I'm including highway numbers, so you can follow along on a map if you wish. Otherwise, ignore the numbers.

We made it to our main destination! I'd been to this park last year, but wanted Wally to experience the magic. We arrived about noon on the first of the rangers' three days off. The first day we went on foot, checking out the Visitor Center and TRs "Maltese Cabin" on the same property. Then we wandered the streets of the quaint "cowboy" town of Medora and took Jeff and Kate out to the "nicest restaurant in town." We weren't disappointed with our duck, fish and prime rib. Later that night my niece, Kristy Holland, came to town, and we all packed into Jeff and Kate's one-bedroom apartment, where they graciously gave us their bed, while the three others shared the living room. 
     The second day we drove the 36 mile scenic loop through the park's South Unit, where we got to see a multitude of prairie dogs and bison, often sharing the same field. It was rutting season, so the bison were acting up and making a gruff noise I'd not heard last September. Wild horses were again on my "to see" list, and I wasn't disappointed. I think Wally thought I was nuts when I packed Boris, the huge stuffed dinosaur from my book, into the car, but I got the photo op I had hoped for (to go on The Adoption of Boris FaceBook page.) We saw great scenery, rock formations, wild flowers, and a lovely sunset from Wind Canyon Trail overlooking the Little Missouri River. 
     On our third day there we took in more of Medora town, including a fascinating one man show by a Theodore Roosevelt impersonator. During the hour and a half monologue, I forgot I was in a theatre; It seemed like "TR" really was talking to me! The next morning when we left, both Rangers were back at work. We stopped by the Painted Canyon Visitor Center where Jeff was stationed to say good bye and pick up some souvenirs.

Our typical day of driving non-freeway roads. Beautiful farms and promise of some amazing scenery to come. Back in the '60s when Paul and I crossed the country we first encountered the Wall Drug signs. They came along like the old Burma Shave signs, but each one was a stand alone. The famous drug store has turned the town of Wall, SD into a big tourist stop. The store has taken over most of the block, so you move through passageways and doors from one room to the next with everything a tourist could want, and more! We made a quick stop there before going on to the Badlands National Park. Our motel host gave us the best tip ever: "Don't miss the Badlands at sunset!"

Our travels took us through the northeastern corner of Wyoming so we could take in the Devil's Tower National Monument, maybe better known from the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, where young actor Richard Dreyfuss looked like a teenager. The movie happened to be on TV last week, so I watched it, kind of on fast-forward, as it wasn't as good as I had remembered it back in 1977. This amazing rock formation was forced up some 1200 feet out of the ground about 50 million years ago. The top is over an acre across, and has a base diameter of 1000 feet. There are fascinating Indian legends about its creation, and is considered a sacred place. We saw several prayer cloths tied to the trees at the base. And we were treated to a view of two rock climbers who had made it maybe a quarter of the way to the top. While we were there one of the climbers was on his way back down, and we watched his rapid descent.
     Next, it was a quick drive to get to Alzada, Montana, where we continued west on US 212 to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. As we arrived, a ranger was about to give a talk, so we joined the group for the interesting history lesson; a sad and devastating story from our American history. Part way through the talk the ranger said a "bad" storm was coming and he was going to have to cut his talk short. A few minutes later he did just that. We started back to our car, but the wind was so fierce we decided we didn't want to get caught in a hail storm, and we followed most everyone into the Visitor Center, where we  waited for about an hour. We got caught up on some more history inside, but never got to drive around the park. When we finally reached our car we thought we'd better head on to Billings where we spent the night. (We did see hail on the roadside but none ever hit our car.) That night we were initiated into our most unusual motel of the trip, the C'mon Inn. The waterfalls and pools in the lobby or common area made us feel like we were in Hawaii... Montana, really??

We spent the twelfth day of our fourteen day trip totally in Montana. You have to drive across this state to appreciate how big it is. Around noon, and a good time to stop, we made it to Bozeman. I had heard of the Museum of the Rockies, but didn't know much about it. If you EVER get to this part of the state, and if you love museums, don't miss this one. I could have spent DAYS here. And I couldn't help thinking of our dear Christopher, and how much he would have loved this museum. The fossil and dinosaur displays are some of the best I've seen. Too bad we left Boris in the car. I'll let the photos tell the story. Oh, and we stayed in yet another C'mon Inn when we got to Missoula. Yes, there were more waterfalls in the lobby! I've seen waffle-making machines in motels before, but have you ever seen a pancake machine? You press a button and a minute later a series of pancakes roll off the "press" that looks a bit like an old fashioned washing machine wringer! So fascinating, I had to try some, but they weren't quite as good as home cooked.

My favorite thing about trips is when I encounter something completely unexpected. We had seen on the map that we would be going through an Idaho town called Wallace--something to take note of since that's Wally's real name. It was fortuitous that right about then on the freeway we were getting sleepy. It was time to stop and take a break. We saw a wonderful building with the name, "Wallace," right on the front, but before we stopped for a photo we both needed a little shut-eye. I found a shady spot on a back street in a quiet neighborhood and we pulled over and closed our eyes. But not for long. One, then soon another, open-sided tram with very loud PA systems drove by giving tourists a glimpse of vintage churches...and two tourists with their mouths open, snoring! This was not conducive to sleeping, so we drove back to the Wallace building and discovered it was an old train station. I positioned Wally in front for his photo and before we knew it the train museum lady was outside welcoming us. When she learned Wally's name, she gave us a personal tour of the place, where Wally sat at the antique desk wearing a stationmaster's hat and pretending to send a telegraph. A hundred years ago the town of Wallace was a silver mining boom town with tens of thousands of inhabitants. Today the population is under 800. When Interstate 90 was being built the railroad station was threatened to be torn down. That led the people of the town to get every single building in downtown Wallace put on the National Register of Historic Places, and the station was moved 200 feet, to where it stands today. As we toured the train museum, Wally realized that his father, who worked the mail car on the trains between Seattle and North Dakota, probably came through this very station. What a magical place we had found!

We spent our last night in Moses Lake, Washington and then headed north off of Interstate 90 to get back on Highway 2 around Wenatchee so we could cross over Stevens Pass and avoid the Seattle traffic. When Highway 2 crosses I-5 we SHOULD have gone north and approached Whidbey via Deception Pass Bridge on Highway 20, but old habits are hard to break. Instead we headed through Everett to take the Mukilteo Ferry home. BIG MISTAKE. First of all, my "shortcut" takes us out into the ferry lane just above where cars have to move over into line. I stopped, looked, and saw cars coming, but it didn't look like a ferry line had built up, so I jumped into the lane. About a half hour later we got to the toll booth, only to be told that someone had "snitched" on us and we had "cut into line." We were sent like naughty children back up to the end of the line. It was SO long we decided to skip the ferry and get back on I-5 north and go home around Deception Pass--just what we should have done an hour ago. Only this decision got us into traffic we could not back out of. It took us 4 HOURS to get home instead of a little over one hour that it should have taken. Nevertheless, it was good to be back home and give our dogs big loves.

 January of 2015 Wally and I flew to Florida so he could see the Everglades--A similar trip to the one my friend Cindy and I took the year before. This park is so amazing! Jeff and Kate will be rangers there again this coming winter.

(Hover your mouse over a photo for details.)
 
I encourage you to visit the Everglades next time you are in Florida!

What could be a better vacation than three weeks on our favorite Hawaiian Island of Kauai, with sister Peggy! We shared a beach house with a yard full of chickens, enjoyed sightseeing at our favorite haunts, had some fun visits with  friends Alice and Alan and got to hear Larry Rivera singing at a couple of venues. Oh, and I painted a bunch of watercolor postcards.

During Kate's break between her Florida and North Dakota jobs, she and Sig spent a few days with us. We wandered through Meerkerk Rhododendron Garden with our dogs, hiked the beaches, and celebrated Easter.

Short one- to three-day trips kept life interesting. My artist friend Nancy got me over to San Juan Island last summer, and on a bus trip to Bellewood Acres and Distillery near Bellingham this fall. Pam, Carole and I met on Bainbridge Island for a day at the Winslow Art Center. Wally and I rode Amtrak to Portland for his great niece's beautiful July wedding. I thought Cindy would never get me to Victoria in December, but it turned out to be just what I needed to get myself into the mood for Christmas.