Montana

Our campground was near the junction of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.  We spent the next two days driving narrow paved roads and miles of jolting gravel lanes to remote places we never knew existed.

This adventure started along Hebgen Lake  in Montana where campers went to sleep under a clear sky on August 17, 1959.  As midnight approached, a 7.5 earthquake brought down 80 million tons of rocks and boulders from the mountains above blocking the Madison River.   The land tilted dropping the north shore nineteen feet and leaving the south shore dry.  Huge waves topped the dam threatening its collapse. but the dam held.  The slide created Earthquake Lake.

 Twenty-eight people died, some never found.  The impact of the quake was felt as far away as Colorado, the Dakotas, Washington and Canada. 

We learned this story at the Visitor Center where the film “A Force of Nature” detailed the events of that night including the rescue of most of the vacationers.   An emergency spillway was dug because engineers feared reverse pressure of the water would cause the upstream dam to fail but the story has not ended as the lake level lowers due to erosion of the earthen dam.  It will eventually drain itself and Quake Lake will disappear.  And the area is still at risk for earthquake.  This is the downstream view.

We drove along Hwy 287, which was destroyed in 1959, and viewed what is now a beautiful area though scars remain of that horrific night.  Dead trees stand where once they grew along valley floor. 

 A bald eagle watches for dinner.

The next day we took that jolting drive to Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.  Locals decry the refuge for removing grazing land from use, but this happened in 1935 and we think the ranchers were happy to sell at that time.  Ranches still abut the refuge and there is no shortage of beef around as proven by the cow jams we faced on the road.

The refuge was set aside as a breeding ground for birds and animals especially the then almost extinct trumpeter swan.  On our drive we saw the now recovering swans from a distance.  We saw and heard lots of Canada geese.  What we saw up close (they seemed to pose for the camera) were yellow-headed blackbirds.

Pronghorn antelope leaped across the road and raced through the meadows.

This E. B. White quote was on the wall at the Visitor's Center .

  Our campground is surrounded by the Centennial Mountains and overlooks Henry Lake.  Sunsets are lovely.

Island Park, Idaho

What a vast country this is with many thousands of acres barely inhabited.  We are surrounded by the Centennial Mountains in southeastern Idaho near the Wyoming and Montana borders.  This is a land with broad vistas and few inhabitants.  Recreation and ranching are the two main occupations.  A traffic jam is called a cow jam because of all the cattle grazing on the side of the road and crossing whenever they please.

Many sunbirds (winter residents of the summer heat states like Arizona and Florida) summer here to keep cool.  Henry Lake Campground is filled with such people and they and the managers are among the nicest and most friendly people we have met in any campground.  They all sing the praises of where they are and want to share the area with newcomers.  We understand their pleasure but the downside of being seventy-five to one hundred miles from urban centers with shopping, movies and restaurants is not for us.

What we saw was as lovely as advertised.  The Upper (114 feet) and Lower (65 feet) Mesa Falls on the Snake River are the result of volcanic eruptions and erosion.

We saw this bald eagle from the interpretive center.

 Johnny Sack was the oldest son of German immigrant’s who came to America in the early 1900s.  Johnny worked for Studebaker Wagon Corporation and developed his craftsmanship as a woodworker.  He and a brother later moved to the new community of Ashton, ID.  They then moved to Island Park intending to be cattle ranchers. After serving in the military, Johnny returned to build furniture and cabins.   This is the one he built for himself.  The view from the deck is spectacular.

Johnny was barely five feet tall but had talent well beyond his size.  In Big Springs, he constructed his own seven-room cabin all with hand tools.  He was a master at split bark decoration and fine detail woodwork.  His double bed was made of 96 pieces of wood glued and nailed together.

The floor design is called a quilt pattern due to its resemblance to the repetition of rectangles and squares in quilts.

He created this chair, cigar stand and lamps.

The cabin stands next to a functioning water wheel that supplied him with fresh water.

  The cabin is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Idaho Falls

We needed a place to load up on supplies and unload our tanks, so we stopped half way to Yellowstone in Idaho Falls.  Jerry found a recommendation on Trip Advisor for dinner at Chef Shane’s Perspectives.  First “perspective” was why didn’t someone iron the tablecloths.  Second, the wait staff were welcoming but slow.  As we looked around the small but crowded room with an open kitchen, we understood the slowness.  There were only five people working in the restaurant.  Final “perspective”, the food was really good, just wish they could afford to hire more staff.

After spending the next day on chores (even motor homes require housework) we took a walk along the lovely shoreline of the Snake River as it wends through downtown Idaho Falls.  Along the way we encountered amusing Art You Can Sit On

a snake

a horse

and a flock of uncomfortable Canada Geese.

 This moose was grazing under the tree.

Near an island in the river, pelicans floated by.

This underpass was filled with murals.

The falls are more than a photo attraction; they are part of the hydroelectric system.

Harvest Hosts

At the FMCA Family Reunion, Anna Lee attended a workshop presented by Don Greene on motor homes staying overnight for free at wineries, farms, and small museums.  Our friends Paul and Carol had recommended this to us but we were a bit hesitant.  After meeting Don and attending his seminar, we were hooked (sorry for our hesitancy, Paul and Carol).  We paid our forty dollar annual membership and looked forward to intriguing places to stay. 

Our first night was at Kelly Farms, Weiser, ID, primarily a peach and apple farm where “U Pick.” 

We had neighbors from Florida who were experts on this experience.  This was their second stop and they eagerly shared their experience at a winery in Southern Idaho. 

Chickens ran around.  Children shyly said hello.  An owl hooted.  Thunder boomed.  What could be wrong with this?  Absolutely nothing.  Don, the owner, is a third generation farmer originally from Hemet, CA and a graduate of Chico State.  He and his wife are warm and gracious hosts who made us feel at home in the orchard. 

We wandered through the trees scoping out our pickings.  In the morning Jerry picked peaches and Anna Lee picked tomatoes.

 Our total purchase of a dozen peaches and nectarines, three large tomatoes, several handfuls of cherry tomatoes, a three-pound cantaloupe and a jar of homemade salsa totaled $8.50.  Add that to a free overnight stay and the word bargain is understated.   

We are eager for our next Harvest Host stop.

Toppenish

We thought that the murals in Philly were unique but this small Washington town is really known for its murals.  Begun as the Mural-in-a-Day project in 1989, there are, as of June 2014, seventy-five murals all around the town.  The artists are professional Western artists from the US and Canada.  Many times they work as a team to create a mural.  The murals portray the history of the area and the significant women and men who contributed to its development.  The paintings fill sections of walls, entire buildings and even windows.  You don’t walk down the street but, instead, pirouette every few feet because murals are in front, behind, above and across from where you are. 

We tried to follow the map of murals but kept veering off path when one of us spotted a mural in another direction.  Then we would retrace our steps and find murals we had missed the first time.  We had a wonderful time but did not find them all and hope to try again in the future.

The Toppenish Trading Company above was one of our favorites.

 The second floor of the Logan Building shows some early “working women.”

Pow Wow, Ferris Wheel, & Cotton Candy shows scenes from past rodeos but here are a few more of the ones we thought were very impressive.

The small Northern Pacific Railway Museum is housed in a former train depot. 

It is run by volunteers who have spent decades restoring rolling stock like this locomotive. 

The museum prides itself on displaying railroad items within the context of their use.  This is the equipment and spare parts hold from below the sleeping area of a caboose.

A volunteer woodworker and retired physician, told us the colorful tale of obtaining the furnishings for this caboose.  It was privately owned by a billionaire in Seattle who had gutted it and  used it for entertainment during Sonic’s games.  He then planned to use it as a private bordello for his sons.  When his wife learned of this, she contacted the museum and said they could have anything that they wanted if they just picked it up.  The caboose is now restored to its proper purpose of providing living quarters for the conductor and rail observation crew.  The volunteer shared the lesser known facts like that the “hooch” was stashed in hidden compartments in the cooler and the stove, and once in the toilet.





Anne enjoyed blowing the horn.

This small town has a population consisting of 85% Hispanic, 5% Native American and 10% Caucasian.  Needless to say, the best place in town for lunch was Senor Villa, as recommended by the train volunteer.

The Yakama (tribal spelling) Nation Museum and Cultural Center is located next to their casino but we were interested in their tribal history.  Exhibits show the peoples’ relationship with the plants and animals of the Columbia River Plateau.  An exhibit on learning from the elders emphasizes that one does not expect respect but earns it. 

The sweathouse and tule winterlodge are life size.

An exhibit of famed Native Americans include Sequoia, chief of the Cherokees.  He observed that the European invaders of the early 1700s had a written language.  He knew his people had to develop the skills to compete with the Europeans so he developed a Cherokee alphabet based on Greek, Hebrew and English.  Unfortunately, that did not help his tribe gain equality as shown in their exile known as the Trail of Tears.  What surprised we four Californians was that Sequoia National Park was named in his honor.  We had never even thought about it.

Goldendale, WA

We took a lovely drive up US 97 across the Columbia River to spend time with decades-long friends, Anne and Jerry.  They are currently in the process of moving to Goldendale, Washington from Oregon.  Their town is little but its all about location.  They are in the middle of wonderful places to visit.


We observed Jerry B’s birthday a second time at The Glass Onion.  The restaurant is only a few years old and worthy of being in a major city.  This shrimp appetizer is a sample of the creativity of the chef.

We then did a little star gazing at the Goldendale Observatory, the largest US observatory that lets you look through an optical telescope.  This 24 inch reflecting telescope was built by four volunteers who gave it to the city.  First we saw sunspots and then prominances shooting 30 - 70 thousand miles out from the solar surface.

The next day we spent an afternoon at the Maryhill Museum of Art.  This museum is the result of friendships that started in the early 1900s.  The characters are Sam Hill who was an entrepreneur and promoter of the Good Roads Association (highways).   Alva de Bretteville Spreckels was the wife of the sugar magnate and a patron of the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  

 Queen Marie of Romania was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and of Tzar Alexander II.  In gratitude for her friends help reconstructing Romania following WWI, Queen Maria donated furniture, paintings and other objects of art from her palace to the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.   Loie Fuller was a famed dancer and friend of August Rodin.

To make a long story short:  Hill started to build a mansion overlooking the Columbia River. 

Fuller persuaded him to turn the project into a museum and got Rodin to donate drawings, models and small statues.  Hill, who was also a supporter of the Palace of the Legion of Honor,  died before the museum was completed.  His friend Spreckels took over the project.  She completed Hill’s museum and donated art from her personal collection and also arranged for the Queen’s collection to be sent to Maryhill.

Now to some of the art:  Beyond paintings, collections include chess sets

and Native American Art and African Art.

Theatre de la Mode is a traveling exhibit with 1/3 human-size wire mannequins used by designers in post WWII France to establish the fashion industry.  Details include gloves, shoes, hats and umbrellas. 

The grounds are filled with a variety of sculptures. 

 Maryhill also has a winery and a reproduction of Stonehenge which we did not visit on this trip.