Aug 9 to Aug 19, 2010

Good day, mates! (where'd that come from?)
This morning we walked a few blocks to see the Idaho Falls. The falls were nice and extended way up the (Snake) river, but were flanked by an unsightly spillway. Next we set out west on the US 20 toward the Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument. Basically this region (which actually covers much of southern Idaho) was covered by flowing & spewing lava thousands of years ago..we drove thru, stopping and hiking to see some formations, hills, caves & plantlife. Oh yeah, before arriving at the C of the M N P we stopped to see the EBR-1 nuclear power plant; the first of it's kind! Not only did we go onto the property, they let folks go deep into the entire facility! No, not any residual radiation there, but extremely interesting stuff.
After Craters we stopped for fuel in Carey, when I noticed the trailer hitch was sagging considerably & the framework seperating..after emergency chain-up we continued into Twin Falls, ID on the hwy 93, staying the night at an empty lot in town. The next morning when we tried to leave, the motorhome wouldn't start. Yikes! Many hours later I called for a wrecker to tow us down the road to the mechanic (he wouldn't drive a few blocks to us). He diagnosed the faulty ignition module & replaced,then we rehooked to the trailer and were on our way again. Before leaving the town we decided to go ahead & see the falls. The hard-to-get-to location was well worth the hassle as the Shoshoni Falls are beautiful & picturesque. From there we took off west down the I-84 toward Boise, stopping for the night at a rest area.
This morning we continued west on the I-84, stopping for fuel in Boise, before heading finally into La Grande, Oregon, where we got directions from Dan to the local laundrymat. From there Katherine escorted us to their house. Later that evening we all went to the Flying J resturant, then home to finish hook-ups (on the motorhome you dirty minded people) and to start catching up on the last 20-25 years..
Thursday we went into town for some supplies, fuel & propane. Also to the NAPA auto parts for several maintenance & repair items: Oil, filter, brake & tranny fluid, spark plug wires, coolant. That evening we all went to KFC's buffet (1st time for me) and afterwards they drove us way up a hill/mountain to see Morgan's Lake (looks like a good fishin' hole), then home for the night.
The next few days were spent doing some maintenance & minor repairs such as the broken bathroom vent cover. Also during that time we all went to Bud Jackson's Bar & Grill to shoot pool, and Dan & I did some cutting/welding on our bumper, frame & bulldog jack; then we installed the wheeled jack that I'd been carrying the entire trip...
On Sunday Dan, Sue, Nick (one of the sons) & I set out to Lake Wallowa, OR. Dan was a great tour guide along the way & he stopped at the Wallowa River, where he showed us how to fly fish (he quickly caught 2 trout). Then it was over to a favorite campground higher up in the mountains, alongside a nice cascading stream. Then we drove thru some small towns & slowly thru Joseph (Chief Joseph) a nice little historic town before arriving at the lake. We fished later on with worms, with no luck, no bites at all. No matter the scenery is beautiful there..from there we headed home for the night, where Sue and I managed to catch up on some episodes of Big Brother (bummer-no decent broadcast t.v. in La Grande except for PBS stations) on the computer-via some pirated wifi that mysteriously exists in their neighborhood (or their house).
Monday thru Thursday were spent mostly around the house, playing Tetris and HotShots Golf on the Playstation2, visiting and playing dominoes with Dan & Katherine, working on the gray tank's plumbing (the work on an RV is never-ending), putting the finishing touches on the weld work, going out to dinner a few times, surfing the w.w.w. and best of all packing & preparing everything for our Alaskan cruise coming up tomorrow, Friday the 20th...