Author: Miss Lynne

We drove to Picabo Idaho and camped at a really nice site, that evening we met Virginia and Bill for dinner and caught up on life in general. We arranged to meet Virginia the next morning to up to the top of a ridge above Hailey and Sun valley, Unusually for me, I had to give up after 1.5 miles up the trail as the altitude and lack of sleep the night before had really got to me. We were starting off at 6900 ft and even that short climb till we turned around was quite something. We hiked back down and then did a 5 mile walk but starting at 1000ft lower and that did not affect me. Sounds like I need to do lots of prep before we hike from lodge to lodge at Machu Picchu in Peru.

We had lunch down at one of the lodges in Sun Valley and was able to walk around it, there as an ice skating competition in full flight and a writers conference in the big auditorium. It’s an impressive place and we will be back in the future.

The next day we drove to Salt Lake City, the campsite was in the city itself and although very busy, it was quiet and clean (apart from the trains that run through the city, oh and the fireworks that went off at 10PM in the State Fairground next door.) We were up early the next morning to Bells Canyon and the Lower Falls, 2.7 miles to the falls with a pretty consistent elevation gain all the way up, although the last .5 miles was clambering up boulders. The falls were very pretty and the walk back down was easy after the boulders were completed. Highest elevation was 6732 ft. No altitude issues but I was well hydrated.

Next day we drove to Rawlins and stayed overnight before traveling on to Pine Bluffs WY – just on the border with Nebraska and Colorado. On the way we stopped at the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie. It was an interesting place to tour around and had Butch Cassidy housed there at one point.

Pine Bluffs was a Harvest Host location and it is a Whiskey Distillery. Its majority family owned and all the grain comes from local farms. Tonight they had a local rodeo star, Brody Cress, in attendance selling and signing bottles of his chosen barrels. We had a gin cocktail to start ( they produce gin and vodka as well) and then were lucky enough to be given a tour of the distillery and to sample some of the Bourbon straight from the barrel. Chad, the owner, was very gracious and his parents and uncle quickly spotted that we were not local in amongst the crowd that was there, and came across to talk to us. All in all it was a great night with some delightful people.

We are off to Wellington Colorado next, just outside of Fort Collins and more importantly for all my stitching friends, very near Loveland and Colorado Cross Stitcher.

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Drive to Canyon Pines just outside Riggins Idaho, we had a little bit of excitement on the way. All of a sudden we had some alarm going off in the RV, after checking the towing brake system, the tire pressure system and the GPS and it turned out it was Rob’s phone warning us that there were new wildfires and and road closures. luckily after some googling we realized that we would be ok if we stuck to our current route.

Really nice caravan park and we were able to book a jet boat trip for the next day. We went into town at 8am to sign our waivers and then drove a very interesting 30 plus miles up and over a very narrow and winding mountain road and down to the lower Pittsburgh landing, ready to board our boat. Here is what the website says about this route The 31.5-mile section of the river between Hells Canyon Dam and Upper Pittsburg Landing is designated as the Wild river section. Rapids vary from Class II to Class V. At the mouth of Granite Creek rapids, approximately seven miles downstream from Hells Canyon Dam, the river elevation is 1,480 feet. The canyon depth here is 7,913 feet when measured from He Devil Mountain, towering over Idaho’s Seven Devils range at 9,393 feet. 

We stopped at one of the original homesteads, now a museum. Next stop was for lunch and so far we had only been a few of the gentler rapids and we had passed quite a few of the rafts coming down the river.

Further up the river, we got to see some of the local wild life and also the rapids were getting a lot bigger. in fact there was a non group boat that got itself stuck in the Cat V rapids on the rocks. according to our captain the water gets higher in the afternoon as the reservoir lets more water out, so the boat would either rise and float free or sink. Thank goodness it was the former.

Once we got to the reservoir we stopped to see the visitor centre and then turned around to go back to the landing, All of the rapids were much higher and with the wind blowing up the canyon we were getting soaked on the way back – lots of fun

We were up early so that we could drive to the start of the Hiawatha trail, we were one of the first there to buy our pass and get the ride done before it got too hot. A lot of people cycle down and get the shuttle back up but we wanted to ride both ways. The trail is listed as one of the top 10 rail trails in the US and it is 15 miles long, with 9 tunnels and 7 sky high trestles.

The first tunnel we rode through was 1.6 miles long and once you are through the first 20 yards it was pitch black, your only light was that on your bike or a headlamp if you chose to wear one. The first tunnel is also the muddy and wet one so a great way to start the day. All was well and we made great progress on our way down to the end of the trail. The scenery was magnificent and the trees gave us plenty of shade. Quick turnaround at the bottom and then we reversed the route and started the cycle back up the mountain, the gradient was gentle, just under 2% but consistent for the 15 miles. We had a little shock in one of the tunnels, right in the middle there was a Deer trying to cool off but luckily he did not run into either of us. Our bigger challenge was the amount of people cycling down that did not keep to their side of the trail but we managed the return trip without incident, apart from going back through the 1.6 mile long tunnel, it was much muddier our side of the trail.

Back to the RV and off to Spokane Valley which added another state to our growing list of states this trip. One of the main reasons we added this destination is because we had met some great people in New Zealand while we were on the Milford Track and we promised to visit JD and Cherokee as soon as we were close enough. Day one with them was a great tour of downtown Spokane, lunch at a local brewery and later we had dinner at a different brewery (there seems to be a theme here). The next day we went down to the river and JD and Cherokee very kindly brought their tandem Kayak and we took it in turns. They are really good but as you can see from the pictures Rob stopped paddling when he thought I would not notice.

We had lunch at a winery up in the hills, there were great views and actually the reds were pretty good. The day was rounded out with pizza salad and a delightful red wine at their house. We will definitely be back to see them and more of this area in the future.

Next day we left Spokane Valley and drove to Riggins Idaho.

Once we were back in Ronan, we met with Brenda and the rest of the gang for a day out at the Quinns Hot springs, they were really good to remove any of the aches and pains from our adventures at Glacier. The evening was rounded out by dinner at the Durham bar, live music from locals that want to give it a go made it very interesting.

On the Thursday, Brenda Zaga and I went into Missoula for the day, a little bit of shopping, and a stop at a cider brewery to sample the local concoctions. We went on to the local theatre to the Edgar Allan Poe show, it was a mix of monologues of his stories, each one was delivered with a different cocktail. Rob went out for a little drive in the car which turned into a 368 mile odyssey with him landing within 10 miles of the Canada border !

Friday Rob and I cycled into Polson, which was on a very nice cycle path, 35 miles round trip but we met the girls at the local coffee shop for coffee and cake so that helped. That evening we were treated to another of Dave’s amazing meals and the appetizer was a great cheese board full of local cheeses. There were also some more beautiful sunsets and Rob walked up a little higher than the house to see what he could capture.

Saturday morning I met Brenda at the coffee shop and went out to watch her train to be a volunteer at the stables for Horse therapy for disabled and mentally challenged children. Also got to see both of her horses, one of which was saddled up so she could give him a good workout.

Sunday morning was a meet up at the cafe for coffee breakfast and farewell hugs, we were driving off to spend the night boondocking at Lookout Pass Ski Area on the Montana Idaho Border, ready to do the Hiawatha bike trail tomorrow

We had a nice drive up to the I90 from Cody but when we drove from there to 3 forks junction, in Robs own words “that was the most difficult ever!” combination of long hauls up and down the mountains combined with single lane road works, poor roads and very high crosswinds. No fun when you are driving a large brick shaped coach.

We arrived at Three Forks Junction and set up at the campsite. Went for dinner at the local brewery and Rob had a much needed couple of pints of the local IPA. As we were staying there for 2 nights we scouted out for something to do the next morning and found a nice bike trail, total distance was about 20 miles and it took us out to the head of the Missouri River and then back through the town of Three Forks. It was a good ride and on the way into the state park, one of the houses had over 40 bird boxes – everyone was unique. Nice lunch in Three Forks and then back to the campsite. The last 10 mins of the ride was a bit of a struggle as there was a storm front moving through and the wind was very strong but we battled through.

July 3rd we arrived at Ronan, just down the road from Polson Montana, our location for the next 10 days. Drove up in the car to see Brenda’s new home and we were treated to a wonderful dinner cooked by Dave. The house is on the top of a hill with 360 degree views of the mountain ranges and valleys all around us. My friends Zaga and Dan were also there and then if the evening could not get any better we were treated to a double rainbow! Next day we were meeting an old friend from our New York State days.

By sheer coincidence he was visiting family that week and as we follow each other on instagram we realized that we had a one day cross over in Montana. Arrangements were hastily made to meet up the next day and there was one of the largest Pow Wow’s happening at Arlee, about 12 miles from where we were staying. Double bonus, getting to see Gil and also experiencing a traditional Native American gathering. There were representatives from many different tribes. This is a video of the Snake Dance https://youtu.be/i88xciKW2Rk?si=efUWFuPIXU8QTVVX The evening was rounded off by trip back to Brenda’s and the chance to savor some amazing home made Pizza’s.

Friday we had rest day and did all the mundane things that you need to do when staying in the RV and then Friday night we had a great dinner with Dan and Zaga at the Shoe, out on the patio overlooking Flat Head lake. Saturday morning, we met Dave Brenda and Jesse and off we went to the river to try white water rafting. We knew there was going to be Cat 3 rapids but when we reached the river, they informed us that the river was running high and we were going to hit a Cat 4 as our last rapid. Wave height was going to be between 16 and 18 feet. It was a blast even getting soaked, we all arrived back safe and exhilarated.

Saturday night, back to Brenda’s for dinner and then a trip to the local dirt track for monster truck night. Lot of fun but we were all hot and tired so only stayed for the first half.

Sunday Morning we were up at 4.30am for the drive to Glacier National Park. We had to book a ticket at 7pm the day before as regardless of your entrance to the park, if you don’t have the separate road access pass you are not getting in. We got to the park just after 6am and the ride up to Logan Pass took us to just after 7.15am and the car park was already just about full (hence the reason for the road pass). We started the trail to Hidden Lake and we were treated to some great views of the Mountain Goat and Big Horn sheep. The trail was about 3.5 miles out and back and covered in snow for most of the way which made the walk very tricky. It was certainly worth the effort and we were glad to do it.

After Logan Pass we headed on to Many Glacier, our destination for the night. The drive takes you out of the park and after 40 minutes takes you back in to the park, again be careful, you need a separate road pass for that gate as well! We were fine as we were staying at the hotel on Swift Current Lake which gave us access. Arrived at the lake and had lunch at the hotel, we were about 3 hours too early to check in and so we decided to hike around Swift Current lake and also up part of the lake Josephine trail, adding another 5 miles to our total for the day. Checked in and had a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the lake. Dinner at the hotel and an early night ready for our next adventure.

Monday morning up at 6am and having breakfast and preparing for our horse ride at 8am, The stables are really close to the hotel so quick stroll over and chance to see the 7.45, 2 hour group head off. Our group was just the 6 riders plus the guide, family of 4 from Michigan and us. The ride was fabulous, we were the two back riders in the group, my horse was called Kesla and he liked to hang back a little but then trot a bit faster to catch up. Rob’s horse liked to jump some of the smaller water pools. The ride was was through the trees up through the side of Piegan Valley total distance was about 8 miles. We both really enjoyed it although we were pretty tired by the end of it.

Long drive back to Ronan with a brief stop for Lunch at St Mary’s most of the road through the park is 25mph speed limit and so we arrived home about 5.30pm for a well earned dinner and relaxation.

With a heavy heart, we packed up and left Custer and headed west. Our overnight stop was the town of Buffalo. Nice little campground and really easy to get to. while looking through the information booklet, I saw that there was a commercial woolen mill just down the road. It takes fleece from the local Wyoming farmers and goes through the complete process. Scouring, carding, spinning and then converting into knitted and woven goods. They try to do it all as eco friendly as possible and everything is used or reused. Even better, they let people come in and tour around. So while Rob was packing up for our next day of travel, I headed off to the mill.

By the time I got back we were ready to start the fine journey to Cody, our home for the next 6 nights (more to follow about that )

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early for the run into Yellowstone, Cody is a good hour from the East Gate. We were really pleasantly surprised, the road from Cody to the East gate, cuts through the Wapiti Ridge and was gorgeous! We will be back to walk part of this later in the week. After going through the East gate its about another hour to the Fishing Bridge and the start of the Southern Loop and here is, for us at least, part of the “bad” its quite flat and barren, any trees that were there are dead now. But the worst part was the traffic, it was crazy busy. Also the main attraction on that loop is “old Faithful” The car park is about 4 times the size of a standard Walmart parking lot and as the geyser is pretty regular. We stood there with about 2000 other people waiting for the 10.30 eruption. It all felt very “Disney” and obviously after that point, everyone drives to the next site so they were all a challenge to get into. The high spot for me was actually the Crow picture below, we watched him undo the zip on the food pouch on a bike and remove whatever was in there. When he was done, as you can see, he was not at all bothered by us. We left the park a little despondent. Luckily when we got back to RV, I commented about it to a friend of mine from the UK that now lives in Idaho and she told us to go up through Indian Pass and Lamar Valley towards the Northern loop, but that’s for another day.

Thursday we took a walk from Hayden Bridge to the Buffalo Bill Reservoir about 5 miles round trip with some steep elevation for the last .5 mile. When we arrived at the reservoir there was a locked gate, but a very kind warden unlocked it and let us it to have a look, its really impressive.

Unfortunately a little more of the bad, something was effecting my eyes, it started at Yellowstone but by the time we finished the walk, My eyes were streaming but also really stinging. The local pharmacist suggested I take Claritin as well as eye drops. I decided that a day in the RV would probably be the best thing to do and so it took some persuading but I told Rob to go do the Indian Pass on his own. I spent the day stitching and when he came back he had some great stories and picture to share. If my eyes stay better, we will definitely do a return trip. Here are Rob’s best shots of the day.

On Saturday we went to the Buffalo Bill Museum, it was very good, it had 5 themed halls and all were worth walking around. If you are in the area and looking for a more gentle day, I would certainly suggest you go. That night we decided to go to the Rodeo and it was a fun night. Great to see so many of the youngsters getting involved. As it started to get dark, my camera could not keep up with the action, so these were all taken in the first hour.

Saturday night we made the decision to get up really early, 4.30 am, and go up over Indian Pass to the park. For those that saw the pictures on Facebook the Sunrise was great and the drive was amazing winding up and over the pass with lots of hairpin bends on both sides. Gets 2 thumbs up from us. We touch into Montana for a few miles and go through a small town called Cooke City. Although it happened too quick to be able to photograph, we were treated to a fox off to our side, twin fawns and then standing in the middle of the road before loping off was a MOOSE (that’s for all of our Colorado friends) First stop in Lamar Valley was a place known to the locals as the “Wall” its a known location to spot mountain goats, if you look really closely at the first picture, in the middle is a mum and baby. Far too far away to really be any use as a photograph but still a memory. We saw lots of Buffalo and 3 separate sightings of little black bears. A bald eagle sat in a dead tree across the river from us, again a little far for photography. Treated to an Osprey in a nest looking after their young and the mate was standing guard off to the side to frighten away any predators, It went straight after a crow that flew a bit too close for his liking. We drove up to the start of the northern loop and just went as far on it as the Tower Falls. The best was yet to come, as we started to drive back a WOLF crossed the road in front of us!!! it quickly dispatched a poor little chimpmunk, which meant that we had enough time to take some pictures. Only one animal left on my mental checklist and that’s the longhorn sheep.

On the way back we stopped at the gorge to take some pictures, it is also the only spot between other than Cody where there is a cell signal, and this was the last bit of bad, I got a panicked message from the park host to say we were due to check out that day and they were fully booked. Eek major mistake made by someone who will remain nameless, although they are 5ft 2 with eyes of blue! drove like the wind back to the park wondering what the heck we would do for that night. When we got back to the park, the host let us know that someone had just pulled out a day early just minutes before we got back and so all we needed to do was move slots. Phew, so check, double check and check again!

Nice easy trip from Badlands to Custer in the BlackHills. Camp ground is very pleasant and just on the outskirts of town. We took a walk in that evening and scoped out the local bars, restaurants and shops, early dinner and then get ready for planning the next few days.

Nice weather planned for this morning and so we set off on the Mickleson bike trail https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/detail/george-s–mickelson-trail/ We were able to join it just outside our campground and it was a great ride to Hill City, it was about 34 miles round trip. Hill City is famous for the 1880 train depot, where they sell steam train tickets through the Black hills. We opted to have an ice cream instead! Sorry no pictures of said ice cream, we were too quick eating it!

That evening we drove the Wildlife Loop through the state park, there were clouds coming in over the mountain tops so we were not sure if that would work in our favor for viewing or not. As it happens, we were not disappointed, many more Prairie dogs were around, we saw the wild donkeys, the little one is only 3 days old and we got up close and personal with the Buffalo (and yes we stayed in the car, that’s one of the benefits of a large sunroof!) on the way out of the loop we saw some of the Pronghorn including one very dashing male.

Next morning we were up and out of the RV by 6.15 and drove around the Needles Loop, it was reasonably quiet, although there were a few people that had the same idea. At the end of the Needles Loop, we drove the Iron Mountain road which brought us out to Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore was quite busy and it was still barely 9am, so glad we decided on an early start. We used the audio wands to listen to the guides as we wandered around the Presidential Trail. I have to say, I thought it was more impressive there than I thought it would be and very glad we took the time to see it

Based on a recommendation from one of Rob’s acquaintances, we drove down to Hot Springs and went to visit the Mammoth site https://mammothsite.org/mission-purpose-vision/ It’s and active archaeological site at a filled in sink hole, they have not gone down very far and already found so many Mammoth remains. We went back into Hot Springs for lunch and then back to the RV for a break before our evening adventure.

Early dinner and then out to the Needles loop to walk the 3mile round trip up and around Cathedral Spires trail, the top half of which includes climbing over some fair sized boulders. The temperature was better at that time, and it was a nice hike. On the way back, I spotted some climbers traversing one of the spires and no, not on my list of things to try!

Last full day in Custer and another early start, we hiked the Black Elk loop, just under 8 miles in total and an elevation climb of 1500ft. Starting off was a gentle incline and mainly through the trees although it did get a lot steeper and less shade as we got closer to the top. The last 1/4 mile is up a series of steps to the top of the Peak where there are fantastic views in all directions, we were at the highest point in South Dakota and had a beautiful clear sky. The peak features a stone fire tower built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. That the tower remains is a testament to the quality of the craftsmanship and the work that went into its construction. The stone, cement and sand were hauled up more than three miles by carts pulled by horses and mules.

The last evening we went to the Mount Rushmore Brewery for dinner and were treated to a really great live band. Custer, we would love to return at some point.

On the Sunday we drove across Nebraska and South Dakota and we learnt that, not taking the highways on the East coast is very different to doing that in the MidWest. Part of our route took us on 24 miles of gravel road and the part that was “done” had more ridges than a roller coaster! Our poor old RV was not happy. But we arrived at the campground in good time and have a nice quiet spot here for the next 4 nights. We are right on the edge of the Badlands National park and so a quick internet search told us (and everyone else) that the best spot for a sunset picture was the Pinnacle look out. It was not the best sunset, but we did get to see the prong horn sheep and also we took a diversion on the way back and came face to face with our first Bison. It was too dark for the picture to be much good but the moment was captured anyway.

The next day we drove through the park and out to Wall with the famous Wall Drug store. We had lunch in the drug store and walked through the town, it’s a bit touristy for us but we ticked the box and said we went there. The weather had changed on the way back and the top of the ridge was covered in mist. Driving back down via a different route took us onto Sage Creek rim road, where we were able to see quite a few Bison and also some Prairie dogs.

Tuesday – we drove out to a spot and walked a 4.5mile circular route called Medicine Loop and then the return was part of the Castle trail. The views and also the hiking were very different between the two parts of the trail. We were blessed with warm weather but a nice cool breeze to make it comfortable and probably got some of best photos. Rob drove back out that evening to see if he could get a better sunset but was out of luck.

Today the weather has not been that great and so we have pretty much stayed in the RV planning our next steps on the journey and also letting me catch up on my cross stitching.

Tomorrow we leave for Custer and will stay there for the next 4 nights.

After leaving Paducah our first port of call was the Point Labadie Brewery in Labadie MO. We arrived late afternoon, and got ourselves settled. Wandered over to the Brewery bar just after 7 and sat out in their garden, Wednesday was quiz night, so while Rob enjoyed the local beer we both just answered as many questions as we could between us.

Next morning we were on the road by 8.30 and drove across MO to Lathrop where we were booked to overnight at a small farm. It was right out in the country side and the last mile was down a gravel track that kicked up a huge amount of dust. The people were lovely and we enjoyed a very quiet night apart from the heavy rain that came in about 9 and the sheep bleating from about 5 in the morning. We knew we had a longer day of travel and so we left early again and travelled North.

When we stopped for lunch we hit our first “flipping heck” the generator that runs AC and other things for us when we are not either driving or hooked up to electricity would not start. When you are essentially driving in a tin can and with the outside temperature in the 90’s, it does not take very long to get uncomfortable. So back on the road and on to our destination, which was very nice camp ground in Sioux City – we were on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River although the City is mainly in Iowa. Rob tried again with the generator but no success. The main issue with this is that we will need to only stay at places with electricity, no more boon docking. Rob spent the evening on good old YouTube looking for suggestions and one of them suggested that if the oil level drops, it will not start. Hopefully this is the issue and we can resolve it tomorrow.

Well this is when the other shoe dropped!! our fridge freezer has stopped working. its getting power but not cooling. It’s a full size domestic appliance and so replacement is not an option and fixing is unlikely. So our trip to Walmart went from buying some oil to “what’s our plan B for keeping food cool.” We ended up buying a top model cool box that will keep things cool for up to 5 days, a giant bag of ice and an ice making machine.

Rob topped up the oil and let it settle while we took a walk along the River and into the City. It was quite a pleasant walk and we called in at the Lewis and Clark interpretive center https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/lewis-and-clark . Because we have been avoiding all the highways, we have seen many signs along the way designating that the route we were on matched their original route. Town was not quite the cultural experience that we were expecting. The most interesting things that we saw were these faces carved on the top of one of the building and there was also a truckers exhibition and sales expo. On our walk back to the campsite we were blown away with the underneath of the bridge, it was a mass of swallow nests and the swallows were darting in and out of their nests.

Back at the RV at last some good news, the oil fixed the generator problem, so now we just need to see how well our plans for the replacement to the fridge freezer works !

Our campsite is lovely, very quiet and close to the the things that we wanted to see. One of the things we missed was the fact that the campsite is right next to a drag racing track. That’s on our bucket list to go see live one day but clearly not this week as it is only at weekends.

We drove over to the Land Between the Lakes state park https://www.landbetweenthelakes.com although I have to say, every time I say or hear that name, I imagine myself in some 1950’s B movie with a swamp monster coming to get me. It’s an interesting park, it has various things to do and also has a number of themed campsites. So there is one for off-roading, hunting, equestrian and water sports to name just a few. There are also places to stop and see different activities. We went to the Wild animal area, not a lot there but all are rescues and all are well kept. Rob took the Bobcat pictures.

Next we drove through the enclosed Elk and Bison prairie and we were warned that the better chance to see any animals would be early morning or late evening and so we were pleasantly surprised to see the Bison and to get really close to one of the Elk’s

We stopped at the Golden Pond visitor area which also has a planetarium but we were there to see the exhibition that talks about the history of the area. Then we drove down to the Homestead, all the buildings are original buildings moved into the area and they also have staff dressed in authentic clothing and demonstrating the various crafts at certain times of the week. Top to bottom of the park is probably about 50 miles and the bottom part runs back into Tennessee. One word of caution, is that the only food available is limited snacks at the various stops, so be prepared and take your lunch with you.

Tuesday we drove into the historic downtown area and walked around the Main Street and along the wall of Murals (for Brits of a certain age, you will understand the urge to call them Muriels!) I found a crafting store, oh ok I had already checked on line before coming here. It is the World of Crafting, and sometimes referred to as Global Artisans. it has a real mix of everything needle based from felting to embroidery. I was quite restrained and just bought a small piece of linen and some buttons to add to my cross stitch. After a very good lunch at the German Bakery, we went to the Quilt Museum. They were all modern quilts but the craftsmanship was amazing and it is well worth a visit.

We did a 5 mile walk on the Greenway there to counterbalance all the sitting we are doing while moving from location to location. Back to the RV and some gentle stitching for me. Tomorrow we are off to Labadie MO staying overnight at a Brewery.