We are here in Phoenix and finally settling in to some sort of a routine with Dave. But let me back up a bit before I tell you about Phoenix. So much has happened and been seen. As I said in the last post we left Lava Hot Springs the Friday after Labor day and headed north with Dylan, John's youngest son, who has spent the last year and a half climbing around the country. He is actually in Greece right now climbing. Anyway,our first stop was just outside of Jackson Hole at Granite Creek. The pic is of the falls, but they are much larger than it appears. The hot spring is at the bottom of the falls. Wonderful spot for a soak! And a nice campground just down the road.
The next day we spent some time checking out Jackson Hole. Found a WONDERFUL store called The Purple Moon. {We are a little biased... we know the owners from Lava}. In Jackson we picked up Dyl's car and we proceeded through the Tetons to a campground on the north side. I have never seen the Tetons or anything close - I am an east coast boy after all - and they are amazingly beautiful to see.
This old guy was right on the side of the road as we went through Yellowstone, enjoying the afternoon sun.Yellowstone was pretty, but we didn't spend alot of time there as we had alot of miles to cover in order to reach Phoenix by the 15th of Oct.
Our next destination is Glacier National Park. We were coming up the east side, passed through a town called Browning [don't ever bother stopping there] and found a great B&B/campground about 8 miles out of town called Aspenwood. It was like arriving at Gramma's house, all warm and cozy, farmlike, and she has 5 dogs! They all come out to greet the newcomers so as we drove in and saw they're wagging tails I said to John " we are staying here tonight " No question.
The next morning we had a problem, a first for the bus. One of the front tires had a large split in the sidewall. Although the tire wasn't losing air, we needed a tire ASAP. Turns out the only place that had a tire that would fit was 70 miles away. So through the south end of Glacier we went to Columbia Falls. A bit harrowing crossing over some of the narrow mountain roads with a tire that could blow anytime!
Later that afternoon, with a new tire on, we headed up the west side of Glacier to a campsite on Big Creek. Feeling a need to stop for more than one night we spent a couple of nights there. Unfortunately we couldn't take the bus across the "Road to the Sun". The length limit was 21 feet and the bus is 37, so we meandered around the park on the west and south sides. Still a beautiful site. We stopped at Lake Macdonald Lodge for lunch, enjoying the old log style architecture. Not as grand as the one in Yellowstone, but just as interesting. Once we had seen all we could with the length restrictions we headed south towards Hot Springs, Montana.
Hot Springs is an interesting town. Small town - pop. just over 500 - but with some cool stuff happening. Nice co-op with all locally grown food, and it's own bakery. We stayed at the Symes Hotel, another turn of the century hotel. And quite large. It was taken over by an artist group a few years back and is in the process of being refurbished. A huge project. But they have great hot springs! And they have a fabulous Blues Festival every year that is fast becoming nationally known.
After much soaking we headed out the next day towards Missoula and spent the night just south of town. Great little campground on a river where we met this couple that trains a certain breed of dogs [the name escapes me at the moment]. These dogs, and this couple in particular, travel around the US and Canada. The dogs are trained to go after bears to scare them away from areas like campgrounds.
The next day, as we headed south from Missoula, we started to encounter smoke from all the fires in the area and from the states of Washington and Oregon. We hadn't gone to far when we stopped for lunch and to check in at the Ranger station in Stevensville. The smoke was so bad our eyes were watering. We were headed to a hot spring called Gold Bug, but the fires were all around the area. And in some places vehicles had to be escorted through the smoke. So we turned around and headed back towards Missoula to take another route. There was another hot spring up in Lolo Pass that we wanted to hit called Jerry Johnson. As we headed up the pass through this beautiful canyon the air cleared and we could see the sun again. And Breathe!!! But that didn't last long. By the time we got to the top of the pass, the smoke was back and just as thick as ever. We found out at the ranger station that another fire was spreading through the canyon and the hot springs were in the middle. The fires were all along the roadside, so petal to the metal, looking for clearer sky.
So another day with the petal to the metal, trying to get out of the smoke. By the end of the day we had passed through most of the smoke and were headed to Bernard Hot Springs just north of Cascades. We found the road, and thankfully John was driving. It was a one lane dirt road in good shape, but the mountain was steep. And with a drop off on one side of the road several hundred feet, and straight up on the other side, along with sharp curves scattered along the way, we SLOWLY made our way to the top. I don't know what we would have done if we met up with another vehicle... The drive was worth it. We came to a wide spot in the road with a great hot spring about 20 feet from the road. We camped for the night, enjoying the spring, stars and good food. What more is there? Well, that too...
The next afternoon we headed down the mountain reluctantly and headed for Boise. But some more hot springs awaited us before that.
About a hour and a half north of Boise are many hot springs if you have the right map. Which we do. So we spent another few nights sampling the area and meeting lots of people. John's family in Boise was awaiting our arrival so we headed back to civilization again.
We were in Boise a little over a week, visiting, going on dog walks, celebrating Katie's birthday, joining in with the family tomato contest. I never knew there were so many varieties! Tasty too! The bus finally got a wash and wax. Looking good! It certainly deserved it. That thing has taken us all over the country, down highways, and roads I wouldn't take a car down, through deserts and cities, through major snow, over 10,000 foot mountains and it has never failed us! We love that bus. Does eat alot though...
Finally we headed out of Boise. We still needed to stop back in Lava before Phoenix to pick up stuff we left behind and say another goodbye to friends. On the way of course we hit a few more hot springs and spent a few days at Craters of the Moon. That place is a lava field about 2000 years old, and is due for another eruption. We crawled around caves and old lava tunnels with the bats. It was very interesting being able to see the lava solidified mid stream with all the striations of the flow.
From there we headed on back to Lava Hot Springs to collect the rest of our stuff. Another weekend of good food, drink and much merriment. And saying goodbye again.
With the roof rack loaded up again off we went. We knew then that we had a deadline - to be in Phoenix by October 15th. Headed south from Lava going down around Bear Lake. The most beautiful blue water. Then up into the mountains into Logan Canyon in the Cache National Forest. Nice. Found a campsite in a side canyon next to a river. Mountain views, quiet, but no hot springs...
Missing the hot springs at the end of our day we moved on to the next canyon down called Ogden Canyon. Stopped at the mouth of the canyon at a nice hot spring consisting of several pools of varying temps. Made our way up farther into the canyon for a camping spot. A couple of towns beyond where we were camping is a town call Eden. And in town is a Mexican restaurant called Carlos and Harley's. They had the best salsa ever and made right there. The next day we made our way back to the hot springs for a soak before heading into Salt Lake City.
Back in the city again! Noisy and crowded as any city, but had a great lunch with Mac, one of John's older brothers. He has retired and seems so much happier!
Our next stop hours later was in Torrey. We were back in red rock country with all it's beauty. And this campground had showers!!!
While in Boise John's sister Sue had a cook book from Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah. It was a great cook book, but also read as a story. We were so intrigued that we made it a stop. What a cool little town! We found a camping spot a few miles outside of town and spent a few days there exploring the area. I can't believe we actually got the bus down that road, it was so narrow. And then turned around to get into the one campsite barely big enough for the bus.
Boulder is near the top of the Grand Escalante National Momument so our drive over the next day or two took us along the northern edge. We made a stop in Kodachrome basin for some hiking with fabulous views, and then made our way up to Bryce Canyon again to our old camping spot. Didn't have any elk or prong-horned sheep wandering through our campsite this time, but plenty of cows.
Our next stop was the Grand Canyon. Last spring we explored the North rim so this trip we checked out the South Rim. What a difference. The north side is much quieter, and not nearly as built up. The south side is just the opposite. We made many stops along the way, amazed at the beauty. We recently had friends, Jim and Rick from Boston, visiting from Boston. They also saw the Grand Canyon but from a helicopter. It's really the best way to really see the canyon as you get the full impact.
So here we are in Phoenix. We are caretaking our friend Dave who had a stroke last spring, and can't live alone now. We will be here until the spring, when Dave will head back to New England for the summer, and we will probably head to the northwest. In the meantime we will contiue to explore the city and all that it has to offer. Will keep you posted.
In the meantime be well,
Scott and Johnney
