Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon!
Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, The Tetons, Dinosaur National Monument, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon! One national monument and four national parks with the twins! What great hikers they are! PawPaw was in his happy place doing what he loves and sharing the experiences with Brian, Silas, and Emmett!
We met Erin, Darby, and Lydia (Darby’s friend) at an Airbnb near Bryce Canyon. Erin planned seven days of packed adventures. Lots of hiking, white water rafting, zip lining, rock climbing, horseback riding, and finding waterfalls! Needless to say, a GREAT time was had by all! Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos were spectacular! Each of the national parks was incredibly unique! It’s mine and Tim’s second visit to several of the parks, but each time through is an amazing adventure.
We are headed back to the Washington coast. We have an ETA of July 20. When we left Bryce, we thought we would go up to Salt Lake City the first night, but as we were driving, I saw a sign that said “The Great Basin National Park.” We had never been to the Basin, so we changed our plans and headed into Nevada. We stayed at a campground within the national park.
I never really knew what the Great Basin of Nevada was like. Never really thought much about Nevada at all! The Basin is a totally different landscape than we have ever seen. It lies between California’s Sierras and Utah’s Wasatch Mountains—high valleys and mountain ranges. The valleys were so vast, you could see for miles. You could always see mountains around you, but they were so far in the distance it took several hours to get to them. There was nothing but sagebrush and desert.
It would look hazy in front of us, then we’d realize it was a mini dust storm, and the dust tornadoes seemed endless. You’d see one kick up and trail right across the road in front of you. There were long stretches of road with no other vehicles passing us. It is so remote! They have very few services—once it was 82 miles and once 127 miles between gas stops and civilization. It is a harsh land, but we’re glad we made the time to drive through. Always can find beauty in a desert!
We headed out toward Boise and saw we were only 89 miles away from Craters of the Moon National Monument, so we turned back east and found wonderful lava fields, caves, and a perfect campsite. It was a very short day of driving. Tim thought we should ride bikes up the 7-mile loop to see the spatter cones and caves. I made it almost 1.5 miles to the third steep hill. Too much for me, so I turned around and went back to camp, exhausted, but Tim kept pushing on and made it the full 7 miles. He hiked to the cave and spatter cones.
When we headed out the next morning, we drove to the trails and hiked the main lava cone, smaller spatter cones, and a cave. The lava fields were amazing!
On July 18, we found a great spot on the Columbia River by Lyle, WA. The photo below was taken two hours before the air got so smoky we could no longer see the Oregon side of the river or Mt. Hood. The smoky fog lasted for several hours, then cleared enough that you could see across the river again through a haze.
There was a couple that came to the campground who live 15 miles west of our spot. They had just been evacuated from their property by the sheriff. I haven’t heard if their property was spared or not. The Borduin Fire is still spreading today, July 21. We hope they will not lose everything. We had to cross back over into Oregon to avoid the road closures going west from where we were. The area where we camped is located in the Columbia Gorge. It is a constant wind tunnel—great for windsurfing, but also feeds the fire. Prayers to the many firefighters and those affected by this fire.
I want to share a story from the past that created a friendship we are very grateful for. In April 2022, we were on the Oregon coast when Tim’s mom was hospitalized and not expected to live more than a few days. We needed to fly home ASAP. At that time, we had a Suburban pulling a 21’ camper, and we needed to store it somewhere close to the Portland Airport, six hours away.
Earlier, in February, we had been at a winery in New Mexico and met some folks who lived near Portland. We had a short conversation, exchanging where we were from and where we were going. An hour later, they came to our table and asked if we would be willing to deliver a case of wine they wanted to purchase to them in Oregon. I told them we wouldn’t be coming through there until late April, but that wasn’t an issue for them. So we loaded their wine in the camper and carried it with us for two months.
I called to see if we could meet later that afternoon and transfer the wine—and to see if they could recommend anywhere we could store our car and camper. Luck would have it, the woman who bought the wine, Jane, was a Realtor. She had a friend she had sold a property to in Battleground, WA. It had an enclosed horse arena. They had no horses but used the arena to rent out space for storage. She was actually going there for dinner that night. She gave me the name of Liz and Henk Botha.
They were very accommodating, and we were able to get there later that afternoon, prep the vehicles for storage, and arrange flights to Columbus for the next morning. Liz, who knew us for only an hour, lent us a truck to drive to an airport hotel 20 miles away. They would pick the truck up at the hotel the next day. We made it home in time to see Nan before she slipped into a coma state.
The Bothas drove to the airport a few weeks later to pick us up and hosted us at their home for a wonderful evening with dinner and conversation. We retrieved our vehicle and continued the trip we had started in February.
Back to present time, we were fortunate to be able to stay at their property for the night on July 19. We spent a wonderful evening sharing stories, food, and libations. We hope to see them again if we are in the area—or maybe meet this winter in Arizona. I share this story because it was definitely a “meant to be” moment. A random meeting one evening at a winery in New Mexico made it possible for us to arrange everything needed to make it home within 24 hours two months later. Thanks to Liz and Henk for their kindness then and for hosting us again on July 19. Cheers to wonderful friends sharing their beautiful home and making it possible for us to get home when we needed to in 2022!
Thank you, Henk and Liz!
On to the ocean to see friends and family at a Rooney wedding in Seattle.