Happy Trails to You

As you may have gathered, your intrepid narrator ran out of steam in the closing days of our adventure. After arriving home we estimated that we covered about 3400 miles in 2.5 weeks. Whew! This is an overview of the last few stops we made on our way home to Oregon. The descriptions are in the same order as the images above:

1. Statuary at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park
2. A parting image of Jackson Lake from our accommodations at Signal Mountain Lodge. We will be back!
3. The warm, mineral water pool at Indian Springs Resort & RV near American Falls, Idaho. It was both a step back in time and a refreshing respite after a long day on the road.
4. Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. The Niagara Falls of the West.
5. Checking in for our last night out at the "Old West" themed Mountain View RV park in Baker City, Oregon
6. Wagon ruts on the Oregon Trail visible near the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center also in Baker City. Happy trails to you!

One Perfect Day

We drove up for the day from our lodging in Grand Teton to Yellowstone National Park. The rivers in Wyoming were swollen with spring run-off as they were in Montana making a short hike at Lewis River Falls worthwhile.

West Thumb geyser basin isn't among the well-known areas in Yellowstone, but it is one of our favorites because it includes a wide variety of geological features in a small area. We saw mudpots, brightly colored pools, and dormant geysers along the boardwalks. One section of the trail follows the shoreline of Yellowstone Lake. The lake level is currently higher than normal and a few of the features we saw during our previous visit in September were covered by water this time.

We attended a ranger talk where we learned more about the science behind the colored pools and geysers. A highlight was viewing a mother and baby elk nuzzling each other, through binoculars, at the center of the geyser basin.

We found a lakeside table at the Grant Village area for a late lunch before heading south to Signal Mountain. A perfect day in Yellowstone for me ...

On The Road Again

We charted our course west from South Dakota, racing ahead of thunderstorms once again. Departing from Casper Wyoming, we found the old Oregon/Mormon trail route to Independence Rock where one can still see original signatures and dates from the pioneers who made the westward journey many years ago. Despite the history, I wouldn't recommend this route for RV travel as the roads were rough and services sparse. Upon arrival at Wind River RV Park in Riverton Wyoming, we noticed that we had lost the plastic exterior refrigerator cover on the bumpy roads. Although this RV park was not the most scenic, it met our 'urgent' requirements for a laundromat and television and the park hosts were incredibly kind and helpful, assisting us with patching the refrigerator.

The eastern approach to Grand Teton Park took us through the cute western town of Dubois Wyoming. We paused briefly here at the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center where we gleaned extensive knowledge about bighorn sheep. They had mounts of all the bighorn sheep species around the world. Apparently this collection is known as a super slam. We only have four species of sheep in North America - a grand slam.


We pulled into Signal Mountain Lodge, our home away from home for the next three nights in Grand Teton National Park. We have stayed here before, and while it is not fancy, the staff is incredibly friendly and the views cannot be beat. This is the view from our patio on the morning following our arrival!

Crazy Horse Memorial

Today turned out to be one of our busier days. After returning to the campground for lunch and a nap, we headed over to the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial. Construction on the memorial began in 1941 and is still far from completion. When/if it is completed, it will be the largest sculpture in the world. Unlike Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse is privately funded and managed by the descendants of the sculptor (Korczak Ziolkowski). The mountain carving is the centerpiece of a complex that includes a visitor's center with an eclectic collection of exhibits focused on Native American culture and Korczak's lifework.

While Mr. Snootypurse took a bus ride to the base of the mountain, I entertained myself by wandering around the museum complex. There were unexpected surprises around every corner in the large collection of rooms and buildings. It seemed that the collection could have been better curated, but then the autographed Green Bay Packers football that I found might be removed!

This is a model at the visitor's center of what the sculpture will look like when complete. Following our time at Crazy Horse, we cruised up to Mount Rushmore again for a more relaxed look at the four faces. The motorhome-friendly road was surprisingly scenic and we were glad we made the second trip.

Custer State Park

For our stay in the Southern Black Hills, we camped at Big Pine Campground a few miles west of Custer City. We recommend this privately owned campground with all essential services, well-arranged sites, and friendly staff that even delivers firewood to your campsite. We got up early this morning to drive the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park. We ran into a small herd of bison early on, including babies, blocking the road. The babies are light brown. I was worried the bison might charge the motorhome but we managed to weave our way through. We saw a few prairie dog towns and also some beautiful pronghorn antelope but unfortunately none of those pictures came out. Many of the buildings in Custer State Park were built by the CCC out of stone and timber.

These are the begging burros in Custer State Park. The park neither encourages nor discourages their presence and they manage to make do with the ample grazing lands and handouts from visitors. The main visitor's center at this park was a worthwhile stop with an IMAX movie narrated by Kevin Costner that gives a good overview of the park including the annual buffalo round-up. This park isn't quite up to the standards of the national parks, but it is close, and worth getting up early for.

Mount Rushmore

We spent the night before our visit to Mount Rushmore at a motel in Rapid City. There are two roads near Mount Rushmore (Iron Mountain Road and the Needles Highway) that were architected to showcase the scenery. Their paths included turns and tunnels that were not compatible with our Forester motorhome, so we rented a car in Rapid City for the day. My prior visit to Mount Rushmore was about 30 years ago, but I still have fond memories of the pigtail bridges on the Iron Mountain Road, thus this is the road we selected for our approach to the monument. The road twists and turns as you get closer to the mountain and the presidents are framed by two of the tunnels.


Honestly, once we arrived at Mount Rushmore I found it to be hot and crowded. The National Park Service has been running an ad campaign the last few years telling Americans to "find your park". This is definitely not mine, but it is a landmark that all Americans should visit. The movie and the visitors center were informative and air-conditioned. There is a trail that leads closer to the mountain but it was partially closed and too hot for me this day. We concluded our visit with some of Thomas Jefferson's vanilla ice cream which was big enough to share (We didn't). I hope that we can return later in the trip, perhaps at a cooler and less busy time of day.


On the way back to Rapid City, we stopped at the Presidential Wax Museum in Keystone. It was a cheesy attraction (or perhaps cheesier than one would expect) and some of the statues were more realistic than others. Returning the rental car to the airport was more frustrating that we had hoped. The airport doesn't have regular ground transportation, like taxis, so we spent half an hour waiting for a shuttle to take us back to our parked RV. Also, the airport is almost 20 minutes out of town which is surprising given how much available space is closer to the city. When we later learned that the unfortunate radio call sign for the Rapid City airport is KRAP, we were somewhat mollified.

Spearfish and Lead

After our harrowing drive from Devil's Tower, we pulled into a site in Spearfish City Park which is at the northern terminus of Spearfish Canyon. As mentioned yesterday, Mr. Snootypurse is from the Midwest and has a fondness for frozen custard which I now share with him. This dessert is similar to soft serve ice cream, but richer because it contains egg yolks. We were delighted to find an outlet of Wisconsin-based Culver's in town and made that one of our first stops. Spearfish has a cute downtown and lots of biking trails but we spent most of our time in the campground, recovering from the excitement of the previous day. We did spend a couple of hours at the D.C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery and Archives, located close to the campground in Spearfish City Park. While the exhibits were interesting, we most enjoyed talking to the retirees volunteering at the site.

Following a two-night stay in Spearfish, we started our journey into the Black Hills of South Dakota driving south through Spearfish Canyon. There are three picturesque waterfalls along this drive but we only had time to stop at the closest one, Bridal Veil falls.

Upon exiting Spearfish Canyon we headed for Lead (pronounced leed) and stopped at Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center. This is the site of what at one point was the largest gold mine in the world. Within the last several years, the network of tunnels underneath the mine has been repurposed for sophisticated physics experiments. I'm not going to try to explain the parameters of their work but take a look at their website if you are interested in such matters.
Mr. Snootypurse took a short tour of the town of Lead including the hoist elevator associated with the mine. If you're ever in the area and interested in science and/or history, this site is worth a stop.

The Big Cupcake

Our next stop was Devil's Tower, WY. For many in our generation, this landmark is best known for it's prominence in the movie, 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. The location of our campsite was amazing; as you can see, we had a view of the tower from our bedroom window! For me, a primary benefit of camping is location ... location ... location (no motel required). The campground has a nightly screening of 'Close Encounters' in their outdoor theatre with the tower rising just over the screen!

There is a small visitor center at the base of Devil's Tower and an approximately 1 mile paved trail that circles the monument. We took the trail and enjoyed the close-up views and chats with other hikers. The monolith looks slightly different from every angle. While in the gift shop, we learned that thunderstorms were predicted for that afternoon, so we didn't dilly-dally.

There is a prairie dog town en route to Devil's Tower. These little guys used to live throughout the Midwest but now their populations are restricted to protected areas like Devil's Tower. We enjoyed watching them and listening to their chirps and squeals.


Just as we pulled out from Devil's Tower, we got a severe thunderstorm and tornado warning on our phones. Mr. Snootypurse is from the Midwest and decided it would be best to try to stay in front of the storm since our route went away from it and there wasn't anyplace to shelter our motorhome. It was a nail-biter on a couple of occasions and we were grateful to arrive safely in Spearfish, SD. A tornado sighting was reported about 18 miles from Devil's Tower!

Little Bighorn National Monument

    


We began our journey on Memorial Day 2018. We are driving a 24 foot Forest River Forester motorhome, rented from RV Northwest, in a big loop that includes Mount Rushmore National Monument and Grand Teton National Park. This is the longest road trip we have ever taken and our first in an RV. The initial few days were spent driving through areas we had previously visited with overnight stops in Spokane, WA and Missoula, MT to visit with cherished friends and their families. The most noteworthy aspect of these travel days were the swollen rivers throughout Montana and Western Wyoming due to a quick spring thaw. I-90 westbound was even closed at one point, but we were headed east.


Our first "official" sightseeing stop was in Garryowen, MT where we paused to take in Little Bighorn National Monument, the sight of the Battle of the Little Bighorn aka Custer's Last Stand. The photo on the right was taken at the top of the hill where Custer's Last Stand occurred. The white tombstones indicate a soldier's final resting place. Despite an animated presentation by a park ranger on the covered porch of the visitor center, I had a hard time envisioning the action as the visitor center is surrounded by many green, rolling hills. We took an optional 4 mile drive out to the site of another related battle. It was hard to imagine that the troops at the various battle sites had no method of communicating and thus could not assist each other.


The sunset photo was taken from our campsite at 7th Ranch campground just down the road from Little Bighorn. This was a lovely campground located on the side of a hill overlooking the valley. Not for the last time, we wished we could stay for an extra night.

Happy anniversary!

We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary on the second-to-last day of sabbatical. Thus Mr. Snootypurse was in charge of planning the festivities. We started the day with a photo shoot at a local studio. We've talked about doing this for a few years, mainly for professional reasons, and finally got around to it.

The remainder of the day was spent with lunch at a great Italian restaurant in Portland, Taste Unique, massages, a stroll along the Willamette dinner, and an amazing Peruvian dinner at Andina. All-in-all a pretty good day and a strong argument in favor of 'staycations'.

Glamis Castle

We took a bit of a drive to Glamis Castle. Glamis is about 90 minutes north of Edinburgh. It was worth the trip. There are many Scottish castles open to visitors but this was an outstanding specimen. The castle has been held by the same family since the 1600's resulting in the interior and furnishings being intact. Because the castle was a private residence, it has never been under siege so the exterior is also in great shape. And the castle was the childhood residence of the Queen Mum so there photos of and references to the royals.

After touring the castle we strolled around the manicured grounds and visited the Scottish Highland cattle. We got to comb/pet some of the cows on our last trip and enjoyed the chance to see them again.

We made a quick stop in Dundee to see the RRS Discovery. This ship was built in Dundee and used by Scott and Shackleton for their successful voyage to Anarctica. We didn't actually visit the museum because it was late but snuck a peek over the back fence.

The World Cup and the octopus

We have enjoyed following the World Cup during our sojourn through Europe. Many nights, it was the only programming on the TV that we could follow. I will also always remember hearing cheers rise-up from the shores of Lake Bled during the final Slovenia match. We were high above the town touring the castle but could hear the fans in the pubs and restaurants down below.

I have been a supporter of Spain for less than scientific reasons from the first round and am pleased to learn that Paul the psychic octopus has chosen them as the winner. Paul's predictions have been headline news here in the U.K. We are curious. Has Paul received much coverage in the U.S.?

Loch Katerine

We ventured into Trossachs National Park. This area is also known as Rob Roy Country and is the beginning of the Scottish Highlands. Due to the lighting, our pictures aren't all that great but you can see the unusual vegetation on the top of this hill. There are few trees and lots of heather.
Our destination was Loch Katerine which provides water to Glasgow. We took a cruise on the Sir Walter Scott which is the only screw driven steamship still in service in Scotland. It runs on biodiesel! We were hoping to walk along the lake afterwards but a squall dropped in and ruined our plans. To our friends and family enjoying the heat wave at home, our thoughts are with you. I believe it might hit 65F here in Edinburgh today.

Stirling Castle and Inchmahome Priory

We had a busy travel day leaving from Italy for Scotland. The drive to Bologna from LTM was longer than expected and complicated by construction and traffic. We changed planes in Brussels before arriving in Edinburgh. Hertz was swamped so Mr. Snootypurse had to choose between a minivan with an automatic transmission or a small manual car. If you’ve ever driven in the UK, you know this is an impossible choice but we are plugging right along with the small car.

We spent a good part of yesterday at Stirling Castle. The castle is located in a strategic area of Scotland so it is steeped in history. He who controls Stirling, controls Scotland. We then drove further out in the country to visit Inchmahome Priory. This is an Augustine Abbey from the 13th century. It’s not in as good condition as others we’ve seen but it is located alone on a small island. It’s about a seven-minute boat ride on a small launch to the island. We didn’t spend much time there as the wind and rain started to kick-up and drove us back to the car.

La Tavola Marche

We've had the pleasure of spending the preceding four nights at La Tavola Marche (LTM). LTM is a agriturismo/cooking school run by two very hospitable American ex-pats. The accomodations are in a big farmhouse and meals are served outside on the patio when weather allows. The pool is refreshing if a little cool. There are several areas around the grounds to linger and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

We've included a picture of the LTM laundry facilities. About 4 hours after this photo was taken, we got the first rain we'd seen since leaving Ljubljana. So it goes. The final photo is from our visit to Fano Gorge.

Mr. Snootypurse and I shared an amazing private cooking class on our final afternoon here. We learned how to make three pasta sauces and two types of antipasti. Our focus was on vegetables (zucchini in particular) as we were looking for creative ways to use our farmer's market veggies. We were in a pasta coma following the class and look forward to practicing the lessons at home.

First day in Le Marche

Who can resist a cute kitten picture? The agriturismo where we're staying had six kittens in two litters about five weeks ago, and the kittens are a riot to watch.
Today we drove to the walled hill-town of Urbino and visited the Duke’s palace. The area adjacent to the walls was crazy busy and it took us a few tries to find the parking garage. We almost gave up but were glad we didn’t.

The palace is huge but it felt empty and cleaned out. The picture is of the courtyard. The highlight of the visit was the Duke’s study which is covered with inlaid wood. We tried to take pictures but unfortunately it was too dark [see here, here, and here for some pictures of the paneling]. There are also several sets of doors with wood inlay. I’m a fan of Rafael and enjoyed a painting of his on display. Rafael is from Urbino but did most of his work in Rome.

Mother's magic hour

We dragged ourselves out of bed early on our last morning in Venice to see St. Mark’s Square in the soft morning light without swarms of people. It worked!

Reluctantly leaving Venice we drove to our next stop in Italy’s Le Marche region via Ravenna. Ravenna is well-known for its mosaics and we visited two fine examples at Basilica di San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. The colors were brighter than I expected and had a Byzantine feel.

Our posting may be sporadic for the next few days as we are off the grid at an agritourismo/cooking school. We’re talking gravel roads and about 20 minutes to the nearest village where no-one speaks inglese. The peace, quiet, and breezes are a welcome respite from Venice. And there are two mama cats with several kittens here so we are getting our gatto fix.

More Venice and Murano

As we headed out for our third morning in Venice, we watched a pigeon family take their morning ablutions in a fountain outside our front door.

We visited two churches: the Frari Church and the church of San Rocco. The Frari church was our favorite. Titian’s tomb is inside this church. It’s a large marble monument and the backdrop is a marble relief of his painting behind the altar in the same church. If you stand in the right spot, you can see them both at the same time.

That afternoon, we ferried out to the island of Murano. We watched a “free” glass-blowing demonstration and were able to extract ourselves from their high-pressure sales pitch. The street was lined with shops selling glass and we popped into a few.

We found a neighborhood hosteria for dinner and enjoyed a lively scene on the street. The adults enjoyed an apertif while their kids and dogs played on the street. It was a warm, congenial atmosphere that I’d like to see more of at home.

Our gondola ride

Last night treated ourselves to a gondola ride. Mr. Snootypurse and myself shared a pre-gondola dinner while watching boats pass back and forth through the lagoon. As you can see, Mr. Purse is winding up to deliver a stiff right hook. Too much togetherness, I guess.

We started our ride around 9:00pm which was just about perfect. We had some twilight starting out and things were almost completely dark as we finished up. I enjoyed the ride more than I expected. It’s so quiet and peaceful as you glide along Venice’s back canals. Quite a contrast to how things are during the day. And it is very romantic to share the experience with someone you love.

Benvenuti a Venezia

  
We arrived in Venice a couple of days ago. The weather has been quite hot and humid and temperatures remind me of Hawaii. We parked the car in the Tronchetto garage and arrived at our hotel by vaporetto (water bus). We are staying in a clean one-room apartment close to St. Mark's Square. It's sparsely furnished but is quiet and air-conditioned. It's associated with a hotel so we have the benefits of daily breakfast and concierge service.

Yesterday we toured the Accademia gallery. It was somewhat disappointing because they are renovating a few of the important rooms. They are in the process of moving the paintings to other rooms but this won't be complete until July 1 :-( We tried to view some modern art but this area is closed on Tuesdays. The nice thing was these streets weren't very crowded and there were some fun windows to peek into including wood sculptures of clothing and fabric.

In the afternoon, we toured the Doge's Palace. The middle picture is a photo of the courtyard. This complex served as the Capitol Building, White House, Supreme Court, and Sing Sing prison for the Venetian republic. It was a beautiful building jam-packed with art and exhibits. In retrospect we could have skipped the Accademia and spent more time here.