Day 40 – Winnemucca, NV

The main thing about travel days is that they are rarely exciting.  Usually, if there is any excitement, it means that Don has done something wrong, like get us on a road that vehicles of our size really shouldn’t be on.  So, we’re really not in search of exciting travel days.  So, today wasn’t exciting, and that’s a good thing.

Geri and Don went into Elko for some last minute grocery shopping, and Don came home with his lunch; two tacos from his favorite taco dispensary, Taco Time.  Whenever he gets in the neighborhood of one of these places, he gets all twitchy until he finds a way to score a couple of their beef tacos.  He says he used to live on these things way back when he was working in Portland.  We got underway about noon, and headed westward on I-80, following the course of the Humboldt River, which really isn’t much of a river.  The landscape was mostly desert and mountains, which rapidly put me into nap time. 

We got into our Park in Winnemucca a little after two, and Geri took me for a walk while Don was getting the rig set up.  I noticed that the park was really full of RV’s, mostly fivers and trailers.  Geri said she was glad that she had made a reservation.  There’s no grass at our site, but I saw that there was no grass at any of the sites, so I didn’t feel slighted.  Back in the coach, we all just kind of hung out for awhile, watching a little TV, and Don started preparations for dinner.  He did a chicken dish with mushrooms and peas over Arborio rice, which was well received by everyone, including me.  Geri took me out for another short walk, and when we got back, it was into the truck to head for the WalMart to get some things that they had forgotten to buy in Elko.  As we passed by the next RV Park up the road, they spied something that made them turn around and go back.  They drove into the Park and stopped in front of a coach that was in the check-in lane.  In a minute or two, a guy came out of the Park office and walked toward the coach; I recognized him immediately!  It was David (also known as Craig), the oldest son!  I was very glad to see him, and very surprised!  Turns out, Geri and Don had arranged to be here at the same time Craig (also known as David) was going to be working at the hospital here in Winnemucca.  His partner Jane wasn’t here, however, she was working somewhere else.  These are the guys that I inadvertently referred to as “jerks” during last year's eastern trip, and I’ve been apologizing for it ever since.  He was happy to see me, and Geri and Don too, I think.

We did our WalMart thing, and then went back to Craig’s coach for a little visit.  The stairs up to his coach were a little steep, but I made it OK.  After a little bit, we went home to our coach down the road, had some treats, worked on the blog, and did beddy-bye.  See ya tomorrow!

Day 39 – Elko, NV

To those of you wondering what happened to yesterday, the answer is simple; nothing.  I went nowhere, and nothing happened.  The day was a big nothing.  I laid out on the grass and watched people go by, but not many.  Geri and Don messed around the rig, but I don’t see that they accomplished anything major.  Nothing.  Then they went into town to play with those silly machines.  What did they come back with?  Nothing.  So, when it came time to do the blog, what did I have to say?  Nothing.

Today was much different; after our short but brisk morning walk, Don came back and made us a proposition; how about we get in the truck early, while it’s still cool, and drive up Lamoille Canyon, which is only about twenty miles away?  Geri and I both thought that it might be fun and interesting, so we quickly agreed.  By ten o’clock we were heading up the road south of Elko toward the canyon.  The desert and ranchland landscape rapidly changed to a rocky and mountainous terrain, with bright yellow and orange tree leaves turning to fall colors covering the hillsides.  The road climbed steadily, and the scenery became more spectacular; we stopped at a turnout to read some signs about how two glaciers formed the intersecting valleys we were looking at about a quarter million years ago.  Don is always particularly pleased to read signs like this, and he marvels at how the people who lived back in the time of the glaciers left such detailed notes for our present day geologists to figure out.  We kept on climbing through the rocky landscape until we finally reached the end of the road, where there were a bunch of horse trailers were parked; the trails around here are popular with the horsey set.  Don asked Garmy what our altitude was, and she told him we were at about 8900 feet! 

Fall colors

A big piece of ice did this!

Rocky Mountains!

As we walked about the parking area, another couple were getting out of their truck, and approached us.  Geri and Don started talking with them, and found out that they were from Visalia, California, and the wife had recently been to Ventura for a meeting of the Native Daughters of the Golden West.  It also turned out that they knew the Huddleston brothers in Visalia, guys that Don had gone to High School with in Benicia; small planet!  Don wanted to know if there was a Native Sons of the Golden West, as he might be interested in joining.  She said there certainly was, but they didn’t have a Ventura Chapter, so he could actually join the Ventura Parlor of the Native Daughters.  Don looked interested.  Anyway, they had a nice chat while I laid in the shade near them.  We finally loaded back into the truck and headed back down the hill, still marveling at the wonderful scenery. 

Please hurryup!

Ruby Mountains

We drove into the small town of Lamoille, where there was a hotel, a restaurant and tavern, and a few houses.  We stopped at the tavern/restaurant, and Geri and Don went in for lunch.  I should say, on their behalf, that they had given me my lunch while we were up at the top of the canyon.  They were also nice enough to let me stay on the porch of the tavern to greet people as they entered and departed, allowing me to get a lot of adulation.  They said the hamburgers were great, and they loved the french fries.  We cruised through the village, and spotted some wildlife that were worthy of  photos.

Oh, Deer!  In the front yard!

Pet Turkeys

So, back to the rig, where Geri did the laundry that had piled up for a few weeks, and Don immersed himself on researching a lot of useless things on the internet.  I happily laid out on the grass, watching people and dozing.  It became obvious that there would be no dinner prepared tonight, due to the enormous burgers that they had consumed at lunch.  I got my dinner, my treats, and they were off to visit their machines again.  They came home fairly happy, so I assume the machines processed their money satisfactorily. 

Tomorrow appears to be a travel day, to where I’m not exactly sure, but it should be somewhere in Nevada.  When we get there, I’ll let you know!

Day 37 – Elko, NV

Another short post tonight, as today was a travel day through country with no features worthy of commenting on.  We did a quick refuel stop before leaving Twin Falls, then headed down Highway 93, a two-lane road inhabited mostly by huge trucks and an occasional motorhome, through Jackpot, Nevada.  Jackpot is a collection of casinos and liquor stores designed to attract the bored and thirsty Idahoan, located just across the border.  About eighty miles further down the road is the town of Wells, where large billboards advertised a variety of Ranches which appeared to be owned by ladies.  Geri said they were restaurants; Don thought they might be something else.  Wells is where we caught our old familiar Highway I-80 westward, covering another fifty miles until we arrived in Elko.

We had reservations at a new RV Park in Elko, the Iron Horse, and it proved to be very attractive.  I was released from my captivity as soon as Don had the rig properly positioned on the site, and the cool, beautiful green grass instantly had my approval.  I rolled in it for the longest time; a casual passer-by might have thought that I was having some kind of a prolonged fit.  Though the weather was warm, the grass was in the shade of the coach, and I found it heavenly. 

Geri decided that this was the perfect opportunity to rearrange the contents of the coach’s basement, the two large compartments where we store many of the necessities of this lifestyle.  When Don got finished setting up and getting the TV satellite antenna going, he found that she had dragged all of the contents of the forward bay out of it, making it look like we were about to conduct a yard sale.  For about an hour, they debated how each of the items should be restowed, and gradually everything made its way back into the bowels of the rig.  Both Don and I had to admit that the resulting arrangement was much neater and made things that we use frequently more accessible. 

Geri and I went for a walk around the Park while Don started dinner, and we met a couple of Bulldogs that were very pleasant.  Geri told their human about our friend Tillman, from Oxnard, who is a famous skateboarding and surfboarding Bulldog.  When we got back to the coach, I had my dinner, and shortly after, Geri and Don had a very nice seafood pasta meal, which resulted in some tasty plates for me.  After dinner, they went for a quick spin around town.  They reported to me when they returned that Elko had grown quite a bit since our last visit, which was four or five years ago, but it was still a pretty small town. 

Dancing with the Stars was our evening TV treat, while Don and I put this together.  Tomorrow might have some real adventure in it; who knows?  I’ll let you know what happens!

Day 36 – Twin Falls, ID

Very short post tonight, ‘cause I slept most of the day.  I was really tired from all of the running around yesterday, and the heat also wore me out.  I enjoyed my walk this morning, but was glad when it was over.  Geri and Don spent the morning doing cleaning and minor repairs on the rig; Don calls it “Rope yarn Sunday”, for some reason having to do with his seafaring career a century or so ago.  About one in the afternoon or so, Geri and Don decided to do a little touring in town, and they asked me if I would like to go.  I made it very clear to them that I was very happy where I was, and they should go and have a good time.  Then I zonked out again. 

When they came home a few hours later, they told me that they had done a tour of some of the historic homes in Twin Falls, and that some of them were very attractive.  I was glad for them.  They were kind enough to give me my dinner and Geri walked me for a little while, a nice outing.  I was starting to get some of my usual pizzazz back, feeling a little more lively.  And then they were off again, this time to have dinner in town.  OK, a little more bed rest.  Can’t hurt.  By the time they got home, I was hot to trot.  Well, I got trotted out to meet a neighboring Papillion lady, who was very sweet and loved kissing me.  That was nice, but not very energetic.  Geri and I went for a little walk after that, which was enjoyable.  Regarding their dinner, they reported that they had chicken fried everything, and Don had a baked Idaho potato that he said was the best he ever had.  Neither of them finished their dinner, but that didn’t mean that I got to.  Geri made up a phony plate for me from some old leftovers, which were OK. 

That’s all I can tell you about today; tomorrow we’re really out of here, heading south to Elko, Nevada.  I think I was there once before, but I don’t really remember much about it.  See ya!

Day 35 – Twin Falls, ID

We all got off to kind of a late start this morning, but that’s OK, we’re not in any rush to go anywhere or do anything.  Don and I had a nice morning walk, similar to yesterday, and the park was almost empty at that point.  We eventually commenced our excursion around noon, intent on doing the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway tour.  This involved getting across Twin Falls to the westbound leg of Highway 30, and heading out through the corn fields, cow pastures, and potato patches that are the most common features of Idaho agriculture.  The fields really are beautiful, and it’s really good to see that farming and ranching are doing well here. 

About a half hour out of Twin Falls, we saw our first large springs, flowing out of the river bank into the Snake River, forming waterfalls down the slope.  There were quite a few of them, but they were on the far side of the river, and we couldn’t get a good photo of them.  Shortly after this sighting, Don turned abruptly onto a road that a sign indicated led to some fossil beds; he does have an interest in fossils, as he is close to becoming one himself!  Ha, Ha!  After climbing the hilly terrain that the road passed through, we encountered another sign, which told us that no fossils could be observed at the road’s destination, all the fossils were in a museum in Hagerman.  A bit miffed, we turned around at a trailhead that advertised itself as offering close inspection of the route of the Oregon Trail through this territory.  It was bewildering to all of us why the pioneers would choose to climb these hills rather than chug along the relatively flat riverbank on the north side of the Snake. 

Oregon Trail? 

Back on Highway 30, we were having trouble finding any of the Thousand Springs, but we did find a road that led to a fish hatchery.  We wound up the road for a couple of miles, to find ourselves amid a giant fish nursery devoted to birthing and raising steelhead trout.  Don trotted around looking at the facilities, while Geri and I relaxed in the shade of a tree.  He determined that this facility dumped 1. 5 million young steelhead into the river every year, to replace the fish that were no longer able to spawn properly due to the dams that the evil paleface had placed in the rivers that had previously been the property of the fish.  He also found a large spring that provided the water for the hatchery, and a pen in a creek containing some huge sturgeon fish.  He was pleased with the visit and his findings, though Geri and I had no idea why. 

Home to many thousands of Steelhead

The only spring we got a photo of

We ventured further west into the town of Hagerman, where Geri made it known that she would expire if she didn’t get some kind of an iced coffee drink.  We stopped at a produce market, where the proprietor was a former resident of Chino who used to race motorcycles in Ventura, who informed us of a Mexican restaurant that he thought could provide the life restoring elixir.  So, we found ourselves knocking on the door of El Toro, as the business was closed.  A young lady finally came to the door, and Geri persuaded her to gin up two iced espressos with whipped cream by waving a credit card at her.  Don and I got a good laugh out of that. 

We continued west, Don missing a turnoff that he had planned to take, and chugged up a steep grade out of the valley.  We suddenly found ourselves on Highway 84, headed back to Twin Falls!  Fortunately, he was able to get back on course and got us off 84 in time to visit our next attraction, the Malad River Gorge.  I wasn’t allowed to go near it, for fear of my falling in, but they got some nice photos.  This little river has cut down through the basalt rock that it runs through for thousands of years, and has formed it’s own little Grand Canyon.

Malad River Gorge

We headed back toward Twin Falls through unending miles of agriculture and ranches, allowing Geri to properly identify the large mounds of material piled next to the feeding areas of the cattle as cow poop.  We couldn’t factually speculate on where this material eventually wound up, but we all thought it highly likely that it was used as a fertilizer for crops which would be sold as Organic.  We finally made it back to Twin Falls, stopping there for a little grocery shopping.  Don was kind enough to get me out of the hot truck while Geri shopped, and keep me in the shade next to the door of the market, where many people stopped to admire me and engage me in conversation.  I always enjoy that.

When we got back to the Park, a van with a trailer was pulling into the site next to us, and we found out that they were travelling with three Goldies!  We met them when Geri took me out for our evening walk, and one of them was a dead ringer for my old partner, Buddy!  Same face, same color, same tail, same ebullient personality.  Geri and I were amazed at the resemblance.  Another of the dogs was a lady who was afraid of other dogs, unfortunately, but the third one was very friendly and outgoing.  While we were walking, we encountered two more Goldies, making a total of six in the Park tonight; Goldies Rule! 

Dinner tonight was Do Your Own Thing; I got Don’s plate from the leftover meatball soup, which I always enjoy, and then we worked on the Blog.  We’ll be staying in Twin Falls another day; the owner of the Park asked if we were going to spend the winter with them!  Fat chance! 

Day 34 – Twin Falls, ID

Lots of activity this morning.  Don took me for a walk all the way around this rather spacious park, visiting a Doggie area that was large and grassy, and fitted out with a variety of ramps, tilt boards, and other paraphernalia that can be used in training your dog for agility trials.  I wasn’t interested; my agility is fine, thank you, I can still jump up into the truck.  They have a large pond, fed by a stream, where you can rent boats and float around.  Best of all, they have lots of nice grassy areas for running and rolling.  I got a nice greeting from my friend Moab as we passed by; she sure is a fine looking lady. 

We had a lot of cleanup work to do, Geri on the interior, and Don on the exterior.  We had collected half the bug population of southern Idaho on our way down from Idaho Falls, and they were all glued to the front of the coach.  Inside, Geri was dealing with the messes Don makes while he cooks.  We finally got our chores finished (mine was keeping out of the way), and got in the truck for a ride into Twin Falls.  We stopped first at the local Chamber of Commerce, where a sister of one of Geri’s friends back home works.  I didn’t participate in the gathering, but Geri told me that the lady was very pleased to see us, and they had fun talking with her. 

They had gotten the information from the Chamber lady that there were some jumpers who were going to go off the bridge today, so we headed down to the Visitor Center to check out what was happening.  Geri got the info from one of the jumpers that they were going in about an hour, so we decided to drive down to the bottom of the canyon and take a look at the golf course down there.  The road down the side of the chasm was very steep, and we went down it very slowly, which pleased Geri.  The scene at the bottom of the canyon was very lovely, and the golf course looked to be in great condition.  Like I know anything about golf; I just know great grass when I see it.  We got out for a walk, and I got to do some exuberant rolling in the beautiful grass. 

Bridge and River from the bottom

Look at that grass!

We climbed back up the canyon wall in the truck to get to our viewpoint to watch the jumpers, and found a nice young couple there who couldn’t stop petting me and telling me what a nice guy I am.  I just can’t get enough of that stuff.  We had a fairly long wait, but finally the jumpers got up on the bridge and, one by one, leapt off and floated down on their parachutes.  Their landing target was just below our perch, and Don got some pics of them floating down over the river.  They all landed very nicely, close to or right on the target.  Fun to watch, but not really something that I’d want to participate in.

We like seeing that chute open

Over the river

Right on target!

Geri and Don had a big surprise for me then; it was off to the local PetsMart for a date with the groomer, where I got a much needed bath and grooming.  The girl was very nice, and I appreciated her appreciation of my good manners and obvious pleasure in getting cleaned up.  When I rejoined Geri and Don, they gold me that they had driven upriver to see Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls, but that I hadn’t missed much excitement.  There was so much water being pulled out of the river for agricultural purposes that the falls were little more than a trickle.  Twin Falls was kind of interesting to Don, as they had dammed up one side of the falls a long time ago, and diverted the water to some power plants.  He questioned whether they should change the name of the town to Single Falls, or Only Child Falls, or something to indicate the changed status of this identifying feature. 

Shoshone Trickles

No Longer Twin Falls

We headed back to the coach, where Geri took me for a nice walk while Don cooked up some bratwurst (from Double D in Mountlake Terrace) and sauerkraut from San Diego, purchased in Spokane.  My plates were very good, and I particularly liked the taste of the sauerkraut.  Maybe I’m part German Shepherd.  Don and I worked on the Blog, and we all turned in fairly early.  We’re here for another day, as there is so much to see around here.  A full report tomorrow!  Das Vedanya!

Day 33 – Twin Falls, ID

After our walk this morning, Don was watching the guy next door getting his nice new ForeTravel 38 footer ready to go.  He had a very comprehensive departure checkoff list, including all tire pressures, oil and coolant levels, and many other details.  It took at least a half hour to complete, and Don and I agreed that he would get underway confident that every thing he could check was OK.  Don was out cleaning our windshield when he finally put the rig in gear and hit the go pedal.  Well, the coach could barely move, and the Jeep that they were towing was digging its tires into the gravel with terrible scrunching noises.  They didn’t go very far.  The guy and his wife immediately bailed out of the coach, to find that the parking brake on the Jeep was still set.  Oops!

We actually got going a little earlier than usual, after Geri and Don tried their hard won apple fritters and found them to be very disappointing.  We cruised down the I-15 to Highway 86 westward, then caught Highway 84 to Twin Falls.  We pulled into the local KOA RV Park a little after two, to find that the office was closed until three.  Fortunately, one of the workers was able to assign us a site, which turned out to be quite nice, with good healthy grass next to it.  We got set up for living, found that the office was open, Geri got us signed up, and we jumped in the truck for an excursion.  We headed into Twin Falls proper, and soon were crossing a bridge over a spectacular chasm, the canyon of the Snake River.  There was a Visitor Center just across the bridge, and we pulled in there to obtain the obligatory sheaf of tourist information for our tour planning.  The guy in the Center was very helpful and friendly, and gave Geri and Don lots of suggestions on what to see and where to go.  He told us about the Base Jumpers who, almost daily, leap off the bridge into the canyon.  Turns out, this is the only bridge in the country that doesn’t require permits or any advance permission to jump off of it.  The Jumpers just show up and jump!  The words were barely out of his mouth before a gaggle of young men showed up at the Center and started packing their parachutes for a jump. 

We walked along the edge of the canyon to take some pics and enjoy the beauty of the scenery.  I was careful to stay away from the edge, ‘cause the rocks looked like they might be a little slippery, and if I fell in the canyon, I might miss dinner.  We got back in the truck and drove to the other side of the bridge, as that was the side the jumpers would be on.  We waited for quite a while, and Don noticed that the wind had come up to the point that it would be too dangerous for them to jump.  We could see them still standing outside the Visitor Center, apparently waiting to see if the wind died down.  We finally came to the decision that the jump was off, and headed into town to see what Twin Falls looks like. 

Snake River Canyon with Golf Courses

Da Bridge!

Jumpers preparing their chutes

Waiting for the Jumpers (still waiting)

Don had noticed in Idaho Falls that the older residential section of the town was laid out with the streets running at an angle to the downtown streets and the newer sections of town.  He read that this was done to try to equalize the sunlight on all sides of the houses.  Here in Twin Falls, the entire downtown area, including the business district, was laid out that way, and the newer parts of town had streets running north-south and east-west.  Makes for some interesting traffic patterns.  The business area downtown seems to be doing pretty well, lots of specialty shops and restaurants, apparently doing a good business.  Better than Idaho Falls, anyway.  We saw some dog grooming places, and I hope they find one for me soon, ‘cause I’m starting to feel a little grungy.

We rolled back to the KOA, and Don started dinner while Geri and I took a stroll.  We met another Goldie, a lady called Moab, who was very perky and friendly, not to mention beautiful!  We found out from her humans that she was 14-1/2 years old!  Looking good, and not just for her age!  This is a nice Park, with a lot of areas to wander in and visit, and I think we’ll all enjoy it here.  Dinner turned out to be hot dogs and baked beans, a simple meal that leaves only some bean plates for me.  But they were good!  We’ll be touring extensively tomorrow, and I’ll have a full report for you.  Sayonara!

Day 32 – Idaho Falls, ID

What can you say about a day in which you:

Meet a sweet mini-Aussie on your morning walk; very nice girl

Get to go for a walk in a downtown area, where a lot of people adore you

Are allowed to enter both a Petco and a Petsmart, with resultant treats

Meet a lovely four year old Goldie Girl, who loves to chase the ball

Spend the entire day with the people you love the best!

It was a great day, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I didn’t get the name of the mini-Aussie, but she ran out from her coach and accosted me very pleasantly, and we spent a few minutes exchanging vital information.  She was about half the size of my Aussie buddies, Alice and Cooper, but unafraid to make the acquaintance of someone substantially bigger, like me.  I thought she was really nice.

We parked in downtown Idaho Falls, and we did a tour of the historical buildings in the area.  Geri and Don had lunch in one of them, an old hotel that had been converted to offices.  I got to meet a number of people on our tour, including a Police Officer who was very appreciative of my demeanor and friendliness.  Geri and Don thought that the buildings were interesting, but noted that some of them had become really run down and underutilized.  They got the feeling that the downtown area was suffering a little.

This was a building for Odd Fellows

This is a City Building

 

Recognizing a shortage in my basic food supplies, they first found a Petco store to attempt to replenish my groceries, and I was invited to accompany them in the store.  I was able to do an inspection of their housekeeping in the dog food area, and found a few minor spills that hadn’t been cleaned up properly.  Rather than report them, I provided my usual clean-up service, creating a win-win situation.  Unfortunately, they were out of stock of my normal chow, and I couldn’t cadge any treats at the checkout stand.  We then found a PetsMart, where I repeated my inspection, but with meager results.  Happily, they had my food in stock, and I was able to participate in the checkout process, resulting in the award of three treats.  A good shopping experience.

We spent some time wandering through some older and interesting residential areas in town in the truck, and ventured out into the farmlands for a bit.  Geri advised that she would rather spend some time getting her hair cut than cruising through the herds of Angus and Guernsey’s, so we headed back into town and found a hair place in the local Fred Myer.  Geri was so pleased with the result that she strongly recommended that Don get a trim also.  Don went along with idea, and was happy with the results.  I thought they both still looked OK. 

Our next stop was the waterfall area that gives this place its name.  The town has done a good thing in recognizing the beauty of this area, and establishing parks on both sides of the river in the Falls location.  We walked along the paths that bordered the falls, and soon came upon a lady who was spending some time with her own Goldie, a reddish coated lady dog.  We watched as the lady launched a ball with her flinger, and the Goldie energetically pursued it and successfully retrieved it flawlessly every time.  My initial thought was in terms of  “What a waste of energy!”, but I had to admit that her performance was a magnificent display of canine athleticism, reminiscent of my old partner Buddy, who was a Ball Dog par excellance.  Geri and Don engaged her human in conversation, and found that the Goldie’s name was Bailey, which I know was the name of Buddy’s pal and housemate for many years, both in Lynwood and Ventura.  We spent some time with this pleasant couple, and I had to express my admiration for the excitement and verve that Bailey brought to the business of ball retrieval, even though I consider it a futile activity.  I mean, what happens when you bring the ball back?  They’re just going to throw it again!  So, I watched with a combination of admiration and amusement as she snatched the ball in midair, plunged into the river to consort with the ducks and geese, scavenge some bread that people had thrown into the river for the benefit of the waterfowl, and generally enjoy herself.  I like seeing other dogs having a good time.

This is why they call it Idaho Falls

Me and Bailey

No, it's not a real horse

More Falls

We finally headed back to the coach, and Geri and I had dinner together, as Don had pigged out at lunch, losing his usual good appetite.  We had a pleasant walk around the Park, and returned to the rig for some needed rest and work on the Blog.  We’re out of here tomorrow, headed for Twin Falls.  Sounds interesting!

PS: We have some pics for today, but our internet connection is so bad we can't post them; we will put them up as soon as we get a decent connection.

Day 31 – Idaho Falls, ID

After a relatively perfunctory walk with Don, we devolved into the usual pre-travel activities, in which I don’t play a major part, except for keeping out of the way.  Right on the button of eleven, we hauled anchor and hit the I-15 heading south toward Idaho.  It was a smooth ride all the way, with marvelous scenery, which I even looked at for awhile before taking a needed nap.  Don continued to comment on the fullness of the Montana rivers, and how they were just going to wind up serving to dilute oil in the Gulf of Mexico, when they could be diverted to water our crops in California. 

Once we got over the Continental Divide again, and into Idaho, the terrain was much less spectacular, all the way into Idaho Falls.  That’s OK, we’ve seen a lot of really spectacular landscapes in the last few days.  We pulled into our Park around two, and got set up quickly.  After a short rest period, we piled into the truck and headed into town to visit the Visitor’s Center, where Geri and Don collected the usual copious quantity of literature that will reveal to them the hidden beauties of the area. 

Here’s where things went a little bit whacko.  Many years ago (maybe 10 or 12), they had visited Idaho Falls on a high speed trip through western Canada and our Northwest.  They had spent the night here, but not really experienced the city, except for a stop at a bakery on the morning they left.  There, they had experienced a heavenly revelation of the most delicious apple fritters they had ever tasted.  They have been waiting with ravenous anticipation all these years for the opportunity to relive the experience.  Accordingly, they questioned the ladies in the Visitor Center regarding their knowledge of a small bakery on highway 20, the road to Arco.  None of them had any knowledge of such a place, but one of them recommended the fritters produced by another bakery.  Undeterred, our explorers headed west on highway 20, scanning the businesses on the south side of the road, searching for their beloved bakery.  This was taking the form of a Quest.  They were well on their way to Arco before they finally gave up, determining the bakery as a goner.  As a second choice, they determined that they would find the bakery recommended by the gal in the Visitor Center.  Turns out they had not been listening carefully to the address she had given them, and they were futilely trying to pressure Garmie into revealing the location of the place, which she was ignorant of.  Conceding defeat, they tooled back to the Visitor Center, where Geri was delegated to get the accurate address of the place by torture or any other means necessary.  I’m sure that my patrons will be the subject of conversation at the Visitor Center for several days, the Crazed Californians in search of the Holy Apple Fritter. 

Well, Geri got the address, and the information that the bakery closed at two in the PM, so they went grocery shopping instead.  As a stroke of Divine Intervention, the supermarket they chose to go to was almost directly across the street from the second choice bakery!  There will probably be a high speed run for fritters in the morning.  We headed for home, and Don cooked up the pork chops we had bought in Dillon, along with some wild rice mix and veggies, resulting in some decent plates.  With the Blog completed, we all turned in fairly early.  No pics today, none taken, ‘cause no Holy Fritters were found to photograph.  See ya manana!

Day 30 – Dillon, MT

I need to get something out of the way, and let you know that this morning, I was a Bad Dog.  I was out with Don walking in the grassy area in back of our site, and I found something in the grass that smelled good to me; I sniffed it over and over, and before I knew what I was doing, I was picking it up with my mouth and eating it.  Don quickly realized what I was doing, and started yelling at me to spit it out, which I usually do when he asks me, but this piece of whatever it was proved to be so small that I was swallowing it already and I couldn’t bring it up and spit it out.  Don was really mad at me, and gave me a whap on the snout, and told me in no uncertain terms what a bad, thoughtless, stupid dog I was.  I know he’s right, that strange stuff I find in the grass could be very bad for me, and make me sick, but sometimes I can’t control myself when something smells so awfully good.  Well, that was the end of the walk, and he hooked me up to the leash and dragged me back to the rig.  When we got up into the coach, he told Geri immediately what a Bad Dog I had been, and she chewed me out royally.  Sheesh, what a way to start the day.  I’ll never do that again.  I hope.

I just kind of kept out of the way the rest of the morning, while they got ready to go on an excursion.  I was afraid that my bad behavior would result in my exclusion from the day’s festivities, but I was invited to assume my spot in my private compartment in the truck, and off we went.  We drove for quite a ways, up into the hills, and finally parked next to the Visitor Center at Bannack State Park.  Geri and Don went into the building, and came out shortly with a guide book.  They got me out of the truck, and we started walking down the street toward an old, dilapidated building.  The door was open, and we all went in.  The place had no furniture, the wallpaper was peeling off the wall, half of the floor covering was gone, and the ceiling was falling down.  What kind of a place was this?  It had a lot of great smells, though, and I raced through the place sniffing here and there.  We continued down the street to a very large building, two stories, I think, that had big rooms and a high ceiling.  It was in a little better shape, but a long way from being habitable.  Again, great smells, very enjoyable to me, but what kind of a town was this?  I looked at Don with my Quizzical Look.  He patiently explained to me that this is what is called a Ghost Town, a place where people used to live, but no longer do.  The folks of Bannack moved out a long time ago.  He told me that it was a Gold Rush town, where three or four thousand people lived back in the 1860’s, when gold was discovered locally.  It was so big, it was selected as the Capitol of the Montana Territory! 

Masonic Hall, Bannack

Territorial Capitol, later Hotel

Methodist Church and Parsonage

One of the nicer residences

Bannack Jailhouse

Typical sanitary facility

There were a lot of stories about this town, but the best is the one about the local vigilantes who strung up the Sheriff after finding out that he was the ringleader of the local outlaw gang who were ripping off, and frequently killing, the honest citizens of the area.  The Sheriff was hung on a gallows that he had erected.  This was really the Wild West!  The town prospered until the gold started to run out, and people started to move away.  It dwindled down to Ghost Town status around the 1930’s, and continued to decay until some local citizens decided that it should be preserved in its current condition as a historical artifact, bought up the property, and donated the place to the State for preservation as a State Park.  We’re really glad they did.

We spent most of the day roaming through the town, exploring the old buildings, Don checking for code violations, Geri bemoaning the lack of proper sanitary facilities.  I loved it, I got to go into all the buildings that they went into, and there were wonderful odors everywhere.  When we finished our tour, we went to a picnic area next to the Visitor Center and had a late lunch, which Geri had prepared back in the rig.  This was really fun!

Lunchtime!

We got back in the truck and headed back into Dillon, where Geri and Don wanted to visit the Beaverhead County Museum.  I couldn’t go in, which was just as well, as I was kind of pooped from all the exploration earlier in the day and needed some nap time.  When they came out of the Museum, they were full of information that they had gathered, and had to impart it to me.  Like, Beaverhead County is the largest County in Montana.  Bet you didn’t know that!  Also, Lewis and Clark encamped where Dillon is now during their cross-country expedition.  In fact, later in the day, we visited a rocky knoll where William Clark surveyed the hills surrounding the valley and prepared a map which was part of their report to President Jefferson. 

When we got back to the rig, Geri and I went out to socialize with some of the other dogs and humans in the Park, and I got to visit with my new Goldie friend, Kula, whose name means Gold in Hawaiian.  Very friendly, and well-mannered, guy.  We went back to the coach, where Don was warming leftovers for dinner, and chowed down.  Decent plates.  Geri fixed my treat ball, and I took it out on the grass to unlock the treats from it, which attracted the attention of a lady who was walking her little white rag mop, and while she was chatting with Geri, her granddaughter, a charming young lady, came running over to schmooze with me.  This was turning out to be a good day after all.  We went for another walk, winding up at the sheep and cow pens located next to the Park, where a couple of sheep took a strong interest in me, and came over to say hello.  I must admit, I’ve always admired sheep, and look upon them as equals, which is more than I can say for some small Aussie friends of mine.  I bumped snouts with them, and we became good friends.  I couldn’t have been more pleased.  There was another sheep in the pen, but she thought she was a cow, apparently, and was hanging out with them.  No accounting for taste.

Well, a long, exciting and tiring day.  I kind of look forward to travelling tomorrow, as it will give me a chance to get a little rest.  We’ll be heading for Idaho Falls, where Geri and Don have visited before, so they have some ideas of where to go.  I’ll let you know how it works out!  See ya!