Kamping in Kamiah, Id

Sunday, May 26, 2009
More of the same…great! Same weather, same breakfast, same great friends. We all went on the steep walk behind us, but went even further to the very top of the hill and around it to a different road down. Judy thought she had done her exercise for the day…wrong. This is Candy and Rick we’re camping with! We headed the other direction in the car to geocache, towards the even tinier town of Kooskia. The first one we stopped at on the side of the road warned us to look out for poison ivy. Rick showed us what it looked like, all over the path we would have to take, so we passed that cache up. On to the next….called Kooskia tram. We crossed the river and drove up and up and up a dirt road almost to the top of the hills…beautiful views of the valley. The road got too rough for our vehicles, so we had to stop and walk the rest of the way. Only 1.7 miles more….only. But it was constantly up a rough road with no shade and about 80 some degrees. Candy and Rick soon passed us up. We told them to go ahead and find the cache, come back down and we’d see how far along we were at that point. Harris kept encouraging Judy to keep going, drink some water, and not look up and whine about how far away it seemed. It worked, we did indeed make it all the way to the cache and back down again. Judy’s feet were sore! The guys bought some good beer in town to enjoy back at the camp with the ballgame…Michelob Amber Bock.


Candy and Rick finding the geocache (at the top of the world!)



Harris grilled great steaks again for dinner and paid off his debt to Rick. They had bet each other on the outcome of a Minnesota Twins/Seattle Mariners 3 game series and Seattle lost 2 of 3 so Harris had to butler a meal for Rick . Candy and Rick taught us the card game 500…Rick and Judy were partners and won 2 out of 3 games, so it was a good evening! We’re planning a leisurely breakfast tomorrow as Candy and Rick head back to Missoula and we head back into Washington.

Rick's post and pre Kamiah chairs...




The toaster that made us feel decadent



Saturday, May 25, 2009
Leisurely morning…lots of sun, birds, warmth. We had a great breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. We bought a small toaster in Spokane and are enjoying using it when we’re plugged in. We didn’t know when Candy and Rick would get here, so we didn’t want to wander too far. We took a short walk up a steep hill behind the campground, then hung around reading our books until they showed up. After lunch, we all went into the small town of Kamiah, checking it out. Harris talked Rick into buying a new, bigger lounge chair at the hardware store. We found a geocache together at the local park on the Clearwater River. Rick showed Harris his latest great purchase. It’s a Coleman lantern that also has a radio in the base. He can receive his XM satellite through it. So the guys thought this was way cool, sitting outside listening to their baseball games through the lantern, enjoying the sunny weather. After dinner, we played cards (Candy and Rick won, again).

Using Howie's awning for shade

Still listening to Randy's game

Downgrade into Clarkston




Friday, May 22, 2009 (shorts day # 7….not the same shorts!!)
We took off around ten and stopped for several caches along the way. The gps kept wanting us to head back the way we came toward Spokane and travel south toward Clarkston. We kept driving toward Sandpoint and it wasn’t until we passed Sandpoint that it relented and took us south along Hwy 95. It then wanted us to take I-90 (you guessed it… to Spokane). It wasn’t until we were 15 miles past Coeur d’ Alene that it accepted the route we wanted to take. Once again we were entranced with the scenery. Narrow valleys with trees splashed on the mountains giving way to rolling green hills, coming over the top of the pass and the sharp decent into Lewiston, which gave way to the river hugging route 12 taking us into Orofino. As we passed by University of Idaho, we thought of our neighbors Tom and Lynne and what a nice looking school they attended. Another friend of ours, Bob came from Lewiston and then there was Orofino where Tom grew up. In short, we could associate good scenery with good friends. We pulled into Kamiah in time to enjoy the cool down period of the day where it’s just great to be outside (at least when there are no pesky bugs).
We were listening to the game and what a game! Randy Johnson came for his last appearance in Seattle and to win #299 but was forced out in the 7th with the game tied and bases loaded. We grounded out with a great play to home. Then it came to the 9th inning and we loaded the bases and had 2 outs when who comes to the plate as a pinch hitter? Griffey!! He’s almost hit, and the count goes 2 and 0 when Griffey takes his cut and misses. The next one gets Neihause yells “belted deep to right field” (our heart races) and… caught at the warning track. No one calls the game like he does. Just a minute prior, he described Sweeny “swimming into first base doing the Australian crawl” on a high throw. The game is now into the eleventh…

Cheapest diesel in all the NW is at Benewah, ID

Listening to Randy Johnson pitch in Kamiah, ID

A very clever cache



Thursday, May 21, 2009
We took our bikes to find a cache on the other side of Deer Lake but the road didn’t connect to the other side! So we turned around and rode back marveling at the homes as we passed. The weather was good enough for shorts day #6. We broke camp and head over to hwy 2 for the short trip to Riley Creek campground. We stopped for a couple of caches along the way and pulled into Riley Creek around 1pm. We decided to try our luck at caching with the bikes again and found 3 within a 2 mile radius. With the sun out, we liked the idea of caching with our bikes. Since we’re 5 hours away from Kamiah we’ll be going tomorrow so we’ll be there for Candy and Rick when they show up.

Harris answer to grilling with charcoal



Judy at a lake cache we didn't find



Wednesday, May 20th
We’d forgotten just how beautiful northeastern Washington is. The aromatic trees and green mountains filled our senses as we drove through Kettle Falls having crossed over a couple of passes to get here. We didn’t have time to check out our old haunts from “pre-kids” and decided we’d have to do this on our next trip.

Bike caching at Rilley Creek



The weather was dry and pleasant but the wind still made its presence known. Therefore it was too cool to go on the lake and we decided to go geocaching. We took Howie over some rough roads to find a couple of geocaches and were surprised that nothing in the cupboards broke. We ended up in N. Spokane which has changed much since we were last there and restocked for the next few days. Harris said the baseball game was great to listen to because the pitching was good and the Mariners held a 1 run shutout for 9 innings!

Relaxing at Rilley Creek




Tuesday May 19, 2009
We awoke to sunny skies and “Shorts Day #4”. The breeze was picking up but we were able to take our walk in t-shirts and shorts at Lake Conconully. There were mule deer out in force in several of the yards of homes that we passed. We did a geocache on the way out where we took a half mile hike with a steep leg at the end to look down over the lake. Of course we both forgot to bring the camera. Neither one of us offered to go back to Howie and retrieve it. We drove to Republic to check out Miller’s rv camp that offered internet access and cable tv among the list of amenities. It turned out that the cable is 1 station that is sent via cable to all the sites and the internet access is only via 1 computer in their office. This was a campground that was rated 4W’s out of 5. We were not impressed and decided to spend another 90 mins in the car since the weather was nasty almost the whole day after leaving Conconully.

We ended up at Deer Lake resort which is 35 miles north of Spokane. Much nicer camp and if the weather warms up tomorrow we may have to rent a boat and head out on the lake. If it’s not warm enough, there is always geocaching. Meanwhile Judy is doing the laundry while Harris is listening to the M’s game which is now in the bottom of the ninth with the M’s down a run. The Angels struck out the side…

Listening to the Mariners at Conconully

Monday May 18, 2009
Just a typical day… wouldn’t it be great if this would be so. Another glorious morning with the birds singing, the sun SHINING, and a great view from our campsite in Silverline. The campsites were grassy which at this point in the year was very green. We could have mistaken our site as bordering a golf course with the amount of green surrounding us. We took our gps on our walk around the northern end of the lake and found a geocache at nearby Pearrygin State Park. (This looks like a great state park to come back to and camp in next time.) We felt good in finding it because it was rated a 3 out of 5 for difficulty (most are 1 or 2). Then we went into Winthrop before we headed to Conconully to check out another RV resort on list.

Lunch by the river outside Winthrop


While Judy checked out the stores on Main Street in Winthrop, Harris went after a couple more geocaches that were rated 3. One was a short walk from downtown which took him by the river and a great place to have lunch after the store shopping. About half of the people looking didn’t find it because it was so cleverly hidden. The cache was a plastic jar buried in the ground, but attached to a fake pine tree. If you pulled on the tree, the cache came up. If Harris hadn’t seen the green circle he’d have never found it.

I'm cute! Feed Me!!


Another cache was 35mm film canister that had a metal circle plate screwed onto the top. It was then inserted into a wooden support post of an historical marker sign at the center of Winthrop. Harris spent 10 minutes trying to look casual while scoping out the possible hiding places until Judy reread the description and he discovered the hiding place.
The scenery dried considerably as we traveled the 45 miles from Winthrop to Conconully. As we gained elevation the trees thickened (temps dropped to the 60’s) and as we descended the trees thinned to nothing (and temps returned to the 80’s). This happened a several times as we drove to Conconully. When we arrived the temps were in the 80’s but it was very breezy which helped cool us. We took our bikes for short scenic tour of Conconully and to see if we could build up our legs a little more.

Judy admiring the view from our campsite


Liar’s Cove was scenic but the rv spots are very close together. Fortunately they are angled enough so we had a great view of the lake. There were many animals seen today. Here we saw a deer that was fed enough by humans to actually expect a handout. She walked right by us after I took its picture. On our bike ride there were deer in several of the yards we passed. This morning there was a marmot on our walk that followed us also looking for a handout.
As mentioned it was breezy at dinner. Harris had to build a wind break to focus the heat enough to cook the steaks. It worked brilliantly! He is enjoying this camping, cooking, and listening to his beloved Mariners on his XM radio….that is, unless they lose. THEY LOST!

Harris's custom steak grill

Silverline/Winthrop

Silveline campground in Winthrop


Sunday, May 17, 2009
Day 3 in shorts!
Today was a move-the-camp day. Gene and Marilyn left for home because she has to work on Tuesday and wanted a day to work on her garden beforehand. At least that’s what she told us. She probably grew tired of cooking for us and losing to Judy in Bananagrams. After 3 days of fishing each of them caught one within an ounce of each other. Unfortunately, they did not catch enough to share with their relatives (even though they offered).

The Olson's landing a fish


After they left we headed into Chelan for restocking and then headed north to Winthrop for our next stay at a camp called Silverline Resort. We rolled in about 2pm after listening to a couple of baseball games on xm radio (Harris is so happy he subscribed to it). The first one was the Twins vs Yankees. The Yankees came back to win in the 10th for the third straight game with the Twins. Fantastic games especially if you are a Yankee. After listening to the Mariners lose two in a row with blown saves, Harris could feel the pain for his friend Rick who lives in Montana (see spring training in Phoenix) and is a Twins fan who follows their games as often as he can. It seems that the Mariners and Twins are experiencing similar fates this season as are Harris and Rick. The next game was the Mariners which was a nail biter but the M’s came back in the 9th to win it. We won the series!! Harris is in a great mood now…


BananaGram Tourney!


We’re including a couple of pictures from the past few days. The puppy Trixie (sp) seemed to be a people magnet. We think they could make money renting her out to guys to walk. It seemed that everywhere she went, she stopped all kinds of people but mostly women that wanted to pet her. It was cheap entertainment to watch her rule the roost. It is an incredible evening with cool breezes, clear skies, and a wonderful view just outside our window. Tomorrow the weather is suppose to be even warmer!

The Chick Magnet...

On the road again to Idaho!

Our Wapato Campsite



Saturday, May 16th
The weather is perfect with temps in the mid 70’s. Sun, sun, sun..even a little breeze now and then so it doesn’t get too hot. Marilyn and Gene went fishing this morning. We went for a walk. Marilyn finally beat Judy at Bananagrams, but this wasn’t the thing that made Judy unhappy. We were sitting under a tree filled with birds, enjoying their songs. We did not enjoy a few other natural occurrences. After the 3rd “deposit” we decided we’d better move the game before real disaster occurred. When they went out for a walk with the dogs, we went geocaching up in the hills. We found 2, but decided to forgo the ones that were 12 miles down bumpy dirt roads. (since we’d already been on one). When we returned, Harris took Judy on a longer bike ride, the 3.6 mile one, and she actually finished it without resorting to walking her bike up any (admittedly small) hills. Then he took off again for a longer ride. We also took the boat out for some drifting in the sun. We watched the fish jump, but no one seemed to be catching any. We all debated about going to another winery or two, but were too comfortable to move. Marilyn brought salmon along for dinner…good thing since the trout aren’t plentiful! They are going to be packing up to go home tomorrow, and we’re heading north a bit towards Winthrop. Sure hope this weather continues! Sunseekers are happy.


Judy directing the boat toward camp


Friday, May 15th
Finally, some sun and temps in the upper 60’s! It’s a gorgeous morning. Marilyn and Gene went out fishing early in the morning. Marilyn caught a rainbow trout. We went for a short walk with Harris deciding that finally it was time for shorts. Harris then decided to try out the bikes. He went on the 3.6 mile loop, came back huffing that he was out of shape and promptly took off to do it again! Judy went on a much shorter ride later, agreeing with him about being out of shape. But we enjoyed the rides in the sun. We hung around the camp all day, reading, boating, biking, walking with the dogs, and eating good food. Marilyn provided the steaks, and Harris grilled them to perfection as well as providing some grilled prawn appetizers. Strawberry shortcake for dessert was an unexpected treat! Judy beat Marilyn at Bananagrams twice. We taught them Chicago Rummy, and Marilyn won that game. Harris lost big time which goes to prove that Judy doesn’t always lose at cards.

Harris driving back from geocaching


Thursday May 14th 2009
It rained during the night and the repair of the bath room vent seems to have worked in keeping out the water that had been seeping through. The weather was cold and breezy today but people kept telling us that it was due to improve for the weekend. The first order of business was for Gene and Marilyn to buy fishing licenses so they could catch dinner for all of us. Then it was off to the wineries. Marilyn and Gene are true wine connoisseurs and drink wine daily whereas the two of us drink it occasionally. Well, Harris drinks it whenever it’s served but can do without it. We were shown how the wine drinkers buy wine at a winery. After tasting the wines, Marilyn and Gene would put their heads together and moments later the order would sound out. Three of this and this and this and that. A case would be packed and put on the card and it was off to the next stop. If wines were good across the samples, they would sign up for the wine club and it was off to the next one. Since we took our van it was easy to stop and make lunch for the 4 of us. We picked one of the wineries to be our lunch spot and it was scenic as well as quiet. Back at the campground they rented a boat for the next 3 days and were off fishing while we went on our walk.
Marilyn made dinners for us on this trip. Wednesday night was spaghetti, Thursday night was a wonderful chicken marsala. They were tired after all the wine tasting, so we had an early night. Harris and Judy watched the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in stages…some here, some there…and enjoyed it.

Harris in charge of the yacht


May 13th 2009
On the road again!
Harris was itching to go someplace in Howie and was delighted when Judy’s sister, Marilyn, mentioned a fishing trip that they were going to take in the Chelan area just before Memorial Day weekend. Candy and Rick wanted to go camping during the holiday so we decided to do both. Sure is nice being retired!
The spring in the Seattle area has been dismal. Might as well call it fall with all the wind storms, hail, rain, and lack of sun. There have been just enough (like 6 days) of warm sun to string us along thinking that spring was just around the corner. It’s been kind of like the Mariners this season which started off with a bang, (timely hitting, good pitching, great bull pen and first place for the first 6 weeks) and then found that someone had turned off the “play good baseball” switch and reverted to their untimely hitting, error laced fielding, anemic hitting, and what seems to be a major league record of hitting into double plays over a 10 game period. Anyway, getting back on topic here, we were more than ready to head over the mountains out of the gray and into the sunlight.
We had a couple of extra hours because Marilyn and Gene had to drive around via Tacoma. So we were able to take our morning walk and ease our way onto the highway. Even so we forgot a couple of small things like a cutting board and Tums. We really should make a list but Judy is so good in “Mommy mode” (did you pack …) that we keep putting it off. As we drove over the pass on highway 2 the trees reflected the recent dusting of snow and since traffic was light Harris decided to slow down and see how the mileage improved over the pass. Will note it when we fill up. As we approached Chelan we heard from Marilyn that their trip got off to a poor start with having to change a trailer tire before they left and while on top of Snoqualmie Pass suffered a tire blow out on yet another trailer tire. Gene thought that perhaps 11 years on a set of tires was pushing it. I agreed.
Since we had some additional time, we did 7 geocaches on western approach to Chelan. These were easy pull off and find caches but we were amused by the Frankenstein geocache which was a rectangular rock that was painted to bring out the Frankenstein features. We reached Kamei campground on Lake Wapato and were directed into 2 nice sites that was near perfect with nearby bathrooms and hot showers. All we need is THE SUN!! We arrived and the sun went away and the wind picked up. Harris and Gene took the dogs for a walk. While Judy supervised Marilyn cooked a great dinner of spaghetti, salad and bread. We just sat around, shooting the breeze for a while, then decided on an early night instead of cards. Marilyn and Judy did play a couple of games of Bananagrams while the guys were on their walk. Marilyn almost won, but Judy would not allow cheating.


Frankenstein Rock