The road to Yellowstone Park.

I woke up late today - about 6:30 - I was excited that we would be going to Yellowstone National Park. I had watched Ken Burns' series on the National Parks so I knew that the park was established in the late 1800s. I also knew that Theodore Roosevelt laid the cornerstone for the arch at the north entrance.

We left Helena and eventually joined route 90 again. We drove through Bozeman and picked up route 89 which took us along the Yellowstone River to Gardiner.

We decided to fortify ourselves for the drive through Yellowstone so we stopped at Cowboy's Grille. 

The day had been showery but there was a downpour while we were eating.

I had a salad with delicious homemade vinaigrette and a side of barbecue chicken. We wanted to buy T shirts, but they were all out.

Our next stop - Yellowstone! 

If it is Friday, it must be Helena, Montana

I was up early again today. When I am home, I stay up till at least midnight and get up about 6:30 am. Now I am going to bed at 10:30 and getting up at 5:30 - the news and everything else is on earlier here. I like having daylight from the time I wake up until just about the time I go to bed. Daylight seems to last longer here - it is bright until almost 9:30 pm.

So I was surprised that I wasn't quite ready when Dan texted that he was ready to hit the road. It had seemed a little strange having our own rooms last night after we had enjoyed the suite in Seattle for the two nights there. But it was nice not to have to pull out the sofa bed! I quickly threw my stuff together - we had only brought in what we needed - we left the suitcases in the trunk. 

Dan needed coffee so we stopped at Starbuck's. I'm not a big coffee drinker but the iced coffee wasn't bad. Then we headed out. Our original intent had been to go to Glacier National Park this morning. But a snowstorm last week dumped 2 feet of snow on the Going-to-the-Sun road which was then only open for 15 miles. National Park Service shuttles were only just being allowed on the road.  So, since we couldn't drive the Going-to-the-Sun road, we decided to have a shorter day and head for Helena, Montana where Dan had made a reservation at a Marriott Residence Inn when we thought we would be coming from Glacier National Park. 

During our travels in the northwest, we saw several wind farms on the mountains.  Reminded me of the ones on the Kerry-Cork border in Ireland. Johnny Murphy and I drove right up to the windmills on our way to Cork. They were surprisingly quiet. Some of the residents of Falmouth where I live complain that the town's two windmills make too much noise. They also claim that the shadows and possible change in air pressure cause migraines, palpitations, loss of balance. 

I read that Montana has enough potential wind resources to generate one quarter of the electricity needs of the US. Makes me think of the Cape Wind project for Cape Cod that has dragged on for years now.

During development of wind farms in the Northwest, the proponents and developers stated that they infuse money into the local economy during construction. Then going forward, they pay local taxes and stipends to the landowners. Each state in the Northwest offers different incentives for landowners. The best wind resources are located in rural areas and are compatible with farming and ranching. Renewable Northwest, which promotes "environmentally responsible renewable energy resources in the Northwest," claims that landowners make between $2000 and $7000 annually for each wind turbine located on their property. That is nothing to sneeze at if you are a rancher or a farmer fighting drought as well as all the other problems they face. 

As in east Washington and Idaho, we traveled through forests, then open flat land, then farming areas. Each has a beauty of its own.
In the arid dry areas there was sagebrush that reminded me of the furze bushes in Ireland. You can see some of it in the picture above.

As we drove along route 90 in Idaho and Montana, we crisscrossed the Clark Fork River which was pretty low in some areas. We also saw railroad tracks which followed along the river. We saw many trains here and along the larger rivers. I counted over 50 cars on most of these trains. Lots of the cars seemed empty. I wonder where they were going? What kind of cargo did they have?

We crossed the Continental Divide at McDonald's Pass which was built as a toll road when Montana was a U.S. territory. There was a sign on the side of the road that said Frenchwoman's road. Apparently, a Canadian built the road, but his wife managed it. She also ran an inn - she charged $2 for a bed and $1 for a meal. The Frenchwoman was found murdered and robbed of $6000 in gold dust. No one was ever charged with the murder although the Canadian was a drunk and abused his wife so was considered a prime suspect.

Continental Divide - 6440 feet.

Helena, capitol of Montana, was founded in 1864 during the gold rush days when gold was found in the Last Chance Gulch. That Last Chance Gulch is now the main street.

Catholic cathedral in Helena.

We arrived in Helena ready for something to eat. We picked Bert and Ernie's Saloon and Pub on Last Chance Gulch. When he was small, John Brendan had an Ernie doll like the one on the horse below. 

It was here that I had a delicious cheeseburger, and Dan had Irish nachos.

The waiter told us that the Hibernians held their monthly meetings at Bert and Ernie's.

Bert and Ernie's were celebrating their 40th anniversary that evening. By the time we came out, they had Last Chance Gulch and some surrounding streets blocked off and were getting tables and portapotties in place. 

We headed for the Residence Inn and had a quiet evening in preparation for the long day tomorrow and the highlight of the trip - Yellowstone!

On to Missoula, Montana

Yesterday, Thursday, we had breakfast at 8 am at the hotel. Dan was a big fan of the OJ - he had 3 glasses.

I have to say I was sad to leave our one bedroom suite - I had enjoyed so much time just relaxing on the patio with the terrific view - plus the time I had with Dan - (I don't think I was too intrusive) - it was hard to leave. We both thought it was the perfect size for each of us individually. It would be all I needed. Oh, that's right, I have Johnny Murphy back at home!

Anyway, we checked out, and Dan headed for Volunteer Park on Seattle's Capitol Hill. We went up, up, up. How do people drive in the rain or snow here? The hills are so steep and some of the streets so narrow! Then there are all the small roundabouts to calm/slow the traffic I presume.

We passed a neighborhood book exchange on the way up one hill. Made me think of my son John Brendan who had just been talking about doing the same thing in his Lowell neighborhood.

A park has been in this location since the late 1800s. In Boston we all know about Frederick Law Olmstead and the Emerald Necklace that he designed. It was interesting to learn that his sons designed Seattle's park system in the early 1900s. The park later was named Volunteer Park in honor of the Volunteers of the Spanish American War. Black Sun is the sculpture that Dan wanted to see. Seattle has lots of public sculptures on street corners, in parks, in the grounds of companies and government buildings.

This particular sculpture stands in front of the Seattle Asian Art Museum which seems fitting since the artist's father was Japanese. Dan wanted to take a picture of the Space Needle through the black sun.

This is Dan's picture at Volunteer Park that I took - I downloaded it from his Face Book page.

From Capitol Hill, we headed for Route 90 which starts with the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston and ends here in Seattle. We passed the coffee shop from Frasier but I didn't realize it until we were just passed it.  We had a last peek at the stadium with the retractable roof which seems like quite a feat but takes very little time according to our tour guide yesterday. We again saw trees and shrubs tucked into every little nook and cranny along the highway as we headed out route 90 to Missoula, Montana.

We followed the same route we had taken yesterday to Snoqualmie Falls. We passed over the floating bridges but it was too cloudy to make out Mt. Ranier which is an active volcano rising over 14, 000 feet. Even though it is over 50 miles from Seattle, we had seen it yesterday with the top still covered with snow.

We passed through Snoqualmie National Forest with its mountains covered with trees - top to bottom - until we were well out of the Seattle area. It was cloudy with sunny spells periodically - not too hot. A good day for traveling although clouds covered some mountain peaks.

Dan had his playlist going. I had been nervous about listening to his music. I like most music but can only take rap for short periods - especially if I can't understand the words. And I detest a loud bass. So I had ear plugs, but I had left them in my suitcase in the trunk. But the music was good although loud. Dan said he likes to feel it. Well, I could feel it too when the bass started vibrating parts of the dashboard! 

We started passing mountains that seemed partially denuded after seeing the mountains in the Snoqualmie Forest. I wondered if this was natural or was there logging going on in this area or had there been landslides? I could see fallen trees along the mountains and also loose rocks. Dan mentioned the recent landslide in Washington which was not so far from this area. I could understand how it happened when I saw groups of houses nestled right at the edge of the mountains in what looked like little gullies. I could picture snow or dead trees or mud tumbling down on top of them. 

We had to make a pit stop. The rest area we stopped at was too filthy for me so we pulled off the road a little further on. The shop had nice clean rest rooms which you come to appreciate any time you travel.

I had seen a sign for Fresh Strawberries so I walked back a very short distance to take a look.

I'm not sure what the fellow was serving in the cafe, but inside the tent were vegetables and fruit. The Ranier cherries caught my eye. How could I leave Washington state without trying Ranier cherries! So I bought a pound and a half for $9, and we were on our way again.

We passed over the mighty Columbia River - I remember studying about it in school - starts in Canada and empties into the Pacific Ocean - one of the longest rivers in the US.  Dan has some good pictures on his blog:  http://mrmurphysays.blogspot.com/2014/06/big-evergreen-sky.html

Difficult to see the bridge over the Columbia River.

A little farther on we came to farm land in the large and small valleys between mountains.  I was fascinated with the farm buildings, the farms themselves, the cows, and horses. Horses must be big business because there were so many of them. And there were a lot of cows - particularly black cows - they reminded me of the black Kerry cows around Killarney. 

Hay must also be a big business. It looked like fields of hay had recently been harvested - this is June - so do they get another round of hay later in the summer? There were bales of hay everywhere! There were tractor trailers passing on the opposite side of the highway loaded down with bales of hay. I was fascinated with how the farmers store the hay - look at these pictures: 

Hay bales are stored in these structures which are everywhere!!

The fields were all fenced off - some held cows, some held horses, some held vegetables. I know as we traveled through Washington state and Idaho that there were corn, potatoes, and hay growing. 

We noticed that the land seemed dry - we learned that Idaho is one of the states experiencing ongoing droughts. There were creeks and rivers listed on the maps that I was reading that no longer had water in them. 

I was fascinated by the irrigation system. It is difficult to make out in the pictures below, but it looks like a long tube is attached to  wheels placed periodically so that the huge device can be moved along the wide fields. When it is turned on, it can irrigate a large distance. The irrigating devices are in all the fields.

It was interesting to note that the homes were probably heated by propane gas - big gas tanks were outside all the houses. There was also a good amount of timber in many homes - for fireplaces or wood stoves?

There are probably thousands of acres of national forests in the Pacific Northwest. So lumber is a big industry - especially in the area that we were passing through near Couer d'Alene, Idaho.

We were accompanied on the road by tractor trailers - some carrying 2 or 3 containers on steep those mountain roads!! And so many RVs!!! I know from working with retired military that many of them travel the country in RVs. But this is a really big business in this area of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The RV parks were everywhere - large and small! And RV dealerships are enormous! Must be because of all the National Forests and National Parks in the area.

Anyway, we made it to Missoula where we were hunkering down for the night at the Brooks Street Motel. We stopped at Dickie's Barbecue Pit - it must be popular because they were out of almost everything. Dan had a craving for pulled pork; I had ribs.  

Then we headed back to the motel to prepare for the drive to Helena tomorrow.

Goodbye Seattle

After we finished our tour with Terry, we decided to go back to the hotel to refresh ourselves and decide what to do for lunch/dinner. Dan was in the mood for oysters. My gastronomic goal was to try salmon while in Seattle and potatoes in Idaho.  We ended up walking across the street to Daniel's Broiler - Dan had called and found out salmon was on the menu. I thought the name had karma.

We sat outside on the harbor - watching boats coming and going and being strafed by water planes! It costs $80-$100 to take a 15 minute aerial tour of Seattle. Must be pretty popular - I've seen lots of these planes since we arrived.

Dan started off with oysters - he thought they had a softer texture than back in Boston. I had my salmon with roasted asparagus, zucchini, and potatoes. I usually only eat salmon in Ireland. So I was surprised that this didn't have a stronger flavor, but, boy, it was delicious! Dan had scallops wrapped in bacon which were to die for - real scallops like we would take from the shell in Sneem. 
My glass of Washington Riesling was light and refreshing. Dan had spied Key Lime Pie on the menu and had a fancy for that. I ordered mango sorbet. Both were good, but we loved the sorbet! It came with blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.

When we finished, I walked through the waterfront park - it is a lovely place. It was late but kids were still riding bikes, families were strolling, people were jogging.

Looking toward the harbor.

A family out for a stroll.

Such beautiful vibrant flowers!

Looking toward the fountain and a footbridge over part of the lake.

Historic boats being restored.

Daniel's Broiler on the right near the two trees - our hotel is the building beside it - a street away.

I walked home when it started to get dark and people were leaving. Tonight I pulled out that sofa bed which was quite comfortable. Watched the news which is on here at 10 and off to bed. Heading through Idaho to Montana tomorrow.