Craters of the Moon

A short drive from Hailey, Idaho we encountered this very unusual sight.  The name sure told the story, Craters of the Moon.

There was as loop drive but having the 5’er attached we were not too sure of taking it in.  "the Devil's Vomit" is how one Oregon- bound pioneer described his encounter with Craters of the Moon. Hundreds of pioneers travelled through the area on the Goodale's Cutoff section of the Oregon trail in the 1850's and 1860's.  Web site  http://www.nps.gov/crmo

We were planning on spending the night in Gardiner, Montana at the north exit to Yellowstone, as we had not seen the Mammoth Hot Springs, but when I called from West Yellowstone, that was not an option as all the campgrounds were full.  That also became a problem in West Yellowstone, so we decided to make a run for Bozeman, Montana.  We had the great luck to see a grizzly in the wild long the road.

 

Once again the same problem, but the campground host called another up the road and found us a site.  Now it was not bad as we were all set up by six, but for us it was a long day.  The next day was almost as iffy, although we did start trying to stop early, right after lunch actually.  The trouble today was other than full campgrounds, they had so much rain the night before that there was no parking other than on concrete, which most did not have.  We drove until we reached Medora ND, and it is a charming little destination town.  At night, during the summer,there is a great musical production in the pavilion up on the hill.  The view behind this stage is awesome as you can see for miles.  There are escalators that take you up and down…thank goodness. 

 

There were two large bull elk on a bluff behind the stage and the silhouettes were amazing, my pictures do not due them justice.

Which we decided that being as we were here was meant to be, so we took it in last night.  Great show, and the comedians bit about Rv’ers was roll in the isles funny.

  This morning we woke up to rain, and decided it was a kick back, relax day. We did go out for lunch, but that  was about it, the sun played peek-a-boo most of the afternoon,  but we  just snuggled in.  Life is Good.

 

 

Catching Up

We left Brookings Oregon, on the 13th, heading for Hailey, Idaho. Our friends, Bob & Barb Williams have a home there, but are in the process of getting ready to take to the road in their new motor home.

We spent two nights on the road, the first in Bend , Oregon paying 46 dollars, the second in Caldwell, Idaho at half the price, both Good Sam’s. The least expensive was a treat, they have two large gardens that are exclusively for the overnighters. Just a few more weeks and it will wonderful as they have a great selection.

Tomatoes, green beans lettuce corn squash, just to name a few. .

The three days of travel were uneventful, a lot of the area we covered is high desert, so not much to see.

Once we arrived, our cats were so excited to see each other…ah-ha, sure. The gray and white one is Gypsy, she was the pitiful kitten that adopted Barb at Nicks rally last year. She is so pretty now. And we did not push our luck we decided that it would be best if they did not spend time in the same house, as it did not get any better.

We started the hand and foot tournament the first night and the girls won the first one, and as the games went by it was not looking good. Then the last night we stole the guys chairs and won three, yes all three, to become the top dogs. Bob and Barb were wonderful tour guides and we seen some of the country side Which was spectacular to say the least.

The guys in the “lucky chairs”.

The mountains were so different, the weather was wonderful, just a little warm for a few hours, but the nights were very cool. Hailey is only a few miles from the famous Sun Valley ski resort. Barb had worked there years ago, so on the tour of the facilities she was very knowledgeable. There was even a outdoor ice skating rink that was being used. Pictures are on the camera, and it is in the truck, but the rain is coming down, so will add some later.

Some of the wild flowers blooming along the roadside. Glad that everything is running late this year, so that we get to enjoy it.

Thank you Bob & Barb for a wonderful time. Hope that all your “stuff” finds a new home, or at least it’s way into storage, cause we are looking forward to seeing you in Goshen.

Moving on down the road. Next destination, Park Rapids, Minnesota, some time next week. Life is Good.

“Fan”atics At It Again

Yep, they have struck again.  We have solved the mystery of how this happens though.  Our RV is haunted!  We thought that being as we were on our 3rd fan and it had almost been a year we had the problem solved, however we jinxed it by talking about  it.  Not only do we not have any idea how this happened, no one else can even give us a clue.  It happens when we are on the move, but the blades are a good 8 inches above the slides when they are both in. The other 2 fans were the cheap ones they put in the RV, but this one was a Hunter Douglas and the blades were real wood, which took a lot to break, as it almost tore the fan from the ceiling before breaking.  Any ideas????

Enough of that. 

A Week With Friends

 

We have spent the week with two couple who have been friends for many years.  They decided to take a little road trip with us, and they were hoping for some place cool.  And the weather has cooperated very well.  Today was the first day that we did not wake up to fog but brilliant sunshine.  With the scenery that we have here it is easy to let the days just go by. 

Beautiful

Being as this group is all golfers we did find a course here called Salmon Run.  As there were only four able bodied among us, leaving Ed & I on the disabled list, we decided that we would still view the course with out letting golf take our minds off the beauty of our surroundings.  This course was amazing, it was craved out of the woods in the most ingenious way.  We saw a lot of wild life, plus wild flowers galore.  And the views! Oh, the views.

Bonnie, Huff, Chuck and Donna

 

I was totally jealous at not being able to play this course.  It was awesome.

 

Below is my cart mate…Ed, aka Daisy Man

We also spent a day on a 80 mile, mail boat run up the Rogue River.  Our captain was very entertaining and had some  tall tales. His day job was a pastor, bet he never had a dull sermon. He managed to do quite a few 180’s, and a heck of a lot of nose dives, with the boat, that left us all wet.  But it felt quite good as we left the seaside the air warmed up rather fast. 

The six of us are in the very back row.

Some of the sights in the harbor

The captain’s dog that went along with us.  After we got under way he just made him self welcome any place he wanted to sit, but once we stopped, and he got wet, the captain wouldn’t let him roam.  Don’t think anyone would have minded, he was a real love, his name was PUP.  By the time the ride was over he was the only one who looked the same as when we started.  Half way through we stopped for a huge chicken dinner, and by the looks of the laundry on the line, everyone worked. 

This house was a good hike up the hill of at least 3 blocks and back in 1964 the flood waters were half way up this house. 

Grapevine

Heading home, great day, great friends, it don’t get any better than that. 

Tomorrow brings us to the end of the week, and we will be heading in different directions.  Thanks for the Memories. 

Life is good.

Good Try

 

Two weeks of practice, two games and it is over.  So disappointing for the boys, but they took it well, Anthony pitched some of both games and got some good hits, so he was mostly pleased with his game.  It was great getting to see his games, been a long time, hope he doesn’t think we were a jinks.

  Pitches right handed, bats left.

Come the next day we were off and rolling,  we debated taking Anthony with us, but he was not too keen on more of a road trip.  Being he is the only one with us makes it a little less fun when his only playmates are us “old” folk.  He had a really good time when there was anyone his age around, and his Mom & Dad had some fun things on the agenda. Think he made the right decision, sure he will have more fun.

Sunflower field

Driving through the redwoods.

Jack-in-a-box   Chuck-in-a-tree

The scenery was just breathtaking. We are just over the California/Oregon border in the town of Brooking, parked in a park overlooking the ocean, which is usually fogged in till late in the morning, but once the sun breaks through….wow.  Have to run now, so will save that for another blog.  We are here for a week and then are heading to Hailey Idaho, for a visit with Barb & Bob.  See you soon, Guys, we probably could not gotten in a worse location to get from point A to point B…LOL, but where there is a will there is a way and we are willing.

One Big Wish

Happy

4th

of

July

Be careful with the fireworks!