The Great Plains

took the "Hi-line" yesterday (Highway 2, along the northern border of Montana) which is pretty crazy. there are towns along this highway that we thought only existed in movies. many parts of this area are very economically depressed - i've never seen so many boarded up, crumbled houses and businesses. but much of the landscape is very beautiful too, in its own way...

anyway, started off the day at this breakfast place where i had eggs, hash browns, and breaded "pork side". i asked the guy what "pork side" was and he said, basically, it's pork. i'm always up for something new so i figured i'd give it a try. i had no idea it would be 5 gigantic pieces of pork. jesus christ. they don't mess around on the Hi-line



some of the boarded up bars (although i think the 2nd one is actually still in business - despite the boards)





some cool stuff we saw along the way:



this is some shack that's just sitting there about to fall over (it's not designed like that)..



i walked up to it to take some more pictures and saw this headless skeleton next to it. it was pretty creepy..



some other random stuff along the way









apparently there's a big meth problem in this part of the country. we saw tons of signs like these..







in all fairness, if i had to live here... (nevermind)


in one town we noticed this guy had an interesting dashboard decoration.





one couldn't help but wonder if that was the head from the headless skeleton by the fucked up shack. one also couldn't help but wonder whether the person who decided to put this skull on their dashboard was under the influence of methamphetamines.

the great plains are full of mystey.


now we're on our way to North Dakota to visit my family (my mom and dad recently built a cabin there to spend summers in) .. we're both looking forward to it. i'm hoping to do some fishing and my sister and nephews will be there too so that will be fun. and seeing my family there is always a hoot.

there's some debate right now about whether to go to South Dakota and see the president's heads or not. kiki really wants to go but i'm kind of more like, "heads shmeds". we'll keep you posted...

Glacier

from Missoula we went North into Glacier National Park. after seeing so many beautiful national parks on this trip it's hard to compare them - they're all beautiful and unique to themselves. I'm tempted to say Glacier is the most beautiful yet though. being there feels like you're in the Swiss Alps.

except, instead of 6ft tall blond women there are lots of lesbian women with mullets.




honestly though, the park is absolutely amazing. i'll let the pictures do the talking:








those are some sexy mountains




the first night we stayed at Many Glacier Lodge (we're kind of on this lodge thing now)



from there we took a day trip up to Canada, to see what that place was all aboooot.



checked out the lodge they had there called the Prince Albert (from kiki's lodge book which is becoming our unofficial 2007 roadtrip guide).

the place was pretty dope





from there we took this awesome hike up the face a nearby mountain.. it wasn't that long, but it was extremely steep



there are wild goats all over the place in glacier..



and chipmunks



and prarie dogs (kiki forced me to put this one in)



the 2nd night we stayed at Glacier Park Lodge, which, even though our "Montana" book rated it beneath Many Glacier Lodge, was way better we thought..







kiki engrossed in her Harry Pottter



on our last night we spent a romantic evening watching the sunset by the lake




and then i got a speeding ticket

Missoula

our next destination was Glacier National Park, but it was a pretty long trek from Snolquami, so we figured Missoula would be a good place to stop. on this trip we haven't been making reservations because we want to be spontaneous. which has worked out for the most part, but then there have been times it hasn't worked out for the best. Missoula was one of those.

arriving in town we were told there was literally only 1 hotel left with rooms. who would have thought Missoula would be so popular on a Thursday night? anyway, we didn't have much choice so we took it.

it actually wasn't that bad. i mean, it was bad, but it was more the area we were in that was bad (lots of adult stores and casinos).. i tried to talk kiki into going to one of the casinos but, to no avail. i knew in my heart that she wouldn't want to, but i still had to try, right?

this is either sometime before or after asking kiki to go to a sleezy casino




i was tempted to go to the casino by myself but figured that might not be a good idea. instead, i went to the liquor store and picked up some tasty local brew and watched some S.W.A.T show while kiki read Harry Potter.




in the morning we gassed up at the old Kum n Go



(i couldn't figure out if this place was a chain, or just something in the adult entertainment district we were staying in)


on the way to and out of Missoula we saw some good sights. it doesn't get any more America than it does around here. lots of "God Bless America" signs, and other god-related stuff.

this is - i shit you not - the driveway to someone's house:



think they're very patriotic?

lots of murals like this around



and lots of buffalo and moose stuff. we were moving out of log country and into moose territory.




other highlights:


on our way out of Missoula we saw a burning truck that was about to explode



i got a train to honk at me while racing them (even though kiki argues that they weren't honking at me, or racing me)




also, read about an upcoming festival in town called "The Testicle Festival" (which may account for the lack of hotel rooms).. it sounded pretty good. lots of wet t-shirt contests and contests having to do with eating Buffalo balls (and cow balls and chicken balls). also, some contest where they were giving away a "1980 Chevy truck". if you're in the area, check it out..

Idaho

on our way out of Washington and towards Montana we passed through Idaho




we were only in Idaho for about a minute and then we got a ticket. and on top of that, the cop was a total dick.






on the bright side, while in Idaho we did get to visit one of the state's largest grass seed production plants.






i don't think kiki was completely cheered up though..


as a side note: it seems like there's this cliche about small towns how "everyone is so nice and friendly" etc.. let's just say that's not our impression of Idaho. in fact, let's say that people in Idaho are assholes.

Twin Peaks

after visiting Tim we went to Snolquami, WA, where they filmed a lot of TWIN PEAKS. the town is very much like in the show. small, super slow town with beautiful scenery everywhere you look. and, a lumber mill. lumber and logging is a big part of this town

here's the cafe where the "Double R" was shot. apparently David Lynch used to go there while creating the show and fell in love with their pie and coffee.

for you TWIN PEAKS fans:





they had tons of signed stills and articles on the walls..







the pie was good, but i have to admit i've had better coffee. which is unfortunate since the tagline of their restaurant is "A damn good cup of coffee!" (taken from the show). if you're going to make that you're selling point, it better be good coffee. from what i read in the articles, the diner came under new ownership in the late 90's, so that could be a factor..

the pie was great though..





logging mural in town




we stayed at Salish Lodge in Snolquami, which was used in TWIN PEAKS as well (you can see it below the waterfall on the left)



when we went down to check out the falls there were these foreign tourist guys taking pictures of each other in all these manly poses (you can see one of them on the rock behind kiki above). they were all puffing up their chests and posing like they had just conquered someone in war or something.. so i wanted to try and outdo them










anyway, we enjoyed the lodge so much we decided to stay 2 nights. after being on the road every day it is a treat to stay in one place for a while and relax..

speaking of which, they had this awesome Japanese style bath house at the lodge which we put to good use.



i'm going to get in trouble for posting this one