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Published: September 12th 2009
We're on the next to last leg of our summer long adventure and it's hard to believe it's almost over.
Wednesday, Sept 9 we spent a leisurely day the Izaak Walton Hotel in Essex, MT - thanks, Bob and Joanie Dehlendorf for recommending this unique place. The hotel is on the southern border of Glacier National Park and is an old railroad inn that is right on the railway line. A great old place - our room was paneled with wood, and looked like an old railroad car. The dining room is called...The Dining Car...what a surprise... and has big picture windows so you can watch the trains pass by. We're still in huckleberry country and so dinner was huckleberried to death - salad dressing, glaze on the chicken, cobbler and ice cream - I did skip the huckleberry flavored beer. We had a gorgeous hike way up the mountain in back of the inn on Wednesday morning and spent the rest of the day just being lazy - what a pleasure. You can sit out in the front yard of the hotel and watch the trains go by all day - about 30 trains a day pass by, including
two Amtrak passenger trains...which will stop at the hotel if you make advance reservations. There's a small rail yard here and much too-ing and fro-ing goes on with engines running around, pulling coal cars, assembling trains, etc. - frankly, I think it's just an opportunity for grown men to act like little boys and have fun! The real reason for the rail yard is to add extra engines to the big freight trains to help them over the nearby Marias Pass at the Continental Divide - Steve counted one freight train with 117 cars so I'm sure the extra engines are needed. Lots of ex-railroad folks here - must be a treat for them to stay here. Our day was complete when we made the acquaintance of Tarkington, a lovely golden retriever, who happily travels in the rumble seat of his owner's Model T.
We left early Thursday morning on the next leg to Idaho. Fall is definitely in the air - it was 39 degrees out when we left about 8 a.m. and you could see the ground fog creeping over the valley and river. I'm almost feeling like I've OD'd on mountains and am numb with their
Lunch with Brian
Great to see the son of a good friend - I remember when he came home from the hospital!majesty - it's hard to believe that there are still more mountains to ooh and ahh over. Soon the pierceing morning sun cuts through and is reflected on the mountains and the Flathead River. We head south at Kalispell to Missoula down through Flathead Lake. Rather than one of our usual lunches out of the cooler we actually did a lunch stop to see Brian Gantz, son of a good friend from NY. Brian is trying his wings in the restaurant world in Missoula and is the beer manager at the great cafe. When we went to his apartment, he had a new crop of hops all over his kitchen counter and was going to be making beer with a friend soon. As you can see in the photo he keeps evidence of his vocation! He's put together a great beer selection at the cafe and organizes beer tasting dinners there. We had lunch with him at Cafe Dolce and it was great...and great to see him.
The drive after lunch to Stanley, ID down the Bitterroot Valley and into the Sawtooth area was incredible - did I say I was OD'd on mountains - not really. We twisted
Salmon River
The Riverside Motel is aptly named - the view from our porch. and turned along the banks of the fast running Salmon River, with cavernous walls towering over us. This is "A River Wild" country and makes you really want to raft and fish. The afternoon sun hitting the canyon walls and mountains was stunning. We finally pulled into Stanley at dinner time - thanks, Claire, for the recommendation for the Riverside Motel - it's name says it all - you can't get any closer to the river. Stanley is a wide place in the road but a rafter and fisherman's dream - we'll be back. The main street is not paved and the library is a charming small log structure. However, there's gold in them thar hills - there was a large Sotheby's real estate sign there! As Steve said..."So many fish, so little time!"
Brrr...down to freezing last night and frost this morning. We pulled out of Stanley early and drove through the Sawtooth range to Ketchum and Sun Valley - incredible views. Steve and I both loved Ketchum/Sun Valley and are planning a return trip - it's an easy, comfortable town with great fishing, rafting and hiking. Yes, yes - I know that Arnold has a house in
Sun Valley - but maybe he just has good taste when it comes to vacation homes.
As long as we were in the mountains, just as quickly we were out of them south of Ketchum. It quickly turned into high plains and rough volcanic lava formations - reminded us of Kona, HI. We came down through Twin Falls, ID, down to Wells, NV and picked up I-80 there - definitely feels like we're almost home. Twin Falls is a perfect example of the mall-ization of America - coming into town you pass every chain store/restaurant/service business you could name - frankly, it felt like you could be anywhere. It makes me think about the generation that has grown up knowing nothing other than these national chains and franchises...and will miss the unique pleasures of local vendors. One of the pleasures of this trip has been using the great travel book "Road Food" as a guide to local eateries - so much better than anything you'll find in a chain. Thinking about Idaho's reputation as a right wing, white supremacist state, it was interesting to see a field of over 3,000 American flags, with one large flag at half mast
- commemorating the victims of Sept. 11. Steve and I were both reflecting on my Sept. 11 experience - and as I was watching the coverage on TV this morning and the moment of silence for when the South Tower fell I remembered vividly standing in the Oklahoma City airport watching the TV there and not believing what I was seeing. Perhaps Idaho's reputation is not totally deserved - on our way out of Twin Falls, at a funny, seedy little motel the sign said "God Bless America. Asian Food Market."
Over the past few days as we've been putting lots of miles on, our senses of humor have gotten somewhat out of whack. While I won't bore you with some of the more ridiculous examples, every once in a while signs would strike us - like the one we saw as we were driving past a prison that said "Report shooting from the highway." Steve has made me promise to include this last photo for all your enjoyment...supposedly it's what you see from the Canadian side of Mt. Rushmore - I told you our sense of humor had gotten out of whack!
We're in our last Holiday Inn Express tonight - in Winnemucca - and are planning on taking our stash of pennies, nickels and dimes to the casino to the one armed bandits to see if we win our fortune tonight - seems an appropriate thing to do for the last night of a great road trip!
9:15 p.m. - Gambling Update
Where else can you get an hour of entertainment for $2.00. Love the slot machines at the Holiday Inn - they actually have penny and nickel slots and the poker machines tell you what is in your hand - I can never remember the difference between a straight and a flush. Pretty good...it took both of us an hour to lose $2.00!
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Lauren
non-member comment
too funny
Your humor has clearly hit a low point, but I am glad that it keeps you laughing!!!