Days 23 - 25 - East of the Mountains

First, we interrupt our journey to bring you this important and very happy announcement: Liam Carlos Dickinson was born early this evening, July 6, in Austin, Texas. After 68 years of life, Mary and I are new grandparents. Liam and mom Liza are doing well, and we are sure new papa Andy is, too. What a wonderful day! Though sorry we aren't there to be with the new family, we are very glad that Liza and Andy's son has arrived and all are well. We will see them in two weeks. Let the spoiling begin!!!

Meanwhile, July 6 finds us in Dickinson, North Dakota, which is not named after any relatives. We departed Seattle, and Melissa and David, on the Fourth of July and headed east, making only two quick stops in Washington at Snowqualmie Falls in the Cascades and the Columbia River gorge east of the mountains. Then it was onto Idaho.

Snoqualmie Falls

Columbia River

We reached Coeur d'Alene in the Idaho panhandle in time for the "largest Fourth of July celebration in North Idaho. Maybe that is a small piece of the country, but the celebration is impressive. The city is on a beautiful lake of the same name, and thousands of people were enjoying the city beach while waiting for the rockets. What fun to swim and watch fireworks at the same time. Of course, these  two geezers are too old to stay up for 10 p.m. fireworks after a long day on the road.

Idaho Fourth of July

Early to bed and early to rise to go birding in the Coeur d'Alene area. Hayden Lake, north of town is a loop drive around the water and much longer than we anticipated. However, it was nice to see fishing Ospreys, Pygmy Nuthatches and numerous Bank Swallows during the circuit. Kilkenny Lake Road was our second stop, and this marshy area must have amazing birding during spring migration. There was not so much in July, but a Cinnamon Teal, Black Tern and more Ospreys made it a fairly successful visit, although Phil was kind of bummed at not getting a life Lewis's Woodpecker. Northern Idaho is a beautiful place, no doubt.

 Bank Swallow

Soon we crossed the border into Montana, basically following the return path of Lewis and Clark. We stopped for the night in Bozeman, which is a college town in a valley surrounded by beautiful hills. The Bacchus Pub also had Harp on draft and excellent hamburgers. In the morning, a birding stop surprisingly yielded several eastern species, including Gray Catbird, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Kingbird and Willow Flycatcher, along with Black-billed Magpies.

Black-billed Magpie

After Bozeman, we headed to the truly Big Sky part of Montana east of Billings. Montana sure takes a long time to drive across - about 11 hours not counting stops. However, the interstate mostly follows a scenic route along the Yellowstone River. Phil spied three American White Pelicans in the water (Trumpeter Swans would have been better) and, just a couple of minutes later, a Northern Goshawk eating a meal on a fence post.

Yellowstone River

A check of the map led us to take a break at Pompey's Pillar National Monument. Where, you ask? It seems that William Clark stopped at this sandstone outcropping along the Yellowstone on his way home in 1806. Setting a bad precedent, he paused to etch his name on the rock - right next to some ancient petroglyphs that now mostly have been eroded and etched over, although you can still see a little. Pompey was Clark's nickname for Sacajawea's son.

William Clark Etched Here

After several more hours, we finally made it to North Dakota and almost immediately were greeted by the sight of oil and gas wells on otherwise lush farms and ranches - also bridge reconstruction to accommodate the large equipment. The woman at the welcome center said it is far worse further north and lamented local price gouging at motels, etc.

As mentioned, we are staying in Dickinson but first we had to drive a few miles south to Amidon, North Dakota. Amidon is named after Mary's great uncle, Charles Fremont Amidon, who was a federal judge in the state around 1900 and a friend of Teddy Roosevelt's. Amidon also is the smallest county seat in America with a population of less than 30. It also is the only town in Slope County and well-known for its dummy-occupied sheriff's car positioned to slow down those passing through. Were those doughnuts in the back seat? On the way back from this detour, several Lark Buntings along the road added to Phil's life bird list.

Mary Amidon at Amidon

Slope County Sheriff

For the next couple of days, Dickinson will be our base as we explore Theodore Roosevelt National  Park and some other local scenery, and hopefully not too many gas-burning oil wells.