May 20, 2013 - Three Island Crossing

We are in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, staying at Three Island Crossing State Park. What an interesting and wonderful place! The grounds here are akin to what one would find at a high-end country club, with lots of trees and beautiful lawns. We are parked on a cliff above the Snake River, which is of historical significance in the settlement of the west. The park is located on the Oregon Trail, and many of the pioneers who settled the Willamette Valley in Oregon passed through here in the 19th century. Between 1840 and 1869, wagon trains having...

May 17, 2013 - On to Post Falls, ID

What an interesting drive we had today. It's amazing how much terrain can change in just 200 miles. We left Hermiston, OR, & crossed the Columbia River into Washington in just a few miles. We saw another dam on the Columbia River - McNary Lock & Dam. We crossed the Columbia again at Kennewick in the Tri Cities area. We were in wheat growing country for 3/4 of our trip & then suddenly we were in pine trees. We thought we'd gone from wheat to pine trees but did see a few wheat fields in the pine trees before we left the wheat fields behind....

May 11, 2013 - American Falls

May 11 8:00 27858.1 Sunny, blue skies with whispy clouds, Eastern Oregon is dry, high desert. Our campground was nestled in trees with a backscape of snow covered mountains. Most of journey today will follow the Oregon Trail to American Falls, Idaho. Our journey is expected to take 6 hours. It will be 338 miles. It would have taken the early pioneers approximately 22 days to make the same trip. This area if Idaho is fairly flat and the going would not have been difficult except for the river crossings. Our first job is to fuel up, diesel...

May 11, 2013 - Still Packing But Getting Close :-)

Today marked another day of packing, seems we have been boxing stuff up forever but, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Nearly all items are boxed, everything we don't want anymore has been spoken for or given away already. Yesterday we rented a space for our trailer near the Boise River and the Fairgrounds, with great bike paths and peaceful. We will be there until near the end of June and today I go out to the storage place and bring the trailer home to outfit it for our journey. We really feel good about all that we have...

May 1, 2013 - Packing

Today my good friend Steve Ma come over and helped me pack up stuff in the garage. It was so nice to have a person helping out cheerful and energetic, the best part is we got it done. Wow I would never have guessed I could get that thing packed in one day. Yesterday Debbie and I found a spot here in Boise for our trailer to stay for a month or two while we are putting a larger diesel tank in the truck. This will extend the number of miles we can travel without worrying about where the next fuel stop is. They make a GPS just for RV's so it...

Apr 24, 2013 - Boise

We have been so busy in Boise, I haven't had time to update my journal in a while. To be truthful, I have been busy and lazy. We have been spending a lot of time with Kristine, which has been nice. The first weekend we were here, we helped her get ready for her part in a progressive party with her friends. The theme was Seasons and she had Fall. So we planned a tailgating party with brat shish-kabobs, cheese fondue, pumpkin bread and apples dipped in carmel. At the other 3 houses there was a Spring Training theme for Spring, Summer was a...

Apr 24, 2013 - On the road again!!

March 19 to April 24, 2013 We just wanted to check in and let you guys know we have started traveling again. We stayed at Carolyn and Tom’s house in Medford, Oregon for over a month. We have completed many jobs – washing truck and Casita, reorganizing both truck and Casita, helping Carolyn with packing and taking care of 2 dogs and 2 cats while they were looking for a job for Carolyn after she graduates from nursing school in June. We have celebrated our one year anniversary April 15 – that is one year on-the-road anniversary. We cannot...

Apr 4, 2013 - Caldwell, ID

Once again we stopped at Ambassador RV Park in Caldwell, ID for $33/night. This has become one of our favorite RV Parks and we stop here any time we go through this area. I-84 construction is pretty much done, thank goodness and Franklin Blvd. is also complete so getting in and out of the park is much nicer. I-84 is smoother. Another chance to sit outside this afternoon. We are stretching it out as long as we can.

Apr 3, 2013 - Eden, ID

Our rigs finally got all the work done on them. We had our refrigerator fixed for the third time and Anderson's needed to have their landing jacks replaced. Nice to see Ryan Smith again and see all the improvements to his dealership. We stopped at Anderson Camp RV Park in Eden, Idaho for $31/night. Small sights, but beautiful setting. They offered homemade pizza so we took them up on that for dinner. Excellent! They make their own crust and don't scrimp with toppings. Great. Nice enough afternoon/evening that we could sit out. We treasure...

Mar 31, 2013 - Fort Hall, ID

Happy Easter! This Easter Sunday found us traveling to Fort Hall, ID where we stayed at the Shoshone-Bannock Casino RV Park for $20/night. (Do you see a pattern here?) Actually we have stayed here before as it is about 8 miles from Park-A-Way RV where we bought our 5th wheel. We needed to get a few things fixed on our rig so this is the best spot for us to stay. Had lunch with Ryan Smith, owner, and got our rigs checked out. They had to order parts for both us and the Andersons so we stayed for a couple of days. Hope to be good as new when...

Mar 18, 2013 - Boise

Boise ID My birthplace. Been a long time since then, and near as I can remember, this was the longest I’ve spent in Boise since those very, very early days of my life. It’s nice to catch up with old friends, and have the opportunity to spend a little time with them. Doug was a hunting partner for a few years and Jared’s coach in little league days, and his ex and Melinda were friends. Doug was able to take the day off work, which gave Doug and Diane a chance to try out a newly reopened hot springs not too far away. And of course, I just...

Mar 17, 2013 - Wellington, UT to Boise, ID

Day 63 (am temp 33.8) Wellington, UT to Boise, ID Flexibility is the key. Although today was a travel day, both the route and final destination were a bit up in the air. My original plan was to go north into Wyoming, and cut across into Idaho, but the storm was still threatening up that way. The scenario was pretty much checking at each major intersection to assess the weather ahead and making a decision at that point on which direction to go. The more I checked, the more my route veered westerly. I really wanted to travel the secondary...