It’s Been a Great Ride!

 

So that’s it! Our fulltiming travels are done! All-in-all we spent three years on the road (two different trips) and saw some incredible things, did some incredible thing, and ate some incredible food! We enjoyed meeting lots of new people (most we liked) and reconnecting with long-lost friends. We’ve camped in some wonderful, full-service RV parks, some not-so-great RV parks, federal, state, city & county campgrounds, Quartzsite, Walmarts, a hospital, and we’re sure there’s more that we simply can’t think of right now. We’ve workamped and enjoyed making some money along the way, and we have enjoyed spending lots more as well! :-)

Thanks for taking the journey with us………peace. 

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Nehalem Bay State Park, Nehalem, Oregon

 

We thought this would be a great place to end the RV’ing chapter of our lives – this is the first place we visited when we purchased our first RV – an 18 ft travel trailer – in 2001. Nehalem Bay State Park, like so many Oregon state parks is great – the sites have 30-amp electric and water, it’s right on the Pacific Ocean (all of the Oregon coast is public land – no easements, no liens, nada – just enjoy!) It’s $24/night until October 1st when the rates drop to the winter season and it’s a great place to re-explore the Oregon coast. It’s good to be home! :-)

Reminder ~ our rig and truck are for sale! Go to http://rvandtruckforsale.blogspot.com/ for information and feel free to pass along or post to your own blog/Facebook/etc.. 

RV Blind and Shade Restringing Mail-In Service 

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KOA, Cascade Locks, Oregon

 

We are staying at the KOA in Cascade Locks, Oregon for one night as we continue our travels. The campground is quite convenient, just off the interstate, but really not much – smallish, a bit run-down and a very loud train very nearby. (Question of the day ~ is it really necessary for a train to toot their horn 5-6 times in a small period of time?) It’ll work for one night! :-)
  

Reminder ~ our rig and truck are for sale! 

Go to http://rvandtruckforsale.blogspot.com/ for information and feel free to pass along or post to your own blog/Facebook/etc.. 

RV Blind and Shade Restringing Mail-In Service 

Easy and affordable - no matter where you are! 

Elks Lodge, Caldwell, Idaho

 

We are staying at the Elks Lodge in Caldwell, Idaho for a quick one night stop on our way to Oregon. For $10/night, there is electric and water available and the lodge is right off the highway.  

You may be wondering....why did we include another RV in the photo? Well, just after we arrived, the people pulled-in behind us in their Newell Motorcoach.  For those of you who are not familiar with Newells.....they average about $1.7 million! Yes, million! Here's another link to see prices: link. No, we don't know if there are separate quarters for the maid and cook or if they drive their own RV. :-)


Reminder ~ our rig and truck are for sale ~ and much less expensive than a Newell!! Go to http://rvandtruckforsale.blogspot.com/ for information and feel free to pass along or post to your own blog/Facebook/etc..

RV Blind and Shade Restringing Mail-In Service 

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Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, West Yellowstone, Montana

Warning – TONS and TONS of pictures!!! :-)

We had absolutely no plans to visit the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center while here. However, after talking with a NPS Ranger, we learned that this was really a great place that takes in grizzlies and wolves with nowhere else to go and that the animals live in natural areas with a focus on education humans while enriching the lives of the grizzlies and wolves.

 

For $10.50 per adult, one gets a two-day pass, which was good, since we ended up spending about 1 ½ days there altogether!

There are two packs of wolves here, both from breeders who breed wolves for films and the entertainment industry. (Again, like Oswald Bear Ranch, which rescues bears from beer breeders, who knew this was a business?!) Once each day the wolf packs are fed and this offers the visitors an opportunity to watch the wolves eat, how they interact with one another, and the dynamics of a wolf pack.  

 

We watched the feedings three times. First, the High Country Wolf Pack was fed two pounds of meat each, then we watched as they discovered bones and scents left by the keepers while the wolves were eating.  This was very, very cool. 







 

The second time we watched the feeding, the keepers (after the two pounds of meat given to each wolf each day) put live trout in the pound, and we watched the wolves hunted (and subsequently ate) the fish. Quite interesting!

The third feeding was much like the first, however since not all the wolves chose to eat their meat dinner, there was no “enrichment” opportunity offered. Apparently, sometime a wolf doesn’t go in for a feeding, which is okay, but since the wolves have to be kept away from the human keepers, then there is no way for the people to go in and change the environment.

 

Here are just a ton more wolf pictures!  :-)
(Believe it or not, these were culled  from the hundreds we took!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bears are an assortment of bears from various places, some of which arrived to the center because they were habituated to human food and relocation efforts were not successful (one of the bears was relocated six times only to head back “home” each time).  Some of the bears arrived as cubs, after their mother disappeared or needed to be euthanized for one reason or another.

 

The bears are fed multiple times a day, so we watched as five bears were given fruits, vegetables, dog food, bird seed and more yummy treats. The keepers hid food under rocks, tree limbs, that sort of thing, and even hung some from a tree. The second time we watched the bears, they were also given tons of fruit and veggies, but also some of the same yummy live fish given to the wolves. (Who, incidentally, the wolves were much better at catching the fish!)

   

There are also movies shown throughout the day, such as the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone in 1995, how bears and wolves interact, as well as safe living/hiking/camping in bear country, etc….. Additionally, there are naturalists on hand to answer questions and give presentations, such as how to watch wildlife safely and the dynamics of the wolf pack. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, there is a small bird aviary with birds of prey (a couple bald eagles, an owl, and two golden eagles) who for some reason or another are not able to survive in the wild (for example, one bald eagle had to have his wing amputated halfway down due to a gun shot, and the owl lost eyesight in one eye). 

Then, of course,  there was this crazy bear that had to be captured! :-)

 

 

All-in-all, a surprisingly excellent visit, again, two days’ worth of fun! Highly recommended if you’re in the area! 

Reminder ~ our rig and truck are for sale! Go to http://rvandtruckforsale.blogspot.com/ for information and feel free to pass along or post to your own blog/Facebook/etc..

RV Blind and Shade Restringing Mail-In Service 

Easy and affordable - no matter where you are!