Tag: prairie dogs

RV Adventures: A Trip Out West! Day 11

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

This morning we were up early and on the road by 7:30 AM to head to Spokane, Washington. Our route took us into Montana, state number 9!

In Montana we passed over the Continental Divide which runs through the Bitterroot Mountain Range.

Continental Divide in Montana

We also passed the town of Lima, Montana which has a population of a little over 200. It is named after an early settler whose home was in Lima, Ohio.

Lima, Montana

The Clark Canyon Reservoir in Dillan, Montana is also the site of Camp Fortunate. In 1805, Lewis and Clark set up camp and also met the Shoshoni tribe. The leader of the tribe was Sacajawea’s brother and she recognized him when they met and that helped Lewis and Clark to be accepted as coming in peace.

Clark Canyon Reservoir

Along Interstate 90 in Montana we saw many canola fields. It is a popular rotational crop with wheat and barley. When you see these fields the yellow is vibrant!

Canola Fields

Technology can be such a wonderful thing! Our son did a FaceTime call so we could talk to and see our granddaughter! We loved it!

FaceTime with Erin and Ryan

When we left Montana and we’re back in the panhandle section of Idaho we crossed into the Pacific time zone. We still feel like we are on Eastern Standard time so the three hour difference is messing up our sleeping!

  • Entering Idaho
  • Murray Gold Fields
  • Area of the Murray Gold Fields

The Murray Gold Fields is where a permanent gold rush camp was established in 1884 and the town of Murray flourished for over ten years.

When we pulled off the highway for a rest stop, there were a lot of prairie dogs running around and in and out of their holes outside our RV. It was fun to watch them! We were able to get a picture of one of them.

Prairie Dog

By afternoon we crossed into the state of Washington, our tenth state!

Washington

We checked into our campground and noticed our hot water tank cover was missing. It had to have jarred loose as we were driving. Many of the highways were very bumpy and rough. Dave called the RV manufacturer and they are sending a new one to where we will be staying in Oregon. They told us how long it would take to get shipped and we figured Elkton, Oregon is where we will be camping with friends! In the meantime there wasn’t a cover.

On our way to our Spokane KOA we saw a wine cellar. It was calling our names to stop by for a tasting. So after setting up camp, we hopped in the car and drove to the Latah’s Creek Wine Cellar. It was a great way to end the day tasting Washington wines. One could also tour the adjoining winemaking facilities but that was not open when we were there for our tastings.

Latah Creek Winery

Tomorrow we travel to Olympia!

RV Adventures: A Trip Out West! Day 6

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Today we left early from our campsite to visit Bryce Canyon.

Our view as we left the campground!

The mountain bridge was cool to drive through on our way to the canyon.

Through the mountain we go!

We arrived at the Visitor’s Center just after it opened.

We got in line to sign up for the park’s astronomy Night Sky presentation. The 10:00 PM session was full so we are signed up for the 10:30 PM talk.

There was a sandwich board that suggested visitors download the National Park Service app.

NPS app

It was worth downloading because you can save any park you want for offline viewing which we used a lot because many locations we visited or stayed didn’t have cell service. The app allowed us to see the trails and located where we were on the trails or we could read about what we wanted to make sure we saw at the parks. We would recommend adding this app to your phone if your trip involves visiting national parks.

The first thing we did was drive the 18 miles to the end of Bryce and back. Along the way we would stop at the various pull overs and viewpoints. The sky was clear blue and the temperature was very warm by afternoon. One of the first things we saw were the prairie dogs running around and having fun. We pulled over and watched them. As we were watching a badger came running over trying to get one of them. They would warn the others by making noises and when the badger came flying over to their hole they would dive in and the badger couldn’t reach them. It kept running from one home to another. It was fun to watch especially since the badger didn’t get any of them while we were watching!

Prairie Dogs @ Bryce Canyon
Video of the Badger VS the Prairie Dogs (taken from a distance on a phone)

Some of the beautiful Bryce Canyon scenery as we drove along the main park road and stopped at the viewpoints. No filters or editing was done to any of the pictures from our phones.

The night before we packed our lunches and cooler. Sunset Point was a perfect place for lunch at a shaded picnic table.

Where we ate our lunch.

After lunch we started our three mile hike into the canyon. The Navajo trail loop was where we started and then joined the Queen’s Garden trail. The elevation change was 600 feet. It was so beautiful and not too crowded with people. We took our time when the trail was heading back up the canyon. We carried water which is a necessity in the hot sun!

Our trail led us through many hoodoos which are tall skinny spires of rock that protrudes from the bottom of a basin and vary greatly in their sizes and shapes!

  • A companion on our hike!
  • Thor’s Hammer
  • Looking back at the trail that we hiked up!

After spending a full day in the park we stopped at Red Canyon on our way back to our campground.

Red Canyon is about 9 miles from Bryce Canyon and is part of the Dixie National Forest. One can go hiking along the trails and there isn’t an entrance fee.

We rested up until we needed to head back around 9:00 PM to Bryce Canyon for the Night Sky Show with the park ranger. They used red lights to lead us to our area for the presentation. The ranger had a laser pointer that had a long enough range that we could follow and know the constellations she was talking about and explaining. By the time the presentation was over we could see the Milky Way. It was so dark that we could see really well. We didn’t have city lights to interfere. We were glad that we attended. Tomorrow will be a long day after staying up so late!