Friday, September 26
We decided to take the Saint Joe River Scenic Byway through the Bitterroot Mountains along the St. Joe River. It was a gorgeous day. While Glacier and Banff were “magnificent”, “awe-inspiring”, “spectacular”, this part of Idaho is simply beautiful. If it only had an ocean, it would be perfect. We drove 271 miles today; the first half took five hours and the second took two. We drove from the campground to Saint Maries and then began the byway. Actually, we took a wrong turn and went about ten miles out of the way, but saw two coyotes off in the distance, so it was worth it.

Abner went for a swim and we grilled steaks.

Stopped for lunch in Lyndon, Washington. Replenished supplies and gas at a Safeway there. Back in the land of the red-tailed hawk. Arrived at our very nice campsite, Fidalgo Bay Resort, on a lake in Anacortes in the pouring rain. I got out my colored pencils and sketched for a while. Drove 111 miles today. 

Wednesday, September  24
We decided to forego the planned ferry trip to the San Juan Islands because it is still raining. We drove into town and visited a couple of art galleries and traversed the treacherous (in a 25-foot RV) Loop Trail. It was beautiful, and the rain stopped, but there were a few very tight turns which Jerry navigated beautifully.

We tried to stop for local goods but failed to find salmon, cheese, or hazelnuts. All the stands have closed for the season. Our route followed the mighty Fraser River through truck farms growing blueberres, endive and mushrooms. Reached the border crossing at 9:50 and finally got through customs at 10:30, relinquishing one lime and one apple to the agent (not like Chile, where they threatened to fine me and put me in jail for one orange).

Tuesday, September 23
Left the land of Sasquatch aka Bigfoot, described in reports as a large hairy ape-like creature, between 6.6-9.8 feet tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds, and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair.  Purported witnesses have described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the sagittal crest of the male gorilla. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell by those who claim to have encountered it.  The enormous footprints for which it is named have been as large as 24 inches long and 8 inches wide. While most casts have five toes — like all known apes — some casts of alleged Bigfoot tracks have had numbers ranging from two to six. Some have also contained claw marks, making it likely that a portion came from known animals such as bears, which have five toes and claws. Proponents claim that Bigfoot is omnivorous and mainly nocturnal. There were many carved depictions of the monster in the area.

Monday, September 22—Harrison Hot Springs

Beautiful lake. Pouring rain. Jerry left about 7:30 for his fishing trip, and I decided to work on the web sites, mine and Holy Innocents’. It ended up taking most of the day. Went out about 10:30 to see if I could get a spa treatment, but they were full (I guess the rain drove everyone indoors). The “Change Oil” light has been coming on, so I called a garage and made arrangements to take the RV there when Jerry gets back. The campground did our laundry—I forgot to give them our detergent, so it cost $7 instead of $6. Jerry got back about 2:20—fishless. He caught three. The first was a keeper, but a female full of eggs, so he released it. Then two very red sockeye, which means they aren’t good to eat, then nothing more. Went to the neighboring town and had the oil changed, then came home and went to the Settler’s Pub for an OK meal. Jerry had salmon, wild-caught, but not local. We will try and get some on our way out tomorrow. Had a beautiful sunset over the lake.

Turned south at Kamloops and followed Route 5 and the Canadian Pacific RR to Hope, where we turned north for q little bit to Harrison Hot Springs (253 miles today). Our RV site is right in the middle of this very touristy town. I selected it so everything is in walking distance The dock is just three locks away. We walked around and found where Jerry is to pick up his fishing guide tomorrow. I tried to make a reservation at the spa in the fancy hotel, but it was closed.

USA & Canada~Northwest Parks   Part 4.

Stopped for gas in Spokane and entered Idaho at 3:50. Found our very nice campground on Blackwell Island in Coeur d’Alene right by the river.

Thursday, September 25, 2014
Left about 8:45 and drove along the coast towards Seattle through the land of Indian reservations and casinos. Started to pour rain again and Seattle became a nightmare. It was almost 10, but the congestion was horrible. We eventually figured out that we could drive in the HOV lane, but it was still bad. We headed east on Route 90 for the first time since September 9. The Cascade Mountains are absolutely beautiful. I only wish we could have seen them in the sunshine.
The rain slowed down after the mountains and we had about ten miles of farms. We stopped for lunch at the Ryegrass Reststop, with good views of some of the many windfarms in the area.

Gail South

At St. Joe crossing the river became shallower and fly fishermen are everywhere. We stopped for lunch at the Marble Creek Interpretive Center where there was a very interesting history of logging along the river.
After 89 miles along the National Forest Road, we entered Montana for fifteen miles of very rough road (Abner hated every second), but it was beautiful.

After more miles, we re-entered farmland as flat and unchanging as anything except maybe the Sahara. We saw a small sign that said “Crop names on fence posts.” Apparently the Idaho DOT or Tourist Bureau had decided to alleviate driver boredom by posting blue-and-white signs along the road giving the names of the crops planted there. We saw potatoes, sweet corn, grain corn, timothy, alfalfa (a lot of alfalfa), peas and wheat.  Jerry wants to remember to ask Jerry Barnett if he knows about Grant County, Washington, which bills itself as growing more potatoes than any other US county.

Back on I90, there was a terrible accident with tractor trailers. Traffic was backed up for five miles and that backup probably doubled in the next hour. We got back to Coeur d’Alene to find all the main streets blocked for Oktoberfest. I wanted to look for star garnets, so Jerry parked in a lot and I walked to town. I did find just what I wanted and negotiated for a pair of stones I can have set in NJ. Stopped at Safeway for groceries and got back to camp. Went to the Cedar Gardens Floating Restaurant and had very nice meal—steelhead and sockeye salmon.

Saturday, September 27
Left about 9 in bright sunshine with predictions for a high of 76 and a beautiful weekend—not where we ended up. It started to rain when we entered Montana at 10:20 and moved our clocks ahead one hour and it didn’t stop all day. Got gas in Missoula and stopped at a Walmart there for cleaning supplies. Had lunch by the Bitterroot River and followed it, observing the results of the great fire of 2000. Up, up, up again through the fog to the Continental Divide, then down into Idaho on the other side. This was called the Salmon Scenic Byway, and would have been beautiful, if we could have seen the heavily glaciated, rugged Bitterroot Mountains. We arrived at the Broken Arrow Resort in Gibbonsville about 4:30. It was a dump, but Jerry was exhausted, so we signed in ($20 per night, but they had had a very good website). We had Mexican dinner in the restaurant. It was good, and homemade wildberry pie for dessert. I had a Negro Modelo beer and toasted Arnold. No photos today.

Sunday, September 28
Rained again, but not as hard until we were set up for the night. We drove south to Salmon, Idaho, where we picked up the Sacajawea Historic Byway. Sacajawea, an “Agaidika” Shoshone woman born around 1788, is known around the world as a trusted and valuable member of the famed Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. A lesser-known fact, however, is her historical tie to Idaho’s Lemhi valley where she was born and raised until the age of twelve. Captured by the Arikira Indians and forced to live among them in the Mandan Villages of North Dakota, Sacajawea would not see her home again until becoming part of the Corps in 1805. It was during this expedition that she would help Lewis and Clark find the Salmon River and revisit her people. This is desolate, desolate, desolate. No signs of humans for miles and miles, and when some small sign does appear it is meagre and sad. Red-tailed hawks everywhere.

Stopped to view the Wild Horses Monument. Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies is a sculpture of 15 wild horses that has crowned a prominent Central Washington hillside for more than a decade and is an inspiring sight for travelers along busy Washington Interstate 90 as they enter Grant County from the west. The 200-foot line of life-size charging horses, the creation of David Govedare of Chewelah, Washington, captures a mystical spirit from a time when real wild horses roamed the steppes.

Then, as we descended to the Yakima Valley, what a change. We were back to the wheat fields of Montana. I never imagined Washington could look like this. We crossed the Columbia River and drove through miles and miles of flat, dry sagebrush. The river itself was very low. Channel markers poked 30 feet up out of the riverbank.

Most of the towns here seem very poor, and St. Maries was no exception. Here the river is lined with cottonwoods. It is deep and still with mountain landscapes captured on a watery canvas. Saint Joes is the highest navigable river in the world.

Then we went up to the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research reserve, where there is a new interpretive center Devin James would have enjoyed. We had read about the Oyster Bar Restaurant and stopped there for a rather expensive but delicious lunch. We started with, naturally, oysters on the half shell. We each had one Elkhorn from Willapa Bay (firm, briny with a sweet medium finish), one Malaspina from Vancouver Island (plump, creamy white meat, mild, sweet and a bit briny), and one Malpeque from PEI (firm with lettuce-like flavor and a clean aftertaste). They were $3.25 apiece, the most I’ve ever paid for oysters, but delicious. The meals were great. Best of the trip so far. I had fried oysters (Samish) with a side of morels sauteed in butter, and Jerry had a haddock chowder and grilled Sockeye. Even the vegetables were good— a melange of roasted fall parsnips, baby Brussels sprouts, etc.  They had Kumamoto oysters on the menu, but they weren’t available (at $3.95 each) today. However, we found an oyster farm up the road where we got two dozen for $30. Jerry shucked them in the evening and they were the best either of us has ever had. Went to La Conner, an artsy kind of place where most galleries were closed. We did visit the Museum of Northwest Art, which featured three artists, one who made things out of discarded food wrappers, twisties, bottle caps and other assorted discards. It did make me glad we live close to New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Naples. The rain never returned and we had a fine view of the oil refinery across the lake at sunset. Also a big group of loons. Drove 77 miles today.