Road Tripping - Heading West

As many of you know, my friend, Jill, lives in Ashland, Oregon. Friends in Minnesota, Amy and Jennifer, wanted to visit Jill and Oregon for the first time. I was invited to join them. I decided I would drive out with Maggie as a practice road tripping run.

The title for this post is "Heading West" but it got off to a rough start. I made it 2 hours out of Minneapolis up I-94. I made it past Saint Cloud, MN which is the farthest I've been on I-94. When I was thinking about where we would stay the first night, I realized I did not have my wallet. Without my wallet, I did not have any credit cards, and more importantly, a driver's license.

I really had no choice but to turn around and drive back to Minneapolis. I considered bagging the trip for the day but really wanted and needed to make some progress on the first day. So I drove back to Minneapolis, left Maggie in the car, dashed in the condo, grabbed the wallet, and got back out on the same road.

We made it as far as Moorhead, Minnesota. To show how much I did not know about this part of the USA, we stayed in a motel in Moorhead but ate supper in Fargo but not knowing I was in Fargo until after eating and walking around. The two cities are so intertwined as to not really have borders...which is actually very geographically prominent - the Red River separates the two cities!

The Red River is infamous in Minnesota for flooding and overflowing which is exactly what it was doing when I passed through. I stayed in a motel called Bison Plains. It looked and smelled like the bison had just passed through the hallways. It was a unique experience. Maggie didn't seem to mind exploring all the smells.

Maggie off the floor and enjoying her first hotel stay

Fargo was a hopping town. Turns out it was graduation weekend at the University of North Dakota. Downtown Fargo is clean and vibrant. A large section of the city had burned during flooding a few years ago but there were still historic buildings along with newer ones.

I had started the journey on Friday. So Saturday was day two and now I had to get across North Dakota - a state I had never been to. If you have heard that North Dakota is flat, you have heard correctly. Crazy flat except there is a hill in the town of Jamestown.

You are going to see a lot of photos shot out of the window of my moving car

Lots of fields along I-94 were flooded. North Dakota had been getting the same rain, rain, rain that Minnesota had. The few lakes I could see were very full. Pelicans migrate through North Dakota and were enjoying all the water.

Told you it was flat

I stopped in Bismark to see the capitol. Yikes and apologies to North Dakotans but the North Dakota capitol is not pretty. I couldn't go in because it was the weekend so I cannot critique the interior. Hopefully it is awe-inspiring.

The nicest part about the North Dakota capital is the beautiful green lawn lined with big trees

Continuing west, Amy suggested a stop at Salem Sue, a giant holstein cow on the top of a very big hill. The wind was incredible. We were driving right into this same wind. The constant uphill which is the geography of heading to the mountains combined with the wind really impacted my gas mileage.

Maggie didn't think much of Salem Sue. She wanted back in the car where it wasn't windy

Another friend and North Dakota native, Kathy, suggested the Enchanted Highway. This is an interesting, off-the-interstate marketing campaign. A series of oversized metal sculptures lead you to the Enchanted Castle which is really just a motel way off the beaten path. It was worth the extra miles. In addition to the sculptures, I saw pheasants and mule deer.

The wind kept up here we are at the start of the Enchanted Highway

One example of the Enchanted Highway art (these are huge)

I really wanted to see Theodore Roosevelt National Monument outside of Dickinson and Medora, North Dakota. This was a fantastic adventure. Using my senior national parks pass, I entered for free and took the loop drive in the southern section of the park.

I like this photo because in addition to the bison you can see how the terrain has changed in the distance

Right at the first pullover there were bison and a herd of wild horses! The park also features prairie dogs and painted canyons. The loop is partially closed due to rain washouts. It was all so beautiful and especially as the sun was starting to set.

Yes, they were this close to the roadway

Maggie was interested in the wild horses

Painted canyons

We made it into Montana the second day. We stayed in a nice motel in Glendive near the Yellowstone River. Side note: the restaurant at the River Inn has fantastic food and desserts.

Sunday's goal was to get across Montana. I also decided to get off I-94. We took State 200 which followed the Lewis & Clark route. Honestly I think there are many Lewis & Clark routes.

This took us through what I called the Montana badlands...ravines and stretches of open pasture. There are no crossroads on 200S. There are only drives to ranches. There are mule deer and cattle.

The terrain changes to pine trees then to mountains. This route has very nice rest areas that are well maintained. From Great Falls to Missoula we ended up in the Blackfoot River Gorge. A beautiful drive down in to Missoula, Montana. We were to drive many river gorges on this trip.

Maggie's first time out on harness and leash and she did great

Finally mountains

We spent the night in Missoula. With the gain in an hour (mountain time) it was still light so I went for a run and found a tap room called The Dram. This name has some history for me as it was the bar in the old Guthrie Theater. Missoula is on the Clark Fork (river). It is also a college town.

Monday morning while packing up the car, Maggie escaped from the hotel room! Our room was right on the parking lot which was right on the street. There were a few minutes of panic but a couple a few doors down helped corral Maggie in their room.

Day four, Monday, is when my lost progress on the first day caught up to us. I also needed to decide which route we would take. A faster route would be to go through Bend, Oregon and down 97. This was a route I had already been on just last summer. It also might mean going through mountains with more snow than I had encountered already.

I decide to go through Portland and down I-5 through nearly the full length of Oregon. But I get ahead of myself. To get through the small section of Idaho we were going to hit, we drove down the Clark Fork Gorge. Dramatic is an understatement. The drive is very amazing and the entrance into Idaho is dramatic to put it mildly. The view of majestic snow-covered mountains though brief and on a very sharp curve is nonetheless worth it. I have no photos of this portion of the trip because all concentration was on driving.

Rest areas in Idaho were not nice. I wrote "yucky" on my notepad. From Idaho there is a long section of Washington state before you cross the Columbia River into Oregon. I haven't mentioned up to now but this time of year - mid-May brings so much color, lots of it green. And southern Washington has fields/pastures of blooming purples, pinks, red and yellows.

My unsuccessful attempt to get the Washington state fields

Next was Oregon and the decision to press all the way through to Ashland. Okay, the Columbia River Gorge is A-MAZ-ING! The other river gorges are narrow, curving, intricate and generally steep slopes with lots of trees. The Columbia River Gorge is wide with a very wide river but with sheer cliffs that block the sun and the Sirius XM satellite!

The south side of the Columbia River Gorge which is the road side

The north side with the Columbia River

Portland, Oregon lived up to its reputation of having awful traffic. This was my first big city and I had the bad fortune of driving through during rush hour. It was stop and go for miles.

Maggie all the while had been a trouper. She would look out the windows, sleep in her carrier, nap in my lap. Eat her treats, drink her water, and use her litter box. She enjoyed the motel rooms by walking from bed to night stand to chair to table to window sill to tv stand and back to bed. But the easy times had a bump in the road.

Typical daily nap in papa's lap

Many if not most restaurants closed by 7 or 9pm so getting a late supper was difficult. Monday's full throttle push to arrive in Ashland meant stopping for a quick meal at a Dairy Queen in Albany, Oregon. The drive-thru was the only option. Maggie was in my lap as we drove through and when I pressed the button to power-down the window, she freaked out. In my effort to not have her jump out the window, I grabbed her. The leap using her back feet clawed at my stomach and grabbing her caused her to bite my finger.

Without knowing all the damage, I ordered an ice-cream and french-fries. I pulled into a parking spot to investigate the damage. My t-shirt was shredded, and my stomach was slightly bleeding. My right hand and bitten finger were profusely bleeding. Fortunately, I had packed a first aid kit. I bandaged myself up and pressed on. Maggie eventually calmed down but could not bring herself to have any ice-cream.

To add to state capitols I stopped in Salem. While under renovation, it was still far better example of state capitols than was North Dakota's.

Oregon state capitol, Salem

We did make it to Ashland on Monday night.

The numbers below are mileage from my cars trip odometer and trip time (the amount of time the car is running so doesn't include when I stopped the car at rest areas, waysides, meals, etc.):

Friday - false start was 298 wasted miles - 4 hours 34 wasted minutes

Friday - productive 231 miles - 3 hours 50 minutes to Moorhead, Minnesota

Saturday - 514 miles - 9 hours 44 minutes to Glendive, Montana

Sunday - 513 miles - 8 hours 9 minutes to Missoula, Montana

Monday - 839 miles - 13 hours 49 minutes to Ashland, Oregon

Total west bound - 2105 miles and 36 hours and 18 minutes. The gas mileage averaged 21.9 mpg

Jill's big birthday bash (lots of photos)

I traveled to Ashland, Oregon for my friend Jill's big birthday event. She is celebrating her 60th birthday this year. I don't think she would mind me telling her age. She looks and feels fabulous. And she has friends and family that were more than willing to share the festivities.

I flew into Medford, Oregon on Saturday. I had a layover in Seattle for a few hours. My niece Gracie picked me up at the airport and we had time to have breakfast away from the airport. That was a special treat.

Jill's dad, Dave, picked me up at the airport and we drove to Jill's beautiful home in Ashland. Ashland is in the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon. The climate is fantastic. Jill's yard is colorfully filled with flowers, trees, shrubs and vines. When Jill got home from her matinee, we went to dinner at Caldera, a brew pub.

Saturday evening Jill and I sat in the back of the outdoor theater to watch the first act of The Wiz. It is a cute production with tons of costumes! It was getting cool but felt so nice after the heat and humidity of Minneapolis.

Sunday I went to the matinee of Jill's show, The Yeoman of the Guard. This production of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical uses a country music theme. The actors are on stage all the time and so is part of the audience. Jill got me a regular seat so I did not have to "participate" which is what I prefer. The production is very fast and fun. I enjoyed it very much.

Jill's Aunt Ellen drove down from Salem for the birthday. The weather Sunday was fantastic. I went for a run. I was planning 3 or 4 miles and ended up at almost 8! We drove up to Mt. Ashland and walked the Pacific Crest Trail. Stunning. There was still some snow in places but there were flowers blooming and little streams streaming. The vistas of the Cascade range are just incredible. It was a perfect day to be up in the mountains.

We went to the evening performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. It was in the indoor space. The director set this production in 1920's Hollywood. It was beautiful and had lots of music. I enjoyed this show, also.

Birthday cake with Jill's bird, James Taylor.

Monday was the big party being thrown by Jill's long time friends Robin and Tony Heald. They have a lovely home in Ashland with a swimming pool. The view out over the pool is incredible. So many of Jill's friends and co-workers were there and Alicia, her daughter, with the two grandkids.

Robin, Tony and Alicia spoke a few words. Alicia had us all tearing up. It was a lovely party.

Ellen took Jill and I to breakfast Tuesday morning. Ellen went to the matinee of Great Expectations and then left for home. Jill and I went to Dave's place in Medford. Jill and Dave call it the fort but it is far from one. It is senior apartments. There is a central courtyard, restaurant, party rooms, library, etc. The staff is so so nice. We spent a long time with Dave and his friends. I help set up his tv so he could get Netflix and other streaming shows. We watched Jerry Seinfield and President Obama on Crackle's Comedians Driving in Cars Getting Coffee.

Tuesday night Jill and I ate in Ashland then once back at her house finally watched The Tony Awards. We were both exhausted, enjoyed the show, but thought it was lackluster. It, of course, was from Sunday - the evening of the tragedy in Orlando.

I flew back home on Wednesday -- a day long series of flights....ugh. Jill and I always have such a good time. I cherish our times together.

Alicia with Talon and Aiyana

Jill with birthday flowers from Jay and Penny

Me in Tony and Robin's pool. Look at that view!

Jill with her dad, Dave, and friends.

Just a sampling of Jill's beautiful flowers.

James Taylor bird aka JamesTayBird

Oregon - day 1

Made it to Ashland yesterday after a very long day of flying.

Flight out of Minneapolis was delayed for a short time but nothing major.  Flight from Dallas to Portland was delayed for hours.  First a mechanical problem with the captain's chair.  Then once we were on a mechanical problem with the in-flight communication system.

Ended up having to take the plane out of service and getting another one.  Needless to say I missed my connection in Portland to take me to Medford.  The next available flight was at 7:55pm local time.  I ended up with about 2 hours to kill in Portland airport.  Ate way too much garbage food but the local beer was good.

Made it to Medford about 9pm and got my rental car.  I had it charged to the wrong credit card and neither the desk agent nor the 1-800 agent located in India could fix it.  I'm going to try on Monday.

Beautiful day here in Ashland today.  Spring has sprung with daffodils and hyacith blooming.

Going to see Jill's show this afternoon and dinner with her parents who are celebrating their 57th wedding anniversary tomorrow.