Wide Open Spaces and Memorable Places

Days 37 – 39, Colorado to HOME (in Washington)

After a couple days of family time in Colorado we both began feeling the call to go home.  Going north on I-25 we were soon in WY.  I had a good chuckle and fond memory as we crossed the state line.  My Dad was from WY and when we were kids he would roll down his window, no matter the weather, and tell us to breathe in “that good WY air.”  Of course my siblings and I would act like we were suffocating and choking on that WY air; the entire scenario would repeat itself when we left WY and returned to “that good CO air.”  I wish I could hear my Dad laugh again.

Welcome to WY

Cheyenne Capitol Building

Wide Open Spaces of WY

Old Schoolhouse on WY Prairie

Just north of Chugwater, WY we decided to pick up our original “family and friends” trip route and go over to the Black Hills of South Dakota.  My grandparents (mother’s side) lived in Spearfish and I had lots of fond memories of visiting the small town and picturesque area.  The drive through Spearfish Canyon was beautiful and we drove around and found my grandparents’ home and also the storefront where they operated a local sporting goods store.  I spent part of a summer working for them in the store and have lots of good memories of being with them and of Spearfish.  I told Bob that I always wanted to live there . . . but then I remembered how much snow the Black Hills get.

Welcome to SD!

Pano of the Black Hills outside Spearfish

Beautiful Spearfish Canyon

Grandparents' Storefront

Grandparents' Home

We headed west into northern WY but were quickly distracted by the opportunity to see Devils Tower.  Bob loves everything geological so it was a natural diversion . . . and for once we gave ourselves “permission” to leave the beaten path and explore!

Devil's Tower

Gillette, WY bills itself out as the “Energy Capital of the World.”  I think that may be a stretch but it is true that there is a lot of coal mined outside Gillette, and also a lot of oil and gas is processed.  My grandfather was a coal miner and I know it is very hard work. 

Coal Seams

Wyodak Coal Mine

For me, Gillette is just the town where my father grew up and my grandparents lived.  We visited often and my grandfather would take my siblings and myself to the Post Office (now a brew pub) where he would line us up on a bench and introduce us to all his friends.  The USPS was the central gathering “meet and greet” for the town.  Today, the town is quite congested and has grown so much I could hardly find my way around town.  We visited the cemetery to pay our respects and also found the house where my grandparents lived.  Sadly, the house is in a bad state of disrepair.  I left Gillette feeling there wasn’t much reason to ever return; I’ll live with my childhood memories.

US Post Office, now a brewpub

Grandparent's Home

Leaving Gillette, we traveled northwest along I-90 and soon spotted the peaks of the Big Horn Mountains.  Near Sheridan you can take off for the east entrances of Yellowstone and Teton National Parks.  This central part of WY is actually rather pretty with hay fields and the foothills.  Just north of Sheridan we crossed the state line into Montana.  There aren’t any major towns but historically this part of MT is significant because of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, commonly referred to as Custer’s Last Stand.  Today, the site is a National Cemetery but you can tour the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Big Horn Mountains of WY

Open Range

Near Hardin, MT ~ YIKES!

 

Billings is the largest metropolitan area in Montana.  It is located pretty much in the middle of the state, at the point where I-94E takes off from I-90E.  From the highway we see at least two large refineries and immediately recognize that Billings has experienced lots of growth over the years.  Founded as a railroad community, the town has become a major regional distribution center, and a retail and tourist destination for the greater area.

Refinery near Billings MT

Continuing west toward Bozeman the highway parallels the Yellowstone River.  US-89 intersects the freeway at Livingston, which is the point where you would turn south to reach Yellowstone NP from the north.  This 145-mile stretch to Bozeman is mostly ranch country with nice mountain and forest views in the distance.

Near Bozeman

I’ve always liked Bozeman; it is in a beautiful location with mountain ranges in every direction.  Bozeman is a typical college town, home to Montana State University, and a very vibrant major area for fly-fishing, hiking, kayaking, and everything outdoors.  It is a beautiful area; think of the movie A River Runs Through It.   

Continuing west on I-90, again through ranch country, you begin to gain elevation and are soon cresting 6329’ Homestake Pass and cross the Continental Divide.  The west side of the pass drops down into Butte, “where Copper is King.”  Known for its mining history, Butte is more than a mining town.  Tourism and services, especially healthcare, dominate the current economy.  However, the headframes still stand over the mining shafts, the copper pit is on the edge of town, and the large historic district is a reminder of days gone by.  Butte is home to Montana Tech University, originally founded as a mining school but now offering many degrees at the undergrad and graduate levels.  Butte’s mining history brought immigrant workers from all over the world and today it hosts the annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival, Evil Knievel Days, and the Montana Folk Festival.

As a side note, our dear friends, who we visited in greater Denver, are both from Butte.  They grew up only blocks from each other but did not meet until college at Montana Tech.  Their hometown pride is evident in all aspects of their lives and we are lucky to be their friends.

West of Butte a few miles is Anaconda, once the site of the smelter operations processing copper mined at the pits outside Butte.  Today, the 585’ smokestack still stands as a reminder of that history.

Anaconda Stack

Missoula, 120 miles west is situated at the convergence of five different mountain ranges and at the confluence of the Bitteroot and Blackfoot Rivers.  Again, it is beautifully scenic and a university town.  The town’s history is rooted in the railroad and the lumber industry but today tourism, forest management, regional services, and the University of Montana are the mainstays of the community.  It’s interesting to note that Missoula is west of the Rockies, and thus it experiences milder weather than most of the rest of the state.  After leaving Missoula, the highway largely parallels the Clark Fork River; Bob notes that we cross the river at least fourteen times!

  

 

Montana is known as “Big Sky Country” in part because generally the skies are usually clear and blue.  However, our 551-mile drive through MT along I-90 from WY to Idaho is mostly overcast which makes for two days of comfortable driving.  We cross into Idaho at the top of 4710’ Lookout Pass, with the distinction of Exit 0 on the MT side.  Lookout Pass is also a time zone border; we are back in Pacific Daylight Time!

  

Northern ID is commonly called the “panhandle” and is known for its silver mining history, beautiful lakes, and heavy forests.  Coming off the pass you enter the Silver Valley, specifically the town of Wallace.  Bob is very familiar with Wallace; it was his first job as a mining engineer just out of college (CO School of Mines) in 1969.  A couple years ago we spent a weekend in Wallace, revisiting his memories.  The town has a nice historic district and the Galena Mine is still operating. 

 

Wallace

Wallace

Bob returns to the Galena Mine

Kellogg, once home to the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mines, began transitioning from a mining town to a resort town.  The mining activity came to an end in 1981, leaving thousands of people unemployed.  Now it is popular NW year-round resort with skiing, golf, condos, and shopping.

Located between Wallace and Kellogg is the Sunshine Mine, site of the worst hard-rock mining disasters in the US.  In May 1972, 91 miners were killed from carbon monoxide poisoning or smoke inhalation resulting from an underground fire.  There were 83 men rescued; two of whom were rescued a week after the disaster.  There is a monument to the lost miners along I-90, Exit 54, near the mine.  As a result of the disaster, all miners now carry MSHA self-rescuers, which filter out carbon monoxide.

Memorial to Sunshine Mine Disaster

Traveling west you come to Cataldo.  It’s best known for the Sacred Heart Church, aka Cataldo Mission.  Built by members of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, who requested the church send a missionary (Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet) to the area.  The church was constructed using the wattle and daub method, no nails!

Cataldo Mission

One more mountain pass, the 4^th of July Pass, and we are overlooking beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene.  It is a large (25 miles long, and 1-3 miles wide) natural lake largely fed by the St. Joe River and also the Coeur d’Alene River.  The Lake is surrounded by national forest.  At the northern end of the Lake is the charming resort town of the same name; a thriving community and popular tourist destination.

 

The Idaho Panhandle is probably only about 55 miles wide between the borders of the state, so we are soon in WA.  We are home, or close enough to feel like we are home.  A couple hundred miles back we had reached over 40,000 miles on our car.  We do not have an authorized Volvo service provider in our town so Bob called ahead to the one in Spokane.  We were lucky to find the dealer had a late afternoon opening and we were able to get our car in for its scheduled maintenance.

We wandered around the very nice downtown area of Spokane for an hour or so, hung out in the beautiful lobby of the historic Davenport Hotel, and had an early dinner at the old SteamPlant brewery.  It was a nice break from driving and after picking up the car it was time to drive the last stretch!

Davenport Hotel Lobby

After driving through the forested spaces of Montana and Idaho, it was a stark contrast to leave the trees a few miles south of Spokane and begin crossing the wide-open spaces of Eastern WA wheat fields.  WA is the nation’s 4^th largest wheat producer with about 2.2 million acres being farmed.  Some of the wheat fields have already been harvested but others are tinged with the green sprouts of the new winter wheat crop.  Most of the WA wheat crop is exported, shipped from ports along the Columbia River.

 

Trees just south of Spokane

A few miles south and few trees!

Wheat fields of the Palouse

The start of sunset over the wheat fields of Eastern WA

 We are soon crossing the Columbia and home! We traveled 7648 miles, across 20 states (WA, OR, ID, UT, CO, KS, MO, IL, KY, TN, OH, IN, MI, WI, IA, NE, WY, SD, MT and ID), and were gone from August 25 – October 2.  Our insight into retirement for today . . . this has been an amazing road trip . . . safe, interesting, and blessed by visits with our family and friends.  Thanks for taking the journey with us!

August 25, 2015

October 2, 2015

The sun sets over our home!