Hell's Canyon Revisited

We just love being here...

~~~

"We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature."

~ Henry David Thoreau, Ealden: Or, Life in thee Woods

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Aloha Laundry

A hospitable couple, Bob and Carolyn, are running their Aloha Laundry as a retirement business. When we walked in we couldn't believe what we saw. A festive Hawaiian theme with walls painted bright colors and a welcoming, well-appointed waiting room. Unexpectedly clean machines, without the usual "out of order" signs pasted on every other one, were neatly lined along two walls. Not only did the machines glisten, the whole place was shiny from a daily rubdown -- restroom, kitchenette, and the many tables available for folding clothes all showed loving care. The floors were mopped, wastebaskets emptied, and the windows washed.  

As travelers we visit many laundromats, and this one is the best we've experienced. I typically drag my feet when it is wash day because I really detest laundromats. But this one won my heart in every way, especially its delightful owners. They have thought of everything to please their customers, including exercise machines and free internet. Coffee was brewing, cookies and popcorn were available, as well as Halloween candy. While we were there neighborhood kids came in on their daily rounds for a friendly hello and a piece of candy.

But, better than all of this, the owners offered up great philosophy. They proudly spoke of their child and their grandchildren, as well as mentioning two of their children who died early deaths, ages 6 and 7, of sistus fibrosis. After these tragedies they determined that life was too uncertain to waste and they'd best start living. So they began traveling, going to Hawaii often over the years (thus the theme for their laundromat) and also RVing, all sandwiched in with various entrepreneurial activities.

It's not likely we'll find ourselves in Grangeville again, but if we do you can believe we will have a huge load of dirty clothes. No way am I driving by the Aloha Laundry. 

And, if you find yourself in Grangeville with a load of dirty laundry, the Aloha Laundry is located at 817 Cunningham, Grangeville, Idaho. They also offer one day drop-off service. Say hi to Bob and Carolyn for us. Oh yes, Benton was welcome too. My guess is if we get there again they will have added dog bones as one more thoughtful service.

 (Photos courtesy of Aloha Laundry Facebook page.)

~~~

Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.

~ Tony Allesandra

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Nez Perce

Dripping wet from a rainy bike ride along the Lewiston dikes, we needed hot showers more than anything in the world. Instead, in the parking lot, we stripped down and hung our wet biking clothes on the small clothes line overhead in Thistle's head. Finding the toilet, or managing to brush our teeth, was a wander through dripping jackets and soggy socks slapping us in the face. It was a wet, stinky, steamy mess.

Thistle needed cleaning, dumping and a refilled water tank, and we still wanted showers, so we splurged and pulled into our first full-fee campground of the trip -- Hell's Gate State Campground in Idaho on the edge of the Snake River.* Awww, Hot showers! On an at-home-scale the showers would have been a one, maybe. After many days on the road they were not top notch, but darn fine. The next morning was the beginning of a wonderful day as we stepped out into the world with shower-clean bodies.

A memory jog from our friend, Greg, that his cousin lives in Clarkston, led us to a coffee date with Deanna and Parker. Having only met once previously, about 40+ years earlier, we were delighted to spend time with them again.

As well as biking the paths along the dikes in both Clarkston and Lewiston, we explored the east side of the Snake River along Highway 209 to Heller's Bar, where we camped for one night among the fishing crowd. Our bicycles on the back of Thistle looked strangely out of place in this parking-lot fishing village. Despite our weird appearance we were invited to share a campfire with neighboring folks. We love how camping breaks down barriers, but not all barriers it appears. Over the campfire, conversation turned to fishing, well, duh, and we learned that the fishermen here were made up of three groups -- the flyers, bobbers and sinkers, and although they all looked the same to us, they were all clustered within their fishing preference group. Marge pointed her finger and said "the flyers are up there on that hill, the sinkers are over there, and we're the bobbers here in this area."

After three days of Lewiston/Clarkston exploration we were ready to continue south on 95, but before we got very far, we stopped at the Nez Perce National Historical Park Museum and Visitor Center where everything changed. After enjoying the museum and a delightful conversation with the ranger, at his suggestion we changed our route to Highway 12 and then Scenic Byway 13 following the Clearwater River. It's been one of those "wow" drives as we've passed through the Nez Perce well-marked historic and archeological lands as well as inspiring geological splendor.

With late afternoon approaching we started thinking about a place to stay and could see on the map little tents east of 13, along Highway 14. And here we are! Camped at Castle Creek National Forest Campground -- just us with an entire campground to ourselves and more wow scenes.

Trees are loaded with Spanish Moss...

This morning we continue on up the road to Golden, the first of two towns on this highway. Population not posted. We'll give it a 10, which is a generous guess based on the two houses we spotted. These photos represent the business district...

High up in the Clearwater Mountains, at road's end, is Elk City. We didn't drive to the end but Wikipedia tells us it is an old mining town. Current population 200 folks.

~~~

"…there ain’t no journey what don’t change you some."

~ David Mitchell

*This managed to drive our campground expenses for this trip up to a total of $55.14 for 18 days. Our average is now $3.06 per night, not bad but this hot-shower-weakness-splurge did damage our record a bit.

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"The Sky is Falling"

Traveling this country is always a surprise, and finding first class towns is rare enough to be a delight. Two towns in the past two days have impressed us as excellent places to visit -- Sandpoint and Coeur d'alene, Idaho. Both are full of life...pubs, coffee shops, upscale boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, book stores, amazing biking and walking paths, and at their core top notch parks, beaches, and libraries.

Sandpoint...

Fun street art

Many miles of biking and walking pathways

Beautiful sandy beach and park right in the center of town

Lots of city trees

Coeur d'alene...

Tubbs Hill within the city

Many blocks of city park and biking-walking paths along Lake Coeur d'alene next to the city

Beautiful people places! Well, that is, beautiful people places according to my criteria. What about the people who think coffee from a can tastes better than a latte? Or can't locate the work clothes they need in the maze of stylish outdoor wear? Or get plenty of exercise doing physical labor and don't need, and definitely don't want to pay for, fancy parks and pathways?

Outside each of these upscale urban boundaries, rural ideals reign. A tug-of-war of conflicting values has been set in play. The divide is understandable but the intensity is puzzling. As we drive, Ed and I ponder how on the one hand folks talk about this great nation and on the other hand deride it, pointing fingers to their chosen villains. This divide is all the more apparent in this political season where fear and anger are openly provoked and displayed.

As I was writing this blog posting, I stumbled across this quote, pushing discontent, being touted by the Green Party:

"We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy." ~ Chris Hedge

Really? Is our country, our world, really this horrid? Yes we have corrections to make, serious ones, but to declare every profession is destroying that for which they stand is as destructive as declaring there is a boogyman on every corner. Every good progressive can see the flaws in the conservative fear and hate messages, but are we able to acknowledge the same flaws in our own? Serious critical thinking is required to sort out the truth from the hyperbole, and that is not easy, but we must because Chicken Little's "The Sky is Falling" philosophy is not serving us well.

Without being insipid with "can't we all get alone" or "let's all be happy" or "everyone means well" could we perhaps agree to put Chicken Little aside and walk a common road toward inclusion...to make our shared goal a world that works for everyone.

~~~

"Today, the drumbeat has become a cacophony. The generation that has experienced more peace, freedom, leisure time, education, medicine, travel, movies, mobile phones and massages than any generation in history is lapping up gloom at every opportunity. In an airport bookshop recently, I paused at the Current Affairs section and looked down the shelves. There were books by Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Al Franken, Al Gore, John Gray, Naomi Klein, George Monbiot and Michael Moore, which all argued to a greater or lesser degree that (a) the world is a terrible place; (b) it’s getting worse; (c) it’s mostly the fault of commerce; and (d) a turning point has been reached. I did not see a single optimistic book."

~ Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist

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Yaak River

We had billed this trip as follow the turning-color-Aspen. So far it has turned into follow the turning-color-Larch instead. We had no idea! Larch fill many of the forests we've traveled, setting them on fall fire. The Aspen have mostly already turned and dropped their leaves, although we still might catch up with them as we head south down Idaho's panhandle on Highway 95, beginning tomorrow. But today it is Larch...again...and we are sooooo smitten!

The most westerly northern highway in Montana, Highway 92, from Koocanusa Lake looked so enticing when we were there a few days ago, we returned to Koocanusa Bridge and headed northwest toward the little town of Yaak River. Today's drive surpassed the fall beauty of my Larch Glory posting although I thought that would not be possible. The road itself is a delight too and highly recommended for motorcycle enthusiasts. It was narrow and full of curves with almost no traffic (we passed only one other car), although we did need to navigate a downed tree or two, several miles of snow, and white tail deer by the dozens. We clearly rate this road a 10+ in an automobile. On a cycle it would be off the scale.

When we arrived at Yaak River we simply had to have a beer in the town tavern. It looked like the place-to-be in this town. Food, declared excellent by the Mercantile clerk, was actually horrid, but the beer was cold and the small town hangout factor was high. Music was hard rock but only modestly loud. Clientele interesting. Perfect end of the day TGIF stop after a day on the road.

The gas station...

The rest of the town...all of it! Two hundred people in the winter, four hundred in the summer...

~~~

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

~ Albert Camus

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Trip Delay

This isn't the first time trip delay has happened, in fact, it happened on our first Thistle Adventure too.  Yep, Mr. Ed was not blessed with good teeth.   His teeth want to die before he does so his non-travel days are filled with fillings and extractions and impressions and implants and dentures and bridges and huge outlays of cash.  The dental work, planned to be wrapped up in September, has slid into October. Our Rocky Mountains trip from Alberta to Colorado has shrunk to something much less ambitious because we're getting a late start and the snow is already flying in Banff.  We now have a departure date, God willling and the creek don't rise of October 8, with Ed wrapping up his dental commitments for this fall on the 7th.  

My teeth seem to be doing fine.  Other parts of my aging body, however, are acting up.  Having managed to put the digestive tract health issue behind me, I've now been diagnosed with osteoporosis.  As they say, we don't get out of this life alive, but wouldn't it be lovely if loosing our teeth and doubling over with bad posture didn't need to be part of the game plan.  I could forgo the wrinkles too.

Aah well, complaining won't help my bones, exercise will.  My wrinkles?  I think I'll find some relief with candlelight and no mirrors.  For the osteoporosis I now have my list of stretches and twists and balancing acts along with high impact exercises.  I've biked for years to avoid high impact exercise because of my fused ankle.  High impact exercise is now on the top of the list of what I'm supposed to do -- running, jumping rope, hiking, dancing.  Yikes.  Do I sacrifice the ankle for a straight back?  It feels like a "between a rock and a hard spot" kind of dilemma.

Examining my life, even the struggle parts, I am always able to find gratitude -- wonderful family and friends; beautiful home and community; years and years of high energy and good health; happy childhood; meaningful and stimulating work and leisure activities; and money enough to consider myself rich by world standards.  I'm even grateful to discover there is a payoff to being older bringing with it a sense of maturity I never imagined possible.  Our retirement years, or as I recently read and prefer, our "refire" years, can be full and rewarding!  Long held relationships grow even richer and there is free time to spend as we desire.  A contented feeling, like surround sound drowns out not all, but much of my younger life's anxiety.  And then there's patience.  I have much less for stupid stuff, but much more for a delay or postponement here and there.

So, with a bit of a late start on our fall trip, soon we'll depart.  Reduced in scope yes, but no matter, we definitely are looking forward to another Thistle Adventure.  We'll spend time in the North Cascades, head east to Glacier Park, and then backtrack to Idaho's panhandle.  To explore the panhandle we will drive south on Highway 95, searching for bike trails and sweet small towns, basking in Idaho's scenic beauty.  Fall colors are in our hope-to-see plans too.

One trail we'll seek out is the Pend d'Oreille Bay Trail off Highway 200 (referred to as Idaho's Highway 66).  Highway 200 begins at a junction with Highway 95 in Ponderay, just north of Sandpoint.  A short sweet trail that has Benton wiggling with anticipation.

                                 

                                  

Our plan is to get far enough south before too much mountain snow and then home before it snows here on Whidbey.  We'll be home for the holidays. "Let it snow!  Let it snow!  Let it snow!"

Early January our first 2017 Thistle Adventure will begin.  Branching out from our southwest travels of these past two years, we currently have two destination bike trails in our sights.  First is the Natchez Trace Parkway, 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.  The second is the 200 mile Katy Trail State Park in Missouri, along the Missouri River.  But before the trails, we're looking forward to meeting up with Ed's brother and his wife at Big Bend National Park in Texas.

~~~

"When I reflect upon my life, the best things were like a fine wine.  It took more time than I wanted but how glorious the taste when it had matured."

~ Ron Sims

Mapping Our Adventure

Our first go-to-tool when we're planning a trip is a map.  A new adventure's enjoyment and inspiration begins with a map spread out on the table in front of us.  We stare at it, plotting our course, and reveling in the options.  Just like Brad is doing below…

Looking at a globe or Google Earth can take one on a magnificant adventure as well.  So it's with shear joy that I vicariously share Brad and Yessi's summer mapping adventures.  This year, as well as last, they are mapping in the Wallowa Mountains in Eastern Oregon.  But they've also mapped in the Olympics and Cascades in Washington and Big Sur in California.

It's a summer working vacation for them.   They hike for Green Trails Maps, confirming trail accuracy by noting amenities like restrooms, water availability and camping sites, as well as  tracking trail problems.  Floods, wildfires, wind-fall or even too little trail maintenance can alter a trail's course or make it no longer viable.  

Green Trails has this to say on their website:

"Get ready for some epic backpacking!  Our GPS crews are on the trails getting the very latest data and trail conditions for our new map of one of the seven wonders of Oregon."

Yessi & Brad, Green Trails Maps GPS crew

This past spring when we were in Idaho traveling on 209 North we were forced to turn around on a road closed by wind-fall.  As we backtracked Yessi and Brad's trail verification work came to mind.  Clearly the 2015 Idaho map we had recently purchased from Delorme Atlas and Gazatteer had not been checked for accuracy.  A fact that could have been quickly accomplished with a single phone call.  And given the road had been out of commission for a number of years, it was an inexcusable mistake.  This is, after all, why we turn to maps for route finding and why Green Trails Maps is so dedicated to checking their maps for accuracy.

Speaking of maps, a friend just brought to my attention a site called myscenicdrives.com.   The usual mapping apps define the best route as the shortest or fastest but this site puts those criteria aside and goes for scenic.  Windows, BlackBerry, i-phones and Androids are all able to use this free service.  Just enter a zip code or city and state and up pop scenic roads.   This is the data I got  for Whidbey Island.   You can also find hundreds of hiking trails.  The site looks promising and no doubt will become part of our planning repertoire. 

There is also a free travel app to make your travels more educational called History Here.  I have not tried it yet but intend to do so soon.   It is offered by the History Channel, alerting you via your i-phone or Android, about nearby places of interest.   Or a couple of not-for-free apps to try are Roadside America, featuring off-beat tourist attractions or Roadside Presidents, providing birthplaces, grave locations and other related data or points of interest about U.S. presidents.

And a map for seeing where we've been is fun too.  This map is on the back cabinet doors in Thistle.  The red dots mark where we've traveled in the U.S. the past couple of years.

~~~

"Anytime I feel lost, I pull out a map and stare.  I stare until I have reminded myself that life is a giant adventure, so much to do, to see."

~Angelina Jolie