June 2020 – Utah
& Idaho
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| The ladies, and Beckham strolling |
It was great to finally see Liesa. It was a big relief for
both of us to see that she really was fine. I think we were more worried about her than
we realized, given all that has been going on in the country, and in Salt Lake
Jordanelle is a large park in a beautiful setting right on
Jordanelle lake. A marina, a large day use area with extensive picnic
facilities, and the campground all face the lake. The campground is immaculate
and the sites are spacious, but half of them are pitched so much that they
are impossible for us to get even close to level. We never did get
completely level in our site, but that was our only complaint. The dogs had acres of grass to explore, and they did their best to sniff all of it.
We met Gary Park
City
We really enjoyed our time at Jordanelle, but we were ready
for a vacation. In 2017 we had plans to explore eastern Idaho
and western Montana Oregon
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| American Falls dam on the Snake River |
You may have not seen the
news that recreational vehicle sales have skyrocketed. Dealer inventories have
been wiped out and the industry is expected to exceed 50% YOY growth. 2019
also broke all sales records. People, especially those with young families, are
looking for safe holidays and camping certainly looks safer than climbing on
planes to go to theme parks. Ok, but where are they all going to stay? No new
state parks or national parks have been created in decades. What RV park
construction there has been has focused on the extreme upper end, $100+ per
night “RV resort” market. I think state and national park campgrounds that were
operating sold out within hours of reservation windows opening up. That’s
not an exaggeration. The Covid related campground closures have made things even worse.
We always prefer state park or national forest
campgrounds. At our size, though, we can’t count on a “first come, first
serve” campsite being available when we show up. Since RV sales started to
climb three years ago, we always make reservations, but generally had no trouble
getting a spot, usually in a state park. Not any more. Private RV parks are all
we can get and many of them are sold out at least a couple of months in
advance. Some of the best are sold out all year! Oh, yes, the cost of private
parks is roughly 30% more, and the sites and locations are nothing like as
nice.
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| Queen of the links |
That said, we planned a route and stitched together
reservations at commercial RV parks to visit some areas we have wanted to see for years. We've decided to try to limit our daily driving to about 200 miles, so the first stop
was Willow Bay Resort Campground and Marina in American
Falls , Idaho Snake River just above the dam at American Falls that created
a large reservoir. While not right on top of each other, the sites were too
close for comfort. We also had inconsiderate neighbors that really made it
unpleasant. On the flip side, though, we discovered that the town had a 9-hole
munie golf course that was beautifully maintained and inexpensive to play. So,
we did. For our first rounds in two years we didn’t play too
badly, if you make enough allowance for age, lack of practice, skill, etc.
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| Did I mention the wind blows a lot? |
I discovered Salmon, Idaho, on a motorcycle ride over 10 years ago, so that was our next stop. We had just arrived in Salmon three years ago when the hospital called at 3:30 AM to
tell us that Liesa had been injured. We
pulled out a few hours later without seeing anything of the town and have been
looking forward to going back ever since. We couldn’t find a site in Salmon, so
we stayed in Elk Bend, at the eponymous RV park, about 25 miles south of
Salmon.
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| It's a great life if you don't weaken |
The park was nice, but quite small with limited dog walking.
It was spotless, though, and the onsite owners were knowledgeable and
attentive, always a good combination. The area around the park didn't offer much to do, including the “recommended” Dusty Mule bar and grill
across the highway. Ugh. The setting, though, like the whole Salmon River valley, was lovely.
Salmon was fun. We discovered the Odd Fellows Bakery on our first visit to town and drove 50 miles round trip two more days
for outstanding sandwiches on their signature sourdough bread and rolls. Really, the best bread I can remember eating.
Kayeanne has become quite interested in Lewis and Clark, so I think we are going to be visiting related sites whenever we encounter them. Salmon has an interesting museum focused on Sacajawea. The grounds include an extensive trail that meanders through fields and along the river. We both enjoyed the visit.
We tried to go river rafting but the outfitter couldn’t find a guide on short notice. We
wanted to play the local golf course but we picked the day of the annual Ladies Club
Championship, and the next day it rained. We did manage to put a few hundred miles on the car exploring about every side road we could find. We enjoyed Salmon, but I
think we’ve done the town and the area.
Wines we enjoyed lately included:
Snoqualmie
Whistle Stop Red, Columbia Valley
WA
Cardwell
Hill Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley 2017
Books were mixed: I liked Saturn Run by John Sanford and Ctein, good SF based on real science. On the other hand, John Meacham’s Destiny and Power
finally bored me silly and I dropped it.
More Soon,
Bob
