White Bird, ID to Provo, UT

August 19 - 24

Leaving White Bird, we were hoping to leave the smoke, but it seems to still be ahead of us. Sad to know there have been so many fires in the Northwest. The road south on Highway 89 was a very windy canyon road along the river and it was beautiful. Would have been fun to make the trip on the motorcycle. There were two active fire areas that we went through, weren’t sure if we were going to get stopped, but made it through.

             








 

       

McCall, Idaho

We decided to take the route south that would let us stop by McCall Idaho.  John has gone there before on a snowmobile trip, but never been there in the summer.  We stopped in town, had lunch and then unhooked the jeep for a quick look around town.  It looks like a fun, active little city right on the Payette Lake with the feel of a small Bend Oregon.  

There were lots of activities there from biking to all kinds of water sports and a really nice city park along the lakeside.  They also had a big ice skating arena in the middle of the town.  Looks like they could have some big events there. 

We met some people in Provo who say they love McCall in the summer, they spend the month of July there every year at the McCall RV Park right along the river and see lots of wildlife, including bears.  May have to go back there for a longer stay someday.

Mc Call City Park on Payette Lake

As we head into Utah, we are seeing the price of diesel drop.   We were happy to pay $2.71 a gallon just a few miles back and now we see prices in the $2.60 - $2.50 range.  And, we have the fuel filters changed in Moses Lake, so we are starting to see better fuel mileage as well.  Yeah!  Too many other fun things to spend our money on.

Salt Lake City and Provo Utah

Just before we reach Salt Lake City, in Farmington, we see the Lagoon Amusement Park along side the freeway.  Looks like a really fun place to stop if you have kids, or a love for roller coasters!  The price is $49 per person and it also has a waterslide park and an RV park.  We didn’t stop, but it looked like a fun detour if you are traveling this way.  

We made it to our campsite at Lakeside RV park, which is right next to the Utah Lake State Park.  Utah Lake is very big but looked kind of dirty.  There were people boating out on the lake, but nobody swimming there.  However, there was a Triathlon the day after we arrived, so I am sure they swam in the lake.  

Provo and the surrounding hills and canyons are beautiful.  We took several motorcycle rides around the area.  The road up to Sundance on Highway 189 (Provo Scenic Byway) goes along the Provo River where there were lots of people kayaking and rafting, looked like a lot of fun.  We also saw Bridal Veil Falls.  If you look close in the picture, people were climbing up the Falls.  They were up about half way.

These pictures were taken on the Provo scenic Byway.  Beautiful ride.

                     

We also took a ride up to Park City, home of the 2002 Winter Olympics.  Really fun place, reminded us of Whistler Canada.  Lots of shops, ski lifts, summer and winter activities.  Higher end stores and lots of restaurants, bars and eateries.

We also did a little shopping while in Provo, went to the Traverse Outlet Mall.  Super nice mall with that indoor/outdoor look, lots of good stores and found some good bargains on our new wardrobe needs, shorts, t-shirts and flip flops!

The City of Provo is home to Brigham Young University and the Provo Utah Temple.  We aren’t Mormon, but one thing we can say for them is that they have beautiful buildings and grounds.  The city is pretty much shut down on Sundays in Provo and there seems to be churches within walking distance to almost every home.

    

Well, on to Moab!  Can't wait to get there and start exploring some of the National Parks!

Hells Canyon River Trip

August 18, 2015

 What a fun day!  We started out by driving  17 miles over the mountains from our campground to the boat launch area at Pittsburg Landing.  The road was gravel most of the way, very windy, steep, and single lane most of the time!  The speed limit was 25 mph, so it takes about 45 minutes.  But the drive was worth the destination and the views from that  road were pretty amazing too.    

Here is a picture of the boat we went on.  There were 24 people on our boat.  It had three 315 diesel motors for a total of 945 horsepower, so we had no trouble cruising right up and over those rapids.  We went over Class 1 to class 4 rapids.  

Hells Canyon on the Snake River is the deepest canyon in North America.  The highest mountain in Hells Canyon is He Devil Mountain at 9,393 feet above sea level, and the canyon plunges 7,913 feet.

  

Our first stop was at a museum along the river.  I took some photos of of the inside.  Outside were the deer in the yard.

We also saw lots of river rafters along the way.  Some were day trippers while others took 3 day excursions.  They were fishing and the river was busy.

   

We went over lots of rapids, lots of fun.  On the way up the river it was fun and easy with that huge motor.  We didn’t get went, but on the way back the boat captain had lots of fun with us and drenched us several times.  I don’t have pictures of that because I didn’t want to get the camera wet!  They made us put on life jackets when we hit the class 4 rapids, but we were very safe the whole time. 

We stopped just short of the Dam and had lunch.  These are pictures from the observation center.

 

On the way back we spotted a bear who was giving us a show.  He came right down to the rocks on the edge of the river.  

It was a fun trip, glad we did it.  Would recommend it if you are in the area.

August 14-16

 August 14, 2015  

(Our daughter, Jamie Mullenix’s Birthday!)

Spent the day with John’s mother’s twin sister, Marguerite Hull.   She is 93 years old and lives in Kennewick, WA.  We had a great time discussing family, current events, politics, who is running for president and some family history.  Marguerite is still pretty savvy for her 93 years!   What a wonderful lady, sometimes we think we are talking to John's mom when we talk with Marg!

August 15 - 16

Motorcycle Ride to Enterprise and Joseph, OR

Took off Saturday morning to go for a motorcycle with cousins Dana and Jani Welsh.  Left Pasco and headed for Enterprise, Oregon.  What a beautiful ride.  We took off on  Hwy 124 out of Kennewick heading East.  We went through lots of little towns.  We went past Starbuck, don’t think it has anything to do with Starbucks Coffee!  Didn't see any coffee stands there!  Went through Prescot and Waitsburg heading for the highlight of the trip which was the majorly curved roads up the side of the mountain and down again, and up another mountain and down and around!  

 John had a BLAST on those roads, I was hanging on, but I have to admit, it was very fun.  Obviously I didn’t get any pictures of those roads because I was hanging on! 

Dana and Jani (cousins)

Downtown Joseph, cute little town.

Renee and Jani in front of the Chief White Bird statue

             

































We reached Enterprise where our hotel was then took a short 6 mile ride on over to Joseph.   What a fun little town, wish we had more time to explore.  And, Dana and Jani said if we had more time going on up to Wallowa Lake is really fun with lots of things to do. 

We also went through many beautiful fields and canyons.  Great trip, weather was perfect and it was fun to catch up with the cousins.

Town of Waitsburg

Waitsburg, Cool Statue 

beautiful ride along the river, great curves for riding as well.

Great weekend of riding. Will be doing more in Utah!