FINALLY SOMETHING EXCITING

Kathe's been talking about taking a Jet Boat trip since last January. Finally, they found one that they could all agree upon here in Lewiston. This morning they left me, and the other doggies home and spent the whole day on the Snake River in Hells Canyon.

Hells Canyon is the deepest gorge in North America, deeper than the Grand Canyon. The River is America's deepest and flows between Washington and Idaho and into parts of Oregon. In some places it's 150 feet deep. 

The steep walls of the canyon were amazing, very interesting features like basalt in columns, ancient lava flows, alluvial deposits, and small islands. The Captain stopped the boat to point the geological features and some Indian writing on the canyon walls left by the Nez Perce. 

They saw bald eagles, osprey, wild turkeys, geese and ducks as they sped down the river. They stopped several times for dips in the water and at a waterfall to cool off as the temperature in the canyon was well over 100 degrees. Even with the cool water spraying on them, they were still very hot. 

The canyon is the home for the largest population of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep and they were seen all along the shores of the River. 

HELLS GATE STATE PARK

Today we passed miles and miles of golden wheat fields on the way to Lewiston, Idaho. It was a very pleasant trip once we climbed the hill out of White Bird. We didn't hook the cars up until we reached the top of the 7% grade. It was quite a ride!

We arrived here in Lewiston mid afternoon and the temperature was 119 degrees. Kathie and Warren thought they were still in Indio! As a matter of fact it's probably cooler there today. Our sites are on the River but that doesn't seem to make things any cooler. It's like an oven out there!

A quick trip to Walmart for some supplies was next on the agenda, good thing we didn't want to buy a fan or an air-conditioner as the aisle where they were supposed to be located was bare! People here are saying that it never gets this hot in Lewiston. Lucky us, we arrived in the worst heat wave in memory.

Tomorrow us doggies are going to stay home while all the humans take a Jet Boat trip on the Snake River.

THIS IS A VACATION

Okay, so it's too hot to do anything. It's too hot to go anywhere. It's the kind of day to sit in the shade, drink ice water, and watch the River go by. Or, if you are wearing a fur coat like I am, just lay on the cool tile and nap the day away and wait for dinner. 

This is what a vacation at the River is supposed to be. Just chillin! Because we so close to the water, there are no sewer hook-ups. We gave that up for the beauty of camping right on the shore. We do have to manage our water use, but it's not an issue  for us. Kathe even did a load of laundry in the coach this morning which used 20 gallons of water. We still have plenty of water onboard, but it's the holding tanks that we have to worry about. We only have one more night here and it's looking good in that department. Next stop will be Hells Gate State Park, where we will also have to conserve our water while camping on the shore of the Snake River.    

Kathe and Jim took a walk down to the swim beach this afternoon. It looks inviting, but it's too darn hot to enjoy it. The water is calm and cool, but you would need to put a chair right in the water. Even the sand is too hot to walk on, but the water is very  refreshing.

On the way down to the swim beach they found several old cherry trees with ripe sour fruit for the picking. Kathe had fun picking and eating a bunch.

DRIVING AROUND

Not much to do here, it's way too hot! Not even us doggies are motivated to leave the air conditioning! Kathe drags me outside every once in a while, but I sneak back in as soon as possible!

The campground is really nice with lots of grassy sites that look out on the Salmon River, but no one can stay outside for very long. I think it was 110 today and there is no sign that it's going to cool off any time soon. It does get cooler in the evening, cool enough to sleep comfortably, not in my bed of course, but on the cold tile floor. 

They all went for a Jeep trip today up in the hills above the river. Lots of rolling open space, pine trees and beautiful vistas in every direction. They didn't make it all the way over to the Snake River, they turned around and drove to the site of the White Bird Battlefield. It was the scene of the first battle of the Nez Perce War of 1877.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER RIVER

Tonight we are in White Bird, Idaho along the Salmon River. It was a short drive from McCall, but not a very easy one. Turning into the Park required some maneuvers and hooking up was also a challenge. How does Kathe find these places in the middle of no where? Me, I love it here, lots of grass and if it wasn't so gosh darn hot I'd be outside chasing the chipmunks right now. 

There is nothing to do here but relax and the humans and doggies are doing just that. Maybe they will get up out of the lounge chairs soon and make my supper. I don't know if we are on Mountain Time or Pacific Time, all I know is that I'm hungry!

If they do anything exciting tomorrow I'll let you know, but don't count on it.  

EXPLORING TODAY

This is our last day here in McCall. There is some talk about staying here longer next time we visit, it's such a great place. This morning an artist was painting a picture of the lake right in front of our coach. She was working on it all day, and the finished painting was beautiful.

The guys took off this morning on their bikes for Ponderosa State Park but before they left they put the Kathie's bikes on the Jeep. They all met up at the Visitors Center and continued together on the bike trail along the Lake. They rode about 3 miles together. Warren and Jim rode quite a bit longer without the girls, but they all had fun and everyone stayed upright. Kathie's seat was not adjusted right and she almost took a tumble. Luckily, Warren caught her in time before she fell. The trail was in a quiet pine forest with lots of wild flowers, and there were no vehicles allowed.

After lunch they took a dirt road trip out to Boulder Lake Reservoir in the Taylors Jeep. It was way out of town, but not too difficult a trail to follow. There was a short hike up to the earthen dam to this beautiful little lake. The guys were sorry that they hadn't brought their fishing gear as they watched the fish jumping.
  

ALL DOWNHILL

Well, there was no kayaking today, too many excuses! Either it was too cold, or too windy, or someone had a bad back and another one was afraid if she got down into the kayak she would need a crane to lift her our. So many excuses! The closest Kathe got to the water today was when she was doing the laundry! 

It took a while for everyone to agree on a alternate activity. Eventually they decided to go into town and a do little souvenir shopping. At the Sports shop Warren bought some new bike shorts while the Kathies found some treasures in the store next door. Guess the vacation mode has set in, seems like there is a lot more sitting around in the sunshine than sports activities. To be fair, Jim and Warren took a really long bike ride yesterday, so they deserved a day of rest.

Later on, they all took a drive south to Cascade Lake to check out some campgrounds along the Lake. There  were some really nice sites, but they were all much too small for our rigs. They kept driving and eventually reached the Tamarack Resort. This area has become a luxury ski and bike resort with a village much like Mammoth Mountain. They only have five lifts operating now, but each time we visit it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Today they were hosting the NW Cup Mountain Bike Races. Over 500 riders were competing in this event. They were speeding down a narrow dirt track, and it sure looked dangerous. 

CALM AFTER THE STORM

Last night was sure exciting! We were just getting ready for bed when we got a text from our friends in Meridian, Idaho warning us that a big thunderstorm was on it's way to McCall. After checking the weather app we saw that very strong winds were predicted, which are no fun in a motor home. Warren and Jim quickly packed up the outdoor furniture and we worried about the slide-outs if the winds were really going to be as predicted. 

When the storm hit we did have strong winds that shook the motorhome, thunder, heavy rain and lightning for a couple of hours. Didn't bother me one bit, I slept through it but it kept Kathe and Jim awake and on alert until about midnight.

It was really foggy and cool this morning when Kathe and I went for our walk and there was one tree that had fallen across the road and lots of pinecone and leaves all over the place. 

The Farmers Market was the excursion for today. Lots of cherries, berries, vegetables and homemade pastry. They brought back bags of stuff that looked very interesting, but nothing for us doggies. The rest of the day the Kathies just relaxed and the men went for a long bike ride to Ponderosa State Park. Me, I had a trip to the McCall Pet Spa for a relaxing afternoon. Don't I look beautiful?

A TOWN NAMED WARREN

The campers next door told us about a ghost town and abandoned gold mine called Warren. Of course my humans just had to try and find it today. Turns out it was about 35 miles above McCall and most of the road there was dirt. It was a long forest road with a few small campgrounds along the way. Nothing big enough for our motorhome, but a quiet place if you wanted to really be ALONE. When they finally got to Warren, there were actually people living in what appeared to be a ghost town. Lots of falling down, abandoned buildings.  There was an old  school, a church and a dancehall and lots of tin roofed houses and stores.  

There was old rusted mining equipment, and piles of rock tailings left over from the process of separating the valuable minerals from the waste rock.  On the way out of the town, they spoke to a man along the stream who was taking samples of the sand in the river water, looking for gold. He was happy to speak to "tourists" and told them how he hoped to be successful in his efforts. They wished him luck and drove back to civilization. 

Driving back to town on the East side of Payette Lake they took this picture of the lake before heading back to the RV Resort.

ALL IN MCCALL

Left this morning a little later than planned.  Warren and Kathy had trouble with one of their bedroom slides. Something is wrong with the motor, so the Kathies and Jim pushed with all their combined might and finally got it back in place. Warren says they will just live with it for the rest of the trip, but I hope they will be able to find a solution.

Once we were on the road, we were confronted with traffic and major road construction which delayed us again. It's a tough road up highway 55 with lots of hairpin curves and oncoming traffic on a two lane mountain road. Even with all that, the scenery was beautiful along the river.

We arrived here McCall RV Resort and all those troubles were forgotten. I love it here. Kathe took me for a long walk and I was walking faster than she was. I know my way around this place, because I've been here many times before today. Can't wait till tonight when the deer come to visit us. 

As you can see from this picture we have a great site, right on the river. Lucky us, we are staying five nights! 

BIG DAY

Today was supposed to be a day of rest and relaxation after the long drive yesterday. At least that's what I did most of the day. They do have a great dog park here but you have to get there before it gets hot, I got Kathe up at 5:30! She wasn't happy, but we both went right back to sleep as soon as we got back home, and we didn't get up again until past 9:00. 

This is a wine growing region, so of course the only thing anyone could talk about was where to go wine tasting. Covid protocol is a thing of the past here, but some of the wineries still needed reservations for tasting. First up was St. Chapelle where they were treated royally and tasted lots of really nice wines. They even had a lady that sold handmade chocolates, which Kathe will not share. 

After lunch they went to another winery, Koenig, where they were served really large samples of several wines. Jim and Warren tasted 4 different reds while the girls tasted 4 different sparkling wines. The property and tasting room was beautiful, but the wines were not so great. All in all, they had a fun afternoon together.

Back here at the Ambassador RV Resort there are over more than 40 sites filled with Big Rigs hauling trailers and 5th wheels. It's a club that meets 3 times a year in three locations in the US. This one carries a Smart car between the truck and the 5th wheel. All of these rigs are BIG and tomorrow morning when they fire up those huge diesel engines it's going to be LOUD. Lucky me, I can't hear a thing. 

THREE STATES IN ONE DAY

Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho-all in one very long day. It was our longest drive yet, 237 miles plus a few additional miles when Kathe got us lost in Caldwell, Idaho looking for the RV Park.

We drove all the way into Idaho on the 95 passing farms and ranches, and going through a couple of very small towns along the way. As you can see, lots of wide open spaces!

Somewhere between the Nevada and Oregon border we came upon another insect adventure. This one was even more disgusting than all those bugs from yesterday.  This time it was an giant infestation of Morman crickets. Look it up, it's a real thing. Thousands of these large red crickets were crawling across the highway and being massacred by the traffic. The pavement was actually red with their dead bodies. There were thousands of them on the road for several miles. We needed Joseph Smith and the sea gulls!

After we arrived in Caldwell and got set up Kathe and Jim left me home and went to Meridian to visit some old friends from California. I thought they would never get home. I wanted my dinner, on California time, not Mountain time!

DRIVING DAY

I'm not exactly tip top self today. My tummy has been out of sorts, so I was glad to sleep in my crate all the way from Hawthorne to Winnemucca, Nevada. Kathe cooked dinner last night and I helped clean up the floor, maybe that's why I don't feel so great today.

It was a pretty long drive up the 85/90 highway. The first part of the trip was all desert landscape and the most exciting thing that happened was when we drove through a whole bunch of tiny bugs. This  picture makes it look like a flock of birds. There must have been thousands of bugs all over the windshield. Boy, was Jim ever upset! He's still outside on a ladder cleaning them off and it's almost dark. 

 

After the bugs, the rest of the drive was uneventful. Lots of farms and ranches with goats, sheep, cows and plenty of hay! We finally arrived here at around 3:00 and since no one felt like cooking, and I wasn't hungry, I told them it was okay to go out for Mexican food. No need to bring me a doggie bag!

ANOTHER DAY IN HAWTHORNE

It's really windy tonight, and we're even supposed to get some rain. That would be a welcome relief from this unbearable heat.  I've tried to find shade in this RV Park, but all the trees are so small that they don't provide any shade at all. Spending my days stretched out on the cool tile floor, with the air conditioning blasting. 

Today was much like yesterday, with the humans searching for something to do in this crazy little town.  They left this morning for a trip to the Mineral County Historical Museum. After a couple of hours they were right back home with me in the air-conditioned RV. 

The museum had lots of "interesting" collections that had been donated by the residents of Hawthorne. Here's a picture of a giant eagle that a lady made for the 4th of July Parade. Gives you kind of an idea what the museum was like! Weird! They were going to visit the other museum in town, the Museum of Ammunition, but luckily it was closed today.

After lunch, they all piled into Jim's Jeep to explore some old mine roads about 30 miles away in the town of Mina, Nevada. Traveling on some unmarked dirt trails they found two really old abandoned mines.  They kept driving and found newer claims all over the place which they explored. Warren and Jim brought home a bunch of interesting rocks, but  I don't think were going to get rich any time soon.

BOOM TOWN

We had a very scenic drive today along 395 up and around Mono Lake. That is, it would have been scenic if there wasn't so much dust in the air due to the last few days of high winds.

We drove over the border into Nevada, but Kathe didn't get her cell phone out quick enough to take a picture of the Welcome to Nevada sign.  Instead we have yet another picture of her shoes. Good news, the weather is a little cooler here and there is very little wind, so it's much better than yesterday!

After a few more miles, we were stopped along the road in a line of cars by some official looking men.  We looked off to the left and saw several large explosions. We assumed that it was just workmen blasting rocks or something like that.

As we drove into the town of Hawthorne, NV while Kathe was trying to take a picture of Walker Lake, we noticed quite a lot of military vehicles.  

When Warren and Kathe checked into the RV Park they asked the manager if this was an Army town. He replied that there was "some" Army here. Later, as we did some exploring we saw a sign which said, "Hawthorne Depot, World's Largest Ammunition Storage Depot". So we really are staying in Boom Town! Yikes! 

CONVECTION OVEN CAMPING

It's really hot again today! The wind is still blowing a gale and it's over 100 degrees in the shade. My paws were on fire so I had to run out and run back as fast as I could. I'm going to wait until tonight to go out again, when it's cooler and not so windy.

My humans went out exploring in the Jeep today. First they tried to visit the Lone Pine Movie Museum, but it was closed. Then they tried the Visitors Center to get some information about the Alabama Hills, but they were all out of maps. Strike Two!

So, next they decided then to drive up to the Mt. Whitney Portal. There were plenty of people up at the trail head, some planning to hike and others were just happy to be up in the mountains where it was cooler. There was a beautiful waterfall and lots of pine trees.

After that, they decided to venture to the Alabama Hills to see some of the famous movie sites. They found a map at the entrance and explored all over the area. Lots of very interesting history here. Over 400 movies, TV shows and  commercials were filmed on location here.

  

FIRST STOP

 After all that packing and preparation we still didn't really get on the road till it was almost 11:00 this morning. We drove from Simi Valley to Lone Pine in about 4 1/2 hours. An easy drive most of the way, except for the road construction on Highway 14. Many miles of only one lane in our direction and half of our side was on the shoulder. BUMPY! Not too much scenery to speak of, except for these red rocks in the canyon.

Lone Pine is extremely windy and hot. Kathe lets me out to do my thing, but I'm almost blown over each time we go out. I think it was about 104 when we arrived, but this evening it's cooler but the wind is still blowing.

It was great to see Warren and Kathy and my little friends, Gianni and Bella. Gianni looks so much better than the last time we saw him, Kathy has really been taking good care of him. As for Lady Bella, she's still barking her head off at me.  I guess it will take some time for her to remember me, but what she doesn't seem to know is that I can't hear her barking, no matter how loud. The jokes on her!

AWAY WE GO, AGAIN

 

I got a little scare yesterday-all that stuff piled up in the hallway can only mean one thing! ROAD TRIP! I thought when they loaded everything in the car, they forgot ME. Found out hours later they were only loading up yesterday so that they could get an early start on Monday morning. Whew!! You know, I've been along for every Adventure since 2011, so I didn't want to be left out this year.

We're starting out in Lone Pine, California tomorrow on our way to Idaho, Montana, Utah and Nevada. Yes, I know, been there, done that, but they assure me that we are going to some places we have never been and back to some of our favorites places as well.

I'll try to keep you updated everyday with my adventures, I'm looking forward to seeing my buddies Gianni and Bella and getting into mischief whenever possible.