Day 13

Lucky 13.  Hope everyone has had a great weekend.  Today we rode the ferry to Seattle.  As many know, I just love the ferry rides! As we watched the wake we could spot seals off in the distance swimming and resting on the buoys. I did forget to bring my camera today so we only have one pic.  However, Kar and Kyl have both posted photos on FB.

We toured the Seattle Aquarium and saw some beautiful fish, some sea otters and even touched some star fish.  We went to the Fisherman for lunch and I had fresh dungenous Crab...the girls enjoyed breaking the crab legs and I enjoyed eating it! 

We taxied over to the Seattle Glassworks and watched some of the artists blow glass.  Then on to the Space Needle.  The Space Needle was built for the for the worlds fair and offered incredible views of Seattle with some clouds but also blue skies and NO rain! 

Then Kyl wanted to treat Karsten to one of her favorites...sushi.  A quick ride back to the waterfront, pit stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate for desert and onto the ferry again. 

It was good to see Kyl for the weekend and we will see her at least once more before we head out of town, but for now she is back on base and back to work.  We will be staying in Washington a bit longer than expected...more later.

Day 12

Crescent Lake 2010

Rick picked up Kyl early this morning !  She looks great!  She also says "hello" to everyone.  We debated over breakfast what to do with the day.  Rick wanted a less stressful day...the big city traffic is no fun and he was ready for a day "off", at least from driving.  We talked about walking around Seattle, but the weather was wet so we decided to take a drive to see a chainsaw carver.  Lucky me there was a yarn store across the street!  Great place with all kinds of things!

The day didn't seem to know what it wanted to do so we headed to Olympic National Park.  Just a short drive.  We could go to Crescent Lake, which Rick had visited many years ago with his grandmother.  He remembered how beautiful it was and wanted to revisit that spot.  Even though it was a cloudy day the scenery was beautiful. 

Even found some waterfalls. 

We drove through the rainforest and it is unbelievable how lush, rich and thick the foliage is!  I have added some "jungle" photos here but there are a lot on FB! 

Well, then only another 53 miles to Forks, where Twilight was filmed.  Karsten was excited to see that.  Now we are about half way around the Olympic peninsula loop, so we might as well finish it.  We finally made it to a restaurant for dinner about 7:30 PST and back to the hotel around 10! 

Look how big the tree is
 compared to Karsten!

Maybe we can take some time off tomorrow???

We are thinking of all our family and our "family" at WPUMC!  God Bless!

Day 11

Heron

 Along the Georgia Strait we found this lone Heron. 

Today was our first real day of inclimate weather.  It was rainy and dreary all day...but then we are in Washington on the coast.  Even though we did not have far to go, we spent most of the day driving.  We drove from Bellingham toward the coast and then stayed as close as possible to the water all day.

In one area there were there were eagles hanging out in the trees!  Not just one or two but four in this tree, two in that one...  Unfortunately, my pics didn't really turn out.

Keep Looking Up

Looks Like the Jungle to me!

We drove through and over some of the islands, along the Georgia Strait and took the ferry to reach Bremerton.  The forests here are very junglesque. 

We meet Kyl tomorrow morning! 



Day 10

Well, acclimating to the time zone changes has not been easy, as you can see by the posting times for the blogs!  We gained another hour yesterday when we crossed the Idaho State line.  So, as I type this portion of the blog it is almost 8:00 am EST but only 5:00 am here!  Heading for the coast after breakfast!

What an incredible drive.  We meandered our way through the Cascade Mountains and it was beauty beyond words.  Waterfalls, moss, color, mist... 

Day 9

We headed out early today to the Glacier national Park.  We could only go in about 15 miles as the Road to the Sun is closed beyond that point for road work.  The original road was built in 1932!  We saw some beautiful waterfalls and stopped at the Montana House. 

A quaint little gift shop that features Montana artist's work, including candy.  Pat showed us some work by a woman named Jean who has providing goods to the shop since its opening 50 years ago!  Yes, I had to buy some.  We also saw Montana Agates, which look nothing like our Lake Superior agates.  They were a translucent grey color with black spots and some had amber colored lines.  We never would ahve guessed they were agates.

Before heading back, we stopped at the train station for our National Park Passport sticker.  Rick ran in and who sold him the sticker?  A man who grew up in Green, just 6 miles from where we live!

On to pick up the tire...The people at Eisinger Motors in Kalispell, Montana were great!  They were very acommodating.  The showroom had a waiting area where they served coffee, tea, fruit and rolls.  Comfortable seating by the fire or you could browse their extensive auto and truck selections.    They finished early, charged less than the estimate, suggested plces to visit, encouraged our return for a longer stay and washed the car. 

We have found Monatana to be a very warm, kind, hospitable State!

Then on to Idaho!  We left Kalispell about 2:30 pm EST drove into Idaho and then north entering Canada at about 6:00 pm EST.  The sun was shining, the skies were blue and it was 53 degrees!  They still had fall color!

8:00 pm EST we left Canada via a road we were not sure was going to take us anywhere.  We crossed a one car steel bridge above the rapids of the Columbia River.  What a sight!  We made the border crossing just 15 minutes before it closed for the night.  The road meandered along the Columbia River between the mountains as the sun began its decent and it was still 52 degrees!

We were all tired even though it was only 5:00 PST now!  We continued along the Columbia River to Kettle Falls.  We actually drove through 8 or 9 little towns along the way and we were in search of a place to stay.  No such luck.  We had to head back east about 7 miles and found the only hotel, a Comfort Inn, for who knows how many miles.  We were able to get a room, but at an out of budget price.  Its a good thing we found some extremely afordable places earlier!  

Tomorrow we head to the coast.

Day 8

November 2 Sunrise

These first pictures are especially for my friend, Rosemary.  As we left Bozeman this was the sky!  While I know you see this spectcular sight often, as you know, I do not!  Isn't this a glorious sunrise?

We are winding and zig-zagging our way to West Glacier National Park.  Earlier I mentioned the beauty of Yellowstone and its natural reseeding after the fire in 1988.  All of the evergreens there looked plump, healthy and rich in color.  Now as we drive through McDonald Pass the greens are not so rich and there are many brown and dieing. 

Rainbow

Throughout the trip we have been blessed with rainbows!  Some peeking through the clouds and even one in its entirety! 

And we have even witnessed beautiful fall color.  Who would have thought that the yellows would still be hanging on this far North?

Tamaracks

Today has proven to be quite the day.  While riding along on Highway 141 as we watched the rainbow fade, the mountains to our right and left, clouds overhead with patches of blue sky and sunshine we began to hear a squeak.  Squeaks and rattles are the last thing you want during a long road trip. 

Just about the time we looked at each other and asked "what is that?", the rear passenger tire went flying off the car!  But, of course, God is good!  Rick was able to control the car and no one was hurt. Before we even had a chance to evaluate our situation, which included no cell service, two-not one but two vehicles stopped to help.  We were in the middle of nowhere where you would not normally find much traffic.  Four men, our own Lone Rangers, approached and took over.  They unloaded our trunk, crawled under the car and began the process of getting us mobile again.  They just happened to be passing by at the same time...A God Wink? 

Ron knew exactly what needed to be done and took the lead.  The spare release mechanism was rusted to the bottom of the car and while Ron and Ray banged, pushed, pulled and anything they could think of to set the tire free, Larry  drove in search of tools.  The forth member of these angels of the Montana Hwy 141 was a retired prison Chaplain.  Originally from New York City but moved out West in 1964.  His first words to us were, "You guys are Christians?".  When I replied we were, he said, "Yeah, I saw the fish on the back of you truck.  I have one on mine, too."  That means they stopped before our trunk was even open! 

I don't think any of the men were from Montana, but they have all chosen this wilderness for their homes.  And each one was proud to be part of a place where lending a hand is "just what we do".  We assured them that they would receive the same treatment in the U.P.  And, of course, we encouraged them to come for a visit.

Fall Color

After about one and half hours of working on the car they successfully changed the tire and sent us on our way.  What did we use for payment?  Ella's cookies!  Thank you Ella, my tin of cookies came

 in quite handy!

Our Lone Rangers/Hwy 141 Angels headed off.  We got in the car, Rick turned the key and all we heard was click, click, click.  Once again a vehicle pulled up behind us as we got out of the car!  We had cables and they were kind enough to give us a jump.  The car started!  Another god Wink?

On the road again in search of air for the spare as it was not quite full.  We stopped in a little tiny town called Orvando.  A friendly store owner provided a much needed restroom and air for the limping tire.  Now off to Kalispell.

In tradition with Varecha style, there are no tires at any of the tire stores or dealers in Kalispell.  So, the dealer has ordered one and it is expected to be in tomorrow...

Dinner and back to the hotel.  We are at the base of the West Glacier entrance of the National Park and plan to See some sites in the morning, then get the tire, repack the car and hit the road.  Hopefully to make the Washington border by tomorrow night!

Day 7

We had a fun day exploring Bozeman, Montana today.  One of the intersting things we have notice during the trip through the Rockie Mountains is that the area is very much like right where we live, except that we are "miniaturized" in comparision.  But we do have the Lake...no water here to speak of.  Bozeman only gets about 100" of snow each year!  More in the mountains, of course, but here in the valley not so much. 

Kar and Rick at Museum of the Rockies

So, we began our day at the Museum of the Rockies.  It was listed in the book 1,000 Things You must do before you die.  It was very interesting, a bit off on the age of the dinos, earth, etc. in my opnion, but a great display.

Man's junk becomes a replica of God's creation - bull

After touring the museum, we browsed Barnes' and Noble.  Then we walked the historic downtown Bozeman area.  Even found two knit stores!  No, I did not make any purchases!  It was great for inspiration!

And we hit a Border's!  Yes, I did find some books there.  Tomorrow we hit the road again.  Heading farther North to near Glacier National Park.

Two of the Dinosaurs



Waterall at C'mon Inn



The hotel we are staying at, the C'mon Inn, is really beautiful.  Below is a pic from right outside our hotel room!