Feeling Exhausted

I woke up at 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep so I finally started the car and drove away. I was headed toward South Pass City  

By the time I had driven for an hour, I was feeling sleepy so I pulled into a rest. Stop and slept for an hour.

On my way, I just happened to pass a sign for Fossil Butte National Monument. I actually drove past the turn off, thought about it and turned around. It was only 2 1/2 miles into the visitor center, so I took a chance and they were open  What a great place to visit! The Ranger there was just chock full of information. They had so many fossils on display, and I was shocked to find out that that whole area had been a The Ranger there was just chock full of information. They had so many fossils on display and I was shocked to find out that that whole area had been a gigantic colossal monster lake Long before humans set foot here.

 ( I realize that this is making a lot of mistakes with spelling and punctuation because I’m talking to my phone and my phone is just stupid. I will correct all this and once I get home.)

I spent about an hour and a half here and then I headed it on up the road  I have to say I am “over” Wyoming  I don’t know who would want to live here. I felt like I drove for three weeks and didn’t see a soul   Luckily, I did pass a gas station and had the presence of mine to fill up, even though I still had half a tank because I didn’t see another gas station the rest of the day  

Turn off to Southpass city was on a gravel road that was like a washboard  I was really concerned about my van  I finally made it there and paid the eight dollar fee  It’s basically a mining that has been abandoned and they fixed up the buildings  You can’t actually walk into the buildings  You walk into a viewing area and there is glass, unfortunately, dirty glass, and you look through to see what the buildings would’ve looked like when people occupied them  It could be a really cool place but I think they need the money to fix it up  

ACK!  My photos all loaded at the top of the page. I’m sorry I will fix this when I get home hello.

I was exhausted and ready to quit for the day, but there was no place to camp  I still had two hours to get to and I decided to go for it  just as I turned the last corner to go to Martin’s Cove, there was a big four car accident that kind of shook me up

I had dinner and settled in  I’ll get a good nights sleep tonight. See how I feel tomorrow.  I’m actually feeling like I bit off more than I can chew. I think I forgot I was 72 and maybe I thought I was 32 again. All this driving is making me tired and I’ll tell you I’ve seen more of Wyoming than I ever want to see. I’m thinking about changing my trip and just bee-lining down to Georgia to Rob‘s house  

More later

Happy trails!

Love, Annie

September 14 Lava Hot Springs

 

I drove to the Winidoka historical site, but they were closed so I headed onto Lava Hot Springs. I plan on spending two nights here, but their prices have gone up and I didn’t want to spend $180 to camp out two nights.  Plus, tomorrow’s drive is over five hours so this way, I think I can break it up into two days. 

I stayed at Lava Hot Springs a year ago, April. At that time I stayed in the hotel.  There weren’t many people here at all. This time it is packed.  Lots of young people having fun!

I spent a nice hour or two at the pool this afternoon.  I may go early in the morning, depending on how I feel.  If you haven’t been here before it’s worth a visit. 

Choate’s Diner - Jerome, Idaho

I woke up early this morning and decided it was time to go get breakfast somewhere. I’m on my way to see the Minidoka internment center and I stopped for a block of ice.  On the way to Minidoka, I passed this cute little diner on the left, and biscuits and gravy were on the menu

Friday the 13th - Hagerman, Idaho

I slept at Love's last night and had a restful night once I remembered to put in my earplugs. I woke up about 3 am and made it to a pretty rest stop up the highway, where I took a bath, had breakfast, and did my exercises. 

I still wasn't sure where I'd sleep tonight. I had made a reservation at the Elk's in Boise, but was less than 2 hours away and I knew I wanted to drive farther. 

Just before Boise, I saw a sign for the World Center for Birds of Prey, and I perked up. What some of you may not know about me is that when I was younger, I worked at Cal State Bakersfield rehabbing raptors. I often took hawks, falcons and owls home and my sons have fond memories of those days. 

At any rate, I didn't know this place existed, so I made a quick right at the sign and after about 5 miles off the freeway, I ended up on top of a hill at their parking lot. They opened at 10 am and it was 10:20, so I missed the big "flight" exhibition they were putting on - but that's ok. I've seen plenty of falcons fly. 

Admission was $12 - I thought that was a bit steep with no senior discount. But I paid it. After all, it was for the birds and in the end, it was a pretty cool stop.

One of the things I was excited about was seeing 3 Condors. 

When I was about 15, I drove my great grandmothers '55 Buick to Pismo Beach for the day from my Grandma Mary's home in Nipomo, California. Back then, my grandparents let me drive everywhere without a license. In fact, I began driving myself to work at the packing house at age 13.  Anyway, on the way home, it was just getting dark and I was driving through Eucalyptus forest on a very narrow two-lane road. I came around a bend, and there in the middle of the road was a GIANT bird!  UGLY bird! Looked like something from out of Land of the Lost!

As I inched up to the bird, it refused to move. It was eating a rabbit, and would look up at me, but continued eating. Its wings went all the way from one side of the road to the other. I got closer and flashed my lights. It looked up then continued eating. I honked the horn. It continued eating. I inched closer and closer, honking and flashing my lights until FINALLY, the danged thing decided to give in. 

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Those wings literally made that big old car shake as it took off, and I sat for another minute in awe.

When I got home, I was so excited. I told my grandmother and great-grandmother what I saw and they just LAUGHED AND LAUGHED! They did not believe a word of it!

Years later, at a zoo, I saw a California Condor. 
Only then, I realized how lucky I was to have seen it in the wild. 

And seeing these today brought back that old memory.

I stayed about 2 hours. It was worth the $12.  Then I hit the road and planned on sleeping at the Bliss Rest Stop. But holy heck! What a nasty place that turned out to be!  I smelled it the minute I got out of the car. The glass was dirty, the floors were dirty, the toilets were gross. I was afraid to touch anything. So I got in the car and drove to the next Loves. For those who don't know, many of them have RV parks with hookups and they will also allow car camping for one night.  I filled up the car with gas, because tomorrow I'll be heading off the highway to go to Lava Hot Springs. 

It was only 2:30 pm so I decided to take a drive to Hagerman along the scenic route. What a pretty drive it turned out to be! I found this really gorgeous rest stop. I may or may not sleep here. Depends on if anyone else shows up. I'm a little more cautious these days and right now, the only other person here is a trucker - I may just hang here until dusk, then head back to Loves.

I guess that's it. Dinner tonight was a Caesar Salad and a bologna sandwich. 

More tomorrow.

Happy Trails!

Love,

Annie

Baker City, Oregon

 I visited the Baker city Oregon Trail Interpretive Center today. It was really interesting . I had my America the Beautiful pass and so I got in free.  I spent about two hours there and enjoyed myself very much.  They have walking trails so if you get there early, you can walk.  Unfortunately, I didn’t arrive until 2:30 PM.  

The center is about 5 miles out of Baker city but it’s an easy and pretty drive.  If you’d like to camp nearby there there’s a place right across the road where it’s legal to park and camp.  I’m being a little more cautious this trip and so I am sleeping at Loves in Baker City. I also need a shower in the morning and they are $18 here which seems high but I need it  The lady that works here was very nice and pointed me across the street for groceries.  The same bag of chips that was seven dollars and change at Loves was $2.99 across the street.

I tried my new Travelisimo to heat my breakfast this morning. You put food in it and then plug it into your Cigarette lighter and it heats it while you drive. Worked great! The freeze dried eggs were “OK“ but they were a little spongy.  The flavor was good, however, and it will be interesting to try the other meals that I prepared.  I finally found blocks of ice for my cooler so I bought milk and yogurt so I can also have cereal in the mornings.

Tomorrow, I head toward Boise.  I have reservations at the Elks club there, but I’m a day early so we’ll see if they’ll let me stay.  It is not a very long drive so I may choose to go further. Maybe they’ll let me stay three nights at Martin’s Cove  

That’s all for now.  Going to eat my bologna sandwich and read the new book that I picked up  

Happy trails!  

Love, Annie

September 12 Update

Last night I camped at Celilo Campground near  Goldendale, Washington. You can stay here seven days if you want. It felt safe and the park itself was beautiful, but very, very windy. My  night was restless because literally 20 feet away were train tracks and I would say a train ran through and blew its whistle hard and long every two hours all night long.  They were a lot of fisherman camped here and a couple of homeless-looking people. The regular bathrooms were not open, but there were pit toilets down to the end of the park, but it was not a place where you could park your car near.  The toilets were clean, just not convenient.  I did not see any water faucets.  For overnight stay I would do it again, but be sure to put in earplugs because it was noisy

I have decided to skip going to Maryhill because they don’t open until 10 AM and I don’t feel like hanging out for three hours. I’m going to get on the road. Mary Hill is close enough to home that I can come back next spring and see it.  I am scheduled to go to Pendleton tonight, but that’s not very far so I may try to make Boise. 

Celilo Park

 

My son came home early from Salt Lake City and so I left a day early for my trip. I want to see Mary Hill Museum tomorrow so I’m camped tonight at Celilo Park, a beautiful spot right on the river. The sun is shining, but the wind is blowing like crazy.  I think that is pretty normal here. 

I stopped near Bridge of the Gods for a hamburger because I was hungry and didn’t want to cook. It was probably the worst burger I’ve ever had in my life. I ordered onion rings instead of fries, hoping they’d be a little more healthy, and I think they were from yesterday. Cold and greasy.  I will tell you the name of the place, but I’ve already forgotten it.  

I drove on old Highway 30 for a while. I couldn’t get near Multnomah Falls, but I managed to see Horsetail Falls, which was beautiful.

Tomorrow morning, I will see Maryhill Museum, and then I head to Pendleton. Since the day was so short today, I may go further. We’ll just see how I feel. Right now, I’m just trying to ground myself and get used to not being in the city  🏙️ And I’m hoping to cut back on social media except for posting my blog so my family knows where I am

More tomorrow,

Love, Annie

My Precious Past

 People don't believe me, but when I was born,
I had 13 living grandparents.
I had Grandparents,
Great-Grandparents,
two Great-Great Grandmothers,
and 3 Step-Grandparents.
And most of them lived
in the little town of Hanford, California,
where I was born.

Here is a photo of some of them:
Me - the baby in the middle

Left of me:  Great-G-Grandma Maria de Jesus de Freitas
Right of me:  Great-G-Grandma Etta Mae Dora Herrell
Left male sitting: Great Grandpa JJ Carvalho
Right male sitting:  Great Grandpa Benjamin Hall
Back row L to R:
Great Grandma Emma Carvalho
Grandma Mary Carvalho Hadley
Grandpa JC Cato
Grandma Inez Hall Cato
Great Grandma Ada Hall

Missing are:
Grandpa Fred Cole
Step Grandpa Bruce Hadley
Step Grandma Faye Sams
Step Grandpa Weldon Sams

My life was RICH as I made the rounds from house to house,
gleaning stories and knowledge from each one.

My father's family was Portuguese.
My G-Grandfather JJ Carvalho spoke very little English
and they were active in the local Portuguese community.
My G-Grandmother Emma attended the Catholic Church. 

My mother's family was a mixture of Sicilian/Scot. 
They attended the Methodist Church. 
My Cato Grandparents were my primary caretakers. 
I called them Ma and Pa.
Ma worked at Sears for 18 years.
Pa was a farmer, and I rode in the pickup with him,

every day until I started school.

Ma's mother and father, the Halls, 
lived right next door.

When I go vanning, 
I usually take some art or craft to keep me busy.
I've decided on this trip not to take anything

except my computer.
I have a list of stories I want to write,

and that will be my main activity.

I'll post them here,

but will also post them on another blog I keep
called

"Our Precious Past."
If you're interested in reading that blog,

here is a link:

Our Precious Past

Enjoy!

Love,

Annie

Sept 5-8 - Portland and Vancouver

I had a great time in Beaverton visiting with my son, Samu, 

and my grandddaughter, Hayden.  

She is such a sweet girl, but at 16, 

I think she finds her dad annoying!  lol!

My daughter in law is in Annapolis, 

visiting my grandson, Hiathan. 
I can't wait to visit the campus,
but I'm going to wait until graduation.

One of the highlights of the visit was their little dog, Marley!
She was quite a snuggle-bug.  

I look so old and haggard in this photo.
I was exhausted... and had a headache.
But Marley was cheering me up!

My son went kayaking with his friends on Saturday.

The video they shot was crazy, 

and looked like a lot of fun.

I stayed home with Marley :)

This morning I packed up and drove to Vancouver, Washington.
I will be here 5 nights,
sitting with my OTHER grand-doggie, 
Jean Luc and his brother, Aleph the Cat.

JL doesn't seem to be feeling very good. 
I think he's hot,
and might have a little upset tummy.
He's farting A LOT 
and DANG THOSE FARTS STINK!

Here is a photo of the view from my son's balcony.

Pretty nice.
Can't wait to take a walk along the river tomorrow.

Until then,
Happy Trails!

Annie

To Portland and a Change in Plans

Today I began my trip with a visit to my favorite breakfast joint in Amity, Oregon.  It's a sweet little place where you sit at the counter to eat and watch the cook making your waffle. I ordered the Oregon Marionberry Waffle, my favorite. I had a headache from all the smoke in the air, so I had about half a cup of coffee, but it was so strong I could barely get it down. It did calm the headache, however.

The air is really smoky. I actually think it's a combination of the fires all around us and dust from the farmers who are harvesting and plowing their fields. You can't really see it in this photo, but the sky just isn't bright blue - it's hazy and yellow looking. Not good for the sinuses at all!

I arrived at my son's house about noon. Samu is off for the next few days and I'll stay with him and my granddaughter, Hayden, until Sunday. 

Samu is cooking a big old stew for dinner, and man, it smells great!

My plan until today was to stay here until Sunday morning, drop in to visit my youngest son, Cameron, in Vancouver, and then take off on my trip.

However, Cameron had to go to Salt Lake for work unexpectedly and couldn't find a dog sitter . . . so I volunteered.  It's both bad and good. It's bad because now I have to call and change all the reservations for campgrounds that I've made. It's good, however, because by the time I leave, this heat wave will have passed and the temperatures will be 15-20 degrees cooler, making nights much nicer in the van! So I'm good with it!

My biggest issue now is making sure my MIDDLE son, Rob, will be ok with me showing up a week later, and also finding things to do and places to stay for about 4 extra days. I think I'm going to explore driving a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway!

This new schedule will put me home a week later - so I may skip seeing some of the sites in the later half of my original plan, but those are places I can visit next Spring.  I still plan on heading up to Chicago and driving down Old Route 66 at least to New Mexico - and am really looking forward to that. 

All of this, of course, depends on the weather. I'm hoping it cooperates this time! Last April, I got chased all the way home by tornadoes!

Soooo... for now, I'm going to enjoy a few days with family and probably won't post until I head a week from today!

Until then...

Happy Trails,

Annie