(August 30 – October 7, 2018) Heading South

Travel Itinerary 2018 – Alaska Part VI – End of Travel Season

From Banff, Alberta, we headed east on the Trans-Canada Highway, AB-1, towards Calgary, Alberta. We had lovely views of the Canadian Rockies along the way, although these quickly gave way to rolling foothills and then the open expanses of the Great Plains. At Calgary we turned south and headed towards the US/Canada border and Great Falls, Montana.

By now we were feeling rather exhausted from all the travel and decided to make a fairly quick trip back to our winter grounds in SoCal. For our return trip we decided to travel quickly, with short stops and little sight-seeing, except for a few longer stays while visiting friends along the way. This would mean getting back in early October, nearly a month earlier than we originally planned.

Fort MacLeod – Old Man River and Buffalo Jumps

To break up the long drive to Great Falls, we stopped for a two-night stay at the River’s Edge RV Park at Fort MacLeod, Alberta. This was a lovely campground right on the shore of Old Man River. Jasmine and Pepper enjoyed chasing after balls in the shallow, swift-flowing river.

While at Fort MacLeod, we visited a nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This is one of many ‘buffalo jump’ sites around the plains where Native Americans harvested herds of buffalo by driving them off cliffs to fall to their deaths on the rocks below.

Preparations for a buffalo drive might take days to complete, setting barriers of brush and stone to better funnel panicked buffalo towards the fatal drop. Once preparations were done, the wait for a herd to come into position began. Assuming a suitable herd grazed into the drive zone, braves would move into position and then startle the herd into panicked and fatal flight. Drives were dangerous and not always successful – braves could be injured or killed if things went wrong.

This method of harvesting animals was very efficient and a successful drive would harvest enough meat, hides, bone, sinew, fat, and other materials to provide for a tribe’s needs through the lean winter months to come.

This particular site is of historical and archaeological interest because it was active for thousands of years and left deep deposits of bones and artifacts. Fascinating history.

Crossing the US/Canada Border

On September 1st we left Fort MacLeod and continued south to the Couts-Sweet Grass US/Canada border crossing. The line of vehicles waiting to cross the border was not too long, but still took nearly a forty five minute wait. The border crossing went smoothly – we made sure that we had our passports and pet vaccination records on-hand and did not have anything to declare. At last, we were back in the lower forty-eight!

Great Falls and Dillon, Montana

At this point we were on Interstate I-15, bound for Great Falls, Montana. We stopped at the Great Falls KOA for three-nights to ride out the busy Labor Day weekend. This was our second stay at this KOA, having visited before in 2017.

On our first stay at Great Falls KOA we damaged the rubber roof of our rig due to low hanging tree branches and had difficulty getting out of a tight space in the old section of the park. This time we asked for a site in the new section and avoided any repeat problems.

Our next stop was at Dillon, Montana, for a two-night stay at the Countryside RV Park. This was our second stay at Countryside, having visited before in 2017.

Hot Tubbing at Lava Hot Springs

We then moved on to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, for a two-night stay at the Lava Hot Springs / City Center KOA. Lava Hot Springs is a small resort town best know for its World Famous Hot Pools.

Our good friend from Salt Lake City, Utah, Ron S., joined us at Lava Hot Springs. We all had a nice time visiting, catching up on life events, and enjoying soaks in the nearby hot pools. Ron joined us on the drive as we moved on south towards Salt Lake City.

Visiting Friends at Salt Lake City

Once in the Salt Lake City area we stayed for four-nights at the Golden Spike RV Park in Brigham City, Utah. This was our second visit to this park, having stayed before in 2017.

While in the area, we enjoyed visiting with Ron and his daughter, Amanda. Highlights include hiking near Cottonwood Canyon and going to dinner with them. We really enjoyed seeing our friends, again. (Ron & Amanda – Great to see you & can’t wait to visit another time, soon!)

Onward to Bluff

From Salt Lake, we headed south and east towards Bluff, Utah. We passed through scenic Price Canyon and stopped for two-nights at the Green River KOA to break up the long drive. Again, we were in familiar territory and had stayed several times at this campground. We were pleased to see that the KOA had just added a large pet run to their amenities.

Just after we checked in to the KOA, we looked back the way we came and saw massive plumes of smoke billowing in the distance from Price Canyon. A wildfire had started in the canyon we had so recently passed through, closing the highway. We were lucky not to have been in the midst of the fire or not to have had our route blocked. Good timing.

Moving on, we passed through Moab, Monticello, and Blanding, enjoying the wonderful red rock vistas along the way. Arriving in Bluff, we settled in for a two-week stay. Due to booking conflicts we could not stay the full time at one campground, so we split our visit between the Cottonwood RV Park and the Cadillac Ranch RV Park for nine-night and five-night stays, respectively.

Friends and Photography at Bluff

While in Bluff, we spent a lot of our time visiting with long-time friends, Joyce and Paul. We enjoyed backyard barbecues, dining out, and morning hikes in area canyons. Joyce and Paul helped us celebrate Kim’s birthday with a backyard grill, cake, and ice cream (and party hats) – what a nice surprise!

We also enjoyed attending the grand opening of the Bears Ears Education Center with Joyce and Paul. We were surprised to see that two volunteers at the center were travelers we had met earlier at Iskut, British Columbia. Small world. (I seem to have misplaced their contact info and can’t recall names, but it was great chatting again!) 

Here are snapshots from around Bluff:

Of course, Paul and I went on photo outings during our stay. This trip we concentrated on locations I had not visited before – a sprawling region with clusters of fantastically eroded hoodoos, pillars and toadstool rocks. We returned again and again to these sites for both day and night photo sessions.

Here are some of the night photos:

Here are some black and white photos – both day and night subjects:

All too soon our stay in Bluff was over and it was time to move on. Joyce and Paul, thanks for the great hospitality. Kim & I really enjoyed our visit with you and look forward to another visit, soon! 

Paul, thanks for the great photo outings – I had a wonderful time and really enjoyed your company, as well as the opportunity to take photos at such amazing places – thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to get back there for more photo sessions.

Visiting Friends in Flagstaff, AZ

From Bluff, we headed on to Flagstaff, Arizona, for a one-week stay at the J and H RV Park. Again, this is a park we have enjoyed stays with on several prior trips. While in Flagstaff, we visited with our long-time friends, Margaret and Klaus.

Due to health issues and other commitments, Margaret and Klaus were not able to spend much time with us, but we did get together over lunch and to visit the gallery of our mutually favorite Flagstaff artist, Arne – Arne Ceramics. We especially like his Night Time Scenic Collection of pottery, with its striated southwestern-look and moon-rise over mesa or mountain motifs.

We took a few sight-seeing outings around Flagstaff, including a scenic drive to one of our perennial favorites, the Flintstone’s Bedrock City at Williams, AZ.

Onward to SoCal

From Flagstaff we took Interstate 40 to Needles, California, for a two-night stay at the Needles KOA, another park we have stayed at several times in the past.

From Needles, we drove the final leg of our trip across the Mojave Desert via Amboy and Twenty-nine Palms to arrive at our destination in Southern California, Silent Valley Club. Whew!

End of the Travel Season 2018

That about wraps it up for travel season, 2018. We had a wonderful trip, traveled through stunningly beautiful country, saw many amazing sights, and enjoyed visits with friends old and new along the way, but it’s good to be off the road for a while. This travel season was particularly grueling as we logged over 9,100 miles, not counting side trips. We look forward to a quiet winter of catching up with family and friends – time for resting and recuperating before planning for our next big travel season.

That’s all for now. Safe travels and enjoy the journey (…and Happy Holidays, too)!