Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Our New Camper!




We are so excited to report that we have purchased a 1997 Alpenlite Cypress 5th wheel trailer. It is 34' long, has a generator and 4 batteries; and with a 100 gallon fresh water tank we can set up in the wilderness for a week without power and be very comfortable. This is a huge improvement over Thumper, our previous travel trailer.




Here are 2 pictures, one of the outside and one of the living area.


Saturday, July 4, 2009

4th Of July On The River!

Our last stop before heading home tomorrow morning. It is the Fourth of July and we are comfortably set on a great site about 20' from the Salmon River just north of Salmon, Idaho. This is Waggonhammer Campground, the place we often start or end one of our journeys. Last year this was the first stop on our way to Alaska and the last stop on our way home from Alaska. As always, the owners and the staff are friendly and very helpful. This afternoon, they are having a hot dog grilling event with guests bringing side dishes. We meet the nicest people here.

The one down side this location is the darn, pesky misquitos; they are everywhere. Which means we either wear long pants and long shirts; or load up on repellent. There is a bridge on the edge of the park to an island in the river. The owners have cut a long path/trail in the tall grass. Sammy and Annie are happy to be able to run off leash over there. It is really funny to see Annie bouncing up and down or standing on her hind legs to try to find Sammy in the tall grass.

I have seen an eagle fishing in the area (he is better at it than I am) and I keep the binoculars at the ready. Met some nice people from California, Arizona and Wyoming so far. Will probably meet more tonight at the grill party.

It has been a good trip. It was great to see our daughter, Michelle, and meet her 4 legged traveling companion, Loren. She, and her friends Michelle and Randy Vincent, were great companion campers at Deception Pass State Park in Washington State. After we parted company we had a great drive across the northern edge of the Cascade Mountain Range.

Once we arrived in Idaho, we spent Thursday night at Winchester Lake State Park. I did manage to catch 3 trout in this beautiful setting. The camp sites are in the woods and the lake is surrounded by a forest. The trip between there and here was over 100 miles of mountain forest and river driving. I never thought I would get tired of forest and river scenery, but yesterday I got tired of forest and river scenery. We stopped in Hamilton, MT for last minute food supplies and got here about 4:00 pm. It is good to be back in the Mountain Time Zone again. Tomorrow we are about 4 hours from home. It will be good to get back.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The best laid plans!!!

Sometimes planning doesn't go so well; specially when you plan to stay at a very popular State Park in Idaho the 3 days prior to the 4th of July, without making a reservation well in advance. So we are changing our schedule and our route. Instead of Priest Lake State Park or Farrugut State Park, we are headed further south to stay at Winchester State Park for Thursday night and ending up at Waggonhammer Campground in North Fork, ID on Friday and Saturday night.

After we left Deception Pass in Washington we wondered towards the upper Cascade Range to Skagit County Park Campground. This is a beautiful site right on the Skagit River with large sites and well manicured grounds. We had a site about 40' from the shore of the river. There were trails nearby (to Rosie's delight) where we could take Sammy and Annie and let them run off leash for a spell.

A family of geese kept us entertained on Wednesday morning before we departed. Mom and Pop goose and 5 little gooses kept cruising by.
Tuesday, after crossing over the Cascade Range with many waterfalls and other wonderful sights, we arrived at Lincoln Rock State Park near Wenatchee, WA. The name comes from an island in the Columbia River that looks like Abe Lincoln's face in recline. We liked the place so much we decided to stay an extra night and catch up on some much needed R & R. I actually took a nap in the morning. Then we headed into town to find an ice cream shop and get some groceries. The ice cream was really great; but I hate to add up the calories for it.
So tomorrow on to Idaho and Lake Winchester. I hope the fishing is good.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

The Good Life



Life is good at Deception Pass State Park in northwest Washington State. We arrived here on Friday about 3:30 in the afternoon. Our daughter Michelle arrived about 30 minutes later. Our friends, Randy and Michelle Vincent showed up about 5:30. We have a group campsite, meaning it is set up for 2 campers to share a large site. The sites here are wonderful; set in a thick forest, each site is spacious and separated by many trees from other sites nearby. If you didn't hear a bit of conversation or an occasional car/truck drive by; you would think you are out here all by yourself. The best part is the park has electric and water hookups for RV's and the Verizon service is good enough to get high speed internet access.


The ladies have been for many long walks along the lake shore. Randy and I have been fishing twice; resulting in a nice trout for each of us. There has been some good natured conversation and a lot of food sharing in the last few days. The locale includes several fresh water lakes as well as access to the Pacific Ocean. The weather has been great; sunny days, but not too hot. No rain or drizzle. No unusual overcast conditions.

It is late afternoon Sunday. Randy and Michelle have left to return home. Our Michelle is hanging around with her mom and dad for one more night before heading south for home in California. She is at the tail end of her 7 week, 29 state journey with Loren, a rescue pit bull.

We have decided to leave here a day early and make an additional stop in the mountains near a river about 50 miles away for tomorrow night.

I have received a request to post a picture of our new little Annie; so here it is. Ain't she cute.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

One more day to the Pacific Northwest

After my post yesterday, I realized that I had not explained the one week delay in the start of this trip. Sadly, my mom passed away on the 16th of June, the day before we were scheduled to leave for Loon Lake, Oregon. I flew to South Dakota for the funeral and to wrap up final estate details. I got back home Sunday night after 11:00 pm.

Now back to our trip; today we traveled into Washington State, just past Spokane to a great place, Peaceful Pines RV Park. There is a large area nearby where we can let the puppies roam free; which they really enjoy. Annie continues to be excited about this new experience. She slept in her bed under the dinette table last night and did not bother us one bit. Today was a very pretty drive along I-90. Jim has been to Spokane on business before and has seen the panhandle area of Idaho a couple of times. Tomorrow we will be heading west on I-90 to Seattle; a route neither of us has been down before. At one point today, Michelle called us and she was about 350 miles ahead of us on I-90. Tomorrow we will catch up to her at Deception Pass State Park.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

On the road again!

Finally. Rosie and I and the two pooches, Sammy and Annie, hit the road for Deception Pass State Park in northwest Washington State. We left Idaho Falls this morning and had an uneventful (just the way I like them) journey to about 15 miles past Deer Lodge, Montana. The campground we are in is great with old trees and large sites with full hookups. We did not even have to disconnect from the truck for our one night stay. We have taken the puppies for 2 walks so far and have one more scheduled when it cools off about 8:30 or so. Annie seems to be adjusting to camping quite well. She rides in a carrier in the back seat of the truck. When we stop for breaks, she jumps right back into the carrier as if to say "OK! Lets Go".

Rosie prepared a scrumptious German Goulash with pasta. I am so stuffed. Tomorrow we will get a late and leisurely start to our next stop in Cheney, Washington.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

We are good to go!

Rosie has been cleared for RV travel by her doctor. We will be leaving on June 18th for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Trip Delayed

We were scheduled to leave tomorrow; however, Rosie has not fully recovered from bladder surgery a couple of weeks ago and her doctor has adviced us to hold off on traveling. She has an appointment on Thursday (June 11th) so we will get the latest medical advice then.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

22 days and counting.

Three weeks from tomorrow is launch day for our Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana summer RV Trip.  We will spend 5 days each at Lava Lake and Loon Lake in Oregon.  Then we are meeting Michelle (our daughter) and friends north of Seattle at Deception Pass State Park for 4 days.  Then various spots as we head back home through the panhandle of Idaho, into Montana and over the Continental Divide into Idaho to finish up at Waggonhammer Campground.

Our daughter Michelle just started her 7 week USA tour with Loren, a rescued pit bull.  You can follow her adventures at www.dogdaysbook.com.

Friday, January 30, 2009



January 2009.

As is typical for winter in Idaho, we are buried in snow. I pass the winter months planning for summer trips and am taking this opportunity to update family, friends and blog readers of our RV plans for this summer.

In early June, we will make a short (5 day) trip to Devils Tower area in Wyoming to meet with family members for a early summer campout at Keyhole State Park. We will probably travel through or near Yellowstone and Teton Parks on the way to and from Keyhole.

After about 3 days back home we will head out on a 3 week adventure through Oregon, Washington and Idaho. We plan spend a lot of time lake side and oceanside. Our travels will include Lava Lake, Loon Lake, and several state parks. We plan to end up in Waggonhammer RV Park north of Salmon, Idaho at the end of the trip.

In August we will leave for Colorado to visit our old friends and former neighbors; also spend a few days with Jim's brother near Eaton, CO. From there to Yankton, SD to visit Jim's mom and another brother. We will stay at White Crane, a beautiful South Dakota State Parks campground near the Gavins Point Dam on the Missouri River. From there to Colome, SD for Jim's annual family reunion weekend; followed by a few days in Rapid City, SD, then home to Idaho.

We have acquired a new addition to our family, a little female terrier mix we rescued from the Idaho Falls animal shelter. We hope she adapts to RV life as well as our other pooch, Sammy.