Summer starts on June 21; a week after that, our second winter started for us on June 26. We had a cold trip this spring, but as soon as we got to Boise, it got hot. We had one week with temperatures in the high nineties. I was looking forward to leaving. The day we […]
Winter started at the end of June. Read More »
We don’t really look forward to crossing eastern Oregon, and this year was no exception. It is, however, better than crossing eastern Washington. Both eastern Oregon and eastern Washington have the same problem. It is very dry, all caused by the rain shadow effect of the Cascade Mountains. Most of Nevada has the same problem
Crossing eastern Oregon in 2026 before the summer heat. Read More »
Our epic 2023 travel adventure took us further north and south than ever before, and in 2023, we also went further in less time than ever. I haven’t yet finished telling you about our summer adventure to Alaska, and it is already the holiday season. We visited the most remote places, and for the first
Our 2023 epic travel adventure Read More »
We are crossing Canada to Alaska and have to overcome numerous obstacles along our way. We’ve had trouble starting in and crossing Canada. These obstacles were not anticipated, and most of them we can’t do anything about. Our troubles crossing Canada are the reason we didn’t publish last week’s blog update. Some of our troubles
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That is right, we are not going back to a wonderful place. It was just too hard, so hard we are not going back. Once and done is good enough. This is not the first time we have declared that we were not going back to some particular place, but it might be the first
Wonderful Place Not going back Read More »
The Lochsa River is wild and remote. After Lewis and Clark crossed Lolo Pass they continued westward (generally) following the Lochsa River. The Lochsa River headwaters start north of Lolo Pass flowing to the west. On both the north and the south banks of the Lochsa River there is a dense forest. When Lewis and
The Lochsa River is wild and remote Read More »
We went across the Bitterroot Mountains and enjoyed every minute of it. The Bitterroot Mountains connect Montana and Idaho. U.S. Highway 12 starting in Lolo Montana follows the same path across the mountains as did Louis and Clark. We liked the Lolo Pass area (explanation below) so much that we visited it three times. They
Going the old way across the Bitterroot Mountains Read More »
Lolo Pass – Bad Roads for RVs is located on U. S. Highway 12 between Lolo Montana and Lewiston Idaho. This road has almost no services. This road is steep for five miles westbound from the pass. Following this, it doesn’t have a straight section for the next seventy-seven miles. This is a paved two-lane
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In the “big fire”, as they call it, it all burned. Everything of value was gone. The big fire was actually 3000 smaller fires, yes the number is correct three thousand fires. The fire destroyed three million acres of prime, old-growth forest. The big fire Three million acres is three times the area of the
While going across Idaho we rejoined the Oregon trail in Burley Idaho. The Oregon trail splits from the Mormon Trail at Fort Bridger. Instead of staying on the Oregon Trail, we followed the Mormon trail to visit Salt Lake City. You might see some similarities in the title of this post. Last month I described
It has been quiet at the lake, well at least it was quiet, and it will be quiet at the lake again — soon. Our travels have taken us south at a rapid pace with the change of seasons. Winter arrived in the west on Labor Day. Labor Day, the last day of summer isn’t
Campsite Review: Jefferson County Lake Campground is west of U.S. Highway 20 two miles north of Rigby, Idaho. It is a very nice place. After departing the U.S. Highway 20 turn west on Farnsworth Way then turn right at North 4000 East and the next right on Rigby Lake Drive. Rigby Lake Drive will end
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Lookout Pass is on Interstate 90, Montana exit ninety-six miles west of Missoula, Montana. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Lookout Pass is at the border between Montana and Idaho, on the continental divide. Just south of the pass is the Lookout Pass Ski Area. Just east of the pass (south
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4th of July Summit – Bad Roads for RVs is on Interstate 90 east of Coeur d’Alene Idaho. this road is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the northern Rocky Mountains and I would agree. It goes double for
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Kootenai County Idaho Highway 97 – Bad Roads for RVs is located between Coeur d’Alene and Harrison along the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The road along the east side of Lake Coeur d’Alene is narrow and while following the lake edge winds the for 25 miles — non-stop. Assuming your destination is anywhere
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The beauty of northern Idaho is stunning. We have spent the last three weeks surrounded by these splendid mountains. We will be back soon. The lakes and mountains are fabulous. The lakes are huge and the water is so clear. What I didn’t know before arriving is that that northern Idaho is more related to
Stunning Beauty in Northern Idaho Read More »
Campsite Review: Bell Bay Campground is at the end of Bell Bay Road three miles west of Highway 97. This is a simple description. Not so simple. Getting to Bell Bay isn’t really all that easy. Bell Bay Campground is at about the half way point on the east shore of Lake Cour d’Alene. There
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Campsite Review: Kootenai County Campground is at the very north edge of Cour d’Alene on Dalton Avenue two blocks east of Highway 95. On the north side of Dalton Avenue is the suburb of Dalton Gardens. The cities of Cour d’Alene and Dalton Gardens have grown to merge into one suburb. The terrain was farmland
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Campsite Review: Sam Owen Campground, Lake Pend Oreille is located just to the east of Hope, Idaho along Highway 200 on the Hope Peninsula. Sam Owen Campground is operated by the Forest Service and is on the southwest shore of the Peninsula. The nearest city big enough to have most services is Sandpoint. Sam Owen
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Campsite Review: Outlet Campground Priest Lake is located at the very south end of Priest Lake just east of State Highway 57 and north of Outlet Bay. The outlet of Priest Lake is the beginning of the Priest River which flows south from Priest Lake to the Pend Oreille River. We really like the Outlet
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Campsite Review: Lava Flow Campground is the only campground in Craters of the Moon National Monument in southwest Idaho. Craters of the Moon is a huge Lava flow so unique that it was made into a National Monument. To get to Craters of the Moon and the Lava Flow Campground get on US Highway 26
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Goodale’s Cutoff is not obvious. When we planned our trip from Idaho Falls to Boise, we didn’t know that the road followed the Goodale’s Cutoff the Oregon Trail. When we turned south towards Yellowstone, we departed the path Lewis and Clark took to the Pacific Ocean and then south of Yellowstone joined the Goodale’s Cutoff.
Campsite Review: Juniper Campground is south of U.S. Highway 26 four miles south of Ririe, Idaho. It is a very nice place. From U.S. Highway 26 turn south on Meadow Creek Road for one and a half miles, campground will be on the right. If the road turns to dirt, you have gone too far.
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By now you have the Hunting in Idaho theme figured out. It was hard to get a good shot on this one, if it wasn’t so amazing it may have not turned out as well. On this one had the typical sign, “falls” but on this one, it wasn’t obvious. We drove down the road
More hunting in Idaho Read More »
It is hunting season in Idaho. Bow season is underway and rifle season starts tomorrow. We have joined in, not wanting to “buck” local traditions. Of course, bucks have seemed to disappear, as they always do at this time of year. Since we don’t have much storage in the RV, let alone much freezer space
Campsite Review: Gowen Field is a military-only RV park located on Gowen Field Air National Guard Base on the south side of the Boise Idaho Airport. It is a very small nice place with a noise problem. Gowen Field RV Park is a very small seven-site very nice secluded RV park. Since it is right
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Squaw Creek Canyon – Bad Roads for RVs is located on U.S. Highway 95 south of Marsing. This road is a steep two-lane road. U.S. Highway 95 is also known as the I.O.N. Highway No. 456 ( I.O.N. stands for Idaho, Oregon, Nevada) The road descends part of the Little Squaw Creek Canyon and Squaw Creek
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It is a long way from Boise to Gardnerville, Nevada even though we stopped in Winnemucca. It is a long way from Bend to Boise but we made it in one day. I realize that some people in RVs will knock off 300 mile days without complaint but we were tired on all three legs
Boise to Gardnerville Read More »
It has been a great stay in Boise, Idaho with family. We will be going about 500 miles south to our friends, Joel and Patty’s house near Topaz Lake in Nevada. Yesterday we passed the seven-month mark being out of California. After that, we cross Death Valley — just because we have never been there.
In Boise, Idaho, we stayed at Gowen Field which is an Air Force Reserve Base, located right next to the Boise Airport. It is a nice, small area which has a small problem in that it is right next to the Boise Airport. We loved the place except for the noise. We frequent Boise, because
We have been to Twin Falls, Idaho multiple times including stops in our RV going to the solar eclipse in 2017. This time, unlike in August 2017, the Shoshone Falls had lots of water flowing over it, creating some good photo opportunities. In 2017 nearly all the water in the Snake River had been diverted
How to cross the Snake River? Three Island Crossing State Park is the place the pioneers on the Oregon Trail favored. Drinking water for the pioneers and all their livestock was a primary consideration in route selection on the Oregon Trail. Without water, all would die. In Idaho, the pioneers used two major routes, called
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Stuck in Traffic While in Burley we drove south towards Utah and visited City of Rocks National Preserve. This is operated by the National Park System by the federal government. City of Rocks National Preserve was the very first National Preserve and although operated by the National Parks, allows for things, (like hunting) that would
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We moved from the country to a small farm town. Burley Idaho is on the Snake River to the east of Heyburn is on the north side of the river Burley is on the south side. We stayed at Heyburn Riverside RV Park. Burley is a little bigger. In my view, both are very nice,
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We are camping at Curlew Campground, south of Curlew National Grasslands. We have miles of sagebrush and a view of Stone Lake, a lake owned by the cattleman’s association. Even though the lake is right next to the campground it is trespassing to go to the shoreline. Cattle outnumber people about 20 to 1. They
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Horseshoe Bend – Bad Roads for RVs is located on Idaho Highway 55 north of Boise and goes through Horseshoe Bend. This road is steep. This section of ID-55 is the primary route from Boise to McCall and is busy especially on weekends. Departing Eagle northbound, the road climbs to Spring Valley Summit and then descends
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The Path of the Total Solar Eclipse I have seen many partial eclipses and knew that a total solar eclipse was better, but I didn’t know how much better. How much better — a total solar eclipse is way better. Our life was busy and we knew a slowdown was in order and this trip
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