Lewis & Clark and Beyond

September 20, Day 33

We drove to Gold Beach and have booked a day long jet boat ride up the Rogue River tomorrow. The short trip here was a mix of vistas. Some of the time we were deep into the wooded mountains and other times right on the coast which is rugged with the mountains extending right to the ocean. Before leaving the area of last night’s stay, we toured a fishing village named Charleston, just outside Coos Bay. They had a lot of sea food for sale in area stores or off he boats. One store cans its own product. They had smoked oysters and I thought of Dad, he loved them. The prices in the stores did not seem to be much of a bargain. They were, however, selling albatross (sp?) tuna off the boat (whole) for $2.00 a pound. A typical fish was 20 pounds. The guy we talked to indicated that he generally yields about 50% after cleaning. He must have had 100 pounds of steaks that he was going to be cooking for some group. He was throwing the scraps in the bay and the gulls and sea lions which were right there consuming every scrap as they hit the water. Tonight we are in a commercial RV park so we can be close to town for the 7:30 a.m. call for the boat ride.

September 21, Day 34

We took a day long jet boat ride up the Rogue River at Gold Beach, OR. The Rogue River is federally declared ‘Wild River’. With such designation, there can be no effort to control the flow of the designated portion of the river or development within a prescribed distance from the river. A portion of the river is open to recreation (ie: fishing & camping), however another portion is controlled and restricts the number who can access it each day. Half of that number goes to individuals on a permit basis and the other half is reserved for commercial firms such as the one that provided our jet boat ride. Individuals make application a year in advance to get a permit to kayak or raft down the controled portion of the river. The eight hour excursion took us 54 miles up the river to a point where the power boat could go no further because of the rocks. On the way, the boat took us through deep cut mountain valleys and rapids; the largest having a ‘class three’ designation. Kayakers start their journey 35 miles further upstream from the point where we stopped. They typically take 3-5 days to travel the controlled portion of the river. During our trip, we saw osprey, American eagle, and a lot of waterfowl. After the boat ride, we moved to the Quosatana campground which is in the Siskiyou National Forrest. It is a relatively new facility right on Rogue River about 15 miles from the mouth of the river. After setting up camp, we watched a doe with two fawns meandering through the campground.

September 22-23, Day 35-36

What a beautiful day at a fantastic campground. The day is cool, but sunny. A perfect start to autumn. The campground is less than a third occupied. We took an early morning walk on the gravel bank next to the river. We watched the same jet boats cruise by that we had traveled on the day before. They did not look as cold as we did thanks to the sun. Cutie waded in the water and got wet enough to get that ’wet dog’ smell. After breakfast, we picked blackberries getting enough to make a blackberry Brown Betty. It turned out great! Maybe it is something like having hot dogs at the ball park, the setting helps a lot. Mid-day a group of wild turkeys sauntered through the campground. (What is a group of turkeys called beside politicians?) At dinner time, a doe with three fauns came to beg. We gave them some apple. We decided to stay another day. When we leave here, we are going to link up with another camper in northern California, just about 50 miles down the road. We were advised to enter California with a full tank of gas as fuel there is about fifty cents a gallon higher.

September 24, Day 37

We left camp early and linked up with Nita in Smith River, CA. We made certain that we filled up in Oregon as the prices in California .40 per gallon higher. We continued on 101 which took us through the Redwood National Park. What a national treasure! We stopped for lunch at a pull-off and took a short walk to view a redwood tree that is 25feet in diameter at its base and estimated to be 1500 years old. Along the route, we say elk, but the pull-off opportunities were limited, so we could not get any pictures. We are spending the night in a county park near Eureka overlooking Humboldt Bay. It is a little tawdry as the scenery is a mix of industrial and natural. The place need some cleaning and maintenance. They could learn something from the folk in Oregon!

September 25, Day 38

Today was a difficult driving day, but much worth the effort. We took the scenic route from Eureka to Lucerne to visit with my sister Barbara. The route took us through old growth Redwood forests. The scenic segment off Rte 101 was along a 32 miles road called ‘Avenue of the Giants’. The road was winding with many steep hills and few flat valleys and took us through the Humboldt Redwood State Park. Most Impressive. The second beautiful secondary road we took was CA Route 1 The first portion was again through old growth Redwood and Douglas Fir forest. This road was even more mountainous with tighter turns. On the two roads we probably averaged less than 15 miles per hour having to take some of the turns at a crawl Easily this has been the most difficult roads we have traversed the entire trip. The portion of Rte 1 along the ocean was easier, but still beautiful. Our last difficult road segment was CA Rte. 20 from Fort Bragg back to Rte 10l. This was another mountain road through rugged country. In all we, we drove only 225 miles, but it took us 9 hours with a minimal of time lost due to stops.

We arrived at Barbara’s about 4:00. I am very impressed with what she has done to the place since I saw it back in 2004 (not certain of the year). I told her that she has a ‘compound’ with the two houses and separate office/studio. The thee of us are parked in her various driveways and she has given us access to the guest house facilities. This is more than a few steps above where we stayed last night. We did Tai carry-out for dinner. This was my first exposure to Tai food and I really liked it. As we were eating on the deck, we were watching a helicopter make trips back and forth from the lake picking up water to extinguish a brush fire in the hills behind Barb’s place.

September 19, Day 32

We had a beautiful drive today. The road was winding a passed through some beautiful yet rugged mountain forests We stopped at a high viewpoint to see the Hecta Head Lighthouse from across the bay. The next more impressive stop was at Devils Churn which is a gorge that the sea has eroded through a vein of soft stone deep into the side of a mountain. The first viewpoint is a couple hundred feet above the gorge and provides a opportunity to watch and listen to the waves flow up the gorge creating muffled roars as they crash into the hollowed out areas under the harder overhanging rocks. We followed the trail down to a flat area about ten feet above sea level where we go a close-up view of waves rolling into the gorge. Most impressive! In the same general area is Cape Creek Bridge. It is poured concrete arch bridge of significant height. Traffic crosses the bridge and immediately enters a tunnel. This is very rugged topography to try to traverse with a road! Our next stop was at a commercial venture called Seal Cave. While I am not very fond of commercial operations, I must admit that they have done a very nice job of providing access while still protecting this huge seaside cave. They purport that this is the largest seal lion cave in the world and I can believe them, it is huge at 125 high and about an acre in area. We saw one sea lion sleeping on a huge rock in the middle of the pool.. There is a small colony of female seas lions who live here all year. The males migrate north in the winter and come back in the spring to mate (sound like some guys I know). When we arrived at Coos Bay we headed for the library to check email and update blogs. Our last stop before heading to the campground was to Wal-Mart for supplies. We are camping at Sunset Bay about three miles outside of a fishing village named Charleston.

September 20, Day 33

We drove to Gold Beach and have booked a day long jet boat ride up the Rogue River tomorrow. The short trip here was a mix of vistas. Some of the time we were deep into the wooded mountains and other times right on the coast. Before leaving the area of last night’s stay, we toured a fishing village named Charleston, just outside Coos Bay. They had a lot of sea food for sale in area stores or off he boats. One store cans its own product. They had smoked oysters and I thought of Dad, he loved them. The prices in the stores did not seem to be much of a bargain. They were, however, selling albatross (sp?) tuna off the boat (whole) for $2.00 a pound. A typical fish was 20 pounds. The guy we talked to indicated that he generally yields about 50% after cleaning. He must have had 100 pounds of steaks that he was going to be cooking for some group. He was throwing the scraps in the bay and the gulls and sea lions were right there eating every scrap. Tonight we are in a commercial RV park so we can be close to town for the 7:30 a.m. call for the boat ride.

September 16, Day 30

Today was a short drive day, only about 100 miles. We moved from one Oregon State Park to another. Tonight, we are dry camping (no electricity or water) at Lookout Cape State Park which is right on the Pacific. Our campsite is about 100 yards from the ocean edge. We made two stops on the way. The first was at a Pendelton outlet store in Seaside. I found a nice shirt. The second stop was at the Tillamock cheese factory. It is a large facility, but the tour is no where as good as the one they provide at Fair Oaks Farm back in Indiana; however, the ice cream is just as good. Just north of Tillamock, Will ran out of gas across the street from a gas station. She had a small amount in a gas can which got her started again so she could pull into the station. After getting set-up at the park, we took a long walk on the beach. While the views up and down the coast are beautiful, they are shrouded in mist. No pictures at this stop! I would love to see a Pacific sunset, but I am afraid it will be blocked by clouds this evening.

September 17, Day 31

Another short driving day and another night camping on the Pacific Coast beach. Tonight we are at the Tillicum Beach Campground which is a Forest Service site, so with the senior passport the fees are more to my liking. On the way down the coast, we stopped at one roadside viewing station to look for whales, but did not see any. I thought I saw a sea lion, but I think my eyes were playing tricks on me. We also toured the Yaquina Bay Light House. This is the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast and sits on a rocky spit of land that extends a mile into the ocean. There is also a very informative Interpretive Center that focuses on marine biology and the building of the lighthouse. I did get a chance to climb to the top of the lighthouse - 110 steps! The area was teaming with kelp flies. Hours after leaving the area, I am still trying to rid my rig of them.

September 11, Day 24

Today ended up being a errand day in Lewiston. We hoped to drive to a lookout north of the city which boasts a three state view, but their was a heavy haze over the area. Instead, we spent most of day running errands. For some unknown reason, a part of the load leveler system on Will’s rig got bent and needed to be replaced. We chased around town until we found an RV parts dealer which is also the local Ford dealer. While they did not have the part, they put us on to a weld shop that could facilitate a repair. While they were working on the part, I walked across the street and got a much needed hair cut. Afterward, we found the library, checked email, and updated blogs. In the afternoon, back at the park, I gave my rig a much needed wash.

September 12, Day 25

Our travel today began by following the Snake River west. At one point, we left the river and entered a very hilly county not unlike central Montana. I did not know that they grew wheat on this side of the Continental Divide in Oregon. We also saw some grape vineyards. Nothing is green in this part of the country unless it is irrigated. What a change from the Midwest. We are camping tonight at a Corps of Engineers site at the McNary Lock and Dam on the Columbia. We stopped at the dam to tour an information center on salmon. At this dam, they have a sophisticated system beyond a fish ladder for the purpose of separating out the fingerling salmon which they collect and barge downstream to facilitate their journey to the sea.

September 13, Day 26

Today we traveled from an arid to a temperate climate. In 175 miles we left the parched area of eastern Oregon which sees only 10” of rain a year and entered the Cascade Mountains which are cool and damp. We traveled on I84 which follows the Columbia River. While the mountains began to loom on either side of the river, we were generally traveling on level roads as the highway hugs the river. I say river, but it is really a series of lakes created by dams. We stopped in Maryville to tour an art museum bequeathed by Sam Hill who was an entrepreneur and married the daughter of the Minneapolis Hill who was instrumental in building the Northern Pacific Railroad and the lodges we toured at Glacier National Park. The museum was a bit of a ‘hodge-podge’ except for the lower floor which houses a display of artifacts from American Indians. What made it so interesting is that displays were categorized by geographic regions from the Artic, south to Arizona, and east to the plains and beyond. It was interesting to see how the tools, clothing, and baskets varied with the various regions. Very neat! We are camping this evening in Ainsworth State Park. I am most impressed with the Oregon system of Sate Park. They have 275 sites scattered throughout the state with a high concentration along the Pacific Coast and Columbia River. This parks lies close to the river, highway, and railroads. While we cannot hear the highway, the traffic on the railroad lines which are on both sides of the river is very heavy. There seems to be a train every half hour or so running one way or the other. It is almost like being back in Lake County.

September 14, Day 27

Rather than jumping back on to I84, we took the historical highway that was the forerunner to the expressway and runs parallel. It is a two lane highway that winds through the Columbia Gorge area, a most impressive section of the river. We stopped to view a number of water falls one of which is the tallest in North America. We also visited a the Crown Point Vista overlook which includes a impressive 1920’s stone octagonal structure. This remaining stretch of highway is well preserved with a lot of stone barrier walls and poured concrete bridges. We took a diversion to go to a Campland to get some need parts. The last leg of the day’s trip was across the coastal mountains to Fort Stephens State Park where we will spend a few day and complete the Lewis and Clark leg of our trip by visiting the sites as they completed their journey and spent the winter before making their return trip.

September 15, Day 28-29

Fort Stevens State Park is at the mouth of Columbia River. It is large park and former Army base dating back to the Civil War era and was decommissioned after WWII. It is the largest park in the Oregon system and has over 500 campsites. We will be here through the weekend. We visited Cape Disappointment on the Washington side of the river near where L&C camped upon first arriving at this their final destination. The cape was not named by them but by a ship’s captain a decade before they arrived by land. There is a well done Interpretive Center which reviews the entire trip of the corps while focusing on the Corps activities in the area of the mouth of the Columbia. Our second visit of the day was to Fort Clatsop. This is a reconstruction of the facility built by the Corps in only a week to serve as a home as they wintered over and prepared to starting the trip back to St. Louis. The fort was a disappointment as it is too nice to be in any way a realistic representation. The Fort Mandan replica was much more realistic. The impressive element of the site is the stand of old growth Sitka Spruce. A number of the trees are in excess of 5’ in diameter at the measuring point 6’ off the ground. The canopy of these trees is so dense that little or nothing grows at their base. This ends the first leg of our journey. We have traversed 3600+ miles in four weeks which is fewer miles than the Corps did in its eighteen months of travel. While we averaged 125+ miles per day, they averaged 15. I was impressed with the accomplishments of the corps after reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. That book is what prompted me to take this trip. I am even more impressed with the accomplishments of the Corps of Discovery after traversing much of the same route, the easy way.

It is rainy today. We are going to devote the morning to exploring the park. We drove to the northern area where the historic army base is located. Because of the rain, we opted for the guided tour in the back of a canvas covered duce-and-a-half military truck. The remaining elements of the fort consist of gun battery bulwarks and the foundations of buildings. There are a few Civil War era artillery pieces. Next, we drove to extreme north end of the park which is were the south jetty of the mouth of Columbia River is located. There are some viewing towers to provide a view of the area. The Corps of Engineers began constructing jetties at the mouth of the river in the early 19^th century in an attempt to control the formation of sand bars that impacted shipping. Today, the shipping channel at the mouth is only a half mile wide due to the construction of jetties. The natural mouth of the river appears to be about five miles wide. Our last visit of the morning is to one of the beaches on the Pacific where a ship went aground a hundred years ago. A portion of the iron skeleton is still visible while mostly buried in the sand. There were a number of people riding horses on the beach. The afternoon is devoted to changing out the fresh water fill station on my rigThe foundation also has . I developed a problem and could not hook up directly to city water. The remainder of the day will be devoted to reading and napping.

September 8, Day 21

There was coffee with the LOW group this morning. Wow, and I thought I made strong coffee!! After breakfast, we headed to Livingston so I could get to my appointment for an oil change. I dropped Will off at the library so she could check email and update her blog. Afterward, I joined her at the library and did the same thing. We looked for a place to grab a bite to eat and ended up at a thrift shop. Will forgot to bring a warm coat and found a nice one for $5. I picked up some towels to use as rags and a kitchen knife. On the way back, we decided to go to the Chico Spa again. By Montana standards, it is only ‘down the road a piece’. It was actually 12 miles one way. This time I brought my shampoo and took full advantage of the shower after soaking in the pool for a hour or so. I tried the ’hot’ pool, but could only stay in it for a few minutes. We have been up and down this Yellowstone river valley a number of times now and it seems to be more beautiful with each trip. There are a lot of small ‘gentlemen ranches’ hugging the river and dotting the foothills. Some are old, but most are recent with very nice log houses and out-buildings. Many have either horses, a few head of cattle, or sheep. The other campers report that the real estate here is very expensive and most of the ‘mini-ranches’ would go for over $1M. The campground is right on the river and just before sundown this evening we saw a small herd of mule deer across the river. Even at the distance of 100 yards they were of aware of my presence and the older does kept a close eye on me. The longer I am here, the more I like the place.

September 9, Day 22

After coffee and saying goodbye to the Big Sky LOW group, we headed back to Livingston to do laundry. On the way, we spotted a single yearling deer ‘bounding’ through the field to put distance between herself and the vehicles. Near Three Forks, MT, we stopped at the Missouri Headwaters State Park. This is the point where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers converge to form the Missouri. From here, it is 2500+ river miles to where the Missouri meets the Mississippi. Cutie took a swim in the head waters of the Missouri at a boat launch where we met some locals who were loading their inflatable rafts after having done a five hour float down the Gallatin. They had two dogs with them. They report that the younger swam most of the way. Tonight we are again at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Butte, MT, along with about 15 other rigs.

September 10, Day 23

Well, we went from deep Fall to full Summer in one day’s drive. This morning when we got up in Butte and it was 29° . When we got to Lewiston, ID, it was 88° . We took I90 from Butte to Missoula, MT, where we picked up US12 over the Lolo pass and through the Bitterroot Mountains. This has to be one of the most beautiful routes in the country. The first 30 miles is an inclining grade until you get to the Lolo Pass on the Continental Divide at an elevation of 5235’. The next 100 miles is a steep down hill grade of winding and twisting highway through National Forrest. The highway follows the fast running Lochsa River which has high pine covered mountains jutting up on both sides. Spectacular!! At Lowell, ID, the highway leaves the National Forest, enters and Indian Reservation, and begins to follow the less fast running Clearwater River for the last 100 miles of less dramatic scenery into Lewiston which has an elevation of only 738’. I am anxious to see what kind of fuel consumption I experienced for this leg of the trip! We are staying two nights in Hells Gate State Park outside Lewiston. This is the first time we have stayed in a full service park with electricity, city water, and showers for twelve days. It is a bit pricey, but we are ready for a little luxury.

August 29, Day 11

Today we expressed it to within a couple of hours of Glacier National. The country we went through was relatively flat compared to the hills we experienced in the Dakotas. I saw nothing but wheat and grass land. We are staying in a municipal campground. We did stop at the Information Center which had WiFi and were able to catch up with email.

August 30 to September 2, Day 12-15

We booked four days at Glacier National Park. It pays to be a senior. The entry fee of $25 was waived and the daily camping fee was cut by 50%. That is good, because the facilities they provide are not worth the $23 per day full fee. There are flush toilets and water spigots, but that is all that goes with the spot. The camp sites themselves are small but nice. There is the parking area, a picnic table, and flat place to pitch a tent. They allow you to run your generator at meal There are four or five camping sites in the park that can accommodate Rvs and a host of primitive backpack in sites. We are near the east entrance in an area called St. Mary’s.

On the first day, we set-up camp, chilled, had dinner and attended a Park Ranger program on Osprey. On the second day, we took the free shuttle on the route they call ‘Going-to-the-Sun Road. The first shuttle took us from the east entrance to Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. A second shuttle took us to the west entrance. In total, the ride was about 60 miles and the round trip took most of the day. There is a significant difference between the topography and flora on the east and west sides of Logan Pass. The mountains on the east are tall, barren, rugged, and very majestic and not unlike the Swiss Alps. The area is somewhat arid and windy. On the west side, they get a lot more rain, the mountains are not as tall, more rounded, and tree covered. There are a lot of red cedar on the west side where there is none on the east side. We did not see any glaciers on the trip. There was a little snow visible at the higher altitudes. The prediction is that all of the glaciers in the park will be gone sometime between 2020-30. Tonight, we are going to another Ranger program. The topic is wilderness art.

Last night we were hit with high winds and a bunch of rain. The wind is with us in the morning, but there is little evidence of the rain. After breakfast, we drove over to Many Glacier Lodge. It is a hotel built by Northern Pacific Railroad in the 1800’s in the Swiss Chalet style. There are huge tree trunks used as structural members to create the three storey lobby area which features a large stone fire place and a hanging chimney and fire pit shroud supported by chains from the tree trunk structure. There are three chalet style lodges in the park. On the way back, we saw a crowd and stopped (like the tourists we are). The tourists were watching a family grizzly bears eating berries in the bushes below the road. Neat!! After lunch we drove up to the St. Mary’s Falls trail and made the 1-5 mile trek from the road to the river. The trail is classified as easy and short by park standards. Some of the trails are 20 miles long. The hike was worth it as the falls are beautiful. Tonight, the Ranger program is at the neighboring campground and the topic is wolves. Those who have see the program indicate it is the best they have seen.

On our fourth and last day, we hoped the shuttle and got off at Sunrift Gorge. This gorge is a short 100 yards off the road. It is separation on the face of the mountain about 30 feet wide and going back as far as the eye can see. There is a beautiful cascading stream running through the bottom. The trail leads downstream about a quarter mile where the stream passes over a rock edge forming the Baring Falls just above lake St. Mary. We crossed a foot bridge and followed the trail for a mile or so and came out at the road again. We caught the shuttle on up to Logan Pass where we were lucky enough to catch sight of a gathering of Bighorn Sheep. There were three of them in group and they just sat and looked at the tourists. In the evening we went to another Ranger program on ‘Mountain Goats‘.

September 3, Day 16

I saw a large fox with a very bushy tail running though the campground in the pre-dawn hours. This is a much bigger variety than we have in the Midwest. We left Glacier early with the goal of stopping at Glacier City to have breakfast at the Great Northern Hotel, but the route that we needed to take had a vehicle length limit of 21’. Both of our rigs are larger than that, so we continued on the main highway. We got to Great Fall by noon, did some shopping and went to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. We have been to a number of centers, so a lot is redundant. This one focused on the portage efforts to get around the falls. The center is by the U.S. Forest Service and is very well done. Afterwards, we went to the Charles Russell Art Museum. Russell painted and sculpted the people and country of the west. We spent the night at a Wal-Mart parking lot along with a half dozen other rigs. The Wal-Mart is located across the street from an oil refinery. It is like being in Whiting!!

September 4, Days 17-19

We arrived at Yellowstone after a marathon drive. Even when we got into the park, we had an hour drive to get the campground. During our drive through the park we saw some bison and a lot of evidence from the 1988 fire that decimated much of the park. One of the bison actually stopped traffic as it walked down the middle of the road. He passed my RV so close I could have touched him. Cutie went crazy. I was hoping he did not see her as my window was open. The campground facilities are pretty Spartan, but the price is right. We are going to ‘lay back’ after the long drive to get here and start our touring tomorrow.

Today we took the inner circle drive around the Caldara which is the active volcano basin that spawns the hydrothermal features for which Yellowstone is known. Our first stop was at Fountain Mud Pot where we viewed the mud pot and thermal springs. Old Faithful was the second major stop. We got there about an hour before the next anticipated eruption, so we took advantage of the available time and used the pay showers available through the lodge. Several days of spit baths had left us much in need. The geyser display was not very impressive as you could not see the water for the steam vapor. I think the air temperature was in the mid 60’s. From my recollection, the geyser was not as impressive as it was when I was here in 1959, but that could be perception or poor memory. Lunch followed in the cafeteria. We moved on to Canyon Village and a view of the canyon and both the upper and lower falls. At the lower falls, we took a trail going down to a viewing area near the base. The trail was paved, but very steep. I estimate that we descended the equivalent of a thirty storey building. I counted, and the trip up took 950 steps of stairs and steep incline. Needless to say, we had to take breaks along the way. During the next leg of the drive, we ran into a traffic jam caused by a herd of bison. There were about 75 of them and they took their sweet time crossing the road from one side to the other. At Canyon village we toured the educational center which has a display of the geology of the park. The entire driving loop was about 90 miles and that is just the central part. This is one big park!

It was cold and rainy last night. I think it got into the 30’s. The morning was gloomy and cool, so we just hung around camp reading and trying to stay warm. I tried the furnace last night, but it would not fire. In the morning while the generator was running I tried it again and success! It was nice to take the chill off the RV. I suspect the electrodes need cleaning. Late morning we ventured out to tour the nearby Norris Geyser Basin. It is a large area of thermal activities with a lot of steam vents, hot springs, and geysers that have irregular eruption schedules. There was a heavy smell of hydrogen sulfite in the area. A number of features were hidden by the steam vapor which was heavy because of the cool mid 40’s temperature. Afterward, we headed for the Canyon Lodge area to shop and have lunch. The sun came out for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but it clouded up again in the evening. Back at the camp, I took a look at the furnace and decided the potential maintenance was beyond my expertise. I think I can live with having to run the generator to have heat. Hopefully, the needed service can wait until I get home.

September 7, Day 20

We left Yellowstone early and headed back north to Livingston. Both of us need an oil change and I need propane. The trip out of the park is about an hour and there is another 80 miles from there to Livingston. We saw bison, elk, and mule deer on our way. In Livingston, I could not find a ‘quick lube’ type of place that could handle the height of my rig. Will got her service work done as she can disconnect from her trailer. I had to make an appointment at the Ford dealership for Saturday which means I have to drive north and back south to the camp ground. We are camping with the Big Sky LOW group. They are pretty much like the Michigan LOW group, but not as well organized. We arrived around noon and at 2:00 a group of us headed to the Chico Springs Spa. It is a thermal spring that they have diverted into a swimming pool and built a resort around it dating back to the 1850’s. It was really relaxing. And for the $2 senior rate, I was able to shower and then soak in pool-size hot tub. It does ‘sap’ the energy from the body. In the evening we participated in a pot luck. Great food! The beef stew and chicken & dumplings were the best of many dishes