JOURNAL OF JULY 2000 TRIP     

July 1, 2000 Saturday 6 p.m.

We’re sitting in an Idaho state park named Bruneau Dunes, for North America’s largest sand dune formation. Since we pulled in late today & it’s about 95 degrees or more out, all we’ve done so far is to get set up & slam down about two beers and potato chips to replenish our salt supply. Marc’s crashed having a nap & Rachael is nursing two toes that made sudden contact with an open drawer & split open.  

(Marc and Rachael at Bruneau Dunes)

Surprisingly, we didn’t have too difficult a time finding a spot here even though it’s the holiday weekend. As per usual, the actual gravel area is not long enough, so we just backed up over the chalk & hang out way over the grassy area. Plus, Marc had to unhitch. But that’s ok, because the actual dune area is at least a mile or so away & we’re not going to want to walk in this heat. Since we only plan to stay one night, he does not want to unload the scooters, although this would be a perfect spot for them.

We left from the Bend side of Burns this morning; had a great free camp last evening in the ODOT hotel. Uneventful drive all day.

Not going to make dinner until it’s much later. Just a nice salad, shrimp on pasta & green beans. I slept like a baby last night with the windows open & sounds of crickets.
 

July 3, Monday 10:10 a.m.

I’m sitting outside composing this while Marc works on the generator. It’s always something when we go out. It appears as though the generator is not getting any fuel to it. Also, Marc’s having problems with his scooter—it desperately needs a new spark plug. Which is too bad, because we’re in a wonderful place to use it.  

(Rachael at City of Rocks ID)

We made it into City of the Rocks, National Reserve yesterday afternoon. It’s about a two-hour drive from I 84 over some very small, rough roads in the very southeastern portion of Idaho. Awesome rock formations, rock climbers, great hikes, and miles of dirt roads & dirt dog camping. We managed to fit into a spot that another guy was eyeballing, but I convinced him we needed it more than he did with his tent. That’s always the way, the tenters want to grab the largest spots…it must be a Murphy's Law of some sort! 

Rachael & I hiked quite a ways yesterday & took some great pictures. While Rachael slept in this morning, Marc & I went scooter riding and took more pictures. We’ll be staying here tonight also and then head out towards Montana in the morning. Don’t know if we’ll make it all the way to uncle’s place or not.

Later 4:23 p.m. Well……….the generator never would start. So Marc said we had to leave because he’d need to get to Pocatello, ID to have it worked on. The extra freezer we run off the batteries will drain them within a day without the generator replenishing the charge. So, we drive out that long two hour drive, hit I84 towards Pocatello & stop & call the Onan people from a rest stop about 50 miles before Pocatello. They admit they can’t work on it. So Marc calls the Portland people we bought it from & the guy’s best advice? Head for Salt Lake City to have it fixed!

Oh God. So, we’re about 6 miles from an Idaho State Park called Massacre Rocks. Figure we’d spend the night there hooked up to electric & then make the run (about 200 miles) to SLC tomorrow so we can see the Onan place early Wednesday.

We pull into Massacre Rocks & get registered & there’s a thin plume of smoke coming from across the river. Obviously, some sort of wild fire.  

( Helicopter fighting fire at Massacre Rocks )

Well, it’s not an hour later, & the ranger comes by saying the fire could jump the Snake River (it’s now an out-of-control 3000+ acre burn) & it’s voluntary evacuation. Marc doesn’t want to leave, “Aw, man, my batteries are charging”, so we stay. The ranger comes by again & says it’s looking better—a helicopter is now dumping water from the river on the blaze & a bunch of BLM guys are on line on the campground side of the river in case it jumps.

So, here we sit. Out of control fire around us and one road out, & a trip tomorrow into the bowels of hell (have you ever driven the interstate around SLC trying to find something?) to get the generator fixed. They’ve already told us they will have to possibly order parts from Minneapolis, another day or two of just sitting there.

The conclusion we’ve reached is that it would be pointless to head for Montana after driving all the way out of the way to get to SLC. We’re talking an extra 600 miles of diesel fuel probably. So, we’re going to try & make lemonade from the lemons & just tour another state!

I’m perusing new maps, ah ha, maybe Utah towards Colorado, with a swing through Wyoming to Gillette. Or just a swing through northeastern Utah, & spend some time de-stressing in the Tetons before the rally. The world’s a whole new oyster now….

This saga will continue at a later time.   
 

July 4, Tuesday 4:40 p.m.

We’re in SLC at an RV park in downtown called VIP. Yeah, right… nearly 500 spaces of asphalt & small lawns & RVs. Getting here was such a chore through torn-up & under construction freeway that Marc had to remove his shorts from his you-know-where after the nearly hour of driving through the suburban freeway they call the outskirts to SLC.

As a sequel to last evening—the helicopter dumping water & the smoke bomber plane out of Boise did the job on the wildfire & the smoke finally kind of cleared out by about 8:30 p.m. Everyone’s eyes were burning & as we looked around before dark we were one of only about three campers that elected to stay. Nothing like a state park being nearly empty the night before a holiday for enjoyment! Actually, all we managed to do was stay in the trailer & avoid the smoke!

Washed the whole rig of the ash that had gathered on top of the road dust from staying in The City of Rocks before we left. Marc is now taking apart the generator box, which he just painstakingly put together about 3 weeks before our departure. It’s a major job so he is not a HAPPY CAMPER!      

While he is at the Onan place tomorrow, I think R & I will catch the municipal bus right outside & travel just 13 blocks to the downtown section of SLC which has, of course, The Temple, plus other historical buildings, museums, & a three story, 230 shop shopping plaza. R is chomping at the bit now.

Still haven’t decided where to head after we are able to leave here; all I know is that it will be by back roads & involve no big cities!  
 

July 7, 7:35 a.m., Friday, sunny skies.

It’s Rachael’s birthday today & we already are ready to hit the road. I’m working on this in the truck today—this will be a novelty! Yesterday, we decided to leave Salt Lake City & make it as far back as Massacre Rock State Park near Pocatello (this time minus the forest fire) since Marc decided we’d hit Montana after all. It’s about a four-five hour drive to my uncle’s place from here. With any luck, we’ll be able to stay there for at least 3-4 days & still have time to take our time getting to the rally.

Marc has a major job in front of him to disassemble the entire generator & check all the grounds. It seems that’s where the problem lies with it burning out all the control boxes it’s been going through. The place in Salt Lake City put the new control box in but Marc didn’t want to pay their labor rates at $76/hr. to do all the ground check. He will have to figure out a way to build something on the hoist to lift the generator off the truck—it weights over 800 lbs. He figured he could do that with my uncle’s help, hence, the decision to make Montana after all. I feel so sorry for him having to struggle with all this this trip. It’s like all we’ve been able to do & it seems such a waste of our precious vacation time. Just think if we would have only had two weeks instead of four! Going to Salt Lake City cost us the better part of five days down the tube.

Of course, Rachael thought the shopping was great. We toured the Temple area (lovely gardens), saw the building where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs, & toured the Beehive House, Brigham Young’s personal residence. It was like many old homes; the woodwork was particularly spectacular around all stairwells, door moldings, etc. Right across the street from all this was a shopping mecca called Crossroads which is a three-story enclave of every chain that makes Rachael’s heart pitter-patter! She was beside herself that she was able to get some school clothes that will be different from what the other girls will have who shop in Bend. Teenagers!

Think I’ll stop this for now; it’s a little difficult typing in this bouncy truck going down the freeway. But oh how cool!

Later 9:20 p.m.

We arrived in Argenta about 1:30 & greeted Aunt & Uncle before they left to go pick up my cousin Pam & her family, who are flying in to Butte from Chico this evening. We thought they would be back by now, but Butte is 75 miles from here & the flight might have been late & they were also all going out to dinner.  

(Downtown Argenta, MT)

Marc let me drive the rig down the dirt road into Argenta, which is about 5 miles long. Then he took over for the tricky part of getting it through the log gate with about 3 inches on either side to spare. We’re all set up & looking forward to enjoying our stay.

My uncle’s place is what everyone euphemistically refers to as the “cabin”—it’s an old house that’s been added on to on several different occasions, most recently two years ago when we were up & helped my uncle do two new bedrooms & a bath in a separate wing.

The big gathering room has all manner of dead animals hanging from the walls; elk, numerous deer, coyote, boar, even a bear & a bear skin rug. Big screen TV, several big recliners & a new leather sofa. This cabin actually serves primarily as a hideaway for my uncle, who likes to escape the Chico heat in summer & then as the hunting lodge for all the guys who come up for the deer & elk hunting every year.  

Argenta dates back to the 1800’s & at that time was a much larger community. It sits at 6000 ft. elevation in a mixture of sage & right up the road, some forested slopes. In fact, National Forest starts about 2 miles up the dirt road—a road that leads to numerous lakes & exciting trails to explore. Dillon is primarily a farming/ranching community about 15 miles away, but Dillon also has the advantage of sitting on an interstate and is a small college town, so has grown since we last were here. The main thing you notice about this area is the quiet.  
 

July 8, Saturday 4:15 p.m.

Marc & I just got back from the most glorious scooter ride! Only thing is, his scooter quit running so needed his emergency repair. The air cleaner on the thing (because we’re on dirt roads so much) was positively plugged, plus he thinks it’s also in need of a fuel filter. That will have to wait until a big town or home to order one. Mine is also cutting-out, so now he’s working on it although mine did keep running. There are so many back roads here to explore, we went for miles & miles & took some great digital shots of the views. Saw a grouse with her babies & also moose poop. I didn’t realize there was moose this close to civilization.  

We slept in this morning, and then Marc hopefully got the generator fixed. Everyone but Marc went for about an hour’s hike up the hill to get our blood running, then my aunt made pancakes. Rachael has played hard with her cousin all day plus they went to Bannack, the old ghost town perfectly preserved in a state of arrested decay that is now a Montana state park. Since I had taken Rachael there last time we were here, I elected to spend the time w/Marc & it was wonderful to get the time alone in those quiet Montana back hills. There are two other ghost towns close to Dillon, which we may hit on our drive out of here to WY. Marc said he didn’t want to make a special trip to drive to them—he’s kind of in to vegetating right now. I finally sense that we’re truly on vacation; he’s starting to get much more relaxed about things & I’m hopeful all the fix-it stuff is behind us for the rest of this trip!  We both really like it here so much—could easily live here. Even Rachael loves it.

We’ve got a ham cooking & with fresh corn on the cob, that will be dinner!  
 

July 9, Sunday 9:42 p.m.

We all just got back from the Buffalo Lodge where we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of huge portions. Marc got his end cut of prime rib & ate the whole thing!  

(Buffalo Lodge elk)

It’s been another nice day; slept in, went scooter riding on a really long trip up a very rough road & had a picnic with the leftover ham from last night. Days here are very peaceful. One more left, in which I plan to catch up on laundry & ironing, and then we will take off on Tuesday morning. That morning also, Pam’s husband Dave will be taken back to the Butte airport where he will fly home; Pam & the kids won’t follow for another week.  

(Scooter road in MT)     

Dave is very impressed with our life style & keeps quizzing us on how we are able to accomplish traveling so much & getting the time off from work. We just tell him we do it—time means more than money to us, so we make it work. Even Rachael has had a lot of fun here & I think she is enjoying the trip more than she thought she would. Got a great pic of her with the huge elk head at the Buffalo Lodge!  
 

July 12, Wednesday 5:48 p.m.

Yesterday & today were primarily spent sightseeing. Felt good! We left Argenta about 9:30 a.m. with the intention of visiting Nevada & Virginia City. Nevada City was first on the highway but wanted $5.00 to tour the old buildings—way too much we figured, so we just took pictures. We proceeded to Virginia City, where we parked the rig & walked around for a couple hours, mainly snapping pictures. If indeed, all the structures are original, it’s very old—from 1863. A lot of the doorways & glass did look very old & there were also a lot of stores with those old tin ceilings; some of which were imported from Germany, according to the information given. Some stores also had stocks of original materials, which included canned goods, clothing, all manner of instruments like gramophones, etc. These would all be behind glass in the entryway so you could look but not go in. Tours via small train, stagecoach & old fire truck were also being given.  

                       

     (Nevada City, MT)                                            (Virginia City, MT)

We left about 3 p.m. on the steep hill that climbs out of town to try & find a freebie campsite, which we were able to do within about 30 miles along the famous Madison River (A River Runs Through It). We dropped in to Ennis from a high elevation & were rewarded with a tremendous view of this magnificent valley. This is one of the most renowned fly-fishing areas of Montana. Not far after Ennis, after turning off the main highway at Norris towards Bozeman, we followed the Madison River to National Forest fishing access sites & found a big wide turnout area right on the river.  

The advantage of river camping became apparent this morning as we tried out our new water pump by washing the rig with river water. Worked great! We followed this highway into Bozeman, a town I’d sorely like to explore at greater depth. We circled around Montana State University to the Museum of the Rockies, which was only so-so with the exception of a few really good fossil heads (one of a saber tooth tiger) & an original pioneer house they have moved here. Seems the Tinsley family lived for 17 years raising 8 children in a 20 x 20 log home with one door, one window, & dirt floor & then got prosperous enough to send their sons to the woods to cut lumber for 2 years to build this two story, quite-large home for the family. Probably about 1500 s.f. of space, which would have been very lavish indeed in those times. Docents are dressed up in period clothing & carry on a conversation as if you are not there to give you a feeling for the place. They do chores (we came right after lunch, so women were cleaning up, men fetching (pumping) the water for doing dishes). Got a lot of info from the man who told us about their life in the original log house, which they turned in to the blacksmith shop when they moved in to their new home. We noted that Marc’s anvil at his shop is just like the pioneer one. Hmmm....  

From the museum, we tried to see another museum on the history of computers, but got lost in the downtown residential section of Bozeman, which wasn’t bad. Beautiful old homes very well tended. We’re extremely impressed with the setting & the cleanliness & liveliness of Bozeman—new construction everywhere & huge homes out on all the mountaintops around town. So, we skipped the computer museum & headed up I90 east towards Livingston.

This is the Livingston that Jimmy Buffet sings about in “Livingston Saturday Night” so I imagine that there are some really good times to be had here!  

(Livingston, MT)         

We toured the beautiful railroad depot, built in 1901 by the architect who also designed Grand Central Station in New York. At least it was cheaper, but also quite small for a museum. I found it interesting that one end of the building overhead states “Smoking Parlour” & the other end “Ladies Parlour”. You can probably surmise that the modern day ladies room is in the smoking end & the men’s room is in the ladies parlour. I failed to find the logic!

Downtown Livingston is a mix of saloons, old time restaurants, & an honest to God, Ben Franklin dime store. Very old brick buildings & more very well tended old homes in the residential section. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to snag a real estate magazine like you commonly see everywhere—the Realtor in me is crying out to know property values here! All I can say, is that I’m in love.

But then, so are others, like where we are this evening. Paradise Valley, Highway 89 south of Livingston, heading towards Yellowstone. We’re camped with the Yellowstone River right outside my back window, with those huge towering Absaroka Range Mountains in the background. Tom Brokaw & Brooke Shields own places not far off in Big Timber, & Peter Fonda, Dennis Quaid & Meg Ryan dip into the hot springs right up the road--Chico Hot Springs. We won’t be leaving that way in the morning; we’re turning around to head back to I90 towards Billings & then making the turn south for Wyoming. In depth exploration of Montana will have to wait until we’re full timing. Bozeman may be first on the list. A truly beautiful, one of a kind place.

 

  (Paradise Valley, MT south of Livingston)
 

July 13, Thursday 4:37 p.m., sunny all day

Today’s drive was truly unbelievable. We feel like we’re at the top of the world & the poor truck must have felt like it too. There was this scenic route on the map, marked ALT Hwy. 14 from Lovell, WY (a nice, neatly kept little town of 2300 out in the badlands of northern WY) which cuts over to Sheridan. Since the Medicine Wheel national landmark is off this road, I thought “why not?”  

(HWY 14 A, WY and runaway truck ramp)

Well…half way through this road (we’re camped at the top in a gorgeous forest service camp at over 9000 foot elevation), we now know why. Actually, we should have suspected something when this huge yellow sign with flashing lights cautioned, “Steep grades ahead”. Both Marc & I have concluded that steep doesn’t quite cover it—how about “once in a lifetime?” The highway was at minimum a 10% grade, & gained over 3600 feet in less than 13 miles. Thank God we were going up because I don’t think my hysteria at cliff hanging & switchback corners could have stood going down! There were 4 runaway ramps for people in case they lost their brakes & several times we pulled over letting the truck cool off thinking we had made it to the top only to be fooled. I can only hope the downside of getting out of these Big Horn Mts. is not as bad as coming up the western side!

Some folks camped next to us have some ATV’s & said that out riding they’ve already spotted elk, deer, moose, & a bear. We’re very nearly at tree line & there’s some type of observatory down the road & also the Medicine Wheel. Since it’s back off the highway three miles on dirt road, I’m hoping we can scooter to it. Medicine Wheel dates way,  way back to prehistoric times & is one of those Stonehenge type things that they don’t have a clue about who actually formed it & why.

It’s very relaxing here & much cooler. It’s been very hot lately with temps at least in the mid 90’s. I’d like to hike, but even though very beautiful, this is not the sort of place you go off hiking by yourself with all those bears, etc. There are notices about the bears posted where you register & that’s a sure sign you pay attention or risk becoming dinner! And we’re having just the dinner to attract them—Alaskan salmon!  
 

July 14, Friday 12:43 p.m., sunny, some clouds

We slept in a little this morning so as to not wake up the camp with our generator. I have my morning coffee no matter what! We decided to take the truck up to Medicine Wheel instead of the scooters since it was a ways back on the dirt road. Once there, we found out that they require you to walk in to the sight, which is 1.5 miles each way. But it’s a beautiful morning, exceptionally warm for this time of year according to the ranger, so the walk felt good. It’s at 10,000 foot elevation so provided an aerobic workout!

The Medicine Wheel dates from approx. 1200 AD & is a site sacred to all Indians. This area was on a major trail for the migration of ancient tribes & Indians added to the wheel over the course of hundreds of years. No tribes’ oral history traces the significance, so the site is still a mystery.  

(Offering at Medicine Wheel)

We met some fellow Escapees who also arrived in a MDT (medium duty truck) & found out that they are also members of the sub-group of MDTers. They too, are headed for the rally & have been enjoying the Big Horn Mts. by boondocking for the last two weeks in this area.

There is a lot of scenery here. With the elevation & views and dirt roads stretching through meadows & breaks in the forest where you can see for miles, there would be a lot to explore. We’ll definitely earmark this area for further exploration in depth—it’s one of the best mountain areas we’ve ever been in.

Last evening’s after-dinner walk took us to the ranger’s cabin, where there are also two RVs parked for them. Overlooks the greenest, prettiest meadow with a clear creek running through it; what a great spot for the summer they have!  Signs enticed us to see waterfalls up one road, but alas, we don’t have the time this trip.  

(View of Big Horn mountains. From Porcupine camp)

Early bird parking for the rally starts tomorrow. We’re only about 130 miles from Gillette but I need to stop somewhere & get some laundry done first & grocery shopping. So, we’re hitching up & pulling out from this lovely spot & will mark it on the map as a definite “return to”.  
 

July 16, Sunday 8:04 p.m., mostly cloudy

This rally has been something else so far just in watching the rigs arrive. We made it to Gillette behind about 6 others on the freeway yesterday about 10 a.m. after spending the night in Wal-Mart in Sheridan with about 50 other rigs. Traffic on the freeway exit ramp was already just starting to back up & by the time we got within the gates a little farther, they were really stacked up. Consequently, we got held in two separate staging areas since it was taking too long to park each rig; one was arriving every 20 seconds. Finally, after nearly two hours, we got herded to our spot in the mowed weedy field, right near the main road in, the highway, & the railroad tracks. Obviously, not the primo spot. We’re about 8 foot from the slide on the motorhome out our front door & about 5 feet from our slide to the motorhome on our left.  

( Gillette, WY rally)

The day we got here was almost 100 degrees so the generators were humming & buzzing all around us all night. The train goes through blowing its whistle about every two hours, night & day. Thankfully, today was much, much cooler—in the sixties, quite a change!

The place has been absolutely unbelievable though! Every kind of rig you can possibly imagine & every possible thing you can imagine to haul is being toted along. We have seen a big truck, larger than ours, hauling a 40 foot Teton, pulling a Jeep along behind. We’ve seen a motorhome towing a full sized Cadillac SUV on the lower level of a trailer behind, which then has a 20-foot ski boat on the second level of the trailer. We’ve seen a Travel Supreme like ours with a full size street motorcycle on a ramp hung from the back. I saw a MDT with a 4 wheeler up on a rack over the roof. There are huge 45 foot motorhomes, there are truck campers, all manner of fifth wheels, even a little Scamp trailer about 6 foot long.

There must be at least 100 motorhomes on display in the exhibit area, which won’t open until tomorrow. I’m anxious to tour some.

The seminars started today, so Marc & I went to some of those & also looked around a lot on the scooters for our friends, the Jenkins. Either they’ve not arrived yet, or we haven’t found them. There are probably about 4000 rigs here by now; it’s just an awesome sea of rooftops & vehicles whichever way you look. We’re fortunate in that we’re not too far from the seminar area; those arriving now are being parked so far back in the South 40 the walk is nearly a mile. Our scooters get envious comments wherever we go on them—they are causing quite the stir.

The rally starts in earnest tomorrow with seminars all day, entertainment during the day as well as a big event every evening, & also a major sponsor event each day, which usually features free goodies & hot dog lunch or some such. Rachael is making friends in the teen tent & we’ve hardly seen her. They have some neat events for her age group planned too & several off-property tours, like to the waterslide park. Kind of like a built-in babysitter!

So far, it’s been a great start to what will likely be a very novel, fun week!  
 

July 18, Tuesday, 6:45 a.m., sunny skies

We finally found Dave & Barbie Jenkins last evening. They had quite a story to tell us too about their problems getting here. Their new MDT had a small electrical fire in the bed where the batteries are connected & they ended up needing to be towed back to Spokane from the eastern side of Idaho. It was great to see them & we’re looking forward to spending a lot of time with them for the rest of this week until we have to part company. We’re hopeful we can all get together around the end of August for a quick few days along the Oregon coast though. Then their son is married in Chico on 9/15 & they’re headed for the East coast & Florida for the whole winter.

I attended the Hofmeisters seminar yesterday & finally got to meet them. They were very cordial & gave a humorous, entertaining seminar. It ended up raining on us for a short time in the afternoon but then cleared.  
 

July 19, Wednesday, 10 p.m., lightning storm

We just got back from the Oak Ridge Boys concert, which was prematurely ended by a lightning storm moving in to the area. It was well attended however & was a foot stomping good time. Last evening we attended another excellent concert; the Drifters played all their old time favorites like “Up on the Roof”, “Under the Boardwalk”, “On Broadway”—it was terrific.  

(Dave and Barb cutting a rug)

The storms continue to roll in for an hour or so of dousing everyone in the late afternoons. We had just finished participating in a Good Sam photo shoot when it struck this afternoon & everyone ran in to the cow sheds for shelter. There was about 800 people gathered, dressed in red tee shirts, compliments of Good Sam, and we all formed the number 1,000,000 (commas included, dressed in black tees). After half an hour of standing there, a plane flew over & took an aerial shot which will appear on the cover of Highways magazine in either the November or December issue to commemorate that club’s millionth member. Since we participated in the shoot, we get to keep the tee shirts & also will be sent the photo as well. So, that should be fun to see!

Before the concert, we had the Jenkins over for lasagna dinner; Barbie brought a good tossed salad. We will see them again before we all pack up to leave. They will be heading east, we west.  
 

July 21, Friday 7:10 p.m., sunny

We rolled out of the rally in Gillette at 4:40 a.m. this morning to beat the crowd of the other 5,000 rigs who were all going to try & get out by noon. What a joke that must have been! (What took three days to park is suppose to disband within six hours! Yeah, right.) We had everything hitched up last evening & spent some time visiting the couple next to us in a new Endeavor motorhome, who are from Massachusetts. They live on “the cape” & own a small RV park/motel combination, which they’ve actually closed down to travel. They gave us all their info in the event we make it to their neck of the woods in the future.

Also, Dave & Barbie dropped by to say goodbye; they are spending an extra two days in Gillette getting an inverter put into their fiver.

We had another trek over about 9700-foot elevation through the Big Horns on Hwy. 16, but the grades are much more gradual on this end of the mountains (out of Buffalo) so it was an enjoyable early morning drive where we saw many deer & four huge moose, with antlers in the velvet.

We pulled in to Thermopolis this afternoon about 1 pm & have been doing massive amounts of laundry. It’s a relatively small commercial campground, nothing special, but it’s full by now. Since many of the rigs have come from the rally, everyone has been rushing to the on-site Laundromat, which always makes me feel so good to have my set right in the rig.

Thermopolis is known for a couple of things, number one being the nice hot springs state park they have here. We’ll visit that in the morning. Also, there’s quite a good dinosaur dig area & tour & museum, which Marc does not care to see.  The countryside is rolling, sagebrush covered red hills & the Big Horn River runs right through town.  

          (Marc and Rachael at Teepee Fountain, Hot Springs State Park)

We’ve found that these small towns in Wyoming are really something special. Many have a population of less than 5,000 & are consistently very neat & tidy, with residents showing great pride of ownership. Yards are beautifully maintained & the downtowns are full of really old, usually brick buildings, that speak of all the dusty history they must have endured. Another good one today was just up the road, called Worland.

We may stay here a couple of days; we’re not too far now from the Grand Teton area, so we’ve plenty of time to really see & do what we wish.  

(Downtown Thermopolis, WY)

 

July 25, Tuesday, sunny

We’ve been parked at Colter Bay campground in Grand Teton National Park for two days. We’re leaving this morning, heading south out of the park to explore the area around Afton. The park has been nice but fairly crowded, with all the campgrounds filled by about 1 to 2 p.m. Marc & I took just the truck on the loop road which hugs the peaks & runs by Signal Mt. & Jenny Lake. 

(Jenny Lake, Tetons)

Yesterday morning early we took Rachael to an outfitter for horseback riding. She had a good two hour ride, but the drive there was out a tiny paved road for two miles then another 5.5 miles of bouncy dirt road. Took us nearly 45 minutes just to get her there, so Marc & I just walked along the river while waiting for her.  

Dinner was at Leeks Marina/Restaurant last evening on their deck overlooking Jackson Lake—not a bad pizza.

 


 

July 26,  2:40 p.m. Wednesday, mostly cloudy

Late yesterday afternoon coming west on Hwy. 26 from Alpine, WY we saw a dirt road across the Snake River from where we were traveling & figured it looked like good freebie camping. About a half hour later, after asking a local how to get across the Snake, we traversed 2.5 miles down a dirt road to BLM land along the fast flowing Snake. Found a rocky spot we could back in to with the rear of the trailer almost right over the river. It proved to be a good camp except was mosquito-ridden. However, we’ve marked it, because there’s a good chance we will eventually be down that highway again at some point & it would be a good fish camp if one wanted to fish the Snake. We sat & watched as several drift boats with fisherman went by.

There really was no good spot to free camp around the Alpine area (25 miles from Jackson), where we had hoped to find a Snake River raft company, so we gave up on the idea. Palisades Reservoir is right there & we checked out several shoreline (lake was way down) spots but they just didn’t feel right, so we changed plans as to even what highway we were going to travel. That’s the beauty of this life. Instead of heading south to Afton, we ended up heading north & eventually west through Idaho Falls.

Leaving this morning we thought seeing Craters of the Moon National Monument would be fun, so that’s where we’re at today.  

(Camp at Craters of the Moon ID)

We haven’t explored yet since we just pulled in not long ago & it’s very hot, probably mid-90’s. Since this is all lava flow area, the ground is black & red & really absorbs the heat! There is a 7 mile loop road you can take which leads to all the interesting things like the caves, the cinder buttes, the hoodoos, so we’re planning to do that on the scooters either later this evening or very early in the morning when it’s cooler.  

The campground however, is awesome! It’s set in among the lava flow so each site is large & is backed by fantastic lava rock formations. A few limber pine mange to grow & because there is lava gravel everywhere it looks very manicured. It looks like most people who visit arrive in cars rather than RVs,  & we had absolutely no trouble finding a beautiful site.

Getting here on Hwy. 20 out of Idaho Falls takes you through territory like much of Nevada—barren sagebrush flats & distant hills. Another worthwhile stop today was at ERB-1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor-1). A modest yellow brick building houses the decommissioned first atomic powered reactor which on 12/20/51 became the first ever power plant to create electricity from atomic energy. There’s a small city 18 miles away (Arco), which is the world’s first city entirely powered with nuclear generated electricity. ERB-1 offers self-guided or guided tours & is free. Surrounding the entire area is the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory; one of those “spooky” government areas where they still do much atomic research. The “Restricted Area, No Trespassing” signs stretch for mile after desert mile. Buses bring in the workers.  

                 

             (EBR-1)                                        (Soil samples at EBR-1)

One of the most interesting things I found about the reactor tour was a core sampling they had done in the area. Seems the Snake River aquifer is about 585 feet down & looking at the core sampling in four-foot segments was fascinating. There’s everything from volcanic ash, to cinders, to granite, to pebbly stones; all just in nearly perfect layers according to what was happening to Earth’s geology at the time. Plus, the Snake River aquifer is one of the world’s most prodigious but it takes 550 years for it to flow 200 miles & replenish itself from discharge to recharge. Not only does the water percolate down, it also traverses from higher elevation to lower elevation, eventually adding to the Snake River.  
 

July 27, Thursday, sunny, 6:40 p.m.

Last evening when the heat faded, we all scootered the seven mile loop road around the park & went on a couple of hike/walks they have to some spectacular formations. One was to (almost) the top of a cinder crater where we could view the lava hole, now caved in, but awesome nonetheless. I got some good digital pics, as I have of all the parks & areas we’ve been to. Having the digital is so great because you can immediately view your photos so if something important doesn’t turn out, you can retake it before you scoot on down the road. Plus, there’s no cost for film or developing once all the equipment is purchased.  Another benefit is that I use them for beautiful desktops & can relive my trip every time I fire up my computer.  

(Crater at Craters of the Moon)

The lava flow continued for about 25 miles to the outskirts of a small town called Carey. Past Carey, traffic picked up because Hwy. 20 intersects with one coming from I84 that leads to Sun Valley. Homes definitely started looking much more prosperous.

We made it near Boise & called an adventure outfitter (Oxbow, OR) to see if they could fit us into a jet boat ride of Hell’s Canyon tomorrow, which they said they could do. So, we headed north on I84 back into Oregon as far as Baker & then turned east on a small state road which leads about 69 miles to the dropping off point for Hell’s Canyon exploration. We plan to drop the trailer at one of the first dams, where there’s an Idaho Power RV camp, then use the truck to go another hour’s drive to the ramp spot for the jet boat trip up Hell’s Canyon. We’re really looking forward to this. This evening we’re alongside the road on an old section of highway that is now closed, about 5 miles from the little town of Richland, OR. The Powder River is right here (but not too special) & flows slowly & full of algae. Water looks clear however. Sagebrush, dry hills with no trees & we’re deep in a canyon. But, hey, it’s another free camp & it’s hotter than Hades so we’re inside under the air conditioner about ready to eat dinner.

Later: After dinner, Marc & I walked up the dry gulch only to find an amazing old abandoned mine area. Probably would have been great metal detecting, but we just took pics!  

( Old mine site by the Powder River, OR)

July 29, Saturday, 12:19 p.m., sunny

We arrived at Oxbow Dam about 10 a.m. yesterday to the Idaho Power Company’s RV park called Copperfield. It is without doubt one of the nicest parks we’ve ever seen. It’s comprised of three terraces of green lawns, well tended flower gardens, & nice shade trees. The bathhouse has individual shower units in separate little rooms instead of all being grouped together. The sites are spacious & paved. Best of all, there’s even hookups & the charge is only $10/day!  

( Copperfield RV park, Oxbow, OR)

We took the tortuous little road that hugs the canyon for about 25 miles up to the launch site of the jet boats & raft trips yesterday afternoon in the truck. Given the nearly solid rock walls of the huge canyon, the temperature gets incredibly hot near the bottom & although the jet boat part of the trip was fun for two hours, I very nearly got heat stroke it was so hot. Probably about 110 degrees & very little shade. It was worthwhile but a little overpriced we felt. The only true way to see the canyon however.  

(Hells Canyon)         

We’re enjoying this RV park so much; we may even elect to stay one extra day. Marc washed & waxed his truck this morning & I did laundry. There’s still the trailer to wash, which we’ll do after it cools down late this evening. There’s swimming available in Pine Creek which empties into the Snake River right here in the park. A tremendous end to this delightful four-week jaunt we've had!