Fall Colors

October 27, 2014

It seems this fall has been long, and it has! We started to notice fall colors in August in Alaska and it was definitely fall in Canada in early September as we made our way to Idaho. The fall colors here in Idaho have been special and the trees are just now starting to lose their leaves. The quilter in me wants to capture all of the fall colors in fabric and I just might!

 

Cliff took a picture of the area we are in and pointed out the Visitor Center and our trailer.

And here is the latest update on the wild turkeys! They are getting bigger and bigger and for a few days we thought something had happened as there were only 11 turkeys instead of 14. But then yesterday we counted 13 turkeys so maybe only one is lost!

We continue to work at the Visitor Center and maybe have 10-20 visitors a day. A few more because the fishing is good right now and hunting season has opened. It is always good when visitors come in and they are chatty! We plan to leave here about November 15, heading to Boise to spend time with family for a few days. We will then make another stop in Utah to visit friends and then start the trek across Wyoming and back to Colorado. That means another chance to lay over in Wyoming because of a snowstorm but we are pros now, no big deal!

Cliff and Cyndy

 

Sidebar – Building a Dugout Canoe with Lewis and Clark

October 21, 2014

In October of 1805 Captain William Clark and an advanced group of the Corps of Discovery stopped at this spot on the south bank of the Clearwater River just west of the confluence of the North Fork of the Clearwater and built 5 dugout canoes that they used to float all of the way to the Pacific. I have always marveled at the work it must have been to build those canoes, but I never really knew the facts.

They built 5 canoes out of Ponderosa Pines. Four of those canoes were 50’ to 55’ long and between 2½’ to 3’ feet in diameter. The fifth canoes was about 35’ long and 2’ to 2½’ feet in diameter. They had to haul a crew of 34 and each canoe carried a minimum of 7 men and 800 to 1,000 pounds of equipment each.

A display of a dugout canoe at the actual spot where Lewis and Clark built their 5 dugout canoes for their trip to the Pacific.

Consider how much time it would take to chop down a tree of that size and then hollow it out with hand tools. The Indians taught them how to use small fires and/or hot coals to help make the wood brittle and easier to chip out. After making their way over Lolo Pass and the continental divide they nearly starved to death and were then rescued by the Nez Perce Indians.

Today, a road follows the Clearwater from Orofino to Lewiston, where we often shop for groceries. They started down the river in October when the river runs pretty low and the Corps of Discovery ended up pulling and pushing their canoes in ice cold water for much of the first 30 miles. This real life adventure kind of kills my desire to have been a pioneer!

A actual canoe built by the Nez Perce Indians about a hundred years old.

Cliff

Clarkston WA

October 5, 2014

Oh just hanging out in an RV repair shop parking lot, enjoying the Bronco game and the free, fast wifi. We will enjoy watching several weeks of teachings from flatirons this evening that we cannot get up at the dam.

Taking your home with you wherever you go is a cool concept until you think about the disadvantage of taking your home with you wherever you go. We put our home through the shake, rattle and roll test with every trip we make and sometimes things shake loose. RV dealers understand the issues of repairing a trailer that is your home and they have hook ups in their lot that allow you to at least spend the night in your trailer. And we are not the only ones here!

More wildlife! Cliff makes the rounds of the campgrounds around the reservoir and he spotted these whitetail deer. The does are about the size of a Great Dane dog.

Wild Turkey update. The rafter of turkeys still visit us every morning and evening, looking for their dried corn and seed. The quail come right after them and pick up what is left. We count the turkeys every day to make sure there are still 14! They are getting much bigger and flap their wings around a lot to get more of the food.

 

Cliff and Cyndy