May 31, 2024 Friday

UPDATED

May 31.  Left Wenatchee, WA 9AM PT  arrived Fairhaven/Bellingham Ak Ferry Terminal 12:45PM PT. Road Miles traveled 197.  Gas $3.49/gallon.  32 miles per gallon.  Temps 40’s to mid 60’s, sunny, breezy.

Awoke early and finished packing for the ferry.  It is notable that Wenatcheehas no casinos, maybe part of their conservative values?   Breakfast was well done with many assorted items and make your own waffle.  We cross the Columbia River to Rt 2 heading west through the Cascade Mountains and National Forest.  The produce growing continues for a while along the Wenatchee River but still in arid conditions that require irrigation, but there is plenty of snow melt in the area for rivers and then the valleys become too narrow, covered in pine trees.  We see more snow covered peaks in the distance of the Cascade Range.  Pat’s Mom loved the Cascade area in she and Dad’s travel and now we see why.  In fact we are following a truckload of Granny Smith apples not crated so likely for cider production somewhere.  We pass by an orchard of ready to pick Queen Anne cherries, a specialty of Washington exports.  Makes one wonder about the growing season here given elevation etc. There is also logging and lots of tourism in the area.  We pass through Leavenworth and it is a tourist destination based on a Bavarian theme.  It sits in a tight valley of high mountains; the post office, police station and library are just a few of all the buildings that decorate to the theme.  They even have a Howard Johnson Hotel, which we haven’t seen for years.  Maybe stop on way back for lunch on return trip.  We are seeing the headwaters of the rivers passed at lower elevations, running swiftly with clear snow melt waters.  There is some beetle damage to the trees.  We continue to climb into the pass at over 4000 ft., there is unmelted snow on the roadside, the bushes are not bloomed and we reach a ski resort.  There are dramatic waterfalls coming off the sides of the mountains.  As we come down the western side of the pass the atmosphere changes, we see different kinds of trees and foliage, very lush and there is moss on the trees.  The moss indicates there is influence of the ocean humidity.  We see our first salmon hatchery.  We enter into the large city of Everett located on one of the many bays off the Pacific ocean that sits north of Seattle on I 5. These bays have several inhabited islands.

The traffic is heavy around the city but becomes less further out.  There is purple lupine,  Shasta daisies and Broom/yellow gorse bushes growing along the highway.  We see the Olympia Mountains SW of us, still snow covered.  Mt Baker comes into view, a 14+k volcano in its conical shape, covered in snow and glacier.  A lot of the area rivers are fed from this and surrounding less elevated still snowy mountains.  There are native reservations and casinos along the way.  Cannabis is back on the local menu.  We pass through the Skagit Valley and large Skagit River fed by Baker.  There is a lot of agriculture in the area of cattle and produce.  One can board ferries to surrounding islands in this location particularly the San Juans.  

We finally reach Fairhaven, a sister city to Bellingham.  We get our tickets in the terminal and the Kennicott ferry is in port. Given it was out of service for some time in order to be serviced, still looks like it needs a lick of paint.  The terminal is a nice design with good amenities with free WIFI. The car is in line to drive it on board.   Once we are on the ferry we will be assigned our room.  There is mild  wind and sunny day so viewing should be good; we’ll get out our folding camp chairs and take it all in.  No sign of Canadian smoke at that time or throughout the trip so it is more pleasant.  We have a few pictures attached for the day but till have to finish the blog later as there is no WiFi on board.  It may be a while before we can get back to the blog but we will resume as soon as we can.  Our mileage today is driving, we will be adding nautical miles that must be converted while on the ferry.  Stand by….

Finishing up the blog for the day We sat in the lane for boarding for about and hour and a half.  Thankfully there’s a cool breeze.  They are loading RV and other large vehicles first.  They park us very tightly in the very back of the ferry hemmed in by other cars.  We will likely be one of the last to be off the ferry in Haines.  Ferry has 500 capacity and we only have 165 on board.  Being on this ferry makes us wonder if we remember our previous sailing.  Was it another ferry?  It’s all cafeteria dining and the service is slow for hot dishes.  Prices are fairly reasonable and food is okay.  The bar is next door and can take meals there.  Nothing fancy unlike the Columbia.  Our cabin is large with a bunk bed, a pull-down bed and a full pull-out couch bed.  We are able to sleep on lower beds.  We have a lot of storage, a commode and large shower in a separate room and a sink in the main room. There is no window so no clue what is happening outside.  We have a Rie Munoz print on the wall.  And once on the ferry we are on Alaska time.

We watch Mt Baker recede into the distance and even Mt Rainier gave us a shout from the south.  No volcanic activity from these two, thank you very much.  It is darkening as we pass Vancouver, BC.  We make it a night and settle into our cabin beds.

 

 

May 30. 2024 Thursday

May 30. 2024 

Left Missoula, MT at 9AM Mountain Time arrived Wenatchee, WA 3PM Pacific Time   Early temp 41 degrees can see our breath, sky is partly cloudy.  Temp average 65 degrees Miles 367 36.2 mp gallon gas cost $3.64 average speed limit 65-70 mph    Total trip driving miles to date 2451

Day 5.  Awoke to cool temps.  Room comfortable and good amenities, slept with the window open.  Breakfast:  prepared breakfast sandwiches and quiches and waffles, hot and cold cereals, fruit and fruit juice and Danish.  Missoula is a pretty place ringed by mountains and confluence of three rivers.  Houses around the campus are very tiny with cute exterior décor.  The Clark Ford River is a major river and we follow its valley covered with thick dark pine trees.  Narrow valleys and high passes.  There are truck emergency lanes on the steep descents and chains required in winter.  It is a very lovely drive.  We pass into Idaho with its narrow valleys and history of silver and gold mining.  This is the ‘panhandle’ of Idaho, a very narrow northern part of the state laying between MT and WA.  Lake Coeur d’Alene is very beautiful and huge blue waters surrounded by homes.  We’ve driven southern Idaho and it is very different with its flat terrain with fields of potatoes.

Into Washington State through Spokane. Now we are in Pacific Time, gaining one hour, now 3 hours from Ohio.   Eastern WA is very agricultural.  It is obvious this arid land with rocky, light brown soil and sage brush must be managed consistently and carefully.  As we move west, we pass through cattle grazing and huge potato farms, requiring a lot of irrigation.  As we near the Cascade Mountains that still have a little snow on them, we are also nearing the mighty Columbia River.  We have left I90 taking two lane State Route 281 into Wenatchee.  Many irrigation canals and ponds crisscross the land and reveal a huge agricultural area of many kinds of fruits, vineyards, some veg and acres and acres of Cascade hops.  Specialty breweries identify Cascade hops in their brewing.  The Columbia River comes into view, deep swift current, sided with steep rock cliffs carved by the river.  Dark brown spires of various shapes and pocked with holes.

We follow the river into Wenatchee, an old town on the river. This area is more a gentle slope.   We are staying at the Marriott Fairhill Suites on the east bank.  Nice hotel, somewhat new and lots of good amenities.  Room is very nice with large bathroom.  We have had small refrigerators in all our rooms and most have had microwaves.  We can see over the whole city on the west bank, there is a Jo-Ann Fabric and a Macy’s across from our hotel.   It still very sunny and fairly windy, in low 70’s.  The front desk recommends cc in historic downtown.  The restaurant is in an historic building and it is very funky and fun inside.  We sit outside in a hut built with odds and ends of lumber and metal screens, colored light, wind chimes and flowers.  The food is excellent, local brews; Chuck has a hanger steak with mash and nice streamed kale and broccoli.  Pat has a Mediterranean quinoa salad and Med flat bread with pesto, avocado, olives, red onion and feta, YUM!   They make all their own desserts from scratch. Chuck gets peanut butter cheesecake and Pat gets German Chocolate cake to go.  Chuck loves the cake; Pat’s piece is huge and saves some for later.  Deep chocolate moist cake topped with coconut/pecan brown sugar frosting.  It took until now to find a restaurant where all the food is excellent. Back to the room to repack for the ferry.  Beautiful sunset and after dark we can see a large lighted cross on a high hill looking down on the city.

We will board tomorrow in Bellingham.  It will be nice to sleep and eat in one place for a few days and no driving but lots of sightseeing!

May 29,2024, Wednesday

May 29,2024

Left Sheridan, Wy around 8:15AM MT, arrived Missoula, MT 4PM MT.  Temps between mid-50’s to low 70’s.  492 miles (15 miles exploring Missoula), 31 mpg, $3.43 per gallon. To date: 2085 miles traveled with 30.8 mpg.  MT speed limit: 75-80 mph.

Note:  Forgot to mention the Marriott at Deadwood, SD, had female and male robots, Barbie and Benton, who hotel residents could contact and have anything brought to their room (which we did not use.)  Given it is a 24/7 party town we almost felt sorry for the robots.  LOL.  AND The invasive Pampas grass now found in Ohio disappeared after we left Illinois.  No where in the western states.

Day 5.  Breakfast at Best Western was very good quality with lots of choices.  Left in cooler and less wind weather with big storms moving in later.  As we drive, we are aware of the native American presence throughout the western states and their reservations.  We transition out of WY into MT and the terrain changes with less weird rock shapes.  Much of our viewing is from an Interstate, we are sure there is much more to see off the main highway.  We see a porcupine carcass on the road, another local critter.  MT is more rolling hills and not as much rock outcroppings, although the top soil is extremely thin. There is a lot of sage brush in its gray green colors and many prairie dog towns.   Seeing more cattle with newborn calves and less crop farming, just harvesting the spring grass into hay.  There are many significant fossils finds of large dinosaurs in MT.  The first T Rex was found here.  We have been following the Lewis and Clark Trail and we crossed over the headwaters of the Missouri River.  There are snow covered peaks all around.  When the heavy clouds cover them, we believe it is adding more snow.

We are ever increasing our elevation and we cross through many passes and descend into large river valleys.  We follow the Yellowstone River westward for several miles until it sharply turns south and flows into Yellowstone National Park.  There is heavy snow still on the higher peaks and less on the lesser ones.  The snow melt is increasing river flows.  On the way home we will follow the river into the Park from the north entrance.  The north entrance had severe flooding a few years ago and destroyed many homes.

We see lots of strip mining and coal on the trains.  The town of Butte is surrounded in a semi-circle of a strip-mined mountain.  While not a good thing in the long run, the colors of the exposed rock looks like a multi colored quilt.  Must be gorgeous when the sun shines on it. Fossil fuel and refineries are prevalent.  The eastern 2/3 of the state is a high plain formed by an ancient sea while the western third is formed by the mountains and long-gone glaciers.

We rise to about 7000 feet and reach the continental divide, now the east side flows to the Mississippi and the Gulf while the western side goes to the Pacific Ocean.  The area is surreal with continuous large upright boulders knifing out of the ground.  We have moved in and out of rain and sunshine and driving is fine.

We arrive at Missoula in wind and 60 degrees.  It is a pretty city surrounded by a ring of low mountains and the Clark River runs through. A branch of the state uni is here and the campus is beautiful and huge.  The city has multiple strip malls and large shopping malls and every big box and franchise we can imagine.  There is cannabis outlets multiplied and most restaurants and gas stations have some form of casino.  We are staying at Marriott Townhall Suites on outside border of the city.  It’s fairly new hotel with nice amenities, including outdoor pool, jacuzzi and patio with fountain.  Out of the blue they have upgraded us to a suite with kitchenette, living room and bedroom.  And it has an elevator, thankfully.  We find a Blue Canyon restaurant near the hotel.  We have a BC in Twinsburg and this one if very much like it.  Pat tries the bison short ribs.  The meal is delicious.  The bison is tender but a bit stringy, lean and mild tasting.  No beef taste at all.  But very good.  The kids are still in school here.

One more night on these daily road trips.  Soon to have a few days on the ferry, no driving and same room.  It’s always an adventure but a bit tiring with new digs every day.  Grateful for safe travels and kindness of strangers and mostly considerate drivers.

May 28, 2024 Tuesday

May 28, 2024 Tuesday 

Left Deadwood, SD, 8:45AM MT arrived Sheridan, WY 3:00 PM MT.  252 miles traveled.   33mpg  gas $3.38 and $3.24 per gallon. Total Miles 1593, 30.8 MPG

Fourth day.  Temps averaging mid 70’s, sun is very intense.  After a nice breakfast, included with hotel stay, we drive through historic downtown Deadwood.  They have preserved a few of the old building and added new ones.  It’s a street of small specialty shops, every building has some kind of gambling, some just with slots. The elementary school is across from a major casino.  Many of the houses have vertical cliffs out their backdoors.  We take an alternative route out of town into hillsides of thick black Ponderosa Pine.  We descend into a valley and get back on I 90 moving west.  We progress over the Wyoming border and while the thick black pines still exist the landscape becomes more arid with no real crop growing on thin top soil.  Although the spring rains have brought thick green prairie grasses,  all animals are eating it as fast as they can because it will not last.  Wyoming is a geologist and archeologist’s paradise.  If you could take an industrial shovel and scrape down the side of a hill you would see a variety of layers of different sediment.  We are moving ever to higher elevation.  Every since the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers we have slowly but surely been gaining elevation and more obvious as we near the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains.  We take a detour to Devil’s Tower, the first named National Monument by Teddy Rosevelt.  The distant views never cease to amaze.  We cross over the Belle Fourche River, a prehistoric river that helped form the local area.  Nowadays we would call it a creek. The river has eroded beautiful carvings into bright red rock, it is stunning.  We park at the Visitor’s Center.  There are people from all over the US and international visitors.  We take the tower trail, 1.6 +miles of trail around the circumference of the tower base.  Pat with thick dark glasses, wide brim visor and sharp pointy walking sticks, everyone gives way on the trail.  LOL There are small bundles of colored cloth tied to tree branches; these are prayer bundles put there by native tribal members as DT is a sacred site.  DT is an awesome sight of a solid ovoid vertical rock formation that has hexagonal shapes formed by cooling magma from an ancient volcano.  In the parking lot we are at 4600 feet above sea level and the tower is 867 feet above us.  There are climbers on the totally vertical face on all sides; very dangerous.  On our way out we pass through a huge prairie dog town.  There are many babies running from den to den.

Wyoming is known for chemicals, mining, fossil fuels, tourism, archeological finds and beef cattle on huge ranches.  Including South Dakota we are in rattle snake country so stay on the paths.   The soil is so poor it takes thousands of acres for cattle to graze and are supplemented with baled hay from spring grass for the winter.  Recently, WY had been losing population with Alaska surpassing them formerly as the state with the least. We can see the snow covered Elkhorn Mountain range in the distance, highest peak around 13+k.  Much of the water collecting in streams, lakes and reservoirs is coming from the snow melt.  This water is draining east to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico eventually. There are snow fences to reduce road drift and snow gates that shut down highways in a blizzard.  We are experiencing calm WY but the winters must be brutal.  And there is wind.

We stop at Sheridan, Wy for the night at a Best Western.  It is located in the historic downtown.  The room is clean and adequate but no elevator for the second floor room and shlepping our gear.  We have dinner at a franchise steakhouse that is okay.  Walk over to the historic Sheridan Inn and think we should have stayed here.  Buffalo Bill stayed here.  They have retained the historic atmosphere and created rooms with ensuite bathrooms instead of the old style one bathroom for all.  We have a drink at the bar to absorb the atmosphere and chat with bartender.  On the large wrap around porch we talk with a couple from Lafayette, Indiana who give us the scoop on the hotel.

It is very hot in Sheridan at 80 plus degrees and intense sun, at least there is a continuous breeze.  Maybe the thinner atmosphere allows the sun to bear down more.   Talked with Brenna today.  Dean’s birthday party plans are mostly settled and we get to be there.  Baseball has started and Quinn is playground groupie.  Seth and Carrie on their way to the west coast for wedding and travel.

Very tired, likely an early night.  Crossing into Montana tomorrow.

 

May 27, 2024 Monday

May 27, 2024 Monday

Third day.  Temperature in the mid 70’s until we got to Deadwood, mid 60’s.  Brandon, SD left 8:45AM CT, Arrive Deadwood, SD 2:45PM MT.    Miles 25.7 mpg 410 miles 7 hours, price of gas $3.45 per gallon. total miles 1330, 21.25 hours,  29 mpg

Good night’s sleep, quiet, relatively new hotel, comfortable, good amenities, large room.  It rained quite heavily during the night but the morning is bright and sunny.  Really great fitness room, new equipment and nothing broken. The pool area has a large children’s area with slides and tunnels, a lap pool and huge jacuzzi.  There is an upper balcony with big tables for reserved events overlooking the pool.  The breakfast was great quality and assortment. Staff was excellent.

South Dakota is relatively flat in the eastern part.  We are traveling due west across the middle of the state on I 90.  Lots of beef cattle, growing corn and wheat.  The top soil is not very deep and light brown in color.  Don’t know how they grow any crop.  But everything is spring green and profuse grasslands which is actually prairie.  There are no forests; traveling on flat land it feels like we are in a snow globe.  The blue sky is the dome over us as far as we can see and white fluffy clouds are the snow.  Part way we start to fight the prairie winds head on ~25 MPH.  Every once in a while, the car shutters.  We pass Laura Ingalls Wilder’s home, author of Little House on the Prairie and hit TV show.  Have never stopped there but should someday.  We descend over the wide and impressive Missouri River.  Not as wide as Mississippi but comparable.  Then we climb into small rolling hills and see less crop farming and more cattle.  Eastern SD allows 80MPH on highway, midway across the state it drops to 75MPH and we move into Mountain Time, gaining another hour (2 hours gained since home).  We have been seeing signs for the famous tourist spot Wall Drug for 350 miles; it’s part of their history with the long-range signs.  We won’t stop this time but likely to stay overnight on return.

We stop off at the Prairie Dog Ranch.  We have been coming here on nearly every trip since 1984.  Same place with giant PD statue and lots of cute PD’s which are more like big ground squirrels.  They have had babies and they are fun to watch.  They usually eat our peanuts but they are enjoying the sweet, new grass instead.

We opt to take a tour through the Badlands.  We have been here many times, but it never fails to impress.  It looks like a different planet with its craggy mound formations with bands of different colors. The southern area is very different from the northern area.  The north has red, pink, purple and gold layers. We pass into the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands and there are herds of buffalo roaming around.  Two huge bulls pose for us near the road.  The prairie dogs are everywhere into the hundreds. The ranchers don’t like them but they are safe here and seem to know it.  There are a lot of people out and about from all over the US and some international.  They have a fossil laboratory in the visitor’s center and they have actual fossils on display from the area, some found by visitors.  There are two archeologists working on different fossils we can watch.  We finally get to see one antelope.  There are signs for elk and Bighorn Sheep crossings but see none.  Would love to be there after dark.  There is no light and if the sky is clear we would have some awesome sights.

Moving west we come upon a wall of high hills, we are in the Black Hills.  Narrow valleys covered in dark pine trees; in shadow the hills look black. There are areas where spruce beetle did damage not sure how much is affected. There is still sandstone showing but now there is a dark red iron ore looking mineral coming out of the soil.  In the distance are the Elk Mountains, highest peak around 6K feet.  We leave I 90 and begin our climb to Deadwood, SD.  An old west town known for gold mining and wild living, a colorful history.  They have tried to preserve the downtown as much as possible. It sits in a very tight valley and is picturesque.  It is a party town with bars and casinos open all hours.  This area draws Hell’s Angels from all over the US and beyond for a big meet-up mid-summer.

We are stay at the Springhill Marriott.  Lovely hotel with all amenities, updated with restaurants and a casino attached.  We’re not gamblers but we will be passing through the casino to get to the steakhouse for dinner. Maybe a quarter slot?  I looked out a back window and this hotel is built into the side of a hill, requiring a lot of concrete walls with iron support bars into the hill.  That’s how tight this valley is.  Glad they don’t have earthquakes?

Walked through Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Resort with all the lights and sounds.  Dined at FYI Steakhouse. had a good dinner of filet mignon, baked potato and salad.  Took our leftover bottle of vino to the outdoor deck; twin burning fireplaces and views of the peaks directly across the valley.  Sunny, warm night and very relaxing after a few days of driving.  Onward tomorrow to Devil’s Tower, one of our fave destinations.