While we were in Leavenworth, my Floridian sister informed me that she and her husband were planning a six-day trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She wanted to know if we could meet them there. Although we were not planning on heading in that direction, we could alter our plans. This would give us an opportunity to pop in on Scott’s sister, Shelley, as we diverted our eastern course and began to head south.
While we were in Central Washington, the temperatures were in the high 80’s during the day. There was a burgeoning heat wave bringing triple-digit temperatures to many western states. When we arrived at Scott’s sister’s home in Lewiston, Idaho, on July 29th, it was 105 degrees! Thankfully, they have a very cold, air-conditioned home. It definitely cooled off outside in the evenings and early mornings, but the heat of the day was extremely uncomfortable. We parked the rig on their property with the fridge running off the propane tanks. The ground was not very level and our rig was fairly tilted. We didn’t think anything of it since we were sleeping inside their house. Late the next morning, I went into the trailer to get some more clothes and food. It was unbearably hot inside the trailer. When I opened the refrigerator door, it immediately occurred to me that it was warm inside. The freezer was cool, but not as cold and it should have been. The outside temperature today was 106. Yesterday, it was 105. We had just made a large food shopping trip the day before we arrived. Now, we had to throw out most of the contents of the fridge. We took a gamble on our frozen food, much of which Scott’s mom had vacuum packed for us. Scott adjusted the trailer so that it was no longer on a tilt. That, coupled with the very hot temperatures, must have been the cause of the malfunctioning fridge.
Shelley had to work Friday and was “on-call” over the weekend that we were visiting. After all, this was a last minute visit on our part as we were not originally planning on traveling through the area. That evening, Shelley’s husband, Jack, cooked us a “chicken” dinner. His daughter, Jordan, and her two kids came over to join us. It wasn’t until after we finished eating that I was told that the chicken was actually pheasant. There’s always a first! It was pretty good, but I may not have eaten it if I knew what it actually was. Such a Jersey girl.
When we last visited two years ago, there were nine six-week old puppies born to their English Setters Tess and Gus. At about eight-weeks old, all but one pup had moved on to new homes. Dakota, formerly as a pup known as Wolverine and Dak, was now towering over his parents and part of a threesome of hunting dogs. It was fun to reminisce over the fun we had with the nine puppies. These three were also entertaining and very loving.
The next day we sat around waiting for Shelley to get a call, which didn’t come until 5:00 p.m. We mostly stayed inside as it had reached 111 degrees, for a third consecutive day of 3-digit temps. Jack and Shelley now housed three dogs, three chickens and a bunch of pigeons. When let out of their pens, the chickens made their way around to the front of the house to the dirt planters that once displayed beautiful flowers. These planters became the “pets” spot to cool off.
Later that evening, Jack, Scott and I took the mile walk to get the mail. Thankfully, it had cooled down quite a bit front he scorching heat of the day. The deep-blue sky was masked with a smoky haze.
On Sunday morning, Shelley got a 9:00 a.m. call and off she went. We packed up and left a few hours later. It was a short visit, but always worth it!
We drove 288 miles south to Boise. It had become increasingly difficult to find empty sites at RV campgrounds. We were able to find a spot just outside of Boise in Caldwell. We would stay at Ambassador RV Park for two nights. Immediately after we set up, we drove 40 minutes to Scott’s brother, Russ’ home. Russ prepared a delicious meal of ribs, brisket, and chicken served with watermelon, melon and a cold pasta salad. We hung out for hours talking and eating. Then, as we sat in their front yard at dusk, I got my first mosquito bites of the summer. Lovely. Thank you, Idaho.
The next day, we drove to meet my friend, Nils, at The Sandbar Patio and Grill on the Boise River. It was nice to see him, albeit for a few hours. The last time we got together was in Utah when he lived in Park City. He seems to like his new surroundings and we wish him the best!
The next morning, we drove about six hours south/southeast to Idaho Falls. We spent one night at the Snake River RV Park and caught up on laundry. Tomorrow, we will continue south towards Jackson, Wyoming. We have 13 days to go before our family arrives. Woo Hoo!!
Shifting Sands Travels 