Monday, April 25, 2016

We were off this morning, after Breakfast, to two National Parks in southern Washington.  The Whitman Mission National Historic Site and The Hanford Reach National Monument are the two we’ll try to take in today.  We have to drive about 140 miles to get there and take in both of the sites.

Sharon had called the Whitman site to see if they were open and we got an affirmative answer.  But when we got there, the Visitor’s Center was closed and there was nobody around.  She was more pissed than I was.  The outside grounds seemed to be open but that was a walking tour which I can’t manage, and my scooter won’t go over grass very well.  So we left Whitman and headed over to the Hanford Reach which we knew might be closed.  We stopped at City Hall to get directions for how to get there after stopping at McDonald’s for Lunch.

When we got to the museum we found it closed.  But Sharon decided to go up to the door and see if there was any information there.  When she got to the door she saw people inside and knocked on the door.  So we got the cancellation for the Hanford Reach but not for the Whitman Mission.

We were back on the road and headed for home shortly afterward.  We made it back home by 3 o’clock and Sharon had decided she was going to do laundry today.  While she was gone I dumped the tanks and refilled the water since we’ll be without hookups for the next couple of days.  I also cleaned the windshield so we’d have clean glass to look through on the highway.

We had leftover Rigatoni for Supper tonight.  Neither of us was very hungry and we had just enough for Supper.

After the late Dinner we camped out in front of the TV for the night.  We had enough to watch tonight to take us to 10:30 and the bewitching hour.  So we bewitched ourselves into bed for the night.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

We were on the road this morning at a leisurely pace leaving the campground about 10 AM.  We only had about 150 miles to go to Spirit Lake, Idaho and our next campground.  This campground would be a free one in my nephew Dan Rocheleau’s yard.

We stopped on the way to pick up a sandwich at Subway in Liberty, Washington.  We found a Mall parking lot that we were comfortable to park in.

We crossed the border into Idaho and said good-bye to Washington shortly thereafter.  It only took us about 45 minutes from the border to pull into Dan’s yard.  Sheri was at work but Dan was there to greet us very warmly.  We hadn’t seen them in 17 years since they moved away from Mesa.  We would stop every time we came west but that didn’t last long as they moved when we first started traveling.

We were off almost immediately as we left to see Matraca’s fast-pitch softball game in another town.  It took us about an hour to get there but we did see some amazing scenery along the way over Lake Coeur d’ Alene.  The road and bridges were elevated and the view was spectacular.  We sat through the game which was actually our first since we have all girl grandchildren, except for Brady and Max and they lean toward volleyball.  Brady and Max leaned toward hockey.

We stopped for Dinner after the game at a place called Sam’s Restaurant in Kellogg, ID.  I had a Chimichanga and Sharon had a Quesadilla.  They were both very good even though it was not a Mexican Restaurant.

We got back home about 8 and we went about leveling the motorhome.  It was dark by then and we needed flashlights to block under one side since the jacks missed the blocks on our first attempt earlier.  We didn’t have time to correct it then.

By the time we got done with the jacks, we went in the house for about an hour, before we decided that we had done enough for one day.  We came back to the coach and watched a little TV and then shut it all down about 10.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

We got up this morning with nothing really to do today.  We went into the house after being invited for Breakfast, but Sharon was still in the sack.  So I waited until she got up and then we showered and went in the house.

While we sat and talked Sharon mentioned that maybe Dan could help me with my computer.  I’ve been trying to create my mailing list for the Newsletter and I’ve failed miserably.  Dan booted up my e-mail and tried to create the list but it didn’t work like the directions said it should.  After messing with it for about an hour he finally figured out a work around to get it to work.  Now all I have to do is apply it to all my e-mail addresses.

By the time Sheri got done at work we were done with the computer.  Dan thought taking us on a tour of the town would be a good idea.  Spirit Lake is not that big a town so the tour only took about an hour.  It was, however, a very quaint little downtown area.

By the time the tour was over it was time for Dinner.  We went back home and Dan and Sheri cooked up some Tri-tip Steak and then sliced it up for Philly Steak Sandwiches.  It was absolutely fabulous.

Sheri conducted a tour of the house after Dinner and we found the house huge.  It’s about 3 times the size of our house but we really don’t need the room.  And now that their kids are raised and almost gone they’re finding that they don’t need the room either.

We sat and talked over the TV playing in the background and stayed in the house til around 9.  After that we said our good-byes since everybody is supposed to gone in the morning when we leave.

We went back out to our hacienda and watched a little tube before we finally called it quits for the night at about 10:30

Thursday, April 28, 2016

We were on the road early today.  We hit the pavement about 8 after getting everything picked up and secured.  We made an early stop at Taco Bell for a couple of AM Crunchwraps, and were immediately back on the road again.

Today we were headed toward Spalding, Idaho where the Nez Perce National Historic Park is located. The park was mostly a walking tour so we sat in the theater and watched the 25 minute movie which was very interesting.  It was another time when the Indians got screwed by the Federal Government, and forced to give up their land.

After we left the reservation, and headed south again, We ran into the most spectacular different scenery we’ve ever seen.  And we’ve been through some of the prettiest.  These were large hills, probably considered mountains, that engulfed the highway on both sides.  These were not typical mountains as they were covered with grass and spotted with the occasional tree, and the swift moving Salmon River ran between the mountains.  A little further south we ran into Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area, and the spectacular scenery just continued endlessly.  After that we drove into the flatlands which was such a dramatic change from the previous scenery.

We stopped for LP Gas and got that filled up for the next chapter  of our trip.  We hadn’t filled LP since just before we arrived in Desert Hot Springs which was just about 4 months ago.  The tank only took about 11 gallons which is about half a tank, but I didn’t want to be searching for it when we needed it.

About an hour later we arrived at our campground, Meadows RV Park in New Meadows, Idaho.  We got settled in but couldn’t get a signal on the Satellite.  We were fine as we just watched what I had recorded from last night.  Besides we never last too long at night on the days that we travel.  Tonight , however, we lasted until 11 before we finally had enough.

Friday, April 29, 2016

We were on the road this morning at about 10 since we knew where we were going and how long it would take to get there. On the way we were treated to some more spectacular scenery as we took a Scenic Byway before we got to Boise.  It included Hell’s Canyon and the Salmon River flowing through it.  The water fell at such an elevation that the river was almost all white water for miles on end.

An amazing thing was the fact that we traveled through huge canyons and then when we exited there was completely flat land for miles.  We’re not used to such drastic changes in the environment.

We also stopped at a viewpoint just outside of Lewiston that encompassed the entire valley.  It was an amazing view to say the least.  We were almost 3 thousand feet up.

After about 3 hours we reached Hagerman, Idaho where the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument was located. We drove around the block and parked on the side of the road in back of the Visitor’s Center.  They were not set up for motorhomes pulling cars, but we managed to find a legal spot.  The Visitor’s Center was loaded with fossils and even included information about Minidoka National Historic Site since they have no Visitor’s Center.

We sat through a very interesting movie regarding the fossils and the history of the same.

We spent about an hour or so looking through the fossils and then we hit the road again since there was no outdoor site to see.

We arrived at our campground late in the afternoon but got settled and hooked up in very short order.  We would be staying the next couple of days at the Intermountain RV Park in Wendell, Idaho.  It’s a perfect spot for the Parks we want to visit.

Sharon whipped up some double cheeseburgers for supper tonight.  Neither of us were too hungry since we were snacking most of the afternoon.

We got our dish set up tonight so we’ll have TV for the next few days.  In fact we watched some of our regular shows tonight but the re-runs are already starting to be played.  We stayed up until 11 anyway before we called it quits.

Saturday, April 30, 2016

We left about 9:30 this morning on our way to catch two National Parks in one day. The first would be City of Rocks National Preserve.

We stopped at the Farmhouse Restaurant, about two miles from our campground, but on the way, to have a wonderful Breakfast before we embarked on our total day. We thought the menu was a bit pricey until we saw the size of the Breakfasts.  They were more than either of us could eat, and very good.

After breakfast we were off to our first destination.  We thought the City of Rocks was much closer to the campground than it actually was.  We thought about 50 miles but it was more like 90.  The GPS surprised us when it reported it.

The Preserve consists of huge White Granite Rocks that have simply jutted out from the ground to contrast the dark green trees, the lighter green grass and some areas “desert colored.”  They stand in this particular canyon like buildings that have simply been built there.  We could only go into the Park a certain distance because of the mud on the roads, but the Ranger said we’d be in the center of it all.

After the City of Rocks we headed toward Minidoka National Historic Site.  Not having specific directions, or an address, we got miserably lost for about 45 minutes trying to find it.

But find it we did, and on this site was an internment camp that held 10,000 citizens and non-citizens of Japanese descent during WWII.  There are only two portions of buildings that remain from the original camp.  One is the Military Police building and the second is a reception building where everyone had to pass through entering and leaving the camp.  There are about a dozen story boards at the entrance to the camp which tells the story of the incarcerated.  It was pretty sad what the government did to those people.

From Mindora it was just a short jaunt back home again.  Mindora was between our campground and the City of Rocks.  We looked for a car wash all the way back but couldn’t find one.  City of Rocks was gravel roads in and out and trashed up the outside of the car.  We couldn’t find one so we’ll just have to look for one over the next couple of days.

We got back home about 4 o’clock and neither of us was hungry because of the Breakfast we had.  We actually had the remainder of both of our Breakfast in a box.  I decided that I was going to finish my Breakfast for Supper tonight.  After I capitulated Sharon decided she would finish her Breakfast for Dinner also.  It was great.

We had TV so beside the fact that Saturday is a lousy night for TV, we found enough to watch for the night.  A couple of Lockups even recorded while we were watching other channels.  We stayed glued to the TV with no naps til about 10:45 and then we caved.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

We were off this morning, after Sharon came back from church, to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument.  We again were surprised to find out how far we had to drive.  It looked like a lot less on the map.  This was the second day that we were bordering on about 90 miles one way.  We won’t be traveling 80 mph on the freeway like we did yesterday.  We’ll be on secondary roads all day there and back.

We stopped at the only café we could find on our way there.  It was the Manhattan Café in Shoshone, Idaho.  The food was excellent, and plenty of it, for a reasonable price.  We left with full bellies, but no leftovers.

Our GPS thought she knew where she was going but led us astray again.  We turned down a gravel road for about 7-8 miles before we suspected that we were going the wrong way.  We stopped and called the park and got straightened out on the directions, reversing our direction that we had just come.

We arrived at Craters of the Moon at about noon and watched the movie before we went out for the 5 mile drive around the park.  The park is filled with volcanic eruption cinders and rock scattered all over the park.  There are a few “volcano” cones but mostly the eruptions have occurred underground and then bubbled to the surface.  The cinders and rocks cover the ground for miles around.  Also on the site are lava tubes where the liquid lava flowed freely, thus producing caves and tubes when the lava cooled and shrunk.

We were back on the road again after our little trip around the park.  It would take us another hour and a half to get back home again.

After arriving home Sharon decided that she was going to do the weeks laundry.  We only had barely a load and had the washers and dryer worked normally she would have been back home in a couple of hours. She got back about 7 after finishing.  She stopped back in enough time to make herself a sandwich for Supper. I didn’t want a sandwich so I made a bowl of soup, after opening the can.

After Sharon got home we camped out in front of the TV for the night.  We had some favorites to watch and some taped shows to fill in.  We shut down most of the motorhome tonight so we could fly out of here tomorrow.  We planned to be on the road by 7 after dumping our holding this morning.  We had over 300 miles to drive and still had to drive into the National Park when we got there.