Mass
I went to Mass at St. Edward's Church in Twin Falls. As usual, I left the hotel a bit too late. I took some wrong turns and ended up getting to the church a couple of minutes after Mass should have started. I had prayed that I would not be late. When I got there, there were lots of people standing outside. I assumed the church was so packed that this was the best that could be done. The next Mass was the Spanish Mass so this was all I could do since I don't understand Spanish. But, to my surprise, they got seats for everyone and Mass began just a couple of minutes late. I didn't miss anything.
The priest was young and very enthusiastic in his homily. At the end of the Mass, there were quite a few announcements from various people. With the announcements, the Mass lasted until 12pm. The priest was getting quite nervous because the Spanish Mass began at 12:30pm. There needed to be some time in between. See photos of the church.
The church is trying to set up a garden and prayer area dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. There is a large Mexican community within the church. In the park next to the church, they set up tables and were selling Mexican food and drinks for lunch. I was trying to stay away from Mexican food to cut back on calories. I always feel overloaded after eating Mexican food. Of course, this was for a good cause and it was available without having to drive out of the way. So, I couldn't help but have one more Mexican meal. I tried Orchetta. This is a thick white colored drink which is apparently made out of rice. It's good in small amounts. They gave me such a large cup that I was tired of it after a few sips.
Attempting to get a new car
My car was getting close to 3,000 miles. Also, I did not want to continue driving a California plated car as I went further east. (It's fine in Idaho, Utah, or Nevada. But it's not so good in the Midwest.) I tried to swap it at the Twin Falls Airport. They did not have anything but a Chevrolet Colbalt. I tried one of those in Kansas last year and returned it within three hours because I couldn't stand it. But, in addition, they told me that I could only have one swap per contract. Since I already had a swap because of the deer incident, I couldn't swap any further. I called the office where I rented the vehicle. They were in shock. They said that when I get to another place that has cars of the right size, if they make that kind of claim again, I should just call the origination office and they would make them do the swap.
Drive to Nevada
My reservation tonight was in Elko, Nevada. This is in the north-central area of Nevada. This was the first of six free nights. Because I had earned a number of points along the way, I've gotten at least eleven free nights.
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It would be a three hour drive with no stops. Most of it was along US 93. Then I would go to I-80 and head west a little bit. The scenery in Idaho was very nice. It was more of the same thing I had seen before with hills, mountains, and sagebrush. See the photos.
After crossing the Nevada border, there was a small town named Jackpot. This makes sense considering this is the state which contains Las Vegas and Reno.
Shortly thereafter, I noticed the sign indicating that I was now in Pacific Time. It was nice to gain an hour. Of course, I would lose it in a couple of days when I drove into Utah.
After Jackpot, the beautiful scenery began. There were more mountains than in Idaho. There was a spot with lots of rock formations. The rocks and mountains are darker than they are in Idaho. See the photos.
There were warning signs indicating major deer herd crossings for several miles. It was early afternoon and the sun was very bright. It seemed to be much hotter than in Idaho. I decided to keep moving along to avoid any possible deer incidents. US 93 at this point was at 70 mph. For the most part, there were no cities or towns along the way until I got to Wells at the intersection of US 93 and I-80.
Wells is a small city larger than Jackpot but still quite small. It has some RV parks, several seedy looking hotels, truck stops, and gas stations. Then there is just desert. Believe it or not, there are TWO I-80 exits for Wells only one mile apart.
I got gas at $3.77. This was another state where the lowest grade was 85 and 87/88 was considered mid-grade. When I walked into the store at the truck stop, I noticed a large bank of electronic slot machines. And yes, there were people wasting money in them. I also bought only a few postcards, thinking this was like Idaho and postcards were in every gas station. I figured I could buy more later where there might be a better selection.
From there, it was another forty miles or so to Elko. I drove past an exit for Beverly Hills. You can see for miles and miles on either side of the interstate. It seemed that this Beverly Hills was merely an RV park.
Elko is a much bigger and more substantial city than what I had seen so far in Nevada. Of course, there are lots of casinoes. It's also cowboy themed here.
Across the street from my hotel, there was a Mexican restaurant. Of course, this was so convenient that I had to try it. This is basically fast food but at a MUCH higher quality than Taco Bell, Taco Tico, or any of the chain places. They have a lot of places like this throughout the West. In fact, they even have vans selling Mexican food on the street in some areas of Idaho and Utah.
At this particular restaurant, they cook the food Sonoran style. They had a sheet at every table explaining that just as there are different food regions in the United States (they list east, west, north, south, and Brooklyn for the different regions...yes, apparently Brooklyn is its own region when it comes to food!). They also explained that some Mexican food uses cactus. I sure hope the thorns were removed first!
The food was delicious. But again, the portions were much too large.
I tried to swap out the car in Elko, NV. However, this particular branch is a franchise, not a corportate owned site. If they swapped out a car I would have to do another swap in Salt Lake City. Since I was going to Salt Lake City anyway, I decided to wait until that point.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
August 23, 2008 - Remnants from Idaho's Underground Volcanoes
Note: Most of the photos from this day have not yet been posted. I will post a photo note when they are ready as there are some very unique things in this set of photos.
Snake River Scenic Lookout
Today I went north of Twin Falls. (The day before, I went southeast.) I began by stopping at the scenic lookout for the Snake River. This part of the Snake River was in a deep canyon and provided gorgeous views. There were walkways on either side of US 93. I took lots of pictures but they're not posted yet.
Ice Cave
My next stop was the Ice Cave in Shoshone, ID. The ride to the site provided views I have never seen before. On either side of the road there are acres of lava rocks leftover from volcanic eruptions ages ago. This area in Idaho is considered one of the strangest 75 square miles in the world. There are lava rocks almost in squared off bricks and other areas where there are chunks of lava with plants growing in between.
View Larger Map
I got there about five minutes before the tour began. I needed to bring water and find my jacket. Somehow, in all of this I dropped the lens cap for my camera. I had no idea where it was and was really frustrated, thinking I might not have a cap to protect the filter over the camera lens. I was even getting concerned about bringing it into the cave that way. It put a bit of a damper on the tour for me.
The ice cave formed through the volcanic eruptions. This cave originally had ice in it. I forgot all of the history, but due to human intervention, the original ice melted. It was set up as a tourist attraction in the early to middle part of the twentieth century. There were a number of tacky statues put up (Indians on dinosaurs, for example). Inside the cave, there were "elves" and other silly things. These have been removed. The government owns the cave but a particular family who set up for tourism are allowed to operate it. One individual figured out how to recreate the ice in the cave. See the photos from the outside. See the photos from the inside.
The guide was humorous. He pointed out that there have not been any accidents in the cave yet but anyone could feel free to be the first. The door to the cave must be closed as best as possible to ensure that the ice doesn't melt. The last member of the group had to close the door. Guess who that was? I typically find myself at the end of these things because I take too long taking pictures. Anyway, I found I couldn't close the door very tightly. But, the guide indicated it never closes completely.
There are footbridges throughout the cave so people don't have to actually walk on the ice. The ice has a layer of water on the top in most parts. People like to throw money into the ice. The guide indicated there is more money in coins there than he makes in a year. But, he asked that people throw it only in a particular spot so as not to hurt the other areas.
There are skeletons of a bear and bear cub that were found when the cave was being set up for tourists. They suspect the bears got down there and simply could not find their way out. The skeletons are left as they were found.
This cave has absolutely no stalactites or stalagmites as a natural occurrence. But, from the cheesy and tacky days of the past, some of these were brought into the cave and put on display. However, they were upside down. The guide advised us that we could either hold our cameras upside down or simply Photoshop it later.
At the opposite end of the cave, there is a set of minerals and rocks on display in a case. The case has a black light. The guide turned off the main lights and allowed people to see the stones glow in the dark. If people smiled, everyone's teeth looked green. Only one of the stones actually came from Idaho, the Gem Stone state. One of the rocks is often referred to as "Kryptonite" but it's really Franklinite from Franklin, NJ. The guide said that contrary to popular belief, neither Superman nor Kryptonite really exist. He then apologized for shattering anyone's childhood beliefs.
Afterward, I searched all over the parking lot to see if the lens cap had fallen there. Of course, I was expecting it would be no good after being run over by another vehicle. I then found the lens cap laying on top of junk in the back seat of the car. Thanks be to God. Without that lens cap, I'd likely be buying a new lens filter because the current filter would be too scratched.
Craters of the Moon National Park area
The next destination was Craters of the Moon National Park. Along the way there was more gorgeous mountain scenery and remnants of the volcanic eruption. There were many places where people could stop along the road to see the lava rocks up close. However, this was nothing compared to what could be found in the park. See photos from US 20.
Note: The GPS took me up 75 and US 20. The map here is not the route I took.
View Larger Map
According to signs within the park, all of this was created by underground volcanoes. We expect to see a cone shaped volcano like Mt. St. Helens. But underground volcanoes can erupt and be just as devastating.
North Crater Flow Trail
The first stop was the North Crater Trail, a quarter mile loop trail. A longer trail existed, but I didn't have time. The parking area and sidewalk had completely black pavement. This was not just fresh blacktop; it was old but totally black. The trail walkway was completely black. There were intermittent plants growing among the lava trail. Occasionally, structures had been created by the lava. But for the most part it was at ground level.
Interesting plants
For the most part, there was a lot of ground with ash and occasionally, there would be plants. There were some strange white/gray plants that I have never seen before. They were less than half an inch high but grew in clumps in various places.
Devil's Orchard
The next major stop was the Devil's Orchard. This had all sorts of interesting structures created by lava. There were also lots of dead trees which made great photos. Pine cones were laying around and many of them were white. Others were the traditional brown that we expect. There were stray pieces of wood twisted in various ways. (These are from modern times, not from the eruption.)
Cinder Cone
After that, I saw the Cinder Cone, This was a huge mountain. People were allowed to walk to the top to take in the view. There were red rocks at the top and plants. Plants did not grow along any other part of the Cinder Cone. I got very dirty walking up the cone. I guess the best description of it would be if billions of pounds of cold coals were crushed and formed a mountain like structure. Within the cone were small shiny rocks. Of course, I had to dig in a little bit with my hands. Very shiny rocks existed just below the surface. It was loose enough that you could keep digging as much as you wanted. There was no rock surface beneath it. Of course, the more one tried to dig, the dirtier they would get.
Splatter Cones
Across the road from the Cinder Cone were Splatter Cones. There were more like the structures in Devil's Orchard. There were railings and walkways. Years ago, people were allowed to climb all over them. The structures began to be damaged from the foot traffic. Both have "caves" that go underground. One had snow in the "cave."
The next place I saw were more lava flows. These were different from the North Crater Flow Trail I saw at the beginning of my visit.
I drove a little further to see the "lava trees." These were tree like structures created by lava. But, it required a two mile hike away from the loop rode. It was about 7pm. I wasn't going to do that at that time.
Lava Tube Caves
The last stop were the "caves." These were lava tubes that created caves when the lava cooled off. Some were small. One was quite large and had holes in it for natural light. This was a .8 mile walk from the parking lot. Along the way I got some beautiful photographs. It was during that very narrow window of time when the sun is setting. This produces beautiful reds in rock structures when they are photographed.
All lava tube caves eventually collapse. They had a small cave in the process of collapsing for people to see what happened. They advised people to enter the caves with at least another person. I only went to the largest cave (the one with natural light) and only when there was another person there. It was similar to the ice cave I saw earlier, except without any ice. There were no interesting cave formations such as stalactites or stalagmites.
The drive back
On the way back to the hotel, I had about a ninety minute drive, some of which was along US 20. At one point there was a cloud that looked like the North American continent. There was no place to stop where I initially saw it. By the time I was able to stop, it had started to change a bit. I tried to take some photos, but there was not enough light to make any decent photos.
View Larger Map
Of course, there were lots of deer signs. I was a little nervous as I did not want another deer incident. Thanks be to God, nothing happened.
Snake River Scenic Lookout
Today I went north of Twin Falls. (The day before, I went southeast.) I began by stopping at the scenic lookout for the Snake River. This part of the Snake River was in a deep canyon and provided gorgeous views. There were walkways on either side of US 93. I took lots of pictures but they're not posted yet.
Ice Cave
My next stop was the Ice Cave in Shoshone, ID. The ride to the site provided views I have never seen before. On either side of the road there are acres of lava rocks leftover from volcanic eruptions ages ago. This area in Idaho is considered one of the strangest 75 square miles in the world. There are lava rocks almost in squared off bricks and other areas where there are chunks of lava with plants growing in between.
View Larger Map
I got there about five minutes before the tour began. I needed to bring water and find my jacket. Somehow, in all of this I dropped the lens cap for my camera. I had no idea where it was and was really frustrated, thinking I might not have a cap to protect the filter over the camera lens. I was even getting concerned about bringing it into the cave that way. It put a bit of a damper on the tour for me.
The ice cave formed through the volcanic eruptions. This cave originally had ice in it. I forgot all of the history, but due to human intervention, the original ice melted. It was set up as a tourist attraction in the early to middle part of the twentieth century. There were a number of tacky statues put up (Indians on dinosaurs, for example). Inside the cave, there were "elves" and other silly things. These have been removed. The government owns the cave but a particular family who set up for tourism are allowed to operate it. One individual figured out how to recreate the ice in the cave. See the photos from the outside. See the photos from the inside.
The guide was humorous. He pointed out that there have not been any accidents in the cave yet but anyone could feel free to be the first. The door to the cave must be closed as best as possible to ensure that the ice doesn't melt. The last member of the group had to close the door. Guess who that was? I typically find myself at the end of these things because I take too long taking pictures. Anyway, I found I couldn't close the door very tightly. But, the guide indicated it never closes completely.
There are footbridges throughout the cave so people don't have to actually walk on the ice. The ice has a layer of water on the top in most parts. People like to throw money into the ice. The guide indicated there is more money in coins there than he makes in a year. But, he asked that people throw it only in a particular spot so as not to hurt the other areas.
There are skeletons of a bear and bear cub that were found when the cave was being set up for tourists. They suspect the bears got down there and simply could not find their way out. The skeletons are left as they were found.
This cave has absolutely no stalactites or stalagmites as a natural occurrence. But, from the cheesy and tacky days of the past, some of these were brought into the cave and put on display. However, they were upside down. The guide advised us that we could either hold our cameras upside down or simply Photoshop it later.
At the opposite end of the cave, there is a set of minerals and rocks on display in a case. The case has a black light. The guide turned off the main lights and allowed people to see the stones glow in the dark. If people smiled, everyone's teeth looked green. Only one of the stones actually came from Idaho, the Gem Stone state. One of the rocks is often referred to as "Kryptonite" but it's really Franklinite from Franklin, NJ. The guide said that contrary to popular belief, neither Superman nor Kryptonite really exist. He then apologized for shattering anyone's childhood beliefs.
Afterward, I searched all over the parking lot to see if the lens cap had fallen there. Of course, I was expecting it would be no good after being run over by another vehicle. I then found the lens cap laying on top of junk in the back seat of the car. Thanks be to God. Without that lens cap, I'd likely be buying a new lens filter because the current filter would be too scratched.
Craters of the Moon National Park area
The next destination was Craters of the Moon National Park. Along the way there was more gorgeous mountain scenery and remnants of the volcanic eruption. There were many places where people could stop along the road to see the lava rocks up close. However, this was nothing compared to what could be found in the park. See photos from US 20.
Note: The GPS took me up 75 and US 20. The map here is not the route I took.
View Larger Map
According to signs within the park, all of this was created by underground volcanoes. We expect to see a cone shaped volcano like Mt. St. Helens. But underground volcanoes can erupt and be just as devastating.
North Crater Flow Trail
The first stop was the North Crater Trail, a quarter mile loop trail. A longer trail existed, but I didn't have time. The parking area and sidewalk had completely black pavement. This was not just fresh blacktop; it was old but totally black. The trail walkway was completely black. There were intermittent plants growing among the lava trail. Occasionally, structures had been created by the lava. But for the most part it was at ground level.
Interesting plants
For the most part, there was a lot of ground with ash and occasionally, there would be plants. There were some strange white/gray plants that I have never seen before. They were less than half an inch high but grew in clumps in various places.
Devil's Orchard
The next major stop was the Devil's Orchard. This had all sorts of interesting structures created by lava. There were also lots of dead trees which made great photos. Pine cones were laying around and many of them were white. Others were the traditional brown that we expect. There were stray pieces of wood twisted in various ways. (These are from modern times, not from the eruption.)
Cinder Cone
After that, I saw the Cinder Cone, This was a huge mountain. People were allowed to walk to the top to take in the view. There were red rocks at the top and plants. Plants did not grow along any other part of the Cinder Cone. I got very dirty walking up the cone. I guess the best description of it would be if billions of pounds of cold coals were crushed and formed a mountain like structure. Within the cone were small shiny rocks. Of course, I had to dig in a little bit with my hands. Very shiny rocks existed just below the surface. It was loose enough that you could keep digging as much as you wanted. There was no rock surface beneath it. Of course, the more one tried to dig, the dirtier they would get.
Splatter Cones
Across the road from the Cinder Cone were Splatter Cones. There were more like the structures in Devil's Orchard. There were railings and walkways. Years ago, people were allowed to climb all over them. The structures began to be damaged from the foot traffic. Both have "caves" that go underground. One had snow in the "cave."
The next place I saw were more lava flows. These were different from the North Crater Flow Trail I saw at the beginning of my visit.
I drove a little further to see the "lava trees." These were tree like structures created by lava. But, it required a two mile hike away from the loop rode. It was about 7pm. I wasn't going to do that at that time.
Lava Tube Caves
The last stop were the "caves." These were lava tubes that created caves when the lava cooled off. Some were small. One was quite large and had holes in it for natural light. This was a .8 mile walk from the parking lot. Along the way I got some beautiful photographs. It was during that very narrow window of time when the sun is setting. This produces beautiful reds in rock structures when they are photographed.
All lava tube caves eventually collapse. They had a small cave in the process of collapsing for people to see what happened. They advised people to enter the caves with at least another person. I only went to the largest cave (the one with natural light) and only when there was another person there. It was similar to the ice cave I saw earlier, except without any ice. There were no interesting cave formations such as stalactites or stalagmites.
The drive back
On the way back to the hotel, I had about a ninety minute drive, some of which was along US 20. At one point there was a cloud that looked like the North American continent. There was no place to stop where I initially saw it. By the time I was able to stop, it had started to change a bit. I tried to take some photos, but there was not enough light to make any decent photos.
View Larger Map
Of course, there were lots of deer signs. I was a little nervous as I did not want another deer incident. Thanks be to God, nothing happened.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Photo Notes: Oregon Photos Complete
I cannot seem to get the title changed for the Oregon photos in order to remove the "incomplete" indicator. But, all photo sets from Oregon are now complete.
August 22, 2008 - The Shoshone Falls and the City of Rocks
Back when I only had time to make token visits to states so I could say I visited them while also trying to be able to visit all states in the Continental U.S., I had to look for one thing to see which would make the trip worthwhile. For Idaho, my goal was to see the Shoshone Falls. These are the Niagara Falls of the West. They are absolutely beautiful.
Flying to Idaho (into Boise) from our area would be a pain in the neck. It might take as long as ten hours including stopovers. Stopovers might happen in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. I'm definitely glad I drove here.
Shoshone Falls
The Shoshone Falls are just outside of the city of Twin Falls. The area getting to the Shoshone Falls is beautiful. See the photos.
View Larger Map
The falls themselves are absolutely gorgeous. They are huge and simply breathtaking to see. I had read that it's best to see them in the spring. Apparently in the summer and fall, the amount of water is lower. Well, these were certainly powerful enough for me. There was plenty of water going over the falls. See the photos.
I spent a couple of hours at the Shoshone Falls. From there, I went to Albion, ID to see the City of Rocks National Preserve.
Drive to the City of Rocks
After I got off I-84, the road became a constructon zone. They seemed to be resurfacing the road. Only one lane was usable. They would hold up one lane and then a state DOT worker would drive in a vehicle at the head of that group of cars to the end of the construction. This was ordinarily a 65 mph road but it was brought down to 35 mph.
View Larger Map
On the way to the City of Rocks, there was a sign pointing to Malta. Those who know me in person know the significance of that town. But, it was seventeen miles in the opposite direction of the park. There were lots of nice views along the way. Photos have not yet been posted. See the photos.
At a certain point, the signs indicated I needed to turn onto a gravel road. It was 25mph. Along the way, there were cattle grazing. One particular cow was not locked up. She was grazing by the side of the road. She looked up with an angry look on her face and started going for my vehicle. I could stop easily, but I did NOT want to deal with another large animal. In particular, I didn't want anything to involve livestock. Even if I did stop, I didn't want the cow running at my vehicle. Thankfully, the cow changed its mind and went back to grazing. I got along my way and was happy to be out of there.
On the drive to the City of Rocks, there was a sign advertising Almo, ID. It claimed it was an authentic old fashioned western town. I decided to try seeing it after I left the City of Rocks.
City of Rocks National Preserve
The City of Rocks is basically a national park. However, I did not see a visitor center or ranger station around. There were no signs announcing admission fees. People just drove in and out. See the photos.
There are lots of large rocks in various interesting positions. Some are grouped together. Others were alone. There were prickly pear cacti in many places. People were climbing up one of the biggest rocks in the park.
Near a camp site where people were around, there was a trail that lead off to a canyon area. There were lots of great photo opportunities there. Just when I got tired and was ready to leave, I noticed this could be considered the "grand finale." At the time I visited, it wad that point when I could get some beautiful reddish photos (these are not posted yet but will be at the end of the City of Rocks album). There was only a small window of time to get them before the sun went so far down that the flash had to be used.
On the way out, I became worried about the cow. I didn't want to have to deal with that again. However, the GPS took me on a different route, thankfully. See photos of the drive from the City of Rocks.
I tried to find Almo, ID. However, I couldn't find it. But, by that point I was quite tired and wanted to get back the hotel. I was staying in Twin Falls for one more night since I wanted to see Craters of the Moon National Park the next day. This is about ninety minutes from Twin Falls.
Flying to Idaho (into Boise) from our area would be a pain in the neck. It might take as long as ten hours including stopovers. Stopovers might happen in Las Vegas or Salt Lake City. I'm definitely glad I drove here.
Shoshone Falls
The Shoshone Falls are just outside of the city of Twin Falls. The area getting to the Shoshone Falls is beautiful. See the photos.
View Larger Map
The falls themselves are absolutely gorgeous. They are huge and simply breathtaking to see. I had read that it's best to see them in the spring. Apparently in the summer and fall, the amount of water is lower. Well, these were certainly powerful enough for me. There was plenty of water going over the falls. See the photos.
I spent a couple of hours at the Shoshone Falls. From there, I went to Albion, ID to see the City of Rocks National Preserve.
Drive to the City of Rocks
After I got off I-84, the road became a constructon zone. They seemed to be resurfacing the road. Only one lane was usable. They would hold up one lane and then a state DOT worker would drive in a vehicle at the head of that group of cars to the end of the construction. This was ordinarily a 65 mph road but it was brought down to 35 mph.
View Larger Map
On the way to the City of Rocks, there was a sign pointing to Malta. Those who know me in person know the significance of that town. But, it was seventeen miles in the opposite direction of the park. There were lots of nice views along the way. Photos have not yet been posted. See the photos.
At a certain point, the signs indicated I needed to turn onto a gravel road. It was 25mph. Along the way, there were cattle grazing. One particular cow was not locked up. She was grazing by the side of the road. She looked up with an angry look on her face and started going for my vehicle. I could stop easily, but I did NOT want to deal with another large animal. In particular, I didn't want anything to involve livestock. Even if I did stop, I didn't want the cow running at my vehicle. Thankfully, the cow changed its mind and went back to grazing. I got along my way and was happy to be out of there.
On the drive to the City of Rocks, there was a sign advertising Almo, ID. It claimed it was an authentic old fashioned western town. I decided to try seeing it after I left the City of Rocks.
City of Rocks National Preserve
The City of Rocks is basically a national park. However, I did not see a visitor center or ranger station around. There were no signs announcing admission fees. People just drove in and out. See the photos.
There are lots of large rocks in various interesting positions. Some are grouped together. Others were alone. There were prickly pear cacti in many places. People were climbing up one of the biggest rocks in the park.
Near a camp site where people were around, there was a trail that lead off to a canyon area. There were lots of great photo opportunities there. Just when I got tired and was ready to leave, I noticed this could be considered the "grand finale." At the time I visited, it wad that point when I could get some beautiful reddish photos (these are not posted yet but will be at the end of the City of Rocks album). There was only a small window of time to get them before the sun went so far down that the flash had to be used.
On the way out, I became worried about the cow. I didn't want to have to deal with that again. However, the GPS took me on a different route, thankfully. See photos of the drive from the City of Rocks.
I tried to find Almo, ID. However, I couldn't find it. But, by that point I was quite tired and wanted to get back the hotel. I was staying in Twin Falls for one more night since I wanted to see Craters of the Moon National Park the next day. This is about ninety minutes from Twin Falls.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
August 21, 2008 - Sand Dunes
On the way to Nampa, I passed an interstate sign for Hell's Canyon. I've seen pictures of this area and it's beautiful. It's in both Idaho and Oregon, along the Snake River. I decided to go west again on I-84 to see if I could briefly visit the area. Unfortunately, once I got off the interstate, a sign indicated it was 79 miles north. I decided to turn around and go back. The timing just wouldn't work out because I also wanted to see a state park that day. Additionally, I was going to swap out my rental vehicle in Boise, the state capital.
When I got to the Boise Airport, I noticed the lot for the rental company I chose was practically empty. They did have a few SUVs there. But I don't want to deal with the high fuel costs or the parking limitations of an SUV. The lot attendant suggested I come back the next day (a Friday) because he suspected there would be many returns on that day. I would be further east by that point. I decided to try again when I was further along. I still had a few hundred more miles before the vehicle really needed to be swapped.
My plan for the day was to visit the Bruneau Dunes State Park. I have wanted to see large sand dunes for a while when I learned about a park in southern Colorado that featured sand dunes.
View Larger Map
On the way to the park, I saw part of the Snake River. It's absolutely beautiful. I decided to stop there and take some pictures. The first place I stopped was a bad choice. It was filled with large bushes and no clear path to the river. Foolishly, I decided to go ahead anyway. There were a number of dead bushes. I was wearing shorts and my legs got scratched quite a bit. There were spider webs connecting all of the bushes, and some very large spiders. I got a number of the webs all over me, though I carefully checked to be sure there were no large spiders where I went through. I noticed a number of animal skulls and bones on the ground. Obviously, this wasn't a pleasant sight. But, it was typical of what would be seen in western movies. See the photos.
After getting back to the car, I looked around and found an easy spot to go right up to the river. If only I had just looked a little further before getting scratched up. Once I saw the river close up, it was slimy and not as pretty as it looked from the road.
I drove on to the dunes. When I first saw the area, I felt it was a bit of a letdown. My original reaction was "I gave up Hell's Canyon for this?" I was not initially impressed. My father is a trucker and used to be in the dumptruck business. I had been to plenty of gravel pits while growing up. At first I felt this was not much different other than the fact that it was natural instead of manmade. But, as I got closer and realized the photographic opportunities, I changed my mind. I was glad to have gone there. See the photos.
I wore my hat because the sun was quite strong and I didn't want it beating down on my head. People are allowed to climb the dunes, so naturally I did. As I got higher and higher, the wind became stronger. My hat was taken away. I expected that would be the end of it. But, it simply got tossed way down the other side of the dune. I raced down before it could be taken further and dropped in the pond. I didn't make it up to the top of the dune at that point.
After getting my hat, I started examining the pond by the dunes. There were much bigger dunes on the opposite side of the pond. I waded in the water a bit. It was quite shallow. I considered going across the water and climbing the much larger dunes on the other side. But, if I happened to fall, I'd be right in the water. If I didn't drown, my camera would at least be destroyed (and of course, I couldn't possibly go up there without the ability to take pictures).
After getting bored of wading in the water, I went back to the beach. Then I noticed a sign indicating a possible risk of swimmer's itch. I of course had just been scratched up by the bushes near the Snake River. So, any kind of bacteria in the water could have entered through an opening in my skin. The only thing I had with me was hand sanitizer. I liberally applied that all over my legs. It stung a bit with the scratches. The effects of Swimmer's Itch do not always show up until 48 hours later. So, I had to wait and see what might happen. Thankfully, two days later, nothing happened.
I went back and climbed the medium-sized dune from the front. It was slow because my feet kept sinking in the sand. When I got up there, the wind was quite strong. Sand was blowing all over. I took a number of pictures but became concerned about sand getting into the camera. It was starting to get in my eyes. I closed up the camera. The top of the dune comes to a thin angle. I sat right on the angle for a little while, then began to climb down. Going down was a lot easier. My feet hardly ever sank and I was propelled down. For part of the way, I tried sliding down.
The GPS indicated there was a canyon lookout point about fourteen miles away. It was close enough to try. When I asked for directions, the GPS indicated it would take almost two hours to get there. This was only fourteen miles away! I figured the GPS had to be wrong. When I got out on the main road, I got behind a tractor. Although passing was allowed, I could not see beyond the tractor to pass it. I was going at 5mph for a while. I knew the GPS wasn't giving that calculation just because there could be farm equipment on the road. Finally, I the tractor moved over and I was able to pass it. It was down to seven miles remaining.
I had to turn on an unpaved road called "Pothole Road." This had ZERO potholes but had stone and a speed limit of 25. I don't even think I could do 25 without seriously jarring the car. I now began to realize why there was a prediction of almost two hours. I had to turn off Pothole Road shortly but there were more twisting roads like it that I had to drive. I did not feel like going all the way up there and then have to drive that back. I turned around. I had seen the dunes and that was the highlight of the day. See Pothole Road photos.
View Larger Map
I decided since I did have time, I could try to see another state park. There was a park in Glenn's Ferry, ID called Three Island Crossing. It was a difficult crossing point along the Snake River for those traveling the Oregon Trail. There were a number of scenic places in Glenn's Ferry that I photographed. By the time I got to Three Island Crossing Park, I realized I'd only be there for a few minutes. I didn't feel like paying the entrance fee for just a couple of minutes. So, I turned around and had dinner in town. See photos of Glenn's Ferry, ID.
After Glenn's Ferry, I headed to Twin Falls, ID, for my next hotel. The hotel was very nice. They provided milk and cookies at night for customers.
View Larger Map
When I got to the Boise Airport, I noticed the lot for the rental company I chose was practically empty. They did have a few SUVs there. But I don't want to deal with the high fuel costs or the parking limitations of an SUV. The lot attendant suggested I come back the next day (a Friday) because he suspected there would be many returns on that day. I would be further east by that point. I decided to try again when I was further along. I still had a few hundred more miles before the vehicle really needed to be swapped.
My plan for the day was to visit the Bruneau Dunes State Park. I have wanted to see large sand dunes for a while when I learned about a park in southern Colorado that featured sand dunes.
View Larger Map
On the way to the park, I saw part of the Snake River. It's absolutely beautiful. I decided to stop there and take some pictures. The first place I stopped was a bad choice. It was filled with large bushes and no clear path to the river. Foolishly, I decided to go ahead anyway. There were a number of dead bushes. I was wearing shorts and my legs got scratched quite a bit. There were spider webs connecting all of the bushes, and some very large spiders. I got a number of the webs all over me, though I carefully checked to be sure there were no large spiders where I went through. I noticed a number of animal skulls and bones on the ground. Obviously, this wasn't a pleasant sight. But, it was typical of what would be seen in western movies. See the photos.
After getting back to the car, I looked around and found an easy spot to go right up to the river. If only I had just looked a little further before getting scratched up. Once I saw the river close up, it was slimy and not as pretty as it looked from the road.
I drove on to the dunes. When I first saw the area, I felt it was a bit of a letdown. My original reaction was "I gave up Hell's Canyon for this?" I was not initially impressed. My father is a trucker and used to be in the dumptruck business. I had been to plenty of gravel pits while growing up. At first I felt this was not much different other than the fact that it was natural instead of manmade. But, as I got closer and realized the photographic opportunities, I changed my mind. I was glad to have gone there. See the photos.
I wore my hat because the sun was quite strong and I didn't want it beating down on my head. People are allowed to climb the dunes, so naturally I did. As I got higher and higher, the wind became stronger. My hat was taken away. I expected that would be the end of it. But, it simply got tossed way down the other side of the dune. I raced down before it could be taken further and dropped in the pond. I didn't make it up to the top of the dune at that point.
After getting my hat, I started examining the pond by the dunes. There were much bigger dunes on the opposite side of the pond. I waded in the water a bit. It was quite shallow. I considered going across the water and climbing the much larger dunes on the other side. But, if I happened to fall, I'd be right in the water. If I didn't drown, my camera would at least be destroyed (and of course, I couldn't possibly go up there without the ability to take pictures).
After getting bored of wading in the water, I went back to the beach. Then I noticed a sign indicating a possible risk of swimmer's itch. I of course had just been scratched up by the bushes near the Snake River. So, any kind of bacteria in the water could have entered through an opening in my skin. The only thing I had with me was hand sanitizer. I liberally applied that all over my legs. It stung a bit with the scratches. The effects of Swimmer's Itch do not always show up until 48 hours later. So, I had to wait and see what might happen. Thankfully, two days later, nothing happened.
I went back and climbed the medium-sized dune from the front. It was slow because my feet kept sinking in the sand. When I got up there, the wind was quite strong. Sand was blowing all over. I took a number of pictures but became concerned about sand getting into the camera. It was starting to get in my eyes. I closed up the camera. The top of the dune comes to a thin angle. I sat right on the angle for a little while, then began to climb down. Going down was a lot easier. My feet hardly ever sank and I was propelled down. For part of the way, I tried sliding down.
The GPS indicated there was a canyon lookout point about fourteen miles away. It was close enough to try. When I asked for directions, the GPS indicated it would take almost two hours to get there. This was only fourteen miles away! I figured the GPS had to be wrong. When I got out on the main road, I got behind a tractor. Although passing was allowed, I could not see beyond the tractor to pass it. I was going at 5mph for a while. I knew the GPS wasn't giving that calculation just because there could be farm equipment on the road. Finally, I the tractor moved over and I was able to pass it. It was down to seven miles remaining.
I had to turn on an unpaved road called "Pothole Road." This had ZERO potholes but had stone and a speed limit of 25. I don't even think I could do 25 without seriously jarring the car. I now began to realize why there was a prediction of almost two hours. I had to turn off Pothole Road shortly but there were more twisting roads like it that I had to drive. I did not feel like going all the way up there and then have to drive that back. I turned around. I had seen the dunes and that was the highlight of the day. See Pothole Road photos.
View Larger Map
I decided since I did have time, I could try to see another state park. There was a park in Glenn's Ferry, ID called Three Island Crossing. It was a difficult crossing point along the Snake River for those traveling the Oregon Trail. There were a number of scenic places in Glenn's Ferry that I photographed. By the time I got to Three Island Crossing Park, I realized I'd only be there for a few minutes. I didn't feel like paying the entrance fee for just a couple of minutes. So, I turned around and had dinner in town. See photos of Glenn's Ferry, ID.
After Glenn's Ferry, I headed to Twin Falls, ID, for my next hotel. The hotel was very nice. They provided milk and cookies at night for customers.
View Larger Map
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Misc. Notes
I've forgotten to include these in my blog entries...
Montana
Despite being an underpopulated state, the major roads (US routes and interstates) are very well maintained. They're very smooth. When I got to Montana, I was expecting roads like those in Nebraska and Oklahoma, which are horrible with bumps and ruts. There are places with notices about construction and speeding fines being doubled, though no evidence of actual road construction. Where there is definite road construction going on, the speed limit is typically REDUCED to 65 mph. If they have to bring an interstate down to just two lanes for east and west, they will reduce it to 45 mph.
Washington
Each state has a graphic to identify their state routes on road signs. Some states use boring symbols. Connecticut uses a square. Oregon uses a circle. Other states are more creative. Kansas uses a sunflower (even though other states such as North Dakota have more sunflowers). North Dakota uses the profile of a Native American. Montana uses an arrowhead. But Washington was my favorite. They used the profile of George Washington to identify their state routes.
Oregon
Oregon is one of those few states which require gas to be pumped by an attendant, not the customer. It was a bit of a surprise when I experienced that the first time.
Montana
Despite being an underpopulated state, the major roads (US routes and interstates) are very well maintained. They're very smooth. When I got to Montana, I was expecting roads like those in Nebraska and Oklahoma, which are horrible with bumps and ruts. There are places with notices about construction and speeding fines being doubled, though no evidence of actual road construction. Where there is definite road construction going on, the speed limit is typically REDUCED to 65 mph. If they have to bring an interstate down to just two lanes for east and west, they will reduce it to 45 mph.
Washington
Each state has a graphic to identify their state routes on road signs. Some states use boring symbols. Connecticut uses a square. Oregon uses a circle. Other states are more creative. Kansas uses a sunflower (even though other states such as North Dakota have more sunflowers). North Dakota uses the profile of a Native American. Montana uses an arrowhead. But Washington was my favorite. They used the profile of George Washington to identify their state routes.
Oregon
Oregon is one of those few states which require gas to be pumped by an attendant, not the customer. It was a bit of a surprise when I experienced that the first time.
August 20, 2008 - Hat Rock and the Oregon Trail
The portion of the trip getting out to the West Coast was all planned before I even left. I wanted to make sure I got reservations in the areas I wanted to visit. Since it was summer, the hotel reservations filled up fast. Choice Hotels was also running their promotion with mega points awarded after three stays at different hotels. So, I wanted to make sure I stayed at different hotels to gain the maximum possible points.
Since the bonus points earning period ended on August 14th, I could be more spontaneous. After my next hotel (Nampa, ID) I did not have any additional reservations. I decided to make a reservation for Twin Falls, ID. There are a lot of things to see in the area.
Originally, I planned to go down to California and drive through I-80, stopping in various places in Nevada and Utah. I later eliminated California between the wild fires and other things. I also planned to eliminate Nevada and Utah because there is so much to see in southern Idaho that I did not want to miss. But, I decided I ought to add parts of northern Nevada and Utah to this trip. I wanted to see these areas. Although I had been to both states before, I only saw the southern areas.
The major goal of today was to get to Nampa, Idaho. This was thirty-six miles inside the Idaho border and about four hours from Hermiston, OR.
But, I couldn't leave eastern OR without at least seeing a few sites. This is high desert area and wide open spaces. The plant life is so different from what we see in the Northeast. I was glad to be back in the desert area again.
The city of Hermiston seemed to be "cowboyland." Many of the businesses had cartoonish pictures of cowboys on their windows.
I went to Hat Rock State Park in Umatilla, OR. This doesn't seem like much, but it was important to me because it was a site actually visited by Lewis and Clark. It was raining for a while. I didn't get very good pictures at first and had to eventually stop altogether for fear of the camera getting too wet. See photos taken when it was overcast.
But, patience paid off. I waited a bit and the clouds passed by. I was able to get some much nicer photos in the sun. See photos taken in the sun.
See photos of the roads to/from Hat Rock State Park. There are some interesting plants not found in the Northeast.
View Larger Map
I took so long at Hat Rock State Park with photos that I didn't have time to do much else beyond the long drive to the Idaho border. The scenery along I-84 was absolutely beauiful. The interstate twists quite a bit and is quite high. It gives tremendous views of the area. In fact, at a rest stop it's so high up that you could see the land in squares as if you were looking down from an airplane. See the photos.
View Larger Map
After driving quite a bit, I noticed a sign indicating a visitor's center for the Oregon Trail at the next exit. I had to see this. I remember playing MECC's Oregon Trail during elementary school on an Apple IIe. The specific area I visited was the Blue Mountain Crossing. I think this was mentioned in the game. See the photos.
It was an interesting site. There were long walking trails. I didn't go on the trails for lack of time. At the beginning of the trail was a wagon and a box outside the wagon. The box had animal bones in it.
I began to hear thunder. I decided I better get on my way. This made me a bit nervous since I still had three hours to go.
The storm ended quickly. In fact, once the sun came out there were two beautiful rainbows which seemed to hang over I-84. One was very bright and the other was very faint. As I drove along further, I noticed they were on the land adjacent to the westbound side, not over the interstate.
I also noticed several smoking volcanoes in the east part of the state. I tried to find a rest stop where I could get a good picture of them but was unable to find one before they disappeared from view.
A few miles before the border, there was a sign announcing that it was now Mountain Time. An hour just disappeared.
I got into Nampa, ID and was quite tired.
Since the bonus points earning period ended on August 14th, I could be more spontaneous. After my next hotel (Nampa, ID) I did not have any additional reservations. I decided to make a reservation for Twin Falls, ID. There are a lot of things to see in the area.
Originally, I planned to go down to California and drive through I-80, stopping in various places in Nevada and Utah. I later eliminated California between the wild fires and other things. I also planned to eliminate Nevada and Utah because there is so much to see in southern Idaho that I did not want to miss. But, I decided I ought to add parts of northern Nevada and Utah to this trip. I wanted to see these areas. Although I had been to both states before, I only saw the southern areas.
The major goal of today was to get to Nampa, Idaho. This was thirty-six miles inside the Idaho border and about four hours from Hermiston, OR.
But, I couldn't leave eastern OR without at least seeing a few sites. This is high desert area and wide open spaces. The plant life is so different from what we see in the Northeast. I was glad to be back in the desert area again.
The city of Hermiston seemed to be "cowboyland." Many of the businesses had cartoonish pictures of cowboys on their windows.
I went to Hat Rock State Park in Umatilla, OR. This doesn't seem like much, but it was important to me because it was a site actually visited by Lewis and Clark. It was raining for a while. I didn't get very good pictures at first and had to eventually stop altogether for fear of the camera getting too wet. See photos taken when it was overcast.
But, patience paid off. I waited a bit and the clouds passed by. I was able to get some much nicer photos in the sun. See photos taken in the sun.
See photos of the roads to/from Hat Rock State Park. There are some interesting plants not found in the Northeast.
View Larger Map
I took so long at Hat Rock State Park with photos that I didn't have time to do much else beyond the long drive to the Idaho border. The scenery along I-84 was absolutely beauiful. The interstate twists quite a bit and is quite high. It gives tremendous views of the area. In fact, at a rest stop it's so high up that you could see the land in squares as if you were looking down from an airplane. See the photos.
View Larger Map
After driving quite a bit, I noticed a sign indicating a visitor's center for the Oregon Trail at the next exit. I had to see this. I remember playing MECC's Oregon Trail during elementary school on an Apple IIe. The specific area I visited was the Blue Mountain Crossing. I think this was mentioned in the game. See the photos.
It was an interesting site. There were long walking trails. I didn't go on the trails for lack of time. At the beginning of the trail was a wagon and a box outside the wagon. The box had animal bones in it.
I began to hear thunder. I decided I better get on my way. This made me a bit nervous since I still had three hours to go.
The storm ended quickly. In fact, once the sun came out there were two beautiful rainbows which seemed to hang over I-84. One was very bright and the other was very faint. As I drove along further, I noticed they were on the land adjacent to the westbound side, not over the interstate.
I also noticed several smoking volcanoes in the east part of the state. I tried to find a rest stop where I could get a good picture of them but was unable to find one before they disappeared from view.
A few miles before the border, there was a sign announcing that it was now Mountain Time. An hour just disappeared.
I got into Nampa, ID and was quite tired.
August 19, 2008 - Mt. St. Helens vs. the Columbia River Gorge
Note: Photos for this day have not been posted yet.
A year ago today I was flying home from my trip to Arizona. At that point I had visited a total of 25 states. Now I've visited 44 states.
My original plan for today was to visit the Columbia River Gorge. It was in my path to head across Oregon into southern Idaho. But, I looked at other tourist areas around the hotel. I noticed Mount St. Helens was a bit closer to the hotel than the Columbia River Gorge. Of course, it was not in the path I was traveling. Still, I had heard about Mt. St. Helens for years. I may never get to this area again. So, I decided Mt. St. Helens was a priority. My next hotel was in Hermiston, OR, which was east of the Columbia River Gorge. If I had time later, I'd visit the Columbia River Gorge as it was on the way.
The drive to the visitor center for Mt. St. Helens was along I-5. The GPS could not find it. Mapquest told me to get off one exit before the appropriate exit. I tried Mapquest's incorrect directions. I drove for a few miles on a narrow, twisty road which went up the side of the mountain. As there were no signs talking about Mt. St. Helens, I determined this was the wrong way.
As I got back on I-5, I noticed there were signs for other exits which read "Tourist Information and Volcano Information." I found the appropriate exit for Mt. St. Helens. Mt. St. Helens is considered a National Volcanic Monument. This means that admission to the viewing area is under the control of one of the Federal Government's entities (I think the Forest Service). However, the State of Washington also has visitor centers along the way. The first visitor center actually had an admission fee. They had some exhibits and a film plus a gift shop. One of the staff indicated that since the day was very overcast, the view would not be so great. The photos and postcards around the visitor center were of course taken on very good days with perfect light. So, the impression in my mind of what it looks like was from those photos.
View Larger Map
The drive to the final viewing area was an hour and fifteen minutes with no stops. There were many viewing areas along the way. There are a lot of mountains and valleys so there were plenty of photo opportunities. Unfortunately the photos did not turn out so well due to the sky being overcast.
Huckleberries are popular around here too. Another visitor center (one without a charge) was selling huckleberry truffles and huckleberry candy bars. I tried them. The truffles were messy (too much huckleberry inside) but tasted good.
The road went around mountains and twisted quite a bit. Mt. St. Helens was not that far away but the twisting of the road added many miles. There is a turn as you get closer and the main road should continue. However, just beyond that turn, it's blocked off.
The second to last observation area gives a very close view of Mt. St. Helens. However, the wind is terrible. I had the camera around my neck but I was really afraid it might be lifted off and dumped way down in the drop off. There was a heavy fence which would prevent a person from being pulled. However, there was a trail along the edge of the mountain with no fence. Some people were actually walking on it. The wind made it very cold as well.
Because of the number of clouds, I didn't realize right away that there was smoke coming from Mt. St. Helens. It was the same color as the clouds and some of the clouds were right near the top of the volcano.
Finally, I went to the main observatory. This is a fee area and costs $8. People can physically walk in without paying the fee (many parks don't allow this) but could be subject to fines if caught by a ranger. In my case, I didn't have to pay at all because I bought the Annual Pass a while back. This doesn't always work with areas run by the Forest Service, but this time it was accepted.
There is a main observatory area and a winding path that gives a higher vantage point. The path has fences to at least hopefully prevent anyone from falling. Along the path are the stumps of trees affected by the eruption in 1980. There are also pieces of trees laying in the area. Going off the path is a violation and subjects the person to fines. They want to preserve all the plants that have started growing in the eruption area. As they say, plants grow by inches and die by the foot. There is a monument along the path listing the names of people who died in the 1980 eruption.
By the time I was done, I felt there might still be some time for a quick visit to the Columbia River Gorge. It would be a three hour trip. The trip went through I-5 and it was during the commuting hour. The radio indicated major back-ups. Meanwhile, it started to rain. It was light at first and then became heavy. I came to realize that I would not be seeing the Columbia River Gorge except for whatever could be seen via I-84 (which was not much at all).
View Larger Map
Along the way back to I-5, there were various displays and tourist shops related to Big Foot. In one case there was even a small museum.
By the time I got to I-5, traffic was moving along at the speed limit. The rain was very hard. As I got to the Oregon border, there was another "Entering Oregon" sign. After crossing a bridge, there was at least a small "Welcome to Oregon" sign.
The scenery along I-84 was beautiful. There were a number of mountains. The Columbia River runs parallel to I-84 for miles. At one point I noticed two large smoking volcanoes on either side of I-84. As I went along further, there were many nice smaller mountains. It became the high desert environment found in eastern Washington, Montana, etc.
In listening to the radio near the Gorge, everything was referred to as "Gorge Country." It's too bad I missed it. I considered going back to the Gorge the next day, but that would mean backtracking by well over 100 miles. The next hotel after Hermiston was just inside the Idaho border so I would have many additional hours of driving if I did that.
I finally arrived in Hermiston, OR, and got to my hotel. I was absolutely exhausted.
A year ago today I was flying home from my trip to Arizona. At that point I had visited a total of 25 states. Now I've visited 44 states.
My original plan for today was to visit the Columbia River Gorge. It was in my path to head across Oregon into southern Idaho. But, I looked at other tourist areas around the hotel. I noticed Mount St. Helens was a bit closer to the hotel than the Columbia River Gorge. Of course, it was not in the path I was traveling. Still, I had heard about Mt. St. Helens for years. I may never get to this area again. So, I decided Mt. St. Helens was a priority. My next hotel was in Hermiston, OR, which was east of the Columbia River Gorge. If I had time later, I'd visit the Columbia River Gorge as it was on the way.
The drive to the visitor center for Mt. St. Helens was along I-5. The GPS could not find it. Mapquest told me to get off one exit before the appropriate exit. I tried Mapquest's incorrect directions. I drove for a few miles on a narrow, twisty road which went up the side of the mountain. As there were no signs talking about Mt. St. Helens, I determined this was the wrong way.
As I got back on I-5, I noticed there were signs for other exits which read "Tourist Information and Volcano Information." I found the appropriate exit for Mt. St. Helens. Mt. St. Helens is considered a National Volcanic Monument. This means that admission to the viewing area is under the control of one of the Federal Government's entities (I think the Forest Service). However, the State of Washington also has visitor centers along the way. The first visitor center actually had an admission fee. They had some exhibits and a film plus a gift shop. One of the staff indicated that since the day was very overcast, the view would not be so great. The photos and postcards around the visitor center were of course taken on very good days with perfect light. So, the impression in my mind of what it looks like was from those photos.
View Larger Map
The drive to the final viewing area was an hour and fifteen minutes with no stops. There were many viewing areas along the way. There are a lot of mountains and valleys so there were plenty of photo opportunities. Unfortunately the photos did not turn out so well due to the sky being overcast.
Huckleberries are popular around here too. Another visitor center (one without a charge) was selling huckleberry truffles and huckleberry candy bars. I tried them. The truffles were messy (too much huckleberry inside) but tasted good.
The road went around mountains and twisted quite a bit. Mt. St. Helens was not that far away but the twisting of the road added many miles. There is a turn as you get closer and the main road should continue. However, just beyond that turn, it's blocked off.
The second to last observation area gives a very close view of Mt. St. Helens. However, the wind is terrible. I had the camera around my neck but I was really afraid it might be lifted off and dumped way down in the drop off. There was a heavy fence which would prevent a person from being pulled. However, there was a trail along the edge of the mountain with no fence. Some people were actually walking on it. The wind made it very cold as well.
Because of the number of clouds, I didn't realize right away that there was smoke coming from Mt. St. Helens. It was the same color as the clouds and some of the clouds were right near the top of the volcano.
Finally, I went to the main observatory. This is a fee area and costs $8. People can physically walk in without paying the fee (many parks don't allow this) but could be subject to fines if caught by a ranger. In my case, I didn't have to pay at all because I bought the Annual Pass a while back. This doesn't always work with areas run by the Forest Service, but this time it was accepted.
There is a main observatory area and a winding path that gives a higher vantage point. The path has fences to at least hopefully prevent anyone from falling. Along the path are the stumps of trees affected by the eruption in 1980. There are also pieces of trees laying in the area. Going off the path is a violation and subjects the person to fines. They want to preserve all the plants that have started growing in the eruption area. As they say, plants grow by inches and die by the foot. There is a monument along the path listing the names of people who died in the 1980 eruption.
By the time I was done, I felt there might still be some time for a quick visit to the Columbia River Gorge. It would be a three hour trip. The trip went through I-5 and it was during the commuting hour. The radio indicated major back-ups. Meanwhile, it started to rain. It was light at first and then became heavy. I came to realize that I would not be seeing the Columbia River Gorge except for whatever could be seen via I-84 (which was not much at all).
View Larger Map
Along the way back to I-5, there were various displays and tourist shops related to Big Foot. In one case there was even a small museum.
By the time I got to I-5, traffic was moving along at the speed limit. The rain was very hard. As I got to the Oregon border, there was another "Entering Oregon" sign. After crossing a bridge, there was at least a small "Welcome to Oregon" sign.
The scenery along I-84 was beautiful. There were a number of mountains. The Columbia River runs parallel to I-84 for miles. At one point I noticed two large smoking volcanoes on either side of I-84. As I went along further, there were many nice smaller mountains. It became the high desert environment found in eastern Washington, Montana, etc.
In listening to the radio near the Gorge, everything was referred to as "Gorge Country." It's too bad I missed it. I considered going back to the Gorge the next day, but that would mean backtracking by well over 100 miles. The next hotel after Hermiston was just inside the Idaho border so I would have many additional hours of driving if I did that.
I finally arrived in Hermiston, OR, and got to my hotel. I was absolutely exhausted.
Monday, August 25, 2008
August 18, 2008 - Northern Oregon Beaches
Note: Photos for this day have not been posted yet.
Today I finally left the Ocean Shores hotel. I decided to try Oregon's northern Pacific beaches. The weather forecast called for rain. I expected the fog would be present along these beaches as well. This would basically be the beginning of my long and slow trip home. From this point on, I would try to go towards the east in order to get home.
State Count
Oregon is my 44th state and possibly the final new state for me on this trip. There are only six states left in the United States that I have not yet visited: Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas.
Dismal Nitch
It was a long drive around Grays Harbor to get to the Oregon border. I got to a rest stop area and didn't realize how close I was to the state line. The rest stop has an interesting name: Dismal Nitch. It was in an area that would have provided great photographic opportunities if it were not for the fog.
View Larger Map
State Line on the Bridge
There is a rather long bridge shortly after the Dismal Nitch rest stop. Near the middle of the bridge is a sign saying "Entering Oregon." There is no "Welcome to Oregon" with some interesting slogan (e.g. "Kentucky, birthplace of Abraham Lincoln" or "West Virginia, wild, wooly, and wonderful" or "South Dakota, great faces, great places"). I realize this is not an interstate, but still, I've seen other states with at least a small welcome sign on non-interstate roads.
Seaside, OR
I had originally set the GPS to get me to Cannon Beach which I had read about online. It is alleged to have great tide pools. But, I passed through Seaside first. With a name like that, I knew there had to be a beach. Of course, the GPS went ballistic: "Recalculating....recalulating...turn right!"
Seaside was interesting. They had an aquarium where you could personally feed seals. I didn't go in because I just didn't have the time. The beach had fog but much less than what I saw in Washington. You could see more than ten feet away. Further south, cliffs ran along the beach with some homes at the top. The fog made them difficult to see.
Cannon Beach, OR
After Seaside, I decided to visit the main attraction: Cannon Beach. This is a resort town with lots of shops and expensive restaurants. There were wire statues of Lewis and Clark plus a Native American. It just started to rain so I only got one photo.
I found a place to park and head to the beach. Foolishly, I did not bother to remember the buildings or the business names in the area where I parked my car. I did notice a whale statue near the entrance to the beach but forgot about it until later.
In order to actually get to the ocean, you had to cross a "river" which flowed into the ocean. From where I entered, there were lots of plants growing in the "river" and it seemed to be about four feet deep in the middle. I didn't cross at that point. As I walked along further, it thinned out and became shallow. It was only ankle high as it got closer to the ocean.
Cannon Beach was definitely the best ocean beach I saw on the trip. It had huge rocks on either side which were a ways out in the ocean. At one point there was an "island." To get there, you had to cross very shallow water. In other parts, the water was consistently very shallow. You had to go way out to get to deeper water. Even that wasn't very deep for a long time. Waves were very gentle. However, the water was C-O-L-D. I was chilled to the bone walking through the water. Other people waded but absolutely nobody swam in the water.
After exploring the beach for quite a while and I began to realize this would be my last visit to the Pacific Ocean on this trip. It could be the last visit to the Pacific Ocean in my life with the cost of gas.
I began to work my way back to the area where I entered the beach. Unfortunately, nothing looked familiar. I finally went up to the town area and found that I didn't see anything I remembered. I walked around quite a bit looking for anything familiar. At one point I saw a guy going in a truck marked "Beach rescue." I was going to ask for help in figuring out where I needed to go but then realized I couldn't tell him anything about the area where I parked the car. He couldn't help me because I couldn't provide him with any information.
I went back to the beach. The sand made it very difficult to walk around. I looked around quite a bit and finally found saw the whale statue. I suddenly remembered it.
I thought about having dinner in one of the restaurants in Cannon Beach. The first one I visited required reservations. I walked around some more and found a store that sells postcards. Of course, I got a bunch of postcards. I decided that I was no longer interested in wasting time at a restaurant. I went to a pizza place for fast service.
The clerk at the pizza place was telling another customer that summer was basically over for this area. They were entering the cold season. If only I had gotten to this area a week earlier!
Drive to Vancouver, WA
I had a reservation to stay at a hotel in Vancouver, WA. This is just outside of Portland. The deciding factor in getting this hotel was that it took a reasonable amount of points for a freebie night. After all the points I've accumulated due to Choice Hotels' promotion that ran until August 14th, I wanted to start getting some free nights.
View Larger Map
The trees in this stretch of Oregon looked just like our trees except that they are much taller. As it was getting dark, I didn't get to see much along the way.
Today I finally left the Ocean Shores hotel. I decided to try Oregon's northern Pacific beaches. The weather forecast called for rain. I expected the fog would be present along these beaches as well. This would basically be the beginning of my long and slow trip home. From this point on, I would try to go towards the east in order to get home.
State Count
Oregon is my 44th state and possibly the final new state for me on this trip. There are only six states left in the United States that I have not yet visited: Alaska, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas.
Dismal Nitch
It was a long drive around Grays Harbor to get to the Oregon border. I got to a rest stop area and didn't realize how close I was to the state line. The rest stop has an interesting name: Dismal Nitch. It was in an area that would have provided great photographic opportunities if it were not for the fog.
View Larger Map
State Line on the Bridge
There is a rather long bridge shortly after the Dismal Nitch rest stop. Near the middle of the bridge is a sign saying "Entering Oregon." There is no "Welcome to Oregon" with some interesting slogan (e.g. "Kentucky, birthplace of Abraham Lincoln" or "West Virginia, wild, wooly, and wonderful" or "South Dakota, great faces, great places"). I realize this is not an interstate, but still, I've seen other states with at least a small welcome sign on non-interstate roads.
Seaside, OR
I had originally set the GPS to get me to Cannon Beach which I had read about online. It is alleged to have great tide pools. But, I passed through Seaside first. With a name like that, I knew there had to be a beach. Of course, the GPS went ballistic: "Recalculating....recalulating...turn right!"
Seaside was interesting. They had an aquarium where you could personally feed seals. I didn't go in because I just didn't have the time. The beach had fog but much less than what I saw in Washington. You could see more than ten feet away. Further south, cliffs ran along the beach with some homes at the top. The fog made them difficult to see.
Cannon Beach, OR
After Seaside, I decided to visit the main attraction: Cannon Beach. This is a resort town with lots of shops and expensive restaurants. There were wire statues of Lewis and Clark plus a Native American. It just started to rain so I only got one photo.
I found a place to park and head to the beach. Foolishly, I did not bother to remember the buildings or the business names in the area where I parked my car. I did notice a whale statue near the entrance to the beach but forgot about it until later.
In order to actually get to the ocean, you had to cross a "river" which flowed into the ocean. From where I entered, there were lots of plants growing in the "river" and it seemed to be about four feet deep in the middle. I didn't cross at that point. As I walked along further, it thinned out and became shallow. It was only ankle high as it got closer to the ocean.
Cannon Beach was definitely the best ocean beach I saw on the trip. It had huge rocks on either side which were a ways out in the ocean. At one point there was an "island." To get there, you had to cross very shallow water. In other parts, the water was consistently very shallow. You had to go way out to get to deeper water. Even that wasn't very deep for a long time. Waves were very gentle. However, the water was C-O-L-D. I was chilled to the bone walking through the water. Other people waded but absolutely nobody swam in the water.
After exploring the beach for quite a while and I began to realize this would be my last visit to the Pacific Ocean on this trip. It could be the last visit to the Pacific Ocean in my life with the cost of gas.
I began to work my way back to the area where I entered the beach. Unfortunately, nothing looked familiar. I finally went up to the town area and found that I didn't see anything I remembered. I walked around quite a bit looking for anything familiar. At one point I saw a guy going in a truck marked "Beach rescue." I was going to ask for help in figuring out where I needed to go but then realized I couldn't tell him anything about the area where I parked the car. He couldn't help me because I couldn't provide him with any information.
I went back to the beach. The sand made it very difficult to walk around. I looked around quite a bit and finally found saw the whale statue. I suddenly remembered it.
I thought about having dinner in one of the restaurants in Cannon Beach. The first one I visited required reservations. I walked around some more and found a store that sells postcards. Of course, I got a bunch of postcards. I decided that I was no longer interested in wasting time at a restaurant. I went to a pizza place for fast service.
The clerk at the pizza place was telling another customer that summer was basically over for this area. They were entering the cold season. If only I had gotten to this area a week earlier!
Drive to Vancouver, WA
I had a reservation to stay at a hotel in Vancouver, WA. This is just outside of Portland. The deciding factor in getting this hotel was that it took a reasonable amount of points for a freebie night. After all the points I've accumulated due to Choice Hotels' promotion that ran until August 14th, I wanted to start getting some free nights.
View Larger Map
The trees in this stretch of Oregon looked just like our trees except that they are much taller. As it was getting dark, I didn't get to see much along the way.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
August 17, 2008 - The Space Needle
Note: Photos for this day have not been posted yet.
I went to Mass at St. Jerome's Church which is just seven minutes from the hotel. The same priest I met on the feast of the Assumption was present and planned to celebrate the Mass. However, a priest from Africa was in the area and asked him if he could celebrate. The visiting priest was so very enthusiastic and gave a very nice homily. He was very holy and it was obvious that he was so very happy to be a priest. We have a priest shortage here in the United States where there is so much wealth and materialism. Yet in Africa, where there is abject poverty, there are enough priests to serve the people there plus eliminate the shortage here. And, they tend to be some of the most enthusiastic and holy priests one could ever meet. We take so much for granted here. If we had more priests from impoverished countries, it could help to rejuvinate the church here.
Although I had not planned a visit to Seattle when I was putting this trip together, during the weekend I decided I ought to see the Space Needle. Afterall, I saw "very important" landmarks like the Spam Museum, the Corn Palace, and the world's largest buffalo statue. I figure the Space Needle was just a wee bit more dignified than those.
The GPS indicated I should get there in just under three hours. Of course, that's without massive traffic jams. As it was a Sunday afternoon, everyone was returning from vacations and getting ready to go back to work. Getting to I-5 took a very long time. There were several small cities to go through just to get to the interstate. There were traffic jams along the way.
View Larger Map
I-5 was even worse. There were several accidents. On many occasions traffic came to a dead stop. It would move for a little while and then stop again. If this is what it's like on a Sunday afternoon, I would never want to drive this stretch of I-5 during work commuting hours! I was so spoiled with the interstates in between Ohio and eastern Washington, going through so many underpopulated areas.
It was a long, grinding trip (I'd trade the winding wilderness of US-101 for this, any day). Ultimately, it took about four and a half hours to get to the Space Needle.
I pulled into the first parking garage I could find as I didn't want to be driving around a major city looking for parking areas. Of course, I found out later that I managed to pick the most expensive parking area in the vicinity at a flat rate of $6. I saw others with hourly fees. I was probably only parked for about ninety minutes.
The sky was overcast (of course, Seattle has a reputation for that so I guess I was getting treated to typical Seattle). Photos will not be great.
But, it was definitely worth it. The Space Needle is interesting. There is a whole tourist area surrounding the Space Needle with gift shops, food vendors, a sci-fi museum, etc. I didn't have time to see anything other than the Space Needle.
I really didn't know much about the Space Needle prior to this trip. I knew it was in Seattle and I had seen a picture of it. That's about it. I actually did not know people could go to the top. Of course, once I learned this I decided I had to go to the top as well. The cost was $16 for the elevator ride. But, when else would I be in Seattle?
There is a short spiral climb to get to the elevator area. You have to show your ticket to someone as you go inside the structure. As you walk further, staff ask if you want your photo taken as a souvenir. If you do this, you can pick up the photo at the gift shop for a fee. I had a photo taken but passed on picking it up.
Everything is themed around the space race in the 1960s. The elevator ride is considered a "life off." The elevator ride took exactly 41 seconds. I didn't time it; the elevator operator told us the time, along with various other facts about the Space Needle. There are three elevators. One is red, one is blue, and one is yellow. I rode the yellow elevator going up and the blue going down.
The observatory offers an opportunity to see Seattle and the surrounding area from every direction. I got a number of photos. The inside area allows the purchase of snacks and drinks, including alcholic beverages. There is a stairway to a restaurant which revolves. I did not visit the restaurant.
I stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Tacoma. It was open late. The food was good. A lot of Mexican restaurants have "deep fried ice cream" as a dessert item. Ice cream itself is bad enough for you but putting a deep fried coating on top only makes it that much worse. However, I decided just this once to try it. It's not worth the damage to one's arteries.
The trip back to the hotel was much faster. There were absolutely no traffic jams and I was able to drive at the speed limit.
I went to Mass at St. Jerome's Church which is just seven minutes from the hotel. The same priest I met on the feast of the Assumption was present and planned to celebrate the Mass. However, a priest from Africa was in the area and asked him if he could celebrate. The visiting priest was so very enthusiastic and gave a very nice homily. He was very holy and it was obvious that he was so very happy to be a priest. We have a priest shortage here in the United States where there is so much wealth and materialism. Yet in Africa, where there is abject poverty, there are enough priests to serve the people there plus eliminate the shortage here. And, they tend to be some of the most enthusiastic and holy priests one could ever meet. We take so much for granted here. If we had more priests from impoverished countries, it could help to rejuvinate the church here.
Although I had not planned a visit to Seattle when I was putting this trip together, during the weekend I decided I ought to see the Space Needle. Afterall, I saw "very important" landmarks like the Spam Museum, the Corn Palace, and the world's largest buffalo statue. I figure the Space Needle was just a wee bit more dignified than those.
The GPS indicated I should get there in just under three hours. Of course, that's without massive traffic jams. As it was a Sunday afternoon, everyone was returning from vacations and getting ready to go back to work. Getting to I-5 took a very long time. There were several small cities to go through just to get to the interstate. There were traffic jams along the way.
View Larger Map
I-5 was even worse. There were several accidents. On many occasions traffic came to a dead stop. It would move for a little while and then stop again. If this is what it's like on a Sunday afternoon, I would never want to drive this stretch of I-5 during work commuting hours! I was so spoiled with the interstates in between Ohio and eastern Washington, going through so many underpopulated areas.
It was a long, grinding trip (I'd trade the winding wilderness of US-101 for this, any day). Ultimately, it took about four and a half hours to get to the Space Needle.
I pulled into the first parking garage I could find as I didn't want to be driving around a major city looking for parking areas. Of course, I found out later that I managed to pick the most expensive parking area in the vicinity at a flat rate of $6. I saw others with hourly fees. I was probably only parked for about ninety minutes.
The sky was overcast (of course, Seattle has a reputation for that so I guess I was getting treated to typical Seattle). Photos will not be great.
But, it was definitely worth it. The Space Needle is interesting. There is a whole tourist area surrounding the Space Needle with gift shops, food vendors, a sci-fi museum, etc. I didn't have time to see anything other than the Space Needle.
I really didn't know much about the Space Needle prior to this trip. I knew it was in Seattle and I had seen a picture of it. That's about it. I actually did not know people could go to the top. Of course, once I learned this I decided I had to go to the top as well. The cost was $16 for the elevator ride. But, when else would I be in Seattle?
There is a short spiral climb to get to the elevator area. You have to show your ticket to someone as you go inside the structure. As you walk further, staff ask if you want your photo taken as a souvenir. If you do this, you can pick up the photo at the gift shop for a fee. I had a photo taken but passed on picking it up.
Everything is themed around the space race in the 1960s. The elevator ride is considered a "life off." The elevator ride took exactly 41 seconds. I didn't time it; the elevator operator told us the time, along with various other facts about the Space Needle. There are three elevators. One is red, one is blue, and one is yellow. I rode the yellow elevator going up and the blue going down.
The observatory offers an opportunity to see Seattle and the surrounding area from every direction. I got a number of photos. The inside area allows the purchase of snacks and drinks, including alcholic beverages. There is a stairway to a restaurant which revolves. I did not visit the restaurant.
I stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Tacoma. It was open late. The food was good. A lot of Mexican restaurants have "deep fried ice cream" as a dessert item. Ice cream itself is bad enough for you but putting a deep fried coating on top only makes it that much worse. However, I decided just this once to try it. It's not worth the damage to one's arteries.
The trip back to the hotel was much faster. There were absolutely no traffic jams and I was able to drive at the speed limit.
August 16, 2008 - To the Northwest Tip of the Continental United States (almost)
Note: Photos for this day have not yet been posted.
On the previous day, I noticed that there were quite a few cars parked on the beach. They park fairly close to the shore and therefore, if you just want to sit on the beach, you will not see the ocean. Having only seen East Coast beaches in New England (obviously not Vermont) and Gulf Coast beaches in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, this was something new to me. All of the areas I've seen on the East Coast have a designated parking area, often with a rather high price. Anyway, after doing some reading on the Internet, it appears to be a Washington state tradition to drive vehicles on the beach close to the water and obstruct the view (that is, the view when it's not foggy).
I decided to stay an extra night. Originally, I intended for Saturday to be my final night at this hotel and then I would determine where I wanted to stay next as I had not made arrangements beforehand beyond the morning of August 17th.
When planning this trip, I thought about the idea of seeing the northwestern tip of the Continental United States. I wanted to see the extreme edge. The closest city is Neah Bay, WA. There were no chain hotels in that area. It would be a four hour drive from Ocean Shores with absolutely no stops. It's a route mostly through US 101, winding around quite a bit. It was daunting because it basically meant eight hours of driving in one day. But, I decided I had to do it.
View Larger Map
As noted in the previous entry, this area is the Olympic Peninsula. Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park have many entrances from US 101. US 101 runs along the West Coast at various points.
I stopped at many of the public beaches where US 101 ran along the coast. The first beach was a cliff beach, obviously with no water access. Signs warned about staying at least thirty feet from the edge. The fog was so thick that I could not see the edge. In fact, after walking just a bit away from my car I couldn't find that for a little while either.
Another cliff beach had less fog and allowed me to see the water. What I noticed is that there are a lot of logs or partial logs thrown all over the beach. Some are stacked but most are just tossed. They're very thick logs and have been worn down quite a bit.
As I drove along US 101 where it ran along the coast, the fog completely covered the sky and went into the woods on the other side. I could see to drive but the sky was completely white. As US 101 went away from the coast, the sky was a nice blue with few clouds.
I found a beach that was accessible. Again, there was lots of wood laying around, along with large rocks. There was a small cliff which would make some nice pictures if it wasn't so foggy. I noticed that pieces of sand dollars are all over the beach, along with the remains of very large crabs. I recall in Alabama being excited about finding one piece of a sand dollar. Around here, I could pick up as many as I wanted. But, I didn't pick up any because I didn't want the car to smell of salt water.
I stuck my feet in the water. It was ice cold. There were lots of people on the beach but almost nobody went in the water. At least this one was not accessible to cars. They had to park in an actual designated parking area on pavement.
As I drove further, I went on some of the roads leading into the Olympic National Forest. Some of the trees have a strange green thread-like substance on them. I've never seen anything like that before.
I also visited a beautiful river area on a road leading to an entrance to the Olympic National Park. I waded in that water a bit. It was very cold but nothing like the ocean.
I also stopped to take photos of another river with a waterfall. US 101 was along a cliff at that point so I didn't wade in the water there.
Time was marching on and I getting worried about not actually seeing the main destination. I got through the last hour without stopping. This is a remote area. There are a few small towns with gas stations. I didn't stop on the way up because I just didn't want to wast any time.
I got to the coastal area in the northwest. Was it worth all this driving? Absolutely. There are lots of stopping points along WA 112 with information about the particular beach. There was no fog. These are rocky beaches with nice tide pools. It's beautiful there. Photos will not be so great because I was there so late. The nearest chain hotels were around Port Angeles, which was only two hours away from the northwest tip. I'm sure that area was equally beautiful. But, the chain hotels in the Port Angeles area were going for above $150/night in August. Some were closer to $200/night. I could not justify that cost even if I was filthy rich. I prefer a chain hotels so that there is a certain standard. I don't feel like potentially going to the "Bates Motel."
After seeing a few beautiful beaches, I wanted to at least get to Neah Bay even if not the actual tip. WA 112 became very narrow and twisty. There were no guard rails and there were some cliff beaches. If there was a parking spot, these beaches would be accessible to a person on foot. But if a car went careening down there, that's a different story. This is definitely an area where the driver should pay CLOSE attention. Night driving here is probably not the best. While the speed limit was low, of course people did not appreciate it when one actually drove only the speed limit.
About three miles away from Neah Bay, I came to a rest stop with a sign which indicated that I would be entering the Makah Indian Reservation. In order to pay for expenses, all visitors had to purchase an annual pass to be on their lands. (I've been on a number of Indian Reservations. None of them had anything like this. Of course, those others had giant casinos instead.) They listed a number of establishments where the passes could be purchased. I decided this would be my turn-around point. I was not going to pay something like $25 to be there for ten minutes before I had to begin my journey back to the hotel.
In any event, I got fairly close to the northwest tip. That was good enough for me.
Because there was so much wilderness along US 101, I decided it would be a good idea to fill up the tank. It was about 7:30 or so. At the first gas station I stopped at, there was no pay-at-the-pump, even though these were modern looking pumps. A note indicated that you had to go to the attendant. The store was closed at only 7:30. I started to get very concerned, though I knew there were more gas stations about forty miles away. I had enough gas to get there.
As I drove further along the route back, it seemed to be a lot longer than I expected. The map on the GPS indicated it was the same route, yet I was not recognizing any landmarks. I started to get very worried that I might not pass through the towns I saw on the way up. It took exactly half a tank to get up there. If I could not get gas, I would be going back to my hotel on fumes. There were absolutely no gas stations between those towns and about seven miles from the hotel.
Thankfully, I began to see the town I was looking for. The first station had gas at $4.17. I wasn't sure if this was the best price, but I was just happy to have a gas station at all. This was a 76 gas station (not a brand I've seen in the Northeast). The next gas station was at $4.26. Obviously, I'm glad I stopped at the first one.
I continued on the long trip back. It was much faster without my stopping all the time to take pictures. I was a bit nervous about deer or other animals. However, there were no deer warning signs. Obviously, a deer could show up without sign being present, but I did feel a bit better that at least there were not enough cases of deer incidents to warrant signs.
When I got back to the hotel, I asked the clerk about the fog. Apparently, it's only foggy like this when the temperature is very hot. The coldness of the ocean and the large amount of water makes the area extremely foggy.
On the previous day, I noticed that there were quite a few cars parked on the beach. They park fairly close to the shore and therefore, if you just want to sit on the beach, you will not see the ocean. Having only seen East Coast beaches in New England (obviously not Vermont) and Gulf Coast beaches in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, this was something new to me. All of the areas I've seen on the East Coast have a designated parking area, often with a rather high price. Anyway, after doing some reading on the Internet, it appears to be a Washington state tradition to drive vehicles on the beach close to the water and obstruct the view (that is, the view when it's not foggy).
I decided to stay an extra night. Originally, I intended for Saturday to be my final night at this hotel and then I would determine where I wanted to stay next as I had not made arrangements beforehand beyond the morning of August 17th.
When planning this trip, I thought about the idea of seeing the northwestern tip of the Continental United States. I wanted to see the extreme edge. The closest city is Neah Bay, WA. There were no chain hotels in that area. It would be a four hour drive from Ocean Shores with absolutely no stops. It's a route mostly through US 101, winding around quite a bit. It was daunting because it basically meant eight hours of driving in one day. But, I decided I had to do it.
View Larger Map
As noted in the previous entry, this area is the Olympic Peninsula. Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park have many entrances from US 101. US 101 runs along the West Coast at various points.
I stopped at many of the public beaches where US 101 ran along the coast. The first beach was a cliff beach, obviously with no water access. Signs warned about staying at least thirty feet from the edge. The fog was so thick that I could not see the edge. In fact, after walking just a bit away from my car I couldn't find that for a little while either.
Another cliff beach had less fog and allowed me to see the water. What I noticed is that there are a lot of logs or partial logs thrown all over the beach. Some are stacked but most are just tossed. They're very thick logs and have been worn down quite a bit.
As I drove along US 101 where it ran along the coast, the fog completely covered the sky and went into the woods on the other side. I could see to drive but the sky was completely white. As US 101 went away from the coast, the sky was a nice blue with few clouds.
I found a beach that was accessible. Again, there was lots of wood laying around, along with large rocks. There was a small cliff which would make some nice pictures if it wasn't so foggy. I noticed that pieces of sand dollars are all over the beach, along with the remains of very large crabs. I recall in Alabama being excited about finding one piece of a sand dollar. Around here, I could pick up as many as I wanted. But, I didn't pick up any because I didn't want the car to smell of salt water.
I stuck my feet in the water. It was ice cold. There were lots of people on the beach but almost nobody went in the water. At least this one was not accessible to cars. They had to park in an actual designated parking area on pavement.
As I drove further, I went on some of the roads leading into the Olympic National Forest. Some of the trees have a strange green thread-like substance on them. I've never seen anything like that before.
I also visited a beautiful river area on a road leading to an entrance to the Olympic National Park. I waded in that water a bit. It was very cold but nothing like the ocean.
I also stopped to take photos of another river with a waterfall. US 101 was along a cliff at that point so I didn't wade in the water there.
Time was marching on and I getting worried about not actually seeing the main destination. I got through the last hour without stopping. This is a remote area. There are a few small towns with gas stations. I didn't stop on the way up because I just didn't want to wast any time.
I got to the coastal area in the northwest. Was it worth all this driving? Absolutely. There are lots of stopping points along WA 112 with information about the particular beach. There was no fog. These are rocky beaches with nice tide pools. It's beautiful there. Photos will not be so great because I was there so late. The nearest chain hotels were around Port Angeles, which was only two hours away from the northwest tip. I'm sure that area was equally beautiful. But, the chain hotels in the Port Angeles area were going for above $150/night in August. Some were closer to $200/night. I could not justify that cost even if I was filthy rich. I prefer a chain hotels so that there is a certain standard. I don't feel like potentially going to the "Bates Motel."
After seeing a few beautiful beaches, I wanted to at least get to Neah Bay even if not the actual tip. WA 112 became very narrow and twisty. There were no guard rails and there were some cliff beaches. If there was a parking spot, these beaches would be accessible to a person on foot. But if a car went careening down there, that's a different story. This is definitely an area where the driver should pay CLOSE attention. Night driving here is probably not the best. While the speed limit was low, of course people did not appreciate it when one actually drove only the speed limit.
About three miles away from Neah Bay, I came to a rest stop with a sign which indicated that I would be entering the Makah Indian Reservation. In order to pay for expenses, all visitors had to purchase an annual pass to be on their lands. (I've been on a number of Indian Reservations. None of them had anything like this. Of course, those others had giant casinos instead.) They listed a number of establishments where the passes could be purchased. I decided this would be my turn-around point. I was not going to pay something like $25 to be there for ten minutes before I had to begin my journey back to the hotel.
In any event, I got fairly close to the northwest tip. That was good enough for me.
Because there was so much wilderness along US 101, I decided it would be a good idea to fill up the tank. It was about 7:30 or so. At the first gas station I stopped at, there was no pay-at-the-pump, even though these were modern looking pumps. A note indicated that you had to go to the attendant. The store was closed at only 7:30. I started to get very concerned, though I knew there were more gas stations about forty miles away. I had enough gas to get there.
As I drove further along the route back, it seemed to be a lot longer than I expected. The map on the GPS indicated it was the same route, yet I was not recognizing any landmarks. I started to get very worried that I might not pass through the towns I saw on the way up. It took exactly half a tank to get up there. If I could not get gas, I would be going back to my hotel on fumes. There were absolutely no gas stations between those towns and about seven miles from the hotel.
Thankfully, I began to see the town I was looking for. The first station had gas at $4.17. I wasn't sure if this was the best price, but I was just happy to have a gas station at all. This was a 76 gas station (not a brand I've seen in the Northeast). The next gas station was at $4.26. Obviously, I'm glad I stopped at the first one.
I continued on the long trip back. It was much faster without my stopping all the time to take pictures. I was a bit nervous about deer or other animals. However, there were no deer warning signs. Obviously, a deer could show up without sign being present, but I did feel a bit better that at least there were not enough cases of deer incidents to warrant signs.
When I got back to the hotel, I asked the clerk about the fog. Apparently, it's only foggy like this when the temperature is very hot. The coldness of the ocean and the large amount of water makes the area extremely foggy.
August 15, 2008
The day was overcast, at least from the coast. The forecast indicated it would be a nice 100 degree day and sunny. I didn't do a lot today. I drove to some of the beaches about twenty miles north of the hotel. They were all very foggy. At one point it was difficult to even see the car. I wanted to see some rocky beaches and was expecting to see something like Maine's beaches. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen in the fog.
The beach by the hotel was just as bad with fog. It was disappointing.
August 15th is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a holy day of obligation for Catholics. I went to church in a town called Amanda Parks (yes, that's a town name). Because this is a harbor area, it's a long way to drive around the harbor. It was about an hour and ten minutes away.
View Larger Map
The church is called Our Lady of the Olympics. Washington's West Coast is considered the Olympic Peninsula. The capital city is Olympia. There is the Olympic National Park in the area. So, the church name fits right in.
The church is quite small. There would probably only be room for 100 people. The total attendance at the Mass was just over ten people. The priest and one of the attendees recognized that I was not from around here. The priest was happily surprised that someone from so far away would be visiting. He has not gone farther east than eastern Montana. He joked that I was like Lewis and Clark.
Apparently, the priest shortage is so bad in this area that there are three priests for six churches. These are not "clusters" like the ones in the Northeast. The churches are at least thirty to forty-five minutes apart. The mileage may not be that far as the crow flies, but the mileage in terms of driving is great due to the harbor. This is an area of low population so Mass attendance is also low. In fact, the Sunday Mass for Amanda Parks actually takes place on Saturday morning at 9am simply due to the lack of priests.
The beach by the hotel was just as bad with fog. It was disappointing.
August 15th is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is a holy day of obligation for Catholics. I went to church in a town called Amanda Parks (yes, that's a town name). Because this is a harbor area, it's a long way to drive around the harbor. It was about an hour and ten minutes away.
View Larger Map
The church is called Our Lady of the Olympics. Washington's West Coast is considered the Olympic Peninsula. The capital city is Olympia. There is the Olympic National Park in the area. So, the church name fits right in.
The church is quite small. There would probably only be room for 100 people. The total attendance at the Mass was just over ten people. The priest and one of the attendees recognized that I was not from around here. The priest was happily surprised that someone from so far away would be visiting. He has not gone farther east than eastern Montana. He joked that I was like Lewis and Clark.
Apparently, the priest shortage is so bad in this area that there are three priests for six churches. These are not "clusters" like the ones in the Northeast. The churches are at least thirty to forty-five minutes apart. The mileage may not be that far as the crow flies, but the mileage in terms of driving is great due to the harbor. This is an area of low population so Mass attendance is also low. In fact, the Sunday Mass for Amanda Parks actually takes place on Saturday morning at 9am simply due to the lack of priests.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
August 14, 2008 - Leavenworth, WA to the West Coast (and the turning point of my trip)
My ultimate destination tonight was the West Coast.
View Larger Map
I was definitely looking forward to spending time exploring Leavenworth today. I skipped the hotel breakfast because I knew I was going to load up on authentic German food. It wasn't the most healthy thing, but I don't know that I would ever get back to Leavenworth.
I began by having knackwurst, which is a German sausage consisting of beef and pork. The sandwich had lots of onions. There were several mustard choices. I tried several and they all seemed a bit too strong for my tastes. I enjoyed eating the rest of the knackwurst without any condiments. For dessert, I had a delicious slice of chocolate cake.
The village is huge. I couldn't see how large it was when I walked around the night before. It's not just one strip along the main road. There are several side streets with Bavarian themed architecture and businesses. See the photos.
From a candy store, I had some delicious white chocolate. Later I had huckleberry cheesecake flavored ice cream. I tried some out-of-this-world authentic Danish foods. I was going to have a root beer popsicle, but they were all out of them. There was a lot of walking involved to get to all the different places, though I'm sure that didn't do a lot to make up for the all the delicious but calorie-laden foods I tried.
They had a couple of Christmas stores. But Kris Kringl was the best. I took photos inside the store. They are in the general collection of Leavenworth photos linked above.
Although all the businesses had a Bavarian look to them (even businesses like Subway, Safeway, Bank of America, etc.), there were stores selling items from non-German countries. I saw a store selling Australian goods and another selling Russian goods.
German music is played in the streets. Some tourists were dancing to the music. At one point, an organ grinder was playing music. In brochures, Leavenworth is referred to as "Your Bavarian Getaway."
In many of the shops, the employees dressed in Bavarian clothes. In one of the shops, I read a postcard which told the story of Leavenworth and why it is a mock Bavarian village. It was a logging town. A railroad located their headquarters in Leavenworth. By the 1920s, the railroad moved out and Leavenworth fell onto hard times. By the 1960s, the Project Life (Leavenworth Improvement for Everyone) Committee was formed. They decided to remake the town into a mock Bavarian village. This created an economic miracle. This is a year-round tourist attraction. Their Oktoberfest is one of the most popular ones outside of Germany itself. There are huge crowds around Christmas time.
A river runs through the area. There is a nice place to swim. The mountains border the river. I took a number of photos. They're not loaded yet.
What Leavenworth did was inspiring. Rather than being negative and just living with their misery, they came up with a very creative solution. In a lot of cases, people just have a defeatist attitude and say "It can't be done" or "It's too much work." They list a number of reasons why they just have to accept mediocrity and the status quo. They don't even try to do something different and instead just stay miserable. If the status quo is making people miserable, failing to even try a solution is a guarantee of more misery. Obviously, the story of Leavenworth is something I really like because it shows what people can potentially achieve when they are willing to do something creative. In my new venture, it's something positive to consider. Does it always mean every idea will be successful? Of course not. But if we don't try, it definitely won't work.
I stayed in Leavenworth until around 3pm. I would love to have stayed another day. But, I had a reservation on the West Coast in Ocean Shores, WA for that evening. It was around four hours. I wanted to have as much daylight as possible when driving.
There were several miles of US 97 before I got back to I-90. The scenery was very nice. There were mostly evergreen trees along the way. See the photos.
Traffic flowed on I-90. The interstate goes as far as Seattle. I got off at Exit 25. When I got to I-5, I suddenly began to remember what traffic jams are like. I did not have a traffic jam since I-90 in Pennsylvania. But on I-5, traffic on frequently came to a stop. Then we inched along at ten or fifteen miles an hour. This is not something I enjoy. After I-5, there was a long drive through US routes and cities to get to Ocean Shores.
The hotel was located on the beach along the West Coast. After checking into my hotel, I had to go right out to see the Pacific Ocean and stick my hand in the water. I've never been to the West Coast before and this was a moment I've been wanting for a long time.
There was a lengthy walk through dunes to get to the ocean. It was quite long and there were narrow paths through the plants. The sunset was nice but the light was too low for photos. I should have taken one anyway since I would never see another sunset on the Pacific Ocean during the remaining days I was in the area.
This represents a milestone for me to have driven all the way to the West Coast. Obviously, it was the end of the trip going west. You can't go any further west by car once you hit the Pacific Coast. It was the turning point as I had no choice but to ultimately head back east after this.
View Larger Map
I was definitely looking forward to spending time exploring Leavenworth today. I skipped the hotel breakfast because I knew I was going to load up on authentic German food. It wasn't the most healthy thing, but I don't know that I would ever get back to Leavenworth.
I began by having knackwurst, which is a German sausage consisting of beef and pork. The sandwich had lots of onions. There were several mustard choices. I tried several and they all seemed a bit too strong for my tastes. I enjoyed eating the rest of the knackwurst without any condiments. For dessert, I had a delicious slice of chocolate cake.
The village is huge. I couldn't see how large it was when I walked around the night before. It's not just one strip along the main road. There are several side streets with Bavarian themed architecture and businesses. See the photos.
From a candy store, I had some delicious white chocolate. Later I had huckleberry cheesecake flavored ice cream. I tried some out-of-this-world authentic Danish foods. I was going to have a root beer popsicle, but they were all out of them. There was a lot of walking involved to get to all the different places, though I'm sure that didn't do a lot to make up for the all the delicious but calorie-laden foods I tried.
They had a couple of Christmas stores. But Kris Kringl was the best. I took photos inside the store. They are in the general collection of Leavenworth photos linked above.
Although all the businesses had a Bavarian look to them (even businesses like Subway, Safeway, Bank of America, etc.), there were stores selling items from non-German countries. I saw a store selling Australian goods and another selling Russian goods.
German music is played in the streets. Some tourists were dancing to the music. At one point, an organ grinder was playing music. In brochures, Leavenworth is referred to as "Your Bavarian Getaway."
In many of the shops, the employees dressed in Bavarian clothes. In one of the shops, I read a postcard which told the story of Leavenworth and why it is a mock Bavarian village. It was a logging town. A railroad located their headquarters in Leavenworth. By the 1920s, the railroad moved out and Leavenworth fell onto hard times. By the 1960s, the Project Life (Leavenworth Improvement for Everyone) Committee was formed. They decided to remake the town into a mock Bavarian village. This created an economic miracle. This is a year-round tourist attraction. Their Oktoberfest is one of the most popular ones outside of Germany itself. There are huge crowds around Christmas time.
A river runs through the area. There is a nice place to swim. The mountains border the river. I took a number of photos. They're not loaded yet.
What Leavenworth did was inspiring. Rather than being negative and just living with their misery, they came up with a very creative solution. In a lot of cases, people just have a defeatist attitude and say "It can't be done" or "It's too much work." They list a number of reasons why they just have to accept mediocrity and the status quo. They don't even try to do something different and instead just stay miserable. If the status quo is making people miserable, failing to even try a solution is a guarantee of more misery. Obviously, the story of Leavenworth is something I really like because it shows what people can potentially achieve when they are willing to do something creative. In my new venture, it's something positive to consider. Does it always mean every idea will be successful? Of course not. But if we don't try, it definitely won't work.
I stayed in Leavenworth until around 3pm. I would love to have stayed another day. But, I had a reservation on the West Coast in Ocean Shores, WA for that evening. It was around four hours. I wanted to have as much daylight as possible when driving.
There were several miles of US 97 before I got back to I-90. The scenery was very nice. There were mostly evergreen trees along the way. See the photos.
Traffic flowed on I-90. The interstate goes as far as Seattle. I got off at Exit 25. When I got to I-5, I suddenly began to remember what traffic jams are like. I did not have a traffic jam since I-90 in Pennsylvania. But on I-5, traffic on frequently came to a stop. Then we inched along at ten or fifteen miles an hour. This is not something I enjoy. After I-5, there was a long drive through US routes and cities to get to Ocean Shores.
The hotel was located on the beach along the West Coast. After checking into my hotel, I had to go right out to see the Pacific Ocean and stick my hand in the water. I've never been to the West Coast before and this was a moment I've been wanting for a long time.
There was a lengthy walk through dunes to get to the ocean. It was quite long and there were narrow paths through the plants. The sunset was nice but the light was too low for photos. I should have taken one anyway since I would never see another sunset on the Pacific Ocean during the remaining days I was in the area.
This represents a milestone for me to have driven all the way to the West Coast. Obviously, it was the end of the trip going west. You can't go any further west by car once you hit the Pacific Coast. It was the turning point as I had no choice but to ultimately head back east after this.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Photo Notes: North Dakota Complete
The photo album for North Dakota (week after I visited the state) is finally complete. Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seethestates/collections/72157606644578455/
New additions include:
There are a few other additions as well.
Several of the other states are not yet complete.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seethestates/collections/72157606644578455/
New additions include:
There are a few other additions as well.
Several of the other states are not yet complete.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
August 13, 2008 - Northern Idaho to Central Washington
Idaho is the 42nd state I've visited.
I had to get an oil change today. The new car started flashing an alert for an oil change. According to the rental office, it had not been changed at their agency and was last changed several days ago. Perhaps the indicator simply was not reset and it had not been driven 3,000 miles, but I didn't want to take any chances with the amount of driving I would be doing. Thankfully, there was an oil change place across from the hotel.
My planned attraction for the day was the Old Mission Church in Cataldo, ID. This is the oldest standing building in the entire state of Idaho. But, I decided to check the GPS for local attractions. It appears Idaho has a Round Lake State Park. For those who know me in person, you know the significance of Round Lake for me. I had to see it.
View Larger Map
Round Lake here in ID is a small but beautiful lake. There are beautiful mountains surrounding it. A number of families were here swimming and fishing. Someone even pointed out a moose drinking from the other side of the lake. He was too far away to get any decent photos. But, I did try. This is the first time I've ever seen a live moose in my life. See the photos.
After Round Lake, I headed to Cataldo. The drive took me through I-90. Idaho has a short stretch of I-90. There are gorgeous views of Lake Coeur D'Alene along the interstate. I-90 mostly winds through mountains with lots of evergreens at this point.
View Larger Map
The Old Mission Church was very nice. The parish house was also available. They had several stations set up where you could hear audio clips from narrators. Some talked about the Jesuits while others talked about the Native Americans. The Jesuits and the Coeur D'Alene Native American tribe built the church between 1850 and 1853. It is presently a state park and not operating as a church. There is a long walking tour along the grounds and there are even small cemeteries. I saw some plants which are different from what we see in the east. See the photos.
I also visited Lake Coeur D'Alene on the way towards Washington. See the photos.
My destination for the evening was Leavenworth, Washington. This meant several hours worth of driving along I-90. As I got near the ID/WA border, I decided to look for postcards. Several gas stations along the interstate did not have any (in the midwest and west, almost every gas station has postcards!). Finally, I stopped at a truck stop. I found a number of funny postcards related to potatoes. While checking out, an elderly man fell and hit his head outside. He was injured. What was rather upsetting was that most of the clerks seemed unsure of what to do. People were asking them to call an ambulance and they just seemed nonchalant about it. By the time I got checked out, an ambulance had finally been called.
View Larger Map
Washington is the 43rd state I've visited plus the first West Coast state I've seen. As I drove into eastern Washington from I-90, I was amazed at the sudden change in landscape. While Idaho had been mostly forest with huge mountains, Washington had a desert-like appearance. There were some evergreen trees in the desert for a while. But as I drove further, the trees thinned out and disappeared altogether. It was just scrub plants for a long while. Despite being a desert, there were plenty of lakes. At some points, the land turned into farm land. You could see vast distances. Interstate exits were few and far between. The maximum speed is 70 mph. See photos from the first rest stop. See photos from the second rest stop.
As I got closer to the central part of the state, it became all farm land along I-90. Leavenworth is not directly along I-90. There is quite a bit of driving on rural routes that pass through small towns.
The scenery was beautiful. Too bad I could only see a little bit at night. I was getting a little nervous with this kind of driving, fearing I could have another deer incident. There were deer crossing signs throughout most of the rural areas. I was really watching for them. Apparently, I was watching so much that I drove over the white line a few times. A state police officer pulled me over to find out if everything was okay. I explained that I had hit a deer only two days before in Montana and didn't want a repeat performance. He said that they do have one deer accident each day in this area but reassured me by pointing out that it's nothing like Montana. (I recall the police in MT said there were three or four incidents in a night.)
As I got closer to the hotel, there were long stretches of cities and towns. The probability of a deer incident dropped significantly.
When I reached Leavenworth, I was amazed. I had heard that this was a German-focused tourist area but I assumed there would just be a few small things and that's it. But this was huge. Everything was lit up elegantly with blue and white Christmas lights. There was a lighted fountain. The hotels and all the other businesses had a Bavarian theme to them. I took a long walk through the village at night, taking everything in. I was also planning what I would see the next morning. There were plenty of restaurants and sweep shops. One boasted of authentic Danish food. There were lots of gift stores. One store called itself "Kris Kringl" with a byline "where it's Christmas year round." I passed by the "center" of the area. It had a sign in German welcoming people. I was definitely looking forward to exploring the village in the morning.
I had to get an oil change today. The new car started flashing an alert for an oil change. According to the rental office, it had not been changed at their agency and was last changed several days ago. Perhaps the indicator simply was not reset and it had not been driven 3,000 miles, but I didn't want to take any chances with the amount of driving I would be doing. Thankfully, there was an oil change place across from the hotel.
My planned attraction for the day was the Old Mission Church in Cataldo, ID. This is the oldest standing building in the entire state of Idaho. But, I decided to check the GPS for local attractions. It appears Idaho has a Round Lake State Park. For those who know me in person, you know the significance of Round Lake for me. I had to see it.
View Larger Map
Round Lake here in ID is a small but beautiful lake. There are beautiful mountains surrounding it. A number of families were here swimming and fishing. Someone even pointed out a moose drinking from the other side of the lake. He was too far away to get any decent photos. But, I did try. This is the first time I've ever seen a live moose in my life. See the photos.
After Round Lake, I headed to Cataldo. The drive took me through I-90. Idaho has a short stretch of I-90. There are gorgeous views of Lake Coeur D'Alene along the interstate. I-90 mostly winds through mountains with lots of evergreens at this point.
View Larger Map
The Old Mission Church was very nice. The parish house was also available. They had several stations set up where you could hear audio clips from narrators. Some talked about the Jesuits while others talked about the Native Americans. The Jesuits and the Coeur D'Alene Native American tribe built the church between 1850 and 1853. It is presently a state park and not operating as a church. There is a long walking tour along the grounds and there are even small cemeteries. I saw some plants which are different from what we see in the east. See the photos.
I also visited Lake Coeur D'Alene on the way towards Washington. See the photos.
My destination for the evening was Leavenworth, Washington. This meant several hours worth of driving along I-90. As I got near the ID/WA border, I decided to look for postcards. Several gas stations along the interstate did not have any (in the midwest and west, almost every gas station has postcards!). Finally, I stopped at a truck stop. I found a number of funny postcards related to potatoes. While checking out, an elderly man fell and hit his head outside. He was injured. What was rather upsetting was that most of the clerks seemed unsure of what to do. People were asking them to call an ambulance and they just seemed nonchalant about it. By the time I got checked out, an ambulance had finally been called.
View Larger Map
Washington is the 43rd state I've visited plus the first West Coast state I've seen. As I drove into eastern Washington from I-90, I was amazed at the sudden change in landscape. While Idaho had been mostly forest with huge mountains, Washington had a desert-like appearance. There were some evergreen trees in the desert for a while. But as I drove further, the trees thinned out and disappeared altogether. It was just scrub plants for a long while. Despite being a desert, there were plenty of lakes. At some points, the land turned into farm land. You could see vast distances. Interstate exits were few and far between. The maximum speed is 70 mph. See photos from the first rest stop. See photos from the second rest stop.
As I got closer to the central part of the state, it became all farm land along I-90. Leavenworth is not directly along I-90. There is quite a bit of driving on rural routes that pass through small towns.
The scenery was beautiful. Too bad I could only see a little bit at night. I was getting a little nervous with this kind of driving, fearing I could have another deer incident. There were deer crossing signs throughout most of the rural areas. I was really watching for them. Apparently, I was watching so much that I drove over the white line a few times. A state police officer pulled me over to find out if everything was okay. I explained that I had hit a deer only two days before in Montana and didn't want a repeat performance. He said that they do have one deer accident each day in this area but reassured me by pointing out that it's nothing like Montana. (I recall the police in MT said there were three or four incidents in a night.)
As I got closer to the hotel, there were long stretches of cities and towns. The probability of a deer incident dropped significantly.
When I reached Leavenworth, I was amazed. I had heard that this was a German-focused tourist area but I assumed there would just be a few small things and that's it. But this was huge. Everything was lit up elegantly with blue and white Christmas lights. There was a lighted fountain. The hotels and all the other businesses had a Bavarian theme to them. I took a long walk through the village at night, taking everything in. I was also planning what I would see the next morning. There were plenty of restaurants and sweep shops. One boasted of authentic Danish food. There were lots of gift stores. One store called itself "Kris Kringl" with a byline "where it's Christmas year round." I passed by the "center" of the area. It had a sign in German welcoming people. I was definitely looking forward to exploring the village in the morning.
August 12, 2008 - New rental car and from Kalispell, MT to Sandpoint, ID
Note: Most photos for this day have not yet been posted.
When speaking to the agency where I rented my car, the clerk said a corporate owned agency was in East Glacier, MT. This was at the opposite side of Glacier National Park from where I was. It would be a long drive. I could have the vehicle towed. When looking up the address on their web site, I found no agency in East Glacier. But, I did find one in Kalispell. The Kalispell office is a licensee. But, they were nice enough to give swap a car for me because they had a few corporate owned cars.
Here are photos of the car after hitting the deer.
I did not want to drive the car when there were lots of people on the road, just in case something went wrong. The company paid for the tow because I bought the liability damage waiver.
Swapping the car was easy and painless. I just had to provide a copy of the patrolman's information exchange and write my own damage report. Then I was provided the keys and had to start the long process of lugging my junk from one car to the next. This has taught me to pack light. I took way too many clothes and I will never use them all on this trip. The new car is slightly smaller and thus everything had to be tightly crammed into the car. It took well over an hour to move everything from one car to the next. The lesson here is for me to pack lightly on any future trips! If I'm not absolutely going to use something, it stays home in the future.
My destination for the evening was Sandpoint, Idaho. This is in the northern section of the state in the panhandle. A non-stop drive from Kalispell to Sandpoint would officially be about three hours. Originally, I planned to see Glacier National Park and arrive in Sandpoint the same evening. I am SO glad I decided to have a hotel night in Kalispell. Even without the deer incident, that would not be a safe drive in the dark. There was NO cell phone service along much of the way, but plenty of deer crossing warning signs.
View Larger Map
Primarily, I took US 2 west. The area is beautiful. There are numerous pristine lakes with beautiful blue water. I stopped at two of them along the way.
The first lake I stopped at was called MacGregor Lake. It was pretty large. A woman chatted with me a bit. She saw the camera and talked about how I could develop the film and get it put on a disk at a store. She had no idea this was a digital camera. I explained that Nikon, for example, is not even making film cameras anymore. She had no idea about the latest technology. She was very nice and friendly. She talked about some of the small towns along the way and some of the nice lakes. She mentioned a Horseshoe Lake which is shaped like a horseshoe. It was her favorite lake in the area. I never found that on my way. She concluded by saying "Watch out for the deer!" I told her I already had a run in.
I later visited Loon Lake, which was also on the way. It too was absolutely beautiful.
More often than not, the mountains in the area were covered in trees. But sometimes, there were a lot of "bald" spots. There were some different types of wild flowers along the way compared to what we have in the east.
I took some photos along the Kootenai River. There is a railroad track which runs parallel to the road and the river. A train started moving. I continued taking photos. Much of the train was past me. I got in the car and started going at 70 (the speed limit). I actually overtook the train and left it in the dust. I was really kind of surprised, expecting the train would be doing at least 70.
Huckleberries seem to be very popular in this area and throughout the west all the way to the coast. I saw many cars parked along the road with people selling huckleberries. Until I visited Washington state, I never had a huckleberry.
Along the way, I passed through a small city called Troy. Those from my area are familiar with that name. The welcome sign for Troy, MT announced it's "Home of the Trojans." Hmm, very "creative" name for their local sports team.
After crossing into Idaho, I noticed that the trees started to change a bit. There were many very tall trees with no branches for a long way. The tops had a few very short branches. This wasn't the case for all of the trees, but many were like this.
There were more beautiful scenes along the Kootenai River but no place to stop and take photos. The speed limit dropped from 70 (Montana speed) to 60 on rural routes in Idaho.
After getting into the hotel, I noticed the clock said 8:30. I was a bit surprised because I knew it was 9:30. I contacted the hotel front desk and asked if we were still in Mountain Time. She informed me that we were in Pacific Time. There were no signs to indicate this along my path. (There were no signs when I went from Arizona to Nevada last year on my Southwest trip.) When entering any other time zone, whether from a rural route or an interstate, there is a sign indicating the new time zone. In any event, this was a welcome surprise because I could use the extra hour. I later learned that northern Idaho is in Pacific Time and southern Idaho is in Mountain Time.
When speaking to the agency where I rented my car, the clerk said a corporate owned agency was in East Glacier, MT. This was at the opposite side of Glacier National Park from where I was. It would be a long drive. I could have the vehicle towed. When looking up the address on their web site, I found no agency in East Glacier. But, I did find one in Kalispell. The Kalispell office is a licensee. But, they were nice enough to give swap a car for me because they had a few corporate owned cars.
Here are photos of the car after hitting the deer.
I did not want to drive the car when there were lots of people on the road, just in case something went wrong. The company paid for the tow because I bought the liability damage waiver.
Swapping the car was easy and painless. I just had to provide a copy of the patrolman's information exchange and write my own damage report. Then I was provided the keys and had to start the long process of lugging my junk from one car to the next. This has taught me to pack light. I took way too many clothes and I will never use them all on this trip. The new car is slightly smaller and thus everything had to be tightly crammed into the car. It took well over an hour to move everything from one car to the next. The lesson here is for me to pack lightly on any future trips! If I'm not absolutely going to use something, it stays home in the future.
My destination for the evening was Sandpoint, Idaho. This is in the northern section of the state in the panhandle. A non-stop drive from Kalispell to Sandpoint would officially be about three hours. Originally, I planned to see Glacier National Park and arrive in Sandpoint the same evening. I am SO glad I decided to have a hotel night in Kalispell. Even without the deer incident, that would not be a safe drive in the dark. There was NO cell phone service along much of the way, but plenty of deer crossing warning signs.
View Larger Map
Primarily, I took US 2 west. The area is beautiful. There are numerous pristine lakes with beautiful blue water. I stopped at two of them along the way.
The first lake I stopped at was called MacGregor Lake. It was pretty large. A woman chatted with me a bit. She saw the camera and talked about how I could develop the film and get it put on a disk at a store. She had no idea this was a digital camera. I explained that Nikon, for example, is not even making film cameras anymore. She had no idea about the latest technology. She was very nice and friendly. She talked about some of the small towns along the way and some of the nice lakes. She mentioned a Horseshoe Lake which is shaped like a horseshoe. It was her favorite lake in the area. I never found that on my way. She concluded by saying "Watch out for the deer!" I told her I already had a run in.
I later visited Loon Lake, which was also on the way. It too was absolutely beautiful.
More often than not, the mountains in the area were covered in trees. But sometimes, there were a lot of "bald" spots. There were some different types of wild flowers along the way compared to what we have in the east.
I took some photos along the Kootenai River. There is a railroad track which runs parallel to the road and the river. A train started moving. I continued taking photos. Much of the train was past me. I got in the car and started going at 70 (the speed limit). I actually overtook the train and left it in the dust. I was really kind of surprised, expecting the train would be doing at least 70.
Huckleberries seem to be very popular in this area and throughout the west all the way to the coast. I saw many cars parked along the road with people selling huckleberries. Until I visited Washington state, I never had a huckleberry.
Along the way, I passed through a small city called Troy. Those from my area are familiar with that name. The welcome sign for Troy, MT announced it's "Home of the Trojans." Hmm, very "creative" name for their local sports team.
After crossing into Idaho, I noticed that the trees started to change a bit. There were many very tall trees with no branches for a long way. The tops had a few very short branches. This wasn't the case for all of the trees, but many were like this.
There were more beautiful scenes along the Kootenai River but no place to stop and take photos. The speed limit dropped from 70 (Montana speed) to 60 on rural routes in Idaho.
After getting into the hotel, I noticed the clock said 8:30. I was a bit surprised because I knew it was 9:30. I contacted the hotel front desk and asked if we were still in Mountain Time. She informed me that we were in Pacific Time. There were no signs to indicate this along my path. (There were no signs when I went from Arizona to Nevada last year on my Southwest trip.) When entering any other time zone, whether from a rural route or an interstate, there is a sign indicating the new time zone. In any event, this was a welcome surprise because I could use the extra hour. I later learned that northern Idaho is in Pacific Time and southern Idaho is in Mountain Time.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
August 11, 2008 - Glacier National Park and the End of My Rental Car
Note: Photos for this day have not yet been posted.
Missoula, MT
Missoula was a stopping off point to rest for the night. It was the closest hotel to Kalispell (without going all the way to Kalispell) in the chain I use. The city is a mega shopping area, at least in the part where I was. There were lots of people and getting on I-90 was a bit slow.
Today's Destination
The destination for today was Glacier National Park. There was supposed to be a little over two hours of driving and then I'd have the rest of the day to spend in the park. I had a hotel room reserved in Kalispell, which was the closest city to the park (about thirty miles southeast). Originally, I planned to spend some time in the park and then take a long trip to Sandpoint, Idaho (2 1/2 hours away). Thanks be to God that I had the inspiration to stay in town for the night and change my reservations around.
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The drive to Glacier National Park
It took probably close to four hours to get up to Glacier National Park. Most of the driving was not on an interstate. I stopped several times to take photos. There was gorgeous scenery. Additionally, there was a lot of road work which slowed things down considerably. This is a big tourist area. Kalispell has an international airport. So, there were quite a few tourists, slowing things down even more.
This part of Montana has tree covered mountains. Some of the mountains have snow near the top. I can't say "snowcapped" because the very top did not have any snow; it was on the sides close to the top.
Lake Flathead
Lake Flathead was also along the route. This is a beautiful lake with gorgeous blue water. I tried several times to stop and get pictures but every chance I had to stop did not provide an area with a clear view to the lake. I finally found one spot with a small viewing area. As I was driving along at higher speeds (not as many tourists were around at that point), of course I found other spots. But I was going too fast to reasonably stop.
Green Grass
Since this area was a bit cooler, I actually got to see some grass that was still green. All the other grass I've seen in Montana up to this point was scorched and yellow or brown.
Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park is huge. There is so much to do that one afternoon was not enough. I decided I would spend some time there the next day. I had hotels reserved up to August 17th. I called Choice Hotels to see if I could shift every one down by a day and stay an extra night in the area. This would sacrifice some of the big bonus points I planned to get via all my hotel stays. But, I felt it was worth it since I may never get to this area in the future. Because the reservation change window had expired on the hotels for the next two nights, I could not do this. I was frustrated at first. But, it would work out better that way later on.
Narrow, twisty road with a steep drop-off
People in North Dakota told me that the Going to the Sun Road has some very narrow and twisty parts with a 3,000 foot drop off. A park ranger told me exactly where that began. She said there was a shuttle bus which could take me through that part if I did not want to drive it.
I visited a number of areas in Glacier. There were a lot of trails going off into the woods. I'm sure there are a lot of beautiful sites there. But, my agenda did not include possibly being mauled by a bear so I stayed on the Going to the Sun Road.
There is a lake surrounding mountains. I took several photographs of that area and then continued on. There are beautiful streams with waterfalls which I photographed. At one point I did briefly step into the woods. A doe sort of allowed me to photograph her. After I got a bit too close she ran away.
Along the Going to the Sun Road there were several hitchhikers. Of course, there is a shuttle bus going by. If they were simply hiking and didn't feel like walking back to their cars, the shuttle bus would be the most appropriate ride.
At a certain point, I decided to call it quits for the night. I planned to see more of the park the next day. I turned around and started driving towards the entrance about 25 miles away. The speed limit was 35. A doe walked out in the road. I came to a stop easily. She slowly walked across, not even thinking about the line of cars waiting for her.
Dinner
After leaving the park, I needed dinner. There was a place with Native American gifts and a restaurant. I had a delicious eggplant steak. This was an eggplant cooked as if it was a steak.
The end of the rental car
The restaurant was along US 2. The speed limit is 70 and there are a lot of cars there so one must keep pace. It was about 9:30 PM or so. Suddenly, a deer appeared in the road. I was going at 70 and couldn't stop fast enough. He seemed to charge the vehicle. I saw his head go into the driver's side mirror and break the mirror off. All that was left were some wires and a bit of plastic. The deer dashed off into the woods.
I was shaking, and pulled off to the side of the road. At first I thought it was just the mirror. I noticed it in the road and watched as other cars going at high speed smashed it into bits. I purchased the liability damage waiver so I knew I could just swap the rental car at an agency and be on my way. I was still very nervous after the experience. Thanks be to God, I was not injured at all.
The first police officer
A sheriff's patrol car saw me and pulled up behind me to see if everything was okay. I started to get out of the car and found that I could only open the door wide enough to stick my hand out. I motioned to the officer. He came out and I explained that I hit a deer. He said he figured that, seeing the debris in the road and my car on the side. He had to pull very hard on the door to allow me to get out.
We took a look at the vehicle. There was massive damage. The driver's side was caved in. The driver's side door was dented. The left headlight was smashed. A warning in the vehicle notified me that I should "check the headlamp."
The officer asked me if it was a deer or elk. I couldn't tell the difference. He looked at the hairs still on the vehicle and assumed it was a deer. He asked if I saw where the deer went. I assumed he went completely across the road and into the other side. The officer said the deer would be in a lot of pain judging from the damage done to the car.
The officer said a highway patrolman had to write the actual damage report. He phoned in to have someone come over. He stayed with me for a while. He looked at the vehicle and felt it would not need a toe. He had me turn the wheel so he could examine the tires. He pulled the bumper away from the tires so I could drive it. He asked me to pull over to wider section of the shoulder and see if the car gave me any trouble. Also, it would help to make sure I didn't get hit by another car.
After a while he said he needed to move on and that the highway patrol officer would be there in about twenty minutes. He drove off. I noticed him pull over to the opposite side of the road and put his lights on. I heard a gunshot and assumed he had found the deer. He then drove away.
While I was waiting, a motorist stopped to ask if everything was okay. He wanted to know if I needed a ride anywhere. I told him I was fine and had to wait for an officer to come to write the report.
I called the local rental agency where I picked up the car. The agent confirmed that since I had purchased the liability damage waiver, it would just be a matter of swapping out the vehicle at the nearest agency. She said that if I was not comfortable driving it to the agency, it could be towed there by roadside assistance.
The Second Officer
The highway patrol officer showed up about ten minutes later. He was very friendly. He told me there were four incidents like this yesterday though they were elk. He said I would probably be the first in a long night. He looked at the car and photographed the damage. He then asked if I knew what I hit. I explained that I didn't. But I explained that I suspected the first officer had dispatched the animal. I told him where it happened. He went to the area and confirmed that it was indeed a deer. He said most people hit elk around there. Apparently, there are herds of them going through and collisions with vehicles are a nightly occurrence.
After writing up the incident, he gave me an information exchange sheet. He said it would take two weeks to get a real accident report and it had to be obtained from the state capital.
The officer was concerned about the fact that the airbags had not yet deployed. He said that they could just deploy while I was driving back to my hotel, thirty miles away. He encouraged me to get a tow. I didn't want to wait around this area at night any further. I declined. He said that the roads had wide shoulders and suggested I drive about 40 mph. If people got angry because they wanted to do 70, I could just pull off to let them pass. He gave me his direct number in case something happened along the way.
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Both officers were very polite, professional, considerate, and helpful. Had the first officer not been going by, I might not have even realized the extensive damage to the vehicle. Since the deer went back to the woods, I assumed it was a minor collision and the deer was not seriously hurt. Likewise, I assumed I just lost the mirror and that was it. I may have gotten to the hotel and actually not been able to get out of the car. I may have had an accident along the way because part of the bumper may have been pushed into a tire.
Fueling Up
The car only had half a tank of gas. At first I figured this would be an extraordinary event and I would not need to fill up the tank. But I remembered the rental agreement warned that if I did not return it full, they would charge me $7.30/gallon. Yes, that's right. Since there was a gas station right before the hotel, I figured it would be safer to fill it up and avoid that risk. The $3.95/gallon I paid saved me $3.35/gallon.
Missoula, MT
Missoula was a stopping off point to rest for the night. It was the closest hotel to Kalispell (without going all the way to Kalispell) in the chain I use. The city is a mega shopping area, at least in the part where I was. There were lots of people and getting on I-90 was a bit slow.
Today's Destination
The destination for today was Glacier National Park. There was supposed to be a little over two hours of driving and then I'd have the rest of the day to spend in the park. I had a hotel room reserved in Kalispell, which was the closest city to the park (about thirty miles southeast). Originally, I planned to spend some time in the park and then take a long trip to Sandpoint, Idaho (2 1/2 hours away). Thanks be to God that I had the inspiration to stay in town for the night and change my reservations around.
View Larger Map
The drive to Glacier National Park
It took probably close to four hours to get up to Glacier National Park. Most of the driving was not on an interstate. I stopped several times to take photos. There was gorgeous scenery. Additionally, there was a lot of road work which slowed things down considerably. This is a big tourist area. Kalispell has an international airport. So, there were quite a few tourists, slowing things down even more.
This part of Montana has tree covered mountains. Some of the mountains have snow near the top. I can't say "snowcapped" because the very top did not have any snow; it was on the sides close to the top.
Lake Flathead
Lake Flathead was also along the route. This is a beautiful lake with gorgeous blue water. I tried several times to stop and get pictures but every chance I had to stop did not provide an area with a clear view to the lake. I finally found one spot with a small viewing area. As I was driving along at higher speeds (not as many tourists were around at that point), of course I found other spots. But I was going too fast to reasonably stop.
Green Grass
Since this area was a bit cooler, I actually got to see some grass that was still green. All the other grass I've seen in Montana up to this point was scorched and yellow or brown.
Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park is huge. There is so much to do that one afternoon was not enough. I decided I would spend some time there the next day. I had hotels reserved up to August 17th. I called Choice Hotels to see if I could shift every one down by a day and stay an extra night in the area. This would sacrifice some of the big bonus points I planned to get via all my hotel stays. But, I felt it was worth it since I may never get to this area in the future. Because the reservation change window had expired on the hotels for the next two nights, I could not do this. I was frustrated at first. But, it would work out better that way later on.
Narrow, twisty road with a steep drop-off
People in North Dakota told me that the Going to the Sun Road has some very narrow and twisty parts with a 3,000 foot drop off. A park ranger told me exactly where that began. She said there was a shuttle bus which could take me through that part if I did not want to drive it.
I visited a number of areas in Glacier. There were a lot of trails going off into the woods. I'm sure there are a lot of beautiful sites there. But, my agenda did not include possibly being mauled by a bear so I stayed on the Going to the Sun Road.
There is a lake surrounding mountains. I took several photographs of that area and then continued on. There are beautiful streams with waterfalls which I photographed. At one point I did briefly step into the woods. A doe sort of allowed me to photograph her. After I got a bit too close she ran away.
Along the Going to the Sun Road there were several hitchhikers. Of course, there is a shuttle bus going by. If they were simply hiking and didn't feel like walking back to their cars, the shuttle bus would be the most appropriate ride.
At a certain point, I decided to call it quits for the night. I planned to see more of the park the next day. I turned around and started driving towards the entrance about 25 miles away. The speed limit was 35. A doe walked out in the road. I came to a stop easily. She slowly walked across, not even thinking about the line of cars waiting for her.
Dinner
After leaving the park, I needed dinner. There was a place with Native American gifts and a restaurant. I had a delicious eggplant steak. This was an eggplant cooked as if it was a steak.
The end of the rental car
The restaurant was along US 2. The speed limit is 70 and there are a lot of cars there so one must keep pace. It was about 9:30 PM or so. Suddenly, a deer appeared in the road. I was going at 70 and couldn't stop fast enough. He seemed to charge the vehicle. I saw his head go into the driver's side mirror and break the mirror off. All that was left were some wires and a bit of plastic. The deer dashed off into the woods.
I was shaking, and pulled off to the side of the road. At first I thought it was just the mirror. I noticed it in the road and watched as other cars going at high speed smashed it into bits. I purchased the liability damage waiver so I knew I could just swap the rental car at an agency and be on my way. I was still very nervous after the experience. Thanks be to God, I was not injured at all.
The first police officer
A sheriff's patrol car saw me and pulled up behind me to see if everything was okay. I started to get out of the car and found that I could only open the door wide enough to stick my hand out. I motioned to the officer. He came out and I explained that I hit a deer. He said he figured that, seeing the debris in the road and my car on the side. He had to pull very hard on the door to allow me to get out.
We took a look at the vehicle. There was massive damage. The driver's side was caved in. The driver's side door was dented. The left headlight was smashed. A warning in the vehicle notified me that I should "check the headlamp."
The officer asked me if it was a deer or elk. I couldn't tell the difference. He looked at the hairs still on the vehicle and assumed it was a deer. He asked if I saw where the deer went. I assumed he went completely across the road and into the other side. The officer said the deer would be in a lot of pain judging from the damage done to the car.
The officer said a highway patrolman had to write the actual damage report. He phoned in to have someone come over. He stayed with me for a while. He looked at the vehicle and felt it would not need a toe. He had me turn the wheel so he could examine the tires. He pulled the bumper away from the tires so I could drive it. He asked me to pull over to wider section of the shoulder and see if the car gave me any trouble. Also, it would help to make sure I didn't get hit by another car.
After a while he said he needed to move on and that the highway patrol officer would be there in about twenty minutes. He drove off. I noticed him pull over to the opposite side of the road and put his lights on. I heard a gunshot and assumed he had found the deer. He then drove away.
While I was waiting, a motorist stopped to ask if everything was okay. He wanted to know if I needed a ride anywhere. I told him I was fine and had to wait for an officer to come to write the report.
I called the local rental agency where I picked up the car. The agent confirmed that since I had purchased the liability damage waiver, it would just be a matter of swapping out the vehicle at the nearest agency. She said that if I was not comfortable driving it to the agency, it could be towed there by roadside assistance.
The Second Officer
The highway patrol officer showed up about ten minutes later. He was very friendly. He told me there were four incidents like this yesterday though they were elk. He said I would probably be the first in a long night. He looked at the car and photographed the damage. He then asked if I knew what I hit. I explained that I didn't. But I explained that I suspected the first officer had dispatched the animal. I told him where it happened. He went to the area and confirmed that it was indeed a deer. He said most people hit elk around there. Apparently, there are herds of them going through and collisions with vehicles are a nightly occurrence.
After writing up the incident, he gave me an information exchange sheet. He said it would take two weeks to get a real accident report and it had to be obtained from the state capital.
The officer was concerned about the fact that the airbags had not yet deployed. He said that they could just deploy while I was driving back to my hotel, thirty miles away. He encouraged me to get a tow. I didn't want to wait around this area at night any further. I declined. He said that the roads had wide shoulders and suggested I drive about 40 mph. If people got angry because they wanted to do 70, I could just pull off to let them pass. He gave me his direct number in case something happened along the way.
View Larger Map
Both officers were very polite, professional, considerate, and helpful. Had the first officer not been going by, I might not have even realized the extensive damage to the vehicle. Since the deer went back to the woods, I assumed it was a minor collision and the deer was not seriously hurt. Likewise, I assumed I just lost the mirror and that was it. I may have gotten to the hotel and actually not been able to get out of the car. I may have had an accident along the way because part of the bumper may have been pushed into a tire.
Fueling Up
The car only had half a tank of gas. At first I figured this would be an extraordinary event and I would not need to fill up the tank. But I remembered the rental agreement warned that if I did not return it full, they would charge me $7.30/gallon. Yes, that's right. Since there was a gas station right before the hotel, I figured it would be safer to fill it up and avoid that risk. The $3.95/gallon I paid saved me $3.35/gallon.
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