September 30, 2017 - Boston, MA

Everyone told us that is was going to rain today, but it was such a beautiful evening last night, we didn’t want to believe them. Well, everyone was right! We woke to rain, rain, and more rain.

We had breakfast in the hotel, then borrowed a couple of umbrellas from the front desk and headed out to sightsee and walk the Freedom Trail. Having taught middle school US History, I was excited to see the places where so many of our country’s significant historical events took place!

From our hotel we headed to Boston Common. Established in 1634, Boston Common is America’s oldest public park. Puritan colonists purchased the land rights to the Common’s 44 acres from the first settler of the area, Anglican minister William Blackstone. The pasture then became known as the "Common Land" and was used to graze local livestock until 1830. It was also referred to as a "trayning field," where over 1000 Redcoats made camp on the Common during the British occupation of Boston in 1775. It was from here that three brigades of Redcoats left to make the fateful trip to Lexington and Concord.

Adjacent to Boston Common, the next stop on the trail was the Massachusetts State House. Completed on January 11, 1798, and is widely acclaimed as one of the more magnificent public buildings in the country. The land for the State House was originally used as John Hancock’s cow pasture. The golden dome, was once made of wood, but was later overlaid with copper by Paul Revere. It was covered with 23-karat gold leaf for the first time in 1874 and was painted grey during World War II to protect the city from bombing attacks.Following the trail we made our way to the Old Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street next to the Park Street Church. This historic cemetery is the final resting place of John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere, as well as Elizabeth Goose, believed to the the legendary “Mother Goose.”  We were fascinated by how many of the gravestones were adorned with winged figures or skulls and crossbones. Apparently, one of the most popular motifs was the "Soul Effigy," a skull or "death’s head" with a wing on each side that was a representation of the soul flying to heaven after death.The large memorial was erected for John Hancock, while Paul Revere’s was quite small.Continuing on, we stopped at King’s Chapel. Established in 1687, it was the first Anglican congregation in Boston and the first church in America to have a pipe organ.

Another stop along the Freedom Trail is the Old South Meeting House. Built in 1713 to house the colony’s government, the Old State House was at the center of civic events that sparked the American Revolution. It was here that on July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time to the public in Massachusetts from the balcony of the Old State House. We passed the site of the Boston Massacre and on to Faneuil Hall. It is often referred to as "the home of free speech" and the "Cradle of Liberty," Faneuil Hall hosted America's first Town Meeting. This is where the Sons of Liberty proclaimed their dissent against British Royal oppression. For more than 270 years it has continued to provide a forum for debate on the most consequential issues of the day. It was at Faneuil Hall in 1764 that Americans first protested against the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, setting the doctrine that would come to be known as "no taxation without representation." Gatherings to protest the Townshend Acts, the Redcoat occupation, and the Tea Act would follow.

We found ourselves in the North End and stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. It was okay, but certainly not noteworthy!

We passed Paul Revere’s House and on to Old North Church which first opened on December 29, 1723. Its 191 foot steeple is the tallest in Boston and, because of its prominence, would play a dramatic role in the American Revolution. On April 18, 1775 Paul Revere met up with the sexton Robert Newman to tell him how to signal the advancement of British troops towards Lexington and Concord. Newman opened the church,climbed the stairs and ladders up eight stories to hang two lanterns for a few moments. It was long enough for patriots in Charlestown to learn what has been immortalized by the phrase "one if by land, two if by sea" in Longfellow’s poem. The British were advancing by boat across the Charles River.We stopped also at Copp’s Hill Burying Ground before ending our portion of the Freedom Trail. We did not continue on to the USS Constitution because it is closed for renovations. We meandered back to our hotel passing near the Charles River and enjoyed a brief period of no rain!Chinatown is located near our hotel and we checked out restaurants for dinner on the way!We ended our day at Pho Pasteur, a Vietnamese restaurant. Dinner was good and the company was great! Tomorrow we leave Boston and move north into Maine – and the weather forecast is SUNNY!

September 29, 2017 - Fort Collins, CO to Boston, MA

Today, we had an early morning start for a trip we have been planning for almost a year. We were on our way to meet friends, Marlies and Bernhard, from Germany, who would be touring in New England and invited us to join them.

We flew from Denver to Indianapolis then Boston. Marlies and Bernhard arrived about 30 minutes after we did, so we had good timing!

We used UBER to the Doubletree by Hilton on Washington Street. The drivers in Boston are a bit crazy, so we were thankful to have Bobby, who was a good driver!

After checking in, we walked to the South End and ended up at Stephi’s on Tremont. Tobey had the clam chowder and I ordered a pizza to for us to share. The food was good, but the restaurant was pretty noisy. I guess we aren’t used to “big-city” dining! We arrived back to the hotel around 10:30 pm and will do a walking tour of the city tomorrow.

September 1-2, 2017 - Glacier NP to Fort Collins, CO

Homeward bound!

After saying our final goodbyes to Marcia and Phil, we were on our way back to Colorado while they continued their Montana adventures.

We left Glacier and headed north to catch Hwy 464 east back to Browning, Montana and then on to Great Falls. Tobey commented that it was amazing that we covered the same distance back to Great Falls in about three hours – the same distance that took them three days!

When we got back to Fairfield, we both commented on how many silos and elevators are in the town. It does boast that it is the malting barley capitol of the world. The population is only about 700 people, but they have over 130,000 acres of cropland in production for raising malt barley in the area.We also went by several fields where the farmers were cutting wheat/hay. Coming into Lavina on Highway 12, we both commented on this building. Tobey said boarding house, I thought hotel. After getting home, I checked it out and it was a hotel. It is actually listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1908 to provide accommodation for railroad travelers in the area. Apparently, it is believed to also have two ghostly residents!Coming into Billings we spotted this old car that was tricked out. The owner seemed to be having fun!From Billings we headed into Wyoming and made a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We watched the 20 minute film at the visitor’s center which did a great job reenacting the battle which took place on June 28, 1876, and the results. The visitor’s center has a nice museum inside with artifacts recovered from the area, both Native American and from the Custer and the 7th Calvary unit. I wish I had visited here when I was still teaching history!

We walked up the hill to the Last Stand Hill to see the 7th Calvary Memorial. After the battle, Lakota and Cheyenne families removed their dead – approximately 60-100 warriors. After the Native Americans left, the US Army hastily buried their dead in the field where they fell. The markers in the field show where those soldiers were originally buried.Later, the remains of 11 officers and two civilians were transferred to eastern cemeteries. In 1881, the remains of approximately 220 soldiers were reinterred in a mass grave around the base of the memorial.In 2013, the Indian Memorial was competed. It is circular in design and has a “spirit gate” window where you can look back and see the Calvary Memorial. The spirit gate welcomes the departed Calvary soldiers into the memorial circle. We were impressed with how well done the entire memorial is done, honoring both the Native Americans and the US 7th Calvary.

We continued on our homeward journey. The smoke in the sky continues to make impressive sunsets.We stayed overnight in Kaycee, Wyoming at the city park. They offer free overnight camping for up to five days. It was a nice little park, but dark when we arrived at 9:30. We got a shot of our RV in the morning before taking off.

We hoped we had left the haze and smoke behind by the time we got to Colorado, but it wasn’t to be! Traveling south on I-25, we could still see the haze in the air from all of the fires in the western part of the US. Apparently, it has been hazy here for the last three days, too!

If you would like to check out Tobey’s ride, this is a link showing the ride and camping stops. The official ride was 385.4 miles, not including our “rest” day in Great Falls and sightseeing on the bikes for fun.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/23079418

We got home about 2:00 pm after a great trip. We’re getting things put away and laundry done, then will need to do a few minor repairs on the RV. In the meantime, Tobey is trying to find a bicycling partner to do a cross-country trip next!

August 31, 2017 - Glacier National Park

Even though it was more smoky when we got up this morning, we spent the day in Glacier National Park sightseeing. Tobey drove all six of us, and Penny, in our RV from St. Mary’s Campground to the Many Glaciers Hotel so we could see that area. On our way he said, “quick, get your cameras – a black bear is right on the road!” Well I start snapping pictures … He is such a jokester! 

We arrived at the Many Glaciers entrance and liked seeing the old entrance. Too small for most cars to pass through – and definitely too small for RVs! We went through the bypass lane.Walking from the parking down to the historic hotel gave us impressive views of the Swift Lake with the mountain peaks to the west. It was really windy when we got there – there were even whitecaps on the lake!We took the 2.6 mile nature walk around the lake. We spotted a tiny black squirrel along the path. He didn’t seem very frightened by humans – he actually stopped and looked at us a couple times before hopping in the tree to eat the treat he found.By the time we were completing our hike, the wind had really died down, but we didn’t take the boat tour! There are a couple places where rivers come into the lake and we crossed those on our trek.It was an easy hike and we were back to the RV in time for lunch. We headed back to St. Mary’s and Phil, Jon, and June got out at the visitor’s center and walked back to their RVs in the campground.

Marcia, Tobey and I took the park shuttle back to Logan Pass, then transferred to the Avalanche Creek shuttle to see more of the park. As we approached Logan Pass, the smoke was much more intense.When we got off there to transfer to the west-bound shuttle the sky was actually clearer to the north and west, than to the south and east. We had a great driver, Hank. The shuttle was full on the way over, but we opted to stay on his shuttle to return back to Logan Pass. On the way back, I sat in the front seat and he stopped a couple times to let us take pictures since we were the only three on the bus more than half the way back!It is amazing to me how the roads were engineered through these mountains and tunnels built! Road repairs were going on in a couple places – including this tunnel.As we looked back, we could see the road in the valley below we had traveled on. It was a long climb back to the top of Logan Pass!Looking back toward the south, we again started to see the smoke from the McDonald Fire. Just before Logan Pass he stopped again so we could take pictures of these waterfalls. Then back at Logan Pass, the smoke was terrible!Today, I managed to see a bighorn sheep at the pass, as well as a mountain goat – even if they were “flat”! Yesterday, it turns out that I actually did see a REAL big horn sheep. When we left the parking lot, he was standing on the hill overlooking the parking lot. It looked so perfect, and in such a great position, that Tobey convinced me it was a stuffed sheep, not real, so not to take its picture. I walked back today because I was going to get its picture and it was gone! Turns out it really was a bighorn sheep. Oh well. . .

We transferred back to the St. Mary’s shuttle and headed down the mountain to the east. We had a good view of the a falls near Siyeh Bend.As we continued east, the sun was trying to peek through the smoke – which made it look like sunset, even though it was only 5:30 in the afternoon!After dinner Marcia and I walked Penny around our loop, then Tobey and I walked Penny again. We went through two of the loops in the St. Mary’s campground and more than half of the spaces are empty, with no reserved signs on them. Between the bear activity and the fire near Lake McDonald, I think the park is suffering. We heard they even closed the Lake McDonald Lodge two days ago!

In spite of the smoke, we enjoyed our time in the park. Tobey and I will part ways with our friends in the morning. We will head back toward Colorado and they will continue their Montana adventure.

August 30, 2017 - Browning, MT to St. Mary’s Campground - Glacier National Park

Day 8  -  Yellowstone to Glacier Bike Tour

This morning the sunrise was pretty amazing in Browning! I always think about the old saying, “red sky in the morning, sailor take warning,” when I see the red morning sun. Needless to say, there is a lot of smoke in the air from the fires across Montana. Luckily, for us, there were no major problems on this last day of the ride.The guys were on the road about 7:15 for their final 31 miles. They left Browning on the Star School Road, through more of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. We passed through open range with cows, horses, and lots of dogs on the roads. The dogs liked chasing the guys on their bikes – fortunately, they seemed friendly. One of the other things we noticed on the Indian Reservation was how much trash was along the road – and actually in the towns. Last night while I was fixing dinner, Marcia, Phil, and June took a large garbage bag and filled it with trash from the park next to the museum where we stayed overnight. A Native American couple came by later and asked them if they were the ones picking up the trash. They brought a case of water for them as a way of thanks. They told them that “their people” were not good about picking up trash and they appreciated that they would do that for them.

After our stop at the old Star School 9 miles from their starting point, Marcia and I went ahead to Glacier hoping to secure campsites while June stayed behind to provide bike support. I don’t know if it is because it is SO DRY here, but may of the aspen leaves are already changing to the golden color.

Getting closer to Glacier, after turning back onto Highway 89 north, we could start to see the remnants of past forest fires. This area  was from the 2015 fire. The sky is filled with smoke, making it difficult to see the mountains.We arrived at the St. Mary’s Campgrounds and were in luck securing three campsites – all in a row. Because of the fires, the bears are moving more in the park. The St. Mary’s Campground was relocating anyone with tent reservations because the activity in this area was high and only hard-sided RVs are being allowed to camp here. Lucky for us! We got our three sites, then headed back to the Visitor’s Center to wait for our guys to arrive.They started arriving about 11:30 this morning. They made it safely after a long, steep climb, followed by about 5 miles of steep descent. We had lunch in the Visitor Center parking lot, then took the park service shuttle bus to Logan Pass. On the way up we passed Wild Goose Island and Lunch Creek.After Lunch Creek we could see this long waterfall and creek coming down from Logan Pass. We were  greeted by the local wildlife when we got off the shuttle bus at Logan Pass. Marcia was lucky enough to see a bighorn sheep, but unfortunately, I missed him before he was back in the trees! The wildflowers were beautiful near the visitor’s center.We didn’t spend long because the guys were tired and ready to get back to camp.We did enjoy seeing the private touring cars that came through the park – it is another way to see the park with commentary of the area, but expensive. One of the rangers told us it was about $90 per person! We caught another shuttle (free) back to the visitor’s center at St. Mary’s and headed over to camp. The ranger at the campsites warned us about taking the trail between the campsites and visitor’s center because of the bears – she said make lots of noise, carry bear spray, and be careful! Marcia and June walked over and had no problems!After dinner Marcia and I took Penny for a walk around our loop at the campsite. This is the view from our site looking to the west. The sky is still hazy, but not as bad as earlier in the day. We can actually see the mountains!

This is a picture of the ride today. The fellows rode 31.4 miles today and gained 2316’ in elevation, then lost 2198 feet. Tomorrow we will tour over to Many Glaciers and other areas of the park, but for tonight, we celebrate!  Overall, it was another successful trip – a total of 424 miles from Yellowstone to Glacier!