A Long Way Down

With the truck and camper ready to roll, Linda and I did our final walk around the house, checking off our lists. Once we were convinced we had everything, we hit the road south. We drove I-95 south out of Cd'A to Potlatch where we hung a left onto I-6 through the famous towns of Princeton and Harvard. At Harvard, we followed I-9 on down to dreary Deary (that's what I used to call it when I was in college). From there we followed I-3 down a long curvy grade into Kendrick where our Google map girl went crazy and tried to get us to turn up a very small steep road. I refused to drive up the road Miss Google wanted me to drive on, so we stopped at the city center of Kendrick and Linda got confirmation from some locals, that we missed a turn. We finally got back on track and started our long climb out of the valley to the fields above. 

Once on top, we followed Old ID 7 to the Freeman Creek Road. At this point, we were wondering just how many more steep, slow roads we had left to follow. On the Freeman Creek Road, we started dropping down into the reservoir. We crawled around switchback after switchback dropping down, down, down to Dworshak State Park and our final destination.

Our truck handled all the steep downhill very well, but I definitely had it in low gear with tow-haul turned on. A run-away camper would not have been something I wanted to deal with.

We set up the camper and then set up the screen tent. I also got out the propane fire pit and got it ready for cards and dinners. The Andersons arrived at about 6:30 PM. We turned on the fire and enjoyed the sunset.

The next several days were filled with on and off rain. Between downpours, we explored the campground and played cards. Then by the third day, we decided we needed to take a drive, climb out of the valley, and go to the Dworshak Dam and explore.

We climbed back up the switchbacks and then drove over towards Orofino and steeply dropped down another grade to the Dam's Visitor Center. Our arrival was perfect. The rain had stopped and the sun came out. 

In the Visitors Center, we joined a family and took a one-hour tour of the dam.  We were able to go into the upper levels of the dam and walk across almost all of the concrete structures. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history, construction, and operation of the dam. 

After the tour, we had lunch and then drove to Orofino where we drove past the prison and mental hospital. I could not figure out why everyone wanted to leave me at these two stops!

We drove back up and down the winding road to camp and finished our day playing cards and eating.

On Tuesday Linda, Mike, and Rayelle all went for a long walk and I went fishing.  They had a great time and saw some beautiful small waterfall action.  I didn't catch any fish. The reservoir was very high and very dirty due to runoff, so I didn't have any great expectations for the fishing.

Late afternoon I was in the camper when Linda's phone announced a text. This was weird because we got no cell service at the campground. We could see it was from Sharon, Rayelle's sister-in-law, but couldn't see any text. They wouldn't call if it wasn't important so Mike and Rayelle drove and found reception to find out what was up.  Turns out that they had a water leak in their back yard and it needed to be stopped. For the next couple of hours, Mike made calls to try and solve the problem. Nothing worked so we helped them quickly pack up and drive back to Cd'A. 

View from the top of the dam. 

We spent the final night sitting around our fire-pit hoping everything would be alright.  We packed up the next morning and drove up to the flats where we could get cell service. The Anderson's water problem turned out to be in the sprinkler system and Mike was able to get it to shut down. We were glad that it wasn't really serious. We drove home through Orofino, Lewiston, and Moscow. The drive was much easier on our truck and me. It took longer driving this way, but the roads were much nicer which made the trip home better.

We liked the Dworshak State Park. It was clean, the sites were adequate, and very quiet. The showers were literally hot and cold, which was annoying but manageable.  The biggest drawback is that once you drive down all the steep switchbacks you are basically down at the bottom with no place to drive. You have to drive up and out to do any exploring. If we were to do this again we would have to bring a boat and motor and explore the lake that way.

Looking down the long hallway in the dam.

Dam good-looking ladies!

Wet Week

Monday, about noon, we were ready! Linda had secured a camping spot at Riley Creek Campground 55 miles north of Post Falls on the Pend Oreille River. Our neighbors, Steve and Jodi were meeting us up there for a few days of camping.

We had a couple nice sites that were next to each other and so we settled in.  Steve and Jodi brought along their little puppy dog, Winnie, which made the visit even better. Everyone loves puppy snugles!

Our weather forcast called for a mix of clouds and rain, with a sprinkling of sun from time to time. We spent the days playing cards and chatting. It was a very relaxing trip.

Our friends Teri and Bill Burch also had made reservations at Riley Creek, a fun surprize, and we were able to connect with them for a morning of Mexican Train. 

The on again, off again weather kept us close to the campground, but were able to  bike ride, take walks and enjoy the quiet.

On friday we packed up and came home. It was obvous the campground was going to be full for the long weekend and we were glad we got our camping fix before everyone and their dog filled the forests.

Return to Steamboat Rock

After ten straight days of cleaning and polishing the exterior of the truck camper, we were ready hit the road again. Wax on, wax off is getting harder to do, but the camper really needed the attention and protection of a good waxing.

With our shiny camper, we drove west through Spokane and Airway Heights, our sights set on Steamboat Rock State Park. We had a rendezvous with our Westport, WA friends, Don and Caroline. We haven't visited with them for overva year and it has been a few years since we all were camping together. 

Our site at Steamboat.

We drove Highway 2 through the wheatlands of northwestern Washington. There were a few sprinkles of rain on the windshield, but no downpours to worry about. The drive was easy, except for one small misshap. As we rolled on down the road we could see something moving way out in front of the truck in the middle of the highway. As we got closer, I could make out a female duck on the center line of the road. I moved closer to the edge of the road. I then started to make out a male duck running next to the female. The hen started to fly which confused the male. He lifted off and flew right into the path of our truck hitting just above the passenger side window. The hen flew away unscathed. The drake was not so lucky and smacked the truck.  It surprised and saddened both Linda and I. If the drake had just lifted off to follow the hen, we would have driven right by. But you know men, they have to go their own way. Bad choice!  We stopped at the rest area a mile down the road and I looked for damage. It made a loud, sickening sound when it hit, but all was well for the truck and camper. Not so well for the drake. Or Linda.

We arrived at the campground a little before 2:00 PM, found our site and settled in. Don and Caroline had arrived the day prior and were already set up and waiting for us.  A friend of the Samulsons, another Linda, was also camping at Steamboat and she came over to their site to chat.

We all spent the rest of the day talking and getting caught up. Caroline fixed a great meal of tortilla soup. I started up our new gas campfire and everyone had a great evening.

Tuesday was a very nice day with bluebird skies, so everyone just hung out and enjoyed the warmth. We fixed chicken fajitas and everyone stuffed themselves.

Wednesday the forecast called for partly cloudy skies, so Caroline and I decided to do the hike/climb up to the top of Steamboat Rock.  We loaded up some water and snacks and told everyone we would see them in a couple hours. Linda laughed, knowing that it would take longer, and told us to keep them posted on our progress. 

On the climb up, we met up with a couple hikers coming down. As they got closer, I thought I recognized one of them. As we passed, I said "Is your name Bob?" At that point he looked at me closer and said "Squirt, is that you?"  Bob and I ran many runs together as Hashers. We hadn't seen each other for about four years. We made introductions and chatted a bit. We said our good byes and off they hiked. Bob called my name and I looked up just in time to get a full moon as he departed. Man, I miss all my Hashing buddies!

Our camper from the base of Steamboat Rock.

We did the hike and got the great views of Banks Lake from the edge of the cliffs. The sun was great and there was a nice warm breeze up on top. The final adventure of the hike was to climb down the trail we had come up. It was steep and a bit slippery from the gravel. We took our time in descending.

We got back down and noted our time. It took us just over 3 hours. Once again I said to everyone, "That is much steeper then I remembered!"  Linda laughed again and rolled her eyes.

Evenings dinner was prepaired by Caroline and we had a wonderful spaghetti dinner. We again talked until dark and then went to bed.

Thursday we woke up to rain and wind. It showered most of the day. I was out walking and met Bob and his wife Barb and they invited me to their trailor. I called Linda and she joined us. Bob and Barb are recently retired and are new to the retirement camping gig. We talked about their plans and we gave them info on how we travel. It was a fun conversation and we really enjoyed our time together.

Back at the camper we watched the rain and caught up on some reading.

We packed up early and drove home Friday morning.