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First, trivia from yesterday... The state is Iowa. Where was Judy when I took the photo? Any of those would be correct. It was all one big blur.

Travels today = Ohio (more corn)... Pennsylvania (the name is almost longer than the time you're in it)... And finally NY! Yes, there is a little corn but what you notice first coming from the west are the vineyards. Acres & acres currently being harvested. Finally we're home! There's nothing like a good vacation to make you young again! Over & out until next time...

Corn!

It was an exciting day today. My first time in Iowa so it's worth "writing home about". Highlights along the road... Site of the first US train robbery... Corn... Grinnell College (we did a rah rah for you Rosemary)... Corn... Cedar County, home of Quakers who were big in the Abolitionist Underground RR and where (listen up KK) John Brown trained his followers... Corn... The World's Largest Truckstop... And corn (or did I already mention that?)

Next came Illinois. Highlights... Birthplace of Ronald Reagan... Corn... Electrolux... Corn... Chicago... Traffic... Corn...

Indiana... Corn... (The amount of state we needed to cross did get smaller after all.)

Finally Ohio! What other birthday girl could (or would want to) celebrate in 4 states. She had a very memorable birthday dinner... And, in case you're wondering, she's blowing out a grape on the dish of humus to make a wish. (Wishes always come true this way.) Those grapes are Moon Drops and are DE-licious! (Thank you Yvonne & Garry to turning us on to them!)

Trivia from yesterday... The youngest Pony Express rider was 11.

For today... What is the only state where two of its borders are formed by navigable rivers?

And a second question since we're almost home. The photo below was taken in what state? Iowa? Illinois? Indiana? Happy Birthday Judy!

Flat...

We were so sad to leave Sarah, Kenny & Alex but leave we must. To send us properly on our way, they made us a wonderful breakfast with eggs from their own chickens, Kenny's home cured & smoked bacon, homemade waffles. It's a wonder we were able to waddle off as planned! PS - Alex is soon going to outgrow us all.

Then it was on to flat. And more flat. Nebraska by mid morning to find more flat while we passed by towns such as Brush. Finally a break in the exciting countryside to visit downtown Gothenburg and the Pony Express Station/Museum. Quite nice. Almost everyone has heard of the Pony Express (you have, haven't you?) even though it only operated 19 months in 1860-1861. Each rider rode 75-100 miles switching horses every 10 miles or so. The trivia question, of course, deals with the Pony Express. What was the age of the youngest rider hired?

The woman at the museum recommended we have lunch at their local steak house. We couldn't miss it as it was a metal building with a large cow. Parking proved not to be a problem. Thought you'd like to see a taste of Nebraska in the background.

Flat, corn, flat.... Finally Iowa!!! We're barely into the state but so far it's a bit more rolly with a few more trees.

The answer from yesterday... Boulder

Amazing!

Sarah works for Sister Carmen's in Lafayette and is in charge of the food bank among a great many other things. They, mostly volunteers, distribute an amazing 150,000 pounds of food to families in need each month. This is Sarah & Kenny & their son Alex in front of the garden she instituted. Did you ever see such amazing sunflowers?!

And this is Alex in the playroom where he volunteers to help watch younger children while their parents are using services available at Sister Carmen's.

For years I've been wanting to see the pepper roasters they have at the farmers markets here in the fall. This time my timing was just right. The peppers were delicious! We got the mild although I suspect not many of you would have enjoyed anything hotter. The guys were, of course, trying to figure out how they could make a home model.

Answer from yesterday... $20,000

Today... In what city is the Atomic Clock housed which sets many of our timepieces?

Goodbye Utah, Hello Colorado

Need I say more?

John G. thought he could secure rooms for us here right across the street from Colorado's welcome center. Although I did wonder if the trees were coming out of the "rooms" or behind them, we did opt to push on.

A much better decision too! Don't Sarah & Kenny look great? (Which, of course, they are!) The cake, gluten-free, was great too. (For those who know them, I'll make sure Alex gets a cameo tomorrow.)

Trivia from yesterday... Sundance Film Festival 

Today's trivia... We had lunch in Meeker, Colorado today. It was a trip down memory lane as John & I once spent the night there while Tillie the '76 VW was undergoing one of her daily repairs. Last weekend World Championship Sheep Dog Trials were held there. How much was the grand prize worth? Hint... It was considerably more than the VW repair.

Terrifying!

Making our way to Twin Falls, Idaho, we stopped at their very nice visitors center and saw tee shirts with people bungi jumping off a bridge. A bit later we were driving over that same bridge when John G. saw someone jump off just as we passed. If his hair wasn't already white, it would be now. Pulling in just after the bridge we were in time to see three others jump. They were parasailing. Those little tiny spotches of color are where they landed a few seconds later, hopefully in one piece.

Tonight we're in Park City, Utah, where many of the competitions for 2002 Winter Olympics were held. John G. must have had some sort of epiphany after dinner because the next thing we know, he's leading us into the Mormon ancestry store and to have his mother's roots checked out. They found her too. Even the census where John's father's occupation in NYC is listed as "tracer" and his brother (that's you Frank) is 1 year old.

Yesterday's trivia... Basically, a penny can mean anything you want it to.

Today... Besides skiing, what else is Park City famous for?

A penny for...

Today we took the very scenic route from Boise through the Sawtooth Mountains and the Stanley Basin to Sun Valley. In answer to your question if there's snow in the mountains (you did have that question didn't you?), John K. is demonstrating below. The photo was taken at the Bethine & Frank Church Overlook with the Sawtooths and the Basin in the background. You can just see the other John over John K's shoulder. Guess where that snowball went? Some guys just never grow up!

On to Ketchum and the grave of Ernest Hemingway. John G. went to his funeral and wanted to leave a penny on his grave. It's the large flat stone under the trees on the right. Actually that's not true. It looks like the flat stone in the photo but is just to the right out of sight next to it and is covered in pennies. The one in the photo is for Mary Hemingway. I just missed the one for Ernest in my excitement to capture the other "visitors" in the left of the photo. I'm now convinced the real reason folks leave pennies is because the other "visitors" would just eat the flowers.

Trivia from yesterday... Senator Frank Church

Today... Assuming I'm wrong about the reason for leaving pennies, then why do folks leave pennies on Hemingway's grave? a) for luck; b) a sign of respect; c) to ask a favor of Hemingway; d) they're too cheap to leave a quarter; e) someone told them to

Boise...

A day of roaming the city... First was a pharmacy for Judy for antibiotics and cold pacts for an infected abrasion she got while mushrooming in Washington. She also tried out the emergency room around the corner from our B&B last night and gave it a thumbs up. Not a task she particularly wanted to do, but sometimes necessity calls. Then it was on for a bit of "a trip down memory lane". The depot where John & Frank arrived as children with their parents to Boise. This is the view they had from the depot... without these 3 "old" guys of course... and without those tall buildings... in fact without most of those buildings... and it was night... Oh well. It still has a view. Just no passenger train service these days.

And since I included in an earlier post a picture of Bing Crosby's childhood home, I thought it only fitting to include John G's childhood home.

Lunch at Moon's (hamburger, fries, milkshake) like in John's youth, except I doubt they had mocha-java milkshakes back then. (KK-Steve Brown says to say Hey). A stroll to the absolutely beautiful capital and tonight to a production of The Fantastics. Tomorrow we're on the road again.

Trivia from yesterday... Roslyn, WA

Trivia for today... John & Judy are sleeping in the study and John & I are sleeping in the bedroom of what famous Idaho Senator's home?

Starting east...

It may have looked like "Northern Exposure" was filmed in Alaska but it was actually filmed in the little town we had breakfast in this morning. So the trivia for today is, where were we?

Further down the road we stopped for a tour of the Pendleton Woolen Mill in, you guessed it, Pendleton, Oregon, where they make their rugs. Remarkable but true, Judy & I did not buy anything.

Then many more hours of driving through mountainous desert country, some of it blackened by the wildfires. Several times we smelled smoke in the air. Rain showers followed us. A very good thing but it looked like they need much more than just a spotty shower.

Finally, Boise, Garry & Yvonne, and Garry's homemade peach pie. What could be better?!

The pie was just as yummy as it looks! (As always!)

Trivia answer from yesterday... SAM.

How to pass a drizzly Sunday...

While Bridge, John K. & Judy went driving around Seattle looking for a sports bar to watch the tennis finals of the U.S. Open, John G. & I enjoyed time at the Seattle Art Museum. Among their new acquisitions is a video art piece by Bridge's partner, Wynne Greenwood. As you can see in the photo, these kids "totally got it" and were glued to the show.

Meanwhile, B, J & J were still driving around. The Sea Hawks were playing and, in spite of Bridge's most persuasive powers, no self respecting sports bar in the city was willing to switch a TV to tennis. While this cruising and negotiating was going on, John & I continued on with a pleasant stroll through the Pike Place Market and had a nice lunch. Eventually we found our way back to our B&B where we found our threesome plunked on the sofa still waiting for the match to start... some excuse about miscalculating start time & rain in NYC. (Somehow I think we beat the threesome as far as midday activities.) However, there are now a lot of moans and cheers coming from the now foursome so I think happiness has returned to all.

Trivia from yesterday... The boring machine is named Bertha, not after our cat, but after Seattle's first (1926-1928) and only female mayor as well as the first female mayor of a major city.

Trivia for today... What is the Seattle Art Museum known as?

The "deer in the headlights" look...

Another day of fun and adventure in Seattle. A stop at Bridge's law office (pretty snazzy I must say) which is just around the corner from the hotel on which the book "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet" is based. No longer a hotel but the coffee is great! On to the most "boring exhibit in Seattle" according to their guidebooks. Seattle is in the midst of moving their viaduct traffic by the harbor underground. Everyone of course is hoping this goes better than Boston's big dig. A little shopping for "essentials" at Pike Place Market. A ride on the monorail (not quite a suspension bridge but John G. survived by sitting in the middle and staring straight ahead). Then a visit to the Chihuly glass exhibition. The photo below doesn't begin to do it justice...

Winding down, Bridge cooked us a fantastic dinner. Yes, he still has Tilłie the VW although, as per her normal, she needs a couple of things done to get her on the road again. We all look pretty dorky in the photo except for the chicken & the VW.

Trivia from yesterday... 24 ferries serving 10 ports.

Trivia for today... What is the name of the boring machine being used to dig the new tunnels?

Mushrooming

Because of the beautiful photos Bridge sends of the mushrooms he finds in the forests west of Seattle,  I wanted to join him on a forage. I did warn him I seem to bring bad luck on these adventures as no one seems to find any when I'm with them. Even so, we all hopped a ferry this morning to go hunting in the rain forest. The trail was absolutely beautiful...

And the trees magnificent, even this 14 ft. in diameter cedar that had fallen many years ago.

The one part of the trail Bridge failed to mention to Uncle John was the suspension bridge.

You'll be happy to know that with a little coaxing and handholding they both made it safely across. As far as mushrooms? That basket of John's stayed empty and my track record of not finding any remains unchanged.

Trivia from yesterday... The Boeing plant in Everett, Washington.

Trivia for today... The Washington State ferries on Puget Sound are considered part of their highway system. How many ferries does it run? 12? 19? 24?

Flying high

Up early to catch a ferry. A bit of traffic but we still made the 9:00 boat. Breakfast on board. Hunger pains makes the car go faster. Back in the states we spent the afternoon touring the Boeing plant. Those are all new planes getting their final checks before going into service. A fun tour.

We hit the road again just in time for rush hour traffic in Seattle. Lucky us! That handsome guy in the photo is Daniel Morris who made us a terrific dinner of waffles and fried chicken! Sure glad we all raised him to appreciate food and like cooking. Yes, we saw Bridge too but he's featured tomorrow.

Trivia... Where is the largest building by volumn in the world?

From yesterday, go to http://youtu.be/9gI2lF7bbww

Goodbye Victoria

Today Queen Elizabeth waved goodbye to her great-great-grandmother's monarchy record. We visited Victoria then, we too, waved goodbye. A beautiful day, we strolled Victoria's streets doing a little window shopping. Miracle of miracles, John even found a pair of work shoes and was fitted in his real size by a "live" salesman. No mean feat (or is that feet?) if you have what I refer to as "cubic feet". Thanks to the water taxi guy in the photo below, John did not leave his new shoes behind on the dock. Aren't these little taxi's cute? Each one is custom made ($135,000), the first one being made in a garage in Quebec 25 years ago. There are a dozen of them running around the harbor.  Terry & Missy.. Don't you think you should have one at camp? Perhaps John should push the sailboat aside and start work on a little water taxi for TI Park.

In the photo below, our troup taking it easy on Fisherman's Wharf. Cute little boat houses behind them that are private residences although, with all the tourists around, I can't imagine even considering living there.

From yesterday, if you'd said flock, herd, trip or all of the above you would have been correct!

Trivia for today... Water taxis, sea planes, kayaks... What does a water ballet every Sunday morning in Victoria Habour?

Goats on the Roof

We set aside today to explore the more unpopulated up-island. The photo is of Port Renfrew. When I was a child many years ago I would sit with my grandfather on his front porch playing cards. He would count cars coming from one direction and I would count them from the other direction. On a busy afternoon we might reach fifteen... together. From the looks of Port Renfrew they are even more laid back. They only need one person to occasionally come out and take count (although they did miss us today).

Then it was cross country on an even smaller road with one way bridges. Definitely logging country but how can anyone harvest trees on slopes you'd need to rope up to walk up?! Because a fellow B&B guest in Moosejaw recommended we go there, we headed to Coombs. In the early 70's Kris, an immigrant from Norway, decided to build a market with a sod roof. A few months later during the Coombs Fair he realized the grass on the roof needed cutting. Inspiration struck after a few glasses of wine. "Borrow" some goats and put them on the roof! It obviously was a million dollar idea. We left a few dollars there ourselves.

The answer from yesterday is flower pots (and drainage tile but that's not nearly as much fun).

Trivia for today... What is a group of goats called? A flock, a herd or a trip?

A rose bush & sweet pea seeds

"Honey, if you're going to produce cement I just need a few things to beautify the yard." That must have been what Jennie Butchart said to her husband in 1904 when she started turning the old limestone quarries into beautiful gardens. Her great granddaughter is the current owner of Butchart Gardens that sees almost a million visitors every year. (Peter, watch out. Now that Margaret's retired you never know what may happen with those gardens of hers.)

Of course The Johns also saw croquet possibilities.

Over a hundred acres and we saw less than 5 groundskeepers. Miracle workers they must be!

Trivia for the day... After Mr. Butchart quite making cement in 1916, what did his company start making?

Overcoming fear... or not...

Lucky again (although our waistlines may start to argue about that) this morning with The Cozy Nook. Not only was the food all homemade including the sausage and Sweet Nooky & Hot Nookie hot sauces, but it felt like you were eating with family. The locals around us had lots of suggestions for sightseeing and highly recommended the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. They made it sound so good that even John G. & Judy said okay. The photo is John as we started over the bridge. (He turned around about a third of the way across...)

The next photo is Judy who did make it to the other side but refused to go on the tree walk through the rain forest. She's the one you can just barely see on the right with a purple jacket that's waving.

This is John & Judy safely on the car side of the gorge, happy again (we hope)...

And this is where we're staying tonight and for the next few days. Sooke, British Columbia (Vancouver Island). Looked a little like Maine, doesn't it?

Trivia for the day... What's the largest island in North America?

Dam & dam

Leaving Spokane this morning, it was actually raining, something they've seen very little of all summer. Excitement was in the air. We headed north and west again. The Grand Coulee Dam was our first destination. Impressive! For many years it was the world's largest dam and still is North America's. John G's father (he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation) once made a large model of the dam to send east for government use. John's mother contributed her T shaped milliner's hat pins and thread to be used as the power lines. John helped string the lines. Now that's trivia!

 

Then it was on to the Chief Joseph Dam, our second largest electricity producing dam. (You don't really want to see another dam picture, do you?)

After an incredible lunch at the Breadline Cafe in Omak, Washington (everything made from scratch & most ingredients local including the flour in all their baked goods - don't ask me how we get so lucky!) we headed up the Okanagan Valley where much of our fruit is grown. Judy & I thought we should have packed our canners and jars. Peaches 20 lbs for $10 Canadian (yes, we're in Canada again), tomatoes 40 lbs for $5. But we made do with just buying peaches, pears and apples to eat fresh. It's really obvious what's irrigated and what's not. That big pile of crates in the photo is waiting to be filled with the apples in the orchard behind. And, yes, we did see smoke and drive through a couple areas burned by the wild fires. Scores of firefighters had also set up tents in the stadium area in Omak. Signs everywhere thanking them for their help.

Tonight we're in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The drive through the Cascade Mountains this afternoon was incredibly beautiful. It was also much more pleasurable doing it in a new Suburban rather than Tillie the VW! 

John G. is the trivia answer from yesterday. (Far too easy!) The question for today is what is now the world's largest dam?

Still dependable...

Okay folks. What do you know about Spokane? Ever heard of Bing Crosby? He grew up here so of course no visit would be complete without visiting the home where he grew up. Gonzaga U. owns the house and the bottom floor houses many of his awards and gold records including the platinum record for "White Christmas". That was the most popular record ever recorded and I should have made it your trivia question of the day. Instead I'll ask, what guy do you know was patted on the head when he was a small boy by Bing at the Little Dutch Garden in Boise?

Spokane also has Manito Park given to the city in 1904 and home to some of the most beautiful gardens I've seen. It's a real gem and something that's not mentioned much in the guidebooks.

But the real reason for our stop in Spokane was for John K. to visit a couple of buddies he was stationed with in the Air Force in the 60s. They all worked on planes. John K. on engines; Dee (right) on sheet metal; Tom (left) on inspection. They all have an insatiable interest in cars, car racing, old cars, sports cars, car engines, cars, cars, etc. (Don't ever let anyone try to tell you that women talk too much!) And, of course they're all champions and dependable with several sparks still left in them.

Crowsnest to Ruby

Baked oatmeal layered with peaches. Now that's the way I like to start my day. Best oatmeal I've ever had and our B&B host shared the recipe so beware those of you who are thinking ahead to an overnight with us.

Back on the road we took the Crowsnest Pass through the Rockies. I didn't include photos because you can find far more beautiful ones than I can take. However, we did stop in the little town of Sparwood. (Wouldn't you if the biggest truck in the world was there?!) It's a Titan and was used for coal mining. Pretty scary thing to look at! Can you imagine what a new tire costs?

Driving on we made our way to the other side of the mountains, British Columbia, the Pacific time zone, decent coffee, and crossed back into the U.S. north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Don't you love the looks of the U.S. Duty Free store in the photo below? Sightings of wildlife along the way included eagles, deer & bighorn sheep. (Moose & bears were not cooperating.) Crossing into Idaho we added elk and, strange but true, a zebra. We also passed the Happy Turnip Cafe in the middle of nowhere but it was closed.

Our final destination today - the Hotel Ruby in downtown Spokane. A very artsy hotel with ruby colored walls in the rooms. We'll be here two nights so you just may read more about it.

Trivia from yesterday... The Prince of Wales Hotel, unlike the other grand railroad hotels in Canada was built by the Great Northern Railroad and was and still is, U.S. owned. It's only open in the summer. This year it opened June 7th and will close September 18th to the general public. The entire hotel is booked for a wedding on the 19th & another on the 21st. Then all the windows and doors get boarded up. One man lives there all winter. Brrrr!

Trivia for today... We saw this sign this morning... "Sheds, garages & sea cans moved". What's a sea can?

The Rockies at last...

But first... Mac the Moose (the most photographed roadside attraction in Canada so I'm just adding one more).

And then there was Medicine Hat with the world's largest teepee...

Finally the Rockies! We're staying just outside Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park that's joined at the border to Glacier National Park. In fact, if you take a boat trip across the lake behind the Prince of Wales Hotel to hike back, you need to take your passport. We decided since it was almost dark, windy and 12C/53F, the better plan was simply to eat and drink, modestly, at the hotel. 

Trivia... How many months is the hotel open each year and who owns it?

From yesterday, it was Al Capone and his bootlegging buddies who used to hide out in Moose Jaw.

Into the prairie...

You may think that because we were in International Falls and only a half mile from the border, that we would go directly into Canada. But... We weren't quite done with what northern Minnesota had to offer. First stop, Baudette, Walleye Capital of the world and home to Willie, the largest, I suspect, fake walleye in the world. (Joe - you might want to give up on Montana & Wyoming and come a bit further east to fish instead.)

If that isn't enough to excite you, the next stop was Warroad. Home construction or reconstruction folks take note. This is where Marvin windows and doors are made especially for you. We did take time to go through their beautiful new museum but not their huge home store. The prairie was calling and even JG couldn't justify spending more time here.

On the road again. And on. And on. And on. Long naps were possible without missing a change in scenery. A bit more interesting than the lower plains but not much. More canola & wheat fields but otherwise... The big event in the back seat was, after only a year and a half of owning the vehicle, Judy discovered a nifty little clip built in that keeps you from being strangled by the seat belt. Judy & I had thought our necks would be permanently marked by the time we got back. She kindly agreed to "model" the new feature before she resumed napping.

And finally Moose Jaw! We read it has the world's largest fake moose but we have yet to find it. Tomorrow is another day.

Trivia... What province and time zone is Moose Jaw in? Extra points if you discover who used to hang out here.