Lake McDonald Lodge, Glacier National Park Tuesday September 1, 2009 On Tuesday Karen and I moved from the motel in Kalispell to the Lake McDonald Lodge that’s inside Glacier National Park. What an improvement this is over the roadside Econo Lodge. The McDonald Lodge is a small lakeside inn that was privately built here almost a hundred years ago. It’s now owned by the National Park and operated by a private vender. The building has been recently updated and is the nicest Inn we’ve stayed in at a National Park. Our first floor room is large, clean and has a nicely [View Full Entry]

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Kalispell, Montana August 31, 2001 On Sunday Karen and I headed east for our visit to Glacier National Park. Joining us on our travels to Kalispell were Maxanne, Colleen, Warren, and AJ. We’re all heading to the city at the entrance of Glacier National Park and it’s a 200-mile ride. Driving east on route 90 to Kalispell Montana is a very interesting and lovely ride as it passes through river valleys and mountain passes. We left the highway in St. Regis, Montana and headed north. The countryside is just unbelievably beautiful. The rolling hills and ranches are just what you imag [View Full Entry]

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Saturday , August 30 Deb & Mikes wedding The sky cleared and the sun came out for the late afternoon wedding. Deb was a glowing bride and Mike a handsome groom. They exchanged their vows on the side lawn with family and friends in attendance. Following the touching and sometimes funny ceremony we moved to the opposite side lawn and enjoyed a wonderful buffet, a great selection of beer and wine and delicious wedding cake. Everyone had a great time. [View Full Entry]

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Friday August 28 We left Wanatchee and continued our drive across Washington. That afternoon we stopped at the Spokane Airport to pick up Maxanne and Billy. Then we drove on to the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The Inn is the site of Deb and Mikes wedding and is filling up with family members. The city of Coeur d’Alene a city of 40,000 residents sits in the center of the Idaho Panhandle and along the shore of the lake with the same name. It’s the largest city in northern Idaho. Coeur d'Alene was a French name given to the local [View Full Entry]

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Thursday August 27 The drive across Washington, Thursday morning we all loaded into Jane’s Honda Element and began our drive east to Idaho. We chose to drive rural roads and take Route 2 across the Washington instead of US Route 90, the cross-country interstate that starts at Logan airport in Boston and ends up in Seattle. We cruised along Rt. 2 past the suburbs of Seattle towards the Cascade Mountains. The drive is pleasant and interesting through numerous small towns. We passed dozens of espresso shops, saw mills as we climbed up the western slope through the foothills of the Casca [View Full Entry]

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Leavenworth, Washington Thursday August 29 It’s been a hot sunny day and we’ve been traveling for hours on this winding two-lane rural highway. The road crosses Stephens pass through the Cascade Mountains then follows the Wenatchee River down through the valley. We leave the national forest and suddenly town of Leavenworth appears at the base of the mountains. Leavenworth is a mock alpine Bavarian village that would almost have you thinking that your visiting Germany. This created town is an interesting stop for Karen to get in some shopping and for me to have a cold beer. In 1 [View Full Entry]

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August 28 Wenatchee, Washington Heading southeast as we leave the town of Leavenworth the landscape makes an abrupt change. We’d been driving along the Wenatchee River through rugged mountains and national forests. Now we’re suddenly traveling through rolling hills and fruit orchards. On all sides fruit trees appear weighted down with a season’s bounty of pears and apples. We’re spending the night in Wenatchee a small industrial city on the banks of the Columbia River. Wenatchee is the major center of agricultural for this part of Washington. Next time you purchase a [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday August 26th Seattle Mariners While Jane provided assistance to Karen in her primary pastime shopping, Maya and I went to Safeco Field to watch a Seattle Mariners baseball game. Tonight Seattle is playing the Oakland Athletics. This clean modern park was the antithesis of our home field Fenway Park. Access to the park was easy and we were able to get van transportation from our downtown hotel to the park for $10 round trip for the two of us. Automobile parking was right outside the park and was only $7 not the $50 that’s common at Fenway. Our tickets were [View Full Entry]

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Seattle, plus Jane and Maya Tuesday August 25 In mid-afternoon Jane and Maya arrived from Corvallis. Knowing that there were no rooms the Mayflower Hotel they booked on Hotwire and luckily ended up at the Seattle Westin a three-minute walk away. We decided that for today’s activity we would take the monorail to the Seattle Center. This is a major park and activity complex, site of the 1962 World’s Fair Space Needle and now home to Paul Allen’s “EMP” Experience Music Project and “SFM” Science Fiction Museum. Wanting to enjoy dinner at the Space Ne [View Full Entry]

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