Change of plans

We decided to stay here one more night. Looking at our next stop we didn't see anything that was worth a 2 night stay. There isn't a whole lot here but there is the winery. There was also some more history to experience. That pic is a ferry that eventually replaced the river crossing that was so dangerous. There was a cable strung across the river and the loaded ferry was poled back and forth. Those spices were for sale in the winery and we bought a couple of them. They put them in a sack of shit for us to carry. Tomorrow, for real, we are headed for Oregon. I forgot, I tried the Merlot but I didn't get the soft tannin finish.

Three Island Crossing SP Idaho

The Oregon Trail crossed the Snake River here using 2 of the 3 islands in the river. Crossing the river here was a short cut and insured the pioneers that they would have good grass and plentiful water after they forded the river. There was a crossing further south that most travelers used but it was dryer and over grazed by the many thousands of wagons and traveling livestock that used it. The only problem with this crossing was that it was deeper and more dangerous. Life has always required risk but decisions made here between 1852 and 1906 sometimes proved to be fatal. We drove to an overlook of the 3 islands and took that picture. There is a winery next door that we felt obligated to visit. Oregon tomorrow.

Craters of the Moon day 3

Today we did the lava tubes. There are apparently dozens of them scattered throughout the lava field but we only had access to 2 of them. You might have heard about a fungal disease that affects bats. The rangers are very concerned that it could be spread to the bats in this park by us. Most of the lava tubes were off limits for that reason. There were no trails and the footing was treacherous in the caves but we survived. After the caves we hiked on a couple of the trails that we didn't have enough time to hike yesterday. We head further West tomorrow. This park is not on a lot of people's radar, consequently it has not been crowded. Plenty of parking at the trailheads and very few people on the trails. All in all a good stop. One more thing. It was 46° last night.

Craters of the Moon

We spent a good portion of today hiking some of the trails in the park. The lava was deposited in several eruptions starting 15,000 years ago. The latest was a mere 2,000 years ago. We had a discussion with a Ranger and he seemed to be convinced that the hotspot under the park wasn't done erupting. They have 4 seismometers located around the park and there has been some activity detected. He estimated 100 years. There are several lava tube caves scattered around the lava field. Hikers are allowed to enter 2 of then. That is on tomorrow's agenda.

Mountain View RV park, Arco Idaho

Fantastic drive today. Beautiful scenery and no traffic. I could drive in the middle of the road for miles. Arco is near the Idaho National Laboratory which is our center of nuclear research. Some of the 900 residents of Arco work there. We are here primarily to explore Craters of the Moon National Monument, which is 20 miles away. We were here once before with the kids, tent camping, and we didn't do much exploring. We have 2 full days here so we should be able to completely knock this park off  our list. That pic with the numbers painted on the rocks above town has an interesting story. Once a year there is a highschool reunion that includes every graduating class. Last year thousands of people attended. The class number painted on the rocks gets a new coat of paint until that becomes impossible. A cool tradition. More tomorrow.

 

Fairmont RV Resort, Anaconda Montana

Today we drove through Billings, Bozeman and Butte. Alotta Bs. When I booted up Miss Garmin this morning she said Interstate 90 was closed and that she needed to find another route for us. Google, Apple and Waze didn't know what the heck Garmin was talking about. There was a major resurfacing going on and we averaged 3 MPH for something like 1 hour. That's a pretty difficult math problem but the gist was we lost an hour. One interesting thing of note. We passed a train that was carrying Boeing 737 fuselages. Turns out they are assembled in Wichita, Kansas and then transported by train to Seattle for final assembly. There is an actual resort a 5 minute walk from this RV resort. There is a hot spring that feeds a big pool and there are 2 restaurants. We did the 5 minute walk and had a delicious dinner at one of them. We are in Idaho tomorrow.

Tongue River day 2

There are a lot of state parks associated with lakes. Generally speaking, lake parks don't have much to offer us, especially if we didn't bring the yaks. When I planned this trip, I was looking for a 300-mile day that ended in a park. That plan has been putting us in parks with nothing particularly interesting for us to do. That should come to a temporary end tomorrow. No more lakes for awhile. I did a ride this morning on a hilly dirt road that winds around the lake. We drove into Sheridan, Wy. (25 miles) for a few items that we were in need of, and we ate lunch at a Ukrainian restaurant. That was a first for us. What is Ukrainian food you ask? I'm not sure. It definitely isn't burgers and fries. That pic was taken on my ride this morning.

Tongue River SP Montana

There is an IMMENSE amount of undeveloped land in Wyoming. We were on Interstate 25 for about 100 miles and on both sides of the road there was no development. No buildings, no power lines, no dirt roads and very little livestock. Someone owned that land because there were fences. Probably some member of the deep state. This park is only a few miles into Montana. The Tongue River backs up behind a dam and the State Park is on that lake. This park and our last stop only have/had electricity at the sites. No water. We had to fill up our tank when we arrived at both places. Of course we had no idea where the potable water spigots were. To add insult to injury the approach roads into both parks were dusty, washboard, dirt roads. The poor Forester in filthy. We took these pics today. Interstate 25 was pretty lonely in places. We encountered a heard of Antelope near the park and Jenny and I drove around some to get views of the lake.

Glendo day 2

As we were driving here yesterday we read some of the online reviews of this park. There was a consensus that there wasn't much to do here unless you were into fishing or other water based activities. We looked around the area and there really wasn't anything that interested us that was within 50 miles. Consequently, today was a chill day. I did a bike ride and we walked around some but other than our trip into Glendo for lunch we didn't do much. Speaking of Glendo, the population is around 200. The main drag is maybe 1/4 mile long. The only point of interest we noticed was a live bait vending machine. That was a first for both of us. The lake is fed by the North Platte River. They apparently draw it down every year for some reason. Montana tomorrow.

Glendo State Park Wyoming

Mostly interstate driving today. We need to get further north so that we can enter Oregon at the right spot. We are in mountain time now so these posts will be later. The campgrounds in this park do not have water at the campsites. There are only 2 spigots in the entire park and we had a hell of a time finding one. On the bright side, we have become fairly familiar with the area. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow but if history is a guide we will probably come up with something.

Ogallala Nebraska

We are at a KOA. This has been our first opportunity to do laundry. This is a one nighter, we should be in Wyoming tomorrow. No pictures today but Lindsay sent those a few days ago. The other pictures deserve an explanation. When the homesteaders arrived in what was to become Kansas there were no trees. The Great Plains were mostly treeless. They needed some way to fence in their newly acquired property and there wasn't any wood to make fence posts. They only had rock. Specifically limestone. There is a layer of limestone 4 or 5 feet below the surface all around where we were camped at Wilson Lake. There are stone pillar fence lines running all over the place. A fence made with stone posts is going to last. I suspect some of those fence lines have been there for over a hundred years. Jenny took that sunset pic. She likes sunsets.

Wilson SP day 2

I rode some of the trails this morning. I'm thinking that maybe I should dial it back some. I'll see. Next was lunch at "The Snack Shack" in Wilson. Our combo meal included a Sundae. Do you remember the last time you had a Sundae? Next was a short drive to the artsy town of Lucas, the site of "The Garden of Eden". Samuel Dinsmoor, a Civil War veteran, began building his Garden of Eden in 1907 when he was 64. For 22 years he mixed 2,273 sacks of cement (113 tons) in his back yard to make sculptures that depicted his religious and political beliefs. To say he was eccentric would be a gross understatement. He didn't pay taxes, was constantly fighting with the local government and he somehow collected benefits for 2 people for his civil war service. He died in 1932 impoverished and deeply in debt. The house and garden miraculously survived and are maintained by a foundation and receives 10,000 visitors a year. Those other pictures are a public bathroom on the main street in Lucas. It's just part of the town's weirdness. We move tomorrow. I forgot to mention the eggs. There are decorated eggs all over town 

Wilson State Park Kansas

The nearest town is Wilson. We are camped on the shore of Wilson Lake which is really a reservoir because I can see the dam from our front door. I digress. Today was an I 70 slog. This park in in central Kansas not far from The Garden of Eden. Apparently a eccentric dude built a folk art destination on his property. It has become a tourist attraction. We'll have to see how bored we are tomorrow. We might check it out. We saw that Regular Baptist Church sign a few days ago. If I was a Church goer I'd probably attended the irregular Baptist Church. There are good bike trails here so I will spend tomorrow morning riding.

Arrow Rock day 2

So much to cover. We did the hiking stuff this morning. It rained last night so things were somewhat moist. After that we drove into Boonville for lunch. Arrow Rock is a ghost town on mondays so nothing was open. We did venture into the visitor center in Arrow Rock and we learned about Boone's Lick. In 1804, Daniel Boone discovered a salt spring flowing into the Missouri River. Salt was a hot commodity back then. Two of Daniel's brothers started a salt mining business at the spring. They had big iron pots and they would boil the water and collect the salt. They needed firewood, so they were forced to denude the surrounding forest for miles. That's what we do. Anyway, that lasted for several years until the spring became less saline and the operation became unprofitable. On a different note: you might have noticed that there have been some words highlighted in the text of the blog posts. Google is providing the option of additional information concerning something I have mentioned in the text of the blog. You can tap on those highlighted words and you will be taken to a source of additional information. Or not. We are in Kansas tomorrow.

Arrow Rock SP Missouri

Most of today's drive was on I 70. The small (tiny) town of Arrow Rock is within walking distance. It is famous for 3 things. It's on the Missouri River and there used to be a 70 ft. pointed rock that was on the bank. Hence the name. The oldest restaurant that has been in continuous service west of the Mississippi is here (we arrived too late to eat there) and there was a ferry here that shuttled pioneers across the river to the start of The Santa Fe Trail. In other words this spot is the beginning of the Santa Fe trail. Pretty cool. In regards to the 70 tall pointed rock, the Corp of Engineers blew it up claiming it was a hazard to navigation. Gotta love those engineers. We are here all day tomorrow (Monday) when everything will be closed. One more thing. This town has a Theatre. There are 6 performances a year and from discussions we have had with the locals, that theater keeps this place alive. Virtually all of the towns businesses rely on the influx of visitors when the theater is active. We are here all day tomorrow.

Fox Ridge day 2

We did our hiking in the morning. Some of the trails were obviously built by the CCC and some of those trails haven't been maintained since they were built. We struggled to get to a point only to completely lose the trail to downed trees and waist high stinging nettle. I was stupidly wearing shorts so my legs were on fire. Maybe I should heed the advice I am given. Actually, I absolutely should. We backtracked and returned to camp after 2 1/2 hours. After we made ourselves presentable we headed into town (Charleston) and had Lunch followed by Walmart. As you might have heard Illinois is "The Land of Lincoln". We drove a little out of town to visit The Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site. It was Abe's father's farm. Abe was practicing law in Springfield and visited frequently. One story that I found interesting is that after he was elected and right before he left for Washington he rode a horse, unaccompanied, from Springfield to Charleston, to say goodbye to his family and friends. Different times I guess. We move tomorrow to Missouri.

Fox Ridge SP Illinois

This park is near Charleston Ill. Some of the drive here was in a corn valley. 10 foot tall corn on both sides of a narrow rural farm road. This property was initially developed by the CCC in the 30s. There are some trails that we will take a look at tomorrow. There is an anemic river that flows through the park and a 13 acre lake that formed behind a CCC dam. There is also a winery not too far away. I didn't see any grapes growing anywhere on the way In here. Drinking wine in Illinois is probably like eating oysters in Arizona.

Abettor Brewery, Winchester KY

The drive here was on 2 lane roads, with no shoulder, through the mountains of North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. What better place to end a long drive like that than at a Brewery. This place is a Harvest Host. There is no electricity because it's a parking lot and it's a little warm but we are running the AC on the generator and it should cool down tonight. Illinois tomorrow.

Stone Mountain day 2

It was pretty rainy and generally yucky all morning. We decided to drive into Roaring Gap to find a place to eat. It should have been 6 miles. We encountered a closed road and the adventure began. Over an hour later we ended up eating chicken fingers and a burger at a country store just outside the park. We did see quite a lot of the countryside. We did the hike up Stone Mountain in the afternoon followed by another out and back hike to a circa 1855 homestead. All in all a pretty vigorous day. We have a long drive tomorrow. Should be staying in the parking lot of a brewery in Kentucky.

Stone Mountain SP NC

Biblical rain last night. 39 more days of that and Jenny and I would be living in our Kayaks. We got here fairly early and we were able to do some exploring. We hiked to 2 waterfalls. One of the trails to the falls needed 368 steps to get us to the bottom. Tomorrow, if the weather god cooperates, we will hike up to the top of Stone Mountain. We have to post from the visitor center, there is very limited service in the campground. More tomorrow.

On the road

 We are initially heading north. The plan was to avoid the heat. We stopped at Tega Cay to visit with Seth, Courtney and their girls. Today was the first day of school for the Twins. Aubrey heads off to The College of Charleston soon. Our plan for this trip will take us into Idaho, Oregon and Northern California. We will be dragging our feet as we head out there and once we arrive there we will continue dragging our feet. The round trip will take us just over 2 months. The saying goes "The adventure begins when the planning falls apart". We have probably over planned this trip. Every night is accounted for until 5 October. Plenty of opportunity for an adventure. That flower is a Passion Flower. We planted 3 small plants in the spring and they have just started to bloom. The blooms only last one day so there isn't going to be anyone to enjoy them. Damn! We move tomorrow to a State Park in NC.

4th of July 2025

We decided that once a year wasn't often enough to get together. It's normally only on Thanksgiving. Jenny and I made the drive but our kids were otherwise occupied, which is completely understandable. Their kids are busy. For some reason (probably wine) I didn't take any pictures of our visiting with my sisters, however, Jenny and I spent a day at Jones Gap State Park hiking to a waterfall. Rainbow Falls. Here are some pics of that hike.

Lindsay's and Jamie's 20th anniversary

The couple celebrated by spending the weekend on Jekyll Island in Georgia. We have the kids and the dogs. We had a completely busted fishing experience when we tried our luck in St. Augustine over spring break so I was looking for a way to rectify that. We hired Captain Kevin to take us somewhere to catch some fish. That he did. Most of the fish we caught were not keepers but there were a few bigger ones. Connor caught a hammerhead shark that really didn't want to be caught. It was pretty exciting. The couple picks up their brood tomorrow and our lives will return to normal.

Aubrey's Ft. Mill HS Graduation

Aubrey graduated on 23 May. The weekend turned into quite a celebration. The celebrants arrived from far off locals. There was a lot of food and as the night progressed it became pretty loud. Aubrey was trying to get some sleep because she was leaving on her Myrtle Beach post graduation trip. Anyway, congratulations to Aubrey. She's on her way to The College Of Charleston.

Reunion Synopsis

Things were so busy, and ended so late, I didn't post anything while we were there. Today is Sunday and Jenny & I are in Vicksburg Mississippi. The first night of our drive home. There was much catching up, several good meals, consisting of various meats, washed down with beer, bourbon and wine. It appears that Bill and Patty are serious about moving to Portugal. They have jumped through most of the hoops that are required for a long term visa. They still have to go to the Portuguese embassy in Houston and get interviewed. Good luck with that. Donna and Diane are doing well. John and Jeanne's river house is uniquely suited for large gatherings. They frequently host their entire family which numbers 19. They must like chaos. We did spend one afternoon in Marble Falls. Live music and cold beer. I found out my pathetic Aggie Buds can't handle IPA. That is about it. We probably won't make it home tomorrow, we loose an hour and still have 650 miles to go