Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, ID

We are happily settled at Three Island Crossing State Park in Glenns Ferry, ID.

We started out from the Walmart late morning after getting a so-so night's sleep.  It really is bright and somewhat noisy in Walmart Super Centers, so I never count on sleeping soundly.  As I pulled out onto the street leading to the freeway, I noticed a weird sound coming from the right rear tire every time I braked.  It sounded like paper rubbing on the tire well,  like I had something caught.

I pulled in to the K-Mart parking lot which is large and was empty, and I stopped and got out.  I got on my hands and knees and tried to eyeball every part of the tires in the rear, especially the right side.  I didn't see anything amiss.  So I got back in and drove and braked, and it was still there.  Then I backed up, braked, and no noise.  I drove forward again in gear 3, braked, no noise.  Drove in gear 2, braked and no noise.  Weird, huh?

I put it in Drive again, went forward and braked, and the noise was gone.  I was afraid to go out on the freeway again, though, where the speed limit is 75 mph, so I called my son and told him what was going on.  He said it sounded like I'd be okay, but to listen and monitor the brakes, and if they started doing it again, I should have them looked at.  He said that even though the brakes are in a closed environment, they could have picked up some dirt.  Maybe backing up dislodged it.

So off we went, listening intently, but everything was fine.

Highway 84 between Nampa and Glenns Ferry, ID

Donna, of Travels in Therapy, wrote in her blog post today,  "I am filled with a feeling of peace and contentment. I feel a small measure of the emotional tug of oneness with the land."  I've been trying to find the words to describe what I'm feeling sometimes as I drive along, looking all around me at the beauty of the States I'm driving through. When I read that, I said to myself, "That's it!"  Sometimes I have tears in my eyes from the emotion I'm feeling.  Thank you, Donna, I know exactly how you feel and the photo above was one of those times.

 Roadwork on Highway 84, driving beside the lane.

This was kind of funny:  I was driving along, the speed limit went from 75 to 55 because of the roadwork going on (see photo above).  They had us blocked from the actual lane, and we were driving outside the white line at the edge of the road.  I was being really careful, driving at exactly 55, with about 6 or 8 vehicles behind me.  This was going on for a while and I was getting tired and decided to pull over at this exit and rest for a bit, before going on to the rest area where I planned to spend the night.

So I take the turn off, and so do the next few cars behind me.  I pulled over right away and pulled out my "RV IDAHO" map that I got at a rest area to see if there were any RV parks here.  As I'm sitting there, all the vehicles that followed me turned around and went back to the on ramp to get back on the freeway.  They all followed me off, because they couldn't see around me, and didn't realize I was on an off ramp.

That brought a smile to a tired traveler.  But it was a quick turnaround and back on the freeway for them, so no harm, no foul.

Looking at the RV IDAHO map, there were actually four RV parks here, and one was a State Park, so I headed for it, and found Three Island Crossing State Park.  It had reservations posted for all but three sites, so I chose one through Sunday night.  The site cost for a single site is $23.32, which includes taxes, but on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday people with a Senior Pass get half off, or $11.66 per night.  I wanted to secure my site through the weekend since it's so popular here over the weekend.  On Monday I will probably extend at least through Thursday since the cost is half price.

This is the view from my cab window:

And here we are:

As I've found before with Sate Parks (and COE parks), this one is clean, well groomed, the grass is super green and thick, and the rules are enforced.  My kind of park.

After two days of driving and a poor night of sleep at Walmart, Katie and I slept until 10:30 this morning.  We've taken a couple of walks so far today, but Katie has been vomiting again.  Last time this happened was after a couple of days driving, too.  Katie doesn't eat much when we drive, and today she hasn't eaten at all, except a treat, which came back up.  I'm hoping she will be back to normal tomorrow after we've been here for a full day.

My son sent me these photos of his two older kids today:

 Gavin (6) as Goalie - look at that concentration!

Gavin is a super athlete and plays soccer and baseball.

 Kennedy (8) wearing a hat she bought with her own money. 

Cute, cute, cute! 

Tom said this is the first thing she's paid for with money she saved.  She also lost another tooth.

When I got those photos from Tom, I checked Kristy's Facebook page to see if she had any photos of Lauren's birthday.  This one was there:

 

 Lauren on her very own balance beam!  Happy Birthday from Daddy!

My son-in-law, Matt, made a balance beam for Lauren for her birthday.  Now that she is four years old, she has been invited to join a competition gymnastic team, Dream Extreme.  They asked Kristy last week how old Lauren was, because they wanted to ask her to join their team, but they have to be four.  So Lauren will be on a team and will compete.  I'm really excited for her, because she loves it.  (Her cousin, Kennedy, competed last year on a "Cheer" team, and actually traveled a little, and her team was invited to a competition in Las Vegas.  They live in San Diego, so that was pretty exciting. She also competed in Los Angeles.) 

 Drew (6) and Lauren (4)

This photo was also there.  I knew Drew was playing soccer, he 's played previous years, as well as baseball.  He's also a great athlete, pays attention, concentrates, and does really well.  I didn't know Lauren was now playing, too, though.  They look pretty happy!  Lauren's shin guards go up to her knees. :)  So cute.  You go, girl!!

Those are four of my five grand children, we're missing Graydin (2 1/2).  They all play sports, and even Graydin is amazing at kicking a soccer ball across the lawn, so I'm sure he'll love sports, too.  It's time-consuming and expensive for parents, but I'm glad my kids are encouraging their children to play sports.  Especially the girls. 

From Me and My Dog, have a great Thursday evening, everyone!  :)