It was a beautiful, cool day as we left Hope and began our trek to Whistler.  As we drove toward Vancouver, it got more and more overcast.  The mountains seemed to disappear for a time and we found ourselves in flat farmland until we got closer to Vancouver.  From Canada 1 (the road we were on) the houses on the outskirts of Vancouver and in the city itself  look very close together--little if any yard--and high rise apartments or perhaps condos are numerous in some spots.  As we approached the coastline the temperature was only 65 degrees. The coastal highway was picturesque with rocky cliffs on our right and ocean bays on our left.   Numerous islands dot the bay(s) off the main coast of Vancouver and some have high mountaintops with snow still on them. 

After checking into a motel in Squamish, we took a ride to the August Camp site about 25 minutes away.  To say the least, the campsite is ROUGH; in my opinion it's inhospitable.  Even Jack admitted the site is rough.  Whoever picks them sure didn't do a good job this time.  The ground is rocky and without grass, and, of necessity, the tents are clustered close together.  Hopefully the hikes will make up for it.  The general area really is beautiful. 

No pictures today even though we saw some beautiful scenery.  Too overcast.  

More to come as we have internet access.

Another day on the road.  As we left Osoyoos, we traveled north along the coast of the lake and saw oceans of grapevines (vineyards) and many fruit trees (apple, peach, cherry, apricot).  The area is definitely lake country--huge lakes with hundreds of miles of shoreline.  Actually, it seems the series of lakes is in fact one lake--Okanagan Lake.  It was too hazy for pictures to come out clear so I didn't take any but it was quite a sight to see.  Never saw so many vineyards, one after the other, before on the shores and up the side hills of such a huge Lake! 

Driving along Rt. 3 and then Canada 5 (equivalent to our interstates) we traveled through mountain passes with mountains full of evergreens (except the areas where Canada has deforested to try to kill the pest that is killing the evergreens), snow in mountain crevices and resulting waterfalls, meandering rivers through the valleys.  The temperature fluctuated between 64 and 82 degrees, depending on how high up in the mountains we were.

We arrived in the town of Hope around 2:30 p.m. and registered at a motel, going out for a walk after Jack had a much deserved nap.  There have been chainsaw art contests in this town for a number of years and the art is displayed in various parts of the town.  Neither of us had our cameras when we took our walk so after dinner, we went back and took pictures of the various pieces on display.  Here are a few:

This is "Harry" according to the plaque next to him

I think this has something to do with hunting.  See the squirrel at the top of the pole?

At first I thought this was a fisherman.  What do you think?

This is perhaps a totem

The Fraser River, the longest in British Columbia (850 miles long), sweeps by the town of Hope and at times is full of salmon returning to spawn upriver somewhere.  According to the history we read at a small park overlooking the river, sturgeon are also plentiful in this river and have fed the Native tribes for centuries.  The river is wide and the current swift as it passes through the canyon it made and in which Hope lies.  At one time Fort Hope (they dropped the Fort part some time ago) was a trading post; don't know if it was every a military fort.

The Fraser River; there's an island in the middle of it at this point.

The Fraser River.  The sun has dropped below the mountain to the right.

So tomorrow we will drive again, perhaps 200 miles, and will be within a stone's throw of August Camp at our stopping point.  Don't know if we will have Internet at camp; so if you don't hear from us for a while, you'll know there was no service. We are both doing well health-wise and every-other-wise.  We're having a great time!!!

 

 We left Bonners Ferry this morning and headed for Canada, crossing over from Idaho into Porthill, BC at 10:50 a.m.  There was a long line at the control point coming back into the U.S. but we had no problem entering Canada.  The roads are scenic--the mountains high, the white clouds puffy, the evergreens green and tall, the mountain streams crystal clear and the ravines very deep.   

Our 300 mile drive ended in Osoyoos, BC which happens to be a resort/vacation town.  The area was originally settled by Portuguese people.  The vineyards in the surrounding hills have now been taken over by East Indian people (according to the desk clerk at our hotel).  We descended the mountain on horseshoe curves and stopped part way down  to take pictures of the town and lake below.  What a beautiful sight.  I don't think the pictures do it justice.  Who knew such a place existed?  

 

Osoyoos from about 1/3 of the way down the mountain

Looking down the valley from our hotel

For some unknown reason, we were unable to get to the blog site on July 3, so this is being posted a day later (hopefully).

We got on the road around 10 and crossed the border into Indiana shortly thereafter.  We drove for a couple of hours before reaching the planned destination--Conner's Prairie in Fishers--where we spend 3 to 4 hours walking the areas which include: 1863 Civil War Journey - Raid on Indiana where you are invited to "join fellow Hoosier volunteers to defend the state from Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his raiders";  1836 Prairietown where you can "step into the hustle and bustle of a thriving pioneer community; Connor Homestead where it is possible to "tour central Indiana's first brick home where William Connor lived with his family from 1823 to 1837 (William Conner was an early settler in the Indiana Territory.  He was first a trader and ultimately became a person of considerable importance in and to the area.); a Lenape Indian Camp where you can "learn the culture and language of the Lenape, or Delaware,  Indians who lived in the Fishers area from 1795 to 1820"; and 1859 Balloon Voyage where you can "travel back to 1859 Lafayette, Indiana on the day aeronaut John Wise launched his balloon" (except the balloon did not go up today as it was too hot!!).

We drove another hundred miles or so to Fort Wayne where we stopped and were lucky to find a room.  Unknown to us, there is a bikers' rally (8,000 motorcyclists we were told by the hotel desk clerk) in Fort Wayne starting today!!

Happy July 4.   Still experiencing problems getting to this blog spot.  I am very quickly learning to hate Jack's laptop and especially Microsoft which appears to be giving me the problem.

Our departure from Fort Wayne was uneventful--very little traffic considering the day (July 4th).  We drove first to the Mid-America Windmill Museum in Kendallville (outside South Bend) where we learned that the windmill was first used for grinding grain in the colonies and then, as the settlers pushed west, for pumping water.  There have been a wide variety of windmills as perhaps you can detect from the picture included.  Even railroads were dependent on the windmill as they moved westward.  We  walked about the area for nearly an hour in the hot (supposed to be 100 degrees here today) sun and then headed for the air conditioned truck and our next destination: The Studebaker Museum.  I particularly liked this museum.  It provided details of Studebaker Family history from the time they came to this country from Germany in 1736 bringing with them their metal working skills.  Their metal working craft and ability to form metal was essential to the construction of the Conestoga wagon.  They built hundreds of wagons during the Civil War and supplied America and some it's alleys with vehicles and other troop requirements during World Wars I and II as well as the Korean War.  Studebaker first entered the automobile business in 1902 and produced their last vehicle in the U.S. in 1963.  Models for all the periods were on display; and for anyone who likes old cars, these were a delight to the eye.

From South Bend, we traveled to Michigan City, Indiana (which is right on Lake Michigan) where we will spend the night.

Today was a driving day - about 150 miles.  We said goodbye to Glacier National Park with sweatshirts on (it must have gotten down to the low 50s or perhaps high 40s last night) and headed for Idaho, stopping in a place called Bonners Ferry by about 2 p.m.  We are on Mountain Time now, the change occurring as we crossed over into Idaho.  We are about 25 miles from the Canadian border which we'll cross tomorrow.  As near as we can tell, the mudslides reported last week are not in the area we'll be traveling so we should have no trouble reaching Whistler by Friday and be one of the first at August Camp on Saturday.  Jack says we need to be there early to get a good campsite.

They say the Canadian Rockies are even more beautiful than our Rockies.  Am looking forward to seeing how they compare as we have seen such picturesque scenery and clear mountain steams and rivers, it's hard to believe anything could be more beautiful.  We'll let you know!

7/23/12

We were all set to go hiking today but our plan didn't materialize.  We must have picked the most popular trail in the Park as we were unable to get a parking place near enough to it to get on the trail!  The Park was full of people -- the most we've encountered anywhere since leaving the East.   We decided to find another trail and drove almost to the Canadian border without finding the one we were looking for.  It was such  a clear, windy day with temps in the mid 70s, hiking would have been ideal.  Even though we saw some beautiful mountain scenery and crystal clear rivers, we were disappointed at not being able to hike.

Can you see the rocks at the bottom of the river?

We took advantage of the restaurant on site at KOA and had a nice barbecued dinner,  As the sun went down, it got COLD so we got out a sleeping bag for an extra layer and I bought a sweatshirt which was part of my sleeping attire.


7/22/12

Drove from Shelby to Glacier National Park this morning arriving at a KOA campsite shortly after noon.  Nice place.  Heated pool, playground for the kids, restaurant on site, cabins and sites for RVs and tents.  This is camping??  

After getting campsite set up we bought groceries and then went out sightseeing--drove part of the Going-to-the-Sun Road which takes you pretty high up in the mountains.  The majesty of the mountains is breathtaking.  Some still have snow on them and probably because of this, the waterfalls are 'full'.  The views were spectacular.

Snow on the distant mountain

Waterfall we were able to get close to

"...purple mountains majesty..."

We returned to the campsite, had dinner and then played Scrabble.  The mosquitos got bad enough that we retired to the back of the truck for our second game.  It got cool enough to need a sweatshirt.  Are you jealous?  From the weather reports we've heard, you all have been sweltering in 90 degree+ heat.

First stop today was the Charles M Russell Museum in Great Falls.  Neither of us realized it would take as long to go through it as it did to go through.  The Museum in on the site of Russell's first home in Great Falls; his workshop is there as well.  

C M Russell -- looks a little like Will Rogers who was his friend

Russell's workshop

one of his sayings in the entrance hall to museum

The Museum is actually an art museum filled with Russell's oils and watercolors (his earliest to his last) as well as those of other artists whose pictures depict similar scenes--old west, cowboys, indians, primarily.  There are also copies (or perhaps originals) of letters sent to friends and a few poems tht he wrote.  Even in his writings, he included sketches.  He also illustrated a book or two.  There was a lot to see (no camera pictures allowed) and read so we didn't leave until about 1:30 p.m.  We got there when it opened at 10 a.m.

We stopped for gas and headed for Glacier National Park.  Arrived in Shelby, MT (which is fairly close to the Park) around 3:30 p.m. and tried to get camping accommodations (with showers) but found that the campsites in the area are all filled.  So, we are in a Comfort Inn for the night.  Hopefully we will be able to find a camp tomorrow.   We hope to stay locally for two or three days and do some hiking as well as sightseeing and then we will go on to Idaho to cross the border and enter Canada.  We are due at August Camp a week from today.

July  20

Today we got off to a late start--didn't leave the motel till about 11.  We headed north again looking for the "great falls" which we did not find with the directions given us by the hotel desk clerk.  So, we made our way first to the local triple A office and then on to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, both in the city of Great Falls.  On the way to the Center, we stopped at Rainbow Falls which had only a trickle of water going over them. 

Rainbow Falls

At the Interpretive Center, we went back in time to the 1805 and 1806 when L & C made their Corps of Discovery expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.  

Lewis & Clark Kite Exhibition kite

Perhaps the toughest part of their journey was the Portage portion which occurred through this area.  What are now five dams (hydroelectric power plants today) in the Great Falls, MT environs were, in their time, natural waterfalls along the Missouri River.  Hard to imagine not only hauling boats over land but all of their supplies and goods too.  Lewis must have been a genius.  The maps he drew (one of Jefferson's requirements for funding the journey) are very close to the maps of today.

The Great Falls, also known as Ryan's Falls

We spent nearly 4 hours at the Interpretive Center before going on to Giant Springs, which feeds thousands of gallons of spring water into the Missouri daily and whose source is still not definitely known.  We then drove north out of GF itself and were successful in finding Ryan's Falls (the 'great falls') and then Morony Falls which turned out to be only a trickle.

Giant Springs

See the rain?

On the way back to town, we encounter a thunderstorm.  The lightning displays in the sky were spectacular--all the more so, I think, because of the vastness of the sky and surrounding plains.  I can understand why Montana is sometimes called the Big Sky Country.

Can you see why they call this Big Sky Country?

 July 19

After leaving Fort Peck this morning, we drove about 250 miles to Great Falls, Montana, stopping in the town of Malta to visit the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum & Field Station.  A lot of dinosaur bones and skeletons (which this museum has given names) were on display as well as a lot of information to read as we viewed the displays.  The woman 'manning' the museum showed us some of the "works in progress" and gave both Jack & me a piece of Hadrosaur (duck billed dinosaurs) bone.  The bones/skeletons all come from areas not too distant from Malta.  In order to preserve the bones for shipment to the places where the bones are studied, a type of plaster is poured around the dirt that encases the bone(s) and the plaster is then covered with a gauze that is treated and hardens around the dirt block.  There were several of these blocks at this museum waiting to be worked on.   We spent a little over two hours at this museum before pushing on to Great Falls, arriving around 6 p.m.  After we did laundry and got some dinner, I was just too tired to do the blog.

July 18

Today we went to the Interpretive Center at Fort Peck State Park which has some wonderful dinosaur skeletons and fossils from the area on display.  

Triceratops being attacked by a T-Rex (dinosaur display)

Triceratops skull

Fossilized tree

There have been a lot of dinosaur bones, skeletons, and fossils from that time found in the area.  In fact they have what they call the Montana Dinosaur Trail which extends through a lot of the state.  Included at the Interpretive Center is the history of how Fort Peck Dam was created.  This Dam is the largest earthen dam in the US.  It was a CCC project designed to create employment  and to relieve the Missouri River flooding experienced almost yearly in the area.  The dam was started in 1933 and took seven years to complete.  Today it provides a tremendous source of power (provides electricity to five or six nearby states), second only in Montana to the power generated by the 5 Great Falls dams.  We were able to tour the Fort Peck Power Station (could take nothing in with us: no cameras, purse, etc.) that was built in 1934-1940, giving work to thousands (10,567 at its peak) in the immediate post-depression era - part of FDR's New Deal program.

Jack relaxing at our campsite

 After touring the power plant, we returned to the campsite and just relaxed (I wrote postcards and read; Jack read and slept--on the ground-- as it was too hot to sleep in the back of the truck; he's lucky enough to be able to sleep anywhere it seems).  I'm still trying to adjust to sleeping in the truck when we camp.

July 17

Arrived at Fort Peck campground shortly before noon.  The campsite overlooks Fort Peck Lake, a lake with over 1,500 miles of shoreline.  A beautiful breeze was blowing off the Lake.  Fort Peck was never a military fort.  It served as a trading post and Indian agency back in the early days.  The area is crisscrossed by what they call a dinosaur trail.  There are many museums in the area (large and small) filled with dinosaur bones, skeletons and information.

Shortly after we got our dinner things cleaned up, a thunderstorm erupted which was preceded by voluminous dark clouds coming from the west.  Jack & I retreated to the back of the truck to play Scrabble by lantern as the storm raged outside with lightening and heavy rain that lasted for a couple of hours and cooled things down nicely.  Another new experience. 

Nothing went as planned today------

Today we did nothing but drive though that was not our original intention.  The plan was to visit and possibly camp in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (we decided against the camping because there are no shower facilities there--something that is a must for me but still planned to visit).  Instead, we were going to camp in Lewis & Clark State Park; but that didn't happen either as we never found the Park!!  Here's why----------

From Belfield, ND north on US 85 we encountered an unusual amount of truck traffic; from Watford City to Williston (near where L&C State Park is supposed to be) the traffic got progressively worse: oil drilling-associated things were being trucked in every direction as well as construction materials. I was driving and found it very nerve racking. Trailer cities are popping up everywhere - construction worker housing, we surmised, as there isn't enough of it as evidenced by the full motels almost everywhere.  The number of workers needed means more individual's vehicles on the road (mostly pick-ups) as well.  After driving in the wide open spaces the past week, we were not ready for all the congestion.  Neither of us had heard about an oil boom in ND but it sure seems to be happening there.  Why haven't we heard about an oil strike in ND back East?  If we had known what we were going to encounter, we would never have gone near the area!!

We got out of ND just as fast as we could and that is why I am writing this from Montana tonight.

We did stop at a scenic overlook to see some of the North Dakota badlands which I never knew existed until a few days ago.  To me, they are more impressive than the Badlands of South Dakota.

Badlands of North Dakota

Badlands of North Dakota

Tomorrow we plan to visit Fort Peck Dam and Recreation Area.  We hope to be able to camp there for a couple of days to do a little hiking and some relaxing.  If you find no new entries for the next couple of days, you'll know our plan was realized this time.

July 15, 2012

When we left Rugby this morning, it was cloudy, humid and cool.   As we traveled south toward Bismarck, it became much warmer and more muggy.  Jack & I decided we had made a good decision (to not camp tonight) when the temp reached 97 degrees!  If this morning's weather report was correct, we will be camping  tomorrow night in Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

Around noon, we arrived in Minot, ND where we visited the Scandinavian Heritage Park.  This Park gives recognition to the five Scandinavian countries:  Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.   Representative of Denmark is the windmill and a statue of Hans Christian Anderson; Finland: an authentic Finnish Sauna; Sweden: the Dala (pronounced dawla) horse; Norway: a stabbur (storehouse) used in Norway to provide dry, safe storage  for food and other commodities; a full size replica of the Gol Stave Church which was moved from Gol, Hallingdal to Oslo, Norway about 100 years ago;  a  statue of Sondre Norheim, "the Father of Modern Skiing"; and Sigdal House, a 230 year old house from the Vatnas area of Sigdal, Norway which is representative of a typical house from old-time Norway.  We had our lunch in the Nordic Pavilion for the Arts & Picnic Shelter before heading south toward Bismarck and our next stop: Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.

Hans Christian Anderson w/windmill in background

Windmill with nations' flags (it was windy that day)

Genuine Swedish sauna

Dala horse

Gol Stave Church

Stabbur (storage house)

Sigdal House

Fort Abraham Lincoln is a "reconstructed" fort that includes the (George A.) Custer Mansion, troop barracks, ( Jack said the barracks' beds were better than anything he slept in during his time in the service), a commissary and On-A-Slant Indian Village (of earth lodges) which is a sacred place to the Mandan Tribe.   

Custer Mansion

Troop barracks

Earth Lodge

The names of the men who served in Custer's regiment (most of whom died in the Battle of Little Big Horn) were listed as a kind of memorial and there was information about the Indian scouts who served as well--a nice tribute. 

International Peace Gardens

We left Carrington this morning and traveled some distance to Dunseith, ND.  North Dakota's landscape is still relatively flat but did offer some changes in color dependent upon the crop being grown.  We saw fields of green (corn and/or cattails in the wetland areas of which there are a lot), lighter green (an unknown grain), tan (another grain, perhaps oats) and the stumper, yellow which we found out is mustard.  We saw quite a few beehives close to the fields of mustard and concluded the yellow flowers that are blooming now must need to be pollinated.

We arrived at the International Peace Garden--half in Manitoba, Canada and half in North Dakota--shortly after noon, had our lunch on the grounds, and walked the mile+ 'green' taking pictures of the flowers, the peace towers, the carillon (that supposedly plays every 15 minutes but didn't) and the 9/11 memorial erected there.  This was the first attraction that did not live up to our expectations. 

One of the flower gardens

 

The Bell Tower or carillon as I called it in the text.

The Peace Towers were erected in 1983.

 

9/11 Memorial (some of the actual steel beams taken from the NYC site.

We decided to get off the road about 5 p.m.  tonight and are staying in the town of Rugby, ND - the geographical center  of North America. 

Jack sitting at the geographic center of North America

Tomorrow we head for Minot, ND and the Scandanavian Heritage Museum.  We hope then to drive to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, close to the border of Montana, where, weather permitting, we will spend a few days in the northern part of the Park hiking and camping.

Well, we are now in North Dakota--have been for most of the day.  

Our first stop was in West Fargo about 10 miles from the Minnesota border.  We spent about 3 1/2 hours in Bonanzaville, a recreated town (actual buildings brought to the site from other parts of ND) put together by the Cass County Historical Society.  There was also a telephone museum, antique car museum and an airplane museum (we didn't go into that one) on site.  Pictures say it better than I can so..........

Fargo's first house; log cabin built in 1869

  

The inside of St. John's Lutheran Church chartered in 1898

Schoolhouse.  Julie Nixon Eisenhower must have visited Bonanzaville and written her name and 1972 on this school blackboard as the signature and date have been overlayed with a covering so they aren't accidentally erased.

 Various models of some of the old telephones that are included in the collection in the telephone museum.

1936 Phantom II Rolls-Royce

 

1981 Freeway

Wouldn't you just love to have one of these one-seaters to buzz around town in?  Bet it would be good on gas!!

After a little lunch eaten in the truck in the Bonanzaville parking lot we got on the road and traveled to Jamestown where we visited The Buffalo Museum.   Along the way one can't help noticing how flat the terrain is (a surprise to me) and how many wetland patches (sometimes you can see the 'pools' of water; other times you see just the cattails) there are.  

The Buffalo Museuem has a rare albino bison on site (born in2005) but we never saw her.  It was hot and she was undoubtedly in the shade of the trees some distance from the museum building.  

As you may already know, what we call buffalo are not buffalo at all and are not even related to the the buffalo.  What we were seeing is the American Bison, which, at one time, were close to extinction.  They certainly are big creatures!  The males are about 6' measured from the shoulder and weigh one ton.  The females are slightly smaller and weigh around 1200 lbs.  Included in the museum were a lot of Native American artifacts and some of their lore, paintings of Native Americans,  cowboys, American Bison, etc.  There was also a collection of plainsman guns and some stuffed animals native to the area.  We spent a good 1 1/2 hours there before heading on the Coddington where we are staying tonight.

Tomorrow we head to Dunseith and a botanical garden.