Bear Lake, Idaho

In 2003 with our former travel trailer we drove from Zion National Park, in southern Utah, to Yellowstone National Park, in Montana, via Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake our routing took us though the north-east corner of Utah and past Bear Lake. The route is extremely hilly, first up, then down, grades over 8%. On the final down slope we dropped down to Bear Lake. It is an extremely large lake bordering Utah and Idaho. We were very impressed and had vowed to return.



Interestingly the Utah side has more commercial development; the Idaho side is comprised mostly of high-end, gated, summer housing communities. Campgrounds on the Utah side charge in excess of $50/night. We're staying in an Idaho State Park for less than half that price.

Bear Lake State Park is pretty remote. The camp sites are dispersed. This is our picnic table looking out over the lake.



Our site has 30 amp electric power and water is available to fill an RV tank; there is a dump station for RVs. Clearly most people who come here are boaters. It appears that families take their sun shelter to the "beach" for the day and 1. if a boater, water ski or jet ski, or 2. if they have small children, the children can play on the beach. The state provides modern outhouses. There are no showers. However, we've noticed that many of the "weekenders" put up personal "comfort station" structures.



That is either a two seat outhouse ???? or an outhouse and a shower structure. (I can't figure this out because the state has provided extremely clean modern chemical toilets.) Today is Friday. As the "weekenders" arrived we saw more of these "comfort stations" being errected. :-) We leave on Saturday.:-)

Sunset across Bear lake was pretty every evening.



What a wonderful view from our campsite.

Fellow RVers: I would not come here on a weekend. During the week, it was peaceful and quiet. As we watched the weekenders arrive on Friday, we were amazed by the number of people occupying a single site (and the number of large, barking dogs). Based on observed behavior in the late afternoon, we expected that the night would be rowdy ---- but thankfully we think that the mosquitos drove people inside! This is the first government campground we have been where there was no official presence, no camphosts, no rangers, no maintenance people,etc. hence our concern....

Leslie

Palisades State Park, Utah

After three days in Glenwood Springs we headed west to Utah. We're staying in Palisades State Park, near Sterling, Utah. To say that this park is in the middle of nowhere would be an understatement. I think the nearest grocery store is 40 miles away. The park is wonderful. It has a beautiful public golf course and a large lake for swimming (brrrrr) and only human or electic powered boating. We're staying in one of 9 full hook up sites. The campground does have ultra-clean showers and restrooms.



We didn't think we'd have an opportunity on this trip to use our golfing equipment so we didn't pack it. We did walk up to the course and commented that we would return with the opportunity to play golf.

The lake and recreation area were established in the late 1880s. Today the state of Utah maintains excellent facilities. there were paddle boats and canoes for rent.



Unfortunately we had nasty rain storms each day we were there so we couldn't rent a boat and explore the lake. I was working (law practice work) remotely most of the time we were in Palisades, so the peaceful location was quite useful.

Each evening after the rain blew through, the fishing people would hit the banks.



One neighbor told Robert that he caught 10 rainbow trout in 1 hour. (Of course that could be a fish tale!)

Leslie

Back On the Road Part 1

Bad Blogger, Leslie! Yes, I slacked off my posting after our return from Alaska October 1st 2008, but I promise to be better in the future. We actually were on the road from early December 2008 until April 1st 2009 but you didn't hear a whisper from us. Sorry about that!

We're headed out for a 5-6 week short trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. We'll return to Colorado by the end of July since I had decided that I really wanted to spend the end of summer in Colorado this year. Late summer in the mountains of Colorado is the best weather anywhere.

On Wednesday, June 10th we moved the rig into a neat park in Golden, Colorado. Just the rig moved because we were actually trying to cool down the refrigerator and freezer. We stayed at home in stix 'n brix working on the packing project.

After a few more trips to the RV, on Thursday we moved the cats into the RV. (That's when you know we are there.) Oh no, who forgot the left-over salmon in the fridge at home? We made one extra trip back to the house.

Golden, Colorado is known for the whitewater opportunities in Cold Water Creek. Our campsite looked directly out over Cold Water Creek.



Some of the sites back along the walking path that borders the creek.



The city of Golden even provides changing quarters for whitewater participants.



You can see the competition gates hanging above the creek.



I watched some the the kayakers practicing for the big competition on Friday.



On Friday, June 12th we actually hit the road. I-70 west of Denver goes through the Eisenhower Tunnel and crosses over Vail Pass. These were the steepest climbs we've experienced towing, but the truck did fine (well, with the pedal to the floor we could stay barely above 45 mph).

Our first stop is Glenwood Springs, about 3 1/2 hours west along I-70. Glenwood Springs is known for the hot springs that feed two huge swimming pools. The pools are open to the public, but I consider them a bit pricy ($18.50/pp daily admission). Regardless, it is one of my favorite places. The "therapy pool" is about 3 1/2 ft deep and is 106 degrees hot. Signs suggest that people remain in the therapy pool for only 10 -15 minute increments.



The second pool is easily the size of a football field; it is kept around 90 degrees hot. (The water into both pools has to be chilled with fresh water because the natural water is too hot.)



It ranges in depth from 3 ft to 14 ft (in the diving area).



Me, being a water-rat throughtly enjoyed our day at the pool.



I even captured a few sun-rays (after all the rain we've had, that's a major accomplishment).



Although the water in both pools is completely replaced every six hours, state law requires that they also maintain a proper chlorine balance.

I like Glenwood Springs so much that we've talked about coming back for a week at the end of September. It's about the perfect water activity in Colorado -- the water is warm and the backdrop of the mountains is impressive.

For our fellow RVing readers, in Glenwood Springs we stayed at Ami's Acre's Campground. Ami's Acre's overlooks I-70 on the north-side, just west of town. We had seen the campground from I-70 previously and been most unimpressed. However after staying there, we would stay again. The sites that are visable from I-70 are permanent sites that appear very shabby. The sites reserved for travlers are very long (maybe more than 65 ft.) and are located further up the hillside. We rarely were aware of either the highway or the train noises. Management was very friendly.

Leslie