Mountain Sheep - see the baby?
Landmark where Lewis and Clark, lead by Sacajewea (sp?) met her tribe and got horses to continue their trip.
Pelicans - a surprise to me
Ennis, Montana is a place I would like to return to and spend time. It is beautifully situated in a wide valley surrounded by mountains with several streams and Lake Ennis in the area. Very small but big enough to have some nice restaurants. It seemed there were places to explore in every direction.
We are headed west but have to go north and south around a variety of mountain ranges to work our way west so may not make many miles in a westerly direction.
We stopped at the Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom, Montana. It has changed very little since the battles between the US Calvary and bands of the Nez Perce tribe. It was easy to picture the events as they unfolded so many years ago. A sad part of our history and important to remember.
Heading up the Bitterroot Valley Jim remembers many of his stops in his short career with Colt, mostly gun stores and bars. As we get to Lolo Jim talks about when Steve Ford spent time on a ranch in the area. His father was president at the time so Steve had full Secret Service protection and Jim spent some time out here. He wasn’t sure he could remember where the ranch was but as we turned on HWY 12 and drove a few miles things became more and more familiar. Just as Jim recognized the ranch we came to the large sign at the entrance “Lolo Trail Ranch”. We found it . . . and drove on.
At 3PM we are starting across Idaho on US 12 with very little ahead of us until Lewiston. The Ranger tells us about a couple small resorts on the river but their literature shows “no dogs”. We head out on the winding road and Jim jokes when he sees a sign warning of extreme curves for the next 60 miles. He thinks he must have misread and it has to be 6.0 miles. No, I told him, it is 60 miles – I have the map. The river is very high and every several miles another river joins the flow. There are kayakers and river rafters along the way but not much traffic. The 23 miles of road work is suspended for the long weekend so we cruise as if in sync with the river flowing downhill.
We have gotten used to not having specific plans for the evening so we don’t worry about the few lodging options not allowing dogs, we can always keep driving, and we’ll just let it work out.
We see the signs for Lowell, the small area with two lodging options. We slow when passing the first one and then see the cabins on the other side of the river. There has to be a bridge so we keep driving and find the bridge just down the road. We head for the office and ask for a room; yes, the weekend crowd has checked out and we have our choice of cabins. Food in the area? Yes, back across the bridge at the café. Dogs? Sure. We’re in! Jim fixes us drinks and we sit on our deck watching the river. Abby is exploring and trying to figure out how to get into the pool area to play with the kids and take a swim. It is actually hot here – the first time I have felt hot on this trip.
We could stay here for a while, but then we have said that about so many places.
We are headed west but have to go north and south around a variety of mountain ranges to work our way west so may not make many miles in a westerly direction.
We stopped at the Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom, Montana. It has changed very little since the battles between the US Calvary and bands of the Nez Perce tribe. It was easy to picture the events as they unfolded so many years ago. A sad part of our history and important to remember.
Heading up the Bitterroot Valley Jim remembers many of his stops in his short career with Colt, mostly gun stores and bars. As we get to Lolo Jim talks about when Steve Ford spent time on a ranch in the area. His father was president at the time so Steve had full Secret Service protection and Jim spent some time out here. He wasn’t sure he could remember where the ranch was but as we turned on HWY 12 and drove a few miles things became more and more familiar. Just as Jim recognized the ranch we came to the large sign at the entrance “Lolo Trail Ranch”. We found it . . . and drove on.
At 3PM we are starting across Idaho on US 12 with very little ahead of us until Lewiston. The Ranger tells us about a couple small resorts on the river but their literature shows “no dogs”. We head out on the winding road and Jim jokes when he sees a sign warning of extreme curves for the next 60 miles. He thinks he must have misread and it has to be 6.0 miles. No, I told him, it is 60 miles – I have the map. The river is very high and every several miles another river joins the flow. There are kayakers and river rafters along the way but not much traffic. The 23 miles of road work is suspended for the long weekend so we cruise as if in sync with the river flowing downhill.
We have gotten used to not having specific plans for the evening so we don’t worry about the few lodging options not allowing dogs, we can always keep driving, and we’ll just let it work out.
We see the signs for Lowell, the small area with two lodging options. We slow when passing the first one and then see the cabins on the other side of the river. There has to be a bridge so we keep driving and find the bridge just down the road. We head for the office and ask for a room; yes, the weekend crowd has checked out and we have our choice of cabins. Food in the area? Yes, back across the bridge at the café. Dogs? Sure. We’re in! Jim fixes us drinks and we sit on our deck watching the river. Abby is exploring and trying to figure out how to get into the pool area to play with the kids and take a swim. It is actually hot here – the first time I have felt hot on this trip.
We could stay here for a while, but then we have said that about so many places.
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