Salmon, Idaho
Okay…so you are wondering how we got here? Well…it has been a different kind of day.
We left Ogden, UT late this morning. We usually travel up I-15 to I-84 and across to Boise; eastern Oregon and into Richland, WA area and then to Odessa. We got about 10 miles from where I-84 takes off and Al looked at me and said “I’m tired of this route…let’s go up I-15 to Butte, Mt and over I-90 home”…uh, fine with me. So off we went…hadn’t seen this area of the country in years…through Pocatello and Idaho Falls.
About 30 miles north of Idaho Falls we felt a “bump”…hmmm…better stop and see what that was. I got out and looked at the tires on the truck and trailer on the passenger side and they were okay, however, when I got to the trailer tires on the driver side the left front one had thrown a tread….DAMN! This was about 3:30 p.m. and we had made reservations at a RV park in Dillion, MT for the night. I called Good Sam Road Service and at the same time cancelled our reservations in Dillion as we had no idea how long we were going to be sidelined. Good Sam sent a truck out to change the tire…and at 4:50 p.m. the tire was changed…however, after looking at the rest of the tires we weren’t sure we wanted to go much longer on them. The tire service that assisted us was out of a little town called Terenton, Id, about 12 miles west of where we were and they had 4 tires for the trailer at a good price, so we followed the truck back in and had all four tires changed. This is something I have worried about for many a year…having a blow out on the trailer tires…I have heard horror stories about how bad it can be. Fortunately for us it was not bad.
At about 6:00 p.m. the tires were changed and we were ready to get on the road again to the nearest RV Park. But wait…I have been looking at the map again and asked Al if he wanted to go on some “red” roads instead of the interstate. Oh yeah…back to red roads was fine. Red roads on the map usually take you through more interesting areas and you see lots more.
So off we went … up Idaho 28, through pretty much nothing, but great scenry and lots of deer, antelope and later some beautiful farming area’s. We got into Salmon at just before 8:00 p.m. and found a great little RV Park on the Salmon River. The river is running fairly high from all of the meltoff, but we are parked about 50 feet from the river and can hear the bubbling, gurgling sound. We just had a great lightning/thunder/rain storm that lasted about 20 minutes, and now the air smells so fresh. AHHHH…
So now that we are way off our planned path of going home, we will continue up Hwy 93 through the Bitterroot Valley; some place we have both wanted to go to for many years and haven’t. Al has a friend in Hamilton, MT that he may try and call tomorrow and see if he can visit with him for a few minutes. Then on up to Missoula and hit I-90 and head home. We may not get home until Friday…but oh well…we are in no hurry.Besides, we both love to travel the red roads and explore. This is really what I miss about full timing in the RV.
May 20, 2008
St. Regis. MT
We didn't get wrollin' very early this morning...both of us just taking our time. We are in no hurry.
Just out of Salmon, ID we rounded a curve and there were two big horn sheep along side the road...we were praying they would stay there and not cross in front of us and they waited. It was really neat to see them.
The we started climbing...up Lost Trail Pass. Hmmm---Al, what is that white stuff falling from the sky? You have got to be kidding...SNOW! Yup...snow. Not a lot but just enough to let us know we were in the mountains! At it was 40 degrees...brr!
It was a beautiful trip through the Bitteroot Valley....and we can see why so many people like it here. All the rivers in this area are running very high and most are out of their banks...spring run off! We also were amazed at the damage that was done by the fires the last few years in the Hamilton, Darby area. Darby has been hit hard by the wildfires the last few years. We could see where there was a lot of new buildings in the Bitterroot Valley and we had to assume alot of it was from where the people had been burned out.
We arrived in Hamilton, MT around 1:00 p.m. and we had called Al's friend, Hans Schwietzer and we met him for lunch. A long, fun lunch. Al hadn's see Hans since 1971! They worked together at Boeing, and had talked off and on over the phone, but hadn't see each other. Needless to say there was a lot to talk about. I had to laugh tho -- the both would start to say something about someone they knew, but could only remember thier first name, so the game of "what was the last name" was played a lot. And Pete Rielly, if your ears were burning there was a reason for it as your name came up a lot.
Hans and AlFinally, we took off from Hamilton and landed here in St. Regis around 5:00 p.m. It's cold here....and looks like it wants to rain...I am just hoping that it won't snow!
Tomorrow we will head into Liberty Lake, WA and have lunch with Gary and Jeannette and do some grocery shopping and head home. Hope to arrive in Odessa by late afternoon.
We are both glad we changed direction and came this way. Much prettier of a drive and a bonus of seeing an old friend.
So, until next time...we are wroamin' for now..........
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