Wild West day 27

We Arrived at Skyler and Millie's in Ashton, Id.

Wild West day 26

We woke up the next morning and continued on down I-90 to Clinton.  There, we took county road 102 through the scenery then route 348 over to Pittsburg where we picked up State Hwy 1.  We followed Hwy 1 back to I-90 and follow I-90 to Cardwell.  There, we left I-90 (I hate interstates) on State Hwy 2 through some more scenery.  The name "Big Sky Country" when referring to Montana is a legitimate moniker.

I chose the Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park for our next night because they would have electricity and a shower house available.  It has been a hot dry time for the area and A/C and a shower sounded good.

The caverns were apparently quite a draw as there were several RVs parked in the visitors center while their owners toured the caves.  And, lots of cars stopping in for tickets then proceeding on up to the caverns.  Joyce and I did not visit the caves, however.  We've seen rock drip before and besides Joyce can't walk far and Ditto wasn't welcome.

Once in the campground, it was apparent the main attraction was the caverns and not camping.  The campground, though clean enough, was a bit bleak in the hot sun. Shade was thin (nearly non-existent), so I put out the awning and we opened to door for some fresh air.  The open door did not last long.  The mosquitoes were a bit too friendly and we had to close up and fire up the A/C.  After supper, I headed down to the shower house just to check it out.  As I had mentioned, Montana has been suffering a drought for some time.  I guess that prompted better control for water usage because the sign said "Shower - $2 for 4 minutes".  I wasn't that hot or stinky.

Wild West day 25

At Wilbur, Wa, and after a wonderful meal served by the campground and after a good nights rest, we picked up US Hwy 2 and continued east toward Spokane and to the Idaho chimney.

Our next stop is Quartz Flat campground in the Lolo National Forest in Montana.  Yep, we crossed Idaho near the narrow chimney and here we are in Montana.

Another pleasant surprise.  We pulled into a rest stop and found this park hidden behind it.  It was a well kept park with very few campers.  Nice and quite...except for the Interstate traffic a few hundred feet away on one side and a railroad nearby on the other side.  But, neither were bad.  The camp host came by and used his satellite finder to help me locate where set my antenna.  Nice guy.  He visited for a while but then left us alone.  I think before the night was over, two or three more campers moved in, but none close to us.

Ditto and I made a couple of walks around the park, once to carry the trash to a dumpster and once again because it was a nice walk among the pines.

Wild West day 24

Nice campground (North Cascades Newhalem Creek National Forest), but leaving the campground was the payoff.

What a pleasant drive through the North Cascades, heading on over toward the Columbia River basin.  I was looking forward to seeing the Grand Coulee Dam, but was pleasantly surprised to see the Chief Joseph Dam first.  I wasn't even aware it existed and it's not a small thing.

 The Chief Joseph Dam is the 2nd highest power producing dam in the US and the largest operated by the Corps of Engineers.

From the Chief Joseph Dam, we headed on down highway 17 to the Grand Coulee.  Holy cow!  Two of the largest dams in the United States just a few miles apart!

What a day.  We have traveled through huge cherry and apple orchards all the way from the mountains to Grand Coulee Dam and beyond.  Then about 25 miles southeast of the dam we stopped for the night at Country Lane Campground and RV Park.  What a surprise.  Initially, it was just another place to spend the night located on our path through Washington.  It was a nice looking park though nothing special.  It was a husband and wife operation.  The husband drove around on a golf cart and he led us back to our site.  Then the unexpected.  He showed us a menu and said the park had "RV room service"!  What will they think of next?  Joyce ordered a hamburger (no imagination) and I ordered a chicken fired steak with all the trimmings.  Not long after we got set up, here he came back with covered hot plates containing our meals.  He set them out on the campsite picnic table on real plates with real flatware, salt and pepper shakers, the whole nine yards.  I don't remember if we ordered drinks.  So, we had a sit-down dinner after a long day and it was delicious.  Some time later he came back around and bused the table and that was that.  No dishes to wash or table to clean up. Outstanding!

Later we observed both the husband and wife taking pictures of a huge 40' diesel pusher motorhome across from us.  Later we were told that was the kind of motorhome they wanted and that they were soon to retire and be on the receiving end of campground services.  I hope whoever buys their campground can keep up the good work.  Ya never know when we might be through there again and if ever we do, you can bet we'll stop just to see,

Wild West day 23

Deception Pass was our favorite haunt over 50 years ago. The Deception Pass bridge was beautiful and the area around it almost mystic.  Located on the southern side is Deception Pass State Park where we stayed this trip.

Here's an interesting shot taken of my GPS while at the park, demonstrating the location next to the water.  The zigzagging white lines are the campground lanes.

The actual pass is the narrows between Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands.  There are actually two channels with a small island called Pass Island in between.  The bridge makes a couple of hops across the full pass. The following shots were taken from the small island as it offers the easiest access...and 52 years after we first visited the pass, we needed easy access.

Along the shore across from where we stand now is where Joyce and I would often go.  We walked down a mossy covered rock strewn path through fern patches and big trees.  Eventually, working our way out on huge boulders down along the water channel.  We'd climb out on the rocks and fish for Ling Cod using shrimp for bait.  We caught a LOT of fish.  When the tide slowed, so did the fishing and we'd do other things young newly weds might do in the seclusion of the woods. Hey! Where is your mind? We'd go pick wild flowers and gather pretty pine cones, of course.

Bridge over troubled waters

The tidal current that flows through these narrows becomes very strong as the tide sweeps in and out. We once watched a fishing trawler sit in the middle of the channel chugging away against the current, hardly moving at all.  Finally, as the tide slowed, it slowly picked up speed and continued on out to sea. In the following photo, taken today, is a boat laboring about where we saw the trawler in it's struggle years ago.

Returning lovebirds enjoy a sentimental journey.  What happened?!!!

We left Whidbey Is. taking the Deception Pass bridge to Fidalgo Is. and on to the once sleepy little town of Anacortes. It's not so sleepy any more, but we found the fishing wharves and docks we used to visit long ago.  In a parking area along the road was an interesting display.

Go ahead, count the lines.  The plaque says the tree was 970 years old.  I started to count them, but fell asleep.  Tree age lines are as bad as sheep.

We took hwy 20 on from there across the Cascade Mountain Range, camping at the North Cascades Newhalem Creek National Forest campground part way across.

Next stop, Grand Coulee Dam

Wild West day 22

On the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Is.  It was about a 35 minute trip for $41.00!  Well, it would have cost at least that had we driven all the way around through Tacoma, Seattle, Mount Vernon and then around to Whidbey Is.

On the way from the ferry up to Oak Harbor and Deception Pass we stopped by the Crockett blockhouse where we have been before...back in 1963.

Built in 1855, two such forts were built by and named after Colonel Walter Crockett on the Crockett farm during the Yakima Indian War.  This fort is the only one remaining at the original location.  Most of the original farm structures still exist behind this fort to and the left.

Love nests

The first was Triangle Apartments which was an old motel converted to single room apartments.  But, we didn't need much room then.  Here's a couple of photos taken Christmas of '62 in front of the Triangle Apartments.  My Navy buddy, Dennis Ashby, was visiting in his '55 Pontiac.  Our car was that old '55 white Nash in the background.

The second home was in Victory Housing, Navy housing. It was BIG!  Three rooms - living room, kitchen and bedroom. Oh yes, and bath. 

But, when I added a stripe the Navy said I was too high a rank to remain there. So, we moved to the home below.

Two things here. First, it's a beautiful house, but it was owned by an old widow woman back then and did not look so pretty as now. Second, we only lived upstairs.  In fact, we only had one room and shared a bath with some guy we seldom saw. The guy lived in a room (maybe two) in the upstairs area behind the right side gable. We had the room behind the shorter rounded gable. The kitchen area was in a corner and the bed rolled into a hole in the wall directly behind the small half-round window. If you pulled the bed out, you could see out the little window. In the photo below, the double window seen upstairs next to the chimney was our apartment. The eating table sat next to the window. A stairway lead up to the second floor from the back porch so we didn't have to parade through the old woman's living quarters. We parked our 1958 Volkswagen Beetle in the back.

We toured Ault Field, the Naval Air Station I was assigned to.  Much of it looked the same as it did over 50 years ago.  But, obviously, there were changes.  It sure brought back memories, good and bad.

Actually, there are two Navy bases there on Whidbey. Besides Ault Field, the is the seaplane base. Funny, I didn't know and still know the official name. We just referred to it as the "seaplane base".  Today, however, it is no longer a sea plane base. It now is mainly services for the sailors stationed at Ault Field, such as the Navy Exchange and Commissary, gas station and other stuff. It used to have the military hospital, but the hospital building is now part of a community college. On the peninsula just beyond the base is where the control tower and weather station was located along with the commissioned officers' housing. Today it is the main housing area for all married sailors stationed there. Sure looked nicer than our old Victory housing we lived in over 50 years ago.

Wild West day 21

We're still in the Hoh Rainforest campground, after a good night's sleep. It got dark before I could take more pictures last night. Here's Ditto and I checking out the Hoh River flowing by the camp. Here's what the campground looked like. It was a beautiful place with lots of moss covered trees. Then we had to leave the mossy wonderland and keep on trucking. But, on the way back out we had to stop at the big fir.   Joyce just loved standing there because it made her feel so small. I said, "feel"!!! Moving on, we made our way on up to the very tip of Olympic Peninsula to the Makah Indian reservation. My intent was to camp there, but we got there earlier than expected. So, we did a Clark Griswold look see, instead. Actually, there wasn't as much to see as I had hoped, but the tribal museum satisfied me. It was really quite an extensive museum. Unfortunately, they did not permit photos in the museum, just in the outer money making, trinket sales area. They did, however, have a real live dead totem pole. As we left the reservation, we passed the sacred burial grounds. We traveled along the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula to Port Townsend. Arriving unannounced, we had to settle for the local fairgrounds campground. But, it was cheap, clean and turned out to be pretty interesting. I was walking Ditto at the fairgrounds when this homeless looking guy came rolling by in a wheelchair. I spoke and seemed to have hit a switch on the guy. He proceeded to tell me all about his jet plane that was in a shop being repainted and did I want to go somewhere in it when it was ready. About then a dog came running up and the guy told me what kind of breed it was and how much it was worth because it was so rare. This went on and on for quite some time. I tried to be polite and, at least, appeared to listen. Then I looked behind him and saw a young woman walking her dog. She made the mistake of greeting the guy and his attention turned toward her. I faded away, leaving the poor woman in his charge. Later Joyce and I saw where he was staying. It was up in the corner of the campground. He had a couple of blue tarps tied down low and looking like small versions of Arab desert dweller tents. So, I guess he looked homeless because he was.