Ron and Sally Jo Blog

During our trip to the U.S. Northwest, we crisscrossed the state of Washington several times. We crossed through the Northern Cascades on route 20; we spent time on the Olympic Peninsula; we crossed the state twice on I-90; and we varied I-90 path slightly by traveling on U.S. 12 one time. Our photos for the Olympic Peninsula are in another blog post.

We saw smoke in the air from forest fires across much of the state. When on our northern path we stayed in one town which was a staging area for the firefighters of that area. We drove past places which had burned. (This road was closed a week later for a new fire outbreak.)

The central part of the state is very dry—except where irrigation is used. The Columbia Basin Project is the irrigation network that the Grand Coulee Dam makes possible. It is the largest water reclamation project in the United States. We visited the Dam and also a large family farm where wheat and fruit trees are grown because of the project.

Mt Rainier

We visited both Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens. Contrasting mountains. The slopes of Mt Rainier were so green with a lovely snowy cap. Mt St Helens still shows the scars of the 1980 volcanic eruption with barren slopes, barren trees, landslide scrapes, and a huge crater at the side of the mountain. On both mountains wildflowers were abundant.

On Mt Rainier we hiked through an old forest of amazing tall trees and also hiked to a very high waterfall. On Mt St Helens we learned much about the volcanic eruption and how it has changed the landscape.

Hiawatha Trail

The MCC West Coast Bike Ride was held in the Idaho panhandle. We camped at the Middle School in Kellogg. We sometimes started from Kellogg and sometimes drove to another starting point. In the evenings we visited, made home-made ice cream, and generally relaxed.

Day one – Kellogg east to Shoshone Park on the Coeur d’Alene trail – 46 total miles
Day two – Spokane River Centennial Trail from Post Falls to Riverfront Park in Spokane – 50 total miles – temperature was 100+ degrees!
Day three – Kellogg west to Harrison – 76 total miles – through wilderness, along a river, along edges of small towns, saw moose
Day four – Route of the Hiawatha – 30 total miles – 9 tunnels (longest 1.8 miles) and 10 trestles – fabulous scenery – gravel path
Day five – Harrison to Plummer on Coeur d’Alene Trail – 35 total miles

Since we needed to wait for our car to be repaired back in Sequim, Washington (see blog post about Olympic Peninsula), we decided to spend several more days around Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho.

We hiked the Pulaski Tunnel Trail. During the August climax of the 1910 wild fire Ranger Ed Pulaski is credited with saving the lives of all but six of his 45-man crew when he herded them into an abandoned mine tunnel and threatened to shoot anyone who attempted to leave. (The story of the massive 1910 fire which burned more than a million acres is a good read – often called The Big Burn or The Big Blowup.) We took a tour of a silver mine (Wallace is the silver capital of the world) and attended a melodrama.

We returned to Kellogg and rode the Gondola – the longest in North America. It takes 20 minutes and gains over 3000 feet. We took a 3 mile hike around the top of the mountain and rode a chair lift. In winter it is a huge ski resort but in summer there is hiking and mountain biking.

We spent two nights on Whidbey Island with an interesting couple who are part of a
Buddhist cmmunity. They have a lovely home with beautiful landscaping, resident deer, and an observatory. We spent a day hiking and seeing the southern part of the island. We took a ferry to the Olympic Peninsula.

We headed to Sequim (pronounced “skwim”) to stay with another interesting couple who live on the edge of Olympic National Park. Our first day we decided to walk out the Dungeness Spit—a 5.5 mile spit of sand with a lighthouse at the end. We started out in absolute fog, not seeing more than 15-20 feet in front of us. We started walking not sure how far we would go. About a mile from the lighthouse, the fog lifted and it looked inviting so we continued. When we returned to the beginning and looked back to the lighthouse, we couldn’t believe we walked that far. If we had seen it at the beginning, we probably would have never gone!

On our way back to where we were staying – along a forested, mountain road—at 4:30 pm a deer jumped out of the forest and landed on our car. He/She rolled off and down the hill and we had a broken windscreen and messed up front end of the car! What a jolt! We were able to drive slowly to the house but the next morning we had it towed to a body shop. The incident changed much of our remaining time in the North West. We rented a van so that we could haul our bikes and continue on to the MCC bike ride in Idaho. But it meant a return trip across the state of Washington from Idaho back to Sequim to pick up the car after it was repaired.

On to seeing the Peninsula – with our rented van. We drove up Hurricane Ridge, visited Port Angeles, stopped along Crescent Lake, and then stopped along the Pacific coast. We enjoyed the rocks, and small pools, and sand—all in the fog.

We enjoyed time with others who have spent time in Southern Africa with MCC. We met with about 50 MCC alumni from Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland in Abbotsford, British Columbia. There was time for discussions, updates from countries, visits to a nearby monastery, hikes in nearby forests, entertainment, and making rollkuchen.

Past the urban area of Chicago, through farmland, woodland, rolling hills, flat ranching lands, sagebrush land to mountains covered in trees, waterfalls, clouds, and topped with snowy peaks. The U.S. is truly a land of varied scenery.

Our first main stop was Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the badlands of western North Dakota. We drove the 36-mile loop scenic drive.

On to Montana. As we approached Glacier National Park the skies were extremely cloudy with smoke floating in from the fires of Washington and Idaho. We found a lovely campsite in Two Medicine campground in the southeast corner of the park. Our first day was drizzly and cloudy so we drove the “Rising to the Sun” road. We know we missed great scenery because of the clouds but we still enjoyed the drive. On our three other days we enjoyed sunny beautiful hikes. One of those hikes began with a half hour boat ride across a lake.

Left our sobe with a nice view near Ravanjska. Stopped for coffee and donuts near a fish sellers stand then drove on to Zadar where we stopped briefly. Walked along the city walls and waterfront. Heard the “sea organ” – pipes in the seawall at various lengths creating music as the waves washed through them. Interesting. Basically spent the day meandering along the coast and stopping often for the views. Stopped in a small village for lunch and hiked along the stony shore for a while.

room view near Omis

Discovered another small village near Omis along the coast where we found an “apartment” for the night—4th floor with a balcony overlooking the water.

Doing a lot of meandering along the road—stopping often for photo shots. The scenery is beautiful—mountains, blue water, blue sky, rocky shores, colorful wildflowers, small villages with red tile roofs, sailboats, olive orchards, and vineyards. Drove up the Peljesac peninsula turning off the main road to explore small villages. Stayed in Trstenik for two nights in small apartment with a balcony overlooking the water. Nice and quiet with beautiful views.

Drove to the far end of the peninsula, again admiring the scenery. Chose a footpath along the mountainside exploring the plants and old buildings along the way. Walked 7-8 kilometres in the bright sun.

The morning that we left the peninsula we stopped in Ston to walk along the longest medieval stone wall in Europe—about 5 km. It is very steep and very impressive. It was built in the 14th – 115th centuries. It was quite a feat to build it and we felt that it was quite a feat for all of us to walk/climb it.

On to Dubrovnik. Again we stayed in a family sobe. Our view may not have been spectacular but the hosts were very friendly and helpful. Dubrovnik was a major maritime power 500-600 years ago. Today it is a major tourist center. The city is ringed by thick medieval walls; has narrow, steep alleys, and displays much history. It was virtually destroyed by two earthquakes in the 1500s and 1600s, rebuilt, again destroyed in the 1991-1995 war, and again rebuilt. We walked/climbed ¾ of the mile-long walk on the wall, visited Catholic and Orthodox churches, and rode a cable car to the top of Mt Srd with its fortress overlooking the city.

A new adventure begins! Left Budapest by train to travel to Zagreb with Bill and Phyl. Found our hostel—quite a difference from the last two weeks of accommodations. But clean and pleasant. A walk around seeing some of the buildings in Old Town.

Planned to drive to Plitvice National Park but passed through a small town of Slunj/Rastoke and decided to stop at their market. Had lunch. Looked for free Toilets. This led to talking to some tourist guides who told us about a short walk to the river and some older homes. Ron and Bill saw some fascinating toy windmills. This led the seller to tell us about a beautiful walk to see waterfalls. Bill and I went to see. I kept wanting to go farther. Which led Phyl to decide to check out the “Sobe”s (rooms in homes) which led us all to decide just to spend the rest of the day in this small town! The house where we stayed was destroyed in the 1991 war and has been rebuilt. What a pleasant and restful day. We did walk along the river and by waterfalls. We hiked up to the ruins of Napoleon’s Magazine where there were views across to the town. Ended the day with a great supper at a nearby restaurant eating on the terrace over the water—grilled fish.

Plitvice National Park

On to Plitvice National Park. No words nor photos can describe the beauty of this area. Waterfalls are everywhere. One cannot drive in the park so we parked, hiked a bit, took a boat across a lake, hiked some more, brought shuttle bus back to entrance. Even though it was cold, cloudy, and sometimes misty, it was/is a gorgeous place.

View of Budapest

Highlights during our two days in Budapest:

Many buildings restored or built in 1896 for the millennium of the founding of Budapest

Szechenye Baths – Hungary is second only to Iceland in amount of thermal water. There are many spas throughout Budapest but this is one of the most famous and most ornate. (We actually did not try it out.)

Heroes Square – “tomb of the unknown soldier,” archangel Gabriel holding St Stephen’s crown and double apostolic cross, colonnades of famous Hungarian leaders; Palace of Arts; Museum of Fine Arts, statues representing God of War and God of Peace

St Stephen’s Basilica – took 54 years to build in the late 19th century; height is 96 metres—the same as Parliament (religion and government considered equal in importance); extremely ornate

St Matthias Church on castle hill – coronation church; Turks used it as a mosque

Great Market Hall – filled with produce, eateries, and souvenirs; we tried the local tradition of Langos – fried pastry with sour cream, cheese, and mushrooms (yum!)

State Opera House – opulent; built in 1875; seating for 1200

Memorial gardens of the Great Synagogue –“Tree of Life” with names of banished Jews on metallic leaves

Parliament grounds and surroundings – tour included stories from a witness of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 when students and workers took to the streets of Budapest in the first major threat to Soviet control

Memorial of Jews killed in Budapest – Jews were taken to river, asked to remove shoes, and then shot.

Szentendre – little town outside Budapest

Evening boat ride on the Danube

Farewell evening

We heard a lot of history/stories along the way, especially about the Communists’ rule of this region. Times were very difficult but change is coming.

En route to Bratislava we stopped in Lednice to visit the summer home of the Liechtenstein family. It is an immense structure built in Neo-Gothic style. We had a short tour inside the castle; then a short boat ride on one of the castle’s park ponds; then took a 45 minute walk back through the park passing a 200-ft high minaret.

View from castle

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and is located close to the borders of Austria and Hungary. Our hotel was located on the Danube River. We got a corner room on the top floor with a balcony along two sides. We had a wonderful view of the river and of the castle; we decided it was the best place to eat when we were on our own.

A walking tour through the Old Town allowed us to see the Old Town Hall, St Martin’s Gate and St Martin’s Cathedral among other 14th-15th century buildings. When the Ottomans took over Budapest in the early 1500s, Hungary moved their capital to Bratislava. There were 19 coronations held in St Martin’s cathedral. A replica of the Hungarian gold-plated crown is on the top. We climbed to the top of St Martin’s Gate tower to have a look around the city. We also went to the castle grounds.

Jews were forbidden to sell anything in the city but were allowed to lend money. However, few Jews were left after 1945. The Russians needed space for a big road and destroyed a large historic synagogue. Later a statue was built on the spot of the synagogue with the word “Remember.”

In contrast to the grandeur of the old buildings we visited a section of town featuring housing projects that serve as a symbol of the days of communist-era oppression. We visited a young woman living here with her young son and her parents. She showed us their two-bedroom apartment and gave us coffee and cake.

In the evening we drove to Modra about 30 minutes outside Bratislava. Modra is a small village in the midst of vineyards. We had a wine-tasting and an excellent meal in an old wine cellar of a local vintner.

The next day, on our way to Budapest, we stopped at the Roman city of Carnuntum (located in Austria) which began as a Roman army camp along the Danube River. There was a settlement here 6 AD to 350 AD and at its peak some 50,000 people lived here. The site is currently being recreated from the extensive ruins.

We traveled on to Gyor in Hungary. We had a great lunch of Hungarian Goulash soup before exploring this historic town. Then on to Budapest.