August 17th

Oregon and Washington

(two notes- we still have intermittent and limping internet, so photos will follow when we get out of the mountains, gullies and gorges. Also- we love your comments, just remember that everyone that reads this blog may read your comments!)

We took the interstate north out of Idaho, attempting to get far enough north by Monday to be out of the “eclipse hysteria”. All along the path of the eclipse, everyone is in high gear- hundreds of porta potties being placed along roads that normally get low traffic, the sheriff’s dept. has moved mobile units to out lying communities on the path, and every business has raised their prices and camping and lodging was booked months ago!
We stayed one night in Pendleton Oregon (yes, Pendleton shirts and blankets are from here), and then on to Walla Walla Washington- north east, to keep moving out of the path. Four consecutive nights in Walmarts- a new record! However, we did score a campsite on the Columbia River for 4 nights after the eclipse.
Walla Walla is nouveau wine country- over the past 30 years it has become the “thing” here. We did errands and chores here- get this- next to the laundromat was a barbershop- we both got haircuts while doing the laundry- we also needed water for the camper, which Barber Walt procured for us from the next door shop. And to top it off, there was an ice cream stand next door to the barbershop- perfect! Then onto to this beautiful park in town for a picnic lunch, a walk, and they have an aviary with exotic birds- go figure.
Ice Harbor Dam and Fish Ladder- so cool- we watched 20lb Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout move up the ladder through giant windows. And we picked up a stone in the windshield so must get that fixed.
Mary Hill State Park is our location for 4 nights along the Columbia Gorge on the Washington side. Hot weather has returned, however I swim in the river and Clare and Rhylee dip there feet 🙂

Posted 8/22 happened 8/10-16 (due to mountains interfering with internet access 🙂 and photos to come later

Headed up the Salmon River. We dropped 4000 ft in about 20 minutes in the Salmon River Valley. We are staying along the river in several places as we head to Smiley Creek in the Sawtooth Mountains. The river starts up that way and winds itself north to the Snake River and then west in the Columbia River to the Pacific. The river must drop 7000 ft to get to the ocean, which means the trout and salmon must swim UP 7000 ft to spawn.

Enjoyed hot springs at a campground in Challis, ID. More hot springs on the side of the road- check out this pic with the big cauldron people put in place for others to enjoy.

 

The water out of the pipe was hotter than tap water, so the cauldron was too hot! People make stone pools in the river to control the hot and cold water mix. Clare soaked his feet, Linda laid in it and Rhylee couldn’t decide if he liked the cold side or the hot side, but he did get a good washdown, to his chagrin.

 

Idaho trivia- IF you flattened Idaho out, it would be bigger in area than Texas!
At Smiley Creek to meet up with Derek. Cool and overcast temps- something we have not had for weeks and weeks! The three of us went trap shooting- first time I had ever used a shotgun, Derek was really good and Clare was a bit rusty. The range master gave me my first shell- it was a hit! and a special clay signed with the date- of course I no longer have either as we have no room for knickknacks.

Then a gondola ride up the local mountain- we were in the clouds, and Elk burgers at the restaurant up there. And a river float rafting trip, jumping out of the raft to float awhile in the very cold water. Hanging out at the campfire, telling stories, laughing and chilling. We’ll see Derek again in Utah at the end of September right before he deploys to the Middle East.

We are now trying to get out of the path of the eclipse, as everyone around here is crazy about it and expecting huge crowds. Heading to Oregon after a stop in Boise for mail, errands and re-stocking.

 

August, I think…

Headed up to Bozeman for a night at a Walmart, groceries and other supplies. The drive was hazy with what we thought was smog, but turned out to be smoke from wild fires hundreds of miles away, so all views were obscured. (MT does have smog issues, too. In fact, it is against the law to burn wood in a wood stove or fireplace!)
Found a very sweet campground south of Butte- our first BLM stop- Bureau of Land Management- it is along the Hole River in Divide, no services at the sites, but our rig is always ready for 3 days without any help! Spending three days here to clean house inside and out, maintain jacks and other “chores”.

Hiked a “short” trail that wasn’t so short,

however the views were so worth it!

We’ve been several days without internet or cell, so today we are catching up with the blog and other world calls, as we head  back into the mountains and expect to be off line for 3-6 days.

July…something 🙂

WOW! It is beautiful countryside and look where we slept the other night! Devil’s Tower looming over us!

Bighorn National Forest- a squiggly road in and up- climbed over 4000 ft in elevation in about 30 minutes! Beautiful mountain meadows, craggy outcrops, snow on the north side of hills, cattle being rounded up and a shepherd with about 2000 sheep.

 

 

Simply spectacular! Very few people around and basic but lovely campgrounds that are self-registering- $8/night with the Senior access pass!

 
High Elevation observations- I forgot to use the high elevation version of the brownies we baked the other night, and so they have very large air bubbles in them. Water boils SO quickly up here, but things take longer to cook, as the boil temp is lower up here. The ice cream pushed the lid off the top- I took one big serving off the top just to reclose the container- slow churned without the churning! Pizza- well the dough bought frozen at 4000 ft started puffing up as soon as it thawed, then in the oven it puffed up again, more like very light forcaccia bread with pizza toppings! And the un-opened bag of chips, as you can see, is more like a helium balloon. And the one big question is- what is this doing to our bodies??

 
We thought about driving Beartooth Scenic Highway in the northeast corner of Yellowstone, between no reserve/first come first serve campgrounds and fellow campers telling us that even we could get into traffic jams! We’ll save all of Yellowstone for the off season.

Hiked up to Medicine Wheel this morning- this place has been here over 10,000 years! Very moving to think about all the native peoples that have come to this place.

 

 

 

 

 

Then on to Bighorn Canyon- usually sweltering hot, but today cool and super windy- steady at 20 knots gusts much higher. The third biggest canyon in the US after Grand and Letchworth, however we have no idea how they measure them!

 

July 27, 2017

We arrived in South Dakota on Thursday, July 20th (we think, the days and dates are starting to blur). There wasn’t even a state line sign at the the border between Minnesota and South Dakota where we crossed, nor did our gps or phones give us an alert…whatever…
Stopped at Pipestone National Monument- a redstone quarry that several American Indian tribes used to carve peace pipes.

South Dakota is our “legal domicile residence” to keep the US gov’t happy. Our address here is in Box Elder- in a hay field with lots of other “escapees” – folks using Escapees RV Club for legal addresses and mailing addresses (ours is in Texas).

AND, it is even hotter here, even though we moved north and west away from the “heat dome”- check out this pic of our dashboard at about 2pm on Friday. YIKES!
West Bend Campground on the Missouri River, shady campsites. The 4 young adults next to us invited us to dinner- fresh Walleye they caught in the river- They answered question after question about South Dakota for us- about farming, liing in SD, windfarms, the winters…
Drove the loop through the Badlands National Park, again in the 90s, so we plan to come back in the spring.

We’re spending the week at a campground in the Black Hills and doing all our paperwork – new SD licenses and registering the truck- in Rapid City, SD.

 

July 14-19, 2017

It has been SO hot, however we found a great way to cool off- Ohio Caverns- 54 degrees! Check out these cool pics of stalagtites and stalagmites- do you know which is which? (More pics in the Photos tab to come)

 
Cincinnati, OH to visit my bro Tom, his wife Shirley and my niece Abigail. We have parked in the most precarious place yet- just to get free electricity for the AC! lol Went to Crazy Cardboard Boat Races- 35 very sturdy boats were entered, and the finale was a demolition derby!
Headed to South Dakota, so we have some ground to cover- beautiful never-ending fields of corn and soybeans with occassional winter wheat, grain silos, farmhouses and high power tension lines dissecting it all, train tracks leading to and from grain elevators.

 

Watched a spectacular thunderstorm approach from the camper deck while overnighting in the Cabela’s parking lot in Noblesville, IN

 
More HEAT in Iowa- heat advisories for most of the state- even the locals are complaining about the weather- high 90s during the day, lows above 75 each night. The pavement is burning Rhylee’s feet and sticking to our shoes! We are driving longer days to stay in the truck with AC and seeking campgrounds with elecricity most nights. Gratefully, google maps has been able to find us ice cream every day! Wednesday in northern Iowa we hit 97 degrees! Add windmill farms to the list of neverending fields…

 

 

 

Crossed the Mississippi River on Tuesday at Burlington, Iowa. Drove up to Mosquito Park and watched this tug and barge head down river.

Sliding up into Minnesota and then starting across South Dakota…sure hope it cools off a bit!

July 13, 2017

The second biggest canyon in the US is in Letchworth State Park, NY. We spent an afternoon and morning here hiking/walking and looking at the awesome waterfalls. Sadly, our camera acted up today and you will not see the great photos we took of the waterfalls and rainbows.

AND our first night in a casino parking lot- very quiet Seneca-Allegheny Casino. Erie, PA next to check out the lake and visit a park called Presque Isle- within a couple days we went through Machias, Presque Isle, Albion, and Auburn- beginning to think we never left Maine. Presque Isle was a tree covered sand bar about 15 miles long out into Lake Erie. Sandy on the outboard shore; swimming only allowed on some of the beaches- we never did figure out why.
Drove too many interstates in Ohio- more semi-trucks on the highways than cars in places! Apparently, more freight travels through Ohio than any other state! We have also had torrential rain and thunderstorms several times, too. Hot and humid, so we are using some state park campgrounds to can run the AC on their electricity.
And here’s another oddity that blew Clare’s mind- stopped to get groceries at an Aldi- to get a cart you had to pay a QUARTER! Say what??? What they didn’t tell us, is that you get the quarter back when you return the cart. But still….we left and went elsewhere 🙂

 

July 7, 2017

Herkimer “Diamonds” are only found in this small part of the world. And the ones at Crystal Grove are different than the ones down the road- younger- only 450,000 million years as opposed to 500,000 million years and they formed in dirt and stone, not in solution.

Google Herkimer Diamonds if you want more info- it’s pretty cool!
Looks like a small gravel pit; we paid our money, grabbed our tools and off we went. Clare smashed big rocks- just like a little kid. Linda scoured the ground picking up diamonds just sitting there like shells on a beach. We didn’t find anything worth any money, but we had a blast and found a few nice crystals. More photos in the photo tab.

Spent last night there at a campground on site. Tonight we bunk down at a Cracker Barrel in Cicero, NY

July 5, 2017

Visited my bro Phil and his wife Priscilla in Manchester, NH. Went to dinner and coincidentally were joined by my nephew Adam and his wife Miranda. Had a great family visit!

A quiet 4th of July, as the three of us hiked from our campsite up Mt. Olga. The fire tower gave us a spectacular 360 degree panoramic view.

Staying in Latham, NY so we can do errands, again- LL Bean for a backordered/wrong sized item, re-ordered and shipped to Colonie, NY, Walmart for stuff we need, extra keys for the truck as one key is with us, but not to be found in our tiny abode with lots of hiding spots, etc. etc.
Heading to Herkimer, NY to hunt for diamonds- Herkimer diamonds which are really quartz, but fun all the same.

June 28, 2017

Just a quick note to let you all know that we have made it! We are homeless, or wheeled homed, or nomadic…as of Tuesday night about 4:30pm

We are at Bradbury Mountain State Park for a few days to rest, run the last grounded-world errands and start to slow the pace!

More later!