...to Portland, Oregon

[Please note that I've posted additional pictures on the previous "... To Miles City" blog]


And now . . .



Started the long ride home to Oregon.... Now that we've hit the fun spots we wanted to see, it's just sort of a long ride through some pretty awesome scenery. Taking a deep breath we journeyed onward. Saw a lot of those little signs of Lewis & Clark, pointing the way.

First, let us digress a bit. Didn't really touch on some things I wanted to: Leaving Forada and before we hit our campground for the night, we stopped for lunch in Valley City, ND, where my dad, Bob Benzinger, grew up. We went to Chautauqua Park that was on the banks of a river and there was this huge train trestle spanning it and while we were there this big long train came by. Noisy, big, awesome!

The place we stayed that night was this little town called Dawson and I was afraid for a while that we had landed right smack dab in the middle of the "Twilight Zone". We drove into town, pop. 75. Not a creature was stirring. No dogs, no cats, no birds, no people! Parked and got out of the car by the "Information Center". Went in. No one there, just printed material about the area. Went to City Hall, locked door. Still no one in sight. Went to the town museum, doors opened, we went in, looked around, but still, not a soul. Walked across the street where there was a gas station, grocery, and cafe - went into the grocery and finally, there was a clerk on duty. Did I mention she reminded me of Kathy Bates in Misery? . . . . Just kidding! She told us where the campground was and after we set up we walked back to town and found more people in the local bar where we sat, drank a couple of beers and played Jeopardy.

After a good night's sleep at Dawson, North Dakota we went on through to Butte, Montana and then through a little town called Anaconda, where they once mined a lot of copper. There is this cool smoke stack still standing - http://www.anacondamt.org/photos.htm - and where we found a really good restaurant the last time we went through. This time we didn't stop to eat but drove another route through Shalkaho Pass, which was a little risky for us in the travel trailer as we didn't know what to expect with 20 miles of gravel road promised on the map. But, what the hey, we'd taken the Casita up to the Arctic Circle, remember? Couldn't be worse than that! Just before we hit the gravel road we drove by a place called Gem Mountain, where you can mine sapphires. Of course, we didn't make up our mind that we HAD to stop until we'd gone a half mile down the road. Les good naturedly turned around - no easy feat with the trailer, don't ya know. So we went back to Gem Mountain - http://www.gemmtn.com/ - and bought two buckets of dirt - it took me around three hours to get around 65 sapphires, with some help from Les, of course. There were six of the quality and size that you could send away to facet and give a heat treatment to bring out their color and for a mere $150.00 they'd be glad to send it away to have it done. Didn't do it - but it was sure fun to go through those buckets of dirt and find them! That night we camped at a primitive campsite just outside Hamilton, MT. Beautiful, but liberally sprinkled with mosquitoes.

We then went on to visit with Ken and Patti. These are people who we met up in last year in Denali National Park in Alaska. Camped with them there and then when we got to the Arctic Circle, lo and behold there they were! In parting we exchanged addresses and phone numbers and invitations to visit each other if we got a chance.... well, guess this teaches them a lesson as I called them a couple of weeks ago and asked if they were going to be home about the time we'd be passing pretty close to where they live in Montana. They said come on down! (or over as case may be). We stayed overnight at their home in the mountains of Montana where they have the sweetest set up! An awesome view of the mountain and valley, a lovely home they built there, two RV hook ups for friends that "just happen to be passing through" (even a couple of dump stations which are very important), and peace and quiet! They showed us a good time and we, somewhat reluctantly, left the next morning. After all, Oregon was calling to me.

We drove down Lolo pass, which is one of the prettiest stretches of roads between Wichita and Portland. Lewis and Clark couldn't have picked a more picturesque route if they'd tried. We stayed overnight in Kamiah, ID, we've stayed here before and were once again very happy with the accommodations.

Headed on out to Pendleton, OR, then decided to cut on over to Walla Walla, WA, instead. I realized we'd be going right by The Whitman Mission - which you history buffs know to be where the Whitman Massacre took place. We decided to stop there for lunch and I walked the grounds. During my early years of avid reading I'd read a lot about the fur trappers, the Oregon Trail and the early settlers of the Pacific Northwest, of which Narcissa and Marcus Whitman was a significant part of. The tracks you see in this picture is actually part of the Oregon Trail, even after all this time the ruts warn into the land were so deep they can still be seen today. The hill behind me is a place where Narcissa would climb to watch for her husband to return from his journeys.

While I had thought we would stop in Pendleton or Boardman for an overnight stay, Les decided to go ahead and run on into Portland. So we arrived in Portland on July 28th. We are glad to be able to stay put for a while.

So far we've had a nice visit with the family. Ava's growing like a weed, but very shy. Skyler is continually busy, Lynda & Justin are doing a great job with them and have opened up their carport with it's RV space for us. Granddaughters Casey and Carey were staying with Lynda when we arrived, so we had the bonus of seeing them for a few days. We've seen my sister, Sheila, her husband, Glen, their daughter, Andrea - Les helped with the building of their fence. Went to see my sister, Ronda, but didn't get to see her, but did spend some time with her husband, Del, and their youngest daughter, Amber. Also missed getting to see my dad when we went to Colton. I took a quick trip in to see my friends at work, at Kaiser Permanente, spent and evening and then a whole day with Vala, took my son, Patrick's girls, Casey and Carey over to him and are planning our camping trip with them - Patrick, his fiancee, Traci, and her son, Tyler, and of course, Patrick's daughters, Cory, Casey, and Carey - Patrick's son, Coty, will be on another camping trip so won't be there with us. Yesterday my oldest granddaughter, Hope, and her boyfriend, Maxx, arrived for a visit with her Oregon relatives.... How's that for timing? Haven't called a lot of people I need to, to make arrangements for visits, but we have to firm up some other plans before I make those calls. Yes, we are a bit busy while here in Portland.

I can see where there still needs to be a couple of more pictures posted so guess I'll be adding more pictures later! I've waited too long in posting this blog as it is! :-)

There will probably be something of a break in the blogs now for awhile. We should be in Portland until after my son's wedding on September 14th.

Take care all!

Joy
& Les

(Les' Readers Digest Version)

-Drove across North Dakota. West ND is a bit like western Kansas.
-Flat, hot, and dry.
-Drove across Montana. Dern, Montana is a wide state.
-Visited with Ken and Patti, in Stevenville Montana. We'd meet them in Alaska last year. They have 10 acres in the Mountains. With the nicest, private, RV set up I've seen. Room for Two friends or relatives with Elect, Water, and sewer.
-Good people and a good time.
-Drove across Oregon to Portland. Bought an annual fishing license for Oregon. $83.
-Fish stories are expensive, lies are cheap.
-Did I mention, we drove, and Drove, and DROVE.
-It's a long way from Lake Huron to Portland.

les,