From St. Mary on the east side of Glacier National Park, we only had a hundred miles to our next stop. We drove several miles through Blackfeet Indian Reservation with beautiful scenery of mountains, grasslands and rolling hills.
Scenery after leaving St. Mary, Montana.
Leaving the reservation we drove parallel to the beautiful Rocky Mountains before arriving at Choteau, Montana, a little farming town.
We took a day trip to Great Falls, MT. We ate at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant that we’d eaten at a year ago. Last year Ray’s knee was giving him so much trouble that he couldn’t get out and walk much. He missed seeing Giant Springs State Park, so we drove there to re-visit it.
Giant Springs State Park where the water bubbles up in the pond area above.
The water from the spring originates in mountains over 100 miles away and flows underground till it bubbles up here. The water is so clear, that you can see the rocks and plants on the bottom.
Giant Springs State Park where the water from the spring forms the Roe River, the shortest river in the world.Giant Springs State ParkGiant Springs State Park, MontanaGiant Springs State Park
Five waterfalls are within a 10 mile segment of the Missouri River. Having seen three of the five waterfalls in Great Falls last year, Great Falls (which the city was named after) was on our list of sights to see . It is outside the city several miles away. We drove through miles of wheat fields on terrible roads to get there, but it was worth it.
Once there, we walked across a suspension bridge to an island below the dam where there was a grassy park. The river flows around the island.
View up river from suspension bridgeView down river from suspension bridgePark on islandWarning sign on island below Great Falls Dam
A trail led up a hill that gave us a perfect view of the dam and the powerhouse.
Powerhouse at Great Falls Dam.Dam and Powerhouse at Great Falls DamThe falls of Great Falls Dam.
Notice that the dam is spilling water through all the gates. Montana has a lot of water!
Great Falls Dam spilling water.
From the lookout at the end of the trail, we could see down river from the dam and powerhouse.
Down river view from end of trail.
The evenings in Choteau, Montana, displayed some beautiful sunsets.
Our next destination awaited, so after a few days, we were off to a new location.
Glacier NP is one of those “can’t miss” places to see. It was one of our main destinations this year. Little did we know that when we started planning our itinerary back in February of 2021, that campgrounds near the park would already be filled up til mid-August. That meant that we needed to kill some time before we could get to Glacier National Park.
We decided to spend June and July and the first part of August seeing parts of Oregon and Washington, and I’m so glad we did. We had fun, cool weather (for the most part) and we got to see some beautiful sights.
Now, you can’t just drive into Glacier NP anymore. You have to have a Park pass (we had a Senior National Parks Pass) PLUS you need a ticket for Going to the Sun Road. That ticket is good for 7 days, but you have to go online ahead of time to reserve your time. This limits the number of people who can enter the park on any given day. Since there is only one road going through the park, it gets a lot of traffic.
The day we finally got to visit Glacier NP was a rainy day. Though the rain kept some people away, it was still hard to find a parking spot at the scenic turn-outs. So we just drove.
Up, up the mountain we drove, on curvy, windy, roads with only a short rock wall separating us from the edge of the cliff and valley below. Ray was driving, and I took photos out the window. It made me nervous to look straight down. Ray was in the driver’s seat so he wasn’t scared. Later, when I was driving up the same road and Ray was in the passenger seat, he said he felt a little scared too.
The Road to the Sun in Glacier NP is not for anyone afraid of heights!
The road is very narrow, and at times it seemed like we would scrape the other cars as they passed by. We finally found a turnout where I could get some photos of the valley.
Valley carved by glaciers in Glacier NPGoing to the Sun Road winds through the valley of Glacier NP along McDonald Creek.
Along the way, we saw some waterfalls with a boulder that looked like it could roll right down.
Waterfall on the Going to the Sun Road, Glacier NP.
I was really disappointed that there were no glaciers to see. We saw what looked like patches of snow. I wouldn’t really classify them as glaciers. The valleys were carved by glaciers years ago so the name is still appropriate.
Some small patches of snow from glaciers are seen here.
As we climbed higher and higher in elevation, the clouds settled down over the top of the mountains and it got foggy and misty. The highest point was Logan Pass where Logan Visitor Center is located. The parking lot was full, so we drove a short ways and stopped at a turnout at Lunch Creek where we ate our picnic lunch.
Lunch Creek waterfallClose up of Lunch Creek waterfall.
From there we could see another waterfall and the remains of a glacier.
Waterfall and glacier
We got there just in time before the mist enveloped us. We decided to turn around and go back the way we came instead of driving through the entire park that day. It was a good choice. By the time we drove back through the valley, we were able to find parking at some of the viewpoints that had previously been too packed to stop.
Colorful rocks cover the bottom and line the sides of McDonald Creek.
My grandfather’s name was Lake Macdonald, so of course I wanted to see Lake McDonald. (spelled differently). The rocks on the bottom of the lake and on the shore are a beautiful array of colors.
Lake McDonaldColorful rocks on the shore of Lake McDonaldLake McDonald
We visited the park a total of three different days. The weather never did get sunny. One of those days I hiked to McDonald Falls.
McDonald FallsUp river from McDonald Falls
As we drove upstream alongside McDonald Creek, we found another waterfall and interesting views.
Cascade Falls along McDonald CreekBlue-green waters of the melted glaciers at McDonald Creek
On our third day in Glacier NP, we drove completely through the park, barely stopping except to eat our lunch. At Logan Pass, the road winds down to the small town of St. Mary.
We drove from one end of the park to the other, and then drove around the outside of the park on the south side back to where we started. It was also a beautiful drive, but long.
Coming down the other side of Logan Pass
The other side of Logan Pass is much different in that it suffered damage from recent forest fires that changed the look of the landscape. There is a lake on that side too–St. Mary Lake which is about 1500′ higher in elevation than Lake McDonald.
Fire damage and St. Mary Lake in background.
Even with the recent rains, the smoke from fires in the western states came back quickly to make a haze over the mountains. We had planned to stay a few days in St. Mary, but due to the smoke, we decided to leave early. Our pass for Going to the Sun Road had expired, and we were ready to move on.
We stayed in South Beach, Oregon (near Newport, OR) for twelve days in Thousand Trails Whaler’s Rest RV Resort. My goal was to see and photograph as many lighthouses along the Oregon coast as I could.
Our campground was just a short distance away from the beach, but because of the thick trees and bushes and Highway 101 in between, it wasn’t an easy access. The weather was cloudy and overcast in the mornings. By noon, however, the sun was shining. So that’s when we decided to go looking for lighthouses.
Our first lighthouse and my favorite, (Yaquina Head) was close to Newport just a few miles from the campground. It was easily accessible and very easy to photograph. We saw some sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks below.
Yaquina Head Lighthouse near Newport, Oregon.Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon.Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon.
Near Yaquina Head Lighthouse is Yakina Bay Lighthouse. We visited it after all the other lighthouses on another day, but I include it here because it is in order going south on Highway 101. This one was a bit of a disappointment because the shutters were all closed over the windows making it look boarded up. There was a fence around it and an ugly tower next to it.
Yakina Bay LighthouseYakina Bay Lighthouse
While we were there at Yakina Bay Lighthouse, we got a good view of Yakina Bay Bridge.
Yakina Bay Bridge
Our next next search for lighthouses took us south on Highway 101 as far as Cape Blanco, near Port Orford, Oregon.
The first lighthouse we saw was Heceta Head Lighthouse near Florence, Oregon. (All of these lighthouses are just off Highway 101 in Oregon.) We had a bit of a hike uphill to see this lighthouse. Here it is from below.
Heceta Lighthouse near Florence, Oregon off Highway 101.Hectea Lighthouse
We were also able to see the lighthouse keeper’s house.
Lighthouse keeper’s house Heceta Head
The lighthouse is visible from Highway 101 further on.
We also saw many historic bridges designed by Conde McCullough from the 1930’s. Cape Creek Bridge near Heceta Head Lighthouse was built in 1932. It is a double-tiered structure with Roman arches and spans Cape Creek next to the Cape Creek Tunnel.
Our next lighthouse, Umpqua River Lighthouse, is located near the city of Reedsport. It isn’t quite as scenic because it was surrounded by a chain-link fence with a roadway running in front of it and mailboxes blocking the view.
Umpqua River Lighthouse, near Reedsport, Oregon.Umpqua River Lighthouse
The next lighthouse going south is Cape Arago near Coos Bay. We were unable to find it, but we saw it from a distance from Sunset Bay State Park. However, I felt it was too hazy and distant to get a good photo. It is not accessible by land because it is on an island in the bay, and the closest place to get a good photo is Lighthouse Way which is a private drive. The photo is not mine, but one from the web.
Photo from visittheoregoncoast.com
We drove across several bridges on Highway 101 on our quest for lighthouses. One of my favorites is the bridge across Coos Bay. The Coos Bay Bridge is an historic bridge that has a series of arches that come to a point at the top, giving you the feeling of driving though a cathedral. I didn’t get a photo of it, but I borrowed one from the web.
Photo by Richard Nilsen
The next lighthouse south on Highway 101 in Oregon is the Coquille River Lighthouse near Bandon, Oregon.
Coquille River Lighthouse near Bandon, Oregon.
We had a round about way of finding this lighthouse. We first saw it across the river. Then we found a way to drive up closer and walk up.
Coquille River LighthouseCoquille River LighthouseCoquille River Lighthouse
The furthest lighthouse was over 250 miles from our campground. Cape Blanco Lighthouse is near Port Orford, Oregon. It was getting dark and the fog and clouds were rolling in from the ocean. The road to the lighthouse was closed by a gate. It turns out, the only day of the week that it is closed was the day we happened to visit it.
Cape Blanco Lighthouse near Port Orford, Oregon.Cape Blanco LighthouseCape Blanco Lighthouse
We drove back and got to our trailer around midnight, but we felt we were pretty successful in our mission.
We saw more lighthouses but that will be in the next blog.
After leaving Arizona, we made our way north by way of eastern Nevada, going through Caliente, Ely and Wells, NV.
Wheeler Peak Great Basin National Park
On the way there, we drove along the backside of Great Basin National Park. I could see Wheeler Peak in the distance. We drove to the top of it when we visited the park last year. The 13,000’ peak still had snow on it.
In Ely, we stopped for four nights so we could ride the Nevada Northern Railway and visit the Museum. The Railway is a National Historic Landmark and the museum complex includes a rail yard on 56 acres with 63 structures to explore.
We enjoyed a 90 minute ride in an old passenger car pulled by a steam locomotive.
The train depot for the Northern Nevada Railway.The elevation of Ely is 6,437 feet. In winter, this snowplow was used to clear the snow off the tracks.Water tower for Northern Nevada Railway.The conductor punches our tickets.
The ride took us through the hills around Ely to a large copper mine and back. Along the way we learned about local history.
We view the historic town of Ely, Nevada, on our train ride out to the mine.
As we head out of town and uphill, the smoke gets blacker.
Northern Nevada RailwayTailings from the Robinson copper mine.
Copper was used for wiring homes for electricity in the late 1890s. This was once a thriving mine and is still being mined today.
Humorous grave yard on the way to the Robinson copper mine.
On the way back, we were told that sometimes the train gets held up by bandits, but we didn’t see any that day. We did, however, see the graveyard and fake western town nearby.
On our way there and back, this fellow with his little dog on the back rode along the highway parallel to the railroad track.
As we arrived back at the depot, we see the rainbow at our journey’s end as the locomotive lets off steam.
We traveled north into Montana and camped at Conestoga Campground and RV Park in White Sulphur Springs. This was our view out our window.
The RV Park even had it’s own fish pond.
We like to camp in one place for a couple of weeks and take day trips to places around our base camp. One of our side trips while in Montana was to Great Falls, Montana. We were happy to find a Mongolian BBQ that was open. It was one of the first times we were able to dine in at a restaurant since the Covid-19 pandemic.
From there, we drove alongside the Missouri River to see Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls. Other stops were at Giant Springs State Park and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
The drive to Great Falls was beautiful through the mountains and forests. This is a lookout just a few miles outside of Great Falls.
There are five falls within a 10 mile stretch of the Missouri River. The one seen below is Black Eagle Falls which is right in the middle of the city of Great Falls.
The next one seen below is Rainbow Falls.
As you can see, there are power houses built before each of the falls to maximize electricity generation for the area.
Between Black Eagle Falls and Rainbow Falls is Giant Springs State Park. Giant Springs is one of the largest freshwater springs in the nation. It is the source of the Roe River, one of the world’s shortest rivers. Roe River flows into the Missouri River. But the source of the springs itself comes from miles of underground water from the mountains miles away. The water the bubbles up from cracks in rocks into a pool and runs over rocks into the Missouri River. By the way, did you know that the Missouri River is the longest river in North America?
The park grounds were green and beautiful.
Notice how clear the water is!
In the photo below, you can see where the water bubbles up out of the rocks below and into the pool.
You can faintly see circles in the water where the water is bubbling up.
The world’s shortest river of just 200 feet.
Beyond the walkway is the Missouri River.
The Missouri River is also the river that explorers Lewis and Clark traveled to find a waterway to the Pacific and to explore the large region of the Louisiana Purchase. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. One floor of exhibits was closed due to the pandemic, but the top floor still had some interesting exhibits, including a panorama of what it was like to carry heavy dugout canoes around each of the falls in this area.
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
It’s interesting to see sites where history took place in the beginnings of our country. I would love to come back to Great Falls, Montana, and explore the area and its history further.
One of the side trips we made while in isolation during the pandemic was an excursion to Mount Lemmon near Tucson. This mountain is over 9,000 feet high. Mount Lemmon is named after a woman botanist, Sara Plummer Lemmon, who made it to the top by horse and by foot in 1881.
At the top is Mount Lemmon Observatory which was formerly the site of a USAF radar base of the Air Defense Command. All the military buildings were abandoned and given to the US Forest Service. Summerhaven is a small town at the top with many private residences and cabins. All restaurants and facilities were closed due to the pandemic.
We drove the Catalina Highway or Mount Lemmon Highway as far as Summerhaven. We saw many cyclists along the way. The desert saguaros and other cacti eventually gave way to scrub pines then tall pines at the summit. The temperature change was dramatic–from very warm to cool and breezy. We ate a sack lunch at the top and enjoyed the view and the cool breeze. It’s easy to see why locals like to visit the mountain to escape the summer heat.
Road up Mount Lemmon
Vegetation on lower sides of the mountain.
Saguaros are plentiful and an Ocotillo is blooming
The pandemic of 2020 was in full swing. We had all our future reservations canceled and were told to stay in place. But after weeks of being in lockdown, we needed to get out. We decided it would be safe to drive out to the beautiful San Xavier mission south of Tucson, Arizona, and at least take a look at the outside. I’m so glad we did.
This National Historic Lankmark was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Construction of the current structure was begun in 1783 and completed in 1797. The interior is filled with original statuary and mural paintings. The church was closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the mission is still actively run by Franciscans today.
Palo Verde tree, saguaro cactus, prickly pear and yucca plant (in foreground).
The grounds were beautiful with many cacti in bloom.
Quinta Mazatlan (KEEN-tuh MAH-zaht-lahn) “Quinta” in Spanish means country house, villa or estate. The word “Mazatlan” in ancient Indian means “Land of the Deer”. The history of this site starts with a man and his wife (Jason and Marcia Matthews) who built the mansion with a special mix of adobe in the 1930’s. They lived there for 30 years. In the mid 60’s the mansion came up for sale and the city of McAllen bought it to preserve it from destruction. It became an urban sanctuary whose mission is to work “to enrich people’s lives by sharing knowledge about birds, plants, and environmental stewardship in South Texas.”
Entrance
Quinta Mazatlan Adobe Mansion
Massive carved front doors
Notice the shell above the door.
Inside the adobe mansion.
One of two antique pianos of Brazilian rosewood.
Roman tub in bathroom
Tilework in archway
Courtyard
Pool and portico in courtyard.
Well in courtyard
Pathway to bird feeders and amphitheater.
Baby Cacti
A tangled mess of cacti growing in among the brush and trees.
Agave Plant
Large Agave Plant
Bird Feeders at Amphitheater
This water flows to the pond where it is pumped back to the top of the creek bed. The pump runs on solar electricity. On right are bronze turtles to illustrate the local wildlife.
Pathway to pond
Pathway around pond.
Portico with solar panels on the roof to run pump.
It was very enjoyable to see this historic adobe and walk the pathways in the garden in the afternoon under cloudy skies. I imagine it gets really hot here in summers, and the thick walls of the adobe would have kept the house cool.
About an hour’s drive northwest of San Antonio, is Lake Medina Campground. Our first campsite was in among the cedar trees. Big mistake! We didn’t know that December and January are the two worst months of the year for “cedar fever”, an allergic reaction many people have to the pollen that blows off the trees during that time of year. We moved to another campsite where there were less trees, but Ray still had terrible allergies from the pollen.
Our campsite among the cedar trees, Lake Medina, TX.
The lake itself is a blue shimmering gem among the rocky hills surrounding it, being situated in the Hill country of Texas.
Lake Medina
One day I took a walk near the shoreline and found an old rock chimney, all that remains of an old house.
Old Chimney
On the grounds are other old structures of bygone days—a two storied house and an old barn. The deer are so tame that they hardly move when you walk toward them. It is illegal to feed them, but I have a feeling that one reason they are so tame is that they have become accustomed to being hand fed by the campers. One buck loitered near our campsite and I got a good photo of him.
One afternoon, we decided to take a drive to San Antonio. Ray wanted to see the house where he spent his childhood days on Frost Street. They lived there when he was ages 3 to 4. When the family moved away, they rented the house out. They came back several times in between renters to fix it up and add some fresh paint. His last year spent there was when he was 12 years old. The house looks much smaller now, than in his memories. He remembered the big pecan tree in the back yard. It has a massive trunk now and it towers over the houses around it. They returned when he was 11, and his dad painted it turquoise blue with gloss black window trim and a coral orange front door. It became more sedate sometime after they sold it.
Ray’s childhood home on Frost Street
Ray’s childhood home with pecan tree in the back yard.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was featured in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives by Guy Fieri (Dewese’s Tip Top Cafe). The Roasted Pork Butt with Gravy was delicious, but I really wished we’d ordered a big plate of their homemade Onion Rings.
Our other major goal of the day was to visit the McNay Art Museum. We got confused about where the entrance was and so took a nice walk along the banks of the river. After we found the entrance, we realized we should come back another day when we had more time, which is what we did.
Walk by River in San Antonio
The McNay museum is housed in a 24 room Spanish Colonial Revival-style mansion of Marion Koogler McNay. She was an American painter and art teacher who inherited her father’s oil fortune. The museum is named after her. When she died, the house was bequeathed to the City of San Antonio to house the museum. Most of the art is from the 19th and 20th century European and American art by impressionists like Paul Cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keefe and Mary Cassatt. My favorite was “The Cup of Tea” by Mary Cassatt, along with many other paintings of Mary Cassatt’s women showing the every day life of women of that period.
Mary Cassatt’s “The Cup of Tea”
One of the paintings by Mary Cassatt was done in pastel on paper called “Head of Simone in a Large Plumed Hat, Looking Right”. I thought this painting would be of interest to my daughter Christy who loves to work in pastels.
One of my other favorite paintings was the Yellow and Blue Iris by Lowell Nesbitt. I thought it was by Georgia O’Keefe at first because it reminds me of her large paintings of flowers.
“Yellow and Blue Iris” by Lowell Nesbit
Also in the museum was a large painting by Claude Monet called “Nympheas” (Water Lilies)”. It was Monet’s dream to make paintings that fill a circular room. The paintings were of water lilies from his garden in Giverny, France. The painting we saw was one of the many preliminary studies for the paintings he painted on huge canvas panels that hang in a circular room at the Orangerie des Tuileries in Paris. Monet gave those paintings to the French nation.
As we wandered around the museum, we found ourselves outside in the beautiful interior garden with palm trees and fountains and koi ponds. One fish was monstrous!
Courtyard at McNay Art Museum
Outside the museum were many modern sculptures. By then, we were tired and decided to head home.
After a year of thinning down, we sold our home in California on October 3, 2019. We gave away or sold most of our stuff. What’s left is stored in a 10’x20’ storage unit. We started our journey to see America in a 23 year old 23 foot long Jayco trailer pulled by our 13 year old Suburban. We belong to the Thousand Trails Campgrounds, so we spent our first few weeks in their Morgan Hill RV park. There we thinned out our belongings even further. Having collected stuff for 44 years, so it took some time! After saying good-bye to our kids and grandkids, we headed toward Mesa, Arizona.
In Mesa, we bought a used 2016 Chevy Heavy duty diesel truck that met all our criteria for a towing vehicle. It made a wonderful difference towing the trailer up hills and mountains!
Next, we drove to Texas. We belong to the Escapees RV Club located in Livingston, Texas. We use their mailing service that collects our mail, scans it, and ships it to us wherever we are, when we ask. We chose their mailing service because it provided us with a “physical” address which was needed for some documents. We spent Thanksgiving with my dad and sister in Austin, Texas. They kindly took care of our cat while we went to Virginia to buy the Airstream.
Ray was looking for specific things in a used Airstream. He found a 2014 International Signature Airstream that had a feature we really wanted—two recliners instead of a couch. This was an option only from 2011 – 2015. The trailer was in great condition and came with many extras, like an expensive Hensley hitch. The problem was its location, in Virginia near Washington, D.C. We arranged to see it and stored our Jayco trailer in Texas. We hit the road, driving 3 days, staying in motels along the way. The Airstream was just what we were looking for, and we bought it.
We planned to drive across the Midwest states back to Texas, but a big storm system was sweeping the nation, bringing snow and freezing weather. We didn’t want to tow our trailer through that weather, so we changed plans, heading straight south on I-95 to I-10 in Florida. We stopped at various campgrounds along the way, but didn’t stay more than a night or two. By the time we got back to Texas, we needed a rest! Racing cross-country was not what we left California to do.
We spent several days unloading the Jayco and getting it ready to sell, moving everything into the Airstream. We had the Title for the Airstream and got it licensed in Texas, but we are still waiting on the Title for our truck. In Texas, you have to register all your vehicles before you can get Texas driver’s licenses. That was the next item on our list.
We enjoy our 208 square foot home on wheels, but like so many others, we are looking for a home “whose builder and maker is God.” Like the old chorus said, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through…”
