Boondocking Near Oroville, Washington

Our first night in Oroville, Washington, we spent at Osoyoos Lake Veterans Memorial Park 

which was absolutely beautiful, but we thought it a bit pricey at $24 with no hookups whatsoever. You can see it wasn't terribly crowded, although there were a few other campers. There was one lone site with hookups; it went for $30 a night. Jan thought it was kind of ironic that a veteran's memorial park didn't offer a veteran's discount.

Leaving the trailer there, we headed out of town to reconnoiter in preparation for Jan's gold panning plans. I refuse to drag the trailer out into the hinterlands without knowing that the terrain is suitable and there is room to maneuver. We found the site we were looking for, 6.4 miles west of town, and were happy to learn that there was plenty of room for our 34 foot trailer at the site, with free camping (BLM). If we were going to boondock, free is definitely better than $24 a night. There wasn't any cell phone signal at the campground, either, to argue for staying in town, so the next morning we filled up the freshwater tank and moved out there. The site was, as I said, roomy and peaceful--here you see our trailer in place. Just past the trailer, over the bank, was the Similkameen River, which is a tributary of the Okanogan River. This is reputed to be a fairly good gold panning spot. 

Here's another view of our home for the week.

and here's what the river just over the bank, which we could hear from camp, looked like.

We stayed 5 nights. Every day Jan panned

while I moused around the house. Without electricity, we read a lot, played music on our instruments, and started listening to our Gunsmoke classic radio CDs that our friend Tom and given us. Thanks, Tom. We so enjoyed them and look forward to many more exciting episodes on the CDs when life slows down and we can appreciate them. Most days I drove into town to access communications, as there were some family things needing my input, but I would have been happy to stay home most of the time.

Mostly, we just enjoyed the quiet. We had a couple neighbors that Jan chatted with. We found an apple tree just over the bank--now, how did that get here? Some picnicker years ago, carelessly tossing an apple core over the bank?

The apple crisp I made was delicious.

It was easy to imagine what it must have been like in years past. We savored the quiet, the lack of demands, the simplicity of our days. We had time to think.  I don't want to boondock all the time, but I would like to do this some more.

Republic, WA

Traveling on Highway 20, we crested Sherman Pass and began our scenic descent toward Republic, Washington, a small community in Ferry County, which adjoins the Canadian border. Our destination was an RV park in the Curlew Lake area, one at which we had stayed on our journey east at the beginning of summer.  There, we enjoyed the much improved Internet signal (a new broadcaster had been added) and the new pull through site (several had been added during the summer). Despite the improvements, there was a strange sense of deja vu when a several hour power outage (which also meant the well couldn't pump) reminded us of the same thing happening during our previous visit. I don't think it was any fault of the RV park; rather, I think perhaps the area is prone to power outages.

In Republic, a small mountain town in one of Washington's poorer counties, the main street has a certain picturesque charm. From this vantage point, on the grounds of the Catholic Church, you can see how the town kind of nestles into the mountains. This deer,

also on the church grounds, was perfectly comfortable with having its picture taken, which is no doubt why deer fences like this are a common sight.

The town takes off in various directions, wherever it could find a way between the mountains. We saw this driveway taking off steeply upwards. You can't quite read the sign, but it says, "Rock Haven RV Park." I'm not sure if it's for real, but we sure wouldn't take our trailer up there. We couldn't see where anyone else had, either.

Obvious efforts have been  made to capitalize on the town's outdoorsy remoteness and its mining history. A major draw for visitors to Republic is the Stonerose Interpretive Center, where visitors can see 50 million year old fossils from the Eocene Era. For a modest fee, there is a nearby dig site where you can dig for your own fossils. After assistance in identification, diggers are allowed to keep up to 3 fossils per day. The Center is also a draw for school field trips. The Center is housed in this modest building

which was once the home of a local doctor who built a hospital next door in order to meet local medical needs.

On the grounds is a relocated early area cabin.

The Center shares its space with the local historical museum, so inside are fossil exhibits,

mining exhibits,

Native American artifacts,

and other historical exhibits.

As it was late in the day, Jan didn't go to the dig site, but looks forward to coming back another time.

Two Weeks in One Post; or, You Can't Be Tourists Everyday

Back at the RV park in Dillon, Jan disappeared after dinner. As I've mentioned, he's a chatty sort, and he'd gotten acquainted with our neighbors, a couple in a motorhome from California. He'd shared with them one of his proudest accomplishments, learning to play the guitar. Now, this was no small accomplishment, as he'd only ardently admired musicians his whole life and didn't join the ranks until years after his first Social Security check arrived. He's been at it for 2 1/2 years now and his diligent practice really shows. So here he was playing some of his gospel pieces for them, so I went and got my autoharp and joined him. Our new friends snapped this with their cell phone and emailed it to us. Thanks!

The next morning we hitched up and headed for Belgrade, Montana, the home of Jan's college room mate from 1961-62. He's much better than I have been about staying in touch with people. 50 years these two men have exchanged Christmas cards and occasionally visited each other! Anyway, he and his wife invited us to park in their large yard. They were so gracious and made us feel so welcome. We had dinner, we went shopping, we watched home movies--just spent some very good time together.  I especially loved listening to them reminisce.

 The next morning, we hitched up and headed for Great Falls, Montana. Specifically, we were headed for the Gateway Fam Camp just outside the perimeter of Malmstrom Air Force Base. Because of Jan's years in active and weekend warrior Army, he enjoys retired status and the privileges that go with it, one of which is the use of military recreation facilities. This particular campground was rather bleak and windswept (well, we were in Great Falls--those of you who have been there would remember that "windswept" describes that area in general). But we had business at the personnel office. Having already paid for 2 nights, we discovered the personnel office had closed Friday. We knew Monday was Labor Day, but we hadn't anticipated this. Oh, well, we'll take care of our business in Spokane. We moused around the house (the trailer), went shopping (Jan finally replaced his disreputable looking straw cowboy hat), and Saturday evening went to a movie (very unusual for us; we generally only go once every 3-4 years, if that). 

Sunday morning the wind was blowing hard, and our planned route took us through Browning and past Glacier Park to Flathead Valley. Having previously lived in the area, we knew that if the wind was this bad here, it was probably howling in Browning, and while rare, RVs have been known to blow over in the high wind (and houses have actually blown off their foundations). We made a last minute decision to reroute through Lincoln, Montana, and up the scenic Swan River corridor, which would bring us into the south end of the Flathead and keep us out of the worst of the wind. So instead of parking at my son's place (north end of the valley) we stayed at my aunt's place, which worked out very well. She was busy reorganizing her quilting room, but still made time for us.

We did a little visiting with family in the area (Jan and I both grew up in the Flathead) and headed back toward Washington. In northern Idaho, we spent our first night in a Walmart parking lot. I knew from reading people's blogs that you "park" at Walmart; you do not "camp" there. And you ask permission first. It suited us perfectly, because we just wanted a place to sleep and really didn't want all the work of unhitching, setting up, and then reversing the process in the morning. Under similar circumstances, I would gladly do it again. Now, I understand that the other part of Walmart overnight etiquette is to patronize the store, which we did to the tune of $200+.

Whoa! No, we are NOT spendthrifts. But we have been realizing as we travel that we really NEED a smartphone. Being able to check things out online, check our email even when we don't have WiFi, or pay a bill in a timely manner, plus more uses...I know there's much more, and that's a whole other post. Anyway, we decided to get a prepaid plan, as my research indicated that was a good choice for us, so we finally took the plunge and bought the phone and the first month's plan.  More later on the Smartphone, but I love having it.

Then we spent a week in Colville, Washington. We really needed to sort through our stuff stored there, and get the trailer sorted out, as we expect to be gone 7 months this time. I brought onboard a couple things I had missed and offloaded more than that that I hadn't needed. While I spent several days doing that, Jan helped a friend put siding on his new house. We enjoyed attending church and seeing our friends there, whom we miss very much. One day we went to Fairchild AFB near Spokane and took care of that business we had.  I got my teeth cleaned, we got the poodle groomed. And we were good to go.

True West

The next day, we saddled up the F-250 and headed east for Nevada City, Montana, and neighboring Virginia City. The air was hazy with forest fire smoke, but we could see we were still in prime fishing country, if the small businesses serving the fishing crowd were any indication. Nearing our first destination, we came upon this historical marker:

Robber's Roost, according to lore, was where Sheriff's Plummer's gang, the Innocents, watched traffic between the mining towns Bannack and Virginia City, picking out likely targets for holdups. The actual building at the site is a stage stop built slightly after the hangings.

Nevada City, Montana

One of several towns that sprang up during the Alder Gulch gold rush, Nevada City and its neighbor, Virginia City, were main trade centers serving the thousands that flooded into the surrounding hillsides. The town is a museum, and there is a small gauge railroad connecting it to Virginia City. Many of the buildings here were relocated from nearby Montana locations, to be preserved for the enjoyment of all. Visitors can stay in one of 18 cabins, all built prior to 1900, that have been fitted for use as motel units.

Several of the buildings have been featured in film. The Cheap Cash Store (1867/Radersburg) was featured in the 1885 History of Montana. Viewers of 2002's PBS series “Frontier House” will enjoy seeing cabins used for training of the Brooks, Clune, and Glenn families in preparation for their homestead experiences.

Criterion Hall has appeared in many movies, including “Missouri Breaks,” “Thousand Pieces of Gold,” and “Return to Lonesome Dove.”

As we strolled around Nevada City and peeked into windows, I could easily imagine any number of scenarios. I was an extra in a western movie. No, I actually was there, in Gold Rush days.

Here's the store where I will buy some warm gloves for winter.

I'm a teacher at the one-room school, living in the little teacherage on the backside of the building.

I imagined a couple other little vignettes, too, but would be a little embarrased relate them. Did I mention that I have an active imagination?

Speaking of which, I get dibs on the top floor of this 2-story outhouse!

One end of the town is devoted to “China Town,” representing the often forgotten Chinese presence in old West Montana territory. In 1870, 10% of the territorial population was Chinese.

Before leaving, we spent a few minutes enjoying the player pianos and other mechanical instruments on display. We invested ten cents in hearing this automatic harp.

Virginia City, Montana

Just a couple miles down the road, we came to Virginia City. It was lunch time, and I had planned one of our rare splurges, lunch at a restaurant. We sat at a small table on the front porch and had delicious hamburgers with all the trimmings. There was a light breeze, and the temperature was just perfect. We felt like regular tourists. (Does that mean we're usually “irregular”?) This old car really was parked right there. I waited until a more modern vehicle next to it was gone before taking this picture.

Virginia City is actually the county seat, so while it's very touristy, it's also a real town, with people's real lives playing out. Sometimes, when visiting these incredibly picturesque little towns, it's easy to forget that. We parked near the courthouse—perhaps somebody was enduring a nasty court hearing there that very minute. I hoped not.

We strolled down one side of the street and up the other. Rank's Mercantile (est. 1864) was my favorite store. Here's where to go to get the latest Old West fashions. My, if this place didn't fire up my imagination. I have read about people who only dress in historical costume—wouldn't that be fun? How funny that I say that, as I normally make great efforts to NOT attract attention. Still, here I was actually thinking about it, as I have before (yes, really). No matter how ordinary someone may look, you never really know quite what goes on inside their head, do you?

Further down the street were a couple shops that were museums, where I found this. Even my imagination can't quite picture my figure merging with this corset.

I managed not to buy anything at this candy shop, either.

On our way up the other side of the street, this stagecoach passed by. Touristy, but fun!

On our way to Virginia City from Nevada City, Jan had seen this sign

and he was looking forward to stopping at the River of Gold on our way back. He had a great time and, as gold panning is a hobby of his, he ended up helping other visitors learn panning techniques (which earned him some extra dirt to take with him for later panning). He found several garnets and a little color (what prospectors say if they find flecks of gold). One of the others found a garnet with gold on it.

We headed back to our Dillon base of operations, tired but happy.