Three Island Crossing State Park

Wednesday - 23 March 2004 - Glenn's Ferry, Idaho: Greetings! We had another exciting day on the road... well, maybe not really very exciting, but we continued east. Even though we woke early - after having a cup of coffee, exercising (both of us) and showering, we didn't leave our campsite until after 10 am.

I-84, east of the Wildhorse Resort and Casino, heads straight up. There was a serious fog warning and there were travel restrictions. We could see only a few feet in front of us at any time. The fear was to come upon a semi going 10 mph in the slow lane! A bit of terror, I must admit. Also, we drove with the emergency flashers on, and they beep continuously and that also added to the stress-level.

My view this morning: I wasn't kidding, was I?

At Wildhorse Casino & RV Park, the temperature was 37 degrees. At the top of the pass, where you actually leave the Umatilla Reservation, it was 33, and there was fresh snow along the road and on the trees (we think, it was difficult to tell). Thirty miles of driving in the fog with the flashers beeping and - poof - it was gone. The temperature on the other side of the pass was 32 degrees and it was lightly snowing. Is anyone having deja vu all over again? This is the same weather report from our drive through here on our way to Cape Cod last year. By the time we passed through Baker, it was 48 degrees and the sun was trying to break through the clouds.

At 1:30 we crossed over the Snake River, into Idaho and it became 2:30. Another late lunch - sandwiches consumed in the parking lot of the Idaho Welcome Center. East of Boise we saw a large herd of pronghorn sheep (American Antelope) and that was nearly it for excitement for the rest of the day. We are camped for the night along the Snake River at Three Island Crossing State Park. We have camped at Three Island Crossing State Park before - it is a very nice campground and there is no where else to stay for miles and miles! We found a nice campsite and set up camp. I could get the internet, but we could not get the television due to a poorly-placed tree branch, so DT moved the RV up a foot or two. But, we still couldn't get the TV satellite to lock-on, so he pulled up a few more feet and all was well.

Three Island Crossing State Park, Idaho

Or so we thought. I suppose it isn't a good idea to actually DRIVE your RV with the slides out, the satellite dish up and your water and electric lines hooked-up! A few moments after "all was well", I thought the water heater sounded "funny". Then I thought the washer/dryer sounded "funny". We had no water! I stuck my head out the window and saw the water line attached to the spigot and running to the RV. Looked good to me. DT went out and learned the reason we had no water was because the rear tires were parked on top of the hose! So he backed it up.  I rescued the hose and he pulled forward again. (Tomorrow morning we will check to see if we need a new hose.) We are sure the other campers in the park truly enjoyed watching our RV Rodeo during their dinners! Ah, it is good to be on the road again!

We ran down to the river to take a few photos before sunset:

View of the river from the campground


Terry in Three Island Crossing on the Snake River in Idaho


DT on Glenn's Ferry

In the mid-1800's Gus Glenn operated a ferry here. Glenn charged $1.50 to take one wagon, family and an oxen across the river. (If you had a cow, it was twelve-cents extra.) The nearby town, Glenn's Ferry is named after Gus. Glenn had a lot of traffic, due to the Idaho Gold Rush. In several locations in this part of Idaho, you can still see ruts in the mud from the settler’s covered wagons. While we were walking along the riverbank, we saw HUGE fish jump out of the water to snap-up their buggy dinners. DT also came across a Jack Rabbit.

Three Island Crossing State Park


Pretty evening photo

I had dinner prepared ahead of time - easy to heat and serve. But DT wanted to go up to Carmela Vineyards and have dinner in their restaurant (looked to us like the golf course is either closed for the season, or possibly permanently closed). As I said, we have been this way before, and the beautiful stone building on the vineyard did look interesting, but we had never stopped-in. So tonight was the night. DT says to tell you all that we have now tasted Idaho wine. Our dinners weren't that bad; or they weren't that good. Isn't this is why we drag a kitchen along with us... we know if we eat here, it's going to be delicious.

RV Park: Three Island Crossing State Park