10/20/19 HOME FEELS SO GOOD

Our Deck View

WE ARE HOME AND IT FEELS SO GOOD

Driving from New Jersey to Rhode Island via the Tappen Zee Bridge only takes about 3.5 hours WHEN you travel on Sunday morning, otherwise it usually takes 5 or more.  Nothing beats New England in the fall and we are so glad to be home in time to enjoy the end of the fall colors.  

We are exhausted and need to leave more time to stop, relax and explore on the route home instead of letting "channel fever" take over.  We drove through 20 states and an estimated 8,000 miles over the past 7 weeks which is nuts.  Although the trip was FABULOUS, we are realizing that we don't like to be away from home that long AND we don't want to be driving this much in such a short period of time.  Oh wait, aren't we taking the RV to the Florida Keys for February and March 2020 and then on a 62 day trip to Alaska next summer, plus 4 weeks to visit friends and family on the way to and from Vancouver, Washington where the Alaska tour begins???????

Barn Island Sunrise Hike Near Westerly

10/15 Minnesota to New Jersey

Park Ranger Took Our Photo

We stay at Baker Park Reserve Campground near Buffalo Minn to visit Aunt Joanne.  We have a lovely visit while John makes plans for next year's Hanley reunion at this park in June 2020.  We watch the news helplessly while Westerly gets slammed with what is called a "bombogenesis" aka a weather bomb.   Defined as a storm that undergoes extremely rapid drop in pressure, meaning it strengthens really fast.  Don't know the extent of the damage near our condo (neighbors say our unit is fine) but 88% of the town was without power at one point.  

Traffic Detour Through Illinois Corn Fields

Since leaving the mountains of Idaho, the 7 days of driving it took to get to Ohio has been relatively flat lands where from horizon to horizon day after day we mainly see corn fields and cows along with a bunch of pronghorn antelope and deer.  About the middle of Ohio we start to see trees from horizon to horizon instead of corn fields and then come the rolling hills.  Unfortunately there was a big traffic tie up in Illinois which our travel app routed us around.....oh by the way, they don't know we are an RV.  You would think by now we would remember to follow the tractor trailer trucks, instead we meander through corn fields on roads with signs saying NO TRUCKS!!! Away from the coasts this country is mainly rural, something very hard to imagine if you have grownup on the crowded coast lines.  So glad Zoe and Jack have driven across this country (by themselves no less) to have the experience of how it is all laid out.  A MUST FOR ALL....have to drive to taste, feel, see what our beautiful country is all about.

Mahlon Dickerson Reservation Campground, New Jersey

Have to be careful approaching New York on interstate 90 heading east because there are few RV campgrounds past Jefferson New Jersey and even fewer OPEN this time of year.  Thank goodness we know this and start planning early in the day for our final night so that we don't end up parking on the side of the road or being forced to drive through New York when we are bone tired at the end of the day.  The Mahlon Dickerson Reservation is a beautiful little campground that was open for a few more days and had room for us!  A lovely way to spend our last night but we are VERY ANXIOUS to be home.

10/11 Eastward Bound to South Dakota

Clearwater River

After the cruise, John joins me at Zoe's for an extra night giving an early Fall blizzard a chance to clear the Rockies.  We head East, pick up the truck and RV which was parked at the Clarkston Port in Idaho, and take  a spectacularly scenic US 12 along Idaho's Clearwater River where the sign says "Windy Road Next 99 Miles" and they weren't kidding.  There was rarely a straight stretch.  We stopped at Lolo Pass Ranger Station for hot chocolate and a great display of the area's history and geology.  

Lolo Pass - Border of Idaho and Montanta

Taking another off the main highway route via US 212 through Montana and Wyoming brought more relaxed driving and more fabulous views.    Montana is BIG, we stay at Turah RV in Turah and Grandview RV in Hardin Montana.  Hard to imagine how simply people live out here when you get away from cities and populated coasts.  The sign on the saloon photo says "Cheap Beer - Lousy Food".  The word "urinal" was painted on the side of a building next to the saloon with an arrow pointed to the field.  Lots of pronghorn, sheep, cows and grass lands. 

Typical Off Road Western Stop

Along US 212 on Crow Reservation. MT

Spent a couple days with Joan and Craig on their 20 acres in the Black Hills of South Dakota hiking and rock hounding and feeding the dozens of turkeys and deer who come daily.  Got a flat on the RV on the way out of town, which after inspection resulted in 3 new tires on the RV bringing our total tire purchase this trip to 11: 4 on the truck, 4 on Zoe's car and 3 on the RV!Spent that night at Lake Vermillion Rec Area, a nice campground in SD. 

Feeding Deer and Turkeys

How exciting to get a photo of Jack and his new girl Michele at a friend's wedding in Hawaii.  After receiving the Navy's Fleet Scholar award which pays for Jack to go to graduate school, he is working his way through the application process, focusing on Fletcher School at Tufts in Boston.  Will be good to have him nearby!

Michele and Jack

10/3-10 Snake and Columbia River Cruise

National Geographic Quest

We park the truck and RV at the Clarkston Pier on the Snake River in Washington and join 3 of Johns Dartmouth ’71 classmates and their spouses, for a week aboard the National Geographic Quest.  The premise of the trip is following the most Western part of the 1805 Lewis and Clark Expedition.   The Snake and Columbia Rivers flow through some fascinating geological  landscapes  which were carved over millennia by hundreds of historical floods and lava flows.

Jet Boat Through Rapids

Lava, Lava, Lava

First day we board jet boats and travel up the Snake to the Clearwater River through spectacular Hells Canyon.  Really fun speeding through all the white-water rapids.  Second day we journey to the entrance of the Palouse River and explore with the kayaks and zodiacs then bus up to Palouse Falls.  Day three was geology and history lectures and a hike up Crow Butte.

Palouse Falls

We go through 4 locks on the cruise dropping almost 800 feet along the way.  The boat is lovely and the crew and tour folks are top rate.  Lots of lectures on geology, history and naturalists.  

Until we reach Hood River on the 4th day, the trip has been beautifully remote. After walking the cool Mosier Tunnels (old highway road built 1921), I abandoned ship in Hood River and met up with Zoe who found a house to rent there.  We had a great couple days together and I was with her when she got the call saying she got the job as Northwest Coexistence Representative for Defenders of Wildlife!  

Mosier Tunnels

Dartmouth Crowd

History of Astoria Column

John continued on the cruise climbing Beacon Rock in Stevenson and exploring historical Astoria, near the Pacific Ocean where Lewis and Clark spent the winter. A GREAT TRIP!

Defenders of Wildlife NW Coexistence Rep