Shelley and Christopher's Oregon Trail Adventure Part 4: The End of the Beginning

Many times while recapping this road trip I felt transported back to the memorable moments I experienced.  I thoroughly enjoyed writing about this journey.  For my last post about the road trip, I've selected The Winner Is from one of my favorite movies, Little Miss Sunshine.  Yes it's a little bit cliche, but it's the perfect song to end a traveling saga.

On the seventh day of the trip we awoke in the late morning to a beautiful Montana day.  We almost missed breakfast, but arrived in the nick of time to make our own waffles and enjoy an almost empty eating area.  We finished breakfast and headed out on the road again. Driving through Montana, we saw expansive ranches that reminded me a little of the Playmobil ranch that Kristi used to have when we were kids.  If I ever get the opportunity, I would love to spend a few days just in Montana.  As we crossed into Idaho the strangest thing happened, it began snowing!

         We only went through a small portion of Idaho before entering into Washington State.

Knowing that we would be exhausted from the past two days, we purposefully planned out a shorter drive and arrived at our destination in a few hours.  We stayed in Spokane, WA at the Spokane Club Inn a lovely, historic looking building.  Some of the surrounding brick structures were really beautiful as well. 

With plenty of time on our side, we decided to have an early dinner before enjoying a leisurely walk around Spokane. Using Siri, I found a decently priced Italian restaurant outside of the downtown area called Tomato Street.  It sort of reminded me of a more casual Macaroni Grill with better food.  As we waited for a table, the restaurant had a giant chalk board for guests to use. 

This was also the place that I drew an absolutely brilliant portrait of Christopher on our table cloth.

After dinner we parked downtown and walked around.  We could tell that earlier in the day the heat had been sweltering which made for a perfect summer night.  The grass under our feet in the park was so spongy and soft I was tempted to walk in my bare feet.  The town was hosting a carnival and a movie in the park, so we watched little kids run around with pillows, blankets, cotton candy, etc. It was a magical evening as the twinkle of stars and city lights littered the sky over all the activity.  Hand in hand with Christopher in that lovely town, I felt relaxed and at peace. 

As the sky began to darken, we opted to explore the mall.  It was several stories high with a giant map of Washington inside the entrance.  None of the stores were particularly unique, but we enjoyed walking around.

The next morning we arose in time for brunch and opted to eat at a cute little bakery and cafe called Madeleine's. The place was inspired by the owner's trip to Paris.  I had some delicious french toast with creme and berries whereas Christopher chose a dish with hash brown-like potatoes and eggs. On our way back from the cafe, I noticed this funny set of "runners."

From the cafe, we started off on our last day. About halfway through, we found a cool patch of desert.

From there, our initial plans were to drive through Seattle and maybe stop for a bite to eat. 

Unfortunately, the traffic really stressed Christopher out so we did not stay too long.  We also made the poor choice of taking a bathroom break at a gas station downtown which turned out to be grungy.  The staff was fairly disgruntled as well.  When we walked out, a man asked for some money and we gave him a few dollars. In exchange he gave Christopher a talking mustache.  He seemed like a very nice albeit strange fellow but we discarded the mustache later as we didn't have any idea where it had been.  I did manage to get a picture of the Space Needle on our way out of the city. 

(This picture does not accurately respresent the traffic.)

We ran into several bouts of rush hour so we didn't arrive in Portland until around 10pm. 

When we arrived, Mom, Mike, and Gracie were excitedly waiting on the front porch.  We exchanged long hugs and proceeded to get our basic luggage out of the car.  Mom had prepared a delicious snack of fresh basil, mozzarella, and grape tomatoes on a stick.  We munched on our food and told them a little bit about our trip.  I was so excited to roll into a non-hotel bed that night! 

Christopher stayed for about a week before heading back to California.  We were able to visit some of my favorite parts of Oregon while he was here.  

While driving through Astoria on our way to the beach, Christopher discovered that the house from the Goonies was here. 

We stopped in Cannon Beach because Christopher had never seen the Monoliths towering over the water.

Most of the day was spent at one of our favorite "best kept secrets" on the Oregon coastline, Short Sand Beach. 

Another day we drove up to Mt. Hood to hike and explore Timberline Lodge. 

While we were there, a group of antique car owners was staying at the lodge.  A few of the cars looked like something Jay Gatsby would have owned. 

We also took a day to explore downtown Portland.  There was a summer dance festival going on and I finagled Christopher into watch one of the dance classes.  Little kids were running around in the water in front of the dance workshop.

Christopher engaged in a very short game of chess with himself.

Even though we had spent hours upon hours together in the car, neither of us wanted our grand trip to be over.  We were blessed with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore the wide and lonely roads of the Mid-West, finding little gems along the way.  Our horizons were broadened and our knowledge of the world around us deepened a bit. I cannot wait to see what life has in store next. 

Shelley and Christopher's Oregon Trail Adventure Part 3: Into the Wild West

In my last post I mentioned how Christopher and I disagreed over what music to play as we drove. When we ran out of CD's for the book, we often just listened to the local classical music station as a compromise.  I cannot remember anything specific about this music so I chose instead to include Epic Western Music which is more appropriate for this next part.

Although the car still smelled slightly of mink paste, our spirits were high as we made our way towards Mount Rushmore.  The land around us remained fairly similar but there were a few sections of water scattered along the drive.

We knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw a giant sculpture of Abraham Lincoln just casually sitting by the side of the road. 

Everything was going smoothly until Christopher decided it would be a good idea to take the "scenic route" the rest of the way on National Park roads.  I suggested we stay on the path we were going but eventually agreed for the sake of being adventurous.  The road initially looked typical but with a little less paving.  However, as we began to drive down further, it turned into narrow gravel pathways that were more suitable for walking.  The drive was bumpy and rocks constantly hit the sides of the car as they flew out from under the wheels.  I was going about 10-15 mph, slowly rolling past secluded private property with nothing but narrow roads ahead of us. We came across one or two other cars going the opposite direction, so I had to pull over into a field to avoid a fender bender.  My irritation began to mount as I realized it would take us hours to get to Mount Rushmore using this route.  I grumbled something like "well THIS was a bad idea" and MAY have sworn a few times.  Christopher kept apologizing and looking over at me with a mixture of fear and amusement asking "are you really mad? I'm really sorry. Seriously are you really mad at me?"  There was nothing to do but turn around.  We sat in silence as I battled between feeling amused and angry.  I knew the condition of the roads was not his fault but I was annoyed that we had wasted gas, fuel, and time.  Once we were on the main road we laughed about it a bit and I told him it was alright, though the car was looking a little "worse for the wear" after that incident. 

As we neared Mount Rushmore, colorful signs and various tourist attractions began to crowd around us. 

Storm clouds billowed in the sky and a fairly steady rain began to fall.  Both of us had brought along rain coats (I used my "free" Defenders of WildLife jacket) so we weren't deterred by the weather.  

Then, the rain lifted just five or so minutes after we arrived inside the park! 

It felt so strange to be looking up at a structure I'd seen so many times before in history books and travel magazines.  Both of us were a little bit surprised that it wasn't bigger for some reason.  Portraying the scale of the monument is difficult with pictures, so it's easy to understand why we thought it was larger.   Even though the size wasn't as grand as expected it was still an amazing opportunity. 

We walked around taking pictures of it from different angles.  Both of us were getting pretty hungry but  we didn't want to pay for the overpriced food around the monument park.  As we were heading back down, a staff member outside the gift shop informed us that the last surviving man to work on Mount Rushmore was inside. Curiosity trumped our growling stomachs (which is very unusual). The man, Donald Clifford, was signing books.  Christopher decided to buy one and get it signed since he reasoned this was probably his only chance to meet the guy.  Donald was in his 90's and seemed very tired. His wife was really the one answering questions; Christopher had the opportunity to speak with her while he waited in line. We hoped Donald would get to leave soon and take a nap!

At Christopher's request we had planned on visiting Deadwood, SD if there was time.  This worked out perfectly as our visit to Mount Rushmore only lasted about 45 minutes to an hour.  Deadwood is one of the coolest little tourist traps.  I felt as though I'd stepped back into an old western film.  Some people may remember the HBO Series that was supposed to take place in this same town. 

Both of us were getting a little grouchy from hunger, so we walked around looking for a place to eat.  Most places were fairly crowded but one restaurant we saw was in what looked to be a converted garage and had an older man singing country tunes.  We figured the wait would be more pleasant with so many interesting things to keep our minds off our stomachs.  The buffalo burger I ordered certainly did the trick and we both left stuffed and satisfied.  Our next hotel was a few hours away in Wyoming.  We thought it was best to hit the road again instead of exploring Deadwood further.  We crossed the border around sunset. 

We were making good time and everything was going relatively well.  As the sky began to darken we noticed flashes of lightening ahead.  The flashes began to shoot like fire across the sky illuminating the area around us.  We watched in awe at this amazing light show; one moment the sky was in darkness and the next in a huge ball of yellow and white.  The road curved in and out misleading us to think we were driving away from the storm.  As we drove further it dawned on us that we were going directly into the storm.  The rain began falling heavily on top of the car.  We found ourselves on a two-lane highway with a large truck.  I turned off the music as the rain rushed down in droves and the road was no longer visible.  Christopher was glued to the steering wheel desperately trying to make out the white lines.  The truck was behind us, so there was nothing else to guide Christopher.  I remembering sitting up straight, nervous that we would slide off the road any minute.  It was hard to tell exactly where the side of the road was or how far behind us the truck was driving.  In this instance pulling over would have been more dangerous than continuing to drive.  I think this stretch lasted for only 10-15 minutes but it felt like an hour.  I was just grateful I wasn't the one driving.  Once the rain began to let up, we both let out a sigh of relief.  We were surrounded by the vast darkness again until we reached the small town of Casper.  Both of us were more than ready to exit the car for the night.  When we got inside to check in, I overhead the man in front of us telling the hotel manager that his car had caught on fire; it definitely could have been worse for us! 

We enjoyed a short but pleasant stay at our hotel.  The free breakfast was an improvement from the place in Belle Fourche.  They offered a variety of fruits, bagels, muffins, and cereal.  The dairy products weren't expired either! Our plan this day was to explore the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks on our way up to Montana.  Around lunchtime, we drove through a neat little town and ate at a place called the Cowboy Cafe.  The food was pretty mediocre but we met a nice couple sitting beside us who had just come from Yellowstone on a small vacation.  I managed to only glance at the delicious display of pies.  I knew we didn't really have time to order desert and I'd regret it later when I was stuffed and miserable. 

After lunch, we drove for awhile listening to our book.  At some point during this time we stopped to pay and enter the Yellowstone National Park.  We began noticing some majestic looking mountains on our drive.

We decided to pull over along the road to get some closer pictures.

The Grand Tetons were evading capture on my camera but eventually I got a decent shot.

One unexpected delight was further down the road.  Cars began to back up so we knew that something interesting was happening.  As the road cleared we noticed people on the side of the road taking pictures of buffalo.  They were only a few feet away from us, just grazing slowly around.  A baby buffalo was sweetly attached to its mother.  I was feeling a little guilty about the delicious buffalo burger I had consumed the day before. 

I felt so peaceful watching these large, quiet creatures.

We moved on and passed the signs for the Grand Tetons.  I thought it would fun to take a few pictures and Christopher complied. 

We drove another long stretch before coming to the famous Old Faithful Geyser.  As we were walking through the parking lot, we noticed that the crows were unusually large.  It was a little unnerving to have such giant birds flying around.  We had some fun theorizing about how they grew so creepily enormous.  I made sure, however, to compliment them and smile because crows are smarter than you'd think.  Just as we arrived the geyser began going off.  

The eruption lasted for about 2-3 minutes; everyone was mostly silent as we watched in awed excitement.  While walking out and back to the car, we noticed this hilarious warning sign.  I have a deep fear of turning into a boy scout from the 1950's so this sign definitely worked for me. 

We passed by more geysers, but I suddenly had a pounding headache.  I didn't feel like getting out and exploring at that moment. 

On the other side of Yellowstone, we came across a beautiful lake with a dam.  

The water was so beautiful and translucent.  I felt refreshed just by sticking my hands into the water. 

My headache had subsided a little, but I was definitely ready to get back on the road towards our destination.  Wyoming turned out to be one of the most beautiful states we traveled through; it had everything from rolling green hills to patches of desert. 

Night time was coming on fast as we crossed the border in to Montana. 

I noticed the trees were taller than anything we'd seen before.  It's hard to explain but the trees, the land, the buildings, and the occasional ranch we passed all seemed to be quintessentially Montana. 

We reached our hotel as darkness fell over the town.  Our accommodations were really pleasant and the lady who checked us in was very welcoming.  A McDonald's was right next to the hotel and we decided to use the last of the gift cards on a late night snack.  Both of us fell right to sleep after such a long day, feeling blessed about taking in so many amazing sights.