Night Life in Wallace - 7/28/17

Night Life in Wallace - 7/28/17

And, while we were eating our barbecue and pondering our good luck at being in The Center of the Universe, two actors approached our table and offered us the opportunity to attend live theater at the Sixth Street Melodrama Theater.   How could we resist?

Off we went to the Sixth Street Melodrama Theater (conveniently located on 6th Street and near our RV Park), purchased two tickets and were whisked into the theater to join the locals watching a production of Bad Business at the Brewery, Or ... Who Botched Bessie's Brew.  We were instructed in the skills of booing and hissing the villains, cheering the hard-working proprietors of the brewery, clapping for the hero and supporting the heroine with sighs and sage advice.  The melodrama unfolded and all were swept up in the throes of support for the hard-working cast.

The melodrama was followed by the Kelly's Alley Revue ... songs (sing-a-longs), skits, and endless supply of jokes (we now know what happened to John's Giant Book of Jokes when he left home) ... some were real groaners, some were punny, and some had us laughing hard ... all were entertaining, even if some of the songs were out-of-tune and off key.  It is audacious to see community members putting themselves out, front and center, to offer live community theater.

Bambi was surprised that a couple of old folks stayed out so late on a Saturday night ... must be the effect of being at The Center of the Universe.

Proof - Wallace, Idaho is The Center of the Universe - 7/28/17

Proof - Wallace, Idaho is The Center of the Universe - 7/28/17

We offer proof that the manhole cover in the center of the road in Wallace, Idaho is, indeed, The Center of the Universe.

This proof was obtained while drinking locally brewed beer at a Historic Smokehouse Restaurant eating barbecue and being served by waitresses from Istanbul, Turkey ... our local/global economy at work ...

No one ran me over while I was in the process of obtaining the photographic evidence (and, the symbols surrounding the manhole cover are from the local silver mining companies that have been active in the Silver Valley).

Route of the Hiawatha - 7/28/17

Route of the Hiawatha - 7/28/17

The Route of the Hiawatha is considered the "Crown Jewel" of all rail-to-trail projects in the country and it provides a truly unique adventure.   The trail includes 10 tunnels (one of which is the 1.66 mile long St. Paul Pass Tunnel), 7 trestle bridges as high as 230 feet over creeks below, winding its way through the beautiful Bitterroot Mountains for 15 miles.  The trail drops over 1,000 feet over its 15 mile length with an average grade of 1.6%.

Using The Route of the Hiawatha is a bit of a puzzle to unravel.  One must have a day pass to use the trail and can purchase the day pass at Lookout Mountain Ski Lodge.  Or, one can purchase the day pass at either end of the trail for cash.  To start out on the trail, one needs to undergo a safety briefing by the staff at the start of the trail.  Riders typically begin at the Eastern Portal and ride down to the Preston Trailhead.  The Eastern Portal starts with the 1.66 mile long St. Paul Pass Tunnel.

The St. Paul Pass Tunnel is wet, water runs alongside both sides of the trail in rain gutters, and cold (around 45 degrees).  And, it is pitch black ... a kind of black that one rarely experiences with the absence of light.  Fortunately we had amazing LED bike lights that we had purchased from REI before our trip and they were nothing short of amazing for putting out light that kept us safely on the trail and avoiding potholes in the trail.  We also had Petzl headlamps as back up, but the Urban 500 Light & Motion LED bike light did the trick.  (I just didn't want to risk only having one source of light ... the darkness in the tunnel without light was unsettling ... I don't think that I would have made a good tunnel miner).

The trail surface is rough-packed gravel, so one had to be constantly attentive to the trail and handling the bike over the rocky, gravel surface.  Yet, hundreds of riders, old and young, families with young children on bikes or in towable bike carriers, were happily making their way down the trail.

There are signs all along the trail relating the story of the Milwaukee Road train company that ran from Chicago, Illinois to Tacoma, Washington.   The first train on this route began on July 4, 1909 and passenger service began 6 days later.  The company incurred enormous costs building this route ... originally budgeted for 45 million dollars; it took 235 million dollars to complete and another 23 million dollars to electrify the trains a few years later.  An enormous fire in 1910 hit the area, burning 2.5 to 3 million acres of forest woodland causing black smoke all the way across the northern part of the U.S. destroyed many of the towns along the Route of the Hiawatha ... and, the railroad was key to rescuing many individuals caught by the fire without a way, except by rail car, to escape the conflagration.  Many of the signs also dealt with the various types and capacities of the engines that ran along the Route of the Hiawatha ... and we got a bit of an appreciation of the interest that many hobbiests have for the minutiae of railroad equipment and railroad history.

We made it easily to the end of the trail in Preston where shuttle buses wait to take riders back to the start of the trail ... but no, not us ... we were among four people (one of whom as a trail ranger) who turned around and rode back up the trail ... all 15 miles uphill ... but a great way to experience the entire trail yet again from the opposing side of the trail.  Many people commented ... some in support, some in amusement, about our reverse itinerary, but we felt most satisfied when we returned to the start of our adventure ... well-exercised and well-versed in the Route of the Hiawatha.

And, if you're wondering about the total distance, it was 30 miles, but the Garmin lost sight of the satellites when we were in the long tunnels and "cheated us" out of some of the mileage ... inquiring minds want to know

Bambi offered us cold beers and showers ...

Wallace, Idaho - The Center of the Universe - 7/27/17

Wallace, Idaho - The Center of the Universe - 7/27/17

To get to Wallace, Idaho, we had to travel through a section of Montana that was experiencing a serious wildfire ... the Sunrise Fire in Mineral County, near Superior, Montana (off of I-90).  The entire western US and Canada are experiencing record-breaking number of fires.  Summer temperatures are trending hotter and hotter; rains are less predictable and arriving later in the summer season.  Does anyone want to talk about climate change?

And, at last to Wallace, Idaho - The Center of the Universe.   In 2004 the town declared a manhole cover at the center of Bank and Sixth Streets, to be the Center of Universe.  And, since no one has calculated the exact size of the universe, it is difficult to disprove the town's claim to have a manhole cover that is the center of the universe.  The manhole cover is adorned with symbols of the great mines of the area.  People can from around the planet to visit the spot.  (I'll try to get a picture when I won't get run over by traffic).

We can walk into town from the Wallace RV Park and the City Limits Brew Pub and North Idaho Mountain Brew border the Wallace PV Park which runs alongside Nine Mile Creek.  The town boasts several breweries, restaurants, even live theater ... Bambi thinks that we've made a good choice.

Tomorrow we head out on one of the nation's premier rail trails ... the Route of the Hiawatha.  It promises 10 tunnels (including one tunnel that is 1.7 miles long), 7 trestle bridges as high as 230 feet at the crest of the Bitterroot Mountains, 15 mile length ... one of the most scenic stretches of rail-to-trails in the nation.

More tomorrow ...

Deer Lodge, MT - 7/26/17

Deer Lodge, Montana - 7/26/17

Deer Lodge ...
More churches than doctors; more bars than grocery stores; more casinos than restaurants ...
The leading attraction in Deer Lodge is a Prison Museum ...
this does not spell good times for a town.

Actually some efforts at revitalization are peaking through the abandoned town feeling, but there is a long way to go to bring any form of economic revival to this turn of the century town (there is a Go Fund Me site to preserve the Deer Lodge Inn ... currently boarded up, but in a turn of the century building).

Deer Lodge might be a case study for rural towns currently competing to have for-profit prisons placed in their town for jobs ... all that they might have in a decade or so is a Prison Museum.   Something to ponder ...

Bambi wanted to remind the town that saguaros don't grow this far north (too cold for them).

The KOA in Deer Lodge is on the Clark Fork River ... sounds picturesque, but it wasn't.

Fortunately, we are done with KOA campgrounds for awhile once we leave here.  Bambi has committed himself to stop complaining about KOA campgrounds and from offering unfavorable commentary on some rural communities ... he is going to "clean up" his act (was inspired by the Museum of Clean in Pocatello).

On to Wallace, Idaho ...

Pocatello, Idaho - 7/25/17

Pocatello, Idaho - 7/25/17

No pictures for this posting ... we had a drive through Utah into Pocatello, Idaho along US 15.  Highway construction along US 15 and rain kept our travels fairly focused on just getting to our next location ... in this case, a KOA campground in Pocatello.   We must admit that we are finding the KOA campgrounds to be disappointing ... while they score high on reliability (easy to make reservations and a consistent product/service) and are convenient when trying to travel to a destination ... they are not necessarily located in appealing areas and some have very basic facilities (and poor Internet) ... we need to do better for Bambi (and for ourselves).

I tried to talk Paul into going to the leading museum in Pocatello, the Museum of Clean ... "a massive 77,000 square foot complex teaching the value and history of clean across every aspect of life in a wide variety of entertaining, fun and highly interesting displays".  He sadly shook his head and offered the fact that perhaps I could get treatment for my cleaning disorder ... we laughed and enjoyed the absence of clean as we headed out of town ... on to Montana.  (Did you wonder how they keep a 77,000 square foot complex clean?  I did.  Inquiring minds want to know ...)

Shout Out to Phinny:  Our grand-puppy (actually an 11 year old Golden Doodle) is home now with our son, John, his wife, Paula, and our grand-son, Max, recovering from surgery to remove a mass on his spleen that was bleeding into his chest cavity.  They are awaiting biopsy results on the mass.  Phinn is home and recovering from his surgery doing his best to keep up everyone's spirits, including his own.

Glen Canyon Dam & Pioneer Day - 7/24/17

Glen Canyon Dam & Pioneer Day in Fillmore, Utah -7/24/17

Heading out of Bonito Campground just north of Flagstaff along US 89, we headed to northern Arizona through Glen Canyon Dam and stopping at the Glen Canyon Dam Visitor's Center ... the dam represents an enormous public works program and effort to manage water along the Colorado ... and yet, also represents the loss of what was known to be a stunningly beautiful Glen Canyon.  The opposition to the Glen Canyon Dam is often credited for the growth in the environmentalist movement ... pressure is still on by environmentalists to eliminate the Glen Canyon Dam.

Traveling through several very small towns along US 89 in Utah, we were scratching our heads wondering why each town was lined with American flags ... it looked like Independence Day in each small town, just waiting for the annual 4th of July parade and fireworks in the evening.  It turns out that July 24th is Pioneer Day in Utah ... a celebration and commemoration of the first Mormon pioneers who entered the Great Salt Lake Valley from Emigration Canyon on July 24, 1847.

So, what a perfect way to celebrate Pioneer Day than to stay in the middle of Utah ... Fillmore, Utah, to be exact ... at a KOA campground in the middle of the Great Basin desert ... lined with giant cottonwood trees and carefully tended green grass in front of each camping site ... bringing the green bounty to the desert.

Bambi was tucked into the campground amidst a sea of behemoths of recreational vehicles ... Feeling a bit small in the land of large format RVs ...

Paul takes care of Bambi's needs ...

Shout Out to Sander:  Our son, Sander, was struck by a driver, turning in front of him, while riding his bike on the streets of San Francisco.  The driver apparently did not see him even though he felt that they had made eye contact.  He took the full impact on his body and was brought to the hospital.   The driver stayed on the scene to offer assistance and report to the police.  Sander is bruised, swollen, scraped, but not broken.  He is home in his apartment in San Francisco resting and recovery.  Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Bonito Campground at Sunset Crater National Monument - 7/23/17

Bonito Campground at Sunset Crater National Monument near Flagstaff, Arizona - 7/23/17

We left Tucson dripping in sweat ... A flurry of packing, loading, and puzzling over what we might have forgotten ... the humidity from the previous night's monsoon rain storm left us needing another shower after our shower.  We also caught bits of the final day of Le Tour and the ever dramatic final sprint on the Champs Elysees to the finish.  Viva Le Tour and the amazing athletes who enter our lives in July and the stunningly beautiful country of France that hosts this magnificent sporting event.

The drive to northern Arizona was dramatic in its own right for the monsoon storms swirling around the mesas and mountain tops, marching across the valleys.   Dark sheets of rain, clouds in menacing formation, blinding torrents of rain covering the roadways and then disappearing ... creating a visceral sense of the incredible energy found in these storms.

If you've never had the experience of monsoon storms in the desert Southwest, take a look at the work of photographer, Mike Oblinski, in the link below that captures the raw power of a monsoon.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/5957544026/monsoon-iii-time-lapse-captures-the-raw-power-of-a-
monsoon?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2016-october-18&ref_=pe_1822230_211942830_dpr_nl_227_32

Our return to Bonito Campground was welcome relief from driving in and around the storms ... having been here twice before it is starting to feel familiar, like a home base for starting and ending trips north.  We continued to have more rain through the evening, but Bambi kept us dry and Fritz got a rain water rinse to begin our travels.

Rain reflected in Bambi's side

Rain puddling on Fritz's "sun" roof

Raindrops glistening like jewels on the ponderosa pines (we've reached higher elevations - 7000+ feet)

We're on our way ...