Seattle to Vanderhoof, BC

I5 must be the top of my list of driving experiences to skip. Its a straight shot from Portland to Seattle Tacoma Airport but the traffic to the airport was bad and I did not think it could get worse until I picked up Larry and continued north. It got worse. We passes Seattle and had a lovely dinner in a brand new restaurant in Bellingham WA. Right on the water next to a harbor full of motor and sail boats. We were having some trouble getting a room so we just went across the border into Canada and got a room in Surrey, BC. Crossing the border went smooth and was just like the toll booths on the tollway.

Saturday we got off to a good start and made our way past Vancouver. We stopped at a visitors center to get a map and wandered by a old machinery museum. What a treat. It was not really open but we managed to talk to a great guy Ron who was there to work on some of his own stuff. Ron was 75 years young, he's been retired 15 years and spend those years with his wife helping with the organizing of the museum, collection of equipment and restoration of this old equipment. This is the largest collection of old tools, equipment and household items I have ever seen. The place is run on a shoestring but makes a great contribution toward acquiring a part of history that will otherwise be forgotten and lost. Ron gave us a grand tour, thanks to Ron we had good start of a day that otherwise would have only be driving and by shear chance we stumbled on something special. Our next stop was an overlook on Jackass Pass. We ran into a group of motor cycler's from Vancouver that were out for the day. They gave us a good understanding of the next few hundred miles of highway ahead.
He was all the way to 100 Mile House on the Cariboo Highway 97. The hotel was named after the stage coach stop. Of course their are several named places along this stretch that only indicate mileage from the old stage coach route stops. Since then Canada uses kilometers instead of miles. This has been interesting for us to figure things since Garmin is in miles as well as gas is in liters. Things cost a bit more in Canada. No need to change money since the American dollar and the Canadian dollar are considered in parity.
   We haven't seen much wildlife- a few deer along the side of the road but Larry had to break when a black bear yearling cub galloped across the two lane highway directly in front of us. No time for camera and pictures. We passed Prince George and had some overheating issues.

Uh-Oh things are overheating!

                                      
After adding some water to the radiator we went on a bit and decided to stay the nite in Vanderhoof and have the van checked out on Monday before proceeding on.
The number of nurseries and garden centers is amazing in relationship to the sparse population.

Portland and The Far West Nursery Show

Wednesday and Thursday nite were spent in Portland. Thursday the largest nursery show in the country in Portland stated. I have always wanted to see it and this was my chance. It was smaller this year than in past years but still large. I meet several interesting people and even saw some Indiana friends by chance. It was also nice to see some of the suppliers that provide plants and other products to us. Some new items will show up in our garden center next year from this time spend here. The area of Oregon and Washington are huge nursery crop suppliers for the entire country. It hard to believe so many plants find homes. At least up to now but with the housing slowdown the market will change dramatically. Some growers will be closing down while others will need to merge. I think less plants will be required for the next several years. Another cycle of surplus and shortage.

Yakima to Portland

I had extra time and decided to slow the trip and see some off track places. The first was a local arboretum. It was delightful with an organized staff with community mission of education in mind. With some time with their staff I was told of some interesting things to see before I left the state of Washington.

Gay McCarthy, Facility & Event Manager

War Memorial, Maryhill WA

 This included a war memorial, Stonehenge that was an interesting concrete structure overlooking the Columbia River.      Also was the Samuel Hill Art Museum and grounds.

The engineer & roadbuilder

I was too late to get inside before closing but the grounds had interesting sculptures and features. It was a nice break from the driving.  I finally crossed the gorge and proceeded on the Oregon side. As the day dragged on a bit I took some poorly maintained gravel roads and wandered the agricultural areas in Oregon. I got back to the main highway and found a delightful scenic Rt 30 byway. This became a narrow winding road among large forest trees on both sides. 
It featured glimpses of the Columbia on the one side and fern & tree filled mountain side with waterfalls on the other side. It seems that out here you can go from desert to forest and back to desert withing a few miles. I retired Tuesday night the 24th near Troutman, Oregon, gateway to the Columbia. I will look forward to a short trip tomorrow to Portland, a van wash, extra rest for me and then a day at the Farwest Nursery Show.

Grand Coulée Dam to Yakima, WA

Today is Monday August 23. Again no great mileage but many changes in scenery. From Grand Coulee I traveled west through rangeland and wheat fields. The country is desert and harsh in many areas. They burn away the brush, pile rocks into piles and cultivate around where they can to grow wheat.            Other areas are free from this volcanic debris with great soils for miles and the wheat seems to go forever. My day was spent following the Columbia River from Chief Joseph Dam thru a great little town of Bridgeport with tree carvings along the main street. I think I have seen these before from pictures Melissa took on one of her trips.                                 Then I was off to Wells Dam. This is where I meet Randy. He was the contract landscaper that takes care of the grounds. Each Dam site has visitor areas and viewing sites. After some talking Randy said the best Dam was on Rocky Reach Dam on alt 97. It has the best visitors center and a fish ladder with viewing windows. Before I got there I saw another beautiful recreation area at Chelan River Dam.
Rocky Reach Dam was worth the effort. This whole Columbia River Basin is one of the better government projects I have ever seen. Along the entire stretch of this desert are orchards and farms that flourish because of the water.
Getting toward Yakima I went through more mountains where the trees were diverse and large. This is where the rain and snow falls. Certainly not a desert but the mountains rob the range land of the moisture, 10" per year is desert. Good nite for now.

Bozeman Mt to Grand Coulee Dam

Today is Sunday August 22. Dick is dropped at the airport in Bozeman MT and on his way back to job and family. Off expressway can take a lot longer but many times its worth it. From dropping Dick off at the airport I wandered to Helena, then to Missoula and on to Grand Coulee Dam.

Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho

Lots of mountains, rivers and now open miles of wheat.

The range gets burned before the wheat farmers prepare new areas for planting for the first time

                     Before bed at 9:30 pm every nite the visitors center puts on a laser show on the dam. They open the spillways which become the screen for the light displays and speakers are arranged around the many viewing areas. The show is quite interesting and I have never seen anything like it before. It lasted for about 35 minutes. In the Google Pictures link I tried to make a recording. Better to see in person. So much has gone on its hard to capture it in words or even pictures. Dick and I have taken pictures separately and uploaded them in what comes out in a random order. Some day if I get time I will attach captions and put them in better order. Another problem is my spelling and memory. Dick is a great speller but his memory is as bad as mine. We forget a lot. We need a person on a trip like this to keep the names, places and other details straight.

Dick's Perspective (all seven days 2,000 miles)

I thought readers might be interested in my small part of this extended journey, so I'm contributing at this time.  My journey took me from home (Cedar Rapids, Ia.) to Bozeman, Mt.  As a traveling partner, Tom was flexible, generous, knowledgeable, and just plain fun.  He is, at one time, a philosopher, a businessman, a botanist, and a jokester.  Always, he's a raconteur, so much so that any interesting soul we met along the way was immediately incorporated into his traveling odyssey.

Tom's blog is a nifty thing, and because I was part and parcel to his first week, I'd like to give my version of what Tom has already written.  He may choose to incorporate, abridge, or just plain delete, but here's my version:

Day 1 (Sunday, 8/15) – After spending the night at my place we visit the Reitman Gardens in Ames, IA, and are smitten by the attractiveness of the place.  But Tom is most taken with the Quilt and Weaving (or something like that) Show with hundreds of meticulously crafted items.  A picture of my favorite quilt should show up on the blog. 

The only place I suggested we visit was Howard, SD, the hometown of a good friend and the place where his brother owns a B&B.  It was a nice place, but the town was deserted and we were fortunate to find something to eat at the local golf course. 

Day 2 (Monday, 8/16)– We are off now, plowing west on I90 when the van dies.  Tom immediately says, "It feels like we're out of gas."  After several hours, we determine that that was, in a sense, the issue – his gauge is screwed up, and after a few miles, we figured it out.   Increasingly optimistic, we forge on toward a place Tom demands we visit – the Fur Trader Museum in Chatham, NE. 

The Museum is closing as we pull up, so the Director makes a call, and we spend the night at her friend's B&B referenced in Tom's blog.  It was a great, century old place with character, that has housed, among other notables, Dick Cavett (who went out of his way to bring his new bride there a couple months ago.)

Day 3 (Tuesday, 8/17)– After several hours at the (fascinating) museum, 

we take off for Wyoming,

      

Chadron, Nebraska The undiscovered gem. 50,000 yearly visitors and world wide museum patron membership of 3,000. Dick an I joined up and will get the Quarterly publication. The fur trade was the conquering commerce of north american with sovereign nations competing for the wealth to be had. Fortunes were made and Indians became shrewd in dealing with their first exposure to barter and trade

 and spend the night in Gillette.  Tom's appetite subsided to the extent that he doggie bags much of his meal, but gives it to two young waifs we confront at the Visitor's Center. 

Day 4 (Wednesday, 8/18)– We arise and head to the airport for a flight over the myriad coal mines surrounding Gillette. They were very cool, but we were disappointed that Ken (our soon-to-be octogenarian pilot…) couldn't find the herd of 2,000 buffalo he'd sited the day before.  Back on the ground, we head for the foothills of Yellowstone, and lite in the last open hotel in Cody, WY.  Before hitting the hay, we enjoy dinner in the beautiful Irma hotel restaurant (http://www.irmahotel.com/html/hotel.html) and visit with a couple Buffalo Bill impersonators, a guy who worked 40 years in Alaska, a geriatric on a $40,000 three-wheeled motorcycle, and a Russian bartender.  And the food was good, too…

Day 5 (Thursday, 8/19) – Yellowstone welcomes us with its magnificence, but not before a fascinating hegira through the Badlands.  As we approached them, I asked Tom why they were so named – he suggested I just wait until we arrived, and the question would be answered.  It was – this place both amazing and indescribable. 

Dick Meisterling viewing the thermal waters at Yellowstone National Park WY.

I erred in making hotel reservations, assuming we'd stay in Yellowstone, but we wound up in the Tetons. 
 I wish all my mistakes resulted in such a favorable outcome – our place was fantastic, we had a wonderful dinner, met a terrific guy from Jersey at the bar, and awoke to the most beautiful panorama one could imagine. 

Day 6 (Friday, 8/20) – Blog pictures tell it all – Yellowstone is marvelous, and as a first timer, I was simply blown away. The vistas, the wildlife, the geysers…  all too amazing, and equally inspiring.   We work our way to our campsite where we bed down and

Day 7 (Saturday, 8/21) awake to another perfect day. Camping was cool, and after Tom's indescribable camp breakfast, we finish our trip to the Park with a flourish by visiting Canyon Falls – perhaps the most gorgeous of all the Park sites.  We leave, head north, and wind up in Bozeman, MT for dinner at a super place where the bartender sees my logo shirt, and claims they don't serve anyone from Coe College (where I work.)  It turns out that she's a graduate of Coe's rival, Cornell College, 10 miles from my campus.  Small world, though you'd never know it after visiting the endless wonders of Wyoming. 

Day 8 (Sunday, 8/22)  Tom drops me at the airport, where I fly back to the real – or is it, unreal – world.  I had a great week with an equally great guy.  DM

Dick Meisterling