Arrived in Silverton, Oregon after a white knuckle journey up the west coast of California. The large amount of rain has taken a toll on California's coast, especially the roads. Mudslides and even a section of road that slide off into the ocean made this one nerve racking trip. I was so relieved when we stated veering eastward away from the coast. After heading inland some, it was smooth sailing to Silverton, Oregon. My niece Paula lives in Salem, Oregon about 20 miles away from where we were staying. It was so nice to see here and her partner Brice. They are doing so well and working very hard to enjoy their quality of life. Their dog Hunky Dory was a real trip. We checked out there town, ate out and had a great time. Met Brice's Mom and sister and went to a couple of Antique stores. The visits went by so fast, we only had a weekend to see them, for they had to go back to work on Monday.
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| Paula and Brice |
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| Hunky Dory, Doris, and Paula |
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| Captain Kitty (I bought this at an Antique shop) |
Next stop, Tacoma WA at McChord Air force Base. This campground was in the middle of a forest with tall, tall trees. It was a breath of fresh air. My only concern was when I seen an old bulletin warning of high winds with the potential of trees falling. We did not have any issues there. We used that campground as a staging place for our camper 7 out of the 10 days there. From there we took a 7 day Alaskan Cruise out of Seattle, WA. On our cruise we visited Juneau Alaska (hiked and town visit), Skagway Alaska (train ride over the White Pass into Canada and back, Glacier National Park (ship spent a couple of hours doing a slow 360 degree turn to view the Glaciers, Ketchikan Alaska (Bus tour of Ketchiakan), and Victoria British Columbia (spent a couple hours in town). Everything about this cruise was fantastic! Just loved every minute of this cruise. Bucket list item marked off.
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| Doris with her Cowgirl boots kicking back looking out toward Seattle, WA before pulling out to sea. |
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| The ceiling in one of the main areas reminded me of the movie Titanic. |
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| Danced the night away at this place on the ship. The movement of the ship had me almost falling down. |
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| On a hike Juneau Alaska. Seen what was left of one of the Glaciers. |
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| Cup of Joe onboard the Ruby Princess |
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| Canadian border crossed while crossing the White Pass on a train. |
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| Glacier National Park |
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| Posing at Glacier Nation Park |
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| Shaming Totem Pole Ketchikan, Alaska |
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| Doris inside totem pole Ketchikan, Alaska |
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| Out for formal night out (We got out of these ASAP) |
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| Crab fest! |
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| OMG! Sugar time! |
Next stop, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Even though it rained a lot, we did a couple of hikes on the Tubbs Hill trail and Mineral Ridge trail. It was beauty everywhere we went.
Garrison, Montana was the next town we went to. We took a trip to Deer Lodge and visited an old Prison and a fascinating car museum. The two towns were quite small and really didn't have much. Sharon and Bernies campground was very nice family owned campground. We only stayed one night there.
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| Eight convicts actually hung on this gallows during its time. |
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Doris doing time! lol
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| Doris escaping from the Prison.(notice she taking her pocketbook) lol |
Then there was West Yellowstone, Montana. We spent 5 days in the area and visited most of the vast area of the Yellow Stone National Park. There we seen buffalo, black bear, elk, antelope, white wolves, and all kinds of birds. We watched Old Faithful in action, numerous hot steam pools, and gorgeous scenery. Over 200 miles of land travel and viewed. Took a side trip to the Grand Tetons National Park and took the over 2 hour tour through it. See a Grizzly bear in the wild, deer and a lot of birds. The scenery was breathtaking( as Doris would say). As we go to the south end of the Park, went into Jackson Hole, WY for a couple of days. A definite cowboy town, Interesting artifacts there to be seen.
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| Painter Pool. |
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| Grizzly Bear in the wild |
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| Grand Tetons, WY |
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| Grand Tetons, WY |
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| Jackson Hole, WY |
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| Grand Tetons, WY |
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| Grand Tetons, WY |
After being blown away seeing Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, we headed to Ranchester, WY (population 855). Stayed there for the night. The campground worker recommended a restaurant in town that served the best food in town. I stated that it most likely was the only restaurant in town and he acknowledged that fact.
After a eventless day in Ranchester, WY, we headed to Medora, ND. Medora is a small town with a population of 150 people. The town is 1/4 mile from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The town is a seasonal tourist attraction with access to the wonderful Theodore Roosevelt National Park. During the summer a Medora Musical and Pitchfork Fondue. We missed the opening by 2 days. We really enjoyed Medora and the Park. Great hiking and a lot of wildlife to be seen. We did encounter a herd of buffalo one evening and had to wait for them to clear away from our path back to the truck. Seen buffalo, antelope, moose, and a lot of birds and fantastic scenery. Would definitely recommend staying here again to any nature loving individuals.
Tomorrow we head to South Dakota for 5 days and will check out the sites there. With only 2 weeks left, we both are looking forward to hunkering down in our home in Bassett, VA.
Until the next update! Adios!
