Idaho – Coeur d’Alene

When we passed Coeur d’Alene on a previous trip, we were attracted to the area but had no time to explore. This time we planned to spend most of a day there. This charming city sits on the north shore of the 25-mile long Lake Coeur d’Alene in the panhandle of Idaho.

Mineral Ridge Recreation Trail

We started at Mineral Ridge Scenic Area and took the 2.8-mile loop trail. Barbara loves this type of trail – a gradual incline up switchbacks carved out of the side of the mountain. It saves on knees and erosion!

The trail zigzagged up to a shelter, followed the ridge with peek-a-boo views until arriving at an overlook of the lake and then zigzagged back down.

Bill took a spur trail to check out a tunnel made by prospectors.

Here’s the view from the overlook.

Tubbs Hill

After a picnic lunch, we headed to Tubbs Hill, a beautiful park in the city of Coeur d'Alene. It has a 2.2-mile loop trail circling a hill that juts out into the lake with views through the Ponderosa Pines and sounds of the waves hitting the rocks.

We came upon several California Quails on the trail that seemed to freeze in place. It’s cool to see a bird we don’t have in the east.

Just as we ended our hike we saw this sign.

Yikes!

Off to British Columbia tomorrow.

South Dakota & Montana – Long Drive & Short Stops

We delayed our start time on our longest driving day to go to the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center.

We visited there in 2014 and got to take a tour of the launch facility and see the missile silo, but the visitor center was under construction. So Barbara wanted to take a peek.

Dominoes-like slogan from launch facility door

We blew through the exhibit and saw their new video. Then we hit the road on our long drive. Prior to our trip we researched weather. We expected rain and cold, but were surprised to see a dusting of snow in western South Dakota.

 

The terrain in eastern Montana was a rolling brown landscape framed by an overcast sky. It's a big state without a lot of people. One of our church small group members said he wanted to go with us to Montana, and we want to assure him that there is enough room. :-)

Central Montana had more mountains, some snowcapped. The weather changed and the “big sky” showcased it all: ominous storm clouds, varying clouds, and sun. It was really a glorious sky. This picture doesn't quite capture it.

Later on we made a serendipitous stop at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Custer's last stand was the last Indian victory in the Plains Indian wars. The park charges a fee, but we were able to use our National Park Volunteer Pass.

We saw the movie and monument. Wish we had more time, but had to hit the road.

Snow is forecast for tonight in the Rockies, so we're glad we're through.

Wisconsin & Iowa – Letterboxing & Cedar Rock

We broke up our long drive with a few stops. Though slightly out of the way, Bill found a route that added a few states where Barbara wanted to find letterboxes. So off we headed to New Diggings, Wisconsin.

photo from Google

The letterbox was hidden behind the gas pump on the left. We also found a letterbox in a cemetery tucked behind a little church in Iowa and we found a letterbox the day before at a Hobby Lobby parking lot in Illinois. Now Barbara has found letterboxes in all these states.

See map before the trip.

As we drove, Bill noticed a sign for a state park with a Frank Lloyd Wright house. It looked interesting on the internet, so we turned around and headed for the house. Lucky for us we got a tour to ourselves and lucky for us it stopped raining. It rained pretty much all day except when we took the tour.

Cedar Rock State Park in Quasqueton, Iowa has a well-preserved Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian estate built for Lowell and Agnes Walter. The house is one of the few examples where everything was designed by Wright including the house, landscaping, furniture, dinnerware and knickknacks and all has been preserved.

The leaves of grapevines provide shade in the summer and light in the winter.

The main room with a river view

boathouse

Frank Lloyd Wright's signature brick

Illinois – Chicago Museums

Bill and Barbara both wanted to go to Chicago museums: Bill the Museum of Science and Industry and Barbara the Art Institute of Chicago. So we decided to do a whirlwind Chicago trip squeezing in both museums into one day. Bill strategically arranged our hotels and found inexpensive parking.

We started at the Museum of Science and Industry. Bill wanted to see the U-505 WWII German submarine.

In the first few years of WWII Germany’s U-boats were the hunter, sinking many allied merchant ships. By 1944 advances in tactics and technology made the U-boat the hunted. In that year, an anti-submarine task force managed to capture a German type IXC U-boat off the coast of Africa along with its code books and Enigma machines. The Navy studied the submarine and its torpedoes, removed most of the instrumentation, and was going to sink it, but the commander of the task force (who was from Chicago) intervened and convinced the Navy to donate the sub to the Museum of Science and Industry. When the museum restored the sub they asked the German companies that made it to reproduce all the missing parts, which they did for no charge.

The only way to see the inside was to take a tour, which Bill did.

Forward torpedo room with bunks

Simulated torpedo firing

In the meantime Barbara went to the Pixar exhibit, recommended by a friend. Computer graphics has come a long way since Barbara’s computer graphics class in college. The exhibit included a short film about all the stages of animation and then all sorts of stations to become a part of the design process.

Barbara also really enjoyed an exhibit and video with exceptional footage on glacial ice melting, which was a great way to top off a climate change class we recently took.

The only bad moment was when Barbara’s phone locked up right when we needed to reconnect. Fortunately Bill found Barbara and later got the phone working.

Then off we went to the Art Institute of Chicago, but we got in a long line for tickets. We were informed of a shorter line at the side entrance. As we were going down some stairs, a man tripped and Bill helped stop him from falling. A few moments later we let them join us in line. We chatted a bit and they let us use their discount to get in at a lower price. :-)

This museum has a great collection of well known paintings. We particularly targeted the European Impressionists and the American Collection. How many of these paintings do you recognize?

Paintings:
At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle by Vincent Van Gogh
The Bedroom by Vincent Van Gogh
Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
Cliff Walk at Pourville by Claude Monet
Two Sisters by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
American Gothic by Grant Wood
Arrival of the Normandy Train by Claude Monet
Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte
The Herring Net by Winslow Homer

Indiana – Dunes

We left Buffalo and headed toward Chicago, but squeezed in two stops - lucky that the pouring rain stopped.

The first stop was very short. Our route through northern Indiana skirted the edge of Michigan, so … we couldn’t help but bop into White Pigeon, Michigan for a letterbox.

Our other stop for the day was Indiana Dunes, where we started by getting oriented at the National Lakeshore’s Visitor Center. Then we headed to the State Park which actually has the biggest dunes. We’ve been to lots of dunes: White Sands, Great Sand Dunes, Oregon Dunes and the Outer Banks, but this one was different. The trails over the dunes almost seemed like any trail in the woods except the path was sandy. It didn’t have the open feel, we’ve experienced before.

Barbara took the shorter trail over the 3 tallest dunes - the "Three Dune Challenge."

In the meantime Bill took the longer trail #9 with more lake views.

He came back via the beach trail #10 where we met.

Bill’s footprints

Barbara left something for Bill.

We found this feather. It was yellow on the underside and black on the top. We wonder what kind of bird had that feather.

On the way back we went up the largest dune. Fortunately this one had stairs.

Off next to Chicago…

New York & Ontario – The Other End of the Rainbow (Bridge)

The Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls

 

We stopped in Buffalo New York to visit Barbara’s friend Jeanne. What a special treat to reconnect, stay in the home she grew up in, and do a little sightseeing.

Jeanne was very gracious to cater to our desire to go over the bridge to Canada. Bill did not have a clear memory of having been to Ontario, so we wanted to make it official and that’s what we did, driving over the Peace Bridge.

Bill & Barbara in Fort Erie, Ontario by the Peace Bridge

And here is Barbara with her dear friend Jeanne.

We drove along the Niagara River passing the Chinese restaurant Barbara used to go to and following the river as it heads to the falls. It’s a pleasant drive with nice homes and a view of the river. Several parks line the route. We stopped at one where Barbara found an Ontario letterbox.

Then Jeanne dropped us off and we walked across the Rainbow Bridge.

American Falls, Niagara Falls, New York

Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls, Ontario

On the way back to Jeanne’s, we swung by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House. We only had time for a quick pic of the outside, but they now offer tours which we hope to catch on our next trip to Buffalo.

Thanks, Jeanne, for a great visit!

Massachusetts – Off to Great Places!

To quote Dr. Seuss:

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You’re off to Great Places!

You’re off and away!!!*

We pulled out of our driveway this morning heading to Great Places … or at least great places to us. :-)

Our new trailer sits in Chilliwack, British Columbia ready to be picked up. Our car is loaded up with everything we’ll need for life on the road. We know the drill. We’ve been through this before in 2014, but this time we have more stuff: more trailer accessories, more clothes, and more jackets. It will be colder!

     Passports ……………… check

     Trailer license plate…… check

     Trailer hitch….………… check

     Credit card…………….. check

And the list goes on.

First stop was only 23 miles away to Community Bible Study in Westfield, Massachusetts. Bill hung out while Barbara spent the morning at her last class for a while. In a sense this trip begins and ends with CBS. Near the end of the trip Barbara will attend CBS training in Colorado Springs for a new role.

Now we are off to Buffalo, New York. Barbara lived in Buffalo during her high school and early college years. It’s been a long time since she’s been back, but we look forward to connecting with an old friend.

*from Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss.