Birthday Girl

Yesterday, I told everyone that we could sleep in as late as we wanted. Little did I know that would mean that John and I would sleep the clock around. Wow! We haven't done that in years. Melissa said she was awake around 8 a.m. and was quietly watching TV when we got up.

After we got up, John went and picked up our mail that we had forwarded to us. Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and discovered two birthday cards for me. One was signed by my former office mates. I was very touched. Thank you Janis because I know you were behind the remembrance. I also had a card from Janis with a See's gift certificate. Yum.

I decided that we would go out to a celebratory lunch and eat leftovers for dinner. We then decided to go to the Cougar Mountain Zoo that is in Issaquah. We were able to see two white tigers that are about one years old, a cougar, reindeer (Melissa didn't realize that they really existed outside of the North Pole), macaws, lemurs, cranes, wallabies, Emu's, and Alpacas. Unfortunately, we did not take our camera with us and Melissa's camera could not zoom in on many of the animals to get good pictures. Lesson learned - always take the camera. There was a male reindeer that had the largest set of antlers; a picture would have been nice. It must have been very heavy to carry around.

It was a good afternoon and a wonderful birthday.

Sea Kayaking in the San Juan Islands

It was an early morning for all of us. It was the plan to leave at 5 a.m. Whew! We haven't been up at this hour for a long time. John and I got up at 4 a.m. to shower and get ready. Melissa had showered the night before and her plan was to pile in to the truck and get some more zzzz's until we were almost to Anacortes then she would pull herself together. We were told to allow three hours to get to Anacortes but we got there in two. This allowed us to get breakfast at a cute cafe called Calico Cupboard. We all enjoyed our breakfast. Melissa especially enjoyed the mocha coffee she had.

We got to the ferry station and were soon able to board the ferry. The ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor (on San Juan island) took a little over an hour. Here is a picture of Melissa in front of the ferry as we were waiting for our kayak guides in Friday Harbor.

Friday Harbor is very quaint and the typical coastal village.

We were soon picked up and all of us loaded up in the van to head to our launch site. There were three groups of three that were put in triple kayaks. All the rest of us had double kayaks. Melissa had the incredible luck (really?) to be put with one of our guides. Boy, was she happy - it was just as she had hoped. After getting outfitted and given paddling and safety instructions, we carried the kayaks down to the shore and loaded up. Just as we were getting in the boats, one of the guides yelled that there was an Orca just across the bay from us. As we watched, we could see it spout. That was an added encouragement to hurry up to get loaded up and out there.

Once we paddled out, we were treated with seeing a group of two Orcas and then a group of three Orcas. It was then that I learned that it was virtually impossible to try to take pictures of the whales when you are going up and down while trying to keep an eye on the whales and anticipate where they might appear. A while later we saw a large group of about seven that included a large male and baby. While we were enjoying thesevisual sights, we were treated to three whale breeches and one spy hop (that is where the whale goes vertical with just its head above the water and spins around checking out the area). Our guides were excited as they had only seen one breech since the summer started and to see three was like hitting the lottery. Here is one of the few pictures I was able to get.

Here is a picture of Melissa with two of our guides - Jonathan and Frue.

We left from Small Pox Bay and headed to Deadman's Bay for lunch. It took us over two hours to get from the start to the lunch put in. There were two sections that had very strong current along with a strong headwind. All of us had to paddle hard to get through those rough spots. Jonathan said that the first section on a scale of 1 to 10 would normally be a 4 but today, it was a 7. By the time we made it to Deadman's Bay, I think we were all ready to get out of the boats and have lunch that was provided by our guides. Here is a view of Deadman's bay along with all of the group's kayaks.

The trip back went quick. We were back to our starting spot in an hour. Thank goodness we were going with the current and the wind was behind our backs. We were also able to see an American Bald Eagle sitting up in a tree just above an eagle's nest

When we got back to Friday Harbor, the original plan was to have dinner there and tour the town before the next ferry to Anacortes left. However, the ferry to Anacortes was getting ready to depart within a few minutes so the plan was changed to be on that ferry. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Anacortes. It was ok but pricey.

We got back home around 10 p.m. and fell in to bed. I said that nothing was planned for tomorrow so we could sleep as late as we wanted. It sounded good to the three of us.

Seattle

Tuesday was our chosen day to head to Seattle for sightseeing. The skyline is amazing and beautiful. There is no shortage of building going on any where in the Seattle area.

We first headed to Pike's Marketplace and wandered up and down the various vendor's stalls. If we had not planned to do some retail therapy later, I would have been tempted to buy some beautiful fruit and vegetables. Also, the selection of flowers was absolutely spectacular not to mention the fish market section. Any fish you could think of was available to be purchased.

Here we are in the middle of Pike's Marketplace when we run into the Hollingsworth family from Sacramento. Melissa has known Kristin through most of their school years. They were in the area to attend a funeral and wanted to see Pike's Marketplace before they headed home. The girls got caught up on what they were doing and soon we said our goodbyes. How funny that we would run in to people from Sacramento in Seattle.

We had lunch and then headed off to the Seattle Aquarium. We enjoyed the aquarium but it does not compare to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Below is Melissa indulging in some star fish touching.

We spent quite a while in front of the sea otter display watching them and their funny antics.
I got this nice picture in front of a waterfall at the aquarium of my two favorite people.

Soon after this shot was taken, we ran in to a couple (Nancy and Dave) we had met at Broken Arrow in Custer. We knew they were also going to be in the Seattle area when we were but we never thought we would run in to them. They plan on heading to the Oregon area later just as we are, so who knows, our paths may cross again.

We then headed to Nordstrom's (the mothership) where I picked up some moisturizer and Melissa's drooled over the shoes and purses. We had thought about going to Barney's but Melissa thought it would be better to not go as she didn't want to be depressed at all the things she couldn't afford. John was a good sport and tagged along quietly. Melissa is amazing. She had only been to the spa on Saturday but she headed to the stores like she had been downtown numerous times. The girl does like her retail.

We decided to head to the cute little shopping center in Snoqualmie to get dinner and decided on the Irish Pub. All three of us had a good meal. A nice ending to a full day.

Truck service and girl time

John got the truck serviced in the morning and was back by 10:30. Melissa and I had a pedicure appointment for 1 p.m. This was my early birthday gift from Melissa. The true gift was being able to spend time with Melissa. I was in true need of the attention and now have pretty toes.

After the pedicure, we headed out to take Melissa on her first geocache. Getting to the site proved to involve a lot more walking than was necessary (wish I had my walking shoes on) due to the lack of close parking and taking the wrong trail. I'm not sure if Melissa enjoyed it as much as we did. Just another one of those things that her crazy parents enjoy doing!

Melissa had made a couple of dinner requests so being a good mom, I was determined to do my best to satisfy. Sunday - spaghetti meat sauce, Monday - chicken adobo.

Snoqualmie Falls

We had a slow start on Sunday after a late night (for us) catching up with Melissa. We had purchased a queen air mattress for Melissa to sleep on that pretty much took up the floor space in our living room. We were able to keep it inflated and put it on top of our bed to get it out of the way for the day.

We took a trip over to Issaquah's Visitor's Center to pick up some literature on the area. It was recommended to us to take the short drive over to take in the Snoqualmie Falls. We thought as it was mid-afternoon that there would hardly be a soul there. Boy! We were wrong. Traffic and parking was crazy. It was a very short walk from the parking area to the falls. The view was very pretty. Notice the small falls in the lower right hand corner.

After we walked a little further down the pathway to get a better view of the falls, a very nice couple offered to take a family picture in front of the falls.

After a short drive past the falls, we headed back to Blue Sky but we were first drawn in to this cute area called Snoqualmie Ridge. Within this neighborhood, they had a retail section that included all sorts of businesses within walking distance of the homes. There was a vet, restaurants, clothing stores, medical offices, pet store, grocery store and more -- everything a neighborhood could utilize. It was a very contemporary looking area.

We sat outside enjoying the evening until it started getting a bit cold.

Short Journey and new location

We left our peaceful site at Whispering Pines around 10 a.m. On the journey up I-90, we were presented with the view of Mt. Rainier in the distance. The drive over the Snoqualmie Pass was spectacular.

We pulled in to our new park, Blue Sky RV (www.blueskypreston.com) around 11 a.m. Wow! We really like these short jaunts. The area is beautiful with tall pines everywhere. We knew that we would be dry camping Friday night as our site would be occupied until Saturday. This was not going to be a problem. We would be all settled in to our site before Melissa arrived. Here is a picture of what our kitchen looked out on. We were hoping that deer might make an appearance but it was not to be.

We moved in to our site on Saturday and discovered that our satellite aimed at the very tops of the pine trees surrounding the park. Darn! I love beautiful pines but when they interfere with my internet access, it drives me crazy. I was needing the internet to make reservations for our kayaking trip and getting addresses for other things. This usually is not a problem as most parks have Wifi as a back-up. We decided to go get an air card to see how that would work for us. At least, Melissa and I will have internet access for the week.

Melissa was driven to us by some friends of hers who live in the Seattle area. Vanessa and Davis wanted to pick Melissa up at the airport, treat her to lunch, a girls afternoon with Vanessa that included a massage, AND drive her to us. What terrific friends she has. When Melissa got out of the car, she had a beautiful bouquet of flowers that she had picked up at Pikes Marketplace (now that was touching). We were introduced to Vanessa and Davis and thanked them profusely for bringing us our daughter. Of course, we gave them a tour of our home. We were just so happy to see Melissa.

Travel Day - Plan C

We left Twin Rivers Canyon early with the intent of one or two RV parks on Highway 2 on the way in to Spokane. As I read further about these two parks, it became apparent that there was a bridge we would have to go under that had a height restriction of 13 foot 2 inches. We know we are close to 13 foot but as we are not sure exactly of our height, we decided that we would not take that particular route.

On to Plan B. We took Highway 95 down to I-90 with the plan of staying at the Spokane KOA for the night. When we got to the particular exit, it was closed for construction and the area looked to congested to try to maneuver our way around.

OK, on to Plan C. We got fuel in Reardon, WA ($4.97 - .34 cents more than we paid yesterday in Troy, MT) and reconnoitered where we were going to stop for the night. We decided to drive on to Ephrata, WA as there weren't a lot of other choices. John pulled over somewhere past Davenport, WA and I took over driving to Ephrata. We had one RV park in mind but it appears to be no longer in existence. Thank goodness the town had another RV park (http://www.oasisrvandgolfresort.com/) and we were able to get a spot. Thank goodness our schedule allows the flexibility and we can roll with the punches. John and I are of the opinion that eastern central Washington does not have the "it factor" for us at all. Ephrata appears to be a depressed little town in the barren lands of the state of Washington.

After showering, I was on the phone to see if we could get to another RV Park up the road in a more wooded area of Washington on our way to Preston, WA to meet up with Melissa. YEAH! They had room for us for three nights so we will be out of here tomorrow. The park is nice enough and we are not having any electric power issues but there is nothing appealing about this area to make us want to stay longer. Hopefully, the town of Cle Elum, WA will have a better feel to it.

We went out to top off the truck and paid $4.99 for diesel ... the closer to Seattle we get, the higher the cost for fuel.

Kootenai Refuge, Falls & Suspension Bridge

We got an early start to the day and headed off to the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge to see if we had a better viewing of animals earlier in the day. We saw a bald eagle and two young eagles apparently just out of the nest. We were shown the eagle nest by a local who was checking up on the young eaglets. Seeing a bald eagle soar is just spectacular and they look like no other bird with their white head and tail. We also saw deer, a red tail hawk, a beaver, great blue heron, and lots of Canadian Geese.

We decided to take the drive back past Troy, Montana to see the Kootenai Falls and Suspension Bridge. We were a little disappointed by the falls because it was more like heavy rapids than what we think of as "falls". Still, they were beautiful and the white water added the drama.

It was a very warm 90 degrees and the spray from the rapids was a welcomed treat.
To get to the trail to the rapids and suspension bridge, you had a hike from the parking lot and had to cross over railroad tracks via this bridge. Now, I'm not crazy about stairs as most of you know but I really didn't like these because the steps were made of steel mat that you could see through to the ground. That really mixes up my senses but I made the trip up and over both ways.
After the hike to the falls, we took the hike down to the suspension bridge. Now, I knew I wouldn't be crossing anything that swings high in the air so I stayed on the ground while John took the trip across the river. John said it was a good thing I didn't try it because when he got in the middle it really swayed back and forth and up and down. Also, he said the boards were spaced with gaps between them so you could see the river below. Yikes! I knew that wasn't the place for me but John can say he did it and I have it documented.

We filled up the truck with diesel in Troy and paid $4.63 that is one of the cheapest prices we've seen for a while.

It was a very warm day and we were really glad to get back to our home and relax for the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow, we are on the move again. We are both ready to leave.

Wild Rivers and Lakes

We decided to take a drive up north on Hwy 95 that is suppose very scenic. We stopped three miles off the highway at Moyie Springs that has some interpretive artwork alongside the river. Not sure why but someone put a lot of work into it. The fish are metal. The view along the river is beautiful and a couple of people were fly fishing.

Then it was off to Copper Falls as we were told these falls were a must see. Now, you know going up in to the mountains that you are in bear country but it is a little unsettling to be reminded that you are in grizzly and black bear country. It was a hike back to the falls (maybe a half-mile or so) but you don't know how far back they are when you started out and you've just been reminded that you are in grizzly country. A little disconcerting, I must say. The falls were a little anticlimactic after the ones we saw in Yellowstone. Copper Falls was pretty and fell into a small pond at the bottom. Unfortunately, the loop to the base of the falls were closed due to trail damage so we could only see them from above. I had spotted this little gem of a spot on our way up to the falls. We decided this would be a perfect spot to have lunch on our way out.

After lunch, we headed back south and stopped at Robinson's Lake to check it out. Not sure how big it was because it dog-legged out of view. It certainly looked like it was a haven for moose (no, we didn't see one) but we did see fisherman out in kayaks fishing. The bugs were rather troublesome there. Time to go!

We then headed to the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge six miles outside of Bonners Ferry. This is a wildlife haven. It is our understanding that it is a magnificent spot to be during the fall bird migration. We saw lots of Canadian Geese, ducks of all sorts, Osprey, and other birds of prey.
Did anyone spot a moose? We did! What a wonderful surprise and they just appeared beside the levee we were driving on. It might not have been a bull moose but a cow and baby is certainly a wonderful second. We watched them for quite a while as mom walked down the middle of the canal scooping up grasses while baby swam when the water got too deep.
Another wonderful afternoon taken up with nature. So we headed home and to enjoy the calm surroundings of the campground. John barbecued and the rest of the evening was spent doing much of nothing.

Short Travel Day

This was our shortest travel day ever . . . we only went about 80 miles. How nice was that? Less than two hours from leaving Farragut State Park and we were arriving at our new location at Twin Rivers Canyon Resort (http://www.twinriversresort.com/) near Moyie Springs, ID. We had read reviews on the campground that you go down a gravel road with switchbacks (4) to get to the canyon floor. We made it fine but there is a warning that if you have a 36 foot or larger motorhome towing a car behind you, you need to break the car loose and drive it down as the turns are very tight. Twin Rivers has the feel of a campground rather than an RV Resort. We feel like we are still camping!

We got to our site which is incredibly long and has tall pine trees around it. We discovered that there was a reverse polarity problem with the electric hookup. Luckily, there was an electrician staying here who came and took a look and corrected the problem. Yeah, we have power. The rest of setting up went off without a problem. I was also able to set up the MotoSat as it had a direct shot between a set of tall trees. Got lucky there.

After having lunch and showering, we headed up to Troy, MT to see John's former boss, Bill, who was up at his property about 12 miles south of Troy. Bill is in the process of building a vacation home. Bill had given me the instructions over the phone and we were able to find it fine (instructions went like: between mile markers 24 and 25, turn right on the gravel road, and make another right 3/8 of mile, etc.). The house is definitely out in the boondocks and he has a beautiful view 360 degrees around his home. Basically, the outside is complete but the interior has a bit to go; ie., flooring, kitchen cabinets, and trim. It is now and will be very beautiful when complete. We were glad we got the opportunity to see it.

After visiting for a few hours, we headed to Libby to see the "big town". Actually, it is rather decent sized and pretty. We had dinner at some restaurant and headed back to home. We stopped at points along the Kootenai River to look for wildlife and just enjoy the surroundings. The whole area along the Kootenai River is absolutely beautiful. We did see an Osprey fishing for its evening meal as he cruised the river and a white tail doe with two fawns who came down to the waters' edge.

Beautiful scenery isn't it?

Soon we were back home and enjoying the evening air. We took a walk down to the confluence of the Kootenai and Moyie Rivers. Another good day.

Lazy Day

We drove in to Coeur D'Alene for groceries and diesel ($4.86 a gallon). Boy, Coeur D'Alene is not where you want to be at 2 p.m. It seems that all we did was sit at traffic lights. The main road of Hwy 95 goes through the heart of town and is another fine example of the lack of planning for a growing population. We are getting ready to move north to Moyie Springs, ID area for a few days before we start heading to the Seattle area. The Fish and Game Warden we spoke with yesterday thought we were going to a beautiful spot at the confluence of two rivers. Farragot State Park has been very nice and we would readily come back here again but we are looking forward to something new to see and experience.

Kayaking Round Lake State Park, ID

I thought I would start off today's blog with the picture John took last night of the moon. I really like this picture because it is centered between the trees and the sky is so blue.

Here is John paddling back to a little cove on Round Lake. Trees came down to the water's edge all along the lake. It is a very pretty little lake.
John and I had just gotten on the lake and discovered a Blue Heron that shortly took off up into the trees. I was so focused on the Blue Heron that John said to look at the bird of prey which was sitting at the top of the tree. I was lucky enough to get a picture of them both. After closer review of the pictures I had taken, we determined that the bird of prey is an Osprey. If anyone thinks differently, please let us know. This birding thing is new to us.
While I was taken with the birds, John discovered four young raccoons playing with each other under the shade along the water's edge. I was able to get this one photo of one of their rear ends.
As we paddled around the lake, we came across this Blue Heron that let me get rather close before he flew off. Of course, I didn't have the camera ready to catch him in flight.
If we had been focused, we could have paddled the lake in a half an hour as the perimeter is small. We were so focused on nature and just enjoying ourselves, that we spent an hour an half going around the lake. It was time well spent. When we were loading the kayaks on the truck, we had a conversation with a local who was very talkative. He gave us some recommendations for sights to see when we move further north past Bonners Ferry. We will take advantage of his recommendations.

We had an okay lunch in Bayview (food good; service very slow). I'd hate to see them if they were busy. We headed home and just hung out most of the afternoon. John took a short bike ride down South Road towards the other campgrounds. John said that our campground is more open and less alpine looking than the others. We are in the group campground and were happy to get a site. Personally, I like this campground (Kestrel) and would come back here again. While John was out riding, I received a phone call from Melissa which is always a treat. We were still talking when he returned so he was able to speak with her also.

The evening was spent watching hummingbirds. Pretty cheap entertainment and it makes us happy. Life is good!

Forest Service Office in Sandpoint, ID

I neglected to mention yesterday that Farragot State Park is on the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille (pond-o-ray) which is the largest lake in Idaho and is the second largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi. The lake is 43-miles long, 6-miles wide and has depths of more than 1,000 feet. It is a very beautiful lake.

We wanted to go to the Forest Service office in Sandpoint today to pick up a Forest Service map for the Idaho Panhandle. We also had identified a couple of lakes that we wanted to stop at to review for a kayak location. To drive to Sandpoint, you have to cross a two-mile bridge that stretches across a part of Lake Pend Oreille. The local’s call it “the long bridge”.

The area around Sandpoint is beautiful and we would like to spend some time in the area at a later date. We ended up speaking with a guy who was checking out our kayak rack as we came out of the Forest Service Office. He even took pictures of it so he could show an outfitter as he wants the same arrangement. He was quite the talker and had been a resident for 20 plus years and really loves the area.

After we left the Forest Service Office, we took a drive to Gamlin Lake Reserve. It would have been a beautiful lake to paddle but there was no place to unload the kayaks without blocking the road and parking was more than a half-mile away. Neither John nor I wanted to carry our 14 foot kayaks that far. Our wildlife book said it was a great place to observe wildlife and it looks like it would have been. I might have seen a moose but I will never know.
Now on to plan B, we stopped at Round Lake State Park. It is a pretty little lake that does not allow motorized watercraft and has the potential to spot some wildlife. We’ve decided we will get up early tomorrow so we can be out on the water relatively early. The nice part is it won’t cost us anything other than fuel as we are staying at a state park. I had packed a lunch for us so we sat in the shade of tall pines at a picnic table at Round Lake and enjoyed our surroundings.

We stopped at the Farragot SP Visitors Center. We learned that the Navy had a full military base in Bayside (few miles from here) and that they still have a presence there today. I also learned that the plants I’ve seen in bloom everywhere is a form of lilac although the correct plant name escapes me.

We returned home and sat outside watching the hummingbirds that have discovered our feeders. We actually had three different species. I believe one is an Anna’s Hummingbird but the other two I’m not sure about. Whatever the species, I sure enjoy watching them. The other bird activity was rather slow this afternoon.

John barbequed hamburgers and we sat outside in the lovely evening air enjoying our meal. Surprisingly, we weren’t bothered by too many bugs. After dishes, John trounced me in four games of ladder ball. Jeesh, I never even got close to winning one game. My throwing arm stinks!

John went outside to get a picture of the nearly full moon and got to see a Kestrel fly over. Very neat. Now he is snoozing in his chair so it must be time to call it a night.

Farragot State Park, ID

We pulled out of Hells Canyon RV Park around 9:30 a.m. You no more get on the road and you have the big climb up the Lewiston Hill. The grade is seven percent for six miles and without a good run at it, we went up slowly but surely. We were glad that we were doing this grade in the morning and not in the heat of the day. Before we left Clarkston, John called his former boss, Bill, to let him know that we would not be too far from the home he built in Troy, MT on Friday. It just so happens that Bill was on his way up there today so we will be able to see his home. We will head over to see his house on Friday once we get settled in at our new location near Bonners Ferry, ID as he will be heading back for Sacramento early Saturday morning.

The trip to Farragot SP was uneventful and a nice drive. We strategically planned to be in Coeur D'Alene at lunch time so that we could have lunch at Tomato Street. Yum, lunch was good and I brought home leftovers. We have a very nice site and after a bit of a problem with the electrical hookup, we got all settled in. Here are a couple of pictures of our site.

We sat outside enjoying the nice afternoon and checked out the birds that came visiting. They never stuck around long enough to get a picture so that it would help us to identify what they were. This birding thing is going to be challenging. We had a hummingbird flit around the area so I put out my hummingbird feeders, we'll see if that coaxes them in.

After dinner, we sat outside and chatted with one of our neighbors. We decided to take a drive down to the other campgrounds and check out the lake. I'm going to check with the Visitor's Center tomorrow to see if the plant that is blooming everywhere is white lilac or something else. The lake is beautiful as you can see in the picture below:

The park says they have Mountain Goats on the rock outcroppings across the shore. I spent a quarter on their binoculars but couldn't see any movement on the rocks so I will have to take their word. We did see some White Tail Deer with a couple of fawns as they shot across the road in front of us.

We got home and enjoyed a beautiful red sky and a moon that was partially hidden by clouds. The evening is cooling off wonderfully. We even pulled out the comforter in case it might be needed this evening. We will be able to sleep with the windows open without the fear of that nasty smell from the pulp mill.

Preparing to move to Farragot State Park

After breakfast, we took a ride to Hells Canyon State Park to check out the campground and their visitor center. It was a nice visitor center that related to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The campground is located along the Snake River and was quite nice with lots of shade trees and they had quite a few sites that would accommodate our size rig. Full hookups are $23.60 a night, water and electric only for $19 a night. If ever in the area again, I would consider staying there. Although we are paying a bit more per night, the RV park here is awfully nice and my MotoSat works well where in the state park those wonderful trees would keep my satellite from connecting. Always some sort of trade-off.

We stopped at a sports store to buy a good compass and ended up also buying a good pair of binoculars. We had been talking about it and with the help of the salesman, ended the discussion.

When we got back home, I updated our Quicken records while John put the bikes in the truck and did some other outside items. John asked me to give him a hand in loading the kayaks on the truck which we have gotten down to a science. Just a few more things to put away and we will be "on the road again". It will be an easy day, less than 150 miles and only about three hours of driving. We are looking forward to camping at Farragot. Our neighbor told John that the park is beautiful and that we will enjoy ourselves. Good to hear.

We had a nice chat with Melissa. We heard all about the wedding which went off well. Our heartfelt congratulations to the newlyweds, Kelly and Jason. We are looking forward to meeting up with Melissa on the 26th and she sounds like she is looking forward to being with us. Ain't life grand?

We sat outside as the temperatures cooled down and had a lovely red sunset. Tomorrow evening, it will be a different view. We are ready.

Domestics

In preparation of our move on Monday, I changed the bedsheets, did laundry, vacuumed, and dusted while John went for a bike ride. When he returned, he worked on some maintenance items.

We got to say goodbye to Ron and Joedy as they headed out to Ron's brother's home in Washington somewhere.

We left and went to Staples to buy some stationary items and then it was off to the grocery store. We also stopped and filled our gas tank. Ouch. Fuel prices have gone up 14 cents in nine days. We paid $4.62 a gallon for diesel which I know is a lot cheaper than it is going for in California.

After we got the groceries put away, we headed for Costco to get a fire extinguisher for the truck. We have talked about it for a while but with the fire safety class we took this past week, we got it done.

The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out enjoying our home/area.

Life on Wheels Conference

7/7/08 - 7/11/08

We have been asked twice now "What did you learn?" It is not quite that easy to explain what we did over five days with four sessions per day. Let me explain first what Life on Wheels is all about. Life on Wheels is a program for present and prospective RVers that provides an opportunity to learn up-to-date information directly from RVing experts. There are over 100 different classes offered that are of interest to RVers. Classes teach "how to", "what to", and "where to". There are also classes on repairs and maintenance and lifestyle enhancement. Most of the instructors are recognized travel writers and experienced RVers. The program is headed up by Gaylord Maxwell who is a long-time RV travel writer and lecturer. He is sort of the RVing world's guru. If you ever pick up an issue of Motorhome or Trailer Life, you will see an article written by Gaylord. Gaylor has written several books on the topic and was inducted into the RV Heritage Foundation Hall of Fame in 1997.

So what classes did we take. Well, Monday through Friday there were two one and a half hour sessions in the morning, an hour and a half lunch break, and two one and half hour sessions in the afternoon. John and I did a few classes together such as Camping and Boondocking On our Public Lands, Fire Safety, Is Solar Power Right for You?, Boondocking, Boondocking on Forest Service & BLM lands, and Lifestyle Wrap-up. I'm sure one of your questions reading this is what in the heck is boondocking? Well, basically, it is camping with no water, no electricity, and no sewer out in nature somewhere. Dry camping is descriped at camping with no water, no electricity, and no sewer in the likes of a WalMart parking lot, a truck stop, or a friends driveway. There are varing opinions on whether they are the same thing or not.

John took classes on Inverters/Chargers, Maintenance and Repair-Propane, Service Maint.:Diesel Motorhomes & Tow Vehicles, Maintenance & Repair: Furnaces/Water Heaters, Frugal RVer, National Parks of the West, Arizona State Parks: Land of Diversity, RVing in Alaska, RVing in the Pacific Northwest, Meandering Down the Highway, Alaska: The Ultimate RV Adventure; and RVing in the Southwest.

I took classes in Digital Photography Basics, Beaks & Feathers: An Intro Guide to Birds, RV Insurance, Snowbird Roosts, Are You Prepared?, Hosting in NW State Parks, Snowbird Guide to the Southwestern Deserts, Kokopelli, Boondocking Tips & Techniques, and Search Tools & Web Resources for RVers. Now, I know it looks like John had more classes than me and he did but that was because two of my selections were cancelled and none of the other selections interested me. I passed the time in the lunchroom talking with other attendees who also weren't in class either.

So based on all of the above, what did we learn? A lot. Mostly, that there are many, many places waiting for us to discover them. Of course, discussion did turn to fuel prices. LOW had cancellations but there were still 130 paying customers and 30 non-paying (after 4 paid sessions you can attend any LOW conference free!). There were married folks and single folks (many women travel solo in their RVs). The attendees really cover a wide spectrum of ages and rig sizes if they already own one. There were a few instructors that bailed out due to the price of fuel. Well known author's Joe and Vicki Kiva were only 100 miles from Lewiston when they had to return to Southern California as Vicki's father was terribly ill. The general consensus for those full-timing was that the travels will go one with longer stays in one area, boondocking more, and/or volunteering as a camp host or even get a short-term job if need be. Also, the discussion was that if we were home and working, we would still be spending close to what we are now for fuel.

I think we all were ready for Friday when it rolled around. We met and spoke with so many wonderful people. I must also add that the staff at Lewis and Clark State College treated everyone wonderfully. This was the first year at this college but I don't think it will be the last. It was very interesting to walk around the campus and see us "older" ones heading to class with our name tags blowing in the wind while younger ones attended their summer sessions. It was a wonderful experience and if we are in the area of Tucson next March, we very well may attend our third Life on Wheels conference.

So you think business cards are just for the working ones? Guess again! Most RVers have business cards that they hand out to people they have connected with that includes address, phone number, email, and website and/or blog information. Luckily, John and I had some business cards that our mail service made up for us so we were able to reciprocate. We will have to get on the stick and make up some of our design.

Sunday, Sunday

We decided to go to the car wash with the truck before we cleaned up for the day. Since the truck is too large for automatic car washes, it is a manual job that is not to unbearable since we both work together as a team to get the job done. We had driven through some fresh tar coming across Montana so we made a stop at an automotive store to get some tar and bug cleaner. When we returned home, John went to work with the tar and bug cleaner while I cleaned up my act. We don't want to show up at Life on Wheels with a dirty truck.

I spent the afternoon on the phone talking with my sister, Jan, and my friend and former co-worker, Janis. I was surprised to hear that Janis had to have her gallbladder removed in an emergency kind of situation. Get feeling your normal spunky self, Janis! While I was talking on the phone, John was out talking with one of our neighbors, Ron. Ron is a retired plumber, Life on Wheels attendee, and future full-timer.

We left a little before 5 p.m. to go to the Welcome session for Life on Wheels. Considering the fuel situation, there was still a good turnout of attendees although Gaylor Maxwell said that there had been a number of cancellations. It seemed like most attendees are people who already own an RV with a good number being "wannabes". That is, they want to be full-time RVers (we were one of them last year :)

We sat at a table with a couple that had been at Broken Arrow Campground in Custer, SD while we were there. We knew they were attending the conference but it just happened that we arrived a few minutes late and ended up at their table. Again, what a small world. We asked what they had been doing since they left Custer and they said they had gone to this working ranch with cattle and sheep and acted as wranglers for 2 to 3 hours a day. They said they had a great time but that cattle and sheep were really dumb. I can't imagine riding a horse much less acting like a cowboy. A big round of applause for them.

LOW had an ice cream party after the session broke up. We did not partake (imagine, John turning down ice cream!) Instead we perused the available books and stuff available for sale. We bought a couple of books, one on boondocking (camping without hook-ups out in the wild) and another on Free Campgrounds (national forest land, BLM, etc.) Oh, we also bought $20 in raffle tickets. Never know, Friday might be our lucky day when they have the drawings.

We returned home to enjoy the lovely evening. We ended up speaking with one our our neighbors at the end of the row that have a large expensive motorhome. They started full-timing in March and took the RV Driving School course over the weekend. They have a MotoSat on their motorhome which is what generated the conversation with us.

We went to bed with the windows open to enjoy the fresh air. Sure enough, it wasn't long and the wind shifted and that noxious odor was coming in the window. I closed my bedside window as did John but he couldn't stand it coming in the other window so that window got closed and the Fantastic Fan was turned off. The air conditioners were turned on. I don't know how the natives stand the smell.

Big day tomorrow as we start our classes. We are looking forward to it but not the brain drain from the overload of all the information. Sweet dreams.

Easy living

The day got off to a slow start. We decided to go pick up the air bed and mattress cover so that we have them on hand when Melissa comes visiting. We are looking forward to her visit and hope she is looking forward to the time with us. Of course, when you go shopping for a few things you almost always end up with a few more.

We went by the Life on Wheels (LOW) office to get our registration papers and class schedules. Darn! A couple of classes that we were looking forward to were cancelled. Well, time to go with Plan B. The Lewiston Chamber of Commerce had some really nice information packets made up for us LOW attendees - lots of good information on Idaho. We've decided to take the Selkirk Highway after we leave Farragut State Park and the brochures had some good information for us for planning.

When we got home, I got with making some macaroni salad and a fruit salad to go with our BBQ steaks that we had for dinner. It has taken some relearning to make smaller quantities of macaroni salad but I think I've gotten the hang of it and John said it was terrific. Made the cook happy.

It was a nice evening out so we sat outside for a while. We decided to walk over to see what Terry and Judy were up to. Terry and I discussed computers and photography for a while. We also spoke about the LOW class changes and such as they hadn't picked up their registration packets yet. We let them know that between 8 and 10 a.m. there was a free breakfast buffet for LOW attendees at the Indian Casino outside of Lewiston. John and I weren't interested so I gave them the information in case they were so motivated. Another LOW couple joined the four of us in good conversation. Ron and his wife are planning on going full-time in the new two years. As they camp frequently on forest land and their rig is our size, we picked their brains on the ins and outs of forest service campground selection and they picked ours on banking, mail, registration and other topics. We had good conversation and laughs until we wrapped it up at 10:30 p.m.

We thought we would sleep with the windows open as a slight breeze was blowing. While I was trying to settle down, the wind shifted from the east and brought with it the move hideous smell from the factory way down the river from us. It is worst than a sewer smell. John was fast asleep so I got up and closed the windows and turned on the air conditioner. I was finally able to get to sleep. Funny thing was this smell was one of the topics at tonight's round table discussion. We had the air conditioner on Friday night so we didn't smell it until tonight. There is a lot to see and do around this area. It is just a shame that you have to smell the pulp mill when that wind shifts.

July 4th

Here are some pictures that John took of the cement artwork depicting the Lewis & Clark Expedition that is displayed here in the RV park. It certainly took a lot of preplanning and dedication to complete this project but it was well worth the effort.

John told me he was having the need to see a pine forest so we decided to take a short drive towards Coeur d'Alene. Right outside of Lewiston/Clarkston there is a seven percent climb for six miles. Once you get to the top of the barren mountains, you can look down and see the river valley. The picture we took has the valley looking very hazy. We are located on the left of the second bridge in the picture below:

At the top of the mountains, the brown gives way to green meadows. It was very interesting to see the change happen so quickly. Soon we were in rolling hills with green everywhere. John decided that we would drive up to Coeur d'Alene for lunch and then return. I was fine with that. It took about an hour from Lewiston/Clarkston before we hit pine forest. The closer we got to Coeur d'Alene, the thicker the forest got. We also passed an elk farm/ranch. They had many pens with cow elk and one pen with the bucks. I guess maybe during rutting season, they put one buck each in a pen with the cow elk.

When we got to Coeur d'Alene, we headed for downtown and got turned around due to their 4th of July parade. I wouldn't have minded watching some of it but we got turned around to where there was no good place to park so we headed on. We ended up in at a restaurant called Tomato Street which is near the intersection of 95 and Apple Way. Boy, did we luck out. The place was sooo good. It is an Italian restaurant serving the usual plus sandwiches, salads, etc. John had the Chicken Marsala and I had a pannini sandwich - both were very good. They both came with your choice of soup or salad for $8.99. The portions were more than ample and we thought it was a good value. Oh, they also serve you a basket of wonderful garlic bread. They could have just kept the bread coming it was so good.

Before heading home, we stopped at the Walgreen's that was right next door as I needed a dental item. That being done, we got back in the truck and with happy tummies, we started back out of town. We stopped at the Nature Conservancy area called Cougar Bay. We hiked back a bit but as we weren't wearing the appropriate shoes and I still have problems walking on irregular ground with my left foot, we turned around and headed back. You could hear all sorts of songbirds signing their hearts out. John got a picture of an interesting looking dragonfly (different from what we saw in Sacramento). Grass blades do a good job of camoflauge.

The drive was nice heading back to Clarkston. John spotted the Red Tail Hawk hunting in the same area that I had seen it on the way to Coeur d'Alene. That downgrade heading back into Lewiston/Clarkston was interesting as it has six (yes, six) runaway truck ramps. We have never seen so many runaway truck ramps that has signs preceding them telling the truckers that there is no fine in using them. This causes us to wonder if normally a trucker has to use a runaway ramp because of mechanical failure, that they are fined? I would have never thought they would be fined if it meant saving people's lives.

We got back home and with a slight breeze blowing, we sat outside and enjoyed the evening. We spoke with a couple from two sites down who pulled in while we were gone. They also are attending the Life on Wheels conference. That is three of us that we know of here in the park.

Later in the evening, we walked around the park to get better views of the various firework explosions going on in the neighborhoods around here. They have some crazy fireworks around here. I guess anything goes and there were stands everywhere. When we went to bed, you could still here the fireworks exploding though the sounds were muffled by the hum of the air conditioners.

We hope everyone had a relaxing and peaceful 4th of July.

Hot Hot Hot

Whew - 103 degrees. How is it that we are here in such a hot place? Reminds us of Sacramento. We must be crazy. Actually, we are here in Clarkston, WA to attend a Life on Wheels (LOW) conference in Lewiston, ID (across the Snake River from us) that begins on Sunday, July 6 and runs through Friday, July 11. If it wasn't for this conference, you can bet we would be someplace cooler. The plus is that the air is dry here except when cloud cover comes in, then the humidity picks up.

While John wiped down the roof and passenger side of the rig, I placed a call to Idaho State Parks to see if we could get reservations at Farragut State Park. Yeah, we got our spot for four days. This will be our first camping experience in a state park. While I was cool and comfortable, John was one sweaty mess when he finished. Tomorrow, he says, the driver side of the rig.

We took a ride around Lewiston and located Lewis and Clark College where the LOW's conference is being held. We also stopped for diesel and with the 10 cent a gallon discount at Safeway, we paid $4.469.

We stopped at Costco and bought some strawberries, grapes, Brita filters, bread, and a birding book. When we came out of Costco, boy, the humidity factor had increased quite a bit from when we went in.

We returned home and just took life easy. I worked on cleaning and slicing strawberries and washing grapes. John sat back and read. Occassionally, John would bound outside to see how hot it was was and always coming back in to say how nice it was in here.

Thank goodness for the microwave when dinner time came around. We had bought some spicy boneless chicken strips the other day that I heated up, made a nice salad, had some good bread, and sliced strawberries for dessert. Yum, all without heating up the rig.

Later in the evening, when a breeze came up, we walked down to the river's edge and discovered that on the RV grounds, some creative souls had outlined the Lewis and Clark expedition in sections of concrete. What a nice touch. We will try to get some pictures tomorrow. We were able to sit outside for a while in the evening. Our Excel neighbors, Terry and Judy had driven to Pendelton, OR and had stopped at the Oregon Welcome Center. They were nice and picked up several brochures for us that Terry dropped off. How thoughtful that was and we will enjoy reading through them. We will be in Oregon (we think, unless our plans change) as we head home for the holidays.

We had a wonderful chat with Melissa and then it was off to bed. Another air conditioning night.

Quiet day

As it was a little cool this morning, John decided to clean both end caps of the trailer. We had bug splat and dust that needed attention. He said he would do the sides tomorrow when they are in the shade. We'll see as it is suppose to 103 degrees tomorrow. Yikes!

We drove out to the Idaho Fish and Game Department and picked up two of their books, Idaho Wildlife Viewing Guide and Idaho Birding Trail as well as some of their other brochures on the area. What a nice office as they had a lot of information, some beautiful mounts, and interesting stories about large game and poaching.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Upon our return, John settled down with the new reading material to determine where we might head out tomorrow. I put up the MotoSat and once again, we had issues connecting. I was on the phone with tech support and John went up on the roof again. We had two more connectors loosened up (not the one John had previously fixed/tightened). Once they were tightened, we were good to go. Lesson learned - check the connections first.

We spent some time determining where we are headed after this before we meet up with Melissa on 7/26 (we are really looking forward to spending some time with her; I've been missing my girl). We think we found a state park that we can spend four days at on our way towards Seattle. We will try to make reservations tomorrow by phone as they were closed by the time this all came together.

We also received our mail today so we had fun going through the pieces. We received a couple of our magazines so after we bbq'd hot dogs, we sat out on the patio in the shade with a very slight breeze blowing and read. Soon, it was dusk and the breeze quit blowing. Darn! The air conditioner will be running tonight.

Missoula to Clarkston, WA

The drive from Missoula to Lewiston, ID was very scenic. We had a mountain pass (Lolo Pass) to get over. When you reach the summit, there is a sign that says 77 miles of curvy road and it is all downhill. The 77 miles is considered the Clearwater River Scenic Highway but you must travel at least another 100 miles winding your way along the river to get to Lewiston/Clarkston area. The first two hours of the drive was wonderful but the next two hours only made you want to get there. We also know that we would not want to head east to Missoula on that road as it would be all winding uphill road. Talk about a fuel guzzler!

We went past Moose Crossing signs, Deer Crossing signs, and Game Crossing signs all the way down the pass/river. All we saw was one deer at the top of the summit. As winding as the road was, I think we are very grateful that was case because you wouldn't want to be surprised coming around a corner.

For miles and miles, trees came down to the waters edge.

This photo was taken when we stopped for a snack as didn't have breakfast. The river was running full and fast and there was a lot of whitewater. Again, notice how the trees come down to the waters edge - just beautiful.
We went past thick forest that had sections loaded with ferns all along the roadway. It really was a beautiful drive. As we got closer to Lewiston, trees got sparser and the land became dryer and more desert like.

We were glad to get to our new home for next two weeks, the Hells Canyon Resort (http://www.hellscanyon.net/). The owner came out to greet us upon our arrival (we actually thought we had parked in the wrong place but he just came out to welcome us). Jock gave us a tour of the facility which is very top notch. Their hookups are set up so that you can pull in to your site in either direction based on your personal preference. There are four utility pedastals (two on each side) to choose from based on which works better for your rig. This was the first time was have seen this done and what a great idea. They did not spare any money in setting up this RV park. We've paid far more for a lot less.

It took us a while to get set up and it started sprinkling on us which felt wonderful because it was warm and muggy outside. We were starving and to let the air conditioners do their thing, we walked over to the restaurant near the park, Roosters. The food was good and view of the bay of the Salmon River was very nice. They have a deck that looks out on to the Salmon River which would be very enticing for watching the sun set and enjoying a cool refreshment. We will have to do that before we leave. Here is a picture from our window on the west side:

Upon our return to the rig, we saw that another Excel was parked across from us. I told John that it looked like the rig we saw last night in Missoula. No one was home so we went inside to do our thing. I was having problems with my cell phone so I called AT&T. That whole process went on for quite a while. John decided to putz around outside while I was on the phone with AT&T. I ended up having to switch SIMM cards between John and my phones. It wasn't difficult but with two different phones and having to be careful how you install the SIMM cards, you had to be careful. With that done, now we have to wait and see if the problem is with the SIMM card or my phone. I can tell them now, it is my phone. They are suppose to call me on Thursday to see what happend with the switch of cards.

John never happend back in so I knew where he was. Sure enough, he was over visiting with the Excel couple. I joined them and was introduced to Terry and Judy. Yes, it was them in Missoula. They are traveling with a golden retriever and two cats. They have been fulltiming for two years and are ardent birders. They also are attending the Life on Wheels conference and it will be their second time also. What a nice couple. They showed us their birding book they got from the Idaho Fish and Game. It was very nice and they gave us their map to help us get there. After an evening of very nice conversation, we returned home around 10 p.m.

You meet the nicest people in this lifestyle.