Tower Falls

Tower Falls




Sasha and Cooper doing kissy-face. (Cooper is on the left)




This is the top of the Lower Falls. They didn't know where to go so they wound up at the overlook at the top of the falls rather than the overlook where they could see the falls. They really needed my help.



Larry and one other unidentified vet, lowering the flag at the Yellowstone Museum.



Larry and Marsha saying goodbye to Yellowstone.

Date: Thursday, July 23rd
Day: 70
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

Well today’s report is about same as yesterday’s. Sasha and I were relegated to staying in the RV all day while Marsha and Larry went out and had a great day looking around Yellowstone. Their mission was to see Tower, Upper and Lower falls. Without my supervision they didn’t have a chance of making it and they didn’t.

Larry said by the time they got to Upper falls time was running out. He didn’t seem to know why, but after reviewing all of the pictures, I can tell you they spent most of the time lolly-gagging and rubber-necking on the great scenery on the eastern side of Yellowstone. If you stop at every place that looks pretty in Yellowstone it will take you a week to get anywhere and that is about what they did.

Marsha told me that on the way back they stopped by the Yellowstone Museum and by chance it was about the time they take down the flag. They have a tradition here that they always ask two visiting veterans to take down the flag and Larry got “drafted.” Marsha thought it was so cool.

Sasha and Cooper really have a thing going now. Every time we get to go for a walk, Sasha heads for the door of Cooper’s RV. I heard Larry talking to Cooper’s humans and they said every time they take Cooper for a walk, Cooper heads for the door on our RV. Puppy love – its worse than all that Twilight stuff up in Forks.

Sasha doesn’t know it yet but her “date” with Cooper was the last time she will see him. Tomorrow we are on the road headed east. Larry said something about going to visit Gary Owen. Who the heck is Gary Owen?

Old Faithful

The "Old Faithful" Show



An Elk spending a lazy afternoon watching the tourists watch the elk.




Good thing we stayed home. When Sasha saw the picture she said, "Grrrrr, let me at him, I can take him in a hearbeat."



Lewis Falls



A waterfall near Goldengate







The "Golden Gate" trestle. Originally built from timber in 1888, this tressel cut the travel time to the inner park by over a half day.

Date: Thursday, July 22nd
Day: 69
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

Not much news today. Larry and Marsha headed for the park and left us in the RV – bummer. Although it wasn’t too bad; some guy came around every two hours to walk us and give us dog treats. Since Sasha was kept in her crate, she couldn’t bug me so I could catch up on my nap time.

Larry told me his primary objective for the day was to get to see Old Faithful do its thing and they apparently did that. After I looked at the pictures they brought back, I am sorta getting the impression that Larry and/or Marsha has a fixation with waterfalls. That seems to be the vacation theme. Larry said they covered about 160 miles looking hither, thither and yon and just enjoying the park.

If you are keeping track, so far they have seen a black bear, a grizzly bear, antelope, bison, mountain goats, deer and today they saw their first elk. Marsha really wants to see a moose so Larry found out where to go to see moose. Unfortunately it would mean that Marsha has to get up at 5AM. With that news she gave up on Yellowstone Moose and told Larry, “Take me to the zoo one day.”

As a side note, in the RV next to us are two King Charles Spaniels just like Sasha. One was a rescue and is still a bit shy and skittish but the other one, named Cooper, is 5 days younger than Sasha. Lets just say they hit it off. Sasha started flirting and it was all over from there. Sheesh! For the last two nights Sasha has gone over to Coopers to play for about an hour. I told her not to get her heart too involved because I just know Cooper is a love ‘em, Leave ‘em type of guy, but she won’t listen to me.

Larry said tomorrow will be a quest to see Tower, Upper and Lower falls. See what I mean with the waterfall thing.

Beartooth Pass

Date: Tuesday, July 20th
Day: 67
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

For pictures go to:
http://www.facebook.com/larrylaswell#!/photo.php?pid=30741898&id=1495071726

First thing this morning I had an avuncular discussion with Larry. I know he didn’t want to drive a 300 mile loop but Marsha was really firm in her position. I tried to explain to him that it was suicide to stand in front of the inevitable. He wouldn’t budge, so I told him he better have a plan “C” or plan to sleep under the RV tonight.

While on patrol, Larry visited with a few local people about Beartooth Pass and found that the unanimous opinion was that all the scenery was on the West side of the pass and all of the really bad roads were on the East side of the pass. As I explained to Larry, “Therein is the seed to plan ‘C.’ Drive to the summit, then turn around and come back. No matter what you do you will have to drive up and down a mountain. Why not drive down the side of the mountain with the scenery that you are already familiar with and avoid the really bad road on the East side of the pass that you don’t know.” Larry caught on right away.

As we were leaving camp for trip, Larry proposed the compromise to Marsha. She still would not commit except to say, “We will decide when we reach the summit.” Notice the use of the regal “We.” At Cooke City (the beginning point of the ascent, we stopped for some snacks and Larry bribed Marsha with an ice cream cone while selling plan “C” with all the grace of a snake-oil salesman. Marsha ate the ice cream but held her ground.

Believe it or not, it took us almost 6 hours to cover the 96 miles to the summit. This is 20 miles short of Red Lodge, 16 miles of which is nothing but switchbacks. The road up was not bad. Yes, as advertised, it had 25MPH hairpin turns, no guardrails, no shoulder and steep drop-offs and was barely wide enough for two compact cars. Oddly enough, it never had more than two of those things at the same time. The drive wasn’t that bad.

In the end, plan “C” won the day and we turned around and headed back the way we came. The return trip took about four hours. The travel times to someone who had never been there may seem extreme but we had several factors that made the going slow: This is a mountain road with a speed limit of, at most, 35 MP; There was road construction; The scenery was breathtaking and the scenery was non-stop; Every turn presented a new photo-op.

Larry was left speechless except to say, “If i had a bucket-list this drive would be number one.” Both Larry and Marsha agree that the scenic views along the way were over-the-top and that the drive was the most beautiful drives they had ever taken. Bear in mind that these are the two people who had raved about the Grand Canyon, Zion, Yosemite, Crater Lake, Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Peninsula forests and shoreline as well as the desert. They both agreed that none of those sights could hold a candle to Beartooth Pass.

Let me try to help you understand. The Beartooth range is the largest land area in the lower 48 states with elevations above 10,000 feet and the scenery is non-stop. Once you leave Roosevelt-Tower in Yellowstone, you enter the Lamar Valley. From there to the summit, every mile is filled with new and fresh vistas that takes your breath away: the scenery is an ever changing kaleidoscope of stunning beauty. This is not the type of scenic drive where you go and look at something like Crater Lake or drive along some scenic feature like the Crimson Cliffs in Utah. Each and every mile is a destination in itself. The beauty is stunning and its continuity and diversity is overwhelming.

During the ascent, you find thermal lakes above 8,000 feet, plateaus, high mountain meadows. You gaze down into cliff-bound canyons 3 and 4 thousand feet deep. You gaze across green lush valleys equally deep that are five, ten, twenty miles wide. Everywhere you look, sharp stony snow-draped peaks reach up to touch the clouds. At eye level, storm clouds formed in the Northwest and devoured peak after peak as they rolled across the range toward us.

There isn’t much more to say.

Tomorrow is going to be devoted to logistics. Larry has to get the oil changed in the car and in the RV. Marsha has to do laundry. We need to move the RV to another spot here in the park and Larry and Marsha have to go grocery shopping. Sasha and I need to catch up on our naptime. Thursday they will be back in Yellowstone. I think Sasha and I will be in day-care.

The Yellowstone Grand Loop

Yellowstone





Smoke from the fire



A helicopter just after getting a load of water from Yellowstone Lake



Marsha at Mammoth Hot Springs



Sasha and I watching the buffalo



Larry looking at a bubbling hot spring



Black Bear



Shasha wanted to know, "Is that bambi?"



Yeah, just another buffalo.




Grizzly Bear


Date: Monday, July 19th
Day: 66
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

It was a long but interesting day; we completed the circuit all the way around the outside of the Yellowstone “figure-eight.” A total of about 160 miles that took us about eight and a half hours. On the way we saw a grizzly bear, a black bear and dozens of buffalo. Before we left, I warned Sasha about the wildlife here: It’s big, it’s mean, and it’s fast – so no barking. As a result, Sasha and I sat quietly in the back seat the entire trip. Sasha did bark at another dog once but that was it. Nonetheless, I think Sasha and I landed in the doghouse for the day.

We were at Old Faithful and while Larry and Marsha were getting Sasha and me hooked up just enough craziness ensued for us to miss the Old Faithful gusher. Larry seemed a bit miffed and was not about to wait another 90 minutes for next “show.” I have a sneaky suspicion that for the remaining trips to Yellowstone, us dogs will be sentenced to doggie-day-care.

Much of Yellowstone appears to be recovering from past forest fires and as we made our way around the loop we got a bit worried about smoke we were seeing from time to time. Once on the Southeastern portion of the loop near Yellowstone Lake we could see the smoke clearly. Then we saw a helicopter dipping for water and later we saw fixed wing aircraft bombing the fire. I think they had it under control. I do believe that also means that the fire was started by some human, since the policy is to let natural fires take their course unless the fire is endangering human life or property.

Tomorrow, we are going to go to the “Top of the World” over Beartooth Pass to the town of Red Lodge. From here, Red Lodge is about 116 miles. Marsha did some research on Beartooth Pass. What she learned is that the ascent and decent over the pass was about 30 to 40 miles of 6% to 8% grade, on a narrow road with no guardrails and constant 20 MPH hairpin turns around hairpin swithbacks. This seemed to dampen her enthusiasm a bit.

Larry wants to go directly to Red Lodge, turn around, and come back over the pass. This makes the round trip about 230 miles. Marsha has taken a firm stance that she does not want to go over that pass twice. (She has a lot of spunk and is game for about anything, but I guess she has her limits especially when it comes to roads with no shoulders, no guardrails and huge drop-offs. I think she may have some issues with heights.)

Anyway, what Marsha wants to do is make a loop and drive 60 miles north to I90 and head back that way. That makes the entire trip about 360 miles. Both Larry and Marsha have taken firm immovable positions on this. Let me give you a hint: don’t bet on Larry. Larry hasn’t learned yet: he isn’t going to win, he never has and he never will. Stay tuned, I let you know what happened tomorrow.

Arrival at Gardiner, MT

The Roosevelt Arch - Original entrance to Yellowstone Park, built in 1903 at a cost of $10,000



Picture taken from our campsite. The fence is the boundary of the campground.



For only the second time on this vacation we had rain (the prior rain was on the 4th of July in Forks). Our reward was a rainbow.



More local residents coming up to the campground.


Date: Sunday, July 18th
Day: 65
RV Miles: 6,009
Location: Gardiner, Montana (about 600 feet from the Roosevelt Arch)
Elevation: 5,403

We left Missoula, Montana about 9AM and arrived here in the early afternoon. Gardiner is the Northwest entrance to Yellowstone and originally was the only entrance to Yellowstone. The Roosevelt Arch guards this entrance to the park. The Arch got its name because President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1903 and later that year he returned for the dedication of the arch.

Larry tells me that the roads in Yellowstone are set in a figure-eight pattern and tomorrow we will do the lower loop and see the geysers and bubbling pots.

On the trip here, Larry and Marsha chatted extensively about the trip. Larry is feeling road-weary, but Marsha isn’t. Marsha put things in perspective as she usually does. The remaining stops on the trip are here at Yellowstone and then it’s the Black Hills. Larry has been to both, so they hold no anticipation for him, but to Marsha they are still fresh and new; hence the difference.

They spent the afternoon and evening looking for things Larry has never seen at these two destinations and succeeded in making a list or points to visit that Larry has never seen. Looks like they will be doing some hiking in Yellowstone to get to points such as the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Yellowstone Falls and a few other places. (I think doggie day-care is going to be in Sasha and my future.) In addition, a road trip to the “top of the world,” considered by some including Charles Kuralt as the most beautiful drive in the United States and trips to Deadwood, South Dakota are now on the docket.

The Beartooth highway to “the top of the world” was described by Charles Kuralt as, ” This legendary section of road, part of U.S. Highway 212, connects the tiny Montana towns of Cooke City and Red Lodge. In between is Wyoming/Montana wilderness as vast and beautiful as anyone could imagine.”

That got Larry’s blood pumping again.

Glacier National Park

Park entrance



Marsha's passenger view of the shoulder of the road. Note the rear view mirror. I told you she refused to get out ot the car.



Marsha's passenger view of the road taken from the passenger seat.



Logan Pass



Mountain goats along the way. Sasha and I wanted to go say hi, but Larry just kept on driving.



A tour bus driving along a section of the highway known as the "Weeping Wall."



One of the views along the way with Larry taking a picture of something


Date: Friday, July 26th
Day: 63
RV Miles: 5,581
Location: West Glacier, Montana
Elevation: 3,718

Well Larry finally got us out of Spokane and on to Missoula, Montana. On Thursday, we drove up the West side of the Rockies to West Glacier, Montana. Today, I took Larry and Sasha on patrol about 6:30 (Sasha has reverted to waking Larry up at dawn every day – 5:30AM). At 7AM while on patrol Larry called Marsha on his cell phone to roll her sorry butt out of bed and get breakfast on. By 8:30, we had the car loaded up and set off for the park.

The primary attraction at the park is the “Going-to-the-sun Highway” up across Logan pass and the continental divide. Larry has never been on this highway but has spoken to others who have described it as one of the gnarliest mountain highways around. Based on this, Larry did not give Marsha the option of driving and he drove. He told me he did this because he figured it would freak Marsha out. Seems he was right.

The ascent up to Logan’s Pass was along a very narrow, steep and twisty road known as the “Going-to-the-sun Highway”. There was no shoulder and in places, there was no guardrail, but there was always a huge vertical drop off. Seemed like the mountains sides here were nothing more than near-vertical cliffs that someone managed to scratch a road into. The scenery was, as expected, incredible. Normally, this would have created a situation where Marsha would want to get out and take pictures every two minutes. Not on this trip: She refused to get out of the car – she wanted more room to walk around and less drop-off to worry about.

Larry was initially planning to go to Logan’s Pass, then turn around, and head back. To give you an idea how spooked Marsha was of the highway, she convinced him to keep going to the East side of the Park. She did not want to go back down that road. The eastbound descent to East Glacier was a lot easier than the ascent to Logan’s Pass.

Once Marsha decided to keep going, the only way home was to drive about 90 miles back to West Glacier along US Route 2 (it was 30 miles if they would have just gone back down the mountain the way they came).

Along the way, we went through, East Glacier, an old railroad town build around a grand lodge also built by the railroad for tourists about 1900. The engineering and structure of the lodge fascinated Larry; Marsha wanted to take pictures of the flowers out front. We stopped there for lunch. A chattering Magpie in the tree above the picnic table fascinated me and Sasha found a dead bird that she wanted to play with.

Tomorrow, we drive back to Missoula for the night and then it is on to Yellowstone. Larry discovered that all of the campgrounds in and around Yellowstone were booked solid, but he did find one spot in a campground in Gardiner, Montana just about 5 miles north of the north entrance to Yellowstone.

Victoria and Mt. Rainier

The Port Angeles to Victoria Ferry - The Coho



Marsha watching the Washington Shore getting farther away



Larry enjoying the voyage



Marsha on the grand staircase in "The Castle"



Wierdness in Victoria - Darth Vader playing a violin?

Date: Thursday July 8th
Day: 55
RV Miles: 4,763
Location: 13 Miles Southwest of Port Angeles
Elevation: 158

Even though this blog describes the events of July 8th, it is being written in Spokane, Washington on July13th after a two day medical hold on the vacation. It seems that Sasha and I had a day from hell and then Larry and Marsha landed us in the campground from hell. Larry and I both wound up laid up.
Read on and I will explain.

On Thursday Larry and Marsha set off on the Ferry Coho to visit Victoria, British Columbia for a few hours. Larry is an old hand at this big boat on blue water stuff but it was all new for Marsha, the ship rock’n and roll’n and the ship blasting its horn tickled Marsha to death. According to Larry she giggled her way across the straight from Port Angeles to Victoria. Once there they spent five hours walking the town and going to two tourist venues, “the Castle” and a place called “Miniature World.”

Marsha enjoyed "The Castle" the most. The grand staircase was four stories high and was solid wood paneling all the way up. She must have taken a hundred pictures of all of the antique furniture.

While in Victoria, they dropped Sasha and me off at a doggie day-care. So far this has been a pretty good plan and Sasha and I have generally enjoyed getting to know other dogs. This place, however, turned out to be different. The place looked nice but Sasha and I had to stay in crates for over 10 hours, something Larry and Marsha didn’t figure out until they picked us up. For Sasha and I, it was the day from hell, and then it seems 48 hours later I got sick, probably from a bug I picked up there.

Friday July 9th we drove south to be near Mt. Rainier our next destination. It seems there are many lakes near Mt. Rainer with some pretty good fishing. It being Friday with good weather predicted for the weekend, all of the campgrounds near Mt. Rainier were full except one in Eatonville. Hereafter referred to as the campground from hell.

The Campground from Hell was on a little dinky lake that had every inch of shoreline taken up with resorts or marinas of some kind. The RV parking was extremely cramped with only 14 feet between RV sites (our RV is 10 feet wide if you include the mirrors). Most of the RV in the Campground from Hell were there permanently and some of them were owned by the campground and rented out on a daily or weekly basis. We had to have water run to our camper though a regular garden hose, and the electricity service was barely enough to run the air conditioner (it was over 90 degrees in Eatonville). But ,I think the thing that characterizes the campground more than anything was the fight.

A fight ensued between a husband and wife (with 3 kids) and the camp management in an adjacent RV site. They had rented a 20 foot camper, hadn’t paid the rent and were evicted forcibly the day before. They returned and move right back in and . . . well a fight broke out with police and everything. It was like watching the TV series “Cops”

Entrance to National Park on a crowded Saturday

Mt. Rainier from 25 miles away

Problem: The closer you get to the mountain the harder it is to get a picture of it.



Marsha and the Mountain (Note she has revived the floppy hat - no wind)



Larry taking the previous picture


Well we got to Mt. Rainier and then got the heck out of Eatonville on Sunday the 11th. Getting out of Eatonville is how Larry hurt his back. Because of the way we had to park in the Campground from Hell, we had to unhook the car tow dolly and put it in a spot that had real spongy ground. When Larry went to swing the tongue around so he could hook it back up to the RV, the wheels had sunk into the soft ground. This made it really hard to move the tow dolly. Larry got it moved but threw his back out in the process.

By the time we go to Spokane, Larry’s back was killing him and it was clearly obvious that I was way under the weather. As soon as we got to Spokane, Larry and Marsha they took me to the doctor who gave me some antibiotics and a special diet. The next day, Monday, Larry and I cratered. Today we are feeling better and tomorrow, (Wednesday) we will move on to our next destination, Glacier National Park. We have two days of traveling to get there, so it will be Friday before we visit the park.