1999 Teardrop
Adventure - Page 3
by
Teri Fahrendorf
24 DAYS ON THE ROAD
This visit was to Sean and Jennifer Donnelly (and partners)'s Pend Orielle Brewing Company. Sean gave me the grand tour and then Jennifer and baby Quinn joined us for dinner on the brewpub's cushy wingback chairs. I must say the fresh buffalo burger with sautéed onions and mushrooms was the best I'd ever had. (Not that we get much buffalo in Eugene.)
That night was the coldest I'd had in the teardrop so far (which included 16 overnights before this trip started.) It got down to a shivery 28°F. I was pretty warm but my nose was freezing.
This was my last stop in civilization before heading to the wilds of Glacier, Yellowstone and Tetons national parks, so I checked in with e-mail and did my laundry at Sean & Jennifer's house. Jennifer was called in to work the kitchen as one of her cooks didn't show up (the joys and pains of being an owner), and Sean and I went out for a hike. The sky was mostly blue with a few white and grey clouds. The mountains had a solid dusting of snow, and it looked like another beautiful vacation day.
After Sean and I dropped off my Honda for a new speedometer cable, we hiked the short Grrrr Trail (which is next to the Bear Trail) on Schweitzer Mountain. He showed me his auxiliary pub at the ski area, and then we headed back to the brewpub to pick up Jennifer.
The next morning before heading back out on the road, Sean mixed up a batch of Huckleberry pancakes for breakfast. If you've only heard of huckleberries on Yogi Bear cartoons, I can assure you they are real and delicious, and taste (and look) just like a wild Maine blueberry. They seem to grow in the mountain areas from Sandpoint to Yellowstone. Picked a few myself on the Grrrr Trail.
Said farewell and headed toward Glacier National Park on Hwy 2. Stopped at Kootenei Falls for a quick hike. The water was glacial green, and the rocks were green too. Checked out the hanging bridge over the river. Good thing I don't have an extreme fear of heights! It was overcast and raining as I pulled into Hungry Horse, Montana, just before dark. Picked up firewood, ice, and the local newspaper at the store. Because of the Labor Day holiday, I had made reservations for tonight and tomorrow night at concession-run RV campgrounds on either side of Glacier Park. Too bad I did, as it turned out there were lots of spaces available inside the park this year due to the unseasonably cool and damp holiday weather.
It was cold so I fired up the grill and ate bundled up at my picnic table. Quiet out. The other campers were all insulated from the wilderness and each other inside their propane-heated RV's. I was glad my camper's kitchen was exposed to the elements; it seemed a waste to be sequestered from the environment on a camping trip. Wrote postcards and had a little 10 year old Glenmorangie Scotch and water in a speckled blue tin camping mug.
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here to go to 1999 Teardrop Adventure Page
4.
The story is 16 short pages total. You can jump to other sections of the story here:
Page
1 - Departure
Page 2 - Washington
Page 3 - Idaho
Page
4 - Glacier
Page 5 - Montana
Page
6 - Yellowstone
Page 7 - Tetons
Page
8 - Denver
Page 9 - Colorado
Page
10 - Utah
Page 11 - Idaho Again
Page
12 - Wild Horses
Page 13 - Oregon
Page 14 - Enterprise
Page
15 - Lovely Drive
Page 16 - Home Again
And here are some recipes: