MORE CLIFTON

On Thursday, we went to the church that all our friends go to and partook of the chicken dinner.  There was lots of food and we got to be recognized for our anniversary along with several others.   We also “won” a $25 gift certificate to Ace Hardware.   There was a very talented pianist who gave us a great concert after lunch.  She lived near Chernobyl at the time of the blast and had some nasty tales to go with that.
About 4 we took our supper and went to the Colorado Monument for the evening.   We had a nice time up there and a million dollar view at supper.    We got to see nine bighorn sheep in one spot.  It was well past dark by the time we came off the mountain and about 8 when we got home.  I edited a whack of photos then it was suddenly past my bedtime.   
Yesterday I went for a drive toward Naturita on Hwy 141 to look for some geocaches but once again, photography trumped caching and I only got six caches as I spent most of my time behind the lens. We were invited for supper in the house here with Jim and Judy last night along with Ken and Marie.  A rousing game of 2500 was played later and I managed to sneak a win with Aileen right close behind. Today was a mostly quiet day.  I did two loads of laundry and edited photos for this blog.   Aileen called our friends John and Carol in Michigan to see how they were doing.   It sounds like they will get to Caliente about the same time as us.  We are invited out for supper again tonight at Jim and Jane's and it sounds like there will be quite a few people there.   I believe they are planning on two tables of cards later.  It is nice to have so many friends in one place!

A Praying Mantis on the patio ceiling

I spotted this neat old Ford along the highway yesterday.  Note the "dual "wheels on the back.  They welded two wheels together!

The next several photos are up on the Colorado National Monument looking out over Fruita and Grand Junction

Aileen and Mitzy out on a viewpoint

As we were heading down the mountain, the lights of Grand Junction were spread out for our viewing pleasure

These three images were taken yesterday southeast of Clifton/Grand Junction along Hwy 141

CLIFTON, COLORADO

After twelve days since leaving Salmon Arm and 2339 kms (1462 miles), we are at our destination. We are parked alongside our friends house in Clifton which is a suburb of Grand Junction, CO.  The spot we are parked in is at least twice as long as our motor home and has water, sewer and power hookups.  How can you beat that?  We arrived here on Monday in the early afternoon and our friends Ken and Marie were here to welcome us as Jim and Judy had met traveling friends for lunch.  After sitting on the patio visiting for the rest of the afternoon, the six of us had pizza, salad and chocolate pie for supper.
Last night the six of us gathered at Ken an Marie's for a rib supper with peach and lemon pies for dessert.  Later, we were indoctrinated into a version of Hand and Foot which the ladies won 17,000-4,000!  Aileen, the newby, was key to the ladies win providing much of the score.
Aileen helped Judy and Marie at their church today providing for the needy.  I went off hiking, geocaching and photographing today and had an enjoyable time.  I hiked up two canyons from the road and within minutes the only sound I heard was provided by nature.  Very peaceful.  Well there was the sound of my puffing and the dripping off my brow as it was in the high 20s C, somewhere around 80F, I'd guess.  But it was worth it.  I did get 8 more geocaches as well as a couple hundred photos.  After a shower and walking Mitzy, we joined Jim and Judy and their friends Vern and Charlene for supper at a nearby restaurant.

This ground squirrel was guarding a geocache yesterday

Interesting leaves up one of the canyons I walked today

A late season flowering Columbine up the canyon.  It was very tiny and I didn't see it when I walked by but I sat and had a snack and finally spotted it.

Open wide.  This is a distant shot of a rock formation atop the canyon walls.

Going up the second canyon, I noticed this two foot wide piece of colourful sandstone in a low overhang and thought it looked like a gold motherlode.

Driving along the secondary highway this afternoon, I spotted these swallow condos

The above photos are from my Canon SX50, the rest below are from my Canon 6D

This interesting feature is across the I-70 freeway from Clifton and I parked alongside the highway to take these images

Still some fall colour

Not sure what the white secretion is in the rock but it sets off the coloured leaves nicely

The only large group of colourful trees along the secondary highway today

WELLINGTON, UTAH

Another day of travel covering 357 kms (223 miles).  Even on Sunday, Salt Lake City and area is very busy.  Just like the last time we drove through there six years ago, there was lots of road work being done and the temporary lanes were higgly squiggly with lots of wandering back and forth and lots of traffic.
We turned off I-15 onto #6 which was somewhat quieter but lots of hills.  There was a rest stop at Tie Fork that had lots of train history and a replica of an old steam locomotive that was quite well done.
They had a imitation turntable and a water tower as well.  There were lots of displays showing what could be done for recreation in Utah and lots about the ATV riding areas.
Tomorrow should see us in Grand Junction, CO after about a three hour drive.

When I went to step out with Mitzy this morning I spotted this sunrise

Hidden in the trees beside our campsite was this old Dodge

And a tractor

Looks like the old Dodge could use a bit of work!

The above photos are from my Canon SX50, the next two are from my Canon 6D

We went for a drive after supper looking for some nice lighting on the hills but I couldn't find a road to take us there.  These two shots were taken between Price and Wellington, Utah.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG - MALAD CITY, ID

We're in Malad City, ID tonight about 100 miles north of Salt Lake City and 13 miles from the Utah border.  We traveled 396 kms today which is about 248 miles.  We had a head wind buffeting us for much of the day which made for more difficult driving.   This is a pretty little town but the old commercial section had been mostly let go with lots of vacant buildings and many in disrepair.  The older residential sections still seem pretty vibrant and the residents are very friendly with most people waving as you pass by.  Even the kids call out a friendly greeting.  I walked part of the town this afternoon and rode my bike around more if it after supper which is where all these photos came from. Tomorrow should put us in Wellington, UT with a short drive the next day getting us to our destination of Grand Junction, CO. 

I rode to the upper part of town and this is looking down one of the streets

This old log structure has been whitewashed or painted

Some of the old downtown

The very wide main street, probably so they could turn a wagon team around on it

The rest are on a side street that was still showing some life

Big old Co-op store

Old drug store

Nice display in front of the flower shop

SECOND DAY IN THE US - PUTTING ALONG

Well, not really putting to our way of thinking, but probably in the minds of those following sometimes.  We traveled 263 kms (164 miles) yesterday and 441 kms (276 miles) today.  In theory, today was our furthest travel day.  We had a smooth border crossing yesterday at Roosville, south east of Cranbrook.  We spent last night in an RV park along Flathead Lake which is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River in the US.  Today we continued on down Hwy 93 then took I-90 to I-15 and tonight we are in a park just south of Dillon, MT.  Tomorrow, we hope to get almost through Idaho and close to the Utah border.  We finally caught some warm weather today with it being 25C when we arrived here.  I put my shorts on this afternoon, haven't been able to use them much the past six weeks or so.

And this would be why they call Montana "Big Sky Country"

Our campsite at Dillon, MT

Detail in the scene below

This replica building is in the campsite we are in tonight.  I thought it was worth playing with and I didn't have to drive anywhere to do it.

And a fanciful black and white version

Just as I had my blog about ready to post, Aileen mentioned that the sky was colouring and I'd better have a look

I thought the reflection on the side of our home looked neat

A QUIET DAY FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY

We had a pretty quiet day here in Cranbrook.  I did three loads of laundry so that's all caught up.  Aileen has been working hard at making sure we use up any food that isn't allowed across the border.  We did go and have a very nice lunch in a Bavarian type restaurant called Frank's.  Our server was very good about ensuring a gluten free experience for Aileen and he and another server sang happy anniversary to us.  He made Aileen's day by saying he thought we looked like 35 years married when in fact, this was number 48.
Yesterday morning, we caught the 8:10 am ferry across Kootenay Lake from Balfour to Crawford Bay which is a 45 minute ride.  I seem to recall them saying it is the longest free ferry ride around. Immediately after getting off the ferry, we parked the motor home and drove down a side road then walked up to the Pilot Bay lighthouse.  After a very slow trip down the east side of Kootenay Lake, mostly because of all the 40 and 50 km per hour corners, it was nice to get back on Hwy 3 and be able to cruise along at a good clip.  We traveled 195 kms arriving in Cranbrook about 3 pm which turned out to be 4 pm as we crossed into the Mountain Time Zone just before arriving here.
Tomorrow we plan to cross the border on our way to Grand Junction, CO.   Not wanting to rush, I have broken the trip into five days so the longest day should be only 270 miles.  I activated our Verizon air card this morning so we should be able to have internet along the way.  I will charge up our US cell phones tonight so we should be current with having phone service as well.

These two photos were taken just below our campsite at Balfour

As we were leaving Balfour, this is the last point of land on the west side of the lake

Looking back to our departure point, Balfour on the right and Procter on the left

This is the ferry.  Logging is very important to the local economy as witnessed by the three logging trucks on board.  Our motor home is at the back under the 2000 

An inland lake lighthouse, Pilot Bay Light is high on a hill.  You can see the ferry off in the distance making another run from Balfour to Crawford Bay