April 1, 2023
April Fools, Flowers and Showers (all kinds)

April first found us traveling north through Oatman, Arizona, which is famous for their wild burros, but this year is also experiencing a bit of a “super bloom” of poppies from the wet fall and winter.

We enjoyed being tourists for a day, eating a buffalo burger at the Oatman Hotel, papering their wall with our personalized dollar bill, and getting a picture with one of their not-very-wild burros!

Spring weather wasn’t exactly on the forecast, and actually we spent most of April chasing winter with April showers of rain, sleet and snow! We stopped for a few days in Kingman, Arizona to stay out of weather as well as just savor the fact that we were on the road again. Larry installed the chill chaser on our a/c so we now have another option to stay warm, and we used it often this month. There was some sightseeing…

but the absolute best thing that happened on our stop was to reconnect with Dave and Cindy of the Albino Rhino! (AlbinoRhino at mytripjournal.com). Our last visit with them was in 2014 when they were in Florida and we talked with them about RV full-timing. They’re a great couple who have been on the road for 14 years now in a truck camper and we had such a fun time catching up! We hope to see them again this fall in the Grand Tetons on our way back from Alaska.
Continuing north, our journey stopped at Lake Mead and then on to Salt Lake City where it snowed on us. We celebrated Easter in the small town of Heyburn, Idaho where they have a city campground and park right on the river. Families came to have Easter Egg hunts and the air was full of children’s laughter.

Our next stop was in the town of Ketchum, Idaho to see Brent Hansen of Ski-Tek Hansen Orthotics. Several years ago we befriended a photographer in the Grand Tetons who wound up being the retired senior ranger for the Sawtooth Mountain range. He told us that Brent had taken good care of his feet and kept him hiking all these years. Last year, I had Brent make some orthotics for me which have made a huge difference in my foot neuromas. This year it was Larry’s turn to get orthotics so we can both keep hogging fun adventures wherever we roam.

Thanks, Brent, and all your team!

Pumpernickel post-holing in snow near Ketchum, Idaho (I’m a Florida cat, Hello!)

We boondocked near here overnight and stayed toasty warm in spite of the weather.


A bit further south near Jerome, Idaho we toured the Minidoka Japanese Internment Camp National Historic Site from WW2. It was too early in the season for tours or the visitor center being open, so we watched the NPS park video online before we went which was very helpful in understanding the events of that time. As we walked the loop trail learning from the exhibits and buildings, I chanced upon a beautiful blue swirl marble lying almost hidden in the grass. We held it and imagined the lives of the children who had played with it, and the stories it could tell before replacing back where it could continue to bear witness to history.

We had our teeth cleaned at Canyon Falls Dental in Jerome where we had had an excellent experience the year before. In spite of difficulties finding care, we stay on top of getting our teeth cleaned twice a year, and this office does a wonderful job (special thanks to Tanner!). Our plan from there was to head to Boise to pick up some Amazon packages and then keep going, but all that changed when we noticed a fellow RVer flashing their headlights at us as we passed them. Never a good thing! Upon pulling over and inspecting the rig, Larry saw that one of the roof latches had pulled away and was missing so that the front passenger side roof was lifting up as we drove. Yikes!

Thankfully, we were able to temporarily strap it closed and drive on backroads to a WalMart a few miles away where we bought more supplies and strapped the roof closed more securely (you can see what the latch is supposed to look like on the photo below which shows the drivers side)

This held the roof shut until we drove to a Camping World near Boise, Idaho where we were able to get what we needed for a repair and spend the night as Good Sam members. Yep, Life in a RV is worry free—April Fools! You just never know when you are going to join the not-so-exclusive club of RVs rolling down the road with some part of the rig taped or strapped down, pieces trying to fly away or items left deployed that should have been retracted before driving. Ok, so the last one is mostly avoidable with a departure checklist—like pre-flighting an airplane—but life happens sometimes.

Not all suprises were unpleasant as Lucky Larry found this fluttering on the roadside at one of our multiple stops for repair supplies and strap checks. 🍀


All fixed up, we continued our travels to eastern Oregon where I’d found a part of the Lewis and Clark trail we had not visited. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born to Sacajawea of the Corp of Discovery on the famous expedition. His very well-done and respectful gravesite is down a quiet dirt road near Jordan Valley, Oregon.

One of the things we like best about our life on the road is the opportunity to follow history and experience in person locations we’ve read about. As we drove west in 2019, we had listened to the book “Dauntless Courage” about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and visited spots along the route then. It give us goosebumps to be somewhere like this and imagine the life and character of those who discovered and shaped this country.

That evening we boondocked at a beautiful spot nearby on Antelope Reservoir.

To be able to camp like THIS is what we worked so hard for all of February and March!

Finally! (Finalleeeeeeee!)
Roberta – Odd Life Crafting
So, you really have to go to their you tube channel and hear her say this in her very cute accent!