ID on way home

We stopped by Idaho and got to see some family on our way home.

Choteau, MT

Spent several days in the Choteau, MT area.

The pets (especially the cats) enjoyed this part of the trip.

Tons of stuff to entertain the cats:

This little guy was cleaning the seeds that got caught between the boards on the deck.

Bunny has his own house.

This is Skip.  He is a huge Raven who actually skips into the frontyard.

There were also numerous deer.

When we left Suzi opened the glovebox to find we had a stow away...

We named him Timmy.  When we got home I opened the glovebox and the mouse was actually kicked back relaxed ontop of the nest. 

We put a live catch mouse trap in the truck and caught one.  We released him down by the road, far away from the house.

Eureka Lake, MT

We stopped by Eureka Lake, MT to camp for the night.

Great Falls, MT

We stopped by Great Falls, MT and visited my nephew Tom.  We went to meet him along river road near Gibson Park.  There were numerous traffic stops from the geese crossing the road.

The adults would put their beaks close to the road and make noise to hurry up the slow goslings.

Turned out we chose a spot too close to the skatboard park.  Bailey had to get out her thunder shirt to help take the edge off.  Those kids are mighty scary with all the noise.

We decided to go look at some stuff. 

A trip to Great Falls just did not seem right without stopping at the over look of Eagle Dam.

We noticed across the river they had opened the area below the dam up to the public. 

Since we had never been down there before we just had to go check it out.

As we talked to Tom we discovered he had never been to Ryan Dam that he could remember. 

Ryan Dam is a few miles north of town.  Below the dam you have to cross a walk bridge to an island, that is a beautiful park like setting perfect for picnics and such.

Upon arriving on the island, we encountered this sign.  Hmmm made us ponder, what if it is something other than 8, maybe 3 or 19 or something, what then???

At the end of the island there is a great view of Ryan Dam itself.

 It was great to hang out with Tom, We had a blast!

Holter Lake, MT

We thought we might find a spot to swim the dogs at Holter Lake, MT

But there were no dogs on the beaches signs everywhere, so we found a trail up the hill to run them. 

Looks like a hot dog to me...

There were alot of pelicans floating down the river below the dam.

Bonanza and Custer ghost towns ID

Found a couple of ghost towns Bonanza and Custer ID

One ghost town was alot of foundations, and falling down buildings, and the other was one that they have refurbished to how it probably was back in the day.

This dredge for mining is refurbished and evidently during the peak season you can tour it.

It is floating in a small amount of water

We had alot of fun circling the dredge.

Down near Sunbeam ID is this dam on the Salmon river.  You can see on the right where they blasted part of the dam away to let the water and fishies get thru.

This is the same dam from the other side.  Look close on the left and I marked where Suzi is for scale.

Mackay Res., and Borah Peak, ID

We headed North on US93 and came across Mackay Resevoir.  We thought it was the perfect place to let the dogs burn some energy.

Gator here is showing offf her ball reteival skills in the water. (sometimes her head goes completly under while snatching the ball out of the water)

 Bailey on the other hand keeps herself high and dry during the retreival process of snatching the ball.

 The mountains to the East were magnificiant!

Borah Peak below

We came across this interesting road stop about the 1983 earthquake.  This is the epicenter and you can see how the earth shifted.   

Crators of the Moon

Our goal was to make it to Crators of the Moon National Park, ID.

Nature will find a way...  even in these desolate conditions.

Years ago we came upon this lava flow in the middle of southern Idaho of all places, and wanted to come back in cooler weather.  (we previously were here in August and it was over 100F)

We saw alot of cool stuff, but the light was wrong for the camera to do it justice.  And since, as with all national parks, no dogs are allowed, we wanted to move on to more enviting surroundings.

Cottonwood, ID

We started our vacation near Cottonwood, ID. 

There is an ancient dwelling we decided to check out. 

In the photo below, you can make out the dwelling.  Suzi is standing near the road for scale. 

 It was in the 90's when we were there, but it was noticabily cooler in the cave.

We enjoyed the rock outcropings along the road.

We found a backwash off the Salmon river for the dogs to take a dip.

Home sweet home... for the night.