Lewis and Clark Museum

With Daniel and Aaron married to women who live away from Seattle, we felt compelled to go and visit them.  Angela and I would spend part of the summer driving in the West, taking time to visit Aaron and Jen (and Aubreah) in Calgary and then Dan and Sarah (and Alex) in either Logan or Denver.   WE loved traveling by car.  Long road trips give us time to talk and discover new places in what seems to us to be the middle of nowhere!

The Historian in me also truly enjoys doing parts of the Oregon Trail and the pathways of Lewis and Clark.  Tracing along parts of their ways reminds me of what it must have taken for them to not only endure but survive and triumph!  Lewis and Clark in opening the West and pointing the way for those intrepid pioneers that range from the Whitmans to Doc Maynard.  We are doing it from the inside of an air conditioned Dodge Caravan while they did it by canoe, on foot, horse and wagon.

We carry our gear without effort, sleep in nice hotels and eat in fun restaurants.  They carried what they needed and had to trade with mysterious peoples along the route or hunt and fish before they ate dinner.  My sister's only demand on our trip was for us to find Sonic style ice while the pioneers just wanted a drink of decent water.

We whiz by rivers while they had to either float or swim across them.  The most common form of death on the Oregon trail was not death by hostiles Indians but by drowning trying to cross rivers.  The second cause of death was from gunshot wounds, accidental gun shots from pioneers stuffing handguns into their pants and having a round in the chamber!   It is instructive to go by and remember their struggles but so much more peaceful and pleasant to drive by!

A few years ago Angela and I found the Lewis and Clark Interpretive center in Great Falls, Mt.  I think we stopped in Great Falls because we saw that there was a Hardees and I wanted a biscuit for breakfast but we were quick to jump on this museum.   The biscuits were good too!

We wanted to show it to Anita so we stopped and she and I went on a tour of it.  Angela took a bike ride along the river trail while we enjoyed the museum.  The wind was ferocious so I was happy to go and see the museum!

Can you imagine pulling up all the gear and boats to get over the Falls?

The Falls used to be more dramatic but damming them up has reduced the Falls.

Bombs Away!

A while back some of us were driving south of Calgary and we passed by what looked like an airplane hanger right along the highway.  The doors were open and inside was a Lancaster Bomber!!!!!  The people I was with saw me slowing down and insisted that I keep going.  No bomber for me!  My dad and I use to chase down any World War II warbirds we could find.  I remember one time we were on the way to a Little League baseball game at the airbase and we passed by a display of a Submarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. We looked at one another and knew we would be stopping there on the way back home.    

I forgot what town it was in but friends on Facebook helped me track Nanton down so this time I made sure that I had time to stop and see it.  Anita and Angela were both willing to let me stop and go through a pretty impressive little museum in the wilds of Alberta.   I had no idea that many of the bomber crews of Canada trained in the area during World War II.   We were pretty early in the day on a weekday so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  The local curator gave us a private guided tour which was great!

The star of the Musuem

The biggest bomb payload of World War II

Hey!  I can fly this thing!

Yellowstone!

WE  drove from Calgary to Bozeman, MT.  We got singled out at the border to have a talk with the border inspection group but after a pleasant conversation with border patrol, we were on our way.

There is a lot of nothing along the road we took.   The occasional elk but a lot of tumbleweeds and desert.

Right inside the park, we came upon a herd of Elk resting in the shade, unconcerned about people like us snapping their pictures.

Anita at the Paint Pots.

We stayed in Bozeman for two nights while we traveled in the park.  We did the upper loop first and the second day headed down to see the lower part of the park and the Tetons.



We saw a coyote running through the park right away and then a bear and a bison and so many others!  The flowers were out and so were the hot pots and the geysers and every kind of mud pot you can think of.

We also went to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Angela and I walked down (600 feet in 3/8ths of a mile) to see the falls up close and personal.  The slog back up was a chore but the view down below was worth it!

Geysers are everywhere blowing off steam.

Different colors tell the story of thermophiles.  How hot they like it being one thing.  I think this would make a great webpage background, no?

Some of the pools look so cool and inviting but the smell tells a different story!  Hot water that would cook you up in a moment!

Old Faithful blowing her top a few minutes before the scheduled time.

That line around the top looks man made, eh?  But it is naturally occurring!

Be cool in the shade of any tree you can find!

And if you cannot find a tree then get some shades that make you look like you're some kind of sports car guy!

These Bison own the place.  They get right up in your face!

A migrating herd got in the way of traffic!  Make sure you notice the one scratching himself on the white sign post on the right foreground.

Really a car stopper!

Mammoth Hot Springs are very cool!

 

And to think I just washed the car!

Zoom in and see the critters!

They don't call it the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone for nothing!

Rainbow at the top of the lower falls.

I was always taking pictures of flowers for Angela and wondering where Janet Nelson was!

Tenacity!

Up from the ground came a bubbling pool....

Hanging on for dear life!

Pretty hot stuff?

Do you like my hat? Yes, I like your hiking hats!

Top of the canyon, the wind was howling!

Yeah buddy!