YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK SEPTEMBER 5-10, 2012

It's been a while since I've updated our blog; no wifi for weeks as we've traveled through the beautiful National Parks. But I'll give it a try by starting back at the beginning of September.

Before getting into Yellowstone itself we spent 2 nights south of West Yellowstone at the Red Rock RV Park in Island Park. I just needed some non-traveling days before going into the park and we were waiting for the Labor Day crowds to leave the park. The setting was lovely, about 5 miles west of Highway 20 on a gravel road to the wide open spaces of northern Idaho. As we drove we saw several Forest Service campground signs that might also work for camping once the summer season ends. The climb up to the park was easy and a good route for entering the park.

 Loved this view of the park from a walk we took each evening.

Not much around but the mountains, a nearby lake, and some summer vacation homes tucked into the hills.

 We were up early Wednesday morning to head east into the park. Sunny skies, no traffic and bison everywhere along the route. I had reserved several nights at Bridge Bay campground, just to be sure we had a starting campsite. Little did I realize that when summer's over...summer's really over and the parks are totally empty! Bridge Bay has over 300 sites of which only maybe a dozen or so were occupied. As with most national parks there are no hook ups and with a Senior Pass they're half price which made it $10 a night to camp. We were in Loop A with a forested area right in front of us, my favorite kind of camping. Most of the loops had already been closed down and the whole campground closed for the season the day after we moved.

We got our things all set up by 2:00 when Paul realized our batteries weren't working to support any of the connections in the motorhome. Not a good thing! We'd been on electricity for so long we hadn't checked them out in a really long time. So... instead of a sight to see, we drove back into West Yellowstone, found a Napa Auto Parts and picked up 2 new batteries just as the store was closing. Dinner that night was at a little brew pub there in town. Staying so late in town made the drive back into the park a totally different experience and seemed to take us forever. We knew there were animals all around so we were both nervous driving the 2 lane roads without much light. I'd really never recommend that drive in total darkness to anyone.  

 Thursday brought completely different weather; winds, cloudy skies and chilly air.  our main plan was to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone not too far from our campground.

 Amazing sights from every lookout and view.

 From there we drove on up another 50 miles to see the Mammoth Hot Springs area.

 Minnerva's terrace has boardwalks all around for views of the formations. Near the Albright Visitor Center a group of about a dozen elk were sitting on the grass when the male elk began to bugle loudly. He must have been telling the females that it was getting too crowded with tourists and it was time to move on, which is exactly what they did.  We listened to a ranger talk about the horns and antlers of the animals in the park.

 Returning to our campsite through Hayden Valley was always a slow route, but the only way to get there.  The large herds of bison would constantly be moving from one side of the road, or meandering down the middle of the road and have traffic stopped for a good amount of time. Of course everyone wants to get a photo, so the traffic moves as slowly as the bison. Earlier in the day we had gotten stuck in a bison-jam with Rangers in 2 vehicles, strange sirens blaring trying to move the bison off the road for an ambulance to get through.

 Our third morning we woke to gorgeous skies once again and took a hike to see The Natural Bridge, right above Paul in the photo.

 We still wanted to see more of the northeast end of the park, so with the top down on the car we drove to Tower-Roosevelt area and Tower Falls. Then on to this petrified tree. Such a perfect day!

On our way back that night at we spent an hour walking the boardwalks of North Geyser Basin near Norris but were too late to visit the Museum of the National Park Ranger...something to save for our next trip.

Friday we packed up the motorhome to move to a campground at Grant Village Campground. But before leaving the area we were in we took a short drive up to see the Mud Volcanoes including this one, Dragon's Mouth Spring.
 
 later that afternoon it was a chance to take a ride out on Yellowstone lake and an hour trip with great views back at the old Yellowstone Lodge

 Once we got moved into the new campground we set off the next day for our visit to Old Faithful and the surrounding geysers geysers, climbing up and over the Continental Divide 3 different times.

 We joined the crowds to wait and watch.

 After the show by Old Faithful we walked for a couple of hours to see all the other beautiful springs and geysers along the boardwalks. Next time, I'd bring my bike to this part of the park, there are plenty of places and paved trails to get around. Nice to be off season with few lots of space to see and enjoy the show they put on.

 We relaxed for a bit at Old Faithful Inn and then went on to our last sight the Grand Prismatic Spring. The colors only became more intense.

 The last part of the park that we hadn't seen was down at West Thumb Geyser Basin, not to be missed!

Most nights we come back to the motorhome for dinner and a campfire but we love to find a great place for dinner, so our last night in Yellowstone we had dinner at The Lake House Restaurant in Grant Village. Such a nice way to end our stay before going on to Grand Tetons.

BOISE TO TWIN FALLS, IDAHO AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

We had made plans to meet up with Paul's college roommate from Pasadena College for the weekend, so we had a ton of miles to drive. We left Immigrant Springs early headed for Farewell Bend State Park for an over night stay.  What a fun surprise to arrive at a nearly empty park and the pick of all campsites. The staff was watering the grounds in anticipation of the Memorial Day weekend crowd, so we waited till the sprinklers were turned off and picked an awesome site with full view of the Snake River.

 We relaxed and did nothing but enjoy where we were for the day and then started off again early the next morning for Boise, arriving at Riverside RV Park for 2 nights. A great park right along the river and bike trail, perfect for us. (full hook ups, $34)

We hadn't seen Steve and Sherry for 10 years so there was so much to catch up on! We set up our site, got the oil changed on the SAAB  and then headed to their place for dinner.  A wonderful evening of non stop talking and sharing what had happened in each of our lives since last we met, wonderful Idaho wines, lasagna dinner and laughter! 10 years may have passed but we there was no lag in our connections, comfortable as always. We left at 11:30 with plans to meet and see more of Boise the next morning.

Saturday morning was time to get caught up on our laundry, one of those "necessary" details we do when there's a laundromat around. Steve and Sherry came out to see our home then we headed back into Boise for Farmer's Market and a late brunch at Bacon.  Such a wonderful place for a Bloody Mary (with a bacon piece attached) and yummy meal. Farmer's Market had not only wonderful veggies, but flowers and an art section. Then a driving tour of Boise after dropping Foster at a Pet Smart for a little cleaning. We stopped to see the renovated Boise Depot and the gardens nearby that Sherry's Dad used to tend lovingly.

 Took some photos around the pretty grounds and even saw a Quinceanera celebration being photographed.  The hot pink honoree and her attendants in very short dresses and the tallest of heels!

 Since everyone was taking photos we  did a couple of our own. Here's me...

 and Paul and Steve

 After driving around old neighborhoods Steve drove us home with plans to meet up for a birthday dinner in nearby Nampa. The celebration was for Steve, turning 64 and his son in law, Matt's, birthdays.  We met their grandchildren and shared a wonderful evening of fabulous food and wines at Brick 29. Fantastic meal.

We said goodbye that evening, our Sunday plan was to drive east to Twin Falls, ID. But before leaving Boise we had to spend a little time along the Boise Bike Path...a fun hour of so.

Steve had recommended a route called the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway, a wonderful drive through beautiful country side and fossils from ancient times. Beginning at Bliss we turned south from I-84 onto highway 30 and dropped into a canyon with fish hatcheries along the Snake River. We stopped at the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and then followed the 7 mile trail to see the worn ruts from the Oregon Trail and locations of the Hagerman horse fossils. The most interesting part of the drive was seeing the waterfalls coming through the walls surrounding the river, not over a cliff. Natural springs feed the water.

We ended up by mid afternoon in Twin Falls.  What a great find for camping...the county park at Rock Creek County Park.  We set up our home then went to explore Twin Falls. We stopped first at the overlook of the Perinne Bridge over the Snake River, a beautiful structure.  As we came back across the bridge we watched two brave souls did a BASE jump, an extreme sport that allows you to jump off the bridge at a height of 486 feet to the Snake River below. Once they fall backwards off the bridge a parachute opens and in about 12 seconds the jumper lands below. Pretty amazing to see.  this was the bridge they fell from:

From there we went to see Shoshone Falls, 212 feet high, some 40 feet taller than Niagara Falls.

The falls are so worth the trip, only about 5 miles east of Highway 93.

The view of the Snake River from the Falls area.

We ended at a Mexican restaurant for dinner then home to sleep. Monday morning we were up early, 6AM, to make the long day's drive to Yellowstone stopping along the way to see Craters of the Moon National Monument.

We followed the scenic route through the park and enjoyed the diverse and interesting landscape...like nothing we've seen before, a vast ocean of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush.

that's our motorhome down below as we hiked to the top of a cinder cone.

After an hour or so we left the park and headed east on highway 20 to Red Rock RV Park just outside of West Yellowstone, 197 miles to go. At last, heading to the top destination on my list this year.

ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER AUGUST 27-29, 2012

Once we left the Portland area we were in totally new parts of the country for us. A beautiful morning for the drive along the river stopping to see a couple of sights as we drove east.  Our first stop was at Cascade Locks, only 20 minutes from our campsite. The river was calm and so wide. The locks no longer exist due to the dam further up the river but we could see where they once helped move ships and cargo westward.

 Check out the beautiful bridge in the distance called the Bridge of the Gods spanning the wide river from Oregon to Washington.

 Along the side walls of the old locks are platforms for the Indian dip net fisherman. No one was fishing when we arrived but the ladders and huge nets were sitting there ready for action!

 Parked nearby was the Sternwheeler ready for a cruise along the river. It goes out twice a day at 11:00 and 1:30 but we had a long distance to make this day so we passed on the trip.

 In the park we also saw this beautiful statue of Sacajawea pointing the way west.

Our next stop was The Dalles and a visit at the Fort Dalles Historical Museum.  There is only one remaining building from the fort built in the 1860s, the home of the fort's surgeon. We were fortunate that the volunteer at the museum that day was excited to have visitors, as the museum's off the path a bit, but worth the visit. She walked us all over the property and showed us not only the house but the barn housing different antique wagons and vehicles. We ended up with a personal tour of the Anderson Homestead which was moved to this new location.  Built in 1865 by Swedish immigrant, Lewis Anderson, with hand hewn logs, the house and barn were dismantled log by log and moved 25 miles to the location at the museum.

Back on the road we headed to Pendleton, OR before leaving the Columbia River and driving south to our campsite for the next few nights, Immigrant Springs State Park. Highway 395 climbs up a very steep grade so we took it slowly and finally got to the top and a change of terrain.  We left the hot dry valley for below for forested hillsides and a cooler temp. We picked a campsite and enjoyed the setting but soon learned that being so close to the highway would be constant truck engine noise 24 hours a day, not a pleasant thing.  We took off everyday and did different outings but I resorted to ear plugs to sleep at night.

We took a day trip about 85 miles south to see The Little Alps of Oregon at Wallowa Lake and the darling artsy village of Joseph.  Beautiful park, nice big sites and a wonderful setting on the lake,  perfect campground but a long ride into the park. The 2 lane highway follows Hells Canyon Scenic Biway and a lovely drive. Would be easy to do in the motorhome.

The "Little Alps" sit at the south end of the lake.  Beautiful!

We took a nice walk along the river and sat for a while to watch as salmon were spawning nearby.

                       
As we left the lake we drove back into the town of Joseph to enjoy the life size bronze sculptures set on every corner.

 Our favorite, Chief Joseph, was simple and beautifully created.

 After a walk around town it was time to stop at the local brew pub for a cool drink before returning back to our campsite.

Our third day in this eastern part of Oregon was spent seeing the city of Pendleton...and the woolen mill, of course where I chose a beautiful wool blanket for our MH.  The factory tour at the mill is amazing,  you really see the production of blankets and fabrics being made on some of the original machines, and we were this close to it all!

 From the woolen mills we next stopped at the Pendleton Round-Up Museum...never thought there would be much to see but we were surprised and once again given a personal one-on-one tour of the collection including the story of this famous horse, War Paint.

 The Pendelton Round-Up is held the second weekend each September and how sad we were that we were a week too early to take in all the festivities!  It sounds like such a fun time to enjoy a true cowboy experience. We definitely will put it on a future plan.

 Our last stop was a tour of the Native American Tamastslikt Cultural Museum, a stunning collection of art and history of the native people, Umatilla tribe.

 We went back into town to take a walk along Pendleton River Parkway which follows the Umatilla River. Loved this sign along the way...

 and the city has custom decorated giant boots in all different places along "The Boot Trail"

 We stayed in town that evening for a delicious steak dinner at Hamley's Steakhouse before going back for our last campfire at Immigrant Springs State Park.