Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

I always thought when a visit to Mount Rushmore would be a walk up, look at it, take a picture and leave event. I was wrong. There are a lot of interesting exhibits about the carving of Mount Rushmore, there are two films (one on carving and one on wildlife), and there are some trails. In the evening there is a lighting ceremony.

We found the exhibits and movie on the carving of Mount Rushmore to be fascinating. It took over 400 people about 17 years and $1,000,000 to build Mount Rushmore. Ninety percent of the carving was done by dynamite. Only the finishing was done using chisels. The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, built a model 1/12th the actual size. A disk with a rod pinned in the middle of the disk and plumb line hanging from the rod was placed on the head of the president on the model and a corresponding disk was placed on the mountain. Workers would take measurements from the model using this tool and multiply by 12 to transfer the shape to the mountain. They would drill, and place dynamite, during the morning, then set off charges at lunch. They would repeat this in the afternoon and have another explosion before quitting time.

Borglum had to make changes to the model when veins were found in the marble that would compromise the structure of the carvings. Through a window in his studio, he could see progress on the mountain. Next to the window, he had his model.

It is fascinating to watch the videos of the work on the mountain and the dedications by the different presidents as each bust on the mountain was complete. Unfortunately, Borglum did not live to see the final dedication of the completed project.

Devils Tower, Wyoming

Most folks know Devils Tower from the Steven Spielberg move "Close Encounters of a Third Kind". Just like us, if you have seen the movie and you are in the area, you are drawn to visit the tower.

The Native Americans actually have a much better story about the tower than Spielberg. The Native Americans tell of seven small girls that are playing in the area when a large bear approaches. The girls run and jump on a rock to get away from the bear. The girls beg the rock to save them from the bear and the rock grows. As the rock grows taller and taller, the bear continues to claw at the rock in order to climb it to get the girls. The rock grows to the sky where the seven sisters are left to play together forever (hence the constellation Pleiades). The scratches from the bear are left in the rock forever.

If you are looking for a close encounter, it will have to be with a prairie dog in the fields below Devils Tower.

Little Bighorn, Montana

The black stone is where Custer fell

Monument for Custer's men

Monument for the Native Americans

We actually visited Little Bighorn on the 113th anniversary of the last day of the battle. Consequently, there were a lot of events and A LOT of people. It was interesting to read the events from both points of view.

The one thing that sticks with me from the museum at Little Bighorn is that Ulysses S Grant was so proactive as President with regards to converting Native Americans to Christianity and placing them in reservations or exterminating those who did not cooperate. I find this so hypocritical from the man who fought against slavery in the Civil War.

Many Glaciers, Glacier National Park, Montana

Many Glaciers is another section on the east side of Glacier National Park. When we were there, the glaciers were still covered with snow so it was difficult to tell the glaciers from the snow. One of the reasons we really wanted to visit Glacier National Park was that I had read that the glaciers will be gone within our lifetimes. When we got to the park, we learned that latest prediction is that all the glaciers in the park will be gone within 12 years.

Even without glaciers, the park is a true masterpiece. I wish I had a week to spend at glacier visiting the west side, the three entrances on the east side, and the sister park in Canada. I would hike, kayak, fish, and just be.

Two Medicine, Glacier National Park, Montana

Boat Dock at Two Medicine Lake

Twin Falls on the hike to Upper Two Medicine Lake

Ridge at Upper Two Medicine Lake

Upper Two Medicine Lake

1920's Boat on Two Medicine Lake

Glacier National Park is a premier hiking park and a premier fishing park. You can fish anywhere in Glacier without a license. As far as hiking goes, the problem is that most of the trails are more than 4 miles....ONE WAY!!! Since we weren't up for an eight mile hike and Kevin wanted to try his hand at fishing, we decided to take a boat/hike. On several of the lakes, you can cut off several miles of hiking by taking the boat tour down the lake to the the trail head at the other end.

We went on the 2.2 mile hike (one way) from Two Medicine Lake to Upper Two Medicine Lake. The fishing at Upper Two Medicine is the best in the park according to the 80+ year old volunteer ranger we spoke to. Also, Two Medicine is the highest Alpine Lake that a person can drive to so it sounded like a perfect boat ride, hike, picnic, fishing day.

Unfortunately, when we got to Upper Two Glacier, we had to cross snow pack to get to the lake. When we got to the lake, we saw a lot of logs in the lake near the shoreline due to the avalanches from the winter. Although the lake may have been loaded with fish, we could not find a bank to fish on that did not have 10 feet of logs floating in the water next to the shore.

It was still a great hike and Kevin was able to fish a bit from the dock on Two Medicine Lake before the boat returned to pick us up. One thing is for sure is that there a lot of worse places to not catch fish.

Animals, Glacier National Park, Montana

Big Horn sheep

Mountain goats...parents and little ones

Chipmunk greeters...they greeted us at restaurants and shops in the park

While we were in Glacier, we did not see a bear. We talked to many folks who had seen grizzlies on hikes or near their hotel, but we only saw the nicer animals of Glacier. It would have been fun to see a bear but it was not necessary. We were entertained enough with the long horn sheep, the mountain goats, and the funny little chipmunks.

Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana

We visited Glacier National Park on June 22-25. We were hoping to drive the Going-To-The-Sun road from west to east. Although it was planned to be open around June 19, it actually opened two days after we left. Fortunately, we were able to drive about 36 miles of the road from the west.

After driving the road, we understood why it is so difficult to get in open. In addition to plowing the road, the park has to inspect how much of the road was damaged by heavy snowfall and avalanches. There were many areas of the road that were only one lane because big chunks were missing in the other lane. We also saw workers dangling over the edge of the cliffs on which the roads were built inspecting the road. At least the workers were dangling in nice solid metal buckets from heavy equipment unlike their predecessors who built the road by dangling from ropes.

The road was a spectactular drive from a river valley to the sun...at least it felt like you were almost as high as the sun. It was a beautiful day for a drive. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep the windows or sunroof open because the road goes so close to waterfalls that we would have been soaked.

Grand Coulee Dam

On the way from Northern Cascades National Park to Glacier National Park, we made another stop on our dam tour, the Grand Coulee Dam. The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest concrete structure in North America with 11,975,521 yd³ used to build it. Construction on this dam across the Columbia River started in 1933 and was completed in 1942.

The Grand Coulee Dam is the largest electricity producing dam in the US and the 5th largest electricity producing dam in the world. In the summer, you can watch a laser show on the dam each night after sunset. Unfortunately, sunset was close to 10 pm when we were there and we we were a few hours from our destination...no light show for us :(

Northern Cascades, Washington

Washington Pass
River along the Northern Cascades Highway

Dam creating Diablo Lake

Falls in the gorge at Diablo Lake


Winthrop, Washington

Our next major destination after the Olympic Peninsula was Glacier National Park in Montana. We had several choices of routes to take from Olympic National Park to Glacier National Park. We chose to take the road through the Northern Cascades in Washington. The drive was beautiful.

Most of the drive was next to rivers or lakes that were a blue-green shade that was reminiscent of the waters in the Caribbean. Seeing that almost turquoise water next to the dark green spruce trees was an amazing site. Unfortunately, the pictures do not do the colors justice :( It was so beautiful that we made several stops in the cascades just to take in the views.

On our trip we had a discussion as to why this range of mountains that run from southern Oregon to northern Washington is called The Cascades. After driving the Northern Cascade highway and visiting the area around Prospect, Oregon, we agreed we would have named the mountain range "The Cascades" because of all the water cascading down the cliffs from the snow melt. We don't know that for sure but we think the reason is plausible.

We ended our day in the small town of Winthrop. The town still has that old west look that you often see in Western movies. We enjoyed eating burgers at Three Fingered Jack's Saloon which is the oldest "legally" operating saloon in Washington State.

Olympic Mountain, Washington

In the end, we had to go to Victoria so we could see the Olympic Mountains. The entire time we were on the Olympic Peninsula, the mountains were covered with fog or rain. As we were returning to Port Angeles on the ferry from Victoria, we finally saw the mountains in all their glory. We also saw our last sunset over the Pacific before heading back east.

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria Harbor

Ferries to transport tourists around the harbor

Coastline in Victoria

Sea Plane landing on the harbor

Parliament Building

It was such a foggy, rainy day on the Olympic Peninsula that we didn't know how to spend the day. When we looked across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and saw that the weather looked better on Vancouver Island, we decided to take the ferry to Victoria.

After being in small towns on Olympic Peninsula, arriving at Victoria Harbour was a pleasant surprise. It was like being transported to Europe. When you arrive in the harbor, you can see the Parliament building and a historic hotel covered with ivy. The big difference in any European city I have visited is the presence of sea planes. The harbor also acts as a runway for the sea planes.

We had a lovely time visiting a pub, strolling along the harbor, and taking a city tour. If you are ever on the Olympic Peninsula, I highly recommend a brief escape to the lovely city of Victoria, BC.

Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Washington

What we expected to see from Hurricane Ridge

Our View from Hurricane Ridge

Lupines on Hurricane Ridge

Our last full day on the Olympic Peninsula, we drove up to Hurricane Ridge hoping to see the Olympic mountains in all their glory. Instead, we saw clouds, clouds, and more clouds. Based on the pictures at the visitors centers and on the post cards, we believe there are beautiful mountains behind the clouds. I guess we have a reason to make another trip to the Olympic Peninsula so we can see the mountains. That doesn't sound so bad.

Cape Flattery, Olympic Penninsula, Washington

The north western most point in the continental USTatoosh Island Lighthouse

Cape Flattery Coastline

Cape Flattery Sea Caves

Starfish clinging to the rocks at Cape Flattery

Since we had visited the southern most point in the US earlier this year, it was only fitting that we visited the northwestern most point in the continental US. Consequently, we took the hour plus drive to Cape Flattery...and it was well worth it.

Cape Flattery has a .7 mile trail across cedar boardwalks that stops at 4 overlooks including an overlook of Tatoosh Island which is the most northwestern point in the US. The sea caves, sea stacks, and gorgeous coastline make the drive and the hike well worthwhile.

Mora Bay, Olympic National Park, Washington

Driftwood on Rialto Beach at Moro Bay

Driftwood on beach with sea stacks in the background

An American Bald Eagle with lunch for the babies

The eagle killed a seagull to feed the chicks

The beach was mostly stone

We stayed one night in Forks, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula. For those of you with teenage children, you may recognize Forks from the movie "Twilight" based on the books on teenage vampires. The town has gotten a lot of tourism because of the movie. The motel we stayed in even has "Twilight" rooms, complete with hot pink walls and movie posters. We chose a regular room.

The owners of the motel suggested we visit Mora Bay to see the sea stacks and the "hole in the wall" sea cave. When we got the the beach, we were the only folks there. We were surprised to see the huge driftwood logs and the stones that looked like they belonged in a river and not on the beach. It was a beautiful bay.

While walking along the beach, we saw the most amazing thing either of us have ever seen. We saw an eagle flying across the ocean and land in a tree. We have seen eagles before in Alaska and in Florida, however, they were typically sitting in a tree. The amazing thing is what happened next. The eagle took off from the tree and flew out to sea very fast but very quietly. We saw the eagle going after another bird. The eagle was relentless. It kept driving the other bird into the water. Finally, the eagle grabbed its prey and started flying back toward the beach. It landed on a low branch on a dead tree and threw the bird too the ground. It then went down and picked up the bird and flew to the nest. Although we could not see the nest nor the chicks, we heard a lot of racket from the chicks.

We spent so much time watching this amazing display of nature that we never made it out to the sea cave. We will probably get to see other sea caves but I doubt we will ever get another chance to witness such a remarkable event as an eagle hunting.