15 August ‘09

Saturday

Boy last night turned out to be a long session, but I got most of it done.  Now to bring “us all” up-to-date.  Just after we got back to the coach from Saturday’s wedding we got an email from Laurie and Bob Lynch.  The last time we saw Bob and Laurie just outside of San Francisco last year.  They have been making a swing through the northwest and had just moved out of Montana and found a place to settle in Idaho.  I tried to call back but soon found that our phone service wasn’t the best.  The next morning Louise and I decided to head up north and join them for a couple of days just outside of Hope, Idaho.  This was our first time to camp in Sam Owen State Park and found it to be a great camping site and right on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. 

 Bob and Laurie have been kayaking buddies for a number of paddles and this is giving us another opportunity to get on the water with them and that’s one reason we’re here.  Louise and I have paddled 2 or 3 places on Lake Pend Oreille, but not up here on the north end.  Laurie found a great book with some amazing locations to kayak and we were soon off to do a couple of them.  Our first outing took us out of Johnson’s Landing.  We followed the channels as they stayed close to the tall hills (small mountains…) and then out into the lake.  Crossing one of the larger channels we soon found ourselves paddling into a water path that was set up on both sides by tall reeds and trees that guided us around one bend to the next…we did this for well over 4 hours (including time off for eating lunch in the kayaks). 

 We did have a couple of times when the wind worked against us and sent whitecaps splashing hard against the paddles but most of the trip was just amazing.  We had been watching the Osprey pretty much all morning and as we rounded one of the corners we saw a very unusual site…a young Osprey sitting low to the water and hiding behind a stump (it thought it was hiding anyway).  Louise and I turned our kayak and headed back to get a photo and a better look.  We didn’t want to scare it, but I’m sure we did….sorry… 

The next morning we were off to kayak a river.  For a river run, we needed a drop-off vehicle and a pick-up vehicle so we loaded the kayaks into the back of Bob’s truck and after leaving our car behind at the exit of our paddle, we drove up to the beginning to get into the water.  The water level looked a little low but we decided that low or not, we were going to give it a try.  We hadn’t paddled but a hundred yards and we were out and pulling the kayaks. 

 We pulled for about 25 yards and then with the water deep enough, we got back in.  Now that wasn’t the last of the “shallow” water but we were able to get through most of the shallower areas by “raising our butts” and pushing with our paddles until free. 

 This was another great day of kayaking as we leisurely paddled the 9 miles of winding and twisting water of the Pack River. 

19 October ‘08

Sunday

In response to my family’s comments regarding the lack of entries and photos, I’m afraid to say that for some reason I’ve had less enthusiasm in writing my blog lately.  It’s got to be a little boredom in my writings, but I will get over it soon.  Having been either at Farragut or here in Coeur d’Alene for the last 3 months (the longest we have ever stayed in one place since January 2004), I’ve found myself being too much of a “couch potato”… well maybe not, but it’s been pretty much the same ole chores, scenery, and…hell, it’s just that I really want to get back on the road !!!  Inevitably when writing a daily journal over the last 4+ years, I’m lucky this was the first real dry period.  I know, it’s all the politics…the economy…old age…who knows???  Actually it’s not all that bad.  We’ve really been enjoying ourselves a lot.  We’ve had a couple of wonderful meals (and I do mean “WONDERFUL MEALS”) at Frank and Lynn’s home, met Larry and Pauline for dinner in town a couple of times (great company, incredibly bad food) and had a chance to meet Sid and Julie, good friends of Lar and Paul’s.  Sid and Julie own StanCraft Boats here in Coeur d’Alene.  They build some of the most beautiful “Classic Custom Wooden Boats” you will ever see and I wanted to put their web address here for you to see (  www.stancraftboats.com  ).  Stan also has re-built a stunning 1934 Cadillac Sedan. 

Louise and I were invited to take a ride through town with them the other night.  We sat in the backseat in TOTAL LUXURY!!!  Not only is the exterior of this car PERFECT,

the interior is even better.  This was really a treat and one that we’ll remember for a long time.  Beyond that, we’ve had a chance to spend some great time with Bruce and Peg, especially since we’re sharing the same campground.  We did take a day and visit Spokane.  Finding a parking space that wouldn’t cost us an arm and a leg wasn’t so easy, but once we did we were out to see the sites.  First we had to make a phone call…Ann, Louise’s sister, works downtown in Spokane so we called to see if she wanted to join us for lunch. 

 We met at Spokane’s Antique Merry-Go-Round in the park and headed out to find the best hotdog stand in town.  I’ve got to tell you, this “German” hotdog I had was the best hotdog I’ve ever had and we even had to eat it while sitting at the curb right in front of the largest bank in town.  Heck, it was just like one of our best haunts in Cabo…  Louise and I even rode the tram which travels down over the Spokane River and the dam.  We haven’t taken that ride since it first opened with the Spokane World’s Fair in 1974…we had some wonderful memories.  The fairgrounds have changed considerably but I think to the best, it is quite beautiful, especially when it’s warm and the sun is shining.  Last night the campground had a special visitor…  A rider rode up on his bicycle, set up his tent, pulled out his cooking gear and quickly made his dinner.  Now I know that this doesn’t always indicate “a special visitor”, but Chris and his Nomad Adventure are. 

Chris has ridden his bicycle through 5 CONTINENTS and is still going.  He is from France and has traveled over 20,000 miles so far…summer, winter, spring, and fall.  You might want to check-out his web-site www.nomadno.overblog.com.  It’s all in French but his photography is unbelievable…check it out. 

                                   Our Last Campfire at Snowberry

1 October ‘08

Wednesday

Well our time at being a camp host at Farragut State Park has once again come to an end.  Heck, this is the second time in two months and the second time in 3 years.  I must admit, we’ve had a great time and sorry to see the summer coming to an end.  We received an email from Ralph and Susan (a couple that we met at a campground in Turkey).  On the subject line Susan wrote “In Idaho”, meaning that they were in Idaho.  What they didn’t know was that Louise and I were just 18 miles away.  They had come down from their newly built home in Calgary to stay a week in a timeshare condominium they had traded into. 

All of us were caught by surprise in this coincidence.  It’s been since the 4^th of November in 2004 that Louise and I pulled into a campground in Kas, Turkey only to find a white VW Campervan from Canada sitting right next to us.  We did see each other for a quick breakfast this last December as they were heading into the Baja for the winter.  Louise and I really enjoyed their visit, short, but very enjoyable…we’ve got to do it again soon.  Now back to Farragut…  This has been a busy time for the park.  Just like Gilmore in August, Snowberry in September has been unbelievably busy.  There were quite a few mornings that we had 25 to 35 campsites to get ready for the next camper coming in.  The other day, Louise and I grabbed our ladder, put it into the car, and went up to the “Rangers Residence” area.  They have some very old and not so very well cared for apple trees.  The apples are small and aren’t very sweet but Louise wants to make applesauce.  I’ve got to hand it to her, she knows what she’s doing…the applesauce is absolutely amazing.  Well our time at Farragut has come to an end, October has arrived, and we have made the 25 miles south to Coeur d’Alene.  We are now camped within the city of CDA and will be here until the end of the month.  As we pulled into the park (Riverwalk RV Park) we were met by a couple very familiar faces.  Bruce and Peg had just returned from their European camping adventure and had beaten us here by a couple of days.  I mentioned their trip and blog in my last posting…check it out, you won’t be disappointed.  Tonight Peg joined us for the “Vice Presidential” debates and doing so, gave us lot’s to talk about.  Oh ya, I forgot to mention, we finally got our wiring problem fixed after having our new inverter put in.  We now have our microwave back…thank God.  I made an appointment with Erickson RV prior to leaving Farragut so as we pulled into CDA, we went immediately over to Erickson’s.  It is amazing how good we feel now that we have the microwave in working order.   

                                    Snowberry, Our Latest Diggs...

15 September ‘08

Monday

Over the last 2+ weeks we have had company stay here with us, family and friends in for dinner and smores, and said good bye to fellow “Host’s” here at Farragut.  Frank and Lynn called us the other night and invited us out to their home for dinner.  They’ve owned their home in Coeur d’Alene since the early ‘80’s and have just finished a beautiful remodel in their kitchen.  Frank is quite a “contractor” and has completed 3 different projects over the last couple of years, and has done a beautiful job doing it.  We also had dinner with Larry and Pauline last week.  They introduced us to a new “Italian” restaurant that I thoroughly enjoyed and then we followed that with a dinner party at The Greenbriar Inn.  They have a jazz group on the weekends and with Larry and Pauline celebrating their 38th anniversary we all throught this was the right place to be.

Then we got a call from Bonnie and Doug Rohrer.  They were on their way from Mount Vernon, Washington to spend the weekend with us.  We had been on their backs to get over here and finally they obliged.  Having Bonnie and Doug here gave us the opportunity to have a “get together”…Bonnie, Doug, Frank, Lynn, Larry, Pauline, and Louise and I, all have something in common, we all met here in Coeur d’Alene in early 1980.  We have had the opportunity to see one or the other since, but this is the first time that “all” of us have gotten together in one place for a very long time. 

        L/R: Larry, Pauline, Lynn, Louise, Frank, Bonnie, Doug

We had a great time and look forward to doing again soon.  Fact is, thoughts are to get together in a couple of years in Cabo.  On the first of September, we closed our first campground (Gilmore),

                                  Gilmore Host Site

and moved into our new campground “Snowberry”.  Snowberry is still located here at Farragut and happens to be the same campground that we hosted 2 years ago.  We were here for the month of September and the first week of October but for this visit, we’ll leave on the last day of September.  It has, and will be, a very quick two months.  Snowberry is about twice the size of Gilmore and all the sites are set into the tall evergreens.  With over 3000 acres here at Farragut, we are favored with large and semi private camp sites.  I’ve only had one camper get a little pissed at me, but all the rest have been here to have a great time.  You can’t win them all…  Yesterday we had the largest group leave and that meant we had the largest group of campsites to clean and get ready for today…39.  It took us about 4 1/2 hours and left us with some muscles we didn’t know we had.  To work off the sore muscles we took to the lake.  Grabbing the kayak out of the back of the car, we put into Lake Pend Oreille for a couple of hours.  We haven’t taken the opportunity to kayak near as much as we had wanted while here but we’re trying to make up for it now.  This gave us another chance to paddle into Button Hook Bay and back on the other side of the bay. 

We’ve also been able to get into a little biking in with our hiking as well.  Biking is new for us now but with a little practice we hope to expand the limits of our campground.  I haven’t done much biking since being a youngster and for Louise, it was even a little longer.  2 years ago, we did take a ride on the “Hiawatha Trail”.  That ride was on a slight downhill slant, through 5 tunnels (1 a mile long) and over 7 trestles. 

We did that with our friends Bruce and Peg…by the way, they just got back from their camping trip through a large portion of Europe.  You’ll have to read about their adventure on their web page

www.brupeg.googlepages.com/home .  Peggy is a wonderful writer and Bruce, well he’s a “wonderful guy”…(just kidding Bruce)…Louise and I both look up to them as leaders in our own travel adventures.  Today we decided to run up to Sandpoint.  We were looking for lunch and it also gave us a chance to look through town.  It has been a few years since we were last there.  Unfortunately the economy hasn’t helped them much.  Let’s hope for better times.  One thing that I haven't mentioned in my journals is our new find, or should I say Louise's find...Ralph's.  Ralph's is a laundomat/espresso establishment in Bayview and also known to be "The Place" to get all the "dirt" that is happening in Bayview. 

There are times when I have to look toward the heavens and say "Thanks for Ralph's" when my need for a Latte hits. 

25 August ‘08

Monday

Well here we go again…Monday, another day off, and IT’S RAINING !!!!  Let’s hope tomorrow will be better.  We joined Larry and Pauline at “Franklin’s Hoagies” for breakfast and then headed over to the Coeur d’Alene Mall for a little “window shopping”.  As we were about ready to pay the breakfast bill I found out that I had left my wallet back at the park (20+ miles away).  Thank goodness Louise had hers and had enough money to handle the bill.  After our stop at the mall we went over to a store that had been recommended to us for appraising a couple of Navaho rugs we had been carrying in the coach for quite some time.  They gave us the appraisal and then made us an offer “we couldn’t refuse”.  Well we had been carrying those two rugs from house to house and house to motor home and only once did we ever display them, so selling them now just made a lot of sense. 

Today (Tuesday) we headed back to Coeur d’Alene.  Our first stop was about the same as most as we get close to Starbucks, stop and have a cup of coffee…  I’ve been accused of being a “coffee snob” and I guess they’re right…any excuse of finding a Starbucks will do.  Then it was off to finish a couple of errands that we didn’t finish yesterday.  Completing those, we drove down to the Resort, retrieved our "Nordic Walker" walking sticks out of the back of the car and got ready for a hike around Tubbs Hill.  We’ve walked Tubbs Hill many times over the past 28 years but today’s hike was different.  This was the first time we had used our Nautilus Walking Sticks on Tubbs Hill.  We really enjoy using these walking sticks as they definitely give us a serious workout.     It was so serious that we stopped by the Coeur d’Alene Brewing Company for a glass of their micro-brew.  

We happened to have purchased a case of their beer a couple of months ago at Costco and we really liked it, so having the opportunity to stop in and sample a couple of other beers was a real treat.  We will go back…  But now we must rush off to dinner at Joelle’s.  Trev was there with us as he has moved back home to go to school.  He registered for his first year at North Idaho Community School and is looking forward to his studies.  But now we’ve got to eat….

24 August '08

Sunday

We’re sitting here tonight watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics from Beijing and constantly asking ourselves “how are they doing that, or did you see that?”…  I’m sure that we’ll be talking about the opening and closing of the Olympics for a long long time…  We’ve been very fortunate to have been able to watch just about every event that was broadcast these games and still get all of our work done here at  Farragut.  It’s hard to believe but we’re into our 3^rd week already.  The second afternoon we were here we had a surprise visit.  CW and Gina came riding up on their bikes.  They are the couple that we took over from 2 years ago.  You might say that they taught us all we know about “Camp Hosting”… They have the same days off (Monday and Tuesdays) so we started looking for things that we might do together.  As it turns out, they have a couple of inflatable kayaks so we immediately started looking for the best time and location to go out for a paddle.  But first things first…  Back in the early 80’s when we lived in Coeur d’Alene, there was one local event that we really enjoyed going too…”Art On The Green”. 

Joelle and Amy called and let us know that they were on their way so Louise and I jumped in the car and off we went to join them for the day.  Art on the Green is a gathering of artists, restaurateurs, small business owners, and musicians of all types.  When we started going, you could walk the entire gathering in an hour and 45 minutes or less and still have time to see and enjoy everything.  This time it took us well over 4 hours and we didn’t see everything but we sure ate well.  Last Tuesday we got together with CW and Gina and headed down to the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene.  There are a number of smaller lakes that have formed off of the Coeur d’Alene River and the St. Joe Rivers and they can be reached by entering Lake Coeur d’Alene and paddling up the St Joe about a mile.  Unfortunately, when we woke we found that the sky had turned threatening and looked like we might find ourselves in a heavy downpour.  Well we struck out anyway.  A little over halfway we were overtaken with the heavy rain that we were hoping to avoid so we turned around and headed back.  Seeing as how it was still early morning and we felt that none of us had had enough coffee, we headed off to find a place that would be able to supply our needs.  On Thursday Louise went to the Spokane airport to pick-up Lil-Louise and Drew.  They flew in from Seattle to spend a few days with us.  Of course they were immediately drawn into the work around the campground and for exchange we supply the smores…

Our “assignments” are to sell firewood, rake up the campsite

and clean the picnic tables when the campers check out, and watch over and be around when or if one of the new campers have a question or problem.  This is done for 5 days and the next two we are off to do whatever and for all this we get a free site. 

To clean/rake a campsite will take the two of us about 7 to 8 minutes and on an average day we will have about 9 sites that will vacate…pretty easy deal.  The rest of the days while we are “on”, we can do whatever we want and that includes leaving the area.  If we do leave, we let the rangers know and also make arrangements with our neighbor camp-host.  This afternoon Larry and Pauline drove out to spend the afternoon with us. 

We had a little different morning.  We knew Lar and Paul were to be here about 2 but by 1 we still had 4 campers that hadn’t left.  Now with check-out being 1 and check-in at 2 we were behind the ball especially if I was to get my shower before they arrived…well it all worked out and we enjoyed the visit.

29 May ‘08

Friday

We finally arrived back at River Walk, “our” campground in Coeur d’Alene.  Just a year ago we were here for Amy’s graduation, our oldest granddaughter, and now we are here for the Trev’s, our oldest grandson.  It’s amazing how fast time has passed and the grandkids are already graduating from high school. 

Leaving the campground in Rapid City was almost more exciting than we had wanted.  The last 2 days while we were there were rained like hell and unfortunately made the soil all around our motor home really soft.  We had no more than started our turn out of the site and the right rear duels started to sink into the grass.  You could immediately feel that things weren’t looking so good.  Fortunately for us, I was able to back out of the hole and get another start forward.  It was a go slow and as straight as possible until we got up enough momentum to carry us forward and out of the trouble area.  We stopped by the office to apologize only to find out that it was an “expected” happening after a rain…hell, they could have warned us…  Oh well, we made it.  The rest of the trip West through the remainder of South Dakota, Northeastern Wyoming, and across Montana was uneventful. 

We did have a fair amount of rain to travel though and of course a head wind.  Isn’t it amazing how as soon as you get out on the road, the wind direction changes and decides that it has to blow directly in your face???  Our first stop after leaving Mt. Rushmore Shadows was the parking lot of Toys or Us in Billings.  We were heading to the Wal-Mart parking lot, but found that it was completely covered with “shoppers”…what the hell happened so that there wasn’t any room for those of us that want to park our “big motor homes” in OUR Wal-Mart parking lot???  It just happened that Toys or Us were right next door and their parking lot was empty, save about 4 cars in a lot that would hold well over 2 or 300.  It was about 6pm when we arrived and I went into the store to ask the manager if it would be possible to park around back or on the side of the store for the night.  Her reply was “the store policy is no overnight parking”, but…I think it would be OK.  The next stop was in Missoula.  There is a large dirt area in front of “The Largest RV Dealership In Montana” that we had thought before would work for a night of dry camping.  After checking at the office and getting their approval, we set up for the night.  There has been something bothering me lately, with the fuel prices climbing like they have, that the “un-locked” fuel doors on the motor home could be too inviting to the unscrupulous.  Well Britz RV had the perfect locks so we bought and installed them right there in the dirt…just kidding, it was great of them to open the lot for a night.  The total ride from South Dakota to Coeur d’Alene was beautiful.  We couldn’t see the snowy mountains because the rain clouds were so low, but the green rolling hills, the wild and the cultivated flowers, and of course the swollen rivers were outstanding. 

The unfortunate thing of course was the flooding that was accruing because of the rain and heaving melting of the snow in the mountains.  We went pass the Wolf Lodge Campground that is located about 10 miles east of Coeur d’Alene and found that it was about 5 or 6 feet under water.  We were there last year to visit and camp with Bruce and Peggy who were doing a stint of “work camping”.  We were given a grand tour of the campground and saw all the work that they had accomplished to get it looking so good and now...well it just isn’t the same. 

On Sunday Louise and I were joined by our daughter Joelle and Peg and Bruce for a day of “biking”.  Those of you who know us probably know that Louise and I don’t bike…fact is, Louise hasn’t been on a bicycle since she was in grade school and for me, I haven’t ridden over a ½ mile since then either.  Now we are off to ride the 17 mile Hiawatha trail…thank God it is all down hill…  The Hiawatha trail was developed after the removal of the railroad tracks the Hiawatha Railroad train traveled for many years.  It started off with a ride through a 2 mile tunnel.  It was soooo dark in there that you had to use flash lights to find your way to the end and at the same time being pelted by water from the ceiling.  The pathway through the tunnels were banked from the center to the outside so that the water would flow into a trough on each side.  The problem with that was, as you were riding in total darkness on an unstable bike you were drawn like a magnet to the walls and the water trough...man I really didn’t want crash, especially in that damn tunnel.  We drove up the mountain to find the trail and for the next 15 miles we traveled through tunnels, over several trestles, and wound our way through the forest of tall Pine and Fir trees.  The views were terrific and the ride…well it was great with a possible wanting for a much softer seat (we had rented the “COMORT RIDE BIKE”) for the next time we ride.  There is no doubt, all of us totally enjoyed the ride and as they say, “would do it again at a drop of a hat”.  I must tell you however, it wasn’t without a couple of small “incidents”.  One time as Louise came to a stop, after feeling a little more confident in her riding, she found her body going one way and the bike going the other and ending with both, the bike and her, having to wipe off their bum.  The other was when Peggy ran into the back of Louise, she had stopped too quickly and without warning (at least that’s what Peggy said). That time everyone remained upright but had a good laugh over it.  It was a great day but much longer than anyone of us had imagined, from start to finish in 5 hours. 

25 June ‘07

I’m doing it again… I really don’t remember getting so behind when we were camping through Europe, but here I’ve had a problem.  Well let’s get on with it !!! 

On the 14^th Louise and I were invited to have dinner with our good friends Larry and Pauline Anderson.  We first met Larry and Pauline in 1980 when we purchased our business in Coeur d’Alene.  They had a restaurant across the driveway from us called “Larry’s 5 ¢ Coffee House” (Gawd, can you imagine, coffee for 5 ¢ a cup way back then???).  Louise and I hold their friendship close and anytime that we get a chance to visit with them (and especially when they have us to dinner) is something we look forward to when we’re back in Coeur d’Alene.   Besides having the opportunity to be with Amy and our family for Amy’s High School Graduation, we also met up with Peg and Bruce Fitzmaurice as they are one of the camp hosts at Wolf Lodge RV Park  (Peg and Bruce led us to our European journey in 2003 leading the way in 2000.). 

Coeur d’Alene was also having their “Car d’Alene” weekend so we decided to stay over a couple more days and take it in.  I’ve never seen more hot rods, antique cars and trucks in one place in all my life…it was incredible.  Larry and Pauline invited us to a private party were you could pull your chair right up to the side of the road and watch the show come by, while all along they were serving more food and drink than you could possibly imagine.  Larry was “touring” his rod through the town with all the others, and I must say he was “Looking Good”… 

12 June ‘07

This has been a heck of a week.  Louise and I have had more fun here in Coeur d’Alene, starting with being able to attend Amy’s graduation.  Right from the start the excitement at the Croson home was contagious.  Amy was “floating” from the basement to the upper floor, back to the main floor and then starting all over again.  This was her day…Friday, June 8^th…Graduation Day from Coeur d’Alene High.  The whole dang family was here to witness this day.  The first thing Friday was to get Amy into her hat and gown so that all of us could get our pictures before leaving for the auditorium.  This of course was after the 2^nd shower for the day, a pedicure, painting of the nails, re-doing of her hair for the 10^th time, and arguing with her mom and brothers about taking too long.  Then finally it was picture time.  Thank God for digital cameras…I know that I personally took over 70 pictures and I was only one camera…”can you PLEASE smile…can you stand up straight…can…can…can…”…poor Amy.  We all got some wonderful pictures and Amy held up like a champ.  Now it was off to the High School for the ceremony.  I must admit that a couple of the graduation ceremonies that we have been too have been very long and tough to stay with, but this one seemed to move along very well.  We had a great time.  Amy has a whole 6 days to let it all sink in before she has to be in Seattle for her first day on “the job”.  She will be working on the East side this summer and then in the Fall she will be going onto Shoreline Community College to jump start her studies before moving on to the UW.     CONGRATULATIONS  AMY !!!

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.

18 July ‘06

Today was a day of catch-up… I wouldn’t say it was because of our trip down the river, but it did feel good to just enjoy the ease of doing nothing.  Louise had a good day, had her hair cut, met with Joelle and Amy for a pedicure, and then enjoyed a “ladies only lunch”.    For me, it was to grab a quick sandwich, install the last of the window coverings on the coach, and catch up on the journal.  Tonight we had the great pleasure of being invited over to Bill and Shirley Molenda’s motor home.  Shirley had made a blackberry cobbler and thought right, that we would enjoy sharing a dish with them.  Last night they had us over for a steak barbecue.  The steaks were so large we all made the statement that we would have to have a “doggie bag” to take at least half of it back home with us.  Well, by the time we had taken the first bite, it was very evident that there would be nothing left to put into that bag…what a meal…. Now what about tomorrow night Bill ???