OOOPS!

Forgot to mention, we did not buy another RV so we're still in the same old fun one and very happy about it for the time being. The two we considered just didn't have "it". Now it's raining and we are all cozy inside!

Rainy day in wallawallawa!

EVERYTHING RV KNOWN TO MAN OR WOMAN!

Ah, such adventure! We left beautiful Boise “The City of Trees” and drove 290+- miles to Bend where we stayed at the Goose Poop RV Park, actually called Sundance Meadows, so guess why I renamed it?! 100 beautiful geese slowly walking around eating and pooping. So we had goose poop, electricity………..and water but no dump which is a very dangerous combination because water use tends to far exceed gray water holding tank capacity! We enjoyed Bend and the 25th cruise street anniversary fair and the good food for 3 days. We then dumped our nearly overflowing tanks and drove the 20 miles to Redmond to the Deschutes Fairground where we attended The Rally, a Good Sam (that’s an huge US RV association) event with 3,000 RV’s attending for a week.
We arrived early on Monday 7/11 so we could participate in a “give back to the community” volunteer day at the Sisters Hospice. We gardened, spread mulch, pulled weeds and cleaned up and completely transformed the grounds into a really lovely spot for the patients to enjoy. We really felt good about it and want to do more volunteer work.
The rally itself was Wednesday-Sunday and we attended seminars, bought stuff, and made new and saw old friends (that’s one of the best parts of RVing!) and it rained some. We spent one whole day buying a coach, reneging then doing it again……the salespeople grew to hate us! We had only a 30 amp electric hookup, no water or dump so on day 6 we ran completely out of water and our tanks were completely filled to the top. Not so bad with the gray water but imagine “that other tank”! Enough said…..we had a great time and it was a great experience.
We dumped (seems to be a prevalent part of RVing, doesn’t it?) our tanks at a gas station then drove 250+- miles arriving in wallawallawa (OK……Walla Walla, Washington) last evening and are enjoying today doing laundry and cleaning up.

So tell us the truth, for those of you who do not RV, does all this sound like fun??

More later, we walk into Walla Walla tomorrow, just ½ a mile from our RV park, and do some wine tasting!

 The Front Door Chapel in Biggs, ID...even truck drivers pray sometimes!

 RV ladies cleaning up the rose garden at Sisters Hospice

 Finishing touches at Sisters Hospice

Finished! Who is that in the overalls on the left? Who is the guy next to her?

BACK TO BOISE!

Another Old Roadies adventure is over, but…….another one will start soon. In the meantime, we’ve returned to this really nice, modern RV park for 5 days to clean up ourselves, the RV and the Jeep. After a week of off-roading and river rafting we kinda looked like true trailer trash. The silver jeep was brown, the RV was dirty and somewhat smelly and we were moderately scruffy. The park had only a communal dump for the RV holding tanks but the sites themselves were slanted and it was quite a chore to get the coach even somewhat level so we decided to wait until we left (a week later) to dump the tanks as we didn’t want to go thru the cumbersome leveling process again…….PU! However, the park did have great showers, restrooms and laundry facilities and it was very beautiful, and we made lots of new friends...isn't that really what it's all about?! We had three dinners catered by locals and a night of very folksy/country entertainment from three female residents of Riggins.
River rafting turned out to be rather mild….there is really too much water in the Salmon River for good rapids, but we did have fun and the rapids were maybe 2-2+ but no more than that.
Peter and I took a 23 mile drive up the Salmon and as we were picnicking on the side of the road, a woman in a truck stopped to ask if we had car problems. That led to a beer and a lot of good conversation and an area history lesson on the deck of their 10K sf house on 116 acres…..the very nice Foys…..our new best friends!
Last night was July 4th and we went to Caldwell and sat in our chairs on a vantage-point hill with several hundred others to watch the fireworks which were quite spectacular. On to Bend, OR on Friday then to Redmond for the Rally, 7/11-17 where we can spend $$ for RV stuff we don’t really need. And yes, everything is clean now!

 Fireworks in Caldwell/Boise

Our boat, can you find us?

Our boat

Not our boat but my
favorite pic!

Our boat

Beautiful Idaho

Beautiful Idaho again

Friday nite entertainment
at the campground

The Foys

French Creek, 23 miles
up the Salmon

TO HELL AND BACK!

That would be Hell’s Canyon on the Snake River, going up river on a jet boat! It was truly beautiful with the contrast of new growth against the massive steep, rocky hills. The river is very high this time of year so we encountered lots of fast water of course. The floor of Hell’s Canyon is around 1,800’ in elevation and the highest point of the canyon crest is 9,000+ so we were waaaaay down there. It was a one and a half hour drive up and down a ruddy dirt/gravel road to get there, starting at about 3,000’ elevation and we even managed to get lost! On the river we were lucky enough to see a herd of mountain goats, shedding their winter coats, that were drinking at the river’s edge. We saw a big ram big-horn sheep and his mate on the cliffs, 3 foxes and 3 bald eagles……..a very productive day indeed! It was raining some of the time but a very pleasant temp…….it can get up to 115 down there, so we were lucky. We stopped at the historic Kirkwood defunct sheep ranch (now a small museum) and wondered through the old buildings and picked cherries……it was very funky and picturesque. After getting soaked on the way back to the landing, we said goodbye to our guides and arrived back in camp just in time for a yummy catered dinner. We’re taking an “off” day today but tomorrow……taa daa……rafting on the “River of No Return” (Salmon). There is so much water here this year from the awesome snow melts that it has been promised to be a 3.5+ ride…..wetsuits and helmets and lifejackets required…..yea!!! We’ll let you know………….

 Hell's Canyon

 9,000' to the top

 Jet Boats going up river

Where we got lost driving to the boat launch.

Mountain goat shedding

 Peter & Sybil..old sheep ranch

Shower outside an old cabin

Historic Kirbywood sheep ranch, & still!

Sybil pushing down a giant tree.

Trail to the still

Awesome scenery

Rain

Trip home (1.5 hrs)