Sand Point, Idaho (GA614)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.
Sadly Mary is struggling with health issues. To see the latest about her situation, click here

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click here

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Lake Minden RV Resort in Nicolaus, California. I’m scheduled to depart here May 9th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted September 18, 2013…

 

 

 

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 84 miles from Libby, Montana to Sandpoint, Idaho,

 

We continued traveling along U.S.Highway 2 West.

 

The traffic continued light along Highway 2…

 

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About nine miles north of Libby, we stopped to see the Kootenai (KOOT-nee) Swinging Bridge and Falls. The 1994 movie ‘The Wild River’ starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon was filmed here. As we started down the trail, we got this peek-a-boo view of the falls…

 

 

 

 

 

A little further on we crossed this walkway built by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad…

 

 

 

 

 

So that folks wouldn’t get run over by this train…

 

 

 

 

 

Then down 64 steps to continue on the trail…

 

 

 

 

 

Until we came to this fork in the trail. We decided to take the longer path to the left to the swinging bridge first…

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later we got our first glimpse of the swinging bridge…

 

 

 

 

 

We got there a few minutes later…

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge was built by the U.S. Forest Service to give them access to forest fires on the other side of the river…

 

 

 

 

 

It really does swing when walked upon…

 

 

 

 

 

Looking upriver towards the lower falls…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking downriver…

 

 

 

 

 

Looking back across the bridge after we crossed…

 

 

 

 

 

Then we started back on the trail upriver to see the falls…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally a 180 degree panorama that turned out really nice…

 

 

This river remains as the largest un-damed river in Montana.

 

 

Being mid-Septenber, one can only imagine what this must be like in late March when the snows start to melt. You can read all about this place by clicking this link… http://www.libbymt.com/areaattractions/kootenaifalls.htm

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing on, the traffic remained light as we entered Idaho and the Pacific Time Zone…

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped in the City of Bonners Ferry and went to the Boundary County Museum. Here are some of the photos that I took…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see the other 20 photos I took at the museum, you will have to click this Picasa Web Album link… https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/BoundaryCountyMuseumBonnersFerryIdaho

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing on, we ended up at Sandpoint, Idaho where we parked overnight at VFW Post #2453 and they provided an electrical hookup…

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the usual dinette window photo…

 

 

Yesterday was the second decent weather day we’ve experienced in a long time, High temperature under sunny then cloudy skies only got to 71 with lower humidity. It rained for about four hours during the night.

 

 

Forecast high temperature for today is 67 degrees with scattered showers. Yes! Mucho Bettero!

 

 

We’ll continue our westward travel later this morning.

 

 

Enjoying friendly VFW Posts is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

 

 

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Idaho. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/kootenai-falls-and-bonners-ferry/

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is mostly sunny and 83 degrees. Too Danged Hot!

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

 

 

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” —Mark Twain

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

LEAVING MT. BAKER-NOOKSACK FALLS-

With a parting shot at Mount Baker, we headed down the mountain for home.

Jim pulled over at the gates to some sort of development to let a speedier car behind him pass. I like sculpture and this one was well done. But, somehow, in the middle of this vast tract of natural beauty it seemed out of place. So metallic.

On the way up, we made note of a turnoff to see Nooksack Falls. We drove a gravel road of hairpin turns, about a mile in to find a tumultuous mountain stream raging under a bridge.

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It was rushing and tumbling to the other side of the road, and pooling there for its great fall, but you couldn’t see the falls.

We climbed down the other side where the park system or forest service has erected a chain link fence because it is really a dangerous spot to be. It is a triple falls. You cannot see the portion to the far left where it spills another stream of crystal clear water.

The thinner stream to the right, seems to define its longest fall, at 80 feet according to the sign above the bridge.

The widest portion hits a rock shelf and then joins the main stream. You can see the split where the third and smallest fall spills water over the embankment on the left. This is summer. I expect this falls is one huge gusher in winter.

Then, off it goes, meandering on into the canyon.  It looks as though it may fall again just a short distance away to another level as it makes its way to the ocean. Falls  leave me feeling refreshed.

The first town you come to when leaving the mountain is Glacier. Grahams is the only place to get that other kind of refreshment, which for me was a Black Butte Porter, my favorite beer. I hardly ever find it away from home. A good sign.

It is an old place, with a casual hippy look to it. And, indeed, we noted a few head bands and dreads. The walls are loaded with old historic photos, but we sat in the garden. The food choices were all healthy, reasonably priced, with intriguing selections. I had a hard time choosing between the roasted beet salad with goat cheese and the grilled polenta with kale, seasonal vegetables and poblano sauce with balsamic and parmesan cheese. It was really good.

I also ordered their bean soup which is better than what I make at home.

Jim chose the chicken quesadilla.

It was a long day and a lovely drive. Nice that it ended with good food.

 

 

KOOTENAI FALLS AND BONNERS FERRY

Nine miles west of Libby is the Kootenai Falls and Swinging Bridge.  I appreciated this sign because we have a place in our county referred to as Candy Rock that is popular with young people and there have been tragic drownings. The Corp of engineers dynamited one of the dangerous whirlpools but it still isn’t a safe place to play. A sign like this might be helpful. In fact, this is where the movie River Wild was filmed and where Meryl Streep got washed off the raft and nearly drowned.

Before you get to the river bank, you have to cross this very safe railroad bridge which was one and a half flights of stairs up on this side.

A train was coming while we were on the bridge, so like kids we had to watch it. Hey, a new experience for me. I hope you are chuckling.

We didn’t watch it until it disappeared. (Jim moans that I’ll use up all of our picture bytes before I fly home.)

The down hill path was clean and easy looking, but that soon changed.

At the back of my mind, I’m thinking I’ve got to climb back up. This is my first  big challenge, a mile hike over rough terrain and…steps. Plus, this is a non-pain pill day. I’m on pain pills every other day right now and I know I’m getting stronger.

And there she is. I was expecting one of those bridges with net sides where every step makes you question your judgment. This one is well braced from below and much more stable but still gives a significant bounce.  A sign tells you no more than five people at a time on the bridge. This is a new bridge that replaced the old one lost in a flood. Built by the U.S. Forest service for fire access.

It still bounces a good bit with two people on it. Maybe I’m glad it isn’t the net variety. The chain link sides are pretty comforting.

Over the edges of the bridge I looked for stromatolite formations. Signs about the geology talk about the formations formed in shallow water, but we are so high up you can’t really see them well. This is also a river of “folds” formations that cause great ripples. And, they talk about the various colors of sandstone in the area.

We got off the bridge and walked back to the right fork to the falls. I found one rock with the described formation-a stomatolite.

I did find some pretty colored rocks, like this baby blue and some lavender.

Yellow and pink. I couldn’t help but think how much prettier these rocks would look under water or after a rain instead of on this dusty path. It was a cold morning and I didn’t brink a water bottle.

I spit on a kleenex and swiped the rocks here and there. And it does show how pretty they are but I only had one kleenex in my pocket and Jim thinks I’m nuts anyway.

I don’t have a clue what type of tree this is. I think it may be a peeled one of the tree next to it. I wish it was labeled. What a beauty.

And finally the falls. It looks like we are level with it, but it is down a very steep, rocky cliff from where we are standing.

It falls about 300 feet in a very short distance.

We hiked back to the railroad bridge and on the river side, there are 3 and a half sets of these long flights of stairs to get up. I was committed when I came, so I had to climb them without taking baby steps. A small epiphany for me, I slept well. This morning I feel no pain and I feel stronger. Good portent for the future.

We met some fisher people on the path. They go for kokanee salmon. “Heard they were running.”   I expect that means spawning.

The Kootenai Falls is in Montana and we crossed into Idaho and stopped at Bonners Ferry.

This is a days catch of sturgeon from the Kootenai River. I don’t know if they still exist. One picture showed a record size sturgeon of 315 pounds.

Bonners Ferry was started by E.L. Bonner in 1863. Gold was discovered and a frantic rush of people headed for British Columbia had to cross the river. Bonner was one of them. He noticed the hold-up getting across the river, got the crossing rights, and built a ferry here. After the gold rush, the economy was based on timber. Here a mammoth log drive of 80,000,000 board feet.

The size of the logs, the power of the horses and strength of the men is impressive especially compared with today where there is nothing left of these giant forests but “twigs”. I see trucks all the time with trees of 9-11 inches in diameter coming out of the woods, here and in California where I live,  also a logging area.

Not only the size of the logs, but the danger of riding with such massive logs aimed at your head as on this truck.  Even modern log truck drivers check their chains before going down hill with logs behind their heads. I’ve ridden out of the woods with one of them.

Now, that’s a load. The area thrived not only on its timber, but the Pacific Railroad came through here as well.

This was a wonderful museum.  William Wright’s saw buck pack-saddle, made of wood, from 1896. Wright ran a string of pack horses through “buffalo hump” country and up the Wild Horse Trail. He renamed Mosquito Flats by tearing down the sign and replacing it with one that said Paradise Flats.

This couple is showing off their new car. But, look at the pride in that woman’s face. Isn’t that a hoot?  SHE’s doing the driving.

I recently discovered a gas burning iron. And now a charcoal burning iron.

My mother owned a Ouija board, but, we and she thought it was pretty boring. She tossed it.

Most old clocks have a similar kind of look. This one was different and still chimed.

This museum had a lot of nice things, and good personal people stories. They had a beautiful portrait gallery of the movers and shakers of Bonners Ferry. The huge portraits, at least 100 of them, were accompanied by a biography below it like this:

This way you knew who they were and what they did. C.W. King was the youngest senator to serve in the Idaho Senate.

A woman who rescued her husband from an Indian Tribe bent on execution. You will enjoy this museum, and this community. Bonners Ferry is progressive. They have a farmers market and a brewpub. What more do you need?

DISCOVERING SEXY EXOTIC EARRINGS

Jim and I went for burger night at the American Legion last night. There I met Kathy, a fun gal who found a treasure. Some earrings she hadn’t seen in a couple of years. She took them to the hall  to show her friends. We talked her into putting them on for a picture, except, I only had my cell phone with me.  Now, these earrings were six inches long and bountiful with beads. Real creations that demand special consideration of when and where a person would wear them. (She got lots of advice.) With her long blonde hair, the earrings were stunning on her. The pictures turned out nice…but…I don’t have the USB cord to get the pictures off my phone. Dang, I hate it when I go somewhere without my camera. So, I searched the net for earrings to provide a similar picture of Kathy’s earrings. I looked at “shoulder dusters” , Chandeliers, sexy exotic long earrings. There was Statement jewelry, Gypsy Moon, ethnic earrings, stiletto dangles, cosmic beads, comet glass…nothing  compared to her original creation until I checked Ebay. There, my friends, was a real shoulder duster, and its vintage. Longer than Kathy’s, but Kathy’s earrings were wider with several falls.  The search was fun and I learned a lot about ear wear.  The beer and burger were good, too.

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