much of Coalinga. Our campground is 0.3 miles from a truck plaza which really came in handy. We were running low on food and tired of the same old sandwiches and dinners every night. After we got set up, I walked over to the plaza because we didn’t want to unhitch our car. It was hot – searing hot – but actually cooler at 100 degrees than we had been living in. The plaza employees were all wearing masks and gloves and I was one of two customers in the whole building. I ordered dinner from Baja Fresh and foot-longs from Subway for lunch the next day (and the next day). The food was great and a nice treat. The following afternoon we both walked over for a lemon icee and a few snacky things.
Our air conditioners are holding up, but we are helping by keeping the shades drawn and tolerating higher than normal inside temperatures. We also are not really moving around much. It helps that the temps are going down – slowly, going down. There was a wildfire near us. Our car was covered with the evidence of ash.
Up to this point, the traveling situation was better than we thought. California was seeing a huge spike in virus numbers but we were in the Central Valley where we thought it was calmer.
LODI
Flag City RV in Lodi was our stop for the next two nights. Good site, better weather – even a little coolness. We unhitched and had breakfast takeout at Burger King where now Doug can get an Impossible “Sausage” Sandwich and I had a great bacon crescent. We did some food shopping and later went to Carl’s, Jr. where they now sell Beyond Beef so we both had burgers. It was nice not to do so much cooking. Lots of masks in sight.
Our confidence in our safety took a big hit when we watched the local news. The virus numbers were horrible in Lodi and in fact, federal medical personnel were flown in because the Lodi Medical Center was completely overwhelmed while we were there. We became even more vigilant!
REDDING
On Friday, July 17th we got into our site at Redding Premier RV Resort. Just a one night stay. It was a nice concrete pad but very narrow. It was right next to a huge waterpark where unmasked people were frolicking in the pools and on the waterslides. We stayed inside our RV to make sure we weren’t exposed to the people who think being that close together in a raging pandemic was a good idea.
The trip itself, mostly along Route I-5 has been mostly uneventful. We stop for gas, DEF, and at rest stops to eat lunch in our RV. The scenery is beautiful! We love going through the Rogue Valley. Someday we will find time to travel and sightsee around Lassen Volcano and Mt. Shasta. The golden grass covering the rolling hills and the huge evergreens is always a serene sight. And then, we saw a metal sculpture of a cow and a calf, followed a few miles later by a dragon. We get a big kick out of public art appearing unannounced in the middle of nowhere.
Mt Shasta in the distanceQuail Sculpture
CANYONVILLE
Two Feathers Casino and RV Resort in Canyonville, OR was our next two night stay. Although at registration we were offered all the perks of being next to a casino – players’ cards, discounts and a free shuttle that seemed to pass our RV every half hour – we almost never left the RV. Even sitting outside we wore a mask and tried to look unfriendly. The casino parking lot was filled; there was constant pedestrian traffic over to the resort pools; and lots of bike riding, dog walking and just people every where – NO MASKS! The signs say to wear a mask when you enter the buildings, but I guess social distancing doesn’t matter???!!
MCMINNVILLE
Last stop until October – Olde Stone Village in McMinnville. We’ve been here before. It’s one of the cleanest places we have ever stayed. There is beautiful landscaping all over and perfectly groomed grass between the concrete pads. Doug says the sites are large but it seems crowded here to me. Maybe I’m just not used to having so many neighbors! It is a very busy place – after check-out you might see a site or two open up but it is invariably filled by dinner time.
The landscapers are here about every other day – riding lawnmowers, followed by manual lawnmowers, followed by edging and then a huge street cleaner truck that doesn’t just wash the street once, but goes over it a second time. All the trees are nicely trimmed and it’s rare to see a stray leaf anywhere. The picnic tables are unique – they can either be in the form of a regular table with two benches or they can be split apart and form two park benches with backs. We know they have breed restrictions here so we don’t like that one of our favorite dogs is not welcome here. And I am sorely missing the clotheslines at Kartchner Caverns.
Our site at Olde Stone Village, McMinnville
We are planning to keep to ourselves in strict quarantine for 14 days. We want to be sure we are not bringing germs to our daughter’s family and we just don’t know if there was any exposure during our travels. Julie is having her third baby in September. It’s been a difficult pregnancy, complicated by being in isolation with Paisley who is 4 and Griffin who is 3 and Jake, her husband, who is the best husband and father, but whom, we are sure, just wants to do something fun.
We took our first full day to get all our errands done and stock up on food for 2 weeks. That’s it – we will be fine in our RV where we are totally self-contained. I am continuing to do our laundry by hand. It’s a bit of a challenge to dry it since I can’t hang clothes outside but if a do a little bit every day or so I can make this work. We have a tripod rack which I put down on top of plastic and towels in the bedroom and keep the ceiling fan on. It takes most of a day to dry the clothes but that works for us. The laundry facility here is actually top-notch. But I keep seeing folks returning to their RV with laundry baskets and they are not wearing masks. So for these two weeks, I’ll manage by hand and then I will have the use of Julie’s really big and efficient laundry machine. Of course, in order to use them for our laundry, I have to get her laundry done first.
We have plenty of food so we certainly are not going to starve. In fact, we try to go for walks because we are eating too well. Our interactions with fellow RVers here so far has been a few waves. This is not a good time to reach out and make friends.
So we are fine. Yes, fine. It’s Day 2 and Doug is bored.
We’re back! Yes, we’re back to our blog and now back on the road. Did you miss us?
We spent the last nine months at Kartchner Caverns State Park in Southeastern Arizona. From the moment we arrived, we were busy! We did our usual jobs – Gatehouse, Portal, Trailing, and Tram – 20 plus hours per week. We took on new tasks – the Interpretive Desk for me where I told guests about rocks and formations; pelts and skulls and plenty of information about bats. Doug worked on some computer projects for the Park – a scheduling program, a button training video, and data organization and storage for the Cave Unit. We continued to close the Big Room one or two nights each week – our favorite job. I took the Lead Guide course at the end of January and started an intensive period of mentoring. I was about to be signed off to Lead by myself when things shut down.
Rosie
My brother Danny and wife Lisa camped in their Roadtrek at our site for 10 days. We were able to take them into the dark cave and give them a special tour. We showed them around Benson and the surrounding areas. We had a great day of wine tasting in Sonoita and Mexican food in Patagonia. Mostly we just hung out together which was special for us. Our daughter Amy came for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we loved the time we spent with her and her little dog Selena. We also got to spend some time with her friend Brodie whom we took on a tour of the Big Room. Later we went with them to explore the ghost town of Fairbank and a quick trip to Tombstone for ice cream. I went to the Gem Show, once with my friend Crystal and once with my granddaughter Sarah. We met up with other friends from Tucson and friends we connected with on the road, enjoying our time catching up.
We helped with Special Events like Halloween and Cave Fest. We attended every Potluck and party – Jim’s Retirement, Curtis’ Good-Bye, quiche on Pie Day and many more. Doug came in first place in the Cookie Contest on Christmas Eve.
Saying goodbye to Jessica, James, and Lindsey
With my new friend Jayne, we helped re-organized the attic. We spent holidays with family and our volunteer friends. We entertained with lunches and dinners in our RV. We socialized with new and old friends on walks, at movies, in restaurants and at local attractions – finally getting to see the museums at Fort Huachuacha. We enjoyed many nights of sharing food and conversation at Pink Flamingos. We went on Dr. Sarah’s Science-y Tour and our minds expanded with new knowledge. We met with the local Democratic folks. We went to parties hosted by staff and volunteers who lived in the local area. We fit in all our doctor, dentist and eyeglass appointments. Yes, busy!
And then on St. Patrick’s Day, the Cave Tours closed down and we were suddenly sheltering in place with no work to do. I learned how to sew a mask and made 130 of them – giving them to Rangers, Volunteers, mailing them to family and handing them out to anyone we met without one.
We took the stay at home order very seriously and only ventured out about every ten days to get groceries. We purchased a small manual washing machine and a tripod clothes dryer. I began to do all our laundry by hand, avoiding the public laundromat. To offset the increase in water usage this caused, we started buying gallons of bottled water to drink and cook with. Within about a week, I was discovering ways to successfully limit the water I used. I truly enjoyed feeling like a pioneer woman on the prairie as I hung up our laundry in the bright Arizona sun. I experimented with new recipes and started making loaves of white bread and banana bread in our small crockpot. I found that I could tip out the finished loaf without touching it, so I made lots of loaves and gave them to our friends and family. But I completely failed with my sourdough starter.
Our washing machine that we nicknamed “R2D2”Out on the “Prairie”Crockpot Bread
Doug and I learned to relax. We started taking afternoon naps. Doug ordered toilet paper, tissues, cleaning wipes and yeast. We settled in and isolated.
Then Cave Tours resumed on June 1st. We learned to be Railers – disinfecting the stainless steel rails in the cave between tours. We took on the job of Opening the Cave a few days a week too. We chose not to be in the Cave with strangers, but we felt safe just the two of us in the dark with our headlamps (plus double masks and double gloves). The Park limited the number of tours and guests, bringing daily totals to no more than 30 people – down from about 250 this time of year. With the reduced numbers, I continued to take shifts at the Gatehouse and Portal and Doug still drove Tram. We were always masked and gloved, always distanced, always cautious.
Getting ready to clean the railsReady to go!
Meanwhile, we had planned to spend this summer at the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, South Dakota, doing a volunteer job of interpretation of the historic buildings there. With a stay at home order and AZ having (at that time) a very low number of COVID-19 cases, we worried about spending our time mingling with the 500,000 bikers expected to be at the 80th Anniversary of the Sturgis Rally. We spoke to the Volunteer Coordinator and explained our concerns. Although we were looking forward to spending the summer in the beautiful Black Hills, we decided to postpone this job. We stayed in our safe place with the friends and Rangers we love.
Then Arizona’s numbers skyrocketed and the state became a hot bed of virus outbreaks. We took all possible precautions and continued our careful existence. On the only two occasions we met with our children and grandchild after the virus hit, we avoided any touches and all wore masks while we spent a few minutes outside together. It is so hard not to touch our loved ones! We also learned that the weather in the Black Hills during the early part of the summer was scary – they were plagued with severe thunderstorms, huge hail storms and sometimes tornado warnings.
Given all this information, it was easy to change direction – especially since our daughter Julie told us she was expecting again. In spite of enjoying our friends at Pizza Nights at the Flamingo get-togethers – where there is plenty of room to sit apart, with each couple having their own box of pizza and keeping our masks on – we made plans to head to the Portland area to be there for the birth of our seventh grandchild. Doug’s sister and family and his dad are also in that area so we can be with them too – carefully.
We were concerned about traveling. COVID-19 numbers were spiking all over but we had learned how to be careful. We planned twelve days on the road, staying one to two nights at each campground. Then we get to McMinnville, a short drive from Julie, where we spend the first day shopping for groceries and stuff and then complete a 14 day quarantine. After that, if we are all symptom free, we will feel safe enough to integrate with Julie and her family. We look forward to days of playing with our darling toddlers and helping all of them to get ready for Baby Beckham in September.
Before we left, we had a few family Zoom meetings. Doug and I produced a short video for the Park’s website. We volunteered for some new projects we can work on from a distance: a staff and volunteer newsletter and the Adopt-A-Bat program. I organized a small but much needed (for me) protest on the Fourth of July. Meanwhile, the temperature at the Park was getting hotter and hotter. After living in Arizona for 18 years, we knew what to expect at this time of year – oven-like heat, a little humidity – often coming with lightning strikes and flash floods, and bugs flying through the air, snakes (lots of rattler sightings) and then just before we left, three tarantula visits – luckily some distance from me but still enough to freak me out. And then, for sure, it was time to pack up and get on the road.
We are very grateful to Kartchner Caverns for allowing us to stay in place. We had the full resources of the Park, a caring staff, and lots of friends while we all tried to figure out where life was going to take us. For over two months, we stayed in our beautiful sites with full hooks up and no fees while we did no work for the Park. We felt loved and protected and can’t wait to return next October to see how everyone fared and catch up on new processes in the Cave we love.
The drive from Zion River RV Resort to Las Vegas, with a
quick interlude in Arizona, was spectacularly scenic but a little scary. Driving through the gorge, along the mountain
road, with lots of construction, was tense.
Doug did fine; I white-knuckled it for a while.
Once we got into Nevada and near Las Vegas, we reminisced
about our first drive here three years ago.
That trip was Doug’s first time driving our RV. We took possession of our new home at Whiskey
Pete’s Casino and suddenly it was ours and Doug had to figure out how to drive
it. We took a few turns around the huge
parking lot and Doug took a deep breath and went out on to the streets. Doug had carefully planned this first trip –
with minimal turns and a well-thought-out route that avoided potential problems. But as we got into traffic, our GPS decided
on another route – one that went through the airport, down busy rush-hour
traffic streets with lots of lights and many more turns than he had
anticipated. It was too crazy to fool around with the GPS unit to reset it, so
we just went along with it. It is all a
blur to me – but somehow Doug had the courage to keep going until we arrived at
the Las Vegas RV Campground.
And here we are again!
It’s a very nice park with a mix of transients like us and permanent
residents. We are close to only two
off-the-beaten-track casinos so it’s quiet around here. The facilities in this park are nice and a
good place to get some laundry done and relax a bit.
LAS VEGAS STRIP
But we didn’t relax our first day! My phone pedometer shows over 7.5 miles
walking. And that was all done on the
famous Las Vegas Strip. We took advantage
of the free parking at Circus Circus and walked down the Strip. It was very hot and very sunny, but we persevered. To cool off a little, we went in and out of a
few of the big casinos: Circus Circus,
Treasure Island, The Mirage, The Bellagio, The Venetian. We spent the whole long afternoon on the
Strip and never bothered to gamble at all.
This time we didn’t even sign up for a Players Card. We like to see the different themes in each
of the casinos but the shops inside them are the same. And as far as restaurants go – like “Alice’s
Restaurant” – “you can get anything you want”.
The Mirage
We keep remembering the time we were here with Amy and
Julie. Poor Julie had just broken her
arm and it was in a cast. We were in Las
Vegas in July, camping in our pop-up trailer without air conditioning. Our campsite was in the asphalt parking lot
of Circus Circus. It would have been
nice to go in the casino pool, but with Julie’s cast keeping her out, the rest
of us passed on the pool too. My
memories of that trip were of long, hot days walking, walking along the Strip.
Treasure Island
I did a little “gambling” on that trip. Before my father was too sick to travel, my
brother Mike and his wife Theresa took Dad and Mom to MGM Grand in Las
Vegas. My father was a gambler who knew
“when to hold them and when to fold them”.
He was always getting great comps in Atlantic City. I don’t remember how well the gambling went
at MGM Grand, but I do remember how much he loved that trip. So, when Doug and Amy and Julie and I were in
Vegas (my first time), we solemnly visited MGM Grand where I took a twenty-dollar
bill, cashed it into quarters and sat at slot machine. I spoke to my Dad and asked him not to yell
at me for playing the slots, which he had taught me have the worst odds. I told him I was too intimidated to play
blackjack. Besides, I saw the whole
adventure as donating the $20 to MGM Grand in his memory. I lost those quarters quickly, but it was a
nice time feeling my Dad nearby.
FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE
After a day off to hang out, do laundry and work on my
sewing project, we went to the Fremont Street Experience. This is a whole different part of Las
Vegas. Fremont Street is closed to cars
and has an enormous arched ceiling over it – the world’s largest video
screen. We started our evening with
dinner at an all-you-can-eat buffet in the Main Street Casino. We ate and ate and then walked over to
Fremont Street to see the light show on the arched ceiling and gawk at the
other show – the people hanging out doing their thing – “nuns” swinging their
breasts, body builders dancing, a guy playing drums on plastic buckets, a
saxophonist, dancing girls in feathers and not much else, a “Red Cross Worker”
with small red crosses on her breasts, plenty of people claiming to be
veterans, or disabled firefighters, or homeless – who try to sell you sweet
grass flowers – you get the picture.
Anything goes on this street. We
watched the light show complete with blaring music and folks ziplining the
length of the ceiling. We stopped at
Container Park and watched and listened to the Giant Mantis who blasts fire
from her antennas. After we walked off
some of our dinner, saw enough blinking lights and heard enough loud music, we
walked back to our car and went home to crash.
Las Vegas is fun but we like it in small doses.
Entertainer on Fremont StreetThe Giant Mantis
We left the excitement of Las Vegas and drove across a
desolate landscape of sage and sand to get to our next destination – Needles,
California. We only spent two nights at
a very quiet KOA. The air is so still
there you rarely see the oleander leaves move even a tiny bit.
Then we drove to Blackrock, Arizona. Back in the desert and smelling the clear air
of a desert night makes us feel right at home.
We were in Blackrock for two nights.
Then it was off to our favorite state park in the country: Picacho Peak!
We
had visited Utah while camping in our tent trailer with Amy and Julie, but this
is the first time on our RV that we have been in this state. That makes Utah
our 42nd state! Wow! Look at our sticker map – this last year has
really filled in many new states for us.
42 states and counting!
Once
we crossed the border into Utah, we were driving with the Wasatch Mountains on
our left and then the Great Salt Lake on our right. It was a pleasant drive – not much traffic
and good weather. What more could we ask
for?
OGDEN
– SALT LAKE CITY
We
arrived at the Century Mobile RV Park in Ogden.
The sites are clean and neat but narrow.
Ours was plenty long enough. We
heard the train as soon as we got there so we felt right at home. Our last stop in Idaho was very, very close
to a very, very busy railroad line. I
find the sound of a train, with the rumbling and whistling, very romantic. When I hear a train, I know I’m on the road
somewhere.
We
drove into Salt Lake City on Friday, September 13th. We had visited this beautiful city over 15
years ago and we were looking forward to seeing it again. This trip we went straight to the State
Capitol Building to add it to our growing list of Capitols Visited. We took the guided tour with visitors from
New Zealand, New York, Germany, and Missouri.
Our guide was great, with lots of stories of his own to add to his
detailed knowledge of the building and Utah history.
Utah Capitol
The
building is beautiful – with genuine marble columns, stairways and walls. Most interesting were the painted murals
depicting the unique and diverse history of this state. We learned that the Capitol, like the rest of
Salt Lake City, is on the third largest fault line in the country. The original building was retrofitted to
mitigate for a 7.5 earthquake. The
changes included adding giant slinky coils in the basic structure and
installing a moat – yes, a moat – that is now covered.
The Rotunda
We
also learned that a few years ago, the United States Government decided to send
a replica of the Liberty Bell to each state capitol building. In Boise, the Bell was outside the building
on the walkway and in Salt Lake City, the Bell is inside in the main hall. It will be interesting to see these Bells in
other Capitol Buildings.
The Governor’s office
We
decided to walk down the long, steep hill to Temple Square. First, we stopped
at Jimmy Johns for a big sandwich and drink.
Fortified, we walked all over Temple Square and explored the beautiful
buildings and gardens. Not being Mormon,
we did not enter the Temple, but all the other buildings are open to the public
and have inspiring displays. We took
some quiet time for prayer and contemplation in front of a 16-foot statue of
Jesus.
Mormon TempleThe angel Moroni on top of the temple
Then
we had to walk UP the long, steep hill back to where we parked at the Capitol
Building. I was panting, but the
temperature was not too hot with a slight breeze, so it wasn’t too
uncomfortable. All in all, a beautiful
day!
ANTELOPE
ISLAND
Antelope
Island was our next adventure. This is
the largest island in the Great Salt Lake, which is the largest lake west of
the Mississippi River. We drove over the
causeway and stopped at the Visitor Center.
Just below us on the sage-filled plain was a bison. In 1893, twelve bison were introduced to the
island and today there is a herd of several hundred. Other mammals on the island include coyotes,
badgers, porcupines and many birds. We
read the displays to learn more about the geological events which caused this
remarkable landscape and the life forms that populate it.
The causeway to Antelope Island
The
burgers (veggie and beef) and fries at Buffalo Island Grill were great and a
necessary fuel for the long mile walk on the sandy beach to put our feet into
the Great Salt Lake. The weather was
just right, and the water was warm. We
waded into the salty expanse and felt the briny fish enjoying their
habitat. It was a first for me – the
first time touching the saline water of this beautiful lake.
Our feet are in the Great Salt Lake!
We
took a day off from being tourists and did some mundane tasks – cleaning and
cooking, etc. We love to explore and
look forward to seeing the new things that lurk around every corner of this big
amazing country, but we also love our RV home and taking care of it and us is
part of the journey.
BEAVER
On
Monday, September 16th, we left Ogden for Beaver KOA. Beaver will be our home base to take day
trips to one of the most beautiful National Parks this country has to
offer. We stayed at the Beaver KOA. We have a site with a paver patio, and we
hope we get some use out of it. Our
first day in Beaver was too windy to hang out outside. In fact, the high winds were a bit of a
problem all day. We got up very early,
before 6 am, and hustled to get on the road before the winds got worse. It was a long drive, with no rest stops and
gusting winds. That’s hard on Doug. But he got us to Beaver safely and I’m
grateful for that.
BRYCE
CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Driving
to Bryce Canyon gave us a chance to follow the Old Spanish Trail for part of
the ride. This trail was a major trade
route for the Spanish in the late 16th Century. The route goes from New Mexico to California
(or at least it was supposed to go that way).
History, mountains, deserts and some battles created an arduous journey. Today the road is Highway 89. The scenery is spruce-covered hills, sage-covered
dales sprinkled with cattle and smelling occasionally like skunk. I have spent countless hours sitting in the
passenger seat straining my eyes for elk.
The signs on the roadways warned of this majestic animal and this ride
still showed me none.
The
little town of Panguitch, originally founded by Mormon pioneers, is quaint with
hitching posts and plenty of shops and restaurants for tourists. Other than Panquitch, there is not much else
along this road in the way of food or drink.
We
turned onto Scenic Byway 12, the All American Road, and passed through another
small town, Red Canyon. Then we entered
Dixie National Forest and started to see hoodoos – tall pinkish-red eroded
stone walls that send your imagination soaring.
And this was before we even got to Bryce Canyon. The roadway took us under two picturesque
arches and then the landscape was taller fir trees – mostly Ponderosa pine –
and less sage brush. We passed the
summit sign: 7777 feet above sea level.
[Just
a few days later, a horrible accident occurred on Highway 12 near
Panguitch. A tour bus filled with
Chinese Nationalists hit the railing and flipped over, causing some deaths and
many injuries. These people came to
America to see the beauty nature created in our country. Having a vacation take such an awful turn is
heart-breaking. Wherever you travel,
especially the National Parks, you notice many Chinese-speaking tourists taking
photos and enjoying the hikes and picturesque vistas that we are also
enjoying. Knowing this tragedy happened
so close in time and space to us, made it very real for us. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and
their loved ones.]
The
shuttle through the park is necessary these days. The parking lots are full at all of the
stopping points. We caught the shuttle
near a large parking lot outside of the park and got off at the Visitor
Center. Parking was made even harder the
day we were there due to construction obliterating one of the parking lots by
the Visitor Center. But the shuttle is
convenient and free and easy to use.
Entry into the park is $35 per car but my Senior Pass got us in
free. (Paid $10 for it 4 years ago. It has saved us hundreds of dollars. Today it costs $80 – still a great deal!)
Bryce Canyon
We
walked over to Sunset Point for a Ranger Walk at 1 pm. Ranger Pam was well-versed in geology and
history and gave us an excellent understanding of the creation of the strange
hoodoo shapes as well as a comprehensive picture of the human adventure that
took place in this beautiful canyon.
One
story we especially liked was the Quilt Walk.
Apparently, the Mormon settlers were looking to supplement their food
supply and took off in the dead of winter (Bryce gets about 18 feet of snow a
year) and found they were sinking into the snow on their trek. This became untenable until a woman threw
down a quilt over the snow to rest on.
She discovered that she could stand on the quilt without sinking. By throwing a quilt down on the snow, walking
on it, then throwing another quilt down, they were able to tread through the
deep snow and accomplished their mission.
To commemorate this feat, a Quilt Walk Festival is celebrated every
year.
The
Ranger Walk took us over to the Lodge and we ended with a discussion of how
Bryce National Park manages today with over two and a half million visitors in
one year. This walk along the rim
highlights the hoodoo-filled canyon and makes for the most amazing photos. As we photographed and looked at the
beautiful canyon, we heard visitors’ voices in many languages we could not
understand, but we all said the same oohs and aahs as we looked into the wonder
of Bryce Canyon.
ZION
NATIONAL PARK
We
moved our RV into Zion River RV Resort, about 13 miles from Zion National
Park. This is a very busy park and
parking is a huge issue there. We found
out that our RV Resort has a shuttle to Zion, so on Friday, September 20th,
we took the shuttle to the Zion NP Shuttle.
It cost $7 each but was very worth it.
One of the many fabulous peaks
Once
in the park, we took that shuttle all the way to the last stop, about a
40-minute drive, to the Temple of Sinawava where we did the River Walk
Hike. This was about 1.5-mile paved
pathway along the crystal clear Virgin River.
There is much to see as you walk – red cliffs above you and a rippling
river below you. The path was mostly
level. At the end of the trail you reach
The Narrows – where the Virgin River cuts through the deep narrow chasm. We walked over the rocks, avoiding as much
water as possible, just to say we hiked into The Narrows. It just didn’t seem like a good idea to get
our shoes and socks wet in that icy water with a whole day of hiking ahead of
us. But the cold water didn’t stop most
of our fellow hikers.
The busy River WalkThe start of the Narrows
We
took another shuttle to the Lodge where we picked up the Emerald Pool
Trail. This one is also paved, fairly
flat, and also had amazing scenery. It
was just over a mile round trip. This
trail ends in a waterfall that flows from an overhanging cliff, so you walk
under the falls. There were plenty of
other hikers on this trail too. The
bright blue sky, pleasant temperature, rippling water, pinkish-red cliffs (and
even a deer nibbling by the side of the trail) made for a great hike. We ate our picnic lunch on a bench with a
beautiful view of giant cliffs in front of us.
The waterfall at Emerald Pool
We
shuttled back to the Visitor Center/Gift Shop and then walked out of the park
to an area of shops, rentals and restaurants.
We grabbed a quick snack from The Happy Campers’ Market and waited for
our ride back to our campground. On the
shuttle we talked with other full-time RVers and shared experiences.
You
really can’t beat a day like this.
Our
second day at Zion started out early. We
drove our car into the park and found a parking spot at the Visitor
Center. We were scheduled for the Ranger
Shuttle Tour. Ranger Gretchen gave us a
great tour. Her presentations which were
done at different shuttle stops covered wildlife, the beauty of the outdoors,
geology, culture and history, environmental diversity and recreation at
Zion. The cliffs create an amazing
backdrop to the very interesting facts Gretchen gave us. We visited a cul-de-sac of giant cliffs –
Angel’s Landing, the Pipe Organ, the Great White Throne and Cable
Mountain. We were able to see the white
scar on the face of Cable Mountain where a huge boulder detached and fell down
just a few weeks ago.
We
took a short hike up to Menu Falls – a small trickle through a cliff that is
probably the oldest water in the world.
This happens because water takes a long time to filter through the
fissures in the Navajo Sandstone of this enormous cliff. So the water flowing through the falls today,
rained down on the top of the cliff centuries ago. This is one place in the park where this
happens.
Menu Falls
There
is an old building in the Grotto, originally constructed by the Civilian
Conservation Corps, that now houses the artists that come annually to reside in
the park to create their art. This year,
one of the artists in residence is a ballerina – we saw her practicing on the
grass in front of the Lodge. She dances
her interpretation of the nature she is experiencing at Zion.
The shuttle tour followed the Virgin River through the most incredible sights in the park. It is this river, small and inconspicuous today, that created the gorges through these cliffs. You can let your imagination wander through eons of time, picturing the energy and power of this river as it cut through the sandstone, century after century, forming the beauty you see before you.
This
tour was wonderful – Gretchen’s personality and knowledge was amazing – the
perfect accompaniment to the magnificent stage of giant cliffs.
We
hiked a mile or so back to the Human History Museum where we stayed for a
ranger talk on geology. This one was
okay – just not as vibrant as Gretchen’s.
Then
we took another hike to the Visitor Center.
Over the course of the two days we spent at Zion, we hiked these
trails: Pa’rus, Lower Emerald Pool,
Grotto, and Riverside Walk. You could
just drive into Zion and sit on a bench and look up and see the incredible
cliffs. But doing these hikes brings you
close to the rocks where you can hear the Virgin River, feel the cool breeze,
smell the pines, and especially stretch your neck back to look up, up, up to
the tops of those red, pink, gray, and white sculptures that are the iconic
views of Zion.
All
good things have to come to an end, so we said good-bye to Zion and Utah and on
Monday, September 23rd drove to our next stop:
Las Vegas.
Another new state for us!
We have been to Idaho before but not in the RV. This is our 41st state on our
map. Idaho – the Gem State – with Famous
Potatoes on its license plates.
BOISE
Our first stop was Boise – the State Capital. We stayed at the Ambassador RV Resort – which
is one of the most manicured, clean, neat campgrounds we have stayed in. We thought it must be a brand-new campground
– the concrete pads are clean and not stained.
The strips of grass between the sites are all the same perfect green
with no holes or dry spots. The round
plastic picnic tables all look new. The
rounded gravel, which is not hard on your feet, is pristine with nothing but
maybe one stray leaf to mar its perfection.
When I went to get quarters for the laundry, I asked how old the park
was – I was surprised to hear it was 14 years old. Lots of hard, constant work by owners, staff
and volunteers to keep this place up to this standard of excellence. We took a quick swim in the pool – perfect
temperature, very clean and the laundry room was spotless – also a reasonable
price of $1.25 for a wash load; $1.25 for one hour of drying. This park is very convenient with one turn
off the highway – wide streets, no trees or boulders to make parking difficult
and easy long pull throughs. We definitely recommend this campground.
We got out on Wednesday, September 5th, to check
out Boise. It was warm – almost 90
degrees but we are used to that and it seemed a good day to discover something
new. Boise is a large city – but it
meets all our requirements for a good city – some murals and interesting public
art; benches around the main streets; lots of shops to explore; great
restaurants (we loved our lunch at Boise Fry Company – with delicious Idaho French
fries and burgers); and even free parking for visitors near the capitol
building.
We headed right over to see the Capitol. It’s big and beautiful from the outside,
situated in garden settings on all four sides.
We didn’t have a tour scheduled so we watched the introductory movie and
then guided ourselves through the marbled hallways.
The Idaho State Capitol
We’ve seen a few other capitol buildings and we want to see
more. It is always a great experience to
see the pride of State demonstrated in Corinthian architecture and design. Each building is a little showy but it’s
great to see the history of the State and be in the actual place that keeps
that State functioning. It was quiet in
the hallways – the legislature was not in session yet, but that gave us free
reign over the magnificent building.
The gold eagle on top of the huge dome, the marble floors
and faux marble columns, Winged Victory
and George Washington in Statuary Hall, the newly restored barrel ceilings, all
completed the Capitol of Light and represented something everyone in Idaho can
be proud to show off to visitors and residents alike.
‘Winged Victory’ replicaGeorge Washington
We journeyed onward – from Boise to Twin Falls where we
stayed at the Jerome KOA.
TWIN FALLS
After the immaculate conditions at Ambassador RV Park,
Jerome KOA seemed a little muddy. But it
is a typical KOA – lots of trees and grass and the mud will probably dry before
we leave.
We took off on Saturday, September 7th for
Shoshone Falls State Park. Our first
stop was the Visitor Center in Twin Falls.
Right outside is Perrine Bridge – the iconic span over the Snake River
and its canyons. Not far from this
bridge is where Evel Knievel tried to jump the canyon in 1974. We hung out near the bridge to watch the new
daredevils parachute down from the railing on the bridge, glide smoothly over
the water, and gently land on the shore.
One jumper after another made the journey safely and gracefully.
The Perrine Bridge over the Snake River in Twin Falls
The scenery right there is spectacular – a huge gorge, the
greenish Snake River twisting through the cliffs – with kayakers on the water
and these crazy jumpers from BASE floating through the sky. (BASE stands for Building, Antenna, Span and
Earth – these folk jump from all of them.)
This bridge is one of the few locations in the country that
needs no permits to jump. You just fold
up your parachute, walk to the middle of the span (there’s a rail keeping the
cars from hitting you); climb over the railing, jump, (or be a show-off and do
a swan dive or a back flip from the top of the railing), guide your chute
through the winds over the river, pick your landing spot and glide into
it. Then you roll up the chute and climb
the narrow steep trail to get back to the top of the bridge. Not something we will ever do but we can see
what a thrill this kind of sport would be.
[It saddens me to add here that a few days after we enjoyed
watching these jumpers, one of them died.
It is heartbreaking to think of him – leaping off the bridge for an
exhilarating flight only to have his parachute malfunction. He landed hard in the water; suffered major
internal injuries. His wife, who also
jumped but made it down safely, pulled him from the water and tried to revive
him. How sad to think of her heroism and
now her pain. Looking back, remembering
how I fantasized that I had the courage to take a leap like that; remembering
my joy at watching these free spirits jumping – and now appreciating the risks
involved – gives this memory a whole new perspective.]
We drove about 30 miles to see Shoshone Falls. Just beautiful! Roaring waters over rugged boulders! This is a great state park, so we hung around
and had a picnic lunch there.
Shoshone Falls
We still had plenty of time left in our day – making the
decision to do one more thing very easy.
We went to Hagerman National Fish Hatchery. We like to explore the cycles of trout and
salmon and this is one of the biggest hatcheries we have seen. There were lots of interpretive signs and
some models of salmon and trout, and rows and rows of raceways – the areas
where the fish live and grow. At this
time of year, the only fish in the raceways were tiny fry. The rest had been shipped out to their new
homes in rivers and lakes.
Fishing is popular in Idaho; the state fish is the Cutthroat Trout
We may not have seen much of the live trout but when we walked over to the display pond and peered into the water – Wow! The White Sturgeon hanging out there were huge! One seemed to be over 6 feet long. Other than sharks, whales and dolphins, I’ve never seen marine life this big. I was shocked at the size of them.
This was a great day of exploration for us. We saw beautiful scenery, learned new things
and had a fun time doing it
Since our experience at Kartchner Caverns, we have been
exploring new caves. The Shoshone Indian
Ice Cave was an entirely new experience for us.
This is a lava tube with glacial ice inside of it. We took the tour, across a trail of aa and
pahoehoe lava; down rocky steps and into a freezing cold lava tube. Immediately, you see expanses of ice. There is lots of water still seeping in and
although some of the natural forces have been curtailed, it still has a feel of
authenticity. Now we can add a lava tube
ice cave to our cavern repertoire.
Near the entrance to the lava tube cave
POCATELLO
Our next camping stop was in Pocatello. We stayed at Willow Bay RV Park in
Pocatello. The sites in this park are
large – long, long pull throughs and a nice big grassy area between sites. It is nice to sit outside and not even see a
neighbor’s sewer connections. We even
have two nice views – a grassy field with low-lying mountains out of our dining
window and lovely Willow Bay out of our giant front window.
Our first night brought us a thunderstorm with the worst hail we have heard so far. We felt like our RV was being pummeled with rocks. But the next day showed no damage as far as we could tell.
We hightailed it to Blackfoot the first chance we got to
re-visit the Idaho Potato Museum. With
Doug’s life-long love of spuds, this was a mandatory stop. We had been there in 2000 on a long camping
trip in our tent trailer with Amy and Julie.
The museum has been updated but there was plenty we remembered from that
first visit. Even so, we learned a few
more facts about the potato industry. We
stopped at the Potato Museum’s Café for a lunch of baked potatoes, of course. And we hit the gift shop for a few fun
tater-themed souvenirs. We think we are
the only family that has been to the two potato museums on North America – this
one and the one on Prince Edward Island.
Yes, we love our potatoes!
Self-portrait!Second time visiting here!
We spent our last day in the Pocatello area visiting the
American Falls Fish Hatchery. We fed the
trout, learned a few more bits of fish information and then returned to Willow
Bay for a walk along the nature trail around the bay.
That was our last stop in Idaho. On to another new state for us – UTAH!
Olde Stone Village in McMinnville is a beautiful RV
community with a neighborhood of pretty manufactured homes surrounding the
large transient rigs. We had stayed in
this park two years ago and it proved to be a good base for us to visit our
family in the Portland area. It still
was a 45-minute drive to any and all of them but there are few campgrounds near
Portland so this one works for us.
On our first night in Olde Stone Village, we were thrilled
to have our daughter Julie and her husband Jake, and our two grandchildren,
Paisley and Griffin come for dinner. Our
little ones love our “bus” and get very comfortable, very quickly in our small
home.
We love having our grandkids visit us!
We spent lots of time with Julie and her family doing all
kinds of special things – buying Griffin an Elephant at Build-A-Bear and
Paisley a Unicorn Dress at Washington Square Mall; a morning of excitement at Oaks
Park Amusement Park, a babysitting/sleepover, lots of visits to our RV and it’s
toddler-friendly playground; lots of time at other playgrounds, a wet and sandy
day at Road’s End Beach; a great time visiting the animals at the Portland Zoo,
especially Samuda the Elephant in the pool; a trip to the library where we
loaded up on more books to read – mostly with elephants or unicorns in them. In between we hung out at Julie’s playing
with toys and trying to cuddle these active little ones.
Griffin watching his elephant Build-A-Bear getting stuffedOn the carousel at Oak ParkWet and sandy…Griffin loves elephants!We all got to see Samuda at the Portland Zoo
We loved spending time with Doug’s Dad. We hosted a family birthday party for his 97th
birthday party – lots of good food from Olive Garden and cakes from Nothing
Bundt Cakes and best of all, plenty of loving family around to celebrate
with.
At Dad’s 97th birthday partyA candid photo from Dad’s party
We got to see almost all the family in a very busy three
weeks. It is always nice for us to have
folks visit our home, especially since I love cooking for them. Our nice site in Olde Stone Village made it
easy to entertain more family members:
Jenn, Trekker, Odyssey, Bev, Barry, Grace, Sammy, and Bekkah. There were lots of good meals in local
restaurants too.
We even fit in a 2-night stay in Eugene where we had our
damaged windshield replaced on our RV.
Somewhere in Georgia we started to notice a tiny crack on the passenger
side that grew to almost 12 inches over a few days. Doug tried to have it fixed in a few places
along our route but their schedule and ours didn’t work out and we weren’t too
happy about the repair techniques.
After much research, we went to RV Glass Solutions to replace our cracked windshield. There we received excellent customer service and most importantly the technical expertise we were looking for. Their service techs took great care of our rig and we stayed in a very convenient lounge during the day where we had a kitchen, comfy couches, TV, tables, patio, restrooms and friendly staff. The first night we slept in our motorhome outside the service bay – no slides out. That means it’s a little tight inside, but in our rig, we can still use everything – bathroom, galley, couch, dining table and bed – just in much smaller quarters. On the second night, we were in an electric site on the side of their parking lot – slides out this time. It turned out to be a pleasant interlude and we were glad to have a shiny new crack-free windshield.
It’s always great to be in this area to see these wonderful
people and that makes it even harder to leave.
But our journey continues. We
left Olde Stone Village on September 1st for a long but scenic ride
to Umatilla Marina and RV Park. We will
never tire of the Columbia River Gorge – and the spectacular views along the
way. We got a little extra time with
Julie and family as they stopped at our RV on their way back from their family
reunion camping trip. One more lunch
together and last kisses.
Time to move on.
Missing them all already but looking forward to new and interesting
travels.
This time we entered Montana at the Gateway City of Wibaux. This is Eastern Montana where the motto is “Good People Surrounded by Badlands.” On the way, we saw the oddest sight – a giant 16 foot 2-dimensional metal baby sculpture chasing a rhino, bison, and velociraptor. These are obviously public art but like the other large objects we see along the highways, this just appears along the highway, sitting in an enormous field, with no explanation or warning. This one was strange. According to Roadside America, it is titled ‘Creepy Crawler Giant Baby’ by John Cerney.
Not a very good picture!
We spent just
two nights in Miles City KOA Campground.
We weren’t outside much in this campground even though the weather has
been perfect. It is one of those
campgrounds that has mostly cottonwood trees – and they were shedding. The white cotton was swirling everywhere and
lay in clumps on the ground. It looked
like a light snowstorm out our RV windows.
We braved the white stuff to take a walk into the town of Miles City
– just about a half mile walk. We went
to the Post Office and then meandered down Main Street. This is not much of a town. It has lots of great history but the downtown
area is pretty run down. No public art,
but there are some benches. The houses
are modest – some are well cared for with lots of flowers but others need paint
and their weeds and trash are taking over their lots. But it was still a nice walk.
When we
returned home we had an interview for a volunteer position that we have been
excited about. The interview went well
and we were offered the opportunity to volunteer at D.C. Booth Historic Fish
Hatchery in Spearfish, SD. We visited
the hatchery on our first trip through the Black Hills 2 ½ years ago and since
then we have been thinking about what a great place this would be for a volunteer
gig – and now we got it! We will be doing
interpretive tours through the grounds and buildings. So we are learning as much as we can about
trout – rainbow, brown, lake and cutthroat – and all about the history of fish
hatcheries. We will be there from May
through September 2020 which will give us time to feel like a part of the
pretty town of Spearfish, to explore more thoroughly the canyon, and to visit
the many attractions that are in that part of the country. Good news for us!
We stayed at
the really nice but pretty expensive Billings KOA. Our site had a concrete pad, a nice concrete
picnic table, a fire pit/grill and a two-seater swing. With our awning out, the swing was in the
shade and was a great place to relax outside.
We were still getting lots of cotton floating around but it didn’t seem
as heavy there.
Wednesday was a
hot (and a little humid) day but we drove the short distance to Pictograph Cave State Park. We saw the two caves – Pictograph Cave
and Ghost Cave and were able to see the cave art
painted on the walls as much as 9,000 years ago. Over 30,000 artifacts were recovered here
starting in 1937 by the WPA workers. The
paint applicator that was used on some of the red rock art was radio carbon
dated as used between 1480 to 1650 BC – at about the same time Cleopatra was in
Egypt
and the Roman Legions sacked Carthage. The art and artifacts found in the Pictograph Cave set the sandstone cliffs apart and
are a national treasure. During periods
of heavy rainfall, three waterfalls flow down the walls continuing the erosion
process. Quite a sight to see!
Pictograph State ParkOne of the caves at the parkThe pictographs fade more every year
The next day we went to Chief Plenty Coups State Park. Chief Plenty Coups was a man of “many achievements”. He was chief of the Apsaalooke Tribe, also known as Crow. His Crow name is Aleek-chea-ahoosh. In 1884, he set up the homestead we saw as an example to his people of a good life of farming. We took the easy walk through the property along the edges of the hay field and over the sacred spring. Again, we had perfect weather so eating our lunch on a park bench was relaxing and pretty. Nice day.
Chief Plenty Coups’ homestead
On Friday, July
26th, we left the Billings
area and arrived at Bear Canyon Campground in Bozeman.
We had been here before and this time we had a tree-shaded site for four
nights. We just hung out on Saturday –
the day started out rainy so we stayed home and relaxed. Then we went for a beautiful Sunday afternoon
drive along the Gallatin River through the
canyon all the way to the entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The sky was bright blue; there was a pleasant
breeze; the river sparkled; and there was hardly any traffic. The scenery is amazing. Charles Kuralt said that the Bear Tooth Parkway
is the most beautiful scenic road in America. We haven’t driven that yet, but this scenic
drive gives it a lot of competition.
We made it to the northern entrance to Yellowstone
Monday we were scheduled for routine maintenance at Freightliner near us. So we planned our day to accommodate this appointment. We went to the nearby Headwaters of the Missouri River State Park. This site was near where Sacagawea, a Shoshone, was kidnapped. She later returned and met up with Lewis and Clark in 1805 and served as their guide. The Corps of Discovery set up camp in this area where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers merge into the Missouri. In fact, they broke up camp on July 29th, 214 years to the day that we were there. The three rivers are the source of the town’s name – Three Forks. Not only did we have a wonderful hike through the hills and prairies of the state park, but we also stopped in the town of Three Forks. It is another charming western town with all the pleasantries we like – murals, benches, no parking fees with plenty of parking on Main Street, and lots of interesting shops. In addition, Three Forks had some special amenities – we had a yummy lunch at Stageline Pizza and then we sampled the excellent pie and ice cream at Iron Horse Café and Pie Shop. We stopped in the extensive free Headwaters Heritage Museum to learn more about the history of the town and surrounding area. Everywhere we went we met friendly people, especially the woman who staffs the Three Forks Visitor Center – her office is a cozy, inviting old train caboose filled with many helpful brochures and she herself was a native with a wealth of knowledge and suggestions. The town also seems to really be into painted rocks. I like to paint rocks too so it was fun to see so many all along Main Street poking through the well-tended landscaping. This town rates really high on our list. We had to kill some time waiting for our rig to be done so went to a nearby recreation area on the river, set up our chairs and relaxed with the perfect weather and perfect view. Our rig was done early – no real problems just regular maintenance – so it was a great day all around.
The headwaters of the Missouri river
On Tuesday,
August 30th, we left Bozeman for Fairmont RV Park in Butte. The next day we had a really wonderful visit
to Virginia City and Nevada City. Virginia
City is a genuine western town – the original buildings are still in their
original locations and the renovations on them have been minimal. There are over 100 buildings – a whole city
museum free to visitors – which you can walk into the entrance and see them the
way they used to look. The wallpaper was
faded and torn, the floorboards were worn and scuffed but the furniture and
artifacts were authentic. We loved
wandering down the boardwalk sidewalk and experiencing this western
adventure.
Some of the original buildings in Virginia CityWe watched ice cream being made and then had some!
Just down the
road was Nevada City. This was a
reconstructed town and the main area was sectioned off with admission
fees. It was still interesting to walk
around.
On August 1st,
we went to the Washoe Fish Hatchery – continuing to research and observe the
fish industry in preparation for our upcoming volunteer position at the D.C.
Booth Fish Hatchery. Washoe had some
pretty trout in a pool for us to watch as well as an indoor viewing area.
The fish viewing window at the Washoe Hatchery
After seeing
fish, we went to Copper Village and Art Center.
We don’t have any need to buy “things” but we like to look around,
especially at the local items.
We left Butte
and pulled into Jim and Mary’s RV Park in Missoula. This is the fourth time we stopped there –
always a beautiful park to be in. We got
there in time for the First Friday Downtown in nearby Missoula, followed by the
Saturday Farmer’s Market. We love
Missoula and enjoy our repeated visits there.
We did do
something different – on Sunday we visited the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. A lovely place, filled with the peaceful, happy
faces of Buddhas within a circular wall crowned with small white casts of
Buddhas. The top of the hill housed a
large circle of prayer flags. The pond
was lovely, adding water sounds to the peacefulness. We are glad to have spent some of our life in
this truly special place.
As much as we
love Montana, our Travel Spirit had other plans for us and we got to Riverside
State Park in Spokane. There we were met
by Doug’s sister Bev and her husband Barry.
They had been on the road for about a month, enjoying Glacier National
Park and Montana. It’s always fun for us
to camp together, catch up, share a few meals and just enjoy each other’s
company.
We also had the
pleasure of meeting up with Jodi and Ken, our daughter’s in-laws, and seeing how
happy they are in their new home in Spokane Valley. The four of us enjoyed a nice dinner
together.
Camping in the
beautiful state park along the Spokane River gave us time for some short hikes
and beautiful views of the river. It was
really hot so we did spend extra time inside our rigs being thankful for
air-conditioning.
We parted
company with Bev and Barry – they went home to Tigard, OR and we spent a few
more nights on the road. We stayed one
night at Plymouth Park KOA and two nights in the Cascade Locks KOA. We walked around the park in Cascade Locks
and saw a little of the small main street.
As much fun as
we were having, travelling and sightseeing, we couldn’t wait to get to our next
stop: Olde Stone Village, McMinnville,
OR – near our Portland area family!
On July 9th,
we arrived in North Dakota – the 40th state we have been in on our
three and a half year journey around the country.
Icelandic State Park was a perfect introduction to this new state for us. We tried to visit the RSL #3 Missile Site but it wasn’t open so we explored the Pioneer Heritage buildings in the campground and learned of the Gunlogson family who staked their claim on this property. We toured their homestead and sat for a while in the Stave Church. We took a mile hike through the Gunlogson Nature Trail through the riparian forest – oaks, birches, lush undergrowth of ferns and flowering plants.
Hallson church at Icelandic State ParkSeen along the Gunlogson Nature Trail
Our next stop was Grahams Island State Park on Devil’s Lake. On Saturday, July 13th we drove two hours to see the International Peace Gardens. We took our time in the conservatory seeing hundreds of varieties of cacti and succulents. The formal and sunken gardens were in perfect bloom. We had some quiet time in the Peace Chapel reading the inspirational quotes etched on the stone walls. The 9/11 tribute had massive metal girders from the fallen World Trade Center – in beautiful gardenscapes. The Carillon was not singing that day but the bright sun and light breeze scented with roses made the day a perfect interlude of peace. On the way out we re-entered the US and I used my passport for the first time. It really is a peaceful border – going into the Peace Gardens was simply a pleasant greeting to welcome us and directions for touring the gardens. We were in Manitoba, Canada – it was just that simple to cross a completely undefended border. Entering the US coming home was just some pleasant conversation with the Border Patrol Officers. The only small issue was a question about the feather the hangs from our rear-view mirror. We had to pretend it was not a real hawk feather – must be some prohibition about that. Such a great place to visit!
Inside the conservatoryThe formal gardensThe international border runs right through the Peace Chapel
On the way to
the Peace Gardens, we stopped for a few minutes in Rugby – the geographical
center of North America. In South Dakota
we stopped in Belle Fourche – the geographical center of the United
States. In Rugby we also saw the Indian
Talking Rock – a small rock on the corner of the little strip mall – but a
stunning example of ancient petroglyphs.
Us at the center of North America
We took the
next day to do our favorite thing – beach-sitting. The small rocky beach on Devil’s Lake on
Grahams Island was a pretty lakeside view of children playing in the lapping
waves and boats cruising across the lake.
It may be a while until we can sit on sunny sand again.
Then we stayed
in Bismarck just two nights but we made sure to visit the Lewis and Clark
Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan.
This was a large museum with excellent art and exhibits. We’ve been to many Lewis and Clark sites but
this one was certainly one of the best.
The tour through the reconstructed Fort Mandan was great. We always learn new things about the Corps of
Discovery. In this museum we learned
more about Sacagawea. We have heard
every possible pronunciation of her name, which is understandable since it is a
phonetic transliteration of a Shoshone name that was never written down before
the Corps entered it into their journals.
But this time we saw it spelled and pronounced differently. It seems that the State of North Dakota
spells it “Sakakawea” and says it that way – “sa ka’ ka way a”. The fort was furnished with accurate
reproductions of all the items used in the camp – cots with bear skins, metal
dishes, barrels, clothing, etc. – all available for us to pick up and examine. We
gained lots more information for us to add to our interesting travels along the
Lewis and Clark Trail.
Part of the reconstructed Fort Mandan
This might be a
good time to describe the drive through North Dakota. This state is different from the Northern
Woods of Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is
a prairie – enormous expanses of waving grasses. There are some trees – riparian forests near
lakes, streams, rivers and bogs.
Visiting here in July means you get to see almost everything in
bloom. Our nature walks were filled with
colorful flowers – some we recognized like irises and daisies and many that
were new to us.
The prairie is
mostly flat. Sometimes there are
mound-like hills. The large mountains
here are the Turtle Mountains. So we
also saw lots of turtle images. My
favorite was the Giant Turtle made of tire wheels, called Weel’ Turtle. It is a huge agricultural area – farms
everywhere. We have seen one kind of
crop before and didn’t know what it was.
It is a short plant with a fluorescent yellow flower – so bright it
doesn’t look natural. We asked a ranger
about it and found that it is rapeseed which when harvested is used to make
canola oil. Once you see this plant
covering acres of land in the strangely bright yellow you don’t forget it.
The roads are
straight and, considering the extreme winters, in great shape. Winter is always looming here. Even in the heat of these 90 degree days in
July you hear mention of winter. It
seems to always be lurking around the corner, probably because it lasts for so
many months. We are happy to be here in
the summer and have no intention of discovering just how bad winter can be.
We
left Bismarck and traveled to Medora. The
roads are easy to travel on but the scenery is mostly flat green prairie with
huge farms. On I-94 we did see Salem
Sue, claimed by the city of Salem to be the world’s largest Holstein. There it was just hanging out – a huge
plaster sculpture – in the middle of nowhere – on a hill. As we approached Medora, we stopped at the
Painted Canyon Rest Stop to get an overview of Theodore Roosevelt National Park
and to gape at our first breathtaking view of the canyon’s rocky and colorful
hills. This would be our final stay in
North Dakota and it turned out to be our favorite.
The Painted Canyon
We
camped at the Medora Campground – a beautiful park on the edge of the town of
Medora with a view of the Painted Canyon escarpment. The town itself is great – western and
charming. It is very small with a
population of 132. The motto is
“Medora. Explore it. Adore it.”
And it is adorable.
We
ate a delicious breakfast at the Rough Rider Inn in Theodore’s Room. Doug had a huge plate of Ranchos Huevos and I
had melt-in-your-mouth Lemon-Ricotta pancakes.
Then we spent time wandering around the streets and shops of Medora. We do a lot of wandering down main streets in
old, small towns so we have developed a rating system. A town with public art, benches, no charge
for parking, some charm – well, that town rates high. Medora, in addition to all that, also has
stunning views of the Painted Canyon cliffs.
Gardens in front of the Medora Post Office
The
South entrance to our destination of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is right
in Medora so we decided to get our introduction at the visitor center where we
watched a movie and read the displays.
One of the rangers gave us information on one of my favorite animals –
the pronghorn.
That
night we went to the Medora Musical – an outdoor performance that was Wild
West, Las Vegas and Broadway all combined.
Going down the long escalator to our seats in the amphitheatre, we saw
two bull elks on the nearby hillcrest.
They were eating and posing.
Magnificent! The songs and
stories told about Teddy Roosevelt’s love and exploration of this part of the
country. And there were stories about
Medora’s founder and the current community leaders – all told with horses,
colorful costumes, a great band, singers, dancers, a magician, and even
fireworks. The production was excellent
– in quality, content and emotion.
A rainbow appeared during the Medora Musical
We
followed that great day with a full day exploring the South Unit of Theodore
Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). As we
traveled the scenic loop road (some of it closed due to rain damage) we stopped
often to admire the well-organized habitat of the prairie dog towns, to glimpse
the wild horses on the hills, to see the majesty of the bison walking along the
road or further away in large herds. We
stopped to hike some of the short trails through the blooming prairie and into
the Painted Canyon among the colorful rock walls. We ended the day with a ranger-led geology
talk that gave us some explanation of the processes that formed these beautiful
Badlands.
A Prairie Dog! A panorama along the scenic loopThe Little Missouri runs through the park
Seeing
the huge healthy bison is always an incredible sight. In 2016, President Obama signed a bill
declaring bison the national mammal.
It’s nice to know they got some recognition.
A bison along the road
On
Saturday, July 20th, we drove 60 miles through the flat prairies and
farmlands to the North Unit of TRNP. We
noticed subtle differences between the two areas. The north was greener with more water. But we also saw the same colors and shapes that
make this place a photographer’s dream.
On the north side we saw the Little Missouri River which carved the
canyons and the Cannonball Concretions that decorate them and then we hiked
right into the coulees. We stopped for a
long look at Oxbow Overlook, examining the Little Missouri River’s sharp oxbow
bend at that point.
Cannonball ConcretionsThe view from the end of the North Unit Drive
Such
a beautiful park! We are grateful for
its preservation and very happy that our journey brought us here.
We
said good-bye to Medora and TRNP on July 21st and re-entered one of
our favorite states – Montana!
