Wednesday, August 26 Last Day of Trip!

         Happy Birthday brother Steve!

A bit of a quiet day getting all our packing and re-packing done so we can take off!

Took a lovely drive out to Snoqualmie Falls and had a great lunch at the Lodge (thanks to the recommendation of some ladies at the nail salon!)

Snoqualmie Falls with Wildflowers

Full view of the Falls

Checked into our final airbnb - would recommend that you give them a try as well as the independent B & Bs. We have met some great people, heard wonderful stories and really had a chance to learn about the communities we visited. 

Thank you all!

Tuesday, August 25 at the Cabin in Plain

Another beautiful day! We will be doing our re-entry to the real world returning to Seattle this afternoon. Rusty continued his wood chopping safely!

The Cabin on Wenatchee River

Thanks so much Vinnie and Terri!

Arrived in Seattle at next airbnb with hosts Paul and Danielle. Beautiful home with gorgeous view of the water.

View from Paul and Danielle's

Having dinner with Gerianne (SUNY) and Mark Sands tonight at Phonecia. She has led us to two other great restaurants. It was fantastic!

Sunset over Puget Sound from the restaurant 

Monday, August 24 Tour of Bavarian Leavenworth

Had a beautiful morning at the cabin. Rusty felt right at home chopping wood!

View of the River from up the road

Took a great walk and then headed to Leavenworth. Purpose of this stop - before we knew Vinnie and Terri's camp was here - was to visit the Ryan Patrick Winery, in honor of grandson Ryan Patrick. Leavenworth turned itself into a "Bavarian" village in the '60s to boost its economy. Lots of fun and not too many tourists. We had a scrumptious dinner at the Watershed, a new restaurant. Sorry we were lax on picture taking today. One more Wenatchee River picture. 

Saturday - Sunday, August 22-23 Blanchard, ID to Plain, WA

Had a wonderful visit with Joanne at her Stoneridge Golf Community in Blanchard Idaho. She is missing Frank so much but was pleased to show us Frankie's Bench out on the course near their condo. 

Joanne selling "horse" Race tickets at their Member-Guest

Joanne took me to her parish in Newport where she enjoys her Pastor Vic. We promise to stay more in touch!!!

Left for the long trip to Plain, WA to stay at Vinnie and Terri's cabin. Lots and lots of smoke from the forest fires along the way. The cabin is fabulous and we cancelled our Gypsy Wagon, which is only about 2 miles away, to stay at the cabin. A poor selfie follows. 

At Vinnie & Terri Reilly's Cabin 

Fri, August 21 Glacier National Park

Started the day with a fire alarm at the hotel getting us all out of the place. Thankfully it was @ 8:30!

A cold, super windy day with lots of smoke. We checked out and headed for Logan's Pass at the Continental Divide along the Road to the Sun. There we did a 1.5 mile (and return!) hike to Hidden Lake Overlook. 

Hidden Lake Overlook 

(picture taken by Jill from Juno Beach FL!)

                                                      Lots of flowers in the meadows and mountain goats!

Arrived in Libby, MT staying at Huckleberry House B&B hosted by Ellen & Keith. It is a beautiful home and our room is elegant. Awaiting huckeberry pancakes for breakfast!  Went to a local casino/restaurant for dinner - Torgy's - prime rib night. On the way home  - just a few blocks away - spotted a deer:

Not exactly like back home!

Thurs August 20 Glacier National Park

Great morning hike 2.6 miles- level! Took us around Swift River Creek.

Afternoon activity was a boat ride/hiking excursion with a guide. Learned a lot. Still no bears! 

Wed August 19 Glacier National Park

We expected uncomfortable smoke from the fires in the park but the active ones are in the south and our lodging is northeast. We did drive past some recently burned areas. So sad. They do an amazing job managing the wild fires. 

We drove across the park through an awe-inspiring (steering wheel grippingly) mountain pass. 

Arrived at our hotel - Many Glacier Hotel. Probably the Highlight lodging of the trip. Overlooks Many Glacier Lake, surrounded by mountains. Tonight's sunset:

Sunset from Many Glacier Hotel

Great dinner overlooking the Lake. Rusty had his chance to try Huckleberry ice cream. Yummy!

Tuesday, Aug 18 Bozeman/Helena

Montana is really "big sky", wide open spaces! Had a wonderful stay with Sandi and Ken, our airbnb hosts. Even invited us to dinner. Shared some great stories. Like old friends!

Dinner on the patio at Sandi & Ken's in Helena

This is Sam!

Left West Yelliwstone after visiting the Grizzly and Wolf Refuge Center, a nonprofit that cares for bears and wolves that cannot return to the wild. 




























Then traveled to Bozeman and visited the Museum of the Rockies. Amazing! Extraordinary exhibit of dinasoars, a Planetarium show on Black Holes and an exhibit on Chicolate!

Dinosaur at Museum of the Rockies

Sunday, Aug 16 Yellowstone

It is a huge park. Lots to cover. But Old Faithful is a favorite so we got there early before the crowds. It erupts about every 94 minutes and we were there waiting for the 10:06 expected eruption and by coincidence, the Beehive Geyser, just adjacent, with only a 20 minute projection time went off just before Old Faithful. 

After these thrills we went on a great bike ride (longer than it needed to be uphill) to view another amazing geyser - The Line Star- which only erupts every 3 hours and we nailed it. It shot up water and steam for 30 minutes.

We will leave Yellowstine with no bear sightings but great memories. 

Off to Bozeman, MT to the Museum of the Rockies to see the Dinosaur Exhibit 

Saturday, August 15 Yellowstone

Fabulous Day in Yellowstone. Great weather, saw lots of hydro thermal stuff, mud holes and springs. Also bison and Elk. No bears!

Yellowstone has Masses in 3 locations. We attended a 4:30 in Canyon Village. It was open air, a wonderful Jesuit from University at Scranton celebrated the Mass. It was a very spiritual and memorable experience. 

Fri, Aug 14 Grand Tetons

A  morning in our cabin! A bit chilly this morning 53 degrees and a slight drizzle, so our early morning kayak is postponed.

Rusty went to get some ice at the convenient store and learned that some tourists left their backpacks down by the Lake and the Bears took they off - passports and all!  Rusty remarked "I wonder what airlines the bear is going to take and another wise guy said I guess he will go to Chicago!  They roared at their quick humor!

It will warm up and a hike is next on the list.

Thurs, Aug 13 - Jackson Hole & Grand Tetons

Arrived around noon to explore Jackson Hole.  The town is for shoppers!  Very western and busy with tourists. We moved on to Grand Teton Village for lunch at the Mangy Moose.  Staying at Signal mountain Lodge on Jackson Lake. Beautiful, quiet and in the woods. First views and sunset from the Lodge deck:

Grand Teton

From across Jenny Lake

Wed Aug 12 drive across Idaho

From Boise, ID to Victor, ID - just outside of Jackson Hole

Had a long but gorgeous trip across Idaho thanks to a Tourist Visitor guide in Mountain Home who said take Rt 20 not I-84. See for yourselves!

Stopped at Craters of the Moon - Amazing black lava rocks in central ID 

5400 ft Atop a lava rock hill At Craters

Lava fields - hard as a rock!

Victor, ID

Airbnb out in the wide open spaces - beautiful sunsets.

Monday, August 10 Burns, OR

Burns, not so quiet as you might think.  Staying at Sage Country Inn hosted by Mike & Corinne. Very comfortable and amazing breakfast.

Just the first of two stops on the way to Grand Tetons - the other is Boise, Idaho which was 100 degrees today. We were sitting on porch of our latest B & B and there in the yard were two fawns. Then along comes a visitor to the B & B from VT  - Wayne - a musician who was there from 1975 to late '80s. Lots of "who do you know".

 And the morning of the 11th I had the privilege of being present at Holy Family CC for the early morning renewal of vows of Doug and Kathy.  No on was there to take pictures, so I did!

Sat/Sun Aug 8-9 Crater Lake

                  Crater Lake Sunset from Watchman Lookout

Sunset from Hosts Jim and Jane's in Klamath Falls

Crater Lake view of "Phantom Ship" actually a rock formation

An amazing experience. The lake is as clear blue as they say and how it came to be quite amazing... too much to cover here - all about volcanos 7,700 years ago! We had two great days touring the park and a great dinner at the Crater Lake Lodge. Concluded the visit with a guided hike to Watchman Outlook to see the sunset.

Thanks to our airbnb hosts Jim and Jane in Klamath Falls. Fabulous location, accommodations and delicious breakfasts.

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Friday, August 7 Willamette Valley Wine Tasting

Toured "the" Willamette Valley Winery and had a lovely lunch on the porch.   We moved on to Bethel Heights and then Left Coast Wineries.  Domaine Serene (yesterday) and Willamette by far our favorites.