Walking, walking, walking...aagh! Tick!

Well, I was right! Not only was it sunny today, it was darn hot! At least to me...it certainly felt hot! I spent the night at the resort town of Soap Lake, WA. It's called Soap Lake due to the mineral-rich water that has a soapy feel and has supposed medicinal benefits. Before leaving town, I took some pics of the lake and I got a nice shot of a black necked stilt feeding in the shallows.

My first destination of the day was Ohme Gardens in Wenatchee, WA. The gardens were initially created by Herman Ohme as a family retreat, but he was convinced to open the beautiful grounds to the public. It's now part of Washington State Parks and managed by Chelan County. It was fun negotiating the many stone steps, enjoying the flowers, waterfalls and pools. Not only are the gardens a quiet and serene place for people, birds like it, too, such as this Mourning Dove and an American Robin.

After a brief stop to buy goodies at the Aplets and Cotlets factory store in Cashmere, I visited the nearby Peshatin Pinnacles State Park. Most of the trails were a little too steep for my liking, but I still got some nice pics from below.

While walking along the dirt trail, I saw a blur of brown movement out of the corner of my eye. Marmot! A yellow-bellied marmot to be exact. There were also a lot of swallows flying around the pinnacles, nesting in the natural holes. The pic below shows a violet-green swallow.

By now, it was starting to get pretty warm. I had a leisurely lunch under the shade of a tree in the park's picnic area. Afterward, I spent the afternoon in the the Bavarian-themed town of Leavenworth. I trolled some of the shops, but the high point was my visit to The Nutcracker Museum. The museum houses more than 7000 nutcrackers of all shapes and sizes, and from all over the world. It was nutcracker overload! I found myself looking for the cat ones.

 

As I was checking into my hotel for the night, the desk lady pulled something off the side of my head. Wood tick! The funny thing was, I was thinking about ticks when I was at Peshatin Pinnacles, and was careful to stay of the trails. Well, apparently the tick must have come off a shrub I brushed against...that's my theory, anyway.  I checked myself pretty well later, but that was the only one, thankfully. It was only the second time that I've ever had a tick hitchhike on me. Not exactly the best ending to my road trip adventures. And, it has been an adventure, full of ups and downs. But, I'm ready to go home and hug my cat. Until next time...

Distant wildlife and distant walking

Today was the first day of my road trip that I knew it was going to be a sunny day...for sure! Sunny AND warm! I got an early start, leaving my hotel in Spokane by 7:30 am. I drove south to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Cheney, WA. The abundant wetlands in this refuge were caused by the ice age 15,000 years ago and the land features are known as the Channeled Scablands.

The best way to see the refuge is to drive along the 5.5 mile Pine Creek Auto Tour Route. The last time I visited this refuge was with my ornithology class at Washington State University...over 35 years ago! In case you didn't know, ornithology is the study of birds. I believe we were there specifically to see the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Did I see one on this visit? Well, read on...

The first thing I noticed was the lack of waterfowl. I mean, I was expecting to find a lot of ducks and geese there, but that was not the case. It was hard to get any decent photos because they were too far away. The Canada goose pics are fairly decent, but the Ruddy Duck and the pair of Redheads tested the limit of my point and shoot camera.

I did see other types of wildlife, too. The wild turkeys were too quick to get a pic, and the mule deer turned her back on me. At one point, I saw movement and it turned out to be a coyote! And, the mischievous little Yellow-pine Chipmunk was trying to get my attention. As for the Yellow-headed Blackbird? Yes, it was very far away, but I think I got a pretty good pic considering.

I spent the afternoon at Fort Spokane, which is part of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. There are very few of the original buildings left, but I walked the grounds anyway to see what was there and to read the interpretive signs. Two miles of walking! Here are the quartermaster stables...it housed mostly mules...and the guardhouse. And, as I drove to my pit stop for the night, I stopped to snap pics of the always impressive Dry Falls.

Tomorrow is my last sightseeing day of my road trip. It looks like another sunny and warm day in the forecast. But, I'm ready to go home. I miss my cat!

Oasis in Wallace...and cacti!

Have you ever spent the night in an urban cabin? We're not talking about a cabin in the woods, although I probably wouldn't want to be in The Cabin In The Woods and you probably wouldn't either! I highly recommend it...it's a nice change from the standard hotel. When I left Columbia Falls this morning, I had two items on the agenda to be fulfilled in the nearby town of Kalispell.  One, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get my tire pressure checked, which was conveniently done at Discount Tire. Second and very important...I really, REALLY needed a car wash! Two weeks of driving on and off road, rain and snow left a dirty film on my beloved Outback. I found a nice automatic wash, and five minutes later, my car looked great!

Today, I revisited the town of Wallace, ID to see a place that I found closed on Day Two of my current road trip.  According to their website, I KNEW the Oasis Bordello Museum would be open this time!

Not only was I the first tour customer of the day, I was the first tour customer of the new season! And, no, I didn't get a special prize for that. The Oasis Bordello was a real house of ill repute. Or, in more familiar terms, brothel or whorehouse. It finally closed for good in 1988...they just up and left. So, the current museum preserves everything the way it was. I found this place fascinating, and I asked a lot of questions....easy since I was the only person on the tour! Unfortunately, photography of the rooms wasn't allowed. But, I did get a pic of the front door complete with buzzer to let the gals know there was a customer. I also snapped the back of the building with the fire escape that was used by men who didn't want to be seen going through the front door!

In the afternoon, I crossed the border into Washington and gained an hour, so it was still morning. I spent a relaxing couple of hours walking the grounds of Spokane's Manito Park. The park has a small Japanese garden, manicured outdoor flower gardens, and my favorite, a conservatory filled with both tropical and drought hardy plants. I'm beginning to realize that I love cacti! They had many different kinds of cacti from all over the world.

Tomorrow, I have outdoor things planned, and with the return of warmer temps and sunshine, it should be a wonderful day! After experiencing mostly 30s and 40s for the past two weeks, 60s and 70s are going to feel almost hot for me! I, for one, am ready to discard the jackets!

Glacier...without the filling

When I got up this morning, the sun had risen in the east. But, alas...it would not last. By the time I left my hotel in Browning, MT and headed up to St. Mary, the sun was struggling to show itself behind overcast skies. Pausing at an overlook, the low hanging clouds couldn't detract from the majesty of the snow covered peaks.

My plan today was to visit Glacier National Park. But, because the main route through the park, Going To The Sun Road, isn't plowed through yet, I had to make do with an east-west detour. First, I entered the park at the east entrance and traveled as far as I could go...that would be to the Rising Sun area. I snapped some more scenery pics, and some sweet shots of a lovable Columbian ground squirrel couple.

The second part of my Glacier visit required me to drive all the way around to the west entrance. Once in the park, though, I could only drive 11 miles to the northern end of Lake McDonald. By now, the sun was out, so my photos appear brighter. In the Apgar area of the park, I had a conversation with a cheeky red squirrel. So cute!

This evening, I'm enjoying my stay in a cabin outside of Glacier Park. The huckleberry pie that I had for dessert was also quite delicious! Huckleberries seem to be very big around here. Tomorrow, I'll finally be back in my home state of Washington! My road trip isn't quite done yet...there's still more fun to be had!