5-19 to Maryhill State Park, Washington

Cool day with spots of rain, but another scenic drive day. We drove along the Snake River and then the Columbia, alternately on the Oregon and Washington sides.  Started with high dry hills, then greener, incl. some vineyards on the Washington side. Huge wind turbine farms on the ridges. Good campground on the riverside, green and well kept. Trains passing continually on both sides of the river, but didn't bother us.

Spoke by phone with sons M and M, arranged for long-awaited visit in Portland starting tomorrow. Concern is how our dogs will get along, but I'm optimistic.

Ever since Walden, Colo., we have been mostly retracing the route we followed on our 2013 cross-country tandem bike tour. We remember many of the places well, but it is hard to believe we pedaled the long lonely stretches in between. The old joke is, "The older I get the better I was". But it's true. We are impressed with what we once did.

Tuned in to the last 3 innings of Rays game, heard them come back from down 6-33 to win 9-7 over the hapless Orioles. 6 wins in a row, now. Also watched the last inning of a no-hitter by the Yankees that happened to be the MLB free TV game of the day. I think it's the first no-hitter I've watched live. 

A short hop to Portland tomorrow. Blog will likely be silent until after Memorial Day.

5-17 to Clarkston, Washington

Completing our circuitous crossing of the wide part of idaho. We drove north along scenic (forests, mountains, lakes, fertile valleys) Routes 55 and 95. At White Bird Hill, only 4400', U.S. 95 is the only road connecting the southern and northern halves of idaho. We finally turned away from the Salmon River and drove along the Clearwater River for a few miles before Lewiston, idaho, a gritty small city which is the eastern limit of ship navigation in the Columbia River system.  We crossed the Snake River to its twin city of Clarkston, Washington, where we stopped at a very different place from last night's forest campground. We're in town, in a small but fancy RV park, located at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers. it would be a good spot for canoeing but for the perennial strong wind. Even so, it is comfortable and convenient.

On Tuesday we did laundry and some shopping, and i got a needed oil change. Otherwise we stayed out of the wind, enjoyed the view across the river, walked Gracie, and took it easy until the Rays game broadcast started at 4 p.m. Oh- and brought the blog up to date.

Speaking of Gracie, she has learned to put her car window down. At first we thought it was accidental, but then she started doing it over and over, and crying if we put the window back up.

5-15 to Boise National Forest, Hot Spring Campground

Followed the aptly-named  Sawtooth Scenic Highway through the Sun Valley area and over snowy Galena Pass,  up the especially beautiful Salmon River Valley and through the town of Stanley. We were there many years ago and took rough forest roads due west. Those roads do not show on today's maps, and just as well. We've done our share of taking roads not intended for our 2-wheel drive SUV and travel trailer. We took the road more travelled by, and stopped at a likely looking National Forest campground. Lucky to get the last good site on a Saturday afternoon. In the woods, overlooking a rushing Payette River, and warm weather. Who could ask for more? Actually, there was no more; in particular, no water on the site and no dump station for waste water. But OK for two days if we were careful with water use.

On Sunday we drove a few miles to get a cell signal and tuned in for an online church service. Gracie and I later took a hike up the easy-looking hill in the woods behind the campsite, which turned out not to be easy at all. in the afternoon we went over to the riverbank where I enjoyed a soak in the hot spring there. The river was several magnitudes too rough and fast to consider canoeing.

5-14 to Picabo, Idaho

Drove along the Palisades Reservoir- a surprising 15 mi. long- with mtns on each side.

Stopped in sm city of Idaho Falls to do laundry, then skirted lava beds incl. Craters of the Moon. At sm town of Picabo spotted a tiny but appealing RV park alongside a pasture of sheep and mainly lambs. The lambs were interested in Gracie, who was intensely interested in them. Quite a bit of highway traffic noise overnight. A one-night stop anyway.

5-12 to Alpine, Wyoming

We were dry camping at Boysen State Park, i.e. we were relying on our own water supply, which ran out Wednesday morning. After S's video doctor appointment, which seemed anticlimax after our careful planning and preparation, we filled up on water and dumped our holding tanks at the ranger station, and hit the road. The route took us across very scenic western Wyoming. When we crossed Togwatee Pass at 9600' there was deep snow on the ground everywhere but the road itself. We spotted a mother grizzly with two small cubs. Can you see the cubs in the tree? We descended to Grand Teton National Park and enjoyed seeing again that spectacular mountain range, and saw a couple of elk and a herd of about 200 bison. We

continued to the small town of Alpine, near the idaho border. We found a small but hospitable RV park to stay for two nights.

Thursday morning we had big plans for the day: get our propane tanks refilled, find a laundromat, take a short hike into the nearby National Forest, and maybe do some canoeing on the Snake River. Other than the propane, none of those things happened. No coin laundry in town. When i tried to dump our holding tanks into the sewer drain at our campsite, the trailer's blackwater (sewer) outlet was clogged. We've never had that happen before. We didn't want to risk unclogging it and dumping sewage at our campsite, so we packed up everything and took the trailer to a nearby truck stop which had a proper sewer drain. After extensive probing with a snake and backflushing, the clog suddenly released and the tank drained, leaving a god-awful mess to hose down. But i was so relieved to get the drain unclogged i didn't mind the mess or the work. So we headed back to the RV park, set up camp again, and ate a late lunch. No more activity except a nap and reading.

5-10 to Boysen State Park, WY

We awoke this morning to a surprise: it was snowing heavily, and just cold enough to stick and give the area a good dusting.

Our plan for the day was a short jump to Boysen State Park on a large lake in central Wyoming, but it turned out not to be that simple. When i dumped the waste water holding tanks there was a bad leak in the valve which controls "grey water", i.e. dish and bath water. 

Following a tip from the campground we broke camp and towed the trailer the shop of the only RV service outfit in the small town of Rawlins, waiting our turn in a freezing mix of rain and snow. They didn't have the replacement valve part but they did a temporary fix to get us on the road. We called ahead to the larger town of Riverton to set up service there, and drove through rain and snow which obscured

 some of the good scenery, with the temperature hovering above freezing. The shop at Riverton did a good and quick job replacing the valve for us and we were finally able to head for Boysen State Park, another 50 miles down the road. Our campground was in the remote Wind River Canyon which runs 15 miles with sheer cliffs of about 1500' on each side. We camped alongside a beautiful river. 

in the morning we sought out a cell signal to prepare for Wednesday's scheduled video appt with S's neurologist, and spent the rest of the day exploring the canyon and shopping in the next town north, Thermopolis, which boasts a sulphur hot spring in which we did not bathe.

4-30 to 5-7 Lakewood and Golden, Colo.

We enjoyed a week with sons M and P and their families, incl daughters-in-law who knocked themselves out with hospitality, grandchildren and step-grandchildren.  The adults all work online, so we stayed out of their way, and spent quality time with grandson E,  On the 7th, my birthday, M, E and I did bike ride on a nearby park's paved trail which we all especially enjoyed, and we had a fun birthday dinner at P's house. A happy time together after so long apart due to covid.

5-8 State Forest State Park, Colo

M and his family set off at dawn Saturday for an extended stay in Portland. The trip will take them two days. After a fancy pre-Mothers' day brunch at P's, we said goodbye to P and S, and left for Portland oursleves, though for us the trip will take more like two weeks.

A scenic drive to oddly-named State Forest State Park, near Colorado's border with Wyoming. On the way we saw a fox and three elk. The park is in a beautiful setting, way up in the Rockies at 9000', with snow remaining on the norhtern side of mountains and hills. A large reservo8ir was mostly drained for maintenance, and what remains is frozen solid. We had the campground almost entirely to ourselves.

5-9 to Rawlins, WY

Saturday night set an all-time cold camping record, 15.1 F, but our trusty propane furnace kept us warm. We were up and down all night to adjust it, however.

Sunday morning we broke camp and explored the State Forest State Park by road, hoping to spot some of the plentiful moose in the area. No luck there, but the scenery was wonderful.

A few miles from the park, at the town of Walden, we joined the route we cycled in the other direction on our Transamerica bike tour eight years ago, and headed north into Wyoming. Long stretches of sagebrush desert and huge cati7tle ranches. We happened to stop for lunch at Riverside, at a spot where we'd overnighted on our epic Transam tour. 

We reached Rawlins, WY early in the afternoon, but we were both tired, so we stopped at an RV park and took it easy for the rest of the day.