ON THE TRAIL with Mark - 2012

I am working on my (quite flexible) plans for this year’s road trip. It’s the 100^th anniversary of the Yellowstone Trail and there are a number of events being planned by various communities. I am not sure just which ones I will be able to attend personally, but if I do, I’ll include a report here.

I have purchased a few travel guides, an Atlas / Gazetteer of Washington, and John Ridge is updating the detailed maps on our website. Therefore, I might have to blame myself when I get lost. I most certainly will…get lost that is…but I hope to find someone or something else to blame. (:>)

I plan to leave during the first week of June and visit a few of my favorite places along the YT before I get to Washington. You may remember that last year I went as far as Spokane and followed the YT back across Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and Minnesota. The goal this year is to explore the two routes through Washington, along with an extended tour of the Puget Sound area, including Seattle, the Olympic Peninsula, and the Columbia River at some Lewis and Clark historical sites. The following is an explanation of the Yellowstone Trail’s history in Washington from our website, www.yellowstonetrail.org

As the founders of the Yellowstone Trail extended the Trail to the west, they were confronted with finding a route to Washington across the Bitterroots at the Montana/Idaho border.  There were no roads near Lookout Pass, the logical route along the railroad.  The burgeoning mining district around Mullan and Wallace Idaho also needed a route across the Bitterroots and around 1914 the Randolph Creek/Mullan Pass road was developed.  The Association immediately routed the Trail on that route into Spokane.  Then they faced the problem of a useable route to Seattle.  The Wenatchee, Blewett Pass, and Snoqualmie Pass route would be the shorter, but Blewett Pass was years from being an adequate auto route.  The considerably longer Spokane, Walla Walla, Yakima, Snoqualmie Pass route was chosen because of its “good” roads and its scenic value.  Not until 1925 was the route moved north to the Blewett Pass route when that Pass became reasonably useable.

After by-passing the YT’s route through the Twin Cities, I stopped in Eau Claire, WI for a brief R & R, visited John and Alice Ridge of the YTA for a trip “de-briefing” Sunday morning, and then headed towards home. My brother in Madison had just returned from a business trip, so I stopped at his house for a while. His wife was soon on her way to celebrate her birthday with her sister and a few of the “girls”…happy 39th Alice. Bill and I went out and had a bite to eat…man, that was good pizza.

Then, home.

The convenience of owning a small condo made it painless. The lawn is mowed, everything is in order, and all I had to do was take a few things from the Kia into the house. I opened the windows for a couple of hours as they’ve been closed for almost five weeks, but had to close them again and turn on the AC, as it was still over 90 degrees outside. A great night’s sleep and a “wake-up call” from Mother Nature at 7, when a big storm moved through.

After about three hours of rain and coffee, I was ready to go to the post office for my “on-hold” mail. I had left the Kia outside overnight, and it dawned on me that the rain had a chance to soften some of the “Authentic, Original, 1915 Yellowstone Trail Mud”, so I went to the fancy car wash (in the rain), where the attendant obligingly gave my faithful Kia a severe pre-wash blasting. When I left there, my companion looked like new again on the exterior, although I still have to address the dust and dirt inside, which will probably take a day to detail.

I will be writing much more about some specific parts of this trip in the Yellowstone Trail Association’s newsletters: The Arrow, in the coming year. You can find them, the maps I followed, and much more at www.yellowstonetrail.org

This blog is done, so if you have been following my exploits, thanks for “riding along”…I hope you enjoyed it.

Happy Trails, Mark

Some trip notes:

     1. Total trip miles = 5,943  (almost 1,500 more than I had anticipated)

     2. Estimated miles on gravel, dirt, and mud = 1,000+

     3. Overall gas mileage (Final tally) = 21.3 mpg  (better than I expected)

     4. I stayed under my average daily budget by a $1.60.

     5. Memories and fun = PRICELESS!

I cruised a short way from Olivia, MN to Hector this morning, and went to Lance’s house, where he had a Model T Coupe and a ’29 Chevy Sedan sitting in his front yard with Yellowstone Trail signs on them.  No, he doesn’t do this every day (I don’t think so, anyway) but today is special. It’s their annual festival day with a picnic in the park…but first the PARADE!!!

Lance is a long time YT fan and YTA member and we’ve been in touch by e-mail, but it’s the first time we met.

We chatted for a while and then drove out to a neat and modern garage owned by a local gentleman that Lance helps out. It shelters a number of very nice old autos, including a 1915 Pierce Arrow and a 1914 Model T Touring, and cool memorabilia and signs. I got the grand tour and then Lance attempted to start the T by cranking it, but the old girl didn’t want to cooperate. After a number of cranks, I asked Lance if I could try and he told me to go ahead.

Now understand, cranking these old timers was never easy and stories are still being told about the time grandpa broke his wrist while cranking his Model T. I have never attempted this, even though I’ve worked on many old cars. But I knew the drill…don’t wrap your thumb over the crank…place the crank at the bottom of its stroke…and quickly lift up…hard.

OK, I did that six or seven times with no results, but one more and it started and purred like a kitten. I had started my first Model T, and can cross that one off my bucket list.

 Off we went, first to Lance’s house for a quick visit and lunch (thanks!) and then to the parade staging area.

I had never ridden in a Model T before today either, so it was all a big treat for me. A short while later the parade began, and we took off behind all the area fire trucks and followed by the band, floats, antique tractors and whatnot.

This is fun!

And, we had a really big duffel bag of candy provided by Lance’s wife and we threw hands full of candy to all, from toddlers to 80-somethings.  Hector is not very big so the parade went for maybe a dozen blocks and we were done. I loved every minute of it.

We ended up back at Lance’s house to catch the end of the parade still going by and we visited for a while before I headed East and the formidable maze of Minneapolis / St. Paul.

About an hour out of Hector,  I stopped for a coffee and I discovered that I had left my camera in the Model T, so no photos of today. I’ll post them when I get my camera back, but these should do for now.

I also realized that I’m only about one more day away from home.

That’s about the time it hit me…I’m burned out and tired of wandering along the YT for now. I guess I found my “fun limit”, and it’s 33 days.  (:>)

I found a place to sleep later and wrote this post this morning.  I’ll post again after I get home and crash.

Leaving South Dakota this morning, I passed through Big Stone City and entered Minnesota at Ortonville, where I went to see the 1920 Marsh Co. “Rainbow Bridge”.  It’s concrete is in tough shape, but somewhat preserved and fenced for a bike trail, so at least it was not demolished as was suggested a few years ago by some local anti-history folks.  From there, I  a missed turn on onto MN 7 and went a half mile or so where  I found  the Big Stone County Museum and there I met Larry, a local farm owner who works there. I was the only visitor so he gave me a tour of the main building which included a display of very cool hand made automated  toy circus rides, built by a retired local car dealer, along with lots of local artifacts shown in very nice displays.

Then Larry then suggested the “Wildlife Building”, which at first I declined.  We talked a bit, then he said “are you SURE you don’t want to see the birds in the Wildlife Building, it’s very nice”. So I said OK, let’s take a look.

Man, was I impressed! It’s very recently built, all climate controlled, and contains a lifetime collection of mostly waterfowl, all mounted by a local taxidermist and formerly housed at his home. I’m talking many hundreds of ducks, swans, geese, cranes and a few owls and hawks, along with a few assorted mammals.  They are all displayed behind glass panels in a very pleasant setting. Many types of ducks are multiples, displayed in different poses.

The centerpiece of the entire building’s display is a quite large and fantastic diorama of two pair of Prairie Chickens “booming”…that is what their mating dance is called. It was one of the most impressive displays I’ve seen on this trip. It was very much like looking through a large picture window at the real thing. Thanks for talking me into it Larry.

It’s on to Montevideo and a stop at the Chippewa County Historical Society’s “Pioneer Village” where I met June, the Director.  I had some other stops planned so I didn’t stick around long, but would love to spend a day there sometime. From what I did see, it’s an entire town with buildings moved in from all over the county and expertly restored with correct period displays.

Next was the Renville Museum, in a one-room schoolhouse, and their Michael Dowling display. Michael was an amazing guy who lost both feet and one hand after falling off a wagon in a blizzard and suffering terrible frostbite. He overcame this setback and went on to be a teacher, principal, newspaper editor, lawyer, business owner, and congressman. He was one of the early YT leaders and was a key person in promoting the “good road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound”.  I am including a photo of a plaque with more information, but you should really read WE BLAZED THE TRAIL By Dorothy Pritchard (his daughter), as told to Barry Pritchard. Richards Publishing, 2008.

My last town today is Olivia. Those of you who followed Jim Marx’s bike ride last summer will remember him fighting wind and a tight schedule and almost crawling into town. His comment then:  “I am so happy to get here that if I ever have a daughter, I’ll name her Olivia”.

I drove around looking for Mike Dowling’s former office and Car dealership / garage buildings, and with a bit of local help found not only them and a nice little park area dedicated to him, but his former home too.

Then a nice, and surprisingly inexpensive “business class” room with a desk and office chair at the “Sheep  Shedde”  Hotel (??) and a walleye sandwich and beer  in their Max’s Grill.

I’m done for tonight and will post this in a day or two, as the recent storms here have wiped out internet access at the hotel.

When I got to Aberdeen Wednesday evening, I was surprised and pleased to see two businesses well known in my home area: Menards and Culver’s. It has been a month and well over 5,000 miles since seeing either. Chicken dinner at Culver’s really hit the spot.

On a different kind of note, until today I have not seen any kind of auto accident in the 5K+ miles. East of Aberdeen, US 12 is divided four-lane, but has uncontrolled cross-overs every mile. Just as I was passing one of those, an elderly lady pulled out into the path of a large Ram pickup coming towards me…and I heard tires screeching and a big whomp…and saw dust and plastic vehicle parts flying through the air. Amazingly, the truck ripped off the entire front of the lady’s car and the truck ended up sitting backwards to his original path. I stopped to help, no one was injured, but there sure was a lot of plastic parts thrown all over the road. I proceeded on with renewed caution.

It’s a nice day in Aberdeen so I explored a bit.  After driving around town, I stopped and met the folks at the Chamber of Commerce, who were not familiar with the YT…but they are now.

I then went to the CVB (Convention & Visitors Bureau), located in the very large, impressive, and work in progress, former railroad depot.  There I had a long and interesting visit with Casey, the Director. Casey also was not too familiar with the YT, but he was interested in it and how the Trail history could help him promote Aberdeen. After we talked for quite a while, he said “we have some YT signs upstairs, lets go look at them”. I asked if they were old, and he told me that someone brought them in five or six years ago and he was not sure where they came from. He had seven of them, and I had ever seen these large type of signs, and they are “brand new”.  He thought that someone had them made for marking US Route 12 through the area but there was some reason why they couldn’t put them up due to restrictions. Casey then took a photo of me holding one sign…and gave the sign to me with his compliments. When I finally got to a hotel, I had an e-mail from Casey with the photo!  Nice guy and a great visit.

I then drove East through Groton and took a look at Andover, where I did not check in at the Waldorf Hotel, as I would have to buy the whole place and renovate it if I wanted to stay there.

On through another few small towns and a stop in Webster, with a visit with Gail and a few volunteers at the Museum of Wildlife, Science, & Industry, a large and organized looking place. I did not tour the museum because, truthfully, I’m getting pretty burned out on them after visiting a zillion museums in the last month.

On to Waubay, Summit, Marvin, and past Twin Brooks to Milbank.

I was always told that ”if you can’t say anything nice about people, don’t say anything at all”. So, after meeting seven or eight folks in town, I have nothing to say about Milbank (other than to thank the nice folks at the Super 8) .

Minnesota tomorrow.

As of today, I have been on the road for 30 days. My guess-timate for the entire trip was 4,500 miles and have covered 5,126 miles already with at least 700 more miles to get home. I’m averaging near 20 miles per gallon. I am way over on miles but slightly under my average daily dollar budget…so far, so good! 

The Kia has not been washed, except for some heavy rains, since Day 12 and has accummulated a lot of YT dirt, but she’s been my loyal, trouble free companion all the way. I’ll give her the “Royal Treatment” when we get home.

The year was 1912. In the small South Dakota town of Ipswich, Joseph Parmley met with a few friends to discuss the problems they had traveling to Aberdeen, 27 miles away and the largest town in the area. The only road was prone to flooding and washouts in a marshy area East of town, and was a terrible mess almost the entire way. Their businesses and lives depended on finding a way to get local and state governments to improve the road. They formed a group that would come to be known as the Yellowstone Trail Association. Within only a few years they had succeeded in not only getting better roads in the Dakotas, but had created a route from “Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound”, the first transcontinental route across the Northern states, supported through donations from towns along the way.

The spirit of Parmley and his friends lives on today in Ipswich and in many other small towns across the country. I had the pleasure of visiting with Ray at the Parmley Land Agency Museum and with Irene at the Parmley Home Museum today. The museums are both operated by the J. W. Parmley Historical Home Society, a group that also takes care of a couple parks and the Pioneer Village site. The arch that previously spanned over the Yellowstone Trail, and later US Route 12 has been moved to one of the parks (quite a feat, considering it’s weight and size).

But first, I had to get to Ipswich. That turned out to be a repeat of Parmley’s original problem …the road, now US Route 12, the main East / West road through the area, had recently washed completely out! Construction crews were feverishly trying to make the road passable, and had so far had built up one lane enough to let fairly heavy car and truck traffic through in batches, with about a half hour wait in each direction. Up until yesterday, traffic had been detoured over nearby narrow gravel roads.

Crews have much better and larger equipment today, but this is still a major undertaking. Joe and his friends could surely understand the traveler of today’s frustration.

On to Aberdeen, the largest town I’ve seen since Billings, MT a week ago.

I forgot to mention that Lake Oahe (O-Wa-Hee) is billed as the Walleye Fishing Capitol of the World. Maybe so, but there are a few other places that claim that as well…Lake Erie and Boudette, MN come to mind. The fishing here is very good I’m told, and limits of fish over 18” were common in the past few days, which is good summer fishing anywhere. I couldn’t fit in a guided trip during my visit, but I would like to fish this area in the future. I didn’t get any photos, but here’s what they look like…a photo of me with a Lake Wisconsin “little one”.