Tag Archives: Idaho

Road back to California

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We had to get moving again and get back to California.  We had a trip scheduled to Hawaii (Maui), without the trailer, and had a hard date to take off.  We had almost 2 weeks to get back but we were trying to balance driving time versus distance and we had to throw in the factor that it was getting hotter the closer we were to Visalia.  After Great Falls we drove a bit over 200 miles to Beaverhead campground near Dillon MT.  This was a FREE campground with spots, pit toilets and right on a lake.  It was cool as some rain had just passed through.  True, it was right by the interstate but a large on-ramp berm blocked some of the noise.  It was a wonderful place (we even saw a man-moose for George – embedded in the concrete of the pavilion):

We still had to stop in Idaho Falls to retrieve our handgun that we didn’t try to take into Canada.  I ensured that our next stop would take us right by Idaho Falls.  Here are some ‘Idaho’ vehicles that I spotted:

Our next stop was for 2 nights at a Passport America site, Downata Hot Springs.  I didn’t get any photos while we were there but it is a nice, family oriented, park and it has a full water park with hot springs.  We did go to the hot springs but it was 90+ degrees, not the hot springs but the ambient temperature!  It would have been more enjoyable if it was cooler but that appeared to be the trend as we got closer to California, HOT!

We still had miles to go and headed toward Nevada.  This took us more west than south and through a corner of Utah.  This was extremely rural country with very few services.  We ended up in Elko NV for the night at a Casino RV park.  We needed hookups from now on due to the heat as it required air conditioning in the trailer for comfort.  Here is our luxurious spot and my lego block building prowess to level the trailer!

The next day we did another I80 leg across Nevada ending up in Fernley NV at another Passport America campsite.  We did 4 nights there prior to our next stop.  While in Fernley I was looking for some fast WiFi and checked the library.  Above the doorway was a quote from my favorite 4 book trilogy:

Still a bit to go…

Two more stops

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Due to campground scheduling, we headed south from the West Yellowstone area to end up by Lower Mesa Falls in Idaho.  We are due to be there 3 nights and the campground is right by the lower falls but about 1000′ above them.  There was no cell service but MANY mosquitos!  The campground had electric but no sewer or dump.  It was very cool and wet with rain on and off.  Perfect weather for those pesky ones!

We took a drive to the upper falls (1 mile) to see them and hike to the lower falls (more than 1 mile):

Upper Mesa Falls

Lower Mesa Falls

Part way through our stay at the falls we had to move campsites as Marcia couldn’t get sites for consecutive days.  One of the sites she got was a double spot so we stayed together in that one:

We enjoyed the time in the area, we even went down to the local town (Ashton ID) for eating and supplies.  We also found a spot near a river where people fed the fish in the stream.  We even saw a bunch of bald eagles.  But as always it becomes time to leave.  Back north we go!

Here is shot of our trailer while our friends were following us:

Oddly enough we ended up going through Island Park ID for the third time!  Island Park boasts having the longest main street in the world!  The actual town is 34 miles long but just over 500 feet wide.  This was done during a time when liquor could only be sold in the city limits and there were lots of businesses that used that to their advantage and it appears to have not changed!

Before we got back to West Yellowstone we turned west toward our next stop.  We ended up at the Lewis and Clark Caverns Campground.  Right after we got there we were inundated with snow!  Not real snow but it looked like snow.  It was coming from the Cottonwood trees all through the campground:

There are some caverns to explore here at the park but we looked at the description of the hikes.  Strenuous, crawling, butt-scooting, etc.  Not quite what we were up to doing.  The Chen’s went on and did it and we watched their dog for them.  From their descriptions, it appeared to be a good choice not to go, but they did enjoy it!

The weather was really nice there!