We love Montana

We were so impressed with the Montana landscape on our trip in 2006, specifically the Rocky Mountains.  The various mountainous clusters of the Rockies are interspersed with this high valleys and foothills, rounded and smoothed by eons of erosion.  We actually used the Interstate (I-90) because of the altitude, and even those roads were winding and steep.

We crossed the Continental Divide at 6693 feet.  We spent a night in Butte and another in Bilings where we had another Roadtrek problem fixed.  The furnace wasn’t working properly (a necessity in this climate) because of (get this) some “mud dauber nests”! 

From Butte to Billings, the landscape changed from tree covered and snow capped mountains to rocky outcrops and rolling foothills with beautiful ranches along the way and up in the hills.

Rain accompanied us as we drove east of Billings, from Miles City to Glendive, Montana, where we are now holed up in a motel, awaiting the forecasted blizzard tonight and tomorrow.  When it is safe, we will head over to North Dakota and then down to South Dakota. 

Why so many Walmart’s and motels?  The National Forest campgrounds and the State Park campgrounds in Washington and Montana are all closed until May 1!  Hopefully, our luck will be better in the Dakota's.

More Photos of Washington State

Just downloaded the other camera, and couldn't let these go by without showing them to you. If any of you want full size copies of any of these photos, just let us know.  We plan go have some enlarged ourselves!

Enjoy!

The Map as of April 28

The many faces of Washington State.

We have crossed Washington from west to east, and found it to have a beautiful and diverse geography.  From the rocky coastline and Coastal Range Mountains, to the bays and inlets around the islands of Puget sound, to the very high and snow capped Cascade Mountains, to the scablands scoured out by the multiple floods (caused from breakage of huge ice dams), and then to the rolling foothills of eastern Washington, it was so lovely.  Some of the pictures are below.  Most of them were taken through a wet windshield or out the side window of the moving Roadtrek!  What a day!  We spent the night in Spokane, WA (Walmart again), and then headed across Idaho into Montana.

From Oregon to Washington

To identify the people mentioned in the last blog, let me introduce them to you.  Vera’s Oregon family was anchored by Deborah, her beloved niece who died last summer, leaving her husband Ted Morales, her nieces Tamu, Debbie (Bobo) and Vera, and their mother, Tissi Boylen who all live in or near Newport, OR.  Confused?  Me too sometimes! This family is very special to Vera (Piper), who tries to visit often.  It was a joy to be able to spend last week with them.

Below is a picture of Ted and another of his dogs Sidney and Jewel.  Ted and I went sightseeing along the coast above Newport and got these wonderful views.

Last Friday, we spent the afternoon in Portland with Bobo, (picture below) and we went out to the Columbia Gorge – the Columbia River separates Oregon from Washington.  Here Bobo is at the park.  We could see Mount Hood to the east, and Mount St. Mary’s to the north.

After leaving Portland, we went back to the coast to the town of Tillamook, and enjoyed a visit to the Tillamook Dairy Coop there. The coastal mountains are higher near the coast here than at Newport, and make a dramatic view.  Some are even snowcapped.  No pictures – too much rain.

We traveled along the coast up to Astoria, where we crossed into the state of Washington.  We moved inland and drove along the “Hood Canal” and the Babob Bay and camped at Doseywallips state park – what a name.  The campground was visited by a herd of elk, and the young males practiced their fighting skills right in front of us.  Didn’t catch that excitement on film, but here they are grazing.

To get over to Everett (east of Seattle), we had to take two ferries – one from Port Townsend on the mainland west of Seattle, and one from Clinton on Whitby Island, across Pugent Sound.  Very different from our ferry ride in Corpus Christie, Texas.

Finally arrived at the home of Anna and Robert in Everett.  These lovely people were preparing for the adoption hearing on Tuesday for their soon-to-be daughters, Gabrielle and Yolanda who they had been fostering for more than a year.  Congratulations!!

We left Everett on Tuesday and headed East!

Adventures in Newport

We arrived on Wednesday and suffered four days of cold, rainy weather, just in time to supervise the  birthing of baby goats at the farm.  Unfortunately, Ted had not yet arrived from Juneau and Tissi was in Portland with Bobo, so my great-niece Vera, age 12, did her best to corral the other pregnant goats so that the coyotes would not get the new kids.  We were able to save some of them.  Aren't they precious?

Ted arrived the following Monday and the two Vera’s were very glad to turn over the farm chores to him (feeding chickens, turkeys, cats, dogs, horses and goats!).  Here are Amelia and Pierre chowing down.

Ted, Tissi and I made a trip to Portland to see Bobo, had great sushi there, (Carole did chauffer duty for Vera) and also had many tasty meals and several sightseeing trips with both Tissi and Ted.  The Yaquina Lighthouse and the coast line is spectacular

Sea Lions are found in many places.  Carole caught this one.

The Devil's Punchbowl gives quite a show when the tide is high and the waves strong.

Ted and I also had a great lunch with Mary and Stacey from the Hatfield Lab, colleagues that Deborah was so fond of.  More Japanese food - Yum!

Below are pictures of Vera's family and friend - Tissi, Vera, Ted and Carole.

Here are the two Vera's!

We leave tomorrow for parts north – after a stop in Portland, we will head for Tillamook, go up the coast to Astoria,  cross over into Washington, follow the scenic route abound Olympia National Park, and then head east to Seattle to visit Anna and her brood in Everett. 

Map as of April 12

On to Oregon

We met Vera’s great-niece Tamu for lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf on Sunday afternoon.  As we left the San Francisco area, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge one more time and sashayed north on the 101 again, intent on getting out of California.

It took another day and 270 miles of driving along the coast and over the coastal mountains to finally reach Eureka, CA, where we discovered the most beautiful Victorian town, two blocks off the highway.  Here are some photos of the houses.

And then we finally got out of California – more than 800 miles of Route 101 and Pacific Coast Highway – beautiful but long!!!

We spent Tuesday night at Cape Blanco State Campground in Oregon – beautiful campgrounds – far superior to those in California.

Our plans to visit Crater Lake, Oregon were nixed by the weather – snow for several days up in the mountains was too risky.  Another year!

The next day we headed to Newport, Oregon, where Vera has two more great nieces, along with their Uncle Ted and their Mother Tissi.  We will stay here for about a week, and will post pictures of the scenery as soon as it stops raining.