SEPTEMBER 2008
CANADA -Waterton Lake
Monday
1st we left
the camp heading for the U.S. border, where we duly arrived. The border
crossing was very easy, not more than ten minutes and we were on our
way to Waterton Glacier National Park. We passed between
mountains with fresh snow on their upper slopes. We found out
that this was the last day of the Shuttle Bus therefore we had to go
now. The view at the top was shrouded in mist and it was snowing
very slightly. We returned to below the cloud and thence to our
camp. Before the bus trip we saw a young Osprey in it’s nest,
when we returned there was an adult Osprey perched on the nest and
while driving to the camp another adult Osprey flew in front of us
carrying something in it’s claws. Tuesday we set out on a
bright sunny day and drove southeast onto the western edge of the
great plains. The sun continued to shine all day while we drove
to Lewistown to find the camp office shut and a “back soon” sign in the
window. The camp appeared full and we decided to go south to
Harlowton, on the way we spotted a RV Motel sign at a fuel station and
decided to stop for the night. This was the cheapest stop so far
$5 with full hook up, the meal in the restaurant was very good.
It was a long day’s drive. Wednesday we left the RV
site, 
drove south and then east to Billings where we
heard a grating sound. We were recommended to a RV repairer who
discovered that the rear right brake assembly had collapsed, they also
discovered that the drive shaft supports needed replacing. During
the day we must have seen well over a thousand cattle, five hundred
sheep, two hundred horses and two Mule Deer standing on the Rim Rock
overlooking the road. Thursday
Mervyn phoned Stormont, in Dunstable, to warn them of an incoming
order. Friday
we e-mailed Stormont with the list of required parts. One of the
mechanics, James, took Howard to Best Buy to check the computer and buy
some blank CDs.
Saturday 6th James again took Howard to Best Buy this time to buy an external hard drive to back up the computer, James started the back up. Sunday we were waiting for parts. Monday on a fine sunny day the garage owner lent us a car so that we could visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield (Custer’s Last Stand). The visit was well worth while. We had elevenses and lunch in the local battlefield Trading Post, the cooking was excellent . We did our washing in the local laundrette. Tuesday the parts are leaving Dunstable tomorrow. We walked to Albertsons for some shopping. It was the second dry day. Wednesday we were still marking time. Thursday it was a fine day after yesterday’s heavy rain. The parts are now in Great Falls, Montana, hopefully they will be here tomorrow. A mechanic found the problem with our secondary diesel tank, the plug to stop dirt getting into the tank via the vent pipe, before fitting, was still there. Friday the parts arrived during the lunch hour and it took all afternoon to fit them. We departed from the garage with many thanks to the staff, and drove five miles to the nearest camp site.
Saturday 13th we drove from the ca
mp to Albertsons to buy
enough food for our visit to the Yellowstone National Park. We
next stopped for diesel and filled both tanks for the first time.
Then we set off to Yellowstone where we arrived at 1530, a longish day,
but we arrived in sunshine at Fishing Bridge Camp. Sunday we drove north
through the Hayden Valley where we visited Mud Volcano, Dragon’s Mouth
and Sulphur Caldron before being caught in a Bison jam. We
continued north, we saw two Elk, and arrived at Tower camp where three
Mule deer surrounded our van. Monday we made a very early
start and drove to the Lamar Valley before breakfast, to look for wild
life. As we left the camp three deer and one stag, were grazing
on the roadside. As we entered the valley a Coyote or small Wolf
was walking along the road. We chose a vantage point where we
could see several Bison and Pronghorn. During breakfast we saw
two Elk on the skyline, then we drove along the valley seeing many
Bison and Pronghorn. Not finding a better view point we returned
to our original view point, spotting a Her
on on the way, and
remained there for the rest of the hot sunny day. A Danish couple
locked themselves out of their motor home and Howard drilled out the
door lock for them. When we returned to camp there was a
Deer grazing just inside the entrance. Tuesday the road took us
westwards to Mammoth Hot Springs. A Pronghorn posed for photo
thirty feet off the road but we were unable to stop on the
double line. A solitary Bison appeared in a roadside pasture just
before we reached Mammoth. We entered the village and saw a Bull
Elk with a magnificent spread of antlers, his herd of about twenty were
lazing on the village green. We camped just north of the village
and we were visited by a herd of twelve Elks with the Bull Elk herding
them along. Shortly afterwards two
more Elks followed the herd down. Wednesday morning as we
left the camp, we saw two young Bull Elks grazing in the village.
Our route now turned south to Madison and the Geyser area, our first
spectacle was of Roaring Mountain, the side of which was covered in
steam. This was followed by Norris Geyser Basin, with the first
real geyser spouting water continuously.
We called in to see the Artists Paintpots, colourful holes in the
ground spouting steam and some water. At Madison we were able to
fill up with 
water and dump our waste
water for the first time in four days. Thursday the thirty three
miles to Grant Village took all day. We passed two Elk and five
Bison before our first stop at the Lower Geyser Basin, where we took a
boardwalk around the geysers, the best geyser so far was
Clepsydra, reaching a height of ten feet. We detoured round
Firehole
Lake Drive where Great Fountain Geyser refused to play as it had
spouted at 0200 that morning. Tea break, and the next geyser,
White Con
e, spouted 250yds off
while we drank our tea and
coffee. Our next stop was the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest
hot spring in Yellowstone. with a superb selection of colours. We
made quick visits to Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin where there
were nine Bison resting on the warm thermal ground. The climax of
the day was a visit to Old Faithful, after an hours wait we
were rewarded by a five waiting and we met the Danes who gave us a
bottle of wine for opening their RV. We crossed the Continental
Divide twice on our way to camp at Grant Village. Friday we left the camp and
travelled back two miles to visit West Thumb Geysers on the side of
Yellowstone Lake. There were new cones rising and a beautiful
green spring named Seismograph Spring. We continued southwards to
exit Yellowstone and enter the John D. Rockefeller Parkway National
Park this connected with the Grand Teton National Park where we camped
at Colter Bay. It was a miserable, rainy day.
Saturday 20th we had a rainy start. After we had visited the Indian Arts Museum we drove south, paused briefly at the Jackson Lake Lodge to see a Moose twenty yards away, in a river, before it disappeared into the undergrowth. The journey continued and the rain eased to develop into a fine sunny day by lunchtime. The Teton Mountains became more visible as the cloud lifted. On leaving the park we soon arrived at Jackson and turned west for a fifteen mph crawl up to the Teton Pass and then we went equally slowly down the other side, we saw a young male Moose on our way to the town of Victor, to collect our post. The post office was closed. We have to return Monday after 0830. Sunday
as we had to wait for the
post office we had a rest day. Monday we drove into the
post office and collected our mail.. We continued west to Idaho
Falls to shop and camp. We drove a short distance on Tuesday to Craters Of
The Moon National Monument. The campground was closed but camping
was permitted in the car parks. After a very quick tour we
stopped and camped at the Caves car park. After lunch we joined a
Ranger lead tour. We climbed down into a Lava Tube named Beauty
Cave, then Howard returned to the van to relax. Mervyn visited
Indian Tunnel, another Lava Tube, before he returned to the caravan to
relax. Wednesday
we took some time to tour, look at the sights and take photos. We
met and chatted to an Aussi couple from Brisbane, who
gave us hints for shipping our van to Australia. Glenns Ferry was
our next camp. Unfortunately a very low cable caught under one of
the aircon units and damaged the seal. Thursday the owner of the
camp was extremely friendly so we started the day with a chat.
Then we drove twenty five miles to Mountain Home to have the aircon
resealed. We next had the wheel nuts checked and bought a torque
wrench, 250 lbs required. We left for Marsing to camp, on a fine
sunny day. A restful Friday
on a hot and sunny day. No Wi-fi.
Saturday 27th we left the camp and drove into Oregon, to stop at Burns RV Park on another fine sunny day. Sunday from Burns we continued westwards towards Crater Lake and stopped just short of the park at the Happy Trails Cowboy Camp on Road 97. Early Monday we left, the boss came down to open the gate for us. We arrived at Crater Lake camp to book in before touring the park only to find Sunday night was the last night. They were closed. Undaunted we set off and toured the rim road. The views of the lake were very good. We left the Park and travelled west as far as Trail where there was a camp, we arrived mid afternoon. Tuesday we continued our journey westwards to end at Cave Junction early afternoon. It was a fine sunny day.
drove south and then east to Billings where we
heard a grating sound. We were recommended to a RV repairer who
discovered that the rear right brake assembly had collapsed, they also
discovered that the drive shaft supports needed replacing. During
the day we must have seen well over a thousand cattle, five hundred
sheep, two hundred horses and two Mule Deer standing on the Rim Rock
overlooking the road. Thursday
Mervyn phoned Stormont, in Dunstable, to warn them of an incoming
order. Friday
we e-mailed Stormont with the list of required parts. One of the
mechanics, James, took Howard to Best Buy to check the computer and buy
some blank CDs.Saturday 6th James again took Howard to Best Buy this time to buy an external hard drive to back up the computer, James started the back up. Sunday we were waiting for parts. Monday on a fine sunny day the garage owner lent us a car so that we could visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield (Custer’s Last Stand). The visit was well worth while. We had elevenses and lunch in the local battlefield Trading Post, the cooking was excellent . We did our washing in the local laundrette. Tuesday the parts are leaving Dunstable tomorrow. We walked to Albertsons for some shopping. It was the second dry day. Wednesday we were still marking time. Thursday it was a fine day after yesterday’s heavy rain. The parts are now in Great Falls, Montana, hopefully they will be here tomorrow. A mechanic found the problem with our secondary diesel tank, the plug to stop dirt getting into the tank via the vent pipe, before fitting, was still there. Friday the parts arrived during the lunch hour and it took all afternoon to fit them. We departed from the garage with many thanks to the staff, and drove five miles to the nearest camp site.
Saturday 13th we drove from the ca
mp to Albertsons to buy
enough food for our visit to the Yellowstone National Park. We
next stopped for diesel and filled both tanks for the first time.
Then we set off to Yellowstone where we arrived at 1530, a longish day,
but we arrived in sunshine at Fishing Bridge Camp. Sunday we drove north
through the Hayden Valley where we visited Mud Volcano, Dragon’s Mouth
and Sulphur Caldron before being caught in a Bison jam. We
continued north, we saw two Elk, and arrived at Tower camp where three
Mule deer surrounded our van. Monday we made a very early
start and drove to the Lamar Valley before breakfast, to look for wild
life. As we left the camp three deer and one stag, were grazing
on the roadside. As we entered the valley a Coyote or small Wolf
was walking along the road. We chose a vantage point where we
could see several Bison and Pronghorn. During breakfast we saw
two Elk on the skyline, then we drove along the valley seeing many
Bison and Pronghorn. Not finding a better view point we returned
to our original view point, spotting a Heron on the way, and
remained there for the rest of the hot sunny day. A Danish couple
locked themselves out of their motor home and Howard drilled out the
door lock for them. When we returned to camp there was a
Deer grazing just inside the entrance. Tuesday the road took us
westwards to Mammoth Hot Springs. A Pronghorn posed for photo
thirty feet off the road but we were unable to stop on the
double line. A solitary Bison appeared in a roadside pasture just
before we reached Mammoth. We entered the village and saw a Bull
Elk with a magnificent spread of antlers, his herd of about twenty were
lazing on the village green. We camped just north of the village
and we were visited by a herd of twelve Elks with the Bull Elk herding
them along. Shortly afterwards two
more Elks followed the herd down. Wednesday morning as we
left the camp, we saw two young Bull Elks grazing in the village.
Our route now turned south to Madison and the Geyser area, our first
spectacle was of Roaring Mountain, the side of which was covered in
steam. This was followed by Norris Geyser Basin, with the first
real geyser spouting water continuously.
We called in to see the Artists Paintpots, colourful holes in the
ground spouting steam and some water. At Madison we were able to
fill up with water and dump our waste
water for the first time in four days. Thursday the thirty three
miles to Grant Village took all day. We passed two Elk and five
Bison before our first stop at the Lower Geyser Basin, where we took a
boardwalk around the geysers, the best geyser so far was
Clepsydra, reaching a height of ten feet. We detoured round
Firehole
Lake Drive where Great Fountain Geyser refused to play as it had
spouted at 0200 that morning. Tea break, and the next geyser,
White Cone, spouted 250yds off
while we drank our tea and
coffee. Our next stop was the Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest
hot spring in Yellowstone. with a superb selection of colours. We
made quick visits to Biscuit Basin and Black Sand Basin where there
were nine Bison resting on the warm thermal ground. The climax of
the day was a visit to Old Faithful, after an hours wait we
were rewarded by a five waiting and we met the Danes who gave us a
bottle of wine for opening their RV. We crossed the Continental
Divide twice on our way to camp at Grant Village. Friday we left the camp and
travelled back two miles to visit West Thumb Geysers on the side of
Yellowstone Lake. There were new cones rising and a beautiful
green spring named Seismograph Spring. We continued southwards to
exit Yellowstone and enter the John D. Rockefeller Parkway National
Park this connected with the Grand Teton National Park where we camped
at Colter Bay. It was a miserable, rainy day.Saturday 20th we had a rainy start. After we had visited the Indian Arts Museum we drove south, paused briefly at the Jackson Lake Lodge to see a Moose twenty yards away, in a river, before it disappeared into the undergrowth. The journey continued and the rain eased to develop into a fine sunny day by lunchtime. The Teton Mountains became more visible as the cloud lifted. On leaving the park we soon arrived at Jackson and turned west for a fifteen mph crawl up to the Teton Pass and then we went equally slowly down the other side, we saw a young male Moose on our way to the town of Victor, to collect our post. The post office was closed. We have to return Monday after 0830. Sunday
as we had to wait for the
post office we had a rest day. Monday we drove into the
post office and collected our mail.. We continued west to Idaho
Falls to shop and camp. We drove a short distance on Tuesday to Craters Of
The Moon National Monument. The campground was closed but camping
was permitted in the car parks. After a very quick tour we
stopped and camped at the Caves car park. After lunch we joined a
Ranger lead tour. We climbed down into a Lava Tube named Beauty
Cave, then Howard returned to the van to relax. Mervyn visited
Indian Tunnel, another Lava Tube, before he returned to the caravan to
relax. Wednesday
we took some time to tour, look at the sights and take photos. We
met and chatted to an Aussi couple from Brisbane, who
gave us hints for shipping our van to Australia. Glenns Ferry was
our next camp. Unfortunately a very low cable caught under one of
the aircon units and damaged the seal. Thursday the owner of the
camp was extremely friendly so we started the day with a chat.
Then we drove twenty five miles to Mountain Home to have the aircon
resealed. We next had the wheel nuts checked and bought a torque
wrench, 250 lbs required. We left for Marsing to camp, on a fine
sunny day. A restful Friday
on a hot and sunny day. No Wi-fi.Saturday 27th we left the camp and drove into Oregon, to stop at Burns RV Park on another fine sunny day. Sunday from Burns we continued westwards towards Crater Lake and stopped just short of the park at the Happy Trails Cowboy Camp on Road 97. Early Monday we left, the boss came down to open the gate for us. We arrived at Crater Lake camp to book in before touring the park only to find Sunday night was the last night. They were closed. Undaunted we set off and toured the rim road. The views of the lake were very good. We left the Park and travelled west as far as Trail where there was a camp, we arrived mid afternoon. Tuesday we continued our journey westwards to end at Cave Junction early afternoon. It was a fine sunny day.
USA-Oregon-Cave Junction