4th of July with Candy and Rick

Wednesday, July 4, 2012 (Day 229)

Rick and Candy showcasing Pisco Sour

While hearing about Peru from Candy and Rick, they told us about a drink they discovered called a Pisco Sour. It’s made from a white brandy from the Pisco region of Peru which is south of Lima. Since the liquor stores were closed today, we decided to try a variation with Christian Brothers brandy. Rick and Candy blended the ice, brandy, sugar, lemon juice, egg whites, and a touch of bitters. The first batch was deemed “acceptable—although different from the Peruvian version” as we watched the second half of the Peru Adventure photo show. It was interesting how the drink was deemed better and better as we continued to imbibe.


Long time watering hole, Stacie's Bar

After scoping out the possibilities we agreed to head to Big Sky to see the Seattle band called Freddy Pink. We stopped on the way at Stacie’s Bar for lunch. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once inside the Montana décor is warm and inviting. We spent some time looking at the pictures and posters on the walls.


The classy interior

We had some extra time before the concert so we stopped at an open house just 9 miles from the ski hill and for a mere 1.6 million…


The water jumping bison of old poster

The weather at the concert lawn was perfect with temps in the low 80’s, sun on our backs and a few clouds to provide some extra cooling relief. The band started promptly at 7PM Montana time (7: 10 to the rest of the world) with a variety of music (Chicago to blues). We left after the first 90 min. set so we could play some cards and have another round of Pisco sours while listening to the fireworks on the front porch. In short, we had a great 4th.


Freddy Pink Seattle bank rocking out in Big Sky

Total miles driven today=0

Back through Yellowstone

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 (Day 228)

Rush hour at Yellowstone

We were heading for Belgrade today, and decided to go back through Yellowstone to do it. The west entrance pictured sure had lines to get in!


A herd was grazing away just inside the West entrance

We decided to get out at every available spot, just to get some more walking in. This first stop was at Terrace Springs. Our second was at Gibbon Falls. Unfortunately, other spots were so popular that we couldn’t find a parking spot, and so had to pass them up.

Great view looking out from Terrace Basin

We did see elk again today…and just missed a bear sighting. (By the time we made it through the traffic jam, the bear was gone.)

Gibbon Falls was going full strength

We stopped at a shady picnic spot and enjoyed the peace and quiet and beautiful forest smells.

A magnificent elk

Our last stop was at Mammoth Hot Springs. Harris took this picture of a family all huddled together in the shade. It was hot, but at least the wind was blowing, so it wasn’t too uncomfortable as we walked around the various boardwalks. (Judy had to take off her hat before it blew off…at one spot we counted 10 hats laying on the ground where you couldn’t retrieve them.)


Our shady lunch spot w/o crowds

We left Yellowstone via the North Entrance on highway 89. Three miles before Livingston there was a terrible accident in front of us, so everyone had to pull over and wait for all the authorities to come and do their thing. It was a sobering reminder to always pay attention on the road.

Scooping out the shady spots

We then drove on to Belgrade, and Candy and Rick’s house. How good are these friends? They just returned yesterday from a trip to Peru, and here we are staying at their wonderful home. Rick had a chicken on the barbeque, and served us a delicious dinner when Candy came home from work. We looked at some of their pictures from their trip before hitting the sack, and will look at more tomorrow.

Mammoth hot springs (water flow has fallen)

We were 5 cars behind (and 2 mins after it happened

Total miles driven today=150

Beartooth Highway

Monday, July 2, 2012 (Day 227)

We started the day in Red Lodge, Mt, and ended up outside of West Yellowstone. Oh, what a glorious day it has been between these two points!

One of the many glorious vistas on the Beartooth Hwy

Helen and Joe led the way from Red Lodge over the Beartooth Pass to Cooke City. This is a gorgeous road that goes climbs to 10,947 feet before it starts down again. It is curvy and windy and utterly breathtaking. We saw marmots, mountain goats, beautiful wildflowers and snow at the top. In fact, we were surprised to see a small ski lift at the top, and people hiking to the snow fields with their skiis!
We felt we were at the top of the world.



The four of us near the top

The road descends into Wyoming for a few miles, then winds back into Montana just long enough to claim Cooke City. When we crossed into Wyoming, we first saw road signs that said, “This is grizzly bear country.” Ok. Then just a mile or 2 later we saw road signs that said, “Open range, watch for cattle”. Hmmm. We didn’t see either one, but it did seem to be an odd combination!



Marmot checking us out

Mountain goats near the ski lift on the BT hwy

Beartooth Peak

Cooke City is an interesting tourist town full of motels, shops, outfitters and a great general store that is on the national historic registry. We bought sausage and cheese for a picnic lunch, and enjoyed walking around seeing all the old time scales, cash register, spice bins and such inside.


100+ year old general store at Cooke City

When we left Cooke City, we agreed we’d stop at the first good picnic spot inside Yellowstone for our picnic lunch. Well. This is July. The weather is glorious. And the park is a bit crowded! The first 4 spots were jam packed, so we kept driving until we found a pull out with a rock wall we could sit on and enjoy the view. We shared our sausage, cheese and crackers with Helen and Joe, and they shared their blueberries, chips and oranges with us. As long as we’ve known Helen (about 36 years now), she’s loved picnics. We used to picnic with them in Juneau..even in the snow! So these sunshine picnics are especially treasured.


Not more than a few miles into the park and...

We entered Yellowstone via the northeast entrance, drove past Tower Falls to Canyon Village and then around the north shore of Yellowstone Lake to Old Faithful before exiting through Madison Junction and the West entrance. Along the way, we saw buffalo (of course), elk, and were lucky enough to see a mother black bear and her 2 cubs. We stopped for ice cream at Old Faithful just after it had erupted, so waited about an hour for the next show. No hardship to eat ice cream on a hot day with good friends! Just before Old Faithful erupted, Beehive geyser went up, so we really got a show.


Mom and 2 cubs (although you'll have to take our word)

The weather was perfect all day. Yellowstone is so vast, even driving all day just barely scratches the surface of things to see and do here. We may go back tomorrow to see a bit more.


The mini Grand Canyon

We stopped in the town of West Yellowstone long enough to see where Helen and Joe’s motel was, then drove 3 miles further north to a national forest campground called Baker’s Hole, along the Madison River. We have plug ins here so were able to turn on the air conditioning for a while. Harris cooked a steak for dinner, we visited some more with the Donahues, then said goodbye. They’re on their way tomorrow to see relatives, and we’re heading for Belgrade. We’re sooooo glad they suggested this route!


Elk in Paradise

And of course...Old Faithful

Total miles driven today=210

Red Lodge, MT

Sunday, July 1, 2012 (Day 226)

We awoke from another restful night behind the Froid baseball field around 6AM. After breakfast we were on the road by 7 thinking that we will have circumnavigated all of Montana by the time we’re finished. The temperature kept climbing and topped 97 degrees by the time we stopped for lunch by the Yellowstone River. Even the wind was hot! As we drove south towards Billings, we saw haze from fires, although that’s the only sign we saw.

Stopping for lunch at a rest stop on the way to Billings

We arrived in Red Lodge around 4, and found our good friends Joe and Helen Donahue at their motel, the Lupine Inn. Harris talked to the manager/owners and got permission to plug into the parking lot outlet, so we’re spending the night here. We took a walk up and down Main Street, looking at the many stores but not buying much. (Except delicious ice cream cones, thanks to Joe). But it was just too hot to do much, so back to the air conditioned motel room, drinks and talk and talk and talk. We decided to have a pizza delivered so we wouldn’t have to go anywhere at all..it was delicious.


The Free ride around downtown Red Lodge

After dinner we saw a sign advertising free horse and wagon rides through town. They pick you up at the motel and meander up and down Main Street. By this time the temperatures had dropped to a balmy 77, so it was a most enjoyable ride. The driver told us the horses were Norwegian Fjord horses ….a breed from Norway that has only been in this country for about 50 years. They are a beautiful color.


One of the many sights we saw on the ride

We took a quick dip in the Jacuzzi before bed, although it was really too hot to stay in for long. Tomorrow we’re heading to Yellowstone!


Harris, Judy, Joe, and Helen

Total miles driven today=380

Wedding in Froid

Saturday, June 30, 2012 (Day 225)

We had a good night’s sleep, woke up with the sun and went for a short walk around Froid before it got too hot. Then back to Howie for a leisurely breakfast, and out for a bit more exploring. We found the one and only cache listed in Froid, and then drove back to Culbertson to visit for a short time with Keith..in between his groomsman duties. (Playing basketball, going out to lunch with the guys, etc). It sure is good to see him.

The only cache in Froid was called "Pressure Builder"

We sat outside for lunch, luckily in the shade because the mercury kept rising…probably hit at least 90 today! We watched a mother sparrow feed her babies in the rafters of the picnic shelter…such a hard life!

We went up the road to the Lutheran church for the wedding about 5. It was a beautiful ceremony, and all the kids looked great all dressed up. The minister asked how many of us remembered what the minister said at our own weddings. We looked at each other , smiled and shrugged…nope, we don’t remember. We all seem to remember funny or touching moments, but the minister’s message???

The birdies kept us entertained this afternoon

The reception was in the community hall down the road. There was good food and fun dancing. The Lake Stevens guys were in rare form…dancing and clowning around together. Alan and his new bride Kodi looked radiantly happy.

The men in black (Can you find Keith?)

We walked back to Howie down the moonlit road. The temperature was finally pleasant…at 11 PM as we listen to the Mariners play the Red Sox in extra innings. It’s been a beautiful, joyous day. We’re on our way towards Billings tomorrow.

Total miles driven today=37

Froid, Montana

Friday, June 29, 2012 (Days 224)

We knew we had a longish drive ahead of us, so we got up early and took off as as we could. Early for us, that is..7ish. We drove north a bit, and then hit highway 2 at Havre. Once on 2, it was pretty much due east on a straight road. We did go through a few tiny towns, and stopped at Glasgow for a quick lunch, but other than that we just drove….and drove….one of those days! The landscape is green and brown and hills and fields. The highway follows the Missouri River here, so there were lots of signs about the Lewis and Clark expedition along the way.

A sturdy looking building we saw on our way to Froid

Highway 2 leads directly to Culbertson, a small town where there are hotels. Keith and other wedding guests were staying here, as Froid has no hotels. So we stopped here first to find out if Keith made it in. He had missed a connection in Minneapolis, overnighted in Denver, and headed to Williston ND in the morning. We didn’t know if we’d have to drive another hour to pick him up…and our cell phone coverage was very spotty, almost non existent. Luckily, he was at the motel!


Nice to be welcomed

So, we drove 15 miles north to the tiny town of Froid. We were told we could camp at the ball field, so we looked around…hmm…football field? Baseball field? We found Ann (mother of the groom) at the church, and she told us the baseball field. Great…easy to find, and there is electricity here! We came and set up our camp…which takes all of 2 minutes.


Our spot for 2 nights

The grain elevator was our next door neighbor

Just a little while later, Ann drove up to invite us to the rehearsal dinner. So we “packed up” and drove back to Culbertson to join the party. We had a great dinner of prime rib with all the trimmings, and enjoyed seeing some of Keith’s friends and meeting new people.


The rehearsal dinner gathering

After dinner and visits, we drove back to our site and watched a small thunderstorm move over us. The highway was quiet during the night, and our sleep was peaceful!

Total miles driven today= 330

To the Wilds of Montana!

Thursday, June 28, 2012 (Days 222/223)

We left Lake Stevens yesterday, after getting up really early for our walk. It was a sunny day…a real rare occurrence this June!

Our lunch spot was at Vantage, WA

Then, we drove and drove and drove, ending up in Missoula, Montana for the night. We stopped for lunch at Vantage, eating cold leftover pizza down by the Columbia river. The stretch between there and Spokane sure seems long…but there were some very interesting clouds off to the east…never saw such clouds before. They seemed like hills painted on the sky.


A sign there that made sense and provided a chuckle

Because we knew we were just pulling in to sleep, we actually parked in a Walmart parking lot. (Shhh, don’t tell Judy!) We moved once, looking for a quieter, darker spot. Didn’t sleep well, then at 5 the sprinklers came on…moved again and tried to sleep a bit more.


The interesting two-tone clouds

Thursday morning we left Missoula and headed north, northeast on highway 200. (First time on this highway for us). It is a gorgeous drive through lots of forests and rivers…Judy even spied a moose! We stopped on the other side of the continental divide for a quick lunch, and then drove on. The scenery changed dramatically and rather quickly to dry rolling plains. Lots of ranches and cattle, some farms..not much else! (Although Harris spotted an antelope in a field.)


We were one of 20+ spread out at the Missoula Walmart

We stopped in Great Falls to see the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. It is a great place to visit, full of all sorts of interesting displays. Then we drove about 10 miles out of the way to see one of the
“great falls”..and the dam behind it. It was a very quick stop, because….the flies!!! Were out!!! In force!!!



We took a break at a Made in Montana business

Actually the flies were out in force at the center as well. A ranger told us these white flies live for 2 weeks, and this was day one. Lucky us. At least they don’t bite, but they were swarming everywhere and very annoying. Judy ran up the trail at the dam, and back down again about that quickly. Harris toughed it out a bit more to take his pictures.


Interesting sign in the Men's

Our lunch break today looking back at the Continental Divide

A made to scale replica of the canoe used by L&C

One of the four smaller falls

The "Great Falls" that almost killed the expedition

We drove on a bit more to Fort Benton, where we are parked at an RV place for the night. Obviously we didn’t have internet last night, so tonight we’re posting for two days. Tomorrow we plan to get up early and drive the rest of the way to Froid, in the northeast corner of Montana. Why? You may ask. Because it’s there. No, really, because we were invited to a wedding, and thought this would be a great reason to go out again. (Not that Harris needs an excuse, mind you.) Keith will be there as well, and we’re looking forward to seeing him and his friends.

Total miles driven:
Day 1= 500
Day 2= 212