Glacier National Park and Back in Washington

We stayed in Cut Bank, MT which is near Glacier National Park. We wanted to drive on the "Going to the Sun" road which is a 50 mile road that goes through the middle of Glacier National Park. Because of the elevation, the road is not always open all the way across and travelers need to check on the current condition of the road before embarking. When we got to the ranger station, we were told that the road was not open all the way, but was open most of the way. That was good enough for us, so off we went. This road is one of the most beautiful drives in the country (as many travel guides indicate). After seeing this National Park, I would recommend it to anyone who has not had the opportunity to visit.

"Going to the Sun" Road is not for the faint of heart. It is a 2 lane road (one lane in each direction) and it is narrow....really narrow in some parts. It is built on the side of a mountain and there are points where the mountain side juts out on one side and the cliff side of the road has just a 2-foot tall stone barrier that separates the road from the edge of the cliff. Having said that, the scenery is breathtaking. Mom decided to stay in the car the entire time that we were driving on this road (she was thinking worse case scenario...like what if an earthquake hit now)....but she did decide to get out later when we stopped for the potty and ice cream. Dad, Cubby and I were out taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of this national park. The river was green in parts from glacier runoff. The mountains were snow capped and everywhere we looked there were views that were more gorgeous than the last.

After our day of mountain sightseeing, we headed further toward Eastern Washington. The motel we stayed at had THE Largest trash cans I've ever seen. You can see, too, with Mom standing by them to get perspective on their size.

We stopped at Couer d'Alene, ID to find the sports court that was given in honor of my nephew, Ben, who died several years ago. A friend of Ben's Dad, donated money to have this sports court built in Ben's memory. It was a very nice and special tribute to Ben, who was such a wonderful guy.

When we reached Richland WA, Dan, Dawna,Heather, DJ, and Kim were all there to say hello. Roy and Sharon were also there to greet Mom. Mom didn't actually kiss the ground when we arrived, but I think she was toying with the idea....just kidding...but we did have an 11,200 mile trip and visited 27 states. It was an unbelievable fun-filled adventue and such an incredible experience for all of us. Dad and I said good-bye to Mom and left her in the good hands of her sons. Dad and I headed home so that we could get to Sammamish in time for Father's Day with Jack. On the way over the Cascade mountains, Dad and I saw the most beautiful clouds. They looked like a waterfall, and were actually more gorgeous (to me) than Niagra Falls. People were stopping on the side of the road to take pictures of the cloud formations...that's how beautiful they were. I guess it was Washington welcoming us home. The United States is so very very beautiful.

Again, thanks to all of the family who supported us and helped to make this such a wonderful experience. We love all of you....forever and ever and then some....

Livingston,MT, Turnovers and Cattle Drive

We saw some great things in Montana. It is a gorgeous state. They call it the "Big Sky" state and when you are there and can see a gorgeous blue sky with fluffy interesting clouds from horizon to horizon...a full 180 degrees of drop-dead wonderful scenery....you can see why Montana got its nickname.

We spent a night in Livingston, Montana. This is an old western town and we stayed at a downtown hotel, The Murray Hotel. This hotel is on the historic register. There is a sign above the front desk asking that Guns Be Checked and there is a large mounted buffalo head on the wall of the downstairs lobby. (Mom really liked that!!) The elevator requires an operator, because it does not start or stop automatically by itself. The operator aligns the elevator with the floor. I love elevators like that and was happy to have the opportunity to ride in one. Mom wasn't so sure. And, Dad didn't mind the elevator, but would have preferred something that was more self-service (because he had to make a phone call down to the front desk and ask that the elevator be sent up so that he and Mr. Cubby could ride down in it whenever Cubby needed to go out). If someone didn't want to wait for the elevator, there were stairs available. Mr. Cubby didn't mind the elevator at all. He was a good elevator-rider throughout the whole trip.

Our room was a mini-suite (Room 310). There were 2 bedrooms that had an adjoining door and there was a shared bathroom with a door leading to it from each of the bedrooms. Because this was an old hotel, converted to add modern conveniences (like a bathroom in the room), the entries into the bathroom were not wide doors. In the middle of the night Dad got up to use the bathroom and fell backwards into the bathtub. He landed with his feet over the edge of the tub. Mom and I were both asleep in the other bedroom when this happened. I heard a big noise and woke up a little bit but heard nothing else and wasn't even sure where the noise came from. The noise woke Mom up too and she said that she thought my Dad had fallen. I got up and called Dad's name. Mom was right. The noise was Dad. He had managed to get himself out of the tub....not sure how he did that by himself, but he managed. He wasn't bleeding, which was practically a miracle since his skin is so delicate. And, even though he had hit his head, he seemed OK, just sore. I told him he should have called out for help, but he didn't want to disturb us ladies from our beauty sleep...he knew we needed it! Actually, he didn't say that, but he did say that he didn't want to disturb us. Dad....Dad....Dad....

The next day we headed closer to Glacier National Park. In Montana there are long stretches of road without any facilities....gas stations, potties, restaurants, etc. So, when you see a facility, you need to make use of it while you have the chance. One of the stops we made was at the Montana Wheat and Bakery store. There were lots of cars in the lot....again, looking for food and bathroom facilities like us, I'm sure....but the offerings at this place were wonderful. They sold all kinds of flour for home bakers. They also sold all kinds of breads, sandwiches, cookies and THE BEST turnovers that I have ever eaten. If you run across this place in your Montana travels....Stop and Enjoy.

Roads in Montana do not have the greatest markings. You can drive for miles and miles and miles and not see a single indication of what road you are on. If you made the right turn and happen to be on the correct road....thumbs up..... But, if you didn't make the correct turn and didn't know that you were on the wrong road for miles and miles and miles, you might just wind up back at the Montana Wheat and Bakery store after driving for an hour. Yeah...that happened to us. But, the upside of our misadventure was seeing a real live cattle drive that was occuring on a back road, complete with real live cowpokes on horseback driving the cattle. If I'd known that would have happened, I would have got lost on purpose, not just by accident.

It was a great day...(except for Dad's boo boo). We would recommend Montana to anyone and everyone. But go in the late spring or summer so that you have clear roads. I don't think it would be as much fun when there is snow up to your eyeballs.

Wall Drugs, Deadwood and Prarie Dogs

Miles and miles before getting to Wall, South Dakota, there are billboards talking about Wall Drugs. This drug store has been in existence since 1931. Thousands of tourists stop in this little town to see this drug store. It has everything that a drug store should have and then some.....Lots and lots of "then somes". Plenty of tourist souvenir items, of course, as well as some of the best donuts any of us have ever eaten and....5 cent coffee. That's right, a 5 cent cup of coffee. Mom and I were wandering through the drug store, going from room to room, just browsing and realized that Dad was missing. We retraced our steps and found him, coffee cup in hand. (Dad said he had one dime and 3 pennies in his pocket.....so he placed 3 pennies in the slot and enjoyed a 3 cent cup of coffee). Don't worry, we placed an extra nickel in the slot later when we refilled our cups. From the 1st picture of Dad with coffee cup in hand, it looks like he really, really needed that coffee!

And, then there were the prarie dogs....we saw a convenience store that featured "prarie dog food", which just happens to be the same thing as "squirrel food" at our house.....unsalted peanuts in the shell. Our neighborhood squirrels love unsalted peanuts and so do their furry cousins, the prarie dogs. When we pulled up, a family was leaving to continue on their journey and gave us the rest of their peanuts so that we could feed the cute little critters. We had to keep an eye on Mom since we didn't want any twisted ankles due to falling in a prarie dog burrow, but all turned out OK. It turns out that the prarie dogs near that store were very well-fed little fellows. They probably were more interested in tourist peanuts in the early morning, but in the mid-to-late afternoon (when we were there) they were pretty full (no wonder those tourists had leftover peanuts to share with us.) But, we certainly did enjoy seeing the little guys up close and personal. Mr. Cubby, of course, only got to see them from a distance since he would have been unable to keep himself from running after them if he got too close.

When we were in the Mt Rushmore/Badlands area, we went to the Old West town of Deadwood. Wild Bill Hickock was shot to death during a card game in the town and is buried at the local cemetery. They do a daily re-enactment of a shootout in the middle of the street (stopping traffic in Deadwood for the event). The town has lots of places to eat and drink and many of the little places have small casinos in them....some with maybe 20 or so machines. We played for awhile in a few of the "gaming establishments", and it was fun to feed tokens into the machines and bring a cupful of tokens to the old-fashioned teller cages to exchange the tokens of that establishment for US dollars and cents before moseying down the street to try our luck elsewhere. Let's just say that we had worse luck than some, but better luck than Wild Bill had in Deadwood.

The Badlands and Mt Rushmore

We headed out from Elgin toward Mt Rushmore by way of the Badlands in South Dakota. Dad and I had been to Mt Rushmore a couple of times, but Mom W had never seen the 4 Presidents...so off we went. It was a warmer day when we got to Mt Rushmore and even though it was a mid-week day, there was a line of cars waiting to get into the park. I think we spent at least as much time waiting in lines to get a parking spot as we did looking at the monument. We only spent about an hour at the site (which included a 15 minute line and wait for the women's restrooms...why is it always that way, ladies??) We didn't go into the Visitor Center since Dad and I had already done that on previous visits and Mom had seen a couple of TV specials about the construction and had wanted to just take a look at the Presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt). It took 14 years to complete the monument and it is impressive to see.

While Mt Rushmore was impressive, it was predictable, and less interesting to us than the Badlands National Park, which we really enjoyed. We could just picture cowboys, Indians and "bad guys" planning ambushes and hiding in those hills. It was great. The drive through the Badlands allowed us to see lots of unexpected beauty. There were so many canyons and gorgeous natural rock formations to look at. And, we were lucky enough to spot lots of wonderful wildlife including a deer with her baby fawn and a heard of mountain sheep (some climbing on the rocks and others in a field which was close to the road). The Badlands are a treat!!

The World's Only Corn Palace

South Dakota is a beautiful state and it is the land of cattle, black hills gold and the World's Only Corn Palace.

The World's Only Corn Palace...another sign along the freeway....another opportunity to see something unique. The original corn palace was built in 1892 and it has been going steadily since then. Each year the exterior of the building is re-done. The building has a facade made of corn cobs and there are mosaic-like pictures decorating the outside of the building and inside the building where there is a sports arena and all kinds of corn products. Popcorn, corn on the cob, corn dogs...you name it.

Cornelius is the Corn Palace mascot....another photo opportunity! This was a fun stop and if you are ever in the area and have the time....go for it!!

Another thing we found interesting was to see that candy cigarettes are still sold in South Dakota, and there are so many different packages....just like the real thing. I remember loving the candy cigarettes when I was little, but haven't thought about them or seen them for sale in years.

Spam, Spam and More Spam

Spam...not the garbage e-mails that we all get....but the canned meat product that has made by Hormel since 1937....

I'll bet that most of us never knew that there was such a thing as the Spam Museum, built to document the history of Spam!! Well, when driving down the road in Minnesota, we couldn't resist taking the turnoff to see what it was.

We had a great time. Mom said "I guess we never know what we will be doing!". The "wall of Spam" inside the museum is made from more than 3300 cans. We had our picture taken with Spammy and watched the movie "Spam - A Love Story" in the museum theatre. The museum even had a letter from General Eisenhower, expressing his thanks for the product that was enjoyed by our servicemen.

One of the displays showed George Burns and Gracie Allen who promoted the product of their sponsor on their radio show. And, we saw a video of the Spamettes who sang about the wonders of Spam (among other songs). All of certainly wished that we could have worn those costumes...which included pointed hats...kind of like a princess hats, but not nearly as nice!

The Spam gift store had every possible Spam product, including 8 varieties of Spam....who knew there were so many?? I've never seen some of these in a grocery store (like Spam with Bacon)..perhaps we could special order it??