Family, friends, and sightseeing

This part of our trip was so different for us.  It was fast-paced, active, a lot of sight-seeing, and full of spending time with family and friends.

Wild Horses Overlook, in the Columbia River gorge, near Vantage, Washington

The  beginning of the month, we picked up Jerome’s younger sister, Eileen, in Spokane, Washington and took her back to our campsite at the Kahnderosa Campground in Cataldo, Idaho.   This campground was a great place for us, close to the interstate, next to a beautiful river, and next to a bike trail that ran the length of the state of Idaho from Couer D’Alene to the Montana border.  It was also a half-way point between the airport and the Route of the Hiawatha trail that we were looking forward to ride.   Lucky for us, we met our camping neighbor, Todd, who told us more about the trail and gave us a heads-up to wear warm clothes and take a jacket because it gets to 39 degrees in the tunnels, especially, the 1.7 mile tunnel that we would be riding through not once, but twice!   The Route of the Hiawatha bike trail follows the path of the old Milwaukee railroad, the most expensive section of railroad ever built in the US, due to the steep canyons, requiring many tunnels and trestles.  It starts in Montana and traverses 15 miles at a slight downhill grade into Idaho.  We rode it to the Pearson trailhead exit, where we caught a shuttle that took us and our bikes back to the east portal at Taft tunnel – a 17 mile total ride.    It was a fabulous experience with incredible scenery.  We all agreed that it was the best bike ride ever and now know why it is considered the scenic bike trail in the country.    

Jerome, Jean, and Eileen at the East Portal trailhead for the Route of the Hiawatha

it's pitch black and cold in there!

we can see the light at the end of this tunnel!

ahhhhh....daylight again!

Jerome crossing one of the many trestles

2 more trestles in the distance

loading our bikes on the shuttle to return to our truck

While at the Kahnderosa, we also learned about the Old Mission (built in 1853 by the Jesuits and the Couer d’Alene Indians) just a couple of miles down the road at the Old Mission State Park.  It is the oldest building still standing in Idaho and has a incredibly interesting history.

inside the Old Mission

   We met a long distance biker when we were eating lunch at the Old Mission Inn restaurant in Cataldo (yes, he was asking about our kayaks!) and when he seemed interested in our plans to see the restored mission, we invited him along.   He left his bike at the restaurant and went with us to see it and we all had a great time.    He told us about the Snake Pit Restaurant, just up the road a bit, which is the second oldest building in Idaho.   The next day, we went there to eat and we were really glad that he had told us about this place.We have met some wonderful people and have such a good feeling about our country and fellow Americans that we often easily miss in our everyday life.    If you are ever in this area, don’t miss these three great places.  Todd also told us about the book “The Big Burn” by Timothy Egan, which Jerome read and highly recommends, especially to anyone planning on visiting this area.

the Snake Pit restaurant in Kingston, Idaho

 

On the way to Seattle, we stopped one night in the Grant County Fairgrounds campground in Moses Lake, Washington.  This was a great spot with lush green grass and only one other couple camping here that night.   We learned that this was the town that took the brunt of the ash fall-out after Mt. Saint Helens blew up.   The next stop for us was at Trailer Inns RV Park in Bellevue, Washington, a suburb in the eastern part of Seattle.   Land is prime here and boy what an eye-opener this “campground” was!  It was just a parking lot that was cram-packed with RV’s and campers.   They must have paid an architect to draw up a schematic of every inch of the space to make sure they could pack in the most campers possible.   They even rented out the parking spaces in front of the office building at night to people who slept in their vans or had pickup truck campers!   We still are in awe of how some of the rv’ers got themselves into and out of their spots.   Luckily, they gave us a pull-through spot in front of the office.  It was very clean, safe, and near Seattle, so worth the expensive price of being there. 

Trailer Inn RV Park at Bellevue, Washington

  The night we got there, Eileen’s friend, Hope, drove down from Bellingham (about 2 hours north of Seattle) to visit and have dinner with us.   We spent Saturday in Seattle with family friends that we hadn’t seen in a long time, Nancy and Mark.    They were so gracious in taking us all around the Seattle area, showing us the sights and sharing with us such interesting, insightful information and history.  We even were able to meet up with our nephew, Kurt, and his fiancé, Katie when we stopped at Chinook’s at the Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch.  Jerome was thrilled to buy some dried morel mushrooms while we were at Pike’s Market and Eileen got to see the famous fish market where the staff toss the fish to each other while shouting and joking.  

Nancy, Mark, Jerome, & Eileen at Pike's Market in Seattle

Heading south from Seattle to Portland, it was a must to take Eileen to see Mt. Saint Helens.   We stayed in the Harry Gardner Park, a small city park, in Toutle, Washington just 27 miles from the Johnston Observatory.   It was overcast and rained while we were there and we were very lucky to get a brief  reprieve of the weather, just long enough for Eileen to be able to get a good, clear view of the magnitude and beauty of the crater.

Mt. Saint Helens,   Washington

We finally made it to one of our main trip destinations…. Portland, Oregon, to see our oldest son, Joe.  We stayed for 15 days in Reeder Beach Campground on Sauvie Island, overlooking the beautiful Columbia River, with views of Mt. Rainer, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood.   Reeder Beach campground is attached to an old, working farm with free-ranging ducks, geese, and chickens, farm equipment in sheds, apple, pear, and walnut trees, and an office with a small grocery store.   Here we were able to buy the fresh eggs, fruit, and vegetables.  We learned about yellow cucumbers that look like little apples and purple pole beans that turn bright green when cooked... YUM!   We sat on the bluff overlooking the water or went down to the beach where we read our books, visited, and watched the humongous ocean-going ships passing by. 

sunset view of Mt. Saint Helens, from our campsite at Reeder Beach RV Park, Sauvie Island, Oregon

view of the Columbia River from our campsite

one of the many freighters that passed by our campsite

and yet another one!

Joe, Jerome, and Reza

Eileen stayed with us here for six incredible days filled with sightseeing, hiking, and visiting with Joe and friends who we consider family – Heather, Nur, and Reza.   We had a long list of things to show and do with Eileen and we were surprised that we did it all and more.   Of course, when you go non-stop from morning until 10 at night every day, it makes it possible!   We were able to take her to the coast to see Cannon Beach and Indian Rocks Beach, Fort Stevens, and have lunch at Camp 18.   We took her to Multnomah Falls and ended up hiking to the top  – something that we had said we said we would never do again! 

Ecola State Park, Oregon coast

Multnomah Falls, near Portland

can you see the elk?  - Ft. Stevens State Park, Oregon coast

  We made it to the Rose Garden, Powell’s Book Store, and even to Silverton Falls where she and Jean hiked to see 9 of the 10 falls.  Jerome and I were even able to spend some time at Cullen Beach, something that has been on our bucket list!     It was wonderful to be able to spend time with Joe again and it was bittersweet when we actually left Portland yesterday.   It was sad to be leaving and yet nice to know that we are now on our “homeward bound” stretch.   We’re now in a beautiful Army Corps of Engineers campground, Pine Meadows, on a reservoir on Cottage Grove Lake and will be heading out tomorrow further south to see the Oregon Caves National Monument before crossing into California.

at Pine Meadows campground

Until later,  we hope you are all well and having a wonderful summer!

 

Onward into the Pacific Northwest

Wow, we didn’t realize how much time had passed since we wrote our last blog.   Where has the time gone?!?!   We have traveled so far and seen and done so much, plus we haven’t really had any internet access to speak of.   To keep the blogs from being too long, we’ll break up this last stretch of our trip into 2 or even 3 separate entries.

 After leaving Miles City, we left the interstate and went northwest on US 12 across the vast, openness of the great plains of Montana.    The “Big Sky State” truly lives up to its namesake.  It was simply beautiful… and with a rich history to match.  Our first stop was in Harlowton, at the Chief Joseph City Park.   We spent 3 days there relaxing and exploring the little town’s few shops that were still in business.  We ate dinner the first night at the only restaurant, in an old restored hotel which was built in 1907 and is said to be haunted.  It was perched on a hilltop that overlooked the vast emptiness of the surrounding area and made us wonder what it must have been like to live here back in the turn of the century.  While we were there, we met a fellow camper who told us more history about the area and recommended that we visit the “Bair Family Museum” just 20 miles down the road in Martinsdale.  He even told us about Ringling, Montana just a bit further down the road from there.  It was the summer home of John and Mable Ringling but now it is almost a ghost town.  He was interested in hearing that we live so near Sarasota, which was the Ringling winter home.   We didn’t drive the extra miles to Ringling, but we did stop to visit the Bair Family Museum, which was well worth the stop.  The docent there had actually known the last surviving daughter and had some really interesting stories to tell.  The art collection and the history of the area back then was quite impressive.  We spent 2 hours there and could have spent more.

We continued on US 12 to our next stop at Devil’s Elbow Campground just 12 miles northeast of Helena.  This campground was situated on a bluff overlooking a bend on the Missouri River.  The days were hot and dry (in the 90’s) and we had no electricity for air-conditioning but the cool, strong evening breezes and temperatures into the 50’s at night, along with the waterfront views, made the $7.50 per night fee worth it to stay here for 4 nights.   During the hottest times of the days we spent the time exploring the surrounding area.    We took the 2hr boat tour “Gates of the Mountains” up the Missouri River and listened to our boat captain make this area come to life for us, especially at the gulch where 13 fire-jumpers died in 2007.    Helena is the capitol city of Montana and is a big city with a small-town feel to it.  We took the “Last Chance Tour Train” and walked through the museum, which we thoroughly enjoyed as well.    This area is so rich in history and we have learned so much that we didn’t know before.  The museum has an extensive collection of C.M. “Charlie” Russell’s paintings and sculptures .    He is the most well-known of the western artists and we had just learned of him at the Bair Family Museum, because he was a personal friend of the Bair family, and there are several of his paintings there as well.  We love Montana, Helena especially, and definitely planned to return here for a visit again.

Devil's Elbow Campground - our camper is the second one from the right

Sunset at Devil's Elbow

Gate to the Mountains - boat tour

We decided that we really wanted a place with electricity so we could use our A/C for a bit.   We stopped in Drummond, another tiny, mostly boarded-up, western town out in the middle of nowhere.   We stayed 3 nights in the Drummond City Park which at one time was a really pretty little place, but now could use a lot of attention.   We’re pretty sure that the town just does not have the funds to maintain it properly, which is really sad.   It’s right next to a beautiful, crystal clear, rippling stream which was visited by fly-fisherman throughout the day.    There are 3 train tracks that run through the town and long trains pass through it all night long.   We could still feel the rumble of the vibrating ground, even after the train whistles faded into the distance.   The local’s here boast of their restaurant “Parker’s” which offers 135 different hamburger choices made by their chef who used to be the chef at a famous Beverly Hill’s restaurant.    Since we don’t eat red meat, we didn’t try a hamburger, but we did enjoy the local “flavor” and our meal.  Jerome’s kayaks are not only “pieces of art” as we have been told,  but have become quite the conversation pieces.   People stop us frequently to comment on them and to ask Jerome questions about making them.  We have met so many people this way and it has become fun for us.   I mention this because while we were eating in Parker’s, a couple walked in and asked us if we were the ones with the kayaks out front.  She had a bet with her husband that she could pick us out in the crowded restaurant and darned if she wasn’t right!   We found out that the man’s father, Bill Orhmann, was an artist who has paintings and sculptures (both metal and wood) that are well known and that he himself (John) makes metal sculptures.  They told us that just a mile down the road, they have a “museum” that has huge metal sculptures outside and a sign that says “usually open.”  Of course you know that we could not pass this up, right?  The sculptures and wood carvings are phenomenal and the paintings are quirky and bizarre.  This place was so much fun to see. 

 

Jerome noticed a slight propane gas smell when we were in our bedroom at night and it kept getting stronger.   He determined we had a small leak in the valve.  We mapped out our next stop, at Quartz Flat Campground in the Lolo National Forest (which was accessed from a rest stop, with a tunnel under the interstate to the rest stop and campground on the eastbound side!), between 2 small towns in the northwest corner of Montana.   Jerome ordered the part that he needed to fix it and had in shipped general delivery to the post office in Superior, 12 miles west of our campground.  When we drove into town to pick up the part, lo and behold, there was the restaurant that we had been looking for as we had been crossing Montana.    We ate here last summer and we think the Durango restaurant in Superior serves the best “Montana Smoked Cuban” sandwich ever!   Yes, we non-red- meat-eaters think these sandwiches are worth “cheating” for!   We loved the Quartz Flat Campground with its beautiful, towering Ponderosa pines, overlooking the Clark Fork River.  The little town of Alberton, just 15 miles east of our campground had an old used bookstore that rivaled the one we found in Helena (an old house turned into a bookstore, that held 18 – 20,000 books), a great sandwich place (The Flying R Café), and had a great little art shop that sold work done by the locals.    The grocery stores are little mom and pop stores with minimal stock on the shelves.   These little towns in the middle of nowhere are some of our favorite places to visit.  We stayed in Quartz Flat Campground, dry camping (without electricity, water, or sewer hookups), for 5 days before heading into Idaho …  thank heavens for our solar panel!

(if you want to make the pictures larger, just click on them)