West Yellowstone, MT to Billings, MT

After a short morning walk around West Yellowstone - a town with every type of western souvenir anyone could ever want - we headed back into Yellowstone Park.  Am I ever glad we went to see Old Faithful the evening before!  Yellowstone is a crowded place.  We waited in a short line to get in the gate then about ten minutes later we were stuck in a small traffic jam - an elk was swimming in a pond next to the road.  All day trying to find parking required some patience, but nothing was impossible.  We headed towards the north of the park today to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  Before getting there, we decided to stop and see more geysers because how can one ever have enough geysers?  First, we stopped at Gibson's Falls, Artists Paint Pots, and the Norris Basin where the Steamboat Geyser, Emerald Pool, and Porcelain Basin are.  Definitely, not great to have a dog in Yellowstone in the summer.  Since we couldn't bring her on any trails and we couldn't leave her in the car, we had to take turns seeing the attractions, which took twice as long.  There were many short trails (1-1.5 miles) around the geyser basins that we would have liked to hike on, but since we were going separately, it was not possible.  We saw a glimpse of what there is to see in the north part of the park, but we definitely have to go back sans pooch.

Gibson's Falls

Artist's Paint Pots

Porcelain Basin

The real attraction of the day was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.  It was amazing.  I have never seen the Grand Canyon, so probably this canyon would not have seen as amazing if I had.  However, it was the most beautiful canyon I ever saw.  The walls made a huge V shape down to a turquoise river.  The walls also had many varied browns, reds, and oranges due to the thermal activity.  It was quite the sight.

Upper Falls at Canyon

River in Canyon

Canyon Walls

On the way to the northeast exit of the park, we had a nice hour long drive through some very different terrain.  This area of the park was more mountainous with sections of forest and alpine meadows.  We did not catch a glimpse of any big horn sheep, but we did see hundreds of bison lounging in a meadow along a river.  We also saw a very ornery bison walking down the middle of a lane with many cars behind it.  No one seemed to mind though - it is the bison's territory after all - and it was a good thing no one minded because that bison was in no hurry to get off the road.

Once we exited the park, we entered back into Montana then back into Wyoming then back into Montana.  We traveled along the Beartooth Scenic Byway, which may have not been as quick as the interstate but was certainly beautiful.  Very soon after entering into Montana for the last time, we began to climb Bearclaw pass.  This 10,900 foot pass was at the same time a glorious and terrifying ride.  And of course, we drove into a huge thunder/hail storm just as we approached the top of the mountain.  I don't even know why/how they ever built this highway.  We were basically dangling off a cliff.  The view was spectacular though - alpine meadows, snowcapped rocky mountains - it was worth the fear and extra driving time.  By the end of the treacherous stretch, I was ready to be done driving, but we were still 59 miles from Billings, our stop for the night.  Luckily, Montana's speed limit is 70 mph on two lane back roads.  When in Rome!   We sped along north and arrived in Billings safe and sound.  Now I need a good night sleep for tomorrow's long drive to South Dakota.

Missoula, MT to West Yellowstone, MT

Our great day started with some morning exploration of Missoula.  Thanks to several recommendations from friends, who knew we knew so many people who had lived in/visited Missoula, I had a delicious Mocha at Liquid Planet, wonderful bagel sandwiches from Bagels on Broadway, and got a great view of the city from the end of Whitaker Street.  We also visited Fort Missoula Historic District where we saw much of the old Army base and lots of logging and farming equipment.

View of Missoula from the top of Whitaker Street

 
After leaving Missoula, we headed east over the Rocky Mountains.  Even though we took the interstate, it was a gorgeous drive.  Most of the landscape continued to be scrub land mixed with irrigated farmland.  Just before Bozeman, MT we left the interstate and headed south towards Yellowstone National Park.  As we entered the Gallatin National Forest the landscape became much more forested.  Although it was all evergreen forest, the trees were definitely not as tall as the forests back in the Pacific Northwest.

About 90 minutes south of the interstate we entered West Yellowstone where we quickly dropped the dog - poor abandoned thing - at the hotel and headed for Old Faithful.  Since dogs are not allowed anywhere in the National Park except parking lots and daytime highs tend to be sweltering in a parked car, we jumped on the opportunity to see the geysers of Yellowstone without worrying about a hot dog in the car.  And what a great decision it was!  Going at dusk meant thinner crowds and great light hitting the hot springs.  I knew Yellowstone was quite the attraction, but I had no idea how many geysers there were.  Once we got about ten miles into the park, there were geysers everywhere we turned.  We first stopped at the Fountain Paint Pot, which was a gurgling splattering mud hole.  There were also many other hot springs and geysers about this area.  It was a jaw-dropping scene.  I did not expect the landscape to be like that at all.  We could have spent the rest of the daylight stopping at all the spots along the way but decided to head directly to Old Faithful.

Fountain Paint Pot

We arrived just minutes before the next eruption.  There was a lot of steam then suddenly water started gurgling up over the edges.  Finally, after about five or ten minutes of waiting, the water and steam shot up about 130 feet into the air.  It was truly one of the most spectacular things I had ever seen.  After the natural show, we headed to dinner at the Old Yellowstone Lodge cafeteria.  Feeling like a classic Yellowstone meal experience, I had bison meatloaf, which was delicious.  A little after dinner we even got face-to-face with a wild bison chomping on grass near the geysers.  We had a lovely sunset walk around the rest of the geysers near Old Faithful - there were many.  I especially enjoyed the artwork warning visitors not to step off the path at risk of death by scalding.  Sadly, the family of a child who died by falling off the path in 1970 commissioned the artwork for the public outreach campaign.  We successfully did not fall off the path; however, there were several areas along the boardwalk where a visitor might get scalded by a erupting geyser - a bit scary.  After exploring the surrounding area, we circled back in time to see a second eruption.  On the way back north, we stopped at most of the other geyser basins.  We saw Biscuit Basin, which got its name from the biscuit like rocks that were spewed from the geyser after a strong earthquake in 1959;  Grand Prismatic Lake, which is the largest hot spring in the park; and the Great Fountain Geyser, although we didn't stay to see if it would erupt because the mosquitos were out in droves.  Driving through the park we also saw bison, elk, and a porcupine.  This is truly an awe-inspiring place that I feel so lucky to be able to visit.  Everyone NEEDs to come here!

Old Faithful

Kennewick, WA to Missoula, MT

We had a long but beautiful drive today.  We decided to continue on the backroads, which took us through some gorgeous and varied terrain - much better than what we would have seen from I-90.  First, we traveled through the rest of southeastern Washington, which continued to be scrub-steppe.  Because of modern irrigation, the scrub-steppe surrounds beautifully fertile fields.  We saw quite a few vineyards, wheat, apple orchards, and crops we couldn't identify.  We also drove through several very cute towns such as Walla Walla and Pomroy.  Near the Idaho border, the scrub-steppe got more mountainous as we headed along the north border of the Blue Mountains.  These bare mountains were unlike the densely forested mountains of western Washington.  I have never seen a state with such varied terrain, but that is probably only because I come from the land of tiny states.

Blue Mountains near the WA/ID border

Heading to Idaho

Once past the Blue Mountains, we went on to Idaho.  Our time in Idaho was quite enjoyable because we almost never were not in a state or national forest.  We started by driving along the north border of Winchester Lake State Park.  This area very quickly turned more forested but not densely forested.  The hills there were almost identical to those desert hills of eastern Washington, but with smatterings of evergreen trees.  We stopped in Orofino for lunch.  Orofino is interesting mostly because Lewis and Clark stopped near there to make dug-out canoes.  Their high school mascot is the Maniacs because of the nearby state hospital (obviously they don't worry too much about political correctness).  They are also apparently very concerned about pedestrian safety because they have little orange flags at the start of crosswalks the idea being the pedestrian picks up the flags and walks across the street with them for higher visibility.  The only person we saw crossing the street did not pick up a flag.  After Orofino, we drove through Clearwater National forest to the Montana border.  This area was much more densely forested.  It is also the trail taken by Lewis and Clark's expedition.  Almost the entire day, we were driving through forest along the Clearwater River then the Lochsa River, which was a beautiful way to travel.

Clearwater River near Orofino, Idaho            

Eventually, we climbed the Lolo Pass where we passed into Montana then found our way to Missoula where we will spend the night.  A nice surprise was our hotel's two giant indoor water slides.  Missoula is quite pleasant - totally surrounded by mountains of the scrubby desert variety - and we will hopefully do more exploring of Missoula tomorrow.

Tacoma, WA to Kennewick, WA

And so it begins...  After a later than expected start, we decided to drive to Kennewick, WA last night.  Not sure there is much of interest in Kennewick except some boat races in July, but it is half way between where we were yesterday and where we are going today.

Despite the fact that it was dusk when we left Tacoma, we decided to take one last (for now) drive through the Mt. Rainier National Forest and Mt. Rainier National Park.  This is one of my favorite drives in Washington because the road is a long corridor of tall, lush evergreens.  I had driven through the area several times in the last year on the way hiking or skiing but had never gone at dusk.  It was too cloudy to see Mt. Rainier, but the darkness and the weather made for an eerie mist hanging above the valleys.  As we climbed up Chinook Pass to cross over the Cascades, we saw more and more snow.  In fact, Lake Tipsoo, which in a few weeks will be a glistening lake surrounded by dense wildflowers was totally covered in at least five feet of snow.  As we started to descend out of the mountains, we entered Wenatchee National Forest.  We saw many deer and elk grazing on the side of the road.  At one point we passed a whole pack of elk starring us down for interrupting their meal with our car noise and light.  I had never seen an elk up close but was fascinated by their collar of scruffy looking dark brown fur.

The landscape was as I expected - typically Washington dense evergreen forests - until we got to the other side of the Cascades.  Almost instantaneoulsy we were in what looked to be scrubby desert with only a smattering of short deciduous tress.  The ecosystem is called shrub-steppe and is so different from the west side of the mountains because the mountains catch all of the precipitation as it moves west.  In addition, the temperatures in this area are much more extreme unlike the western part of the state where the ocean makes the temperature fluctuations more narrow.  Despite the natural ecosystem, this is a huge agricultural area.  We saw many apple orchards and tons of fruit stands.  Too bad it was nearing midnight or we could have got some delicious Rainier cherries.

Unfortunately because of the darkness of our first day of travel, we have no pictures to show for our efforts.  However, after so many days of waiting for movers and dealing with the mess of moving, it is great to be in control of our own schedule.

Road Trip

After 13 great months in Washington, we are about to embark on an American dream - a cross-country road trip.  Of course, since we are only going as far as Tennessee, it is more of a nearly cross-country road trip.  I have been looking forward to a cross-country road trip for more than a year - since we were initially hoping to drive to Washington from Maine last year.  That plan didn't work out, so my road trip book and grand plans were shelved.  Now, we will do nearly the same trip in reverse.

Starting in Washington, we will take a more northerly route through the top part of Idaho to Missoula, Montana then on to West Yellowstone, Montana.  We will dip into Wyoming to spend a half day at Yellowstone then back to Billings, Montana and on to Rapid City, South Dakota where we will visit Mount Rushmore.  From there, we will head on to Iowa seeing first Sioux City then stopping to see the Field of Dreams.  After Iowa we will start heading south along the Mississippi.  After a stop in Hannibal, Missouri to visit Mark Twain's hometown, we will continue our southern journey through St. Louis and on to western Tennessee.

Since neither of us have ever seen this part of the country, we are very excited.  I am especially excited for all the cowboy attractions there are to see along the way.  How fun it will be to travel for seven days straight while five months pregnant is yet to be seen, but I am looking forward to the adventure!

Victoria, British Columbia

It may be a little lengthy to get there - three hour ferry ride from Seattle - but Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island is well worth even just a day trip.  My friend Ellie and I started very early in the morning and hardly made the ferry because of epic I-5 traffic.  There is nothing like running to catch a boat to start a trip off on the right foot.  We took the Victoria Clipper, which is pricier than the Washington State Ferry (WSF), but much more convenient since the WSF doesn't go to Victoria but instead goes to another port on Vancouver Island.  The easiest part of the clipper was that we were able to book a package that included ferry passage, a day tour, and hotel.  The trip up Puget Sound was quite smooth although I didn't risk going without motion sickness medicine, which turned out to be a good move as the water got rough as we moved from the sound to the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.  Once we arrived in Victoria, we seamlessly got on a bus for our day tour.

The tour gave us some highlights of Victoria and Vancouver Island as we headed to the famous Butchart Gardens.  The gardens were created by Jennie Butchart on her and her husband's property outside of Victoria.  While the Japanese, Italian, and rose gardens are all beautiful, no garden I have ever seen is as breathtaking as the sunken garden.  The sunken garden was created in the depleted limestone pit (Mr. Butchart was in the cement business) when tons of topsoil was brought in at the beginning of the twentieth century to cover the dug up pit.  The result is an enormous hole filled with a garden.  The effect is a lush oasis.  We entered the garden by descending a grand cement staircase.  Throughout the space were several ponds, raised beds, trees, waterfalls, and secret sitting areas.  There is even a huge rock in the center of the garden (the limestone that was of inferior quality) with another cement staircase that can be ascended for a bird's eye view.  It brought to mind what Eden may have looked like although Eden was probably a lot sunnier.

Sunken Garden

 (Left to Right - Italian Garden, entrance to Rose Garden, and Japanese Garden.  Photos by E. Pittinger)

After our garden tour, we had a brief rest at the hotel then headed out to see Victoria.  There is an obvious British influence in the city from the various old-style pubs to the architecture.  Government street is reminiscent of many of Britain's high streets with plenty of shops and restaurants.  There are also many tea shops and places to get high tea.  The Empress Hotel is the premiere place for high tea but was a little above our price range at $66 a person.  Instead, we had tea at Murchie's Coffee Shop where I had a delicious apricot tea and raspberry tart.  After an afternoon of shopping, we had a great fish and chips dinner (the best I have ever had) at Red Fish Blue Fish.  The fish stand is tucked in the harbor and has only outdoor seating, but the product is delicious.  It was a bit cold to sit by the water, but we did it anyway to get the full effect.

Early in the evening, we headed back to our hotel, the James Bay Inn, an old style hotel on the more residential side of the harbor.  The hotel must have been very comfortable because I was asleep by 8:30!!

Orcas Island

Last year, when we visited San Juan Island, we had hoped to get to Orcas Island, one of the islands in the Strait of San Juan de Fuca that comprise the San Juan Islands, but did not have time.  We decided then that we would go back to camp on Orcas Island since a large part of the island is state park.  On Memorial Day weekend, we had our opportunity to take this long-awaited camping trip.

Orcas Island is a little like two bells connected by a thin cord.  The Washington State Ferry arrives on the west side of the island in the town of Orcas and Moran State Park is on the east side.  The town of Orcas is very small, but has the essentials - a few gift shops, grocery store, and restaurants - which made our long wait for the ferry leaving the island more bearable despite the drizzle.  On the way to Moran, we passed through Eastsound, the largest town on the island.  This was a quaint village with some resorts and some artisan shops.  It was great to have this as an option on the morning of the trip that it really rained.

The state park really provided plenty of activity options with so many miles of hiking trails.  On one afternoon, we hiked to Cascade Falls.  It was a two mile moderate hike from our campground.  The falls were not terribly large, but the lush green surroundings they were nestled into made them worth the trip.  Another day, we hiked up Mt. Constitution, the highest point in the San Juan Islands.  The hike was difficult at first in that it was a very steep grade.  Eventually, the trail began to wind along the face of the mountain then continued up to the summit.  The top was very crowded as there is a road to the summit; however, the clouds were so thick there was hardly anything to see anyway.  There is a stone observation tower, but that did not improve the view.  The descent was much easier, obviously.  The trail took us to Twin Lakes then Mountain Lake, where we walked along the shores directly back to our campsite.

Cascade Falls
Photo by E. Pittinger

View from the top of Mt. Constitution
Photo by E. Pittinger

By far the most exciting part of the weekend was kayaking.  We had been kayaking in the San Juan Islands before, but this time, we stayed very close to shore, which allowed us to see the sea life on the rocky cliffs of the island.  We saw many purple star fish and some seals.  Though the best visitor by far was a bald eagle.  On our previous kayaking trip in the San Juans, we saw many bald eagles from a distance.  On this trip, the eagle was perched on a rock close to the water and did not move for several minutes despite our group's approach.  It was a clear illustration of why kayaking is one of the most perfect ways to watch wildlife.

Photo by E. Pittinger

Despite a little rain and chilly northwest temperatures, it was a great trip.  Hopefully, we will some day return to this area for more northwest camping.  Of course, the chilly weather did not stop me from taking a dip in Mountain Lake.  It wouldn't be a vacation without swimming!

 

Photo by E. Pittinger