First Night of Hanukkah

It's been just over a month since I last blogged. I have been busy getting re-settled at home, making two trips to see friends in Wilmington, NC (had a great Thanksgiving!), and now I'm in New Hampshire--without Daisy.
Daisy has been busy when we're at home playing with her old friend Cameron and her new friend Belle. We're leaving in 10 days for Annapolis to pick up Belle and her human and then drive to Memphis for Christmas and New Years.
Meanwhile, Daisy is in NC w/ Cameron's human and I'm in NH w/ my brother, sister-in-law, and niece and nephew. Tonight we will celebrate the first night of Hanukkah, and the kids are very excited. We have been told to hide their presents throughout the house so they can hunt for them. This should be fun. Good thing there are no nosy dogs here to "help."
The Hanukkah celebrations continue tomorrow with a big party at a friend's house involving lots of traditional food such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). But first there is the annual Army-navy football game, and we will all be decked out in blue and gold, including the junk food! GO NAVY!

Home

Daisy and I are home...it's good to be here!

Heading Home

We'll take Unc to the airport in a few hours then meet up with an old friend. Then tomorrow we head HOME! Daisy and I will be glad to get home.
It's been a GREAT 9 weeks on the road! I've been trying to think of a top 10--and in no particular order, here are my initial thoughts:
1. Lewis and Clark--I still stand in awe of what they accomplished over 200 years ago.
2. Grand Canyon--nothing like it in the world.
3. State and US highways--NOT Interstates--you can see the US better from smaller roads.
4. US National Parks, Historic Sites, and Monuments--thanks to NPS and BLM for maintaining these beautiful and historic places.
5. Honda--my 2008 Accord has served us wonderfully through almost 14,000 miles of travel.
6. Naval Aviation--thanks to all who serve to keep us free.
7. Friends and family--it was great to visit with so many of you along the way. Wish I could have seen even more of you, and hope I will see all the Burkett clan at our reunion next summer.
8. LQ and other dog-friendly hotels--thanks for providing clean, comfortable, and safe places for us to stay.
9. Cracker Barrel--thanks for good food and great audio books to rent along the way.
10. Daisy--the World's Most Spiled Dog and best travel companion!

More Travels with Daisy and Unc

It's 6 a.m. at NAS JAX, and Unc and I are on our computers while Daisy, TWMSD, stares at us trying to get us to feed her. Unc just gave her a cookie, on top of the popcorn I had just given her. You see why she is TWMSD.
Since New Orleans, we have been to NAS Pensacola where we saw the amazing National Museum of Naval Aviation. Then onto Athens, GA, to visit my aunt and uncle (Unc's sister and her husband). From there we went to Andersonville, GA, site of the infamous prison where the Confederates held over 30,000 Union soldiers, and also site of the National POW Museum. That museum provides a detailed view of American POWs from the Revolutionary War to the present, and the stories of bravery and fortitude of our many military personnel in the face of cruel and inhumane conditions are moving and remind of that FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.
Yesterday we came to NAS Jacksonville and are staying at the Navy Lodge. Today we'll go to St. Augustine to see the old city at the World Golf Hall of Fame.
It's been a great trip, and Daisy has been a great traveler. She really likes Unc's junk food, so we both have to go on a diet when we get home. We will put Unc on a flight home to Austin tomorrow then head home ourselves on Friday. We've been traveling 9 weeks--hard to imagine!

New Orleans

Causeway over Lake Ponchatrain


Tree decorated with Mardi Gras beads in the Garden District

Unc, Daisy, and I have had a good couple of days in New Orleans. Daisy has coped with city life quite well, being patient to walk a couple of blocks before doing her duty, etc.

We spent most of yesterday morning at the World War II Museum, originally started as the D-Day Museum by Stephen Ambrose. There are some great exhibits, and all veterans are warmly welcomed by a staff of volunteers. Unc met a couple of men who also served in Naval Aviation in the mid-1960s.

We spent the afternoon driving south on La23 to the delta. Lots of water everywhere!

In the evening Unc and I went to Bourbon Street for a quick drink and look around before it got too crazy!

Yesterday we finally made it to Cafe du Monde--love those beignets and cafe au lait! We also hit Jimmy Buffett's Margaraitaville store and restaurant--bought some Christmas presents. We spent the afternoon driving around the garden District then north along Lake Pontchatrain to its north side then driving the 24-mile causeway back to the city. It's anazingly large, and in the middle of the causeway, you feel as if you could be in the middle of nowhere.

A quiet night last night--needed to rest! Today we are off to Pensacola, FL, via the beaches in Mississippi and Alabama--Daisy's gong swimming!

Travels with Daisy and Unc

It all started at 3:45 a.m. (CDT). Yep. Unc banged on my door and said "we gotta hit it..storm's a'coming and we need to get ahead of it." So our 6 am departured became a 4:12 a.m. departure. Thank goodness we had packed 90% of the trunk and car the evening before.
Unc drove the first 2.5 hours (in the dark, of course) and then I took over while it was still dark, about 45 miles west of Houston. Boy were the next 2 hours fun! Rush-hour traffic, tremedous downpurs, lightning flashes, and Daisy trying to get in the front and sit on our laps. But we made it, and soon left the rain and storms behind us.
Shortly after we got into Louisiana, we left the Interstate and drove through a lot of southern Louisiana. Really interesting area--lots of sugar cane fields. Very little traffic. We got into New Orleans about 4:15--so a 12-hour day but most of it nice. It'll be early to bed tonight!

On the road again...

Today (Sunday) is our last day in Austin. We're going to be gone a while, heading a couple hours northwest to meet some family from Abilene for lunch (we're meeting them halfway) since the outbreak of flu there kept me from visiting last weekend. Then Unc and I (and of course Daisy)head to New Orleans tomorrow. The world's most spoiled dog has had a marvelous time here playing with Molly. She got a much-needed bath yesterday and is sitting in the car right now, pretending to go for a car ride. More tales from the road to come....

We're back!

Daisy and Molly B


Sunrise south of Lubbock



Cadillac ranch on Route 66 outside Amarillo

I haven't blogged for almost a week. Sorry! Daisy and I thoroughly enjoyed New Mexico, and I just posted some more pics on FB. One of the most interesting stops we made was at Pecos National Historical Site, which among other things is the site of a Civil War battle, known as the Gettysburg of the West. Until I took this trip, I had no idea there was so much Civil War activity in the western states.

On Friday we took a long route to Amarillo, where we planned to stay overnight before heading to Abilene to see family. Unfortunately, the flu arrived in Abilene before I did and my aunt called just as I pulled into Amarillo to suggest I not come there. So we ducked into the nearest La Quinta, which was not the one at which we had a reservation, and a very helpful desk clerk canceled my reservation in Amarillo and made one for me in Lubbock, 2 hours south.

So we headed into 5 pm traffic in Amarillo and went to Lubbock to spend the night. Then we got up very early and drove hell-for-leather to south Austin, successfully arriving before the end of the first half of the TX-OU football game (this is a VERY BIG DEAL in these parts). The rest of Saturday and Sunday were spent hanging out with family and friends--and introducing Daisy to MollyB, my uncle's 8-month-old golden retriever. They are getting aong so well! And are very tired puppies every night, which is good stuff.

Yesterday and today have bene spent on mundane things like getting the windshield repaired and tires replaced on Daisy's car. I also had it thoroughly cleaned. Later today we are heading south to San Antonio to see the Alamo and have dinner with a friend. On Monday, Unc and I leave--with Daisy of course--for adventures in New Orleans and other points east of here.

Pictures from the past week

A look at the Grand Canyon from the south rim


Dinsosaur tracks



Sunrise over Lake Powell

Daisy looking over the cliff at Hovenweep

One of the ancient structures at Hovenweep

A kiva in Canyons of the Ancients

The square tower bulidings in Mesa Verde

Daisy and I got to Albuquerque yesterday. We didn't go to some of the places I had hoped due to snow at higher elevations--and I was tired after the thunderstorms the night before (Daisy woke me up at 2 am). So for today I thought I would post some pics from previous days when I couldn't post any pics.

Monument valley

Monument valley

Four Corners

Four Corners

Ancient Puebleans--aka, Anasazi

Much of the past 2 days we've driven all around the Four Corners area of the US and seen lot sof interesting terrain, ancient homes, etc. And I've changed time zones and crossed state and reservation lines so often I am dizzy! Unfortunately, the WiFi connection here is bad, so I hope I can post even this short post. I'll get into more detail when I have a better connection. Heading to NM tomorrow--Albuquerque!

Northeastern AZ

We got up early (thanks, Daisy) and went for a walk near Lake Powell at dawn. Later we drove through the Painted Desert and stopped at several spots on the Navaho Reservation. A very interesting one was the Dinosaur Tracks 5 miles east of Tuba City. This website tells you more (I found the website after seeing the tracks): http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11499.

A knowledgable Navaho man who lives nearby showed me around, asking politely and non-aggressively for a donation/tip for his time. Daisy enjoyed traipsing around this mesa area of stone and real dinosaur tracks and so did I. I also succumbed to buying some jewelry at a nearby stand--they line the roadways on the reservation.

Next we headed south then west to Desert View--the farthest west part of the South Rim of the GC. I thought about going further into GC NP, but there were too many people! Still, the view was spectacular, and I know I must come back to spend some serious time at GC. Having seen a tiny bit of South Rim, I think the people are right who say North Rim is even better. (Harder to get too also, so fewer people--always a plus for me. Am I turning into a curmudgeon? If so, I get it naturally from dear old dad.)

We were back to Page by about 3 pm and now are watching the Texas-Colorado game. The Iowa-Michigan game starts soon; I hope they carry it here as a lot of family and friends are there in the cold and snow. Go Hawkeyes and Hook 'Em Horns! Oh, and the Tar Heels won today!

Once again I cannot post pics--sorry; see FB

Grand Canyon

Vermilion Cliffs


Grand Canyon, from Point Imperial



At Point Imperial

Daisy and I got an early start, leaving our hotel just before 7 am (about 30 minutes before sunrise). We headed East then South and fairly soon crossed into Arizona, where I was reminded that Arizona is ALWAYS on Mountain Standard Time, which right now is the same as Pacific Daylight Time, so it was an hour earlier there. Which would have been OK but I had hoped to go to the Pipe Spring National Monument, but it didn't open till 8 and we were there at 7:15. Oh well.

We continued south across an area called the Arizona Strip and then onto the Kaibab Plateau. This is a large, high desert (about a mile high) that ends at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. As we got close to the GC, we crossed though an area that was ravaged by fire in 2000 and then onto a high meadow area. I saw a wild turkey and several deer in the meadow area.

Then I crossed into GC NP and drove to the visitor center, where the Grand Canyon Lodge is also located. I took the Bright Angel Point Trail from here to my first view of GC. Amazing. Words and even pictures cannot capture this place. I'll try to post a few pics here, and I put a bunch on FB. The Lodge is also incredible and this is one place I am definitely coming back to spend some more time

We drove to all the other major (non-trail-accessed) viewpoints on the North Rim, and it just kept getting better and more awe inspiring. There were a lot of people but it didn't feel as crowded as Bryce Canyon. All in all, we spent almost 5 hours there, and I feel like I've barely "tasted" it.

Earlier in my trip I spoke to a number of people about the GC and most recommended North Rim over South, so I am glad I went to North Rim. It also allowed me to plan the next parts of my trip, including the rest of this afternoon. We drove along and then through the Vermilion Cliffs and crossed the Colorado River. It was getting late so I didn't stop at Marble Canyon, but will go back tomorrow on our way to the Painted Desert. We are spending tonite and tomorrow nite in Page, AZ, near Lake Powell. There's a lot to see around here so tomorrow will be another long (and good) day.

On a personal history note, Lake Powell is named for John Wesley Powell who was the first to fully explore and map the Colorado River region and travel throught the Canyon (he also named Marble Canyon, among other places). My father once taught a class that included reading and examining the book Powell wrote (The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons). I was privileged to be able to sit in on that class and see what a great classroom teacher he was (I already knew he was a good dad-teacher). Years later in college, a Classics professor included this book in a class called "The Heroic Journey," which also included the Iliad and the Odyssey, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and parts of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. I only wonder (now) why he did not include the journals of Lewis and Clark in this class.

Southwest Utah

I have always been told that Utah is a beautiful state. Prior to this trip I had been here only once, on a quick business trip to Salt Lake City. I know on this trip I have seen only a portion of all there is to see, but what I have seen is spectacular!

Yesterday we drove to and through Bryce Canyon. To my great surprise, there were scads of people there, busloads, literally. Far more than I saw, for instance, at Glacier NP. Too many. The overlooks were crowded, and I couldn't go on trails with Daisy, so I know I didn't see all I wamted to see. But what I did see was amazing. There are thousands of rock formations called hoodoos that are unique and hard to describe.

From there we took a very scenic route to the edge of Zion Park. It started raining, which is unusual here, and then I found out that we couldn't drive through the actual park; it is accessible only by tour bus, and they don't allow dogs. There is one trail we could have taken--they even allow dogs--but with the rain that wans't an option.

Today we drove to a northern part of Zion NP and saw some nice sights. Still nothing like what the interior must look like! As with other National Parks, this is one for a return trip without a dog (sorry, Daisy).

Speaking of the world's most spoiled dog, she is doing great. She charms people every where we go. There was a nice couple in Bryce Canyon who threatened to steal her--and even her obnoxious barking did not put them off!

Once again I cannot upload pictures...so see my postingson FB. Sorry.

We are off the to Grand Canyon tomorrow!

Geography Lessons

Daisy and I are in St. George, Utah. We will spend tomorrow driving to/from and in/around Bryce Canyon.

We've travelled 7,500 miles so far, and I've looked at lots of maps, used Google maps to plan parts of the trip, plugged in the GPS from time to time, and still had a lot of surprises and have learned a lot. My top 10 lessons:

Lesson 1: As L&C learned, the Rockies are WAY different from the mountains in the East. First of all, they are not one chain but multiple chains; second, they are WIDE. This leads to...

Lesson 2: Pay attention to topography. You need to know how high you are going and how the weather and road conditions differ at that altitude.

Lesson 3: Changes in altitudes, changes in attitudes (sorry, Jimmy Buffett): my first few days above a mile high really zapped me, and made a glass of wine very powerful! Since then I've gone up and down and feel fairly acclimated. But the other thing about altitude, especially in October, is SNOW. The best thing to do is talk to locals about weather conditions.

Lesson 4: GPS is great in traffic and to find your way back to your route when lost. Otherwise, it's annoying.

Lesson 5: I like wide-open places MUCH better than cities. That is one reason I nixed California to head through Oregon, back to Idaho, and into Utah. I pretty much avoided people/traffic from when I left home till Portland/Vancouver. Once again I can avoid all that till I get to Austin. Yeah!

Lesson 6: Wide-open spaces also mean wide-open speed limits: on the Interstates in the wetsern states in which I have travelled, speed limit is usually 75 mph, and in parts of Utah it is 80. Even secondary roads often have speed limits as high as 65 mph.

Lesson 7: Secondary (and tertiary) roads are usually better than Interstates--except when you are in Fed-Ex mode: you absolutely have to get there in a certain time frame.

Lesson 8: More on those wide-open roads and how they are different: there are cattleguards on Interstate ramps, which is good 'cause I'd hate to hit a cow; also semis pull three trailers in a row--would never be able to do that in eastern highways.

Lesson 9: Rest areas are nicer and cleaner in the West than back East--perhaps because of fewer users or maybe people are more respectful of others out here. On that note...less litter out here too. Maybe it's just fewer people in general.

Lesson 10: Stop at random historical markers and the like. You never know what you'll learn or what side trip you'll have an adventure on! I have vowed to to this as much as possible on this trip and it has paid off. I always wanted to...now I can and do!

History Odd and Ends

Today we drove from Caldwell, ID, to Provo, UT. Originally it was to have been an all-interstate trip just to cover some miles--generally NOT the way I prefer to travel. I have often said before and during this journey that I want to stop at any and all historical markers that catch my eye--and go to places advertised along the road that seem interesting. That approach has paid off so far and today led to a couple of very interesting places.
First was the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. (As an aside, I learned the difference between a National Park, Monument, and Historical Site by listening to the Ken Burns book on the National Parks that accompanies the PBS series.) The park ranger there was super informative and pointed me to some other places to go as well as informing my visit there. (I also bought a cool gift for my nephew, the dinosaur lover.)
While there are no dinosaurs here or in the John Day area I visited yesterday, there are some incredible finds. But I am not a scientist. The name of the place caught my eye because of my nephew, so I drove about 15 miles out of the way to see what it was. Happily for me the historian, this is also a site of well-preserved Oregon Trail tracks and information as well as the source of information on a site further away: Minidoka National Historical Site.
While you are thinking about what that is, I'll take a bite of steak. I am so excited that my hotel is attached to a steak house, and I am having only my second steak of the trip and the first since visiting friends in Lander, WY. I've been across the Continental Divide a number of times since then--with at least one more crossing to come. I am hungry!
OK...Minidoka. What is it? It is one of TEN Japanese relocation centers/internment camps established after 12/7/41. If you are of my generation, I am sure you read the book, "Farewell to Manzanar." That basically started and ended my education about this misguided national security effort of the 1940s. Anyway, I had NO idea there were sites in states not on the Pacific Coast, and learned in fact that there were 2 in Arkansas. This site and the one at Manzanar are part of the NPS--I dont' know about the others. Speaking of NPS (National Park Service), 2 artists very instrumental in showing the US and the world the beauty of America's National Parks were Japanese and as such one was deported to Japan and the other interred during the war years--despite efforts by many friends (some more influential than others) to plead their cause that they posed no threat to national security and had in fact rejected Japan for the US. So goes mass hysteria No wonder my great-grandmother's family changed the spelling of their name from Frei to Frey during WWI. Well, I did not go to the actual site--too far off the route--but I am glad to have learned this history today.
Onto happier (maybe) historical tales. After seeing the fossil fields and more of the Oregon Trail, I hopped back onto the Interstate (ugh) and lasted a few hours (and made it into Utah) till I saw a sign for the Golden Spike National Historical Site. Having listened to Stephen Ambrose's "Nothing Like It in the World" for the second time on this trip, I knew what this was about--the creation of the great transcontinental railroad. So of course I detoured 20 miles or so to see the site of where the two lines were joined on May 10, 1869. I finally got a better idea of how the railsroad was actually built (Ambrose goes into detail; however, being non-mechanical, I needed to see how grading, tie-laying, rail laying and spiking, etc were done). Among the many plaques there is one in Chinese and English that is dedicated to the 1000s of Chinese men without whose hard work and expertise the railroad would never have been completed. It is good that such a plaque exists; at the time (1860s) the Chinese were horribly discriminated against, given the most dangerous jobs, paid less than white men,... you get the picture. So much of this country was built by immigrants--including ourselves and our ancestors--that the ong0ing prejudices amaze me.
Enough editorializing. I am going to add a couple of pictures and then finish my steak. Tomorrow we go to St George, UT, and figure out a plan to see the many NPs in the area--e.g., Bryce Canton, Zion.
Posting without pictures...they won't upload

Snow on the Oregon Trail

Horizontal--tracks of pioneers' wagon wheels


Snow in the mountains



More snow!

Back in Casper, WY, a few weeks ago I happened upon the National Trails Interpretive Center and renewed and increased my knowledge of the pioneers of the 1840s and 1850s. Today I went backward on the Oregon Trail, from one of its several endpoints and through the final two mountain ranges they had to traverse: The Cascades and the Blue Mountains.

Last night I watched local weather and they were calling for some rain, intermittent, and maybe snow at altitude--above 4,000 feet or so. I thought, OK, no worries. I should have read the map more closely: I crossed several passes over 4,000 feet--2 over 5,000. The roads had been plowed and treated--even quite early in the morning--so the only problem was the heavy fog wherever there was snow. But it was also kind of neat to drive in and out of snow.

Easy for me to say in a modern car with heat and ample food and drink in the cooler and lots of coats and blankets. Imagine the pioneers having to traverse up and down these same mountains, in and out of snow! Sure, they were near the end of their very long journey, but the snow must have added insult to injury!

I drove secondary roads all the way to Baker City, OR, where there is a National Interpretive Center for the Oregon Trail. Another nice museum with actors helping give a realistic feel to some of the exhibits. There are many places to walk outside this center, but it was really cold and rainy, so the only thing I did was walk to where you can still see the actual trail left by wagon wheels--pretty amazing!

From there we hopped on I-84 down to Caldwell, ID, where we are spending the night. It was almost a 500-mile day, and we lost an hour as we traveled back into Mountain Daylight Time. Daisy had a pretty boring day--every time I offered to let her out of the car, she'd hop out into the cold and wet and hop back in--or scurry and pee and hop back in. Hoping for better weather tomorrow!

Point of trivia: what is the only other state besides New Jersey where you cannot pump your own gas? Answer: Oregon--no wonder it cost almost $3/gallon there!

Mt St Helens

Mt St Helens--clouds obscure the top


Mt St Helens area



Road up to Mt St Helens--reforested areas on both sides of road

Do you remember May 18, 1980? If you lived where I am staying now, you would! This is the day that Mt St Helens made its most spectacular and devastating eruption--really a series of events including landslide, eruption of lava, mudslide, and all the attendant destruction.

It was hard to see a lot today due to cloud cover and intermittent rain, but one thing I definitely noted was the re-growth. There are signs in front of huge tracts of trees noting when they were planted, pruned, fertilized, etc. In contrast to the many other forested areas we've traveled through, these "forests" comprise trees uniform in size and growing in orderly rows. No shame in that--it's great to see such lush vegetation in what must have been an absolute wasteland 29 years ago.

After Daisy and I drove to the closest observation/visitor's center today, it was time to take the car in for its overdue 5,000-mile check up, oil change, etc. While we sat in the customer lobby, several people asked about Daisy and what we were doing. When I explained we had traveled across the country, they asked if we had been to see Mt St Helens. I said we had gone up one direction today but it was too cloudy to see the top. I asked if any of them had lived here, and all 3 people I spoke with had been here 29 years ago. They talked about how disrupted the area was--even I-5 was closed for a while. They are also very proud of the re-growth that has occurred and encouraged me to try to see the othr side of the mountain (I'm afraid we don't have time this trip). I also got some good advice about someplaces to see in eastern Oregon about the Oregon Trail pioneers.

So, we head southeast Sunday. More to come....

"Ocean in view--oh the joy!"

Cascade Mountains in clouds


Fort Clatsop


Mouth of the Columbia River looking at the Pacific Ocean

The Columbia near wher ethere used to be some major falls that L&C had to get over/around. Now the whole river is crossed and calmed by a series of dams.

Well, L&C, the Corps of Discovery, and Daisy and I finally made it to the Pacific. We left yesterday from Kennewick, WA, and got to the Columbia River quite quickly; we followed it to Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland, OE). L&C spent the majority of their time on the north (Washington) side of the river until the very end.

Today we went about 100 miles past Vancouver where L&C stopped at Cape Disappointment, having been beset by storms all along the way. They took a vote (first time in US history that a slave, a woman, and a Native American voted in a democratic election) about what to do: stay there, go back to the falls (about 100 miles east of Vancouver/Portland), or cross to the south side (what is now Oregon) and see if they could find a better place.

They voted almost unanimously and crossed over and within a few days began building Fort Clatsop. Here they had better protection from storms, access to the ocean to make salt, and ample game to eat, mainly elk--and dogs and fish they bought from the local Indians.

The winter was pretty awful. They finished the fort just before Christmas, and in the 4 months they stayed there they had only 12 days without rain, and saw the sun on only 6 days. They kept busy finding and eating food as well as preserving some for the return trip, making clothes and shoes for the return trip, making salt, etc. They were in almost constant contact with local Indians and didn;t much like them. They wished they were back among their friends the Nez Perce or Mandans.

Unable to stand the dismal spot any longer, they headed east on March 22. They got to the Weippe Plain and their friends the Nez Perce by mid-May but then were stalled till late June by enduring snows in those awful Bitterroot Mountains. After crossing them, they split into separate groups on July 3 (I have mentioned this previously) and met up again near the junction of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers on August 12. From there most of them made a fairly quick journey back to St Louis, arriving Sept 23. Sacajawea, her son, and her husband Charbonneau stayed at the Mandan villages, and John Colter, one of the privates, requested and was granted permission to head back west. He subsequently discovered what is now Yellowstone National Park, although it was several years before anyone would believe his fantastic tales of steaming earth, spouting geysers, etc.

So, we're done with L&C, for now. It's been an amazing journey. They only lost one man--Sgt Floyd, on the expedition; made friends w/ most of the Native Americans with whom they met--notably not w/ the Blackfeet, of whom they killed one or two. They survived near starvation, blizzards, uncertainty, the great Unknown, etc. One question I have: what did Seaman (Lewis's Newfoundland dog) think about all the dogs they ate during their time on the Columbia?

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will go to Mt. St. Helens and, time permitting, see some of Portland. We have an appointment for oil change, tire rotation, etc at 4 tomorrow at a local Honda dealer. On Saturday we'll explore more of Portland and make plans for our trip to TX, via several more national parks.

My blogs will have more varied themes, and for sure I want to get back to the inspiration for the title of this blog: John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley: In Search of America." Has anyone read it?

The Bitterroots: Sept. 26-27, 2008 (Aug. 10-Sept. 22, 1805)

Smoke from Forest Fires in the Bitterroots


Big Hole Battlefield, Montana, site of 1877 battle between non-treay Nez Perce and US



Wheat-covered hills just outside Moscow, ID


Replica of canoes made by L&C at Canoe Camp

Road down into Idaho from Lolo Pass--notice tall trees surrounding road--so unlike Montana side.

"Heart of the Monster"--a sacred spot to Nez Perce where their creation story is embodied. This is close to the bottom of the Bitterroots in Idaho.

This depicts how steep the drop from Contintental Divide is to the West vs. the East. Thus L&C expected the river(s) on the Westy side to rund much fsater, have more falls, etc.; they were right.

Lemhi Pass--looking West, to Idaho and the Bitterroots. See quote from Lewis below.

Looking East from Lemhi Pass

On Saturday and Sunday, Daisy and I very closely retraced L&C's footsteps as they attempted to cross the Bitterroot Mountains. A week and a half after leaving the Missouri Headwaters (Three Forks), Lewis was walking some distance ahead of the main Corps (who were still traveling by water) and crested a hill after a long upward trek. Here he tasted the waters from the initial spring of the Missouri, and he saw the West for the first time. Instead of the plains and river to the Pacific he expected, he saw...the tallest mountains he had ever seen.

In Lewis's words: "the road took us to the most distant fountain of the waters of the mighty Missouri in search of which we have spent so many toilsome days and restless nights. Thus far I had accomplished one of those great objects on which my mind has been unalterably fixed for so many years, judge then the pleasure I felt in allaying my thirst with this pure and ice cold water." Then he says: "after refreshing ourselves we proceeded on to the top of the dividing ridge from which I discovered immense ranges of high mountains still to the West of us with their tops partially covered with snow." (I normalized his spelling)

For a while they had suspected they would need horses to cross the mountains, and the reason Lewis and a couple of others were going ahead was to find the Shoshone to buy horses from them. After Lewis saw the Bitterroots, the need for horses became a dire necessity.

Shortly thereafter he found a few Shoshone and bought a few horses. He also convinced them to accompany him back over Lemhi pass to the rest of the Corps to help them across. When they met up w/ the rest of the Corps, Sacajawea recognized their leader as her long-lost brother, which greatly helped negotiations for horse. (She had been kidnapped 4-6 years before from this band of Shoshone by the Hidatsa's. Thus she was at the Mandan villages in North Dakota, "married" to Pierre Charbonneau, when L&C came though. They were pleased to have her jon her hsband (and their baby too) because they realized she would be invaluable in their future negotiations with Indian tribes, esp. the Shoshone.)

Eventually they set off on the other side of the pass and followed a long route north (over 100 miles) to a meeting/camping area well-known to the natives, which Lewis named Travelers' Rest. After camping there a couple of days (Sept 9-11), they prepared for the arduous route over the mountains. It took 12 days to go about 170 miles, over Lolo Pass to the Weippe prairie. They were cold, faced a blizzard, exhausted by the hard work, and nearly starved as there were no game in the mountains. Once over Lolo Pass, the climbs (down and up) became steeper than on the east side, and several times some of the horses tumbled down the hills. For the most part they only had their "portable soup" to eat, which they reconsituted w/ snow. (Apparently this precursor to Ramen noodles or instant soup was quite vile tasting.)

Once they reached the plain, they met the indiegnous people, whom they called the Nez Perce. Without these people, they might have perished, for they were almost starved. The Nez Perce gave them dried salmon and berries, on which they gorged themselves and then got violently ill. A bit further West they camped for over a week to make canoes for the journey down the river to the Pacific. They gave their horses to the Nez Perce for safekeeping over the winter. Daisy and I stood at this location exactly 204 years after L&C were here.

Modern notes: The "roads" over both passes (Lemhi and Lolo) are, even today, very steep, windy, and in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see power lines on the gravel road to Lemhi pass, nor did I see anyon the Idaho side of Lolo Pass (Highway 12). This was a paved road, but was very steep and windy for about 80 miles from the pass--much steeper than east side and heavily wooded, vs. the open hills on the east side.

Other History notes: L&C came back in May-June 1806 across much of the same routes, although they avoided Lemhi pass as they hadn't needed to go there in the first place. By listening to their Indian guides, they were able to make a shortened and somewhat easier journey, although they had to spend almost a month w/ the Nez Perce until the snows melted on the Bitterroots.

Also, most of the routes we followed Saturday and Sunday are also part of the Nez Perce National Historic Highway. As noted above, the Nez Perce truly befriended the Corps of Discovery. Sadly, white men who followed them were not as respectful. In the mid-1850 the Nez Perce negotiated a settlement that established a fairly large reservation. Almost a decade later, about 2/3 of them renegotiated to a reservation 1/10th the size of the orginal. The rest were known as non-treaty Indians, and in 1877 the US military waged war against them. Some escaped to Canada; the rest who were not killed in a series of battles in Montana and Idaho were relocated to other reservations that are not part of their indigenous lands. There are many informative and heart-rending sites along these drives.

We ended Sunday by driving north from the route to Moscow, ID, amid rolling hills of wheat. I am told this is the most productive winter wheat-producing area in the country. It took us over 7 hours to cross the 170 miles that L&C took 12 days to traverse. I truly cannot imagine going through this landscape on foot, with my luggage on a horse that kept falling down a mountain, with almost no food, inadequate shelter and clothing, through a blizzard, and having no idea what came next. Neither can Daisy, although I remind her that Seaman (the Newfoundland dog) made it all the way.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will head south to Lewiston and re-connect on the L&C trail. We'll also see sites on the Nez Perce trail, and may drop south to see few Oregon trail sites. We are on Pacific time now. We'll spend tomrorow night near Walla Walla, WA, and on Wednesday will complete the trip to the Pacific. So I'll have one or two more L&C posts, then who knows. I plan to spend 3 or 4 days in Portland, OR, area to see the area and plan the next 1-2 weeks of our trip (and get the car serviced!).

Today we are staying in most of the day; there is a fierce and smoky wind outside that is making us both sneeze and wheeze again (I am told the smoke is from burning wheat fields after they are harvested).

Montana--what an amazing and beautiful (and HUGE) state!

Glacier NP


Glacier NP



Marker for Camp Disappointment

Very close to where Lewis recrossed the Continental Divide on his return trip

We have spent the last 2 days driving around Montana, mostly in pursuit of L&C trail, and we also found some other interesting or entertaining sites.

Entertaining: Great Falls has a Dog Park right on the River Road, and it is open to all dogs whose owners behave. Daisy and I went there yesterday and today before setting off on long car trips. She had so much fun! Barked at and chased other dogs and was chased and barked at. Nothing could be better! (She also wore out for a while and was a calmer car rider for a couple hours after each visit.)

Interesting: learning more about Native Americans including going to the Museum of the Plains Indians on the Blackfoot reservation today (on the way to Glacier NP). The museum is small and contains scores of artifacts of Plains Indian hand-work--clothes, tools, weapons. Truly beautiful stuff; reminded me of my Uncle Ole.

Glacier NP was our Point of Disappointment (you'll understand the reference later). I had been assured by locals in the know that the park's main road, the Road to the Sun, which traverses the park from east to west, would be open till at least October 1. However, I learned upon entering the park at St. Mary's Lake, that the road was closed beyond the Logan Pass Visitor Center--18 miles in (the road is 50 miles long). Nonetheless we drove in and saw some awesome sights--glaciers, snow, lakes, etc. I posted a ton of pics on Facebook. Then we turned around and drove back out and then around the outside of the park in order to get to Missoula as planned. Made for a long day of driving but was worth it.

On the way there, we stopped at the site that Lewis called Camp Disappointment. I need to backtrack on the history of the Expedition to explain... On the return journey, Lewis and Clark agreed that there was so much to explore in Montana beyond their single-minded focus on the Missouri (which was their strict order from Pres. Jefferson), that they would split the Corps at Travelers' Rest (in western Montana; we'll be there in 2 days, so more on it later) and reunite at the junction of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers in far eastern Montana. The expanse to cover was almost 500 miles, but their various detours meant that Clark covered about 1,000 miles and Lewis almost 800. Clark went south, finding the Yellowstone and following it downstream to where it joined w/ the Missouri.

Lewis went North, first taking a short cut across the Continental Divide that they had learned about from the Indians, then going back to Great Falls. He left some men there to dig up what they had cached on the way up, and then he headed up the Marias river with the rest of his group. He hoped to determine that the Marias came from North of the 50th parallel, thus extending the US border further north than currently known. (The Marias was the river that came into the Missouri shortly before Great Falls where they had their Decision Point...see previous blog.) In following the river north and west, he learned it went more west than north and so he was not able to move the US boundary--thus he named their northenmost camp Camp Disappointment. During this trek they also encountered a small band of Blackfeet and had the only violent encounter of the Expedition. They survived and proceeded back to the Missouri to meet up with the rest of their group and then later with Clark & Co. (There were other side trips made by both captains...I won't bore you with it all.)

So that was today. Yesterday we followed L&C trail west from Great Falls to Gates of the Mountains and to near where they found the headwaters (see previous post on Three Forks). Then we headed north to pick up Lewis's return trail and went back to Great Falls. In this day we crossed the Continental Divide several times.

This whole Continental Divide thing has me wondering...do other continents have continetnal divides? I know there is another one in eastern US--along the Appalachians. And here in Montana in Glacier NP the divide is actually three-way: some rivers run to Mississippi (like Missouri River); others to the Pacific (we'll be getting to those soon), and still others to Hudson Bay.

I must say that until I started really following the L&C trail I had little understanding of the geography of the US West. I have learned so much, and seen much beauty and many varying landscapes. The journey becomes more amazing every day as I see how truly daunting were the obstacles they faced!

Tomorrow we'll back track for the last time to where they first tried to cross the Bitterroots. Should be an awesome day!

L&C: Great Falls, MT--Amazing!

Road that goes down steeply from Lower Portage camp to Missouri, from where they have to haul everything up


The "experiment"; it failed



One of the falls in the Great Falls (modern dam above it)

map of falls

Today was a busy day! We did not go to Glacier, NP, because I was inexplicably awake from 2 to 4:30 so I slept in till after 7:30 this morning (thank you, Daisy!). After a quick wake up walk and some housekeeping, we set off before 9 for the L&C Interpretive Center at Great Falls. Then we came back to hotel for lunch and laundry, then set off again from 2 to 5:30 to find/explore the portage trails the L&C & Co. followed to get around the Falls. Tonight I've rearranged my itinerary--again--allowing for even more time in Montana and at the Pacific. Now, I'll get to the Pacific on Sept. 30 and leave for points South on Oct. 3.

The L&C Interpretive Center at Great Falls is an amazing museum and outdoor experience. I got there just as they opened (it got above 90 degrees here today so I had to get in and out before it was too hot to leave Daisy in the car). I spent about an hour inside, speaking to some of the interpreters and wandering through their exhibit that takes you from Washington, DC, to the Pacific and back.

The exhibit shows on one side what was going on with L&C, including some great explanations of things like how L&C surveyed the land and Clark created maps, how and what they packed (over 4 semi-trucks' worth of stuff!), and how they cached supplies at various places in Montana to pick up on the return journey. On the other side as you walk through history, you see who the Native American peoples were whom they encountered, their languages and customs, the impact on the of future American expansion, etc. Did you know that L&C encountered peoples speaking 50 different languages on their trip?

One of the things that amazes me is the sheer physical effort it took to accomplish this journey. Great Falls gives an extreme example: L&C has heard from the Mandan Indians with whom they had wintered that there was a Great Fall on the Missouri, whjich would require about a day's portage, and after which they would quickly be at the mountains beyond which lay a river leading to the Pacific. Well, they weren't quite accurate.

L&C found a series of 5 falls of varying heights, along a stretch of the river, that, as with many areas, was surrounded by high cliffs. To get up the falls (remember: they have been travelling UPstream the whole way), Lewis surveys an 18.5 mile portage, before and after which they have to haul everything up steep inclines. Sometimes the wind blows so hard they can hoist the sails on the canoes to help haul them across the bumpy land. The men collapse into sleep without even eating because the work is so strenuous.

By the way, food becomes important later. For now, when game is plentiful, each man eats about 9 punds of meat--mainly bison and elk, EACH day.

It takes about 11 days to accomplish the portage around the falls, and they leave some boats behind, because Lewis plans to assemble his collapsible iron boat at the top of the falls to take them the rest of the way. The Corps called this boat the "experiment," and with good reason. When they set forth to cover the iron ribs with elk skin, they could not make it waterproof, so the entire project was abandoned, and some of the men were set to cutting down 2 cottonwoods to create 2 more canoes. Finally they were able to set off West again and shortly arrive at the Headwaters, or Three Forks, which I described yesterday.

The whole of what I described today took place between June 13 and July 13, 1805. And it only took me a couple of hours to traverse the portage using some back, dusty roads and some detours caused by the Air Force base outside of town.

Here's a video of Miss Daisy having a ball today;

Montana--Big Sky Country and L&C Again

Decision Point. As they head West on the Missouri, a river appears coming in from the North. Lewis named it Marias River (after his cousin). In the pic, I am looking east, so Marias is the water on the left.


Near Fort Benton, MT. You can see how the bluffs come all the way to the river. Lewis noted that this was a frequent occurrence and made the traveling upstream even harder.



Big Sky Country



The top map shows the Rockies and L&C thought them to be (aided by inaccurate reports/translation from the Native Americans); and below is how they actually are. More on tis in future blogs!

Three Forks, or headwaters of the Missouri. The Gallatin, Madison, and Jefferson rivers converge to form the Missouri. It's pretty early, so you can see my and Daisy's shadows.

We started the day early and drove to Missouri Headwaters State Park, also known as the Three Forks area, where Lewis and Clark noted that 3 rivers came together and formed the Missouri. Daisy and I walked a number of trails and got some great pics.

Then we drove north and east, and backward in L&C time to Loma, MT, where the Marias River comes in from the North and the Corps was stumped as to which was the "real" Missouri. This area is known as "Decision Point." There Lewis took a few men and explored the northern river (which he later named Marias River) and Clark and some men explored further up the Missouri. When they came back together, all the men in the Corps were certain the northern river was the real Missouri, but the captains believed it was the southern -- and they were right. From there we drove south through now-Fort Benton to the Great Falls. It took Lewis and men 3 days on horseback and Clark and the rest via the Missouri 6 days to cover what we did in just over an hour.

On our way from Three Forks to Loma, we drove through some beautiful country, including the Lewis and Clark National Forest. From there we rose to high plains like those L&C traveled through, and saw how sharply the bluffs from the plains close down on the Missouri River. While up on the plain, it is clear why they call this Big Sky Country. My relatives in West Texas may disagree, but now I have seen both places, and the sky actually seems even bigger here than in West TX. Another thing to note about Montana: Interstate speed limits are 75 mph, and state highway 70--wow--too fast to see all there is to see! And at the ends of ramps on and off Interstates, there are cattle guards--I guess I wouldn't want to see a cow at 75 mph!

All in all, a good day. I keep struggling with our itinerary...and as of right now I believe we sill drove to Glacier NP tomorrow, stopping aong the way to see a couple of L&C sites as well as some significant American Indian sites and museums. It will be a long day, so we'll make Thursday a local day--to see all there is to see in Great Falls (and do laundry) before leaving Friday for points West, following the L&C trail. From here, with a couple of exceptions, we'll be on L&C trail to the Pacific.