01Oct 2011 by Lboll

Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Oregon

We didn’t have to drive very far into Northeastern Oregon to start to see the beauty of the state. We had been told by so many fellow RVers that we were going to love Oregon. We could already see what they meant. It was beautiful. We still saw the farm land that we saw in Idaho but we also saw mountains and valleys. We decided to go into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest for our first few nights of camping in Oregon. We found this spectacular campground in the National Forest about 20 miles from Baker City called Union Creek. They were in the process of closing it for the winter so we were only able to stay for three nights. It was beautiful! All sites were surrounded by huge red…

30Sep 2011 by Lboll

Idaho

On Our Minds

We spent eight days in Idaho. The country we drove through was almost all farm land so we saw a lot of cows and fields; potato, grain, corn, and sugar beet fields. Sometimes you can say that farm fields are a beautiful site especially in the fall but field after field got to be just a little tiresome. We did visit a very nice park in the center of the city of Idaho Falls which was our first stop. We didn’t find the park until the day we were going to leave which was too bad. It had a very beautiful waterfalls and a walking/ bike path that ran along the Snake River which ran through the town. Our next stop was at Twin Falls, Idaho. Here we stayed at…

18Sep 2011 by Lboll

Thoughts

On Our Minds

Joe and I have been on the road now for about 6 weeks. A few things I know for sure – We have seen some amazing, beautiful country and we’ve only been in three states. We miss the kids and grandbaby a lot and at times it really hurts. Travelling with two 14 year old dogs is like travelling with 2 two year olds (except you can’t leave the 2 year olds in an RV by themselves for a few hours). And most of all I know that we are truly blessed in so many ways.

18Sep 2011 by Lboll

Yellowstone – Grand Teton National Parks

Campgrounds

We spent four days in Yellowstone and three days in the Grand Teton. We wish we would have spent more time in Yellowstone and less time in the Tetons.We were told that we picked such a good time of the year to visit these two parks because supposedly after Labor Day it was less busy.Boy was that wrong!Both parks were very busy.We stayed in Fishing Bridge RV Park in Yellowstone at the east entrance and it was full every night.There were several campgrounds that were already closed for the season.The roadways were also very busy. The last time we were in Yellowstone was about 38 years ago. We didn’t remember a lot except of course for Old Faithful which hadn’t changed.Maybe age makes you appreciate the beauty of the park…

15Sep 2011 by Lboll No Comments

Big Horn Mountains – Prune Creek

Campgrounds

Well we just spent three days in another of God’s little secrets - Prune Creek campground in the Big Horn National Forest. Small campground with no hook-ups but our site was right on Prune Creek.Absolutely beautiful!Big thanks to my brother, Wayne, for telling us about this place. The first day we were there we were a little irritated with the traffic noise because it is close to a major road that goes through the mountains. But it seems after you sit by the creek and listen to the sound of the water the traffic noise is just a small noise in the background.All three days at the campsite we had a visitor or I guess two visitors.A mama moose and her calf make their home around the campground and everyday…

04Sep 2011 by Lboll No Comments

Buffalo, WY – Crazy Woman Canyon

Campgrounds

We were in God’s country today. We are parked in Buffalo, WY on the outskirts of the Big Horn Mountains.The host at the RV Park told us about this drive through Crazy Woman Canyon in the Big Horn National Forest about 25 miles west of Buffalo.So we decided to pack a lunch, put the dogs in the truck and off we went.At about 25 miles out we turned on to a single lane dirt road.If you met an oncoming car you had to find a spot for one of you to pull over to let the other pass. It was an adventure but an absolutely beautiful drive.We think it was about 20 miles on this road.The fastest we could drive was about 8 miles an hour but there was so…

01Sep 2011 by Lboll No Comments

Gillette, WY – Escapades

On Our Minds

Our seventh day of Escapees RV Club Escapade just finished. We survived some really hot weather several days in a row and a couple of nights of scary storms but what a great learning experience!The first two and a half days were boot camp for first-timers.Joe loved it and I was bored.It was all technical things such as tire pressure stuff, weight load in the RV and other guy stuff which I know is important in our travels but just couldn’t get my head into it after the first couple of 3 hour seminars.So I spent quality time with the dogs and Joe took in all the information. Monday started the actual Escapade seminars. They were great!We could elect to go to 4 seminars a day and pick from 5…

28Aug 2011 by Lboll No Comments

Devils Tower and Keystone State Park

State Parks

Devils Tower and Keystone State Park We decided to stay a few days at Devils Tower, WY at a KOA with Devils Tower as a backdrop.I do not like KOAs.Too expensive for what it is but it was close to where we wanted to be.We went into Devils Tower National Monument Park and found out we could have camped there.Missed a great opportunity.We hiked the perimeter of the Tower which was 1.3 miles but took us over an hour.The Tower is so beautiful and as you go around it the face changes.It was very crowded with a lot of tourists.Again it was a very hot day and we were very glad we had taken the hike in the morning. Tragedy had hit the KOA owners the week before we came.The…

21Aug 2011 by Lboll

Theodore Roosevelt National Park -Watford City, N.D.

Campgrounds

We arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park- North on Thursday, Aug 18th.Traveling north on Hwy 85 from 94 we had 61 miles of 2 lane highway and not a town to be seen.When we got to the park we weren’t charged the entry fee because the 14 mile loop going through the park was closed at mile 6 because of a mudslide.It was disappointing that we couldn’t drive the loop. The campground was at mile 5 in the park so we decided to take our bicycles and see how much of the loop we could cover.We neglected to think about what we were doing.This loop was going up to a summit that overlooked the park. Needless to say we didn’t make it very far on our bikes.We would walk a…

16Aug 2011 by Lboll

Oh The Places We Will Go!

On Our Minds

We set a date of Aug 9th to start our adventure. We were finally going to leave Minnesota and start the next stage of our life – full-timing. Oh, we have been living full-time in our 5th wheel since March but staying pretty close to “home” (Minnesota). With work done and all of our paperwork finally finished it was time to leave. Our last week in Minnesota was a fabulous week. There were luncheons with friends, dinners with family and friends and a lot of family time. Our son Zach flew in from Ohio for 4 days. We were able to have a couple of days with the entire family but there always felt like something was missing. Our future daughter-in-law, Lauren, was unable to come with Zach because of…