The South Oregon Coast

We made it to the Oregon coast - it is beautiful but cool - today's high was 64, yesterday was in the 80s - what a change.

The coastline is very rugged with lots of rock and not as much beach as the East coast. The rocks are very neat and the waves crash against them in spectacular fashion. There are little towns all along Rt. 101. We stopped for pictures at various places including 3 lighthouses and we waited for a glorious sunset. We also ran into a bunch of ATV funactics - there is a Dune Fest starting tomorrow that is basically ATV races for everyone - men, women, and kids. There is a park full of all kinds of campers, tents, and ATV vehicles. A took a few pics of them from a lookout point above them. It goes to show that rednecks are not geographically bound to VA and the east coast. :):):) It's a joke, ok?!

For tomorrow, we plan on exploring more of the coast --
dune buggy rides, whale watching, beach walking, etc.

Thru Walla Walla and to Mt. Hood

Today we made in across WA and OR to Sandy, kind of a base town near Mt. Hood.
It was a very neat drive - it was pretty much thru gorges along various rivers. The sides of the gorges were primarily rock and a light golden moss/grass. When we reached the Columbia River gorge, one side began to change to more and more trees until they were all trees and everything was green.

We also stopped along the gorge for several waterfalls and an overlook for pictures, of course. I didn't take very many today until we reached Multnomah Falls.

Although I did like the farming areas of WA and OR, and it seems that everyone in those areas have horses, I was nice to see green trees over 5 feet.

We did try to get good pictures of Mt. Hood today but it started to rain and the mountain was covered in fog. We did see Mt. Hood on the airplane into Portland and this was our first real rain. Hopefully we will get the pics tomorrow before we leave for Florence - sea lions and dune buggy rides, maybe.

Lolo Pass and the Valleys

Well, we didn't make it to Oregon today, only to Clarkston - the drive over Lolo Pass and thru the valleys after that took longer than expected and we did stop a few times for pics, etc.

The drive was primarily in Idaho and it was definitely better than our first view of the state. Remember the high desert that began in WA and ended in MT, well, Idaho was covered in nothing but sage brush and yucky grass along the northern route. This route took us thru tree filled valleys that ran along one river after another. We also crossed the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Mom did get tired of looking at trees without much change.

It was a nice drive but long. So will see the Multnomah Falls and Mt Hood

The Geysers of Yellowstone...and the stink....

Yellowstone very much fulfilled everything that I have ever heard or seen about it - massive, geysers blowing, water smelling, animals all over, and absolutely beautiful. We saw a lot of bison, a few elk, antelope, a wolf, and a bear. I didn't get pictures of the wolf or bear, and I don't know how good by antelope pics will be, but those animals were all over the farm land.

We made it to Old Faithful about 10 minutes before it erupted - what timing. It was wonderful and of course, I took too many pictures, but I will be able to delete those I don't like. Speaking of pictures, I have pretty much filled up this disk, over 1000 pics. Just call me shutter bug, but I will be able to pick the best and trash the bad. The various geysers, basins,and lakes were all very different. Some were of different colors depending on the mineral make up - red, yellow, orange, and blue. Some were bubbling, some erupting, and some just sitting there. We visited Fire and Hot Lake - Fire is red and cool but Hot is hot. Names in the west seem to be more adjectives and fact than names - Thunder Mountain, Beak the Duck, Rhino the horse, Big Mac the horse, Fire Lake is red, Hot Lake is hot.

All in all, Yellowstone is an absolute wonderful treasure and shouldn't be missed.
The park is a combination of open rolling fields for the bison, elk, and antelope for grazing. The water from the snow pack, glaciers, and springs, is every where. The thermal areas are primarily in West Yellowstone but the animals visit them regularly. Apparently they like a steam bath and a cool breeze - just kidding but standing by some of the hot spots will give you both.

On to Oregon...

Bozeman and Billings

Today we drove to Bozeman and the route took us through more cattle country and Mom did get tired of seeing irrigated fields and cattle. We saw more of the rolling hillsides, some with good grazing areas and others with just sage brush. We stopped at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman to see the dinosaur history and more Indian history, it was a very nice place. We also went to the Pictograph State Park however the pictographs date to BC and very little of them remains today. I took some pictures around the cave but they won't show very much. Today was primarily about getting in place to drive the Beartooth Highway tomorrow - this road has been named 'the best scenic drive in America' by many people. It is supposed to be the highest driving elevation for both MT and WY. It was on Mom's list of things to do. We should also have the time to go into Yellowstone for a few hours.

Rt. 89 to White Sulfur Springs

This area of Montana is primarily gentle rolling hills and basins full of lakes, ponds, or low lying water. It was very different from the MT of Whitefish. We went thru farmland, wheat fields, alfalfa fields, hops, and eventually cattle country. We did go thru a small but very beautiful area called Monarch Canyon and ended up in White Sulfur Springs. A lot of the area had little to no trees because the land can not support their growth. In talking with a gentleman, I found out that the barren land of WA, ID, and MT was in fact, a high desert and doesn't support any thing other than sagebrush, which also occurs in some specific local areas. Go figure!?

Right now, there are green rolling fields for as far as I can see .....

Tomorrow is a quick drive to The Museum of the Rockies and Billings, but we may add to the day...

Glacier - OMG

Glacier Natl Park and the Going to the Sun Road.....words can not describe. The road runs along the side of the mountains that are part of the continental divide with glaciers, ice, snow pack, and water falls around every corner, provided you didn't fall off the mountains. I have so many pictures, it seems ridiculous, but we stopped at every turnout and overlook possible. Overall, the views are like a fireworks display that keeps going bigger and better with each explosion.
There was a shirt that I almost bought that said - Going to the Sun Road is a constant prayer for everyone........HOLY SHIT.

We spent one night at Many Glacier hotel on the east side of the park. Our hotel looked out over a lake surrounded by mountains and glaciers. I took a horse back ride into the back country with several other people and it was very different. The undergrowth was thick and high - it is now easier to see how/why people and bears surprise each other on the trails. This hotel had 2 types of guests - hikers and those who sit around talking at the fireplace. The hikers were day and back country hikers covered in dust, dirt, and carrying some huge packs.

We spent last night at Lake McDonald in a cabin. Although the hotel was on a lake, there were trees between the cabins and the water. I thought that I would have liked this location better but my favorite was Many Glacier.

We are back in Whitefish for the night before going to Browning, Great Falls, White Sulfur Springs, Billings, Cooke City, and Yellowstone and a couple of museums along the trail.

Going to Glacier

This morning started out very unglamorous - laundry time.

About 12 noon, we started out for Whitefish, MT, which is just outside of Glacier.
We have reservations in Glacier for the 21st and the 22nd, at Many Glacier Hotel and Lake McDonald Hotel. You can check them out at www.glacierparkinc.com/Lodging/.

We drove through some very barren and rocky land in both WA and MT. I didn't know but a great section of WA is nothing but rock and sagebrush - the ground is so poor that they can not use the land, but there is a sign and exit for 'Military Site'. I did see a big gate and the end of the ramp that would limit access to this area.

We first entered MT by going thru Lookout Pass - it was up, down, and around the mountains, elevation 4540 and then up Rt 135, 200, 212, and 93. It covered a lot of different terrain. It began with very few houses but eventually we saw more homes, farms, green pastures, round bales of hay, people, and businesses. Although the landscape is more green, it is very different from WA - WA has thick trees, MT has some trees, very straight but not very big around. In WA, the trees covered every bit of ground possible, in MT there are big sections of open land with thin grasses, my guess it that the land will not support the weight and growth of the trees. We saw open wild land that were completely missing anything other than some weak looking grass.

I realized one thing about western MT that does bug me - it seems that no one plants any kind of flowers or maybe they just can't because of the weather, but flowers of some kind usually survive everywhere, but there aren't even wild flowers along the road - wierd.

But tomorrow is GLACIER NATIONAL PARK !!!!
I would like to be out of here by 6:30 - 7am - Mom said What TIME?
It will take us just over an hour to get to Glacier and who knows how many hours to drive across the Going-to-the-Sun road. It is 2 hours without stopping but I will be stopping for ......you guessed it....pictures!!

We will most likely not have cell or internet service until Wednesday evening when we return to Whitefish, so we will let you know how Glacier was. :):):)

Olympia, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Ranier

We spent Friday at Hurricane Ridge, Lake Cresent, and the Hoh Rain Forest.
Being on top of Hurricane Ridge is having a front row seat to Mount Olympus and its Blue Glacier. It seems like you are looking down at the rest of the world.
Lake Cresent is a brilliantly blue lake carved out by a glacier and was beautiful.
Hoh Rain Forest has the biggest trees that I have ever seen - firs over 250 feet and many feet around. At first they look strange with the lichen and moss hanging and attached to the trunks but then you begin to see the beauty within.

Saturday morning started with us stopping at the ER at Aberdeen - I have poison oak running up both arms, my face, neck, etc. However they were great and we were on our way in 1 hour, with drugs and ointment!!!

While driving along Rt. 12 with Mt. St. Helens on the right and Mt. Ranier on the left, Mom said why don't we see both of them...so we drove. The roads leading to the vistor centers or viewing points are limited to 35mph and are very narrow, winding, roads that are under construction due to a massive storm in 2006.
However the trips were worth every minute - forget Hurricane being the top of the world - Mt. Ranier's roads are on the side of some huge mountains, you look down and down some more so don't miss the side of the road, and when you get to the top (FINALLY) the views are unbelievable - but don't worry, I have so many pictures everyone will get tired of seeing them.

We left Kalaloch Lodge at 9 am for what was supposed to be about a 9 hour trip -
we just checked into the Best Western in Ritzville and it is 11pm, 5 hours spent on the small and winding roads in the mountains - but what views of Washington.

Tomorrow will take us to Montana - the state that I have wanted to visit for as long as I can remember.

Going, Gone, and Here

I left the house this morning only to turn around at Timber Ridge and go back for my jacket - which I do need in Kelso, WA - 50 outside right now. The day was pretty uneventful, thank goodness. Getting thru security was quick except that Mom's cell phone caused the alarm to go off. The flight was very smooth but very long - 6 hours and Mom had ants in her pants - up and down like a yo-yo. The fly into Portland was absolutely gorgeous!! We saw Mt. Hood very up close - I spoke with a young man on the shuttle at Charlotte and he is headed for a Snow Board competition this weekend on Mt. Hood. So snow, snow, snow. The Hertz rental counter was very slow and very busy - but we have a Solara convertible - can you see Mom & I cruising the West in a convertible - this area will never be the same.

We drove 4 hours, sat for 3 hours, flew for 6 hours, and drove another hour.

It is 11:19 Washington time and as it has been a very long day, I will say Goodnight.

Tomorrow - a drive up the west coast to Olympia National Park and Kalaloch Lodge for 2 nights.

Ready, Set.....

It is the night before we leave ...
We are already checked onto our flight and I have the boarding passes. :):)
The luggage went out UPS - both one of them is still in KY - label error, so I don't know if it will make it on time to Kelso. We will see tomorrow.

Everything else is ready to go, so I will say Good Night so that I can pack up the laptop and other last minute electronics.

Sweet dreams and happy trails....

Getting Ready to Go

I just signed up for my very own blogspot to record our adventures that will begin Wednesday.

I am a bit nervous about the trip (what will go wrong, what have I overlooked/forgotten) but I am also very excited.

Montana has always been the one place that I have wanted to visit.
Mom picked the west coast so we now have Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming planned for our trip with Olympia, Glacier, and Yellowstone National Parks included.

We'll see how the trip and the blog goes.....