September 15, 2008 - September 17, 2008
We didn’t have internet access at the HI Express Monday night or last night, so you will get three days worth of adventure from us today, which is Wednesday. Another glorious day greeted us Monday morning in Billings, MT as we set out to cross this massive state. We were pleasantly surprised to see more prosperous looking ranches, with sheep, horses (lots of horses) cattle, antelope and another dead coyote beside the road. John reminded me that we were traveling in the Indian Reservation for most of Sunday and that once we got off those poor people’s land, we naturally would see lots of activity. Also, it was Sunday and I mean, they rest on Sunday out here. I kept forgetting the name of the restaurant/bar/casino in Broadus where we ate and John reminded me that it was “The Powder River Cattlemen’s Club” and yes, they worry more about their kids smoking than they do about them drinking and gambling. Sounds reasonable to me. Also, apparently there is a horrible meth problem out here. We heard several commercials on the local radio stations with commentary from teens who got hooked and did awful things to get this killer drug. Also, there are many disturbing billboards, the main one that shocked me was one with a small boy pointing a rifle with the caption “If he doesn’t care about God, why do you think he cares about you?” Yikes. Scary stuff. Also, they have t-shorts with captions like:”Homeland Security” with a picture of cowboys with big ole guns. I guess this hardscrabble life takes tough folks. We haven’t seen but 2 highway patrolmen since we crossed the Mississippi last Monday. It’s such a huge land that I guess everyone sort of polices themselves. We began to get into the mountains and I learned pretty quickly that when you see a sign that says “Chain Up” that means you will start climbing at a steep angle and then down a steep slope to the next valley. U.S. Highway 90 winds through the passes and valleys of the Rockies and such beautiful vistas are around every curve. If we had stopped to take all the pictures we wanted to, we would still be back in Deer Lodge somewhere. I think we passed one of Ted Turner’s ranches because the fences were like new, there were buffalo roaming and nice equipment cutting hay and a nice stone entryway into the ranch. There was a public service announcement on the radio reminding hunters to treat their horses with something to prevent them from bringing noxious weeds back into the ranchland. John and I were imagining the pioneers traveling this same route, which BTW is the Lewis & Clark Trail and the easiest way to wind through the mountains. There are trains running all day out here and there are lots of sawmills, quarries, mines, oil refineries and everybody drives a big ole’ diesel pickup truck. We passed by the Dreamcatcher Stables just east if Missoula, MT and there were hundreds of horses there. Red, black, white and brown; all shiny, healthy and a wonder to behold. We stayed in Missoula, MT Monday night, which is almost to the westernmost border of Montana and is also the home of the University of Montana. Wayne and Jerri Garner have been out here to a dude ranch just south of town in Darby, MT so they know how beautiful it is out here. The picture of the Bitterroot River does not do it justice. The water is deep shiny blue and the flowers growing on the banks are bright yellow set against a backdrop of stalwart rocky mountains. There are a lot of Sinclair gas stations out here and we were determined to fill up at one, which we did in Clinton, MT 10 miles east of our stop in Missoula. There is oil here, and timber and rock and many, many people have bee boxes. I have been putting the local honey on my breakfast biscuit each morning and while John is sneezing, I am allergy free. We did run through an area where there was some dust that got us both rubbing our eyes though. Our first week has been so wondrous and we have our routine for stopping each night down pat. Holiday Inn Express is our home away from home. They are all almost the same, but the differences are minor and we are pleased that the beds are the same at every one of them! We are sleeping like logs.
Tuesday morning we decided we were going to make it through the rest of Montana, Idaho and halfway cross Washington State. We really humped it and have realized that the angle of the sun out here makes it impossible for us to get any pictures. It is so bright and there are few trees, except in the National Forests, and the people are either farming the land or grazing livestock for miles and miles. As we crossed the Ceour d’Alene Mountains, we were met with a breathtaking view of Lake Ceour d’Alene, Idaho, which is a huge glacial lake that attracts the rich and famous. We had lunch lakeside at the Bonsai Bistro, which has excellent Thai/Pan Asian cuisine. We took pictures of the lake, actually we have taken several picture of the countryside, but they are all “whited out” due to the angle of the sun. I hope that it is better when we get to Seattle tomorrow. We crossed the Columbia River, Washington, which is another breathtaking vista. We stayed in Ellensburg, Washington on Tuesday night right after we passed through George, Washington. Yes, I said George, Washington. We got gas before we got to Ellensburg in a place called Ritzville, Washington and that is where John took the picture of the stagecoach and teams made entirely of horseshoes and chains. These people have been out in the sun too long. John and I exchanged glances many a time going through this part of the country and shaking our heads, “No way – No way”. These folks would have to get supplies for a whole month because it’s 50 or so miles between towns! Yikes, no jumping in the car and going to Kroger for a gallon of milk…..
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
We made good time this morning and arrived in Seattle around lunchtime. We went to the Space Needle and sort of got our bearings since this is a huge city. We had lunch there and decided to come on to the hotel and gather our wits and formulate a plan for tomorrow. We are going to go ahead and go to Vancouver, BC tomorrow and then go back into Seattle to take the “Duck Ride” and ride the Monorail. More later.