Week ending Apr 17, 2014 Idaho Falls, Milk River

Friday morning after a Skype visit with John's parents we went shopping. We have been looking for a replacement for our Satellite tripod. We finally found a dish dealer who had the platform we wanted.  Although we are not Dish customers he was able to sell us the hardware we wanted. After a quick stop for wine we went back to the trailer to see if the hardware we bought would work. It seems to work well and we are hoping that the next time we are in a windy environment the satellite will not fall over.

Saturday we did the Idaho Greenbelt walk along the Snake River. It was a nice walk on a paved foot path past the falls and allowing us views of the lava rocks that are prevalent in this area as well as a really nice view of the Mormon temple, the first Mormon church built in Idaho.

 In the late afternoon we received a call from Bow RiversEdge Campground in Cochrane checking on our reservation and checking to see if we wanted a spot over Stampede. How is that for customer service?!.

Sunday we moved further North, targeting Helena, Montana. There had been warnings about ice and blowing snow on Boulder Hill just south of Helena. Not a wonderful  thought pulling the trailer. The weather network showed that the Boulder Hill area would have a sunny afternoon so off we went. We stayed on the interstate until Dillon Montana at which point we took state highway 41 to 55 into Whitehall where we fueled up and had a bit of lunch.  Then we headed north on 69 to Boulder. This route was much lower in elevation so we assumed would have less snow and ice. A good decision. The roads where great. The weather was sunny and the interstate clear. We arrived at Lincoln Road RV Park in Helena close to 3:00 P.M.  This is the first RV park we have stayed at where there is self check-in in mid-afternoon. It is not unusual to have self check-in after hours but 3 in the afternoon is not usually considered 'after hours'. But we paid our money, chose a site and got set up. On our travels on I-15 from Mesquite Nevada we have observed that if it wasn't for people from B.C., Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, and semi's the interstate would be almost vehicle free. About 4:00 P.M. the rv parks start filling up, mostly with Alberta snowbirds.

Monday we headed for Milk River. The drive through northern Montana was great, bright blue sky, antelope in the fields and an interstate that was almost devoid of traffic. When we finally arrived at the border we found the traffic. We had to wait a bit more than 1/2 an hour in line, a new experience for us at this crossing. After a few questions we were sent on our way. We arrived at "Under 8 Flags" campground mid-afternoon. It appeared the campground operator was away. While we were looking for the "perfect" site the fellow who looks after the golf course next door came to talk to us. We found out that we could golf for free and pay for our camping when we left, or when his buddy, who operates the campground comes by. What a deal - free golf. We figure it falls into our 10.00 or under a round for golf this summer.

Tuesday morning, although warm was far too windy to even attempt golfing. As we had never been to Milk River before (except to stop in the campground overnight) we decided to walk into town. We wandered down main street and finally stopped at a little store that had a 50 % off sign. A very friendly lady, Lorna Lang, chatted with us and after some discussion we found out that she knew John's parents as she was the sister-in-law of the operator of the provincial park where they had hosted for many years.  It really is a small world.

Wednesday we awoke to a winter wonderland; snow for the first time since Amarillo Texas in early November.  By early afternoon most of the snow was gone and after the campground operator stopped by to collect our fees, we went for a walk around the campground. Not a long walk, mind you, as this is a small campground. We read the explanation of why the Milk River area is the only place in Canada that has flown 8 different 'national' flags.

1. From 1682 when French explorer La Salle claimed all of the area drained by the Mississippi River system  for France under the name of Louisiana. The Milk River flows into the Missouri River in Montana downstream from Great Falls.
2. In a treaty with France in 1762, the area was ceded to Spain. 
3. The territory was returned to France under Napolean's rule, with the flag of the Republic.
4. The United States purchased Lousiana from France in 1803.
5. In 1818, an agreement between the United States and England placed the border on the 49th parallel, just south of Milk River. The prairies at the time were being administered by the Hudson's Bay Company, which had its own flag.
6. In 1869, the area was transferred to the new Dominion of Canada, with the British Union Jack as its flag. 
7. In 1945, the Canadian Red Ensign flag became the official flag of Canada.
8. In 1965, Canada adopted the new Maple Leaf flag. 

On Friday, we head to Cochrane, where we will be until after the May long weekend while we do the spring round of taxes, dentists, doctors etc.  We won't post another blog entry until we hit the road again, toward the end of May.

Week ending Apr 10, 2014 Mesquite, Provo

Friday we decided that we should spent the afternoon at the casinos. We walked up to Eureka Casino to see if we could pay for our winter travels in the afternoon.   Well Eureka's was not a successful venture.   We spent a couple of hours and lost 20.00.   We then crossed the street to Virgin River Casino.  We spent 20.00, had a beer each complements of the casino and came away with 10.00 of our 20.00 investment. All in all it cost us 30.00 for an afternoon of entertainment, so not too bad, but didn't  pay for our winter travels.

 

Saturday we moved to Provo Utah.  We have some shopping to do and according to our research there are some stores that carry the products we are looking for. The drive from Mesquite to Provo took us through sun, rain, hail, snow and finally sun again. The roads were fine, and the mountains are snow covered.   

 

 

 

We got set up in time to watch the bronze medal men's curling. A bit of a disappointment that Canada's men are out of the medals for the first time in 10 years.

 

Sunday we walked over to Utah Lake State Park, 1/2 mile away, to check out the campground facilities and do a short hike advertised.  Across from the campground is a storage compound with some oil and gas company signs and pumps.  

 

 

 

 

Then we wandered through the state park campground.  They have okay services, showers, electricity, water but no wi-fi.  We chatted with a couple from Wisconsin who were staying at the campground while visiting their son, who lives here in Provo. We then went in search of the  interpretive hike. We discovered the hiking trail was closed and in speaking to the park personal, has been closed for at least the last few years. Maybe they should take the trail off the state park map. We then headed back to the trailer to watch the Nascar race. Not our day, the race was rained out.

 

Monday was shopping day. We stopped at an roofing place to get some Eternabond. A tape used to fix leaks or tears in rubber roofs. We have a small tear in the roof, thanks we think to a tree branch we missed seeing one day.  Our next stop was Best Buy to get some information regarding computer upgrades and cost of cell phone service for next winter. Lunch was at one of John's favourite places Red Robin where he had a Bonzai burger. Joan had a spicy chicken burger. We got back to the trailer in time to watch the last few laps of the Nascar Race postponed from Sunday.

 

Tuesday dawned bright and sunny. After grocery shopping, we went for a walk along the Provo River. The Provo Canyon Trail is about 8 miles long (16 return) we walked along the river about 2 miles (4 miles round trip). Spring is here.  We saw robins, ducks, beetles and heard lots of frogs. 

 

 

 

After lunch John completed repairs on the roof of the trailer and Joan did housework. We decided we would stay and enjoy the warm weather of the valley, so went and paid for another night at this site.

 

Wednesday we went to Bridal Veil Falls (every state and province seems to have one). The hike we planned on doing was 2 miles past the falls, however the path at the falls was covered with snow from an avalanche, so the trail was closed. We got far enough to see the falls and then turned back. 

 

 

 

We then did a 4 mile round trip hike between 2 local parks. It was a pleasant walk along the Provo River (the same parkway we had done yesterday, but about 10 miles up the river). The trail was very busy, so we had to be alert because there were lots of bikes and long boarders.

 

 

 Thursday was moving day.  We are slowly working our way north. Our objective is to stay in warm weather for as long as we can. We are in Idaho Falls at Snake River RV park for the next few nights.   The drive through Salt Lake City about the end of rush hour,  went surprisingly well without any slowdowns or incidents. In the past whenever we have driven through Salt Lake City it has either been raining or snowing and the traffic has been at a crawl at best, so today was a real pleasure.

Week ending Apr 4, 2014 Valley of Fire, Mesquite, St George

 Friday was hiking day.  We packed a lunch and headed out to enjoy the beauty of this red rock area.  Our first stop was Atalatl rock  and Arch rock. A short walk viewing Petroglyphs as well as arches, smaller but similar to those we have seen in Arches National Park in Utah.  

We then did a mile and 1/4 hike through White Domes.   A fantastic hike with some of the best views we have seen in a long time.  Many movies have been filmed in this area.  It took us a long time to complete this hike because it was exceptionally picturesque. 

After lunch we stopped at Fire Canyon and Silica dome viewpoint.   We did a short hike to the Waves.   

Our next hike was Petroglyph Canyon and Mouse's Tank Trail, 1 1/3 miles. We have never been in an area with so many petroglyphs being so obvious.  By the time we had completed all these hikes we had absorbed all the information we could for one day.

Saturday was moving day. We couldn't decide whether we would go to Mesquite NV or St. George Utah.  We stopped at the McDonalds in Overton to check RV park reviews, mileages and other pertinent information. We decided that Mesquite was the best destination. As we headed down I-15 we saw huge billows of black smoke rising and emergency vehicles going down the interstate. Within a few miles traffic ground to a halt and stayed that way for over an hour. It turn out that someone had rear-ended a semi, causing both vehicles to burn. There was nothing left but charred frames. We finally were able to carry on to Mesquite and were able to get a site for a week.

Sunday morning we watched the men's world curling from China. Due to the time change it started at 4:00 A.M. After breakfast we started laundry. Today was really warm, but very windy. Our satellite dish fell over a couple of time and finally we moved it to the north east side of the trailer to protect it from the wind. We finally found a location that worked, so were able to be able to watch the Nascar race.  Late afternoon a couple from California moved in next door.  We had set up our satellite dish on the edge of their sight, but they were not bothered about our encroachment on their site.  We found out they were headed to Alaska, so we gave them our Alaska Highway Milepost book, as we really don't have a use for it anymore.

Monday morning we were off to St. George, after watching the men's world curling, to get an oil change done on the truck at Newby GMC.  While the truck was being serviced we walked over to Camping World to get some information and see if they had a map we wanted. No map and only time will tell if the information was useful.  We then headed to the outlet malls. Joan has had good luck at a kitchen store there and today we were able to get a couple of items we wanted, but not everything. I guess we need something to look for in other places. We had lunch at Paradise Bakery and Deli. Great food, nice serving sizes, not the Texas sizes with enough food left over for the next 2 meals  we had come to expect.   We drove back to the trailer via Littlefield, a nice scenic highway.

Tuesday morning we went grocery shopping, picked up some bits at the hardware store and generally did housework.  We needed to print off our pink slips. There are a couple of print shops advertised on the internet here in Mesquite. The one was too busy to even acknowledge that we had walked in, so we then went to look for UPS at the address advertised. After some hunting we stopped at a real estate office to ask for directions.  UPS had closed a few months ago. We explained what we needed and asked where we could get an email printed.  The receptionist at the realtors helped us out by printing our pink slips.  Thanks to Premiere Real-estate in Mesquite we can now drive back to Canada with legal pink slips.

After watching men's world curling on Wednesday morning, we spent the day cleaning. It had been some time since we had taken everything out of the cab of the truck and done a really good cleaning.  We found all sorts of things, the cell phone case, many pens, sweaters etc.   Later afternoon we headed over to the rec centre for hamburgers complements of the park owners. We chatted with numerous other Albertans on their way back to Alberta, after spending the winter in the sun. Most of them have to be back in the next day or two, so were just stopping overnight. We checked the weather and consequently will continue to wait for more spring like weather to reach Calgary.

Thursday we headed to Virgin River Recreation Area, planning to complete a 2 mile (one way) hike. We wanted to check out the campsite there, as it is located in a very pretty area in the canyon between Mesquite and St. George.   The campground is very cheap, because it has no services. We have to think about that.  Driving through the campground we saw a trailer with a satellite dish set on a broad base similar to some we have been thinking of replacing the tripod.   We stopped and had a chat with the people, from Alberta. He had built the base himself, using a section of an old RV ladder,  various metal bits, and wooden ends sitting on 4 hockey pucks.  After the visit we headed to the trailhead. Our hike was a interesting, but the brief description we had seen on the BLM website didn't mention that after about a kilometer, the trail fords the Virgin River, which might be ok, but it had rained last night and the river was quite high.  

We then headed up stream and enjoyed a walk along the edge of the river. After our hike we sat by the truck and had lunch, looking out at the Virgin River Canyon.   We asked one couple if they had tried to ford the river, and they said that their dog wouldn't even give it a try.    It is a pretty area with spectacular red rocks. After a while a US government worker came by with a questionnaire. What an opportunity for us. We answered his questionnaire and when he came by to pick it up we asked him many questions we had about BLM areas, regarding camping and hiking in all BLM areas in the western states.  We then did a short interpretive trail that explained the history of the area, some of the wildlife and the geology of the canyon.   There were a few of the Joshua trees that are common in this area of the Mohave Desert.