Change Of Scenery

Heading west on Wednesday we landed in Idaho on top of Fourth of July pass meeting up with our great friends Larry and Geri.  We are parked in a paved staging area and although we aren’t but about a quarter mile off the interstate it was a quiet night of sleeping last night. 

Geri—true to form, had us on the machines even under threatening skies.  It rained off and on the entire drive over to Idaho and wasn’t ready to let up yet—the Montana weather forecasters have a name for these come and go rain showers—splash and dash showers. Off we went attired in our rain gear—some of us have stranger rain gear than others!

And, before you ask, no—Larry doesn’t ride with the umbrella, we were stopped when it decided to come a little downpour!

Our scenery has most definitely changed—we are in the northwest, not Nina’s Pacific northwest but in the land of tall, tall evergreens and lush undergrowth. 

The USFS/BLM agencies, over the years, are becoming stricter and stricter about our type machines and their widths.  In many states trail width is a strict 50 inches and there are barriers to keep out any wider machine.  Some states/areas even define an ATV as a machine you straddle and which has handle bars and not a steering wheel.  The type machine we ride is technically referred to as a side by side, not an ATV, preventing us from riding in areas with the ATV definition.  We discovered while riding Wednesday, Idaho means a strict 50 inches—it was a tightly constructed barrier with no room for error on the part of my driver!  This 50 inch rule is another reason we’ve purchased a Polaris RZR—our new machine is 50 inches wide.  The Can-Am is wider than 50 inches and would not have made it through those barriers.

Back at the camp, Geri had made dinner for us—delicious meal eating with the best of friends who we are so glad to see again!

Thursday we spent the day out and about on the ATVs under overcast skies but no rain.  We saw a total of six people all day and two of them were in a pick-up spraying weeds.  Once again we were in the land of green lushness.

Our only wildlife of the day--

But we saw lots of this strange bear grass—Geri said Lewis and Clark saw bear eating the flowering pods and gave the grass its name.  I kept looking for bear but didn’t see a one!

Returning to the RVs, we enjoyed a gathering, getting caught up on all the news since last seeing each other back in Moab.  For dinner I served us all burgers and potato salad.  Geri and I went for a walk while the guys worked on their hot water heater.

It rained most of Thursday night and is raining heavily this morning—sure hope it’s raining in Montana!