Battle Ground with Katy & Eric!

 Spent some QT with our friends Katy and Eric at their beautiful horse property in SW Washington.

 

Lots of friends and really great food from Jen Hatmaker’s book “Feed These People” - YUM!

 

Oh, and we carved pumpkins!

Columbia River at Umatilla, OR

 Umatilla is right on the Columbia River which runs between Washington and Oregon. We stayed at the RV park at the marina because we are water babies. The highway was close enough we got road noise, but it was nice and dark at night and the river was beautiful.

 

We took our bikes for a ride on a really neat nature trail to McNary Dam to check it out.  We turned around before we got there because Dan’s tire was flat. After changing the tire and having lunch, we rode back to the dam via the road.

 

McNary Dam is one of 8 dams on the Columbia River. The visitor center is full of exhibits and information, including a great video, about how the dam is designed to aid in the salmon migration every year. Of course, the dams were built for commerce and electricity reasons, but the Army Corps of Engineers recognized that salmon was vital for the indigineous communities and the general population. So, in constructing the dam, they incorporate fish ladders for adult salmon and other species to swim up against the current when it’s time to lay eggs. The McNary Dam specifically has a whole crew dedicated to helping the juveniles (smolt) survive the journey downstream.

 

There is even a fish viewing room, which is a cutout of one of the fish ladders, and apparently, during migration season, you can see all kinds of fish swimming through the viewing windows.  We saw one fish, and I think it was a rainbow trout. I was pretty damn excited to see it! 

Then we went to the moon

 Craters of the Moon is a huge volcanic lava field national monument in Idaho. The entire land mass covered by lava some 2000 years ago is about 750,000 acres, and exploring it is highly encouraged!

 

  

We took the motorcycle through the 7 mile loop and hopped off to hike around a couple areas. There is Indian Tunnel which is a great lava tube cave that takes about half an hour to hike through and clamber over, that’s where Dan’s head is popping out of.

 There’s Inferno Cone which was formed by the falling cinders from the explosion of magma. We saw the Spatter Cones which are places where the magma came out and hardened.  

 

These lava fields just go on and on. The weather was perfect, the crowds were thin and it was a great way to spend the day in Idaho!

James Robb and Antelope Island

 Our first foray into the wild yonder took us to James Robb State Park just east of Palisade, CO. This park is split into several sections and we stayed at the Island Acres section. It’s a really pretty little campground that is surrounded by steep canyon walls which were cut by the majestic Colorado River. The campground nestled at the bottom of this canyon really only saw the sun from about 9am to 5pm. I imagine it’s mighty chilly in the winter, but there is a swim beach next to a giant pond for summer swimming.

The Colorado Parks department has curated trails along the river, easily accessible from camp. Dan and I walked both directions of the river. There is a spotting scope placed along the trail where you can scout out big horn sheep on the sheer rock walls opposite the river (we saw none).

 

The downside of this location is its proximity to the Interstate - it’s so close you can make out the makes and models of the vehicles driving by. The road noise was pervasive and we were not able to quite tune it out.

 

From there we headed west into Utah. Antelope State Park is located on Antelope Island on the east side of the Great Salt Lake. I thought how cool camping on an island on a lake might be!  

The name is a bit misleading, we didn’t see any antelope. However, we saw loads of bison 🦬 and they have free rein of the environment. 

 

The lake levels are dramatically low - so much so I’m not even sure Antelope is still an island. We decided to check it out by taking a bike ride to the southern tip.  Before leaving Denver, Dan and I invested in ebikes from a company called FattEBikes (women/minority owned, made in the USA and based in Denver). Those bikes made that 27 mile round trip so much easier!  We rode on the paved surface until reaching the ranch that was operational from the 1870s unti the 1960s. The ranch is a self-guided hands-on display, and we saw so many neat blacksmithing, wood cutting, hay baling tools. 

 

Several times we needed to stop riding to allow the bison to cross the road for better eats on the other side. Despite the mosquitoes, it was a great day!

 Our friends Jeff and Sarah came out for breakfast and helped us strategize and logisticize the loading and unloading of our motorcycle, Tig, into and out of the garage. I’m thrilled to report the first time was a success!  It’s one of those tasks that will get easier each time, but the first time was a little nerve-wracking.

 

We dropped Pearl off at the Tesla collision center so she could get her facelift and botox.  Sniff.

We even ran into friends Jim and Deb, who were also camping at Chatfield!  So fun to see them again after all these years!

 

Our friends Laura and Juliet put together an awesome BBQ send-off for us. We were able to hang out with lots of friends and felt so much love! It’s not goodbye, it’s see ya later!

 

Laura knows a guy, John, who makes custom piñatas, and his payment is a donation toward a non-profit that helps to supply concrete bags for construction in El Salvador.  John made us a mini Josey based on a photo that Laura sent him.  We call her “Little Jo”, isn’t she cute?

 

The skies were mostly clear for the solar eclipse on Saturday so we donned our autumn gear and sat at the picnic table to enjoy the event. I loved being able to be present for the moment!

 

Sunday morning dawned clear and we are headed off to James Robb State Park in Palisade!

Chatfield

 We spent our first two weeks at Chatfield State Park in Littleton, CO. We wanted to take some time to get ourselves organized and be near our family, friends and our storage unit before we hit the road.

 

Our motorhome had been in the shop for about 6 weeks getting some warranty work and some solar work done. That work took way longer than we expected, so we didn’t get to begin moving in to the motorhome until 2 days before we had to be out of our apartment.  It was rushed and frustrating and chaotic.

 

When we got to Chatfield, we emptied the hastily packed motorhome completely and reorganized everything to some semblance of order.  There is a LOT of storage in Josey, and for that, I’m GRATEFUL!  

 

Of course, our biggest concern was about how the cats would take to motorhome life.  While there has been some adjustment period, they are doing just fine. The couch that folds into a bed has lots of storage space under it, and that’s where they like to hide. When the morning sun comes up, we open the shade and Mack sits on the dash to chatter at the bunnies. Charity enjoys any sunshine offered. So far, so good!

 

Chatfield has a huge lake with lots of boats and tons of wildlife. Dan and I took a bike ride at sunset and saw flocks of Snowy Egrets gathering together. There are over 200 bird species at the park, it’s really awe-inspiring.

 

We’ve enjoyed spending this time near all the comforts of “home” before we set off on our adventure in our new home!