2021 July Family RV Trip 1, OR, WA, ID, WY, SD, KS, NE, MO, IL, WI,

 After spending 2 weeks at brother Bob's near Portland, OR and doing more TLC on the RV we are ready to head out together with Bob's family and Mom to see National Parks, Presidential Libraries, and family in Wisconsin along the way.

First day out running quite well but surprisingly another breakdown! The campground we stayed at was really cool with doves in the morning and quail in the afternoon flying around the park while we take walks around the campground. Nice to enjoy a walk after a hard day of driving.

Waiting overnight for a repair part and Matt driving 4 hours to meet us and give parts left behind at Bob’s house then on the road again. Routing north through Spokane, WA towards Glacier National Park, for the elevation grade is much easier than along I-90. We stopped at Kootenai Falls. Very nice falls, an easy hike, nice way to break up the drive. It also had a swinging foot bridge to cross the river. Tanya and Tom waltz over and when Bunnie crosses her dog Munchie places one step onto the swinging bridge and turns around! Hot Dogs and chips at the entrance to the park before leaving.

Arrived at Sandpoint in Idaho, it was named the most beautiful town in the US in 2011 – well deserved! We walked through downtown, it’s very pretty and artsy, and there is a big, beautiful lake. There were a lot of locals on Prom night at the restaurant where we had dinner, it was nice to see all the fancy clothes on the kids.

Moving on to Kalispell, MT and trying to get tickets for Glacier National Park, unfortunately this did not happen for us this trip, the tickets were sold out. We took a driving tour of Kalispell, for they had several murals, I saw an article on the web when searching for attractions in Kalispell. It was listed by cross streets and addresses, so I tried to place them into the GPS and for the most part it worked! Jan, Bunnie, and Mom rode along with me for this excursion.

Stopping at the RV dealer where Tanya and I ordered our new RV - and they had a new RV of the same model we ordered right there on the lot, waiting for a customer to pick it up, so they let us look inside. This is the first time we have actually seen in “real life” the model we had ordered. So exciting to know that we made the right choice! It’s not that we had any doubts (we did very thorough research and thinking before making the decision about this RV) but several questions we had were answered by actually seeing it firsthand. The storage on this model and class of RV is phenomenal! Thanks Van City RV for being so accommodating! And thanks to the owner of that RV to letting us take a look inside! Maybe we’ll meet you on the road one day 😊

Moving on, we stay near Grant Khors National Historic Site and visit early the next day. The ranch house was still closed due to Covid but all other buildings were open. We did a lot of walking around, the ranch deer would bolt out of marsh grass, beautiful to see them run through the grass.

Pretty cool to see how the horse is harnessed.

This is an actual working ranch. The National Park Service owns it now and has quite a few permanent and even more seasonal employees to work the ranch. In June and July they harvest 900 acres of hay for winter feed. 1 ½ tons for cattle, 2 tons for horses to get through the winter season for each animal. A display showed the transformation from open grazing land to harvesting hay and keeping cattle within boundaries. So ends the concept of “Open Range”.

The original Beavertail hay stacker was on site and a video showing how it works was so good I bought a DVD.

Down the street was the original Montana prison. This is Mom and me in the picture, she refused to get a pic in prison clothes. 😊

The one prisoner I was impressed with was in for bigamy. Story is that a man and his wife were living in a house that burned down. The man was thought to be killed in the fire. Checking the body, it was determined that it could not be her husband for the person had been dead for a while before the fire. The woman had remarried 3 weeks after the fire so both the wife and the new husband were arrested for murder. Trying to change the murder conviction, the newlyweds reached out to husband number 1. So, the murder conviction was dropped and new charges of bigamy, grave robbery for wife, grave robbery for husband 1 and all charges dropped for husband number 2.

Bunnie waiting. Oh, she is the one on the left!

An ice cream break and travel on… but after 120 miles another breakdown and it’s the fuel system again. I replace the fuel pump relay and we’re off again.

Another breakdown, again fuel system, I replace the fuel pump for the 3^rd time and we continue on the way to join Bob at a campground. It’s Jan’s birthday and we go to a steak house to celebrate. Tanya had gotten colorful happy birthday garland - everyone is a kid in their heart regardless of their actual age! 😊

Next day we make a travel stop at Little Bighorn National Battlefield. The visitor center had interesting displays of the battle as well as life in the times for both Americans and Indians. They phrased them as Euro Americans and Native Americans.

We stopped at a campground in Sundance, WY for the night and had such a beautiful lightning storm through the night. Next is Devil’s Tower National Monument. Tanya stays behind to do her work while we drive to Devil’s Tower in brother Bob's Jeep, it’s a beautiful drive through the rolling hills. Last year we were here a month later and most hills had brown grass. Right now, in June, they are beautiful green grassy rolling hills. So nice!

As you can see, the light was on the wrong side for a good picture of Devils Tower. The visitor center was open this year, so we spent a lot of our time there. Due to Covid they are still only allowing a few people at a time inside.

I had never stopped in Sturgis, SD before and timing was perfect to have lunch. Actually, it is a small town until later in the year when hoards of motorcycle enthusiasts come to town for bike week. A shopkeeper said Sturgis and the nearby towns have to accommodate several hundred thousand bikers, wow! Right now, there is not much to see except for the Knuckle Saloon, we had a good lunch here. Our brother-in-law Bob likes Harleys and Jack Daniels Whiskey, we sent pictures for him.

Arriving for the night in Wall, SD – it’s my favorite boondocking location, on a bluff overlooking some of the badlands. The ladies go into town to shop Wall Drugstore while Bob, Mom and I sit on the bluff and using binoculars view cattle herds, antelope, and big horn sheep far in the distance. We watched an older bighorn ram a younger one off a bluff! Later the younger one came by the campsite 20 feet away!

This is the view from our campsite on top of the Badlands. See the antelope coming up the bluff? He walked this way around all the campers on the Bluff about 20-40 feet below the rim.

The drive through the Badlands National Park was as great as before. The visitor center was open and similar to WY there was a display showing how they peel away layers of dirt and scale to reveal the bones of ancient dinosaurs.

Wind Cave National Park was open this year. The elevator was fixed, and they allowed 40 people at a time to tour the cave. There are 3 separate tours and a long waiting line. We scored a tour for everyone, and Tanya discovered an accessibility tour available so Mom and Jan could go on one also. The cave was not formed by wind as I thought, it got its name from how it was discovered. Some cowboys were out ridding, and one heard a noise in the bush, he peeked in and his hat was blown off his head! They rode back to town and told others what happened, a group rode out and this time as he peeked in his hat was sucked into the hole!

During the tour, the ranger told us that the cave was not formed by water, rather it was formed by an accumulation of lime in cracks slowly widening to create space. Then when the whole area flooded the water dissolved the lime to create tunnels. Since the is only one opening to the surface the barometric pressure builds up between the surface and the cave creating sucking or blowing. A meter measures the pressure, and it then calculates the volume of air in the caves. I have forgotten how much of the cave is mapped now but it is impressive! The day we were there another set of explorers went into the cave.

Called BOX formation, the small origins of this cave where lime dissolved.

Hot Springs, SD is a very interesting town, architecture, little park, destination for health spa. Sandstone blocks building structure. Oh, and good Gelato! Too bad that it was so hot out that as soon as walked out the door it turned to soup.

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, a huge collection of dinosaurs that perished only 20 million years ago were concentrated in one spot. Observations of the Serengeti Plain in Africa enabled scientists to determine that during a drought animals would concentrate at a waterhole and eat the forage from the waterhole out until they can no longer travel from water to food, and they die from malnutrition. This concentrates the bones at the waterhole. Scavengers would feast and some of the bones were displaced but many were left in their original position.

Scotts Bluff, NE and Chimney Rock National Historic Site, wow, I thought it was much higher! A unique tower above a hill was a line of sight for the early settler’s wagon trains headed for CA, OR, UT.

Abilene, KS, a drive through the town looking at murals, a tour of the Seely Mansion – cool history. The daughters of the original owner sold to the current owner, and he insisted that they continue to live there. Because of this all the furniture is original! Much of it was picked up at the Chicago World Fair. The new owner also provides tours of the house, he had learned so much from the daughters of the history of the house it. It’s unusual to get such personalized knowledge on a tour.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, the first Presidential Library for the rest of the family, they were very impressed. Of note, he was responsible for creating government programs NASA, Health and Welfare, Interstate Highway programs. Negotiating and getting along with others were his strongest skills.

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library is still closed. I was able to speak to a security guard and he thinks sometime in July 2021 it will reopen. Another road trip some day!

Marceline, MO – the Walt Disney Boyhood Home, great museum, a lot of information on the development of him and his brother Roy also the development of the theme parks. If you visit Marceline, definitely go to the only Mexican restaurant in town, amazing flavors!

Badlands – the following was written by Bunnie.

Most everything we’ve seen and done has been really special and amazing in it's own way, but I’ll try to give you the highlights.

One of the most amazing things for this West Coast girl was the lightning storms. In Wyoming, there was a thunder and lightning storm and a rainbow at the same time. It was amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like that. When the rain stopped, the lightning continued nonstop, just flashes of light in the sky one after another and occasionally a forked lightning bolt. I kept saying how amazing it was, but Jan, Bob, and Mom weren’t impressed. I guess they’d seen it many times. The closest I’ve ever seen to this was the Northern Lights. It was the night of the lunar eclipse, and when it started raining, I was disappointed because it meant it would be cloudy and we couldn’t see the eclipse, but this was much more exciting for me. We had the same type of lightning storm another night, but no rain this time.

The Badlands are amazing rock formations and we saw bison, big horned sheep, and prairie dog towns there. I leaned prairie dogs are a type of ground squirrels and are very important in the environmental cycle. Their burrowing loosens up the ground and makes it more hospital to many types of worms and insects, and helps the grass to grow, etc, etc.  As we left the Badlands, Jan and I toured a sod house and farm. They had white prairie dogs there which we could see up close. This is the only place in the world where these white prairie dogs exist. no one knows why they are here and nowhere else and why they are white. They are not albinos, just white haired.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t drive through Grasslands National Monument. It is on a reservation, and they closed it until COVID-19 is more under control. It seems they have managed to keep the reservation relatively COVID free and don’t want tourists to bring it to them.

Speaking of reservations, I was struck at the site of the Little Bighorn cemetery and battlefield how the park service made the distinction between Native Americans and Euro-Americans. It talked about manifest destiny, but I thought it did a good job of stressing how the Native Americans had wars between their tribes before the Europeans arrived. Another thing I learned about there was the “ledger art”. The Native Americans were used to making drawings on hides, or on rock. When they couldn’t find hides, they would use any kind of paper they could find from the White folks, usually ledgers, or Army pay books or whatever. There are 2 collections of ledger art on display there, mostly drawn in prison. It seems one particular general would give the prisoners paper and colored pencils or paints, and demand they make drawings for him. He also demanded they sign their work. One picture has the artists signature on it, and then the word “signature” next to it. I think it was his way of thumbing his nose at the general.

Mom and Mickey!

Mark Twain – the following was written by Bunnie.

Almost everything we’ve done and seen has been amazing, but the last two days were really high points. We went to Marceline and Hannibal in Missouri; the boyhood homes of two men I have admired most of my life: Walt Disney and Samuel Clemens, Aka Mark Twain.

Of course, I cried when we went into the Walt Disney Hometown Museum. It’s the old railroad depot (no trains actually stop there now) adjacent to the park where Disney first fell in love with trains. The park was donated to the town by the train company (I forget which one) and was named after the director of the railroad at that time (whose name totally escapes me now. The first engine of the Disneyland Railroad was named after him, too. Walt’s uncle was an engineer, and whenever he was coming through town he would blow a signal whistle, and Walt would run out and jump on the engine and ride it the rest of the way (about 20 minutes) to the depot and get to watch his uncle at the controls. Main Street, the first street you walk on into Disneyland is modeled after Main Street in Marceline. Just hearing and reading the stories of his growing up, and then his contributions to the town later in life and knowing he had been in those rooms and on those streets brought chills and tears at times. Disney bought back the property where his family farm was, and the barn was recreated and used in some of his movies. Now, you can go inside and write something on the walls. It’s hard to find any free space to squeeze anything in anymore, but I managed to scribble “thank you for all the magic” and sign my name in a corner.

There was a particular tree on the property where Walt and his sister Ruth would play, and often he would go there to be alone and think or sketch. He called it his “dreaming tree”, and even when he came back to Marceline as an adult, he would sometimes go there to be alone and just think. The actual tree is dead now, but they saved a branch, and have it in the museum, encouraging people to “gently touch it” and feel the inspiration. At the farm, they have a fence around where it was, and a plague talking about it, plus the “son of the dreaming tree” which his nephew planted, and they mixed dirt from Disneyland and water from the lagoon at Disney World in the planting. This may sound really weird to some of you, but to me, it was a truly spiritual experience to stand there at the spot where he conceived many of his ideas and projects.

The same was true the next day, in Hannibal, where they’ve recreated Samuel Clemens house, and Huck Finn’s, Tom Sawyer’s and Becky Thatcher’s home, and the white picket fence that Tom had to paint as punishment but conned his friends to not only paint it for him, but he made money off the deal. There were times I would just get shivers and chills thinking that the man actually had lived there and created his stories there. It was truly mind blowing.

We’ve seen and done many more amazing things, like the Badlands National Park, and the Wind Tunnel National Monument, and Little Bighorn where Custer had his last stand. I’ll try to get more details of those things later, but the last two days just hit me so personally, I wanted to write about them while they were still fresh.

Tom -

The following night, we stayed at a very pretty campground near the Mark Twain Lake, but we were still in the middle of the heat wave and it was also humid, so we could not stay outside. There was insufficient cell signal for Tanya to work, so we got up early and drove to a local town nearby, parked at Hardee’s, the only place open at the time. Later Bob caught up with us and it was so much fun having a morning “picnic” in the parking lot, eating our breakfast, sitting outside chatting! I think this was the very most enjoyable meal on this trip yet. Fast food in a parking lot with a lot of laughs! Life’s best moments very often happen spontaneously, you just need to be open to catch these opportunities.

Bob’s family had to walk through the drive-through of Hardee’s to order their breakfast.

 

We arrived at the Gateway Arch in St Louis but were not able to get tickets to the tram that takes you to the top. Tickets are sold out for the next 10 days! So, Jan walked into the visitor center while we tried to find parking. It is not easy to find parking here, I had the same problem last year.

We are camping in Illinois and waiting for Bob’s daughter to stop by for a visit. This is our first down day in 2 weeks, and everyone feels a little odd not driving today. 😊

Meeting up with Bob’s daughter Robin and catching up on each other’s lives makes you realize how fast life goes by and how different our journeys are. Robin is bringing her children and grandchildren over in the morning to meet with us. A very impressive grown woman, like all of us facing life and meeting those challenges as they come.

On to Springfield, IL for a visit to the Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library.

Lincoln, Eisenhower, Seely Mansion – the following was written by Bunnie.

So, today we visited the Lincoln Museum, another man whom I have long admired. It was remarkably interesting and well done. One of my favorite parts was Tim Russet doing a telecast of the election as if it was current, describing each of the four candidates varying point of view and a campaign ad for each candidate. There was also a show talking about the library, and how artifacts and papers give us clues to how things were then. It ended with a reading from a soldier’s journal which was very moving.

Lincoln was really in a no-win situation when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. People either totally opposed it or thought it didn’t go far enough, as it only freed the slaves in the confederate states. I thought Juneteenth was 2 years after the Proclamation, because it took that long for the communication to from Washington to Texas, but in actuality it was because Texas was a confederate state, and so Lincoln had no power over them at the time. It was also interesting to learn that his own cabinet was very divided on the issue. A few of them wanted the slaves freed because they thought then they would all leave the country and they wouldn’t have to deal with “the Negroes” any more.

The First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, was also in a no-win situation. The high society in DC thought she was a “coarse country bumpkin”, yet when she went to NYC for a shopping trip to redecorate the White House, she was criticized for wasting money and putting on airs.

Another thing I found interesting was a journalist had photographed Lincoln’s coffin when it was lying in state, so the whole nation could see it, not just the people who could get to Springfield. Mary Lincoln was very upset by this and asked that all the photos be destroyed. They were sent to one of the Secretaries and believed to be destroyed, but he had secreted one away in a file and was not discovered until 1952.

This was the second presidential library and museum we visited. Last week, we went to Eisenhower’s library and museum in Abilene, Nebraska. I never knew much about Eisenhower other than he was a General and notable figure in the Second World War. This museum was very well done, too, but very different. I didn’t know that Eisenhower had also fought in the First World War. He was a very “middle of the road” guy, not in a bad way, but in a way that really brought the nation together. Both Republicans and Democrats tried to get him to run as president for their party, Truman even offered to be his vice-president if he ran. He declined and then chose to run as a Republican 4 years later.

While we’re talking about Eisenhower and Abilene, Nebraska, it’s a very interesting town. Long before the Eisenhowers lived there, it was known as the end of the Chisholm Trail, where the long cattle drives ended. Bill Hickock was one of its first sheriffs. Unfortunately, the historical center wasn’t open while we were there, but Tom, Jan and I did go inside the reconstructed old town even though all the buildings were closed.

Also in Abilene is the Seely Mansion. Dr. Seely made patent medicine, elixirs, and cure-alls, and also household soaps and shampoos, and Ant-Die, an ant repellent he sold door to door.

A well-known architect at the time presented the Seelys with plans for the mansion and asked them to go the World Fair in St Louis and make any changes they wanted, as well as pick out furnishings and draperies, etc. Julia Seely was very meticulous (some say very OCD): everything had to be symmetrical and matchy-matchy. They had two daughters, who were about 3 or 4 years apart, but did almost everything together. The oldest was very much like her mother; very domineering and meticulous. The younger was more submissive and went along with the program. At this time, the Eisenhower's were the poor folks living on the other side of tracks. One of the daughters dated Milton Eisenhower in high school for about 3 weeks, until Mom found out and quickly put an end to that. None of those Eisenhower's (or any other boys in town) were good enough for her girls. All of the Eisenhower's went on to have very powerful and successful careers, while the Seely sisters lived there in the mansion, destitute, until their deaths in their 90s. When they were destitute and the house was falling apart, a historian named Terry convinced the daughters to sell him the house. He agreed to let them live out their days there, and he moved in too. He kept everything exactly like Julia Seely had it and learned many of the stories about the former high life the Seely's lived. He lives there now and is the tour guide. It’s so fascinating because it really is a living history.

They had a bowling alley in the basement!

Finishing the first half of our family RV trip, we are camped at the family lake house in Wisconsin. We will be spending time with all members of our Wisconsin family and sharing what is going on in our lives.

We have made so many miles, already almost 2,900 miles so far on this family trip. Of course, Tanya and I have already covered 6,000 on Tanya’s solo trip and total of 10,200 miles for the year. Constant traveling does wear you down, especially when you are dealing with breakdowns in the middle of a heat wave. Second half of the family trip will be coming later on.

2021 July Casper, WY to OR

 

Final workday at a hospital in Casper, WY we have lunch with staff members Mitch, Cathy, Tommy. Tanya gets to meet the team that I enjoyed a great working relationship with. Sharing stories of enjoyable food, travel, people and places we had a great time. The Team gives cards and farewell gifts to me to show their appreciation for our work together.  I know our travels will bring us this way again and Tanya and I will surely stop in to say hello.

 

Staying the night in Rawlins, WY near the train tracks, Tanya is reminded of a time in her childhood watching trains come and go, wondering what sights they see on the way.

Stopping briefly at Visitor Center of Green River they had history of mining development changing from coal to Trona – a mineral used to make soda ash which is then used in bicarbonate of soda. Many household and commercial uses.

While there Tanya captures pictures of a Bald Eagle with the fledgling.  This was from above so you can see into the nest!

Sopping at Fort Bridger State Historic site was worth the 2-hour tour. Genuine materials, tools and exhibits. A replica of the Fort through Wyoming State and several original buildings tour. The museum taught a lot of history. Jim Bridger a mountain man trapping furs, then once the fur trade ended Jim opened a trading post to serve the emigrants traveling the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Bozeman Trail and Morman Trail. Not too much past Fort Bridger the trails separate.

Tom asked and learned that the large animal dropping round in shape were Moose! Quite a discussion about animal poop and the resident Moose followed. The female Moose had 1 child and last year pushed the child away to be on its own for another baby was along the way. Occasionally the bull Moose returns to visit his family who remain at the Fort year around.

 

Salt Lake City, UT touring “This is The Place" where Brigham Young brought the Morman settlers. There were 2 weddings being set up and Covid rules resulted in there not being any Docents around.  This is a very major difference from the last time I visited. Learning history, customs, trails of the settlers while viewing their homes contributed highly to the experience.  So today turned out to be a short walking tour instead.

OH, MY there’s a Trader Joe’s! My lovely bride gets her shopping fix! Hmmm not enough room in the refrigerator, guess what’s for dinner honey!

The next morning as we travel away from Salt Lake City to see “Golden Spike National Historic Site" we text fellow travelers Leesa and Joy to see where they are. They text back that they are at Antelope Island, Salt Lake, UT! Woa they are 10 miles away from where we camped last night! Such an amazing coincidence!

Visiting Golden Spike National Historic Site first we will return and stay over with them. A very good stop, informative and photogenic.

Steam power locomotive, 1 is wood fired one is coal fired. Back in the day there was no coal development on the west coast, so they used wood. Tom spoke to the engineers at length and learned the sequence of operation for these locomotives.

 Promontory point was abandoned not long after being built for a shorter and less hills on the south side of the Salt Lake was built. The only thing there now is the National Park Service, the town is gone, shops, businesses, ranches are all gone. 

We go over to Antelope Island and camp out with friends Leesa and Joy! Wow what a small world, I inadvertently said we have connected in 4 different states over several years. Lo and behold Joy counted them up and YES I was right! Isn’t amazing how you can make friends and continue to reconnect during multiyear travels! I love this life 😊

We toured the island first day, hiking up a point of land to see across the lake at the mountains ringing the valley – all covered in snow. This is the beginning of May and desert wildflowers show at times, lots of greening in grasses and trees and shrubs. The sagebrush also has a bit of brightness to it. I am happy to report that my stop smoking efforts are paying off, I can hike to the hilltop and not feel pain from breathing like I expected. I could hike when I smoked but was short winded. Now I fear too much expansion will create pain and damage these tender lungs. NOT - all is well, I will continue on this path to quit smoking!

The next stop was a ranch on the southern end of the island, walking through the buildings we discover how the sheep are sheared and prepared for shipment or return to the range. Some amazing machinery, easy to determine their purpose for the most part.

 The wagon that a sheepherder would live in year-round! VERY EARLY RV’er!

Inside the Sheepherder RV

Second day as Tanya and Leesa work, Joy and I travel around, walking put to the water, seeing the visitor center then going into town for a “carnivore” lunch! The others of our team are vegetarians, and it was nice to rejoice in an old-fashioned Bar–B-Que!

Time to find a new place to camp and we go to the Lodge where Tanya and I stayed a few days ago. At that time no one was there! This time there were plenty of cars about. So, parking and going inside I ask if its ok for non-members to park overnight? Most time this is ok, here the local ordinances have made trouble, so they are allowed to stay in the general parking for just the night. Over beers, wines and Kalua we discuss options to membership for our traveling friends. No luck here for our traveling companions do not stay in one place long enough to go through the orientation and initiation process. Oh well, maybe next time.

Leaving our friends for now, we travel into Idaho, see Shoshone Falls (disappointing for irrigation takes so much of the water) on toward Oregon we are traveling a 2-lane road (Hwy 20) over to Bend, OR. VERY beautiful drive along a swollen creek (also used for irrigation) stopping Burns, OR at the County Fair for the night.

We like this kind of driving, exploring “off the beaten path locations” poking around the towns, villages, highways and byways of this USA. Mmmmmm I love it!

Catching up with my brother Bob, oops I only have 1 brother, 4 sisters…. We set up camp along the Deschutes River near Warm Springs, OR. Each day I learn more from Bob, refresh (with some coaching) my casting skills, reading the water, reading the insects and absolutely having a great time flyfishing the Deschutes River during the Salmonfly Hatch. Unfortunately, there is not enough Salmonflies just yet. By the weekend we head out to the Oregon Valley for Mother’s Day. Maybe come back next week and the Salmonflies will be in full swing.

Here is a picture of “slot legal” (allowed to keep between 10”-13” only) a fish for Tanya’s lunch.

We stop for the night with Brother Bob at home with Tanya’s Sisters Jan and Bunnie it’s fun to catch up. Right away the next day were off to Mom’s for the Mother’s Day weekend.

Mom is doing well! Meals, chats and spending time together is always enjoyable. This is the Lady who herded cats during Dad’s military career of 6 kids! Now is her time to enjoy life and we are planning a 6-week trip with Mom and brother Bob’s family. Taking RVs through Northwest, Midwest, seeing National Parks, Presidential Libraries, Visit family in Wisconsin. Can't wait to start in June!

Took care of few “honey do’s” at Moms before heading back over the mountains to continue fishing on the Deschutes River. Did not catch the Salmonfly Hatch yet, they are slow to start this year, after 2 weeks we came back over the mountains to brother Bob’s house where the RV developed an electrical short. Both Bob and I worked for a week on it before giving up and taking it to a shop for repairs. Waiting now for them to fix it so we can start our journey.

Leesa and Joy join us at Bob’s house in their RV while we are waiting, and we all had some great conversations with the RV’s sitting in a circle similar to “circle the wagons”.

Taking the RV to the shop

 

 

This is the 2^nd time that I have been near brother Bob’s when I had a significant breakdown. How lucky are we that Bob has space for us in his home, ability to tow the RV to a shop!

Tanya and the girls took a day to play tourist in Portland, stopping at a rose garden to enjoy the sights.

Taking the Llamas out for a practice pack trip. Bob plans to take a group of ladies in August on a Llama pack trip.

2020 July MT, ID, WA

   4^th of July 2020 weekend, post COVID-19 we are still in the Yellowstone Grand Tetons area spending some time fishing and relaxing, small day trips into town of West Yellowstone or to Bozeman Mt and Yellowstone National Park to review some of the places we saw that we enjoyed, I’m having a good time.

Scheduled to meet my brother here this evening and anticipate a few days seeing Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, along with him is sister Barbara, mother Camille. We anticipate having a great time, we're going to stay together at the National Forest campground where we have based ourselves and it will be good to see family again.

Wow, 3 days we spent together and no pics! Chatting constantly, catching up, dinners together around the campsite, all in all a very good relaxing time together.

Bob, Tanya and I would go fishing each day, Mom and Barbara would go sightseeing in the Yellowstone Park or sometimes just in the shops of West Yellowstone.

Bob would always out fish me of course – he has truly engaged fly fishing and it’s his number one passion.  Me I dabble at it and enjoy being on the water, same as I feel about kayaking.  As always, I truly enjoy time on the water with my brother.  Tanya would sit on the bank with her feet in the water or sit in the RV working or reading.  She did enjoy the quiet time and relaxing atmosphere.

After a few days together Bob, Mom, Barbara head out to see the Grand Tetons and onward to Wisconsin to see family.  It was not in the cards that we all meet in Wisconsin, so it was awesome that we had a few days together along the way.

So, after 3 weeks in Tetons and Yellowstone Tanya and I departed to drop Tanya off at the airport to go back to MD for some daughter time, me I go on for other fishing opportunities in Montana.

Boulder Creek, MT not good fishing but a great campsite along the river. Puttered around during the day fixing this and that and realizing that traveling alone is not the same as when you have someone to share things with. It’s going to be a long 10 days apart!

Tonight, I’m on the Madison River and did not realize that another weekend is here. Boy, got to watch that for campsites are booked for weekends. Fortunately, I scored so booked through the weekend at a National Park campsite.  There are people floating the river in all kinds of crafts, watching them is the only other thing to do for there is no TV reception, no cell service.  Just fish, read, cook and eat. Hmmm sounds relaxing, doesn’t it?

Nothing much about tourism to write about. Tanya had a great time with daughter, I had a great time fishing several of Montana’s famous and not so famous rivers. Madison, Jefferson, Big Hole, Boulder rivers. Found that Montana has a great interactive map by Trout Unlimited to find access points at most rivers. Some of these access points also allowed camping right on the river! My fishing improved somewhat although I will never be as good as my brother.

I had dinner with Mother Brother and Sister when they stopped off on their way back from Wisconsin. They enjoyed the family time and Uncle Jerry’s birthday and are glad to be going home again.

It seems Covid19 has taken a turn for the worse and Montana has pushed additional restrictions. It is really hopeful to see more people wearing masks as they go about their business. This type of traveling you do not interact with people very much unless you seek it out. It is easy to maintain privacy in your own home (RV), just as others in a stick and bricks house you feel the need for social interaction at times. Keeping distance between you is easy enough and of course masks! So, we continue our travels for we seldom use formal campgrounds and dispersed camping is so easy to find in the western states. As a matter of fact, we have not used a formal campground yet! This is the type of traveling we prefer, dispersed camping on public lands in beautiful remote areas, enjoying nature and each other as we travel. Tanya is committed to full timing now and we continue on our way.

Tanya returned from DC, and we head off to travel once again. Arriving in Idaho and on the way to Craters of the Moon National Monument we find an out of the way camping spot alongside a small creek. We have a light dinner and Tanya shows me an app that Maria shared with her for music. We played our old favorites and danced outside of the RV. Oh so fun to feel free and easy to enjoy time with each other in such a beautiful place.

A moose come close by our RV! Wow, this is the first Moose I have seen up close with full antlers. He was not in any hurry to move on, simply hanging around for a while – seems he enjoyed the music and dancing we were playing! I thought about why a moose would be here? This is arid desert; one small stream cannot give him what he needs? I don’t know an awful lot about moose, they are famous in Maine and are pictured in swampy areas feeding on water-based plants. Hmm something to check

Arco, ID the first town in the world to be powered by atomic energy.  Having breakfast at Pickles Place, home of the atomic burger!

This makes the third time I have been to Craters of the Moon National Monument and the absolutely best visit. It truly appears that having no time constraints I approach life totally differently.  As I mentioned I am now Semi-Retired and when arriving at a scenic area I no longer look for the highlights to capture as quickly as possible what is the top thing of interest to see. That was before when running in the rat race. Now I look at all the available sights regardless of how much time it would take and set out to find the whole experience.  I had no idea this is how I have been approaching things. This attitude has changed my experience and expectations allot.

 We took the time to walk several trails and the interactive signs allowed us to learn so much more of this unique landscape. The way that volcanoes normally function and how this location was totally different.  You must try this different approach and you will be happy you did.

One of the spatter holes had snow inside it! With this high heat and low humidity, I was very surprised. 

Unique formation of lava flows

Tonight, we parked in a Walmart parking lot for the first time in several weeks, so different than dispersed camping. Fortunately, it was quiet, and we rested very well.

Shoshone Falls, last time I visited was in the fall and waterfalls were very minimal.  Now in midsummer its quite breathtaking. Notice the rainbow on the left side!

Balancing Rock, wow quite impressive, looking through binoculars and see several cracks and the base looks like its thin slabs. Don’t understand how it does not fall!

Along the route we stopped at a little park for lunch, a display for sheep ranching and how it developed. This is the shepherded home on the range.

This Princess Rialta celebrated 100,000 miles today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an outstanding 23 year old machine that takes us to so many great adventures. Happy Birthday Princess! (Tanya named the Rialta Princess for she is always needing TLC from me 😊)

One of the things about full timing is that you follow the weather to enjoy more adventures. We were monitoring the weather each day and observed that the next week will have very hot temperatures, scanning ahead we decided to push on to the coast of Washington to beat the heat. Pushing a lot of miles for 2 days gets us to Tacoma, WA. Stopping along the way to visit my sister Pattie in Yakima, WA just as I have done each time I traveled west. She has had a lot of changes in her life, and I was really happy to see her so happy. Since I saw her last, she has lost one husband to illness and is now engaged to another. Living among people that give her a purpose and feeling helpful. So happy for her. We met at a restaurant and Covid has resurged so no indoor eating, so we set out the lawn chairs in the parking lot, eat, chat and catch up with each other.

A very short backtrack to Toppenish, WA to tour the city of murals. Most were about the history of the town. Quite impressive, we enjoyed RT66 for the same reason of a lot of things to see along the way.

Nearly everywhere we go now Covid has created increased precautions. Masks are required anytime in public, cannot enter any store without masks. Of course, we had always carried alcohol in a spray bottle also as additional precautions. Tanya surprised me one time by handing the spray bottle after pumping gas, I did not think of that one!

Over the mountain and arrive at Tacoma, WA we decided to bypass Seattle even for a drive through, seems a lot of disturbance here as well as Portland so why risk problems. Boy I love the opportunities RV travel provides to go where you want to when you want to.

We plan on spending time around Olympic National Forest before heading toward Portland, OR area where my brother lives. I have ordered some parts for the RV and will be able to use his repair shop to install.

Camped in Tacoma, WA and caught up on laundry before heading into the wilderness.  Knowing there will not be cell service and the apps I use for finding camping and interesting things to see I must copy gps coordinates into the dash gps for dispersed camping in the National Forest.  Now were ready to go! Plan on 3 days which will allow the heat wave to pass by while we stay on the pacific coast where its cooler.

Olympic National Park

Whew a 17-mile steady rise from sea level to 5200 feet. 5-7% grades the whole way. Princess Rialta handled it so fine!

This is definitely worth the drive, views of the inner mountains of this park are amazing, signs explaining the glacier actions, erosion and views on short hiking trails of the Straights of Juan De Fuca.

Pullovers on the drive back down the hill are possible now, on the way up I felt I did not want to lose the momentum and so stops on the way back down are in order. Not as great views as from the top but definitely nice.

We met another class B driver in Walmart camping area, she is a ranger at Grand Canyon on hiatus. We chatted over several things camping related, shared apps to help with travels, pretty cool lady, she is definitely into hiking!

We followed the road around the park stopping and camping in the rain forest 2 nights. Definitely a very different habitat than anywhere else we camped. I expected as a rain forest it would be hot and muggy, not so the cool air from the Pacific Ocean kept the rain forest very cool. Moss grows over much of the trees, extremely tall trees!

Time to follow the coast to the point when the time to cut inland and visit Mom. We are finding it harder to find free camping along the coast. Understandable for it is popular and perhaps the homeless gravitate this way too. We have been diligent and only one night so far, we have paid $10 to park at a boat launch.

Next blog will be visits with family in Oregon.