Judy's Birthday at Mt. Rainier

Days 239,240

Judy likes to spend her birthday at Mt. Rainier. This year the weather cooperated beautifully...high 70's, then 80's...even 90's! The only problem was it fell on a weekend. The campgrounds were full. We first tried White River campground on the Sunrise side of the mountain. Full. The ranger told us everything was full. So, back down the mountain we went, towards 3 forest service campgrounds. The first, (and nicest) Silver Springs, was full. The second, Buck Creek, had room, but was not inviting at all. (and after all, this was a birthday weekend!) The third, the Dalles, had one space left. So we quickly grabbed it up and set out to enjoy our weekend.

There was a sign at the end of the camping loop that said, "9 and 1/2 ft Douglas fir", so we walked down a short trail to see the big tree. As you can see from the sign, the diameter is 9 and 1/2 feet, the height is 235 ft, and the tree is estimated to be 700 years old. They grow them big out here!

A picture of Howie in the only campsite. The only problem was, this entire camp was very close to the highway. We had our heads toward the road, and it was a busy road for most of the time. Not exactly the peace and silence we'd experienced before. And then, the people across from us had 2 yappie dogs. The dogs yapped and barked and barked and yapped. We said, "boy, we could have stayed home and heard this!"
All the sites had been reserved for the entire weekend, but on Saturday morning, these people were packing up and moving out. When we went to talk to them, they told us they were camping with their daughter's dogs, who were obviously not used to the great outdoors, and they didn't sleep at all last night. They were going home. They offered us their spot, and since it was a little further from the road noise, we moved right in.

After "moving", we headed up the mountain to Sunrise to do a little hiking. Good thing we got an early start. The parking lot was filling up, and later, became more than full. Sunny weekends will do that! The hiking was excellent...sunny, hot, but with just enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable and the bugs away. We hiked to Frozen Lake and looped back towards the parking via Shadow Lake. We were glad we had taken our poles with us, because we had to slip and slide over 3 different patches of snow on this lower trail. We met a ranger coming towards us on the trail who asked us if we had seen the bear. "No!, where?" "Back at the junction of the trails"...must have just missed it. It sounded like this particular bear had been making a nuisance of himself there.

Sunrise is definitely the place to go for gorgeous pictures of Mt. Rainier.

Saturday night we talked to some people next to us who had been to Crystal Mountain, next to Rainier that day. They told us the gondola ride was fantastic, so on Sunday morning we decided to give it a try. Crystal Mountain is a huge ski resort in the winter, and lures tourists there in the summer with this ride and various hikes. Again, we were lucky to get there fairly early in the morning, and could get on without any wait. When we came down a couple of hours later, the lines were very long. The gondola is quick and quiet, and whisked us to the top in a matter of minutes. The view from the top is spectacular. You see Mt. Adams in the south, Mt. St. Helens in between, Mt. Rainier right in front of you, the Olympics a bit to the north, Mt. Baker due north, and Glacier Peak if there isn't too much haze.

We hiked a bit along the ridgeline trail to get the great views, then found a shady spot to sit and eat some lunch before riding back down the mountain and heading home.

This picture was taken on Saturday on the hike to Frozen Lake. Harris was wearing his earphones and took his little XM radio receiver along so he could listen to the Mariners beat the Yankees. Such a fan!
It was a great birthday weekend.
Total miles driven = 310.

And home again

Friday July 13, 2012 (Days 238)

We woke up to a strange sound....patters on the roof...is that actually rain? Yep. It rained for about 2 minutes, just enough to settle the top layer of dust on the roads, but not more than that. We think this RV park would be a great place to stay and play, but we were heading home, so we got up and left.

Not much other than driving today. It was another hot one (high 96) and when we stopped for lunch we ran the generator for the AC so we could enjoy our lunch. We drove along Highway 2 until we dropped south to Ephrata for a quilt store stop. Then we decided to kick it into high gear for the rest of the way home so we took I-90 and cranked up the speed to 65 (very fast for us). Next thing we knew, there were clouds in the horizon...of course this was once we were on the west side of the pass. Apparently we missed the huge thunderstorms that hit the Seattle area, but the cooler weather was a relief to at least one of us.

Total miles driven: 440

Glacier National Park--Part 2

Wednesday, July 11, and Thursday July 12, 2012 (Days 236,237)

Our campsite at Apgar campground

We wanted to see the other side of the park, so this morning we drove around the south end to West Glacier. We picked out a campsite at Apgar Campground, just inside the entrance. Eventually. We picked one site, then rode our bikes around all four loops before deciding on the best available one. We were surprised that there were open sites, but it was late morning after all. By evening, they were all full.


Two photos of the To the Sun Highway

Because it was afternoon, and because it was dang hot, we decided we wouldn’t take a hike today. We took the free shuttle bus up to Logan’s Pass instead. The shuttles were the same size as Howie, so Harris thought he should be able to drive Howie on the Going to the Sun Highway. The signs all said, anything over 21 feet was prohibited. Howie is 21.5 feet without the bike rack. Harris wanted to take the bike rack off and go for it. Judy didn’t. The ride in the shuttle bus was exciting enough for her without having to watch the steep drop-offs again.


Some Bighorn sheep playing in the snow

We walked around the pass area, reveling in the fact that we were in t shirts and shorts, enjoying 80 degree weather and yet walking in the snow. One gentleman we met told us it was just too hot. We got to talking and found out he was from the north of England, just like our son in law, Ewan. As Ewan says, you can find Geordie’s everywhere!


At the top

On the way to the top we saw a mountain goat by the side of the road. At the top of the pass we spied a family of big horn sheep enjoying a patch of snow. We also stopped and listened to a ground squirrel chattering at all the tourists. On the way down, there was a “goat jam” as our driver called it. There was a mother and baby goat, right on the road, apparently licking something on the asphalt (the driver said probably antifreeze).


The ground squirrel training the tourists

Back at camp, we enjoyed the evening in our screen house, which let some little breezes through and kept most of the bugs out. We got “home” in time to use our generator a bit to juice up the battery. Harris is concerned it is draining faster than it should.

Mountain goat licking antifreeze?

We played our usual card games (Harris won by a big margin tonight), and when it was dark enough we rode our bikes back over to the Apgar Transit station where a ranger was giving an astronomy talk. It was fun to hear him speak, but most of the time we really couldn’t see all the stars and figures he was pointing out. He did have a large telescope, and we got to “see” Saturn in it…sorta. Then we rode our bikes back to the campground….in the pitch dark, around midnight. We did have small flashlights with us, and they did the trick. It was a neat ride!


The cause of the "goat jam"

Thursday morning we thought we better get in a hike before we left. We talked about lots of different ones, but decided to go for one that was fairly close by. We walked the Rocky Point Lookout loop and nature trail, which has a brochure you can take along detailing the effects of a fire in 2003. It was a good walk, and we were glad we did it early! The temps reached 96 today…enough to make even Harris melt a bit.


One of many waterfalls

Because we were getting a bit concerned with the battery, we reluctantly left Glacier National Park and headed west. We checked out several RV parks along highway 2, and eventually found this one outside Moyie Springs, Idaho. It’s called Twin Rivers Canyon Resort, and seems to be a beautiful campground by small private lake and in between the Moyie and Kootenai Rivers. But! To get here, we had to go down, down, down a single lane dirt road with drop offs and no shoulders. Not Judy’s idea of fun. We’ll have to see how the climb back up is tomorrow.


Construction worker cooling off

(One interesting, although sad side note. We stopped at Costco’s in Kalispell and while we were waiting for our pizza the man behind us started talking to us. Turns out he used to live in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. He said he now lives in Eureka, Mt, for 4 months of the year, and the rest of the time in Uruguay. Well, so we just had to ask why Uruguay???? Because, he says, he doesn’t like blacks or Muslims, and Uruguay doesn’t allow either in the country. He lives there with other like-minded Europeans. He sold his ranch in Friday Harbor 3 years ago. Get the connection? All this with a smile on his face. I guess we were too stunned to think of a good reply. Should have said something like, that’s too bad…or be sure you stick around long enough to cast your ballot in November for the incumbent!)


Our hike to learn about forest fires

Another hike summit reached

"The going to the RV Park road"

Glacier National Park

Monday, July 9, and Tuesday July 10, 2012 (Days 234,235)

Cooling our jets lakeside

We left Shelby and traveled on highway 2 towards Glacier National Park. It turned out to be a hot, hot day…the high was 95 on our dashboard thermometer. We made one stop in Great Falls, and bought a screen house, because we knew we’d be staying for a while in one spot…and in a national park there are no hookups for air conditioning! We came in from the east, and ended up at Two Medicine campground. Just before we entered the park itself, a coyote ran across the road right in front of us.


A favorite camping meal

It was just too dang hot that afternoon to do much of anything, so we set up camp and crossed the road to the lake and put our chairs at the water’s edge with our feet in the cold water to cool off. Harris made a fabulous supper of steak and fried potatoes. We sat outside in our screen house until the thunderstorm drove us in. At least that cooled the air off! Harris beat Judy at cards..again….so what else is new?



Luckily, just a short storm

Tuesday morning we wanted to get going before the heat got too bad, so after a quick breakfast we rode our bikes down the road to a trailhead and started off on the Aster Park trail. It is a beautiful trail through the woods, and only gets hard the last .7 mile…long switchbacks up and up. Before we got to that point, the trail opened out a bit around some ponds, and we saw a moose wading through one. There was a deer at the edge momentarily, but she took off pretty quickly. The moose just kept wandering through the pond, eating and cooling off for quite a while. We finally left just so we could get back in the shade of the trees.


Bear grass

Our view from Two Medicine campground

Our 2nd camp site

The trail ended at a fantastic overlook, with views of mountains and Two Medicine Lake. We could see the campground at the very end of the lake, and could almost see Howie, but he was hidden in the trees. Because of some spur trails we took, we ended up hiking about 5 miles this morning. Good exercise!


Moose we saw on our hike

Thankfully the bike ride back to camp was mostly downhill. We decided to move Howie to another campsite because then we could use the generator to replenish the battery. We read our books outside in our screen house, rode our bikes around camp some more, talked to other campers, and had a lazy afternoon. The weather continues to be hot and beautiful, although it is a bit, just a bit cooler today!


Judy replenishing her neck cooler

The end of the hike!

Our farewell view as we left in the morning

Total miles driven today=75

Camping at Skidway Campground

Saturday, July 7, and Sunday July 8, 2012 (Days 232,233)


Our morning breakfast stop at Three Forks, MT

Candy and Rick like to get out of town whenever possible, so Saturday morning we hit the road, heading north. We stopped at Three Forks for a great breakfast , sitting outside, enjoying the sunshine. Then we backtracked just a bit to see the Missouri Headwaters State Park, where there were people playing in the water, deer jumping through the grass, and the remains of an old town called Gallatin City. Judy was intrigued by the sign that showed where buildings used to be located because there was an Akin house and barn….although she doesn’t know of any relatives that lived in Montana.


A mural of earlier times on a building

We headed north on highway 287, then east on 12 towards a forest service campground they had been to before called Skidway. It was a beautiful campground, and had only about 3 other occupied campsites. We were able to get a site that accommodated both Howie and Goldie, and Candy and Rick set up their new screen house so we could enjoy being outside and not be eaten up by the bugs. We were so impressed with this screen house that we later bought one for ourselves.


The English teacher in Judy

Candy, Rick and Harris went for a bike ride up the hill and onto a cross country ski trail. Candy and Rick kept Harris going by promising him it was just a “little further”…They arrived back at camp hot, sweaty and happy that they had made it!


The Missouri headwaters

Harris and Rick cooked a great dinner of chicken and brats, corn on the cob and carrots. Rick brought out a big tub of candy we quickly named “the evil”…almonds and cherries covered in dark chocolate…sinful indeed.


Kyle, Keith, and Tasha???

It had been a hot day, into the 90’s, and then a thunderstorm broke out. We started playing cards outside, but finally had to move into Howie to finish. Judy actually won one game (in spite of Candy’s delusions) of Chicago Rummy and Harris beat us all at hearts. The night was so beautiful..away from lights and noise..after the clouds cleared out the stars were spectacular.


It looks so easy...

Harris made us all a terrific breakfast of eggs and leftover brats. We took a walk down the road and up a hill that we think was someone’s long driveway, and packed up to leave. After the hot walk, Candy was hankering for a chocolate malt of all things, so we drove a bit more to White Sulphur Springs and actually found a café that served them!


The Akin barn

Then it was time to say goodbye to our good friends and thank them for their great hospitality. We headed north towards Glacier National Park, and they headed south towards their home. We are camping at a municipal park outside of Shelby that we found in spite of the very poor directions in our AAA book. It has some shade and electricity… a good thing since it was 95 again!


Harris feeling proud!

The view at the top of the bike ride

The "Happy Campers" Candy, Rick, Judy, and Harris

Total miles driven today=204

Checking out Bozeman, MT

Friday, July 6, 2012 (Days 230=231)

Juneau friends Sue and Dave at their Bozeman home

Thursday was a cloudy, cool, and drizzly day so it didn’t take much convincing to simply hang out around the Lubanski homestead. We decided to head out to Bozeman (all of ten miles away) Friday and drop in on some Juneau friends, the Zimmermans. Harris was Sue’s matron of honor in her wedding to Dave some 27 years ago. We caught up on kids, plans, and some friends. There was a house two doors down that the owner modeled on a Texeco gas station. It’s an attraction, but doesn’t do much for the home values in the area.


The Texeco House two doors down from Sue and Dave

Afterwards, we met Rick for lunch and he took us to the Museum of the Rockies where he volunteers. There are awesome dinosaurs displays, a Napoleon traveling exhibit, and a planetarium (where Harris took a little nap). Judy spent time exploring the dinosaurs while Harris spent his time at the Montana history section looking at the old cars, appliances and old time displays.


Museum of the Rockies has a ton of dinos

Candy and Rick were easily talked into taking a short 2 day camping trip in the general direction of Glacier National Park so the vans were packed on Friday. The weather was a perfect high 70’s with a slight breeze in the late afternoon so we ate pizza and drank some wine on the deck.



The old style gas pump was cool

Later Rick and Harris watched the Mariners on TV while Judy and Candy watched Doc Martin in the other room.


Howie's early predecessor

Total miles driven today=25