CRATERS OF THE MOON AND BEYOND

Even though we heard that Craters of the Moon National Monument was not very interesting, we decided it was our kind of place and headed there from Jackson Hole.  We were not disappointed! I was a little nervous because we did not have camping reservations, but we got to the Monument in enough time to get a campsite…we were lucky because it was almost full all three nights we were there.  The second night it rained very hard, and our deficient little tent caused all our bedding tog et sopping wet…even though we had an extra canopy which we kept safely and nice and dry in the truck!!!  We have also found that both our air mattress and Coleman stove are possessed…but in a good way:  They develop ailments such as leaks and faulty lighting mechanisms, and then left to their own devices, they seem to auto-correct.    Lucky us.  All of our good camping equipment is in AK and the stuff we bought is from Craig’s list…good enough (almost) for a short trip, but certainly not something we would want to keep for the long haul.

Crater’s of the Moon is a couple of hundred thousand acres of lava flow, spatter cones, fissures and lava tubes.    Most spooky and great for taking guided hikes and trips into caves.  Our campsite was secluded (even within a crowded campgrounds) and visited by 5 little chipmunk type critters that loved my grape nuts! 

We reluctantly left Craters and headed for Portland, staying about a half hour from Portland at Paradise Point campground, whose only fault was that it was no near the highway that it sounded at times as if we were sleeping on the median strip.  But, we are finding that the beginning of August is a very popular time to camp as schools in the west start towards the middle of August.  We spent our first full day in Portland, and our first full hour waiting in line at Voodoo donuts, a local icon and quite worth the wait.  A peach fritter big enough to feed a family of 5, a bacon, maple syrup donut that was perfect for breakfast, peanut butter and chocolate, raspberry filled and an orange donut kept us on a sugar high for three days!  We went to a wonderful Saturday arts and crafts market where everything on display had to be made by the vender and then on to Portland’s fabled rose garden which did not disappoint us!   

The following day we went on the Columbia Gorge highway, stopping for hikes to wonderful waterfalls, marred only by the crowds. We saw lavender fields and many, may wonderful waterfalls.  

 We hiked to the top of an observation lookout and saw Mt. St. Helens 

We visited a fish ladder at the Bonneville Dam and looked out an underground window to see the salmon, steelhead and ugly, ugly lamprey eel. 

We also visited the fabled Lewis and Clark's winter camp which was re-created after it rotted away after it was used only for 4 months.

 

We had a great time at the Timberline Lodge right at the base of Mount Hood.  This was the setting for the Stephen King movie The Shining and it was fabulous.  Needless to say, we only had a drink there, and did not stay the night! 

Our last day we opted for a drive along the coast and a visit to Tillamook cheese factory which was all quite a disappointment.  It was a hot Sunday and the beaches were so crowded that we could not even find a place to pull off the road and enjoy the view and at Tillamook, there was no cheese being made; just crowds of people who had waited inline to buy supermarket variety cheese and ice cream.  Boo!!!!

TRAVELING ON…NORTH DAKOTA, MONTANA, WYOMING

We returned to one of our favorite National parks, Theodore Roosevelt, despite saying that we were not going to repeat any of our previous journeys. Theodore Roosevelt is broken up into the North and South units, separate by about 40 miles.  Both are full of buffalo and the scenery is a lovely combination of badlands and rolling hills and meadows.  However, the north and south are each in separate time zones, which drove us crazy!    

  

  

The last time we were in Teddy Roosevelt we saw a very large group of buffalo come through our campsite, which caused us to stand in the road while they had their way for about an hour.  This time, we learned that because of cutbacks, the grasses were not cut near the camp grounds, we saw very few buffalo along the road and near the campground.  However, we took a wonderful hike along a river and into some high meadows where we found, by following the grunts and moans, a large group of buffalo.  One large guy, somewhat separated from the rest of the herd was a bit wary of us, and then, after about 5 minutes, decided that we were intruding and started walking towards us, which caused us to back away at a steady if rapid pace!

On our drive to the north unit, we again saw the effects of fracking as we passed camp after camp of both trailers and shoddy housing which supported the med working in the oil fields which sprouted up in every field, often three and four right next to one another.  Our stay at the north unit was a bit disappointing; despite a campsite right above the river since there were too many bugs and way too much heat.  In fact, one afternoon I was trying toe scape the bugs by scalding inside the tent and David was doing the same in the car when we both decided that enough was enough and rode around in the air conditioned car, finally ending up in a McDonalds, since, believe it or not, that seemed to be the only recognizable place to eat.

Then it was goodbye North Dakota and hello Montana, where we stayed at our friends Dave Tyler and Becky Weed who own a wonderful predator friendly sheep farm and wool mill which is right on their property.  We had visited them previously, and they lived up to our expectations as great hosts.  We had their guest cabin to ourselves and were finally able to take long needed showers in their main house!  We were in the middle of their haying operation which involved three large machines; one to cut the hay, one to rake it and one to bale it.  David, always one for big toys was practically jumping up and down seeing these monster machines and asked, “Can I drive the baler?” at which point Dave turned pale and said nothing.  At $65,000.00 a pop and hay needed for the winter, guess who watched the process from a safe distance!  We spent some time in Bozeman, took a drive with Dave and Becky past Ted Turner’s buffalo ranch on 100 thousand acres and then spent one whole afternoon and evening at the county fair.

The reason we went to the fair was for the rodeo that David obliged me by attending.  However, we found out that this was a Cowboy rodeo that was far different from the professional rodeos we had been going to.  The events , in which teams of 4 cowboys participated were Branding, Medicine application, Transporting, Milking a wild cow and bucking bronco riding.  In addition, the rodeo started with cart and draft horse demonstrations, which really showed the skill of the horse and rider.    The first event of the rodeo, Branding, had one cowboy rope the steer and then two cowboys wrestled it to the ground and then the 4^th branded it with a branding iron dipped in chalk.  The steer was a baby which was in the ring with lots of other mamas and babies and when a baby was roped, several times the mother tried to defend it and went after the cowboy! Very interesting.  Medicine application was about the same except that the cowboy had to poke the steer on the nose with a pretend syringe.  Then the weird began.  In transporting a steer was culled from the herd, roped, dragged, pulled, pushed and manhandled into a transport truck compartment into which he was shut.  Then two horses were loaded in after him and then three cowboys had to jam themselves into the cab of the truck!  Just culling a specific steer was hard enough, but to see these men push that little guy into the truck was a riot.  HOWEVER, nothing beat the wild cow milking which is just as it sounds.  

A very wild cow (with not much milk, it seemed) was culled from the herd, roped, wrestled to the ground at which point a cowboy dove in and tried to get enough milk so that the judge could pour at least a few drops from the bottle.  This was kinky to say the least!!!!  The bronco riding was just that!   

After a great stay with our friends it was off to Yellowstone.  We knew it was going to be zoo like since we had made reservations for camping well in advance and we reserved the last of two campsites in the whole park.  Even so, it was a bit disconcerting to be in major traffic jams and have to wait up to 10 minutes for a parking place at the main attractions.    However, they are not called main attractions for nothing!  Despite bad rain the first night, the weather was great for the next 3 days, the campground was quiet and the sites just jaw dropping.  The altitude affected me sow e were not able to go on many good hikes but the walks we did take were memorable.   

  

  

  

  

   

  
Here it is!  My 10 minutes of driving 

And then on to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and another home stay, this time stay with my friend Gary.  This was the last stay before reaching Fairbanks.  This is Gary's house in Jakson.  While in Jackson we made more complete arrangements with Gary to buy his house in Fairbanks, which is very exciting!  We were very fortunate that Gary’s lady friend is so socially connected which gave us the chance to do some great socializing, first at dinner with Mickey’s house guest who was connected with the Wyoming public radio station, then at a fundraiser in an amazing house on a beautiful property for the radio during which spoke and then at a dinner at Mickey’s house where we met one of her neighbors.  The four of us also went kayaking on the Snake River one whole afternoon that was so peaceful and beautiful.  We saw eagles, an osprey who caught a fish in front of our own eyes, swans, ducks, swans, grey heron, geese, ravens and lots of fish.  We stayed both in Gary’s guest bedroom and Mickey’s exquisite guest house and were made to feel so welcome and cared for.  And we enjoyed the three dgos very much!  It is so nice to have good friends both human and canine!