Wednesday, June 7 - We got released from prison Monday. Spending 12 days in an RV park to have AC was a first for us. Originally we were going to continue west to central Washington, but the heat dome changed our minds. We returned to Kalispell to get chassis batteries, shop, and visit with a friend. Oh, and for Dorothy to get a pedicure.
After picking up our batteries this morning we headed south to find a mountain. Latitude failed us this trip, so we are going for the alternative - elevation. We will not get to a mountain today, but soon. We may slowly drift south following the chain of the Rocky Mountains perhaps all the way to the Tushar Mountains in Utah. We have never explored that area.
I dialed in a FS CG, Lake Como, which is south of Missoula. It is a great CG with huge paved sites. So good it was full. We noted a dispersed area on the way in and parked there under Ponderosa Pines. It was our 2110th night in KoKo. 5.7 years
A rain shower cooled it down to 72 for a while, but it recovered to 92 after an hour or so.
This part of Montana has numerous roadside businesses selling logs for log cabins. Just on US83 south of Missoula, we have gone past two dozen or more such businesses.
Thursday, July 8 - We did not have a cell signal where we were parked so after a cup of coffee we got on the road to find a place to park and surf. What a delightful drive. Maybe it was the morning light. Maybe it was no traffic allowing a slow pace. The Bitterroot Valley is scenic with the Sapphire Mountains as a backdrop. They are as snaggletooth as the Sawtooth Mountains just to the west. US93 is a delightful road.
We parked at the pass and Dorothy fixed eggs sandwiches on Texas toast.
We ended our long drive day of 2.5 hours at Clark Canyon Reservoir. This is our third time here. It is a quiet free CG with a view of the lake and four bars. It's 79 at 11:30. It will be much hotter late in the day. We have a ramada for shelter from the sun.
Semi-interesting factoid about Clark Canyon. Lewis and Clark traipsed all over the area. This was as far as they got up the tributaries of the Missouri. They built Fort Fortunate here, now covered by the dammed waters. Sacajawea hooked up with her tribe, they got horses and over the Rockies L&C went.
Friday, July 9 - The last time we were here, I washed the Jeep in the lake. So I wanted to avail myself of the amenity again. The lake is lower and I got in quick mud. I buried it almost to the axles in a flash when I decided to put the front tires back on the gravel as insurance. Fortunately, a young couple saw my dilemma and brought their truck down to use as a tree so I could winch out. It winched their truck instead. He dug out the tires, put down flat rocks, chocked his truck tires with rocks. I engaged the lockers and it came out. I was panting hard after partially digging out one tire. He was not panting after digging out all of them. Bless youth. I guess I need to add recovery boards to the stuff I carry.
In the afternoon, we washed the Jeep on a hard-packed beach and enjoyed the cool water.
Saturday, July 10 - We are thinking we can get into a fav CG in Ririe, ID tomorrow. It is a great county park with full amenities. Ririe is only 20 minutes from Idaho Falls. There is a Mexican restaurant in Idaho Falls we really like. Not sure of the name but we will find it.
Sunday, July 11 - We made it to Ririe before noon and snagged a great site. A back-in with Juniper trees for shade on both sides of us. Green grass on both sides of us. We met our neighbors from Pahrump, NV, and spent the afternoon slurping liquid stuff in the shade.
Monday, July 12 - More fun, finished washing the Jeep. Well almost. I need a high-pressure hose to remove the rest of the mud from the chassis. Dorothy needed a lay day and so we laid.
We went out to enjoy our lawn. I hooked up two 12v fans since there was not a breeze this morning. We listened to Peer Gent and Angelo Debarre. The latter is a Romani gypsy jazz guitarist.
We watched the final episode of Bosch. I was disappointed with the entire season. Same people writing, same people acting, it just seemed contrived.
Tuesday, July 13 - I made pancakes for Dorothy. We went into town for lunch and grocery shopping. We wish we had a full-size refer so we could buy large roasts and bulky things like cauliflower. Well, we can, but we have to eat it right away.
We drove to four restaurants before we found the one we were seeking. El Rinconcito - Little Corner. Remember that name blog in case we ever get back here. It's a no-frills hole-in-wall place. The last time we were here we were the only whites in the place. They just re-opened today after a 30-day closure to visit family. We got there at 11:20 and were the only customers for a time. Then workers from the local business started to drift in. By noon, the place was filling up.
Overstuffed, we went grocery shopping at Winco - one of our favs markets. It's a fun place to shop. It is part of Fred Meyer, Albertson's, and Aldi. It's a no-frills store. No one wearing pearls shops there. The prices are lower than Walmart or Costco and the selection is much broader. I really like their bulk foods section. Sadly, I have only seen extensive bulk food in the PNW and Canada. We got small amounts of flavored coffees. We will try them and get more of the ones we really like.
I am thinking we will stay here through the weekend and just eat. Downtown is teeming with restaurants. The 11 pounds I lost may reappear.
There are wildfires in all the western states. So far we have not encountered any. The west side of the Wind River range, our next stop, is fire-free.
Wednesday, July 14 - Laundry day.
I think I finally figured out our cell data plan. The phone hot spot is unlimited with no throttling. Using it as hot spot damages the battery, but batteries are only $35 at Batteries Plus. The MiFi is faster and "unlimited" up to 30GB, then it is throttled. Even throttled, it works well enough to download movies, although slowly.
From — On the House: A Washington Memoir by John Boehner
“They showed Clint, me, and two of my campaign staffers to a little table way in the back of the restaurant. It was near a separate entrance so we could go outside and smoke. My staffers and I got up to smoke pretty frequently. Clint, despite his voice (or maybe because of it), didn’t. But it didn’t seem right to leave an 80-year-old Oscar winner just sitting there by himself, so we invited him to step out with us to keep the conversation going.
It was on these smoke breaks that the conversation got really interesting. At one point, one of my guys asked Clint: “Why did you get into acting?” His answer was immediate, in that low, iconic growl: “Chicks, man.” “What do you mean?” “Well, this buddy of mine was in this acting class, and he kept telling me about all these hot chicks in there,” he went on. “I don’t give a shit about acting. I just wanted to meet chicks.” That gave us all a good laugh.
But a little later, someone else asked him: “How come you decided to teach yourself to play the piano?” The growl rumbled up again: “Chicks.” Again he explained: “I used to go to all these Hollywood parties, and there’d be some gay guy playing the piano and all these chicks hanging around him. I thought, Hell, I want the chicks hanging around me, so I learned to play the piano.” He brought the house down with that.”
Continuing from a book I read. Clint was a lifeguard at Fort Ord for the duration of the Korean War. He was later a lifeguard at MGM pool. Why? See above.
Thursday, July 15 - We took a drive along the Snake River. It starts in Yellowstone just an hour away from here. It was rolling downhill fast today. I would guess 8-10 mph. The river crosses whatever route you might be on several times. It's everywhere in the PNW. You cannot escape the Snake. Wikipedia says The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At 1,078 miles long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean.
Ride the highway west, baby
Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake, he's long, seven miles
Ride the snake
He's old and his skin is cold
The west is the best
The west is the best
- Jim Morrison
On this drive, off the main road, we saw 11, count em 11, RV parks along this short section of the Snake. Most of them adjoined another one. They were close to full. None came close to where we are staying. Also on the same road was a ski lift and hot springs. The springs were packed.
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