Although we had planned on leaving on June 1st, we had everything ready so we went ahead and left on May 31st. It was an annual trip to see the relatives in Montana and North Dakota with a couple of side trips along the way. There was Bill and I and Anne who had flown up from Sacramento to join us. Of course, the boss, our one year old Doxie, Reese, was with us. Our first stop was at Palouse Falls State Park in Washington. Palouse Falls is a 200 foot falls which was quite spectacular. I'm sure it was so full of water because of the time of year. It was only $5.00 to camp there because they had no hook ups which meant a sponge bath. We can handle that. There was quite a nice 149 acre park. We walked in the park and enjoyed great scenery
Once again on our way, we took a scenic drive along the Locksa River. This was on highway 12 in Northeast Idaho. The River was 'Wild and Scenic' all right and the wait to see the rafters was a long one as it looked like it might be a wild ride. We were heading toward Missoula. After a look around town we found a RV park to spend the night
WE spent the night outside Missoula and the next morning visited Old Missoula. Then it was on to Great Falls on Highway 200. We arrived at Dorothy's at 3 p.m
When we left Great Falls on our way to Minot and Towner, N.D. we stopped at Fort Benton, Mt. It is located north of Great Falls and is rich in history. Fort Benton was a place on the Missouri where fur traders, gold seekers and early settlers came by steamboat to settle in Montana and to explore the western US and Canada.
After picking up Bill's sister, Dorothy, we continued on. We spent the night in Glasgow, Mt. The next morning we took a side trip to Fort Peck and the Fort Peck Dam. During the height of the Great Depression, the project provided much-needed work for the legions of unemployed men. It stands 250 feet high and is 3500 feet wide at its base. Fort Peck Dam is the largest hydraulically filled earthen dam in the United States.
We had a nice visit with Bill's brother and family in Towner. They seemed to be doing OK in spite of the health problems they both have. After we returned from Strawberry Lake, they planned a little surprise party for my birthday. It was a nice visit. A little rain here and some cool weather but a couple of nice days, too.
We also had a nice visit with my brother John and his family at Strawberry Lake. We didn't get a lot of cooperation from the weather here. It was cooler than we expected and even had some storms with thunder and lightening along with the rain but we managed to have a good time anyway. The day we went to Minot to see a play in the park, ‘The Twelfth Night’ it was a nice day.
After dropping Dorothy off in Great Falls and resting up a day, we headed for Yellowstone. On our way, we stopped in White Sulpher Springs and visited a stone castle built by B. R. Sherman in 1892. It is now a museum full of antique furnishings donated by early pioneers.
Yellowstone Park was established in 1872 and is the first and oldest national park in the world. We took lots of pictures of the sights. Mammoth Hot Springs, including Minerva Terrace, had many terraces. Some were not longer active. Then the was a mud volcano and Dragon’s mouth Spring. Old Faithful is located in Geyser Basin. Old Faithful is the most dependable of the geysers. We stopped to watch her "blow" and were not disappointed, she was once again on time. We also saw both the upper and lower Yellowstone Falls although our view of the Lower Falls was from a distance. The Upper Falls was viewed from a viewpoint directly above it. We were not up to the hike to the bottom. We saw lots of buffalo a few elk and one moose. We didn't get too close a view of the moose. They had told us the bears were there but we didn't see any. We also saw lots of birds, including pelicans and swans.
After visiting Yellowstone we continued on to Virginia City, MT. Virginia City holds a special place in Montana's history. Though it may be best known as the rough-and-ready mining camp where vigilantes organized to rid the country of road agents and murderers, it is important to history for many other reasons as well. Virginia City was Montana's Territorial Capital. It was the site of their first public school and their first newspaper. It was the place where the first book in Montana was published. A thunder, wind, and rain storm shortened our visit there but we spent some time looking around anyway.
From Virginia City we headed home. It was a very nice trip!! Be sure and check out the attached album. Thank you for visiting my page at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again!
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