Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 10

The Two Old Buzzards and Fannie Mae went on an exploratory trip to Glacier National Park today to sort of get the lay of the land. They took their time getting up and about, so did not arrive at the West Entrance until around 9:30am. They went into the Apgar Visitor Center to stamp their passport, get a pin and talk to one of the rangers. They decided to explore a mostly unpaved road (Camus). Yes, even in a National Park the Two Old Buzzards managed to soon make their way to the unpaved roads . There were beautiful views of trees, mountains, puffy clouds, snow, wildflowers, old buildings and rivers. They saw  three deer, a squirrel, a dead skunk in the middle of the road (sounds like a good song title) and had some up close and personal contact with a few mosquitoes.

The Two Old Buzzards found both fauna and flora on today's

drive in and around Glacier National Park

By noon, the buzzard pair and Fannie had reached Polebridge which is a tiny Montana community outside the park. They stopped (as instructed by “Off the Beaten Path Montana” book) at Polebridge Mercantile and had a picnic lunch under some nice shady trees. Out back of the store was an air-conditioned outhouse (it had windows open to the sky) that you will see photos of in the gallery. There is a bakery in the mercantile. They are famous for their cinnamon buns but there were lots of other chocolaty and yeasty treats as well. It is next door to the Northern Lights Saloon and Cafe. It was not open for the day yet but Linda took photos of some old signs there.

The return from the park was on the same road (only one way in and one way out). They stopped to photo some giant reddish/orangish poppies that were the largest Linda had ever seen. The insides were a very interesting shape and were purple. Linda is going to cut the poppy pod to see if she can extract some kind of opiate.

They stopped at Huckville to try a slice of huckleberry pie but staffing was short-handed (literally) and the chief cook and bottle washer was having trouble grilling a hamburger. The grill was outside of what must have once been a drive through window and she had to stick her top half outside to tend to the grill, which must not have been cooperating. It was a pretty unusual arrangement (and sort of funny if you weren't her). Meanwhile there were other people in line in front of us so it seemed prudent to hold off on the huckleberries until tomorrow. Linda has her eye on some special socks John spotted for her while in line.

Back home in Whitefish John and Linda explored three stores in the vicinity of the Cheap Sleep Motel. There is an Army Navy store that has everything from dried food to bandannas and other doomsday prep items. Linda got a bandanna. John found a cable we needed at Radio Shack and we scoped out the Chinese Wall Restaurant.

The SONG O' THE DAY is “Let the Rest of the World Go By” by J. Keirn Bremman and Ernest Ball from The Daily Ukelele Songbook. It goes with the restful day. Some of the phrases in it are “where the west winds call”, “across the great divide”, “perfect peace” and “a kindly sky”. The great divide is also known as the continental divide and it DOES just HAPPEN to run through Glacier Park. Gene Autry was one of the first to record “Let the Rest of the World Go By”. Some others who did so later were Ringo Starr, Connie Francis, Pat Boone and that good old sausage makin' Plainview, TX boy Jimmy Dean. Linda is now up to Moon River (yikes, 12 different chords) on page 163. After several more songs beginning with the letter “M”, she will be approximately halfway through the book's 365 songs.

The old buzzards walked to the China Wall Restaurant for dinner. It was too close to bother with flying. John had the house special which was a combo of lo mein and crunchy noodles stir fried with vegies, beef, chicken, pork and shrimp with China Wall special sauce. Linda had oyster sauce chicken with baby corn, carrots, green peppers, snow peas, straw mushrooms and water chestnuts. While waiting for their meals they studied the Chinese Zodiac on the  place mats. John was born in 1944, the year of the monkey. Therefore he is very intelligent and is able to influence people (OK, some people). Linda (1943)  was born in the year of the sheep and thus is elegant and creative. Both the Monkey Buzzard and the Sheep Buzzard enjoyed their choices. The Monkey Buzzard's fortune said that his nurturing instinct will expand to include many people (can you say founder of Friends of the Morgan Hill Senior Center?). The Sheep Buzzard's fortune said that she should use her charm and personality to obtain her wishes (good luck with that). And there were two Chinese kisses (well, really Hershey kisses) on the plate with the fortune cookies. John said he was glad we hadn't eaten in a French restaurant.

There are 57 images in today's photo gallery which can be viewed by clicking here.

And so another lovely day comes to an end as the two old buzzards and their Fannie let the rest of the world go by.

Happy trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 09

Riddle: What seems to happen the day after you go through the car wash? Easy one. You all had the answer. Yes, it rains. But that's OK. Actually, it was a rather large thunderstorm that came through Missoula early this morning. It did not dampen our day and we were never in downpours during the time that we had to be out of Wilma.

We were packed and on our way for breakfast at Cracker Barrel by 8am and out of there by 8:45. Linda had a yogurt parfait with granola and giant blackberries. It came with a giant blueberry muffin. She had to get a to go cup for her grapefruit juice because it was icey like a slushy. It was good, just hard to drink until it melted. John had eggs, bacon, grits and biscuits.

Remember Valomilks? That was a favorite lunchtime treat in junior high and now they come in a dark chocolate. Something looking very much like them is called Boyer Dark Chocolate Mallo Cups. When we went back out through the store part of Cracker Barrel we got one and also another two-parter: Anastasia's Key Lime Coconut Patties (dipped in dark chocolate). We will both have to be very good at dinner to deserve those treats!

Next we went to Starbucks and it was so crowded they were taking last names instead of just first names. John decided to have some fun with the perky blonde cashier. She asked, "What's your last name?" John replied, "My last name is Fudpucker and please don't misspell it”. She said “How about if I just call you Fud?” So Old Buzzard #2 now has another nickname. Take note Spunky.

We were out of town and onto Highway 93 headed north by 9:08.

We turned off onto Highway 200 to go to the National Bison Range. The National Bison Range was started by Teddy Roosevelt in 1905. He asked congress to appropriate the funds to establish the range in order to save the now nearly extinct bison. It was the first time in history that congress appropriated funds to  protect wildlife.

Enough history. By 10:00 we got to their very nice visitor center. On display was a stuffed buffalo and Linda got her passport stamped. She also got a white buffalo pin for her hat. It had stopped raining so we took  the Red Sleepy Mountain Drive. This is a 19 mile loop that takes about two hours to navigate. We were hoping to see some buffalo (which are actually supposed to be called bison because they aren't technically buffalo). Okay, another lesson. Buffalo are found in Asia and Africa (water buffalo, cape buffalo, etc) and are in the genus bubulas and genus syncerus, respectively. The American bison is in the genus bison. Today there are three types of bison still living, the plains, woods and wisent bison. See, that was really easy.

We drove on a dirt road for about 20 minutes and finally saw a truck stopped to see a buffalo (that's what we are going to call them, OK? -- Note: John protests, but knuckles under.) John got a shot of it before it loped off into the trees. About five minutes later we spotted another one but he was mostly behind some trees and when he moved where we could see him better he just had his butt towards us. Nevertheless, we were enjoying the pretty green scenery of the trees and the hills. And we thought that maybe lots of the buffalo had Mondays for their day off. Then we came across a lone buffalo very near the road who was slow-moving and very photographable. He tired of us and quickly climbed up the side of the road. We were both so happy to have gotten to see a buffalo up so close. And just as we were speculating that we were going to just see lone buffaloes today, we rounded another turn in the twisty road and there was a whole herd of buffalo to the right side of the road and all the way down to the river. Having just crossed the river, they were headed (slowly) towards the road in front of us and crossed it while we were able to get lots of photos and to enjoy seeing them up very closely without being in any danger while safely inside Wilma. We both got lots of photos of bulls, cows and calves. There were calves nursing and adults taking occasional dirt baths. In talking with one of the staff later, this year was a record year for the number of calves born. And, there are about 450 head of bison on the range at this location.

Bison calf nursing

Too bad about already using “Home on the Range” for Song o' the Day two days or so ago. We saw more buffalo roaming today than in our four or five days at Yellowstone last fall. At least it seemed that way. So today's song is “In the Good Old Summertime by Ken Shields and George Evans”. Linda finally made it past all the many songs starting with the letter “I” and will take up tomorrow on page 151 with “Lime House Blues”. John would have preferred "Buffalo Gal".

Our trip on Red Sleep Mountain Drive had taken us two hours and as it was 12 noon we found our way to the picnic grounds that are a part of the bison range. For lunch we had leftover pizza that had been taken from the cooler and briefly warmed on the dashboard. Beverages were a Drpur for John and carrot juice for Linda.

Once we got back on the Highway 93 we stopped briefly (in Polson, MT) at the Miracle of America Museum of 150,000 or so oddities. We took a few photos outside but could not go in and leave Fannie Mae in the van since it was 78 degrees outside and who knows how long it would have taken Linda to look at even 150 oddities? (John knows, but he's keeping quiet!)

Soon we passed through the picturesque town of Kalispell, MT and arrived at our destination for the next week – Whitefish, MT – at around 3:00pm. We had been curious about our accommodations because of the name which is Cheap Sleep Motel but it is very nice and cute and clean. Their motto is “We love old timers, pets and good coffee”.

Dinner was at The Buffalo Cafe. We had a pretty cute server and once we had settled at our table and gotten menus and drinks, John asked her for a "hot date". Actually that was a menu item which was a burger with dates, blue cheese, and aioli on a kaiser roll. However, they let you substitute a chicken breast for any burger, and that's what John did. And, it came with beer-battered French fries. Linda had a hot veggie salad (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, sunflower seeds and raw spinach leaves) served with secret dressing. Both were yummy and we may go there again. Linda spotted some salmon tacos that have her name on them.

There are 95 images in today's photo gallery. And, as you might expect, many of them include bison. You can view the gallery by clicking here.

Happy trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 08

It was luxurious getting to take our time this morning since we are not going to pack up and get on the road again until tomorrow. We went to IHOP for breakfast. John had what he calls a real breakfast: eggs, bacon, pancakes, hashbrowns and coffee. Linda had grapefruit juice and crepes topped with fresh fruit, granola and yogurt.

We came back and got Fannie from the room and took her with us to Caras Park where we had a mission in mind. One of the items on our Mercury Newspaper Photo Scavenger Hunt is a merry go round. Linda got to ride for 75 cents – the senior rate - and had a great time. John, not so much. He was holding Fannie by her leash and trying to get a photo and video while the carousel was moving and Fannie was barking. That was the speediest Carousel that Linda had ever been on.

Watch Linda come around twice on the Missoula Carousel

There was a green dragon that held out rings (one at a time) that you could try to grab as it sped by. The teenage boy on the horse in front of Linda collected a handful while Linda did not even manage to get one. For each ride there is one brass ring in among the colored ones. If you get the brass ring you get $1,199.00. Well, not really. You get a free ride on the Carousel. And bragging rights!

A Farmer's Market was also being held at the park so The Old Buzzards circled the outskirts since dogs were not welcome. They did score another scavenger hunt photo. A guy was singing and playing his guitar to raise money to get to Kalispell, MT. Street performer is one of the 20 items on the list. So now he is $1 further up the road.

Next we went to Happy Days car wash since Wilma badly needed a bath. She now looks much more kempt. Down the street we found an Albertson's where we got peaches, nectarines, grapes and a block of ice. After gassing up at Costco we headed “home” for lunch. Linda had her leftover broiled catfish and corn muffins in addition to some delicious fresh fruit and nut goodies. John had cheese sticks, nut goodies, cherry vanilla Drpur (Linda-speak for "Dr. Pepper"), a nectarine, a plum and grapes.

While out and about in Idaho and Montana Linda has noticed that the phrase “second hand” is used much more than “thrift store” or “resale shop” and there are certainly lots of second hand stores in this part of the countryside. So, for our Song o' the Day, she skipped ahead in her Daily Ukelele Songbook to page 203 for “Second Hand Rose” by Grant Clark and James Handy. Lyricists really have to stretch sometimes to get their rhyme in place. In the second verse Clark rhymes “don 'em” with “on 'em” as in “. . . even my pajamas when I don 'em have somebody else's initials on 'em”. Linda is making progress through the alphabetically-arranged tunes and will resume tomorrow with songs that begin with the letter J.

After lunch we three stayed in our room to do a little photo processing, blog writing and just chillaxing.

Dinner was at McKenzie River Pizza in Downtown Missoula. John had a meat combo pizza (The Rancher) and Linda had the Sierra (pine nuts, pesto sauce, artichokes and tomatoes on a wheaty crust). Both of us got a small pizza and have at least 1/2 left over for lunch tomorrow.

And so ends another lovely day on the road. But not too fast. It stays light really late here. Last night at 9:30 it seemed more like 7:30 outside.

Today's photo gallery has only 10 images and can be viewed by clicking here.

Happy trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 07

We were packed and in our faithful Honda Odyssey, Wilma Lou, by 8:03 am. After a quick stop at The Dollar Tree for some plastic dog food bowls, we headed for gas at Costco (least expensive in Clarkston). At 8:13 we were in search of a Starbucks. By 8:33, skinny mochas in hand, we were on our way to Missoula, Montana and soon on two-lane scenic Highway 12 that followed the Clearwater River, for almost 200 miles.

John spotted an old bridge that was fun to see and photograph. Then we left Hwy 12 at Orofino, ID and took a 6-mile side trip to Dworshak Dam and Reservoir. At 717 feet tall, it is the tallest straight axis concrete gravity dam in the Western Hemisphere. It was finished in 1973 and has three hydropower turbines that can generate hundreds of thousands of kilowatts of electricity for homes and industry. It also provides flood protection. The reservoir is a huge recreation area with its 184 miles of shoreline and a gross water capacity of 3.5 million acre feet.

This was part of the area that Lewis and Clark explored in 1805 on their way to the Pacific Ocean. It is interesting to speculate as to what they would think of all the changes along their trail two-hundred and eight years later. That might make a good premise for a time travel movie or TV series. It would surely beat White House Down or Duck Dynasty.

We got back onto Highway 12, still following the river. There were also railroad tracks following the river across the way. We would have loved the chance to see and photograph a train chugging along above the river with the pine trees behind it.

We stopped in Kooskia to find a city park where we could have lunch. A friendly Native American led us to the park after we asked for directions. It was a lovely 72 degrees and a beautiful green park with shade and lots of picnic benches. We had grapes, turkey sandwiches, cheese sticks and cherry vanilla diet Dr. Peppers.

After lunch, back on Highway 12, we had more of the same beautiful scenery: pine trees, a rapidly flowing river, scenic rocky riversides and pretty blue skies with puffy clouds. John soon became dozy which is not a good thing when driving, especially on continuously winding roads. He pulled over and Linda took the wheel for the first time on this road trip. She was wide awake from the refreshing  Dr. Pepper (not caffeine free) and drove for about an hour and a half until we reached Lolo Pass where John took over at 3:13. The Lolo pass is the highest point of the historic Lolo Trail, between the Bitterroot Valley in Montana and the Weippe Prairie in Idaho. This trail was use by Lewis & Clark as well as the Nez Perce Indians.

We're in Montana....it must be 4:30, or is it 5:30? What time zone am I in anyway?

We crossed the Montana State line at around 4:30. The most dramatic change was the sudden appearance of casinos here and there and everywhere! It certainly looks a lot like Nevada in that way. We noticed several "Lucky Lil" casinos. Must be a franchise? Our destination of Missoula was about 43 miles away so by 5:15 we were checked into our 2nd floor suite at Motel 6. Actually it was 6:15 since we had lost the hour we got back for a while yesterday. That is, we're back in the Mountain Time Zone. Whee! Linda is happy. Another bathtub! That makes 3 tubs out of 4 rooms. The buzzards will be roosting here for two whole nights.

Dinner was across the street at The Cracker Barrel. We had never been to one so it was fun to see the cute old-timey décor. John had chicken-fried steak, gravy, fried okra, apple slices and biscuits. Linda had broiled spicy catfish, turnip greens, baked sweet potatoes and corn muffins. Both of them had marinated tomato, cucumber and onion salad. Our waitress was very perky and seemed to love her job. That is always refreshing. She had in interesting name. We can only figure that her parents didn't like her. All through her life she'll have to spell it for people.... "No, it's not 'Myra', it's 'Myrrah'. Go figure.

The Song o' the Day is “Home on the Range” by Brewster Higley and Rob Kelly (1873).  It is the state song of Kansas. Today's river and wooded scenery was so lovely and peaceful, with occasional fields with cattle and sheep, that it seemed right at “Home” to play it on the ukelele as we meandered along from Washington, through Idaho and into Montana. And seldom was heard a discouraging word . . .

The photo gallery of 31 images for Day 07 can be viewed by clicking here.

Happy trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 06

Our alarm went off at 7:00am and we were packed and searching for a Starbucks by 8:00. Failing to find one we exited Ontario, OR by 8:08 on Interstate 84. By 8:11 we came to the Welcome to Idaho sign.

And what do they do in Idaho for fun? We had our answer shortly since the first exit we came to was Hell's Canyon Recreation Area. We bypassed it for State Highway 52 and by 8:23 we were off the interstate and able to stay off it for most of the rest of the day. Our Back Roads of Idaho was helpful in leading us to some interesting adventures. Highway 52 followed the Payette River pretty closely which made for beautiful scenery. John made the observation that it was the sixth day of our road trip and we had not stopped at a McDonald's yet.

As we went through the small town of Emmett we were amazed at the number of pizza places and chiropractors. One chiropractor's sign said “Pain is not an ibuprofen deficiency”. John spotted a donut shop called The Rumor Mill. Linda noticed a farm supply store that advertised black oil sunflower seeds. And as we rolled into Horseshoe Bend another sign reminded John that soda is often called pop in Idaho, as well as Oregon.

There is so much green everywhere in the countryside, which is a pleasant change from the “golden” hills of California. When you move to California you are taught to say “golden” instead of “dead”, or "brown", for the state of the state from May through October.

As we came into McCall, ID it seemed large enough to have some parks so John found a park (that was built by Rotarians) on the Garmin GPS. As we headed that way the streets got increasingly more and more crowded. Soon it was apparent that we were in a major tourist area. This place has it made. Water sports for recreation in the summer and skiing in the winter. The Rotary Park was located right beside Payette Lake and we had a nice picnic bench in the shade and beautiful views of the beach, the lake, swimmers and of canoes and boats going past. Lunch was turkey sandwiches. We found an easier way out of the congestion and back onto our two-lane back road, Highway 95.

Remember how in Northern California we went through Nubieber and then Bieber? On Highway 95 after leaving the lake, we went through Meadows and New Meadows, Idaho. At that point we were at the 45th parallel which means that we were halfway between the equator and the North Pole. But, all you geography geeks out there already knew that, didn't you? Speaking of geography, we are not doing a mileage madness game this road trip but anyone who wants to can submit guesses after our return. We will know the total once we get back to The Buzzards' Roost.

From our Off the Beaten Path Idaho book we learned about Heaven's Gate and took a Forest Road (Forest Road 517)to get to a spectacular view of several mountains. We were pretty much up past the tree line and got to hike through patches of snow. To get to Heaven's Gate we had to go on Seven Devils' Road which was 18 miles long and ran off of Hwy 95. The first 5 miles were paved. Then there were 13 miles of 1-1/2 lane dirt road, the last two miles of which were unimproved. The "parking lot" at the end of the road is at 8,400 ft elevation. Our journey started at about 2,100 ft elevation at Hwy 95. The rest of the trek is stated to be a ".2 mile" hike. What they don't tell you is that it is .2 miles long and .2 miles UP. We got some good exercise on that hike to the Ranger Tower at the top. The views were quite nice. The road seemed a lot less bumpy on the way down. It did take up the major part of the afternoon so we missed out on two of the places we had planned to stop along the way.

Linda & Fannie Mae play in the snow in the parking lot

at Heaven's Gate. This is at 8,400 feet elevation.

The "improved" 1-1/2 lane dirt road. Oh well, it's

only 13 miles of it.

Our next stop was at The Dog Bark Park in Cottonwood, Idaho to see a quirky place built by a chainsaw artist of some fame, Dennis Sullivan. We took some photos and you can learn more about it at www.dogbarkparkinn.com. The artist and his wife (Francis Conklin) were quite hospitable. Dennis made a B&B building that sleeps a family of four and is in the shape of a beagle. He also created a fire hydrant that is, in fact, a restroom! One of our reasons for wanting to stop there was to get a photo for our scavenger hunt. One of the items is "a building that doesn't look like a building".

It was 7:30 by the time we got into Clarkston, WA so we checked into our suite at Motel 6, left Fannie to lounge in the room and walked across the parking lot to eat at Tomato Brothers. John had a salad, a blue cheese crusted skirt steak, asparagus and baked potato. Linda had a pear, blue cheese, cranberry, salad with balsamic dressing. The atmosphere and food were both excellent. And we had great service from our waiter Nick, who also clued us in on where to find the best gas price when we head out tomorrow (Costco). If you're ever in Clarkston, WA be sure to check out www.tomatobrothers.com.

And, finally, did you think Linda was going to forget the Song o' the Day? No such luck! She is getting in some good practice time for her ukelele group while on the road and is up to the songs beginning with the letter H. On page 99 she came to one of her all-time favorites - “Happy Trails” by Dale Evans, 1952: “Some trails are happy ones, others are blue. It's the way you ride the trail that counts; here's a happy one for you. Happy Trails to you, until we meet again. Happy Trails to you, keep smilin' until then. Who cares about the clouds when we're together? Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather. Happy Trails to you, 'til we meet again.”

Today's photo gallery (Day06) can be viewed by clicking here.

Good night. Sleep tight or loose, as you wish . . .

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 05

Our pleasant journey on this patriotic day began at 7:37am as we left Redmond, Oregon. We spent most of the day on two-lane roads and saw very few other vehicles. It was interesting to see various red, white and blue displays both in the little towns we passed through and in the countryside. The most attractive display was in Prineville, Oregon where folks were obviously getting set for their July 4th parade. The streets of downtown were lined with hundreds of flags. There was a well-preserved old-fashioned courthouse and town square.The Kiwanians were having a free pancake breakfast but we had already eaten. We stopped at the Prineville Starbucks for coffee and John made a new friend who gave him information about the Fossil Beds National Monument (one of our stopping points today).

Outside Prineville we came to a picturesque farm with a mostly wooden windmill and pulled over for a photo op. The farming couple was out moving irrigation pipes and came over to the fence for a friendly chat, telling us all about the windmill we were admiring. It is an S&W Zephyr over 50 years old that they moved from another location. They wished us safe travels.

By 10:30 we got to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. John was delighted to take Linda's photo by a sign instructing visitors to not remove fossils from the park. The trail guide is called A Walk Through Time since it is a 40-million year story of how prehistoric animals and their environment is has been revealed in the remains they left behind. Where there is now an arid sagebrush steppe, there was once a lush, tropical jungle. There were once rhinos, elephants and sabertooth tigers in the area. On the Leaf Hill Trail thousands of fossils have been found but Linda did not give into temptation and take any. Besides, she couldn't find any. There were some fossils on display in an exhibit case. On the Painted Hills Overlook Trail some incredible panoramas of the colorful Painted Hills were on display and both of the old buzzards were snapping lots of photos. The Painted Cove Trail was a nature trail with interpretive signs explaining the various parts of the geologic story as you are very close to the different colors making up the formations. John took six photos of some of the painted hills and converted them into the panorama shown below:


Painted Hills panorama in John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

 

Before leaving the park we stopped at the picnic area for lunch. It had a beautiful lush green grassy and clover lawn and some nice picnic tables in the shade. Lunch was pepper turkey & cheese sandwich, boiled egg, cheese stick, nut goodies, chips and Dr Pepper.

Back on State Highway 26 we had lots more beautiful country and many several small towns to go through. We stopped several more times along the way to photo old buildings, a quirky sign or two and some old farm implements

Suddenly we were in Mountain Time and lost an HOUR. Another mystery solved! John had been puzzling as to why the GPS was showing that it would take a whole HOUR longer than he was expecting it to take to arrive at our destination for the evening. Fairly soon after that we were almost to the eastern edge of Oregon.

How time flies when you are having fun, which brings us to the Song o' the Day: “Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) by Carl Sigman and Herb Magidson, 1948 (found in Linda's Daily Ukelele Songbook). Let's take it up at the end of the 2nd verse: “. . . Next year, for sure, you'd see the world, You'll really get around. But how far can you travel when you're six feet underground?” Chorus: “Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think. Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink. The years go by as quickly as a wink. Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.”

We reached Ontario, Oregon by 6:30 Mountain Time and were soon settled into our Motel 6 suite. Really, if you haven't tried a Motel 6 in a while, you might be surprised. Our last 2 have both been very new and clean and have had a fridge and microwave. Coffee is served in the lobby starting at 6am. Oh, and the most important thing....all Motel 6's are pet friendly at no charge!

John felt like having breakfast for dinner so we settled on Denny's after our first choice, an Irish place, was closed. Being the patriot that he is, John ordered the Red White and Blue Plate Special (eggs, blueberry pancakes, bacon and hash browns). I guess the red was the ketchup he put on his hash browns. Linda had a chicken, pecan, cranberry salad with balsamic dressing.

Photo gallery of 72 images from Day 05 can be viewed by clicking here.

Rest well!