Day Trip to Idaho

Working here at Central Ferry Park in SE Washington. We get two days off every week so we can take advantage of this beautiful area. Last Tuesday found us over the state line and into Northern Idaho near the town of St Maries at the Southern end of the absolutely gorgeous Lake Coeur dAlene.

The Palouse

These pictures were taken from Steptoe Butte, just south of Spokane.







Palouse is a word you have probably never heard. Hell, my spell check doesn't know it because right now there is a red line under it. It is probably because there is only one area in the whole country like it. The palouse was formed more than a million years ago at the end of the last ice age. It is believed that a huge glacier covered what is now the states of Montana & Idaho and as the top of the glacier melted it became a vast sea. When the Western edge of that glacier melted that sea of water came roaring across Idaho bringing with it huge amounts of top soil witch was deposited over what is now SE Washington & Northern Idaho. When Lewis & Clark came through here they were amazed at the complete absence of trees. There are a few trees here now, planted by the people who settled the area but mostly it is as it was for thousands of years.

The Newest Member of the Doyle Family

Tug of war with Daddy's foot.

He sleeps really well.

Lately we have been thinking about getting a puppy. Then the decision seemed to be made for us when our good friends, Kathy and Bruce Johnston told us about a friend of theirs who was looking for homes for 9 pups. The upshot was that Nancy and Kathy traveled over 200 miles to Missoula Montana to pick up Toby. He is half Border Collie and half Black Lab. He's getting used to his new home, well, actually he has taken most of it over. He's very smart and a little headstrong. He goes to work with Nancy almost every day at the campground office and he loves riding in the golf cart. He plays with his "cousins" Ginger, Daisy and Patty (Bruce and Kathy's dogs) almost every day.

Monida Pass

Life is full of ups and downs. We know this because on April 17 we crossed Monida Pass. (It gets its name from "Mon"tana and "Ida"ho). Yes, it is on the state line.





After sitting it out for three days in Pocatello, Idaho waiting for a late spring snowstorm to pass thru north of us, we left and drove north on I-15.




We reached the summit with no problems. The elevation was almost 7000 feet at the top. Some of the grades were 6% and 7% but mostly the ascent was a gradual climb. Same with the descent.



This beautiful mountain lake was crystal clear.




Nan took these pics through the truck window at a speed of about 50 mph. Thank goodness for the 1000 shutter speed.




It seemed like it took forever to get to the other side of the mountain.







The scenery was just awesome. The roads were clear and dry and the weather was sunny and warm.

Valley of Fire

After leaving the Las Vegas area we traveled east towards Utah. Since we had some extra time we stopped at a campground in Overton, Nevada, on the northern tip of Lake Mead. The other day we drove over to the Valley of Fire State Park, about 8 miles west of town. After stopping at the Visitors Center we headed out into the park, stopping along the way to stare at the beautiful scenery. Pretty awesome, huh? Thousands of years ago these rock formations were under water. As the water receded, some of the rock eroded away, leaving the present formations.











Now we know why it is called the Valley of Fire. The colors bouncing off the unusual rock formations are a rainbow of orange, red, purple, yellow and brown, changing with the direction of the sunlight and shadows.

Petroglyphs

At one of the roadside turnouts, we hiked a short distance to view the petroglyphs. Pretty amazing! These are thousands of years old! To this day, archeologists have not been able to decipher all of them. Much of it is still a mystery.

Desert Life

While we were viewing the petroglyphs we spotted this big green lizard (or is it a gecko?) He posed for pictures much to the delight of the tourists, while sunning himself on the rock.

Desert Scenes

There's so much to see and do in the desert southwest. Here are just a few photos for your enjoyment.









We are blessed with many good friends and a wonderful family. But sometimes you meet somebody that is just the best! We met Dodie and Rosie Rosenberg in Michigan at the Allegan Fair about 10 years ago. They invited us to come out to stay on their property near Casa Grande, AZ. We took them up on that offer and this is about our 4th time out here. We call it the Compound because there are always lots of people there. Dodie put in about 5 RV sites so their friends can enjoy their stay in comfort. We have been here for about 3 weeks -- it's so hard to leave.

Back to Yuma

The month of February has simply flown by. I've had every intention of updating the blog more than once, but got sidetracked. So here goes:

We left Quartzsite on January 23 and headed back to Yuma. This time we boondocked at Cool's Corner, called so because there is a small grocery store with that name (long since closed and boarded up) where you turn to go up on a bluff off of Laguna Dam road, near where we stayed during New Years. We used up our 14 day free stay on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. A few of the Boomers that we partied with at Quartzsite were there so we continued the party. The spot where we were camped was surrounded by hills so we were protected from the winds (strong at times). Just when we thought we were "partied out" we moved over to Pilot's Knob, another free BLM spot located over the state line into California. Here we stayed for two nights. We got to see Dustin again before his Marine unit is deployed overseas. Daughter Nancy and her hubby Pat and daughter Alyssa flew to California and then drove over to see Dustin. We had dinner in Yuma and enjoyed a pleasant but very brief visit.

Please keep Dustin in your prayers. We hope for a safe and speedy return for all.

A New Dawn

Inauguration day started with a beautiful sunrise coming over the mountains east of Quartzsite, Arizona. We thought it was very appropriate. We had asked that anyone who wanted to share this historic event to join us for an Inaugural Brunch. We set up two TVs and a sound system and about 30 people showed up from the group of Boomers who were camped in the desert.

Our new president was sworn in and history was made.











While the festivities were still going on all over the nation the Boomers of the Escapees RV Club enjoyed a beautiful sunset in the desert.