Back in Washington. Hooray!!!!

After taking Shannon and Izzy to the West Glacier Airport, we continued on our drive home. Highway 2 along Flathead Lake is so beautiful. Off and on views of the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi and cute communities nestled in pine trees. Then through rolling hills of wheat. The last 30 miles from Plains, MT to St Regis MT (just at the Idaho border) was a state scenic byway and followed a river through the mountains. Just spectacular. And the little town of St Regis is very cute and has a nice RV park.

Next day we headed for Spokane which meant three states in one morning; Montana, Idaho (panhandle) and Washington. We had planned to stop and sight see in Spokane and ride their bike path but an ugly dust storm blew through so we just kept going. Arrived at Lincoln Rock State Park, just outside of Wenatchee for our first night back home in good old Washington. Yea! of course it rained the first day but what else would you expect.

We plan to spend a couple days in the area and visit with our friends Kirsten and Cline in Leavenworth before heading to Brier on Thursday. So excited to see family and friends. By the time we are back home we will have been gone exactly a year since we pulled away in the coach. Fortunately we had trips home to celebrate new babies and 50th wedding anniversaries. It is true, home is where the heart is.

We had a "grand" time with Izzy

Hidden Lake trail on the Continental Divide

Lake McDonald with an 84 year old ranger

Too much fun at Glacier with Shannon & Izzy

The week at Glacier National Park with Shannon and Izzy was crazy, hectic, and fun. Some or all of us drove most of the Going to the Sun Road, hiked the Trail of Cedars, Stanton Lake, and the Hidden Lake trail at Logan Pass. Had a beautiful cruise on Lake McDonald with a very informative park ranger. Checked out Whitefish which Budget Travel says is one of the "10 coolest small towns in America". But I think the highlight for Shannon and John was seeing a herd of mountain goats and a hoary marmot along the trail to Hidden Lake. The highlight for me was spending time with the girls, especially our hike to Stanton Lake. Too hectic to write much so as they say "the pictures are worth a thousand words".

Scoping out Glacier before Shannon & Izzy Arrive

Glacier is more than a days drive from Fort Peck, so we made another long drive and arrived in Cut Bank, MT late afternoon. Cut Bank is still in the flat plains part of Montana, about an hour from the eastern edge of Glacier National Park. The Riverview campground was pretty nice so we decided to stay two nights to catch up on internet and also see parts of eastern Glacier NP that we likely won't get to with Shannon and Izzy (S&I). We are on a mesa above the Cut Bank River and there was a nice walk along an old road down to the river the first night. Good stop over spot.

The next day we drove to the St Mary Lake Visitor Center to check it out and also find out about a good hike in the Many Glacier area of the park. They have an interesting video on the history of the Going to the Sun Road that was built in the 1930s and the work they are doing to restore the historical road. Then on to the Many Glacier area which is fantastic. It was a really windy day so we ate our picnic lunch in the car overlooking Shelburne Lake and the majectic Rocky Mountain Front Range with many glaciers (hence the name of the area ;-)) Just awe inspiring! Then a pretty hike to Red Rock Lake and Red Rock Falls. On the way back there was a wildlife jam on the trail. That is where lots of people are all stopped looking into the distance and you just know they have spotted some interesting wildlife. This time it was three grizzly bears, a long distance away across the valley up on a high meadow. Exactly where you would want to spot three grizzly bears on a hike. I was able to see one with the binoculars but the others were hiding in the trees by the time I got there. Very Fun.

Next we took a very pretty drive up a winding road overlooking Two Medicine Lakes. We took a short hike in the Medicine Lake area to a lovely waterfall that comes right out of a hole in the mountain. Of course on all our hikes I am making noise like mad to scare the bears away before we come around a corner.

The lakes in the park looked very low with much of the shoreline about 20% low. All of the national park has been affected by climate change. There is no mistaking how low the lakes are and how small the glaciers are compared to 20 years ago. We can even tell the difference from when we were here less than 10 years ago. The projection is that there won't be any glaciers left in the park by 2010. What a loss.\

Fort Peck in eastern Montana

Left the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and headed to the north unit. They have had unusual amounts of rain this year and more than half of the scenic drive in the north unit is closed due to road damage. The Badlands experience a process called 'slumping' which means that whole portions of a mesa will just 'slump' off leaving a whole in the mesa and a corresponding hill at the bottom. As you might expect, this is tough on roads. So we explored the part of the scenic drive and checked out the visitor center and video. The weather was forecasted in the 30s at night so we decided we wouldn't dry camp. It was time to head on to Montana. The drive through eastern Montana is flat flat flat but scenic in its own way. We were near the Missouri River the entire drive but only saw it in Williston where there is a big reservoir. Mostly we signs of a huge new boom in oil and natural gas production. There were wells and natural gas burn off fires all along highway 2. The owner of one of the campgrounds we stayed at said there was enough natural gas found recently for the US supply for hundreds of years. It is truly a boom town, there are trailers and prefab housing everywhere.

After a very long day of driving we finally got to Fort Peck, MT. There is a beautiful Corp of Engineer campground there called Downstream Campground. It sits at the base of one of the largest earthen dams in the world, right on the downstream river with huge cottonwood trees everywhere. The sites are huge and level, the facilities are a bit old but in spotless condition and all for $9 per night. We loved this campground.

There is a terrific interpretive center with history of the dam which was built as one of the first Roosevelt New Deal projects in the 1930s. The area is also home to the first full skeleton T-Rex fossil (found 20 miles from the dam) and many other significant finds of period fossils. The museum has two reconstructed full body T-Rex skeletons plus one T-Rex that has been finished to estimate what it would have looked like alive. Additionally, there were at least a dozen other dinosaur and sea creatures from the period. It was a terrific museum and worth a stop on its own. There is a road across the dam that you are able to drive on with nice views of the reservoir. The reservoir is 134 miles long and has more coastline than the state of California. The scope of this project is huge and hard to envision on the flat eastern Montana landscape with the famous big sky. We thoroughly enjoyed a couple days here. It was just supposed to be a short stop between T. Roosevelt NP and Glacier NP but turned into a fascinating stay.

Izzy = just because she is so darn cute

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

We arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park at the western border of North Dakota on September 10th. Lots of coverage of the September 11th 10 year anniversary. Probably North Dakota is a safe place to be if there were a terror attack. Enough of those thoughts.

The first stop coming from the east is the Painted Canyon. A nice overlook of the badlands with lots of color. It was a hot day, almost 90 degrees and 3 in the afternoon. We want to go back and see it at dusk when it will be cooler and prettier with the shadows. Next we headed to the Medora Visitors Center to see the movie on the park and the small museum on Teddy Roosevelt. We caught the ranger talk at his Maltese Ranch Cabin which was very interesting. Tomorrow is going to be hot (mid 90s) so we are planning an early hike and then a drive on the scenic road in the afternoon. On Sunday the day started pretty and about 70 degrees. By the end of our 90 minute hike it was over 80 in the sun. Stopped for a fun picnic then drove the scenic road for 35 miles. Lots of stops for short hikes, fortunately there was a nice breeze to keep it from being too hot. At one point a herd of buffalo blocked the road. Lots of moms, babies, and a couple big bulls. The biggest didn't like us taking pictures and ran up beside the car and gave a low rumbling growl. Good thing he ambled on. We also saw some wild horses on a hill close by. Tomorrow we are doing a hike at Painted Canyon and hope to see more horses there. Then on to the North Unit of T Roosevelt National Park. No cell or wifi for a while so I won't be blogging much.

The Sheyenne River National Scenic Byway

On the way from from Waukesha to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we stopped at Lake Ashtabula near Valley City, North Dakota. After two long days of driving we stayed an extra night to explore. Our campsite was right on the Lake with peek a boo views and lots of room. A really nice campground. Valley City was fun to explore to. It felt like a piece of the 1950s at times.

So what did we do on our day off from driving..... we drove the Sheyenne River Valley National Scenic Byway. At least it wasn't freeway and we stopped often and saw the interpretive sites with some short bits of walking. The old cabins, mills, churches, and towns were mostly from the late 1800s and were interesting examples of how hard the life was farming in North Dakota. Our last stop was the Sheyenne Forest and a quick walk on the North Country Trail. This is a national trail that runs from North Dakota to New York. We had walked a small piece of it when we were in the Allegheny Forest in Pennsylvania so it was fun to do another short stretch.

All in all a nice break from power driving.

Catching up with Ed & Bunny in Waukesha, WI

We had the great good fortune to meet Ed & Bunny when we were at House Creek Campground in Colorado. We had so much fun together that we made plans to meet at Curicanti Reservoir near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It was the beginning of a friendship. On the way east we crossed paths with them again in East Texas of all places. We met for dinner on a night that was 11 degrees but we were warmed by the company. With such good times, how could we not stop by their place when we were going through Wisconsin? It took some planning as they were traveling too but on Labor Day we drove to Waukesha and Kettle Moraine State Park for a visit.

As soon as we were set up, we headed to their house and then on to their daughter, Adrienne's. She and her husband and two darling daughters welcomed us to a fabulous Labor Day cook out. They have a fantastic garden and we were treated to fresh tomatoes, beans, squash, and salsa all picked fresh. After filling up with great food we headed to Ed & Bunny's for a nice visit.

The next morning we met and headed to downtown Waukesha. The Fox River runs through town with a lovely walking trail with sculptures, gardens, waterfalls, and the peaceful course of the river. After a great two mile walk we stopped in town for lunch and then a decadent gelato dessert. That night we were having dinner at the campground for them, so we headed out to get ready. After another wonderful night of food and laughs, we said "so long" because we know that we will find each other again. Next time it will be in Washington, next August or September and it will be our turn to show them the area. One of the best parts of RV life is the people you meet. We were so lucky to meet Ed & Bunny.

Door County with Barbara and Bob

Well the visit started out with some excitement. As we were leaving for the short drive up, a storm came through with 70 mph gusts nearby and thunder, lightning, and rain. We were just ready to pull out when it started so we backed up and waited it out. Once it was past we took off and had a very pretty drive along Lake Michigan to Barb & Bob's home.

They were our first 'neighbors' at Desert Trails and when they found out we were traveling the east coast, they invited us to come visit on our way home. They have a great place with room for us to park with a view out the front window across an open meadow with a line of trees. We weren't in the coach that much though because they rolled out the red carpet with lots of entertaining with their wonderful friends nearby.

Of course we had to see Door County, "'the Cape Cod of the Midwest". It is on a peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan (actually Bob told us that it is now an island since they dug a channel out to the Lake). Everywhere you look there is one charming view after the next. Charming towns, charming shops, charming lighthouses, and water views that go on and on. On Saturday we went to Sturgeon Bay for breakfast and a stop at the Farmers Market before heading out for a drive up north. Next stop was Egg Harbor and a visit to their friends shops for some Christmas Present shopping. I swear they know everyone in the county especially the shop owners. Barb and Bob owned 3 shops in the area before they retired. Our tour included a drive up the Green Bay side around Peninsula State Park and on to quaint little Ephraim. By that time we hurried back to get ready for ribs night with 5 of their neighbors. Too much wonderful food and wine and a perfectly fun evening. Tomorrow we tour a lighthouse and get out and explore a bit. Biking if it isn't too windy, otherwise a hike.

We had a fantastic visit with Bob & Barb. What great hosts and they have wonderful friends. No goodbyes because we will see them this winter in Desert Trails.

I am way behind on posting pictures and promise to get some soon.

Two Rivers Wisconsin on Lake Michigan

Pretty spot with a beautiful bike trail. Six miles to Manitowoc with gardens, garden art, and amazing views of Lake Michigan. A great quick stop on the way to Barb & Bob's in Door County. The Stop N Dock Marina and RV park is funky fun. The view out our front window is up the West Twin River with lots of shore grass and birds. A hungry heron was fishing for dinner as the sun was setting a pretty pink. Tomorrow, famous Door County and fun friends.

Starved Rock Illinois State Park

A quick stop over between sister Pat's and friends in Wisconsin. We stayed at a commercial campground, Hickory Hollow, which was really nice and a Passport half price park. It was 3 miles from Starved Rock State Park which was a great find. 12 miles of hiking trails, over 12 canyons, right on the Illinois River with a great Visitor Center. The history here started BC with the Illinois Indian tribe, in 1680 the first Europeans arrived with Father Marquette and Joliette the fur trader. There was a fort on top of Starved rock until it burned down in the 1700s. The name Starved Rock came from a legend of a war between two Indian tribes. The losing tribe took refuge at the top of a 125 foot sandstone rock. The siege lasted until they all starved, hence the name.

Later in the 1800s, this area became a resort area for Chicagoans (90 miles away). Tourists would ride the canal boats to the river, then ferry across to the park. It also has a rich Civilian Conversation Corp (CCC) history which is interesting to me as my Dad was in the CCCs in Nebraska. All in all a great short stop. Especially the 6 mile hike along the bluffs, canyons, and rivers.