We have been enjoying food and fun and have not been keeping the travel log up to date. After leaving Seattle we went to Spokane, then on to Deer Lodge, MT; Bozeman, MT; Glendive, MT; Medora, ND; Jamestown, ND; and now we are parked in Minneapolis, MN. We are, indeed, heading east. We keep changing our clocks, and Robin somehow continues to figure out when it is 10 pm and time for her bedtime. I swear, she reads the clock on the wall.
Travelling between Seattle and Spokane we were struck with the steady stream of tandem tractor-trailer loads of hay heading west. We also noted a train headed east with nothing but automobiles... wonder if there is a connection. We became more suspicious when we saw a whole series of huge hay storage structures with a sign that said, "Hay for sale. Domestic or Export". Do you suppose those boats that bring us cars go back to Japan filled with hay? If so, given the value per cubic foot... that cannot do much for the balance of payments.
Friends had told us when we visited Spokane that we must visit the "Grand Old Lady" Davenport Hotel built in 1914 (and restored to her original elegance in the 70s. This is what opulence was all about.
A few blocks from the Davenport is a city park that is on the site of the 1974 World Exposition. It is a lovely, people friendly park with fountains, merry-go-round, and lots of amusements.
That same park has this set of statues as a tribute to exercise. We came back an hour or so later and they still did not know who won the race.
Spokane seems to be a city of parks, one of which is full of gardens. Rose garden, Japanese garden (seems like each city is growing one of these), Formal garden, and a well stocked greenhouse.
After Spokane we headed over another mountain to Deer Lodge, Montana. We are always surprised to find that little towns that can hardly support a grocery store seem to have these unexpected museums. Deer Lodge was home to a grand old penitentiary that in many ways was ahead of its time. Not that I would have liked to be a resident, but the warden was recognizing, even in 1900, that punishment did no good without some rehabilitation, education and culture. Incidentally, attached to this old jail structure was a delightful auto museum. Go figure. One of the cars that caught our eye was this 1913 Detroit Electric Car. What goes around, comes around.

From Deer Lodge, it was just a quick trip across a couple more mountain passes (and past the Three Forks Montana Rolling Mills flour and bakery) to Bozeman, MT. For us any trip to the Northwestern plains must go through Bozeman so that we can visit with Mike and Nancy Oshier. Mike and Nancy both worked at the college in Brockport, although Nancy soon found really exciting things to do with Xerox and Eastman Kodak in Rochester. A few days with them is a vacation in itself. They love to show off beautiful spots that very few tourists would ever find (or would be willing to hike to if they knew they were there). Their love for the country and the western life style could certainly become addictive.

One of our hikes with Mike and Nancy was up the elevation above their house so that we could get a better view... of the town of Big Sky, of the valley, and of the Big Sky Ski area. Since some of our friends have made the pilgrimage to Big Sky in the winter, it seemed only fitting that we include a picture of some of the higher slopes.
Since Mike, Nancy, and I all worked with computers in one way or another, it seemed appropriate for us to visit a "computer museum" in Bozeman. Two of the fascinating characteristics of this museum are the broad definition of computing and the amazing collection of original artifacts that had been gathered. The museum houses original cuneiform tablets, original documents from colonial times, a manual printing press, plus all kinds of early electronic gear. There is much to see, and much we could show... but this sign (an original) just hit a particular bone:

Over one more mountain (through Bozeman Pass) and we were onto the Great Plains. We followed the Yellowstone River all the way to Glendive, MT and then traveled about an hour across the border to Medora, ND. Medora is in the Badlands where Theodore Roosevelt came to recover after his wife and his mother both died on the same day (of separate causes). These Badlands are equally beautiful and majestic as the Badlands in South Dakota, but are really quite different. The South Dakota Badlands are more "in your face", while their northern counterparts seem more spread out.
Not only is Medora the home of the Roosevelt National Park, it is home of the world famous Pitchfork Steak Fondue. Since Dot and I never pass up an opportunity to try a new form of food... we can attest that putting a good steak on a pitchfork and sticking it in hot flavored oil does make a mouth watering meal.
After dining on steak and all the fixin's, we took an escalator down into a canyon that has been converted into an amphitheater. The stage had buildings that moved along railroad track. The backdrop was a hillside on which elk and and mounted cowboys moved. Stagecoaches, wagons, horses, and even rock formations moved on and off the
stage at will.

All this activity was orchestrated as part of a musical performance.
Back on the road again, we came across more flooding... nothing new for this trip. But this is the first time we had seen an interstate highway sandbagged to keep overflowing lakes off the road.
Our last stop in North Dakota was in Jamestown. Imagine our surprise to look out our dining room window to see a stagecoach drawn by two horses with a dog on the roof coming through the adjacent field. We were within a mile of a "frontier village" which offered stagecoach rides... and there they were.
That same attraction also had a very well done buffalo museum, and a herd of buffalo which contains three albino buffalo. We had to share this picture as proof (although you will have to take our word that they had pink eyes.)
One last shot from our North Dakota stay. We had read that pelicans came to this country in large numbers to breed and raise their young. We thought it a bit strange that a sea going bird would come this far inland to breed. So we set off in the car to find the nature reserve where this was reported to happen. Guess what. The roads into the reserve were flooded. Well, at least we could drive around the perimeter of the reserve, and sure enough.... we came upon two pelicans swimming on some flooded land. But they were shy, and all we got was one of them flying away. But it was too good of story to let pass. Yes, there are pelicans on the plains of North Dakota.
We have now journeyed on to Minneapolis where we plan to stay for a few days. More of our adventures will come later.