Kootenai River Super Side Trip

On a beautiful Friday, we took a 250 mile circle tour called the Lake Pend Oreille Kootenai River Super Side Trip. This is a branch off of the International Selkirk Loop, one of the top driving tours in the country. The route we took was north out of Athol to Bonners Ferry, then east on US 2 to Troy, Montana, then south on MT 56 to ID 200, returning to Sandpoint, Idaho, This drive took us around the snow capped Cabinet Mountains and Wilderness Area.

Moyie River Canyon
Bridge and Power Dam

Kootenai Falls
Where the movies "The River Wild" and
"The Revenant" were filmed.

Swinging Bridge Across Kootenai River

Ross Creek Cedars Trail

Cabinet Gorge Dam

Arrival at Farragut State Park

We arrived at the volunteer site at the Naval Brig Museum at Farragut State Park on May 10. This will be our home until sometime after Labor Day. There are two volunteer pads for the Museum Hosts. We were the first to arrive. We have very slow 3G internet, but we do have six TV channels: ABC, ME TV, H & I, PBS, World, and Create.



Quite and Peaceful Home Sweet Home



Pine Needle Cleanup and Burn



This is an easy walk to work.

FARRAGUT NAVAL TRAINING STATION

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US switched into high gear acquiring and building the second largest naval training facility in the United States, all in less than ten months. They wanted the Naval Training Station to be away from the west coast, due to bombing concerns, so property was purchased in north Idaho near the small town of Athol. The base was named Farragut, after the Civil War Admiral, David Glassgow Farragut, first admiral of the US Navy. Construction began and the first of six camps, Camp Bennion, was opened on September 15, 1942.

Twenty-two thousand civilians worked to build Farragut Naval Training Station. 776  buildings were constructed on slightly more than 4,000 acres. Of these buildings, the Brig is one of the only original buildings remaining. During the four years of operation, 293,381 men were trained at the facility. It was decommissioned on June 15, 1946. For a couple years after decommissioning it was a technical college. After that failed, the property was turned over to the state of Idaho and became a state park.

The Brig, the former jail, now houses a museum to commemorate the collection of artifacts related to that period of our nation's history.

Our volunteer positions are to man the museum three and a half days a week, while the other hosts work the opposite schedule, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The BRIG Museum

"Mac" a bronze statue on the front lawn of the Brig,
 was erected in 2006 to commemorate
the Navy Veterans who trained here.

The Brig Front Lawn

1942 Fire Truck from the Naval Training Center
Fully Restored by the State Park Rangers

Inside of the Museum

 

 

The humming birds are numerous here. So far we have attracted Calliope, Rufous and Black-chinned.

They are always hungry.

Lots of Fun to Watch

Enroute to Idaho

We departed from Santa Ana NWR on April 3, with stops to see family in both Austin and McKinney, Texas. While in McKinney we purchased a new Honda Fit. This being our first Honda, so far, we are loving it. Heading north over the Red River on April 25, we made stops at the Marion Reservoir in central Kansas and then on to the Excel Service Center in Smith Center, Kansas, for some repairs.

We already have over 3,000 miles on it.

Beautiful Lake Front Site

Pull-thru 50 amp. FHU 

Snow off in the distance on I-90 west
in Montana.

Idaho Residents for the next four months.

Mid-Winter Update from South Texas

We arrived in South Texas on October 19. Since we left here last March, we visited 14 states and one province, British Colombia, pulling our fifth wheel almost 7,000 miles. Of course our small car traveled more than twice that with all our side trips and touring.  All in all, it was an amazing summer.

 

It was good to get back home here at Marinoff, site number 10. We are continuing with our same volunteer jobs working for The Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. There was plenty of work waiting for us, fence to fix/build, signs to replace and many roads to clear. It is nice to be needed and appreciated.

 

The week of February 3rd we took a week off and traveled 360 miles north to stay at Peregrine Townhouses at San Luis Pass, an island just southwest of Galveston. We had beautiful weather and a relaxing week.

Peregrine Townhouses at San Luis Pass

The toll bridge to Galveston Island was just three miles up the beach from our condo. Galveston is chuck full of things to do, most of them we have done in the past, so we concentrated on attractions we hadn't done before.
 
Along the Strand is The Grand 1894 Opera House. This beautiful 1,000 seat opera house survived the great Hurricane of 1900 along with Hurricane Ike in 2008. Both of these leaving eight feet of water in the theater. This theater still has many performances and plays. Some big name entertainers include: Loretta Lynn, The Oak Ridge Boys, Sophia Loren, Arlo Guthrie.

View from the Orchastra Floor

 

We took the Texas free ferry to the Bolivar Peninsula
and back just for fun.

We visited Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge and San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge to do some bird watching. One of the major attractions is the 20,000 snow geese that winter here. We also saw a fair number of Sandhill Cranes, ducks, grebes and shore birds. We spent a day exploring each of these refuges.

The San Bernard Oak Tree is the largest
live oak tree in the state.

The Sam Houston, a Houston Port Authority vessel, inspects the ship channel twice daily and allows visitors to ride free for the 90 minute trip. We took this trip over 20 years ago and found it very interesting, so we thought we would revisit this adventure.

Freighter Leaving Port

Side Tripping in South Dakota

Having spent two full weeks in the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota in the fall of 2015, we decided to pursue some of the other attractions.

 

Pierre, the State Capitol of South Dakota

When we are close to a state capitol, we always try to spend some time touring the capitol buildings and noting some differences and similarities. Entering South Dakota's Capitol Building we immediately noticed some similarity to the capitol building in Helena, Montana. Later we found out that the blue prints from Helena were used with some modification to construct this South Dakota Capitol.

 

The floor throughout the Capitol Building is covered with millions of hand placed mosaic tiles, put down by 66 workers. Each worker was asked to place one unique blue tile somewhere within their handiwork as a sort of signature. These tiles have been lost over the years and only 55 of their locations are known. We did find a couple of them as we walked through the building.

In 1989, the states centennial, the building was restored
to its 1910 splendor.

The dome of the rotunda is 96 feet high.

The Marble Staircase is the centerpiece of the Capitol.

The World War II Memorial presented as
six bronze figures on a peninsula in the Capitol Lake.
Capitol Lake is fed by an artesian hot spring,
maintaining a 92 degree temperature year round.  

Dignity Statue in Chamberlain, South Dakota

This is a fifty foot tall stainless steel sculpture overlooking the Missouri River. Dignity, which is at a rest stop along I-90 near Chamberlain, was dedicated just days before we stopped.

Dignity

She looks beautiful from the front or back,
wrapped in a star quilt.

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota

2016 Theme is "Rock of Ages"

The murals are made up of corn, sorghum, wheat & rye.

I-94 Billings and Beyond

We stayed three nights in Billings, Montana, and then took the I-94 branch to North Dakota. We saw a lot of rolling hills and grassland and stopped at some interesting sites along the way.

 

Pompeys Pillar National Monument

Pompeys Pillar is a massive sandstone outcrop that rises from an almost two-acre base on the banks of the Yellowstone River, east of Billings. For many years people used this as a landmark and left inscriptions along their way. One of the most notable visitors, Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, arrived at Pompeys Pillar on July 25, 1806. Captain Clark named the pillar after Sacagawea's son, whom he had nicknamed "Pomp". 

Brand New Visitor's Center

The sandstone pillar stands 150 feet
above the Yellowstone River.

A boardwalk staircase takes you to the top.

This is the only remaining evidence of Captain Clark's
visit to the area.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We stayed two nights in Medora North Dakota, conveniently located a mile from the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit. Theodore Roosevelt first visited the Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt Bison. The following year his wife, Alice, and his mother both died on the same day, February 14, 1884. Overcome with grief, Theodore returned to North Dakota to heal in solitude. He invested in the Maltese Cross Ranch and later started the Elkhorn Ranch.  This remote 70,447 acre national park has a 36 mile Scenic Drive in the South Unit and a 14 mile Scenic Drive in the North Unit. We visited only the South Unit, but may return another time to see the rest of the Park.

Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin

Up to 700 bison are maintained in the herd.

We saw lots and lots of prairie dogs.

The red color of the rock comes from the oxidation of iron
released from an underlying coal layer that burned.

Some of the scenery reminded us of
Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

A local labor force built this old entrance station in 1938.
It was closed in 1968 when I-94 was completed.

Someone made a good find on this old propane truck.

We had a herd of 30 bison join us on a side road.

We seemed to have hit peak fall color.

The Little Missouri River runs through the park.