Leavenworth, Washington

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Edward is excited for several reasons. First of all, the camper is parked in the Cascades and that means that we are close to home. Second, they stopped at a fruit stand today and got peaches and apples. Edward loves peaches and apples and he knows that the family loves them, too. Third, they are at the Icicle River RV Park. It is a place where they have camped several times and Edward loves it. There is enough space for all the campers and there are lots of trees. It is also right by a river. The river is called the Icicle River. I bet you can guess whether the water in the river is warm or cold. And, as important as all of those other things are, Edward knows that he gets to see Eero, Eliza, Emmala, and Elliot tomorrow. WOW! He has really missed them and is ready to get back to the farm. At the farm he can get some rest and he knows that there will be lots of activities around the camper because it is covered with bugs which means that Ted needs to scrub it. The refrigerator and cupboards are full of food, which means that they need to be emptied and cleaned. Edward is pretty sure that there will be activity at the camper for the next couple of days at least. He enjoys that!

Edward is thinking about all of the adventures of this trip. It has been a good trip and they didn’t have any days when they had to drive so long that they were setting up the camper at night. There were a couple of rainy days, but rainy days are good in the mountains, especially this year when there are so many fires. On today’s drive Edward saw an area near Spokane where the fire had burned right up to the road. The median was burned and both sides of the Interstate. Edward could see why they had to close the Interstate when they were fighting that fire.

Edward loves the mountains, but he knows that there are good things on the other side and right now he is thinking of his family and the children we will get to see tomorrow. Edward thinks they will like the big juicy peaches that will go to their house.

Wolf Lodge - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

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Edward thought that today’s travels had a lot of adventures. He is glad that they didn’t have to go much farther, though. He was ready to stop and they are staying at the Wolf Lodge Campground. Edward has been here several different times and each time has been fun. There are usually new things to discover at Wolf Lodge. The shuffleboard court seemed new to Edward. Maybe it was here the last time they camped here, but he can’t remember it.

Before we get into the things of Wolf Lodge Campground, here are some more things about today’s travel. First of all it rained most of the night last night. Edward likes the sound of rain on the camper roof, but Ted was a bit wet when he came in from getting the camper ready to roll. It wasn’t raining when we pulled out of the campground, but soon it started to rain again. It rained off and on all day long as they drove through the mountains.

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From the campground they drove on a highway called the Pintler Scenic Highway. It is a winding and fun road that is an alternative to taking the Interstate. It rained during part of that drive, but it stopped raining and the clouds lifted so that they could see a very beautiful canyon as they descended. It was fun. After they got on the Interstate, it was a road that is familiar to Edward, but there was quite a bit of rain and some water got on the floor of the camper. It wasn’t much of a problem and Ted cleaned up the floor and turned on the fans to dry everything out. Not much else got wet, just the floor. Ted thinks he knows where the water is coming in from the tires of the camper and he will get it fixed when they are back at the farm.

When they were only 17 miles from their exit, the traffic came to a complete halt. Then it was stop and go. Sometimes they could go five miles per hour, sometimes they had to wait. It took more than an hour to go six miles. When they got to a place where the boat needed to be inspected they pulled off and there they saw a couple of cars and a couple of semis with dents and a tow truck. There must have been an accident and the traffic just backed up. It is a holiday and there are lots of cars on the Interstate.

After the boat inspection station it was smooth sailing all the way to the campground. The neighbors at the campground said it rained most of the day here, but it is nice and not raining since we got here.

There will be more adventures tomorrow!

Fairmont Hot Springs, Montana

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Today the camper was on the move again. First thing after breakfast, Ted started to pack things up and get ready to move. Edward took his place in the seat by the dinette that faces the back. When the rear slide comes in it comes almost to Edward, so what he has the best view of when traveling is the bed, which isn’t all that bad.

After church and lunch they headed out and soon were heading West. Ted knows a couple of back roads which were a bit winding, but fun. Around Three Forks, the wind was really blowing hard and Ted stopped at Wheat Montana, which was closed, but they waited out a thunderstorm in the parking lot before continuing west.

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Tonight they are camped at Fairmont Hot Springs, which is near Anaconda. It is a nice campground with a great view of some very high mountains. Edward doesn’t know about the hot springs, but maybe he will learn something. It started to rain right after Ted got the camper set up and Edward thinks that they will go and explore when the rain passes.

After supper Susan and Ted went for a walk and took Edward with them. They saw the big water slide at the swimming place. Edward is sure that Elliot, Emmala, Eliza, and Patrick would love the watersides and other things at the hot springs pool. Eero is probably a little bit too young for this adventure, but Edward is thinking that it would be fun to bring children to this place.

Edward knows that tomorrow will bring another adventure. The truck is still hooked to the camper, and when that happens, Edward is sure that there will be a new place tomorrow. He is thinking that they might stop at Wolf Lodge. He has been there before and really likes it.
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Red Lodge, Montana

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Normally Edward Bear makes his posts to the blog for each new place or situation. And Edward is in exactly the same place as he was last night. However, he was disappointed that it was too late last night to take a picture of him next to Rock Creek, so here is a picture that was taken today. The camper will be in the same place for the rest of this week. It is Wednesday today and they won’t move the camper until Sunday. Susan is visiting with her sisters. They really enjoy it when all three of them can get together. Ted is making some repairs to the camper, so he is around sometimes, but he is also taking hikes and I think he is going to go for a paddle one of these days, too. It is generally a vacation for him right now.

So Edward probably won’t post until Sunday when he will be in a new place. He will be having a good time listening to the river sing.

Red Lodge, Montana

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Edward is in a familiar campground this evening. Perry’s Campground in Red Lodge, Montana is a place where Edward has stayed several different times. In fact, it was the place where Edward first met Emmala when she was just a baby. Edward is hoping that there will be some better pictures tomorrow or the next day, but tonight the only picture he has is of his chilling in the camper. That is because it is already dark outside and so not good for picture. The day was just so busy and fun that no one thought of taking pictures until it got dark.

One of the things that Edward likes best about Perry’s Campground is that it is right next to Rock Creek and the creek makes a beautiful music as the water dances over all of the rocks rushing to get down from the mountains. The water is very close to the melting snow, so it is very cold. Being a bear, Edward doesn’t mind cold water. In fact he prefers cold water. That is just the kind of bear he is. He thinks that Sam likes cold water, too. One thing for sure, Sam Salmon feels right at home when he is near rushing water.

Today the drive from the Missouri Headwaters to Red Lodge was short, so they got to the campground in the morning and had lunch there before going to see Peggy and Danny. There was lots of talking, pictures to look at, stories to tell and much more. Susan and Ted took walks before and after supper. It was a good, fun, full day.

Edward hopes there will be more time in the next couple of days to tell more stories and maybe get some more pictures of this beautiful place. For now, however, he is going to go to sleep in the camper with the music of the water outside.

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