Schedule

(to help you map our itinerary, and to help you figure out the location of all those photos you took)

Many thanks to Richard N. for providing the details.

Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Check-in at La Quinta motel, Great Falls, MT, if not already there.
Initial meeting.
Dinner (and dancing to live music!) at Elks Club, Great Falls.
Meeting for introductions, overview of trip.
Overnight at La Quinta, Great Falls.
Thursday, September 2, 2004
Travel to view White Bear Island (Upper Portage Camp) from the bus.
Pick up lunches at Elks Club.
To Ryan Dam via north bank of the Missouri River; walk across swaying suspension foot-bridge to island for view of dam, where the Great Falls were. Also at this site is a early demonstration of electric cooking.
Travel 50 miles northeast on the north side of the Missouri River along US 87. Stop at scenic overlook above a curve in the river surrounded by irrigated alfalfa fields.
To Fort Benton, MT. Docent-guided tour of the fort and a tour of Museum of the Upper Missouri. Bag lunch under cottonwoods in riverside park. Stroll through downtown Fort Benton along steamboat levee and onto Montana's first bridge across the Missouri. Sights: Montana's official statue of Lewis & Clark & Sacagawea; another statue of Shep the loyal dog; Choteau House; Grand Union Hotel.
To Montana Agriculture Center Museum of the Northern Great Plains. Horniday Bison Group, large exhibit of farm equipment, restored town.
To Decision Point in Loma, the confluence of the Marias and Missouri Rivers.
Back to Great Falls, with a stop at another Lewis and Clark statue at the Visitor's Center, nearby the motel.
Dinner at Elks Club, Great Falls.
Evening session: Molly Smith, "Overview of the Lewis and Clark Journey."
Overnight at La Quinta, Great Falls.
Friday, September 3, 2004
To overlook at Crooked Falls and Rainbow Falls.
To Giant Springs State Park. Also there: Roe River (world's shortest), fish hatchery. Walk 1/4 mile or ride to the National Forest Service's Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Museum exhibits, film.
To view Black Eagle Falls and Broadwater Portage overlook.
Lunch in a banquet room at the Great Falls airport.
To Charlie Russell Museum, Great Falls, for tour of museum, his home, and his studio.
To West Bank Park, about 1/2 mile from motel, for George Dean's reading of Lewis's journal description of his encounter with a grizzly.
Dinner at Elks Club, Great Falls.
Evening session: George Dean on "Jefferson's Plan."
Overnight at La Quinta, Great Falls.

Saturday, September 4, 2004
Packed for the road. To Ulm Pishkun buffalo jump. Good view of Square Butte.
To Upper Holter Lake marina via I-15. Take the MV Hilger Rose about six miles downstream along the Missouri through the "Gates of the Mountains." At the site of the Mann Gulch fire of 1949, our pilot describes the incident which took the lives of 13 smoke jumpers.
Bag lunch in a picnic shelter at the marina.
To Helena, MT.
Tour the Montana Historical Society; many paintings by Charlie Russell and memorabilia associated with him.
Cross the street and tour the Montana State Capitol. Russell's "Lewis and Clark Meeting the Indians at Ross' Hole" is in the House chamber.
Check in at Jorgenson's Inn. Dinner there.
Evening session: George Dean on Montana history.
Overnight at Jorgenson's Inn, Helena.

Sunday, September 5, 2004
Session before leaving hotel; ?? subject.
To Flesher Pass on the Continental Divide, 6131'; photo op by the sign.
To Lincoln, MT, via MT 200. Stop at Lincoln Jerky Factory and gift shop.
Lunch at Lambkins Restaurant in Lincoln, MT. Austin and Bev's daughter surprises them by showing up at the restaurant.
George Dean leaves the tour after telling about Unabomber Ted Kaczynski's capture nearby.
Travel west beside the Blackfoot River, with a roadside stop at a chainsaw sculpture of Lewis and Seaman.
To Fort Missoula. Tour the museum, the fire tower, garden, church, and remnants of a WW II internment camp.
See the big red lips on the sign for Ruby's Inn, Missoula, MT. Check-in there.
Dinner in Ruby's Inn banquet room.
Evening session: Darby Bramble on "Traveler's Rest -- a Modern Journey." [If anyone has a photo of Darby to share, please email it to Bernadette.]
Overnight at Ruby's Inn, Missoula.

Monday, September 6, 2004
Pick up Ken Watson. Video on bus about the floods that formed the area and the work of Harlan Bretz to prove this.
To Traveler's Rest State Park. View a peak that is not really Lolo Peak.
Pit stop at Fort Fizzle.
Delay on road because of a motorcycle accident and the emergency medical vehicles (including a helicopter) that responded.
To Howard Creek, half way up Lolo Pass. Hiked part of the Lolo Trail.
To Lola Pass Visitor Center; 5225'.
To DeVoto fir grove, along the Locksa River. At Paul's suggestion, we tour it in silence.
Bag lunch at Three Devils Picnic area, on Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, midway between Lowell and Kooskia.
Exit the Rocky Mountains (along Highway 12) to Canoe Camp, Orofina, ID, where the North Fork of the Clearwater River joins the Snake River.
Cross Snake River into Washington.
Check into Quality Inn, Clarkston, WA, right on the Snake. Dinner there.
Evening session: "Men of the Expedition," presented by Molly Smith and volunteers from the group.
Overnight at the Quality Inn, Clarkston, WA.

Tuesday, September 7, 2004
Return to Lewiston, ID, to Nez Perce National Historical Park.
To Washington, stop at Albertsons. From Clarkston to Pomeroy via US 12. East of Dayton, stop at L & C campsite. Lunch at Lewis and Clark State Park, west of Dayton.
West on WA 124; near the Touchet River, on a gravel road near the trail taken by L & C. Rejoin US 12, east on WA 124 to Ice Harbor Dam on Snake River; tree farms along the road.
To Sacagawea State Park at confluence of Snake and Columbia Rivers. (Is this where some of the group played on the swings?)
Check into Silver Cloud motel, Kennewick, WA (one of the Tri-Cities). Dinner at Old Country Buffet across the street.
No official evening session, but Molly and Paul entertain most of the group with their guitars and singing.
Overnight at Silver Cloud motel, Kennewick, WA.

Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Backtrack on US 12 through Wallula Gap, enter Oregon.
To Hat Rock State Park for a stop.
Stop at Oregon Welcome Center, Umatilla.
To I-84 and travel the south bank of the Columbia River.
Lunch along the river at Arlington City Park.
To Washington, crossing the Columbia at Biggs. Visit Stonehenge reproduction built by Sam Hill as a memorial to locals who died in WW I. Distant and hazy view of Mount Hood.
To Maryhill Musuem, also built by Sam Hill.
West on north (Washington) side of the Columbia, into Columbia Gorge Scenic Area. Stop where Celilo Falls used to be.
To Horsethief Lake State Park.
Recross Columbia River to The Dalles, OR. Check into Cousin's Country Inn.
Tour and dinner at Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.
Overnight at Cousin's Country Inn, The Dalles, OR.

Thursday, September 9, 2004
West, including a stretch on Sam Hill's Paradise Road past Horsetail Falls, through Oneonta Gorge; stop at Multnomah Falls.
West along I-84, past Sandy River, past Portland Airport, cross the Columbia River, through Vancouver, WA, to Paradise Rest Area on I-5.
Through Columbia White-Tailed Deer National Wildlife Refuge.
Lunch along the riverside at Skamokawa Vista County Park.
Tom Laidlaw joins us at the Megler Rest Area, then guides us along the north side of the Columbia River to the Pacific. Stops at Grays Bay, Station Camp, view of The Yellow Cliff, jetty at Cape Disappointment.
Final stop at Long Beach, WA, Pacific shore. See whale skeleton, local men give us a large collection of sand dollars.
Return Tom Laidlaw to Megler's Rest, cross four mile Astoria Megler Bridge to Astoria, OR.
Check into Holiday Inn Express immediately under the bridge.
Dinner next door at Cafe Uniontown.
Another informal evening of music by Paul and Molly.
Overnight at Holiday Inn Express, Astoria, OR.

Friday, September 10, 2004
To Fort Clatsop National Memorial. Molly guides group through forest to Canoe Landing, where replica of dugout exists. Tour replica of fort. Final Lewis and Clark Visitor Center of the trip.
To Seaside, OR. Visit Saltworks and walk to sea.
Lunch/high tea at Benjamin Young Inn, Astoria.
To Astoria Column, overlooking Astoria and the Columbia River.
First serious rain of the trip, after we board bus for Portland. Travel across river to Longview, WA, then south on I-5 and I-205, then cross again to Portland.
Check into Silver Cloud Motel, Portland, OR (near airport).
Farewell dinner at the motel, with group participation and drawing of prizes.
Overnight at Silver Cloud Motel, Portland, OR. More goodbyes at Saturday breakfast for those who didn't have an early flight.

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