Washington to Montana 2015

From Washington coast to Montana 8-12-15 to 8-25-15

We left the coolness of the Washington coast to drive east on I 90 through Idaho and Montana. It was a 103 degrees when we went through Spokane, WA and all the RV parks in the area were full. People are definitely on the road. So we drove past Spokane and stayed in a small RV park in Osburn, Idaho. The interstates are very busy and have many more trucks than we remember from our last visit. It makes for some interesting driving going through mountain passes with construction going on. John does it like a pro.

We are still in drought areas as the fields are brown and there are lots of dead trees. So sad to see. There are so many fires, in WA particularly, that there now is a lot of smoke.

We drove on to Missoula, Montana, one of our favorite cities. We have stayed here several times before. It's a small college town with a river running through it with lots of kayaks and float boats on it. The shopping is great, as well as the restaurants. We drove around the countryside and did sight seeing and loaded up with supplies. I remembered the farmer's market from a previous trip. They know how to grow those vegetables in Montana.

This time we toured the Smoke Jumpers base just a few miles from where we camped. The water dropping planes were constantly going over our campsite, so we had to go check it out. They give tours of the whole facility. It was very impressive. We saw smoke jumpers packing their parachutes, the area where they dry their parachutes, and the emergency response room. While we were there, there were also some hotshot fire fighters from Arizona. The fires are so bad in Washington, Idaho and Montana that they have crews coming in from all over the U. S. and Canada.

We also visited an Elk Country Visitor Center. They are some impressive animals. We expect to see lots of them when we continue on our trip.

After a few days in Missoula, we continued east on I 90 to Boseman, Montana. College was starting this week and because of the fires in Glacier NP, campgrounds are again full. We drove on to a small town 25 miles to the east of Boseman. We're finding that it's easier to find CG outside the larger towns.

Livingston is called the Gateway to Yellowstone and lies on the Yellowstone River. Our campground backed up to the river and was situated in a canyon with beautiful cliffs.

We did have one exciting encounter when a black bear ran onto the interstate and just missed us. He got a little excited and couldn't decide which way to go. Also, the morning we left our campground another black bear calmly walked through it. So our street back home is not the only one with bears.

Since we were on the road to the northern entrance to Yellowstone Park,we drove the 60 miles south

to the town of Mammoth in Yellowstone Park. It was a beautiful drive following the Yellowstone River that traversed some rolling hills, flat farmland and majestic mountains. I didn't really get some good pictures since it was very smokey again.

We did meet up with a friend of ours, Steve, who was camping at Mammoth Hot Springs CG. We drove through the town to once again see the hot springs and the elk lounging around on the grass. We will return here later after the crowds have cleared out.

We drove back to Boseman to visit the Museum of the Rockies which is famous for all its dinosaur fossils. The museum has the largest dinosaur fossil collection in the U. S. It was very well presented and BIG AL was a very impressive T Rex.

Another day we took a drive south of Boseman to visit the upscale ski area of Big Sky. It's a scenic drive but it wasn't so scenic for us, because it was obscured by the smoke. No good pictures.

On to Billings, Montana where we visited some of the Lewis and Clark sites. We had seen many of the sites on our previous trip when we followed the Lewis and Clark trail from Indiana to Astoria, OR. However, this time we visited Pompeys Pillar where Wm Clark left his signature on a large rock outcrop. It is the only evidence found of the L and C trip. The park service always does a great job with all of the Lewis and Clark sites (Debbie, even if it doesn't have a national park stamp.)

Montana has been a beautiful state to once again visit. There have been jagged mountains in the western and southern part, high plateaus with grasslands, and beautiful rivers. Fly fishing is a popular sport here and we've seen numerous people in the rivers fishing. Hunting is also popular but we've not seen any evidence of that. Don't think it's hunting season yet. But lots of guns and camouflage around.

Summer 2015 Oregon/Washington coast

August 2015 RV Trip

July 23, 2015 through August 11, 2015

Time for the Beckmans to hit the road again. We drove up I 5 in order to get to Oregon for a Finnish family reunion that was being held the last weekend in July. We prefer to drive up Hwy 395 which goes through much more scenic territory, including the Sierras, but we wanted to make time. We didn't make much time since we were slowed by construction and then part of the interstate was closed because an accident that took us on a detour. We arrived in Sacramento tired and much later than we had planned.

Going through the San Joaquin Valley, the bread basket of the US, was an interesting experience. Since California is in a drought and everyone is fighting over the limited water, the local farmers have put up signs along I 5 reading “No water, No jobs”, “Dust bowl by Congress”, “Build dams not trains”, etc.

We did see fields that were fallow and many dead trees and some vineyards and orchards that had been allowed to die. California needs water soon.

We had a nice drive up through northern California and spent the night at a private campground in McCloud, CA. It was a very small, quaint town on the edge of lots of national forest campgrounds.

The next day we crossed over the Siskiyou Mountains and into Oregon. I 5 here has lots of up and down grades but travels through beautiful forests.

We spent the night in Sutherlin, Oregon at a private campground just north of Roseburg.

It's probably the most unusual campground that we've ever stayed in. It was a former drive-in theater that was converted to a campground. On Friday and Saturday night they show movies on the big screen. We got to see Dr Doolittle with Eddie Murphy. It doesn't get dark until 9 PM so the hard part was staying away. We didn't make it.

The next stop was the coastal town of Newport, Oregon. We had heard about Pacific Shores RV resort and we were lucky enough to get a spot here overlooking the ocean. It's not exactly camping with 2 heated swimming pools, a sauna and other amenities. The best part was the beautiful ocean views.

We had lots of company and enjoyed sharing our ocean views. Cousins Laddy, Susie, and Ginger and husband Arnie drove down from the Portland area to deliver my sister Jane who flew in from Florida for the family reunion. She spent several days with us until we drove to Astoria where the reunion was being held.

Another special visit was from cousin Mary Ellen and husband Bill who drove up from Florence, Oregon to meet us for lunch. It had been several years since I had seen them and Jane hadn't seen Mary Ellen since probably the '50s. Lots of catching up.

I must mention that the weather was absolutely perfect. Warm, sunny and very little wind.

It was a beautiful drive up the Oregon coast with it's rocks and crashing waves. A highlight of our trip was stopping at the Tillamook Cheese and Ice Cream factory.

On to the Astoria area and camping at the gorgeous Ft Stephens State Park. It's just back from the ocean and a short distance to the mouth of the Columbia River. Sister Jane is considering writing a book about this area so we covered a lot of area in a couple of days. Astoria has a lot to offer in a wonderful Maritime Museum, many Victorian homes, historical museums, waterfront with a trolley and much more.

Fort Clatsop N P where Lewis and Clark spent the winter after crossing the continent on their quest to reach the Pacific Ocean is also near by.

Oregon is also experiencing a lack of rainfall and it's strange to see so many brown lawns in an area that usually has too much rain.

We spent the weekend visiting with the Malen family at their reunion. Did I mention that we are not official Malen family members, but they include us. We grew up with many of them in Astoria and our cousins are members of the Malen clan. The original Malen couple who came from Finland now have 250 + descendants. A great group of people and are they ever organized with food, games, and even an auction to raise money for the next reunion.

We left Astoria and crossed the 4 mile bridge to the Washington side of the Columbia River. One of John's favorite campgrounds is the Cape Disappointment S P at the mouth of the river. You can hear the roar of the ocean since most of the sites are just a few steps from the ocean. Again, the weather has been beautiful and I spent several days reading on the beach.

The one note of caution is all the signs declaring the beach area a tsunami zone. There are instructions about what to do and where to go. There is a fault not far from the coast that has the potential to produce a very large earthquake and tsunami. Keeping fingers crossed.

There is also a lack of rain in Washington so there are no campfires allowed on the beach or in the campgrounds. A bummer for families, especially those in tents.

After 7 days at Cape Disappointment we traveled north to the coastal town of Pacific Beach. The state park here is right on the beach and we also have an ocean view. More tsunami warnings.

There is a red tide because of the warmer water so all crabbing and clamming are closed. When we walk on the beach there are thousands and thousands of dead crabs and clams. All we can think about is all those razor clams and Dungeness crabs we won't be able to eat.