Hells Canyon to Olympic NP September 20, 2018

Since our last post, we roamed the Palouse hills of southeastern Washington, then returned to Idaho via Lewiston. We had two days to explore the Clearwater River area before our scheduled jetboat trip up the Snake River into Hells Canyon. We finished geocaching the Idaho counties and visited Nez Perce National Historic Park.

Wheat fields of the Palouse

Palouse Falls, SE Washington



 Downstream from Palouse Falls

 

 



The jetboat trip was wonderful. We traveled upriver 60 miles into the Hells Canyon Nat. Recreation Area (National Forest Service). The trip took 6 hours and we saw lots of wildlife: bighorn sheep, golden and bald eagles fishing, chukkars, turkeys. Taking photos was challenging with the motion of boat and animals so forgive us if our pictures are disappointing. We didn't encounter any Class 4 or 5 rapids – that trip takes longer and is a budget-buster for us.

 

 a pair of jet boats

bighorn sheep

 

 

Snake River in Hells Canyon - Idaho on left, Oregon on right

 

 

 a stop at the ranger station

 

 

 

 columnar basalt along the Snake River
 

We left Idaho behind and drove to northeastern Washington on the scenic drive to Kettle Falls, across Sherman Pass, through Republic and down to Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area upstream from Grand Coulee Dam.

crossing Lake Roosevelt on the ferry

 

 early morning view across Lake Roosevelt

 

We made a stop at Dry Falls State Park in the area known as the Scablands created by ice-age flooding when glacial Lake Missoula's ice dam gave way thousands of years ago. At one time the waterfall here was the largest in the world with a flow that would dwarf present-day Niagara Falls.

 At one time, the falls were 3.5 miles wide

 

 the coulee below Dry Falls

 

We crossed the Cascade Mountains at Snoqualmie Pass into Seattle and spent a very nice weekend with long-time friends Bob and Mac Cornwell. They drove us over to Bainbridge Island via the car ferry and the rain stopped while we explored a lovely labyrinth. We watched a documentary about the recent removal of two dams on the Elwha River of the Olympic Peninsula (our next destination).

 with Bob Cornwell, Mercer Island

 

Bainbridge Ferry, Seattle skyline

 

 

Hall's Hill Labyrinth

 



prayer wheel at the Labyrinth

 

 



Olympic National Park

Our first (and last) visit here was 38 years ago and it is a national park that we never visited with our kids. We were disappointed to learn that the road into the Hoh Rain Forest is closed for repairs. The park is enormous so there are plenty of exciting places to explore. We drove up to Hurricane Ridge early on the first morning to find an almost empty parking lot and a clear view of the Olympic Mountains and fog in the Elwha Valley below. Mount Olympus had a fresh snowfall the night before and the glaciers were brilliant in the sunshine. The vegetation was sparkling with frost that quickly melted as the morning warmed up. We hiked a crowded trail up to Sunrise Point and by noon the parking lot was almost full so we drove back down the mountain to Port Angeles to buy gas, groceries, and firewood and drive up the Sol Duc River Valley.

 fog in the Elwha Valley from Hurricane Ridge

 

 panorama from Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park

 

a great place to have breakfast

Mount Olympus on the left, Mount Carrie on the right

 

 from Sunrise Point - Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver, Canada in the distance

 

from Sunrise Point

We stopped at Salmon Cascades to watch coho salmon attempt to leap up a 11 foot waterfall – amazing! It was hard to tear ourselves away from the action. We cooked dinner over a campfire (an infrequent occasion for us) amid moss covered trees. Early the next morning, we hiked to Sol Duc Falls before the trail got crowded then enjoyed a soak in the hot springs outdoor pool at the nearby resort. 103 degrees water and sunshine bliss! (Note: On our 1980 visit we splurged on a rustic cabin at Sol Duc because we had gone a week without showers – an interval we have never repeated since.) We returned to the salmon cascade the next day and ventured a bit downstream to where a few dozen salmon were waiting a quiet water before attempting the upstream journey.

 

 

 

salmon in Sol Duc River

 hike to Sol Duc Falls (Kris in blue)

 Sol Duc Falls

 

 tree along the trail

 

late afternoon in the campground

Marymere Falls, Olympic NP

 

Huge trees and fungi along the trail

 



We drove back to Port Angeles for a scheduled oil change on the truck and stopped on the way for a hike to Marymere Falls where we encountered two groups of students on field trips and wondered to ourselves if they realize how fortunate they are to be living close enough for a day trip to such an amazing place.

We are not finished with Olympic NP yet . . . after our oil change we will head over to the Pacific coast sections of the park and the Quinault Rain Forest before heading to Oregon.

Seen while geocaching:

Brian is searching...

 

Metal silhouettes of each member of the Corps of Discover near Dayton, WA - site of a Lewis and Clark encampment

 

 

 

more roadside art - this one is for our grandson, Caleb

 

car bumpers "planted" in Idaho

 old schoolhouse in a ghost town, Washington

 

 geocache titled "Skullduggery" in a cemetery

 

"Frog Rock" on Bainbridge Island

September 8, 2018

In late August, after seeing the oncologist and getting a three-month reprieve for Brian, we put Houston in our rearview mirror. Two weeks into this latest traveling saga and we are just now taking time in a library to update this blog. After an overnight stop in Dallas, we pushed on to Dodge City, Kansas in time to attend mass (in Spanish) at the cathedral – different architecture for sure.

We made a stop at Nicodemus National Historic Site in Kansas and were disappointed to find the Visitor Center is not open on Sundays. This small historic community is trying to preserve its history with the help of the National Park Service.

https://www.nps.gov/nico/index.htm

Moving on up into Nebraska so visit the World's Largest Rail Yard – the Bailey classification yard in North Platte. The view from the Golden Spike Tower encompasses miles of tracks and we could see rail cars being shuttled to various locations in the yard. Quite an impressive display of engineering and coordination.

The mountains were calling to us so we camped at Vedauwoo Rocks in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming. Our campsite was at elevation 8300 feet so we were huffing and puffing a bit as we explored the area. It usually takes a few days to get acclimated to the altitude. Morning brought temperatures in the upper 30s and we were happy to snuggle into our sleeping bags. We spent the next day on the scenic byway through the Medicine Bow Mountains and made breakfast at lovely Libby Lake.

 

 Vedauwoo Rocks campground

 

 Libby Lake, Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming

 

Then came the long trek on I-80 across southern Wyoming, a drive we have done several times so we didn't make any stops. We entered Utah through Echo Canyon and spent the night in Logan.

It has been quite a few years since we drove out to Promontory, Utah to the Golden Spike National Historic Site with our kids, but we wanted to see it again. On the way, we stopped at the “Rocket Garden” and the Northrop Grumman facility - who can pass up a display of rockets? At Golden Spike, we arrived just in time to see the reenactment of the historic meeting of the two locomotives that marked the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. We sent video clips to our son in Houston and his 4 year old loved the steam whistle and ringing bells.

 

Entering southern Idaho, we headed to a remote National Park Service location called City of Rocks National Reserve. The roads in the park are unpaved and you have to bring in your own water. We did a 3-mile hike after settling in to our campsite and saw amazing rock formations wherever we ventured.

 

 

 

 

 

With the coming of Labor Day weekend, we settled into Massacre Rocks State Park near American Falls where we had reserved a campsite for three nights. It was not an ideal location as it was in sight and sound of the interstate, but was right next to the Snake River and we walked up to the overlook from the campground several times. It was also 'home base” while we ventured to nearby towns of Pocatello and Blackfoot and Minidoka National Historic Site where Japanese-Americans were incarcerated during WWII.

 

Snake River from Massacre Rocks State Park

We have visited two potato museums in Canada so we gave Idaho equal time.

Next up was Twin Falls, Idaho and Shoshone Falls then into central Idaho on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. We passed through Ketchum on the way to Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Central Idaho is the first area in the U.S. to be designated an International Dark Sky Reserve so with the moon waning in its cycle, we were treated to a magnificent star display and a faint glimpse of the Milky Way from our campsite at Redfish Lake. The last time we saw the MW was at a Dark Sky park in Nova Scotia three years ago.

 

Shoshone Falls, Twin Falls, ID

Hemingway's grave in Ketchum, Idaho

 

 

early morning at Redfish Lake - see our shadows?

Home for now

August 15, 2018

Home for now . . .

We had to return to Houston for 10 days or so for a follow-up doctor visit and to take care of a leak in the camper shell. We hope to be able to resume our travels soon. It feels like old times - finding ourselves at home in August with the start of school just ahead only this time we get to share the excitement with two of the grandkids. Logan starts Kindergarten and Caleb goes off the Pre-K

After our visit to St. Louis and Jefferson City, we ended up in Springfield, MO and made a visit to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, site of a Civil War battle in 1861. We drove the auto route through the park, but didn't spend much time out of the truck with thunderstorms threatening in the area.

Our next destination was Independence, MO to visit the Harry S Truman National Historic Site and the nearby Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Both locations were interesting and educational (as well as air conditioned in the heat of the day). After three nights in motels, the weather moderated a bit to allow us to stay in campgrounds again.

 The Truman home where President Truman and Mrs. Truman tried to live like regular folks again after leaving Washington, DC

 Brian's imitation of a WWI soldier

 replica of the Liberty Bell in front of Truman Museum

 THE famous desk doodad

 replica of Truman Oval Office

 copy of a famous prematurely-published newpaper

After retirement, President Truman was known for taking daily walks around Independence.

This statue is in front of the courthouse.

We crossed the Missouri River from St. Joseph and headed to Abilene, Kansas for another Presidential Library visit – Dwight D. Eisenhower. On the tour of his boyhood home we learned that he was one of six boys in the family and all of them were taught to cook and sew on a Singer machine by their mother and she made them come and go through the back door at all times. A heroic looking statue of Ike dominates the outdoor plaza.  The museum was closed for renovation and we were able to see a limited display of exhibits in the library building so didn't take many photos.

 General Eisenhower

 President Eisenhower's boyhood home

From Abilene we headed south to Hutchinson to visit a very unique place – Strataca Underground Salt Museum. 650 feet underground in a no longer used section of the salt mine are museum exhibits related to salt mining and some of the items stored in the underground vaults. Disney film reels, movie costumes, and important documents are stored in the ideal conditions of the mine area.

 in front of a wall of salt - the hardhat didn't fit Brian very well

 A block of salt weighing 6,000 pounds - you could see light on the sides and back coming

 through the opaque rock

 The salt was mined here using the "room and pillar" method.

movie costumes stored underground

Another National Park Service site we wanted to see was Fort Larned National Historic Site in Kansas. We have now visited 220+ NPS sites out of the current 417 parks, monuments, historic sites, seashores, lakeshores, memorials, etc.    60 of the sites are full-fledged national parks and we have visited 45 of them over the years.

 Kris looking through the stagecoach from the other side

 Fort Larned was used by the U. S. Army in the 1860s and 1870,

primarily to protect the Santa Fe Trail.

historic graffiti on the stone walls of the fort buildings

Our last night to camp was at Canton Lake in Oklahoma where we hoped to view the peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower away from city lights. Cloudy skies and rain foiled our plans. We returned to Texas in some much-needed rain that resulted in a minor leak in our camper. By the time we pulled into our driveway, my air mattress was going flat – good timing. (I always carry a spare one, but have a new one on my shopping list.)

our campsite on Canton Lake, Oklahoma

Seen while geocaching:

Carnegie Library in Albany, Missouri . . .

. . . and the high-tech wooden crate used as the book return.

We were disappointed that the museum wasn't opened when we stopped by

to find the geocache.