Montana Camping 2014 Day Three

Whaoo!  I got some real sleep last night and I feel great this morning.  

Today's plan is to revisit the Libby Dam. And then....just when I thought the zombie shopping virus had run its course...

Mariah: "Mom can I go to the store?"

Me: "Not again Mariah, this isn't a shopping vacation."

Mariah: "But I want to get something for you."

Me: "I don't want anything."

Mariah: "I will get you a huckleberry chocolate."

Me: "No thanks, kiddo."

Mariah: "Well I will get one for Kaley."

*Kaley says she doesn't want one*

Mariah: "Pleeeaasssee Mom?"

Me: "Mariah knock it off, I told you NO."

Mariah: "But Mom, I have to get some for the store people. They will starve."

O.o

I handed her a buck and sent her on her way.  I'm so weak.

The biggest one-really pretty.  She set it on a flower right after this was taken.

There were hundreds of these little guys flying around.

Mariah has been vigilant about butterfly hunting with varied results.  She handled each one carefully and released them afterwards.  We started packing the car for the days adventure and then Josie showed up to play with her.

Turns out Mariah made friends with yet another critter in camp. Josie is a sweet yellow lab and her owner had promised that Mariah could play with her this morning unbeknownst to me, of course. A good time was had by all.

Josie

Almost as soon as we turned on to the highway was a portable traffic light-turned red.   The sign said 'wait here for pilot car.' Okay. Cool. It will  be like the other road construction we ran into-no big deal.

Famous last words.

We endured a four mile long section of completely scraped down graveled pavement. Dust. Rocks. Dust.  It was AWFUL! Breathing dust has never been a favorite pastime. Visibility was reduced at some points where you could barely see in front of you.  And of course, the big trucks coming the opposite direction threw the bigger rocks onto my windshield; fortunately there was no damage there.

We survived the journey more or less unscathed and made it to my favorite coffee stand. I asked how the winters were and explained I was considering the possibility of moving to Libby one day because I love it so much there.

I asked about the economy and told her that I would probably be interesting in taking on some daycare if I did and she told me I'd make a killing.  It's something to consider.

Then of course, we stopped in at the store to partake of the deli and bakery. Cravings satiated, we were off to the dam.  

We showed Mariah the new places we discovered on our May trip and she was able to get down and touch some water, which was totally out of the question the last few trips due to high, swift water. The water was low enough that side pools were exposed and totally safe.

Lower side of the dam

The spillway parking lot. (Spillway wasn't flowing)

We hit up the gift shop (big surprise that we ended up there) and I found out that I can schedule a special tour of the dam if I call the day before. I will keep that in mind next year. There was a lot of info on things to do around the area and I stocked up.  I guess gold panning is a big deal here-I had no idea, and would love to give it a try.  I even have my own pan.

Back side of the dam-Lake Koocanusa

Got back to camp and Mariah was off visiting within the first 30 seconds. I noticed that  there were balloons displayed at nearly every campsite. Mariah is like her own force of nature-once you've met her and spent any time with her, you will never forget her, or so I'm told.

Saw some deer poo and I pointed it out to Mariah to prove that deer do come through camp and she told me it was gross and stupid. *shrugs*  What can you do?

Beautiful.

She came so close.

As we started to get dinner things out, here came the deer.  She came close and seemed to be completely unfazed by all the commotion going on. Obviously direct human contact wasn't a possibility but she hung out for quite a while. It was pretty cool!

And that's a wrap for day three!

Until next time,

Robyn :)    

Montana Camping 2014. Day one.

There is just something about the Troy/Libby area. I have fallen more in love with it and the people with each trip I take and Kaley feels the same way. We've been able to take several trips the last couple of years.

Downtown Troy

Downtown Libby

There was  a crazy freak thunderstorm that ravaged three counties-the second in as many weeks. We saw some damage on our drive over. Trees down on power lines, snapped in half lying beside the road, branches tossed everywhere, and a large tree lying on top of a house. The storm did hit the campground  but caused no real damage aside from a few branches falling here and there. They had power restored about noon.  That would have been problematic as I use a small medical device at night. (I will be taking my solar rechargeable power source from now on, just in case.)

It was a fairly nice drive-only a bit of road construction entering Bonner's Ferry.  The weather was warm but there is nothing like driving with the windows down...

We got checked in and drove to our spot, which was the same as last year.  It was really cool because a deer was chilling and munching on some grass at our site. She took off as we parked and I hoped we'd see her again. I considered it a good omen.  I had no idea...

Kaley helped me to set up the tent. We had a couple disagreements with tent stakes that kept hitting rocks and tree roots but eventually all was in place.

Panoramic of our campsite

I should probably mention here that Mariah was all about the campground store.  She told me she couldn't wait to shop and proceeded to badger me for cash. With everything set up and her getting in our way, I sent her off with $5. Miss Mariah bought chocolate (she gave most of it away to the store employees) and ice cream.

Dinner was simple-chips and sandwiches, but it really hit the spot. This was followed by two rounds of Trivial Pursuit.

Why two rounds you ask?

Well, because from the moment we found it on sale at 50% off  as we left town, Kaley went on and on about how she was going to kick my kiester seven ways from Sunday because she was THE QUEEN of Trivial Pursuit.

I won the first game. Let's just say she did not accept her defeat well and demanded a rematch.  She was validated when she won the second game. I thought she was going to break into a victory dance around the table.

For those of you who remember last year's trip, we didn't bring enough blankets and we froze to death.  That was not going to be the case this year.  I packed every blanket in the house both for padding and warmth.  My SUV was filled to the ceiling with blankets.

Not our tent, but you get the idea

I forgot to mention the balloons. Mariah had brought an entire bag of balloons along.  She filled the tent with them because "it needed to be decorated."  THEY WERE EVERYWHERE. We made her put as many as she could into a garbage bag so we could sleep without squishing or popping them in our sleep.

We got settled in the tent for the night and of course, I had to read for a bit.   I finally got sleepy and lay down and- hello, my old friend. The accursed tree root from last year had hunted me down and found me, in spite of the fact that we carefully placed the tent to avoid last year's root disaster.

It's going to be a long night...

Until next time,

Robyn :)

Sun through the trees

Day Eleven: The End Is Near

I was so tired last night! 

Weary lay-on-the-bed-to-tired-to-move tired. I even skipped the blog.  I did save enough energy to take Mariah swimming one last time. She finally saw another human being at the pool!  And of course it was an elementary school librarian (Mariah's favorite thing) who just happened to have grown up in Coeur d'Alene.

Vista Point on Hwy 30 overlooking the Columbia Gorge

 I decided to wait until this morning to pack.  I  let Mariah sleep in a bit so I could get the sorting and packing done without any interference.  I finally woke her up and  was totally unprepared for the complete meltdown that began before her eyes were even open all the way.  Not totally unexpected, but the timing was just not....

Forty-five minutes later all was back on track. Mariah went to turn the key in and I overheard her having quite the conversation..inviting the desk gal to come and visit us in Idaho...on our couch...

Hwy 30

We made good time through Portland.  I took the exit that led to Historic Highway 30-the one that has all the waterfalls.   It was a nice drive and I did get a few shots of a couple of them. It was honestly a bit disappointing at a few of them.  They were very overcrowded and the parking was so bad  you could barely navigate getting through the little lots. 

On the bright side, I loved the shots I got and the drive was still very pretty. I like to take my time when I drive on roads like that so I regularly pulled over so cars could pass me.  It was a bit tricky passing the bicyclists on the narrow roads, but it added an element of excitement to the whole thing.

So gorgeous

We arrived in The Dalles mid-afternoon and grabbed some lunch.  Went and got all checked in to our motel without any fuss.  Mariah was chomping at the bit to go swimming but I made her a deal that I had to kill my headache first.

Headache down to a dull roar, I took her down to swim and for some odd reason I asked the desk gal if there was anything I needed to know about the pool. Good /bad thing (depending on your view) I asked. The pool is closed today-something about the chlorine level being too low.  Mariah tried to sweet talk her way in, but alas, no success. To her credit, she took it well.

We turned to go back to the elevator and....

Behold: VENDING MACHINES.

Got back to the room and she begged for 'just one thing' from the machines. Knowing The Midget as I do, I knew that 'one' was just the beginning of 'many' so I loaded her up with $5 in change and send her on her way with only a request for a drink for me.

Latourell Falls

She got Skittles, a Payday,  FIVE rolls of Lifesavers mints, a drink for me, and a pack of gum for the desk gal. (really). Of course she forgot to get a drink for herself so we had to add to that.  I can't believe the next words out of her mouth.

"Mom, I'm STARVING."

Um, hello, offspring, you just downed a big meal and finished off my desert three hours ago....

Okay I figured I was in for the night and caved and ordered pizza.  I think Mariah's highlights on this trip are all food related.  As in related to the hotel rooms.

For a list of the waterfalls on this drive go here.

The first leg home is complete.  Looking forward to finally being home tomorrow afternoon. It's been a nice vacation overall and part of me wishes we still had a few days left; the other part of me will be so glad to be done.  Yes, I'm a complicated person-but aren't we all?

Until next time,

Robyn

Day Nine: If Memory Serves

What a beautiful morning to start our day.

My aunt took Mariah and I out for breakfast at a really neat little cafe called Eats and Treats. It was really great and I was surprised to find out that it's a gluten free establishment.  As 'first timers' Mariah and I got a free cookie.  It was the most decadent chocolate chip cookie I've had in a very long time.

On the way up the mountain

It's a place my aunt and uncle frequent after church and it was so neat so see so many people come up and say hello to me-they'd been telling everyone we were coming and it was so sweet to see just how much they were looking forward to it.   The owner's wife even stopped over to introduce herself.  It was a great start to our day!

Wild Sweet Pea

I should probably start out by saying that the last time we visited these places was around eighteen years ago.  So we were going from memory only-no maps.  It's more fun that way in my book-at least for short distances.

We found the cemetery I was originally going to visit within  fifteen minutes. It was nice, mind you, but had nothing on the cemetery we visited the other day.  We drove through it and enjoyed the time we were there, but it was not what I'd expected-as memories often are when matched up with reality.

Alsea Falls

We headed on out toward the main destination of our day's journey: Alsea Falls.   When we went so many years ago it was really late in the day so we'd not gone down to the falls themselves. We just walked to a quick overlook and my aunt had snapped a picture and then we left.

I had a momentary internal struggle with which lens to take (I didn't want to haul the whole bag down) an decided that my short basic lens would be sufficient. It was a short hike and a bit more difficult that I'd thought it would be, but I hung in there and made my way down.

Like mother like daughter

It was worth it. The falls were smaller than I remembered but you were able to get right up to them.  I took several shots that I hope turn out well-I won't know until I get them home and under editing scrutiny-and have shared a few here. 

We spent some time by the falls and made our way back to the car.  I wanted to take our time going back so we got started and along the way decided to make a random visit to a wildlife refuge. Mariah was happy they had a gift shop! I got her a couple of things and my aunt bought me a really neat pair of earrings and some epic butterfly socks. (don't judge).  They had some really interesting literature so I grabbed some of that as well. 

My awesome earrings

It was really warm by then and we enjoyed cruising with the windows down and the wind in our hair.  Of course I ended up looking like I had stuck my fingers in a light socket, but hey, I claim my old lady hair with pride.  At least I still have hair to frizz.

We ended up dropping my aunt off and  headed back to the hotel so Mariah could swim.  She's not feeling so hot-my guess is that the heat, too much chlorine in the hotel pool, and too much root beer are to blame. We just watched The Wolverine and I've got her tucked in to bed.

I love the pattern of this newly-mown field.

Tomorrow's plans are to simply spend some time with my aunt and uncle.  Mariah wants to go hang out with their neighbor and chill in his patrol car because it looks so cool (he's a sheriff's deputy).

I can't believe it's almost time to start our journey home! We've really enjoyed this trip, but I am kind of looking forward to getting home as well. After all, I have a camping trip to plan.

Until next time,

Robyn

Day Eight: Into The Past

It was a great day today. We started out heading toward Brownsville and stopped in at a local pioneer cemetery. It was on the small side and was one of the most peaceful places I've seen.  The sound of the wind in the trees and the general atmosphere would be inviting as a final resting place.

Peaceful resting place

The headstones ranged from the early 1800's to current day. Was really interesting to see the old mixed with the new. Some were so beautifully crafted to last 100+ years.

Gorgeous headstone

After the cemetery my aunt had to show me this house; while it's a newer one, it's very out of place and in the middle of nowhere. It looks like it would be better suited for the English countryside.  Still an interesting house.

Very interesting house

We stopped in my other regular haunt down here-the Living Rock Museum. It was built by a local resident by hand and is completely constructed with rocks (and cement of course) and was built as a museum for local geology.  We picked up a few more rocks for our rock collections, but nothing too big.

We made our way on to Brownsville and had lunch at a great little place.  There was  a local pioneer days celebration with live music, a horse drawn wagon with people dressed in vintage clothing, and  a local art show.

Abandoned church in Shedd, OR

I chatted with one of the artists about the interesting angle she painted from.  You all tease me about putting myself in odd places to catch a shot...this lady stood in a river and painted to get her result. We enthusiastically agreed that creative license is crucial to any art project. 

Great place for lunch in Brownsville

Mariah was in seventh heaven the whole day. The only downside was that we had planned to go to the local park and swim in the creek, in fact I had promised Mariah we would go. She was so patient. Sadly this town celebration had the park so packed we could barely drive through and there was no parking to be had.  She was very disappointed but we will try going back on Monday when it's all over so that I will be able to fulfill that promise.

Brownsville

We made it back to my aunt's house and had a nice quick visit with my uncle. I wasn't really hungry but he wanted to make me dinner so bad.  I let him make a quick small dinner for me and it was really yummy. 

Mariah was getting bored and begging me to take  her swimming so after making epic plans for tomorrow's adventure said my goodbyes and made our way back to the hotel.  Made a run to the local Fred Meyer and saw free reserved charging spaces for electric cars. Very cool.  

Downtown Brownsville

Also of note: Corvallis businesses do not have plastic grocery bags.  You either bring your own or get charged 5 cents per paper bag.  My aunt gave me an awesome giant pink bag with parrots on it and I used it with pride at the checkout.  I (I occasionally collect bird-themed items). I needed to grab us some healthy snacks-mini veggie/fruit trays, etc. to help keep us on track food wise.

At the art show

Got back to the hotel and got everything inside. Then I realized I'd locked my keys in my car. So glad that I keep a spare out of the car.  Took Mariah swimming but it didn't last very long-we are both really tired tonight.  Tomorrow's trip will be to Alsea Falls. It's a couple hours each way and should have some great photo ops.  My aunt wants to take us to breakfast and we are looking forward to it. 

I will leave you now as Mariah has asked to curl up with me and watch Finding Nemo on TV. The only thing missing is a bottle opener to open the single bottle of cider staring me in the face.  I think I've earned it today and will make my way to the front desk for assistance. 

Until next time,

Robyn 

Day Seven: Thrills, Near Spills, and Squeaky Water Bottles

I apologize if this one runs over five hundred words. I've had a heck of a day.

Goodbye ocean

Got up in plenty of time to get  car loaded up (with many complaints from Mariah who actually had to help me this time) and leave the unit in a respectable condition.

To the right

I thought it would be nice to grab a few 'goodbye' shots for the memory book and I was happy with the result.  We pulled out an hour ahead of schedule. SCORE!

To the left

Stopped and got a coffee for me, smoothie for Mariah, and coffee grounds from home-Mountain Mike can roast some mean coffee!  I heard some squeaking and it sounded like my bottled water shaking on top of a plastic bin in the  back so I didn't worry about it. 

Made it down to Newport and turned toward Corvallis glad to be ahead of the traffic.  All was chill and the scenery was nice. Traffic was a bit slow, but not enough to be a big deal.  

About halfway to Corvallis came the inevitable request for a rest stop. We stopped and about 3 cars' worth of kids ran for the loo. We parents joked that it should be called a kid stop.  I remembered the squeaking water and moved it around a bit hoping it would solve the problem.

I continued to hear it, louder this time and just told Mariah we'd have to deal with it until we unloaded the water at the hotel.  Things were fine and we sang along to a CD I had in...and SNAP-BAM.

I looked behind to see something fly off the back of my car's roof and almost hit the car behind me.  I pulled over as soon as I could and behold: the overhead lip/top rear view brake light on my hatchback snapped right off. 

As in snapped off the bolts, there-is-not-enough-duct-tape-in-the-world-to-hold-it-in-place snapped off. I was able to pull a quick turnaround,  a short shot back and another turn around (high way or not, there was no way I was going home without the darn thing) and I was able to retrieve it and put it in the back.  

Doesn't look so bad, right?

I was worried about water being able to leak into the hatchback, but the seal will hold it until I can get it into the shop when I can afford it.  I will figure it out when I get home, but let me tell you, if it had someones windshield it could have been really  bad.   My guardian angels put in some overtime today.

Yeah, I guess it does look bad...

I was lucky to have it land in basically one piece with no sharp edges. I also got lucky that after it hit the road it bounced away from the center line and ended up on the side of the road.  I'm thinking I'd like to rig it into place until I can actually fix it, which will cost a ridiculous amount of money that I don't have. I will probably wrap the exposed bits with some duct tape. At least I remembered to bring some with me this trip.

At least the *insert expletive* irritating squeaking stopped!.   Made it to my aunt's house in short order and had a quick consultation on the car situation and my uncle confirmed that I would be safe from water damage for now. 

My aunt decided it was time for food (it fixes everything) so we went to King Tin. Amazing Chinese food that uses little to no MSG.  We had garlic eggplant (Mariah inhaled it), walnut shrimp, Chinese red ribs, and mixed vegetables. (also a win with Mariah).  Went to get a few fresh edibles for later from a family owned vegetable stand. YUM.

A bit of background about my aunt. She sends me boxes of treasures. All. The. Time.  I've asked her to stop sending so many and she has. She still sends them, though, and even if the boxes are small I don't have room to put them away.  Turns out she's been saving everything she would have sent all spread out on her dining room table for me to pick through.  (Awww)

We are back at our hotel and my aunt talked me into staying an additional night so we are here until next Tuesday. This will give us plenty of time to explore the places I want to see this trip.  Tomorrow is the day for Brownsville-a pioneer stop on the Oregon Trail.  I will try to post the most interesting ones if I remember.

Oh-we were able to get a replacement suit for Mariah much to her delight.  I'm posting this a bit later because we were at the pool. I also took a few neat photos of the waves crashing in the surf this morning. (the waves get really big the closer to the solstice that you get.)

So yeah-a day of adventure, excitement, and a touch of omg. 

Life is good-crazy sometimes, but so very good. We live to adventure another day!

Until next time,

Robyn

Last ocean shot 

Day Six: Rolling Along

Our last day at the beach-I'm really going to miss it. I'm sitting in the living room this evening so I can look out and watch the surf as I type.  It's become overcast over the last couple of hours and it's starting to look like a storm is moving in.

Quiet night

Woke up ready to hit the beach and go rock hunting-was ready to brave the stairs and enjoy the surf....and I look out and while the tide was going out, there were no rocks to be seen.  I was pretty disappointed and decided to let Mariah sleep in again.

She woke up a bit later (I'm starting to see a pattern) and was pretty bummed about the beach but I promised her an epic swim session-as long as she wanted.  She went to get her suit...and it was gone.  Turns out my mom packed early this morning before she left.

Tootsie

After several tears and a couple of hugs I noticed there were finally rocks showing on the beach so I immediately offered to take her down and hunt for agates, rocks, and other assorted beachy treasure.  I was really pleased to find that they have added hand rails to all the stairs now so would be able to pull myself along on the trip back up.

Astro

It was absolutely beautiful-light wind, sun, and the sand wasn't hot enough to fry my toes. I wish I'd remembered to take my kite down. She was very happy with the treasures we found.  After a couple of hours we came back up and I started the mammoth task of washing all of our stuff and packing.

We will be leaving early in the morning and heading over to see my aunt and uncle in Corvallis.  I will pick another suit up for Mariah when we get there as it will be hot and she will want to use the pool at the hotel.

Coastal clouds

I have plans to visit a really neat pioneer cemetery, Alsea Falls, and Brownsville, a  pioneer town. Central Oregon is a pretty neat place to explore!

The trip so far has been really nice-I'm enjoying the 'just us' time that Mariah and I shared today. We watched Willy Wonka, The Smurfs, and about 6 episodes of a fixer-upper show. 

Suitcases are packed and we are having a party in the living room-Mariah has made a fort to sleep in (I got permission from the 'rents first of course, just in case the maids say something when we check out in the morning).  

Mariah was on the deck earlier and made up a song about the waves in the ocean and sang it to me while we watched the tide coming in. The waves are a bit bigger than usual tonight and were very soothing.

Was able to Skype with my other offspring (Jae) and found out that they finally had a rain-free day today.  She was watering my garden while I'm gone and has had the easiest job ever to this point.

We are going to call it an early night so we can get a nice early start tomorrow. It's only a couple hours over to Corvallis but I want to plan for spontaneous photos along the way.  I finally remembered to log in and answer weekly questions for a read along I'm taking part in-I can win some swag so I wanted to 'really' take part. 

The view from our unit

My new SIM card for my cell arrived here today but I have to wait until I'm in Corvallis to activate it. Le Sigh. That's been an adventure in itself.

Here's hoping for great weather and many photo ops tomorrow!

Until next time,

Robyn (and Mariah)