Central Oregon!!!

After a long travel day - over 300 miles! - we are safely parked at the Cascade Meadows RV resort (at least they call it a resort).  We like it here cause the sites are large and lots of grass.  We level up and plug in - and head off to friends Nita & Ken's home here in LaPine Oregon. 

The mountains are very beautiful with lots of snow left.  This is the view from our coach.  Mt. Batchelor, some of the Sisters and perhaps Broken Top?

Great weather for a day on the lake with Nita & Ken!  We head off to Lake Cultus in the Cascade Mountains not far from LaPine. 

Miss KatieB waiting patiently to get underway!

Ken wastes no time getting up to speed!  The weather is absolutely beautiful.

Nita's Son, Kenny, is with us this day.  Miss KatieB has her lifejacket on just in case.  Kenny drives a big 18-wheeler from Fresno CA up into Canada and stops by every week or so to see his Mom and Ken while they are here in Oregon.  We enjoyed meeting him and hope to see him again.

This is the backside of one of the "Sisters" - still quite a bit of snow.

The Lodge at Cultus Lake.  There are campgrounds all around the lake and next to the Lodge there are cabins.  We pulled in here at the dock for some lunch.

This is the view from the Lodge - beautiful!

Beautiful Oregon sunset after a great day on the lake.

On our "shopping trip" to Bend, we decided to visit Pilot Butte again.  This is a State Park that does not charge anything to visit.  We climbed up this butte and were rewarded with fantastic view of the Mountains.

At the top of the Butte, this plaque points the way to each of the major peaks.  It tells us the name and how far it is from this spot.  Depending on the weather, it might be easy or hard to actually see the mountains.

This is Mt. Hood - over 92 miles away!  Today was a good day for sure.

Mt Jefferson - over 49 miles away.

Not sure of the correct order, but this is Broken Top - 20.9 miles, South Sister - 24.4 miles, Middle Sister - 25.6 miles, and North Sister 25.4 miles.

Mt. Batchelor at 20.9 miles.

Sunday, Nita & Ken took us to Petersen's Rock Garden.  This is located about half way between Bend and Redmond - and if you don't know where it is you would never find it.  Nita tells us she used to go there when she was a girl in school.

Rasmus Petersen (1883-1952) must have spent all his time collecting rocks and building these structures.  They are very intricate and we are told that in years past they were lighted at night so as to look like they people lived in them.  We can see the reminates of the wiring.  Most every window has real glass in it.

So true!!!!

Unbelievable how much work went into making these structures.

Beautiful Peacocks roaming all over the grounds - sure wish one would spread it's tail!

One last image of this very unique place.  Most every structure was blocked off to prevent further damage.  The signs say that a restoration effort will begin shortly - we will be looking forward to visiting here again in a year or two.

Moving day again tomorrow - had to say bye to Ken & Nita for a few weeks, but we will be back!!!

Farewell Idaho Falls

On the edge of Idaho Falls is this big grain storage facility.  There is a lot of Barley grown in this area for Budwiser.  Hops for Budwiser is grown around Boise.

There are many beautiful parts of the Snake River in Southern Idaho.  This on is near Glenns Ferry.

Settled in at the Ambassador RV Resort in Caldwell Idaho.  This is a first class resort - very nice.  We are here for two nights so we can visit long time friends Alma & Frank Marvin who live in Eagle Idaho - about 15 miles away.

Welcome to Idaho - 2013!!!!

Moving day - from Bozeman Montana to Rexburg Idaho.

Settled in at Thompson's RV Park in Thorton Idaho (just south of Rexburg).  This used to be a crummy trailer park, but the owner got tired of the mess and the trouble collecting rent - so he kicked everyone out and transformed the area into a very nice RV Park!  We liked it here and will likely return in the future.

Dinner at the Texas Roadhouse.  Pictured left to right is Andy, Me, Brother-in-Law Larry, Sister Dee and Brother Bob.  The food was excellent and the company was wonderful also!

Just a small sampling of the magnificant fireworks display in Idaho Falls on the 4th of July.  We did not try to get too close this year and we could still see really well.  The display was supposed to kick off at 10pm (it doesn't get dark until late up North), but they were delayed because two idiots (early 20's) decided to swim across the Snake River to an island - not very far, but the currents can be strong.  They were just a bit intoxicated and one of them didn't make it.  They were holding up the display while they searched for him.  They let the display go on at 11pm and then continued their search - several hours later they found his body.  So sad that young people ca be so stupid!

Another great dinner out - this time at the Cafe Sabor.  Everybody just happens to be in the same order.  This is a new restaurant for Idaho Falls, but has been in Logan Utah for a while.  The food was wonderful Mexican!

A "Picnic in the Park" - our RV park that is.  Everyone travelled North to our campground for a gathering which included Grilled Corn on the Cob, Potato Salad and assorted grilled Dogs and Links.  Despite a little rain in the morning, all went well for the gathering in the afternoon.

A beautiful Idaho sunset as we get ready for a travel day in the morning.  Besides the meals I have pictures for, we enjoyed many meals at my Sister Dee's home - including her famous Beef Stroganoff and some yummy Chicken Tacos.  The week here went way too fast!!!

Travel Day to Bozeman Montana

Traveling from Garryowen Montana to Bozeman Montana, we enjoyed views of the Bear Tooth Mountains from Billings for many many miles.  Lots more snow than it looks like here.  Absolutely beautiful.

We enjoyed views like this most all the way across Southern Montana!

It is hard to tell, but this is our campground halfway up this hill - you can barely see the office amongst the trees.  We are now a little sceptical of our choice.

We got off the freeway and approached the entrance to our campground.  It can be a little scary not knowing how steep the driveway is or if we have room to turn around at the top - we press on and head up into the unknown.

We actually was given a nice site.  Fairly easy to get into, even though the roads were a little tight for a big rig.  No scratching of the sides and we got the satellite from the roof!   Getting out would be a challenge, but turned out to be not such a problem after all.  Actually a nice campground and we would like to return for a longer stay sometime.

After getting parked, we headed out for some quality shopping at Costco and Walmart.  Montana has no sales tax and we need to stock up on some great stuff.  Everywhere we look we see view like this.  Bozeman is very beautiful this year and for sure a place we want to return to in the future.

Garryowen, Montana

You may be asking - why Garryowen?  This is actually a nice campground and it is a good stopping point along our route to the West.  This is our campsite - 50amp full hookup with a clear view for the satellite dish - perfect!  A good place to catch up on laundry and relax.

By 7pm this little campground was pretty full - glad we had reservations.  Later we realized that the only reason they were so full was because they had a Fantasy Caravan's group here - 25 coaches.  The second night the campground had lots of empty sites.  This is a great place to stop over and recharge!

We have visited this place before, but since we are here we decided to visit again.  It is an awesome place in our history and very moving to learn the story. 

Montana is as beautiful as South Dakota!  Hard to see here, there are grave markers all over this field.

Here is a closer view.  The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their ancestral way of life.  The Lakota and Cheyenne warriors fought the U.S. Army and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at this point.  Even though the Indians won the battle, they subsequently lot the war.  This is a very powerful place - for the Indians and also for us.

We visited the National Cemetery that is here at the battlefield.  It is a very moving place in itself.  This is just a sample of the markers we saw.  This was Custer's 2nd in command.

After leaving the Battlefield, we stopped at the Trading Post and Cafe.  We were told that the Indian Taco was awesome, so since it is time for lunch we thought we would check it out.  There are lots of  things for sale in here, most are so outrageously priced that they will likely not be sold anytime soon!  Unbelievable what they thing these trinkets are worth.  They are beautiful...but only for the true collector.

Lunch!  This is what they call an Indian Taco.  The puffy bottom layer is Indian Fry Bread and the topping is a fairly normal taco filling.  The Fry Bread is wonderful - like a donut.  Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle - drizzled with honey it is wonderful.  Paired with the taco filling, it was delicious!

Our short stay here is coming to an end.  Tomorrow we will continue our trek to the West landing in Bozeman Montana for one night and then to Rexburg Idaho for a week.  So far we have not really been effected by the huge heat wave currently encompassing the West.  It has been warmer than usual here in the North, but nothing like our "home" in Yuma at 119 - yikes, that is hot!!!!

Hart Ranch and our visit to Rapid City, South Dakota

Hart Ranch is as beautiful as ever!

The flowers are beautiful.

Just look at how green the grass is!

This is the entrance to the "Meadows" where we are parked.  If they just had sewer down here it would be perfect.  We are hiding along the back row.

Our "backyard"!

More mowing!!!!  Seems like they never get done.

On our way to Ellsworth AFB - everything is so green and beautiful - if you like green then this is your place!

After a hard day shopping, it was time to get some dinner.  We went to our favorite place here in the Black Hills - Shipwreck Lee's Bar & Grill.  It was great catching up with friends and owners "Shipwreck" Lee and his wife Shari Rose.  Lee was a Captain of either the Merchant Marines or MSTS - I am not sure which - out of San Diego.  It is great to reminisce with fellow Southern Californians.

This is the famous "Shipwreck" burger - 1/2 lb of wonderful Mid-West Beef, cooked to perfection, with Sweet Potato Waffle Fries.  I think this is better than the Boll Weevil burger that used to rule in San Diego!  This is even better with grilled Jalapenos along with the grilled Onions!  Heaven!!!

Another day - more mowing!!!!!

Time for a break!

Yet one more wonderful "Shipwreck" burger and fond farewells for Lee and Shari Rose.  With sadness, it is time to head West in the morning - we will return for sure!

After three trips to the DMV, we both were able to get our new driver's license with our real legal address on them.  What a hassle - and we will have to do it again in two years, but next time I will know EXACTLY what we will need and so we should only have to make one trip!

Our final escape from Gillette....

A beautiful morning and we are ready to make our escape.  It turned out that the extra day and the efforts of the Cam-Plex personnel made it very easy for us to get out.  Another adventure under our belts - not really wanting to experience most of it again.

Welcome to South Dakota!!!!

Settled in at Hart Ranch.  We are down in the Meadows this time - this would be a wonderful place if we just had sewer!  Not a problem for 4 nights.... Tomorrow we will get started in accomplishing our goals for this visit.  We want to get new driver's license's with our real address, visit Ellsworth AFB for some quality shopping and of course visit Shipwreck Lee's Bar and Grill to catch up with friends Lee and Sheri Rose Havorka.  So far the weather has been good - time will tell!!!!