Travelogue

After crossing into Washington State, we found a small campground along the Columbia River. We love being around water of any sort, so it was nice to just sit by the river while the kids fished. Although we could see fish, they just weren't interested in anything the kids were using.

We called it an early night so we could get an early start for Mount Rainier in the morning.

Travelogue

While driving on Route I84 across the northeast corner of Oregon on our way to Mount Rainier, I was poring through my looking for some entertainment to break up the drive. This book is a great resource for finding points of interest along all of the major interstates in the U.S. Lo and behold I found that we would be passing right by the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon. Great! I love history and have tried over the years to instill the same in the kids. We've taken them to Plymouth, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Boston Freedom Trail, etc., etc., and I think, or at least I hope, that it's given them a sense of how our country came to be what it is today. Also, since we were making a journey west, I thought it would be interesting to contrast our experiences with those of the pioneers who made the same journey some 140 years ago. So we pulled them away from their Nintendo Mario Cart game and out of the air conditioned comfort of their motor home to check it out.

While the exhibits were quite good, it was the living history presentation in the theater that really gave us an understanding of what life was like for a pioneer on the Oregon Trail. This particular presentation was given by a single actor, who portrayed a slave making the journey with his master. He wore period clothing and in every way assumed the role he was portraying. It was really quite entertaining, as well as informative, and I think the kids got a lot out of it as well.

After the presentation, we hung around to speak to the actor and find out more about his background and the type of work he did. When we mentioned that we were from New Jersey, we were floored when he said, "Oh, I'm familiar with Upper Saddle River in northern New Jersey." How could he possibly have pulled out the name of our tiny little town? We check to see if we were wearing anything on our clothing to give it away, but we weren't. It turns out that he grew up with the N.Y. Giants football player, Lawrence Taylor, who lived in our town because of its close proximity to Giants Stadium, and had spent some time visiting him at his home. What a small world.

Once outside the museum, we checked out the Conestoga wagons on display before heading on. I wish we had had more time because I would have liked to have taken the hike to the section of the original Oregon Trail where the ruts from the wagons are still visible. To think they were lucky to travel 15 miles a day. I think we all left with a sense of awe and admiration for the tremendous struggles faced by the early settlers in their attempts to accomplish what we just take for granted today.

Travelogue

After Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, our next destination was Mt. Rainier, which is over a 13 hour drive away. 13 hours is too much to drive without something fun in between, so I started looking for something interesting to do along the way that wouldn't take us too far away from I-84.

Steep Bruneau Dune AscentIn one of the reference books I've come to rely on, , I found Bruneau Dunes State Park in the southwestern corner of Idaho. It was perfect. We've come to love what state parks have to offer and the National Geographic book has never steered us wrong. Since the Park was only 17 miles off of I84, it didn't even bring us out of our way at all. Also, we feel less guilty adding a new state to our map if we truly experience something in that state. We were hopeful that this stop would help us truly earn Idaho.

We knew that with the long driving time between destinations, we all needed to get out and get some physical activity, especially the boys. Hiking up and then rolling down a dune sounded like the perfect way to burn off some pent up energy. We weren't let down.

We arrived at the Park in late afternoon and found a campsite with great views of the dune. The campground was spacious enough to allow room for the boys to throw a baseball around while we relaxed and made dinner. We watched the sun go down over the dune and made it an early night, anxious to rise early and hike the dune while the morning lighting was good.

Boy's climbing the dune ridgeThe next morning we parked at the picnic area at the eastern end of the dune and began our hike. Hiking a dune is always deceptive and turns out to feel much further than it originally appears. However, the effort was well worth it. The top of the dune came to a knife edge where we stood with our legs straddled over each side. The dune was so steep that we stood that way for fear of tumbling down the sides. We took advantage of the good morning light to take some pictures.

Then came the fun part--running and tumbling down the steep sandy slope. What seemed like a long trek up went like a flash on the way down. We shook the sand out of our hair and clothing and proceeded on our drive to Mt. Rainier, much refreshed and ready for a day of driving.

A quick stop at the Visitor Center on the way out gave our sons the opportunity to add a Bruneau Dune State Park pin to their ever growing pin collections. This pin is still our son Tommy's favorite--it's an Idaho potato with Bruneau Dunes written on it.

Travelogue

Antelope Island has got to be one of the strangest places I've ever been to. We arrived late in the afternoon, hot and tired from a long day of driving. The campground, at which I had made reservations months earlier, was treeless, barren and totally deserted, once again making my paranoia about making reservations seem foolish. The views from our campsite were wonderful. We were perched on a beach less than 50 yards from the deceptively inviting aquamarine waters of the Great Salt Lake.

Lolo and boys at Great Salt LakeAnxious to touch the lake, we ran down to the beach. As we approached, the black sand at the water's edge, it began to move, giving us quite a start. It wasn't sand at all, but a giant mass of black brine flies. Yuch! We soon found that we could herd them into black clouds with the mere wave of our arms, which entertained us for quite some time. This was great! I love the unique experiences that travel provides us--we would never be doing this back in New Jersey.

The flies and the strong, unpleasant smell of the lake made us decide to save our obligatory swim in the lake for the next day. Instead we took a bike ride over to the Buffalo Corral to see some buffalo. There is actually an entire herd of bison and a lot more wildlife, such as bighorn sheep and bobcats, that live on the remote southern end of the island.

The next morning while the kids lounged around the RV, Herb and I took a very interesting bike ride on the Lakeside Trail, which is a pretty rough and rocky mountain bike trail along the shores of the lake. There were several places where there were so many boulders that we had to get off and walk the bikes. The views were spectacular and there wasn't another soul in sight--just the way we like it.

Before it got too hot, we got the kids out on their bikes and rode the 3 miles from the campground to the Visitor Center, which had a very nice natural history museum. Besides the usual souvenir hat pin purchase, the kids convinced us to buy some brine shrimp so that we could bring a little bit of the Salt Lake back home with us. I wasn't so sure I really wanted to bring a little bit back with us.

Well, we had put it off long enough, but now it was time to take the plunge. We found a very nice swimming beach along Bridger Bay, fully equipped with numerous freshwater showers. We walked out into the lake for what seemed like ½ a mile, but still the water was only up to our knees. It just wasn't getting any deeper. Finally, we did it. We just laid back and floated, and yes it was more buoyant than anything I had ever experienced. Having done what we had to do, we sat on the beach and let the hot sun dry us off--it took only about 5 minutes--leaving our bodies completely covered with a white film of salt. A quick rinse in the freshwater showers restored our normal color.

Although we had another night reserved on Antelope Island, we decided to move on. It was just too beastly hot and the lake, although it looked very tempting and refreshing, just wasn't very pleasant. We definitely don't regret coming here, however--it was very unique and actually quite beautiful. Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake is something that everyone should do once.

Travelogue

A little more than an hour away from Dinosaur National Monument, we came across Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, another beauty that I had known nothing about. That was two in a row--first Dinosaur N.M. and now this. I was getting a little down about my trip planning skills. I think the problem was that I was relying too much on just National Parks, not realizing that there was so much more within the National Park System, like National Monuments, National Recreation Areas, National Forests, Bureau of Land Management lands, etc. I would have to buy more books.

Flaming Gorge view at Visitor CenterWe arrived at the Visitor Center near the dam and got our first glimpse of the stunningly beautiful Flaming Gorge Reservoir. West of the dam was the lake, surrounded by fiery red canyons and mountain ranges. East of the dam were rafts happily floating down a portion of the Green River, which we later found out was one of the best trout fishing areas in the country. Herb looked at me with that "Why didn't you know about this?" look. We toyed with the idea of putting the raft in, but we still had 5 hours of driving to get to our reserved campsite on Antelope Island and we didn't know enough about the logistics of put in and take out points on the river. Instead, we picked up some information at the visitor center and vowed to come back here some day to raft the river.

We continued on and stopped at the Red Canyon Overlook, where we walked out onto a rock overlooking the Reservoir. The view was breathtaking and we recognized it as the classic picture you see of Flaming Gorge--sheer red cliffs dropping 1,300 feet down to the lake below. Being boaters ourselves, we gazed in envy at the powerboats skimming across the waters in the canyons below. We'd be back.

Travelogue

Dinosaur National Monument was an unplanned stop on our drive from Steamboat Springs to Antelope Island. Not only was it unplanned, I didn't even know it existed until Herb smugly pointed out the brown National Park sign along the road. I hate not knowing everything. Maybe I just skipped over it in the planning because I'm really not that into dinosaur bones.

Our first indication that we were close to the monument was a very tacky gift shop, complete with 20-foot-high dinosaur in the parking lot. We just had to pull in and take a touristy photo. The gift shop sold every conceivable type of dinosaur paraphernalia as well as rocks. We managed to get the kids past the nosh, and purchased a classic hat pin of a roaring T-Rex.

Dinosaur RocksAs we entered the monument expecting to see nothing but dinosaur stuff, we were shocked to see a beautiful portion of the Green River complete with rafters happily floating through the incredible countryside. I could read Herb's mind--"What was this and why didn't I know about it?" There is absolutely nothing that Herb loves more than a raft trip and this place looked like one of the best. It turns out that it is one of the premier rafting spots in the country--the Green and Yampa Rivers flowing through the Canyon of Lodore. Oops. I felt a little better after I found out that the only way to raft through the Monument is to either go with a licensed river-running company or obtain a permit to go it on your own. These permits are very hard to get and you have to get them way in advance. Coming here to raft is a destination in itself. Hopefully, some day we'll come back here and do just that.

After watching the rafts with longing for a few more minutes, we continued into the park to see the dinosaur fossils. We took the park shuttle bus to the Dinosaur Quarry, where we saw a rock wall with hundreds of dinosaur bones protruding from it. Thankfully for us non-paleontologist types, there was a very handy display board containing an exact replica of the rock wall, with each bone labeled as to what dinosaur it came from and what body part it was. It really was nicely done.

I don't think they should have named the park Dinosaur National Monument. True, it does have more dinosaur bones than probably anywhere else in the world, but there is, after all, a whole lot more to this park than just dinosaurs.

Travelogue

Although the kids do love the natural beauty of National Park campgrounds, they occasionally need the recreational opportunities offered by a good commercial campground. Steamboat Springs KOA was one of the best we've been too in terms of entertaining the kids.

Andrew Tubing the YampaWe arrived late afternoon and the kids were frantic to take advantage of everything the KOA had to offer. First, they rented go-carts and pedaled madly around the campground for their allotted hour. Next, they hit the mini-golf course and then it was on to the pool, while Herb and I relaxed in the adult-only hot tub.

It was now approaching 7:00 and time for dinner. Andrew, however, had other plans in mind--tubing down the Yampa River through the campground. Tommy was pretty hungry and tired at this point and wasn't sure if he wanted anything to do with this plan. Not wanting to let Andrew have all the fun, he reluctantly agreed to go along. Fortunately, we had 2 inflatable tubes packed in the outside compartments of the RV. I had started bringing these along, just in case, ever since I was blamed for their missing a tubing opportunity on the Virgin River in Zion back in 1999. They quickly blew up the tubes and ran to the river hoping to get some runs in before dark. Herb and I waited on the bridge with cameras at the ready as they ran up the banks of the river and then floated back down under the bridge. Tommy's tube must have had a slow leak in it because by the time he went under the bridge he was practically underwater, which was, by the way, quite cold. Tired and shivering, Tommy threatened to go back to the RV. Knowing it was not going to be as much fun alone, Andrew traded tubes with him and convinced him to keep going. They kept running up and floating down the river until it was dark. It really did look like a lot of fun.

We ate dinner around 9:30 that night--much too late, but sometimes you just have to seize the moment.

Travelogue

One of the best things about traveling in the West is the endless variety and how one day's drive can deliver such an entirely different experience. Just yesterday, we were crossing the Great Plains gazing at seemingly endless miles of farmland, complaining about the oppressive heat. Now here we were, a day later, clad in jeans and sweatshirts gazing at snow-capped mountain peaks, this time complaining about the cold.

Glacier Basin SunriseSince we had camped the previous night in Estes Park right outside the park gates, we were able to get an early start on our exploration of Rocky Mountain--a good idea in a park as popular as this one. At the South Entrance, rather than continuing on the scenic Trail Ridge Road (that was for tomorrow), we turned south on Bear Lake Road, cruised right past the Glacier Basin Campground (where we had reservations for that night), and managed to nab the last RV parking spot at the Bear Lake Trailhead, the starting point for several nice hikes in the park. Then, like practically everyone else in the parking lot, we chose to hike the 3.8-mile out and back Emerald Lake Trail. Although crowded, the scenery really was lovely, especially the reflection of the snow-capped mountain peaks in the three pristine lakes we passed along the way. After a brief snack back in the RV, we ventured out again to hike to Alberta Falls, a perfect second hike for the day--short, easy, and a great scenic end point, the beautiful Alberta Falls.

Family at Emerald LakeAfter the hikes, we headed back to the Glacier Basin Campground to settle in for the day. We love camping in the National Parks because they give you plenty of space and are usually located in some of the most beautiful places. This one certainly was. We were literally in a basin, surrounded by the Rockies. We were lucky enough to get a site on the end where we had an unobstructed view out the back windows of the mountains rising up from the beautiful alpine meadow.

We spent the next few hours truly enjoying the meadow. Herb and I plopped ourselves in beach chairs in the middle of the meadow with good books, and the kids played baseball and Frisbee. A little while later, back in the RV, Herb was using his ham radio to talk to different people around the world. He was feeling pretty good about having brought his family thousands of miles across the country to this spectacular location. Just as he was extolling the joys of traveling and bonding with his kids to a fellow "hammer" in Germany, Tommy nailed Herb in the side of the face with a suction cup dart from his recently purchased blow gun. The motor home became totally silent as Herb mouthed the words, "You're history." I don't think Tommy's defense which consisted of, "But I was trying to hit Andrew," helped his case much. Tommy wisely went back out to play in the meadow. Andrew, who was very much enjoying the trouble Tommy had gotten himself into, went out to join him. When I called them in for dinner about an hour later, Tommy hung back saying, "but I can't go home." Although Herb had already forgotten about the incident, I suggested to Tommy that he apologize rather than just say that he hit the wrong family member. Family harmony resumed and we strolled down to the creek in the campground after dinner to fish.

Boy's at summit of Alpine Ridge TrailThe next morning, the 3 Gaidus men rose early to photograph the sunrise over the mountains from the meadow. Never a morning person, I chose to open the back curtains and watch it from the comfort and warmth of my bed. It truly was spectacular.

That day we drove the 50-mile Trail Ridge Road across the park, one of the most scenic highways in America. The changes in climate and ecosystems along the way were amazing. From grassy meadows, through dense forests, to alpine meadows filled with wildflowers, and then above the treeline to tundra, similar to what you would find in Alaska or Siberia. From the Alpine Visitor Center, we climbed a series of steps along the Alpine Ridge Trail to an excellent viewpoint. What would normally seem like a very easy climb was difficult at this altitude--breathing was harder and we all had slight headaches. We were also freezing and starting to question why we weren't spending our summer vacation on a warm beach somewhere--but it really was beautiful. We continued our drive along the alpine ridge crossing the Continental Divide, and then gradually descended to Grand Lake and the west entrance of the park.

Travelogue

With our first views of the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, we finally felt that we were out West. The road to the east entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park meandered along the Big Thompson River into the resort town of Estes Park. The main street of town was lined with trendy restaurants, cafes, shops and lots of tourists.

It was late afternoon and drizzling, so we continued on to our campground, Spruce Lake RV Park, right outside the gates to the park. It was a highly rated campground, and rightly so. It had a heated pool, mini-golf course, playground, and even a trout stocked lake. Unfortunately, the weather was so cold and damp that we hardly took advantage of the facilities, although the kids did take a swim in the heated pool.

What a difference from the previous day at Lake McConaughy when we were basking in the sun and splashing around in the lake. Now, we were wearing jeans and jackets and thinking about a campfire for warmth. How quickly things can change in the mountains.