We are now at home trying to get our lives back to normal.  We have a ton of laundry and countless things to put away.  All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our vacation and marvel at the multitude of sights we saw and countless experiences we had over the four months that we were on the road and the cruise.  In spite of all of that we are glad to be home and are already giving some preliminary thought to where we will travel next year – most likely western Canada.

We must admit we have been a little tardy in getting our blog posts out in a timely manner especially at the end of our trip but were always so busy doing something or too tired to get it done right away.  We thank those who took the time to follow us on our journey and hope you enjoyed reading what we wrote and wanted to share with you.  This is our last post this year and we look forward to sharing our travels with you next year.

The RV Park in Grand Junction was an easy in and out.  Our trip to Monument Valley was straight forward and mostly driving through desert.  We drove through Moab where we stayed 4 years ago and recognized many of the places we visited while there such as Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks.  Eventually we arrived at the Goulding RV Park in Monument valley.  We were only going to be at this park for 3 nights and 2 days.  We had booked two tours in advance so we could view the park and get some narration and history of the park rather than figure it out by ourselves.   There were a limited number of places you could drive to in your personnel vehicles however the tours took you to places where public access was restricted.

The RV Park in Grand Junction was an easy in and out.  Our trip to Monument Valley was straight forward and mostly driving through desert.  We drove through Moab where we stayed 4 years ago and recognized many of the places we visited while there such as Arches and Canyon Lands National Parks. 

Eventually we arrived at the Goulding RV Park in Monument valley.  We were only going to be at this park for 3 nights and 2 days.  We had booked two tours in advance so we could view the park and get some narration and history of the park rather than figure it out by ourselves.   There were a limited number of places you could drive to in your personnel vehicles however the tours took you to places where public access was restricted.

It was hot at the park and our first tour was a sunset tour.  We drove through the park which is surprisingly larger than it looks.  We visited a Hogan and watched a Navajo woman spinning yearn, weaving a rug and grinding corn into corn meal for cooking.  The tour guide explained how the weavers get the various colors for their wool and described the basics about building a Hogan, where the logs came from, how it was built and covered with red mud and why the door of every Hogan faces east.

We headed on to the park for a two and a half sunset tour.  The guide explained the various monuments and their names.  John Wayne and John Ford filmed 5 or 6 movies in Monument Valley.   This is where John Wayne really got his start in the movie business eventually becoming a legend with a name synonymous with westerns. 

At the farthest point of our sunset tour we were at a very famous point of rock that overlooked the park and has been featured in several movies and commercials.   There was an opportunity to ride a horse out to the point and have your picture taken on a horse but Peter did not have time to do it.  So we planned to do it the next day.

We went back to the Goulding Lodge and had dinner.  After dinner we got our picture take in front of John Wayne’s cabin which was feature in a couple of his movies.  After that we went a small theater across the parking lot and watched a documentary about the Navajo people and their relationship with the desert and the Goulding’s who ran a trading post there for 40 years. Then we watch a full length film starring John Wayne titled “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.”  John Wayne’s cabin was clearly visible in the movie.  After that we headed to the RV Park to turn in early. 

Our morning Grand Tour was scheduled for three and a half hours. We drove by the Visitor’s Center and guide took us to the “back country.” We viewed many small Navajo family dwellings that looked rundown. The residents seem to eek out a meager living from the desert with no running water, electricity, sewer or communication with the outside world other than the cell phones.  They have to haul their water from far away and it is precious commodity.  Many place still had mud covered Hogan’s and out buildings.  In fact, there are some hogans that are Air-BNBs but that did not appeal to us.  We viewed many amazing monument formations including some large arches and petroglyphs. 

We learned the difference between a male and female Hogan.  It was very hot, sandy and dusty. The road we traveled was rough and bumpy and everyone in the jeep got jostled around quite a bit.  While we were at the famous point Peter did get a chance to get his picture taken on the horse on the point which precluded our need to make a special trip in our truck. 

We spent time looking through the souvenir shop at the hotel in the park and ate dinner at the restaurant.   In conclusion the park was magnificent and impressive in size and diversity. We appreciated the many monuments that are not visible from the road.  We met a couple of families from France and Germany who said they wanted to see Monument Valley because it was part of the scenery featured in the movie Forest Gump.  We got back to the RV Park with some daylight to spare and hooked up the trailer in order to be ready to head out first thing in the morning. 

When we awoke the next morning Peter said, “We are going home.”  It was music to JY’s ears. We were sad that our incredible summer vacation was all but over but we looked forward to the familiarity of our home and getting reacquainted with our stuff.  Not that we suffered while on our four month vacation but we were looking forward to our own bed, shower, bathroom, kitchen, TV, etc. We arrived home about mid afternoon to blistering temperature of 110⁰.  After we parked the trailer we spent the rest of the day in the house.  We planned to empty the food etc. out of the trailer the next morning when it was a little cooler – maybe a cool 105⁰.   But that night we decided to treat ourselves to a “welcome home” meal and went to our favorite restaurant Hillstone.  We invited Dan, our son, Nancy, who house sat for us while we were gone and Jack, another good friend of ours.

We left Cody early in the morning and after an overnight stop in Casper, Wyoming arrived at Estes Park, Colorado.  We stayed at the same RV Park we stayed at 4 years ago, they still had us on file and gave us a returning client discount but also a Good Sam discount – sweet deal.  In addition we got one night free because we booked a 8 night stay.  We tried to get them to switch our site to one close to the creek but there was nothing available.

Our first night was just a relaxing night after setting up and figuring out what we wanted to do while we were here as there are so many things to do.  We went to bed early as we were exhausted after the drive from Casper. 

The Park Manager warned us there was an active bear roaming around the park at night and to keep food and BBQ packed away. It wasn’t until we were unhitched and met our neighbors that we found out the bear had actually ripped up somebodies BBQ and trashed their campsite. Then they told us it was the very site we were parked in – oh great!! Do you detect a pattern here?

The next morning JY was not feeling to well so we decided to just take it easy.  Just as a precaution we went to a local walk-in urgent care to get her checked out and the doctor prescribed some medication to take care of any side effect she may be having due to the elevation. 

While waiting for the local pharmacy to fill the prescriptions we decided to go to the Stanley Hotel and see if they had any of the super delicious clam chowder they had the last time we were here 4 years ago.  If you remember the Stanley Hotel is where Stephen King stayed when he got the idea for writing “The Shining”.  It is also the location where “Dumb and Dumber” starring Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels was filmed.  Unfortunately they did not have any of the clam chowder so we ordered off of the menu and had lunch.  We could tell so many stories about this great hotel.

Peter was anxious to go fly fishing and booked two guided fishing trips on private property where very few people get to fish.  He booked them through the same outfitter that he used the last time we were here.  The first spot was on a property owned by a cattle ranch.  It was a small stream with lots of rocks and fallen trees so fishing was kind of tricky.  He caught about a dozen rainbow and cutthroat trout all of which were about pan size.  Peter does not like to keep the fish so it is all catch and release.  The guide told him to watch out for rattle snakes because they had seen some big ones in this are in the last couple of weeks. (oh great)  Peter was wearing chest high waders while the guide wore jeans and sandals.  This was rather strange after the warning about large rattle snakes sightings in the past couple of weeks.

On Sunday morning we tried to get our favorite “Sunday Morning” program on the TV but for some reason we could not get CBS so we watched another program while we drank coffee.  We went to a Sunday brunch which was delicious.  We eat here twice 4 years ago.  We were surprised that the quality of the food being served was just as good as we remembered and the price had only increased by one dollar.  We had a nice table by the window overlooking a pond with ducks although there weren’t as many ducks as we remembered.  After lunch we went downtown and browsed around many of the local stores and souvenir shops.  

Peter wanted to take the drive to the continental divide in Rocky Mountain National Park, however it makes for a long day. JY wasn’t too  enthused so suggested taking the Tram in town to view some of the local scenery.  So that is what we did and it turned out to be a great excursion without the long arduous drive.  After a couple hours of taking in the views and feeding the many squirrels at the top we descended the Tram and decided to go for lunch at “Bird and Jims”, a local restaurant not far from our RV Park.  It was highly recommended by the locals and some of the other people we had met.  They were right and the food was delicious. JY had pheasant chowder and Peter had what else – a hamburger.

After lunch Peter wanted to take a shot at the local “Open Air Obstacle Course.” We drive past this course every time we return to the RV Park. It is like a Ninja Warrior type course and looked challenging.  So the little boy inside of Peter had to try it out.  There were 32 challenges, half at 10 feet and half at 21 feet off the ground.  The course is supposed to take 90 minutes, he paid the entry fee and was eager to get started. He  figuring it would be a piece of cake (Ha!) but it was much more difficult than it looked.  He started on the bottom 10 foot high challenges and quickly realized this was not going to be easy.   He finally finished the lower course and climbed the ladder to the upper course which was even more challenging.  It was supposed to take 90 minutes to finish the course but Peter took 3 hours as he did some of the more challenging ones over again. The challenges were rated Green diamond for easy, blue diamond for medium and black diamond for difficult.  He had 4 challenges to complete and was exhausted when the safety man on the upper level asked him if he wanted to quit and rappel to the ground.  Wrong thing to say to Peter – he told the guy he wasn’t a quitter and proceeded to finish the last 4 challenges.  He was completely exhausted, tired and a little bruised when he finally finished and was told not very many people, especially at his age (70), complete all the challenges.

As a reward JY decided to take him to the local Dairy Queen.  Across the street from the DQ there was an enormous crowd of people watching something in the city park so we went over to investigate.  It was a herd of about 15 cow elk.  Even though the park was surrounded by people taking photos and enjoying the experience it did not bother the elk one bit.  We have pictures of JY about 25 to 30 feet from the elk as they grazed and laid down.  It was a beautiful and pleasant experience and Peter was glad JY got to see it.  While walking back to the truck we ran into a smaller herd of elk with a good size 5 point bull elk herding about 6 cows.  They were slowly making their way over to the larger herd of elk.  When the bull and his small harem finally made it to the park he surveyed the cows and decided the first priority was to run off the small immature bull that was hanging out with the cows.  He quickly made short work of him.

Wednesday was our last day in Estes park and Peter had scheduled his second fishing trip which was at a place he fished the last time we were here at Estes Park.  It was the place he was the most interested in, on a private ranch called “Waterdale.”  The fish were significantly larger than the first place he fished.  His guide was very knowledgeable and has made a living as a professional fly fishing guide for over 20 years.  He guides about 300 trips a year.  He was a little bossy but he sure knew what he was doing.  Once again I wore waders and he wore shorts and sandals.  He has fished the Waterdale area many times and seemed to know exactly where the fish were.  He would tell me where to stand and would tie the flies on the line for me and I would cast out to the areas he pointed out.  Peter caught about 8 really nice fish in the Waterdale river and lost about twice that many after they were hooked.  The river was shallow and could be waded across. There were some very large trout in the river that could be seen from the shore.  But if you didn’t make the perfect cast, with the right fly and get the right drift the fish won’t even rise to take a look at the fly.  Peter had a great day – very rewarding and relaxing.  Once again, all catch and release.

That night was a pot luck sponsored by the park and JY put together a really flavorful dip with crackers and veggies that seem to go over well with the crowd.  There were about 25 or 30 people in attendance which was a good turn out and there was plenty of food.  Surprisingly there were several people we recognized from our last stay at this park 4 years ago.

After the pot luck we packed up the trailer so we could leave first thing in the morning for Monument Valley.  The first leg of the trip was a five and a half our drive to Grand Junction, Colorado where we stayed overnight.  We got an early morning start.

In the morning we were more than ready to say “hasta la vista baby” as we terminated our stay at the Red Lodge RV Park.  As we drove off across the Wyoming border “little miss know-it-all” (our GPS) once again decided we should take a different route to Powell, Wyoming.  After some course correction, our first stop was the restaurant where Peter worked as a cook for both years he was in Junior College .  It was one of the nicest restaurants in town 40 years ago but today it was the ultimate “greasy spoon”.  The owner let Peter walk around in the kitchen which was a disaster.  We had already ordered lunch and Peter tried to talk to the cook and other kitchen help while they cooked our lunch.  They could not understand what he was talking about and he wished he hadn’t seen them cooking our lunch.    JY explained the experience to, Steve, one of our gourmand friends. In true gourmand spirit he encouraged her to embrace the experience  and suggested that the salt and pepper were probably top notch.  In response  Peter said that  the antacids that came with the meal were excellent.

After the disappointing lunch we went to the junior college in Powell were Peter attended classes about 40 years ago as he wanted to see how it had grown.  We walked around campus for a little while.  The student union building was open so we went in.  It was two weeks before classes started and the place was deserted.  Peter met the head of campus security and had a nice long chat about how much things have changed over the years.  We were headed to from Powell to Cody so unplugged the GPS and put her in time out in the compartment in the consul.  We were now dependent on an atlas and printouts from google maps. Several hours later we made it to Cody. 

We pulled into the RV Park where we had reserved a site.  The office gave Peter a map and directions to our site.  On the way to our site Peter turned a corner too sharp and caught the folded up stairs into the trailer on a huge boulder and bent them to the point where they would not open.  The trailer moved the boulder about 15 feet.  When we got to our assigned site it was too short to accommodate our truck and trailer so he went to the front office and requested a longer site which they gave us and Peter confessed to hitting and moving the boulder.

Not having stairs that unfold was not going to work for JY. Peter pulled up a picnic table to the trailer door so JY could step up on the seat of the picnic table then onto the top of the table and walk into the trailer.  Problem temporarily solved.

Feeling badly about the hitting the boulder and bending the steps into the trailer JY said let’s go get some ice cream to cheer Peter up.  We went to Dairy Queen and met 3 young adults who were working at a summer camp for kids about 30 miles from Cody.  We talked with them for about an hour. It was a real treat spending time with these young adults. We all had a good time.

The next morning Peter called a mobile RV repair shop that the front office recommended.  However when Peter called the shop they had a was less than zero sense of urgency.  About an hour later the owner of the RV Park stopped by to ask if Peter was the one who moved the boulder.  He said yes and told him he would pay to put it back.  The owner said don’t worry about it you’re not the first one to hit it.  The owner looked at the stairs to the trailer and went to work on them and finally got them to where we could unfold and fold them back up.  They are still a little bent but they are usable.  Problem solved until we get back to Phoenix.

Now that we weren’t stuck in the trailer,  we decided to spend the rest of the day at the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum.  It located in the middle of downtown Cody and is a combination of 5 large museums.  There is a gun museum with one of the largest collections of firearms in the North America.  There were two large museums; one about the life and history of the plains Indians and the second about the life and history of the cowboys.  The fourth museum was focused on natural history with an unbelievable collection of mounted animals in dioramas of their habitat in different seasons, very impressive. 

The final museum was an art gallery of historic paintings depicting life in the west.  Many pictures depicted both realistic and unrealistic life in the west.  No surprise there was also a large gift shop.

After the museum tour we went for dinner at the Irma Hotel where they had a prime rib buffet.  The chef carving the prime rib put the largest slice of prime rib on Peter’s plate that he’d ever seen.  The dinner was good but did not come close to edging out Hillstone which is our favorite prime rib restaurant in Phoenix.

Back at the RV Park we hitched up the trailer and prepared to head out first thing in the morning.  We woke up early and headed to Casper, Wyoming which was our interim overnight stop on our journey to Estes Park, Colorado, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We pulled into our site at the RV Park in Casper and did not unhitch the truck and trailer.  After a good night’s sleep we headed out, stopping  in Douglas Wyoming for breakfast.

This is our last posting from Montana. Peter worked and lived in this part of the state also.  Red Lodge is close to the border of Wyoming.  As in Kalispell where Peter lived he also owned 5 acres in Red Lodge.  Altogether we spent 3 weeks in Montana. 

Our RV site was reserved in advance and check in was easy.  A park assistant guided us to our site down by Rock Creek and helped us back into a rather tight spot.  Peter got out to get an idea of how the trailer was aligned to the water, electric and sewer hook-ups.  He found the water and electric hook-ups but had trouble finding the sewer hook-up at which time the assistant said there were no sewer hook-ups – pointing  to a communal porta-john 50 feet from our site. No one was more surprised than Peter except JY!  She was NOT happy. We agreed to tough it out for 1-2 nights even though we were scheduled for 5 nights.

When JY went to use the facilities during the night Peter accompanied her with 2 flashlights – one to light up the inside of the porta-john and one to stand guard outside.  In order to keep something positive about these midnight excursions, JY did come to appreciate the amazing night sky without the light pollution of the city.  However these nightly forays took on a whole new dimension when the assistant warned us to be on the lookout for a black bear that roamed around the RV Park at night.  Needless to say, our 5 day stay was changed to two days. Thankfully the park manager reimbursed us for the nights we cancelled.

The next morning we woke up grateful for no bear sightings on our way to and from the outside facilities.  The main goal of our stay in Red Lodge was to travel the Beartooth Highway to Cooke City which is five miles from the entrance to Yellowstone Park. It is sixty-four miles from Red Lodge to Cooke City. The drive reaches an elevation of 10,948 feet which is 5,380 feet higher than Red Lodge.

We filled up with gas and started our drive over the Beartooth Highway, considered one of the most scenic highways in North America.  It is a winding, twisting road with many hairpin turns.  Although it is as wide as a normal highway when driving, it seems much more narrow thus requiring the drivers full attention and concentration 100% of the time because you never knew what was around the next curve.  There were some crazy people driving over the Beartooth hauling trailers and fifth wheels 30 to 35 feet in length which was scary just looking at them – they should not have taken their RV’s on this highway.

The scenery, as expected, was indescribable as well as breathtaking.  There were many pull outs along the way so we could stop and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and the awe-inspiring scenery.  We took lots of pictures but they will never do justice to the grandeur and immensity of the 360⁰ scenery before us.  We stopped at the very top of the highway at 10,948 feet and spent about 30 minutes just admiring the panorama of the wilderness area around us.

We drove to a store/motel between the summit and Cooke City which advertised as the highest point but clearly was not.  Peter tried to book a room there for the night however they were booked up months in advance by fisherman who are regulars and frequent the area every year.  From there we drove another 20 miles to Cooke City which is 5 miles from the east entrance to Yellowstone.  Peter had driven the Beartooth Highway many times when he lived in Red Lodge 35 years ago to go hiking and fishing but had never gotten as far as Cooke City. 

He was surprised at how developed the area had become and the colossal tourist trap it is today.  As we were not excited about spending the night again at our reserved site in Red Lodge, he checked on booking a hotel room in town. However we were not willing to spend the amount they were asking. We ate lunch at one of the many restaurants in Cook City and looked around some of the souvenir shops.   We then headed back over the pass before it got too late and definitely before dark. 

On the way down the east side we encountered a herd of 20 mountain goats grazing in a small field about 30 feet off the highway.  Fortunately there was a convenient pullout in which to stop.  Peter walked back about 30 yards and was able to walk within 20 feet of them and take pictures.  As we pulled out onto the highway the cars were starting to stack up to see the goats.

The drive down the mountain gave us a different perspective as we were looking at the scenery from a completely different direction.  Back at the RV Park we satisfied any remaining hunger with some snacks.  We called and booked a space in an RV Park in Cody Wyoming .  Peter advised the owner of the Red Lodge RV Park and told them we would be leaving 3 days early.  To our surprise he refunded our fee for the 3 nights  we were scheduled to stay and cheerfully wished us well.  Back at the trailer Peter hooked up to the truck leaving only the electric and water equipment to stowaway in the morning so we could leave as soon as we woke up. We decided to turn in for the night after a flashlight run to the outhouse.  In the back of our minds we wish we had purchased some bear spray when we were in Glacier Park.   Other than the two midnight runs to the outhouse we slept well.  

Part One

Our next two destinations in Montana were truly nostalgic for Peter as he lived both in and around Columbia Falls and Red Lodge.

We arrived in Columbia Falls about 2 hours after leaving Laurie and H’s home in Libby, Montana.  We quickly settled into our site in the RV Park and were fortunate to have a large evergreen tree in our site that provided lots of shade in the afternoon and evening.  It was hot!

The next day we planned to explore Kalispell and check out some of the places Peter worked and lived 45 years ago. But first we went to breakfast.  After finishing our meal; to our surprise the waitress told us that the check had been paid by someone who wished to remain anonymous.  Just as we were leaving a man approached and just looked at us. He looked familiar and then said , “Hi, its Bob.”  Of all the people to meet in a random café in Columbia Falls! We have known Bob and Kay for many years and were flabbergasted to see them there. (They were there for a relative”s wedding.)

 After breakfast, we drove into Kalispell and attempted to find the sporting goods store where Peter used to work. However it was no longer there and Peter did not recognize anything in the downtown area other than the old court house which has been re-purposed for other government use.  We then went in search of Peter’s old house on Foothills Road to see what happened to the 5 acres he used to own.  We drove by it a couple of times before he recognized it.  There was a house on the property but it looked abandoned and the driveway was blocked.  Peter knocked on the door of a next door neighbor. The guy hadn’t lived there for that long so didn’t know Peter. Peter was disappointed, but he was undaunted.  Peter continued to knock on other doors in the neighborhood to no avail.   His investigative skills were becoming apparent.   

Back in Kalispell we found the insulation company where Peter worked a lifetime ago.  The owner’s son is now retired and lives in Lakeside, not far away.  More about that later.

The following day we spent the night in Missoula which is a college town. It may seem odd to take a break from vacation, but that’s what we did.  It felt like a luxury to be away from the RV life even for one day (and night).  We went specifically to Rockin’ Rudy’s on the recommendation of H, Laurie, Betsy, Steve and Danny.  Do you remember Jutenhoops in Phoenix?  Well, this is like Jutenhoops on steroids. It is a huge store with a very eclectic mix of merchandise – from the sacred to the profane.  They sell everything from incense to clothes, religious items, jewelry, posters, puzzles, off color stuff and much more. We knew we weren’t going to get out of Rudy’s without buying something. We had fun browsing and of course making purchases.  Peter bought a solar- powered prism and JY a little jewelry. (go figure)

We finished the day with an excellent dinner at the Montana Club, recommended by a local.  Not yet satisfied, we decided to catch a movie at the local theater.  “Once upon a Time in Hollywood” was a bit of a disappoint to us. Then back for a good a night’s sleep at the hotel which included a complementary all you can eat breakfast.

This respite from the RV life also included  a drive along the entire 161 mile circumference of Flathead Lake.  Montana has a lot of water, it is replete with some very large lakes, rivers and streams. Huckleberries, cherries and peaches were in season as there were numerous stands along the route selling the fruit. And lots of cherry orchards along the way.

The drive back to Kalispell was along the opposite side of Flathead Lake. This route took us through Lakeside, an affluent lake town with upscale houses and docks for private boats.   We had heard that the son of Peter’s old boss lived in the area.  Peter did not have his address. This is where Peter’s investigative skills really became apparent. It’s surprising the number of people in a small town who will give an address to a total stranger. Peter may have missed his calling as a PI.

 After an hour or more Peter finally tracked down his old boss’s son.  We spent an hour or more catching up.  He said that another guy Peter worked with, Perry, also lived in Lakeside.  Of course Peter also tracked him down.  So we spent another hour catching up with Perry.  Peter finally was able to make contact with people from his past and was very satisfied.

 Part 2

JY has wanted to experience the Going to the Sun Road since we first met. Peter had a large poster of Saint Mary’s Lake and Wild Goose Island at Glacier National Park.  She found the name very romantic.  It is an iconic scene that many photograph, including us.

As this drive takes all day, Peter booked a cabin on the downhill side of Going to the Sun Road.  We drove past MacDonald Lake on the Going to the Sun Road which goes from the West Glacier entrance to the East Glacier Entrance.  The road gets real curvy once you get past the end of MacDonald Lake and starts the climb to Logan Pass.  We took a hike to Hidden Lake at Logan’s Pass.  It was a challenging hike for JY, but well worth it as we spotted lots of mountain goats.

When driving up the road the passenger is on the downhill side of the mountain and in many places you see nothing but magnificent and majestic scenery.  There is little opportunity to see any wildlife on the drive up to Logan Pass because on the left side of the vehicle in most places there is a wall of rock that goes straight up.  It is a little disconcerting for the passenger and the driver misses out on a lot of the scenery.   However it is important for the driver to keep his eyes on this challenging but scenic drive.

We arrived at our lodging at Rising Sun Motor Lodge exhausted and hungry. We were glad that after an exhausting day, we didn’t have to drive all the way back to Columbia Falls that night. We went straight to bed after dinner and slept 12 hours straight.

When we woke up we decided somewhat impulsively to go to Canada since we were so close to the border. So we went to Waterton Park which is a continuation of Glacier Park in Canada.  We crossed the border into Alberta, a province JY had not visited. There is a historic hotel in the park where we decided to have lunch.

The Prince of Whales Hotel is an iconic structure in a picturesque location in Alberta Canada. We had a typical Canadian lunch – fish and chips and shepherd’s pie. You may remember the praise we had for the fish and chips at Moby Dick’s in White Rock, Canada.  Well, these fish and chips were even better.

After some shopping in town, we headed back down Going to the Sun Road, this time stopping at Many Glacier Resort. This resort is also an iconic structure in a picturesque location.  We also stopped at Apgar Village where Peter lived when he ran the horse concession in Glacier National Park.  Of course much has changed since that time.

We have visited several different parks over the summer – Zion and Bryce National Parks, Escalante National Monument and Glacier National Park.  It’s difficult to determine which we enjoyed the most as they were all so different in unique ways. At this point, Glacier was the most spectacular. However it may be because it was the most recent. What a fortunate experience to have visited such beauty in so many places.

This portion of our journey was much anticipated. Not only did we get to see Laurie and H in their natural habitat, friends from phoenix were also there. Steve, Danny and Betsy preceded us by a few days. As you may know, we started a gourmet cooking club several years ago. The group includes Laurie, H, Steve, Peter and JY. The other members back in Phoenix are Bernice, Curt and Rita. They were in our thoughts.

Laurie and H are Montana natives. They moved back to their home state about 1.5 years ago. The Walsh’s bought a 2 story house with a basement approximately 5 miles from downtown Libby. Consequently we all had plenty of room. Most meals were eaten on their back porch. Deer were often in the back yard along with wild turkeys.

We arrived in Libby in time for a dinner of sauerkraut and sausages that Laurie made. Afterwards we went to the local theater in town and watched an award winning documentary, the “Biggest Little Farm.” The film was about the successes and failures of a couple (and their dog) as they developed a sustainable farm on 200 acres of land outside of Los Angeles. It was quite profound. Holly joined us and we all went for ice cream afterwards.

One hot afternoon we went boating with Laurie, H and Holly. Both Holly and Peter rode the tube behind the boat while H drove. It was a blast for them. JY did want to chance the bumpy ride due to her back surgery. Peter and JY developed a rash/sunburn on their legs on that sunny afternoon on the lake. It was fun though and very scenic.

We enjoyed going for lunch and shopping at the local Amish store. The sandwiches were great and the grocery prices reasonable. In fact JY ordered a cheese and meat platter for that night.  This was for a get together with H’s brother and his wife who were visiting from Seattle.  H’s parents live in Libby and were there also. This is H’s family home town. That night Steve made his famous lasagna for the crowd.

Remember, there was a group of “gourmands” living under the same roof, so we were eating pretty well. One night Betsy made a yummy light summer meal of shrimp salad and croissants. (Betsy, we need that shrimp salad recipe.) One night JY cooked the remainder of the salmon Peter caught in Astoria, Oregon. Orange Glazed Salmon is always a hit.  And Laurie cooked up a delicious breakfast most mornings. Laurie and H were the best hosts.

Besides sharing meals, they showed us around Libby and area.  We did several small hikes while in Libby including Kootenai Falls and the Swinging Bridge and a hike along the river.  Laurie brought bear repellent on the hike along the river. We also drove to Ross Creek for a picnic and walk through old growth cedars. H’s brother, his wife, niece and boyfriend joined us for this hike. We also had other guests with whom we shared sandwiches, an older couple who said their nuptials in this park many years ago.

It was sad when Steve, Danny and Betsy left to continue their travels. In the past we have shared meals and discussed books but never spent so much quality time together, as Steve said “cohabitating” and getting to know each other better. (We miss having coffee with you all…)

One late afternoon there was a scare for the Libby community. It is fire season and sure enough one started not far from the Walsh’s home. We could smell the fire into the night, but due to the valiant efforts of the volunteer fire department, the blaze was contained to within a quarter mile of their home and eventually put out.

As sad as it was to bid farewell to our friends (Steve, Danny and Betsy), we were left with the opportunity to deepen our friendship with Laurie and H.  We so enjoyed those deep conversations over coffee, while hiking and eating out. We thank you for letting us into your lives in Libby, Montana.

As many of you know, Peter lived several years in different parts of Montana. Although Libby wasn’t one of the areas he lived, he fell in love with the area. He would live there if he could. Quote – “Home is Where the Heart Is.” And Montana is where Peter’s heart is.

A quote from John Steinbeck:

“I’m in love with MONTANA. For other states, I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love.” 

We arrived in Bellingham, Washington on July 9, 2019.  We are staying at the home of Peter’s brother Robert (Bob) and his wife, (Terry) and Peter and Bob’s mother, (Fran).  We are staying here two weeks.   Peter’s mother is 93 years old.  Like our stay in Florence, Oregon, this is a family visit; especially to give Peter an opportunity to spend time with his elderly mother.

We will not be staying in an RV Park while we are here.  We will be staying at brother’s (Bob) home in a spare bedroom.  Bob has arranged for us to store our travel trailer in a covered storage facility 10 miles north of Bellingham.  The space was very narrow and when we got it backed in we could only open the door about half way so we had trouble getting things in and out of the trailer.  We realized we should have taken everything we need out before we backed it in to the space. (d’oh!)

Bellingham is close to the Canadian border, about 28 miles.  As you know, Peter’s family is from Canada.  Robert has lived in Washington for close to 20 years when he started working for Microsoft.  He brought his widowed mother to Washington about ten years ago.  We plan to also visit his two other brothers living in Canada.

Bob, Terry and Fran actually live in Sudden Valley which is about seven miles from Bellingham.  They live in a 3-level home in an old growth forest.  We sleep with the window open and go to sleep with a cool fragrant woodland breeze.  We wake up to the sound of birds and that cool woodland breeze.  

There is something magical about living in a forest.  We also get to see deer at least once a day and try not to hit them when driving.

The first Saturday we were here the two brothers, John and James, came from Canada to visit.  All four brothers spent the afternoon laying the cement footing for a flag pole in Bob’s front yard.  James brought his children, Jet and Eden; they are 2 good-looking kids and both are as smart as a whip.

We have a tradition that every time we are in the area, we go as a family to Moby Dick’s Fish and Chips Restaurant in White Rock, Canada.  They allegedly have the best fish and chips in the world.  (It is Very good.)

As you may know, Bob and Terry have taken care of Fran, the ailing, widowed mother of the Coleridge brothers; she can barely see or hear among other elderly related medical issues.

Fran left Canada and moved in with Bob and Terry about 10 years ago.  As you can imagine, this has been quite a challenge for them.  To show some appreciation we treated them to a nice dinner and a night at a luxurious hotel which is a light house by the bay; they had the whole lighthouse to themselves.  This provided a well-deserved break from their care giving duties as we were responsible for Fran that night.

Then on Friday, July 15 there was a surprise birthday party for Terry, Bob’s wife.  She immigrated to the United States 15 years ago from Saskatchewan, Canada and shortly after became a US citizen.  Bob’s 18 year old son, who lives near Seattle, came for the birthday dinner.  Terry loves snow crab and ate about 2 lbs. of it.  Fran had 2 dozen shrimp and the rest of us each had one of Peter’s famous steaks.  Dessert was a chocolate ice cream cake.  Delicious!

One afternoon Terry took us to Fairhaven Historic District, a part of Bellingham.  It is known for its colorful 19^th-century architecture and history.  Presently, it is a charming art, eating and shopping district.  We particularly enjoyed a 3-story book store.  Miraculously, no purchases were made in Fairhaven.

Our 2-weeks in Bellingham provided Peter important time with his mother and bonding time with his brother Bob.  

And there was one more opportunity for family bonding the day before we left Bellingham.  Fran, Peter, James, John and June Yvonne met again at Moby Dicks for their famous Fish and Chips.  They have set the standard for us regarding fish and chips.

The drive from Astoria to Sequim was uneventful although it rained off and on all day.  We arrived at the RV Park and were assigned a prime spot by the restrooms, laundry room and community gathering room. The Park is very organized, clean and the sites are level concrete with excellent utilities.   Our site was wide providing plenty of room for a picnic table, awning and slide.

This Gilglal Oasis has a very good vibe and is clean, friendly and pretty. The first day we arrived they sponsored a Happy Hour (BYOB) so we had the opportunity to meet a few residents. Our first full day was laundry and some rest and relaxation.

It was also an opportunity to get the lay of the land by reading all the brochures provided by the reception office. The Gilglal Oasis RV Park has been our favorite RV Park so far. 

On the 4^th of July the RV Park owner and his wife barbecued 60 pounds of beef, chicken and pork.  Almost all of the park residents brought side dishes.  JY made guacamole and Peter made queso with chips for dipping.  We were all stuffed by the time it was over.

The next day we drove to Cape Flatterly which is the most northwestern point of the contiguous United States.  It is located in the state of Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. We could see Vancouver Island across the strait.  The scenery was amazing and reminded us a lot of places we visited when we were in Newfoundland, Canada.  We drove a very winding road along the coast and stopped a couple of places to walk on the beach.  We also stopped at the small fishing village of Sekui for coffee and dessert.  According to the 2010 census there were only 27 permanent residents in Sekui.  Due to a lot of growth in the size of the village we are sure that number has at least doubled.  We drove back along the north shore of crescent lake and arrived back in Sequim about 10:00 pm.

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On Sunday, July 7^th we drove up to Hurricane Ridge with and elevation of 5200 plus feet. Hurricane Ridge is in Olympic National Park and as we drove up the mountain we drove through the clouds which made visibility difficult.  At the top there were still a lot of clouds but the scenery was spectacular.  Even though it started to rain JY and I walked up a path to a viewpoint to look over the rain forest.  While at the top we saw several deer and Peter saw a black bear off in the distance.

We learned that mountain goats are being airlifted from Olympic National Park to the Cascades.  The reason is an interesting one.  Mountains goats are not indigenous  to Olympic National Park as they were introduced there in the 1920’s. Olympic National Park has few natural salt licks. Salt is an essential mineral for the goats and the lack of it makes it more likely that goats will be attracted to the sweat, urine and food of hikers, potentially endangering the goats and humans. One goat fatally gored a hiker in 2010.

On the way home we again drove down through the clouds and stopped in Port Angeles Mexican food for dinner .

Today we will spend time getting ready to move first thing in the morning as we will be taking the truck and trailer on the ferry to Whidbey Island.  We have postcards to mail and some laundry to do.  We will also be packing our suitcases because we will be staying with Peter’s mother and  brother for two weeks in Bellingham, Washington.

We were sad to leave Florence and say good-bye to Bonnie however we were glad to leave Harbor Vista which turned out to be one of the most challenging RV Parks we’ve stayed in.  Our site was narrow and nothing but dirt and sand which we could not help dragging into the trailer.  The morning we left it was raining which meant breaking down camp and packing things up a little wet and messy because everything was covered with dirt.

We headed north up the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway on our way to Astoria.  It was a wet and beautiful drive. We had planned to stop by a glass blowing place in Lincoln City that Jae and Steve told us about. However they had no availability on the day we would be passing through.  As we approached Lincoln City we called to see if there were any cancellations and it turns out there was one so we told him we’d be there.  We rolled into town for our designated time and miraculously found a public parking area that would accommodate the truck and trailer. Peter finagled a time for both of us to do the glass blowing. We have had good fortune many times on this trip.

Peter made a red fluted candy bowl and JY a yellow and teal heart.  We each had a half hour with a seasoned glass blower.  It was a hands on process but our instructor did most of the hazardous tasks so nobody would be injured.  The finished pieces were placed in a cooling oven to prevent cracking and are being mailed to our home address.

After the glass blowing we headed north to the Tillamook Cheese processing plant. There was a self-guided tour on the second floor as visitors viewed workers below processing and packaging cheese.  We also watched a video on how Tillamook ice cream was made.  We then lined up for cheese tasting. JY loves cheese but Peter did not (until now.) He was a good sport and ended up appreciating cheese and dairy in all forms. Who knew?

We bought some cheese and a few trinkets in the gift store. JY did not buy any cheese earrings. For lunch we had (what else) grilled cheese sandwiches. Then it was ice cream time.

On our way from Tillamook to Astoria our GPS decided we should go somewhere else – Portland.  We ended up driving 20 miles down a very narrow paved logging road that undulated up and down like a washboard.  There was barely enough room for us driving 35 MPH when a logging truck going in the opposite direction passed by us at 65 MPH.  We finally found a spot where we could turn around and 20 miles later we were back on track.  Little Miss Know-it-all (our GPS) was in the dog house because she was still insisting we should be going to Portland.

We finally found the RV Park and soon settled in.  Peter explained to the lady camp host about the GPS giving us bad directions.  She cocked her head to the side and said, “Peter do you believe everything a woman tells you?”

Astoria is a great little town with history.  It is the place where Lewis & Clarke camped for ††††

the winter on their “Journey of Discovery”.  We toured a reconstruction of Fort Clatsop where the party stayed, witnessed a musket demonstration and took a guided nature tour through the woods where the Lewis and Clark Expedition walked. We learned more about this important time in history. The expedition was essentially a Scientific Expedition so the participants cataloged samples of flora and fauna. As they had never seen a prairie dog before they captured a live one (no easy task) and sent it back to Washington for further study.

We were told about a place on the wharf with good seafood, especially their “phone chowder.” As the story goes, the owner of the restaurant came to work one day to find his employees talking on their cell phones while cooking. He proceeded to take all their phones and drop them in a pot of chowder. The next day, the employees decided to get back at him by replacing the name on the menu from clam chowder to phone chowder. The name stuck and the phone chowder has become famous. The phone chowder is delicious (sans phones) and buckets of the chowder are sold every day. About five different fish are used in this wonderful concoction.

June 30 was Peter’s birthday so he went salmon fishing.  A guy at the fish market where we ate phone chowder hooked him up with a fishing guide leaving at 6:00 am the next morning.  Turns out they were going salmon fishing in the morning and sturgeon fishing in the afternoon.  He caught two good size salmon and a 5’ and 6’ sturgeon (catch and release).  The sturgeon were real fighters and fun to catch. Excuse the length of the video – this was the BIGGEST fish Peter ever caught. The salmon were cleaned and vacuum packed so we will be eating Orange Glazed Salmon soon.

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We toured a little bit of Astoria on the Trolley.  It was interesting to drive right by the pier where we docked a few weeks earlier returning from our 21 day voyage to Alaska. Also while in Astoria we walked along the beach by Fort Stevens and came across the rusting hull of a ship called the “Peter Iredale” which was grounded on the beach in 1906. The sand has buried most of the hull and according to the park ranger the majority of the hull is buried in 30 feet of sand.