D140 - 09/15/24 TWIN FALLS, IDAHO

Travel day! Not much excitement except for one brief moment in time. I spotted a herd of elk migrating across a field. There were probably 30-40 including a good number of calves amongst them. We did not even see them for thirty seconds. But it was definitely a moment in time watching them in slow motion crossing the golden dry grasses in the field. 

Other than that there was not much to see. Traveled from Oregon into Idaho. Stopped for fuel. Saw a dinosaur. Walked Jett. Changed drivers. We did eventually begin seeing the Snake River. Jett has swam in the Snake River before. A few years back she swam in it in Grand Teton National Park over in Wyoming. 

Twin Falls is our temporary basecamp for this evening. Again it’s a first. In all the years traveling we have always done some overnights sometimes at Cracker Barrel’s and most recently at Canadian Tire. Tonight … Wal-Mart! I’m not a big fan of this store. It is serving its purpose for us for tonight though. I actually went inside to check with the manager and then to shop later. It was total sensory overload. Still not a fan. 

Back to the actual town of Twin Falls. This is the gateway to the Snake River Canyon. We drove over the Perrine Memorial Bridge which is popular with BASE jumpers. Just a few miles to the east of the bridge is also the location of Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon Jump Site. Also the beautiful Shoshone Falls is nearby. 

Today was not the best day for photos. Will definitely move into a drastically different landscape tomorrow and even more  different into Tuesday! More to come!! 

Sunset: 7:46 pm

Sunrise: 7:19 am

Elevation: 3,660’

Miles from home: 

2,468 miles

Wildlife viewings:

Elk Herd

Eagle 

Coyote 

Pronghorn

Ducks 

Dinosaur 🦕 

D139 - 09/14/24 LA GRANDE

 

And I’m not talking Starbucks lingo. We took a travel day today and will do the same for the next few days. Unfortunately, just like at Cape Disappointment, there was no more availability at Silver Falls plus that park completely shuts down tomorrow for renovations and we have to move east. 

Miles need to be put behind us now and quickly. We have places to go, things to do and people to see. Wow! The landscape changed on us so quickly in our travels today. Unbelievable. I took the morning shift to drive and Tim did the last half of the day. The road getting out of Silver Falls was again very winding and curvy but not as narrow as the one we took into the park. Phew!! We drove through lots of farmland this morning and into Silverton. Charming little town! 

Then our drive on Interstate 84 took us along the Columbia River and through the gorge! The river is so mighty and huge. Now I understand why the Columbia Sportswear clothing line was named after it. And it was originally a just a hat company. 

Tim and I had three plans in place for tonight’s stay. All that we need is just a safe place to sleep. We chose the town of Pendleton, Oregon. Little did we know that the Round-up was happening! This rodeo is over 100 years old and is supposed to be the most exciting rodeo in the world. Let’er buck! 

We didn’t bother with any campgrounds knowing they would be full. So Plan A was a trail head parking lot by the airport. When we got to town we didn’t even go there because we could see the rodeo takes over the entire town. Plan B was to check out Pendleton: World-Class Wool Clothing, Blankets and Decor store. The blankets! The clothing!!There was ever so slight of a rumor that you could overnight there. No. Not true. But the store/factory was cool! 

Plan C was the Wildhorse Resort and Casino about ten minutes outside of town. It was probably do-able but there were still tons of RVs and horse trailers there for the rodeo. Plus semis. The parking lots were all very busy with rodeo attendees so we moved on. Would have been better at a truck stop. We tried! 

Like I’ve said before sometimes things don’t work out in order to get you where you need to be. Next we had to scramble and found a state park about forty minutes farther east near La Grande, Oregon. Perfect and they are 1st come, 1st served. Let’s head that way! When we were almost there we decided to check out a forestry service road off the interstate where wild camping is allowed. Yeah. This is it!

So here we are out in the woods. Wild camping! In Wallowa-Whitman National Forest near La Grande. There’s no established campground here. Just a spot on the side of a gravel road. There is one other huge beautiful new coach here and that’s good. We don’t need to talk to them and probably won’t. It’s just good in these circumstances to have at least one other rig in the area … safety in numbers. 

Let’s see what tomorrow brings and where we will stay! We do know it will be just a travel day to put more miles behind us. Moving east now!! 

Sunset: 7:04 pm

Sunrise: 6:32 am

Elevation: 3,430’

Miles from home: 

2,773 miles

Wildlife viewings:

Canada Geese 

Ducks