"Believe in Butte"

 

The day began early and with great promise. We awoke at Mallard's Rest, a sportsmen's access on the Yellowstone River just south of Livingston Montana. We had planned to go into Livingston for coffee, but the scenery was so spectacular we made coffee at the campsite and watched the sunrise over the mountains. The sun didn't disappoint.

  
We drove into Livingston and had breakfast at a café that is part of the Northern Pacific complex of buildings in Livingston. Apparently the train crews ate in the kitchen and the passengers ate in the dining room. We got to eat in the dining room, a treat for a train-lover like me!

We left Livingston and drove to Bozeman Montana, the home of Montana State University. Bozeman has been discovered by the "smart set". Property values have soared and the downtown is very trendy. Not at all in a bad way, but I doubt I could afford a house there.

 

 
We then drove to Butte. Butte, Montana had many nicknames. The most polite is " the Richest Hill on Earth". Butte is famous for its copper mines.

   

                                                              

Initially these mines were underground, but eventually the copper was mined in an open pit operation. The mining activity has slowed here and Butte has suffered. In the windows of some of the businesses are signs reading "Believe in Butte". I certainly hope it's true as we have experienced car trouble here in Butte. Apparently, our front axle has gone bad and is leaking fluid. Repair is not terribly expensive, (We Hope!) But there are no parts in Butte. We've been told that the parts will be here at 8:30 in the morning and that the repair will only take a couple of hours. With luck we should be back on the road and on our way to Missoula by noon time. (Where's Johnny when I need him? SEE: Entry 15 -  June4, 2017 Side Tracked!).

Butte also had a number of less complementary nicknames such as "The Armpit of the World" but I have many friends from Butte and I've always enjoyed their company. Evel Knievel hails from Butte. He seems to be fairly well thought of in town. One of my fraternity brothers was the golf pro at the Butte Country Club. He had his picture taken with Evel and with Mickey Rooney. My friend's name is Chuck and he was roughly the same stature and appearance as Mickey Rooney. He would take this photo to bars and impress girls by saying that his name was Chuck Rooney, the son of Mickey Rooney. People from Butte can be great storytellers.

I had another fraternity brother Tim who was the object of a vicious practical joke played by one of the fraternity brothers. The fraternity would allow members to stay in the fraternity over the summer if they would agree to pay the utilities, mow the lawn, and forward any mail to fraternity brothers who were elsewhere during the summer break. Tim was raised in a good Catholic family in Butte. A fraternity brother forwarded his mail, to Butte, but in care of the Dumas Hotel. The Dumas was the town's brothel! One afternoon Tim's mother got a call from Jean, the madam at the Dumas saying that they had some mail for Tim. Tim's mother was aghast. Jean was notorious enough in Butte that her name was known all over town. She only had to speak her name and Tim's mother knew something was amiss. Tim or his mother went down and retrieve the mail and the fraternity had a good laugh for several years to come.

Dumas Hotel 

The Butte Chamber of Commerce in the 60's or 70's adopted the motto: "Butte Montana, a Mile High, a Mile Deep and Everyone Is on the Level". Butte was a strong union town, so it was also a good place for Democrats. Harry Truman, during a low point in the 1948 election, came to Butte and felt rejuvenated. He recommended this visit for all Democrats who were unsure of their chances. Harry went on to win the '48 election. 

Butte has fallen on hard times and there are number of businesses with signs in their windows which say: "Believe in Butte".

We will be believing in Butte tonight and tomorrow morning and hopefully we will be back on the road. In the meantime enjoy these vintage and current pictures of Butte, "The Richest Hill on Earth".

Geezers Amongst the Geysers

 We arrived in West Yellowstone Tuesday evening and stayed at a KOA along the side of the highway. I am generally not a fan of KOA's, but I have to say this was the best one I have ever stayed in. This is in contrast to the KOA in West Winnemucca Nevada which was probably the worst place I have ever camped. The KOA in West Yellowstone was generally quiet and quite scenic. However, it appeared that only about two thirds of the spaces were full. Had the others been full, my impression may not have been quite so good. What was amazing is that we could not get a reservation to camp in the park. So we knew the drives through the park would be crowded!

  
This morning we awakened to 25° temperatures. At this point, I was happy we were in a KOA, because the site came with an electrical hookup. We have brought along a small electric heater which we ran before we went to bed and I started again after I got up. Had the heater not been running, we might've been more like the water that I poured into the coffee pot to make coffee. It was slush. Coffee took longer than usual to make. We love our little tent trailer, but there are times that it does not seem well suited to 65-year-old campers!

After breaking camp in the morning we drove to the West entrance of Yellowstone National Park. We took the obligatory photo at the entrance sign in the same place where we had taken many family photos over the years with our first ever photo in 1976. 

This was the first time that Linda and I had visited Yellowstone together. The sign has weathered the years better than I have. But I have to say, Linda and I still look pretty good. The Park still delights us!

   

                          

Today the park was even more crowded. 

Instead of Europeans and Asians we were treated to Californians and Oregonians as well as a smattering Washingtonians. It always strikes me as odd that the coastal states which often lecture Idaho, Wyoming and Montana about responsibility, then come to Idaho, Wyoming and Montana to enjoy themselves and to get a break from the current strict rules and laws of those states. There is something wrong here!

The Northern Pacific Railroad advertised the Park as a "Wonderland". It certainly is! This is not our last trip to Yellowstone National Park!

                                                   Leaving the Park via the Roosevelt Arch 

As we left Gardiner, Montana and drove North towards Livingston, we once again began to see remnants of the old Yellowstone Trail across the river. The first photo shows the Old Yellowstone Trail before it enters Yankee Jim Canyon. The second photo shows the Trail descending a grade. I understand that this is a very rough and poorly maintained road. Better suited to an old jeep than Linda's pretty blue Explorer.

As we progress through Montana, this blog may get a bit more personal. That is because Linda and I met while we were attending college at the University of Montana in 1975.. While I will not claim to be a Montanan, I do feel a special tie to this state. You might say this is where I came of age and where some of the formative events of my life took place. I will not tell all the old tales, that could prove too boring, perhaps too revealing, and I'm not sure if the statute of limitations has run on all the indiscretions of my youth. Suffice it to say that Linda has been the great civilizing influence of my life, I also don't want to incriminate any of my friends or fraternity brothers. When I tell a story, I will omit last names, but they will know who they are!

Still, any trip to Yellowstone National Park is a good trip. And our many memories of this grand Park make this trip even better.

                                                             Geezers and Geysers!

Let's Finish this Thing!

 

                                                     Leaving Boise September 29, 2020

We finished our cross-country trip and made our last entry on this blog on July 14, 2017. We ended our trip at Yellowstone National Park. We drove home to Boise, across the Southern Idaho Desert and put the car and tent trailer away. But there was one thing wrong; we hadn't really finished the Yellowstone Trail. It is true that an earlier generation of the Yellowstone Trail terminated at Yellowstone National Park, but fairly soon thereafter the Yellowstone Trail Association sponsored the building of a transcontinental road all the way to Puget Sound. The Yellowstone Trail then joined the Lincoln Highway as one of the earliest transcontinental roads!

It has always bothered me that we didn't complete this trip all the way to Puget Sound. Even though on other occasions we've driven what was once the Yellowstone Trail from our home in Idaho to Seattle, I wanted to do it as part of this effort. So as Willie Nelson sings: "We're on the Road Again". We're starting a bit late, and it would have been better to have done this trip during the summer time, but COVID got in the way. But it is better late than never.

On our first day day we managed to get out of the house and on the road by 8:30. We drove first to the Boise Depot to get a picture of the city and of our "rig". Then it was off to Mountain Home and Yellowstone National Park to pick up "The Trail" again.

 From there, we will continue through Montana and try and trace the Yellowstone Trail as best we can. Although Interstate 90 has obliterated much of the Yellowstone Trail, we can at least hit the cities and towns that it passes through. In addition, it's turning cold. Last night it was 17° in West Yellowstone. I hope it's warmer tonight and that we don't end up as a couple of popsicles!

For early travelers and "autoists", Southern Idaho was something to be traversed, endured and survived. For instance, Frederic's Van de Water who wrote "The Family Flivvers to Frisco" felt that Southern Idaho's main purpose was to provide a contrast with the beauty of Yellowstone and the beauty of Western Oregon. I doubt that the Idaho Travel Commission will be using any of his quotes. 

Van de Water's impressions aside, there is much to see here and I will mention the points that I find noteworthy. 

From Boise we drove Interstate 84 to Mountain Home. At Mountain home we left the interstate to take U.S. 20 across southern Idaho to Interstate 15. The drive to West Yellowstone was approximately six hours and we hadn't even really started yet.

There are some things to see through southern Idaho. We crossed Highway 75 which is the road to Sun Valley. Beyond that, we drove through the town of Picabo (Peek-a-Boo - Remember the Olympic gold medal skier? She was from near here!) and then over the hill to Arco, Idaho. 

Before Arco, we stopped at Craters of the Moon. Craters of the Moon is a national monument. It has an otherworldly appearance. So otherworldly in fact that the Apollo astronauts practiced for the moon landing here.

 

Arco Idaho has the distinction of being the first town to be lighted by electricity generated by atomic power. East of Arco is EBR 1, which is the first nuclear power plant used to generate electricity. The plant has been since decommissioned, but most years you can tour the plant.

                       

In a park in the center of Arco is a Conning Tower or Sail from a nuclear submarine, The USS Hawkbill. This is another nod to Southern Idaho's significant contribution to nuclear research. On the rocks above Arco there are many numbers painted on the rock cliffs. These are whitewashed or painted on the rocks by the graduating seniors of the high school in Arco. The oldest one dates to the 1920's and the most recent last year's.                                                                                     

 

We crossed the Big Lost River before entering Arco and again after we left. The first time I came to Southern Idaho I wondered about the name. It comes from the fact that the flowing river enters the Lava beds in the desert and disappears into the aquifer It reappears near Hagerman as the Thousand Springs where it falls into the Snake River. 

Interstate 15 we turned north towards West Yellowstone. Along the way we went through the town of Rigby. Rigby is proud of the fact that it is the birthplace of Philo T. Farnsworth who invented television. Apparently Mr. Farnsworth wrote his idea on a chalkboard at Rigby High where he was a student!

Tomorrow we will go into Yellowstone Park and then north to Livingston to pick up the east-west route of the Yellowstone Trail. 

Good to have you along for the ride!

(49) Yellowstone, Home Again

Wednesday July 12, Thursday July13
Gardiner Montana to Boise, Idaho

Old Faithful, as viewed through the

window of the Old Faithful Lodge

We awoke on Wednesday, July 12 at our campground along the Yellowstone River. We were just north of Gardiner Montana, along Highway 89. After a light breakfast and a cup of coffee we headed south towards Gardiner and Yellowstone National Park.
                                 

 As we drove south along the river we were once again taken by the incomparable beauty of this area. The river seems to be running a little high and a little muddy for this time of the year. Nonetheless, it was beautiful.

We could see what we believed to be the old Yellowstone Trail carved into the hillside. It looked pretty rugged and it appeared that visiting Yellowstone National Park was not for the faint hearted one hundred years ago. Initially the formal name of the Yellowstone Trail was the "Twin Cities - Aberdeen- Yellowstone Park Trail". It was later shortened to simply "Yellowstone Trail".

Driving through the Yellowstone Arch

We picked up enough groceries in Gardiner for tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. Our plan was to do a quick tour of some of the highlights of the park this afternoon and then drive home.

                

Such a short visit certainly does not do Yellowstone National Park justice. However, we been on the road a long time and is much as we've enjoyed this trip we're ready to be home.

My first visit to Yellowstone National Park was in 1957 and I'm afraid to admit that I really can't recall it.  But I've been back to Yellowstone many times since and had the opportunity to explore it with Linda and then with the family.

Clock and Fireplace inside 

Old Faithful Inn

Every time we been to Yellowstone we have camped. It seems like this is the best way to see it, however, one of these days I'd like to spend a couple of nights at the Old Faithful Inn or at one of the other beautiful hotels at the Park.

Old Faithful Inn, built by the Northern Pacific Railroad

Yellowstone National Park is America's and the world's first national park. It is said to be one of the best ideas that America has ever given to the world. That is really saying something, considering the many good ideas that originated in America.

Exterior detail of Old Faithful Inn

America's national parks were the product of the conservation movement in America, but they were also the product of the railroads.

Interior of Old Faithful Inn

Of these two sources, it was the railroads that really did the heavy lifting to bring about the national parks. Had it not been for lobbying by the Northern Pacific Railroad, Yellowstone National Park would not have come into being when it did. The Northern Pacific Railroad lobbied Congress for the creation of Yellowstone National Park. It undoubtedly also assisted in drafting the legislation which created the Park.

Articles informing Americans of the great beauty of Yellowstone and of its natural wonders were written and distributed by writers hired by the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Yellowstone Bison

None of this diminishes the National Parks' position in America's history or Yellowstone's place as the crown jewel in America's National Park system. It seems that the Northern Pacific Railroad needed a destination for its eastern passengers to visit. The Northern Pacific carried well-to-do easterners to the park, which it advertised heavily in the eastern papers and magazines. It billed Yellowstone and Mount Rainier National Park as "Wonderland".

In my pony, ready to drive

into Yellowstone

The automobile is a relative latecomer to Yellowstone National Park. Private automobiles were not admitted to the park until 1915. The Yellowstone Trail and other automobile organizations lobbied for cars to be let into the park in much the way that the Northern Pacific Railroad had lobbied Congress for the creation of the park. Prior to 1915, tourists in automobiles could only travel as far as Gardiner before they had to leave their automobiles and climb into horse-drawn wagons to be taken to one of the camping areas or to a hotel in the park. The Yellowstone Trail, and other automobile organizations, had a campaign that demanded "Let Us In". Finally, the government relented. Whatever one might think of Park overcrowding, letting automobiles into the park truly made the park a place "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."

Inscription above Yellowstone Arch

The car, it seems, was a great democratizing factor in the Park's creation. One had to be fairly well-to-do in order to afford a railroad ticket west, to be driven around the park by horse-drawn wagon, staying at magnificent hotels. Even camping, in the early days, involved renting a tent, set atop a wooden platform in the Park.

During our short stay at Yellowstone we were struck by the large numbers of foreign tourists. Visitors from Europe and Asia have embraced Yellowstone. Last year 4.5 million visitors saw the sights. It seemed to us that approximately 40% of the visitors we saw were foreign. It also seemed that a significant portion of those tourists wanted to experience Yellowstone the way they understand Americans to experience the park. There were a great many rented RVs touring the park. Linda and I watched with amusement as a park ranger, through an interpreter, explained to two Asian men that the Park Police had received a large number of complaints about their erratic driving. He told them that he would let them go with a warning, but that he didn't want to hear any more complaints. They needed to slow down and obey the traffic laws. Having been in foreign lands, I felt for them.

Thursday, July 13 brought this vacation adventure to a close.

The view with our coffee.

We started the day as we had started so many others with coffee percolating on our one burner Coleman stove and a cup of coffee at the campsite. It was then time to break camp and head for home.


It has been a wonderful vacation. We were gone for 44 days and traveled 7,783.5 miles, using 307 gallons of gas. We changed the oil and the beginning of the trip, and twice on the road.

I would not trade the experiences that we've had for anything in the world. This is a big beautiful country. The people that we've met have been, almost without exception, extremely kind, thoughtful and polite. Folks went out of their way to tell us about the beauty of their town or their state. They asked if there was anything they could do to help us enjoy and wished us "HAPPY TRAILS". It was fun to add some of them to our blog. We've had over 15,000  views of the blog from all over the world. Thanks to all the readers for letting us share our trip.

It's nice to be home with indoor plumbing, a handy shower, and to greet our dog Chester, but I also find myself thinking about the next road trip....

Home sweet home.

Monday morning I fly to California to pick up the Ranchero and drive it home.