Summer Hijinks: Some Odds and Ends
As most of you know, whenever possible, we like to plan our travel so that the journey is also the destination. But sometimes that doesn’t work and the journey is mostly a journey. That doesn’t mean that we don’t find fun stuff to do along the way, but the path is what it is. Planning for this summer’s post-Grand Teton area route had two goals: (1) we had to be in San Jose to meet up with friends over Labor Day Weekend and (2) visit friends living in northern Idaho along the way. (Side Note: post retirement goals are awesome 😎).
If you have been following along, you also know we like to stay in places at least a month when we can so that we are “settled” at “home.” It’s not that we won’t stay a shorter time, it’s just that we feel more at home when we have at least 4 weeks in the same place. This summer, we had about 8 weeks between leaving the Jackson Hole area and Labor Day Weekend in San Jose, so instead of some loooong road tripping days on either side of a longer stay, we decided on several shorter, but not short, stops along the way.
Some were more interesting than others:
Anaconda, MT: “where main street meets the mountains.” Yes, that is their tagline. Anaconda was really just a couple of weeks’ stopping point, but there was some fun to be had. As someone clever told me, it’s amazing what they consider “historical landmarks” in those parts.
Sandpoint, Idaho: We stopped here to visit friends and, frankly, fell in love with the area. We never thought that would be true of northern Idaho, but it’s now on the consideration list for eventual settling!
The Dalles, OR: Our visit along the beautiful Columbia River Gorge was darkened (literally) by the smoke from the fires all around us. But the Gorge was beautiful nevertheless, and we enjoyed our time there.
We took a quick trip to LA for some person business, but managed to catch a Black Crowes concert at the Hollywood Bowl.
We got to spend one incredible day at Crater Lake National Park, since it was on the way to our next stop, Redding, CA.
Lassen Volcanic National Park - because it was in the Redding area (Redding was less noteworthy, but there was a lot of pretty stuff around it).
Many more details below (be sure to check out the captions for more info)….
Anaconda, MT:
This small town just outside of Butte, MT was at exactly the right place on our route. We also saw an article that claimed Anaconda is “up and coming” and a great value for location compared to other mountain towns. That might be, and it was a cute town, but it’s claim to fame was a bit overrated for us. I am glad we stopped here, we enjoyed it, but it won’t be on any return trip lists.
Fun Fact: I worked for ARCO’s Environmental Remediation group in the 90s, and worked on several of their mining remediation projects as a young engineer moving into project management. When we made plans to stay in the Anaconda area, I did not remember that Anaconda was home to one of those projects! Luckily, Craig asked why there was a Jack Niklaus golf course in the middle of nowhere Montana and, suddenly, I remembered! I had spent quite a lot of time there helping to turn a former mining site into a golf course. It was hilarious.
Anyway, here are some fun photos:
Some great older buildings in town, many well kept. Note the matching birdhouse! City Hall. Nice. The cemetery seemed so peaceful. Loved this mural. The old railroad was important to the development of the mining town. Hiked up to a good vantage point to see the golf course and the old smoke stack in the distance. A closer look. Check out the golf cart on the old tailings pile. A pretty waterfall on one of our hikes in the area. Quite the fearless rodent. We were standing RIGHT THERE. Surprisingly legit winebar in town. Had some interesting varietals that were new to us.
Deer About Town
One of the very strange features of this town, was that we saw deer EVERYWHERE, literally everywhere, in town. For some reason, I also found it hilarious/entertaining, so here are some of the best hits.
These twin fawns had no survival instinct. Is someone there? Casually crossing the street. Circle of life - a dog trying to catch one of the baby deer. Momma came running out to save her. These teenage ruffians crashed the music festival. Casually hanging next to the hostel/liquor store.
Sandpoint, ID:
Stayed with friends in this area, who had moved from LA years ago (some of you might recognize them…). Our absolute favorite thing was getting taken to dinner via boat on the beautiful Pend Oreille river, then parking the boat at the restaurant. Everything about our visit was lovely, we enjoyed the locals, the area, the river and even got to enjoy an annual music festival. Anywho, Sandpoint area auditioned well for consideration as a future Lozofsky home base. There will be call-backs. And more looking into owning a boat. On a river. Or maybe a lake.
The drive from Montana followed the Clark Fork River (changed names a couple times). Lovely. Preparing to launch! Cap’n Seth! Sun setting on the way back home. Yes, there is a statue of liberty at the beach in Sandpoint. Why? I don’t know. Photo credit: Seth L Seen on the streets of Sandpoint. LOL Boat parking in downtown Sandpoint. Getting settled at the music festival. Headliner - Portugal The Man
The Dalles, OR:
If you have not heard of this town, you might know the area better as part of the Columbia River Gorge. It is a beautiful part of the Columbia River, with tons of hiking and serious waterfalls. Craig also got to enjoy some Oregon craft brews, which was a draw for him. We went to a fantastic classic car show - it was way bigger and more interesting than we expected and less than a couple miles from our place. I took way too many photos, so for our classic car fans, here’s a photo gallery
Enjoying the view from up on the Historic Columbia River Highway View from the Vista House at Crown Point. Multnomah Falls - one of the best in the area, from far away. Multnomah again, check out the upper bridge. We hiked to the top-there were these switchback markers. Not sure if they helped or hurt. 850ft up. Multnomah from the top - not nearly as exciting, but we made it! Our small/weird/wonderful airbnb - someone’s basement in the house on the left. Here’s the door. The view from the cozy living room. And from the patio - a great spot for morning coffee. Nearby path on the Columbia River. Which lead to great views. Lots of large raptor nests in the area. Fairy Falls trail - it was so beautiful there. And there were lots of waterfalls we didn’t get to. More switchbacks! So many switchbacks! But the waterfalls were so worth it!
Black Crowes Concert:
I had forgotten how great the Hollywood Bowl is as a concert venue. Super fantastic. And we cracked the code for getting there - park at one of the satellite lots and shuttle in. It was seriously better and so easy. We also loved both of the opening acts - Tedeschi Trucks Band and Whiskey Meyers.
Whiskey Meyers opening. Full crowd! The sun is starting to set and Tedeschi Trucks is up! Using some great background animation. Black Crowes!!
Crater Lake and Lassen Volcanic National Parks
Our journey took us past TWO national parks that are off the beaten path - Crater Lake is the only national park in Oregon and Lassen Volcanic is in the middle of the northern most part of California. Crater Lake was stunning and totally worth the detour we took. The photos don’t do justice to the blue of the lake (though they came closer than I expected!). Lassen Volcanic was not as striking, but was definitely worth the visit.
A handful of teaser photos below - see the photo post for more.
My best view of the whole Crater Lake - check out that color! Wizard Island IN Crater Lake. View from a very high point in Lassen Volcanic - about 8500 ft. Manzanita Lake within Lassen Volcanic NP, not as volcanic in this part.
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