It seems like we’ve been packing forever for this particular trip—six weeks at Red Rock RV and Camping Park near Island Park, Idaho.  Island Park is 22 miles west of the West Yellowstone entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Daily temperatures include lows in the low 40s and highs in the high 70s and low 80s. Red Rock RV Park is located within a mile of Henry’s Lake, considered by many to be the top fly fishing lake in the world, and within easy driving distance of many world-famous trout streams such as the Henry’s Fork River, Teton River, Madison River, Firehole River, etc.  This area is known as the Golden triangle of fly fishing. We made reservations several weeks ago as temperatures at home have been in the high 90s since Memorial Day, with several triple digit temperature days.

After following our usual routine for readying for the trip, we awoke early, finished checking off items on the task list, and departed about 7:00 AM. Today was to be our toughest driving day, but for the most part we had a pleasant drive UNTIL last gasoline stop at Rockport, Missouri, near the Iowa border.  We had been noticing farm fields underwater adjacent to I-29 just north of St. Joseph, Missouri, and when we stopped for gasoline we noticed several military vehicles, lots of sandbags, and closure of I 29 North. The Missouri River was in flood stage, and had broken through several levees, flooding houses, businesses, farms, and public infrastructure.  We knew we had to cross the Missouri River somewhere, and about the only route available was a circuitous one, adding about 100 miles and two hours to our already long day.  As we reflected on it, for us this was only a minor inconvenience, but for the folks who live and work here, it is their homes and livelihoods.
We called Victorian Acres RV Park, our planned overnight stay, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, to let them know we’d be late, and to verify our route; they informed us that they had called some people but apparently didn’t get around to calling us and oh well, etc.; this lack of customer service on their part cost us the added time and stress, plus an extra $40 in gasoline.  We could have easily diverted at St. Joseph, Missouri, and made it without any difficulty.  This will probably be our last stop at this particular campground as we have stayed here four times and only two have been moderately pleasant. 

Anyway, we made our planned stop for the day, and were swarmed by flies—everywhere.  Nevertheless, we had great chili cheese dogs and enjoyed a quiet Friday evening in the motorhome. Tomorrow, we drive westward across southern Nebraska to Sydney, home of Cabela’s. Until tomorrow…

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