Ponderosa Falls

Arrived here on August 1 in Cheney, Washington for 5 nights.  This park has full hookups including 50 amp electric, water, and sewer.  Located just west of Spokane, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.   We had good over the air TV and cell service.  We paid $11 per night through our RPI membership.  I rate this park P****.  

We stopped at a truck wash to wash the motorhome on the way here and they flooded our refrigerator vent and it stopped working.  Norcold has a bypass installed to protect unit from fire.  I could not reset it and tried for several hours to try to bypass the system.  Had no luck and no mobile RV tech in the area would return my call.  Les, the onsite maintenance supervisor assisted me in bypassing the system and we saved our food and freezer meats from defrosting.  

We took a day trip to Sandpoint, Idaho which was 3.5 hours round trip.  We found an area for Buddy to go for a swim with another golden retriever.  No ducks around, so I let him go free.  We wandered around this cute town for a while and then drove south and found a park with boat launch.  We had a little picnic and on the way home we picked up a pizza in Spokane to eat in the motorhome.  

50,000 Silver Dollar

Spent one night here free camping.  There are actually about 8 sites with free electric also, we did not luck into one of them.  This is a gas station, casino, gift shop, cafe, bar, and they advertise 50,000 silver dollars.  The clerk said they now have 77,000 silver dollars now.  The walls were covered with silver dollars and there were more hanging from the ceiling.  This is located Hougan, Montana right at exit 16.  Can't beat the price and was a step above a rest area or truck stop.  We had breakfast at the cafe in the morning.  I rate this stop P**.  

Sunny Gultch

Arrived here July 29 near Stanley, Idaho in the Sawtooth Mountains for 2 nights.  This campground has no electric or sewer.  The water was so tough to use, we did not use it.  One person had to pump and another had to hold water jug under spout and pull up a knob at the same time.  One day we spent the day at Redfish Lake.  There was a lot of activity on the lake with power boats, kayaks, and swimmers.  We enjoyed watching the activity and Buddy went for a Swim.  We paid $9 per night and I rate this park F***.  Pictures will come later.

Glacier View Campground

Arrived here on July28 near Stanley, Idaho in the Sawtooth Mountains.  All the campgrounds were booked when we arrived, however we lucked out to this double site which was only good for one night.  I needed the jacks to level the coach and there is only dry camping We had over the air TV reception and cell service here.  There are about 6 campgrounds in the area and this was the best one in my opinion.  The sites were separated nicely and lots of mature pine trees.  No views of Redfish lake from this campground, but you could walk to the beach which did not allow dogs.  Most sites are $20 in this campground, but they have several double lots for $40.  Usually, they will not discount the double sites with the America The Beautiful pass, but the campground host only charged me $20.  I rate this park F****.

Anne Frank Memorial

We visited this memorial on July 27.  Very touching, thought provoking quotes from Holocoust survivors, along with memos fron Anne Franks Diary.  There was a full bronse statue of Anne Frank and waterways and plants similar to canals of Amsterdam.  She died in confinement at the age of 15.

Roystone Hot Springs

We arrived here in Sweet, Idaho on July 25 for three nights.  This is a very small park and can accommodate 10 rigs.  This is a nice clean park with full hookups, including 50 amp electric, water, and sewer.  We had to use jacks to level coach and the rocks in the site were really tough on Buddy's paws.  This is located about 45 minutes to Boise, Idaho and there is nothing nearby except the nearby Payette river.  Most people come here to experience the hot springs which were closed due to COVID19.  The higher rated campgrounds in Boise are very expensive.  We paid $37.80 per night and I rate this park P***.

We visited Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise while here, a separate post.

Jerome County Fairground

Stopped here in Jerome, Idaho for one night in route to Royston Hot Springs.  Full hookups, 30 amp electric, water, and sewer.  We only used the electric.  Really tight, but beats most truck stops and rest areas.  We paid $10 and I rate it P**.

Deer Creek State Park

We arrived here in Heber City, Utah on July 21 for 3 nights.  The young girls at the check in station directed us down a closed road to our site due to construction.  They were adding five new sites which cost them $500,000 dollars.  Taxpayers dollars at work.  Fortunately we detached the toad before we went down that street.  After backing up into a vacant site I was able to turn around and back into our site.  While there are no waterfront sites in this park, most had a view of Deer Creek Lake.  They had full hookups including 50 amp electric, water, and sewer.  Our power was shut down for a few hours the first day due to construction and the water pressure was very low.  Most sites had covered patio with picnic table, BBQ, and fire pit.  We paid $35 per night plus $8 reservation fee and I rate this park F****.  

There is a boat launch and swim beach in the park which was a healthy walk, we chose to drive to the swim beach.  Dogs were not allowed on the Beach and was all rock.  We dined a the Back 40 restaurant which is on the outskirts of town.  Aggie had a salad and I ordered baby back ribs.  I washed it down with a local IPA beer.  

We befriended our neighbor, Dan who was taking out his brand new Newmar Dutchstar motorhome on it's maiden trip.  This was a beautiful coach and he gave us an exclusive tour.  38 feet of luxury with every possible option.  We invited him to join us for a campfire and spagetti dinner; he reciprocated with 2 great bottles of wine.  

Fruita Campground Capitol Reef National Park

We arrived here on July 17 for four nights.  We were received by a pack of deer, who did not appear to be afraid of people.  And they were very curious about our dog Buddy.  I had to actually walk between them on the street to detach our toad and park into our site.  These sites are all dry camping and generators were limited to use between 8:00 - 10:00 in the morning and 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the evening.  Our site was relatively level and all sites seemed to be comfortably distanced from neighbors.  No over the air TV here and no cell phone either.  There were ranger programs every day in the morning, afternoon, and evening.  We enjoyed the evening programs about bats, fossils, the local tribes in the area, and how water has formed life and landscape in the area.  This park was set up like a city park with green grass between sites and a large community grass area behind the tent and RV's.  There were many large shade trees which provided much needed relief in the 100 degree weather.  We enjoyed watching families play volleyball and kids riding bicycles and skate boards through the park.  We paid $10 per night with our Senior pass which was 1/2 discount and it was a great value.  I rate this park F****.  

We took a day trip to Bullfrog Marina on the North Side of Lake Powell on the Colorado River which was a 2 hour drive in each direction.   As we placed the Tahoe in all wheel drive to push through the soft sand near the water, we set up some chairs and hopped into the unusually 82 degree warm water of the Colorado River.  Buddy also went for a tethered swim.   This is a fee area National Park, but with our America The Beautiful pass, it was free to us.  

We toured Capitol Reef by car and drove along a 10 mile scenic drive.  We drove part of the Grand Wash on a dirt road, but rain was threatening so we cut that short as it floods in the rain.  We hiked a boardwalk and observed ancient petroglyphs and toured some old buildings including a school house.  One of the buildings was converted into a gift shop and homemade pies.  Everyone raved about these individual sized pies for $6.50 apiece.  

Thomas County Fairgrounds

Stopped here July 9 in Colby, Kansas for one night in route to Colorado.  Not much to talk about here as you parked on dirt, dead grass, and weeds, but it was quiet as we were the only campers there.  All sites were level and back in, so we had to detach the toed and there were full hookups, water, and sewer.  $10 for 30 amp electric, and $20 for 50 amp electric.  We opted for 50 amp as it was 100 degrees outside and needed to use both air conditioners.  We would stop there again.  I rate this park P**.

Manitou Springs

On July 11, we visited Manitou Springs, Colorado for a few hours.  The springs produce carbonated water.  Every year in the summer there is a automobile race to the top of Pikes Peak which starts just west of town.  I suspect it was cancelled this year, another casualty of COVID19.  This is a good sized tourist town with many shops to poke into.  Aggie loaded up on post cards and we purchased some metal yard art for our back yard.  Aggie found a hair salon to cut her hair in Woodland Park.  They would not trim my beard, so I will have to wait.  You can catch a train from this town to the top of Pikes Peak which is over 14000 feet high.  We did that on a previous visit and there is a reason they call it a Rocky Mountain High when you reach the top.  The high altitude makes you feel light headed and I felt a little noxious.  There are shops and a cafe on the top and hikers either hike up or down from there.  

Cripple Creek

We took a day trip to this cute mining town from our home base in Woodland Park, Colorado.  There are many small casino's in this town now which probably support the town.  They are only licensed to have slot machines and no table games.  There is a reason why they call them one armed bandits.  I prefer to test my luck on the poker table.  We arrived before noon and the town was almost vacant.  The casino's were open, but most shops were closed on this Sunday morning.  I guess the tourists were not visiting due to COVID19.  We have been here several times in the past and hoped to take in a play.  Unfortunately, that was closed too.  We did enjoy the ride through the mountains and observing the wild donkey's in town.  Shop owners sell food to feed them and they stand around on street corners waiting for a hand out.  At one point we literally had to walk between them to get to the other side of the street.