The Oregon Trail - Day 19

After a night in Clarkston, Washington, we were trying to get on the road today toward Lewiston, Idaho.  Being still so traumatized  and awed by the drive through Hell's Canyon, we were determined to get a t-shirt and Christmas ornament to remind us of the bragging rights.  That ended up costing us about three hours of travel time.  We could not find a shirt that did not have Idaho on it.  We were in Washington and wanted it to say so.  Well, we decided that side of the mountain has claimed all the bragging rights and you could not find one with Washington on it for all the tea in China.  After crossing the Lewiston Bridge over the Snake River between Washington and Idaho five times (Johnny was a real trooper), we gave up and ended up buying some trinkets at Hell's Gate State Park and heading for Missoula, Montana. 

As we crossed the state line into Idaho we saw a road sign that said the grey wolf is the #1 poacher in the state.  Comforting!!

I know that all kids study about the Lewis and Clark's expedition in high school, but I must admit I remember little to nothing about it.  Just looking at the terrain today and remembering the trip through the Canyon yesterday, I have a renewed appreciation for anyone who braved this territory before modern day SUV's, restrooms every 30 or so miles, GPS's and cell phones!  Those pioneers really wanted to vacation and see the great outdoors!  I plan to do a little studying up on Lewis and Clark in my spare time.  So much of what we saw, the places we went and all the names of places and events relate to Lewis and Clark.    The statue just over the Lewiston Bridge is of Chief Twisted Hair.  He must have been a really important leader during the time of the expedition and instrumental in the relations with the white men.  I just like his name. 

 We arrived in Missoula, Montana just in time to find a room for the night at a local motel - The University Inn.  The University of Montana is in Missoula and it is a pretty little college town.   Supposedly you can hike us to the big "M" on the side of the mountain you can see from the hotel and see Hell's Canyon and lots of other sights surrounding the area.  One day we need to come back to this area and really take time to enjoy the beauty of Montana and all the great things to see and do.  This leg of the trip, however, was fast and furious - must get to Yellowstone. 

Marmalade's Side of the Story

Washington is a very cold place.  Baker, did you know that it is at the very top of the United States?  Nonnie let me use her scarf in the car to get my ears warm.  Do you know there is a Snake River here, too?  I think Lewis and Clark should have named it something else.  We did not see a snake anywhere, but I had my picture made there anyway.  I am really glad we have not seen any Indians on horses with spears.  Even ones with twisted hair.  Do you think Indians like giraffes?  I think they used to shoot buffaloes and make tipis out of their skin, but I don't know about giraffes.

This is me.  I was getting all warm, but I still needed my snuggy, buggy Sidney.  I am coming home really soon, but Nonnie says we have to go see a yellow stone first.

The Oregon Train - Day 18

Hugs and kisses all around and then more hugs and kisses!!!  What a great visit and loving fun was had by all
We always have so much fun when we are together.  We will miss Kit and Mike until the next time.

We are on the road HOME about 7:30.  25 degrees and clear as a bell.  Just as we got settled in and thought we had seen everything in the area worth seeing, we saw the cutest old town that was so picturesque.  Some of the old signs just gave the little town character.  You know that I can see myself trying to paint some of the scenes with watercolors some day in the future.  Wistful thinking probably. 

We had a nice lunch picnic at Blue Mountain National Park on Scenic Route 244.  Of course we traveled way off the beaten path and saw lots of old family farm sites.  Don't ever believe that trains are going the way of the horse and buggy.  We saw more trains on this trip than we have seen in the last forty years all added together.  There were more than 25 miles worth of train cars that are used to transport lumber just parked along the highway on an extra train spur.  They looked like they may have been there for many months.  Not much construction going on nationwide and the price of timber is not very good right now - the recession and all that entails I guess.

Near LaGrande we took Hwy 82 toward Enterprise, Oregon and entered Hell's Canyon Scenic Highway!!  They were not teasing when they named that place!!  The mountains were huge, bare of much vegetation and looked uninhabitable.  Scary drive - curves, hairpin turns, narrow roads, no shoulder on the road, deer leaping across the road and dark closing in on us.  Yikes <;{  There are still finger prints in the arm rests of the car.  One time two deer just jumped off the side of a sheer cliff into the road, took one more step and jumped off the road over the metal railing into the clear blue yonder where the mountain just dropped off into a deep gorge.  Scared us almost to death.  As we wound around the hairpin curve, I saw them several hundred feet down the sheer rock wall still running down toward the gorge.  Unbelievable.

As we neared the bottom of the gorge and the end of the Hell's Canyon drive and our destination of Clarkston, Oregon, there was a beautiful sunset waiting for us.  What a reward!  Thinking about the sunset reminds me of the beginning of the day and the unusual, beautiful break in the clouds where there appeared a strip of rainbow color and then another little ball of color.  I have never seen anything quite like it.  

Marmalade's Side of the Story

Sidney, I hope you haven't forgotten how to snuggle.  I am coming home to take my place back from that blankie you keep in your bed.  We saw lots of great cows and horses and other animals, but no moose and bear.  You know Nonnie still wants to get a picture of a moose and a bear.  I think she is making too much of those things.  She is already riding with a giraffe.  How much better can it get? 

Nonnie liked some cows we saw that were playing with five of the neighborhood deer.  Those deer were watching us drive down the road.  Look at their big ears.  Baker, I bet daddy would like the deer, too.

Nap time for me.  (I said nap not map!!)

The Oregon Train - Day 17

After slouching around the house, feeding the deer and eating a big pancake breakfast, Kit and I planned our return trip home while the men folk played with the big boy toy - Mike's tractor.  Nothing more fun for big boys than a tractor and lots of rocks to scoot around.  Mike has PLENTY of rocks!  All God's chillen in Oregon have plenty of rocks. 

We went to the strangest place after the guys cleaned up.  It was called Petersen's Rock Garden and was in Redmond, not too far from Kit and Mike's place.  I was a bit sceptical when we drove up and they had already warned us that it was not very well maintained.  I guess you could say that about anything good would have been a pleasant surprise.  And what a surprise!  The man that built all the things on the grounds consisting of about ten acres was 46 years old when he started building them and worked on it from 1935 until his death in 1952.  I believe his daughter and family are running the business now.  Mr. Petersen truly was an artist as well as an architect of sorts.  I cannot imagine how he located all those rocks and hauled them home.  They said he got everything he used within an 85 mile radius of his home.  He must have been strong as an ox.  It was truly amazing to see.  He built everything on the grounds out of rock and other types of found objects, but mostly rocks.  You can see the beauty of some of the rocks in the front of the museum and the scale of the structures he built by looking at Johnny in front of one of the buildings.  All the bridges were were footbridges built and encrusted in rocks and seashells.  The museum must have held a million dollars worth of all types of exotic rocks, gems and stones from that area as well as all over the world.  I surely hope they will take pains to maintain it before it really deteriorates any more.  It truly was an interesting thing to see.

 
After the Petersen Garden we stopped by Operation Santa Claus Reindeer Farm.  We were looking at the reindeer over the fence when the owner, Mike, came to feed them.  He was nice enough to give us a personal tour and lots of interesting info.  Their antlers are HUGE.  I cannot imagine carrying something like that on top of my head for a day much less all my life.  Male and female reindeer have antlers.  This farm furnishes the reindeer for Santa's sleigh at Disney World (in the group pic below) each year and lots of other places during the Christmas season. 

Marmalade's Side of the Story

Hey guys, I almost got to ride a real reindeer.  It might have even been one of Santa's reindeer.  Do you see those big antlers?  It looked like they were going to poke each other's eyes out.  That is what Nonnie says, anyway.  I was just glad that one of them didn't chew on my ribbon like those cute Alpaca animals.  Reindeer are funny looking with beards, big feet and a bump on their shoulders, as well as antlers that are about twice too big.  Nonnie even got a piece of the velvet off one of the antlers.  She wants to take it home and show Baker.  God surely did make some funny animals, didn't he?  The man that fed them said that when they get really, really cold they can make the blood go away from their feet to their vital organs so they won't freeze to death at the North Pole and places like that.  Santa surely was smart to pick that kind of animal to pull his sleigh. 

I heard Nonnie and Aunt Kit talking about us heading back to Mississippi tomorrow.  Here I come, Sidney and Baker!!!!

The Oregon Trail - Day 16

Great breakfast of Mike McMuffins.  One of his specialties.  Excellent. 

A woman's work is never done.  Rest time consisted of washing clothes, rubbing feet, cutting my sister's hair, rubbing tired feet, repacking clothes, rubbing hurting feet and catching up on sister talk.  What fun.  Oh, and there was the morning feeding of the deer.  This morning the girls and baby buck showed up for fresh veggies.  Note the scar on the doe on the right side just under her jaw.  Several weeks ago it looked like she was gored by a buck and it was very infected.  Kit and Mike nursed and feed her back to health.  Her name is Lulu.  Spoiled babies.  Good thing they live in this huge development where no hunting is allowed or they would be stew.

After the morning of fun and everyone was as rested and full of energy as you can be at our age, we decided that there were just a few things that we needed to see locally today.  Oh so many great things to do and see in the area and we didn't want to miss any of them.  The Crooked River Golf Course where Mike and Kit play is just beautiful and was the site of an old western movie starring Kirk Douglas called The Way West.  This was Sally Fields' first movie.   Nice claim to fame and pretty place.   We might have to watch it just to see how much the area has changed in the last 30 years or so.

The Rex T. Barber Memorial Bridge over Crooked Creek River was a beautiful place and was named for a fighter pilot in WWII who shot down Mozimoto.  He was the guy that planned the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  Great history info that I had heard of but had forgotten.  Now it is personal for me and I know Mike is very interested because of his fighter pilot background.

We ate lunch at the cutest little place in the nearby community of Culver - Beetle Bailey's.  The flowers were absolutely beautiful and surprising at this late time of year.  My petunias have been gone for a long time and never were this full and lush.  Maybe it is all the volcanic ash that makes everything so green up here.  My brown thumb is jealous. 



  

The day was just beautiful, clear and moderately cold.  Perfect for a good mountain climb.  Someone else's, not ours.  When we got to Smith Rock State Park, it was covered with what looked like brightly clothed ants climbing up and down on the mountain walls.  Hundreds of them and if you look really hard at the picture of the whole mountain face, you can see the climbers all along the wall on the ground and some up on the top.  We were totally amused watching them.  The range has a rock shaped like a monkey's face and Snoopy.  There was a long fairly difficult hike to see Monkey Face so we decided to just cheer the climbers on and view Snoopy from afar.  Monkeys are not way up there on my list of favorite animals anyway.  

Right near Kit and Mike's house we walked the trail along the Deschutes River to Steelhead Falls.  Steep and many loose rocks and sandy soi!.  I learned to use hiking poles and they really do help you not slide or fall into some place you really don't want to be - like over the edge.  There was one of the locals down there with his dog and wife.  We just couldn't resist taking a pic.  Last time Kit and Mike were near the falls he was diving into the base of the falls and said that he had dived it many times for as long and deep as he could and could not find the bottom.  The place was beautiful, but not any prettier than the sunset from K&M's front porch.  They have a perfect view of Mt. Jefferson right out their front door. 

Marmalade's Side of the Story

When I get all grown up, I think I might be a mountain climber.  They were having so much fun and yelling back and forth to each other and just hanging around.  Nonnie and Aunt Kit were just gasping at how they were climbing straight, smooth rock walls.  How hard could that be?  Or I could be a river diver and wear a kilt.  Either one looked pretty cool.  I bet his legs were cold.  For now I am just happy to be hanging around looking at rocks. 



The Oregon Train - Day 15

This is day five or our RV odyssey and we are leaving Washington and headed back to Oregon looking for waterfalls and the Columbia River along the Lewis and Clark Scenic Highway 30.  We visited the Vista House which was made of marble and stained glass.  It was beautiful and a great view of the Columbia River.  The walk to several beautiful waterfalls made me realize just what poor shape I am in.  I was huffing and puffing like the Mexican train was last night. 

We drove the "Fruit Loop Drive" which was a section of Oregon where there are constant fruit orchards and grape vineyards for miles and miles.  Oregon is just full of wineries and wine tasting places.  No tasting for us.  We are on a mission to get to the mountain before dark.

The Bonneville Locks and Dam was interesting, but probably the most interesting thing I took away from the place was the lady whose job was counting the fish and record what type fish swim through the fish ladders.  Who could have even thought of a job like that.  She sits in a dark room looking at a glass window where all the fish going up the Columbia River at this point have to swim by her window.  She gets a ten minute break every hour and they average out the time with what she has already counted.  Talking about having to drink a power drink every day to stay awake at work.  They also had a fish hatchery and we fed the salmon.  Very cool. 

We left the Columbia River area and headed for Mt. Hood.  The Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood was very pretty.  Supper was very nice and relaxing while we watched as they groomed the ski slope on Mt. Hood and also got to see the sunset on the mountain.   They have skiing year round at Mt. Hood. 

And so our RV trip ended about 9:00p.m. and a total of 1,025 miles!  We saw so many beautiful, interesting things.  This truly is a gorgeous country!

Marmalade's Side of the Story

OK, it is final.  RV'ing is GREAT!!!  Those dogs are the best travel buddies and yes Bella likes me best!

I almost blew into the Bridal Veil Falls in the big wind.  Whee, what fun.  I got to sit on the wall and I felt like I was going to fly away.  That wind surely was messing up my fur.  Uncle Mike even let me ride on the RV dash part of the way.  I bet Rocky and Bella were jealous.

Boppie liked to carry me up the long trail and everybody we saw thought I was so cute.  I could tell because they all just looked and looked at me and didn't even notice that he was too old to be having a baby giraffe in his coat.  They thought he was the best grandpa ever because he was carrying his granddaughter's giraffe.

I surely did have a great time,  but I surely was glad to get back to Aunt Kit's house.  Oh yea, Sidney and Baker, I still like to play with you guys more than with Rocky and Bella.  Don't tell them I said that.  

The Oregon Trail - Day 14

What a beautiful day and wonderful view of the beach while we ate a big breakfast at Wayfarer Restaurant and then a long walk on the beach to Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach, Oregon.  The Sunrise was just gorgeous.  I needed more than that walk to help me get rid of the huge shrimp omelet and Marionberry jelly that I packed away.  I think my jeans shrank when we washed them at Kit's.  Maybe this arid, high desert air has made my thighs swell.  Yea, that is my story and I'm claiming it. 

The coast, rivers and beautiful flowers - especially petunias - that are still blooming everywhere made the trip north to Toutle, Washington to see Mt. St. Helens seem way too short.  We spent the whole afternoon at the Johnson Observatory, which overlooks Mr. St. Helens, some 19 miles across the valley.  It was awesome to see and think of the major eruption that took place just 30 years ago this May 18th.  The damage is still so very evident and just mind boggling to think that we were so close to that much power and recent history.  There is no way you could make me live within 50 miles of that mountain.  While we were there you could see a puff of steam escaping from the dome in the crater on Mt. St. Helens that officials say is growing by some 18,000 dump trucks of rock every day.  Not a comforting thought.  Thousands upon thousands of acres of land are still bare with only fallen skeletons of the scorched forest remaining.  Thirty years seems like a long time except when you are talking about replacing what a major volcanic eruption can destroy in just a matter of seconds.  So much human life lost and so much devastation.

Mount St.Helens and Spirit Lake (right)

The mountain poured out from the middle of the top causing the indention and missed filling up the lake to the right side.  The timber that was blown over and skinned around the lake still floats in the lake and we could see it with binoculars.  Unbelievable.

This picture is from a lookout high above a valley of thousands of acres of what looks like tiny match sticks.  Actually the sticks are huge logs that were skinned and blown over thirty years ago.  A few trees are coming back up voluntarily, but you can see there aren't many.  Weyerhauser has reforested most of the land that was scalped which is not in the national park.  The National Park Service has not reforested their lands.  It has pretty much been left as it was on that day in history.

On the way down the mountain to our camp site we just had to stop at this well known restaurant in the area "19 Mile Restaurant."  It is famous for their cobbler.  Kit and Mike said there was no way we could be this close and not try it.  So, we pulled down into the parking lot with the RV and attached vehicle before realizing that the end of the parking lot was blocked and we could not get in and turn the whole rig around.  In the rain the men had to unhook the truck and maneuver the RV around and back out on the road.  While they were stewing around and trying to get all that figured out, Kit and I went into the restaurant and ordered four servings of cobbler to go.  While we were waiting, Kit mentioned that she saw Johnny come in and then leave.  We could not think what he could be doing and just hoped that nothing serious was wrong with the vehicles.  We were just talking away and enjoying the strange looks we were getting from the locals when we noticed Johnny come back in.  This time we waved at him and he noticed us sitting over in the dining room.  He waved and walked the other way.  About the same time the waiter came over to our table with our order and said that the man up at the front desk had paid for our order.  When we walked up front to the desk, Johnny was standing there with about a three foot tall bag of cobbler.  Thus we went back to the RV with 12 orders of Marionberry and apple cobbler at the cost of $45.00!!  Gentlemen, we had a lack of communication.  We ate cobbler for days and days and more problems with the arid desert air and my clothes.  We still have not seen a Marionberry, but it surely does make good jelly and cobbler.

Marmalade's Side of the Story

OK, so this was a good day in the RV.  Haystack Rock was pretty good.  I don't get to play in the sand very much, but it was very cold.  I was glad to get back into Nonnie's warm backpack.   

I really liked Mt. St. Helens and hearing all those stories and thinking about that mountain just going boooooooom!!!  Looking at the puff of steam coming out of it made my tummy flip just a little bit. 

I got to sit on BigFoot's foot.  We saw him over 20 miles away from the volcano.  BigFoot was really big.  I don't really believe there is a BigFoot, but it made me feel brave anyway.  People put funny things in their yards sometimes.  Nonnie really likes to take pictures of those funny things. 

I look really little on BigFoot's foot, don't I? 

You know I think Uncle Mike and Aunt Kit's dogs are funny.  Rocky is very old, I think.  He moves very slow, but Bella is frisky and lets me sit on her sometimes.  When we went to see things and they stayed in the RV to guard it, they played like they were the bosses.  Can you see Bella trying to drive it and Rocky barking out the directions? 

I got to stay up really late because everybody was playing Mexican Train dominoes and the train kept making loud chugging noises and they kept laughing a lot.  Grown ups get to have a lot of fun late at night.

The Oregon Trail - Day 13

Bop and I got up early and walked down to the ocean.  The trail through the rainforest to the shore was like nothing I had ever seen before.  Absolutely eerie!  It almost looked like the trees should have faces on them or they had been decorated for Halloween. 

We stopped at Cape Perpetua - huge pounding waves in a very craggy, rocky type cove.  Scary place.  Bop was standing just feet from those huge waves.  I was afraid he was going to get washed over by a stray wave.  Oh yes, I am a worry wart! 

We met a young couple who now live in Salt Lake City, but both graduated from BHS in 1997.  I did not recognize their parents' names.  Small world.   They introduced themselves and asked us where we were from because they immediately recognized we must be from Mississippi.  You just can't disguise southern.

We spent most of the afternoon at the aquarium in Newport, Oregon.  We walked through tunnels under the water where we could just look up and on all sides and see the fish swimming around us.  Very interesting.  One of the prettiest things we photographed was the jellyfish.  It brought back horrible memories of a trip to Florida when I was much younger than I am now.  I got in a whole group of jellyfish and got stings all over my legs.  Pain, pain, pain.  That is about all I can say about that!! 

We visited the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse which was built in 1871 and was the first one in this area of the Pacific coast.  Next we moved away from the coast a bit and traveled through dairy/cheese country.  Very different area. 

We traveled all afternoon and listened to the radio broadcast of the rescue of the Chilean miners who had been trapped in the mine for 69 days.  Miraculously, they were everyone rescued safely.  Remarkable.

Marmalade's Side of the Story

Well, I am going to have to rethink what I said a few days earlier about liking this RV'ing.  Today was rough.  Nonnie made me sit on some really scary rocks by the rough water.  Then she carried me all over the aquarium in that backpack and didn't even let me see the fish.  I surely was glad to get to the camp and sit by the campfire again.  And wouldn't you know, I didn't even get any hot chocolate this time. 

I hear Mt. St. Helens is tomorrow.  I can't wait.