Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Minot, Rugby, Grand Forks

From Jose

At the end of  my last update our four fearless adventurers had arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, the Juniper campground in the north unit to be exact. This was a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of Williston. The campground is about 5 miles inside of the National Park and all the trucks and traffic stay outside.  One of the highlights of the park was the  Little Mo Nature Trail, a self-guided nature tour. You pick up a brochure at the beginning of the trail and as you go along numbered signs refer to numbers in the brochure to explain what you are looking at. We rode our bikes. That evening a park ranger gave a very interesting talk about the animals that live in the park.

From there we headed to Minot where I had the appointment to fix the chip in the  windshield. We had planned to stay at a campground called Roughrider, but after viewing the place and finding out the rates I decided to pass on it and go to our old friend, Walmart.

The company that fixed the windshield is called Safelite Auto Glass. It is a national chain based in Columbus, Ohio. They did a great job and I would recommend them.

With a fixed windshield and after an involuntary tour of Minot looking for propane for the RV, we headed for Rugby, ND. Rugby's claim to fame is that it is the geographic center of North America. There is a pretty impressive obelisk near a busy highway pointing out this fact. For those of you that need to know the technical details of how to determine the geographic center of a continent and the political ramifications of such a quest, look here.

After a few uneventful days we arrived at
Red River State Recreation Area in East Great Forks, Minnesota. We were not ready to officially cross into Minnesota.  Great Forks is half in North Dakota and half in Minnesota and that's where the campground was. This campground used to be a neighborhood that was wiped out during a huge flood in 1997. From their website :

"The creation of the Red River State Recreation Area was a grass roots effort that came about as a result of the flood of 1997 that devastated the communities of East Grand Forks, MN and Grand Forks, ND. After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers redrew the floodplain, the Federal Emergency Management Agency bought 500 homes and other buildings in East Grand Forks along the Red and Red Lake Rivers.

Various structures and homes were removed and the land -- now a 1,200-acre greenway -- became a state recreation area."

We were sad for the people who lost their homes but thankful for the great campground. Fortunately the flood caused no loss of life.

Grand Forks is very bike friendly. There are tons of bike paths and you can get almost anywhere on a bike trail. On Saturday we went to a cool farmers market. Not too big but they had actual produce and baked goods, not just crafts.

As of today we have been out for 125 days and driven 6,706 miles. Next stop: Fargo, ND.

Stay tuned.

Williston, ND

From Jose:

I could not find any suitable campgrounds the right distance away from Glasgow so we decided to do a long day and drive all the way to Williston, ND, a good sized town.

Along the way I noticed a chip on the RV windshield and decided to stop and call my insurance company to take care of it ASAP. I was referred to a glass company that has shops all over the US and the nearest one to me is in Minot, ND. That works out great because I planned to be there in a few days anyway. So I made an appointment for next week.

Williston is a boomtown, having found oil in the badlands area south of town, near Theodore Roosevelt National Park. My campgrounds-finding app found 3 campgrounds in Williston, one clearly said it was temporary housing for workers. We went to the second one.  Even before actually driving into the park Diane said she did not like it so we went to the third park. The third one was bad on steroids. Junk all over the place, small children running around unsupervised, grass had not been cut in awhile, tough-looking neighbors. So we decided the second place was not so bad after all and headed back there. I tried to call ahead but got a "phone has been disconnected" recording. Hmmmm. When we got there and entered the park we noticed a sign announcing the upcoming housing units to be constructed there soon. Hmmmm. There were plenty of RVs so we decided to investigate further. We could not find an office or any kind of information board. Hmmmm. Come to think of it, there was not even a sign with the name of the park, just a bunch of RVs where the GPS said the park should be. My guess is that the place has been sold to build housing units and the current occupants have so many days to get out. So we decided on plan B, good old Walmart. Fortunately there was one in this town. It was not the best Walmart parking lot we've stayed in but I was grateful.

The next day we took a quick spin through downtown Williston and then headed south towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park and through the thick of the oil business.

Looks like Williston was a cute little town before the discovery of oil, and the downtown is still nice. But everywhere else all you see are huge trucks or pickups carrying parts for the machinery,hand painted "drivers wanted" signs and manufactured housing for the onslaught of workers flooding into town. There are many more RV parks than my app told me, all full of worker RVs. Not the fancy Class A rigs we have seen in KOAs but ratty trailers pulled by ratty pickups. Not that I have anything against workers but this is definitely not the place to bring a family on vacation.

We entered Theodore Roosevelt National Park (huge thanks to my awesome brother Cris for the National Parks Pass. It has been put to good use). It is an oasis of quiet and natural beauty.

Familiar Face in a New Place

I had not seen Jill in several years since she left Best Friends, and in that time she'd gone back to Alaska, then to Oregon, and now to Polson, Montana.  When we corresponded via email and she told me that she was living in the most absolutely beautiful place on earth, I was anxious to see what she was talking about.  She was right - the southern part of Flathead Lake is magnificent.  Its expanse reaches to Kalispell about 50+ miles north, leading you to Glacier National Park.  The most awesome thing about the lake is that like Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, it's just right there at the side of the road waiting for you to take a dip as you drive over the bridge to the main part of town (a VERY small town about the size of Kanab 4,000 pop).  It's much more choppy, Mediterranean blue, and so dramatic with the hills as a backdrop.

Another wonderful surprise was seeing Dazee, her deaf and slightly ditzy blue-tic hound, and meeting Dundee, her blind, boisterous blue-tic hound.  There is nothing more delightful to my ears than the bay of a hound; especially comical when he can't hear how loud he is!!  Man - I wish I'd gotten photos of them - darn!

We stayed 3 nights overlooking the gorgeous lake.  Jill and I visited Kerr Dam (below), the animal shelter, and the park on the lake.  She has lived her for just a few months and has been busy sharing her expertise with her new staff members in her position as director of the Mission Valley Animal Shelter.  She is earning well-deserved respect from her staff already and bringing her love for humane education to this rural small town.  It was so great to see her!

Fort Benton, Malta

From Jose:

After Great Falls we got on US-2. Looks like we will stay on US-2 for a long time, almost to Michigan. We spent one night in Fort Benton, mainly because it was the right distance away.

Fort Benton turned out to be a cozy little town, population about 1500, on the banks of the Missouri River. Originally a trading hub because of the river, it changed with the advent of the railroad. But they have transformed the town into a kind of living museum, with historical markers and signs, the old buildings renovated and still in use, and a great bike path along the river to see it all.  Needless to say, our bikes really shone that day. (Continued huge thanks to Maria and Chad for transforming our trip).

My favorite story from this town is about Shep, a dog who lived nearby with his shepherd master. When the master died and his body was shipped back east by rail, Shep continued to go to the rail station every day for over five years to meet every incoming train, looking for his master. Check out the complete story in the Fort Benton website.  We saw the Shep statue in the middle of town and his actual burial site in the outskirts (from a distance).

A couple of days after Ft Benton we ended up in Malta, Montana, home of the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and its next door neighbor, the Phillips County Museum. Both were spectacular. I thought of Josh and Isa, who are into dinosaurs. (Sorry  Isa, they did not have any dinosaur eggs). They did have Elvis, a pretty complete, 3D fossil. Most fossils found have been crushed by the rocks and sediments accumulated above. This did not happen to Elvis (hence 3D), which gives the archaeologists a better idea how everything fit together. You can even see the arrangement of tendons that holds the tail up.

Another dog story from this museum is "Dick", a sheepdog who pulled his 12 yo master 16 miles over snow-blocked roads to see a doctor.

And an original "wheelchair".

Now in Glasgow, Montana.  Stay tuned.

Maguire trying to eat Shep - grrr...

Big Sky and a Slice of Pie

For me, it all began with the movie The Horse Whisperer; you know - the romance and freedom of horses; the Rockies and big skies of Montana; down home cooking using the fruits of the land; good honest hard work; straightforward, yet kind, women (like the Dianne Weist character - a person you'd want on YOUR side) - oh yeah, and cowboys as gentle as Robert Redford and rugged like the Marlboro man.  It's no wonder I've longed to see Montana for many  years.

The photos below were all taken in various places in Montana: Blackfeet Nation parade and powwow we happened upon in Browning with more horses than I've ever seen on a downtown Main Street, many ridden bareback; a view from our RV site of Glacier National Park; me picking raspberries from Jane's backyard; the Rockies overshadowing spectacular, glacier-fed Flathead Lake in Polson.

The pie, however, is not Montana's claim to fame - it was homemade by Linda from Pullman, Washington!  My clothes will tell you that I've been eating a LOT of pie from all over the Pacific Northwest and through Montana, and this is by far the BEST strawberry-rhubarb pie I've ever had.  Pies don't have to be all fancy with caramelized this and oatmeal that or cream cheese crust - nope just a simple recipe that Linda's been baking for years using Betty Crocker's standard crust recipe and slightly tart rhubarb and sweet strawberries.  Some simple tips for her flaky crust: make sure the water is ice cold, use Crisco instead of butter, and don't over-knead the dough.  Next relative or friend I visit who wants to give it a go with me, I'm ready!

From Pullman to the Idaho Panhandle

Long time between posts, and I'd like to give you MY perspective about Pullman and Idaho.  Washington is a glorious state, and before crossing into Idaho we had one more stop in Pullman.  I can't tell you how many times Jose told me about the most handsome dog named Duke whose person Linda was a neighbor of his in Florida; his dog Rocky and her dog Duke were great friends and he was looking forward to reconnecting.

Linda is pretty cool and has worked in a biology lab with the same biologist for over 30 years.  She's an animal lover and volunteers at the local shelter.  Besides Duke and a recent foster, Lucy Bean, two awesome cats named Hazel and Nevada also live with her - which Jose neglected to mention!  All of the members of her four-legged family are sweet and very sociable.

We visited the Moscow Saturday Market in nearby Idaho which was actually loaded with tons of produce plus many crafts and other tasty goodies: Sisters Cookies feature a lemon frosted sugar cookie; homemade basil/blueberry AND peach ice cream also on homemade sugar cones (heaven!); tamales; hibiscus iced tea!  So much more, but I figured that was enough gluttony for one day...

Another place I wanted to visit was the Washington State University campus; its red brick towers peek out from among the green hills from the town of Pullman below.  There's a nice vibe in the town and reminded me much of New England college towns.  The school runs a dairy and produces cheeses, milk and ice cream – Ferdinand’s.  However, getting round Pullman's hills in the RV was pretty difficult; the hills are steeper than College Hill up by RISD and Brown – while fun to drive in a compact stick shift, not so fun in a 21’ X 10’ X 8’ vehicle.   Being the ice cream connoisseur that I am, I was obviously disappointed that we would have to skip the dairy tour.  Alas!  When we all went to dinner that evening, what a surprise to find that they serve a delicious crispy peach cobbler a la mode with a hearty scoop of none other than Ferdinand’s vanilla ice cream.  Oh it was SO worth it!

After a nice relaxing weekend with Linda and the critters, we prepared to cross into Idaho.  Now, I can’t say that I was extremely excited to go to this state and was kind of glad that we were driving through the panhandle only.  Before I continue, let me preface the remainder of our visit by saying that once again Jose kept mentioning a town called Coeur d’Alene; he couldn’t tell me much about it just that he’d heard the name several times and it was marked indelibly in his mind as a place he’d like to visit some day.  I looked it up in TripAdvisor and saw some pretty photos, so I figured it would have some nice scenery at least and settled back for the ride.

A humongous Paul Bunyan statue greeted us on the left; on the right was an extension campus of University of Idaho (Linda works at their campus in Moscow); a half mile beyond that a shady park directly in front of Lake Coeur d’Alene; the town opened up right across from the park entrance with the Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Center and comfortably walkable 11 by 3 block eclectic downtown area.  We drove to 8th street and parked in the government center that provided free visitor parking right near a newly paved bike path that follows the lake all the way back into town (we discovered later that the path goes much further than that).  We decided to take the dogs for a walk on the path and discovered that we could catch a free downtown shuttle that runs every 15 minutes and stops all along Lakeside, through town and to the Paul Bunyan statue.  My apathy quickly turned to an urgent desire to explore this cool little town nestled in among the evergreens, hills and water.

I took the shuttle 1st on a reconnaissance mission and learned that the dogs could ride on the shuttle too; but I declined this time around since it was too hot to walk them through town at that time of day.  I was the only passenger, and the bus driver and I had a lovely conversation during the short drive down Lakeside.  She let me off the shuttle near the visitor center and I crossed the street practically running toward the water to see how close I could get.   I walked into the park and watched everyone enjoying the outdoors; there were some people walking dogs, and as I ventured closer to the wall that edges the park lawn, I noticed some lifeguards; and then, there it was – a short beach and then the pristine, glacier fed lake.  People were laughing, playing, sailing, paddle-boarding and I wanted to run into the water right then and there.  Suddenly I was smiling and taking it all in as I enjoyed the cool breezes when I had been sweating just a few moments before.  I crossed back over to town and started walking back toward the parking lot hoping the shuttle would drop by soon.  When it did, I returned to the RV and hopped in the driver’s seat and told Jose I needed to get into that lake right away!  So off we went finding a parking spot closer to the park.  I threw on my bathing suit (ugh – but I didn’t even care) and we all walked over to the water.  Jose said no way was he going swimming in the frigid water so he and the pups found a bench overlooking the beach and bikinis (!) and I hightailed it down to the water.  It was numbing, but SO refreshing and I eventually mustered my courage to submerge.  There is nothing better than swirling in the water and feeling weightless, cool, alive and like a kid.  I laughed as two young guys with their girlfriends atop their shoulders played and tried to knock each other off into the water;  I smiled as I watched another bather inch her way into the lake hoping she would just dive in and say, the wwwater’s jjjust fffine, to her boyfriend; I put my head back letting my hair float loosely in the clear, crystal lake while my body slowly rose to the top till my toes appeared with rivulets of waterdrops dripping back into the water; hypnotized by the open, blue skies above and the evergreen hills enfolding all of us on the lake I floated.

Well, I’ll be darned…Couer d’Alene is now on the list of top 5 cities where I can seriously see myself living for awhile (the list to be shared later).  I cannot even imagine every day taking a bike ride to work, walking downtown at lunchtime, heading to the lake after work on a hot day for a quick refreshing dip.  Everything is just right there in a sweet little nutshell.  And 10 minutes away outside of the cocoon is everything else you can think of; pretty perfect!

"The name Coeur d'Alene translated into English means Heart of an Awl, a reflection of the perception of the tribe's traders as very tough businessmen." (Wikipedia) Some other plusses for this town: CityLink is free public transportation provided by special collaboration between the city and tribal councils so that ALL residents are assured reliable transportation to work, home & shopping; numerous employment opportunities (companies like Sysco have relocated headquarters here); progressive; education available; aquatic center in town; excellent senior retirement services.  I found out that Coeur d'Alene is ranked as the 4th best city to live in the US - who knew?

Polson, Kalispell, Glacier, Browning

After we left the Coeur d'Alene area we did cross into Montana. Our next major stop was Polson to see our friend Jill. We stayed at a KOA, first time I ever stay at a KOA. We called other campgrounds in the area and they were all full, so we were glad to get anything. We liked this campground a lot although it is pricey and most of the amenities that make it pricey are aimed at families. The town is on the southern end of Flathead Lake. There is not much going on in the town. The lake is the biggest attraction.

We did see our friend Jill. One day I stayed in the RV with the dogs and Diane and Jill went into town seeking adventures. I'll let her tell you that story.

From Polson we took the short drive to the north side of Flathead Lake, to Kalispell to see Diane's friend Jane. We got to park the RV on her driveway. Jane has a Golden Retriever named Lucy. Matilda and Maguire got along great with Lucy, although I don't think the neighbors appreciated two more loud dogs. Lucy has a harness similar to the Sporn harness that are great for dogs who pull.  I asked Jane where she got it and she immediately offered to take me to the local Petco where she bought it. We did go, I got one for Matilda and it has made a big difference. Diane will tell you more about that visit too. Huge thanks to Jane and Lucy for opening your home to us. I hope Matilda did not destroy too many of Lucy's toys.

From Kalispell we headed to Glacier National Park. After a few uneventful days we arrived at St Mary on the east side of the park. We had great plans for Glacier National Park. They have guided tours, free shuttle service, hiking , kayaking, etc. The next morning we woke up early to hear... *RAIN* and hurricane winds. That was certainly a hunker-down day. The winds stayed strong all day so we did not even get to ride our bikes or rent kayaks. The next day the weather cleared some and we got to take the shuttle to the park. It is totally spectacular. The pictures cannot start to do it justice. Everywhere you look there is a lake, river or waterfall. The mountains are very high and rocky. Definitely a must see.

The next day (my birthday) we left Glacier National Park and headed for a little Native American town named Browning because I had some mail sent to me there. There were cars and horses and even floats all over town. Turns out there was a big Pow Wow and parade in town. I have never seen so many horses in one place. There were Native American men in war regalia riding their painted ponies bareback, some very attractive Native American women, and floats encouraging the youths to stay in the straight and narrow. I thought the parade was in my honor. But I enjoyed it anyway when I found out it was not. I had a great birthday with many texts, emails, calls and even an ecard wishing me a happy birthday. I got to see many of them later because I had no signal at Glacier.

We are now in Great Falls, Montana. The next friends and family we are scheduled to see are in Michigan, over a thousand miles away. Looks like the next month will be pretty boring.

Stay tuned.

Pullman

After we left Yakima, our next big stop was Pullman, Washington to visit Linda and Danny, who were my neighbors in Florida. They had a cool dog named Duke who played with my dog Rocky.

Linda works so I planned to get to Pullman on a Friday and visit her Saturday. On the way there we planned to stay one night in a little town named Othello and one night in Palouse Falls State Park. The stay in Othello was uneventful but there were no RV sites at Palouse Falls so we pressed on to Pullman and decided to stay at the local Walmart until Saturday when Linda would be off work.

When I called Linda to tell her of this change in plans she offered to come to Walmart so we could follow her to her house. We gladly accepted the offer. Linda is no longer married to Danny but she still has Duke and he is as cool as ever. When Maguire decided to bark in Duke's face Duke remained calm and defused the situation. Linda has another very sweet dog named Lucy that she is fostering from the local shelter where she volunteers. The shelter has an awesome state-of-the-art off leash park, over 2 acres, separate areas for big and little dogs, airlocks, agility equipment, and plenty of poop bag stations. Another innovative part of this dog park is that it is "pay for play". Dog owners pay a yearly or quarterly fee for the use of the park (around $60/year). Linda says the community has been very supportive of the dog park.

Linda's house has a fenced yard and a nice back porch where we spent many hours watching the sunsets and the dogs playing. Matilda and Maguire had not been off leash for a long time and they appreciated the opportunity to be off leash. Linda makes a killer strawberry/rhubarb pie. Huge thanks to Linda for your hospitality. It really felt like being home.

From Pullman we headed north towards Coeur d'Alene. On the way there we stopped at a huge beading store near Plummer, Id. Shirley would be proud of us.
Coeur d'Alene is a nice progressive town,  population about 44 thousand. It sits right next to a huge lake and the city park includes a beach. It is a college town and there are plenty of young people. There are bike trails and free city shuttle bus. The people are very friendly and helpful. Both Diane and I think this would be a good place to live.

From Coeur d'Alene we headed East on I90 to Osburn, Id, the longest we have been on an Interstate during the trip. We got to ride our bikes on the Coeur d'Alene bike trail, a converted railroad which spans most of the Idaho panhandle.

If everything goes according to plan we will cross into Montana tomorrow.  Stay tuned.