Around the BEND

It was time to see some of the area around Bend, Oregon so we all hopped in the truck and headed out.  Our first stop was Pilot Butte.

Pilot Butte is an extinct cinder cone volcano which rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of four cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. The land was given to the state in 1927 in memory of Terrence Hardington Foley, by his Bend business associates. Additional tracts were purchased in 1941. A prominent topographic feature, Pilot Butte was a landmark that guided wagon train immigrants who sought a safe crossing of the Deschutes River.
I didn't get a picture of the volcano from a distance so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia -

 There are trails up but since we aren't hiking this year we drove up and then spent time enjoying the views.  I am not sure who this young lady was but I liked her pose.

Lou, Vivian and Kirby

From Pilot Butte we headed up towards Mount Bachelor.  There is a large ski resort there but it was closed for the summer.  The drive was gorgeous and our destination was water.  We stopped at each lake we could find.  We should have planned ahead and brought a picnic but we didn't think of it.

Since we didn't think to bring a picnic we sort of stumbled upon Cascade Lakes Brewing and had a great lunch there - with a brew of course!

What a fun day it was!

Montana to Idaho and Back To Henry's Lake State Park

We are beginning to wonder if we have over-stayed our welcome up here in God's Country.  We think maybe the God's are trying to tell us something!  Just look at that snow on the mountain viewed from our RV park in Ennis, MT.  We have had a couple of warmer days that have melted the snow but we might get more this weekend.  Burrrr.

We really enjoyed our short stay in Ennis.  Ennis RV Village was one of my all-time favorites and the town is very special.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from that stop.

Are we lucky or what?  Right there is town we spotted a Distillery open to the public with free samples.  I expected Bourbon but no, it was Moonshine!  When we lived in Mexico there was a company that flavored Tequila with everything.  This was very similar.  They had all different flavors of Moonshine.  We sampled a couple and then decided to have one of the cocktails that they prepare.  (too bad the cute copper mug wasn't included! They sell for $35 so I didn't take it home with me!)  We had fun visiting with other customers and with the serving lady who also guided fishing tours.

Hot Springs right there in the middle of no where!  Can you see the steam?

The Madison River

Ennis has statues of cool fish all around town.

They also have wild animals in town!

After a few days in Ennis we packed up and moved about 60 miles south back to Henry's Lake State Park.  This really is one of our most favorite places ever!  And this time we knew where we wanted to be located and were able to reserve it.

Just look how alone we are?  And I don't mind not having trees because I get the great big view.  The lake is right behind us and the views are incredible!

This is Henry's Lake viewed from right behind where we sit.

This is honest to God the way it looked when the sun set during the rain.  I did nothing to this picture!

We took a drive-about yesterday and just wandered around the area.

Bridge over the Madison River

I think this may have been a wonderful little settlement in it's day.  The house on the left has a sweet little stream running right behind it.

And just look what we found!

We will be staying here through the Labor Day weekend and then head to Idaho Falls for a shopping fix.  Hopefully we will have a bit of good weather over the weekend.  I want to get in more hiking as the trails here are so nice.

I know, too many pictures but what can I say?  I like taking them!

Missouri Headwaters State Park

The Missouri River runs right behind this ridge of mountains that were formed over 75 million years ago by a volcano eruption.

We are further south in Montana now and heading back toward Arizona – but it will take us a while – at least 4 weeks, maybe more.  We don’t want to get there when it is still terribly hot or my body will go into shock.  This morning it is 50 degrees out, we ran the heater and I have on sweats!

We left Fort Benton for a quick trip to Great Falls and some shopping.  We hadn’t seen a Sam’s Club in quite a while and we needed some staples.  Of course I always look for microbreweries wherever we are and we were in luck.  We found Bowser Brewing not too far from where we were staying.  We settled in with our brews (which were excellent!) and a tin of dominos to play some Mexican Train.  Didn’t work!  We should have counted the doms before we began.  Doubles of some of them and others were just plain missing.  You can’t play a real game that way!  Should have brought along our own but we didn’t know what to expect.  At least the ales were really good and we did have fun!

We are going to miss this nice spot at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

We are now at the Missouri Headwaters State Park not too far from Three Forks, MT.  It is a very quiet little park with not too many people and we have a fantastic site with a yard for Jake.  He is going to be pretty upset later today when we move on.  (if the weather will allow – heavy skies and it rained all night)

There is a great paved trail that runs right by the park and goes into Three Forks.  We got our bikes down and headed out.  Through bribery Kirby was able to get me to ride all the way into Three Forks – lunch was the reward.  We ate on the patio at Three Forks Café.  Can’t say it was the greatest meal ever but it sure was fun.  And I can now say that I can ride 10 miles.  Of course there were NO hills and very little wind so it was an easy ride.

 There are a few trails around the park and we have enjoyed those.  We also had a fire in the firepit yesterday morning.  It was cool and crisp out and the fire was perfect.  Sure wouldn’t work today as everything is soaked with rain. 

The Madison River flowing north to meet up with the Gallatin and the Jefferson.  These three rivers become the Missouri River.  I think it should be called the Montana River since it originates here but of course there was no Montana when the Missouri was discovered.

If we can get the rain to stop we will hitch up and got to Three Forks Campground for a few days.  We stayed there last year and know that we like it. (We will have full hook-ups and laundry there.)  Then we don’t know where we are going but it will be south!

Montana!

We have been having way too much fun here in Montana and I have been lazy with updating the blog.  We are currently in Fort Benton which is in central Montana and pretty darned close to Canada.  In my next life I want to be born in Montana!  I love it here.  Actually, getting to spend part of my summer here is almost perfect.  When we left Henry's Lake in Idaho we went to Livingston and spent a week there visiting with Kirby's cousin, Melani.  She has lived there for over 10 years...a California escapee!  While in Livingston Kirby got outfitted for some trout fishing and we have been searching for that big boy ever since!

We have seen some beautiful country on our travels and Montana is probably one of the very best!  From Livingston we went a whole 75 miles north to White Sulfur Springs which sits just south of Lewis and Clark National Forest.  It is a tiny town that is quiet, quiet, quiet!  The RV park was our favorite this year.  We walked to town and back many times, drove all over dirt roads searching for that perfect fish, picniced and played tourist at a home that has been converted to a museum.

I loved the simplicity of this old abandoned farmhouse.  I found it interesting that the white paint was still so white.  I have to wonder what brand of paint they used to last so long! There was no vinyl siding when this house was built.

Kirby found us this canyon to check out.  It was all rock and gorgeous. 

We were just driving down the dirt road minding our business when I spotted these two deer sitting under a tree.  Kirby slammed on the brakes and backed up.  I started taking pictures and walking closer to them very slowly.  They let me get quite close before the bolted off.  I felt so fortunate to get so close to them.  Their antlers were gorgeous!

This was one of our many picnics.  Convenient tree stump to use wouldn't you say?

Why do I take pictures of cows?  I have always done it and I am not too sure why.  Maybe because they are there.  This young one didn't know yet that you DON'T sleep in the middle of the road!

One day there were lots and lots of butterflies and they each had a thistle.

Driving a big truck and pulling a 38 foot trailer can be a bit of a challenge.  We had no idea this was waiting just up the road for us.  The picture is no where near as awful as the real thing was.  Lumpy, bumpy and very narrow.  I was so proud of Kirby!

This is the house museum that we visited - Bair Family Museum in Martinsdale, MT.  There really is no more Martinsdale - only a handful of people still living in the old houses but it used to be a nice little town full of people  that the sheep rancher, Charles Bair, employed.  The house was furnished by his two daughters throughout their lives with travels to Europe to purchase antiques.  It was pretty gaudy with all the big picture frames and gold gilt on everything but I fell in love with the kitchen.  It was remodeled in the 1960's and stayed the same thereafter.  Isn't the color incredible.  That would wake you up pretty fast each morning!

On The Road to Jackson Hole, WY

There was weather coming the day we planned to leave Lander, Wy for Jackson so we were up early and off to the dump station.  While Kirby did his thing, Jake and I looked around and found this nice view of Lander and the walk/bikeway they have. 

After dumping our tanks we headed out pretty much north and then west, up over the pass and then dropped down into Grand Teton National Park.  The drive was, like so many of them, very varied.  I think our drives (or roadtrips) are just about the best part of our travels.  My camera is busy clicking out the windshield so the photos are not the best but it sure is fun.  On this trip someone needed to tie my hands down because I just kept clicking away as each turn brought more beauty.  Are we lucky to live in such a beautiful country or what?!!

 It may be barren but it is still gorgeous!

This was the best part of the trip for Jake.  We stopped on the pass to let some folks pass us and took the opportunity to look around and stretch our legs.  This deer carcass was not that old but it was clean except for the feet and lower legs.  Jake found it extremely interesting!

 And then we spotted the Grand Teton and it just kept getting better and better as we got closer.

Custer State Park - Wildlife Loop

Our last day at the park.  We will move north just a little bit today and I am trying to figure out why we are going north when it is mid July and 47 degrees outside.  We are experiencing a cold spell!!  I guess so!  Way too cold for summer!  We need to go south!

Anyway our day on the Wildlife Loop was also incredible and I took too many pictures again.  So, I use little collages to try to give you some of everything,  Now come along with us -

Wildlife Loop - we didn't see that much but we did get up close and personal with this Bison.  Shot from the car window!

Pronghorn Sheep

Prairie Dog

The Pronghorn Sheep photo was out the windshield and the Prairie Dogs just kept popping back into their holes as I got closer so the photos aren't very good.

This is what a lot of our trip looked like.  I loved it!  But I sure wouldn't want to be there in the cold!

A roadside stop

Then we saw the sign for the Lookout and both agreed that we wanted to go.  How stupid could I have been.  I can NOT handle heights!  By the time we wound our way up the cliffhanger narrow road I was almost in tears with my eyes shut.  I was on the outside the whole way up which was one mile and the longest mile in my life!  Thankfully we didn't meet a car coming the other direction or I know we would have gone off the cliff and died.

This is the lookout tower that I did not climb.

After our picnic lunch we followed a little trail that we thought might take us to the Badger Clark Home.  It wound around this little lake and did indeed take us where we wanted to go.

Badger Clark was the Poet Laureate for the state South Dakota in 1937.  He is the author of the famous "Cowboy's Prayer".  His home in the mountains is still there just the way he left it.  I thought it was beautiful!  I could live there.  No indoor plumbing, no running water, no electricity.  It would so peaceful - for a bit of time and then I would want all my modern conveniences again! After touring the house we took his trail around the property and enjoyed the same mountain views that he enjoyed for over 20 years of his life.

This is my normal view when we take walks!