Visit to a Paradise!

Thursday September 11^th found us on the road again but this time only about an hour south of Portland we took a short side trip east to visit with Steve & Peg Mitchell in or near Lyons, OR.  Steve is a shipmate of Dick’s from the USS Firedrake who has attended some prior reunions and had invited us to stop by and stay with them at their new retirement home in the woods. 

Were we ever glad that we took Steve up on his gracious invitation to at least stop by.  Now sometimes a GPS plays tricks on you and this was one of those times.  I had phone conversations with Steve about bringing our RV in to where they are located and after he checked we agreed that I would drive the RV to a golf course that was near their home and park in a lot there as he had made arrangements with the course so it would be OK.  Well, Pat found the golf course on her GPS on her laptop and off we went down what was quickly becoming a narrower and narrower road.  At one point the pavement turned to gravel but then back to pavement, however suddenly the GPS “Lady” announced “In 200 yards park your vehicle and proceed on foot”…well that was an unexpected surprise.  We kept on driving and the road did continue but the GPS said it had ended!  We were in the hills and valleys of Oregon and it was beautiful and very green even though they had not had much rain.  The river that the road followed was obviously very low, but VERY clear. 

Suddenly in all the dense pine and hemlock forest around us I looked to the left and there was a clearing with someone on a golf cart on a fairway!  We made it and were able to park just fine on the grass parking lot.  Steve met us and we drove back a couple of more miles to his place.  What a fantastic place they have.  It had been Steve dad’s place many years back. They have redone the “main cabin” which is their home, added two small fully equipped cabins, one of which is attached to his garage and one free standing.  Their deck is very large and the whole place is located in among many large trees, most of which are hemlock, cedar and pine and has that great fresh outdoor scent that only woods like that can create. The photos below show their home in the woods, Steve and Peg with their very friendly dog with the side of one of their cabins.  The another shows the great bear carvings that Steve has mounted to a tree near their driveway.  The next photo is of a huge 7 x 7 elk rack that Steve has mounted in their living room.  I can’t find the words to adequately describe the awesome way in which Peg and Steve have decorated their home.  Everything is just perfect for the setting of their home in the woods.

 Below is a shot of a large petrified log that Steve has just off from his deck.  Sorry I didn’t place something by it to give size perspective but it is about 4 feet long and about a foot in diameter!  Also a shot of the Racoon carving on their deck.

  

Here are two more snapshots from Steve’s. One is the scale model of the Firedrake that he had built and hopes to be able to bring to a Firedrake reunion.  It is perfect in every detail!  The other is a jacket patch that he acquired that is just so perfect I had to have a photo of it to include here!  A true patch of Navy Pride!

 

We took a short walk up the road to Steve’s cousin’s home.  Wow! What a lovely place also.  It is a large octagon wood home with a vaulted ceiling that is just beautiful.   We returned to Steve’s home and enjoyed a nice lunch that Peg prepared for us.  

After Steve got out of the Navy he went to work for Del Monte and just retired last year after I believe 43 or more years with them.  He worked his way up in the company and managed several plants and other great jobs.  When he found out that Pat’s dad had worked for Del Monte he insisted on giving her a Del Monte ball cap in camouflage colors.

I would be very remiss if I failed to mention that while I was looking at and admiring a great collection of bamboo fishing rods that Steve had displayed their home, Steve proceeded to give me one of his bamboo rods with two tip pieces in a case. He insisted that I take it as he showed me a large collection of them he had in addition to the ones on display.  I greatly appreciate it and will put it to use fly fishing in PA and hopefully elsewhere! 

While we would have loved to spend the night or several nights with Steve and Peg in one of their cabins as Steve and Peg had so graciously offered, we needed to move on to get some miles on toward going to Bob and Cherie’s tomorrow so after a truly wonderful visit Steve drove us back to the RV and we departed about 4 PM.  Steve and Peg, thank you so much and we do hope to return someday when we can spend longer and would love to have you visit us in Pennsylvania.

On to Portland, Oregon to see friends

Friday September 5^th, the day after our fantastic day in Glacier NP we broke camp once again headed for Portland, Oregon via a night in Spokane, Washington.  To achieve that in two days it took two rather long days on the road again.  The trip to Spokane would take us south in Montana from the east side of Glacier down around the south side of the park and right through the town of West Glacier that we had gone to when we crossed the park on Going to the Sun Highway.  The scenery was beautiful and we then headed southwest to join up with I-90 west of Missoula, Montana.  The roadway started to look familiar remembering that way back in 1963 through 1966 I had driven I-90 both east and west while attending the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho each time I returned to my home outside Buffalo, New York.  The trip from Montana to Spokane goes over what is called Lookout Pass and continues all the way across the state of Idaho to Washington State.  It was a strange feeling to go all the way across Idaho without stopping or heading south to Moscow!

We spent the night in Spokane at the military FAMCAMP located at Fairchild Air Force Base just outside Spokane.  We found that we were able to buy our meals and eat in the base chow hall where the active duty and reserve personnel dined.  The food facilities sure have changed since I was on active duty and each meal item was priced separately like a cafeteria.

Off again on Saturday to Portland we experienced the shock of leaving the mountains and all their beauty behind us as we entered the relatively barren lands of Eastern Washington where dust devils were common to see crossing the vacant land and plowed fields.  Our route took us southwest from Fairchild AFB down I-90 and US-395 to Pasco, Washington where we crossed the Columbia River into the state of Oregon and headed almost directly west on I-84 toward Portland.

The purpose of going to Portland area was to visit Dick’s old college fraternity brother and roommate George Branson and his wife Becky.  In an unusual move, we took the RV to an RV Park located on Jensen Beach Island in the middle of the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, left it there, and went to stay a few days with George and Becky in their phenomenal 25^th floor condo on the south side of Portland.  The condo has an amazing view of Portland and also the freeway system leading into and south of the city.

 

 Portland is a dynamic city that has been transformed into a refreshing and thriving metropolis with clean tree lined streets and sparkling buildings.  We spent three delightful days with George & Becky catching up on their and our many travels and families.  On Monday the 8^th Becky & George took us out to a really special treat for lunch at a Brazilian Steakhouse named Fogo de Chao.  We had never been to one before and we really enjoyed their famous and fabulous salad bar and Dick and George additionally had the full variety of fine meats that are served and individually carved right at the table.  Many thanks to Beck & George for that special treat!

Also we wanted to visit Pat’s cousin Corky Tennent and his wife Sandy in Kelso, Washington and to see dear Navy friends Ken and Billie Voss in Vancouver, Washington, both only a short distance from Portland so, after bidding the Bransons a fond farewell on Tuesday morning, we returned to the RV and then headed north to see Corky and Sandy. 

Much to our surprise in addition to Corky and Sandy, Corky’s brother “JD” and sister “Bitsy” were there.  Pat had not seen them in many years and it was great to see them.  We had visited Corky & Sandy a couple of years ago on an earlier trip but with Corky’s health failing due his colon cancer the visit was especially important and we greatly enjoyed the afternoon with all of them. 

From the Tennent’s we headed back south to Vancouver, WA and went to Ken and Billie Voss’s home.  Ken and Billie are very dear friends from back in Dick’s Navy days where Dick and Ken served as Department Heads on the USS Firedrake (AE-14) an ammunition ship deployed to Vietnam in 1969 - 71.  We have seen them frequently since then as we attend the Firedrake reunions around the country. 

Ken and Dick co-hosted one of the reunions in Vancouver in 2007.  We went out to dinner with them to a local BBQ restaurant and the next day we again visited with them and ended the day with a salad bar dinner at a Green Tomatoes Restaurant.  It was good spending time with them.

Glacier Park

The trip from Gillette to the East gate to Glacier National Park took us through a lot of open country both in Wyoming and central to western Montana.  Since I had traveled this country on several other occasions it seemed obvious to us that this year had been a wetter than normal year for this area based on the color of the vegetation and the status of crops along the way.  We delayed our departure from Gillette until Dick had made some bank deposits and picked up a General Deliver package that we should have remembered to pick up before the three day Labor Day weekend.  Despite the late start Dick wanted to push on and we drove all the way to Great Falls, Montana where we found a campsite at Malstrom, Air Force Base Gateway FAMCAMP.  A FAMCAMP is a military sponsored RV campsite that may be used by active duty personnel when making permanent change of station relocations and is also available for general use by active duty and retired military personnel.  They normally have utility hook-ups and charge fees ranging around $20 per night. Malstrom was no exception and was conveniently located just outside the main gate to the base making access easier.

Wednesday September 3rd found us with only a few hours needed to drive from Great Falls to our next campsite just outside the East side of Glacier National Park so we drove it more leisurely and when we got to the town of Browning, MT in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation we stopped to have lunch at the casino there.  The food was excellent and Dick got a nice two pork chop dinner for only $8.00.  Dick stepped up to one slot machine while we were waiting for our meal and he proceeded to win $35 in a very short time.  Of course after dinner we played the slots and for a change very good luck was with us.  Dick got onto one “Lucky Ducky” nickel machine and pulled out $350 from it plus hit some on a couple of other machines while Pat ended up $50 ahead as well!  Not bad for an unscheduled stop!  We then drove about an hour to reach the Johnson’s RV Park in St. Mary.  We had received a strong recommendation for Johnson’s from our good friends Jim & Bonnie Larson who had spent time there and we were not disappointed.  Our spot was on a hill with our front windshield facing directly across toward a nice view of the entrance area for Glacier National Park. We booked it for two nights at a reasonably pricey $44 per night with full hook-ups.

WOW!  We have been to a lot of National Parks and certainly many of them are beautiful, BUT GLACIER IS AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!  For practical purposes there is one main way to see Glacier and that is by driving the Going to the Sun highway that traverses the park on a more or less East West basis.  It is about 50 miles long with traffic restrictions that exclude most RV’s and towing due to very sharp turns and overhanging rocks.  At one point Pat had to fold in her passenger side mirror to be sure I didn't hit the rocks when we had to pull all the way to the right to avoid oncoming traffic! 

 

We had a glorious day to take our drive across Going to the Sun.  Hardly a cloud in the sky.  Of course our Golden Age Passports got us free admission to the park but the trip would be more than worth any entrance fee!  We had hopes to see the many forms of wildlife that the park is noted for, however we only saw on black bear soon after we got going on the road and then we did see numerous mountain goats up on the sides of some rocky slopes.  The goats were pretty far away and binoculars helped a lot.  What we did see however was the scenery!  There are not enough positive adjectives in my vocabulary to do it justice but let’s just suffice to say it was spectacular with views of the very rocky Rocky Mountains.  All I kept saying to Pat was that this is what the Rocky Mountains should look like in my mind.  The tops of most of them were raw bare rock above the tree line.  Our photos will try to give you a glimpse of what it is like but we really encourage anyone to come and see it for yourself!