Highway 2 From West Glacier, MT to Deer Park, WA

It was another bug-filled windshield day as Dave and I left West Glacier and followed U.S. Highway 2 to Washington state.  After leaving Kalispell, this was all new road for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive.  We enjoyed beautiful scenery the entire way.

Entering Libby, Montana

Just outside of Libby we ate our lunch at a pull-out overlooking the Kootenai River.

After Libby, there was a town named Troy that had a pull-out for looking at a dam and falls, but we weren't able to stop.  So it was on to the Idaho border.

Bonners Ferry looked like a quaint river town, and then we looked forward to the drive through Sandpoint.  We spent some time there about 17 years ago but haven't been back since.

I was so busy looking at all the changes and growth at Sandpoint that I forgot to take any pictures!  We followed the Pend Oreille River but there were lots of trees in the way of getting a good picture.

Pend Oreille River in the next two pictures.

Then it was time to cross the river and enter into Washington.  There was no sign to welcome us back to our home state.  I liked the looks of the small town of Newport.  Now we have been to Newport, CA, Newport, OR, and Newport, WA.

Newport (the one in Washington)

Before we knew it, we were at Riverside, WA (we used to live in Riverside, CA, so I remember the name) and turned off Hwy 2 to go to our home for the night, Spokane RV and Golf Resort at Deer Park. 

Deer Park is a planned community and houses and RV lots are surrounding the golf course are for sale. 

This is a deluxe RV park with all sites overlooking the very pretty golf course.  We didn't think the nightly price was bad at $34.05 after the Good Sam discount.  No pull-thru sites here, though.  We could have had a pull-in site facing the golf course, but then the sun would have been on our front window, so we chose a back-in site. 

#139, the same site number we had at the Glacier KOA.  Yes, that's one of the greens right behind us.

From Brigham City, Utah to Caldwell, Idaho

I-84 Westbound in Idaho

After yesterday's rain, today was sunny and warm.  We left Brigham City a little before 9 am and arrived in Caldwell, Idaho, at 4:20 pm.  On the way, we stopped in Glenns Ferry, Idaho to tour an Oregon Trail Museum, but alas, the museum was closed on Wednesdays, so we didn't get to tour it.  It was located at Three Islands State Park, which offered water and electric hookups and looked like a great park for camping.  It was a beautiful setting right on the Snake River.  Sprinklers were running which kept the park green. 

Glenns Ferry, Idaho

Oregon Trail pioneers knew this spot well. It was one of the most famous river crossings on the historic trail. Pioneer travelers used the three-island crossing until 1869, when Gus Glenn constructed a ferry about two miles upstream. Click here for more information about this museum and the state park.

The Snake River in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. 

The Glenns Ferry water tower was located near the Snake River.

Tonight we are staying at Ambassador RV Park in Caldwell, Idaho.  It's a great new park with wide gravel sites which each have a concrete patio and a patch of grass at each site.  The streets of the park are wide and made for big rigs.  The park has a heated swimming pool and spa, playground, exercise room, and a lounge area where they offer free coffee and muffins in the morning.  Free Tengo wifi internet is included in the price.  We paid $31 after the Good Sam discount. 

Site 106--Home sweet home for tonight.

Nephi, Utah

We left the Twin Falls KOA at 8:20 am.  Once again, we woke up early, so we got a fairly early (for us) start.  Today we drove about 315 miles, so it was a pretty easy day.  Of course, that includes driving through Salt Lake City which has many lanes of traffic which go on for many miles.  I didn't get a good picture of the Welcome to Utah sign, the Salt Lake, or the Mormon Temple. 

But I got some great pictures of the the mountains.  First we saw the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho and Utah and then the Wasatch-Cache Mountains in Utah.  It was a great day for mountain views and the weather was perfect.  It was cold last night in Twin Falls, with temperatures in the low 30s.  Here in Nephi it's almost 70 degrees at 3:45 pm and we're at an elevation of over 5000 feet. 

We stopped for the night at High Country RV Camp in Nephi, Utah, off of I-15, a couple of hours south of Salt Lake City.  It's an older park, but very quiet and has a wonderful view of the mountains.  Best of all, this park has great free wifi, 50-amp electric, and good satellite and Verizon cell signals.  All this for $25/night and only $20 for 30-amp.  The sites are narrow, but we have room for both slideouts, and the park is far from full so there's no one parked near us.  This park is also a member of Camp Club USA which means that for members the price goes down to $12.50 per night.  What a deal!

Sawtooth mountains in Idaho, a ways after I-84 turns south.

Geological sign at a rest area in southern Idaho.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

Another sign at the rest area.  This one's for our friend Warren!

Just south of Salt Lake City, a beautiful view of the Wasatch-Cache mountains.

Site #44 at High Country RV Camp in Nephi, Utah.  Yes, that's another site to our right, but we hope it will stay empty tonight!

Twin Falls, Idaho KOA NOT Recommended

Before we left Wildhorse RV Park, we walked over to the casino to use our free breakfast coupons.  We left the park at 8:45 am.  The weather was windy and cloudy.  As we drove east and then south, the clouds got darker and darker and soon turned into rain.  I just tried to load some pictures into the blog, but the wifi here is too weak to allow that.  We even have a wifi extender, but that's not the problem because the wifi has a strong signal, it just can't load pictures or email pictures.

Still on I-84, northwest of Ontario, OR, we entered into the Mountain Time Zone.  All of a sudden, by the clock, anyway, it was time for lunch.  A few miles after Ontario, we entered Idaho and ate lunch in the RV at a rest area.  The road got worse but at least near Boise they were working on the road. 

The Idaho scenery was fairly flat until we were east of Mountain Home.  Then it changed to rolling mesas.  We saw another big rain cloud ahead and sure enough, it found us. 

Around 4:30 pm, we stopped at the Twin Falls Flying J for gas and decided to stay overnight at the KOA down the road.  That was a mistake.  It's an okay place, and the owner was friendly, but the wifi doesn't work well, we can't get satellite, and the site cost $40!  Ridiculous, especially this time of the year when the pool and activities aren't open.  If the wifi had been good, that would be a different story.  At least we have 50-amp power and good Verizon cell service.  And since the park isn't busy (I think it's obvious why they aren't ;), they are putting rigs in every other site, which is nice.  Believe me, you wouldn't want to be right next to someone because the sites are not very wide.  This park is NOT RECOMMENDED by me.

Since we can't load pictures into our blogs, we will have dinner in the RV and watch Biggest Loser on the KOAs cable.  Update--we tried to watch the show, but the park cable didn't come in.  We turned off the TV and Dave is letting me use his phone to connect to the internet.  It's not a speedy connection, but it's far preferable to the pathetic wifi at this park.  Dave is writing a review of this park at the following website which is one of our favorite sites.  This KOA actually got some half decent reviews but Dave's review won't be complimentary:  http://www.rvparkreviews.com/

Interesting rock formation along the side of the highway

One of the many rain clouds we saw

It's always fun to enter another state

The fearless driver--my hero!