Driving west redux
Every September I go back to Chicago to see my doctor whom I have been seeing for 17 years. Since seeing a doctor in Portland has become problematic, I am glad I still have her. I got to see my friends Wally, Annie, Rick, and John Heindrick. This year I went up to Dodgville Wisconsin to see my dear friend Jocelyn. Southwestern Wisconsin is what they call Driftless country. Most of the upper midwest was bulldozed by glaciers in the last Ice Age but not this area. When the glaciers retreated they left moraine, also called drift. The driftless area has limestone bluffs, rolling terrain, and is very pretty country. Saturday we visited an art fair, two wineries, and the American Players Theater. It was a very good summer stock theater (beautiful setting too) and they put on the best “Merry Wives of Winsor” I have seen. The wineries had surprisingly delicious wines and many of the grapes, I had never heard of. Marquette?
My first idea was to drive up the Great River Road along the Mississippi and fly home out of Minneapolis. Then I learned about the train that runs along the northern edge of the US back to Portland, stopping at Glacier National Park. Glacier has been on my bucket list for some time. As I tried to put a plan together, I soon learned that all the ground transportation in Glacier (shuttles, tours, car rentals) shut down on Labor Day. A one-way rental was looking very expensive, but I finally found one that seemed doable. 2500 miles in two weeks and I get to see Glacier National Park, without the summer crowds!
On Sunday, I rode back to the Madison airport with Jocelyn, who was flying out. I picked up the rental, and they gave me a nice SUV instead of the sedan I had reserved. The drive to Prairie du Chein was uneventful, but I did learn why Wisconsin is called the Badger State. There were multiple dead badgers in the roadway, nocturnal creatures, I guess. I also saw some Amish in their black buggies with their black horses trotting down the shoulder of the road. Just before Prairie du Chein, Garmin sent me down a narrow scenic road. It was delightful until I came to an intersection and every road was marked “Closed”. I saw a farmer in his yard, so I pulled over to ask what to do. He explained that they had put the signs up on Friday but work had not started so just ignore them. This being the Midwest, we chatted for a while, about the weather, the highway department, different ways to get to Prairie du Chein, and other pleasantries. Prairie du Chein is the second oldest town in Wisconsin, unfortunately, it is quite small and most of the restaurants were closed on Sunday night. After wandering around for a bit I went back to the hotel and sat on their second floor deck. I had some decent bar food, some wine, and a lovely view overlooking the river bottom. I closed the bar, it was 6:30 pm!
I awoke to another beautiful day of sunshine. After some good biscuits and gravy at the hotel, I headed out. My first stop was the Fort Crawford Museum. The fort was established in 1816 to facilitate westward migration and subdue the native population, notably Chief Blackhawk. All that is left is the hospital building but the exhibits were well worth the stop. As I drove north along the mighty Mississippi there were limestone bluffs, lots of birds, a few trees turning red amongst the green, and almost no traffic. My destination that morning was La Crosse and the La Crosse Queen. The Queen is a paddle wheel tour boat, the tour on the river was about 1 ¾ hour for $20. We saw many eagles and went thru a swing bridge on the railroad line that first opened in 1886. After the boat tour, I continued north on the Wisconsin side and crossed to Minnesota at Winona. Along the way, I passed thru Lake City where water skiing was invented. That night was spent in Red Wing, where Red Wing boots are made. Dinner was a delicious broiled walleye fillet at the Bayside Tap and Steakhouse.
On Tuesday I crossed back into Wisconsin and headed north. The trees had more gold and the farmlands were picture postcard pretty. After a stop for lunch in Shell Lake, I reached Bayfield in mid-afternoon. The Harbor’s Edge Hotel is as central as you can get, everything in town is within walking distance, and it looks out over Lake Superior. I did visit the local maritime museum which was free. Dinner was at Pier Plaza, a piece of pan-fried Local white fish over linguini Alfredo.
Wednesday was mostly on Lake Superior. I started with the Apostle Islands cruise. There are 22 Apostle Islands, in 1970 the Federal Government created the Apostle Island National Lakeshore, which includes 21 of the islands and a stretch of beach on the mainland. The boat was much bigger than I expected. Everyone headed for the top deck as it was a nice sunny day. After a bit, the wind got to me and I went down to the main deck and decided that the view was much better from there as you were at eye level with the shore of the islands. The islands have little old-growth woods left and are made of sandstone. The northernmost island is called Devils Island. The sandstone is eroding on the north side, leaving magnificent sea caves. After the cruise, I took the Madeline Island ferry and visited the local museum. They had a great exhibition of work by local native American women. Some old buildings had been relocated to the museum site. Dinner that evening was at the Copper Trout, a great fillet of broiled local white fish.
Thursday I set out on the adventure of driving west, 2000 miles in 10 days. My hotel did not serve breakfast and there was only one place in town that was open, Mannypenny Bistro. I used to consider breakfast an inexpensive meal, but $18 for an omelet, plus coffee, tax, and tip, made it an investment. The northern part of Wisconsin is gorgeous farm country and the trees were rapidly turning gold. I crossed into Minnesota just south of Duluth and was on US2, my route for almost the entire way to the Pacific. US2 was originally called the Theodor Roosevelt Highway and runs from Portland Maine to Portland Oregon. Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and most of them are in the northeast quarter of the state. There were lakes on both sides of the road almost all afternoon. My stop that evening was Bemidji, a relatively uninteresting town crowded with fast food chains. I found one place that seemed unique, Brigid’s Pub. The waitress was very nice, but when I asked about wine I got a blank look. She said she had no idea what they had. I asked for a brown ale and she said they had change taps and did not have that. I pointed out that the menu said it was in cans. So she went and brought me an amber ale! I gave up trying to order what I wanted and drank it. The fried walleye was cooked perfectly but unseasoned.
Northwest Minnesota is farm country. At first, I thought they had burned their fields like they do in Idaho. After a while, I realized the soil was that black, it looked like coal. I was darker black than any potting soil I have ever seen. They could grow anything there if it wasn’t for the winters. Eastern North Dakota was pretty and I stopped for lunch in Devil’s Lake, a resort town. I had lunch at the Old Main Street Cafe. They had an all-you-can-eat soup bar with 7 kinds of homemade soup and a choice of 5 sandwiches for $8.25!!! I had the beer cheese soup and a chicken salad sandwich and both were delicious. As I drove west the land became more grasslands and they were cutting a lot of hay. That night was in Minot North Dakota. Another nondescript town loaded with fast food chains. I found the Homesteaders restaurant and had liver and onions with bacon and a stuffed baked potato for $8.00!!!. I guess the food bill offsets the winter heating bill?
Going west from Minot, the land started to sprout stripper wells, rocking horses (pump jacks), and miles of black RR tank cars. Getting bored, I turned off for a 15-mile detour to the Confluence Interpretive Center. It was the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. The exhibits were informative and there was a very nice Lakota woman who shared some of her family history with me. Sitting Bull surrendered here. There are also the sites of Forts Burord and Union right there. Crossing into Montana the country was again grasslands with an astounding number of those big round hay bales. I don’t know what they did with them as I saw few livestock. My stop for the night was Glasgow, reputedly the most isolated city in America (n airport). I stayed at the Campbel Lodge which was in the midst of a major renovation, but it was cheap.
As I drove west from Glasgow, the haying tapered off and the land seemed to be dryland grain farming. Every fam had 12+ silos and there were grain elevators by the RR racks every few miles. The RR tank cars gave way to grain cars. Montana is famous for its hard winter wheat. It makes lovely bread as attested to by Great Harvest Bread Company. I try not to go there as their bread is addictive. I wanted to see the museum in Havre but it was closed so I settled for brisket at Parkers BBQ house. Eventually, I arrived in East Glacier Park. The outside of the Whistling Swan Motel made the Bates Motel seem inviting and check-in was two blocks down at the general store. The room, however, was charming, For some reason I got a two-bedroom suite with a full kitchen. Yes, it was $204 a night but still the cheapest place in town. There were only two restaurants open in town and I tried Serano’s. I had the pork and green chili stew, wow, it was as good as any I had growing up in New Mexico. The double margarita was not bad either.
I planned to spend Monday on the Blackfeet reservation, unfortunately, everything was closed on Monday. The only breakfast place in East Glacier was Two Medicine Grill. I ordered the bagel sandwich but it was too big to get into my mouth, 2 thick sausage patties, cheese, and egg. It was a short drive to the park entrance and my first stop was Two Medicine Lake. If I had my book with me I would have sat there for hours, it was that beautiful, and almost deserted. Then I drove north to Many Glaciers. Some consider this the high point of the park. There were lots of lodges, all closed, and the most people I saw in three days in the park. Everywhere I went the trees were in their full autumn glory, I stopped often just to stare at the trees, the lakes, and the jagged peaks all around. There were 2 attractions in East Glacier town, a railroad trestle and a sculpture of two natives on horseback. Up close, you could see the sculpture was made of scraps, but from a distance, they truly conveyed the message of solitude and independence. For dinner, I tried the other open restaurant. The choices were burgers, pizza, or steak. The 8oz steak was $34! When it came, it looked larger than 8oz but after I cut all the fat off, I guess it was as advertised. Should have gone back to Serano’s.
The tapestry of the land: Light green aspen leaves turning yellow and then gold. Conifers; grass green, blue-green, and the darkest of green. Other trees turn a dusty orange. Low shrubs, brick red. The sheer verticality and jaggedness of the mountains, their faces sheared off by the glaciers, nothing growing on the tops but the season’s first snows. The glaciers, are fast melting, some only pockets of year-round ice, all to be gone by 2030.
Browning is the headquarters of the Blackfeet reservation and the only town on the reservation. I got gas, no problem. I looked for breakfast, not happening. The Museum of the Prairie Indian was open. The Cowboy Museum was for sale. Everything else was closed. The Prairie Museum was smaller than I expected and not very informative. It is interesting how every group of people will pick a moment in time and call that their tradition. Horses were native to North America but went extinct about 12,000 years ago. Humans arrived in North America sometime before that and appear to have hunted them for food. The Spanish brought horses to North America in 1519 and they probably became part of the indigenous culture after the 1680 Pueblo revolt. The fur trade in the late 18th century brought glass beads to the Great Plains. The two most emphasized points of the plains culture were European imports!
I figured I could get lunch in St Mary. They were boarding up the windows of the last restaurant to close for the season. I guess the 3-4 month season explains the exorbitant prices. I entered Glacier National Park to take the “Going to the Sun Road”, the signature drive of the Park. It opened on June 15th this year and reservations are required to drive it until September 15th. Nothing except the ranger stations were open in the park this late in the year. The views! I said OMG way too many times. The last 10 miles of the 48-mile drive were being repaved. That section runs along the shore of Lake McDonald and the traffic was light. At the western edge of the Park, I turned north. After a solitary 45-minute drive, I arrived at Polebridge. The road north of there was closed as was the border station to enter Canada, Polebridge is a Mercantile store, some cabins, and camping. The store was also a bakery! I got a beer and a large slice of pizza, the first food since the previous night’s dinner. As I was savoring the feast on the front porch, the very nice lady brought me some brownies, actually scraps of brownies, but if pushed together. enough for a whole one, yummy. The temperature was perfect, the scenery was amazing and I felt like I was in another world. Eventually, I drove back thru West Glacier to Coram where I had a room in a hostel for $150 a night, and a shared bathroom outside.
I had prepaid two nights in the hostel, so I had one more day in the park. I found Caroline’s Cafe for breakfast. I have had biscuits and gravy from Florida to Alaska, these were the best ever, and I had a huckleberry muffin for dessert, $9. Lacking any better idea, I decided to drive the Going to the Sun Road from west to east. The driving was slow on the 10 miles of dirt, where they had removed the old pavement. Once past that, the traffic eased and the scenery exploded. The views were much different from the previous day. Going east, you are facing massive vertical rock expanses, like cathedrals of rock. The many pull-offs were needed so you could stop and just stare. It makes one feel very insignificant. You start to identify with Baruch Spinoza who tried to prove, in the middle 1600s, that God and the Universe were the same thing. Exiting the park at St Mary (where everything was now boarded up) I continued back to East Glacier and then traced the south perimeter of the park. The road was deserted and the fall scenery was gorgeous. Back on the west side, I stopped at Glacier Distilling. They had several whiskeys and liquors, many flavored with Huckleberry. Huckleberries are abundant in the area and, supposedly, a grizzly bear can eat 100,000 berries a day in season. The dining choices were limited so I decided to just go to a bar for a burger and a drink, like a local would do. The first place, Packers Roost, everyone was sitting at the bar and no one was at a table. The second place, Paul Bunyan Bar and Grill, had everyone sitting at a table and no one was sitting at the bar. I grabbed a table. The burgers were $17!!!. Half a pound of good meat, blue cheese, a good bun, and deep-fried tater tots (nice crunch) was more than satisfying. A little bourbon and water washed it down nicely.
I went back to Caroline’s Cafe and ordered the same thing again. Then I drove north thru Whitefish. I was skiing in Whitefish in February 1998 when my trip was rudely interrupted to fly to St. Louis to interview with Jacobs. That fateful decision led to 18 satisfying years doing what I was destined to do. 25 years later Whitefish was much larger ( like everything). From there I drove up to Eureka, a charming town almost to Canada. It looked like some younger people had moved in, they had coffee shops, drive-thru espresso, fitness studio, galleries, health food store, many in restored old brick buildings. Driving south, Garmin showed an alternate route that was 12 miles shorter but 20 minutes longer. I took the bridge across the Koocanusa Lake and the first sign said “Not maintained for winter travel.” There were Ponderosa Pines, which once were common in the west, very tall and straight, with red bark, and long needles. They shed so many needles that there is usually very little undergrowth around them. The road was almost 2 lanes wide and had no center stripe. In the first hour, I saw 3 cars. I truly felt like a wilderness road. Eventually, I came back into civilization and crossed into Idaho. That night I stayed in Coeur d’Alene, which has become a big city.
The next morning I realized two things. I should have stayed in Sandpoint and gone west from there, from Coeur d’Alene I had to take 30 miles of interstate or Spokane before I could get back on US2. I should have bought gas in Idaho, it was $1.20 a gallon more in Washington. Just west of Spokane, there was a Railroad museum which included a narrow gauge train ride (very short ride). Eastern Washington was also dryland grain farm country. They had put in their winter wheat and they plowed right up to the blacktop! I passed a farm with a sign “Straw Bales for Rent”? I had hoped to see Grand Coulee Dam when I got to Coulee City, but it was not close to there, I should have turned at Wilbur. Just past Coulee City was the Dry Falls Visitor Center. The view was amazing and they had a great exhibit about the geology of the area. About 10,000 years ago, as the last Ice Age was melting, a huge lake formed in western Montand and Northern Idaho. As the weather grew warmer and the lake level rose, the rock and ice dam that was holding it back started to give way. The resulting massive floods ( “10 times the flow of all the rivers in the world combined”) shaped the landscape of eastern Washington, cutting dramatic canyons and scouring out lakes that are still there today. When the geologist proposed this in the 1920s, he was poopooed. By the 1950s it was more accepted and now is the almost universal explanation. The drive south from there past some of those dramatic cliffs and glacial lakes. I managed to get the rest of the way to Yakima without any interstate road.
I don’t know why I picked Yakama to stay other than it was halfway between Coeur d’Alene and Portland. I stayed at a motel I had stayed in before and ate at the Mexican restaurant next door. The next morning I stopped at a farm stand I knew and loaded up on squash and pie pumpkins. They even still had some peaches. Sometimes Garmin will pick a particularly scenic route. This time it routed me over White Pass. The views of Mt Rainier were spectacular, with the snow already capping the peak. The drive wound along a river and past a couple of reservoirs (one full and one almost dry). I even past the ski area I once skied at in 1997. Finally, I came to I-5 and the inevitable 50 miles of Interstate, then home. About 3000 miles in two weeks. The best mental health break ever!