July 16 - On Wisconsin

We're back at our "home base" near Beaver Dam WI and the rough plan for the next few months is to be in the Midwest long enough to enjoy Fall... our favorite season of the year. We both grew up in the Beaver Dam area and have great memories of Falls past... harvest time, cool days and cooler nights, the explosion of reds and oranges and yellows and shades of brown, the crunch of dried leaves underfoot, the preparations for Winter. Good memories that we'll try to re-live come October.

My last post, a full week ago, had us arriving in the Twin Cities to see our good friends Jim and Sue. It's time to bring the record up-to-date... so here goes.

We arrived at Lebanon Hills Campground in the TC suburb of Apple Valley on Sunday the 8th. This is one of our regular stops when coming/going between Wisconsin and Washington and we always enjoy our time with these friends. The visit usually involves a boat excursion... this year we launched at Fort Snelling (the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers) and explored mostly the Mississippi... upriver as far as the Ford Dam and downriver through downtown St. Paul and another few miles beyond. We stopped at a marina diner for lunch and a beer... a nice break from exploring on a hot day. The rivers were full of water and the current was running faster than normal for this time of year. While it's been abnormally dry in much of the Midwest, a series of storms dumped tons of water across the northern Midwest... keeping the rivers high, muddy, and flowing. Thanks Jim & Sue for all your hospitality and making us feel so at home.

On Wednesday (let's see... I think that'd be the 11th) we made a short 60 mile move to Lake City on the shores of famous Lake Pepin. Lake Pepin is a natural long wide lake along the course of the Mississippi River... caused by a large natural sandbar/dam where the Chippewa River dumps it's load of sand and silt as it flows into the big river.

Our stop here was to see good friends Doug and Kay. I've written about them before, but let me just say they're experienced explorers and alternate living style experts, having made their home for extended periods of time on everything from a sailboat, to a motorhome, to a pop-up tent camper, and just about everything in between. They've just gotten back into another motorhome and are busy getting it into shape for a Winter in the Southwest. A lot of our conversation revolves around the compromises and comparisons of nomadic lifestyle choices and the rigs that go along with them. Despite the warmer than normal temps, we did have a campfire one night, and enjoyed a twilight cruise on Lake Pepin aboard their son's sailboat... the Screamin' O. Thanks Doug and Kay for a great visit.

If you're looking for excitement and like battling superstition... there's a lot to be said for traveling with a big old haunted motorhome on Friday the 13th. And that's exactly what we did when we moved from Lake City MN to Beaver Dam WI. We had no notable problems other than a jam-packed I-90/94 from Tomah to Portage. Fridays have always been busy summer travel days in Wisconsin as folks from the big cities in the south (Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago area) drive to their family cabins in the north woods for the weekend. By the time their done mowing the lawn, fixin' this, painting that... it's Sunday and time to head home again.

During our stay in the Midwest I'm going back to my now normal, about once per week blog posting pattern. Tune in when you can.

July 9 - Small Town to Big City

Granite Falls is a community of about 2,900 people. Like many towns in the upper Midwest, it's neat-as-a-pin clean and emits a feeling of community that I don't often get in other parts of the country. People were out on this warm Saturday in July doing odd jobs around the yard, working in the garden, hosing down the driveway... things like that. Unlike so many small towns we see elsewhere in the country there's virtually no trash laying around, no dead rusting cars in the yard, no piles of unidentifiable junk wherever you look... none of that. It's a community that reeks of pride... by people who apparently like living here. It shows.

Just a few miles down the road is the community airport. A local contractor and businessman, Ron Fagan, has a budding aircraft museum in a couple hangers out there. I wasn't expecting too much... but it turns out I should have. They have a great and nearly irreplaceable collection of some of the finest WWII fighter and trainer planes we've seen. P-38, two flyable copies of the P-51 Mustang, a P-40, and various other trainer craft... all restored to better-than-new condition by his own group of aircraft restorers. The facilities are top-notch and other WWII period vehicles, weapons, and displays really rounded out the visit. The main hanger is brand new and supposedly tornado-proof... a good thing in this part of the country. The museum is really just getting started and there's still much work to be done... but it's a stop I'm glad we made. If anyone is going to EAA in Oshkosh this year, watch for their P-51 Mustang named Twilight Tear... it's a crowd-pleaser for sure.

Downtown Granite Falls was like the rest of the town... neat and clean, but there was very little activity for a Saturday afternoon. Like most other small towns around the country, they've lost their commercial core to larger stores in larger towns.

We also stopped at the Yellow Medicine County Historical Museum and perused their collection of documents and artifacts. One of the more notable periods in it's history is the Sioux Uprising or The Dakota War of 1862, which began near here along the banks of the Minnesota River.

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Yesterday, Sunday July 8, we broke camp at Granite Falls and headed east on US-212... a very agreeable drive with about 15 small towns along the hundred mile route. Nearing the Twin Cities, traffic and busyness increased but was manageable. We stay at Lebanon Hills Campground in Apple Valley when in town (this is our 4th visit in 5 years) as it's close to our friends Jim and Sue and is a pleasant cross between a campground and an RV park. It's a county park with distinct areas for any kind of camping... from tents all the way up to big rigs. We'll be here until Wednesday.

(I'll add more photos to this post later... check back.)

July 5 - Dash Across the Dakotas

Camp at Aberdeen Fairgrounds

Yesterday morning, July 4, we broke camp near Bismarck and headed east, then south, then east again... and before long we found ourselves in Aberdeen SD. We'd gotten wind of a good place to camp for a night or two... at the local county fairgrounds. On the north side of town, the fairgrounds turned out to be a perfectly fine spot to park, with hundreds of electric/water sites, a few more with the full trifecta (electric, water, and sewer), and they only charge $15/night. On a hot day, staying cool is worth 15 bucks to me.

The bonus, as far as Dar was concerned, is that we were only a mile away from where the city of Aberdeen sets off it's collection of fireworks on Independence Day. So about sunset (9:39pm in these parts) we got in our seats on the lawn in front of the bus-house, an adult beverage in one hand, a mitt-full of popcorn in the other... and waited for the show to start. In the meantime, we enjoyed the shows of other nearby communities and private displays in a wide arc along the horizon.  Some of the private displays... and I'm not kidding here... almost out-did the official community displays.

Although the best word to simply describe the day was HOT, it did cool off enough for us to shut off the A/C, open the windows, and get a great night's sleep. Our plan was to spend two nights in Aberdeen and travel further east on Friday. But the weather guys were now predicting T-storms and rain for Friday... so we we called an audible and decided to make the next run a day early. By 10:30am we were rolling out of the fairgrounds (we'd give it a "fair" rating...) and aimed the bus-house toward Minnesota.

Aberdeen SD is right on old historic US-12 (notice a theme with this trip??). And today we continued along that route, also dubbed the Yellowstone Trail by some, for another 100 miles or so before reaching the Minnesota border between Big Stone City SD and Ortonville MN.

The distance between Big Stone City and Ortonville is only a little over a mile. In the middle of that mile is a bridge that goes over the Minnesota River. When we got to the bridge it was closed... totally and completely closed. Construction!  Hmmm. The driver of the bus-house, ahh... how shall I put this?... misinterpreted the big orange sign back in downtown Big Stone City as "Bridge Closed 5 Miles Ahead". What it actually read, my navigator (who was on the phone and too busy to navigate at the time!!) tells me was "Bridge Closed .5 Miles Ahead".  Do you see what happened?  For want of a dot the toad had to be disconnected.

Since toads are pulled by motorhomes in one direction only... and that direction is never backward (really bad things can happen to toad, towbar, and the driver's head). If a bus-house driver gets the rig into a position where it's necessary to backup, to go in reverse for even a very short distance, the only smart thing to do is to park, unhook the toad, perform your maneuver, re-hook the toad, and continue on your merry way.

In five years of fulltiming, we've only had to do this one time before today... and that was just a week or so ago in T Roosevelt National Park. I don't count that one as a full screw-up however, as we were close to our destination and just drove the toad and bus-house separately for the last mile.

But this one was the full-monty... unhook, maneuver, re-hook, and go.  And then we "discussed" how important it is to read all the words (even the little tiny dots) on big orange signs as I sank a little lower in my seat for a while.

To make a too long story marginally shorter, we eventually made it to Prairie View RV Park just south of Granite Falls MN where we are tonight. Associated with a casino of the same name, it's a good place to spend a few days where we can plug in (think stay cool), get some chores done (think laundry and bus-house front-end bug removal), and explore an area we've not been to before. The plan is to be here until Sunday morning when we'll head into the big city.

July 3 - Progress Across the Prairie

Crossing the Missouri River at Bismarck

Allow me to bring the record up-to-date. After spending a few days touring the T. Roosevelt National Park, historic Medora, and the Chateau deMores, we took a couple days off to relax, catch up on work, and keep our activity level low to help deal with the high heat. We've had temps in the mid to high 90s every day since we've been here.

In a campground like Cottonwood, with no hookups, we're totally independent and self contained. If it's hot outside, it's hot or hotter inside. For the most part, we managed without discomfort, and actually grew to thrive as we adjusted and acclimatized to the conditions. We ran the generator (and A/Cs) for a couple hours on two of the worst days, which helped, and it did cool off enough at night to make for good sleeping. It really wasn't so bad.

This morning we broke camp and headed east... destination Bismarck. I had a little trouble snagging a full hookup campsite considering the warm weather and the busy holiday week... but eventually got one at the Bismarck KOA. This is the first time since starting the Sabbatical some 5 years ago that we stayed at a KOA, which have the reputation for being expensive and more oriented to families with kids. But we needed hookups for laundry and to give the bus-house a good cool-down while we hustled off for our Capitol visit, so I was able to get the KOA to take pity on us and give us the last site they had for tonight.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, we'll be moving again. We'd like to get back on old US-12 and think we might end up near Aberdeen SD for a night or two. Friday we have reservations (remember, it's still a holiday weekend) at a Casino RV Park near Granite Falls MN.  Sunday, we'll roll into the Twin Cities for our visit with good friends Sue and Jim.

July 3 - North Dakota State Capitol

There's a lot to be said for North Dakota these days. Contrary to the miserable financial condition of most States in the Union, North Dakota is in great shape money-wise. As a result of all the drilling and production activity in the booming Bakken Oil Field in the western part of the State, they've got money coming out of their ears. There's a huge and growing rainy day fund into which they keep pouring money. And although recently rejected by the voters, the fact that some group could actually propose the abolishment of all property taxes says a lot about how well-heeled North Dakota actually is these days.

If nothing else, North Dakota is an example of fiscal restraint... of only spending the money they have and no more. The legislature meets for only 80 days every other year. During that time they hammer out a few hundred pieces of legislation and balance the budget... and then they go back to their normal lives (which for some, means full-time fund-raising for their next election.) Granted, with the recent inflows of oil money the job of balancing the budget has grown immensely easier. Regardless, the budget is balanced.

But this fiscal restraint is one of the reasons North Dakota is well down the list of State Capitols when it comes to traditional stateliness, soaring classical architecture, and grandeur. Here's a quick version of the story:

In 1930, on the 28th of December, the original State Capitol caught fire... and the building along with almost all of the contents was a total loss. In one night, they were left without a center of State Government.

Consider the time... 1930. The nation was a full year into the Great Depression. There was much uncertainty about the future of American affluence, the American Dream, and the ability of the system to "right itself" after the systemic collapse. There wasn't much money to be had... much less the consideration of what the people would think if the Government can build a gilded temple while common people have trouble feeding their families.

At the same time, the use of steel in the structure of tall buildings was becoming common and "fashionable" by the use of relatively cheap steel skeletons covered with a facade of stone.  The famous Chrysler Building (1930)  and the Empire State Building (1931) were popular in the minds of a public yearning for innovation and grasping for symbols of hope for the future. If your goal was to produce the most office space for the least amount of money, high-rise construction was the way to go.

So by August of 1932 plans had been drawn up and construction started on a 19 story skyscraper with a wing attached for the two legislative chambers. When completed in 1936 it was, and still remains, the tallest building in North Dakota. The budget was locked at $2 million dollars... a modest amount compared to the capitols of surrounding States. In fact, portions of the original Capitol grounds were sold off to help finance the project.

An additional wing for the Judicial Branch was completed in 1981, and other buildings on the 160 acre Government Campus are used by other agencies and departments.

My knee-jerk reaction when researching the building prior to our visit was mostly negative. I've been hard on other high-rise Capitol designs (Nebraska, Louisiana, Florida) in that they're really more a functional office building than a formal symbolic seat of Government, museum, and art gallery honoring the efforts of the people who brought the State into the Union as well as a celebration of the power of the people to govern themselves. Of note, North Dakota's, Nebraska's, and Louisiana's Capitols, all high-rise designs, were all built in the early 1930's.

But this visit made me appreciate the period, the need, and the available resources... and I was more impressed with what they did than I thought I'd be. The building is tastefully decorated, with key symbolic elements in the soaring 40 foot high Memorial Hall, which takes the place of the Rotunda in most traditional domed Capitols. The Ground Level contains portraits of North Dakota's Hall of Fame... about 40 or 50 people from the State who have made a significant contribution.

House Chamber in North Dakota State Capitol

 We did enjoy our visit to the North Dakota State Capitol and, significantly, I believe it gave me a new appreciation for considering the external factors that go into decisions about symbolic buildings like this.

However, I still can't bring myself to forgive Florida for building that "Insurance Company Office Building" they call a Capitol in the 1970s. Some things just can't be forgiven.

July 1 - Hotter Than Hell?

It was a blistering Sunday. The air temperature was already into the 90s by the start of the 10am church service, and a barely detectable breeze just toyed with the congregation...almost made matters worse. The little church had no air conditioning, only a few windows that opened, and even fewer electric fans. It was going to be a long hour.

The congregation along with a few visitors were fanning themselves with the weekly church bulletin as the pastor entered. When ritual called for them to stand as services began, some remained seated, fearing they were close to loosing consciousness and it might be better to be closer to the ground if they keeled over.

The pastor, a caring man, was concerned about his flock... concerned that he might loose a few during the course of the service. He upped the pace a bit, not noticeably rushing, but moving along a bit faster than normal. He was also prepared... never letting an opportunity to make a point, to teach a lesson, slip by.

When the time came for the sermon, we walked to the pulpit, and gave the shortest talk of his career.

"It's a very warm Sunday today. Some people say it's hotter than hell... But it's not."

June 30 - T Roosevelt National Park and Medora

Friday was our first day exploring the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. First off, we stopped down at the visitor center for orientation -- the requisite film on the Park and a walk through the exhibits. The Park Service also has Roosevelt's first cabin, known as the Maltese Cross cabin, right here on the grounds of the visitor center. It's of log construction, built to Roosevelt's specifications, which make it bit more civilized than most of the other prairie cabins of the day... a very livable three room structure with a loft, wooden floors, and a high peaked roof. A ranger-guided tour got us inside.

Following orientation we meandered through the 36 mile scenic drive around the south unit of the Park... a marvelous confrontation with the North Dakota Badlands. It was a very warm day, intense sun and all, which probably kept the wildlife less active than otherwise. But we did see a bunch of bison, wild (feral) horses, prairie dogs, and a few pronghorns. Both whitetail and mule deer are also here, as are elk... but we didn't see any examples of them. The landscape is a "badlands" type... very similar to the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Thick layers of ash and silt laid down millions of years ago have been eroded and transformed into the colorful and stark badlands clays, siltstones, sandstones, and reliefs we see today.

Never a couple that shuns a hike up a hill, we also walked to the top of Buck Hill, the highest point in the Park and took in a panoramic 360 degree view of the area.

In 1883, Teddy Roosevelt came west to hunt. He liked the area, it's rugged landscape and even more rugged characters, so he bought a small cattle operation... the Maltese Cross Ranch.  Later, he bought a second operation... the Elkhorn Ranch, where he had a larger cabin built that, for a few years, was his main home in the West. In the ensuing years he spent most of his time (except for winters) along the Little Missouri River... living the "strenuous life" of a rancher and ranch hand. He may have been the proprietor of the cattle operations, but he took pride in working side by side with the hired hands and cowboys. These were his formative adult years... where he toughened up, grew to appreciate hard work and effort, learned about human nature and nature in general, and developed an appreciation for conservation and the prudent use of our resources. TR said later in his life that he never would have been President if it hadn't been for his time along the Little Missouri in North Dakota.

This Park, if nothing else, is a monument to the President that began the process of setting aside vast areas of public lands as National Parks and for popularizing the notion of conservation and sustainable development.

On Saturday we went into the little town of Medora, which is the gateway town for the Park. It's a historic place, as it was the center of activity during the 1880s. Besides Roosevelt, there was another historic figure who saw opportunity in the cattle business out here... the Marquis deMores, a wealthy French nobleman and the son-in-law of the New York banker Louis Von Hoffman. He came out here in 1883, the same year as Roosevelt, started the town of Medora (named for his wife), and built a large house on the banks of the Little Missouri River.  His idea was to raise and slaughter cattle here and ship the dressed meat to the population centers around the country by means of refrigerated rail cars, a recent development.

However, events conspired against him, and the operation failed completely in 1886.  The severe winter of 1887 drove the final nail in the coffin of the cattle business out here, as about 80 percent of the herd did not survive.  Except for two short visits while passing through the area, the Marquis deMores and his family never returned to Medora. The house remained in the family and a staff was retained for almost 50 years to keep the house maintained and habitable. In the 1930s, the house and grounds were donated to the State Historical Society as a museum.

Medora struggled for many years but has come into it's own as a tourist destination for visitors to the National Park, the Chateau deMores, and the Medora Musical, a musical stage show that's performed nightly during the summer.

Go to our online photo collection to see more photos from our last few days of exploring.

June 28 - Miles City to Medora

From Miles City we had a choice of two routes to Medora ND and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The first, the shorter of the two options, was I-94.  The other was US-12 to Bowman ND, then north on US-85 to I-94 where we'd have to backtrack to the west a few miles before arriving in Medora. Any guesses what we chose?

Once again, US-12 didn't disappoint. We went through Plevina MT and Baker MT before crossing the ND border. The next town was Marmarth... the largest city in Slope County North Dakota. By the looks of things, the population of Marmarth has declined further since the 2010 count of 136 people... and this is the largest community in the entire county. Didn't see a soul out as we passed through, and the few commercial buildings looked abandoned and boarded up.

After turning north on US-85 we passed through Amidon, the county seat of Slope County. Notable for being the third least populous county seat in the nation, the 2010 census counted 20 people who claim they live in Amidon. This is my kind of country.

Because it was getting close to one of the big 4th of July weekends (the 4th being on Wednesday this year means we'll have camping pressure on both ends) we made a beeline through the main gate at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and 5 miles into the Park to Cottonwood Campground. A missed turn by the driver (your's truly) resulted in our having to unhook the toad and execute a U-turn (the first time we've had to unhook before arriving at our destination in our 5 years on the road), but we turned that into a plus in that Dar could go ahead, drive through the campground and snag one of the few spots we might shoe-horn into. That's exactly what we did... and got one of the last campsites that would work. Like most NPs, it's all drycamping (no hookups), but the solitude and feel of being in nature is a fair trade-off. The price is $10 per night. We'll be here until at least Sunday... or maybe November.

Of note... I walked down the camp road to pay for our stay and encountered a couple horses blocking my path. They were two of the hundreds of wild (ferral) horses that roam free in the park. We exchanged eye contact, I offerred a few spoken words to which they seemed indifferent (I've gotten used to this over the years), and, after that brief encounter, we all went on about our business.

June 27 - Historic US-12 Through Montana

It was a big day for us... driving more than 360 miles. But that figure only begins to tell the full story of our drive today.

For the record, our route was a simple one... old US-12 from Helena eastward. For those who've forgotten, US-12 is a nearly 2,500 mile route that runs from downtown Detroit to the Pacific Ocean in the State of Washington at Aberdeen. Over the years it's been supplanted by I-90 and I-94 for much of it's length, but significant stretches of it are still ride-able and badged as US-12.

The first third, or so, of our day was positively enjoyable. Very little traffic and a fine road that took us through scenic Montana. Of particular note was a stretch through the Helena National Forest along Deep Creek... simply spectacular. It was slow-going, with twists and tight turns, but an absolute delight. We'll do that stretch again, and perhaps stay along the creek when we have our smaller rig... someday.

But near the town of Checkerboard things ground to a halt. Road construction! As we waited for the pilot car that would lead us through the next few miles of intense construction, a long (way too long) conversation with the flagger revealed they were totally rebuilding this section of road. Montana's way of doing road construction is to 1) rip up and remove the current road, 2) bring in the even bigger equipment to dig, drill, blast, load, haul, and dump material, 3) make sure the roadbed is rough, dusty, and barely passable, and 4) run traffic down through the middle of the roadbed-under-construction, one lane at a time, sharing the space with all the construction equipment. Oh, and if they need a new bridge... rip out the old bridge, build a temporary road around where the new bridge will be (off to the side, down through the creek, up the bank on the other side, and back onto the under-construction roadbed. The bus-house went places that day we thought we'd only go someday after we bought a jeep. But after about 9 miles we were back to pavement again.

But at that point the pavement wasn't a great place to be with an almost 9 foot wide vehicle. We then understood why they're starting to rebuild this portion of roadway. You see, each lane of the very old roadway was only 9 feet wide. And there was no shoulder. Not just a very small shoulder... there was NO shoulder. At the edge of the pavement began the slope down into the ditch. In some places chunks of asphalt with the painted white line were breaking off and falling into the ditch. Now I don't mind driving down narrow roads. It focuses my mind... it directs my attention... I become a precision operator of an expensive piece of equipment that just happens to be our home and contains what little stuff we value. It's our whole shebang! That can focus a guy's attention.

What I do mind is when a large full size semi-truck, with one of those mean-looking cow-catchers welded to the front end, belching black smoke from all 4 smokestacks, pulling a load of logs or a big wide bulldozer that's probably slightly wider than it's really supposed to be... when one of these things is barreling toward me at 70 mph (the posted speed limit on secondary roads in Montana) or more... well, I do begin to mind that. Let's see, the road is 18 feet wide. I'm almost 9 feet... and more if you count those big outside rear view mirrors sticking out a little further. The truck coming my way is almost 9 feet wide, with wider rear view mirrors, not to mention the questionable width of the load. Well, 9 plus 9 is still 18... and that means there is no margin for error, no allowance for a gust of wind, and certainly it's no time for one of those drivers to sneeze, or to be texting their girlfriend on the cellphone. If you think watching the Blue Angles flying team is exciting, you should see this show.

Sometimes you get lucky and the height of the outside mirrors on the truck are higher than ours on the bus-house... in which case, one passes over the other without making contact. But if the mirrors are at the same height, each driver learns to do a quick jerky jog to the right (and back) just as the mirrors pass one another. If that doesn't work right, you might "click" mirrors. And the worst case is that the mirrors tangle and are shattered in an explosion of metal tubes, plastic, and glass. Not a good day, bunky.

I feel sure that section of roadway, something like 60 or 80 miles long (I wasn't counting... was a little preoccupied) is probably one of the more historic along the full route of US-12. I'm confident it was designed, graded, and paved in 1926... and hasn't been touched since.

I'm probably being slightly over-dramatic here and I appologize -- just having a little fun for effect, you know. To make a long story slightly shorter, we managed to get through the day with outside rear view mirrors intact and with the bus-house staying out of the ditch. But we did have to endure 3 more similar stretches of construction on US-12 today before we finally tossed out the anchor in Miles City. That's right, a new record total of 4 significant construction sites, about 30 miles of gravel roadbed, in one day. Oh, and the toad looks like it's been through the Baja 200. It was a day to remember, for sure.

One other event of note:  As we passed just to the north of Billings we could see the massive columns of smoke from a huge 10,000 acre wildfire... perhaps 10 or so miles away, it seemed like we were right on top of it. Looks like it's going to be a long fire season up this way.

Since it was getting late we opted to stay at Camp Walmart in Miles City. The parking lot was relatively level, and surprisingly uncongested by the time we got there. And despite hitting the night they sweep the parking lot at 2am, we slept pretty darned good.

June 26 - Montana State Capitol

This is our 24th visit to a State Capitol Building, and I've got to say... it's beginning to feel a lot like the experience you have when looking for a new house with a real estate agent... after five or six... or ten... they all start to look alike. But we can't stop now... we're almost half way through the list of 50.

"Buck up, old boy... you can do it!"

Unlike many States, this is the only building Montana ever designated as the State Capitol. Admitted to the Union in 1889, they did the right thing by initially meeting at the old territorial capitol, at hotels, at bars... wherever there was a space large enough to get a quorum and conduct the business of State. Some might feel that's the way it should have stayed, but about 1896 a group of legislators felt it was time to create a decent Capitol... a Capitol that would stand up well to the Capitols of surrounding States... a building the people of Montana could feel proud of... a central place you could go and find the bastards responsible for the issue you feel strongly about.

So, in 1896 the first Capitol Building Commission was formed and sought plans and bids from architects across the nation. The winning entry was one from St. Louis architect George R. Mann. Unfortunately, that plan, and the first Capitol Building Commission was scrapped and disbanded when it was discovered that it's members were planning to scam money from the project. So a second Capitol Building Commission was hastily formed and the plan selected was from the architects of Charles Bell and John Kent. An interesting side-note... three years later, George F. Mann's original plan was re-worked and selected as the model for the new Arkansas State Capitol.

It was constructed between the years of 1899 and 1902. Wing extensions were added in 1910, but the building has remained basically the same since that time. A unique feature is that the chambers of both legislative bodies, the House and the Senate, are located in the same west wing of the building... haven't seen that before.

Like many other Capitols, this one was subjected to a lot of abuse during the middle part of the 20th century, when the notion of the day was to paint over those decorative details, rip out those sky-lights, jam more cheap office space into nooks and crannies here and there... all in the name of keeping it cheap and efficient. If efficiency is what we're after in a seat of government, we'd all have a State Capitol like Florida's... a high-rise office tower that reminds me of the Communist tenement apartments we found behind the iron curtain in the early 90's. It didn't work for folks living in those drab concrete towers... and it doesn't work for a seat of government. There must be elements that impart the feeling of unity... of history... of the struggle and efforts that went into achieving statehood.

Thankfully, also like many other States during the 80s and 90s, the State of Montana decided to refurbish their aging but stately relic... and to bring it back to the condition it was just after completion. There are art works that reflect the early people who had an impact on the State... the Native American... the Mountain Man... the Miner... and the Cowboy. There are sculptures of native Montanans who made significant contributions to the State.

Charles M. Russell: "Lewis and Clark meeting the Flathead Indians at Ross' Hole"

The most significant piece of artwork we saw was the Charles M. Russell masterpiece entitled "Louis and Clark meeting the Flathead Indians at Ross' Hole". It's a massive work, stretching 25 feet by 12 feet and covers the west wall of the House of Representatives. The story goes that Charlie had to expand his cabin/studio in order to fit it in during the creation process. Standing up to the test of time, it's considered the apex of Russel's work... and it's right there in the House Chamber for all to see... and not in some one-percenter's private collection or in some obscure museum.  HoooRaaaa Montana!

After our tour, and while we were wandering, lingering, around the magnificent structure, a glance out a north-facing window revealed that the big wildfire from the day before had re-stoked... and appeared to be heading right for our camp. We decided to head back to the bus-house and forgo lunch downtown.

June 26 - A Hot Time in the Capital City

Locals here in Montana are telling us it's much warmer than normal for this time of year. And the wind has been a strange bugger too, although I can't say if that's normal or not.  As you picked up in yesterdays post, a fire got started in the hills northwest of Helena yesterday. Driven by 40+ mph winds out of the west northwest, it blackened the skies and burned more than 1400 acres before the winds died down last night and firefighters were able to get a grip on the beast. The latest reports are that 5 homes have burned and many other outbuildings as well.

This fire is very close to our RV Park... at it's nearest, it was only 1.6 miles away. We could see the flames from our camp... could see mature trees give up the fight and explode into flame from bottom to top. And, as I said last night, suddenly the wind shifted. Within just a few minutes it changed from blowing hard out of the northwest to blowing hard out of the south. I'd never seen anything like it before... an almost 180 degree change in just a few minutes. That change in direction was a good news/bad news thing for the folks fighting the fire. The change in wind started blowing the fire back over much of the area it had just consumed... so there wasn't much left to burn. But it also blew flames into an area that hadn't burned yet... and into some houses that would have been spared had the wind not shifted.

After dark we walked outside to our fire-viewing spot and saw the most amazing thing. The tall hillsides that had been burning much of the afternoon were no longer in flames, but were now, in the dark of night, covered with red-glowing hot spots... a blanket of hot cinders... like thousands of dying campfires... clearly, brightly visible from almost two miles away... just waiting to erupt again. That sight was another thing I hadn't seen before... at least not on this scale. Our visit to Helena is certainly giving us some memories.

We woke this morning to almost no wind at all. Only hints of smoke from here and there on the burnt hillsides. No giant plume of smoke either... it all could lull a spectator into complacency. Helicopters were patrolling the area and dropping water on hot spots. But it looked to be over.

As we drove into town for our Capitol visit, I noticed a few flags... hanging limp or just barely moving. There was virtually no wind.

As our Capitol visit was ending I looked out the window to the north and could see the wind and the fire had started in where it left off last night. In the time we were inside, maybe two hours, the wind started in, again, with a vengeance. Steady wind of 30 to 40 mph and gusts to more than 50. We hustled to the car and back to the RV park... just in case smoke or threat of fire meant evacuating.

Luckily, the wind was carrying the smoke slightly to the south from camp so we didn't have to deal with that. But we did batten down the hatches, pulled in a couple slides, and waited it out while rockin' and rollin' like a boat on a stormy sea.

By 7pm, the wind had backed off slightly and the fire, once again, looked like it was less mean... less threatening.

Dar has a few more photos of the fire in an online album. Check them out if you have time.

Tomorrow we're packing up and heading east again. We'll be driving out of the Rockies and onto the high plains of Eastern Montana. The weather looks OK for the next few days but I think we'll be running the generator and the A/C a little more than normal to beat the heat.

I'll be doing a separate post on our Montana State Capitol visit... may even get it up tonight.

June 25 - From Trout Creek to a Capital Fire

It was a slow, easy morning, this. And we didn't get rolling out of Trout Creek until just after 10am. We accomplished a lot during our short stay at this marvelous little campground/RV park... including a little laundry, a few words in, and a few more out. The bright clear morning just begged to have a motorhome running down the road splitting the scenery, and that's exactly what happened. We continued our journey eastward (for the most part) and along the Clark Fork River toward Missoula.

It's over a hundred miles to Missoula. We arrived about noon, found some reasonably priced diesel fuel (3.66), found lunch at a Montana Wheat Store, and dropped into the congested zoo known as Bretz RV, one of the big RV dealers in this part of the world. I really don't feel like carrying-on about it... but... why dealers in the RV industry find it so necessary to pack every square inch of their sales lots, their parking lots, the road outside their stores, and the gravel field across the road with, more 'for sale' RVs of every description and size and make and model than they can possible sell in 10 years... and they make customers run the gauntlet of trying to maneuver and turn and twist through the maze... just to find a few square feet of space to park the rig for a few minutes... so we could go inside and purchase a water pump at inflated prices from staff who doesn't know their liver from second base? To keep it short... I got my water pump but I won't be back, at least until they can provide some comfortable roomy parking for paying customers. Bah! This is why RVers with half a brain buy parts and accessories online. Buying from a dealer, RV or otherwise, should be a pleasure. At Bretz, it's a pain.

This Boeing 737 will have logged more than 2,000 miles on the rails before its first flight.

By the time we were ready to head out again, it was almost 2pm. I really wanted to get to Helena as the weather there looked better for the next few days than it did in Missoula. So off we went, forgoing our planned continuance on MT-200, opting instead for the faster but well worn I-90 Interstate at least as far as Garrison Junction, where US-12 heads eastward to Helena. It's only about 40 miles from the junction to Helena, but a traveler must cross over McDonald Pass (6,299') and engage the slopes on either side. To complicate matters, the State of Montana, in their effort to "chip seal" anything that even resembles asphalt pavement, was in the middle of "chip sealing" the Pass... which meant long waits in long lines while we queued up for the pilot car that would guide us poor travelers so we didn't interfere with the technical magic of laying down tar and dumping small stones on top of it. I know it has a purpose, but it's a real pain in the ass.

We arrived in Helena, a small town (pop. about 30,000) for a Capital City, and proceeded to the Walmart (only a little more than a mile from the Capitol building), where I had the mistaken notion that we might be able to tuck into a corner of their parking lot for a night for free. Well, that wasn't in the cards. The lot was packed with traffic and cars and other RVs... and I didn't even drive in. It was another unpleasant maze as far as I was concerned, and two in one day is just too much. So I found a spot to do a little research, made a few phone calls, and decided we'd stay at the one, the only, RV park in the Helena MT area that answered their phone at 4:30 in the afternoon. About 8 miles north, Lincoln Road RV Park turned out to be an acceptable spot for a couple nights, albeit a bit pricey at $38 per night.

The side-story here is that while we were dropping into the Helena area from McDonald Pass, Dar noticed smoke off in the distance and wondered if it was a wild fire. When we later arrived at the RV park, we found the sun blotted out by the smoke from the fire... which happened to be two or three miles distant, growing quickly and, of course, upwind... which meant the fire was headed right for us. Talk about disappointment... can you imagine how I felt that I had just laid out $77 of our hard-earned nest egg... and we might be asked to evacuate. Well... do I get a refund???   Will I be made whole???  Where will we go??? I need to know.

Well, to make another long story short, we were out in our lawn chairs, with a big bowl of popcorn and an adult beverage, keeping an eye on the fire closing in on us... and the wind shifted.  That's right, the wind shifted... literally (and without exaggeration), within about 5 minutes...the wind changed direction... from blowing directly toward us, to blowing directly away from us. It was amazing, to say the least. We think the wind-shift probably helped the fire-fighters too.

I'll have more to say about the fire tomorrow... when we learn more from the local press. But for tonight, I think we'll sleep OK and smoke-free.

June 24 - Goodbye Spokane... Hello Montana

The last couple days have been a blur. Yes, a blur... but an enjoyable blur. It's an overused cliché', but time really does fly by when you're having fun.

Our good friends Jimmy and Julianne... what can I say? They not only made space for us at the property where they're house-sitting this summer... they offered a 15 amp circuit for the bus-house batteries, they fed us, made camp fires for us, had adult beverages available, sparked both thought-provoking conversation and enjoyable nonsense, and had a parade of their friends pop up here and there to spice things up even more. We did a rails-to-trails bike ride and fueled it with the biggest hotdog I've ever seen. We had some alone-time for our work but really enjoyed the together-time around the campfire every night. It was a wonderful visit. Thanks so much you two.  We'll see you somewhere in the Southwest this next winter.

But the journey calls. And we didn't want to wear out our welcome. I think it was Ben Franklin who said that both fish and guests start to smell after three days... and since our allotted time was drawing to a close, we planned to hit the road again this morning... Sunday morning... weather permitting.

I could have predicted it. As a matter of fact, I think I did predict it. About 4:30am a crack of thunder startled me awake... and a downpour followed. Hmmm, travel day... of course.  And the rain continued pretty much continuously until about 9am. The Northwest has been getting more than it's fair share of rain this Spring, and every few days it seems like we've had to adjust for it. (It's especially not fair since the Midwest has been dry as an Arizona desert... a serious shortfall in rain that has everyone concerned.) Checking out the radar and the forecasts... which both suggested conditions might be improving as the day wore on... we decided to pull the plug, fire it up, and go anyway.

So, by about 11am, we had things hooked and humming, hugged good-byes, and got back on the road. The route today was US-2 to Sandpoint ID, ID-200 to the border with Montana where it turned into MT-200, which we took to Trout Creek MT... our camp for the night. Miles for the day?... an easy 134.

The drive today took us around two sides of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced: pond-o-ray), the fifth deepest lake in the country. It's a big lake, about 150 sq. miles, and is believed to have been formed during the last ice age. A couple years ago, during our trip across the country on US-2, we camped at Riley Creek campground (COE) on the shores of the big lake.

We found this wonderful small RV park in Trout Creek... Trout Creek Motel and RV Park. The owners clearly take pride in their business, as everything is neat, clean, manicured, fresh, and every detail covered.  The RV park is almost like a campground... large long and wide spaces with fire rings, picnic tables, big trees all around, and all of it neat as a pin. As an example of the little things they've covered... I spotted a pair of reading glasses on the check-in counter which I learned were there for the benefit of people who come in to register but forgot their own glasses. The whole place reeks of passion and caring, and we loved it. Oh, it's a Passport America park too... so a great value. By all means, when coming through this part of the country between Missoula and Sandpoint, stay off the big bad Interstate highway... get over onto Highway 200, and stay at the Trout Creek Motel and RV park. You won't be sorry.

Under the category of  "3 seconds of excitement"... I think I saw a moose today. We were a few miles outside of Trout Creek when I saw it... standing right at the edge of the forest alongside the road... more in the trees than in the clearing. It happened so fast I couldn't say anything to get Dar into the game either. My first thought was that it was a horse... but it wasn't a horse. It just wasn't the right place for a horse to be. The animal was very dark and tall legged. It's head was hidden by a low tree limb so I couldn't confirm by means of a distinctive head or antlers... and it didn't move during the few seconds I saw it. I asked the folks at the RV park if moose are around this part of the country, and they confirmed they are. So I'm left with an uncertain sighting... which is still pretty darned exciting.

In a few minutes we're getting things running again and heading for Helena by way of Missoula. It's Montana's turn to have their Capitol visited by these two explorers.

(I'll add photos to this post in the next day or two.  Check back)

June 21 - Over the Cascades... and the Monashees too

Anticipating a big travel day, we had the big wheels turning by 8:10am. Deteriorating weather would catch up with us if we tarried too long and both Dar and I wanted the full effect of white snow-capped peaks against a blue-sky background during the drive today.

At Newhalem we were camped at 500 feet of elevation. There are two passes along WA-20 as we cross the top of the Cascades... Rainy Pass, 4,875' and Washington Pass, 5,476'.  They're about 35 miles down (or is it "up") the road and about 5 miles apart. So I guess we got some climbin' to do!

The bus-house was functioning as it should and made easy work of the task. We ran into patches of snow alongside the road at 3,500' and before we reached either summit it was a complete heavy few-feet-thick snow pack. But the temps were mild, the sun working hard, and water running everywhere... drips to trickles to torrents. And light traffic made being here all the more enjoyable.

On the way down the PAC brake (engine compression brake) got a good workout, keeping everything smooth and under control. Going down mountains without this thing would certainly be more stressful and much slower.

Along the way we passed through the towns of Winthrop and Twisp in the Methow Valley, then back uphill and over Loup Loup Pass (4,020') before dropping again, this time into the Okanogan Valley. Good roads and good weather continued as the route took us northward along the Okanogan River before bending to the east again at Tonasket.

At this point the Cascades were behind us. But another sub-range known as the Monashee Mountains lie between the Cascades and the Rockies, and we've got to climb over them to get to Spokane. The town of Wauconda was followed by our fourth pass of the day, Wauconda Pass (4,310') and some miles later the fifth and lass pass of the day... Sherman Pass.  At 5,575', Sherman is the highest year-round pass in the State of Washington. The road through here is a narrower road than what we experienced over the Cascades, and in most places, there is little or no shoulder at all.

All day long we saw bicyclists who were riding... sweating... pumping... up the same passes we were climbing. These folks have my admiration, but on narrow curvy roads with no shoulders, they seem to be putting themselves at considerable risk. I'm not planning to follow in their tracks... at least on this road... anytime soon.

Down the other side we found the Kettle River, a short river that drops out of Canada and feeds into the Columbia. The Kettle is un-dammed, one of a very few natural flowing rivers in the Northwest. A few miles later we stopped at a Walmart in Colville, WA., to pick up a few supplies and a fill-in prescription for some medication.  At that point we were only a little over an hour away from where our friends Julianne and Jimmy are watching over a property for the summer. A quick phone call confirmed they were there and a great moochdock spot confirmed for the next few nights. (Link to Julianne's website)

For the day, we did a little over 300 miles in about 9 hours, including stops for fuel/lunch and supplies. With all the slower than usual mountain driving, and the fact that we don't drive to set land/speed records, we thought it was an enjoyable and productive day of travel.

[check back... more photos will be added a bit later]

June 20 - North Cascades National Park

This is going to be an unusual report. I'm going to write about North Cascades National Park without our ever actually being there. We were close... made it to the visitor center... camped in the Park Service campground... could see mountains inside the Park boundaries... but never actually stepped a foot inside. You see, there's a several mile wide buffer along WA-20 that is not part of the National Park... I'm guessing an accommodation to the Seattle Light power utility that owns three dams along the Skagit River which the highway follows through the mountains. We consider this two night stop our "survey course" of the place, and fully intend to get back here to explore with more vigor in the future.

The Park's purpose is to preserve the wilderness and to provide back country hiking and backpacking opportunities for the public. It's very remote. Technically, there is one little unpaved road about 10 miles south of camp that takes jeepers to a trail head a couple miles inside the Park. But other than that, there is no vehicle access.

But the views are stunning... towering jagged snow-covered peaks, tall lush green forest, steep vertical rock faces with melt water falling everywhere... literally hundreds of waterfalls. The park contains more than 300 named glaciers tucked among the rugged peaks which, like most glaciers around the world, are shrinking due to warmer global temps. We encountered very few people compared to the frenzy common at other more popular NPs. The roads aren't crowded either and it was easy to feel like we had the place nearly to ourselves.

Today we explored by car along the Skagit River. The aforementioned three dams are Gorge (the lowest), Diablo, and Ross (the highest on the river). Each creates a pool used for electric power generation (for Seattle Light) and, secondarily, recreation. The pool behind Ross Dam is Ross Lake, which stretches 24 miles north of the dam into Canada. In keeping with the remoteness theme of the area, there is only one drive-to access to Ross Lake which involves an epic journey into Canada, hours of travel, long stretches on a gravel road, crossing the border for a second time to get back into the USA... just to launch your boat on the lake near Hozomeen. You can lug a canoe or kayak down steep trails to reach the Lake if you're motivated.

We learned of a floating resort on Ross Lake appropriately named Ross Lake Resort [link] that's rather unique. The only access to it is by boat, as it's built on large cedar logs and floating out in the lake. It's been here for many years, and peaked our interest as a get-away destination where you can really get away. There is no cell phone access, no TV, and only two phone lines used for running the business and for emergencies. The accommodations run from basic to modern... they do have electric power and fresh water.

It's possible to drive across Diablo Dam, and we did. On the other side we found the Diablo Lake Ferry, part of the transportation link to Ross Lake Resort, and the North Cascades Institute and Environmental Learning Center. The day we visited one of the dam spillway gates was completely open and provided some good photo opportunities.

I can't overstate the good feelings we developed for this part of the world. With much of our family being in the Northwest I can see a lot more time will be spent in and around North Cascades National Park.

June 19 - Into the American Alps

This morning, Tuesday June 19, we found a hole in the clouds, danced around a few rain showers, hooked up the toad, and headed into the mountains. The past few weeks have been much wetter than "normal" (whatever normal is...). In fact, the weather guy on TV said we had the full month of June's "normal" precipitation... the FULL months worth... by the 10th. And the rain continues.

The route today took us north on I-5 to Arlington where we caught WA-530 through Darrington and up to WA-20, which took us all the way to Newhalem. Once we got off the I-5 racetrack the drive was relaxed and agreeable... quite the contrast with the craziness of the big cities and three or four lanes of concrete full of traffic going 80 mph. We were ready for the change.

Other than knowing we have to cross the Cascade Mountain Range as we head east, I'm not very familiar with the lay-of-the-land in this part of Washington... and was a little surprised to find the elevation of Newhalem was only 500 feet. I thought we'd climbed more than that. The two passes we will traverse as we cross the top of the Cascades, just a few miles further up the road, are almost 5,000 feet. It appears we've got some serious climbing to do when we leave here on Thursday.

We first pulled into the North Cascades National Park Visitor Center RV parking lot so we could learn more about the place and see if we might fit in the campground just a short walk from the Visitor Center. The unusual thing about this NP is that the Visitor Center is not actually in the National Park, nor is the Campground, nor WA-20 itself. The National Park is divided into two units, north and south, split by WA-20 along with a significant buffer on either side of the highway. There is effectively no road access into the National Park at all... only hiking trails. It's wilderness... it's very steep and rugged country... and it's purpose for being is to preserve the wildness for future generations.

This is spectacular country. Some refer to it as the American Alps. These craggy mountains span the border between Washington (USA) and British Columbia (Canada). The Skagit River runs through Newhalem carrying rain and snowmelt from the peaks and surrounding high country... and this Spring the flow is strong. Back in the 40s and 50s, Seattle City Lights, the electric power utility for the City of Seattle, was able to gather support for a series of three dams to provide hydro-power for the city. The three dams are still operational and provide almost a quarter of the power consumed by Seattle-ites. The little village of Newhalem is a company town, populated entirely by employees working for the utility or the hydro project.

We found the Newhalem Creek Campground to our liking (lots of big trees, space, and few campers), and, perhaps more importantly, to the bus-house's liking (big paved sites, level, and no clearance issues getting the big old camper back to a site). So we snagged site 37, paid for two nights, and kicked back to enjoy a quiet evening.

Our campsite in Newhalem Creek Campground

Look closely... you might see a very relaxed bus-house driver.