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Windy, Windy Night!! Glad we are still standing.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2012.  We broke camp at Walker Lake and continued our journey south towards Death Valley.  A totally different route, we passed through Beatty, Nevada and over the summit into the Valley.  We were totally surprised at the accommodations that have been made for the masses that want to visit and stay in Death Valley.  Of course there are the old standby campgrounds but they need to be reserved 6 months in advance and therefore are impossible to secure.  Now, however, the park has opened up a huge “parking lot” sort of facility that allows campers – RV’s, Trailers and Tents – to camp in the gravel.  This sounds unattractive but it really isn’t.  The spots are really wide and the fact that lots of us can stay in the valley now more than makes up for the non-campground feel.  You still get the incredible vistas and dark sky that Death Valley is known for.  We (because we are old and have a senior pass) only had to pay $7 a night.  There are toilets and running water
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On the Road Again

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Tuesday, February 23, 2021 , with the trailer all set to go, we attempted to leave the driveway only to find that the automatic tongue jack was D.E.A.D. It was the motor and, of course, the company that made the part had been sold to another company and, well you know the story.  So we had to purchase an entire new tongue jack (that’s the thing that jacks up the trailer so that you can put it on the truck’s trailer hitch). More money spent on this trip without even leaving the driveway.   Did I tell you about the discovery the rv repairmen found while they were greasing the ball joints on the trailer wheels?  Probably not.  Yes, it was some horrible thing that had broken in the trailer brake and had to be replaced and, of course, all 4 of the things had to be replaced. Caching --- $1000.  That happened 3 days before departure.  Anyways, we left home at about 12:30pm (3.5 hours late).  We pulled out and planned to meet our appointed reservation at Boulder Creek Campground in Lone Pine. 
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September 19, 2020 -- Fall is upon us.

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Here's what we woke up to this morning Yes, it was a bit of a surprise but I guess it rained last night.  I had my earplugs in so didn't hear it. This morning though, for the first time in 4-5 days, when I breathed the morning air, it smelled like something other than smoke.  Kinda like flowers or something.   Yesterday was slow.  I got in a good little run at 6090 feet, feel pretty good about that.  After resting up a bit, Pat and I went to town to see if we could find a place to "shop."  Seeing none, we were drawn into this little bar by this sign. Here at this bar, they serve only things that come in a can.  All kinds of beer -- I get it -- but also lots of flavored stuff with lots of alcohol in them.  (Neither of the proprietors could tell me what exactly the alcohol was and I couldn't read the writing on the can).   I chose one that was called "berry crush."  Well, I am here to tell you that it is NOT something I will do again.  8% ABV -- I even ask
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Wow, all of this for $9 a night? Mackay Reservoir BLM, ID 9/17/20

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We left our little RV park in Moore, ID this morning at 9 am to meet up with pals Pat and Steve Grover.  They were just 10 miles further on in Mackay, ID, where they had also spent the night at a different RV park.  Both of us had full hookups and both of us had RV/Trailers side to side with about 10 feet in between.  Both of us had paid about $35.   Pat and Steve were ahead of us so they scouted out the campsites.  Last night the whole place here was full but this morning we got a call from Steve telling us that people were pulling out.  We were already ready to book it on down so we pushed a bit faster and this is what we ended up finding.  Here is our view -- no one in front of us, no one alongside of us . . . .  you get the picture.  And the coup d' gras -- these places have both power and water!  All of this for just $9 a night (senior pass price).  So we signed up for 3 nights.   The wind blew and blew all day today.  Here is the best the surrounding mountains have looked in
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Lots of hunters here. Campgrounds are full! September 15, 2020

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Yes, who would have believed it?  I heard that the fires and smoke have driven campers east.  I totally get it.  I wouldn't want to spend my vacation in the smoke if I could help it.  It does, however, make it a bit more sketchy finding a place to put our trailer for the night.  The fact that it is hunting season in Montana and Idaho also account for full campgrounds.   This morning I got a run in despite the poor air quality (nothing like Reno) and the altitude 6000'.  As I ran past them, these two beauties ran up to the fence looking to race or maybe get a snack.  Hard to tell. Before I even started my run I had to traverse this cattle guard to get to the road -- I have never seen one quite this scary.  I was very careful crossing it.  Just to put it into perspective, I wear a size 10.5 running shoe. Today was "learn everything you can about Sacagawea and Lewis and Clark" day.  Apparently Sacagawea, the Indian woman that was kidnapped by a different tribe and sold t
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24 hours - New State - Idaho!! What time zone are we in? September 14, 2020

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We left our little "Wisdom" behind this morning and headed south along some river (really, I am so confused, you will have to ask Russ).  Pretty sure we were on Highway 93 when we stopped for lunch and (now he says it was the Salmon River at Redrock) and this was the most interesting thing I saw.  In the pit toilet: This is just one of the masterpieces, all 4 walls were decorated as such.  Someone has a lot of time and talent!   Here is the aforementioned Red Rock that was the namesake of this place along the Salmon River So we had planned to camp and see some beautiful country here but the smoke and Elk hunting have become a problem.  First of all the views are nice but none too spectacular and secondly finding a camping site is difficult because we hadn't counted on the hunting season.  We went through 4 campgrounds before we found this one which we will hang onto for 2 nights.  $2.50 per night on BLM land for seniors with the pass.   At one point we headed up a dirt ro
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Missed a day -- sorry. Gone from Clear to Smoky September 13, 2020

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Yes, well yesterday I was able to kayak twice.  Once in the morning and once at night.  And look at how clear it was. Today, the smoke settled into Montana like this I fear it is going to be like this for the rest of our journey which, of course, makes me less sad to have it end. The last two days have been full.  Saturday we visited Philipsburg, MT which is the site of another ghost town called Granite.  This one has not been tended to as carefully as Garnet as you can see from the pictures but it has a lot more stuff in it including the stamping mill.  Most of the photos show what is left of each building and most of that is masonry and granite.  The boards that formed the homes or offices on top of the rock foundations have either just collapsed and  been left to lay where they fell or are gone altogether. Here is a picture of the only bank in Granite.  I assume that this is just the vault because it was only big enough for money -- not people.  And those brown bars on the ceiling o
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