Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming

Leaving Canyonville, Oregon, we drove north thru Ashland and stopped in Medford for lunch at Elmer's Restaurant.  What a great discovery for us.  Elmer's is a mostly northwest chain of restaurants that serve any food at any hour - and good food.  Not that we love to eat, but we'll watch for Elmer's whenever we are up that way. From there we drove on north toward Portland, taking the bypass to the southeast of Portland and on into the Columbia River Gorge.  This whole trip was just one lovely site after another.  Susan falls in love with all little towns and is always saying "Oh, look!  We could live there!"  Dave smiles, nods and says "Yes we can and we do!  We have this little cabin on the road and we can live anywhere we want."   

We spent the night in Boardman, a little town on the Columbia River that one could easily miss.  However, the city has a campground right on the river with full hookups and super roomy sites that is a favorite stop of ours.  It was a busy Saturday night there with many families gathered for one of the last summer weekends.  Surprisingly, all were having great fun without being rowdy or causing disturbances for others.

Sunday we drove to Umatilla  by way of HW 730, then took HW 12 to Walla Walla and on to Orofino, Idaho.  We had read that Lewiston, Idaho was having a farmer's market on Sunday and were looking forward to getting some fresh produce.  However, at Walla Walla there were several produce stands right along the highway, so we stopped and purchased fresh corn, tomatoes, Walla Walla sweet onions and cantaloupe.  All delicious! They also had gorgeous, huge potatoes, but, alas, we had plenty in our cabin so did not purchase any.

We were hoping for cool weather in Orofino.  The campground was right on the river and the pictures on their web site looked cool.  We arrived to 103 degrees!   Arghh.  However, the evening did cool down, our site (as well as most of the sites at the Riverview Campground) was right on the river.  Sitting out in the evening and morning watching the river was heavenly.  We stayed there for 2 nights and toured around the area. Checked out the golf course, but decided to save that for when it is cooler.  We drove up to the Dworshak Dam one day and around to the lake another.  We were pleased to see logging trucks.  We did not explore the few small shops so that will be for the next trip too.

The drive from Orofino to Missoula was just one beautiful bend in the road after another.  We had both forgotten the thrill of seeing such beautiful country - the tall timber, the many rivers and streams.  It was finally cool and Susan was thinking of moving there.  Dave again reminded her that we have this traveling house!  We spent two nights in Missoula at the KOA.  Not our favorite CG, but close to town and "things".  We re-acquainted ourselves with the town and finally found a couple of our first homes that we had missed on prior trips. We reminisced a lot!

Driving down from Farviews to Pattee Canyon road we came upon the most realistic lawn statue that we had ever seen - a beautiful fawn, that moved! She was casually munching her way around the small yard as though she were a family pet!  We did not get a chance to drive up the Blackfoot River because of forest fires.

We drove to Big Timber for our next stop and Susan finally really got her cool fix.  Forty-one degrees that night, awaking to cozy fog.  Susan realized that this was great for a visit, but that she can finally bear return to Albuquerque.

On Friday, September 2, we drove from Big Timber to Buffalo, Wyoming where we were to meet with our FMCA chapter  (Family Motor Coach Association) - the Cowboy Ambassadors.  Our rally was to begin on the 7th, so we had several days to tour Dave's childhood homes in Sheridan and drive into the Big Horns to visit  Burgess Ranger Station.

Dave recalls that when he was 11 or 12 years old and his Dad was District Ranger at Burgess Station he had nothing to do all day except to roam around with his new 22 and shoot woodchucks and how he wished he could be in town (Dayton) to play with his friends.  Funny how your perspective changes over the years!

Burgess Station - house on left, office on right

Burgess no longer a Ranger Station.  It is now a Fire Guard Station.  As we drove up, Dave immediately recognized the old log home and office.  Eric Comstock, one of several men at the station, greeted us and gave us a most wonderful tour of the facility.  He was sincerely interested in Dave's memories - as were the others.  Dave's Dad would have loved this and Eric would have loved to hear his memories.  We went into the old office and Dave's old house, both now being used as sleeping quarters. Dad would have to pump the water out of the office basement every spring!  Eric says the basement still floods, but they have given up trying to use it.  You can see the water marks - it comes up about 3 feet!   Dave showed us where he had his bed on the back porch that was added to house the new propane refrigerator (no room in the tiny kitchen). When they lived at Burgess, they never had electricity and propane was added after a couple of years.  Dave's mom cooked on a wood stove, the propane being just for the refrigerator. The large rock fireplace in the house had just been used the night before and they said that it heated so well it nearly ran them outside!  The barn and the bunkhouse looked exactly as they had 60 years ago and are well kept and still used.  The old woodshed is still standing and still used as a woodshed.  The old earthen cellar - away from the house - where soda and Dave's Dad's beer was stored is still there, although now it is only used to store Forest Service specific paint.  When Dad would have friends over he would ask Mary Anne to get beer from the cellar.  She loved doing it - running and shaking it all the way from cellar to house!  There is now a huge bunkhouse/dormitory at the back of the property which is used to house temporary/summer help.  It appears to be about 3000 sq feet.  Dad's help slept in tents!