We made it to Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park(That’s the official name, folks). I supervised the setting up of the tent (spare bedroom?) at Avalanche Creek Campground at Lake MacDonald and then the humans headed out to see the incredible terrain of Glacier National Park, ‘where the mountains meet the plains’. Boy is that a truth. There are no foothills, those peaks rise straight up into the sky! I grew up with the Sierra foothills as my sniffin’ ground and it is awesome to see these mountains just jump up – bam! Kae got into this whole thing about the geology and formation of the mountains and the billions and millions of years it had taken to create this landscape. I know some folks have this ‘need to know’ thing, but I say all you really have to do is stop, sit down in the sunlight, lift your nose just a few inches, close your eyes, clear your mind and b r e a t h e ! Everything you ever needed to know about a place is right there, in the air. Try it sometime, might open up all kinds of visions.
They were all out to find as much wildlife and scenery as they could photograph, so off they went in the rental car to ‘hunt’. Unfortunately, the car was too small for four full sized folks and little old me, but I got to do my thing in the Pod and really the gals are pretty good about getting back and taking me for a whiz and a walk at just the right time.Greg and Connie are sweet people and they are enthusiastic about everything. They were on the go all the time to see and photograph all they could find so C & K were on the go too. The week went by far too quickly, even though we went up to the Canadian side of Glacier, known as Waterton and they all got more great pictures and saw even more spectacular scenery and wildlife. The whole thing about these kinds of mountains is that they just jump straight up from the valleys and plains; anything at their feet is what has dropped off of the cliffs above or been left by the glaciers. Awesome.
Then Greg and Connie had to head back to Spokane and catch their plane home to Nevada City, so C & K decided we should head down into Montana again. We turned west out of Waterton, went across part of Alberta and then south into the Flathead country of western Montana. We took off on a country road to try to find the National Bison Refuge and got really lost. So we decided to pull off the road and stay the night right by the Flathead River on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Problem was we didn’t ask permission from anyone, you know like the Elders or Tribal Council or anyone. I was sorta ‘on alert’ all night long afraid we were going to ‘get busted’. We didn’t and I got a couple of really good fetch and swim sessions in the river. It was heavenly!
We found the Bison Refuge next day after asking directions. (Go figure!) That was something unbelievable. We actually drove the Pod right through a large herd of bison. I mean like bulls and cows and calves on both sides and in the middle of the road! I could have leaned out the Pod window and licked one of those guys right on the nose, but they were busy licking their own noses. I don’t get up close and personal with anything that is that much bigger than I am! The refuge is really something to see and is the largest herd, outside of Yellowstone, in the U.S.
After that we headed for Missoula. We had to hang around there for a few days to have the brakes checked out on the Pod, so we took a couple of side trips over to Lincoln and Helena. Kae was born in Helena, but her folks were living in Lincoln and managed the 7UP Dude Ranch at the time. They only lived there about 5 years, but she said it was sorta neat to go back as an adult and see what old buildings and things might still be standing. We found several things like the great old log Lincoln Hotel, Lambkins Restaurant and at least one of the guest cabins out at the old 7UP ranch site.We went over to Helena to the old Capital building which is a magnificent example of ‘capitalistic’ architecture and houses a couple of Charles Russell murals that are beautiful. (Of course they don’t allow discriminating art dogs into state capitals; an oversight if you ask me. But Kae told me about this stuff.) They also have the only stuffed White Buffalo in existence in the capitol. He was very sacred to everyone, was well cared for and lived a very long time.
Kae thought she might find a few shirt-tail relatives at the Grimes Cadillac, Chrysler, Jeep Dealership, but they had sold out years ago and retired. She said her Grandfather, Ben, had started the car business back in 1948 after he started the Texaco stations in town. There hasn’t been much contact with that side of the family, so there wasn’t any easy way to track down any of the cousins or whatever. She said she didn’t really mind after all these years and besides it was an even better memory just to see the beauty of the Big Sky Country.
Then back to Missoula and we spent the night at the Chevy Dealership so we could be bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning for the Pod work. Everything got done in a few hours and we took off for Lolo, MT. to visit Bobbie, a friend of Cokie’s who had invited us to ‘stop by’ if we ever came her way and so there we were! I tell you this was heaven. She lives in a really unique converted barn about 11 miles from Lolo and it was great to stop for a few days. I could smell the cougar and bear and moose in the area. Bobbie had put a salt lick out in her front meadow and said that a cow moose and her calf were coming quite often in the mornings to the lick. If we got up really early we could probably get some pictures. Bobbie woke us at dawn the next morning and sure enough there they were but it was too dark to snap a picture without using the flash. Personally I thought they were pretty homely and decided not to even try to talk to them, plus the kid seemed pretty skittish and I didn’t want my deep baritone to spook it, so I went back to bed. They left soon but came back at least two more times and C & K got some sweet pictures of them. Now I want you to know that I have a healthy respect for these very large wild animal types and I understand that they can be unpredictable and dangerous and I also love my Pod doghouse, so I know not to try to engage them in any type of conversation or to try to frighten them off with my rich vocabulary. ‘Mums’ the word, I say. I look, I listen, I shake and quiver, but not a woof! The ladies sure do love me for that; I always get treats and ‘atta boys’ when I’m quiet. Smart old fart, aren’t I?
Off we went next toward Livingston and Wilsall. Kae spent many summers and holiday visits in this area because her Mother’s people lived all around this part of Montana. We stopped just outside of Three Forks to go through the Lewis and Clark Caverns. The ladies said that was very interesting and the formations were strange and awesome. I was glad I couldn’t go inside with them ‘cause even tunnels make me nervous, so caverns would probably have spooked me something awful! I do daylight really well!
We stayed in Livingston down by the Yellowstone River on the backside of Sacajawea Park. It was a fishing access area, but none of us saw any ‘no camping’ signs; besides we don’t camp, we RV. It is only camping if the microwave isn’t working! I found the Yellowstone River to be a very pleasant swim and was happy to be there. Next we went over to Wilsall, where Kae’s Mom was born in 1916, found the remains of the old homestead owned by Kae’s Grandparents, the Lenneman Ranch where Kae and her brother Mick had worked a few summers and a couple of cousins: Ken and Doris Bailey. Quick visit to a dying little town filled with live memories for Kae.
Yellowstone Park was our next goal as Cokie had never seen it and Kae was quite small when she last saw it. Funny thing about Yellowstone, I mean I know it is renown the world over, Old Faithful is the most photographed geyser in the world, the whole park is beautiful in its own strange, wild and colorful way, but I was so uncomfortable there! It was that same feeling I had in Mt. St. Helens National Park – so much going on under the surface. I simply could not ever relax. I was aware all of the time that good old Mother Nature was constantly up to something and I couldn’t figure out when or where the next something was going to be; I could feel stuff going on all the time. Us four-leggeds are really sensitive to seismic stuff and both these parks are full of it. I thought the water smelled and tasted funny, minerals I guess, but Yellowstone Lake was way okay for a chase and a rinse.
The Firehole River was the best, though. There were terrific numbers of people around everywhere, which is okay, but maybe just a few too many even for my friendly attitude. We traveled all over and looked for wildlife, found some elk and moose and photographed them. Of course Cokie took hundreds of pictures of the pools, geysers, algae, colors, animals and more colors. (She thinks she may need counseling for this overdoing on the picture thing, but I say, ‘What the heck? This maybe the only time we will ever be here so make as many memories as you can for the future when our minds might be gone. The pictures will definitely help.)
Okay we made it through Yellowstone and headed due south for the Tetons. I’ll mumble at you in the next journal as we make our way into and through Wyoming. Until then take a moment every day to remember a favorite something. Exercise those memory muscles, folks; you never know when remembering where those bones are buried might be really important!!
Okay, the wedding is over, well matched, well married; we’ve seen lots of Kae’s folks and now we are off on an adventure just for me. Many months ago a friend of Cokie’s, Jane, had told us about an unusual bed and breakfast place in Cottonwood, Idaho called Dog Bark Park, ‘home of the world’s largest Beagle’. Kae and I had written them an email to inquire whether or not they had accommodations for four legged folks. They had responded that they certainly did and I was very welcome and could bring along my two legged friends. I thought this would be a nice little diversion and since they had offered buttermilk biscuits for all of us for breakfast, lots of room to run and even a nice floor and blankie to sleep on that this might be fun. Off we headed into Idaho, north to Cottonwood, not far south of Lewiston. Well, let me tell you, you can see this 30’ tall Beagle thing from way down Hwy. 95, but it is the only thing to see in Cottonwood anyway!
Let me just say that this is NOT my idea of fine art. Unique? Yes. Different than any dog I had ever seen? Oh Yeah! I mean this thing has indoor-outdoor carpet for ears, folks! It was built by the owners Francis Conklin and Dennis Sullivan in 2003. It is a one room B&B with a definite doggy décor inside and out. We stayed and visited with Fran and Dennis for quite a while and then had them autograph a book titled “Buildings In Disguise, Architecture That Look Like Animals, Food and Other Things” by Joan Marie Arbogast, because “Sweet Willy” the B&B Beagle, is featured in it. They really make their living doing primitive chainsaw art of mostly dogs and bears and seem to really love what they do. They were fun to be with, so I left my MARK on their 10’ high fire hydrant and the gals took a tour of Sweet Willy. We couldn’t stay overnight because they actually are booked months in advance and had a couple from New York on their way.
We left there and headed to Coeur d’ Alene, ID to visit Cokie’s friend George and his wife, PJ. George is the father of Cokie’s god-daughter Rachel. They have several acres on the lake and a good dog that showed me all of the neat places to swim and sniff and roll. Rachel’s Mom is Linda who has to live in a 24 hour care place in St. Maries, ID because she has Huntington’s disease so we went over there to visit her. She can’t talk very well, but she was so happy to see Cokie and loved seeing all of our pictures of Machu Picchu and Peru.
The gals had a really good visit with Linda and I got to sleep in the Pod for a couple of hours. We then went to Spokane to see Rachel and her family, spent one night camping on their street because they were still in the process of moving into their new home so things were in a horrible mess.
It was a quick, but nice visit also then off we went the next day to Lake Pend Oreille, near Sandpoint to meet up with our friends Greg and Connie. We camped in a spot called “Beyond Hope” Campground because it was just outside of Hope, ID. (Clever, huh? Really was a great spot and the lake was a good swim. I had had my ‘hopes’ up for a few days that it would be.)
Greg and Connie picked the gals up and took them to a dinner party with a group of very interesting folks and some great food. Connie and Greg are friends with one of the couples and through them had met all the others. This is a group of friends from all over the US who have purchased summer homes in the same neighborhood at Pend Oreille (that’s ‘Pond Ore Ray’, guys. Go figure! Human language is tough enough, then someone has to throw one like that into the mix.) They said they had a great time and the tidbits they brought back were scrumptious, so I know the food was a highlight.
We all met up the next morning and some of the neighborhood came over to Beyond Hope to meet and say hello to me and take a tour of my wonderful Pod. I explained how it was the best, most luxurious dog house in the whole world and that I loved sharing it with my buddies, Cokie and Kae. After all of that Greg, Connie and the three of us headed north through the backcountry of Idaho and into Montana and the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Last time we were together I was telling you we were on our way to The Dalles on the Oregon side of the great Columbia River gorge. We had come down Highways 25 and 30 on the east or back side of Mt. St. Helens through the Cascade Mtns. I really liked the quiet, old forest sense of this area as there were few people and evidence of little use. The Columbia River is an awesome sight the first time you see it but I can tell you it was not a river I wanted to rush over and jump right into! Our reason for visiting The Dalles was to see an old friend of Cokie’s, Harriet Langfeldt, and her husband John. Cokie babysat Harriet’s children over 40 years ago (280 dog years in case you are interested) and all three of the children were coming to help Harriet celebrate her 70th birthday. It was a huge wingding as she had invited over 100 people many of whom were also having ‘decade birthdays’- 10, 20, 30 all the way to a friend Helen at 90. John is a retired Episcopalian minister so many church members were also present. We were actually a couple of days early so we could help prepare food, set up things and generally help. Harriet’s kids were whirlwinds at organizing, cooking, clean-up, set-up, breakdown and more clean up. I was particularly helpful entertaining their two dogs – Goldie, an old sweetie and Lindy, a very young, very BLONDE yellow Lab. (Yes, even the dog world has a few like that!)
We spent three days in The Dalles and then headed out for Baker, Oregon for the wedding of Kae’s Grand Niece, Tess. We took a sorta long, slow way around, but that seems to be our style, don’t you think?We parked at one of the nicest RV parks yet in Boardman, OR right on the shore of the mighty Columbia. I can now add that swim to my list of great places to cool off. Strange thing though – I saw two cats on long leases tied to a tree! Now my Lab heart simply sang. “What could be better than Kitties on a string”, I thought? Well, they thought otherwise and simply wouldn’t move, beat me at ‘stare down’ and behaved better than I do on a walk with their owners. It was darn embarrassing! Nice folks, too. Shared their fresh caught fish with the gals and we had two great meals from their generosity.We traveled east to Pendleton by the Umatilla Indian Reservation and on into Enterprise and Joseph in the Wallowa National Forest and another great spot at the Wallowa Lake State park campground, plus a terrific swim in Wallowa Lake. Gals went into Joseph to look around because it looked pretty cute and they spotted a pretty little hamburger place. (Pretty tasty I thought). Joseph was named after the Nez Perce Indian Chief Joseph and the mountain of the same name. This is one of those high mountain valleys with ranches horses and hay. Everything smells lovely. Gal in the café said she loves it best in the fall when the tamarack trees turn yellow up on the mountain and winters are pretty mild with just enough snow, 1 to 3 feet.. Sounds a little chilly for this California pup!
Next day it was on to the Hells Canyon area on the Idaho/Oregon border. Hells Canyon is classified as the deepest river canyon in the world, yes, even deeper than the Grand Canyon! The Snake River is responsible for all this grinding and cutting to over 2000’ deep but it was a rugged yet beautiful thing to see. There was a huge forest fire way over to the north west of us which turned out to be pretty nasty but more of that later. 
We made it to the little town of Halfway by evening and started looking for a place to stay. (Now I thought about making some kind of joke about Halfway being half way between being fried in Hells Canyon and baked in Baker, but I stopped myself.) Cokie remembered seeing a road to a snow camp and since it was summer she figured there wouldn’t be too many folks and very little snow. Boy was she right! Few folks – ferocious bugs! The gals got the Pod right down to within 10’ of a beautiful little stream and we set up for getting our attitudes adjusted. Well mine was just fine until these huge horsefly critters started dive bombing! I swear to Dog they are mini-vampires and they are partial to Lab blood! Boy, do I love the protection of the Pod.
Off we went the next morning for Baker and the wedding events. We got our spot just outside of town, contacted the family, got the lowdown on the schedule of things, drove into town and had a few with the Bride, Groom and relatives, ran around the parking lot and came back to the campground. Next day, Saturday was the ‘big event’. Tess is Kae’s Grand Niece and a truly beautiful young woman. I mean by human standards she is really good looking, smart, very tall, smart, great coloring, smart, athletic, smart and was one of the loveliest brides imaginable! (Okay, Kae made me write that!!) 
I got all ‘duded up’ for this cowboy, excuse me, buckaroo wedding in a red neckerchief and my red leash and attended the whole event right out there in the park and the sunshine with everybody else. It’s buckaroo because that is different kind of cowboying. I understand the tack, clothes and attitudes are all very different from western cowboy ways and are sorta based on the vaqueros of South America. You can see the hats are sure different, Wranglers are too long and everybody has to have these sorta Fumanchu mustachios. Way different and my neckerchief was way passé!
It was great until they left me in the Pod just when I smelled all that delicious food at the reception afterwards. These folks really know how to party and did so until pretty darn late. But the leftovers were good and we all slept in the next morning. Had breakfast and another run around the parking lot with Tess’ crazy, busy, little cattle dog. I don’t remember his name because he never stopped long enough for me to get properly acquainted. Okay, we headed east into Idaho for the next set of adventures starting with Dog Bark Park; no kidding folks! I’ll be in touch!
They were all out to find as much wildlife and scenery as they could photograph, so off they went in the rental car to ‘hunt’. Unfortunately, the car was too small for four full sized folks and little old me, but I got to do my thing in the Pod and really the gals are pretty good about getting back and taking me for a whiz and a walk at just the right time.
Then Greg and Connie had to head back to Spokane and catch their plane home to Nevada City, so C & K decided we should head down into Montana again. We turned west out of Waterton, went across part of Alberta and then south into the Flathead country of western Montana. We took off on a country road to try to find the National Bison Refuge and got really lost. So we decided to pull off the road and stay the night right by the Flathead River on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Problem was we didn’t ask permission from anyone, you know like the Elders or Tribal Council or anyone. I was sorta ‘on alert’ all night long afraid we were going to ‘get busted’. We didn’t and I got a couple of really good fetch and swim sessions in the river. It was heavenly!
We found the Bison Refuge next day after asking directions. (Go figure!) That was something unbelievable. We actually drove the Pod right through a large herd of bison. I mean like bulls and cows and calves on both sides and in the middle of the road! I could have leaned out the Pod window and licked one of those guys right on the nose, but they were busy licking their own noses. I don’t get up close and personal with anything that is that much bigger than I am! The refuge is really something to see and is the largest herd, outside of Yellowstone, in the U.S.
After that we headed for Missoula. We had to hang around there for a few days to have the brakes checked out on the Pod, so we took a couple of side trips over to Lincoln and Helena. Kae was born in Helena, but her folks were living in Lincoln and managed the 7UP Dude Ranch at the time. They only lived there about 5 years, but she said it was sorta neat to go back as an adult and see what old buildings and things might still be standing. We found several things like the great old log Lincoln Hotel, Lambkins Restaurant and at least one of the guest cabins out at the old 7UP ranch site.
Kae thought she might find a few shirt-tail relatives at the Grimes Cadillac, Chrysler, Jeep Dealership, but they had sold out years ago and retired. She said her Grandfather, Ben, had started the car business back in 1948 after he started the Texaco stations in town. There hasn’t been much contact with that side of the family, so there wasn’t any easy way to track down any of the cousins or whatever. She said she didn’t really mind after all these years and besides it was an even better memory just to see the beauty of the Big Sky Country.
Then back to Missoula and we spent the night at the Chevy Dealership so we could be bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning for the Pod work. Everything got done in a few hours and we took off for Lolo, MT. to visit Bobbie, a friend of Cokie’s who had invited us to ‘stop by’ if we ever came her way and so there we were! I tell you this was heaven. She lives in a really unique converted barn about 11 miles from Lolo and it was great to stop for a few days. I could smell the cougar and bear and moose in the area. Bobbie had put a salt lick out in her front meadow and said that a cow moose and her calf were coming quite often in the mornings to the lick. If we got up really early we could probably get some pictures. Bobbie woke us at dawn the next morning and sure enough there they were but it was too dark to snap a picture without using the flash. Personally I thought they were pretty homely and decided not to even try to talk to them, plus the kid seemed pretty skittish and I didn’t want my deep baritone to spook it, so I went back to bed. They left soon but came back at least two more times and C & K got some sweet pictures of them. Now I want you to know that I have a healthy respect for these very large wild animal types and I understand that they can be unpredictable and dangerous and I also love my Pod doghouse, so I know not to try to engage them in any type of conversation or to try to frighten them off with my rich vocabulary. ‘Mums’ the word, I say. I look, I listen, I shake and quiver, but not a woof! The ladies sure do love me for that; I always get treats and ‘atta boys’ when I’m quiet. Smart old fart, aren’t I?
Off we went next toward Livingston and Wilsall. Kae spent many summers and holiday visits in this area because her Mother’s people lived all around this part of Montana. We stopped just outside of Three Forks to go through the Lewis and Clark Caverns. The ladies said that was very interesting and the formations were strange and awesome. I was glad I couldn’t go inside with them ‘cause even tunnels make me nervous, so caverns would probably have spooked me something awful! I do daylight really well!
We stayed in Livingston down by the Yellowstone River on the backside of Sacajawea Park. It was a fishing access area, but none of us saw any ‘no camping’ signs; besides we don’t camp, we RV. It is only camping if the microwave isn’t working! I found the Yellowstone River to be a very pleasant swim and was happy to be there. Next we went over to Wilsall, where Kae’s Mom was born in 1916, found the remains of the old homestead owned by Kae’s Grandparents, the Lenneman Ranch where Kae and her brother Mick had worked a few summers and a couple of cousins: Ken and Doris Bailey. Quick visit to a dying little town filled with live memories for Kae.
Yellowstone Park was our next goal as Cokie had never seen it and Kae was quite small when she last saw it. Funny thing about Yellowstone, I mean I know it is renown the world over, Old Faithful is the most photographed geyser in the world, the whole park is beautiful in its own strange, wild and colorful way, but I was so uncomfortable there! It was that same feeling I had in Mt. St. Helens National Park – so much going on under the surface. I simply could not ever relax. I was aware all of the time that good old Mother Nature was constantly up to something and I couldn’t figure out when or where the next something was going to be; I could feel stuff going on all the time. Us four-leggeds are really sensitive to seismic stuff and both these parks are full of it. I thought the water smelled and tasted funny, minerals I guess, but Yellowstone Lake was way okay for a chase and a rinse.
The Firehole River was the best, though. There were terrific numbers of people around everywhere, which is okay, but maybe just a few too many even for my friendly attitude. We traveled all over and looked for wildlife, found some elk and moose and photographed them. Of course Cokie took hundreds of pictures of the pools, geysers, algae, colors, animals and more colors. (She thinks she may need counseling for this overdoing on the picture thing, but I say, ‘What the heck? This maybe the only time we will ever be here so make as many memories as you can for the future when our minds might be gone. The pictures will definitely help.)
Okay we made it through Yellowstone and headed due south for the Tetons. I’ll mumble at you in the next journal as we make our way into and through Wyoming. Until then take a moment every day to remember a favorite something. Exercise those memory muscles, folks; you never know when remembering where those bones are buried might be really important!!
