Down at the junction…..Catfish Junction!

We didn’t get up early this morning even though we hadn’t decided whether to move on to Boise which wasn’t a long day or whether we’d stay here.  Too cold….let’s go.  On a whim I decided to make sure there was room for us at the Boise/Meridian KOA.  When we came through in late September they were full except for one spot which we were lucky to get so better safe than sorry.  Well….no room at the inn!  Now what?  Eric said I could figure it out as we travelled along and I must admit that stresses me out.  I’m not good at the fly by the seat of your pants method but I guess I’d better get started.  One good thing is our AT&T phone from daughter Krista and son-in-law Jeff and it has changed everything for us.  Worked in Mexico, works in the USA and will work in Canada.  How great is that.  We’ve never had much to do with smart phones with internet because of where we live (no internet except cell based) and the huge cost in Canada.  Our daughter and son-in-law have a business AT&T plan and our phone costs them an extra $20 per month and it is just great!

So….where to stay?  I popped over to say Hi to Judy and she suggested a place in Caldwell, Idaho but I also remembered that our friends Croft and Norma had enjoyed staying at Catfish Junction which is just north of Ontario and just south of Huntington on old highway 30 or 21.  I gave them a quick call and they said they had plenty of room.  Goody…off we go.

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248 miles.

Leaving Jackpot around 9:30am and it’s windy.  What will it be like on the freeway up on the bald prairie where all the wind generators are?

Heading towards Twin Falls.

We turned west onto old highway 30 at Twin Falls are now passing through Filer where spring has arrived.  The trees are blooming and the spring flowers are up.  Very pretty.

Neat old buildings.

Old or….built to look like old.  Probably old!

The Snake River area is very historical.  We never seem to have time to stop when we pass through. 

Coming into Hagerman.

Rocks, rocks and more rocks!  In some areas they have cleared the fields and in some areas…they have not.

We stopped in Mountain Home for fuel and then crossed the freeway to the west side to go to the WalMart.  Thought it was on the south side and turned into a MacDonald’s by mistake.  Oh, oh no way out except for the drive thru going out thin in door!  Who cares it isn’t very busy so….out we go.  When we first started RVing this would have freaked Eric out but with experience comes calmness.  Bueno!  There was a truck pulling a 5th wheel and a quad trailer behind it.  We wonder how he will get out!  We continued west and found the WalMart on the north side of the road and I picked up what we needed before carrying on. 

It wasn’t horribly windy on the freeway and soon we were coming into Boise.  We hate Boise almost more than we hate Las Vegas.  Five lanes here and everyone is at top speed changing lanes and raging from left to right and back.  Very unsafe and even the big trucks including triples are passing.  We hold our lane and speed and carry on.

We saw a couple of accidents by the time we got past Boise and Meridian and it isn’t a wonder.

Irrigation channels that switch back and forth.

We made a fuel stop in Ontario where we have never stopped before and will never stop again!  Really hard to get into and not made for RV’s.  You can’t trust the highway signs for stations that you can’t see from the freeway.  Next time the Pilot on the west side of the freeway. 

We left I84 at exit 356 and travelled 2 1/2 miles up the Snake River to ….Catfish Junction.  $16 for a night with Passport America.  Really pretty and quiet but either the park or the farmer up river has been spraying and it just reeks of Killex.  Always something!

Looking up river.

and…..down river.

Us.

How’s that for a view out your door.  The river is really high and the owner said it is up 12 feet.  She also said they had 43 inches of snow this winter and they usually have 3inches!  No wonder the hills are so green.

This is Eric’s shot out the door.

Guess what this old guy is fishing for…..Catfish!

He hasn’t caught anything but that’s not a surprise with the river so high.  He’s using chicken livers for bait….maybe he should just eat them!

It’s apparently really busy here in the summer and usually fairly busy at this time of the year.  It’s been too cold and the river is high so there are only three rigs parked.  Fine with us!  We’ve decided to spend an extra night here and head on to Soap Lake, Washington on Sunday. 

Alamo, Nevada to Jackpot, Nevada and a good time was “not” had by all!

A beautiful sunny morning and we were ready to hit the road by 8am.  353 miles to go today and that is a long day for us.  It is wide open and can be easy driving if the weather conditions are good but that is likely not going to be the case today.

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Leaving Alamo and the scenery is lovely.

As we travel along it is beautiful and sunny and there isn’t too much wind….yet!

North of Ash Springs we turn left and head north on 318.

Onward to Ely.

Here we are in the White River Canyon and I can never resist a couple of pictures.  Window is dirty and the bicycle is in the way so the pictures aren’t great.

Well what happened here?  We were happily sailing along at about 65mph when a pickup pulling a red cargo trailor pulled up beside us and then pulled in front, slowed down and hit his brakes.  We thought he was nuts!  We slowed right down and he pulled off and as we went by he was pointing down at our rig.  Oh, oh!  We pulled off and he got out to talk.  He had seen that the right rear tire on the rig was missing and figured we didn’t know.  Didn’t feel it and couldn’t see it.  Just dandy!  He said he has a toyhauler at home and said he has had the same thing happen and didn’t know either.  We thanked him for his trouble and he carried on his way.

Not much left of that tire.

And of course damage to the rig once again. 

On with the coveralls, out with the jack and spare tire and get it changed.  Damn….we thought we were done with tire failure once we put truck tires on the rig.  However….this tire was probably one that got hot when a spring broke two years ago and the tires rubbed together.  Probably not the tires fault but that doesn’t make it any easier to take!

Nice wide open space to change a tire and a good thing it was on the passenger side or Eric would be laying out in the traffic.   Lots of debris from other blown tires here so we aren’t the only ones.

Spare on and we’ll have to stop in Ely and buy a new tire. 

Back on the road and the wind has started to pick up.

Neat old house in Lund.

We make a quick fuel stop at the gas station just past Lund.  It’s a long climb with a head wind and the more fuel the better!

Right turn to Ely.

23 miles and it’s all uphill.

Still lots of snow on the mountains.

We’re climbing and I took a shot back through the side window.

Twisting and turning here.

We’ve descended from the over 7000 ft. Murry Summit and are now coming into Ely where we’ll refuel and get a tire.

Turn right to head north.  We stopped at the Good Year Tire shop where we bought tires the last time we had trouble.  They didn’t have exactly what Eric wanted but we had to have something. 

McGill the town with the slanted main street and beautiful old buildings.

The misleading sign, left on 93 or right on 93!  Left for Ely.

Pretty but certainly not spring here yet.

We’ll stop in Wells for our next fuel.  Some of our gauges have failed and the fuel gauge is one of them.  Eric is keeping track with the truck’s onboard computer so we don’t want to make any mistakes.  The speedometer isn’t working either and he’s using the GPS to track our speed.

78 miles to Wells.

That’s what is ahead and it’s also very windy.  Makes for stressful driving.

How about a little rain too!

Fuel in Wells and onward.   We are a bit behind schedule after our tire repair and stop to buy a new spare.  We know it will likely be really busy at the Cactus Pete’s RV park in Jackpot as there are lots of RV’s on the road right now.

This is a huge elk migration area and they build overpasses (like this one) as well as underpasses to keep them off the highway as they migrate.

Check headlights.  Well another gauge problem here because when we turn on the headlights the indicator lights such as the heater temperature go out!  Headlights off…..indicator lights on!  Swell!

We pulled into the RV park around 4:30pm and it was snowing at the time.  While I stood outside as a landmark for Eric to park the RV it was freezing cold….even in my down vest. 

The sun came out shortly after that but it is not warm!!!   It is supposed to go down below freezing tonight and it’s windy to boot.  This RV that is parked across the road from us turns out to be our winter neighbours Rick, Judy and Sadie the dog.  How much of a coincidence is that? I’ll say hi tomorrow.

Pretty but cold.

And….now it’s pouring rain and cold.  Am I whining too much?  Tough, this is just nasty and I have to walk down to the RV office to pay and have a shower. 

We had a few beers, went over for a buffet dinner and came back to shiver before we went to bed.  I put the flannel sheets on the bed and added an extra comforter so we wouldn’t freeze to death!  We’ve got the electric heater on max but it can’t keep up so it will be chilly in the morning.

We haven’t decided whether we will lay over tomorrow or head for Boise….we’ll check the weather in the morning.