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Saturday, September 14, 2019 - Casper, Wyoming to Custer City, South Dakota

     We left Casper from Motel 6 about 10:15 and went south on 25 to Douglas, Wyoming, north on 59 to Wright and east on 450 to Custer City. We found a very nice older motel decked out 50s style: the Rocket Motel. On our drive we saw miles of rolling hills: some with pronghorns and some with cattle. Lots of natural resource development: oil processing, natural gas, and nuclear energy plants, The day was sunny and warm,

Sunday September 15, 2019 - Custer City, South Dakota to Belle Fourche, South Dakota

     Today we left Custer City, a touristy old-western town, and headed to Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills are a sight to see. The rock formations carved out by wind, rain, and ice are impressive indeed! Mt. Rushmore had many vehicles going and coming from parking areas. After snapping a couple of pictures of the presidents we carried on and eventually getting ourselves lost on a very narrow and windy 2 lane road. The speed was 25 mph with lots of hairpin turns at 15 mph. We went through 3 tunnels cut out of the stone that sparkled with mica. I will say that it was an interesting drive. We finally got ourselves re-oriented so we could head north on 385 passing through Deadwood, South Dakota and on to 85 north to Belle Fourche. We retired into the Ace Motel run by a very chatty lady who gave directions for everything. Now some may wonder how or why we ended up in Belle Fourche. Well, we promised a friend that we would try and collect some quilting patterns for her from certain cities,

 

     Now an interesting addendum to our cabin in the woods on a snowy/rainy night. We headed to bed leaving the bathroom light on as a nightlight. Shortly after midnight a knock sounded at the door. Do we answer it or just continue sleeping? I have to admit that I was a bit nervous and slid down under the covers. Eventually the door was answered and standing on the porch was a man in his mid 40s so wet and almost freezing. He apologized for the disturbance but desperately needed a drink of water. He looked like he was ready to die. Giving him a blanket and an extra jacket he slept in our car. He had been attempting to walk from Cooke City to Red Lodge after being robbed and his truck breaking down. Checking the car the next morning I am pleased to say that nothing went missing and he left the blanket and the jacket.

      I also failed to mention that while dining at the Borscht Bowl in Grand Forks I made a comment to the waitress that there were a lot of places to sample various types of food and she agreed." Lots of food but you can not buy shoes" she said. We laughed.

 

Thursday September 12, 2019 - Top of the World Motel to Casper, Wyoming

        We drove to Red Lodge as the sun was bright and warm and the road was opened. The road made switch backs and climbed up to nearly 11,000 feet giving scenic views that are  hard to verbalize. This scenic route is one of my favorites. I would recommend this road for those who do photography and have the spirit of adventure. The road is narrow so take your time and use the viewpoints. We continued along 212 until we joined up to I-90 continuing east. I made an error and headed south on 25 instead of staying on 90. My plan to get to Mount Rushmore was now going to be delayed. The ride south through the rolling hills with golden-yellow grass caused some discussion  as we saw pronghorns grazing in the fields. There was a time when they were wild. Are they now being raised  like cattle? Or maybe they are used in canned hunting. I would have to be really hungry to shoot one of these beautiful animals. We arrived in Casper at around 4pm and found a lovely Motel 6. We spotted it from the highway but needed to put up our exploring antenna to actually get to it. This motel was very well maintained and had a number of disabled rooms with amenities. We chose to spend 2 nights here and after all the business was taken care of we headed to Red Lobster. Casper is a spread out city with slightly more than 55,000 residents.

Friday September 13,2019

       Today was a sit around day, rest and read and did some typing.

 

ordershorter essoufler

Hello,

Your order number No​. 1768904 for the amount of $ 2,459 has been de​bited by о​ur payment system.

You will find your bill and receipt here: http://f.storewarz.com/?tripot/6neeifddlqz404otm1p/58c61f5d-0db7-48e3-9517-16d59a57e83f/Kureuh.html

Thank you.

My apologies for not keeping up on this blog. Doing most of the driving I record the daily points and excursions into my daily journal and then transfer them here.

Tuesday September 10, 2019 - Missoula, Montana to West Yellowstone

     Today was a long day of driving with a view of cranes along I-90. Deciding to head south at Belgrade we fuelled up and bought some dinner items. The drive out of Belgrade on 85 went north for a few miles giving me cause to wonder if I had made a wrong turn. Eventually 85 became 191 and we were heading south.191 follows along the banks of the Gallatin River with some very picturesque views and some minor construction delays. We were both amazed at the traffic coming toward us but when we went through Big Sky the traffic ceased. Most of the traffic was coming from highway 64 which goes to a ski area. We reasoned that there must be some major construction up that highway. We arrived ay West Yellowstone at about 5 pm and after spending almost an hour looking for a motel that was not booked we found one of two remaining very expensive rooms at the Yellowstone Westgate Hotel. We learned there is no "off season" in Yellowstone so book you reservation ahead of your arrival. Once into our room we were both fairly tired and relieved as the stress of finding a place faded into relaxation.

Wednesday September 11, 2019  West Yellowstone to Top of the World Motel

     This morning we left the Yellowstone Westgate Hotel at 10:15. We did a drive through the park with a stop at Old Faithful geyser. It was rainy but we wanted to see as much of it as possible so we drove along the shore of Yellowstone Lake and eventually came to highway 212. My original plan was to stop for the night at Cooke City but once again there were no available accommodations so we set off for Red Lodge, but about 20 miles or so a truck stopped us and told us the road was barricaded due to  snow. While it rained in the valley it snowed in the mountains.  For those readers that have never been on this road it climbs to almost 11,000 feet. Well, now what shall we do? The closest city was Cody, Wyoming about 80 miles away, We turned around ready to head to Cody when we passed a sign " Top Of The World Motel". This was a quaint, old building that had 4 joining rooms in one building and a market in another. We got room 2 with all amenities necessary. We were the only customers there. With such quietness we went to sleep leaving the bathroom light on as a nightlight. I felt a little like I was camping; Falling asleep after a game of Scrabble I thought about our route out and hoped the snow would melt and we could make it to Red Lodge the next morning.

Today we saw Pronghorns, bison by the hundreds, coyote, and a big bull elk and his females.

September 6, 2019 - Osoyoos to Republic, Washington

     Leaving the Sun Beach Motel on the south side of highway 3 overlooking South Osoyoos Lake towards the US border, our trip took us east.  For some reason I have always been intrigued by Greenwood, BC, not just for the location for the filming of the movie "Snow Falling on Cedars" but the smallness and old western feeling that emanates as one drives through. There is a museum worth exploring but our stop was to check out property values as a future possible purchase. We saw 4 deer. Arriving in Grand Forks we found a lovely restaurant called the Borscht Bowl where I needed to rekindle my love of some Russian food - a large bowl of borscht. Topping up the fuel tank and getting some coffee additive we headed south on highway 21 crossing at the Danville border crossing following a lovely river through Curlew and Malo, Washington. The Danville border crossing had no Nexus lane but as it was we were the only vehicle there..It was a beautiful drive along the river past farms and small communities. We arrived in Republic and found lodging at the Klondike Motel.

September 7, 2019 - Republic to Spokane

     Leaving Republic, the county seat for Ferry County, Washington  we took highway 20 through Colville National Forest. We saw free-range cattle, wild turkeys, as well as streams/rivers while breathing in the clear pine scented air. It took about 3 hours including touring Division in Spokane before we found the Rodeway Inn where we plan to spend 2 nights. After settling in I contacted my relatives and we all met at the Golden Corral just a couple of blocks down the street. Having seen the ad on TV I was anxious to try it. Steak done to your liking and a buffet that would match any cruise ship. Delectable! but not on a weekend - too many people. What is a vacation for if you can not try restaurants that are not in BC.

September 8,2019 - stayed in Spokane

     Sunday was a day to see my niece and her son so we headed into the older part of the city where she lives with her significant other. They live in a remodeled old brick building. It is a loft but has 3 floors and is about as large as a house. They are not artists but she releases her stress from Social Work by painting and acting. The train runs by their veranda where she has an assortment of herbs and plants. We spent the afternoon and enjoyed her hospitality with wine, cheese and crackers. We then headed back to the Rodeway Inn. It was nice to get caught up with family.

September 9,2019 - Spokane to Missoula, Montana

     Left the Rodeway Inn at 10:45 and headed east on I-90. We stopped at Lookout Pass which is a ski area. What made this stop interesting was that it is one of three ski areas in the US where you can ski in two states at the same time. Lookout Pass sits right on the border between Idaho and Montana. After fueling up we settled in at the Travelers Inn which was not the best choice.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY AS YOU FOLLOW US AROUND THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

September 5, 2019 - Vancouver to Osoyoos 

      We left home at 10:30 about 3 hours later than planned with a stop in Chilliwack for fuel and Tim Horton's breakfast. While driving through Manning Park we saw a year old black bear crossing the highway. I could tell that the bear was in good health by the fur quality: lots of thick, black, and shiny hair. Pretty cute as he/she crossed the highway. Heading east along Highway 3 we were stopped in a 2 kilometer long line of traffic due to construction. Our first night was spent at the Sun Beach Motel in Osoyoos where we looked over Lake Osoyoos