Hallow Redding

Made the pass from California's coast inland toward Redding.  The drive was very scenic with a hint of fall colors.

The pass from Arcata to Redding.  Beautiful drive.

NPS Recreation area on our way into Redding.

Redding was a nice change of scenery.  Much drier conditions and lots of sunshine!  The laundry has become my humidity test.  There are so many things that we don't put in the dryer and when I hang them out to dry, depending on our where we are, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes up to 3 days to dry.  In the Coos Bay area I thought they would never dry.  This was a "30 minutes to dry" stop.

Tree Giants

We left the Coos Bay/Charleston area a day earlier than we had planned and followed Hwy101 south. Had a travel day with on and off rain and sunshine.  The air at some times seemed so thick with moisture it was like driving through the clouds.  We were headed for the town of Arcata, CA and excited to see some redwoods.  We took lots of pictures because the views of the ocean and cliffs from Hwy 101 were so beautiful and there were lots of pull off areas.

Coos Bay and an Eleven Year Old

We drove south and west back to the Oregon coast to Coos Bay/Charleston area.  We had a long drive, but once off the interstate it was very pretty.  Stopped for dinner at a side of the road food truck and had some yummy Mexican.

Yummy food to break up a long drive.

We made it to our campground pretty late, 9:30pm, to find out that Diego didn't have a signal at all! After all that research, the Verizon Coverage map failed us :(

When we arrived we were exhausted and it was a bad combo of being late at night, everyone tired, and Sofia's birthday the next day.  We stayed hitched and climbed into bed for a good nights rest.  

Columbia River Gorge

We had thought we would stay on the coast heading south through Oregon, but it turned out we needed an airport for Diego, so we decided to head a little inland and check out Portland.  We stayed at a state park about 40 minutes southeast of the city called Milo McIver.

There was an episode of Grimm being filmed just on the other side of our campground.  I don't know that show and wouldn't have even known it was being filmed except that we went on a hike and saw a couple of security guys and asked them what was going on.  The were hanging out near the dam located on the river there.

Hydrothermal Dam near Milo McIver state park.

The Trail Ends with the Goonies

Beautiful drive from Port Ludlow to Astoria.

Bridge from Washington to Oregon

Our campsite was at Fort Stevens State Park, just over the bridge from Astoria, in Warrenton, OR.

The park was very nice.  Well maintained and the biggest state park I have ever seen.  It has over 400 sites and a very nice biking/hiking system that goes for miles.

Lush Coast

Headed back down through Seattle and looped around to the Olympic Peninsula to stay in Port Ludlow.

Port Ludlow

We stayed at a park run by the city and it was very nice.

Port Ludlow campground

Tons of trees and felt very much like a small state park, but was right near the middle of town.  "Middle of town" meaning the one gas station, post office, Italian restaurant, and hair cutter in town.
It was a short drive to several things we wanted to see and the spot was perfect for our purposes.

Got Boat?

We left the Leavenworth/Wenatchee area and had a beautiful drive on Hwy 2 through the Wenatchee National Forest.

Beautiful drive

Great scenery.

We were headed west and north towards the coast, to Anacortes.

Holy Toot!

The wildfires of Washington meant we had to make a last minute change in our route and skip the Winthrop stop.  It was a bummer, but with only one road open in that direction we were nervous that we might get stuck up there, not to mention the air quality was not good.

We rerouted to the Leavenworth area and stayed at Wenatchee County Park.  The air was okay the first day, but then, depending on which way the wind was blowing, was not great.  The campground was okay.  Next to a busy highway, but quite a few trees and was well maintained.

We started our week out with our first day back to a little book work for the school year.  We were testing our some of our new material and seeing how we liked it.  The afternoon of our first day we went to Cashmere, WA.  The town is very small and has a candy factory that has been around for generations, called Aplets and Cotlets.  We took a tour and picked out a couple of boxes to take home.

Heading behind the scene for our tour.

The Finger

Yup, we are in the finger... of Idaho.  From Flathead Lake we headed south and then west towards the "finger" of Idaho to Coeur d'Alene. We stayed at Coeur D'Alene RV Resort and it was okay.  Nothing special, but was fine for visiting the area.

Between preparing for a new school year, "can I have" requests, sisters arguing, and lots of other every day activities, here are some of the thing we did in Couer D'Alene, ID:

Downtown and Lake Coeur D'Alene:

Lake Coeur d'Alene

Lake Coeur d'Alene

The first full day in the area was Diego's birthday.  He got to choose the activities and they included: sleeping in, football, and sushi.  After the football game we went down to the lake and downtown area.  We walked and the weather was beautiful.  Warm with a great breeze.  Awesome playground with water splash pad.

Do You Like Ninjas?

From Missoula we headed north up to Flathead Lake.  We are staying at a state park called West Shore and it is about 10 minutes south of Lakeside, MT.

Our site at West Shore State Park

Our site is beautiful and just up the hill from the lake itself.  The water at the lake looks like the Caribbean.

The lake from the campground

It is so clear, but the water is fresh and a little chilly depending on how hot the day feels.

Mi-zooooo-la

Next stop............Missoula, MT.

Campground was great.  Lots of shade trees, friendly staff, nice restrooms and laundry room.  They even had a concert one night, but we missed it.

Our spot for the week.  The flowers all over the park were beautiful.

Missoula is home to the University of Montana and quite a happening place.  I love all the activity that the city had going on.  It was a small, big city with every shopping and food option you could want, but had a nice vibe.

Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin

Headed north from Henry's Lake and had all country roads to reach Three Forks, MT.  This town is part of Lewis and Clarke's expedition to discover the west and I read somewhere in town that it was where Sacagawea recognized and was reunited with her brother during the negotiations with the natives in the area for food and horses.

Three Forks is named for the three rivers that converge just northeast of the town to form the Missouri River.  They are the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers, named by Lewis and Clark after two presidents and a treasury secretary.  From Three Forks the Missouri River flows north and after traveling 2,565 miles reaches the Mississippi River.  The Missouri River is the longest single river in North American and drains about 1/6 of the North American Continent.

"Go Get Chu One"

After hanging in out in Victor, ID area, the whole group relocated together that weekend and headed up closer to the west side of Yellowstone NP at Henry's Lake State Park in Idaho.  Very pretty park with a lake and mountain view.

Large Marge and The Hairy Toe

We made the short drive across the pass from Palisades to Victor, ID and arrived to our campground. We had planned to be in the National Forest that week so we could have more of a "camping" experience for Jon and Steph.  We changed plans at the last minute and not sure if it was a good decision or not, but either way it worked fine.
We ended up at Teton Valley Campground in Victor and about a 20 minute drive to Jackson Hole, WY and Grand Teton National Park.
The day we arrived was Luna's b-day, so after setting up camp we took her into Jackson Hole to a movie.  She picked Inside Out and it was a good choice.  Pretty cute movie.  We toured the town a little and grabbed some groceries.
Jon, Steph, Bryce and Taylor arrived late that night and sleeping children were carried into the camper.
We took it easy that first day.  Sang Happy Birthday to Luna and did a little hike.

More Tiny Towns

I could probably write this blog entry with one sentence because we are in Palisades, ID and our campground is the only thing here :)  Just joking, but close.  Not sure of the population here, but I'm thinking it's in the teens.  The gas station here is the hardware store and the grocery store. :)



We drove up from Bear Lake with a dip back into Wyoming and returned to Idaho.  Country roads and small towns were again the theme of this drive.  Those are my favorite kind.

Cave, Lake, and Crepes

So the plan was to avoid extreme seasons.......snow and intense heat.  We should have researched a little more thoroughly because the intense heat won't let up.  We have done all kinds of research and reading about why it's colder at higher altitude when it seems it would be warmer cause you're closer to the sun and why is the sun so intense and ready to burn your skin at such high altitude.  This weather has inspired all kinds of learning opportunities :)

So from the beautiful luxury of Mountain Valley Resort we headed north through Utah and even dipped into Wyoming briefly and back into Utah up to Bear Lake.  It's amazing how much of this country is land as far as the eye can see with the occasional house, farm or trailer.  We have seen so many signs similar to "Welcome to _______.  Population 121"  And so many times we have said "who is living here?"  I want to knock on their door and hear their story.  Not just because it's a microscopic town without a grocery store, but because some of the towns look abandoned.  Like a scene out of The Walking Dead.

So as we arrived to the Bear Lake area, things started looking more lively.  There was a cute little town called Garden City on the southwest side of the lake and several boat rental places as we drove up the west side of the lake.

Garden City down in the distance and Bear Lake from top of a nearby mountain.

The water was beautiful.  Almost reminded me of the Gulf of Mexico on a clear, calm day.  I had just seen what the Great Salt Lake had in store, so when the lady at the campground told me the most fun thing to do in town was swim in the lake, I was skeptical.

Great Salt Lake......Not So Great

From Dinosaur National Monument we headed west on hwy 40 and continued our trip towards Heber City, UT.

It was Father's day while we were traveling and that morning we gave Diego his cards and in the evening drove to Provo, UT to see the new Avengers movie.

Week of Nationals

This was a week of National Parks and Monuments.  We hit three parks.................Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Arches and Canyonlands and two Monuments...........Colorado and Dinosaur.  Did I mention that we were in the high desert heat at about 100 degrees each day.  HELLO! We did not realize that we would be leaving the mountains so soon and entering those kind of temps.  We were not happy campers part of that week.  The humidity is low, so you're not sticky, but it was so hot!!  

We had left Glenwood Springs and had a short drive down the Interstate.  It was amazing how much the climate changed in that 1 hour or so drive. 

We stayed at James M Robb State Park (Island Acres Section) and were sandwiched between two mountains.  The mountains were beautiful however the interstate was sandwiched between those same two mountains, so that was a little weird.  It just became white noise and didn't bother us at all, but might have if we had been at a site closer to the road.  The campground itself was nice, but had a strange crowd of people.

Rocky Mountain High

After leaving St. Vrain we headed south and then west on I-70.  We have been avoiding interstates for the most part, but man are we glad we took this one.  Twisting and turning through mountains, some tunnels through the mountains and the final hour or two were through Glenwood Canyon.  It was just beautiful.

Glenwood Canyon

I Remember This Place

From Golden we traveled north to a state park called St.Vrain.  Ahhhh..... The space of a state park I had missed so much.  State parks are my favorite and we had not been to one since our last stop in New Mexico, so I was very excited.  The park itself was pretty, had nice lakes for fishing, and a beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains off in the distance.  It was quite close to the interstate so you didn't quite feel remote, but it was a pretty nice place.  We had a fire pit and put it to good use a few nights.  Attempted cooking our veggies and some other things over the flame, but our wood was a little smokey from being in the back of our truck and exposed to all the rain.  The veggies were a little smokey :)  

Friends and Golden Arches

Keeping our northerly route we headed to a town to the west of Denver called Golden, CO.  We LOVED Golden!



I think it was a combination of reasons.........campsite had an awesome location right on the river and main bike path in town, awesome parks, cute downtown, tons of outdoor activities, sunny cool days, people outside enjoying, tennis courts nearby, and I could go on.  We had a great week and have put it on our short list of favorites.

The Incline

Heading north and avoiding interstates when we can, we took the pass through the mountains on our way to Manitou, Springs (just outside of Colorado Springs, CO).  Beautiful drive through the mountains and following the Arkansas River part of the way.

Manitou Springs is a cute little town and another great walkable place.  


The "springs" are not hot springs like in Pagosa, but mineral springs.  They are located all over town and several right in the middle of downtown.  Known for their healing qualities, they have a sweet taste.

They're Not White

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.  Swimming.  Zapata Falls  Swimming.  Sandboarding. Swimming. Sand Sledding.

Made it to Colorado

Kept heading north on Hwy 64/84 and entered into Rio Grande National Forest.  Another very pretty drive.  We arrived to our reserved campgrounds and after testing our internet and theirs decided that the connection wasn't strong or consistent enough for the work week, so called down the road and found a spot.  

Crossing the Rio Chama

After leaving Santa Fe/Cochiti Lake area we headed north to Heron Lake State Park near the New Mexico/Colorado border.  The drive up highway 84 was beautiful and just about the right pace for us at 55 mph.  We arrived and felt like the only campers in the park and we had trouble finding the lake at first because it was so far receded.