Crescent City California Day 2

I think I shall never see anything as beautiful as a tree.....Kilmer or something to that effect. We went to see the redwoods today and they are truly magnificent. Pictures will do no justice to the majesty of these trees. We took a lot of pictures and I hope some of them can give the scope as how huge these trees really are. We got to see the Pacific Ocean but didn't get any pictures because everything was covered by fog. We did get to see the breakers a couple of times and the waves were breaking on the shore. There were some people who were out there surfing. I just can't imagine how cold that water must be. The air temperature was only 52. I had on the long sleeve shirt that I bought, a hooded sweatshirt and a denim jacket over that. So, I was warm enough. Tomorrow we are off to Elk Grove to meet up with John and Sue and the temperature is supposed to be 85. I am looking forward to the heat.
P.S. I forgot to mention that the state of California confiscated out Rainier cherries. You are not allowed to bring any fruit into California. They are worried about fruit flies. So, we lost our cherries. We were going to take them to John and Sue's and share them with them. I was not happy. Good thing we ate our expensive nectarines and pears before we got to the border.

Crescent City California

We had a pretty good drive today. About 400 miles and 100 miles of it was nothing but sharp twists and turns through the mountains. It felt like 500 miles by the time we got here. We are staying at an Econo Lodge and I was leery of how it was going to be, but we were very pleasantly surprised. It is a very nice room.
We will be here one more day because we want to go see the redwoods tomorrow. The twisty road went through some of the smaller trees and they were huge. So, we can't wait to see the really big ones. Most of our ride today the temp was 90, but we got here it was 55. Quite the shock.
We didn't see anything in Oregon that was interesting enough to make us ever want to visit again.
We did find a casino today and we stopped to break up the drive. Leave it to us to find one. It was an Indian casino and very nice. We only stayed a little while. Just enough to walk around and stretch a bit.
We saw and heard about the storms today that went through the Chicagoland area. I can't believe how bad the weather has been there. We called Ann to make sure that everyone was okay. I don't care how old they get, we still worry about them.
And yes the official name is OFSINPP!

Vancouver Washington

It was a beatiful day today. It was in the mid 70's and no rain.It was clear enough that we got to see the top o Mt Rainier. I guess it is unusual for the clouds to part. It was definitely an attention getter. We drove up to the interpretive center to see Mt St Helen's. We went up 4000 feet and got really close to the crater of the volcano.The last 1000 feet we hiked straight up a ramp that was very steep.I gave my knees a real workout,but I made it. I will feel it tomorrow but I'll worry about it then. Then of course we had the walk down and that is harder than hiking up. I am tired and it is 10:00 and I am ready to go to bed.
We bought an old farts senior Interagency National Park Pass. It is good until the day we die. The admissions in the national parks is a minimal fee of $8.00 per person. So it really saves the money.
Dinner was Applebee's. It was nice to have some real food.
The pears we had for breakfast were the best pears we have ever had.I am not a big fresh pear fan, but this was just heaven. Tomorrow we will have our nectarines. We will look for fruit stands on the way to California. I would like to bring some to John and Sue.
The weather tomorrow is only supposed to be a high of 57. Will have to layer about 30 layers of clothes.

Vancouver Washington

Seattle Washington Day 2

It didn't rain today but it was cloudy and cool. We went to Pike's Fish Market today and I don't know how to describe it. It was a combination of a huge flea market and a farmers market. There were so many people there that you couldn't even get through the aisles. I do wish we had something like this at home. We bought some Rainier cherries. What else. We also bought a couple of nectarines and pears. It was the most expensive fruit I have ever bought. $3.35 for 2 nectarines and $3.65 for 2 pears. But I figure we are on vacation and it is something we will only do once. They had such beautiful flowers. I wish I could have bought some. They have the fish market that was featured on the Food Channel and the guys that Spike O'Dell used to talk to on the radio. They really put on a show for the people. They have an orhcestrated routine that they do and there is fish flying through the air. We spent a few hours there and that was where I wanted to eat but I wasn't hungry so we left and went to the Museum of Flight. Since Seattle is the home of Boeing, they sponsored this museum. Rich really enjoyed it. Driving in Seattle is an absolute nightmare. I am so glad that we have our GPS. I can't believe what it would be like without it. We had dinner at the restaurant in the Best Western. It was really good and I had the beer battered salmon with homemade tartar sauce. It was excellent.

Seattle Washington

Guess what it did today? If you guessed rain you would be correct. It was only supposed to be cloudy. Well, they were wrong again. It rained all the way. We drove through the Cascade Mountains and I imagine that they were really pretty but they were covered in fog. We wanted to see Mt. Rainier but that didn't happen. The traffic all the way from Spokane to Seattle was really heavy. I thought it would be lighter because it was Father's Day. They must all have celebrated driving through the mountains. We still made good time and we had enough time to go to the Space Needle. It is 520 feet high and we went to the top and looked around. We sat inside and waited for the fog to shift here and there so that we could see something. We did see a cruise ship and a tanker. Puget Sound is a very busy place. Even in the rain and cold there were samll pleasure boats coming and going. The tanker was like the Flying Dutchman. One minute it was there and the next minute it was swallowed up in fog. We didn't even take pictures because you couldn't see anything. We stayed there for awhile, toured the gift shop and had dinner at McDonald's. We took the monorail to the downtown shopping area but everything was closed. So, we took the monorail back. Many, many homeless people here. We walked from the hotel to the Space Needle and it is not someplace I would want to walk at night.
Tomorrow we are going to go to the Pure Food Fish Market. I will have my seafood dinner there. I am looking forward to it.
It was a long day but it was fun and it finally stopped raining. It is about 2 degrees but it is dry. At least for now.

Spokane Washington

Today was a beautiful day at last. The sun was shining and it hit 78. We went to Spokane's Riverfront Park. We saw the Spokane Falls. That was about it for the day. Most of it was spent driving. We drove over 400 miles today. We saw the Columbia River gorge. That was quite impressive. We ate in the room again because it was late. I did take pictures of the "shopping" from the trunk.

Great Falls Day 2

We got up this morning and the rain had stopped sometime during the night.The clouds were still dark and ominous and looked like rain at any time. The temperature was 57 and the wind was blowing at 40 miles per hour. I slapped together two ham sandwiches in the car, We had our two small bags of chips. We ate it in the car out of the wind and it was just fine.
We went to another intertretive center about Lewis and Clark. This one was really excellent. I little different slant than the last one. We went to see the five falls that they encountered. It's a wonder that they didn't turn around and go home.But they managed to portage around them.
One of the interpreters was from Chicago. He went to Riverview and Lane Tech High Scool. I went to Alvernia and shared the bus with all the Lane Tech boys. I think he was a little before my time. Reminisced with him for a few minutes and then explored the center. It was better then the one in Bismarck.
We decided to go to the local show. We saw Robin Hood and it was very good. I was prepared not to like the movie and I turned out liking it very much.Cate Blanchet put in a very good performance.Tomorrow we will have to get up and get out. They don't have a complimentary breakfast here. This is the first one that didn't feed us breakfast. We were "forced" to go to McDonalds. We will have to do that again tomorrow. We had no dinner tonight except show popcorn and some trail mix. It was plenty.
Tomorrow it is on to Spokane.

Great Falls Montana

Yesterday I didn't even blog. The day was a total washout. It rained every minute of the day and night. We didn't even bother driving around and checking out the town. We did go to Walmart because I needed another pair of longer capris. I can't buy big girl long pants because I have to even have the petite shortened. So, longer capris will have to do. We found a Golden Corral to have dinner. That was fun. We didn't have lunch because they are all aimed to be lunches that can't happen in the pouring rain.We shoppeed for capris, went and stuffed our face and headed back to the ranch.It was boring,boring,boring.Laid around like slugs.A treat was going to go get ice.It was even on a different floor.Exciting.
That was all we did. What a long boring day.I was crabby and wouldn't do anything.

Bozeman Montana

It was a short drive from Billings and we had time to go to the Museum of the Rockies.
Bozeman is a big college town. I think that is all they have here. The Museum also had a planetarium and we went and saw the show about the Spring sky. I personally think that a show about the winter sky would have been more appropriate. We watched the clouds build all day and right before we pulled up to the Motel the sky opened. The rain wouldn't be soooo bad but the temperature is only 53. It is cold and damp. The low for tonight is supposed to be 37 and it is going to snow in West Yellowstone. We are directly north of that so I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see a few flakes tomorrow. I am giving up on vacations in June. No matter how I pack it is not right. We don't have enough warm clothes. I figured on being able to wear sandals and capris for a few days. I don't think that is going to happen. We ate dinner in the room again because it is just raining so hard. They also are predicting storms all night with possible baseball sized hail.
It is a good thing that I made reservations in advance. All of the Motels are booked with oil workers. I guess they are going to North Dakota to work. There are 2 new sources of oil that were found. If it stops raining we are going to go out and look around Bozeman although I don't think there is a lot to see except the college buildings.

Billings Montana

Today we went to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We listened to a narrative of the battle and the ranger was one of the best narrator I have ever heard. He really bought the battle alive. It turned out to be a really nice day. The sun was out and the sky was blue.
We have seen movies and stories about Custer and his last stand and they all differ greatly from the facts of what really happened. The facts that they have amassed at the battlefield come from first hand testimony from the Indians and the archaeologist's back up that testimony. We were always under the impression that Custer died in the valley surrounded by the Indians. That is not factual. His last stand was up on a ridge and there were 3 companies of soldiers. They have markers that show where the soldiers and where the Indians were felled. It was a piece of history.
When we left the dark thunderstorm clouds were building and by the time we got to our Motel it was raining. We went to a restaurant called Old Chicago for my birthday dinner and it was good. They have pictures of Chicago all over the walls. And the brothers who founded the restaurants were not from Chicago they were from Denver. They visited Chicago one time and were so impressed they opened restaurants with the Chicago name. I guess they have 100 of them across the country. We ate at one in Colorado Springs Co.

Dickinson ND Part 2

I hit the wrong button and it posted the blog before I was finished.
We then took off for Dickinson. We passed "New Salem Sue" which is the largest holstein cow sculpture anywhere. It was set off on top of a hill. It sure got your attention. Then we saw this "enchanted" highway. It ia 35 miles of huge sculptures made entirely of metal scraps from all the local farmers. We didn't have time to go the entire 35 miles so we only got to see two sculptures. I have pictures and will add later. The time changed at Salem Sue so we picked up an hour. We got to Dickinson about 3 and after we got settled into our Motel we took off for Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
We took the 36 mile scenic loop and did we get our moneys worth. First of all it is absolutely breathtaking. The bonus were the prairie dog towns. As you know, the prairie dog is one of my favortie animals. I saw tons of them, adults and lots of babies also. I could have sat there all day and watched them scamper everywhere.
We went down this one road and checked out the trail and there were two wild horses.
Never saw wild horses before. They stood there and posed for us. We were able to get fairly close to take their picture.
Then driving down the road we saw that there were cars pulled over so we stopped also. On top of this ridge was a huge bull buffalo. He was just atanding there like the back of the nickel. It was the most imposing thing I ever saw. I just can't describe it. I know that I have seen many buffalos before, but nothing like this.
We saw 2 other bulls and finally found the females lounging by the side of the road. There were lots of little ones and we able to get pictures of them also. 2 more prairie dog towns and I was in heaven. We also saw a herd of wild horses on a ridge. It was one of the most rewarding days I have ever had. The animals combined with the beauty of the park was unforgettable. Today is our unofficial 45th anniversary and I couldn't have asked for a better gift.
We didn't get back to our motel room until late so we "shopped" from the trunk and ate dinner in our room.
It was a really good day.

Dickinson ND

Today was a full day. We started off this morning by going to the Lewis and Clark Intrepertive Center and Fort Mandan. We also went and saw the replica of the keelboat that Lewis Clark used. It took a lot of guts to set off into unknown territory in something that small. We have been interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition and it is interesting to see some of the route they traveled.

Bismarck North Dakota

We have never been to North Dakota and really didn't know what to expect, but it is beautiful. They have had so much rain here that everything is really green and quite lush. There are lakes everywhere and they are filled to the brim. Of course it rained again today. It's starting out just like last year.
We stopped in Fargo for their local rib fest. They had some of the same vendors that have been to Naperville and won trophies for their ribs. We had an early dinner and listened to one of their local bands and they were really good. Unfortunately for me it was only 57 degrees and the wind was blowing to beat the band. Even Rich went back to the car and got his hooded sweatshirt. The kid next to us was complaining about how cold he was and his mother told him to shut up because it could be snowing!
Maybe we will see snow before we are done. We didn't stay real long because it was so cold. Fargo looks like a really nice town.
We did get to see an American Eagle up close and personal. He flew right in front of the car very low. That was cool. The only other wildlife we have seen is a dead deer and a dead coyote. Not exactly what I was looking for.
North Dakota is very big on buffalo. We have seen two herds of buffalo and read in the local paper that there is a shortage of buffalo meat because it has gotten so popular. Fermi buffalo better lay low.

Savage Minnesota

We made it to Savage Minnesota! We made good time and of course found time to visit a local casino. Mystic Lake. We had dinner there, played a while and went back to the motel.
Of course it rained and was cloudy all day long. I was grateful for the humidity because it was the only heat to be found. It just wouldn't be a trip without rain the whole first day.
There was a semi two cars in front of us that had a blow out and it sounded like a crash. It hit the car next to him and that car had to pull over. Out of all the driving we have done and all the tire carcasses we see on the road, it was a first time we experienced a blowout first hand. It was rather scary.
Other than that it was an uneventful trip.

Final Countdown

It is Thursday and we leave Saturday morning. We want to try and get up and get out because the first couple of days will be our longest drives.

All I have left to do is a final load of laundry and to pack the clothes. Everything else is done. I learned a lot from our last long trip. I again packed 3 suitcases. 1 for the way out, 1 for California and Reno and 1 for our trip home. I learned that if all you are going to do in a day is drive you can get two days wear out of a pair of pants. You don't need a pair for everyday. Also, this way we only bring in 1 suitcase and one toiletry bag everynight. I bring an empty tote bag and we "shop" from the trunk for whatever snacks and pop we want to bring into the room. It saves so much hauling and dragging. It is pretty efficient. I found some really heavy, large Ziploc bags that will keep the ice from leaking out and getting into the food bags. I pack lunches for us for most of the trip because I am cheap and because I am not a big fan of eating fast food everyday.

Rich keeps reminding me that there are stores along the way and we can stop and pick up whatever we don't have. That goes against all my planning genes. I have a list and I try and cover all the bases. It is a matter of principal.

We will activate our air card tomorrow so I don't have to rely on the Motels for the internet. It also gives us the peace of mind that the network will be secure. And some of the places still charge for internet access.

I guess that is all until we are actually on the road. Will post again then.