Friday, October 3
Another driving tour day. We had been through the town of Mammoth Lakes to Devil’s Postpile before, but we had not been to the lakes area. At the end of the road, I enticed Dorothy to go up the trail to McCloud Lake for 10 minutes just to get some exercise. It worked, she was huffing and puffing in short order at 9,000 feet, but we made it the half-mile to the lake in 30 minutes.
I noted a geologic feature on our Delorme map called Hot Creek. It was just down the road, so we had to see it. So did a few other people, including a geology class from a college in San Luis Obispo. It was a mini Yellowstone.
Our final stop for the day was Convict Lake, scenic, but covered up with people in a fishing tournament.
Pam caught several more trout so we had a divine dinner.
Saturday, October 4
Big winds last night. We woke up to snow above 10,000 feet. It was the first snow of the season. More is expected tonight down to 8,000 feet.
Driving south, we came down from 8,000 to below 5,000 feet. We stopped Bishop for gas and to do laundry and changed into shorts. Darn warm. A big climate difference in 60 miles.
We arrived at our destination, the Alabama Hills, after 3. We found a good location to set up camp - off the main road, but in the open so we have a 360 view. While we were having cocktails, a young couple from Germany drove up and asked if they could stay with us - Hans and Beata. It turned out that he had been to the US about 25 times and to the Alabama Hills seven times before. He is an accomplished photographer, we saw a few dozen of his prints. We chatted with them until bedtime and set our clocks for 5:45 to capture the Sierra Nevada before the sun comes over the Inyo Mountains behind us.
This is our third visit to the Alabama Hills. It’s a very special place for us. The Inyo mountains to the east are the second of four ranges blocking moisture from Death Valley and they look like what you see in Death Valley, unremarkable. The Sierra Nevada to the immediate west is to our way of thinking the best mountain range in the lower US. Ragged, jagged, snaggle-toothed mountains that rise suddenly from the valley floor.
Sunday, October 5
When the sun is still behind the eastern mountains, the tops of the Sierra Nevada glow hot pink. This lasts less than five minutes and then a white band descends down the mountains replacing the hot pink.
We said goodbye to Hans and Beata who were heading north to the White Mountains.
We spent an hour or so jeeping around in the hills stopping frequently to read the signs erected this week for the film festival, showing which movies were filmed at which set of rocks.
After lunch we drove into town and visited the Lone Pine Film Museum.
Monday, October 6
We got up at 6:30 and drove a short distance to capture a few more photographs at first light. I think we got better ones today.
After a breakfast of biscuits, we drove north to Independence and took Onion Valley Road 9,200 feet up into the mountains. This drive is as good as the several we have done in the Owens Valley. The roads go directly up, as you ascend from 4,000 feet to 9,000 or even 10,000 in 15 miles or so.
We did a short hike as Dorothy was not having a good day, altitude wise. The trail I choose was washed out after only ½ mile. We tried another one with the same results. And so it goes.
Tuesday, October 7
Oh Boy, we went and did it today. We had hiked the Mt. Whitney trail before, but only two miles RT or so and that was more than enough for Dorothy on that day. Today, we went three times that distance, 5.6 miles, with a 1,590 feet elevation gain. We started out at 9am at 8,360 and went to Lone Pine Lake at 9,950. We huffed and puffed all the way up and spent a lot time resting. It took us 3:45 to get to the lake and 2:40 to come down. That means we spent about an hour resting on the way up.
Dorothy has several blisters and is out of action for the rest of the day, but she is in good spirits after a Coke and a martini. We are setting four miles as our hard limit from now own.
Wednesday, October 8
We get up early, have a quick coffee and cereal and reluctantly break camp. We are about out of water and would need to dump in one more day. Besides, we really need to head home.
We stopped to see the arch, which we just heard about the other day (from a BLM chap who stopped by to say hello and warn of fire danger). Of course, we have probably seen more of the hills than most who visit here. Some of the roads are for high clearance vehicles only. We plan to come back one year. Perhaps the first two weeks of October at June Lake followed by two weeks at the hills.
We drove 3.5 hours to just east of Barstow to a non-descript CG in the Mojave. After months of great scenery, the trip home is going to be boring on I40. The choice of CG’s on I40 is really sad.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Friday, September 19
A bright sunny day. I could not get up for yakking, so we took the easy way and drove into the Siskiyou Mountains. The high point is only 4,550, but after being at sea level for weeks, it was a change. We had been on the Grants Pass/Galice side of these mountains two years ago and found them to be unusual. The mountains go up at about 70 degrees with the one and one half lane road blasted from the side. The terrain is twisted and tortured. These mountains were ripped from the northern Sierra Nevada some 200 million years back and transported by unknown mechanism northwest some 60 miles.
At the summit, we took a gravel road, which looking at Deloreme “goes forever” along the ridges.
Saturday, September 20
It was cloudy at dawn and was still cloudy at 10:30. We needed sunlight, for us and the batteries. So we drove KoKo into town to let the alternator do it’s thing. We parked by a large rock on the coast, connected to the internet, had lunch, noted 10-12amps were coming from the solar panels, pronounced it a good day and took a nap.
We later walked on the beach and picked up a few more rocks. We left our Mobil travel guide at home and we want to review one for restaurants in San Francisco. There is a two story book store in Gold Beach, so we dropped in to see if they had one. No Mobil, but one of the best used book stores we have seen. Plus they have a store of rare books. We managed to escape with buying anything. I did read a short book of John Wayne quotes.
We love Oregon and it is difficult for us to leave.
The CG has numerous Murtlewood trees. When you crush the leaves, there is a pleasant aroma.
Sunday, September 21
We drove 37 miles south, almost to the OR/CA border, to Brookings. We had stayed here in 1996 and traveled through it in 2006. Harris Beach SP had one site with cable open. We took it so we can watch 60 Minutes tonight. We don’t want to leave Oregon. We only got here a month ago.
Brookings is the best town on the coast north of San Francisco. It’s prosperous. It has several places to eat and a Fred Meyer. What more could one want?
Monday through Wednesday
Just watching the surf splash on the rocks. We met two other LD couples in the CG. Four great days.
California
Thursday, September 25
It was difficult to leave Oregon, but we pulled up stakes, had a fine pancake breakfast at Mattie’s and a few minutes later we were in Del Norte county California. Once we past the intersection of 101 and 299 we were in new territory for us.
We stopped by Ferndale to gaze on the Victorian homes and got to the Avenue of the Giants around 3 – a long day for us. We got a site at the Burlington CG at the south end of the park.
The redwoods are as awe-inspiring as we recalled them.
Friday, September 26
We took two short hikes in the redwoods. It was a little disconcerting when we wheeled into the trailhead for the first hike and a logging truck went down the road. Yes, California allows cutting in their forests.
We got away from the campground just after 11 and turned off 101 onto 1. Right away the road narrowed and begin going up. When we saw the sign that the next 22 miles would be twisty-turny, it did not prepare us for meeting oncoming loaded log trucks on the narrow road. Woohoo! We went up to around 1,900, then down to 500, then back up again before descending to the coast. The coast road was not any better, it was still narrow with sharp curves.
Sections of the coast were just good as Oregon. In one place the surf was high and the waves exploded straight up when they hit rocks just under the surface.
Filled up in Fort Bragg at $4.15 and that was 15 cents less than some places.
We got to our planned destination Russian Gulch SP. It was full. We went south four miles to Van Damme SP, they had one site open for one night. We took a look and rejected the whole park. It was really a sad looking place. We decided to end our misery and went to a private park. It’s probably one of the worst we have been in and it’s $34 and nearly full. We decided to do the A Class thing, plug in the cable and pull down the blinds.
We will terminate our adventure down highway 1 and head east.
Saturday, September 27
We said goodbye to the Pacific after a short walk to the beach. Lots of kayaks here. I suppose you paddle around the semi-protected lagoons and watch the wildlife. Too many people in one small place for us.
We took CA20 back over the coast mountains to 101. Any hopes that it might be better than 1 were quickly dashed. It is 26 miles of twisty-turney, vs. 22. After a few miles on 101, we picked up 20 again, east bound to Clear Lake, which is not all that clear and comes with dead fish. We continued on through some more small mountains and finally dropped down into the Sacramento Valley. We are back to civilization. We are overnighting in an unremarkable private CG. But it is the ONLY one in the area. It’s 97 and the a/c is required. Elevation tomorrow night.
Sunday, September 28
After watching CBS Sunday Morning, a treat for us, we drove through Sacramento and then east on US50. This was an easy crossing of the Sierra Nevada, except for the non-stop oncoming traffic from Tahoe. We saw a quick vista of Lake Tahoe from the highway.
We got to Indian Creek CG, a BLM facility, just after 1. The CG is small and very quiet. Lester is the camp host and has lots of rules. LOL Dorothy’s foot is bothering her from driving, so no activities this afternoon.
Nestled in the foothills, we were surprised to have one bar on the cell phone, but nothing on the Verizon card. We do have a full lineup of network TV channels, so we can watch 60 Minutes tonight. Woohoo!
We had our first campfire fire of the trip, not counting he ones Doug built. We are in grove of sugar pines and the cones are saturated with resin. You can light them with a match.
The evening weather report is not promising, rain clouds will be increasing over the night. They are hopeful it will end 70 days without rainfall.
Monday, September 29
Dawn came with clouds, we decided to drive over the pass on CA88 and paddle Silver Lake. The pass was not at all remarkable and an easier drive than we had on US50. Silver Lake was like all the lakes we have seen in the area, LOW. While this lake is in the forest, it is surrounded by resorts. The only access we saw was for a $10 launch fee.
We stopped at another small lake that has a FS CG, the fee was $22! That is the highest we have ever seen. And no amenities. The lake has several private homes on the shore. To reach them, you packed all your stuff in a boat and row to your property.
The sun was out, so we decided to try CA4, a narrow road over the Sierra Nevada. As you turn on the road, a sign warns of 28% grades. Woohoo! It is narrow, one and one-half lanes, but the grades are not bad, at least in the Jeep. If we were on a 28% grade we did not know it. By the time we neared the summit, there was a drizzle of rain. I was hoping for a Tioga Pass kind of road. While CA4 has a few elements of that road, it is a distant cousin. And so it goes.
Tuesday, September 30
We left Indian Creek CG and drove 90 or so miles so to June Lake, which is a picture post card lake. There are over a dozen FS CG’s in the area, we choose Oh Ridge for the view that five and only five campsites have of June Lake. See the picture of the lake out our back window.
The weather is great today, with only a light haze in the valley.
We had cocktails and dinner with Steve and Pam of Santa Carlita. Pam does a mean salsa.
Wednesday, October 1
In the morning, we paddled Gull Lake and in the afternoon, we drove up a FS road to Oh Ridge which overlooks OH Ridge CG, June Lake and the Sierra Nevada.
Tonight, cocktails and dinner with Steve and Pam.
Thursday, October 2
We extended for two more days, even with 90% overcast skies and dropping temperatures. Strong wind today, so no chance to paddle. Dorothy really wanted to see the tufa at Mono Lake and so we did.
After Mono, we drove Tioga Pass, one of our fav roads and went up to Saddleback Lake at 10,000 feet. It was real windy there and the air temperature was 45. Of course, there were several fishermen there.
Tonight dinner in June Lake so we can watch the debate with Steve and Pam.
Dorothy is way depressed with the market being down and McCain’s chances of being elected now are about zil.
A bright sunny day. I could not get up for yakking, so we took the easy way and drove into the Siskiyou Mountains. The high point is only 4,550, but after being at sea level for weeks, it was a change. We had been on the Grants Pass/Galice side of these mountains two years ago and found them to be unusual. The mountains go up at about 70 degrees with the one and one half lane road blasted from the side. The terrain is twisted and tortured. These mountains were ripped from the northern Sierra Nevada some 200 million years back and transported by unknown mechanism northwest some 60 miles.
At the summit, we took a gravel road, which looking at Deloreme “goes forever” along the ridges.
Saturday, September 20
It was cloudy at dawn and was still cloudy at 10:30. We needed sunlight, for us and the batteries. So we drove KoKo into town to let the alternator do it’s thing. We parked by a large rock on the coast, connected to the internet, had lunch, noted 10-12amps were coming from the solar panels, pronounced it a good day and took a nap.
We later walked on the beach and picked up a few more rocks. We left our Mobil travel guide at home and we want to review one for restaurants in San Francisco. There is a two story book store in Gold Beach, so we dropped in to see if they had one. No Mobil, but one of the best used book stores we have seen. Plus they have a store of rare books. We managed to escape with buying anything. I did read a short book of John Wayne quotes.
We love Oregon and it is difficult for us to leave.
The CG has numerous Murtlewood trees. When you crush the leaves, there is a pleasant aroma.
Sunday, September 21
We drove 37 miles south, almost to the OR/CA border, to Brookings. We had stayed here in 1996 and traveled through it in 2006. Harris Beach SP had one site with cable open. We took it so we can watch 60 Minutes tonight. We don’t want to leave Oregon. We only got here a month ago.
Brookings is the best town on the coast north of San Francisco. It’s prosperous. It has several places to eat and a Fred Meyer. What more could one want?
Monday through Wednesday
Just watching the surf splash on the rocks. We met two other LD couples in the CG. Four great days.
California
Thursday, September 25
It was difficult to leave Oregon, but we pulled up stakes, had a fine pancake breakfast at Mattie’s and a few minutes later we were in Del Norte county California. Once we past the intersection of 101 and 299 we were in new territory for us.
We stopped by Ferndale to gaze on the Victorian homes and got to the Avenue of the Giants around 3 – a long day for us. We got a site at the Burlington CG at the south end of the park.
The redwoods are as awe-inspiring as we recalled them.
Friday, September 26
We took two short hikes in the redwoods. It was a little disconcerting when we wheeled into the trailhead for the first hike and a logging truck went down the road. Yes, California allows cutting in their forests.
We got away from the campground just after 11 and turned off 101 onto 1. Right away the road narrowed and begin going up. When we saw the sign that the next 22 miles would be twisty-turny, it did not prepare us for meeting oncoming loaded log trucks on the narrow road. Woohoo! We went up to around 1,900, then down to 500, then back up again before descending to the coast. The coast road was not any better, it was still narrow with sharp curves.
Sections of the coast were just good as Oregon. In one place the surf was high and the waves exploded straight up when they hit rocks just under the surface.
Filled up in Fort Bragg at $4.15 and that was 15 cents less than some places.
We got to our planned destination Russian Gulch SP. It was full. We went south four miles to Van Damme SP, they had one site open for one night. We took a look and rejected the whole park. It was really a sad looking place. We decided to end our misery and went to a private park. It’s probably one of the worst we have been in and it’s $34 and nearly full. We decided to do the A Class thing, plug in the cable and pull down the blinds.
We will terminate our adventure down highway 1 and head east.
Saturday, September 27
We said goodbye to the Pacific after a short walk to the beach. Lots of kayaks here. I suppose you paddle around the semi-protected lagoons and watch the wildlife. Too many people in one small place for us.
We took CA20 back over the coast mountains to 101. Any hopes that it might be better than 1 were quickly dashed. It is 26 miles of twisty-turney, vs. 22. After a few miles on 101, we picked up 20 again, east bound to Clear Lake, which is not all that clear and comes with dead fish. We continued on through some more small mountains and finally dropped down into the Sacramento Valley. We are back to civilization. We are overnighting in an unremarkable private CG. But it is the ONLY one in the area. It’s 97 and the a/c is required. Elevation tomorrow night.
Sunday, September 28
After watching CBS Sunday Morning, a treat for us, we drove through Sacramento and then east on US50. This was an easy crossing of the Sierra Nevada, except for the non-stop oncoming traffic from Tahoe. We saw a quick vista of Lake Tahoe from the highway.
We got to Indian Creek CG, a BLM facility, just after 1. The CG is small and very quiet. Lester is the camp host and has lots of rules. LOL Dorothy’s foot is bothering her from driving, so no activities this afternoon.
Nestled in the foothills, we were surprised to have one bar on the cell phone, but nothing on the Verizon card. We do have a full lineup of network TV channels, so we can watch 60 Minutes tonight. Woohoo!
We had our first campfire fire of the trip, not counting he ones Doug built. We are in grove of sugar pines and the cones are saturated with resin. You can light them with a match.
The evening weather report is not promising, rain clouds will be increasing over the night. They are hopeful it will end 70 days without rainfall.
Monday, September 29
Dawn came with clouds, we decided to drive over the pass on CA88 and paddle Silver Lake. The pass was not at all remarkable and an easier drive than we had on US50. Silver Lake was like all the lakes we have seen in the area, LOW. While this lake is in the forest, it is surrounded by resorts. The only access we saw was for a $10 launch fee.
We stopped at another small lake that has a FS CG, the fee was $22! That is the highest we have ever seen. And no amenities. The lake has several private homes on the shore. To reach them, you packed all your stuff in a boat and row to your property.
The sun was out, so we decided to try CA4, a narrow road over the Sierra Nevada. As you turn on the road, a sign warns of 28% grades. Woohoo! It is narrow, one and one-half lanes, but the grades are not bad, at least in the Jeep. If we were on a 28% grade we did not know it. By the time we neared the summit, there was a drizzle of rain. I was hoping for a Tioga Pass kind of road. While CA4 has a few elements of that road, it is a distant cousin. And so it goes.
Tuesday, September 30
We left Indian Creek CG and drove 90 or so miles so to June Lake, which is a picture post card lake. There are over a dozen FS CG’s in the area, we choose Oh Ridge for the view that five and only five campsites have of June Lake. See the picture of the lake out our back window.
The weather is great today, with only a light haze in the valley.
We had cocktails and dinner with Steve and Pam of Santa Carlita. Pam does a mean salsa.
Wednesday, October 1
In the morning, we paddled Gull Lake and in the afternoon, we drove up a FS road to Oh Ridge which overlooks OH Ridge CG, June Lake and the Sierra Nevada.
Tonight, cocktails and dinner with Steve and Pam.
Thursday, October 2
We extended for two more days, even with 90% overcast skies and dropping temperatures. Strong wind today, so no chance to paddle. Dorothy really wanted to see the tufa at Mono Lake and so we did.
After Mono, we drove Tioga Pass, one of our fav roads and went up to Saddleback Lake at 10,000 feet. It was real windy there and the air temperature was 45. Of course, there were several fishermen there.
Tonight dinner in June Lake so we can watch the debate with Steve and Pam.
Dorothy is way depressed with the market being down and McCain’s chances of being elected now are about zil.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Oregon III, Back to the coast
Saturday, September 6
We had a pancakes, eggs, and bacon breakfast with the group then went to Seaside for the Wheels and Wave event, which is old cars and kites on the beach. We have different taste in old cars. Don likes the hotrods and Dorothy likes the restored ones. Back at campground, more socializing, dinner and socializing.
Sunday, September 7
We had another breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. The LD people really know how to eat. We hung around almost all morning talking. After lunch and nap, we paddled the yaks on the lake. The evening was spent socializing, eating and socializing.
Monday, September 8
We said goodbye to everyone and headed to Portland. Carolyn suggested Clackamette City Park and we found it entirely suitable for our purposes, close to the airport and shopping.
Tuesday, September 9
We did our shopping and got KoKo’s oil changed. We spotted an IKEA from I205 and spent an hour discovering how to reach it. We had never been in one and wanted to see what it was all about. It has budget priced, you assemble furniture. Our purchases were five cardboard magazine holders for $3 which now manage the several camping books we carry. Plus four new salad bowls for 39 cents each. Big spenders.
Wednesday, September 10
Doug and Roxannne’s flight was delayed two hours, so we decided to drive down to Milo McIver and get two campsites and so we did. It turned out to be a good move as when we got back to the CG around 5, it was near full.
Thursday, September 11
We drove down the western side of the Cascades along the Clackamas River to Paradise, the same FS CG we had stayed in when we crossed Oregon a few weeks back. The campsites were right on the McKenzie River, where we had cocktails. Doug built a fire.
Friday, September 12
We got up early to drive to the coast. I feared that the CG we wanted to use near Florence would fill up early on the weekend. No worries. It was almost empty and stayed that way for the weekend.
In the afternoon, we took the Jeep on the dunes and in short order I learned that dry weather combined with high winds produces soft sand. I found a soft spot and we were stuck. It took several other “sand people” an hour to extract the Jeep. As soon as we would dig the sand out, the wind would fill in the hole.
Saturday, September 13
We put the yaks in a paddled to the beach. Doug and Roxanne took the trail to the beach where we met up. That afternoon, Doug & Roxanne paddled and we napped. Later we headed to South Jetty to show them Show Off Hill (now called Competition Hill). It’s fun to watch the quads and bikes go up and down. We wanted to show them Old Town Florence and once again, we found an old car show. Some of the best cars we have seen.
Sunday, September 14
We headed south on US101 to Bullard Beach CG at Bandon. We arrived at 11 and there was already a line of rigs coming in. We were able to get adjoining sites. Went to Old Town Bandon for the Cranberry Festival. We saw some beautiful woodwork and pottery. We bought wine and marinated mixed garden veggies that are very good.
We got a tip that the restaurants at Bandon Dunes Golf Course were good, so we drove out to see. Nice grounds, but we could have been anywhere the place was so sanitized. So we decided to try the Boatworks, which was decent, if a bit pricey for the fare.
Monday, September 15
There was fog on the coast, so we went inland to see what we could see. Five miles inland the sun was out and it was warm. From Bandon, we took 42 east and then south finally ending up on FS33, which winds along the South Fork of the Coquille River, crosses the coast range and then heads west along the Rouge River. We noted two fine CG’s one on each side of the pass. The one along the Coquille required a round trip from Bandon, as the gravel road that goes over the pass is a tad rough for KoKo. However, Quosatana CG on the Rouge is a four star CG and is reachable from Gold Beach. When we got back to the coast at Gold Beach, the fog was still there so all we could do was finish the loop by heading north to Bandon. We tried to assure Doug and Roxanne that there were in fact rocks off the shore.
Tuesday, September 16
The fog remained. About noon, it lifted for a while so Doug and Roxanne could at least see the rocks under the overcast sky.
Doug built another fine fire and we had early cocktails around it. Then to top off our last night together, we watched a Johnny Carson DVD, which we all enjoyed so much, laughing out loud.
Wednesday, September 17
Doug and Roxanne got off to Portland around 10 and we headed south on US101 to Quosatana CG. We decided we would not wait another 39 years to vacation together. It was overcast on the coast, but little fog. 10 miles up the Rouge we were in bright sun. We got a site on the river surrounded by Myrtlewood trees. We may have to stay here longer than two days.
Everyone here is friendly, which is always the case in scenic CG’s where everyone is happy to be here.
Thursday, September 18
The morning sky was overcast at the CG, so we decided to come to town and wash clothes, buy groceries and fill up the Jeep so we can explore the mountain roads. When we got to town the sun was out and no fog! We are wondering if the CG will be sunny when we get back.
We had a pancakes, eggs, and bacon breakfast with the group then went to Seaside for the Wheels and Wave event, which is old cars and kites on the beach. We have different taste in old cars. Don likes the hotrods and Dorothy likes the restored ones. Back at campground, more socializing, dinner and socializing.
Sunday, September 7
We had another breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage. The LD people really know how to eat. We hung around almost all morning talking. After lunch and nap, we paddled the yaks on the lake. The evening was spent socializing, eating and socializing.
Monday, September 8
We said goodbye to everyone and headed to Portland. Carolyn suggested Clackamette City Park and we found it entirely suitable for our purposes, close to the airport and shopping.
Tuesday, September 9
We did our shopping and got KoKo’s oil changed. We spotted an IKEA from I205 and spent an hour discovering how to reach it. We had never been in one and wanted to see what it was all about. It has budget priced, you assemble furniture. Our purchases were five cardboard magazine holders for $3 which now manage the several camping books we carry. Plus four new salad bowls for 39 cents each. Big spenders.
Wednesday, September 10
Doug and Roxannne’s flight was delayed two hours, so we decided to drive down to Milo McIver and get two campsites and so we did. It turned out to be a good move as when we got back to the CG around 5, it was near full.
Thursday, September 11
We drove down the western side of the Cascades along the Clackamas River to Paradise, the same FS CG we had stayed in when we crossed Oregon a few weeks back. The campsites were right on the McKenzie River, where we had cocktails. Doug built a fire.
Friday, September 12
We got up early to drive to the coast. I feared that the CG we wanted to use near Florence would fill up early on the weekend. No worries. It was almost empty and stayed that way for the weekend.
In the afternoon, we took the Jeep on the dunes and in short order I learned that dry weather combined with high winds produces soft sand. I found a soft spot and we were stuck. It took several other “sand people” an hour to extract the Jeep. As soon as we would dig the sand out, the wind would fill in the hole.
Saturday, September 13
We put the yaks in a paddled to the beach. Doug and Roxanne took the trail to the beach where we met up. That afternoon, Doug & Roxanne paddled and we napped. Later we headed to South Jetty to show them Show Off Hill (now called Competition Hill). It’s fun to watch the quads and bikes go up and down. We wanted to show them Old Town Florence and once again, we found an old car show. Some of the best cars we have seen.
Sunday, September 14
We headed south on US101 to Bullard Beach CG at Bandon. We arrived at 11 and there was already a line of rigs coming in. We were able to get adjoining sites. Went to Old Town Bandon for the Cranberry Festival. We saw some beautiful woodwork and pottery. We bought wine and marinated mixed garden veggies that are very good.
We got a tip that the restaurants at Bandon Dunes Golf Course were good, so we drove out to see. Nice grounds, but we could have been anywhere the place was so sanitized. So we decided to try the Boatworks, which was decent, if a bit pricey for the fare.
Monday, September 15
There was fog on the coast, so we went inland to see what we could see. Five miles inland the sun was out and it was warm. From Bandon, we took 42 east and then south finally ending up on FS33, which winds along the South Fork of the Coquille River, crosses the coast range and then heads west along the Rouge River. We noted two fine CG’s one on each side of the pass. The one along the Coquille required a round trip from Bandon, as the gravel road that goes over the pass is a tad rough for KoKo. However, Quosatana CG on the Rouge is a four star CG and is reachable from Gold Beach. When we got back to the coast at Gold Beach, the fog was still there so all we could do was finish the loop by heading north to Bandon. We tried to assure Doug and Roxanne that there were in fact rocks off the shore.
Tuesday, September 16
The fog remained. About noon, it lifted for a while so Doug and Roxanne could at least see the rocks under the overcast sky.
Doug built another fine fire and we had early cocktails around it. Then to top off our last night together, we watched a Johnny Carson DVD, which we all enjoyed so much, laughing out loud.
Wednesday, September 17
Doug and Roxanne got off to Portland around 10 and we headed south on US101 to Quosatana CG. We decided we would not wait another 39 years to vacation together. It was overcast on the coast, but little fog. 10 miles up the Rouge we were in bright sun. We got a site on the river surrounded by Myrtlewood trees. We may have to stay here longer than two days.
Everyone here is friendly, which is always the case in scenic CG’s where everyone is happy to be here.
Thursday, September 18
The morning sky was overcast at the CG, so we decided to come to town and wash clothes, buy groceries and fill up the Jeep so we can explore the mountain roads. When we got to town the sun was out and no fog! We are wondering if the CG will be sunny when we get back.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Oregon, II, On the coast
Wednesday, August 27
It only took an hour to put the extra panel on, so we were on the road at 10 and found our campsite at Waxmurtle south of Florence by 12. Almost no one is here today.
Thursday, August 28
I went to sleep at 8 and slept until almost 8. By 11, we had the Jeep ready for the dunes and we drove around on the sand for an hour or so.
We went back to the campsite for lunch and had a nap! We did a few chores before cocktails.
The new solar panel adds 30% more charging ability, which should prove useful on cloudy days. We watched TV last night and used almost 60amp-hours, about 25% of our capacity. We were back to 100% before 3pm.
Friday, August 29
We did chores today, washing, marketing, repairing a seat on one yak, and patching a bobo on the other yak.
Saturday, August 30
We took another drive in the sand. I wanted to go up the backside of Show Off Hill, but I lost my nerve. I spent the afternoon doing more chores.
Sunday, August 31
We hiked to the shore through the loose and deep sand. The distance was only a one mile, in the loose sand it took the energy to do three miles.
Monday, September 1 – Labor Day
We drove 37 miles up the coast to Tillicum Beach. We managed to snag a beach front campsite and started Happy Hour at 3 with two other couples from the Seattle area.
There are dozens of Gray? whales feeding just beyond the breakers. In one minute I counted 17 blows. Gray’s are not supposed to be here this time of year.
Tuesday, September 2
We explored some places just north of Tillicum that we had not been to since 1996. Got Dorothy a MUCH needed haircut and we picked up some groceries at Safeway.
We enjoyed one of the best sunsets we have seen in some time. There was a quarter moon inserted in the glow of the sunset.
Wednesday, September 3
We drove a little more north and wound up at Cape Lookout SP. Before dinner we drove to Cape Mears and enjoyed watching the surf splash on the basalt rock formations just off the coast.
Thursday, September 4
An hour and half drive took us from 9:30 to 2, after we stopped to wash a few clothes, buy cheese and look at more haystacks. Oregon is the best.
We are Ft. Stevens SP, the extreme NW point of Oregon. This is as far north as we will go. Our purpose here is to enjoy the company of fellow Lazy Daze owners. We had cocktails with Norm and Jerry, one of the god parents of KoKo.
Friday, September 5
The sky was completely overcast when we woke up and stayed that way all day. This was the first overcast day we have had in Oregon.
After breakfast, we explored the historic part of Ft. Stevens. It was built during the Civil War to discourage the Brits from grabbing any land. The fort was rearmed with modern artillery in WWI and again during WWII. It was closed in 1944.
We spent the afternoon visiting with other LD owners. They are 31 rigs here. We met Tessa, Jazy, Charlie and Lia Hill from Texas.
It only took an hour to put the extra panel on, so we were on the road at 10 and found our campsite at Waxmurtle south of Florence by 12. Almost no one is here today.
Thursday, August 28
I went to sleep at 8 and slept until almost 8. By 11, we had the Jeep ready for the dunes and we drove around on the sand for an hour or so.
We went back to the campsite for lunch and had a nap! We did a few chores before cocktails.
The new solar panel adds 30% more charging ability, which should prove useful on cloudy days. We watched TV last night and used almost 60amp-hours, about 25% of our capacity. We were back to 100% before 3pm.
Friday, August 29
We did chores today, washing, marketing, repairing a seat on one yak, and patching a bobo on the other yak.
Saturday, August 30
We took another drive in the sand. I wanted to go up the backside of Show Off Hill, but I lost my nerve. I spent the afternoon doing more chores.
Sunday, August 31
We hiked to the shore through the loose and deep sand. The distance was only a one mile, in the loose sand it took the energy to do three miles.
Monday, September 1 – Labor Day
We drove 37 miles up the coast to Tillicum Beach. We managed to snag a beach front campsite and started Happy Hour at 3 with two other couples from the Seattle area.
There are dozens of Gray? whales feeding just beyond the breakers. In one minute I counted 17 blows. Gray’s are not supposed to be here this time of year.
Tuesday, September 2
We explored some places just north of Tillicum that we had not been to since 1996. Got Dorothy a MUCH needed haircut and we picked up some groceries at Safeway.
We enjoyed one of the best sunsets we have seen in some time. There was a quarter moon inserted in the glow of the sunset.
Wednesday, September 3
We drove a little more north and wound up at Cape Lookout SP. Before dinner we drove to Cape Mears and enjoyed watching the surf splash on the basalt rock formations just off the coast.
Thursday, September 4
An hour and half drive took us from 9:30 to 2, after we stopped to wash a few clothes, buy cheese and look at more haystacks. Oregon is the best.
We are Ft. Stevens SP, the extreme NW point of Oregon. This is as far north as we will go. Our purpose here is to enjoy the company of fellow Lazy Daze owners. We had cocktails with Norm and Jerry, one of the god parents of KoKo.
Friday, September 5
The sky was completely overcast when we woke up and stayed that way all day. This was the first overcast day we have had in Oregon.
After breakfast, we explored the historic part of Ft. Stevens. It was built during the Civil War to discourage the Brits from grabbing any land. The fort was rearmed with modern artillery in WWI and again during WWII. It was closed in 1944.
We spent the afternoon visiting with other LD owners. They are 31 rigs here. We met Tessa, Jazy, Charlie and Lia Hill from Texas.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Oregon, I, east to west
Thursday, August 21
It was supposed to rain overnight and maybe put out the fire. Dawn came with mostly white clouds and not a drop of rain. So we headed for Oregon. Our gas tank was near empty as we had not filled up since the 13th. We put in $100 - half a tank. Later in the day, we put in another $150. We stopped in Mountain Home to shop at Wal-Mart, our first visit this month. We then got on I84, our first interstate this month and drove just across the Idaho/Oregon border to a private CG near Huntington. It’s on the Snake River. It was late in the day, for us, when we arrived at 5PM. Dorothy cooked country fried steak and mashed potatoes. After dinner, she washed two loads of clothes while I watched the only TV station, PBS in HD. One of the shows was Idaho Outdoors. One of the featured locations was the Lolo Trail and specifically the trail to Sinque Hole, which we hiked. Another location was the Sawtooths, so we got to see them in aerial views in clear sky. Spectacular. I will have to come back in my next life and hike them before I get too old.
Friday, August 22
We went to a familiar place Baker City to see the fabulous rock and mineral collection again. We camped at a FS CG 20 miles from town. Paved pad with W&E for $13. Not bad.
The weather is perfect. Oregon is perfect. Life is good.
Saturday, August 23
We got a bonus in Baker City. The town park had over 100 collectable cars. Our favorite was a 1950 Jeep Overland. The rocks were as good as we recalled. It is the premier collection in the US housed in a back room of a museum in a town no one goes to.
Sunday, August 24
West bound on US26. Dorothy was not feeling well, so after only one and half hours we stopped at the Clyde Holiday SP near John Day. The park is garden like as they use intensive irrigation. We had cocktails with Dale and Terri from Walla-Walla.
Monday, August 25
We had a long day, 9 to almost 6. We wanted to get close to Eugene to be able to drive in early and get a third solar panel. We stopped at John Day and found we had an interest in fossils and the terrain is better than Artist Point in Death Valley. We spent a few hours, took a short hike and promised to come back and spend a week in the area.
At Sisters, I decided our GPS was routing us the long way, so we turned around and took 242, instead on continuing on 126. Big mistake, it’s one of the narrowest roads in the US with lave rocks extending into the road. The distance was shorter, but it took longer as 20 mph is a good speed for a MH on the road.
Anywho, we made it down the road and found Paradise CG, a FS facility on the McKenzie River. We were able to snare a campsite on the river and had cocktails on the riverbank and then listened to river babble all night.
Tuesday, August 26
Oregon is fantastic! We love everything about it.
We continued west on 126 to Springfield to AM Solar. Not having made an appointment we found they had two time consuming jobs ahead of us. So they let us stay in the “backyard” and will take us first thing Wednesday. We were able to do a lot of shopping and still get a nap.
Will try to watch HRC tonight. It should be hoot.
It was supposed to rain overnight and maybe put out the fire. Dawn came with mostly white clouds and not a drop of rain. So we headed for Oregon. Our gas tank was near empty as we had not filled up since the 13th. We put in $100 - half a tank. Later in the day, we put in another $150. We stopped in Mountain Home to shop at Wal-Mart, our first visit this month. We then got on I84, our first interstate this month and drove just across the Idaho/Oregon border to a private CG near Huntington. It’s on the Snake River. It was late in the day, for us, when we arrived at 5PM. Dorothy cooked country fried steak and mashed potatoes. After dinner, she washed two loads of clothes while I watched the only TV station, PBS in HD. One of the shows was Idaho Outdoors. One of the featured locations was the Lolo Trail and specifically the trail to Sinque Hole, which we hiked. Another location was the Sawtooths, so we got to see them in aerial views in clear sky. Spectacular. I will have to come back in my next life and hike them before I get too old.
Friday, August 22
We went to a familiar place Baker City to see the fabulous rock and mineral collection again. We camped at a FS CG 20 miles from town. Paved pad with W&E for $13. Not bad.
The weather is perfect. Oregon is perfect. Life is good.
Saturday, August 23
We got a bonus in Baker City. The town park had over 100 collectable cars. Our favorite was a 1950 Jeep Overland. The rocks were as good as we recalled. It is the premier collection in the US housed in a back room of a museum in a town no one goes to.
Sunday, August 24
West bound on US26. Dorothy was not feeling well, so after only one and half hours we stopped at the Clyde Holiday SP near John Day. The park is garden like as they use intensive irrigation. We had cocktails with Dale and Terri from Walla-Walla.
Monday, August 25
We had a long day, 9 to almost 6. We wanted to get close to Eugene to be able to drive in early and get a third solar panel. We stopped at John Day and found we had an interest in fossils and the terrain is better than Artist Point in Death Valley. We spent a few hours, took a short hike and promised to come back and spend a week in the area.
At Sisters, I decided our GPS was routing us the long way, so we turned around and took 242, instead on continuing on 126. Big mistake, it’s one of the narrowest roads in the US with lave rocks extending into the road. The distance was shorter, but it took longer as 20 mph is a good speed for a MH on the road.
Anywho, we made it down the road and found Paradise CG, a FS facility on the McKenzie River. We were able to snare a campsite on the river and had cocktails on the riverbank and then listened to river babble all night.
Tuesday, August 26
Oregon is fantastic! We love everything about it.
We continued west on 126 to Springfield to AM Solar. Not having made an appointment we found they had two time consuming jobs ahead of us. So they let us stay in the “backyard” and will take us first thing Wednesday. We were able to do a lot of shopping and still get a nap.
Will try to watch HRC tonight. It should be hoot.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Idaho, Part I
Saturday, August 9
We have a rule never move on Friday or Saturday as most public CG’s are full. We broke the rule and escaped from the low and warm elevation back to 5,100 feet only an hour down the road. We are the Ponderosa SP in McCall, ID. Full hookups and even a fuzzy over the air TV signal. The town is on Payette Lake. The town and homes look a lot like Lake Tahoe on a smaller scale.
Sunday, August 10
A lazy day. We watched CBS Sunday Morning and then checked out a CG north of here that we will move to in the morning to be close to a place to put the yaks in the water.
Monday, August 11
We moved to the north unit of the Ponderosa SP at the upper end of Payette Lake. No hookups, TV or cell signals, but a quieter and more scenic CG. The Payette River is a joy to paddle. We paddled upstream to where the current becomes moderate and coasted home.
Tuesday, August 12
We were going to drive up in the mountains and see the Salmon River from the southern shore, but the roads became severe washboard and we turned back.
After lunch, we paddled downstream toward the lake until we were tired and turned around.
Wednesday, August 13
We headed south on ID55 along the North Fork of the Payette River and turned east on the South Fork of the Payette River. For every canyon and valley, there is a stream or river. We stopped at the ranger station and inquired about campgrounds. He suggested Bonneville and we took his suggestion. So we are in yet another campsite on stream, this one is called Warm Springs Creek. And yes, there is a hot springs you can soak in a few hundred yards up the river from the CG. We tried it and it was too hot for our taste. There are several hot springs in the area and we may sample them.
There are over 50 named Forest Service CG’s, plus numerous unnamed and free ones in the area.
Thursday, August 14
Our purpose for being in Idaho is to see jagged fin mountains and so far they have eluded us. Today we drove further east to Stanley to see if we could spot some mountains. We were rewarded, but they did not meet my expectations. We inspected Stanley Lake and Redfish Lake CG’s. The first one was not at all scenic, diseased trees had been cut and left in the CG. Redfish Lake is one fine body of water with several CG’s around the shore. All the CG’s are filled with teaming masses and the lodge is overflowing. We found Sunny Gulch CG to be more to our liking. It’s close to Redfish Lake, so we can enjoy the water without being confined with the masses.
We enjoyed a pizza at Sawtooth Luce’s café and spotted a red Lazy Daze parked outside someone’s yard.
Friday, August 15
We really need to quit sleeping until 8am. The temperature is already warm by the time we are ready for the day.
At 10, we got off for the closest destination to us, Grandjean. We hoped for a better view of the mountains, but were again only tantalized with glimpses. We hiked an hour and twenty minutes uphill on Trail Lakes Trail, but wound up in a canyon and it appeared it would be another two hours until we could break free from the canyon and that was well beyond our limits.
When we got down, a young fellow approached me about taking him and his brother out to the highway. They had hiked that morning nearly 30 miles from Pettit-Toxaway Lake across the Sawtooths on the Idaho State Centennial Trail. His brother had injured his leg, so they were not going to be able to make the return hike. We drove them to the highway and they immediately flagged another car headed toward Stanley.
Saturday, August 16
We drove the Dagger Falls Road to see the falls and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Had we known, we could have saved our gasoline. Much of the area looks like toothpicks on hillsides, the result of a fire some years back. The river water level is so low, they stopped rafting there August 6th. Oh and the falls do not fall very far. Time to move on. We are a month late being in Idaho, water levels are down and it is too warm. Maybe we should have gone to Canada this year even with the poor exchange rate? They do have the best mountains in North America, except for Alaska.
Sunday, August 17
We drove 37 miles east to Stanley and are in the Sunny Gulch CG. It’s sunny! We are at 6,500 feet, but the high was 89. We do have internet and one TV station.
Monday, August 18
We have the only partially shaded site in Sunny Gulch and that’s the problem, not enough sun to charge the batteries. We can move a mile down the road and get an open site for free or take a more sunny site here for $7.50. We moved, but only got to 90% charge. Watching two hours of TV takes a lot of power.
We have had enough of Idaho. I was expecting a lot. I am disappointed. People here really like the scenery. We give it a B-. Wyoming is several notches above Idaho. We rate Wyoming A-. I don’t see us ever returning to Idaho.
The predicted high for today would have set a record, but for whatever reason, it was a little cooler. The hottest part of the day here is around 5pm. It starts to cool off by 9pm and is slightly chilly at 7am.
We are going a little south tomorrow - toward Sun Valley. We will spend a few more nights in the Sawtooth’s if we can find a campsite – it’s crowded here. Then we will escape to Oregon. 55 and rainy sounds good to us.
Tuesday, August 19
We finally found the scenic part of the Sawtooth’s. It’s all south of Stanley.
At the Galena Overlook, the smoke was thick from a local fire, so we will come back another day.
We found an ideal campsite next to a babbling stream, Prairie Creek. And it’s free. The closest camper is a quarter mile away. We had a great sunset toast to Ann Rosenburger’s birthday.
Wednesday, August 20
We hiked a mile to see Mountain Goats. They were there – on a hill about a mile away and about a half a mile up. If we had not had high power optics, we would have seen nothing. With the optics, we saw six white dots.
We have a rule never move on Friday or Saturday as most public CG’s are full. We broke the rule and escaped from the low and warm elevation back to 5,100 feet only an hour down the road. We are the Ponderosa SP in McCall, ID. Full hookups and even a fuzzy over the air TV signal. The town is on Payette Lake. The town and homes look a lot like Lake Tahoe on a smaller scale.
Sunday, August 10
A lazy day. We watched CBS Sunday Morning and then checked out a CG north of here that we will move to in the morning to be close to a place to put the yaks in the water.
Monday, August 11
We moved to the north unit of the Ponderosa SP at the upper end of Payette Lake. No hookups, TV or cell signals, but a quieter and more scenic CG. The Payette River is a joy to paddle. We paddled upstream to where the current becomes moderate and coasted home.
Tuesday, August 12
We were going to drive up in the mountains and see the Salmon River from the southern shore, but the roads became severe washboard and we turned back.
After lunch, we paddled downstream toward the lake until we were tired and turned around.
Wednesday, August 13
We headed south on ID55 along the North Fork of the Payette River and turned east on the South Fork of the Payette River. For every canyon and valley, there is a stream or river. We stopped at the ranger station and inquired about campgrounds. He suggested Bonneville and we took his suggestion. So we are in yet another campsite on stream, this one is called Warm Springs Creek. And yes, there is a hot springs you can soak in a few hundred yards up the river from the CG. We tried it and it was too hot for our taste. There are several hot springs in the area and we may sample them.
There are over 50 named Forest Service CG’s, plus numerous unnamed and free ones in the area.
Thursday, August 14
Our purpose for being in Idaho is to see jagged fin mountains and so far they have eluded us. Today we drove further east to Stanley to see if we could spot some mountains. We were rewarded, but they did not meet my expectations. We inspected Stanley Lake and Redfish Lake CG’s. The first one was not at all scenic, diseased trees had been cut and left in the CG. Redfish Lake is one fine body of water with several CG’s around the shore. All the CG’s are filled with teaming masses and the lodge is overflowing. We found Sunny Gulch CG to be more to our liking. It’s close to Redfish Lake, so we can enjoy the water without being confined with the masses.
We enjoyed a pizza at Sawtooth Luce’s café and spotted a red Lazy Daze parked outside someone’s yard.
Friday, August 15
We really need to quit sleeping until 8am. The temperature is already warm by the time we are ready for the day.
At 10, we got off for the closest destination to us, Grandjean. We hoped for a better view of the mountains, but were again only tantalized with glimpses. We hiked an hour and twenty minutes uphill on Trail Lakes Trail, but wound up in a canyon and it appeared it would be another two hours until we could break free from the canyon and that was well beyond our limits.
When we got down, a young fellow approached me about taking him and his brother out to the highway. They had hiked that morning nearly 30 miles from Pettit-Toxaway Lake across the Sawtooths on the Idaho State Centennial Trail. His brother had injured his leg, so they were not going to be able to make the return hike. We drove them to the highway and they immediately flagged another car headed toward Stanley.
Saturday, August 16
We drove the Dagger Falls Road to see the falls and the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Had we known, we could have saved our gasoline. Much of the area looks like toothpicks on hillsides, the result of a fire some years back. The river water level is so low, they stopped rafting there August 6th. Oh and the falls do not fall very far. Time to move on. We are a month late being in Idaho, water levels are down and it is too warm. Maybe we should have gone to Canada this year even with the poor exchange rate? They do have the best mountains in North America, except for Alaska.
Sunday, August 17
We drove 37 miles east to Stanley and are in the Sunny Gulch CG. It’s sunny! We are at 6,500 feet, but the high was 89. We do have internet and one TV station.
Monday, August 18
We have the only partially shaded site in Sunny Gulch and that’s the problem, not enough sun to charge the batteries. We can move a mile down the road and get an open site for free or take a more sunny site here for $7.50. We moved, but only got to 90% charge. Watching two hours of TV takes a lot of power.
We have had enough of Idaho. I was expecting a lot. I am disappointed. People here really like the scenery. We give it a B-. Wyoming is several notches above Idaho. We rate Wyoming A-. I don’t see us ever returning to Idaho.
The predicted high for today would have set a record, but for whatever reason, it was a little cooler. The hottest part of the day here is around 5pm. It starts to cool off by 9pm and is slightly chilly at 7am.
We are going a little south tomorrow - toward Sun Valley. We will spend a few more nights in the Sawtooth’s if we can find a campsite – it’s crowded here. Then we will escape to Oregon. 55 and rainy sounds good to us.
Tuesday, August 19
We finally found the scenic part of the Sawtooth’s. It’s all south of Stanley.
At the Galena Overlook, the smoke was thick from a local fire, so we will come back another day.
We found an ideal campsite next to a babbling stream, Prairie Creek. And it’s free. The closest camper is a quarter mile away. We had a great sunset toast to Ann Rosenburger’s birthday.
Wednesday, August 20
We hiked a mile to see Mountain Goats. They were there – on a hill about a mile away and about a half a mile up. If we had not had high power optics, we would have seen nothing. With the optics, we saw six white dots.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Leaving Wyoming, entering Idaho
Tuesday, July 29
We could not resist driving the Beartooth Highway again. We went all the way to Red Lodge. We had to, as we needed gas. It was cold and windy on the Wyoming side and warm on the Montana side. It was 51 on top and 83 back in the CG.
Wednesday, July 30
We drove back to west entrance of Yellowstone and made home in the first FS CG north on US287. Big rigs, electricity and weak internet. Tomorrow, we jump off the grid again.
Thursday, July 31
We headed north and west to Big Hole country. I had read that this was some of the most scenic in the Montana. It was OK. We spent a few hours at the Big Hole Battleground where the Calvary massacred some of the Nez Perce. Orders were to fire three rounds low into the tipi’s at daybreak and then charge. They killed a lot of Indians, women and children, but the warriors routed the Calvary. We spent the night in a FS CG a little further down MT 43.
Friday, August 1, 2008
We dropped down 2,500 feet real fast on a wide two-lane road and another thousand feet by the time we got to Missoula, which is at 3,100 feet. This is lower than we have been since we left Nebraska.
We spent the day in Missoula shopping in the big box stores, mostly buying things we did not really need. We took the tour of the Smoke Jumpers School. Interesting. It was almost six when we were through shopping, so we decided to spend our first night ever at Wal-Mart. The parking lot already had several rigs, so we parked behind the store. There were only four rigs there. As we left the next morning, Dorothy counted 16 rigs in the parking lot.
Saturday, August 2
We drove from Missoula to an unmarked CG named Colgate on the Lochsa River. We have the rear of the rig backed up to the babbling river. There are only seven sites here and it’s free. Mark and Dan are brothers and our neighbors. Mark worked for Jack Schaeffer for a time, he now lives just north of Portland. Dan lives in Orlando, but owns hunting property near Andalusia. They have fished most of the western rivers. They caught about 50 yesterday. They said it was some of the best fishing they had enjoyed in a long time. All catch and release here. We talked and drank until after midnight.
Sunday, August 3
We explored the road west of here, but found nothing exciting or especially scenic. We came back had a late lunch and a two hour nap. It will be quiet without Mark and Dan tonight.
Monday, August 4
I came to Idaho to see jagged fin mountains. So far I have seen one that was half-decent. We drove nine miles up a FS road to intersect the Lolo Motorway, which roughly follows the Nez Perce trail and the same route Lewis and Clark took. I wanted to “get on top” and see what the mountains looked like. At 5,000 feet we could see plenty of mountains, both north and south, but all were tree covered, no jagged peaks. And so it goes. We need to get south where the elevation is higher and there is promise of jagged peaks.
We took a one-mile hike through the forest to Sinque Hole. According to the sign this was the exact path of the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark. The hike was good, the sink hole was not much. A 4x4 Sportsmobile passed us on the way down.
We came back down the mountain and looked for shade in the afternoon heat of 83.
We had a campfire with Myron and Irene, farmers from Alberta.
Tuesday, August 5
The sun does not get into the campsite until after 8 am, so we are sleeping late. We got away at 9:30 and continued west on US12 to Wilderness CG, where we took on fresh water, dumped, parked and showered using all the water we wanted to. We then returned and filled the water tank again and dumped the shower water.
We stopped for the day at O’Hara CG on the Selway River. This is a very popular place for reasons lost on me. The river is fine, but not exceptional. Since we are even lower now, the heat is worse. It may make 100 this afternoon.
Wednesday, August 6 – Dorothy’s birthday. We went south down yet another river valley to Riggins, ID. We had seen an ad for prime rib and Banana’s Foster at the Seven Devils Saloon’s. It sounded just right for Dorothy’s birthday dinner. It was closed. We settled on third best, a family restaurant.
Thursday, August 7
We did not see Hell’s Canyon in 2006 due to smoke from forest fires. We succeeded today. We took a 17 mile drive on a good rock road to Seven Devil’s Recreation Area and it was worth the trip. Don got to see some jagged peaks. We hiked a ½ mile uphill to Heaven’s Gate overlook and spent about 2 hours just looking at the Seven Devils and enjoying the cool temperatures. It was almost clear. We could see the Walla Mountains 50 miles across the gourge. Brad and Mary Ann who have been working on the lookout for a month said it was one of the clearest days they have seen.
Friday, August 8
We drove nearly five long hours on rock roads to get to and get back from the Ghost town of Florence. There was not much left of the 1860 town. The drive above the Salmon River did provide a few good views of the river canyon. Not one of our great touring days.
We had cocktails with two Texans who still like W, Carl and Peggy.
We could not resist driving the Beartooth Highway again. We went all the way to Red Lodge. We had to, as we needed gas. It was cold and windy on the Wyoming side and warm on the Montana side. It was 51 on top and 83 back in the CG.
Wednesday, July 30
We drove back to west entrance of Yellowstone and made home in the first FS CG north on US287. Big rigs, electricity and weak internet. Tomorrow, we jump off the grid again.
Thursday, July 31
We headed north and west to Big Hole country. I had read that this was some of the most scenic in the Montana. It was OK. We spent a few hours at the Big Hole Battleground where the Calvary massacred some of the Nez Perce. Orders were to fire three rounds low into the tipi’s at daybreak and then charge. They killed a lot of Indians, women and children, but the warriors routed the Calvary. We spent the night in a FS CG a little further down MT 43.
Friday, August 1, 2008
We dropped down 2,500 feet real fast on a wide two-lane road and another thousand feet by the time we got to Missoula, which is at 3,100 feet. This is lower than we have been since we left Nebraska.
We spent the day in Missoula shopping in the big box stores, mostly buying things we did not really need. We took the tour of the Smoke Jumpers School. Interesting. It was almost six when we were through shopping, so we decided to spend our first night ever at Wal-Mart. The parking lot already had several rigs, so we parked behind the store. There were only four rigs there. As we left the next morning, Dorothy counted 16 rigs in the parking lot.
Saturday, August 2
We drove from Missoula to an unmarked CG named Colgate on the Lochsa River. We have the rear of the rig backed up to the babbling river. There are only seven sites here and it’s free. Mark and Dan are brothers and our neighbors. Mark worked for Jack Schaeffer for a time, he now lives just north of Portland. Dan lives in Orlando, but owns hunting property near Andalusia. They have fished most of the western rivers. They caught about 50 yesterday. They said it was some of the best fishing they had enjoyed in a long time. All catch and release here. We talked and drank until after midnight.
Sunday, August 3
We explored the road west of here, but found nothing exciting or especially scenic. We came back had a late lunch and a two hour nap. It will be quiet without Mark and Dan tonight.
Monday, August 4
I came to Idaho to see jagged fin mountains. So far I have seen one that was half-decent. We drove nine miles up a FS road to intersect the Lolo Motorway, which roughly follows the Nez Perce trail and the same route Lewis and Clark took. I wanted to “get on top” and see what the mountains looked like. At 5,000 feet we could see plenty of mountains, both north and south, but all were tree covered, no jagged peaks. And so it goes. We need to get south where the elevation is higher and there is promise of jagged peaks.
We took a one-mile hike through the forest to Sinque Hole. According to the sign this was the exact path of the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark. The hike was good, the sink hole was not much. A 4x4 Sportsmobile passed us on the way down.
We came back down the mountain and looked for shade in the afternoon heat of 83.
We had a campfire with Myron and Irene, farmers from Alberta.
Tuesday, August 5
The sun does not get into the campsite until after 8 am, so we are sleeping late. We got away at 9:30 and continued west on US12 to Wilderness CG, where we took on fresh water, dumped, parked and showered using all the water we wanted to. We then returned and filled the water tank again and dumped the shower water.
We stopped for the day at O’Hara CG on the Selway River. This is a very popular place for reasons lost on me. The river is fine, but not exceptional. Since we are even lower now, the heat is worse. It may make 100 this afternoon.
Wednesday, August 6 – Dorothy’s birthday. We went south down yet another river valley to Riggins, ID. We had seen an ad for prime rib and Banana’s Foster at the Seven Devils Saloon’s. It sounded just right for Dorothy’s birthday dinner. It was closed. We settled on third best, a family restaurant.
Thursday, August 7
We did not see Hell’s Canyon in 2006 due to smoke from forest fires. We succeeded today. We took a 17 mile drive on a good rock road to Seven Devil’s Recreation Area and it was worth the trip. Don got to see some jagged peaks. We hiked a ½ mile uphill to Heaven’s Gate overlook and spent about 2 hours just looking at the Seven Devils and enjoying the cool temperatures. It was almost clear. We could see the Walla Mountains 50 miles across the gourge. Brad and Mary Ann who have been working on the lookout for a month said it was one of the clearest days they have seen.
Friday, August 8
We drove nearly five long hours on rock roads to get to and get back from the Ghost town of Florence. There was not much left of the 1860 town. The drive above the Salmon River did provide a few good views of the river canyon. Not one of our great touring days.
We had cocktails with two Texans who still like W, Carl and Peggy.
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