Driving the Great Northwest - A Day in Great Falls

During our stay in Billings this past April we took the drive up to "Great Falls" to visit a couple of Stijn's high school buddies from when he was an exchange student in Billings.

It was a beautiful drive through this part of the State on Hwy 191 and Hwy 87 to Great Falls.  I love seeing wildlife and we saw plenty of Pronghorn Antelope along the way.  Sorry no pictures, but Click here if you're curious about these beautiful animals.

After we arrived Cliff and Jared took us out to see the "Great Falls" of which this city is named for when Lewis and Clark arrived here on June 13, 1805.

There are five falls along this portion of the Missouri River.  Today we were were able to see a few sites while following the Lewis & Clark Trail along the Missouri River.

The first stop we made was at "Black Eagle Memorial Island". 

This is actually a man made island and is located downstream from "Black Eagle Dam".   It opened to the public in the summer of 2005 and has a 1,500 foot path that links to a viewing area at the tip of the island.

When then headed downstream to "Giant Springs Heritage Park".

Rather then me trying to explain the beauty of this place, I will let you read what William Clark wrote  when he first laid eyes on this spring.

.......the largest fountain or spring I have ever Saw, and doubt if it is not the largest in America ever known, this water boils up from under the rocks near the edge of the river and falls immediately into the river 8 feet and keeps it's colour for a mile which is immensely Clear and of Bluish Cast....

......William Clark

There is a concrete walkway in which you can take a stroll right between the Giant Spring and the Missouri River.   

  

Here you will also see the shortest river in the country.  The Roe River ranks as one of the shortest rivers at 201 feet in length, flowing into the longest river in the country.  The Missouri River is  2,540 miles long, 200 miles longer than the Mississippi River.

It is entirely way to cold and windy on this day to endure too much more.  But we did get a glimpse of one more site along the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail.  This folks "Is" the Great Falls!

 

I can just imagine what ol' Lewis and Clark thought when they saw the waterfalls in Oregon!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just Click here and then click the album "Great Falls"

Driving the Great Northwest - "B" is for Billings. Or is it Beer, Maybe it's Breweries?

While visiting our friends in Billings, Ron knew that Stijn would love the chance to try some Montana beers.  Stijn being from Belgium, who regards himself as a "beer connoisseur" if you will, jumps at this opportunity to see if Montana's beer can even come close to the World renowned beers of Belgium.  And it just so happens that Billings has a few breweries where Stijn can do a few taste comparisons.

It seems Montana has developed quite a reputation for producing great beer. They do grow some of the finest grains in the nation and location is everything. In an area situated just off the Rocky Mountains that produces barley that is used throughout the country to produce fine beers, domestic and craft. And Montana breweries pride themselves in using Montana grown grain to make their beer.

Now we did draw this out over a two day period, starting with visiting the "Montana Brewing Company" located at 113 N. Broadway.  Why did this brewery get picked first?  Well it was Sunday and it was the only one open, that's why.

I must make a confession here.....because this event actually took place this past April, neither Stijn or I can remember which beers we tasted.  But as Stijn says "It was beer, it was good!"

On Monday afternoon we hit the other 3 breweries in town.  First stop, "Angry Hanks Brewery".

I just love how most breweries that we've been to since we've started this trip are in places that have been re purposed if you will.  The building that Angry Hanks is in was once an old gas station located at 2405 First Ave. North.

 

It was a nice sunny afternoon, so we ordered up our beers and headed out front to the patio!

Okay, let's get moving, we have two more breweries to hit before dinner!  Next stop "Yellowstone Valley Brewing Company"  This brewery is referred to as the "Garage Pub".   Why?  Because it is  located in what used to be an old automotive repair garage.  Here is where Stijn got to chat with the brew master and discuss the intricacies of brewing beer.  And of course along with this came several samples of the brew masters favorites. 

So after much talk over several tastings, it was difficult to decide which brews Stijn would be leaving with from this brewery.

Last stop, "Carter's Brewing" 

Located on Historic Montana Ave. right along the train tracks, Carter's Brewing has been serving up their specialty brews since their business began in July 2007.  An extensive brew list made it hard to decide which beer would be our last of the day.

Well, I'm about beered out!  Aren't there any wineries in the area?

There are a few more pictures of our two days "Pub Crawling".  Click here to see the album "Billings Breweries"

Driving the Great Northwest - One Laugh after Another

Stop laughing!

So I'm sure that you are asking yourself, "Why in the world is Billings Montana one of your destinations while traveling the Great Northwest?"

I say "Why Not!"

Well actually Stijn was an exchange student here about 10 years ago or so, and while he is here in America on his extended visa he wanted to visit his host family.

We arrived on April 22 in plenty of time to settle in, get reacquainted and enjoy a fabulous meal with the Bough family!

One of the many things I didn't know about Billings is that they have some great comedian acts.  In fact our first night here we headed on over to "The Carlin Martini Bar and Nightclub" and laughed ourselves silly to the improv act of "Projectile".

We had so much fun here that the next night we went to "The R Club" at the Billings Hotel to see Alvin Williams and Morgan Preston.  Alvin was the opening act and was entertaining, but I have to tell you, when Morgan Preston hit the stage, my cheeks were hurting from laughing so hard!  A lot of what made him so funny to me was his style of in your face comedy.  But, when he mentioned a little town in the middle of no-where Nevada called "Tonopah", I absolutely lost it!

Of course when he mentioned Tonopah I had to blurt out "I used to live there!"  Which he replied "What the #?*! for?"  He then continued his story leaving out details to which I knew I needed to fill in....like the Mizpah Hotel where he got off of the Greyhound bus.

(photo courtesy of TonopahNevada.com)

Needless to say he continued to heckle me a little bit more throughout his performance. But he really was a nice guy and even let me have my picture taken with him.

 

I certainly never expected to be in Billings Montana and be listening to a comedian making jokes about Tonopah!

Who Knew?

Click here if you would like to see a few more pictures

Driving the Great Northwest - Off to Montana

Sorry this post is soooooo late!  I have been met with the challenge of Melanoma and it has set me back even more than I already am with my posts about our fantastic trip through the great northwest!  So I figured it's time to catch up a little bit more before I have some surgery and start treatments.

Let's go back in time a little bit to April 21, and put ourselves on the road leaving from Vancouver Washington and making our way to Billings Montana.  First stop, Missoula Montana.  Our route takes us through the magnificent "Columbia River Gorge".  I never tire of traveling this portion of I-84 that travels along the second largest river in North America. It is so beautiful with the waterfalls of Oregon on my right.......

 and the Columbia River on my left which creates the border between Oregon and Washington.

We arrived in Missoula just in time for dinner, so we decided to check out what "Historic Downtown Missoula" had to offer.  With a recommendation from a very nice lady we met while parking our car, we took the short walk to "The Iron Horse Brew Pub" located at 501 N. Higgins.  This place had a typical Western feel to it with it's wood beams and rustic decor.  They had a nice side patio, where of course we needed to be!  The food was nothing to exciting and the only thing I really have to comment on is the Sweet Potato fries!  Remember I had some great Sweet Potato fries at "Casa Nyranja" in Portland, and I was thinking that everyone made them that way.....WRONG!  These were so skinny, and quite flavorless.

Well it had been a long day so we headed back to our room at the "Mountain Valley Inn", which by the way is really within walking distance to Historic Downtown.  After a good nights sleep, and some breakfast in the lobby of our hotel, we were on the road again!

Next stop, Billings Montana!

Driving The Great Northwest - One Last Happy Hour

Our home exchange has come to an end in Vancouver Washington and I can't believe how fast 2 weeks has gone by!  April actually turned out to be a great time of year to be in the Great Northwest with mild tempetures and very little rain.

Now it's time to head to Montana, but not before we hit just one more happy hour before we leave!

We had seen this great restaurant on the water when we rode our bikes along the Willamette River on April 18th and I thought what a great place to have a drink.  So on April 20th, the evening before we leave, we decided to drive over the Columbia River into Portland and stop in at the "Newport Seafood Grill".  

This is Portland's only floating restaurant!  Which seems sort of odd based on all the river's around here. 

We probably parked to far away, but we enjoyed walking the waterfront on our way there.

Happy hour here is from 3pm til 6pm and then again at 9pm until closing, every single day!  The place was pretty much empty when we arrived so we were able to pick our table at a window with a great view.  Actually the whole place is nothing but windows, so no matter where you sit, you will have a great view!

We actually ended up ordering off of the regular menu as the prices weren't that bad and everything looked really good.  I had the Mahi Mahi Baja style tacos with grilled mahi mahi, mango tomatillo salsa, cilantro lime sour cream, in corn tortillas for $10.95.  If you want three it's $13.95.  Two was plenty!  Stijn had the Alaksan Halibut Sandwich with seasoned grilled halibut, lemon caper tartar, sun-dried tomato pesto, dressed sweet greens and cucumber on a toasted brioche bun for $11.95.  Sorry no pictures of these fantastic dishes, we were too busy eating!

Stijn did have a beer and I had a glass of wine and we toasted to another fabulous home exchange, thanks to Terri, our exchanger in Vancouver Washington! 

You can also see these pictures at "Where's Debbie".  Just click on the album "One Last Happy Hour"

Driving The Great Northwest - Mount St. Helens

Another beautiful day in Washington draws us out to explore some more on April 15th. Sure beats doing taxes on that day!

We decided to take a drive up to Mount St. Helens and check out "Ape Cave".  This is a lava tube that was formed 2,000 years ago and is the longest in the United States at 12,810 feet (3.9 kilometers) long.  And it's only about 1 hour away!

We headed north on I-5, and then east on State 504 which took us past some beautiful lakes.

As we continued it was becoming apparent that winter wasn't quite finished up here yet!

Okay, so let me share something with you here....if you are going to go and explore this lava tube on your own in the off season, which this was, you are going to need to bring a flash light!  A big one!  Somewhere in all the brochures I read, I missed where a flashlight is a must if you are going to walk the mile and half long lava tube.  Hmmm.  But common sense might tell you that hey, your going in a long lava tube, underground...Hello!!  I have visited many caves and even a lava tube when I was in Hawaii, but it was always with a tour guide, and low and behold they had flashlights!  Okay enough of that.

We went ahead and went down the steep rocky wet stairs that lead into the mouth of the lava tube.

Took a few pictures and left in great dissapointment that we didn't get to hike through the lava tube.

So we say good-bye to Mount St. Helens and head back to meet up with Sterling and Carrie for Happy Hour!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Mount St Helens"

Driving The Great Northwest - A Bike Ride Along The Willamette River

I can't help but think how lucky we had been with the weather during our home exchange in Vancouver Washington.  I mean it was April and there was hardly ever any rain!  Read my previous posts, I'm not lying!  Nowhere will you read that any of our plans, while in the Northwest, where cancelled because of rain.

And on April 18th it was another beautiful sunny day and we decided to take a 10 mile ride on our bikes along the Willamette River in Portland.

Oregon is a fantastic place for cycling and you can choose a route that suits you from the many maps that are on line. Click here for maps.

We of course chose the path along the Willamette River because you know how I love the water! 

 

For a minute I thought I was in New England somewhere with the colors and the white steeple church!

And then on our way back to the car we were able to see how an elephant crosses the road in Portland!

There are a few more pictures of our ride on "Where's Debbie".  Just click on the album "A Bike Ride Along the Willamette River"

Driving The Great Northwest - Some Great Places for "Happy Hour" in Portland - Part II

Happy Hours are such a great thing in Portland Oregon that as you can see it has made it necessary for me to do a two part story about some of these great little spots!

So after our first evening on April 12th of discovering where the "locals" like to go, April 15th Sterling and Carrie took us in a different direction to try some of Portland's "Happy Hour" fare.

I know everyone has heard of the "Pearl District" in the heart of Portland.  It's the one talked about in all the travel books and magazines.  So of course that's where everyone (tourists) wants to go.  Well let me share a little secret with you...."The Historic Mississippi Avenue District"!!  This now trendy, historic part of Portland is located in the northeast in the Boise section at North Fremont Street. 

Portland Oregon's Historic Mississippi Avenue Shopping and Restaurant District has a culture all its own, combining originality, variety, and excellence with style and energy. Almost every business is locally owned and operated, making it a welcome break from the corporate fare found elsewhere.

Our first stop, "Casa Naranja".  Located at 4205 Mississippi Ave., the brightly painted California Craftsman Style house is what draws me in right away.

But with all the great options for sitting outside, "In" is not what we did.

We tried a few of the items off of the Happy Hour menu and I must tell you, the Yam fries are the BEST you will ever have, ANYWHERE!

Stijn was loving his burger and beer!

Our next stop brings us to "Amnesia Brewing" which is located in what seems to have been an old auto mechanics garage at 832 North Beach St.

This is a very relaxed place with picnic tables lined up outside where you can enjoy your beer and a barbequed hamburger or hot dog while enjoying a rare sunny day in Portland.

It was pretty fun to see that Belgian Beer, being the great beer that it is, was not available for Happy Hour!

But all is not lost.  We headed over to "Bridgetown Beerhouse" where Mike was more than happy to help Stijn fulfill his need for some good ole' Belgian beer!

There are some more pictures to see at "Where's Debbie".  Click on the album "Happy Hour Part II"

Driving The Great Northwest - Some Great Places for "Happy Hour" in Portland - Part I

First let me start by saying, thank you so much for being patient while waiting for some more posts on our trip through the Great Northwest.  I am home now, so it's time to get cracking on the writing and let you know about some more of the great things we did.

I would like to focus this post on some of what I think are the coolest places to eat and drink in Portland.  Having our home exchange in Vancouver Washington made it very convenient to visit Portland Oregon because we were only about 20 minutes from downtown.

There were a couple of evenings when we met up with some friends who live in Portland, Sterling and Carrie, and they took us to some really fantastic places.  Portland has some great "Happy Hour" spots and we tried to hit as many as possible during the next few days!

So let's start with April 12.  First stop "Jake's Famous Crawfish".  It's located at 401 SW 12th Ave. at the cross street of SW Stark.  Jake's has some outside tables and if you know me, you know my motto is "When at all possible, eat outside!"  Plus, it wasn't raining!  What to have, what to have?  Well how about some Steamed Mussels in garlic butter and Thai Curry Clams.  And let's try the Tempura Ahi Sushi Roll along with some Sweet Potato fries served with a Chipotle Aioli sauce for dipping.  And of course some great Oregon wine!  The prices for Jake's Happy Hour menu range from $1.95 to $4.95.  A fantastic price for what you get if you ask me!

From Jake's we walked a couple of blocks to SW 3rd Ave. and stopped in at "Huber's". 

Huber's has been making traditional turkey dinners in Portland since 1879.  But we're not here for the turkey, we're here for their signature drink, the "Spanish Coffee"!  Now, I don't like coffee, can't drink the stuff.  But put several types of liquer in it and light it on fire, I'm lovin' it!!

We end our evening with some "Beer Tasting".  Yes, I said beer, not wine.  So needless to say it was Stijn and Sterling who did the beer tasting.  The "Green Dragon" was the place for Stijn to try and acquire a taste for some good American micro brews.  This place had a very relaxed, warehouse feel to it with it's long wooden picnic tables for seating.  

It's time to make some choices, decisions decisions.

 and it seems the choices made were good ones!

What a great evening of exploring the great little "gems" of Portland!  Can't wait for our next "Happy Hour" tour!

If you would like to see more pictures of our evening just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Happy Hour - Part 1"