Steven and Betty RV Adventures

Friday, Oct 6, we drove from northern Utah to Salmon, Idaho. We were surprised to see how high the rivers and reservoirs were. This was due to heavy snowfall last winter in Idaho. The Lemhi River was full and beautiful, as was the Salmon River. The Salmon River in the town of Salmon overflowed and did some damage around the island downtown. The RV park where we stayed was on this river, and the damage could be seen from there. It was nevertheless beautiful to look at and hear the river flowing full as we stayed there. Friday night the Sundbergs had us over for dinner along with another old friend of Betty, Gladys Goodman. After dinner we watched an excellent movie on TV, Hidden Figures, about black women working in the NASA program during the early 1960s. Saturday the Sundbergs drove us around scenic areas of Salmon to hike and observe the fall colors. Sunday we attended church at Betty's former church, Shepherd of the Valley Luthern Church, where Betty fellowshipped with old friends. On Sunday afternoon, Betty multitasked by doing laundry and receiving guests. Old friends came by and talked a long time. Monday morning Betty did aerobics with friends, went shopping, and got her hair done by her old hairdresser. I worked on the motorhome, spending a long time getting insect remains cleaned off. The bugs on our ride through southern Idaho were small but numerous, so much so that a thick paste of their remains covered not only the windshield, but also the front of the motorhome and the fronts of the two side mirrors. I also got replacement light bulbs for outdoor lights that had gone out. I also found some time to work on photographs, but not nearly enough. Monday night we again had dinner at the Sundbergs, after which we watched another excellent movie, The Lake House. Then Betty sadly pulled herself away from her dear friends of so many years. The Sundbergs have been like brother and sister to her. As we drove away this morning, Tuesday, Betty shot 20 videos along the trip from Salmon to Livingston. It will take time to process through all that. Livingston, Montana is up the road north of the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. When I naively set up this trip, I knew nothing of how much longer it takes to drive on mountain roads, nor did I realize how much slower one must travel in a motorhome than in a car. As a result, based upon my limited experience in Florida and the Southeast, I planned daily drives that leave little time after arrival. I had assumed that we would have time this afternoon to drive down to Yellowstone and back before dark. Not so. Hopefully I plan better next time. As it is, we have reservations tomorrow in Miles City, Montana, an even longer drive than the one today. The significant difference will be that tomorrow will have very little, if any, in the way of mountain roads. It will be all on I-90 and I-94.