Monday, September 5, 2016 Hit the road Jack

Monday, September 5, 2016

Me-OWT!  How can my humans be gone so long without letting me go out?  Why do they keep me on this stupid leash?  There are weird mousies I need to chase.  Look at them move!

It is 1:03 am and KABLOW!  My ear plugs explode out of my ears as thunder assaults the campground!  Kablow!  Kablow!  For 20 minutes, lightening, thunder and rain pound on us!  Then it is over.  I hope this rain helped the fire we saw yesterday along the road.

We decided to get on the road kind of early this morning since it is a holiday.  It didn't take long to ready Hannah and take her over to the dump station.  We then hit the road.  The rain stopped, but the clouds are threatening.  It is cold, 44 degrees.  They were predicting around 29, but obviously that didn't happen.  But as we leave, we can see a dusting of snow on the higher elevations.  The air is clean and crisp.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Part of me hates to leave, but it is time to move on.  As we get on the highway, the ranger is stopping traffic to let a mom and baby bison get off the road.  They are scared, but nobody is moving so they should be ok.  South we go. We notice that there is no sign of the fire near the road, nor the smoke coming from Yellowstone.  Looks like the rain may have helped.

After a stop in Jackson for groceries, we head south on 89.  It is a scenic road with mountains loaded with pines and aspens.  Major swaths of fall colors wind their way through the pines.  And of course, there is the requisite river with creeks meandering along the landscape.  It is chilly, in the low 50s.  We ultimately cross back into Idaho near Montpelier.  We find a tiny campground where we don't fit, but throw in a fishing line because we can.  The fish looked at us and laughed!  Hah!  We have been fished at all weekend!  Leave us alone!  So we did.

On to Bear Lake.  This is a major source of recreation for the area.  The water is a stellar aquamarine color.  There is a wildlife refuge next to it.  It looks like a major water fowl area.  We find an RV park nearby.  We see a sign for the Minnetonka Cave, so off we go.  Today is its last day of the season.  We folks in California don't get this 'season' thing!  Our weather allows us to go all year so we just can't seem to program ourselves to think that there is a 'season' for things.

It is about a 10 mile scenic drive to the cave.  Piney mountains and aspens guide us as does the standard creek.  There are a few small campgrounds.  We check out the fishing access, but it doesn't ring our chimes. 

We have been to caverns before and this is much the same.  Rooms, large and small with beautiful stalagtites, stalagmites, soda straws, curtains, columns, etc. are the standard fare.  Up a whole lot of steps, down even more.  Turn out the lights so you know what 'dark' really means.  It is all fun and entertaining.  You can see where the cavern has been vandalized over the years.  Kind of sad.

But it has been a long day.  Time to get back.