Week Two

Trail Tales

Week Two
August 16th through the 22nd, 2010

Monday, August 16, 2010

Today was a very long day and I didn’t think mom would ever stop driving! In Twin Falls we stopped to see Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls, and then headed West on the Thousand Springs Scenic Byway.

There were some very pretty springs flowing from the canyon walls and we enjoyed seeing them. We couldn’t get very close to them though because they were on the other side of the river.

We explored Hagerman Fossil Bed National Monument and then headed North up the Sawtooth Scenic Byway, turned East and followed the Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway, and then joined I-80 and followed it into Ontario, Oregon where we spent the night.

Mom got very frustrated with the slow traffic on the first part of the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. It was one lane each direction and the traffic was lined up for several miles moving at a slow pace. In Sun Valley I thought mom was going to lose her sanity until the guy in front of us decided he would be smart and quickly go around the block to get ahead of everyone. When we went through the intersection, there he was sitting at a red light while the rest of us went on our merry way! Mom laughed at him! Mom told me that Sun Valley looked like a very interesting place to visit if a person were walking around looking at stores and shops, but she couldn’t wait to get through the place.

Once we reached the North side of town, most of the traffic turned off and we were free to go on our way at our pace. Mom settled down after that and seemed to enjoy the trip through the rest of the Sawtooth Scenic Byway.

After leaving Sawtooth Scenic Byway, we turned onto Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway. It was also a beautiful drive. The road was way high up on the mountain for awhile and the river so far below us it looked like a little tiny stream!

I thought we’d never quit driving and finally just gave up and went to sleep!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I thought yesterday was a long drive. Ha! It was nothing compared to today! We drove all the way from Ontario, Oregon to Winston, Oregon to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Long before we got there I swear I heard mom mutter “I never knew Oregon was so big!”

We left Ontario and drove to Baker City where we visited the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It was interesting, but probably would have been even more so had we not just completed a major portion of the Old Oregon Trail ourselves and seen first hand many of the places the center described.

From there we headed West.

Somewhere along the way we stopped at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. It was hot!

I was so tired and, as much as I tried not to, I finally had to ask mom; “Are we almost there yet?” Unfortunately, mom said “No, we still have a long way to go.”

After we left Bend, OR, mom found the crookedest road we’ve been on yet. I swear we were only going 20 miles an hour and there must have been a million and a half tight curves! I was feeling sick to my stomach long before we finally finished with that “short-cut” and mom had to stop and let me out of the car for a little while.

(I doubt that she will fess up to it, but I think she was feeling kind sick too . . . she was looking a little green to me.)

One thing I didn’t realize about mom is that she likes to listen to music while she drives. We’ll, I knew she did that, but what I didn’t realize is that she can listen to the same CD over and over again for hours, even days if it’s a favorite. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment! I think if I have to hear ABBA’s Gold album, or any song off of it, again I’m going to puke!!!

We finally arrived at grandma and grandpas and boy was I ever glad to get there . . . and so was mom!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Today we didn’t go anywhere! Mom relaxed and rested, and enjoyed visiting. Grandpa and grandma spoiled me rotten and spent time playing with me and letting me sit in their laps!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Mom, grandma, grandpa, and I went to a place called Tokotee Falls and took a nice long hike. It was beautiful!!

There were lots of things to explore! The drive wasn’t that long, so it was really nice.

We also saw Whitehorse Falls . . .

and stopped for a picnic lunch at Clearwater Falls.

Then we went to Diamond Lake and looked around a bit before heading back to grandma and grandpa’s house. It was a fun day and we all enjoyed it very much!

Friday, August 20, 2010

We didn’t do much today. Mom washed clothes and got ready to go see some friends in Northern California. I got more spoiling from grandma and grandpa!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Mom and I left early this morning for Redding, California. It was kind of a long drive (about 5 hours) and I was not excited to be back on the road. We drove down Interstate 5 past Mt. Shasta and into Redding where mom grew up. The area had changed so much that mom got out the GPS and had to use it to find her way to her friends house.

We spent a delightful afternoon and evening with mom’s friends whom she hadn’t seen in nearly 10 years. They had two big dogs and a cat. I got along with them really well except that the big dogs scared me a little. (Don’t tell mom I said so though!)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Mom went to breakfast with her friends and spent part of the day with them. We left in the afternoon and went out to Whiskeytown Lake to go camping, but there were no accessible spots, so we headed North toward Oregon hoping to find another place we wanted to camp.

Eventually mom decided that she would just go on to Southern Oregon and stop for the night at her brother’s house, which we did. (I was bored and just slept all the way.) It was late when we got in and there wasn’t much time for visiting, so we just talked for a bit and then went to bed and got a good nights sleep.