June 13 - July 2, 2021

ED NOTE: This travel page is for our readers to submit their travel stories and destinations. Please email your articles and pix to mccartymetro@gmail.com. This month's travel page is submitted by Margaret on her and Kelly's cross-country road trip from Michigan to Oregon and back by car.

Not much happened the first 3 days of travel. Lots of driving, windmills, corn, and hay. In addition, Kelly & I did visit some Roadside America attractions. We stopped overnight in Iowa where we stayed at a Ramada water park hotel, but unfortunately, the hot tub wasn't working. We spent the second night in Nebraska and got our room comped at a Quality Inn. On the third night, we stayed in Cheyenne, Wyoming and had a great dinner. I also tasted my first Huckleberry Mojito (while Kelly got his standard Guinness).

Windmills, truck stops, Kelly posing, and a waterpark is the recap for Iowa

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Nebraska brought new adventures like hay, more windmills, and the Great Platte River archway monument and museum in Kearney

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Wyoming brought 80 mph speed limits, the largest Lincoln head, wildlife, nightlife, and our first view of mountains

On day 4, we arrived in Murray, Utah (which is just south of Salt Lake City) on Thursday, June 15 at 4pm. IT WAS SO HOT!!!! It was 103 degrees, which in hindsight was not even close to the warmest temperatures on our trip. After breakfast the next morning, we went drove to Temple Square, and we had a tour of the grounds, and saw where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs. The actual temple is currently being renovated, and it will be another 2+ years before it is finished. After the tour, we went north to Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake. Because of the severe drought, the lake levels were at an all-time low. On the island, we saw many bison and walked through Fielding Garr Ranch which was an actual working ranch in the 19th century.

After a wonderful time at Great Salt Lake, we pushed on and made our way to Boise, Idaho, where we stayed the night. When we arrived in the morning, we stopped at 'Timber & Love', a store where the HGTV show 'Boise Boys' is filmed. Jessica showed us around the place and gave us a personal tour. Of course, I bought a sweatshirt as a souvenir. Afterwards, we trekked on to our destination...

We headed for Oregon, and arrived in Bend on June 17th at 3:30pm. We had dinner at Red Robin and the next morning, Alexa and Cooper washed all the bugs off the car.

On Father's Day, Amanda arranged for a beautiful twilight dinner atop Mt. Bachelor with the dads. Guests of honor included dad Chris, dad Kelly, and dad Barry Westfall. To get to the restaurant, we had to take the ski lift up to the top. The lift up, and the views from the restaurant were just fabulous. There were some wildfires in Oregon, so the skies were a bit hazy, but the scenery, dinner, dessert, and company were first rate. Thank you Amanda for a wonderful evening.

During the next week back in Bend, the kids had basketball camp Monday through Friday in the mornings, so Kelly & I drove them each day. On Tuesday, Amanda had a day off, so we all went on a hike to Steelhead Falls. It was a 1 mile trek and it was HOT - HOT - HOT! After the hike, we went to Smith Rock State Park which had some phenomenal views, and to Crescent Moon Ranch and we saw, petted, and fed the alpacas.

On Wednesday after bball camp, we took Alexa and Cooper to Sun River Resort where the kids played on the rides, putt-putt, and had a nice lunch. Then we visited a nature center, and then had ice cream to cool down.

Thursday night, Chris and Amanda treated us to a nice farewell dinner at El Caporal Mexican Restaurant. Food and company were top notch! It was such a fun week. It was the first time since COVID that we were able to spend time with Chris, Amanda, Alexa and Cooper. We love them all, but now it's time to turn up the heat!

On Friday, we started our drive up to Washington to Olympic National Park. We arrived at Lake Quinault Lodge in the Olympic National Forest which was located on Lake Quinault which was were we were staying the night. That evening, we went on a long hike by the lake, which also took us through the rain forest.

The next morning, we had on the agenda lot's of hiking and sightseeing. We saw the world's largest Sitka Spruce tree, Merriman Waterfall, Maple Glade Rainforest Trail. We even hiked down to the Pacific Ocean via Ruby Beach. The ocean was beautiful and cold, even though the air temperature was 110 degrees, so, not so bad.

The waterfalls and trails was breath taking

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Big spruce - in the rain forest - Margaret dips into the Pacific Ocean

The next morning, we headed to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. There was snow up there and we even saw several deer. We did some hiking and saw just spectacular views from the trails. We then drove to, and checked into Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort. We got a small cabin... Big Mistake... No air, no fan, no fridge, no microwave! Because we were in a National Park, we slept with the windows closed because there were probably bears in the area. Finally... at 1am, we tempted the bear attack and opened up the windows. We went to the hot springs, but stayed in the fresh water cool pool, as temperatures rose to 112 degrees.

Margaret getting a little brave - wonderful views and snow from Hurricane Ridge

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The temps reached 112 degrees - our cabin in the woods - relaxing by the fresh water pool next to the hot springs

We left Olympic National Park the next morning on the way to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Some of the drive highlights were stopping in Liberty Lake, Washington, at The "Real" Legends bar for dinner. Kelly had a Guinness (or two). Lunch in Butte, MT, and stayed in Billings, MT for the night.

We arrived at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on June 30th at 1pm. We stopped and spent some time at the visitors center which was educational, then hiked up Buck Hill for a spectacular view of the park. On the way out of the park, there was a herd of wild horses. Kelly & I were also getting a little stir crazy in the car, so we did some singing to pass the time (you can see some on the Dateline News page under Quick Videos).

Entering Theodore Roosevelt National Park - It was very picturesque

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Hiked up to Buck Hill, then posed for the cameras

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Wild horses gathered - goodbye look at the park

The remainder of the trip was driving home. We stayed the night in Duluth (no, not the store), Minnesota one night, then Escanaba, Michigan the next. We took pics of Mike and Karen's first house, and the bar that sponsored his hockey team. We stayed at a Quality Inn, which was the first motel we stayed at that had it's own bar, and we had a good time there.