Catching up with Friends - May 23-25

After a comfy night we left Glacier National Park.  On the way out we checked out the Fish Creek area, though the road was still not open all the way in.  We then headed to Liberty Lake, WA, to visit friends.  We took a route that avoided the Interstate by going down the west side of Flathead Lake.  The "back" side of the lake was a lovely agricultural area, mostly growing many kinds of fruit.  Apple and cherry orchards in bloom scented the air.  We then crossed an Indian reservation and had the choice of getting on the Interstate or crossing the mountains on small roads that would have added 300 miles to our day.  (Seen on the Reservation- dilapidated sign advertising a hot springs- "Hot Springs Spa-Limp in, Leap out")  We reluctantly chose the Interstate.  It winds through the gold, silver, and lead mining region, and actually had quite interesting scenery and  historical markers.  We checked out the historical district of Wallace, ID,

which had bordellos and a 50's motel called the Starlight Motel.

It had a vintage space ship at the sign.  We then stopped by Cataldo, ID, to see the mission, which was built by the Native Americans.  It has walls that are several feet thick, and was built with straw and adobe without using nails because they didn't have any.  Impressive!

We arrived in Liberty Lake about 5 PM, at the home of our friends Bette and Tom Brattebo.    They are to be our companions on the rest of the trip to Alaska.  Bette and I (Candace)  have been friends our entire lives, as her family moved across the street from mine when we were only a couple of  months old.

Monday arrived with a phone call saying that the Brattebos had a sick grandchild, so Bette went to babysit as Tom left for the week to chaperon a fifth grade field trip.  A long time ago he had said he would substitute for a pregnant teacher whose baby chose to arrive yesterday.  Bad timing, but that's Mother Nature for you!  We spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry.  When Bette returned we went shopping for rip-stop fabric.  I spent the evening crafting a skirt to lengthen the walls of our screen tent.  As a retirement business I will probably create prom and wedding gowns as I now can sew quite well amid a gigantic pouf of net and taffeta.  The project turned out remarkably well.

On Tuesday Bette's brother, Jim, arrived with his wife Jan.  We spent the morning catching up and visiting Kate Brattebo Swain and her three children.

  Lunch was at a Mediterranean restaurant, but unfortunately Bette couldn't come as the sick grandchild had been hospitalized.  Jim and Jan dropped us off and we cleaned the van until Bette came home.  A quiet night at home was just the ticket, made better by the news that little Ava, while still hospitalized, was improving.

Park City

We packed up on Wednesday morning and had a final farewell breakfast with Kevin.
He seems happy and content. We went by his TV station and met some of his co-workers and did a little food shopping. The hard part was saying goodbye.

We drove north into Idaho. Idaho is a pretty state but looking at lava rocks in fields on the sides of I-15 can be a bit monotonous. It was very flat, and there was only a thin layer of soil over the lava rocks. You sort of looked at the range land, as far as you could see, and wondered about the lava. From where?? Not exactly what we expect to see when in "volcano country." We stopped in Shelley Idaho and camped in a small county park. We missed the opportunity to visit the Idaho Potato Museum because we went by it late in the day, but next time it's a must.


Thursday 5/20 we got off to a late start. I slept in (this is Bill speaking) and we visited with neighbors in a 40' Newmar RV. Wow, it's was like a small home with all the amenities you could want. I still like our little 19' van, but if I had to live 24-7 in a motor home and didn't plan on driving it much, one of those behemoths might be the way to go.

We continued north towards Glacier National Park. We passed through a valley between the Beaverhead Range and the Lemki Range and at some point passed the 45th parallel, the mid point between the equator and the Pole. It was marked with a large sign and we tooted in recognition.

We camped tonight near Sulla Idaho in the Bitterroot National Forest in a campground called Indian Pines.

It was very remote and we were the only people there so we had the pick of the sites. The campground is named for the scars left on the Ponderosa Pines made by the Indians from anywhere from 1860-1900.

The scars are about shoulder height and were made to wound the tree to allow sap to leak which the Indians used as a food source. During our stay it snowed, hailed, rained and it was sunny. Beautiful spot. A forest fire had run through the park about 10 years ago. All the tables were charred black on their tops and many of the trees showed burn damage

Wednesday 5/21- Cold start to the morning but we were snug and warm in the van. We were sorry to leave our peaceful, beautiful campsite but headed north at 10am towards glacier. We continued up the Bitterroot Valley, stopping in Missoula, Montana for gas and a new water pump for the sink and toilet. Gas is cheap (er) here and there is no sales tax.

We continued up to West Glacier driving through beautiful farmland with snow covered mountains in the distance. We also drove up the east side of Flathead Lake which is the largest freshwater natural lake east of the Mississippi.

We camped in Apgar campground in Glacier National Park.

Most of the campgrounds are still closed as is the Road To the Sun through Logan Pass. We had a nice site near McDonald Lake with snowy glaciers and mountains that glistened in the sun.

Thursday 5/22 We left Apgar campground and moved up the road to Sprague campground which is smaller and was about half filled with tents. We were the only RV. After setting up camp, we drove up to McDonald Lodge, an old railroad hotel.
We saw the menu and decided that we would eat dinner there tonight.

We then drove as far as we could on the Road to Sun parking in Avalanche. We took a beautiful walk on the Trail of the Cedars along a blue green glacial river

surrounded by old growth cedar and hemlock. The smells of the forest, the sounds, and clean air were overwhelming.

We came back to the campsite for cocktails and went for dinner about 6:30. The ambiance of the restaurant was wonderful but the food didn't match. It was OK, but not of the caliber of other grand hotels.
The final photo proves that sometimes you can just ignore the rules!

Sun, Son and Bones (May 16-18)

Finally, a sunny day!  We went early to the Utah entrance of Dinosaur National Monument because we knew it would be hot later on.  As the actual Park Visitor Center is closed for repair, they are using a temporary one outside the entrance.  A short shuttle ride into the Park took us to the foot of a trail.  We climbed up to where the Ranger was waiting, past a few pictographs,

She was by a sheer rock face at the top of a stone stairway.  As she told us about the fossils in the face, and pointed them out, it became easier to find them.  My nursing background was actually pretty helpful in spotting them.  There were both land mammals and aquatic life there, as it had long ago been a freshwater river bend.  However, the bones were all jumbled together, no intact skeletons, as they had been washed to the bend in a flood and gotten caught up in some debris, then covered with silt.

We climbed down to the desert floor and continued our hike into the canyon, just to look. We heard the churring cry of a flock of sandhill cranes, and finally spotted them wheeling high up in the sky near a puffy white cloud.  Their calls echoed around the canyon and sounded rather eerie.  The wildflowers had started to bloom and were bright spots of color against the drab sagebrush, sand and stone.

By now it was 11 o'clock and getting hot so we went back to the car and drove farther into the Monument to Josie Barrett Morris' ranch.

This amazing lady came here by herself in her 40's and homesteaded it for 50 years, until she broke her hip (her horse threw her) and died in her 90's.  She lived without such "mod cons" as electricity, phone, running water, etc.  Her place was very remote; I wonder how she ever located it in the first place.  When she died in 1964 it became part of the Monument.  Her cabin has been restored a bit, and it was fascinating to see and think about her life.  The land was lovely, shaded and cool around the cabin, with a small creek and some grazing land and two box canyons she used as corrals.  We hiked out into one, and along the path by the creek was the largest tree (ginko)   I've ever seen, outside of the redwoods.

On the road again, we drove to Jordanelle State Park to camp for a few days while we visit our son, Kevin, who lives and works in nearby Park City.  It's lovely here, a lake in front of us and snowy peaks on several sides, but green and spring-like at this altitude.  Seeing Kevin was, of course, the best part of the day!

The next day we had Kevin's car to use while he worked, so we drove to Salt Lake City and visited the International Peace Gardens.  It was lovely, but too early for a lot of the plantings.  Many countries have small gardens here, and there is a Peace Pole garden which is from the Olympics of 2002, with peace messages from all of the participating countries.  The garden was first planted in 1968.

Then  we went to Fort Douglas, which has 5 different styles of architecture, from all the various military uses of the Fort since its frontier beginnings.  It is now part of the U of UT, after being used as the Olympic Village.  A fine use for it, we thought.  Hope the students realize that they are being housed in history!  I would like to live in the officers quarters, but not enough to go back to college!

Today has been a quiet day; rainy and chilly.  While Kevin worked, we "stayed put" for the first time this trip and it has felt good to take a day off.  He gifted us with an iPad so we have spent many hours playing with it and trying to figure out its many uses.  We have to do that while we are still in range of our family electronics expert!

Onward and Upward (May 13-15)

Pikes Peak was hidden by snow flurries as we left for the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.  We arrived about noon and spent a couple of hours there.  We hiked a little and ogled the petrified trees and other fossils on display.  As evidence that you can't keep a good Sequoia down, even when petrified, one has a Lodgepole pine growing out of it that's alive and well.  The land in the Monument is laced with walking trails that led through fields and forest.  It was an amazing place- there is something very compelling about the open range.  We left reluctantly to find a campsite at Eleven Mile State Park,

so named because it's 11 miles off the beaten path.  At 9000+ ft. it has a nice lake, and we spent the evening watching snowflakes.

The next day there was no place to go but up.  We crested the Continental Divide at Hoosier Pass, (Pat McMullen, this photo's for you) 11000 + feet above sea level.  There was about 6" of snow on the ground, but really, whoever goes there and doesn't get out for a photo, snow and sneakers not withstanding?  We have been staying off the Interstate as much as possible, so on the range we saw buffalo roaming beside pronghorn deer, and the occasional llama and alpaca, as well as the usual cattle, sheep and horses. And always, that compelling landscape.  We shopped for food in Breckenridge, CO, the famous ski mecca.  Now THERE"S a yuppie town!  Heading west we camped in Rangely, an aptly named small city.  Our entertainment that evening was a rousing horseshoe match, which Bill won, 11-3.

East Four Mile Draw in Canyon Pintado in Rangely is home to a wonderful collection of pictographs by the Fremont culture of Native Americans, who created them from 600-1300 AD.  Fortunately the citizens of Rangely recognized their value and have helped the BLM and the NPS to preserve them.

They line a 4 mile long draw and we hiked about a half mile in to see the first ones, which reputedly were the best.  The art teacher with me pronounced them superb!  We proceeded to Dinosaur National Monument, which has entrances in both CO and UT.

The entrance in Dinosaur, CO, actually doesn't have any fossils, but it does have several auto tours with breathtaking views of canyons and the Green and Yampa rivers.

  There are also miles of high or "cold" desert terrain and range land.  We drove out the 35 mile Harpers Corner Drive.  There were the aforementioned breathtaking vistas, a herd of horses that seemed to have residence on the roadside, and sagebrush everywhere.  At the top (7600 ft.) we hiked a mile and a bit out to the point of a mesa, from where one could see Steamboat Rock standing over the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers.

There were pinpoint sized red and gray dots on the rivers as rafters floated along.  This vista was billed in the NPS handout as "the most beautiful view in any National Park,"an opinion I found a bit subjective.

It certainly was incredible, but who made that judgment call?

We are camping in Vernal, UT, tonight.  The city has a bank that was built of bricks that were shipped here via the US Postal Service.

When it was constructed, freight rates were more per pound than postal rates.  However, because the Postal Service had size limits, they were shipped in parcels of seven bricks at a time, to many different addresses.  And, it's not a small building!