Stair Master to the Sky ~ May 31, 2012

After breakfast we asked the park host for a suggestion on a good place to explore that's only a short drive, especially after yesterday's 200 mile jaunt. He told us to just turn right out of the park driveway and head for the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. It's about 25 miles north on a gravel road. Though we're camped in Idaho, somewhere along the way we cross into the Centennial Valley and Lakeview, Montana.  The drive is spectacular and we see only a couple of other cars on the road the entire journey ~ our kind of place!

Off to a promising start

Yellow Bellied Marmot  ~ Roadside Patrol

 Short pause for lunch

Just before we get to the Refuge we came upon what appears to be ghost town, like a movie set right out of an old Western. We find out it's the home base for the Center for Earth Concerns, headed by lifelong naturalists and philanthropists Melody and John Taft. The organization works around the world, dedicated to enhancing and expanding education for the protection of wildlife. You can find out more about their vision and work at http://www.earthconcerns.org/

The historical buildings, which date back to the early settlers, are being restored and recreated. Also in development is a museum to showcase the history of the Centennial Valley. The facility hosts environmental researchers, artists, students and volunteers to study and fulfill common goals. "The heart of the Center is held by the people who continually dream a vision into being - the founders, directors, staff and volunteers who welcome and care for all who are fortunate enough to visit this oasis for the soul".

Our next stop is the small Visitor's Center at the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge where we find more information on the area and local wildlife. We ask about the fire lookout tower on the property and find it's been retired for some time. We're delighted when the host hands us the keys and lets us to climb up and take a look. You want to talk Stairmaster ~ this was much more fun than the one at the gym and the view from the top was amazing!

Late afternoon we head back to camp to relax and fix some dinner. Starting to feel the thigh and calf muscles from our climb! Tomorrow we start the journey home and will hatch our game plan as we go.

A Three State Day ~ May 30, 2012

After breakfast we pack up the Honda with foul weather gear, cameras and snacks and head up to Yellowstone. The weather is acting up some, but the sky's constant changes create an incredible palette for the photographer in me. We've decided to spend the day exploring both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks; a recon mission for the next trip.

I couldn't figure out why I saw "entering and leaving Montana" signs and had to look at a map to figure it out. There is a little pie wedge of Montana that slips in between Idaho and Wyoming when you enter Yellowstone. I mean really, we need to get out more! Did you know that Yellowstone National Park was established by the Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant in March 1872?

When you're touring these magnificent parks you can't be impatient or in a hurry. Car's frequently pull over or stop in the middle of the road to see what's up. You just have to go with the flow and relax. This trip there are bison grazing along the roadside.

Ralph and the Boys

We've traveled along the Icefields Parkway, an amazing journey that takes you from Banff to Jasper, Alberta (put it on your Bucket List). We saw moose, elk, coyotes, bears, and deer along the wide grass verges next to the road. I always had this vision of the animal families orchestrating their roadside attractions in shifts. "Alice, me and the boys'll take the morning shift, then you and girls bring the kids up from the river for the afternoon shift." I can't help but create the same scenario here.  

Fountain Paint Pot

There are many pull outs along the way and we stop frequently to walk about. It's an incredibly rich, diverse and colorful environment.

After lunch we head south into the Grand Tetons National Park to do a little exploring before the weather turns bad. The Rockies never disappoint regardless of season.  

By the time we get back to camp we realize we've driven 200 miles within the parks. A great adventure but a long day. A simple dinner and we're curled up with books before nightfall. The weather is improving by the hour and the Sandhill Cranes once again wish us a good night.

Eastward Ho ~ May 25th-26th, 2012

May 25th ~ Hwy 20 is a blue highway, a road less traveled with spectacular and sweeping views of the high deserts of Oregon and Idaho. Farms and ranches are patchworks of color in a sagebrush sea. Eastern Oregon is onion country so there are acres of a subtle blue green hue along the road.

Just west of the Idaho border is the small town of Vale, OR. It's time to gas up and get some lunch. We park the rig near a machine shop and ask the owner for a recommendation. He points us across the street to the Starlite Cafe. We place our order and the waitress delivers our sodas and then brings over the standard squeeze bottles of mustard, mayo and ketchup. As she goes to place them on the table she appears to fumble the bottles and "accidentally" squeezes the ketchup bottle at Rod. A stream of red heads right for his chest. After a moment of stunned silence we realize it's not ketchup, but a string of red yarn. We just dissolve in laughter along with our waitress and the locals sitting near us. The food is great, the staff delightful and the pies to die for. The Starlite is a triple threat if you're ever in Vale.

We get to Boise late in the afternoon. Our intent had been to stay in an nearby RV park over Memorial Day Weekend but our hosts Linda and Steve insist we park the rig in the driveway and use their guest quarters. They call it the Casita but read Honeymoon Suite, a delightful and comfortable spot to call home for a few days!

First night in Linda makes an incredible dish with cod, shrimp, salmon, prawns, and veggies (like paella without the rice). I need to preface this with the fact I've never been a seafood person, but this first meal in Idaho is the beginning of a new chapter in my gustatory digest. We were joined by friends Ken and Betty. In spite of the fact we hadn't seen each other since the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in February we call it an early night. We'll have four days to catch up and Saturday is going to start at o'dark thirty. We're headed to the Camas Prairie for a day of exploration, photography and birding. It's named for the Blue Flowering Camas ~ an important food source for all Native Americans in the interior Northwest. The Camas Prairie is also a traditional Nez Perce gathering place.

May 26th ~ Linda starts us off with smoothies for breakfast. No ordinary shakes these: almonds, walnuts, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, Greek yogurt, and orange and pomegranate juice ~ a total meal. We're going to introduce them into our breakfast menus at home. At 6:30am we're off (Linda, Rod and I) to meet up with Ken, Betty and their friend, artist Geoffrey Krueger (http://dailydoseofpainting.wordpress.com/). He has a fascination with cloud laden landscapes and old farm buildings, and today would turn out to be a gold mine for all of us.

Yellow Headed Blackbird

Camas Prairie

Barn Diva and Truck

Soldier Mountains

Old School House

After the rain fog at an old corral

Ken was a great guide: we saw a kaleidoscope of wildlife, birds and waterfowl, wildflowers and mountains, farms and woodlands, old buildings and corrals. I might add that these back country gravel roads are in better shape than most of Sonoma County's paved roads! We're home by early evening, leftovers for dinner and straight to bed, exhausted and happy.

Anecdote: We stopped on an old farm road to watch two young pronghorn antelope watching a tuxedo kitty in hunting mode. She kept leaping into the air clapping her paws together. Our guess was maybe grasshoppers. Anyway we were as enthralled as the antelope and so no one got a picture. All I could think of to write down so I didn't forget was "Two antelope and a cat go into a bar."

Gone and Little Towed ~ May 17, 2012

Tomorrow morning we take off on our first major road trip of 2012. We have three weeks with only a few promises to keep. We're off to visit friends and family in Oregon and then to Boise, Idaho for Memorial Day weekend.

Idaho Golden Eagle

http://www.etsy.com/people/christophernewell 

The majority of the trip, however, will fall under our favorite category of "Shall we turn right or left this morning?" Bill Bryson said it quite well.

Road Trip Freedom

 

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel

is to be able to experience everyday things

as if for the first time,

to be in a position

in which almost nothing

is so familiar it is taken for granted.” 

Over the last 5 years we've taken our little motorhome, Gone, all around the Northwest, BC and Alberta. We've seen some amazing places, but the drawback was that without a car we couldn't explore. We want the freedom to anchor somewhere for a few days or a week and be able to check out the neighborhood. 

Enter Little Towed, our Honda CRV. We got her set up this week so that we can take her with us. It's going to be a learning curve, especially since we go from 25' to almost 40', from back in sites to pull through sites, from simply taking off to new checklists for hitching up and unhitching. We have a long run up Hwy 101 to our friends in McKinleyville and another long one from there to Pop's place in Sublimity, OR so we should be SOHUA (somewhat old hands upon arrival) by the time we get there. Life should be an adventure and who would know better than Mark Twain? 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed

 by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.”