Crossing the USA, Visiting Family & Friends

July 12, 2024 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

The bulk of this summer will be spent at our “new to us” RV lot at Traverse Bay RV Resort in Traverse City, Michigan. However, to get there, we had a bit of a haul from Idaho. Traveling across the country with an RV is certainly the way to go, and we made the most of our cross-country trek by stopping along the way to visit family and friends.

From Idaho we stopped at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park near Whitehall, Montana to check out the caves. Discovered in 1892 by local hunters, these caverns went on to become Montana’s first state park. As one of the largest known limestone cavern systems in the northwest, people have been exploring the caves for over 100 years. However, Lewis and Clark weren’t among them though they did explore in the area. We were glad we took the two hour, two mile guided walking tour that gained an elevation of 300ft, ascended over 100 stairs, and descended over 500 stairs.

While in the area we checked out a place where Lewis and Clark definitely stopped: the headwaters of the Missouri River. Steve lived along the river as he was growing up in Blair, Nebraska, and he’s always had a fascination with the river. Now he’s been to where it all starts.

As we crossed Montana, we made a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. This area memorializes the US Army’s 7th Cavalry, Crow, and Arikara scouts and the Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapaho in one of the American Indian’s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer died fighting several thousand native warriors. It was a quick stop for us and a sobering reminder of the lives that were lost in the battle for western lands.

After several more days of driving we landed in Elkhorn, Nebraska and the home of Steve’s brother Brian. During our two day visit we hung out with the kids, spent time in the pool, and celebrated my birthday. It’s always fun to stop at Brian’s house!

As we traveled through Iowa we made stops in Corning to visit the cousins, in Des Moines for lunch with our friends Dan and Jackie, and in Muscatine to spend time with Steve’s high school buddy Kent and and his wife Lori. Unfortunately we didn’t take any photos of our night with the cousins but we did remember to snap a few at our other stops. Again, our RV lifestyle allows us to stay connected with so many of our loved ones, and for that we are grateful.

We had one more stop before arriving to our new place in Michigan. In Elkhart, Indiana, Steve attended the Lippert RV Owner’s School. For three days he attended classes related to plumbing, electrical, roofs, suspensions, and more. He doesn’t promise to be able to fix your RV, but he now knows more than he did before.

Next we arrive to our new home in Michigan and we’ll have another post soon to give you all those details.

Fun in Northern Idaho

May 29, 2024 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

We’ve been to Idaho several times and each visit we fall more in love. This time we traveled from Grand Teton National Park in western Wyoming, through southern Idaho, with the goal of reaching Coeur d’Alene for a marathon in Steve’s 35th state.

First we met up with Steve’s cousin Tracy and her husband Mark, near Boise, for a lunch filled with catching up and reminiscing. We hadn’t seen Tracy in Y-E-A-R-S, so it was long overdue and super fun to see them. Traveling in the RV gives us these opportunities from time to time and for that we are grateful.

From Boise we drove north another two hours to the resort town of McCall. This is a popular area for the city folk from Boise, and we quickly saw why. Surrounded by stunning mountains, roaring rivers, and sweeping views, McCall had us enthralled immediately. We explored the area on foot on the Goose Creek Falls trail, which took us down, down, down to the creek that roared below. It snowed a little bit along the way, but wasn’t enough to deter us.

Even though it was still pretty chilly, we got out on the bikes a few times. First we rode on the awesome paved city trails to the nearby Ponderosa State Park. Filled with incredibly beautiful hiking and biking trails, the park is the jewel in McCall’s crown. It wraps around Payette Lake, which just adds to the beauty. The park was almost empty since it was still early in the season and the weather hadn’t yet warmed up. For us, that’s perfect!

On another day we rode the twenty miles around Payette Lake, which took us through enviable lakeside neighborhoods and then into the State Park again to travel just along the lake’s edge. My new e-bike allows me to keep up with Steve and makes these excursions so much fun!

In McCall we stayed at the McCall RV Resort and from there we could walk to the Broken Horn Brewery. This became our hangout, and one evening we even caught the weekly pickers circle, where local musicians gather and jam for the evenings.

After four nights in McCall, it was time to head north for a beautiful drive up Highway 95 to Coeur d’Alene (CDA). We were here a few years ago and happened upon the CDA marathon. That inspired us to return. Our site at Blackwell Island RV Park was very near the shores of the Spokane River and allowed us to easily get into town.

On a cold but clear morning, Steve finished his 26.2 mile run, mostly along the banks of Lake Coeur d’Alene, while I did the 10K. He has now completed a marathon in 35 states.

Can you find Steve in the crowd at the start line?

We’re making our way to our new RV site in Traverse City, Michigan. On our first road day we stopped at one of the coolest National Park Service sites we’ve visited. Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site, about an hour southeast of Missoula, Montana, celebrates ranching in the west.

It took us about an hour to tour the 175 year old ranch, which was once the largest cattle operation in the country. It is still a working cattle operation, and we visited during calving season. I just kept thinking, “Dad would have loved this!”

We’re now settled in to our campground at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. As you may remember from previous posts, Lewis and Clark are Steve’s favorite explorers.

That’s us! The Trailer Twins on the Lewis and Clark Trail

Tomorrow we’ll take a tour of the caverns and visit a few other historic sites nearby. We’ll keep you up to date on all the fun in our next post.

Grand Teton National Park

May 17, 2024 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

RV travel allows you to get close to places those in hotels or on tours just can’t reach. RV living gives you time to settle in and watch the world from a different angle each day. Our seven days in Grand Teton National Park was all that and more. From the Colter Bay RV Campground in the northern end of the park, we took our time and explored the park from top to bottom, on foot, on bike, and in the truck.

Over two days we rode the 13 mile paved trail that runs from the town of Jackson, WY to the center of the national park at Jenny Lake both directions.

Along the way we were able to check out the historic area of Menors Ferry and the Church of the Transfiguration, built in 1925 to serve guests and employees of nearby dude ranches. Check out that view from the altar window!

Riding through the National Elk Refuge and into the cute town of Jackson was also a treat. The elk have moved up into the mountains and are no longer visible in the refuge but in the winter more than 7,000 elk call the 24,000 acre refuge home. Elk are certainly the mascot of this area.

Besides elk, which live throughout the park in the summer, we saw coyotes, moose, black bear, and grizzly bears. In fact, a common evening activity here is to join the people with big cameras at Oxbow Bend or Pilgrims Creek to look for wildlife. Even when you don’t see anything, it’s a beautiful experience.

Grand Teton National Park is filled with hiking trails, many of which were still snow covered while we were here in mid-May. That didn’t stop us from hiking the lakeshore trail at Colter Bay and trekking to Taggart Lake and beyond. Well, the snow did stop us, but we went as far as comfortable.

Visiting Mormon Row is a must-do in Grand Teton. The turn-of-the-century farmhouses and barns reflect the farming heritage of this area. The area also captures the community spirit that was required to live in such an unforgiving environment year-round. The photos are pretty epic.

We did have a tough day when Mia got sick this week. Luckily a vet in Jackson was able to get her in right away, gave her some new food, some medicine, and sent her on her way. We are happy to say she’s back to “normal” or as normal as a 17 year old blind dog with dementia can be. We are happy for every day with her!