Views from the Midwest

I grew up in Denver.  For good views I looked to the Rocky Mountains.  The ocean also provides great views.  But there is a lot to see in the Midwest, where we have been traveling the last couple of months.

I love the patterns in the field.

Campgrounds have grain silos on the horizon.

My dad grew up in the Midwest, in Illinois.  He always said the corn needed to be knee high by the 4th of July.  It isn't even July and this corn is at least waist high. In the second photo that field is only about knee high.

These cattle are huddled together in the shade--at least most of them are.  Cattle really have a go-with-the-heard mentality.

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A farm house and barn surrounded by many acres of field.

The country has been farmed for a couple of centuries.  We often see broken down, abandoned buildings.

Wide open spaces are everywhere.  And straight, straight roads, sometimes with a few hills along the way.

What beautiful scenes as we travel I-80 and I-70 west across the country.

More Beautiful Country

As we drove south from the Glacier National Park area to Missoula, we passed through more of the beautiful Montana landscape. There were yellow grasslands, golden wheat fields, green hay fields and mountains.

And then there were views of massive Flathead Lake which is 27.3 miles long and up to 15.5 miles wide. This is what Wikipedia says about the lake.

For much of the trip we were crossing the Flathead Indian Reservation and some of the signs included their language.

We passed through a bison range.

There was a wildlife crossing bridge.

And a wildlife protection area with ponds for birds.

With slightly more than 147,000 square miles, Montana is the 4th largest state in the country and slightly larger than the country of Japan. Long drives are involved in exploring the state but there is so much beauty it's worth it.

Montana Landsdape

As we drove north toward Glacier National Park we passed through the beautiful Montana farm and ranch country before reaching the mountains. There are great expanses of grass and wheat.

All that wheat has to be stored somewhere.

The sky began filling with clouds.

The mountains were striking, especially under that ominous dark cloud.

Then the fog came in.

Then came the rain.

The day we arrived outside Glacier it was cloudy and rainy. Since then we have had sunshine and beautiful scenery.

What is Home?

The word "home" can mean many different things. I can go "home" to the physical space I live in; or to my "home" town; or to the state where I live or where I grew up; or to the part of the country or the country where I live.

We have been "home" in the United States since we entered Alaska from Canada on June 29. We have lived this whole time in the RV which is our "home" (except for the 4 nights on the ferry). As we drive south and east from the Seattle, Washington, area, we feel we are getting closer and closer to "home." Why? Because of the cattle in the fields.



And the sagebrush.



And the round wheat and hay fields, growing that way because of the irrigation sprinkler that goes in a circle.



The air is getting drier. We have both lived most of our lives in the higher altitudes of Colorado and, more recently, in the Arizona desert. The humidity we found in much of Alaska is not "home" to us.

I am happy to report that the nights are once again dark. Among other things, that means I can see the moon at night. For many weeks, I was never up when it was dark. As the nights got a little longer, we were often along the ocean and the sky was covered with clouds. But for the last two nights, I actually saw a moon in the sky before I went to bed.

We drove from Ellensburg, Washington, to Pendleton, Oregon, then today to Boise, Idaho. That is three states in three days. If you drive on the East Coast, you can easily pass through three states in one day. Out west, where the states are larger, our trip is pretty amazing, especially for us.

Eastern Washington and Oregon have interesting hills, mostly covered with brown grass.



We also saw lots of vineyards, providing a good dark green contrast to the brown.



There are lots of hills to go up and down. And triple-trailer loads are allowed, leading to this sign on a FedEx truck.



Hay is a major cash crop around Ellensburg, where we saw lots of covered haystacks.



Pendleton, of course, is home to the famous Pendleton Woolen Mills. We didn't tour the mill, but we did check out the mill's outlet store. Of course, there were lots of Pendleton clothes, most made of wool. And we don't need those in Arizona. We did enjoy looking at the shelves of blankets.



And, through a window, we saw stacks of different colored yarn and a bright blanket on the loom.





Our RV park in Pendleton sat on a hill and we could look out over the valley and part of the town. Look above the ground and you can see the thick smoke that blankets the area and got worse, the closer we came to Boise. A number of wildfires are burning in Idaho and have been for several weeks. I read a story said they don't anticipate a major storm that could put the fires out at least until after October 1.



Driving from Ellensburg to Pendleton, we saw two mountains. I hope someone can let us know if this is Mt. St. Helens?



And, is this Mt. Rainier?



They sure are beautiful.