27 January 2020 - Quartzsite, AZ

   I left Colorado Springs back near the end of September for the Escapees RV Park outside Benson AZ where I remained for a month, enjoying the warm weather.  It was so warm that I was using the air conditioner a lot, and elected to get an EasyStart device from Micro Air to install on the A/C .  Once installed, the A/C startup was so smooth and gentle, even when operating on the batteries, that I no longer had power brown outs of such intensity that the lights would dim and my TV would shut down.  What a great device!
   I moved to Borrego Springs, CA the first of November, joining several of my RV friends, camping in the desert and re-uniting with my friends in the local community.  Then came Friday, the 15th!  I saw a fellow posting Private Property and No Trespassing signs on the area where we were camping, and walked over to talk with him.  He said that a group of investors had purchased the property and were hoping to get it cleared of campers by the end of the weekend, so we RVers figured that we had the weekend to find another place to camp.  Alas, the purchasers evidently went to a lawyer, had him draw up an eviction notice, got it approved by a judge, and gave it to the local sheriff that night after dark.  Said sheriff, a decent and friendly sort, came out and told us that we had 15 minutes to vacate.  After dark!  Have you ever tried to hook up to a trailer after dark?  Difficult, to say the least.
   Conversing with local residents afterward, I heard that  because Borrego Springs is in an isolated valley and running a serious drawdown of the water aquifer, a water usage limitation has been placed on residents, towns and businesses in the area, based on the amount of land owned.  But the water doesn't need to be used on all the land that the usage is based on.  So it seems that a local high-end resort and expansive golf course company bought up this distant property, then based upon the ownership of this new land, they are entitled to additional waters to pour on their golf course several miles away.
    But we had to get out, and right now!  Several RVs were to a nearby and crowded campground, and several others just left the area.  But four RVs went to the local American Legion where we could dry camp for $5 a night, but some of them quickly found mice in their rigs, to they left rather soon.  I didn't encounter any mice, and stayed for Thanksgiving and a free dinner hosted by the Legion, and music provided by my friend, Paul Martin.  I had a very pleasant time there, and quite a good meal.  The music was quite good, also.
   A few days later, I left for Christmas and New Years in the California desert just west of Yuma, AZ.  We had a pleasant time there, and the winds sure did blow, but we enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

   Shortly after the New Year, I moved a few miles to Fortuna Pond just outside Yuma, and it was like entering a completely different world!  Water!  Birds!  Wildlife!
   We saw lots of coots, many ducks, several ospreys diving on the resident rainbow trout (stocked), white egrets and an occasional great blue heron.
 

   And again, we enjoyed spectacular sunrises.

   And alpenglow on the surrounding hills.

      While we were there, friend Paul Martin joined us for a few days, and entertained us around the campfire one evening.  What a treat!

   The middle of January, we moved north 60 miles or so to Quartzsite, and small town of 3600 or so, out in the desert all by itself, but during the winter, particularly during January and February, the population is said to swell to over a million!  Gem and auto shows, RV shows, free and low cost camping all combine to turn the area into a real zoo!  But it's fun for a while, then off to quieter and more peaceful areas.
   We Boondockers (about 30 RV's) camped about 5 miles north of town on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, free of charge, surrounded by a vast multitude of other RVers for about a month.  There were morning campfires and cowboy coffee, afternoon social hours, and evening campfires, plus dinners in town, pancake breakfasts in Bouse, AZ (about 20 miles away), shopping trips, and on and on, but no pressure.  Everyone had an enjoyable time. 
   And friend Craig Kite one day flew his whale shark kite for us!

   I hope all are doing well,

Bill

15 Sep '19 - New Moon over Henry's Fork Caldera, and Rabbitbush

    Just a couple more photos I caught while staying in Idaho north of Ashton.

    First, rabbitbush in autumnal bloom.

Second, a closeup of the rabbitbush bloom.

Third, a new moon over my camper, perfectly

capturing the sense of peace and quiet I enjoyed 

at this campsite.

   

15 August 2019 - Henry’s Fork Caldera

    When I departed Victor, Idaho I drove to Butte, MT and camped up on Homestake Pass, about 5 miles east of town, just off I-90.  I was camping with fellow boondockers, members of Escapees RV Club and other campers we happened to meet there.  It was a pleasant 2 weeks, and I got several things done, such as re-stocking the RV with food and water, plus doing the laundry.  

    But I had enjoyed the area around Victor that I wanted to return and explore some more, so I packed up once more and headed south, planning to camp somewhere around the area between Ashton, ID on the south, to West Yellowstone on the north(-east).  I ended up dry camping in a treeless area just a mile east of where the north end of the Mesa Flats Scenic Byway meets back up with US 20, about 20 miles north of Ashton.  It sounds a bit drab, but I’m quite near the Henry’s Fork River, and even heard some Sand Hill Cranes rattling call last night, and Harriman State Park is just a couple miles away to the west.

    Last week I stopped at a roadside display that explains some of the history of this area, and lo’, I’m camped in a caldera, the John’s Fork Caldera, which was created when the Yellowstone super volcano exploded 1.2 million years ago, blasting some 67 cubic miles of rock and molten lava into the sky.  Parts of eastern Idaho were buried under as much as 1,000 feet of ash.  The Henry’s Fork Caldera is one of the largest and most symmetrical calderas in the world - 23 miles in diameter.  And from my campsite, I can look to the west and see the rim of the caldera, just a few miles away.

Caldera Rim

    I recently read about a company called 460 Bread, located in Driggs, Idaho where they are making some tremendous breads.  

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2019/04/09/jerod-pfeffer-coupe-du-monde

Of course, I remembered this after I got to Butte (below), so I very much wanted to visit them when I returned, but a phone call revealed that they are strictly a wholesale business, but that I could get some of their product in local stores.  

       https://www.460bread.com/

    Jerod, the owner, has been accepted as a competitor for Team USA in the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, which is held every three to four years in Paris, France.  So I was impressed!

    I drove south about 50 miles to get a couple baguettes and brought them back, and tried them and was blown away!  I’ve long heard about how great French baguettes are, but holy cow!  Crisp, crackling crust, incredibly chewy interior, fantastic flavor - this bread has it all.

    When I leave here, I plan to head south just so I can get several more baguettes, plus other breads from this company.

    

    I had read about a place up near Big Springs, ID - about 20 miles away - called Johnny Sack’s Cabin.  Big Springs is located where the eastern edge of the Henry’s Fork Caldera is covered over by the western edge of a more recent lava flow from the Yellowstone super volcano, and the rains and snow melt that fall on that old lava flow, now highly fractured, seep down until they hit an impermeable layer, then flow laterally, emerging along the western edge of the Yellowstone Plateau at Big Springs.  The springs flow at the rate of 120 million gallons per day of stunningly pure and clear water, thereby creating the headwaters of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River.  And it was here that Johnny Sacks, settled down.

    Johnny was born in Germany about 1883, and came to the South Bend, Indiana with his parents when he was 6 years old.  When he grew up, he worked for a time at the old Studebaker Wagon Company, but in 1909, at age 26, he decided to go west.  He arrived on the first train to travel the newly laid rails into Island Park, Idaho, arriving in June - to a raging blizzard!  He was talented with tools, so started making some furniture, and soon had enough to lease a small tract of land from the Forest Service ($4.15/year!) where he built his log home overlooking these fantastic springs.

    I got some few pictures, but found even better ones at the link, below:

https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/johnny-sack-cabin-big-springs-id/

Oh, yes.  This talented fellow stood all of 4’ 11” tall!

    

    This is a beautiful area.  I hope you get a chance to see it some time.

Bill

30 July 2019 - Victor and Ashton, Idaho - Mesa Falls

    In late July I drove to Jackson, WY to visit good friend and troubadour, Paul Martin, where he was entertaining nightly at one of the local establishments.  I stayed once more at the Grand Teton National Park’s Gros Ventre Campground, and on my last of three days drove the tour road from Wilson (west of Jackson) north to Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake Junction.  Along the way, I happened on an insignificant dirt road and a small sign reading “Murie Ranch.”  I had read often of Olaus and Margaret (Mardy) Murie and their notable role in the American conservation movement, and had always wanted to view their homestead outside Jackson - and here I was!  

    It was still early morning when I arrived, and met Murie Ranch Docent, Dan McILhenny, as he was doing some early morning chores.  I wasn’t expecting anything like the hour-long tour he gave me (the only visitor at this hour), and I got to see the interior of the Murie’s 3-4 bedroom log cabin, original furnishings, and especially enjoyed seeing the old wood-burning cook stove Mardy had used, along with the large hot water tank that was connected by recycling pipes to the wood stove firebox and heated thereby, cold water from the bottom of the tank in at the bottom, hot water out at the top going back to the top of the water tank.  Dan said that she used to have an outlet connected to the outgoing (hot) pipe near the top of the tank, from which she could draw piping hot water.

    Alas, I tried taking pictures with my cell phone, but not even one of them turned out.  I was extremely disappointed!   Some idea of the cabin and surrounding area can be gained from Facebook page,  

       https://www.facebook.com/pages/Murie-Ranch-Historic-District/112457885432712

    After touring the cabin, Dan and I talked for a while, and he found out that I’d been in the Air Force and in Viet Nam, then he asked what I’d done and at what base.  I’d been in the Air Police at that time, and spent most of my time as Night Duty Officer, checking and working with the crew that was on-duty during the hours of darkness.  It turned out that he was in Viet Nam shortly after I returned to the US, working as an Air Policeman K-9 handler, and he was supposed to have gone to the same small base, Binh Thuy, I had been assigned, but when he landed at Saigon, the folks there said they needed him more than did Binh Thuy.  We had a real good conversation about our respective experiences in VN, and most moving, we exchanged salutes as we parted.

    When I left Jackson, I pulled up over Teton Pass, on Wyoming Route 22 west of town.  This was a tough pull, with 5 miles of 10% grades, but we made it over the pass and into Idaho, where I selected a spot in the backcountry just south of Victor and only steps from the trailhead into the Jedediah Smith Wilderness Area.  It was a very attractive area, and hard by a tumbling, ice-cold mountain stream.  There’s a 5 day limit on camping, and I spent a lot of time walking with Meghan, my dog, and taking pictures of some of the many blooming plants.

    The first picture doesn't look like much, but when seen from a different perspective, as in the second picture, you can understand why it's called "Lady's Tresses."  

                      

 

Wild Geranium

Hare Bells

Fireweed in the afternoon "Golden Hour" when colors are accentuated

More Hare Bells

Thistle

Showy Daisy with Fireweed

An oddity, a Cone Flower without any petals.  

I was puzzled by this, but my trusty book of Mountain Wildflowers, written by notable scientists and identical twins, John and Frank Craighead, who later studied the grizzly bears in Yellowstone Nat'l Park.  This is the Western Coneflower, Rudbeckia occidentalis, and it has only the minute disk-flowers  (the dark cone formation), and is completely lacking the usual rayflowers (petals).

Here shown with a few of the diskflowers starting to bloom at the very bottom of the cone.

Fireweed

    After 5 days, I left Victor and relocated to an area northeast of Ashton, Idaho off State Highway 47, staying for two days at the Grandview Campground in the Targhee National Forest, where I had more fireweed right outside my window.

    Each day I was here, I walked to the 2 overviews of the falls several times, trying to get good pictures of them.  I did succeed in getting some videos on my cell phone, but haven't been able to move them to this blog.  But you can get a real good picture of them at the following URL:

https://visitidaho.org/things-to-do/scenic-byways-backcountry-drives/mesa-falls-scenic-byway/

They're definitely a sight to see!

    Hope you're enjoying your summer,

   Bill

July 2019 - Elk River Back Country Byway, Idaho

   So far this summer, I have visited the New Horizons factory in Junction City, KS - Home of the Big Red One, and had some work done on my slideout, which now is working somewhat better.  I guess you'd call that "faint praise."
   Then I visited Colorado Springs for my annual medical checkups, and was stunned to find that my blood pressure has spiked from its previous relatively normal level.  But medication is now helping with that.  Then I left in the middle of June for the Boondockers summer gathering on Lake Koocanusa near Libby, MT.  On the way to this gathering, I traveled along Seeley Lake on Montana Hwy 83, and discovered one area, where the forest floor beneath the mature pines was covered for many miles along the highway with bear grass in luxuriant bloom!  I have never before seen them blooming in such abundance.  The blooms stand about 3 feet tall.

Lake Koocanusa is a large reservoir on the Kootenai River, which empoundment extends 48 miles in the US and an additional 42 miles into Canada.  Almost all on the US side is wilderness, with dense forest cover and a few campgrounds, of which we were camping at the Warland Creek campground.  This was a peaceful and fairly quiet CG, even over the 4th of July, and I enjoyed trying to identify the wild plants I was unfamiliar with, succeeding finally with one,

which an old Field Guide written by John and Frank Craighead identified as a native honeysuckle, Lonicera ciliosa.  It was a climbing vine, but only about 8 to 12 feet tall, with bright orange tubular flowers, and very attactive, especially when found blooming in combination with the wild roses.
Meghan greatly enjoyed the large sandy beach, digging, digging and digging some more, plus playing in the water, and chasing sticks thrown in the water, but only to a depth of neck high on her.  Her feet are so tiny that she's just not a super swimmer.  But she sure had great fun!
   After two weeks relaxing there, I adjourned to Boise, ID to visit long-time friends Walter and Sabrina.  But I took the long way around getting there, traveling first to Missoula, then to Stanley, ID where it was deliciously cool (38 degrees in the morning), then on to Boise where it was HOT.  After a week of catching up with friends, I decided to try Idaho's Elk River Back Country Byway, headed north for Orofino, IT, where I turned NE onto the Dent Bridge Road, and after many miles of winding, twisting and switchbacking, finally arrived at a very large pullout, big enough for many large RVs and with a great view of the Dent Bridge.

    This bridge was judged to be one of the 18 most beautiful structures in America, and received the "Long Span Construction" Award in 1972.  No lives were lost during construction, and the only significant accident was a backhoe which, improperly secured, rolled into the river.
    Pressing on northward, I was dumped onto a variety of dirt logging roads, and met several large trucks coming in to pick up their load of logs, but all were very courteous and slowed down greatly when they saw me.  Finally, just as I was about to give up, I came upon an attractive lake with nice campsites along the lake.  Turned out, Elk River, my destination, was just around the corner!  So I quickly took possession of one of these nice lakeside camp sites.

    Turns out, by now Elk River has changed into Elk Creek, and back in 1910 that Potlatch company built a dam on the creek to create a millpond for storing logs for the new sawmill in town.  Logs were towed in by horse-drawn skids or sleigh to the pond where they were floated to protect the logs from insects and from drying out.  One day while I was here, I heard a racket out in the forest across the lake, grabbed my binoculars, and saw that an osprey was bedeviling a bald eagle, and finally succeeded in driving it away.

    There is also a small rustic housing area about a block's distance away from where I camped, which is a historic fire camp, and still houses a crew of 10 seasonal firefighters, and is owned by the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association.

    The Potlatch Company purchased more than 4,000 acres of timberland in 1909, and in 1910 built here in Elk River, the very first fully electric sawmill in the world, and could, with a work force of 250 men, produce over 300,000 board-feet of lumber in every 10-hour shift.  

    Logging is still done, and hauled right by my campsite, but again, the drivers were very courteous to all.  Below, neighbors passing by:

    While at Elk River, I took the opportunity to visit Elk Creek Falls, which entailed a walk of about a mile through dense mature forest on sandy walkways carpeted with fallen pine needles.  Then I had the choice - to view Upper Falls, Lower Falls, or Middle Falls.  I chose Upper - it was closer.

    Later, I saw on the Internet that Middle and Lower Falls are even nicer.
   Another day I chose to drive 10 miles or so through forest roads to view the largest known tree in the North America east of the Cascade-Sierra Crest.  It is a massive Western Red Cedar, approximately 18 feet in diameter and 177 feet tall - taller than a 16-story building!  And estimated to be more than 3,000 years old!  And it's surrounded by other massive red cedars, but none quite as large or old.  I like my trees, and it was really a special treat to see this entire group.

    Hearing the forecasts of 90-degree weather coming my way, I packed up and drove north to Saint Maries, ID on the Saint Joe River, again in old logging country.  Upon arrival, I stopped to camp at the Benewah County Fairgrounds, where I had stayed several years ago while biking the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene which runs 72 miles across the panhandle of Idaho.  That afternoon, I drove out of town and east along the St Joe river, and decided that this was definitely NOT the place for me.  The campgrounds and the river were filled with high school and college age float-tripping party people.  Not the peaceful and quiet environment I wanted. 

     That's it for now - who knows my next destination?

24 March 2019 - Mega Upgrade!

     Ever since lithium batteries came available, I've been so envious of RVers who have them and find themselves blessed with free electricity without limit and with no cares.
     So finally, I took the step.  Back in January, I contacted Marvin Braun (PrecisionRV.com) to request his assistance in giving my 27' 5W RV a complete upgrade in terms of solar, batteries and hybrid inverter and battery monitor.  He and his wife were then in Florida, working on a couple RVs during the winter, but were expected back at Casa Grande, AZ in March, so I wrote back to request an appointment in Casa Grande as early as possible in March.  Time marched on and I arrived Casa Grande on the 13th of March, a bit early for the appointment, but I had other things to do in the meantime.  Marvin met me, scoped out the RV and its available storage spaces, and started working on the 15th.
     Hmmmm - aren't we supposed to beware the Ides of March?
     Marvin is an absolute professional, and got all the work done in only 6 working days, working alone.  This involved removing all existing solar panels from the roof, removing a large Dish satellite TV antenna and dome cover from the roof, repairing and patching many leftover holes.  He removed the existing Xantrex inverter and the four AGM batteries plus routing and installing new heavy-duty wiring for the upgrade and for the new locations of the replacement batteries and inverter.
     Before and after pictures:
          Formerly, the AGM batteries were stored in a sunken compartment under the bathroom, and had free airflow to the outside for venting.  And dust.  They were removed, and that entire well was closed off and became additional storage area.

                         

We really had to search to find a space large enough for the new batteries, but finally found one - under the desk in my bedroom.  I had been using this space just to store "stuff", which now needs to find a new location, but the batteries fit and were installed, and then a box was built around them for enclosure and protection.

     Up on the roof, I formerly had 5 solar panels or about 500 watts, plus a large dome concealing a Dish satellite TV antenna.  All were going; after about 4 years of reruns, I had long ago decided to ditch the Dish.

       
Now, there's no Dish antenna dome, and a total of 8 solar panels, each rated at 175 watts, for a total of 1400 watts.  And a new small black TV antenna just right of the forward air vent.

     And the trailer profile looks much cleaner now, without the Dish antenna.

       

     So what does all this do for me?  Well, right now, it has made life a good bit more confusing.  Confusing?  What the...?  Unlike AGM batteries, which like to be as full as possible all the time (and never drained more than 50% if you want them to last), lithium batteries like to be used and don't mind being drained much lower.  However, we can't charge them if their temperature is below freezing, which is one of the reasons they're inside.  

     I can charge the batteries from solar, and camp anywhere with good solar exposure without hooking up to commercial power, but must always keep in mind at least two things: never leave home with the inverter on and the A/C running off the batteries (or any other heavy draw), as I might be delayed in returning, and come home after dark to a dark home without power.  The batteries have a built-in battery management system (BMS) for protection that automatically shuts them down when they hit a low of 0% state of charge on the BMS screen.  The BMS screen shows only the percentage of usable amp hours that are available for use.    

    Also, never leave home while hooked up to commercial power and the inverter on Standby, and the A/C running.  The power might fail, the inverter will pick up the load to run the A/C, and if delayed, I might well come home to another dark home.  Not good!

   On the plus side, I have more power than I ever imagined!  I can run the A/C from the batteries, I can run an electric space heater from the batteries, I can install a residential electric refrigerator (or the new Amish-built DC powered cooling unit for my Dometic RV refrigerator.  I can run my microwave, and run it on true sine wave power.  My sensitive electronics are now all running on true sine wave AC power.  How much power?  The battery system is rated at 800 amp hours, of which (for a lithium system) 80% is usable.  Since the batteries need to be used rather than be topped off at 100% all the time, I can really used the batteries by using all the electricity I want.  Just gotta keep a watch on them for a while until I come to understand their working and their limits, and how much I'm going to be using each day.  That latter I can always modify.

September 8, 2018

   Meghan and I left Colorado Springs the end of June, and arrived Boise, ID in time for the 4th of July.  I was there to revisit friends Walter and Sabrina, formerly of Colorado Springs, and to see Walter’s parents, Roy and Judy, once again.  It was a good reunion, and I happened to have picked a wonderfully casual, rural and laid back RV Park, Country Corners RV Park, Sand Hollow, ID to stay at.  I didn’t take many pictures, but one day, Walter and I took a trip into the Owyhee area in Oregon, I think it was Leslie Gulch, and we both got grand pictures of rock formations illuminated by reflected afternoon sunlight.

     Departing Boise after the 4th, I drove north of Kingston, ID and 25 miles into the Coeur D’Alene National Forest to meet with the Escapees Boondockers, a nature-oriented group of dry-camping enthusiasts.  It would have been great, but the heat was oppressive, and on top of that, my refrigerator kept shutting down due to overheating!  After too many days of this, I left early to stop at a nice RV park in Cataldo, ID, right of the banks of the Coeur D’Alene river (Kahnderosa RV Park), where I was able to enjoy my rig’s air-conditioning.  What a relief!

     I then relocated to the Chief Joseph Pass X-C Ski parking lot, in Montana, south of Missoula and Hamilton, at Lost Trail Pass on Route 43.  Meghan and I were alone there, in deep forest, but high atop the mountain pass, where we enjoyed a few days of cool weather.   

     July 24th, we relocated to Homestake Pass, just 5 miles or so east of Butte, MT to rejoin the Boondockers.  Here we were able to enjoy reasonable temperatures in the company of about 16  fellow boondockers for three weeks.  We had nightly campfires, plus frequent trips to town for groceries, vehicle maintenance and for nightly dining.  Also, when I was having problems with my fridge, I had looked up information on Paul of the ARP Company who make a device to prevent overheating of propane refrigerators, and discovered his homebase is in Butte.  So once I arrived, I called him immediately looking for a referral to a local repair person who could try to fix my problem.  Instead, he said he and his wife would be out that afternoon!  They worked on my fridge a couple hours, fixing a problem with insulation that was overlaying the cooling fins behind the fridge (NOT good!), plus diagnosed and fixed a problem with my ARP unit’s temperature sensor, and installed an update!  And the fridge has been performing much better since them.  Additionally, they came out a week later to our group’s afternoon social gathering, presented information on their ARP unit, got several takers, and started installations that very afternoon.  Everyone I’ve talked to has been favorably impressed with the performance of their refrigerators since then.

    One thing I noticed at Homestake Pass that I’ve never seen before was one camper (not in our group) who brought their chickens with them!  I hear they got 2 to 3 eggs each day - bound to be good eggs, but the hassle would be too much for me.

     On the 14th of August, Meghan and I  plus two other campers relocated to a dry camping site beside the Lake Fork Creek Road south of Red Lodge, MT.  This is in a very attractive mountainous area, at an elevation of approximately 6768 feet.  We were eventually joined by about 7 other RV’s for a total of about 18 to 20 people.  We again enjoyed pleasant temperatures for the most part (although we did have a couple nights of 33 degree temps), and some rainy spells.  Plus we had our afternoon gab fests, sightseeing trips, dining out in Red Lodge, and our nightly campfire.  Definitely a “do again” site!

     When I went to leave Red Lodge, the slide-out in my trailer didn't want to retract, grinding and slipping repeatedly, and I was highly concerned as my friends had already left, but finally, finally, after repeatedly stopping and manually pulling each end of the slide inward, I at last got it fully retraced.  But what to do?  I was out of phone contact, so couldn't call the factory, so I just packed it up and pulled out, resolved to try to call them later down the road.

    Well, I stopped at Cody, WY to call, but the line was busy so I left a message.  Tried again at Meeteetse, WY - line busy, left another message.  Continued to Casper, WY where I camped at the very nice Rivers Edge RV Park - called again, got the office, but the maintenance chief was out of his office, so asked them to give him the message to call me - which never happened.  Finally, I got ahold of him the next morning, told him the problem and made an appointment to be at the factory in Junction City, KS Monday, September 10.  OK, that's done, now how do I get there?

     Since I had plenty of time, I decided to take a leisurely route, revisiting the Nebraska Sand Hills via US Hwy 2, but first driving along US Hwy 26 by Scotts Bluff and Bridgeport, Nebraska, where I paused to visit Chimney Rock National Monument.

     Unfortunately, the Visitor Center is about 1/4 mile from the formation, and one can't walk up to the Monument, but at least this provides some protection from modern souvenir hunters.

    Here's the URL of an interesting site regarding travel on the Oregon Trail passing Chimney Rock, and on the 1,955 pounds of supplies they had to carry in each family's wagon.  Just imagine what 200 pounds of beans would do for you!   Plus, it includes the Original Name given to the rock...   https://www.postcardsfromsurprisingplaces.com/home/chimney-rock-the-oregon-trails-most-famous-landmark

     That night I dry camped somewhere east of Hyannis, NE on a section of the old and unused Hwy 2 that in places still parallels the new Hwy 2.  This put me immediately adjacent to the railroad which had very frequent fully loaded coal trains heading east and returning trains of empty cars returning west, but they didn't disturb me at all.  I slept soundly all night and was up early the next morning for a fresh start.

    The next night saw me in Ellis, KS at their nice city park (E and W) for $20.  And showers!

    I left the next morning for a 3 hour drive to Junction City, and all was well, but when I arrived, TROUBLE!  I had gone inside to let them know I was there and would be staying over the weekend, then when I returned to the trailer, I immediately saw there was a large and open crack at the upper righthand corner of the front of the trailer, exactly where one had developed 2 or 3 years ago.  And it wasn't there when I departed Ellis!  So I covered it with duct tape, and come Monday I'll discuss it with the maintenance folks and have that added to the list of things to fix.  I might even get everything done, as there is no one else waiting currently.  

    Wish me luck!

    I hope all is well with everyone,

   Bill and Meghan