SPRINTING WEST

June, 2021

Leaving from International Falls, Minnesota we would have 1381 miles to travel before we reached our destination arriving in Coeur de Alene, Idaho. Our route took us southwest to the border of Minnesota and North Dakota and then across North Dakota and Montana, following westward on Interstate 94 which becomes Interstate 90 in Billings, Montana (why?). We’d get to know the Northern Plains intimately while on our journey.

We thought we had been to the attractions in North Dakota, and had exhausted exploring the cities and stuff to do along the Interstate 90 corridor in Montana during our trip to and from Glacier National Park a couple of summer’s ago. So we planned on a sprint until we reached Coeur de Alene…our goal to complete the trip in a week – much less than half of our usual time frame to cover such distance.

Brian thought it would be pretty cool to stop in Fargo – someplace we had never been – but in the planning phase of the the trip we found that the campground reviews near or in Fargo didn’t impress. Detroit Lakes, Minnesota is 50 miles to the east and had several highly rated places for our stop over.

Finding our campground and getting set-up was a breeze. We went off to explore the area and were wonderfully surprised. This is small town America at its best – civic pride on display! To begin with, the 9,300 residents have a terrific summer vacation spot – beautiful lakes, waterfront hotels/motels, restaurants, bars and nightlife. But as much as summertime may bring to the city and merchants a majority of its annual revenue, and it would be easy to only cater to the vacationers and their families and not put much effort into the community at large, we found the downtown thriving, businesses active, a schedule of city-wide events posted at the ball field, and a charming shopping district. In honor of its 2021 sesquicentennial Detroit Lakes had undertaken a public art project called “150 Sails Up in Detroit Lakes.” All over town150, one-of-a-kind sailboat sculptures adorned with artwork from almost 100 regional artists have been installed. Add in 50 sunfish sculptures (also placed all over town) commissioned for a 2003 “Sunny in Detroit Lakes” event, and this is a pretty cool place. We spent an hour or so driving through town looking for sailboats and sunfish sculptures, heard loon calls at sundown, and found ourselves wishing we had taken more time to hang-out in Detroit Lakes.  

Next stop just outside of Bismarck in Menoken, North Dakota. If this were the Old West instead of the Great Plains we’d call Menoken a one-horse town. The campground was not much to look at – just off of the Interstate, self check-in, camper hosts but no office, no trees and flat. BUT, the sites were level, the bathhouse brand new and the campground had the best Wi-fi of ANY park we had encountered in a long, long time. We felt safe, didn’t unhook our Jeep, and in the morning we were off to our next stop.

The winds are a constant companion on the Great Plains, and high winds are not uncommon. As we passed by Bismarck on our way due west the winds suddenly whipped into a frenzy. Barbara became very fearful of the wind tipping Aimee onto her side!

RVknowhow.com states that headwinds or tailwinds may be tolerated, but angled or straight line broadside winds sustained at more than 30 miles per hour or gusts of 50 miles per hour or more may put an RV at severe risk and dangerous to drive. Our choice was to find a place to hole-up until things calmed down or persevere and take our chances. So, about 125 miles later we pulled into the parking lot of Theodore Roosevelt National Park…safely.

Miles City, Montana is another delightful, beautiful small town America place to live. 8,900 folks call this gem home. Not a place for families to vacation it doesn’t have the wealth of Detroit Lakes, but does have the same sense of civic pride, neighbors taking care of neighbors, and a great place to raise kids vibe that came across to us as we rode our bikes around town. Favorite scene? Kids and families having a blast enjoying the local swimming hole that is deep enough to have a high dive and roped off from the other 2/3 of the pond in which 2 broods of 16 ducklings were swimming about. In hindsight Miles City was another place we might have wanted to spend more than an overnight.

800 miles and 3 days into our westward journey we pulled into Bozeman, Montana, a city we had spent time in a couple of years ago. What was new to do this time around? How about a day trip westbound for a hike and to sound the ringing rocks…

The directions to ringing rocks took us 64 miles west on Interstate 90 and then along 7 miles of unpaved unimproved, and unnamed road somewhere near the town of Whitehall, Montana that required 4-wheel drive and high clearance. We chickened out, oh about, a steep mile or so from the rocks and hiked the rest of the way. The vistas made the hike well worth our energies.

When humans find stones that can make music, they tend to take note (with apologies to the pun police)! The rocks in this unique geologic formation chime melodically when tapped lightly with a crescent wrench or mallet. It is believed that the ringing is a combination of the composition of the rock and the way the joining patterns have developed as the rocks have eroded away, though ultimately a concrete scientific explanation has yet to be arrived at. Curiously, if a boulder is removed from the pile, it no longer rings. Slightly different pitches and timbres emanate from thousands of rocks in the formation. Grab your striker and spontaneously intone the next great symphony!

Virginia City, Montana is notable as a mid-19th century gold boom town, and as Montana’s first territorial capitol. The discovery of gold brought over 10,000 prospectors to the area, and the town developed to supply the needs of those seeking their fortune scrabbling in the dirt. When the gold ran out 10 years later the town was quickly abandoned and left to ruin. Lovingly restored the town was recreated to commemorate the excitement of the era. There is a sign on each building describing its original purpose, and, should there be any legend associated with a particular building (check out the hanging beam), it is described as well. Add in stagecoach rides, restaurants, a playhouse, and, of course, a rough neck saloon makes for an enjoyable day trip and a chance to learn more about city life in the old west.

Missoula, Montana is our last stop on this sprint, and is just 164 miles east of Coeur d’ Alene.

When we got back to Aimee from our visit to Virginia City we did our usual night before preparation…remove and store the tire covers, check the tire pressure, check the oil level, and be sure that the wipers were solidly attached and not stuck to the windshield. With short stays we also hook up the Jeep to Aimee’s tow bar (sometimes we never even unhook) and disconnect the transfer case in our “towed”. We’ll check to see that the turn signals, brake lights, emergency lights, and lights for nighttime running are in working order in the morning…just as we’ll bring in the slides and raise the stabilizing jacks before leaving. Whether or not we dump the gray and black tanks depends on how long we’ve been in camp…3 days or less and we’ll probably not bother.

Imagine our surprise that the Jeep would not just not start, and was 100% dead the next morning. So, did we want to extend time in our Bozeman campground or head out to Missoula and deal with the Jeep there? Curiously the lights, turn signals and emergency flashers were working…we supposed the electrical charge from Aimee was just enough current. So we took the chance and motored our selves into the larger city of Missoula.

Long story short? We called for a jump, which did not get the Jeep started…the young man worked for a solid hour to figure out what to do with no success. So we worried whether a bigger, more expensive repair would be required? We had the Jeep towed into the local dealership, and with a shout out to Lithia Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge for accommodating these travelers the battery was replaced (a bad cell in the battery was the problem all along) and we were back in business. By the way, if looking for the battery compartment in a Jeep, it’s under the passenger front seat!

As with Bozeman and a previous visit in Missoula on that same trip 2 years ago the question is what other mischief could we get into?

The Dana Gallery in downtown Missoula is dedicated to local artists, and is astounding and astonishing for a couple of reasons, The variety of art and artists’ choice of medium was diverse, the topics ranged from straightforward landscapes and wood carvings to abstract drawing, painting and use of multi-media, and the owners are a knowledgeable, welcoming and warm couple. Dudley and Candace Dana, who on a whim in 1996 opened the galley, in spite of their banker’s advice, as a place specializing in photography. Over the past 25 years the gallery has expanded to its present eclectic collection that has won numerous awards including being named as one of the “Top 25 Galleries in the US” by American Art Award.

On a more personal note Dr. and Dr. Dana are psychologists that teach at the University of Montana, and Dudley’s practice is involved in working with youth – right up Brian’s alley. If other customers had not come in to visit the gallery we’re sure Dudley would have been pigeonholed by Brian for a long, long time.

Out of respect for the artists and their work no photographs were taken in the gallery.

Another day and we were off on a bicycle ride. As luck would have it we bumped into a street artist who was just finishing her latest work. Not being the shy types we engaged her in a dialogue about artistic freedom, the places she had spent time and our favorite places for street art.

…and while not unusual we found nicely painted electrical traffic light control boxes a delight. Well done Missoula…

When in Williams, Arizona the summer of 2020 we fell in love with playing disc golf, and had a favorite 18-hole course we played frequently in Flagstaff. So with a little time on our hands we found a Missoula course that started out from the parking lot up a 30-degree incline to the first tee.

The course was an up and down, doglegs over tree lines, up from and down into valleys, through narrow tree alleys better suited for a goat’s adventure. We didn’t lose a disc and were sorta not exhausted after 12 holes…a successful day indeed.

Across from the parking lot we found a river access trail, and decided to take a walk down to the water. We were determined to see the river, but so were the entire Montana armed mosquito squadron looking for their next chow. We did a national lampoon vacation at the river bank, and beat feet out of there asap!

On the way to Virginia City we stopped for lunch at a bar and grill we found along the way. Our waitress recommended we try a “Cold Smoke” – a beer brewed in Missoula and sold only in Montana. When we discovered that Thrillst named Missoula one of the top U.S. destinations that are secretly hiding an incredible beer scene, we felt a brewery tour would be well worth our time. Missoula is home to no less than 10 high-quality craft breweries…

We treasured our case of “Cold Smoke” for as long as it would last.

There’s an iconic hike in Missoula. The “M” Trail is a “moderately rated 1.2-mile heavily-trafficked, out-and-back trail that offers scenic views.” Looks pretty cool, right?

The problem is finding the trailhead. One set of directions took us into a residential neighborhood, the second was even more confusing. Not sure how it’s a heavily-trafficked hike!

But, what we did find was the lovely Sentinel Mountain trail, a 2-mile hike with a 777-foot elevation and rated a moderate hike. What was really cool about this trail was that there were multiple tributaries running off the main trail that would give the hiker (or runner) an endless variety of hikes and an endless variety of scenic views.

We are so fortunate to be able to see so much of America with an open-mindedness to adventure and variety and finding an opportunity on a daily basis to practice life with eyes wide-open. Beauty or that thing that’ll make you “go hmmm” may be waiting just around the corner…and it’s worth every second in pursuit.

Our sprint finished we looked forward to pulling into Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho and spending a week before heading into the Olympic Peninsula.

Barbara and Brian

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.“ – Henry David Thoreau