Time Out

• I may be off-line for a few days since a virus has infected our computer & I had a dickens of a time even getting to create this post.
  
  Esther is home & has brought her friend, Claire, with her. Esther had spent the last month at Claire's home, helping to run a bed & breakfast. Yesterday, the forested area near Evaro was evacuated due to the wild fire all along the ridge in back of Claire's home. Highway 93N towards Kalispel was also closed...leaving Claire stranded. She will be staying with us for now.
  
  The poor air quality has given me a continual sinus headache. A couple of my friends with lung problems have completely left Montana for the West Coast to escape the heat & thick smoke.
  
  In the midst of these circumstances, we find God to be our strength & song!! Hoping that He is that for you too in whatever circumstances you are facing.

Photo opportunities lost

It's a soupy brown-grey morning due to the smoke of our nearby forest fires. Louis has been experiencing chest pain after mowing the lawn & other yard work. I can both smell & taste the smoke while working in the garden or watering. In these present circumstances, I have missed two great photo ops. because my camera was not ready to capture the scene.

For a couple of weeks we have noticed a large amount of fall apples when we first let the dogs out in the morning. (Yes, it is now two goldens. Genny is back here with Ari, since our friend, Jan Hall is in a rehab. unit near the hospital for the present. We are grooming Genny & generally caring for her until we know what Jan will have to do long-term.) Some of the apples had been partially bitten - not pecked...clearing the chickens. One evening at dusk, I chanced upon the culprit. A medium-sized doe was standing on her back legs & gingerly picking apples off our trees in her fully stretched-out form. Mind you, these are still green apples that the wasps are not interested in yet. I quietly called Louis to also watch what had been happening before we scared her away.

Where was my camera?

Last week-end my extended family celebrated my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. On Saturday we all drove up the Bitterroot Valley past Sula to eat at the Broad Ax Lodge. A couple of Highway 93 curves before the Sula store, a small flock of wild mountain goats sauntered across the highway in front of us. The rams led the way, followed by the ewes, some with young kids. Now, where was my camera? I had even forgotten to bring it for this important family occasion. The next day we hosted a community potluck at my folk's church after the worship service to honor my parents' special day. I had still forgotten to pick up that camera in my rush to gather all the food & decoration items.

Rest Stops Enroute to Chicago

We ignored Wall Drug on this trip, choosing instead to stop at the pretty rest area in Chamberlain, South Dakota, overlooking the Missouri River. A Lewis & Clark Exhibition is on permanent display there, since it is built on the site of Camp Pleasant -also called Plum Camp for the large, sweet wild plums growing in the area.

The lower floor has numerous displays that explain Lewis & Clark's Encampment & the Indians they met here over 200 years ago. The upper floor is built like the top of their keel boat.
A portion of the boat deck sticks out like a balcony from which to view the picnic areas & the Missouri River.

Lewis & Clark transferred to a smaller boat after this camp & sent several men back with the keel boat. It was loaded with specimens of new plant & animal life for President Jefferson. Live prairie dogs & magpies were sent along with the mounted animals seen in this display. We lingered over the exhibit since the building was air-conditioned against the over 100 degree temperature outside. Both rest stops for our nights on the road are shown in the last picture. Our Yukon XL was surprisingly comfortable as Louis & I took turns driving & sleeping through parts of Montana & Wyoming the first night. Albert Lea, Minnesota was our rest stop for the second night...close to the junction of I-90 with I-35 running to Minneapolis in the north & to Des Moines, Iowa in the south.

Rest Stops enroute to Chicago #2

Before this trip, I had never seen recycling trash cans at rest areas. They're at all the rest areas in Wisconsin & Illinois. The flower beds at those same rest areas are beautiful. Note the huge red & pink Hibiscus blooms & hanging flower pots at one area, as well as the ubiquitous recycling bins behind me.

At LaCrosse, Wisconsin, we left I-90 to drive Hwy. 35 S along the Mississippi River. Some of this upper Mississippi is wide... some is channeled into much narrower stretches with locks & dams. Iowa is on the farther shore.

More of those recycling receptacles - in Illinois this time - along with the meticulous flower beds.

The final rest stop for five days in Lincolnshire, Illinois (a new, elite northern suburb of Chicago) was the Marriott Resort at which the UMJC Conference was held. Our second floor room was just above that wooden lattice arbor seat. It overlooked the main entry to the Marriott with its small waterfall & goldfish.

Rest Stops - Return Trip

Our first rest stop on our return trip was between Chicago & Rockford, Illinois in a small burg called Marengo. Louis has two co-workers at DirecTV from the Chicago area that swore Joe's Place in Marengo was a mandatory rest stop for lunch...It supposedly has the best Chicago Hot Dogs served on poppy seed buns. We waited until 2:00 p.m. for lunch at this renowned place & found the Vienna Beef hot dog overpriced, somewhat tasteless & redeemed only by the good bun & condiments. The home fries that were served with the hot dogs were spectacular! Louis says they're the best fries he's ever tasted. As we drove near the outskirts of Marengo, we saw a "Chicken Broast" sign posted near a large field with maybe fifty cars parked around a picnic area. "Roast" we know, but "Broast"? This community has an annual outing when the corn is being harvested. They roast/barbecue (therefore "broast") chickens & grill ears of corn for the entire community while enjoying a sort of 4th of July picnic day except at the end of July.

We loved these painted rest area bathroom doors at Hansel Lake, Wisconsin. This type of duck was swimming in several of the small lakes of the region.

At Bismarck, North Dakota, we stopped to find my Grandma Evelyn's gravesite. This cool waterfall & pool was near the main gate of the cemetery & was so welcome in the 103 degree heat.

Wheat Montana, outside of Three Forks, Montana, was our last rest stop of the trip. As my parents know the original owners of Wheat Montana, we stop here almost every time we head East towards Bozeman or Billings. Wheat Montana started out as a small bakery next door to the Christian Supply Center that my Dad managed in Bozeman, MT. When we would visit Dad at that store, the smell of the baking bread was so tantalizing! One day as we left the store, we noticed a dog taking a leak on the rack of newly baked loaves that had been set out to cool just outside the bakery. With this image implanted in our minds, the smell of bread was no longer as enticing for us during later visits. Nevertheless, we have remained loyal friends & customers as the business expanded & added more locations - even Missoula now. We just inspect our purchases rather carefully!

Louis's favorite sites on our Chicago Trip

What tourist site comes to your mind when I say we visited one for several hours in Mitchell, South Dakota? Maybe the Corn Palace? Let me give you a hint. There's another one similar to it, but uniquely different in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin...the oldest town on the Upper Mississippi River. Historical monuments? Nope! Louis made sure that we spent plenty of time perusing both Cabela's stores on our trip to Chicago. He has ordered hunting gear, fishing tackle & other assorted sporting goods from the Cabela's catalog for years. His burning desire was to see first-hand those hunting tents you can shoot through, to examine in-person the lightest fishing poles that could be folded up & easily carried in a backpack & whatever other marvels he could find in this male paradise. The stores were loaded with animal mounts placed in tableaus. As Louis shopped & dreamed, I walked around the stores ignoring the merchandise & enjoying all the work of the artists & taxidermists.

We ate a scrumptious lunch at the cafe that you can glimpse behind the Grizzly Bear.

Smoked elk sandwiches, turtle cheesecake & 1919 Root Beer - how delicious!

Fowl displays were under the numerous counters at all of the checkstands.

The largest tableaus were at the opposite end of the store from the front door, & drew your attention immediately upon entering. These were composed of mini-scenes when you got close enough to see the smaller animals - often the prey of the larger ones.

In the middle of the store was a giant aquarium boasting a variety of live fish & turtles. I had as much fun watching this Amish family enjoy the aquarium as I did seeing the fish. It took several minutes for me to catch the whole family unawares.

Home on the Range has changed into productive farmland.

We arrived home safely after our 3700 mile round-trip to
Chicago through hundreds of miles of tassled corn fields
alternating with fields of soybeans. The hay along I-90 &
I-94 had been mowed & rolled in the median & along the
shoulders.


Great farm settings caught our eye every few miles.
They all had silos for the corn. Some like the two
here in upper Minnesota boasted their own lakes.
We crossed the Mississippi River in Minneapolis on
the I-94 bridge within sight of the I-35W bridge that
collapsed only two evenings after we drove within a
mile or two of it.

A couple of the lakes along I-94 were a

sanctuary for pelicans, herons & a variety of ducks.

More about this trip will be blogged soon.