The Wasatch also had a bit of snow, but I couldn't get a good shot of it. I did get this picture close to Cedar City, UT. There was quite a bit of snow more south than we thought there would be, but it made for a really pretty drive.
The canyon just south of St. George is actually in Arizona and the rock formations are really pretty. This canyon follows the Virgin River after it comes out of Zion National Park and before it flows into Lake Meade.
This picture actually shows a bit of the Virgin River. It's pretty muddy along here so it's not very pretty, but it is a bit of water, rare in these parts.
Yes, twelve miles out of Las Vegas we could see snow on the mountains in the distance! We could see it from Vegas too, but with all the buildings and traffic, this made a better picture.
Before the concert, we went out to dinner a a buffet in the Flamingo. We sat right next to a window and this was our view of the courtyard. Pretty cool. (Notice the fish in the water, too.)
Vegas at night is pretty spectacular. I took this picture from the parking garage next to the Flamingo right after the concert. It was a really good concert with lots of good songs.
Believe it or not, this is a picture of the new bridge over the Colorado at Hoover Dam. You can't even tell how high you are and if you're not paying attention, you can't even tell you're going over a bridge.
When we got to Kingman, we stopped and had lunch with a cousin of Howard's, who he hasn't seen for a long time. Then we rolled into Phoenix and got set up at Desert's Edge RV Park again. I had to get a picture of this little bird at our campsite. I've never seen a red bird except for cardinals in the south and midwest. Looks a bit like a cardinal, but I can't tell. We'll be here until the end of the month when we head east. Been a good trip so far with good visits with Brian and Grayson.
We went shopping at Target in Twin Falls and you have to sit on the big red ball when you go shopping at Target in Twin Falls! We have had so much fun visiting with our grandkids while here in Burley. I even got to go to ballet practice for both Kate and Claire and that was a real treat!
We spent most of the day on Monday making applesauce. Kate was a real help to her Grandpa. They had a good time making the sauce and visiting while Jenn and I quartered and cooked the apples and processed the applesauce. It was a very busy day, but a good day too!
I have been so proud of myself -- I remembered to take some pictures. Hopefully I'll remember on Saturday when Karson gets baptized! The weather definitely has turned -- very Fall-like weather the past few days. Time to head south!
If you look really hard you can see Mt. Hoot in the background with Willamette Falls in the foreground. This is really near Oregon City at the end of the Oregon Trail. It's a beautiful falls, but we're a bit prejudice -- we really like the Portland area. We had a great visit, visiting cousins on both sides Dave & Kaylene & kids on my Mom's side, Beth & John & kids & sibs on my Dad's side and my Aunt Sally, Mom's youngest sister, who had just moved to Vancouver, WA. What a good visit!
We had a really good visit with my Aunt Sally and got to help her get a bit settled in her cute, new house in Vancouver. It was fun to go shopping and share meals with her and Dave's family.
This was taken from Bonneville Point just south of Boise. We could barely see some of the really tall buildings downtown from this point. It is said that this is the point where early trappers named the valley "The Trees" or Boise. The desert was pretty dry, but there is beauty in the desert -- even in the Fall.
This picture was also taken at Bonneville Point a bit more east toward Idaho City. There was a storm coming in so there were shadows over the desert.
This is the marker for the Oregon Trail just west of Bonneville Point. After looking at barren desert for so long, early pioneers were very happy to see trees again and Ft. Boise so they could resupply some of their stock before traveling over the Blue Mountains in Oregon.
This marker is on the eastern edge of Boise. The markers were placed in the early 1920s by a gentleman from Oregon who had traveled the Oregon Trail and felt it was being forgotten. He traveled the entire trail and was instrumental in placing markers along the trail.
Sage brush and flowers even in September. We even felt a few raindrops while hiking in this area. The park overlooks the Boise River in east Boise and there is another park just across Hwy 21 from this one. I love looking up landmarks along the Oregon Trail. When you travel across the west you really get a respect for the early pioneers who traveled this route. What we do in an hour (at 60 mph) what they did in 5-6 days! And lots of times the scenery doesn't change much in the hour traveled. We had a good afternoon exploring the desert and looking at the markers and just enjoying the smell of sage and the feel of the desert. We're in Burley now until October 9 when we'll head down to Phoenix for a few weeks. We had a really good visit in Boise with my sisters and Trish & John's families. I have really cool siblings!!!
The first stop on our trip to Vancouver, BC was to visit Leavenworth, WA. We got in lots of shopping in all the little shops and we had a good German lunch in one of the restaurants in the town. It was a beautiful sunny day so the mountains were pretty spectacular. On our way back to the RV Park, we stopped in Cashmere and went through the Applets & Cotlets factory (and of course we came away with some candy!)
From the Leavenworth we drove up to Winthrop to camp for the night. One our way to Winthrop we stopped in Bridgeport and visited with Howard's Aunt Becky, who just celebrated her 96th birthday. After a night in Winthrop, we drove over the North Cascade Highway. WOW! We were having trouble with the coach (bad fuel so we had no power except in 1st gear!) It was frustrating for Howard, but while going uphill we would slow down to about 20 mph so I got some great pictures! We actually drove up the mountain in this picture (you can see the diagonal cut for the road along the lower side of the mountain. It wasn't too bad, only a 7% grade, but really pretty.
We stopped at this lake towards the summit. It is that beautiful aqua color like the lakes in Jasper and Banff Canada. We just looked for a long time at the beauty of the area. The 90 mile drive was well worth the delay in time and frustration in how the coach was preforming.
After a two day stop in Bellingham so we could stock up and get the coach fixed, we arrived in Vancouver, BC on August 27. We did very little driving while we were in Vancouver. We rode the skytrain into Vancouver from the RV Park everyday that we went into the city. Of course I didn't get a picture of a train, but they were pretty cool. We also rode around the city on these trolleys for two days, one was red and the other was blue.
The Canada Center was our landmark for about everything while we were in Vancouver. The Trolly, the sky train, the sea bus, and the Harbour Tour all left from this vicinity. It is a beautiful structure and well worth a visit.
This is a picture of the Sea Bus. It took us over to North Vancouver. They go both directions and are very quiet and very smooth sailing.
This little ferry was not so much! It held only 12 people and bobbed in the water across the little inlet from Stanley Park to Granville Market. We had great fun in Granville Market with lunch at the Bridges restaurant and lots of fun shopping.
The other boat we went on was this little paddle wheeler. We went for a harbor tour thanks to Janice. It was a fun trip around Vancouver Harbor. Lots of boats coming in and out and sea planes taking off and landing and of course the ferries crossing every 10 minutes or so. A very busy place.
This is the Capilano Suspension Bridge and yes, we did go across--TWICE! You had to get your sea legs to walk across, but the view was really beautiful. It's quite a deep gorge and a beautiful area. Brian and Janice were married in a little area adjacent to the bridge.
They were actually married on the overlook to the cliff walk. This walk wasn't as bad as the bridge because it doesn't move as you walk, but it is actually higher over the gorge than the suspension bridge so you can really see down into the canyon. It was a beautiful setting. We had perfect weather (especially after clouds and rain all week!) And the wedding was really cool with the pastor speaking in both Korean and English. Afterward we had dinner and dancing at a little building right across from the park. We had a wonderful time in Vancouver: touring, getting to meet Janice's parents and sisters, and being able to celebrate a very special day with Brian and Janice and Grayson. Now we are in the Portland area and ready to enjoy this area and visiting with family in the area.
We drove up to Moscow last Sunday afternoon for dinner with Noel & Judy and Gail & Dan. I took this shot at the top of the hill just as you round the corner and can see Moscow with Moscow Mountains behind. We noticed Moscow is growing, the sign at the city limits reads 23,000 population! That's up by 5,000 since we moved!!!!!
Driving back to Lewiston the sky was so pretty and the Palouse is getting on her harvest colors so I had to take a shot. This is the Moser's farm about half way between Moscow and Genesee.
We had to stop at the top of Lewiston hill with such a beautiful sunset over the L-C Valley! It really was a beautiful sunset. You can even see a bit of the confluence of the Snake and the Clearwater Rivers. On a clear day, you can see a bit of Hell's Canyon from this hill.
This was taken from the same location as the picture above, but this one I'm looking back towards the Palouse and the beautiful cloud!
I decided to try "fussy cutting" a cathedral window hot pad. My Aunt Sally is moving into a new house and she loves birds so this was an experiment with her in mind.
Yesterday we drove to Kamiah to visit Loriann. We had a good visit with her and got to go out to dinner in Kamiah. We left Kamiah about 7 p.m., just about when the canyon goes into shadow. (This is a phenomenon that we miss in Florida!! When the sun goes behind the mountains, but it's a long time until sunset.) You can tell the sun is still up because it's still shining up on the tops of the mountains. This is also an unusual river in Idaho -- very few rapids! There was an article in the paper that said Idaho has more white water than any other state and the state that comes in second has more than 1000 miles less than Idaho. 
I took this shot as we were going across Red Wolf Crossing Bridge in Clarkston at about 8:30 pm. During our 1 1/2 hour drive from Kamiah to Clarkston we never had the sun in our eyes, but we didn't start to see the sunset until we were almost to Clarkston. What a beautiful drive, the Clearwater River looked like a jewel with the light reflecting on it. We have really enjoyed our visit to Idaho this summer and revisiting many of our favorite places and some new places too. I was speaking to a visitor the other day who said that she thought Idaho was the best kept secret in the nation and we were really smart to keep it that way.
We celebrated Dorothy's birthday last night so I had to get a picture of her with her three handsome sons, Clyde, Howard, and Jerry. We had a really good time and a good visit.
a memorial service for Mom in Nampa the first part of May, we also opted to have a memorial/ tribute for her at the Scheeler Family Reunion. On Thursday of the reunion, many of us made the trek up to Warm Lake to scatter her ashes. We had a short service and then everyone who wanted to took part in scattering her ashes. I must admit it was very hard to see the Warm Lake area since I haven't been up there since the big fire in 2007. It's still one of the prettiest places in the country though even with the signs of fire!
Jane, me, Kathy and Chuck up on the ridge above Warm Lake. It was a bitter-sweet day and hopefully all that we've been through this summer will just continue to keep us close. We have lots of good memories of this area and had lots of fun reminiscing while we were together.
This is a picture of the view from the ridge where Dad's and Mom's ashes are that overlooks Warm Lake. The huckleberries will come back some day.This used to be one of their favorite patches. For those who were not there, YES it was cold! We were at Warm Lake on July 8th and it was about 58 degrees and there was still some snow on the ridge to the West of this ridge. We couldn't remember ever seeing snow in the mountains as late as this year.
What fun families are! Although reunions are mostly for visiting and catching up on everyone, we did plan a few fun activities. On Friday, many of us took a day to drive to the Snake River valley by Marsing and tour a winery and a distillery. The view from each was just out of this world and the cousins and Mom's siblings were impressed. (Mom's siblings: Mary, Jim, and Sally are on the front row.) 
On Saturday, lots of cousins and kids went on a float trip of the Payette river. We had enough go that we had four boats. Our two sons-in-laws didn't think the trip would be much because we offered to also take the two oldest grandsons who were in attendance, Koby 8 and Karson 7. If they could go, the trip couldn't be that bad. The first rapid was a Class I, the second was a Class III! It was quite a ride and they were pretty impressed!
Koby decided he could "ride the bull." Here he is up in the air clear in front of the raft. . .
Here they are getting a little wet! They really had a good time and all the cousins talked about the trip for the rest of the reunion. I think it was a hit!
During the Wine tour and raft trip, several people also went on a tour of the territorial prison and Basque Museum and National Birds of Prey Research Center. Chuck, Kathy and I toured the Birds of Prey before the reunion and afterwards we took a tour of the prison and then met Jane and toured the Basque Museum and went our to lunch in Boise. We had a really good day!
We used to see a lot of the sheepherder wagons growing up!
We left Boise on July 15th and drove to Burley to visit Jenn and Jason and kids for a few weeks. One of the days, Howard and I drove on old US30 from Twin Falls to Burley. You get more of a feeling of being in the country we you drive the old highway. There are fields as far as the eye can see. This is a field of potatoes with a farm in the distance and wa-a-ay in the distance the mountains.
We thought this shop showed the irrigation really well. We were right next to it while we drove!
This farmer is actually working sugar beets. There are a lot of these in the area too. The corn looked pretty small when we arrived, but you could watch it grow as it warmed up.
One of the days we were visiting in Burley, we got to go on a picnic with Jodi and Jenn and their kids. Jodi and Jenn met when they were two years old so they've know each other for a REALLY long time. The kids think it's cool that their Moms knew each other when they were their ages.
The three older kids took swimming lessons while we were visiting and we got to go so we could watch Lia while they were swimming. Kate did really well floating and holding her head under water.
And Karson did really well in his class. He even got to learn how to float on his back.
One day while we were in Burley, we got to drive back up to Boise so Betsy could go to a planning meeting for her 45th Class Reunion. It was really fun to see so many people and especially when I recognized them! I haven't been to a reunion since 1987!
I visited Three Island State Park with Di & Jenn before we moved to Moscow in 1986, but they've really added some neat things since we went. This is where lots of wagons traveling on the Oregon Trail crossed the Snake River. It was the most dangerous crossing on the trail, but they had to cross in order to be in less rugged country and to be able to stop at Fort Boise and restock supplies before crossing the Blue Mountains in Oregon. The diagonal cut in the hillside behind the wagon is the roadbed the wagons used to get down from the plain to the riverbed. The crossing too about two hours per wagon and I think they still have a reenactment the first week in August each year.
This is Kate and Karson dancing with one of the ladies and with Anne, Jenn's guest from Belgium.
The 28th of July we left Burley and started the trek to Lewiston. We decided we'd drive up Hwy 55. It's slower, but it's really pretty. When the family floated the river, they started at Banks. Just north of Banks, there is a many mile section that is Class V most of the way. It's really beautiful. This is just around the first curve from Banks.
This picture was taken north of Banks, but south of Big Eddie. The syringa are still in bloom so it made a pretty picture.
This is my artsy picture of the Payette River canyon with a bit of tree in the foreground.
Looking off toward West Mountain and lots of snow on top. This is in Long Valley just south of Cascade. It was a beautiful day for this drive and not a lot of traffic.
Payette Lake at McCall is a pretty lake and I think that's Brundage in the background. Chuck said the last reading he saw was 400+ inches of snow on Brundage this winter. Can't tell by this picture though.
We camped in Canyon Springs RVPK about 10 miles south of Riggins and then drove the rest of the way into the Lewiston/Clarkston Valley. We're staying in a new RVPK for us, Hells Canyon Resort. We may stay here again. Nice park with bigger sites and we're still right on the Snake River. We'll be here until August 22 then we'll caravan with Howard's brother, Clyde, over to Vancouver, BC for Brian's wedding on September 3rd. Like I said, it's been a busy summer, but a good summer too!!!
