“It takes a specific amount of optimism to be on the road, and anything less means misery. A nominal Buddhist who knows that the ‘goal is the path’ is at an advantage.” ~~Jim Harrison
Wild Bill arrived from New Zealand and proposed a road trip. We had about a week and a vague destination: Glacier National Park.
A quick stop at AAA provided road maps and tour books to fill the back seat. Bill believes in being prepared. He also picked up maps for Nevada, Utah, the Western USA and I recall Alaska (he has a fishing camp there and, besides, one never knows on a road trip).
Our first stop was Tieton, WA a sleepy farm community with a strong artist influence. It’s website’s (it actually has one) description: Mighty Tieton is an entrepreneurial venture of urban and rural designers, architects, artists, and creative individuals, working in the Central Washington town of Tieton, fifteen miles west of Yakima.
It’s has a center square, a few stop signs, three restaurants (a café and two Mexican places) and a growing artist influence.
Tieton, rollers
We ran into Mike at the café and he gave us a tour of his and Ed Marquand’s vision. Added to our small band of travelers were Christine and David two friends visiting from Seattle.
David, Christine, Mike and Wild Bill
We were given the grand tour of Tieton, very impressive. Sharp condos converted from a warehouse, artist workspaces, art galleries, a full working book binding business and more. A bonus for me, upon my arrival back in Seattle I was given notice that my work had been accepted into the Tieton Art show, 10x10x10. So, I’ll be heading out soon to revisit Tieton and attend the opening.
Tieton Wall
From Tieton we headed toward Walla Walla and the center of the Washington wine country. We sniffed around, reconnected with a few old friends and hit the back roads toward Montana.
Highway 12 closely follows Lewis and Clarks return trip up to Missoula.
Highway 12
Beautiful mountainous roads, wind their way through the Nez Perce reservation along the Lolo River and finally Lolo pass on to the edge of Montana.
Missoula was a short stop to visit a war memorial park.
Hwy 12
Bill remembered the park from a previous visit and thought it was a stunning reminder of the sacrifices upon which this country is founded. We were told that for a state it’s size, Montana has more men and women in uniform than any other. The park and memorial were certainly beautiful. Bill’s been an expat now for many years. He loves his life downunder but I do believe I noticed a tear in his eye when he talked about the USA being the greatest country. From Missoula we zoomed up the highway to Flathead Lake and Bill’s close friends, Don and Marylou.
Flathead Lake, MT
Last year while visiting Bill in New Zealand, I met Don and Marylou who split their time between NZ and Flathead. They have built a lovely home just up from the lake where we sat during the evening watching the light dwindle and the activities on the lake slow to a quiet pace.
Kootenai Lodge
Among the many side trips was a visit to Kootenai Lodge. Built in the early part of the 20th century by Orvis Evans and Conelius Kelly, of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., it was originally a summer retreat to hunt and fish. In it’s heyday of the 1920s and 30s the likes of Charles Lindbergh, Charlie Russell, John D. Rockefeller and Will Rogers regularly took the great Northern Pacific Northern train to relax and be enveloped by it’s quiet majestic beauty. Virtually abandoned over the decades it had crumbled into disrepair. A few years ago, Phil Milhous took it on as a labor of love. Milhous is meticulously restoring the original structures as a private community with the lodge acting as the central club for its residences.
Continuing on our road trip, we set our sites on Glacier National Park. Along the way, we ran into Rod Serling’s ghost..next time.
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