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Day 38 - Home again, home again, Jiggety Jig

Woke up to a warm, sunny day in Spokane at Tom & Deb's. After a large evening, no one was moving particularly fast but a stroll to the local coffee shop was in order. It is always nice to get in a few steps before a day in the car. This time, the walk was well worth it.

The Grain Shed is a Perry neighborhood bakery and brewery that uses locally grown Landrace grains. In the morning, it is a great place to find a cup of coffee and pastries and breads for breakfast. If you get there between nine o'clock and eleven, you will be serenaded by a group of local musicians who just like to hang out there. A terrific start to what would be the last day of everything. The last breakfast, the last time we lugged the cooler and bags to the car, the last time we set the navigation on the system to our next destination. This time we just punched "Home". 

Saying farewell to Deb and Tom, we drove out to I90 and the navigator said there were 273 miles to go. The road was familiar, so we didn't need to worry about what route to take or what lane to be in. We just enjoyed the drive. After miles of farmland, we began to see hints of the Coast Mountains in the distance.

After crossing the Columbia River and passing Vantage, WA, we were both watching for it - the big bowl of ice cream on the horizon. Finally, there was Mount Rainier beckoning us home. It has been 38 days of kicks and we are glad that many of you came along for the ride. 

280 miles today, 6671 miles in total - that would be 66 hundred miles, get it? Still missing a couple of license plates. We saw lots of trucks with Maine plates but no cars - maybe they just drive transport trucks there. We saw no sign of Delaware - maybe they all take the train like Joe. Here is the final tally:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

Our last book comes from the wonderful Marilynne Robinson. Home is one of her Gilead books. It is a story about families, the passing of generations, love, death, and faith. What more is there? And now that we are home, it is time to catch up with our families and friends. Thanks for coming on this journey with us.

Our final song is from John Fogerty. 'We just got home from Illinois ... doo, doo, doo, lookin' out my back door.'

Here is Lookin Out My Back Door, while you look at our back door. 

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin' Out My Back Door - YouTube

The Route 66 travels are over, and we need to take a week or so to settle back into a stationary lifestyle. But we have a few themes that we want to write about before we wrap up this blog. So, check back in a couple of weeks.

To date, we have had over 2000 views of our pokey little blog and nearly 70 comments. Whoda thunk!?!? Thanks, dear ones.

Day 37 - Through the Rockies to Spokane, WA

The second-to-last day took us from Missoula to Spokane - familiar territory. Heading west from Missoula along the Clark Fork led us deep into the Rockies then up, up and up to Lookout Pass on the Montana-Idaho border and into the Pacific time zone. At 4710 ft, the pass is not the highest on our trip (that was at Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, southeast of Santa Fe at 7500 feet), or even on our trip west from Chicago (5230 feet along Highway 385 in the Black Hills). But Lookout Pass is the highest point between Missoula and home and seemed a major crossing as our journey was nearly done.

Crossing the Idaho panhandle put us in the Silver Valley - a historic mining district that has produced 1.2 billion ounces of silver from the late 1800s to the present. A few mines (Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine) are still active. The towns of Wallace and Kellog retain some of their old-time character and are interesting places to visit and poke around. But not today.

Near the end of our 75-minute crossing of Idaho, we dropped down to Lake Coeur d'Alene (in the photo) and the town of Coeur d'Alene. What used to be a pokey small town had grown tremendously since we were last through a decade ago. Building stretched westward toward the eastward growth from Spokane.

We ended our day at the home of our long-time and dear friends, Tom and Deb Briggs, in Spokane. Although we saw them only a few months ago in Tucson, we visited like it had been years through several bottles of wine and piles of barbecued chicken and grilled vegetables. Maybe not the best preparation for our final day of travel, but friends take priority.

Only 197 miles today, and still no sign of Delaware or Maine license plates.

The book selection today celebrates what Washingtonians call 'the east side of the mountains'. Very appropriately that is the name of David Guterson's book East of the Mountains. The story is set in the Columbia River Basin of central Washington. On his last journey, a retired doctor sets out on a trip with his hunting dogs through this western landscape. He must deal with his memories, as well as life's mysteries.

We came upon this song on one of our days in the car. This is Us by Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler. I know some of you will probably get them mixed up with RnB, after all Roy plays the guitar - all I need to do is get a pair of cowboy boots like Emmy's. But for the record, This is Us.

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - This Is Us (Real Live Roadrunning | Official Live Video) - YouTube

Day 36 - Crossing Montana

We're starting to feel like the old horse headed for the barn - a bit more focused, a bit more hurried. But not hurried enough to stick to the interstate. 

We headed northwest out of Billings on Highway 3, then west on Highway 12 along the Musselshell River. This is cattle country - easily a thousand head along the way, contentedly munching their way toward the meat locker one bite at a time. All but one. A bright-eyed young Angus was leaning against the fence along the highway, watching us from one horizon to the other. Maybe this was just a case of greener grass on the other side, or maybe she yearned for the open road. The little towns along the way celebrated their ranching heritage. The Ryegate Bar and Grill had a large notice about the Testical (sic) Festival, held the second Saturday every June. We missed it by only 10 days - a sure sign of God's care for us.

Historical markers along the way noted the native heritage of this country. A poignant description of the movement of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce from their homeland in Idaho toward Canada ended with the crossing the Musselshell River and surrender to the U.S. Army after the fateful Battle of the Bear's Paw.

Even in our headlong rush toward home, we were still open for surprises. We hadn't planned to travel Highway 12, and it wasn't until we started that we realized this would be through Doig country. Before we knew it we drifted into White Sulphur Springs. I remember this same road when Carol and I drove it a few years ago. We drove down Main Street right past Red Ants Pants.

The Stockmen's Bar on Main Street is where young Ivan sat at the end of the bar drinking Orange Crush and listening to the language of the ranchmen and sheepherders alongside his dad, Charlie Doig. As we drove out of town, we looked at those hills that would have been so familiar to Ivan and his family. There were still patches of snow there and you could easily see how a freak snowstorm would ruin a man's chances. This brought to mind Ivan's phrase "here was I turned" and he became the writer we love.

Helena followed White Sulfur Springs and soon after Helena, we noticed that the rivers were running west. We had crossed the Continental Divide and were officially on the downhill pull toward home. 

We pulled into Goldsmith's Riverfront Inn in Missoula for the night - a pretty building that used to be part of the University of Montana. The description mentioned walks along the beach of the Clark Fork in front of the Inn, but the freshet was on and the beach was flooded. The next morning, the river had risen noticeably, so it was time to go.

Today's mileage: 337. No new license plates; where are you Delaware and Maine?

Lots of Ivan's books would be appropriate as we cross Montana, but we like Last Bus to Wisdom, as Donny and his new friend Herman the German traipse across the same country we have. Fortunately for us, their adventures made a better story than ours.

Time to listen to Old Paint, a song that celebrates Montana. We like Linda Ronstadt's version but could not find a live rendition. Just sit back and listen to her incredible voice as she sings 'she's going to Montana to throw a houlihan'.

Linda Ronstadt-1977-10-Old Paint - YouTube

Day 35 - This House of Sky (to borrow a phrase)

We set out under a bright, blue sky from Keystone, SD, through the middle of the Black Hills toward Deadwood, Spearfish, then, avoiding the interstate, north to Belle Fourche and on to Highway 212 through Cheyenne and Crow Country. What a contrast - the twisty, turny roads in the Black Hills to the straight-for-miles stretches out in the plains.

The first pit stop of the day was in Deadwood, notable as the place where Wild Bill Hickock was shot and buried. I had spent some time in the 90s just up the road at Lead, site of the Homestake gold mine, which was initially discovered in 1874 by geologists travelling with General George Custer. Until it closed in 2002, it was the deepest (8000 feet) and richest gold mine in North America, producing more then 40 million ounces. 

Deadwood also hosted gold mining, mostly placer, and became a center for mining in the Black Hills. Illegal town from the outset, as it was on land guaranteed to the Lakota, Deadwood was rife with shootings and other lawlessness. Today Main Street maintains its frontier facade, although the nearby Hilton and Marriott hotels are clues that the facade is thin.

Spearfish straddles I90 on the north edge of the Black Hills, and just north of that is Belle Fourche, which, unbeknownst to us, is the geographic center of the nation. There are subtleties to this designation; Lebanon, KS, claims to be the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states, and Rugby, ND, is the geographic center of North America. The monument in the middle of Belle Fourche is not on the exact centroid, which is 20 miles away in a farmer's field, but the advantages for tourism overwhelmed scientific accuracy. We gassed up and zoomed on by.

Not far after Belle Fourche, we crossed about 20 miles of the northeast corner of Wyoming and doffed our hats toward Liz Cheney. Into Montana, we passed the Stoneville Saloon in Alzada near the Little Missouri River, advertising cheap drinks and lousy food. We took their word for it and zoomed on by.

Driving through southeast Montana was wonderful. Although this picture seems to show the country is pancake flat, it isn't.  We drove through coulees, some with layercake rock bluffs, and dozens upon dozens of miles of rolling country clad in lush spring-green grass and wildflowers. Montana is cattle country, according to the road signs, and there were plenty of black Angus, white-faced Herefords, some bulky white Charolais, and even a few flocks of sheep. As in so many days before on this road trip, the land was beautiful and bountiful, and the sky was overwhelming.

As a fitting bookend to a day that started in Custer, SD, we drove past the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument just where Highway 212 joins I90. We'd been there in October in the late 90s and were moved by the empty spaces, the wind and a light scattering of snow - such a contrast to the confusion and mayhem in June 1876. After 35 days on the road and feeling a bit touristed out, we didn't want to spoil the memory.

334 miles today, no new plates.

One of the joys of Christmas morning is to find a new book by your stocking. Many years ago, Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith appeared. The story is of a young woman who applies to join a makeshift group of scientists and naturalists who are to catalog the flora of the Yellowstone area. Using her initials rather than her name, she got the job to the chagrin of her employers. What followed seems to be the story of many scientific discoveries - jealousies, differences of opinion, but ultimately the joy of discovery - all set in the idyllic setting of Yellowstone at the end of the 19th century.

We have been waiting for the perfect place to sing Mustang Sally. After the drive through Deadwood, and seeing a sign for the bar, it became clear that today was the day. The question remained which version. A shoutout to Wilson Pickett and The Commitments, but we had to go with Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck. An ode to Route 66.

Buddy Guy featuring Jeff Beck - Mustang Sally HQ - YouTube

Day 34 - Faces in stone

Memorial Day in Keystone, SD, and thankfully the weather was less tempestuous than yesterday. We started with the larger of the two enormous stone sculptures in the area, the Crazy Horse Memorial. 

The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski, who had worked on the Mt. Rushmore faces under Gutzon Borglum. The sculpture will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. 

Work started in 1948 and it is far from complete, partially due to the scale of the effort, but mainly because the project is privately funded. In addition to the sculpture itself, the campus includes a visitor center, a restaurant, the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Education and Cultural Center. 

Once complete, the sculpture will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high, making it the second tallest in the world. Although this is much larger than the Mt. Rushmore sculpture, the scale is hard to appreciate because visitors can't get close, except by bus or helicopter (it's an active blasting site). Nevertheless, it is a hugely impressive site.

Then to the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. Part of the National Park Service, the facility is a full of interpretive information, walking trails, guides - the whole smash. And on Memorial Day, it was in full swing.

The rock is a granitic intrusive, and as seen on the left side of George, it is very fractured. It's a wonder that a nose hasn't fallen off. There is a contact between the younger overlying granite and the underlying older metamorphics that is just at the bottom of George's coat. This is more obvious in the rock on his left.

The walking trails lead along the toe of the blast debris from the sculpture. The figures are imposing against the skyline.

After touring the two sites, we headed for Hill City. Like many other small towns, there seems to have been a contest to set as many bars as possible in the municipal footprint. We started at the 1885 Steakhouse & Saloon. The name was misleading, as they had nothing on tap, and half of their menu was not available, including steak. We wandered down the street and found the Bumpin' Buffalo Bar and Grill. Much more suited to what we needed. It was rustic, had dead animals everywhere. We tried some local beers on tap and had a great lunch. So great that we headed home for an afternoon nap!

We added to the license plate count - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

Still missing Delaware, and Maine. 

Visiting these National Parks made us realize how many tremendous sites there are to see in both Canada and the U.S. I found a great DK Eyewitness book on the national parks. I love their books as they are full of photos and have great factoids. Try this one from the library before planning your next trip, USA National Parks: Land of Wonder.

It seems like summer is upon us. Kids are out of school, and the parks are full. Time for The Mavericks. Can't have a blog with from RnB and no music from our favorite band. Here it is - Summertime.

The Mavericks - The Mavericks Live On CONAN - "Summertime (When I'm With You)" - YouTube

Day 33 - To the Black Hills

 Today was all South Dakota, from the eastern edge to the Black Hills - some very beautiful country and a healthy dose of roadside attractions that almost (but not quite) made us feel like we were back on Route 66: a battleship monument in Sioux Falls (the nearest salt water is Hudson Bay, Canada), the little prairie house of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, and the largest reptile collection in the world, as certified by the Guiness Book of Records. Alas, we were short of time and left all for our next trip through the area.

The billboards showed a form of humor that develops during long, cold winters. For a Mexican restaurant: "Mexican food so good that Donald Trump would build a wall around it" and "Exercise makes you look better, but so does tequila". For a wine shop: "In wine there is wisdom; in water there is bacteria". Is this a great country or what? 

There were natural wonders too: the mighty Missouri River near Oacoma, the Badlands near Kadoka, and the grasslands and big sky that made Betty feel at home, she adores the big sky.

Nearing Rapid City, the sky was getting blacker and blacker, shrouding the Black Hills from view. As we turned south toward Mt. Rushmore, a few drops of rain started. By the time we got to Keystone, there was thunder, chain lightning and a downpour - the first real rain in our 33-day trip. Hopefully the weather settles tomorrow for our day at Mt. Rushmore.

365 miles today. No new license plates.

After driving through so much Indian Country, it is time for a book about Native Americans. Wanders through South Dakota include the land of the Lakota Nation. Joseph Marshall III, a Lakota native and historian has written an intimate biography of the Lakota war leader Crazy Horse, The Journey of Crazy Horse: a Lakota History. Based on vivid oral histories as well as in depth historical research, Marshall creates a vibrant portrait of the man, his time, and his legacy.

There was a major loss today for Route 66 fans. George Maharis, who played the dark-haired, brooding Buz Murdock in the TV series died at 94. Hepatitis nearly killed him as filming of the 116 episodes wound across the country, and the disease dogged him later in his career. It flared again recently, and he died of complications. In honor of Route 66 and all road trips we decided to go with Tom Cochrane today singing Life is a Highway. Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway (Official Video) - YouTube