It Was an Utter Disaster

Jordanelle State Park, UT

July 6, 2014

No, I’m not talking about our trip, but rather something we learned along the Oregon Trail on the lonely Highway 78, about 25 miles south of Interstate 84 near Boise.  We decided to take the back roads from Salem as far as we could before being forced to use the Interstate system to get to the annual Kelemen Family campout in Colorado.  So driving along the way, we stopped amid the sagebrush at a couple of historical markers.  One of them was called “The Utter Disaster.”  Here's a link to a photo of the descriptive sign.  Now we know what an "utter disaster"really is. 

Fortunately our trip is just the opposite.  We left Salem late Wednesday to snag a campsite on the beautiful Metolius River, where we return to camp every year.  Our good friends Bob and Lisa Martinsson joined us.  We hiked, biked, ate a lot, and just sat around the campfire.

Along the Metolius River

Bob and Lisa Martinsson

Saturday, we drove the remote Highway 20 from Sisters to Homedale ID, just across the Oregon border.  We enjoyed a beautiful spot on the Snake River amid the heat, humidity, and insects.

Sunset on the Snake River

 Today we completely crossed Idaho and made it slightly past Park City, UT to the Jordondelle State Park.  Both days, Doris Kearns-Goodwin’s No Ordinary Time, about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during WWII, helped melt the miles and give us a huge sense of appreciation of what it was like back then and where we are today.

Jordanelle State Park, UT

As fun as it sounds, we haven’t been able to completely disengage.  Kathy has a lot of balls in the air with the national Assistance League board and her upcoming CA board meeting three days after we get home.  Two weeks ago, my book, The Confident Retirement Journey,  got the equivalent of “Colbert Bump” from a very nice Wall Street Journal review.  That depleted my inventory at three Amazon fulfillment centers and created anxiety about getting new shipments across the country on time, with glitches along the way. Nice problem! But, the good news is that finally today, all but 12  of the 400 shipped books are presented and accounted for with more than enough daily sales to pay for our campground fees, fuel, groceries, wine, and my Red Bull costs.   

Tomorrow, we hope to visit Dinosaur National Monument and either camp there or near Steamboat Springs, CO. Life is  good!