Category Archives: 2016

It was mid-afternoon before we arrived  and we could hardly wait to see Yellowstone National Park after all we had read about it.  Since we have a Golden Pass for seniors that allows us to enter all the National parks for free, we decided to go into the park and see a few things right away.

We are  staying in Gardiner near the North Entrance of the park which is also the place with the Roosevelt Arch (that’s Teddy you know).  which shows the date it was made a National park.

Here are some of the pictures Jim took:

Roosevelt Archway at north entrance to Yellowstone Park

Vista inside the north entrance to Yellowstone

Elk grazing in Yard at Mammouth Springs

Yellowstone River flowing through the valley

Main Street in Gardiner, MT

Yellowstone River from bridge on main street in Gardner, MT

Rock formations along road in North Yellowstone

We arrived in Butte Montana and found our KOA RV Park is located right next door to the Visitor Information Center and it’s an easy walk from our camp site through some bushes.  This turned out to be convenient because we signed up for Trolley Tour of Butte to start the day and all we had to do was walk there from our RV.

Tour of Butte, Mt in Trolley

It turned out the 22 people on this tour was us, another couple who lives 6 months in Venice, Florida and six months in Michigan, and 18 people having a family reunion.  You can imagine we were a lively group.

We had no idea, but Butte is basically all about mining and has been since 1880’s which is very reminiscent of Houghton, Michigan in the UP that we visited last year.  Butte took over in copper production as Houghton was ebbing its production, using its open pit mining technique became safer and was used until 1982.  At its peak, Butte was a city of over 100,000 people including mine workers, families and all the ancillary services needed.  Today, Butte has a population of around 33,000.

Landscape of Butte from hill near Berkeley Pit Mine

We started our tour at the Berkley Pit which was originally an underground mine that converted after WWII to open pit and functioned until 1982.  This was once the largest truck-operated open pit copper mine in the US.  After the underground pumps were shut off, the pit began to fill up creating this lake.

There are stories of wealth, power and corruption during the early 1900’s and big beautiful mansions that were built during that era but my favorite sight on the tour was the World Museum of Mining with over 50 structures including the 100 foot headframe of the Orphan Girl Mine and a re-creation of a mining camp.  We were able to walk to the top of the headframe, or gallows as they are sometime called and actually see how the ore got out of the mine and how the men and supplies got in and out.  There are 7 of these headframes around the city as a reminder of the town’s background.  Our tour guide told us that this symbol is used on T-shirts, jewelry and some people actually use it as a tattoo, which seems like a bit much to me, but oh well.

Re-creation of a mining town in Montana at the turn of the century

Gallows of Orphan Mine

Cars that were used to transport, ore and supplies into mines

Skips & Chips carried men into mines

The museum sits on the campus of Montana Tech of the University of Montana where Engineering, Science and Mathematics are its main focus with an emphasis on mining.  Years back some students, after some beers I suspect, decided to go up to the highest mountain peak near the school and created a large “M” in rocks and then whitewashed them so they could be seen from the city.  Later students used their knowledge to illuminate the “M” so it could be seen at night and even put in the mechanism to only illuminate the “V” in the middle when their team wins.  We got this picture of the “M” from out campsite at night.

Just as we left the museum and campus, it started to rain with significant winds so we decided to call it day.

Yesterday the high temperature in the park was 82 degrees and sunny.  Tomorrow the weather will be pretty much the same as yesterday, but today because we have a reservation and already paid for a Red Bus Tour through the park the expected high is 62 and cloudy with intermittent rain.  Oh well.

We had to leave the RV at 7 a.m. because it is a little less than 3 hour drive to get there.  Actually Glacier Park was not on our original plan or we would have stayed closer, but lots of people have told us we had to go, so we are going.

Red Bus #80

These Red Bus Tours have been going on in Glacier since buses were available and these buses are actually second generation from 1936.  They were completely refurbished by Ford Motor Company in 1992 and look brand new.  They only hold 18 people including the driver which is much nicer than a big tour bus.  On sunny days, the canvas roof of the bus is open so its like being in a big convertible.  Our “Jammer”, as the drivers are called, was a 20 something year old college student working on a Masters Degree in Divinity with a lot of personality.

Our first stop was McDonald Lodge on the lake of the same name.  The front of the lodge actually faces the lake because when it was built there was no road access the only way you could get here was by boat.  Obviously that means its very old.

Flowers at Lake McDonald Lodge Front Entrance

Can you tell its raining and cold?  Lake McDonald is 1 mile wide and 10 miles long and 400 feet deep in the middle.  It’s average water temperature is only 55 degrees but that’s because the bottom stays around 45 degrees even though the surface temperature may go as high as 65 degrees.  Doesn’t sound like a good swimming lake to me but we keep our pool temperature at 88 at my recommendation.

Lake McDonald from Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier Nat’l Park

The next stop was Sacred Dancing Cascades.  Notice how blue the water looks.  This has something to do with minerals from glaciers rubbing stones together.  Way too much information for me with my minimal geology training.

Sacred Dancing Cascades – Glacier Nat’l Park

Down below you can see the cascades and above you can see the clouds we were about to drive through.  Putting in these roads through the park took 26 years because they wanted to minimize the impact both to the topography and visually.  You can see none of the road is visible but runs all along the side of the mountain.

Bird Woman’s Falls in McDonald Valley

Each stop was a higher altitude until we reach Logan Pass which is a starting spot for many of the high altitude hiking trails.  The place was packed with people even in this weather.  We were somewhere around 9000 feet high and it was rainy and very cold with a stiff wind.  The temperature had to be in the 30’s or lower with the wind chill.

Logan’s Pass – Glacier Nat’l Park

Snow still hanging on at this altitude.

There were some cyclists in the Visitor Center who had cycled up this high and were trying to get warm.  They were unable to get warm saying they were shivering so hard getting up there they could barely peddle.  I assure you, we didn’t spend long up there because most of us were too cold to care.

Our final stop in the park was at a lower altitude and warmer and well worth the look.

Falls at McDonald’s Horse Bridge

One final stop before we got back to the RV was closer to home and also worth the stop.  The Bison Range was established by Teddy Roosevelt because the bison population had dropped to fewer than 100.  He allocated government funds to buy the land and house the remaining herd.  It know has more than 500 on this range alone is no longer considered endangered.  It has also become home to white-tail deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and bug horn sheep.  Because it was close to dusk, we got some really good pictures.

Bison at National Bison Range – Missoula, MT

Countryside at National Bison Range

Mule Deer feeding near the river at National Bison Range – Missoula, MT

National Bison Range

Pronghorn Antelope – National Bison Range

Stack of Antlers collected at National Bison Range – Missoula, MT

Now home tired but happy.

Just in case I haven’t mentioned it, I want you to know I will probably never be able to buy another peach in the grocery store.  Remember those peaches Jim picked in Washington, better than I have ever tasted, EVER!

Jim picking peaches at Hanson’s Orchard – Green Bluff, WA

We moved to Missoula, Montana on Monday and found a city of approximately 115,000 with a college and University but most of the students are gone.  Driving into town, I told Jim this looks like you would imagine Montana to look with evergreen covered mountains and wide open spaces.  Looks exactly like the set of a western!

Today we traveled east to see an honest to goodness Ghost Town, Garnet, Montana.  After we finally saw the sign and turned in, we came really close to aborting the trip and coming back to the RV.  The road leading to the town abruptly changes from asphalt to graded rocks and dirt with an abundance of washboarding.  Although it only lasted for just over 6 miles it seemed like an eternity.  Just before reaching the town we came upon a photo turnout.  I know the camera can’t do it justice, but is this not beautiful?

Garnet Range’s remote location made “placer mining” the perfect method for this area because there were very few tools needed.  Everyone was looking for gold in 1865 and all that was required here was a gold pan, and rocker and some hand tools. By 1895 the town consisted of 4 stores, 4 hotels, 3 livery stables, 2 barber shops, a union hall, a butcher shop, a candy store, a doctor’s office, and 13 saloons, plus a school with 41 students.  Over the years the mining went from gold to quartz to silver back to gold but by 1942 the post office was closed because the mining had just played out.   Remains of this town are now owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the Garnet Preservation Society and together they have salvaged several buildings scattered in a valley and built on various levels on the side of the mountain.

Hotel in Garnet, MT

One of the original 13 saloons now the visitor’s center

General Store – Garnet, MT

Jail in Garnet, MT

Upper class home of the time

MG checking out the outhouse

luxury accomodations – 3 holer

Honeymoon Suite in Garnet, MT

It was the best preserved “ghost town” I have ever seen and totally authentic.  As we were leaving I heard a wife say to her husband, “See everything you want to see, because I’m never coming back here.  I guess the hike down into the valley and back up was more than she had bargained for.

We saw several families with coolers eating lunch up near the parking lot.  I guess they knew this place was in the middle of nowhere, which we did not and it was waaaay past lunch.

After driving back to civilization for lunch, we drove to the Missoula Smokejumpers Base.

Smokejumpers at Missoula, MT

Back in 1939 someone figured out that parachuting close to the fire to get it under control was quicker, would save time and lives.  Think about jumping out of plane in 1939!  There is a quote in the Visitor Center made by someone in that time saying something like all the men who are willing to do this are crazy and unstable.

Parachute repair/repacking room

Insidethe smokejumpers plane

Today, 10% of the Smokejumpers are women and none of standards have been altered to help them qualify.  An experienced firefighter with 10 years experience can apply for Smokejumpers but they must also qualify according to some hefty physical requirements.  Their gear weighs 85 pounds and they have to be able to walk miles carrying it.  This is another branch of first responder that I never gave much thought to, but guaranteed I will now.

We even got to sit in the plane they use to drop into the fires.

Then off to the local farmer’s market that is held every Tuesday evening, the area is known for its Huckleberries and Dixon Melons, very delicious .

Dixon melon – Missoula is known for their Dixon melons

When we were planning this trip, our friend Christie Morrow told us about a place we needed to see and Spokane happened to be within 50 miles so that was the plan for today.  We were headed to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to check out the lake, the shops, the restaurants and anything else we find.

view from boat dock

Once we got there, we decided the best way to see the lake was on the lake so we got tickets for a 90minute boat ride.  First we stopped into the Collective Kitchen and had a wonderful lunch.  I had a salad of arugula with candied baby beets, grilled salmon and goat cheese and Jim had fish tacos with sweet potato fries.  Now off to the ship.

View of Sherman Ave in Coeur D’Alene from patio where we ate lunch

The lake itself is just under 50 acres and is ranked within the top three cleanest lakes in the US.  The vistas are a perfect blend of water, mountains, and trees with rocky shores and some man made beaches.  The city itself is the main hub and the lake boasts about 135 miles of shore line that include a State Park, gated communities, and luxury condos with 6300 square feet each next to the famed Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course (Golf Digest’s “Best Conditioned Course”) with its famous floating golf green on the 14th hole.  They can actually move this hole anywhere from 75 to 150 feet from the tee.

Golf Course at Lake Coeur d’Alene

Floating hole #14

After you tee off, they take you by boat to the green to finish the hole.  If the water intimidates you and you miss the green, you get two shots to try and they you are required to lay up.

There was one section that boasted of a being so elite, there were four big houses that had formed their own gated community within a gated community.  Now that is exclusive.

Large private home on Lake Coeur d’Alene

That sail boat you see parked at the end of the dock is custom made.

One really interesting house was built into and on a rock as a guest house but later sold separately.  The current owners come out to wave to the cruise ships and arrived after this picture was taken.

House on the Rock – Lake Coeur d’Alene

Homes along shoreline of Lake Coeur D’Alene

One final view from the ship was the bridge expanse over the lake on I 90.

I-90 bridge over Lake Coeur d’Alene

This will be the bridge we drive over on Monday to get to our next destination.  I hope it isn’t as scary looking from up there!

RV park in Spokane, WA

We left the desert of Kennewick, Washington and moved north to Spokane.  Actually, we are in North Spokane past all the city stuff and more in the country.  The weather is inflicting us with those 95-100 degree temperature but the humidity is 30% and it really doesn’t seem that hot.  According to the brochures, there is lots to do here so we made a plan.

At Frank’s Diner, the railroad car restaurant, the waitress told us we had to go to GreenBluff which is an unincorporated town sitting on a plateau.

Orchards in Green Bluff

The big claim to fame of this town is that over 50 family farms on this plateau have formed an affiliation and open to the public, local and travelers, to sell their produce either picked or u-pick.  There are farms specializing in every thing from Christmas trees to herbs.  Our first stop was a lavender farm called Fleur de Provence Lavender Farm.  The owner came to greet us and told us all about the culinery vs the oil types of lavender and even gave us a bundle to put in our RV.  Very gracious!

Lavender farm in Green Bluff, WA

We spent the next few hours traveling the two loops visiting farms.  We found out that cherries are all gone and the crop right now is peaches, apricots and blueberries.  We stopped at the Hansen Farm and decided to do some u-pick peaches and blueberries.

Large sweet blueberries

Jim picking peaches at Hanson’s Orchard – Green Bluff, WA

One farm, the Harvest House has actually turned into a destination with bakery goods, drinks and lunch items.

We took the fruit home and then headed to the Spokane Riverfront Park.  The first order of business had to be lunch or I was going to faint.  It was close to 2 pm.  Lucky us, we found a great restaurant with outdoor seating, (remember low humidity).  Jim ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with apple slices and onion which looked and sounded good to me.  No picture because we were so hungry, we just ate as soon as the food was delivered.

Just up the street from the restaurant was the park, well within walking distance.  This park is over 100 acres of urban park originally property owned by the Great Northern  Railroad and donated and converted in 1974 for Expo ’74.

Butterfly sculpture left over from Expo in 1974

 Clock Tower in Riverfront Park – Spokane, WA

This is a beautiful park with lots to do and see including a historic carrousel ride, IMAX theatre, a park tour train ride and a Skyride tram that takes you to a viewing point of the falls on the Spokane River.  We opted for the train ride which gave us  a general overview of the park and then we walked to the falls.

Water Falls in Riverfront Park – Spokane, WA

There were young people everywhere in the park and everyone of them had their cell phones out.  According to Fitbit, the walk to the base of the falls and back up was the equivalent of 15 fights of stairs.

Also in that general area is the Davenport Hotel once a 5 star hotel that had been allowed to fall into disrepair and in the last five years been totally restored as close to the original as possible.  We thought a coffee would be a good idea and we could see the hotel and relax for a few minutes at the same time.

Street view of Davenport Hotel originally opened in 1914

Lobby of Davenport Hotel – Downtown Spokane

On our way back to the RV we had to stop and get some vanilla ice cream to go with those peaches we picked earlier in the day.

It may sound weird, but we had to take a rest from having fun.  We left Eugene on Tuesday morning and drove North to Kennewick, Washington to a really nice park and did nothingfor two days.  No sightseeing.  No fancy dinners.  No shopping.  Just pure R & R.                                                          Campground in Kennewick, WA

It helped that there isn’t anything to see or do in Kennewick, or anywhere nearby either.  Once we got over the mountain, the views changed drastically.  We went from lush evergreens an river views to desert-type views.

And we went from low 50 degree temperatures at night and highs in the high 70’s to high 60’s at night to high 90’s to 100 degrees in the day.  Since we had experienced such cloudy, damp temperatures on the Oregon coast for so long, the warm temperatures actually felt good.

Today we arrived in Spokane, Washington to almost the same temperatures but lots more to see and do.  Just across the street from our brand new RV Park is a diner that renovated a turn of the century railroad car as its main dining area.  Besides having really good food, the interior is beautiful.                                                      Frank’s Diner in the Train Car

We missed the opportunity to take a picture of Jim’s lunch but maybe the description will be enough.  It was called the Conductor Derailer and consisted of two extra large eggs with sausage patties, hash browns with gravy and a Belgian waffle with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.   He did manage to eat most of it too.

We are making plans tonight to try to fit in all the fun things to see and do in this beautiful city.

It seemed like a missed opportunity to come all the way to Oregon and not see the remainder of the Oregon coast, so that was our plan for our last day in Eugene.  We set out early enough to be in Reedsport for lunch where Jim had a Seafood Pot Pie filled with every manner of seafood in a light cream sauce covered by a light crust top and I had a halibut burger with capers and avocado.  Just right to give us the energy for our day’s adventure.

Downtown Reedsport, OR

Woodcarving Place in Reedsport, OR Home of Chainsaw carving champion

Just up the road from the restaurant is Dean Creek Elk Viewing Center where they boast of 100 elk living free.  Although we had to come back by on the way home, Jim did get good pictures and we did see a small piece of the herd.

Herd of Elk at Dean Creek Viewing area

As we continued South, we were suddenly confronted with massive sand dunes washed ashore from the Pacific Ocean and blown by the strong winds into huge mounds just off the coast.

There are three lighthouses we decided to add to our rapidly growing list of visited structures.  The first was Umpqua lighthouse.  (You can add that to your list of names to practice your pronunciation skills.)

Umpqua River, Lighthouse near Reedsport, OR

View from Umpqua River Lighthouse

This hilltop is also a whale watching platform and there was a bottom jawbone of a Sperm Whale that was at least 10 feet long and the sign said that means the whale had to be at least 60 feet long.  Just a reminder of how huge these giants of the sea really are.

The next lighthouse was the Arago Lighthouse but as we got closer to the location, you could see and feel the fog roll in from the sea.  We got out of the truck and all we could hear was the barking of either sea lions or seals coming from the rocks.  There had to be a bunch of them because they were really loud but it was  hard to see them.

Rocks off the coast at Aroga Lighthouse, seals on rocks

seal on rocks at Cape Arago Lighthouse

Then we got this picture of the lighthouse!

View of Cape Arago Lighthouse socked in by fog

Don’t be surprised if you can’t see the lighthouse, we couldn’t either.

The last lighthouse to visit was the Coquille Lighthouse which is no longer active and the lense is reported to be at the bottom of the Coquille River.

Coquille River Lighthouse – near Bandon, OR

Tomorrow we leave for Kennewick, Washington where we will catch up to your 95 degree temperatures.

This is such a nice park and the weather so perfect that we decided this afternoon we would do the “camper” thing.  That included relaxing in lounge chairs and reading, then going for a long hike around the park which took us to a fast moving rock-bottomed river filled with Oregonians with their white bodies in bathing suits.  The weather here is more moderate than I thought with little snow, but cloudy is the more the norm.

Then we grilled a nice piece of halibut we bought at Pike’s Place Fish Market in Seattle seasoned with dill, lemon, garlic vinegar  and summer squash and zucchini we bought at the Market yesterday.

Then after dinner it was my turn to cut Jim’s hair!

Finally dessert was a small marionberry pie also bought at the Market.

Kinda a nice day.  No wonder all these people flock to State Parks every weekend.

Eagle’s nest on old railroad bridge near Armitage RV Park

Eugene, Oregon is a city of about 157,000 people and home of the University of Oregon, but it has turned out to be one of the nicest places this trip.  The State Park  we are staying in has RV sites that are big and open so we are not cramped in but have plenty of privacy.

Last night we found a restaurant called Cafe 440 that was a true anomaly.  The Host who took our name, although really busy cleaning tables and seating people, was very personable when we did get a table asking us if we had been there before and where we were from.  He in turn, gave that information to our server who continued the conversation and was every bit as friendly, while also being extremely busy.  It didn’t take much extra time, but we felt we were going to our favorite restaurant where they knew us well.  The food was delicious as well, which is maybe why this place was packed with a waiting list.

After dinner “we made fire” and enjoyed our peaceful home away from home.

Campfire at Armitage Campground – Eugene, OR

This morning we decided to visit their Farm Market and get some fruit and vegetables.  What we discovered were four blocks of booths set up with every craft, food, and jewelry you could imagine.  In the parking lot we ran into a woman who occasionally comes to this market from her home in Northern California as a day trip.  I call that well attended.  Check out how good these berries we bought look and they taste even better than they look.

Fresh Berries from Farmer’s Market – Downtown Eugene, OR

After lunch, we found another “best” of Eugene, called the Owen Rose Garden.  This garden included almost 100 varieties of roses that were beautiful.  Climbers surround the perimeter of the garden and beds of 8-20 bushes formed  two rows in a circle.

Entry way to Owens Rose Garden – Eugene, OR

In the center of the garden was this huge tree supported with all kinds of wires and braces keeping it from cracking from the shear weight of itself.

Black Tartarian Cherry Tree – 150 yrs old

Owen Rose Garden

After the Rose Garden, we made our way to the oldest park in Eugene with 78 acres of trails for some hiking.  Huge trees and native flowers at every turn made this a fun afternoon, even though I did check with Google to see what snakes lived in this neighborhood.

MG holding up a Douglas Fir

Douglas Fir

White wild flower along path

Cone shaped Hydrangea

White flower along the path – 4 o’clock

Lace Capped Hydrangea

Large Douglas Fir Trees in Hendricks Park – Eugene, OR

Wild flowers along the path in Hendricks Park

By the way, I did get my 10,000 steps in today.