Return to Ontario – part 1

So here is blog # 7 written on October 23^rd as we near the end of our trip. The time has gone fast and has been mostly enjoyable but I miss home

Columbia River Gorge - Multnomah Falls (620 ft drop)

and certain grandchildren so much that Bill decided we would shorten the trip from 9 weeks to 8.

Since my last blog entry we have covered a lot of miles and seen a lot of things. We are currently in Indiana just east of Chicago.

To get to this point since October 10^th, we have travelled through several states and seen a lot of different scenery.

Bonneville Fish Hatchery- Stan the 10ft Sturgeon

From Mt. St. Helen’s area in Washington we drove to Crown Point RV Park in Corbett, Oregon. It was located on the Columbia River Gorge on old scenic highway 30. To get there from the main highway, we had to go up a long, narrow, steep winding road. (Bill did very well but I was all nerves!!!). While camped there, we took the Jetta along the rest of highway 30 to see the Crown Point State Vista which overlooks the Columbia River Gorge. (Beautiful!!!) Then we continued on to see several lovely waterfalls including the tallest at 620 feet the Multnomah Falls. See our pictures… The next day we drove to the Bonneville Dam and Locks and took a tour. The Sturgeon Fish Hatchery was nearby and quite interesting.

That day was Canadian Thanksgiving and we were happy to be able to connect by phone with the family at Heather and Brian’s although being there would have been even better. Bill and I had our own turkey dinner with all the trimmings (but just turkey legs!!!).

Casino near Pembleton-Mom won't drive the RV - perhaps this is more her style

From there we moved on to Pendleton, Oregon. While there we took an Underground Tour of historic Pendleton and went to the Wildhorse Casino. We didn’t win any money but enjoyed a good buffet supper.

Oregon Trail Interpretive Centre - Sunny and Grandpa

The next day we drove to Nampa, Idaho and stayed at a small campground called Garrity RV Park. En route we stopped at The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It was on part of the Oregon Trail and it is absolutelyunbelievable what the pioneers had to endure on their 2000 mile trek from Missouri to Oregon!!!! We hiked about 4 miles down a long hill and back up again to see some of the ruts they claim were made by the wagons going along the Oregon Trail….

The next cool thing we saw was Craters of the Moon National Park near Arco, Idaho. I have never seen anything like this before. Caused by volcanoes erupting thousands of years ago (the last about 2000 years) the ground looks like a freshly tilled field in very rich black soil except it’s rock!!! We went on a ranger walk and talk to the Indian Lava Tube Caves. Again you need to check out our pictures to see what I’m talking about. We had supper that night at a very unique local hangout called The Pickles Place.

At this point we decided to shorten our trip by leaving our visit to Salt Lake City until another trip….Bill worked out another game plan and after a few double days of 350 to 400 miles per day we arrived here. In between we stopped at Fort

Craters of the Moon -Mom inspects a lava flow

Bridger RV Camp in Fort Bridger, Wyoming for 1 night then Terry Bison Ranch in Cheyenne, Wyoming for 2 nights. On the way to the latter location we stopped at the Wyoming Territorial Prison which was used from the mid 1800’s until 1901. What a way to live!!! So be good!!!

While at Terry Bison Ranch we went into Cheyenne to a neat western museum that I think was owned by a wealthy rancher or cowboy. He has hunted all over the world and so besides the western stuff (saddles, rifles etc.) there were MANY stuffed animals from all over the world that Bob Nelson took using “fair catch” hunting techniques.

Wyoming Territorial Prison-guess who is in the Paddy Wagon

A kiss for one of the many trophies taken by Bob Nelson as shown at his museum

The next day we moved on into Nebraska for 1 night at Double Nickel RV Park near Waco. We stopped along the way for a few hours at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland Nebraska. A tour given by an 82 year old ex-pilot was most interesting as he shared his war stories and talked about the many planes in the museum… (Did you know that the USA had 75 nuclear bomb equipped B-52 bombers in the air at all times during the Cuban Missile Crisis?)

Our next stop was in Davenport, Iowa after a very long day of many miles and arrival after dark!!!! They had no pull through sites so we camped perpendicular to 3 back-in sites…. Not many other people in the campground.

Strategic Air and Space Museum-KC-97G Stratofighter below a CH-21B Work Horse

Next morning Heather phoned to tell us the exciting news that her sister-in-law, Caroline had given birth to TRIPLETS :>} WOW. They are all well. Congratulations Caroline and Ivano….

After that excitement, we carried on to our current site just past Chicago. We are here for 2 nights. We likely would have been home tomorrow except Heather and Brian asked us to pick up some chairs for them at the Walden Galleria Mall in Buffalo. However, the chairs won’t get to the store until Monday or Tuesday. As a result we extended our homebound route. We plan to drive about 500 miles tomorrow. (Not my idea!!!) Getting to Colton RV tomorrow night and camping there for FREE, Bill hopes they can fix our broken awning on Monday. For those of you who don’t know, that’s where we bought our motorhome. We will stay at Colton on Monday night and hopefully, we can pick up the chairs on Tuesday and drive home from there!!!!

So that’s it folks….Take care.   TTYL