Lost (and found) in America

We're driving across the middle of Montana. Big open sky that makes you feel small – in a good way.  

Feeling small under the big sky at Hungry Horse

For the recap:

From Idaho, we crossed the continental divide and descended into Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We had a beautiful campground on Lower Slide Lake in the national forest outside Grand Teton NP. Stayed there a few days while we took care of business in town (laundry, etc.) and visited the national park. Then we drove through Grand Teton NP to another remote campsite (had to cross a small brook to get there) right outside Yellowstone NP. Spent a couple of days there visiting the park and then emerged on the north side in Montana. We then decided that Glacier country would be worth a visit after all, and headed a few hundred miles further north. It was! Stayed over a week at a national forest campsite on Hungry Horse Reservoir. From there, we visited Flathead Lake, Whitefish and Kallispell, and the west side of Glacier NP. Meanwhile, Matthias caught a fish and we found mushrooms – both were delicious! And Matthias was also delighted to find enough firewood to make big fires for us each night.

Grand Teton from the road to our campsite

When in Montana...

Leaving Hungry Horse, we headed over the Marias Pass (the Contential Divide once again) to the Glacier NP campsite at Two Medicine Lake. Being the end of the season, it wasn't too crowded, so it was a great base for exploring the east side of the park, and visiting the Blackfeet Reservation.

Two Medicine, Glacier NP

Blackfeet Reservation

Lost:

We are enjoying life in the travel trailer – it's really not roughing it at all – with all the conveniences of a heater, stove, fridge, bathroom and a comfy bed. But I am literally (make that figuratively) LOST without internet connectivity! Okay, I suppose it's a good exercise trying to live without it (sort of like that crazy month I gave up alcohol), but it is seriously annoying. We do get wifi when we're in towns or doing laundry, but by that time I've got so much on my list (bills, travel planning, backing up photos, etc.) that I don't get to do the fun stuff. Luckily, I can download email to read later – but who's using email anymore? And what am I missing on Facebook and Instagram?? Who's changed their status to engaged, married or single, had a birthday or changed their profile photo?? Who's had a delicious-looking meal and whose kid did something cute? I may not post (hardly ever) or “like” things too much – but I was always looking! I can't even post a photo on Instagram without updating the app (and I never have the time with my brief wifi encounters). Note to my two or three followers – please forgive me! On the bright side, I haven't heard or read anything about the presidential campaign in over two weeks. Is what's-his-name still running? Ha, ha – I don't care!

New use for old lunch bag - Mushrooms!

Found:

Nature! So far we've seen whales, salmon, deer, elk, pronghorns, bison (galore), mountain goats and MOOSE! Matthias is still seeking the elusive bear, and though one of our campsite hosts showed pictures of a black bear that came through our campsite while we were there, we haven't witnessed any.

Campsite visitor

Country Music! Even though we have a Sirius radio trial that's great when there's no local signal, I'm so enjoying discovering country music on the local radio stations. Songs have super-fun topics like being drunk on a plane or how money ca
n't buy everything (but it can buy me a boat)! And the songs are seriously catchy and have me singing along in the car (poor Matthias)!

View from the trailer at sunrise

The Wire!! One of the best shows EVER! I've got through season four (please tell me there's at least another or two!) and have been watching one episode or so a night. Everyone needs to see this, and soon – the tech is dated as the series is more than ten years old – but the drama is timeless.

Late-breaking wifi-enabled update:  We just stopped in Buffalo, Wyoming for our night out. I had my sights on Sheridan, because Linda and I stopped there many years ago as there was a free campsite in the middle of town. Well, the free campsite is no more, so Matthias and I headed down the highway a few more miles, found a campsite in Buffalo (not free) and headed out for our very belated anniversary outing (way overdue – we haven't been out since we left Portland!) And we weren't disappointed. Spoke with locals, heard some down home jams, and ate decent food. Sweet.

Bank of Buffalo

Occidental Hotel and Saloon 

And now I'm enjoying wifi at our campsite. Now I've got to read a month's worth of Facebook feeds (by the way – the radio just reported, or made fun of, the fact that FB was down the other day. Ha!!)

Link to next post - What's the Matter with Kansas

Pictures worth more than words

...and easier.  See link to the right for pictures from our X-America trip so far (not very far at all).  We've been on the road for over a month but are about a day's drive from Portland - in Hungry Horse (near Glacier NP) Montana!  I've lost track how many times we've crossed the continental divide, but we just can't seem to leave the Northwest.

Still having a blast!

Out of the Frying Pan

We left Portland almost a month ago and we've only made it to Idaho. We started off by heading up to central Washington and then over to Seattle to meet Matthias' parents. We spent just over a week with them around the Puget Sound, Olympic Peninsula and back to Portland. Some stressful moments but a good visit overall. Now we're on our own with about two months to get to Florida.

Family Photo in Olympic NP

Matthias and his dad in Anacortes

 We took a bit of a detour, opting not to go to Glacier National Park because of the fires. We probably could have made it, but when I called one of the campsites where we wanted to stay and asked about the fires, the response was “well, there's smoke and high winds today – try calling again tomorrow. But don't worry about finding a place, there's plenty.” That, plus a town in Montana near one of the other campsites I wanted to stop at was being evacuated. Not sure we made the right decision, but here we are.

Instead, we headed toward the Wallowa mountains, stopping at a nice site outside La Grande where we caught our first glimpse of wildlife (Elk!) and took care of laundry, propane, etc. Our next stop was Wallawa Lake, which was nice and then along the Wallowa Scenic Loop to a national forest campsite recommended by the welcome center guy in Joseph, Oregon. Next day, our second wildlife encounter and huge highlight on the Indian Crossing trail – spawning salmon at blue hole! The hike was great, too, and we were the only ones on the trail, even though it was the Friday before Labor Day. Even the ranger we met afterward at the trailhead was surprised. I said maybe people didn't want to camp if they couldn't have a fire (campfires were banned so we didn't get to have one yet) but she replied that as of the night before, fires were permitted in established campsites. Of course, we raced back to our campsite, gathered wood and started a fire. And then, as if on cue, it started to rain. Well, I sat by the fire and cooked my spud in it anyway, dammit!

By the Blue Hole in the Wallowa Mtns - think this will be my new FB photo!

Next day, we set off for Idaho, and even though it was Labor Day weekend, we hoped the campsites would be available there as well. We checked a couple up in the mountains in the Boise National Forest but they were full. Fortunately, the host of one of them told us about a nearby airstrip where we could camp for free (toilet and drinking water, but no campfire allowed). We were the only ones there!

On our morning hike at Warm Springs, Idaho

“We flew up to do some fishing”

The next morning, after a lovely hike, we came back to the airstrip to see that a small plane had landed. A woman and small child were sitting by the plane – her partner had gone down to the river to fish. In the afternoon, we walked down to the nearby campsite and hot spring, where I took a dip (along with lots of others – it being the holiday weekend) and then back to the campsite in time to watch the plane take off. Fab!

Take-off

We spent Labor Day (and our anniversary) at a riverside campsite in the Sawtooth Mountain recreation area where we could have a fire, and relaxed a bit before crossing the rest of Idaho, which we are doing now. Another night in Idaho and then on to Jackson, Wyoming!

Link to next post - Lost in America