19 October ‘06

Death Valley it was… We drove up North Northwest to Scotty’s Castle.  What, you’ve never heard of it?  Louise had, but as for me, “who is Scotty?  Walter Scott, or better know as “Death Valley Scotty”.  He was an ex-cowboy, prospector, performed with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, and topping all of that he was a con man.  I won’t go into all the con’s that he could take credit for, but there were many.  He also holds a record for having more newspaper articles written about him from coast to coast than any other person of his time.  These articles were mostly favorable, mentioning in detail all of his conquests at searching out the “Big Load” (Gold).  Funny thing is, he never did have a good producing claim.  But to one very wealthy gentleman, he apparently could care less.  He just liked Scotty.  He (Chicago millionaire Albert Johnson) just liked this Scotty character, in fact he liked him so much he bank-rolled just about everything and anything that Scotty thought would work.  Johnson came out to Death Valley with Scotty to see his mine (finding it wasn’t showing any signs of producing any thing of any good).  It didn’t matter because Johnson fell in love with the freedom of Death Valley vs. Chicago, and besides it made his allergies better and his back problem just didn’t bother him any more.  At this point Albert Johnson just didn’t want to leave so he decided to build a home for himself and his wife.  This home started out small…3 tents.  Soon it developed into a couple of small square buildings and then into a 6000 sq.ft. “Castle” with additional “Hacienda’s”, a large stable, guest quarters in separate buildings, and a swimming pool (that never got finished) that is over 300 feet long, 80 wide and up to 12 ft. deep.  It took us over 3 hours to tour this “Scotty’s Castle”, and it was worth every minute…it was fantastic.  The heating, cooling, electrical systems, sewage and water systems…the tunnels that ran from the main house to all others (over a half mile of underground cement tunnels), the music room with it’s beautiful pipe organ (we were entertained with a song by the organ)…this is some castle!!!  28 miles into Death Valley, Scotty’s Castle.  Then we drove out to Ubehebe Crater.  Walking around the top of the crater was awe inspiring.  This crater was formed after a massive 770 foot steam explosion suddenly exploded, shattering the rock above and ejecting 100’s of tons of rock, mud, and small black pebbles miles around, and leaving a multi-colored cavity far below.  Hiking around the crater was a little difficult because of the steepness and the small black pebbles that would slide from under your foot as we climbed.  From there we continued to drop in altitude (from over 4000 feet to sea-level) looking for the small dirt and gravel road that would take us to Titus Canyon.  Now I didn’t mention it, but this is the beginning of the tourist season here in Death Valley.  The “Official” start is the first of November, so we are still here with very few others.  This makes our trip worth it alone.  Titus Canyon is a natural canyon that runs from one side of the interior mountain range to the other.  No more than 10-15 yards wide with walls that tower 100’s of feet above on both sides as it wind and twists its way through the mountain.  There is a single dirt/gravel path that is “one way” once you get to the entrance.  Seeing as we had come in the way we had, we could only walk through it.  Our walk covered about 3/4 mile and was stunning.  Fact is, you just couldn’t see the beauty of this valley if you had been driving (except in a convertible).  Not to much day light left so we headed to Stovepipe Wells Village and then out to the “Sand Dunes”.  Those “Tawny” dunes so smoothly rising up to 100 feet, almost velvet like.  The sun was just about ready to set and the shadows that were created were mystical.  To get out on the dunes we had to park along side the road and walk a couple hundred yards through the sage and sand.  Then you had to climb these dunes.  Each step up was about ¾ step back and your shoe would fill with this very fine sand.  The late afternoon light accentuates the ripples and patterns and it is absolutely magical. 

18 October ‘06

This morning we headed down Highway 95 again.  The scenery was much more exciting on this leg.  Still lots of straight highway punctuated with a few mountain passes.  The sun was warming but the wind was cooling.  We pulled into a large graveled area along side of the road to have lunch and as we settled down we noticed that we had pulled into a truck parking lot for the local “Brothel”.  Now you don’t see this just anywhere…  In today’s travel we have now encountered 4…that’s in the last 180 miles…most be money in this business…  Tonight we have pulled into a campground in Beatty Nevada.  It’s called Beatty’s Hot Springs RV Park, and with the camping fees of $18 it includes your enjoyment in their “Natural Artesian Hot Spring Pools”.  They have 3 pool houses which house a large private pool.  Each pool has a different temperature range, with the lowest range running from 98-101 and the hottest from 105-109.  The water comes in directly from the ground and exits out through a large pipe to a small river that flows away from the campground.  This operation was originally built to supply water for the steam engines of the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad in 1906.  The fresh clear sulfur free water worked best for the engines and now it works well for me…we both really enjoyed a long dip.  The room and pool are about 20 feet square.  The pool is down 5 steps from the door area and the floor of the water is small rocks.  The water comes up through the rocks and then exits out a pipe under the stairs.  I was amazed at how clear and clean the water was and the rocks on the bottom, absolutely without any trace of slime.  Then it was out to see a little bit of Death Valley…well not quite, we just entered the roadway heading there.  We went to see Rhyolite, the town that went from boom to bust like a lot of other towns that got their start about 1900.  Rhyolite reached its peak in 1907 with about 10,000 residents.  It had gained the attention of investors in New York and San Francisco, but the gold was not to appear to anyone but the first mine.  Even that one, the Montgomery wasn’t profitable…well we saw a few of the remaining buildings and what’s left of their cemetery.  Both were posted with “WATCH OUT FOR RATTLESNAKES !!!”, but none were found.  To get to the cemetery we had to drive a gravel/dirt road for a couple of miles and then swing into the sage for about 100 yards.  Most of the graves were nothing but a wooden board sticking up from the ground and unfortunately nothing was left to tell us who it was that was buried there.  Seeing as how we are here in Beatty, and the signs tell us that this is the “Gateway to Death Valley”, we are going to stay one more day.  Tomorrow….DEATH VALLEY or at least a part of it…

17 October ‘06

We did make it back up the hill to see the famous Virginia City of the old west, but before we got there we went into Fallon to visit their museum.  It was like stepping back into the past and living as someone who lived in Fallon from the late 1800’s on to today.  I almost expected to see something about Ernie and Sheila in there (the newer items anyway…).  It was a very nice museum and well taken care of.  They should be proud.  Then we were off to back track from our trip last night.  As I mentioned earlier, Virginia City is about an hours drive from Fallon, so seeing as we had visited the museum and driven for another hour, it was lunch time when we got there.  First and foremost I wanted to eat.  We found a parking place right at the beginning of town and then proceeded to walk the wood plank sidewalks in search of “just the right restaurant”.  After walking ¾ of one side of the town we found that right spot to eat.  It was in a bar that had some tables set aside for those that really wanted to eat, and that was us…  Either the food was really good or it was that we were really hungry…we ate just about everything (we left about 2/3 the fries…aren’t we good???).  Now we could go out and enjoy the sites of Virginia City.  At one time there was over 30,000 people, more than 100 saloons, a very few churches, and many, many mines.  The Comstock Lode had been one of those mines that made good, shall we say $234 million good ???  Mark Twain was also one of those that made a mark here.  He started out in Virginia City as a reporter for one of the local newspapers (one of the newspapers in Virginia City was the first newspaper in the state of Nevada).  From a newspaper reporter that no one would have remembered to one of the most read non-fiction writers of his day…

16 October ‘06

This morning we took the “toad” and headed for Carson City and then onto Reno.  While we were in Europe we either loaded the VW back up with all our goods for travel, or caught a bus, tram, or train to make a side trip like this one today.  Over all we probably covered 125 miles round trip.  It’s very interesting to see these different cities that have all the “Western” history that I’ve always heard of or read about, as I was growing up as a kid.  Leaving the history lesson of the towns and cities for a few hours, we went to Reno for another type of “looking at history”.  We had read and were told over and over, that The Harrah National Automobile Museum is a “must see”.  As we drove into Reno, I thought we should grab the first parking lot at a casino that offered free parking, so we pulled into Circus Circus when we saw the “Free Parking” sign.  Now to find Harrah’s and the museum.  We chose this day to see the museum because it was forecast that it was going to be a cold, blowing, and light rainy day…what a better day than this to do a museum???.  Well, Circus Circus just isn’t right around the corner from the museum, it’s about a 15 minute walk and it’s not quite miserable, but close to it.  When we found the museum we found that they also offered free parking …bummer…  Now inside, we wondered around looking at some of those beautiful collector cars when it was announced that there was going to be a tour guide giving a very exciting free tour that we “just couldn’t miss”.  At this point we met Mike Thomas and, we became very informed about these incredible collector cars over the next 3 hours.  I must admit that this stop was much more than I could have ever imagined…it was great.  Unfortunately Louise had chosen to wear her cowgirl boots so she was suffering a little, not bad, but a little.  Now it was off to one of our favorite grocery stores…Trader Joe’s.  This was our first since leaving the Seattle area and we were looking forward to shopping.  With the car full and the pocket book empty, we headed up and over the mountain to historic Virginia City.  It was after 6 and getting dark, but we still wanted to make the drive.  The 2 lane road was winding, twisting, and climbing for the clouds.  The lights of Reno and the surrounding towns were beautiful as we climbed.  Once we arrived at Virginia City we realized that it was too late and too dark to really enjoy, so we’ve just got to make the drive again tomorrow. 

15 October ‘06

13 October ‘06

Damn, Damn, Damn….Look at me… The damn Mustard bottle just broke all over me….  We had just stopped for lunch at a small roadside diner in Riggins Idaho when I no sooner had picked up the plastic mustard bottle and the damn thing just exploded.  Mustard all over me, not on the table, not on the floor, just on my lap, chest, and arms…all bright yellow and smelling like strong mustard.  I showed the young lady behind the bar what had just happened and all she could say was “GEEZZZ”… What did she mean Geezzz????  My new sweatshirt was just ruined, not to mention my jeans.  Then let’s talk about the “Elk Hamburger”.  It was totally over cooked and tasted like something I don’t want to put into my mouth again, especially after having to scrape off the excess mustard from the exploding mustard bottle.  I couldn’t get back into the coach fast enough to get some mint mouth fresheners to get rid of the taste that was left from that “hamburger”.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention it…today is Friday the 13^th after all.   After getting further down the road towards our next campground, I found myself raiding the refrigerator trying to fill the void left from lunch…not a good idea for someone who is trying to lose weight.  Our destination today was supposed to be McCall Idaho and the drive down from Lewiston was through some wonderful territory.  We followed our boat ride from yesterday for quite awhile although the Snake River was on the other side of the mountains to our right.  We had the Salmon River at our side most of the time and the mountain was separating the Snake from the Salmon for over a hundred miles.  Finally about 3 we wound our way up the side of a mountain to make our first visit to McCall.  The town its self didn’t impress either one of us much but it could have been that it just didn’t have anything happening.  It was just off the seasons of Summer and Winter which it is known to excel in.  Payette Lake was very pretty, sitting here at the doorstep of McCall, and at the top of a mountain.  We thought we were going to camp in McCall but after walking the town and seeing just about everything possible in 20 minutes we decided to move on…we moved on down the mountain for the night. 

12 October ‘06

We had a blast !!!  This morning we jumped aboard a 41 foot aluminum river boat that has 3 powerful jet engines and travels up stream at 35 miles per hour.  The ride was smooth, smooth, smooth, even when we shot through the rapids…  It was an amazing ride.  We would start at one side of the rapid and follow it up about half way and then make a sharp turn and head across to the other side to exit the rapid and land on the flat waters behind.  The rapids were rated from levels 2 to 4 which also made it exciting.  Right from the dock we were pampered by the crew.  From the history of the Snake, Clearwater, and Salmon Rivers, the geology of Hells Canyon, and the people that lived along the shores past and present were just a part.  We had a chance to meet some of the volunteers that handled some of the stopping points along the way.  One of them gave us a tour of a home that was built in the very early 1900’s, which is also were they stayed during their volunteer time…electricity that was available from a “home made” generator made from a wheel of bells that caught water from a stream.  As the “bell wheel” spun with the bells filled with water, the action was transferred to a generator that produced the electrical current.  Not only was it functional, it was attractive to look at. We also saw many additional things that made this and other homesteads functional in this area of no roads, electricity, and potable water.  I would also like to commend the volunteers that take on this commitment of being the host of each of these sites.  Fact is, one of the sites has had and still has a long list of volunteers that will fill the needs for years to come.  Now back to our ride up the Snake River and Hells Canyon.  Steelhead fishing is going on big time…the rivers have fishermen peppered along the beach and boats that float the river looking for the illusive fish with every known type of lure and bait.  We also saw some bird hunters along the shore.  Fact is, we saw a fire that was most likely started by one of those hunters.  It was burning across the top of the hills with fast abandon.  Then there was the unfortunate accident that we came across…a commercial fishing boat (looking for the illusive steelhead) had a motor quit just as they were half way into a large rapid.  Before they could get themselves straighten out, they found themselves coming down on a large bolder in the middle of the river…BANG…a hole in the side, bottom, and a water cooling hose destroyed.  The destroyed hose put more water into the hull than either of the holes.  They were lucky enough to find the bank before it went completely under…  We also had the opportunity to see a couple of big horn sheep come down to the water.  Those big horns are absolutely unbelievable !!!  Then we made a stop along the bank to see some ancient Indian pictographs (pictures painted on the rocks).  They had these well protected from the public, we could only see them as we stayed in the boat.  That’s ok, it was still worth the effort.  As we finished our ride through Hells Canyon we were unanimous in our appreciation of what we saw and how we saw it…it was a kick. 

11 October ‘06

Leaving Coeur d’Alene was met with mixed emotions.  We are definitely excited about getting on with our journey, but this is also saying “Goodbye” (leaving the close proximity) to our family for at least 8 months.  Farragut also has given us a great experience also, with the mix of hard work, lots of opportunity to meet and enjoy additional travelers, a chance to explore deeper into the panhandle of Idaho, and be a part of the “community” of Farragut State Park.   After getting all the windows in the “Toad” tinted and the air-conditioning finally fixed, we found we were ready.  We also did something we haven’t done for a long time…we went to the AAA office and had them make up a “trip tic” for this leg of the trip.  We are following Highway 95 all the way to the Baja with a lot of stops in between.  Fact is, our first stop is at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston Idaho (about 85 miles from CDA).  We’ve been reading so much about Hells Canyon and thought this might be the perfect time for us to see it.  For some reason the weather has decided to become early Fall, with the temp rising to 72 degrees in full sun.  Now the way to see Hells Canyon is to take a “jet” boat up the Snake River on a full day tour.  There is no access to the canyon by car and besides, who wants to pass up a days ride up a canyon with all kinds of additional adventures waiting.  Tomorrow morning we board before 8 and we’ll be back by 6 with lots to talk about.  Last night we took a walk up river (the Snake) to see and photograph some wonderful rock formations that have risen from over 300 feet below water level to well over 300 feet above.  The formations rise straight up, twist, and curve to a beautiful natural phenomenon.  High up on the side of a portion of the many walls of these rocks, Louise pointed out a large colony of mud nests that were made by Swifts or Martins (our guess, not knowing for sure).  As we were getting the backpack all set up with water and other things that we like to take on hikes, a park ranger came by to let us know that we should watch for rattlesnakes that could be warming themselves along the path that we would be taking…SNAKES ????  With my camera ready and senses alert, we saw no snakes.  I’m not sure whether I’m disappointed or just damned excited that we missed them…

7 October ‘06

This week we have put a lot of miles on our “toad” running back in forth to Coeur d’Alene.  We are trying to get ourselves ready for our trip south and that includes getting the toad taken care of.  The other day when we started it up and the “check engine” light glared at us…OK, now what???  The mechanic in CDA convinced us that it was time for our 60,000 mile check up and it would only cost us $400.  What a bargain…  We also had our air-conditioner re-done seeing as how it still wasn’t cooling from the last time we were there.  Well now that we’ve paid our bill, test drove the car, and switched on the air conditioner, I hope that we’ve seen the last of a mechanic for a while.  Our last weekend here at Farragut is upon us.  Again we are just about filled up.  I think we have 35 campers with us.  This morning about 4am we were all awakened by a thunderstorm that came passing by our way…WHISH-BANG-BOOM…lasting but a few minutes, it was noisy and left a lot of wet behind.  With the coach sitting here for the last month and a certain amount of Pine needles and dust gathering on her top, I decided today was a perfect day to put a little soap and water to her and get her all ready for the road.  It turned out to be a good Spring Cleaning Day. 

1 October ‘06

Say, was that Louise’s birthday last Saturday???  The 30^th of September???  She’s telling me now…”YOU KNOW IT WAS !!!” and don’t give me any guff…  “Happy Birthday Hon…” 

Our weather is still holding and the campers are coming in droves…  We have been completely full on the weekends which mean we have a lot of raking to do to get the sites ready for the next campers coming in.  It’s funny, they start arriving late Thursday and have filled all of our 43 sites by Friday at 6pm.  And then, by Sunday night we are here by ourselves (or maybe another camper or 2).  Saturday I was quite busy with some of the kids that wanted to blow off steam.  One young group just wanted to play around the restrooms all day and night…taking their bikes into the showers, throwing rocks at the electrical box, and running through the trails around the different sites howling like wolves (WERE THE HELL ARE THEIR PARENTS ???).  Then there was the group of teens that arrived with their tent trailer.  3 young girls and their boy friends.  They had me and a couple of their neighbors all over them more than once.  Finally I convinced them to move on and blow off all their steam and emotions some where else. 

28 September ‘06

We did make it to Spirit Lake and we did get the kayak into the water…  the trouble was, we had a tough time finding the right place to put in.  We had wanted to kayak a little of the lake, but first we wanted to find this little creek that flows into Spirit Lake from Mt. Spokane.  Spirit Lake does have a nice beach and boat launch area, but it just happens to be at the far end from which we wanted to put in.  After taking the only road following the lake, we finally found a spot that would allow us access.  The only problem we encountered at this launch area was there was no spot to park our car…”NO PARKING OF ANY DURATION” was posted just about every 10 feet from the water on.  Now seeing as how we were just about the only water craft on or just about on the water, we found this to be ludicrous.  With a short conversation between us, we decided to get the kayak all pumped and ready anyway and then take the car up the hill to find a spot to hide it from view.  In finding a location for the car (about 400 yards away), we loaded ourselves aboard our kayak and headed out for an afternoon of paddling.  Heading down lake, it wasn’t too hard to find our entrance into “Brickle Creek”.  The only problem was it was the mouth going in, was very shallow.  As the water flowed into the lake, it brought a large amount of sand and mud down with it.  The kayak draws about 2 inches of water and we just made it through.  The creek was about 10-15 feet wide and the bank about 10 feet above the water.  We paddled up creek for about 45 minutes and thought that with out being able to see anything above the bank, our trip up this creek just wasn’t worth the time and effort.  Now the question was how the heck are we going to turn around?  I knew one thing for sure we didn’t want to back out all that way.  It took us about 4 times to find a place that was wide enough for us to make the turn, but we were successful.  We did see a few things of interest while in the creek, such as a couple of beaver dams that were under construction.  In getting back in to Spirit Lake we just decided to follow the shoreline for a while.  Not too sure what we were seeing, we did find that there was an island that looked ready to explore.  Just as we were close enough to the shore of the island we found that it also displayed a ton of signs warning us not to approach.  Oh well, all we wanted to do was find a place in the shade to eat our lunch so we just put our bow up to the shore and maintained our seat while we enjoyed our snack. 

26 September ‘06

The sun was beautiful, 76 degrees, and it was our day off.  I have wanted to kayak from Priest Lake to Upper Priest for some time, and today was the perfect day.  The only thing that caught me off guard, was the drive up there…it was much further than I had remembered.  We drove up through Spirit Lake and then onto Newport, where we stopped for lunch.  The restaurant turns out to be the 2^nd oldest restaurant in the state of  Washington and has a bar that was shipped around the tip of South America in 1800.  Fact is, after the bar arrived in San Francisco, it continued it’s journey over the next 3 months to it’s final destination…Kelly’s Restaurant and Bar in Newport.  We found a great place to put the kayak into the lake…The National Forest campground.  This is located at the northern end of Priest Lake (which happens to be at the end of the road…again, a long way away).  We had a sandy beach to leave from and the water, absolutely flat.  Now to find our way to the channel that runs from the Priest to the Upper Priest.  We ended up taking ourselves across the lake and following a couple of boats behind this break-water.  Low and behold, we found ourselves heading up the channel to the Upper lake.  It was just like a river.  About 30-40 yards wide, very shallow, and lined with tall trees along the banks which would twist and turn about every 100 yards or so.  We hit the water just after 3 and by the time we got to our destination, it was already 4:30.  For the whole trip we had our eyes scanning the shoreline looking for a bear or even a dear, after all, we did see and read the warning that we were in Grizzly Country…  Finally, just about half way back up the channel, we heard a splash.  We both stopped rowing and set our ears to “alert”.  Geezzz, it’s a Moose…  “I didn’t know that there were Moose this far south…”  We got to about 30 yards from her.  She was standing in about 3 feet of water and dipping her head down to grab some of the grasses from below.  What a great surprise, but unfortunately that was the only one.  The row up to the Upper was beautiful and we both were happy we did it.  Tomorrow, kayaking Spirit Lake. 

23 September ‘06

Now let me tell you, we are getting to know “The Rake” pretty good…Each weekend, the campground is full so on Monday we have our work cut out for us.  By 10am we are in the golf cart and heading towards our first camping site to put the rake marks deep into the gravel and clean out the fire pits.  All this to give the next camper the best looking campsite they have ever seen.  As always, there are those that live close enough to Farragut that they could care less that check-out time is 1pm.  That makes it a little difficult because in some cases there is someone that wants to move into their site at 2 and we haven’t had a chance to clean it.  Well now that school has started, we don’t see this happening so much anymore, camping the week days is getting pretty quiet.  This does give us enough free time to go for long walks.  For the last couple of weeks, our week days have shown us about a dozen campers each night.  Now we’re back into the weekend, and we are FULL (over 40 sites)…  Another thing that has changed, Farragut is no longer taking reservations for their camping sites…a little more confusion and work for all of us.  We’ve had to make a few phone calls to the visitor’s center and negotiate a new site for those finding someone already in “their” location.  Oh well, I must say, we are really enjoying ourselves here in our first role of “Host’s”.  We’ve taken a couple of days off each week.  Last Tuesday we went into Coeur d’Alene and had the tires cross-switched, checked our email, and did some grocery shopping.  On Wednesday I went again to CDA and had breakfast with Larry and Pauline.  Later we drove over to Spirit Lake (about 12 miles away).  It’s been over 25 years since the last time we were there, and I really didn’t recognize it.  If this little village was just outside of a larger city than Spokane, it would be a tourist “Mecca”.  The quaint little stores sitting at the edge of a beautiful lake…nothing but a storybook that is ready to be read.  There have also been a lot of things going on here at Farragut besides camping.  Last weekend Farragut hosted 800 boys to a Boy Scout Jamboree.  Today Farragut hosted the annual cross-country race.  There were about 50 busses that carried over 800 junior and senior high runners from 4 states.  Unfortunately, we were so busy here that we didn’t have a chance to watch any of the races.  Later this afternoon we attended a memorial to Rick, the host that passed away a couple of weeks ago.  It was a very nice gathering of his family, rangers of Farragut, other camp host’s, and friends. 

13 September ‘06

We’ve now been here at Farragut for 2 weeks and let me tell you…we have been busting our butt !!!  This isn’t a complaint, it’s just that it does consist of some good physical work which we haven’t done for some time and I’m sure we needed it.  We wake about 8am, check our list for new campers that have set up reservations for our camp-sites, then head out to clean (rake out all the driveways and platforms, and then clean out the fire pits) all the campsites that have opened up.  I would guess that we both walk about 4 miles average a day raking, let alone the walks we make throughout the day and night just to say “hi” to all our guests.  The other night, just after we got into bed, I had to dress, go out and “talk” to one of our “guests” about their loud voices.  It was just before midnight and our “quiet” time starts at 10pm…”gee, is it really that late?”   Hell Yes…  Other than that, we have been running a fairly loose ship and enjoying ourselves and all those guests that we have met.  Last Saturday after we finished our duties, Louise and I went over to visit one of the other “hosts” here.  Rick and Sandy have been hosting here for just about the whole season.  When you met Rick for the first time, it was like you have known him for years.  Saturday, Sandy was away to be with her daughter for the birth of her first grand-daughter.  She was due back Monday night.  Unfortunately, Rick passed away just after he awoke on Monday morning…we will all miss him, even though we have only known him for a short time.   

We have Tuesday and Wednesday off to do what we want (after we clean a few campsites), so seeing as how we haven’t had the kayak out for some time we headed down to the boat launch to set it into Lake Pend Oreille.  The weather was perfect…the water flat, blue, and absolutely clear…the row was really great.   We covered about 6 to 7 miles of shoreline in about 3 hours.  It was one of those times when you feel totally “wiped out”…a good feeling. 

Today we cleaned 12 sites, washed the coach and car, and then headed into Spokane to visit the “Spokane Fair”.  It’s been a few years since we were last at there and after today, it will be even a few more. 

8 September ‘06

Today is the first full weekend for us and the campground is full !!!  Not only is our campground (Snow Berry) full, so are all the others here at Farragut.  The weather is still giving us one beautiful day after another and giving all the campers just what they are looking for.  On top of the “everyday camper” we have here, Farragut is hosting the last Farragut Naval Training Station, 60th Reunion this weekend.  That means that we have about 5-600 additional people running around here as well.  This morning I was up early and sitting under the canopy having my first cup of coffee, when I was summoned to the “Brig”.  Now seeing as how this was a Naval Base, it makes sense that there was a brig set up for the naughty.  There was going to be a large gathering of sailors and their families at the brig to see the unveiling of a large memorial to them and the training center at Farragut.  They asked me to help with traffic control…  Now remember, this is the 60^th reunion for those that arrived at this camp at the young age of 17 plus…that means that the average age for those that attended (and drove their cars, trucks, and motor homes) were well over 80.  All kidding aside, it was a pleasure to be a target out there with all those that went through boot camp here.  We have one of the former “recruits” in the site right across from us.  Just after he backed into his site with his 35 foot motor home, I looked across and found him walking across the top of it.  Now under most circumstances, it wouldn’t have given me such a start.  Bill, it turns out, is 85, about 6’ 1”, and prox 200 pounds.  Next, he was hanging over the side of it trying to un-lock his canopy which was stuck.  He handled all this quite well on his own, and gave me the thought that I sure hope I will be able to do that after the next 20 years.  Now back to the  memorial, it consisted of a cement platform that is to resemble a ship and in the center of that, is a circular platform that holds the sculpture of a Navy sailor.  Everything in getting ready for this reunion unfortunately was running a little behind, so when I was summoned to the brig, the sculpture was sitting on a large wooden pallet and just about ready to be lifted into place on the “ship”.  The sculpture was still clay.  It just didn’t have time to make it to the foundry for the reunion, so it arrived “green”.  The artist was there to make sure that there were no problems during the lift on and off of the platform.  The bust had the typical Navy white hat and jumper.  The head, neck, and face of the sailor have relief carvings of additional faces of the Farragut Sailor…it is wonderfully done.  Later on we were back at Snow Berry, raking out a couple of sites and selling firewood…a full day and it looks like a very full weekend !!!

5 September ‘06

This morning Louise and I went out to Snow Berry Campground and said good-bye to C.W. and Gina and within the hour we were set up right where they were.  Well, now let’s get down to “Hosting”…  First off we had some check-outs, so we grabbed the golf cart and headed off to the first vacated site.  With rake in hand, we raked the sites so that they looked nice and ready for the next campers to arrive.  We had 4 sites to work on this morning and tomorrow looks like we may have double that.  The rest of the afternoon was spent getting the coach settled in.  There are 43 camping sites at Snow Berry and right now we have 15 campers checked in.  Another responsibility is to sell bundles of wood for the campfires.  For the next 4 or 5 weeks we will have 2 days off each week, but once we’ve got our morning site cleaning done, we are free to go off for the rest of the day if there is something we really want to do.  It’s a little physical, but we are enjoying it…. 

3 September ‘06

Joelle drove up to visit us for a couple of days…  Yesterday was a laid back day with a book, many games of ladder golf, food, and just good company.  This morning we joined all the rest of the “hosts” for Sunday breakfast.  This little restaurant in Athol does a good job, good service, good food, and good prices…just what we Full Timers are looking for… After breakfast, Louise, Joelle, and I drove up to Sandpoint.  It has been a long time since we walked the streets of this town.  Unfortunately the “Bridge” shops were all closed because of the bridge was under total renovation.  One of the high-lites from our visit was a notice that there was a micro-brewery “tasting” up at the Switzer ski area.  Now that sounded good all of us so we drove up the mountain.  They had a couple of good bands that were entertaining the crowd, a couple of great barbecue stands, and some great beer.  We also took the time to buy tickets for the ski lift.  The ride to the top of the ski slopes was so good, we had to take it 3 up times.  By the time we got back home we were completely wiped out.  It must have been all the time at the high altitude…

1 September ‘06

Arrived at Farragut State Park and ready to start our new journey…being a “Camp Host”.  We thought we were going to host this new campground that they are opening, but just before arriving we found out that it wasn’t ready for campers yet.  “OK, what do you have for us now???” we asked.  Well they gave us 3 options to consider but, there was one that they really wanted us to take.  The camp host for “Snow Berry” Campground was just about ready to leave and they would really appreciate it if we would take that one over for the next month plus.  After agreeing, they showed us to a temporary spot to park the coach for the next 4 days.  Later that afternoon Louise and I went to Snow Berry to meet the Camp Host’s, C.W. and Gina.  They have been there since the first of June and told us of the great time that they’ve had hosting.   Louise and I had a long visit with them and promised that we would be back early in the morning.   Walking through the campground, we picked the minds of Gena and C.W. on what we might expect during our  stay.  I must say, this looks like we are going to have a great time, a little physical work, but a good time.  One of the duties that have made this campground special, is that every campsite that a camper leaves from, goes into a “clean sweep”…CW and Gina have been raking the campsites leaving them with a fresh look each time a camper leaves and makes it look like a special thought was given for that new camper coming in.  We will also be cleaning out the fire pits, selling wood for the bonfires, and just “being there” for the campers.

25 August ‘06

Well we are back in the Seattle area once again.  This week we will be camped at Tall Chief in Fall City for the next 3 days.  Tuesday, we start heading toward our volunteer position at Farragut State Park in Idaho.  This morning,  Mikleane was out of bed and on her way to the starting point of “The” walk by 5:30am.  She is walking the 3 day, 60 mile “Walk For Breast Cancer”.  This walk is the climax of all the long practice walks leading up to this day.  Totally for this northwest group, they have received pledges for over 7 million dollars…great job for a great cause.  Last night we roasted hot dogs and BBQ’d hamburgers (Drew did the hard work) with Ric, Drew, and Louise and then ended the evening watching the video “RV”.  I think I learned a few special moves in driving our coach from this movie, so if you see me on the road…runnnnn… 

17 August ‘06

We had to put the coach into the dealership for some warrantee work on Tuesday so we decided we had enough time to drive out to Longbeach /Illwaco, Washington and spend a few days with Danni and Con (which is long overdue).  The drive is one that we have made many times but it still is one that we enjoy very much.  Once we get past Olympia and settle into the 2 lane roads, it just becomes a quiet and beautiful event.  Con met us out at the gates to their complex and took us on back to their “home away from home”.  For a lot of summers they have taken their 36 foot travel trailer and enjoyed the Oregon and Washington coast, so it makes good sense to see them settled into their present location.  Louise and I were greatly impressed with what they have made for themselves here.  The only problem I can see with what they have, is that “guests” like us find ourselves so comfortable that we just might be tough to get out once we get in…  Con had caught a couple Sturgeon which he had some smoked and the rest put into steaks.  Our first taste of this was smoked and let me tell you, it was great !!!  A couple of days later Danni cut the steaks into chunks and deep fried them…WOW !!!  We were blown away with just how good that Sturgeon was.  We were also re-introduced to the bakery in Longbeach.  You might say that we ate our way through Illwaco and Longbeach over the 3 nights and 4 days that we spent there.  On Sunday we met Danni and Con in Astoria, Oregon were they have a booth in the “Farmers Market”.  It must have been our appearing that they had their biggest Sunday Market in Astoria ever…  We tried to get the key to the gate to their place but Con said that they would come out and get us instead…can you imagine that????  

14 August ‘06

On Sunday after enjoying the farmers market in Astoria, Louise and I drove out to Oysterville and then back to Longbeach.  I had made a call to Leroy and Claudia earlier, but they hadn’t come out yet to the coast.  Just as we were coming into Longbeach, Leroy returned our phone call and insisted that we drop by and see just what has been going on “at the beach”.  Leroy, obviously we were greatly impressed….your dream has come true and it looks great !!!  As always, it was good to see Leroy and Claudia and then toss in Pam and Norm, it was just like “old times” all over again.  Unfortunately we had to get going too soon but we will be back.  The Longbeach Kite Festival was going to start on Monday morning, but we had to leave before all the kites were up in the air.  Oh well, there is always next time. 

2 August ‘06

It was about time that we got Lois (Mom) in the front seat of the motor home and took her on an outing.  We picked her up just before noon and headed out for Hoods Canal on Puget Sound.  Our route took us around Olympia and then onto highway 101 and Shelton.  About 15 miles further up 101 we turned onto route 106 and headed to Hoods Canal and Mark and Susan’s (Louise’s brother and sister-n-law) new home.  I found a test of my driving skills in getting the coach parked at their home.  Thanks to Mark and a little luck, we slid in beside their home with about 6 inches on one side (the corner of the roof was very close) and a foot on the other.  Now it was time for a shower and a cold beer…  We were with Mark and Susan for 4 days and had a blast !!!  I helped Mark put another coat of paint on the garage, which gave me a chance to remember just a little bit of what I was missing by not having to maintain a home any longer….oh ya, I almost forgot…  We took a couple of drives out to see the sights of the canal and enjoy some of the local “haunts”.  One “haunt” that we really enjoyed was ------- for a great dinner.  Their property is tied to a wonderful private beach club.  One morning about 10, we headed down there at low tide and enjoyed an hour of “picking” clams.  Seeing as how the tide was out, we had a huge beach to rake and pick.  The top layer was filled with oysters ( we passed on the oysters this time around because the water was too warm) which we raked aside and found the small clams laying just under a layer of mud.  We ended up picking enough to feed the 5 of us with more clams than any of us had any idea we could hold in one sitting….WHAT A GREAT TREAT !!!  Now to leaving…I had Mark out there beside me again as I pulled out from beside his house.  I had to pull out exactly as I went in which put me heading down into a dead-end street that I couldn’t turn around in…sooo, I had to back out about 300 yards until I found a place I could turn-around in.  All worked out great, no one run over and no scrapes or dents…Great Grandma made it home just fine. 

24 July ’06.

After leaving Spokane we headed toward Yakima for another week.  The weather was getting hotter as we traveled, so as we started to pass Moses Lake we made the command decision to stop for the day and get into a pool if possible.  With the day temperatures reaching into the 100+ degree area and the road temperatures reaching as high as 120, it just made sense to stop. The campground was great and the pools were really good…we will be back.  Early the next morning we again were on the road to Yakima.  Just after arriving, we went over to Leslee’s and picked up Lena and Vinny.  The campground had a pool so we thought they might enjoy it and it would also give us some one on one time with them.  The funny thing was, as soon as we hit the water in the pool, we found that it might be cooler staying out… This pool was solar heated and apparently they have no idea as to how to turn the heat off…it wasn’t only warm, it was down right HOT !!!   Well apparently Vinny didn’t mind it so much, as he stayed in for the better part of 2 hours straight.  That night while we were sitting outside, I heard the “thunder” of a NASCAR       vehicle warming up at the track down the street.  You can’t miss knowing that sound…  I grabbed Vinny and Lena and we headed over to see if we could get close enough to see it circle the track.  Fortunately I found the lock off the entrance gate to the pits so we were able to sneak a peak from the wall as it roared by.  A little surprising to me, the kids enjoyed it as much as I did.  Over the next few days we were able to get together with Lena and Vinny at the pool, the coach, and their house.  It was really great to get together with them.  Leslee would join us after work and then we would either head off to a restaurant for dinner or have a barbecue over at her place or ours.  The morning we left Yakama, we headed up the Canyon Road that follows the Yakama River all the way to Ellensburg.  I don’t know what took us so long to find that route…it was great. 

19 July ’06.

Ok, first let’s make this absolutely clear…I am writing this on the 21^st of August and trying to remember as much of the past month as possible.  This will be a journal from hell I’m sure.  All the details have been jumbled together, so I will do my best to unscramble them and make this worth the effort to write or more importantly, worth the effort to read.  After leaving Coeur d’Alene we headed to Spokane for our “Wiener Family Picnic”.  Boy, the weather has continued to be HOT !!!  John agreed to have the picnic at his “ranch” for another year…”What a guy…”  We parked the coach as close to the drive as possible so that when we put the canopy out it might give shade enough to save a number of the family members from heat stroke.  Three days of great family conversations, games, and battles (water balloons) and of course more food than we could ever have consumed in a month.  Thanks to John again this year, we have had a place to gather….