The Grand Coulee Dam, WA - Sept. 13

The route to the Grand Coulee Dam was probably our least attractive choice yet. We made the mistake of taking Rte 95 to 90 instead of looping around Rte. 2. Lots of construction on an already ugly 2 lane divided highway. We found a very nice campsite in Spring Canyon CG in the Lake Roosevelt Nat’l Rec. Area above the dam looking out over the river. It was a hot 90 something so we all took a swim including Nina. After picking up BBQ at the Tropical Pig, we headed over to the GCD Visitor Center for a look around and the laser show.

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Another Day West - Sept. 12

It was such a temptation to head further north in Glacier to Bowman Lake passing by Polebridge Mercantile, a tip from Steve, but I know that I will come back to Glacier some day when I can hike where I want to and to insure that will happen, it’s best to leave wanting more.

We are trying to stay ahead of season closings further west so after pumping, watering up, propane, gas, hardware stop and hitting Montana Coffee Traders for cappuccinos and scones off we go onto Rte. 2. I diverted Harry onto a very narrow National Forest Road (763) so we could travel along more of the Kootenai River which almost sent us off the road when a couple logging trucks hogged most of the road. This was followed by a quick stop to ID and photo unusual ducks (common mergansers). Back on the road, my sunglasses were missing so a quick 2-3 mile detour back found them by the side of the road where I jumped out! Beautiful lakes, creeks, mountains and farmers market at Libby, we called it a day at a NF Campground, Bull River, at the junction of Clark Fork River. Harry took his first shower/bath in the river in ‘x’ days and I in the van. He made the better choice!

This is such a short post, it’s time to talk about food. Polly sent us off with “Road Food”. The Fishers and Freda/Magnells have been giving us tips along the way. We are trying them all but then there are the everyday meals. My own garden veggies have been eaten, frozen, rotted or frozen rotten at this point! (I hope everyone is enjoying my harvest at home!) We picked up some tomatoes and huckleberries at the farmer’s market in Libby but I have a new tip for all you RV/cruisers. It’s all about the hearts of romaine (Foxys or whatever) that we buy that don’t need washing wasting water and last forever! Inspired by Schooners, half them lengthwise and sauté both sides until pleasantly golden brown. Serve on a plate drizzled with balsamic glaze (a very necessary ingredient to sparkle any dish) and you will think that you are eating a very fine Belgium endive side dish. Try it at home!

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Glacier National Park, MT - Sept. 8 - 11

The next morning was the start of a great stretch of weather and our final leg to Glacier NP. There was a ski area that abutted the campground that we hiked around in the morning before heading off to Great Falls to visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. The museum had a great exhibit and film that we watched about the portage over the Continental Divide. 

Still 150 miles from Glacier, we thought we would arrive too late to get into campsites at Glacier until I noticed online that St Mary's CG still had room and hadn't filled Fri or Sat nights so decided on the gamble. We did get a spot and the plan was to leave early the next day to move over to the campground in Many Glacier which we had heard was beautiful with lots of lakes, trails and the grand Many Glacier Hotel. Turns out two CG closed the next day in the park as well as 2 out of the 3 loops here AND St. Mary's had recent bear activity so all tents and soft-sided trailers had to leave meaning there would be a lot of competition for space both where we were and where we wanted to go. We decided to stay put and three days later were still happy we did. St. Mary's is very open with great views, meadows, aspens and lots of berries that bring the bears in although all we saw was bear poop!

There is a healthy population of both black bears and grizzlies in Glacier so we got our bear spray and tutorial from the rangers after hearing a few stories of the spray getting loose in hotel rooms and visitor’s centers. Sadly, my knee has not been doing well and knew I couldn't outrun Harry never mind a bear! We stayed with shorter hikes spending one day in Many Glacier and the next along the Going to the Sun Road up to Logan Pass. Our last day on the East side, we again drove the Sun Road picking up where we left off at Logan Pass, went for a hike and then over to the West side just in time to get one of the last couple sites at Apgar CG. We did see black bears (one w/2 cubs), moose, hoary marmots and the bighorn sheep. Time was running short for the grizzlies but if not here, perhaps our next stop in the North Cascades.

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And more photos

Cross Country to the Pacific NW - Sept. 2 - 7

Finally, September 2^nd (Labor Day) at noon, we were off. Because we planned to take the Mass Pike west the first day, I thought this would be the perfect day to start our travels. For the most part it was but the traffic started bunching up in places for no particular reason so we chose Rte. 84 through Hartford instead. Night one was at a small Pilot truck stop in Montague, NJ. Although off the highway, it was noisy enough to get us up before 4 a.m. for an early start the next day.

The second day with a more respectable range of 665 miles got us to a Cracker Barrel in Elkhart, IN. This was actually a nice one in Amish Country surrounded by a half dozen inns, lots of grass and trees. Did you know CB’s now serve “wholesome” meals 600 calories or less! You can now get steamed broccoli instead of gravy and grits.

Day three ended at the Great River Bluffs State Park in Winona MN looking down on the Mississippi River and Black River Delta. This park is in a small region of the Upper Midwest that was not covered by glaciers at any time. The steep bluffs were cut by the meltwaters from the glacier coming down the Mississippi. Tom and Jean both sent messages about an award winning donut shop in Winona, Bloedows Bakery. Not to disappoint and wanting to be able to send a review back, off we went to indulge! The store was in an old saloon and the display of donuts impressive. We both got cinnamon rolls that were so big we should have shared! They were very good but also very sweet so we saved some for another time.

The fourth night was spent at an Army Corps of Engineers campground, Left Tailrace, on the SD side of the Missouri River. The campground was below the dam by the spillway where the water was teaming with seagulls, white pelicans and all kinds of fish. We watched one fisherman make quick work of his filleting by using an electric knife. Good stop.

We now were pretty close to the Badlands where we had thought we might stay long enough to rest. The weather was unseasonable warm at 104 degrees and the refrig. was having difficulties maintaining a temperature cooler than the high 40’s after days of sun baking the side of the van. We arrived in the campground midday and quickly realized there was no shade or electricity to cool the van. Nina couldn’t hike with us nor could she stay in the van. And then there were the warning signs for snakes . . . . . . ! We drove a good part of the Badlands Loop Road and it really was pretty with the colors in the rock formations and yellow mounds. Perhaps more time would have revealed more beauty but we decided to move on to the Black Hills National Forest near Rapid City, SD. Still hot at 80, we had a wonderful night in the pines by the lake at Sheridan Lake South CG.

Saturday was another long day of driving through SD, a small corner of WY and into MT through beautiful rolling hills and fields of sunflowers, sorghum, corn and MANY billboards. We passed through towns that appeared more like ghost towns and one, Lavina, a fictional scene from Stephen King with decent storefronts empty and a porch filled with chairs rocking in the wind, chimes playing but not a soul around anywhere. We spent the night in the King Hill Campground in Lewis and Clark National Forest near Neihart. The campground was dense with pines and had that wonderful woodsy pine smell. Not long after we got settled, a really bad thunderstorm came through with marble sized hail. That was a first for me. The noise on the van was deafening. No dents or damage though!

Click here for photos

Homeward Bound – Mar 22 - 24

Driving along, there’s lots of time to discuss routes, goals and objectives, destinations and then change them around a couple times! I had wanted to go home via the Dismal Swamp which is on the alternative ICW and then on up the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. There is a Welcome Center at Dismal that is very nice where I hoped we could stay. When I called, they told me they don’t encourage people to stay in the parking lot over night but they know people do it. Not a strong No! Then we starting looking at the weather and night temps and decided we needed to winterize the van that day and we needed a dump station to do it. I started calling around and the obvious, a state park nearby, didn’t have the facilities. We finally found an independent campground willing. After that job, we wanted to get a bit more distance and ended up at a Cracker Barrel in Chesapeake, VA.

Day 2 of the home stretch was through the tunnels, over the bridge and up the Eastern Shore. Because we were breaking a two day marathon into three days, we stopped at Flea Markets, Antique Stores, poked around Chesapeake City on the Chesapeake/Delaware Canal, dinner at Woody’s Crab House in North East, MD and back on the road to a Cracker Barrel in Mt. Laurel, NJ.

Tomorrow should find us home!

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Huntington Beach SP - March 21

Thursday we joined the tour at the Birds of Prey. This was fabulous. They have a big campus that is only open to the public three days a week. There is a clinic that treats injured birds that are brought in. Many of the local birds that they have as permanent residents have come through the clinic and can’t be released for various reasons. There are two bald eagles each with a wing that had to be partially amputated and a red shouldered hawk that lost an eye due to being hit by a car. Many of the other birds are the result of someone finding a chick, thinking it needed help and trying to raise them themselves. The problem is that the birds imprint on humans and can’t adjust to living in the wild. It would have been best to leave them alone. The second part of the tour was watching the working birds do flying demonstrations. This was amazing. If you are ever in this area, make the time to go!

From there, we headed about 60 miles north to Huntington Beach SP. HBSP is also a SC State Park and totally different than Hunting. The campground was very nice as was the whole park. The original plan was to stay to see the park and visit Brook Green Gardens which is just across the street. We’ll have to come back when we have more time. It was getting pretty cold so we decided the time had come to make the drive back.

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Buck Hall Rec. Area, McClennanville, SC - March 16 - 20

Buck Hall has become one of our favorite places. We joined S & E and all went to dinner at T. W. Graham Seafood Restaurant in McClennanville. Fried Oysters and Key Lime Pie all around! The next day, S, E and I went to the Santee Coastal WLMA – very buggy but wonderful birds. Later, my cousin Sarah and her friend Joe arrived! They ended up staying two nights and kayaked around parts of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. Sarah’s hope was to kayak with dolphins and they found them! There has been several times I wished I had a kayak. Something to put on the list to research. We all had dinner at the campsite the first night and headed in different directions the next.

Everyone left us Tuesday. We really wanted to go to the Center for Birds of Prey that was only open Thur – Sat.  We also wanted to head towards Charleston so we decided to stay on. This meant more lunches at Graham’s and the McClennanville Diner and shrimp for dinner and will also mean big changes in our diet when we get home. A great hike was the S. Tiwbin Trail. This was a Wetlands Management Complex designed and built by Ducks, Unlimited in the Francis Marion National Forest. What it really means is that it is an area that has been created to attract wildlife (ducks in particular) to live and breed, and open the area up for hunting during the seasons. It is really pretty, somewhat buggy and a number of big alligators along with lots of birds.

We got to Drayton Hall in Charleston which was very impressive. This is the oldest unrestored plantation house open to the public. There is no furniture which really makes it easier to focus on the architecture which is Palladian-inspired. Even though the house was used by the family as recently as the 1970’s, no bathrooms were added and the house has only had 3 coats of paint in 300 years.

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Hunting Island State Beach - Mar. 11 - 15

Time to leave Skidaway with S & E going a bit further north to Buck Hall while we headed to Hunting Island near Beaufort, SC to visit family and friends. This park is SC's most popular and profitable park and for good reason because the beach, trails, fishing pier and lighthouse are beautiful. Sadly, the campground was incredibly tight with restrooms that looked to be dated back to the 60’s. The simplest of things were missing – trash barrels, paper towels or hand dryers. Most of the restrooms had communal changing areas for the showers, some with heat and some w/out. When we were in the Everglades, our new friend Alan said that he checks out each shower to find the warmest with the best pressure. At Hunting, we pushed it a step further to find the best restroom!

Many good things too! The park pays for a fishing license for the pier making it easy for anyone to fish. They also provide fishing poles at no charge and sell bait. Harry spent a couple hours fishing without a bite. He asked each person who came out on the pier questions hoping for local knowledge but it was the first time for all. When the poles were returned, he mentioned he didn’t get a nibble. It was then the ranger said the fish don’t come in until April! Right!!

We met up with my Uncle Walker for a very nice lunch, toured Dataw Island and while on his pier, saw 3 fairly big swirls. It turned out to be a bottle nose dolphin fishing all around the pier. Very special! The following day we met up with Bill and Ann at Habersham for dinner. I understand why they disappear for months! Great visits all around!

There was one dark moment. I dropped my iPad! It wasn’t much of a drop and landed on the rug but when turned on, the screen was a bright pink with bright green highlights – very hard to read and depressing to think of life on the road without it! I know, pathetic! I googled and came up with a couple solutions. There were a number of posts about hitting, tapping, spanking different sides, corners and backs of the thing. The problem was most likely the loosening of the display cable that Apple can fix for between $250-300. Then there are tools you can purchase to take the screen off and do it yourself. Don’t think so but desperation does set in when you are isolated in a campground. I did try the tapping, etc. that didn’t work so I decided to replicate “the drop” on the other side of the iPad. It’s worked perfect since! I’m not suggesting anyone else try this!

We booked 6 nights to get us through the Saturday rush but decided to forfeit the last night to join S & E at Buck Hall.

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Skidaway Island State Park - March 7 - 10

Last time we were in this area, we stayed at Ft. McAllister.  Skidaway was a nice change with its proximity to Savannah and surrounding trails going through marshes, pine and live oak forests and along the ICW. S & E got the last site for Saturday night so we shared a site for the time we were there. The rules were a bit ambiguous on sharing and although we got a verbal OK by phone, the rangers weren’t happy on arrival and made it pretty clear it won't happen again.

This was a good stop for laundry. Lots of trails for hikes and the Interpretive Center had an awesome bird feeding station that gave new meaning to a bird walk – sit in a chair with a cup of coffee, relax and let the birds come to you. We saved Saturday to go to Savannah for their Farmer's Market, lunch and a walk through the historic district and waterfront.

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Little Talbot Island - March 4 - 6

Little Talbot in Jacksonville, FL was a convenient stop to start our journey back north. It gave us the opportunity of another great grilled shrimp dinner, more hikes, biking and a trip to the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Reserve that had been highly recommended when we had passed through a month earlier but didn’t have time to stop. 

Because we planned to spend a good deal of our time in FL, Harry got a salt water fishing license. We have found two places where the park purchases a license for their pier making it possible for travelers to fish hassle free – Gulf Shores National Park in Pensacola, FL and Hunting Island State Park in SC (more on this later).  Up to this point, the only other opportunity Harry has had to fish was in the Everglades. Guana had a nice fishing spot at the dam with locals giving him lots of advice and stories of fish caught yesterday but none today of course!  There were manatees when the tide was coming in and crabs for the catching on the other side of the dam by locals. S, E & I hiked a bit and saw some great birds.

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