WAMEGO (OZ MUSEUM) AND OVERNIGHT ST LOUIS.... THEN OFF TO INDEPENDENCE & KANSAS CITY , M0....

  

ABOVE IS A TYPICAL STOP FOR US DURING A RUN FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER.  WE ARE CLEARLY THE SAME SIZE AS AN 18 WHEELER.  ONE THING LACKING IN THESE BLOG POSTS IS SOME SORT OF 'SMELL-A-VISION" SCRATCH AN SNIFF,  BECAUSE MAN OH MAN THESE TRUCK STOPS DO REEK OF DUMPED URINE- ESPECIALLY ON THESE NEAR 100 DEGREE DAYS BAKING THE ASPHALT.   WHHHOOOOO WEE- GET A WHIFF OF THAT!!! WE DID A ONE NIGHT STOP IN KANSAS- WAMEGO, A CUTE LITTLE OLD TOWN THAT CONTAINED AN OZ MUSEUM.  MUSEUM WAS OK WITH SOME INTERESTING ITEMS.  WE DID LOSE POWER AT THE CAMPGROUND FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS DURING THE CONTINUED CRAZY HEAT.   ALSO DID ONE NIGHT IN ST LOUIS AT THE DRAFTKINGS QUEEN CASINO, WHERE WE'D STAYED A FEW TIMES B4 OVER THE YEARS.  THIS PLACE HAS STEADILY GONE DOWN HILL....

 

WE STAYED 3 NIGHTS IN INDEPENDENCE MO, BOYHOOD HOME OF  PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN AND ALSO THE LOCATION OF HIS PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM, LIBRARY, AND BURIAL GRAVE.  WE DID VISIT HIS MUSEUM AND HIS BOYHOOD HOME.  WE WERE HAUNTED BY ONE HELL OF AN UGLY LDS CHURCH... WITH A BIZARRE CORK SCREW SHAPED STEEPLE.

 

 BELOW ARE PICS OF  THE MINIATURE TOY MUSEUM IN KANSAS CITY MO.  THIS PLACE WAS OUTSTANDING IN EVERY WAY... THEY GIVE YOU MAGNIFYING GLASSES TO CLEARLY SEE THE AMAZING DETAILS OF THE ITEMS IN THEIR COLLECTIONS. THE LAST PICTURE ON THE BOTTOM IS A MINIATURE TILED BATHROOM- SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO ONE WE HAD IN OUR OLD ENGLISH TUDOR HOME IN UPSTATE NEW YORK!

ONE NIGHT STOP OVER IN ROCK SPRINGS WYOMING..... AND THEN ON TO DENVER AND COLORADO SPRINGS AREA.

RV FIRED UP AND READY TO ROLL PRE-DAWN OUT OF WYOMING FOR AN ALL DAY TREK TO THE CHERRY CREEK CAMPGROUND IN AURORA (OUTSIDE DENVER) COLORADO... BELOW.... WELCOME TO COLORADO STOP EN ROUTE TO AURORA...

.................ABOVE AND BELOW... DURING OUR 3 DAY STAY AT CHERRY CREEK

 

ABOVE- OUR NEW HOME (FOR 3 DAYS)  AT THE CHEYENE MOUNTAIN STATE PARK IN THE COLORADO SPRINGS AREA.  BELOW, A HIKE AROUND ACORN ALLEY RIGHT BEHIND OUR CAMPSITE.... INITIALLY WE WERE WONDERING WHY THEY CALLED THIS HIKE 'ACORN ALLEY' AS WE WERE NOT SEEING ANY ACORNS.... BUT THEN UPON MUCH CLOSER INSPECTION, WE DID FIND ITTY BITTY TINY ACORNS... PICTURED BELOW, YOU GET A SENSE OF HOW SMALL THESE ACORNS WERE COMPARED TO AVERAGE TYPED LETTER SIZE.

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ABOVE, ONE CAN SEE THE LITTLE WHITE DOT IN CENTER WHICH IS THE BACK OF OUR RV STICKING OUT OF THE GREEN, INDICATING HOW REMOTE OUR SITE IS... BELOW, TOOK OUR BELOVED AUNT HELEN OUT FOR LUNCH TO CELEBRATE HER 93RD BIRTHDAY AND TOOK IN FEW SCHNEIDER BEERS.   AHHH- GERMAN BEER!

WENT FOR ANOTHER HIKE IN COLORADO SPRINGS AREA AT THE HELEN HUNT FALLS AND CASCADE FALLS LOCATION....  AT THEIR VISITOR CENTER THERE WERE AN INSANE NUMBER OF HUMMINGBIRDS!  THERE GUYS WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT OUR PRESENCE- IN FACT A FEW OF THEM ACTUALLY BRAVELY CAME FLYING RIGHT AT OUR HEADS!!  THESE DAYS REMAIN DANGEROUSLY HOT HOT HOT, WITH SERIOUS EXTREME HEAT WARNINGS IN PLACE.... WHICH IS WHY WE WERE CAREFUL TO MAKE CERTAIN WE HAD ANY OF THESE HIKES COMPLETED PRIOR TO 10AM THE LATEST.

BELOW IS SHOT OF THE MOON OVER CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN.... BY THE WAY, THIS CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN IS THE ACTUAL SITE OF NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex WHICH is a heavily fortified underground military installation, an alternate command center, and a training site located in El Paso County, Colorado, near Colorado Springs. Built during the Cold War, it sits under 2,000 feet of solid granite and features massive blast doors designed to withstand a nuclear attack

 

UTAH! SALT LAKE CITY AND PARK CITY & COTTONWOOD CANYON... ANTELOPE ISLAND STATE PARK

 

MANY PEOPLE HAD POO POO'D THE IDEA OF OUR VISITING SALT LAKE CITY BUT WE CORRECTLY ENVISIONED THE AREA AS ONE WORTH SPENDING SOME TIME AROUND. SURE WE DID SOME ODD THINGS... LIKE VISITING THE HOUSE WHERE ELIZABETH SMART WAS ABDUCTED FROM (GAINING NATIONWIDE PUBLICITY), AND ALSO DID SOME 'FROM THE STREET" VIEWING OF THE MANY OUTLANDISH LDS (LATTER DAY SAINTS, AKA MORMONS) BUILDINGS 0 OF WHICH THERE WERE MANY AND THESE WERE OFTEN QUITE LARGE... BUT OVERALL SALT LAKE CITY WAS MESMERIZING  IN IT LAYOUT, SPARKLE, CLEANLINESS AND UNIQUENESS.  PLACE WAS VERY MODERN IN MANY RESPECTS, YET STILL HAD A TON OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS HAPPENING WHICH CAUSED GREAT CONFLICTS BETWEEN OUR PHONE GOOGLE MAPS AND GARMIN GPS.  ABOVE PICTURE IS OF COTTONWOOD CANYON ON OUR WAY BACK FROM TRIPPIN' FOR A DAY IN PARK CITY AND KAMAS, UTAH.  BELOW IS AN ESTABLISHMENT THAT WE MISTAKENLY THOUGHT WAS THE ONE JIMMY KIMMEL HAD BOUGHT RECENTLY.  DUH.

 BELOW IS THE MAP TO ANTELOPE ISLAND STATE PARK- AND THIS PLACE WAS STUNNING!  LESS THAN AN HOUR DRIVE NORTH FROM SALT LAKE, ONCE YOU ARRIVE, IT TAKES A FEW HOURS TO DRIVE AROUND AND TAKE THINGS IN.  

 HECKLE & JECKLE WERE THE RESIDENT RAVENS  WHO WERE TASKED WITH GREETING US BEFORE SUNRISE....

SOME VIEWS WITHIN THE ANTELOPE ISLAND PARK WERE, LET SAY, "GRAND CANYONESQUE."

 

 

 

IN THE STATE PARK ACTUALLY SITS THE LONGEST CONTINUOUSLY OPERATED RANCH IN ALL OF THE USA.... SINCE THE MID 1800'S!! BELOW IS A REMNANT COVERED WAGON WHICH WAS MODERN FOR THAT DAY BACK IN TIME.

 

BELOW, A BUNNY BRAVELY CAME OUT TO SEE US.

MESMERIZED BY THE VIEWS....

 

HAVING SPENT 3 MONTHS IN ALASKA YEARS AGO, AND ALSO HAVING VISITED YELLOWSTONE 3X, WE WERE QUITE SURPRISED TO ENCOUNTERED MANY MORE BISON ON THIS ISLAND THAN ANYWHERE ELSE WE'D BEEN!  THERE IS SUPPOSEDLY A RESIDENT BISON POPULATION OF 600-700, AND WE THING WE SAW EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM CROSS THE ROAD AND DIFFERENT POINTS IN OUR JOURNEY TODAY.

 

BELOW IS THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY OPERATED RANCH IN USA, LOCATED IN THIS ANTELOPE ISLAND PARK.

 

MADE A STOP AT THE UTAH STATE CAPITOL BUILDING IN SALT LAKE CITY.

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FELT COMPELLED TO CHECK OUT THE TRACY AVIARY IN SALT LAKE CITY AND IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!  ONLY BIRDS BUT AS BIG AS A ZOO- WITH JUST BIRDS!  SEVERAL BIRDS STOOD OUT.... ONE WAS THE GIGANTIC WHITE PELICAN THAT IS ACTUALLY CALLED A DALMATION PELICAN.... IN ADDITION THERE WAS AN ODD 'KING VULTURE' IN HERE....

 

 

 

TWIN FALLS IDAHO

 SITE OF EVEL KNIEVEL'S ACTUAL FAILED  ROCKET MOTORCYCLE JUMP IN THE 1970'S

 

 

BELOW IS COULEE FALLS NEAR CENTENNIAL PARK IN TWIN FALLS.  YOU COULD ACTUALLY WALK BEHIND THESE FALLS!

 

ABOVE IS THE PERRINE BRIDGE ABOVE SNAKE RIVER... NEAR THE PLACE THAT EVEL KNIEVEL ATTEMPTED HIS JUMP.

 

BELOW IS OUR KAYAK ADVENTURE AT BLUE HEART SPRINGS, IDAHO .... LOTS OF SASQUATCHY &  BIG FOOT-ISH  BEINGS LIVE IN THIS AREA!!!

 

 

NICE GATHERING OF WHITE PELICANS!!
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4th of July in BOISE IDAHO.... but first, a word from our BROKEN DOWN NEEDS A TOW RV!

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 BEFORE LEAVING UMATILLA, OREGON, (THE NICE CAMPGROUND PICTURED ABOVE) WE STOPPED AT A PLACE CALLED "HAT ROCK STATE PARK"... DOESNT ILEA ROCK THAT 'HAT' ABOVE HER HEAD? YOU WON'T BE SMILING SOON KIDDO....

 

 

 

UH OH!! WE NEED A TOW.  ABOUT HALF WAY BETWEEN UMATILLA AND NEXT STOP , BOISE (1/2 HOUR WEST OF BAKER CITY) I SUDDENLY NOTICED THAT IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE I HAD ANY POWER STEERING IN THE RV!   QUICKLY PULLED OVER TO THE SHOULDER TO INVESTIGATE AND SURE ENOUGH APPARENTLY ONE OF THE POWER STEERING HYDRAULIC HOSES INSTANTANEOUSLY HEMMORAGED OUT ALL ITS FLUID- ALL OVER THE REAR ENGINE COMPARTMENT AND ALSO ONTO THE POOR INNOCENT CRV WE TOW!

TOOK ABOUT 3 HOURS TO GET THE ACTUAL TOWING ROLLING ALONG- BUT HURRAY FOR US, WE HAVE BOTH AAA AND GOOD SAM SO WERE COVERED FOR THE TOW... RIGHT?  RIGHT???????   RIGHT ??????????????? OH BOY, WE ARE ONLY COVERED FOR THE FIRST $500....... AND THIS TOW COST US AS EXTRA $900 OUT OF POCKET UNFORTUNATLY.  NOW WE ARE MINDFUL THIS DAY IS JULY 1ST AND WE ARE GOING INTO THE SHOP AROUND 2PM ON WEDNESDAY.  FRIDAY EVERYTHING IS CLOSED FOR THE 3 DAY 250TH CELEBRATIONS.  YIKES- NOT GOOD!!!  IF WE DON'T GET SOMEONE ON THIS IMMEDIATELY, WE'D LIKELY BE MAROONED  FOR THE ENTIRE HOLIDAY WEEKEND (LOSING MONEY SPENT FOR CAMPING AT BOISE KOA, AND HAVING TO PAY OUT FOR NEW ACCOMMODATIONS.  LUCKY FOR US, I FOUND 'GRUMPYS', A HIGHLY RATED TRUCK PLACE WHO WITH A LITTLE PERSUASION AGREED TO WORK ON IT  THIS VERY DAY (EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE BOOKED A FEW WEEKS OUT).... BUT, THIS WORK WOULD NEED TO BE DONE AT AN HOURLY RATE EQUAL TO THE  EMERGENCY SERVICE RATE.  4 HOURS LATER WITH YET ANOTHER FEW GRAND LESS IN THE BANK ACCOUNT, WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO BOISE.

 

 BOISE FOR THE 4TH OF JULY AT A LOCAL PARK WITH AN EAGLE/FLAG SCULPTURE.

BOISE IS THE CAPITOL CITY IN IDAHO, AND THE PICTURE BELOW IS SHOT FROM THE INSIDE OF THE CAPITOL LOOKING OUT ACROSS THE STREET- THROUGH THE FLAG HANGING OUTSIDE ON THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAPITOL BUILDING..

 

BELOW AT THE CAPITOL BUILDING, IT APPEARS THAT THE PEOPLE IN THIS STATE DO TAKE PRIDE IN THEY'RE BEING CONNECTED TO THE POTATO!!! 

ILEA LOOKING GOOD IN THE CAPITOL...

 

 

BILL IS THRILLED THAT THIS CITY ACTUALLY HAS LAWS THAT REQUIRE ONE TO BACK INTO THEIR PARKING SPACE!!!!!!   WHOOOO HOOO!!!! 

 

 

BOISE WAS VERY IMPRESSED YEARS AGO BY A TRAVELING EXHIBITION FOR THE HOLOCAUST WHICH INCLUDED SCULPTURES OF ANNE FRANK.  SO MUCH WERE THEY IMPRESSED THAT THEY WENT AND CREATED THEIR OWN ANNE FRANK MEMORIAL... WHICH WAS A TOUCHING TRIBUTE.  ESPECIALLY SO NOWADAYS WHEN IDIOTS LIKE THE PROUD BOYS MARCH AROUND OUR COUNTRY DISSING JEWS AND OTHER MINORITIES.

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