Last Days

On our last day at Wallowa Lake (Monday) we tried to cram in as much fun as possible. First we rented two paddle boats and everyone but me spent an hour paddling around the lake. I got in for a short stint at the end and nearly ended up in the lake when climbing out of the boat. Walking to shore up the dock we spotted a two-foot long sturgeon right near the shore cruising the bottom of the lake to feed.

Then it was up on what is reportedly the steepest tramway in the world to the top of Mt. Howard. The tramway ascends 3,700 feet to an altitude of 8,150, the summit of Mt. Howard which looks down on Wallowa Lake and provides scenic views of the Eagle Cap Wilderness to the south and into Idaho to the east. What we liked best was feeding the pocket gophers and chipmunks with healthy food that you can buy at the summit.

After coming down from Mt. Howard, Beth and Daniel went swimming in the lake while the rest of us relaxed. We had planned for dinner to go into Joseph to a pizza place that advertised wireless internet. When we got there though, we couldn't find a table. We drove into Enterprise but did not see any eating places that appealed to us there either, so we gave up and ate a a perfectly good place across from our motel at Wallowa Lake featuring homemade potato chips and great homemade desserts.

We woke up early on Tuesday to make an 8 a.m. reservation for breakfast at the Wallowa Lake Lodge, built in 1923 and lovingly restored in recent years. Most of us ordered their specialty, Oregon hazelnut pancakes with marionberry butter. They should have warned us how big they were! They filled a whole plate and were about 3/4 inch thick. Daniel, the big eater, ordered two. Luckily Ann, Jane and I only ordered one. It proved to be a challenge just to finish one.

Then we were off -- home to Salem. After about a hour on scenic back roads to La Grande, it's the I-84 interstate all the way to Portland and I-5 to Salem. Not very interesting. We broke up the drive with lunch at an old favorite -- Charburger in Cascade Locks, the burger place with the million dollar view of the Columbia River. The kids got their last pies of the trip and ate them first while the burgers were cooking.

We got home in good time, about 4 pm and proceeded to do a ton of laundry.

Did we meet our objectives for the trip? Well, out the 26 roadside attractions we listed as possible destinations from roadsideamerica.com, it turns out we only made it to 14. This is mostly because we changed our route at the end and did not spend any time in Washington state. It was worth it to experience Hwy 12 across the middle of Idaho and to be able to spend two days at Wallowa Lake. I'd say we saw the best roadside attractions: the Shoshone Ice Caves, the Sunshine Health Mine, Butte, and the Evel Knievel jump site. We didn't make it to the giant cement potato in Driggs, but we caught the one at the Idaho Potato Expo in Blackfoot. Yellowstone met everyone's expectations. Even with mobs of tourists, it is an amazing one-of-a-kind place.

Will this really be the last road trip for all the Scheppkes? Could be. If that ends up being the case, none of us can say that we didn't have a good one.

Wallowa Lake Again

[This is being posted after we got back to Salem on Tuesday -- no wireless at Wallowa Lake.]

We’ve been coming to Wallowa Lake in the NE corner of Oregon for years. Beth requested that we make this the last stop on our vacation this year. It’s kind of a nostalgia trip for the kids.

Before heading here on Sunday from Lewiston, we backtracked a bit to visit the new interpretive center on the Nez Perce reservation. The Nez Perce tribe got a raw deal all around, like all of the tribes of the Northwest, but perhaps moreso. At the interpretive center we learned that their name resulted from a mistake made by French trappers who thought they had pierced noses. They didn’t, but the name stuck anyway. They signed a treaty in 1855 giving them a large reservation comprised of the middle portion of Idaho, NE Oregon and SE Washington. But when gold was discovered a few years later the whites moved in anyway, and the treaty was renegotiated with some but not all of the tribal bands. The new reservation was much smaller and entirely in Idaho. The Wallowa band, led by Chief Joseph, had to be forced out of their homeland by the Army, leading to the famous thousand-mile flight to Canada that ended 40 miles from the border. The Army forced the tribe to a reservation in Oklahoma. Today Chief Joseph’s father, Old Chief Joseph, is buried next to Wallowa Lake. But Chief Joseph never made it back to the Wallowas. He died and was buried on a reservation in Washington.

We’ve always come here from the west, but today we came here from the north. The distance from Lewiston is only 90 miles, but the road winds up and down some amazingly rugged country. For one stretch of about 13 miles, the speed limit is 25. It was very scenic though and worth creeping along the twists and turns.

We returned to civilization at Enterprise, Oregon, the sleepy county seat of Wallowa County. Jane remembered a pretty good Mexican restaurant, so we went there for a late Sunday dinner. It was one of the few places that was open.

Then we got in early at our motel at Wallowa Lake. We’ve stayed here several times and the kids like it because it has a miniature golf course. Beth and Daniel played a round of golf and then we went down to check out the lake. It was kind of breezy and I checked out the water – very cold. It comes right off the Wallowa Mountains that rise up to about 9,000 feet right behind the lake. There is some snow left up there.

Later in the afternoon, the whole family played a round of golf and I won a free game by making a difficult put on the last hole (beginners luck!).

Tonight we decided to picnic like we did last night, so we went into the nearby town of Joseph to get some groceries. Joseph has become more and more of a tourist town, which I’m sure is good for their economy, but not very appealing to the Scheppkes.

Tomorrow will be the last day of our vacation, so we will try, I’m sure, to make the most of it.

Once More Across Idaho

We changed our plans, and instead of heading up I-90 to Spokane and then down to Wallowa Lake, we decided to take scenic Highway 12 through the Lolo Pass and follow the trail of Lewis and Clark to Lewiston on the Idaho, Washington border. As a result we missed a few minor attractions to be found in roadsideamerica.com, but we cut off a couple of hours of driving time, both today and tomorrow, by taking the more southern route.

The drive was beautiful, following the Lochsa River which merges with the Clearwater River, all the way across the middle of Idaho. Having spent two days crossing the dry treeless plains of S. Idaho, it was a nice change to travel through the forested mountains that cover the northern 2/3 of the state.

This was one off the hardest parts of Lewis and Clark's journey in 1805. They started where we began our trip today (near Missoula) on September 9th, and it took them almost a month, until October 7th, to traverse the rugged mountains on foot with their Indian guides. Near Orofino, just a few miles east of Lewiston, they were able to make canoes and set off on the Clearwater River which connects with the Snake, which connects with the Columbia, which took them to the Pacific by November 7th. All this way by river in just one month!

We stopped for lunch in the pleasant little mountain town of Kooskia and had some great burgers and the kids had wonderful milk shakes too. At the urging of some local kids who were nearly stopping the few cars that came through in the middle of town, we got a great hand car wash for a donation to benefit the local 4H.

We made it to Lewiston by about 4 in the afternoon and did not expect any difficulty finding a room. Wrong! An American Legion baseball tournament was underway, and we were turned away from two motels before finally finding a room. Ann and the kids decided, for a treat, to go see the Simpson's Movie. I decided to stay in the motel and blog.

Tomorrow it's on to Wallowa Lake, about 93 miles due south through the back country of SE Washington and NE Oregon.

Scheppkes Take the Vapors

We now have two days to get to Wallowa Lake in the NE corner of Oregon, so we knew we had to get an early start. Everyone got going around 7 am and we were saying goodbye to Yellowstone by about 9 and heading north into Montana.

But before we got out of the park, we had a couple more wildlife encounters, including this bison, just walking down the center line of the road.

We followed the Madison River right out of the park and up the Madison River valley. The road passes through a number of picturesque old towns. We stopped at one of the them, Ennis, for breakfast at the Ennis Cafe, which seems to be where the locals go.

Then it was on to Virginia City, the first town settled in Montana and the first territorial capital. It's a gold rush town and a lot of the old 19th century buildings have been preserved. We made a stop at the Thompson-Hickman Museum which roadsideamerica.com recommends as the place to view Clubfoot George's club foot. Sure enough, there it was, in a glass container that looked like a large snow dome. The young woman in attendance was very helpful. Clubfoot George was a "road agent," apparently the local 19th century term for a bandit and all-around nogoodnik. George was hung along with several of his compadres and the grave markers are in the museum.

Leaving Virginia City we passed a few other small mining towns. For miles along the road, next to the creek where gold was found, there were mounds of tailings from the mining activity. A pretty ugly thing to do to the land, and apparently it doesn't heal itself very easily.

Our next stop was Butte, which we found fascinating with mines all about, right in the town, and blocks and blocks of old commercial buildings that now seem more or less abandoned. Parts of Butte resemble a ghost town, but an urban one (I learned later that the population today is 1/3 of what it was in 1917). We did see evidence of Butte's favorite son, Evel Knievel, including a banner for Evel Knievel Days, which we missed.

Between Butte and Helena we came to the highlight of the day, one of four "health mines" in the area. What is a "health mine," you ask? It is an abandoned mine that has been repurposed as a health spa of sorts. The mines in these parts emit a low level of radon gas, which some people believe is good for what ails you. We drove up a short gravel road and came upon the Sunshine Health Mine, run by a friendly older couple who offered us a free look at the mine. It is a rock shaft that goes into the side of a mountain about 50 yards or so. It was a gold mine and then a uranium mine. Today there are comfortable chairs and card tables with half-finished jig saw puzzles. To take the cure you sit in the mine for two hours and then come out for one. Apparently, some people do this for days on end. It was fun to see, and we thanked the proprietors for allowing us to have a look.

Then it was on to the state capital of Helena, a very pleasant town. I applied to be the Montana State Librarian in the late 80's. I believe I came in 2nd in the competition. It's interesting to imagine how things would have been different had the kids grown up in Helena.

Our final stop was Missoula, a scenic drive from Helena over a big mountain pass and along the Clark's Fork river. Missoula is a college town (U of Montana) and it shows. Jane commented that it seemed not unlike Berkeley. We had to search a bit to find a motel room but managed to get one at a little motel close to downtown. After a good meal at a very popular Thai place downtown, we took in the carousel that was the model for Salem's carousel. Then back to the motel and off to sleep to dream radon dreams.

Day 2 in Yellowstone

As everyone knows, Yellowstone was the first national park. It's the second largest national park in the country. It is also a major international destination, and as Jane discovered, a great place to play license plate bingo.

But even with the mobs of people and tour buses in the park, only about a dozen folks showed up for the guided ranger hike today. A very amiable Ranger, Ranger Shane, led the hike along the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and then across a bit of the north end of Hayden Valley, a large treeless meadow. Along the way he remarked on a lot of the flora and a little bit of the fauna (it was in short supply). On the way to the hike we saw a grey wolf cross the highway. I have never seen a wolf in the wild. Later Ranger Shane said there were only about 130 wolves in the Park, so we felt lucky to have seen one.

Yesterday we saw elk several times, but no bison or bears. I was anxious to see bison and hoped we would do so on our hike, but no luck. The hike was 2 ½ hours -- a very pleasant way to spend the morning and learn more about the park. After lunch and a quick look at a new museum in Canyon Village it was back in the car to take in the sights at the south end of the park. As we were heading across Hayden Valley we hit the jackpot on bison. Small herds and some solitary bulls were all over, including one conveniently grazing near the road.

We made it to Old Faithful by about 4 pm, just in time to see Old Faithful erupt at around 4:40. Jane made a video on her camera. One fun fact we learned about the geysers is that the water that erupts from a geyser at Yellowstone is what Ranger Chris called “old water.” It was last above ground about 500 years ago.

After watching Old Faithful blow, it was on to our one blow-out dinner of the trip at the Old Faithful Inn, the fanciful log-built lodge that is 103 years old this year. You have to make dinner reservations well in advance. Before our reservation time there was one more opportunity to see Old Faithful blow, this time from a seat on the balcony at the Inn. When it was time to eat, there was Bison on the menu, so we tried that, along with a good bottle of Oregon pinot. The food wasn’t that great, but eating at the Inn was worth the expense.

After dinner we drove back to Canyon Village just in time for another ranger show. Ranger Laurie, speaking on the history of the park, was pretty lame. We knew it was going to be a bad show when Ranger Laurie used an obscure John Denver song as her preface. At least she had some good photos of the goofy way tourists used to interact with the bears in the park until the 1970’s.

We had heard about this earlier on our hike. Ranger Shane, had pointed out evidence of the remains of what had been a trash dump for the old Canyon lodge that burned down in 1960. There were still shards of broken pottery on the ground. Decades ago, bears would hang out at the dump, so the Park Service built bleachers so park visitors could watch the bears rummage through the trash, looking for food.

Things ended badly for these bears. The entire population that had become habituated, over generations, to human food was “taken out,” as Ranger Shane politely put it, and the Park Service started over with a new population that thankfully has remained wild. And that’s probably why we didn’t see a bear on our stay at Yellowstone.

Day 1 in Yellowstone

[This is being posted on Friday because Yellowstone had no wireless Internet in the entire park and I had to wait until we got to Missoula to upload this.]

Wednesday we reached our ultimate destination, Yellowstone National Park, but on the way we had hoped to spend some time in Rigby, ID, home of Philo T. Farnsworth, “the Father of television.” Farnsworth invented the television in 1928. He grew up in a farm near Rigby. He reportedly said the row crops in the fields he grew up seeing were the inspiration for his invention. Alas, the “Farnsworth TV and Pioneer Museum” did not open until 1 pm and we couldn’t hang around that long in Rigby. Oh well. At least we got a picture of this great billboard outside of town.

Then it was on to Yellowstone. We saw a great Frostop Root Beer sign on the way. We entered through West Yellowstone and headed north taking in all the sights on the north end of the park. We had prepared ourselves for the fact that the park would be jammed with people, and this turned out to the true, though they tended to be pretty concentrated around the major attractions. In the late afternoon we pulled into Canyon Village, near the middle of the park, where I had booked two nights in a cabin. This proved to be a pretty good choice. The cabins are kind of ugly on the outside, but pleasant enough and functional on the inside.

We had dinner in the cafeteria, and then went to the ranger show: Ranger Chris, talking about the parks geologic origins. Ranger Chris was from Kentucky and his speaking style reminded us of our President: short sentences pitched higher at the end, with pauses in between. But despite that his content was good and we enjoyed the program. Then it was off to bed in our cozy cabin.

More on Evel Kneivel

I wondered if people in "Twin" were kind of embarassed by having their town be the site of Evel Kneivel's most famous jump. From the looks of the granite memorial, with its center picture missing and most of the letters fading away, it appeared that might be the case.

Then we talked to the good senior citizen volunteers in the Visitor Center that is close by the monument and I heard a different story. They seemed proud and excited to talk about it. They said the whole town turned out to watch on that afternoon in 1974. If you know the story you know that when the "Skycycle" descended its earthen ramp a drag parachute accidentally deployed and Evel ended up in the river. His greatest effort ended in failure.

You can see the earthen ramp two miles upriver when you are at the monument. I wanted to get a closer look, and luckily one of the volunteers gave me directions. We went to the end of a dead end road, and there it was, about a 500 yards in the distance on private property. The volunteer said, however, that the city had purchased the site and was going to make it into a park. So there's further evidence that the good citizens of Twin may have come around to being proud of their 15 minutes of fame in 1974.

One volunteer said Evel makes a visit to Twin every now and then. "He's in pretty bad shape, pretty banged up," she said. I'll bet.